Sign-In
Cart
An Architectural Approach to Level Design
Hardcover
ISBN13: 9781003863199
Publisher: CRC Press
Published: Dec 1 2026
Pages: 588
Language: English
This book explores the principles of level design through the context and history of architecture. Written by a game developer and professor trained in architecture, it is one of the first books to integrate architectural and spatial design theory with the field of level design.
Fully updated for this third edition, author Christopher W. Totten presents architectural techniques and theories for you to use in your own work. The book connects architecture and level design in different ways that address the practical elements of how designers construct space and the experiential elements of how and why humans interact with that space. The new edition maintains a focus on player-focused design in handmade levels while addressing the ever-evolving technical pipeline.
Throughout the text, you will learn skills for spatial layout, evoking emotion through gamespaces, and creating better levels through architectural theory. This third edition contains a brand-new chapter on how to build levels that better connect with players and hold their interest over longer periods of gameplay, in addition to fully updated references, brand new industry perspectives, as well as a greater emphasis on practical elements of level design throughout.
KEY FEATURES
- Presents case studies that offer insight on modern level design practices, methods, and tools
- Presents perspectives from industry designers, independent game developers, scientists, psychologists, and academics
- Explores how historical structures can teach us about good level design
- Shows how to use space to guide or elicit emotion from players
- Includes chapter exercises that encourage you to use principles from the chapter in digital prototypes, playtesting sessions, paper mock-ups, and design journals
Bringing together topics in game design and architecture, this book helps you create better spaces for your games. Software independent, it discusses tools and techniques that you can use in crafting your interactive worlds.
1 different editions
Also available
Also in
Programming
Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions
Bertot, Yves
Castéran, Pierre
Hardcover
Seven Databases in Seven Weeks: A Guide to Modern Databases and the Nosql Movement
Wilson, Jim
Perkins, Luc
Redmond, Eric
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Collector's Edition
Piggyback
Hardcover
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Matthes, Eric
Paperback
Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity
Nitze, Marina
Weaver, Matthew
Dickerson, Mikey
Paperback
Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software with Genai, Chat, Agents, and Beyond
Yegge, Steve
Kim, Gene
Paperback
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
Kim, Gene
Forsgren Phd, Nicole
Humble, Jez
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Standard Edition
Piggyback
Paperback
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Fourth Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
Fundamentals of Software Architecture: A Modern Engineering Approach
Richards, Mark
Ford, Neal
Paperback
I Have an App Idea: The Essential Guide to Building an App Without Tech Skills
Spann, Amanda
Paperback
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Hattersley, Lucy
Jepson, Brian
Paperback
The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Fournier, Camille
Paperback
Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast
Platt, Charles
Paperback
The Devops Handbook, 2nd Edition: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
Debois, Patrick
Kim, Gene
Humble, Jez
Paperback
Building Applications with AI Agents: Designing and Implementing Multiagent Systems
Albada, Michael
Paperback
The Developer's Guide to AI: A Field Guide for the Working Developer
Reghunadh, Jerry M.
Thompson, Danny
Orshalick, Jacob
Paperback
Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions
McDowell, Gayle Laakmann
Paperback
The New AI Cold War: Liberty vs. Tyranny in the Age of Machine Empires
Maginnis, Ltc Robert L.
Paperback
Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to Html, Css, Javascript, and Web Images
Robbins, Jennifer
Paperback
The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
Reilly, Tanya
Paperback
Software Architecture: The Hard Parts: Modern Trade-Off Analyses for Distributed Architectures
Richards, Mark
Sadalage, Pramod
Ford, Neal
Paperback
The Official Raspberry Pi Handbook 2026: Astounding Projects with Raspberry Pi Computers
Makers of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, The
Paperback
Linux Basics for Hackers, 2nd Edition: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali
Occupytheweb
Paperback
SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL
Shields, Walter
Hardcover
The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition
Thomas, David
Hunt, Andrew
Hardcover
Generative AI Design Patterns: Solutions to Common Challenges When Building Genai Agents and Applications
Lakshmanan, Valliappa
Hapke, Hannes
Paperback
Forecasting: Principles and Practice, the Pythonic Way
Hyndman, Rob J.
Athanasopoulos, George
Paperback
Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence
Miranda, George
Majors, Charity
Fong-Jones, Liz
Paperback
Head First Design Patterns: Building Extensible and Maintainable Object-Oriented Software
Robson, Elisabeth
Freeman, Eric
Paperback
The Return on AI: From Promise to Profit in the Age of Intelligent Business
Sawhney, Mohanbir
Mittal, Ashwin
Paperback
Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the AI Era
Noda, Abi
Forsgren, Nicole
Paperback
Arduino Programming for Beginners: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Learn the Realms of Arduino Programming from A-Z
Protosmith, Ada
Paperback
Building AI-Powered Products: The Essential Guide to AI and Genai Product Management
Nika, Marily
Paperback
Grokking Algorithms, Second Edition: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People
Bhargava, Aditya Y.
Paperback
Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science
Patashnik, Oren
Knuth, Donald
Graham, Ronald
Hardcover
Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems
Agans, David J.
Paperback
Learning Generative AI Tools for Excel: Speed Up Your Everyday Tasks with Microsoft Excel, Copilot, Chatgpt, and Beyond
Duca, Angelica Lo
Paperback
Learning Domain-Driven Design: Aligning Software Architecture and Business Strategy
Khononov, Vlad
Paperback
This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World
Lawrence, Adam
Hormess, Markus Edgar
Stickdorn, Marc
Paperback
The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect's Role in the Digital Enterprise
Hohpe, Gregor
Paperback
Computer Science from Scratch: Building Interpreters, Art, Emulators and ML in Python
Kopec, David
Paperback
Python Programming for Young Coders: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Coding for Beginners, Kids, and Teens
Pandey, Anand
Paperback
Learning Php, MySQL & JavaScript: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites
Nixon, Robin
Paperback
Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time
Manshreck, Tom
Wright, Hyrum
Winters, Titus
Paperback
Pro C# 10 with .Net 6: Foundational Principles and Practices in Programming
Japikse, Phil
Troelsen, Andrew
Paperback
Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families
Cooper, Howard
Diamant, Anita
Paperback
Prompt Engineering for Llms: The Art and Science of Building Large Language Model-Based Applications
Berryman, John
Ziegler, Albert
Paperback
Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience
Greever, Tom
Paperback
Adobe Photoshop, 2nd Edition: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features
Laskevitch, Stephen
Paperback
Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition: Deploying and Managing Containers and Cloud-Native Applications
Conner, Kevin
Luksa, Marko
Paperback
Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
Murphy, Niall Richard
Jones, Chris
Beyer, Betsy
Paperback
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence
Zegart, Amy B.
Paperback
Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It
Monteiro, Mike
Paperback
Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max 9 - Volume 1 (Fifth Edition)
Cipriani, Alessandro
Maurizio, Giri
Paperback