The Technical Side: Building, Sharing and Growing

A design on paper doesn't make anyone's life more wonderful yet. It has to be built, shared and kept alive, and the person who designed it has to keep growing while that happens. That's this part.

It starts with what a game designer actually does, which is often misunderstood even inside the industry. Then the design process from the first idea to a playable game, how to work with other people, and everything around the game that's still part of the game: marketing, money, and how studios relate to each other. Then the subjects that need careful handling: violence, flammable content, gender equity and the dangers outside. Then three walkthroughs that put the whole book together on real designs, my own story of how I learned this, and finally, what a good game is.

The parts, tools and methods a project needs depend completely on its purpose. So, as with Part IV: take what serves your purpose, and leave the rest.