What do you get your video game-obsessed friends and cousins on their birthdays or their special days? Books are something we advise. They are less expensive than a game and generally not well-publicized.
A decade ago, the bookstore’s tiny “video game” segment encased a few art books, cheat code collections, and strategy guidebooks. However, in recent times, the environment has vastly improved. You can not only find decent books about video games, but you have options to choose from. Biographies on games, graphic novels, and encyclopedic catalogs are all available.
We have scoured the internet for the 10 best gaming books for you to read, and set a broad net in our shortlist.
Let’s begin!
Top 10 Gaming Books
1. The Witcher
Highlights
Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: Gollancz
You’ve played The Witcher video game if you are a pc gaming freak, seen Henry Cavill’s wizened jawline on Netflix, and are probably looking forward to the upcoming board game transition. But have you read the novel? Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels are the catalyst for what has become the ultimate dream concept since Game of Thrones.
Fortunately, they hold up well and touch on the same moral ambiguity, political drama, and classic horror action which we’ve come to expect from their adaptations.
It serves as an accessible introduction to the series, introducing the Continent’s world, its lifeforms, and the subplots of the series’ central characters.
You can buy this book from here.
2. Blood, Sweat, And Pixels
Highlights
Author: Jason Schreier
Publication Year: 2017
Publisher: Harper Paperback
The author takes you behind the scenes of modern developing games with an honest, curt, and uncompromising look into the feelings. There has been a coercive development of online games. Blood and Pixel resolution follow the development of some of the most popular games of the last decade. It documents the buried challenges and pure feelings that developers face from bewildering highs to anxious lows.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, on the other hand, never lose their charm or their concentration on what video games mean to both players and creators. It has remarkable access, and its revelations are eye-opening.
You’ll have a newfound respect for the publishing squabbles, financial challenges, and creative differences that characterize game development. Moreover, it is entertaining for those who voluntarily submit themselves to its thrills and horrors.
You can buy this book from here.
3. Games
Highlights
Author: Edward Ross
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: Particular Books
Gamish is a delight to read. It’s an entertaining record of the collective memory of games described in a brilliantly outlined graphic novel. The book is more of a commemoration of gaming, for its accomplishments as well as its bright future. It not only examines the video game industry’s blockbuster titles but also their surrounding cultural significance.
It’s a comprehensive account. Interestingly, it also contains a few surprises for those who recognize the gaming history. The book traces gaming from the 8-bit period to its modern interpretation, while jumping between casual titles like The Sims.
Gamish is a quick read that doesn’t contain any surprises, but its insights are spot on, and the gorgeous pastel-colored illustrations add to the overall experience.
You can buy this book from here.
4. The Games That Weren’t
Highlights
Author: Bitmap Books
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: Bitmap books
The Games That Weren’t is a great collection of fateful video games. Unreleased games and components from 1975 to 2015 have been cataloged, along with screenshots, illustrations, plans, and creator interviews, by Frank Gasking. After turning through the over 80 canceled projects, you will wish to play those canceled games once in your lifetime.
With a variety of games that couldn’t release in the market, Frank Gasking has done an immense job in pointing out the errors and reasons.
It can be a wonderful book to read for game developers. Additionally, you can also fetch ideas on what to avoid while developing games.
You can buy this book from here.
5. The Skyrim Library
Highlights
Author: Bethesda Softworks
Publication Year: 2017
Publisher: Titan Books
Gaming graphic novels aren’t just for side tables. They also offer fascinating insights into the artistic endeavors behind game design and development along with new perspectives on your favorite games. The Skyrim Library is at the forefront. This book has a collection of various original artworks and sketches created during the development of Skyrim. Furthermore, it can be considered the definitive collection of the things creatively linked to the game.
However, it is not just an account of vivid illustrations. Each book contains vast amounts of extended storyline explainers, lovely maps, and exciting historical explanations of Tamriel’s world. It is a must-have for Skyrim and fantasy fans who applaud the creation of amazing make-believe realms.
You can buy this book from here.
6. Playing At The World
Highlights
Author: Jon Peterson
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Unreason Press
Playing at the World is a thorough examination of the historical past of tabletop games, tracing its roots. This book is focused, enlightening, and thoroughly researched. It documents the genre’s history dating back to the 18th-century wargames. Its dependence on a large survey of primary resources makes it a convincing source on the subject. Some texts can be academic, so be prepared for a few dry sections.
The contents are divided into two parts. To begin, a brief history of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), including its origins in wargaming and the development of the concept of tabletop role-playing games. Secondly, the incorporation of those ideas into broader gaming, as well as their parallels with other hobbies.
If you’re looking for a historical source of D&D that delves into its framework within gaming, then this is the best for you!
You can buy this book from here.
7. Masters Of Doom
Highlights
Author: David Kushner
Publication Year: 2004
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperback
Masters of Doom by David Kushner is widely known as one of the best video gaming history books ever written. It delves into the roots of the most famous first-person shooter of all time, and how it completely altered the gaming terrain. An inspiring, if occasionally cautionary, account of what it was like for these young minds to create games like Quake and Doom.
The vivid portrait explains why this game is so violent. It is a masterfully crafted fantasy world.
It shows how the creators funneled their rage and imagination into the gaming products that have had a significant effect on our culture. This is a story about friendship and disloyalty, business and art. It’s a moving and compassionate portrayal of what it’s like to be young, ambitious, and wildly innovative.
You can buy this book from here.
8. Jacked: The Outlaw Story Of Grand Theft Auto
Highlights
Author: David Kushner
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Wiley
After the success of Masters of Doom, David Kushner returned with the origins of Grand Theft Auto, one of the most infamous and best-selling video game franchises ever. The book covers everything GTA has witnessed from its beginnings to controversies like “Hot Coffee,” and how complex and difficult the company is.
Despite its extraordinary advancements in the $75 billion video game industry, it has also become a lightning rod for controversy, prompting accusations of sexual and cultural discrimination, glorifying violence, and trying to incite real-life crimes. Jacked tells the tumultuous and largely unknown narrative of GTA’s wildly ambitious makers, action & adventure games developed, as well as the franchise’s creation and evolution.
The book also highlights the social and political backlash it has sparked.
You can buy this book from here.
9. A Game of Birds And Wolves
Highlights
Author: Simon Parkin
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Company
Game of Birds and Wolves is a war story, a gaming history, and a thriller that focuses on Captain Gilbert Roberts and the ten women of WRENS, the Women’s Royal Naval Service. The women were assigned to his squad to discover the strategies behind the German U-boats’ ruthless accomplishments. They collaborated on a wonderful board game and played on a floor much bigger than your greatest copy of Monopoly.
Model ships had to be moved across a make-believe ocean on vinyl flooring divided into plastered squares, similar to the childhood game battleship. The designers devised “Operation Raspberry,” a counter-offensive that helped change the course of World War II, through the game. The aim was to aid the British Navy in combating German U-boats during World War II.
Parkin’s nonfiction book has the speed and grace of great prose. This is a page-turner, and it’s the ideal gift for any history buff, gamer, or who cannot differentiate between Minecraft and Fortnite.
You can buy this book from here.
10. The Infinite Playground
Highlights
Author: Bernie DeKoven
Publication Year: 2020
Publisher: The MIT Press
If someone says that the gaming industry is more significant than the movie and television industries in terms of raw revenue, my mind will crawl out of my nostrils in desperation.
So much writing about the business of games reflects desperation, clinginess, a willingness to be regarded as engaging and meaningful.
Instead of the complex datasets that would support, disprove or complicate such an assertion, we get shallow analysis that picks a few flashy random facts and factoids. It’s evangelism through book publishing. Joost van Dreunen’s latest book is a drizzle of cold water on the video game industry. It’s not negative, but it’s unusually level-headed.
You can buy this book from here.
Conclusion
Your bookshelf will not stay vacant for long. There is a plethora of fantastic gaming literature available, catering to all types of readers. The above gaming books have it all, whether you want a light read about your favorite game or want to delve deep into the biggest games.
We hope you would likely choose one of these books from the list for your next read and suggest your friends too. We would love to hear from you in the comments section below about the reviews and books we missed out on.
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