10 Best Unity Books for Game Development in 2024

Introduction

The gaming industry is a billion-dollar industry. Unsurprisingly, it can lead to one of the most lucrative career options. If you are trying to make inroads into game development, there are many big gaming engines from where you can start your journey. Unity is the most popular choice in that category. Here are the top 10 Unity Books.

But first, let us understand more about Unity.

What is Unity?

Unity is a cross-platform game engine that was developed in 2005 by Unity technologies. This is a highly popular gaming engine supported by various platforms, such as desktops, laptops, virtual reality platforms, etc. It is mostly famous for iOS and Android mobile game development. In addition, Unity can be used to create both 2-D and 3-D games, simulations, and other varied experiences.

What makes Unity the best game development platform?

Unity has some stunning features that makes it the best game development platform available. Take a look:

Multiple platforms supported (laptops, desktops, VR platforms, tablets, etc.).
High quality visual effects.
Active community.
Users friendly for both beginners and experts.
Fast and agile.
Easy to learn and master.

If you wish to learn more, there is no shortage of Unity books on the market. In fact, you may be spoilt for choices looking for books on the subject. To help you with your endeavor to learn the subject, here’s a compilation of the top 10 books on Unity and Game development.

10 Best Unity Books

1. Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development

Originally Published- 2014
Author – Jeremy Gibson Bond
Level- Beginner

Description- This is an excellent book for any beginners looking to learn Unity. The chapters are concise and explained in a beginner-friendly tone. So, any game design enthusiast will find it to be a handy resource. As a side note, the author, Jeremy Gibson, is an independent game developer and professor with over a decade of experience.

While the writing tone is easy to follow, the book does an exceptional job of introducing a novice to the use of prototypes in game design. The book revolves around making something playable as soon as possible.

The book is divided into three parts:

Part I: Game Design and Paper Prototyping
Part II: Digital Prototyping with Unity and C# Programming
Part III: Game Prototype Examples and Tutorials

2. Learning C# from Developing Games with Unity 5.x

Originally Published- 2016
Author-Greg Lukosek
Level- Beginner

Description- This short read is a great way to start you on the path to 2D game development. As the name suggests, it uses C# to develop games. The latest edition of the book had a recent update that includes the newest version of Unity.

Also, you can rely on the new edition to get the gist of intermediate C# collection types like Stacks, Queues, and HashSets. A complete beginner might not find this an easy read, which is a major drawback.

As the book is relatively short, it doesn’t explain everything. However, it does an excellent job explaining the fundamentals. While the book is mainly about the basics, it ends the last two chapters discussing higher-level topics.

3. Unity UI Cookbook

Originally published- 2015
Author- Francesco Sapio
Level- Intermediate

Description- If you want to study UI design for Unity game, this is one of the best books to get your hands on. The book provides 60 ready-made solutions to readers that it terms as ‘recipes.’ Keeping in mind the title of the book, it concentrates on teaching interface elements like health bars, item indicators, power up gauges, etc. in 3D.

More importantly, the book even teaches you to make a minimap of your gaming world. This book is a 280 pages guide to making your game more immersive.

4. Unity Game Development in 24 Hours

Originally Published-
Author- Mike Geig
Level- Beginner to Intermediate

Description- This book is a comprehensive guide to Unity. It is a beginner-friendly book. As such, you don’t require any prior knowledge to gain the most out of it. It gives an insight into Unity by asking you to build four games.

The book may be considered as an introduction to Unity. It is easy to follow and covers various topics like game deployment, game interface, Unity game objects, etc. Also, it highlights common gaming development pitfalls and how to avoid them. You can count on it to learn strategies for performing specific tasks efficiently.

5. Developing 2D Games with Unity

Originally Published- 2018
Author- Jared Halpern
Level- Beginner to intermediate

Description- Author, Jared Halpern starts this book with a brief history of the gaming industry and its present state. It then introduces the basics of Unity and builds a foundation to develop games in further chapters. Ample exercises are provided in the subsequent chapters to practice the concepts taught in the previous chapters.

The book ends with a chapter dedicated to guiding readers on progressing further with the knowledge imparted. This book is a complete guide to developing 2D games from scratch. It is a beginner-friendly book, and even readers with intermediate knowledge of the subject would find it handy.

6. Unity From Zero to Proficiency (Foundations)

Originally Published- 2017
Author- Patrick Felicia
Level- Beginner

Description- As the name suggests, this book starts from the zero of Unity and guides the reader to proficiency. This beginner-level book requires no prior knowledge. It covers topics like basics of Unity, core features of Unity, Unity interface, etc. The book is divided into six chapters that progress in difficulty level as we move forward. It is an easy book to start your Unity journey.

“Unity From Zero to Proficiency” is an excellent pick for anyone trying to introduce themselves to Unity. This book is part of a series. So, if you find the book helpful, other books can build on the foundations provided by this one.

7. Unity in Action: Multiplatform Game Development in C# with Unity 5

Originally Published- 2018
Author- Joe Hocking
Level- Beginner to intermediate

Description- “Unity in Action,” written by Joe Hacking, is an excellent introduction to Unity. It is perfect for newbies or app developers switching to game development. The book is written with a certain level of clarity, which makes reading it easy.

You get a free Kindle or PDF version with the book. You should make sure to download the same as it will help you search the keywords. The book consists of 12 chapters which are divided into three segments, each of four chapters.

The first part is an introduction to Unity, adding enemies and projectiles.
The second part of the book is about making newbies comfortable with Unity. Also, it walks you through strategies for adding interactive devices and items within the game.
The third and final part is about making your game complete with sound effects and music.

See Also: Android App Development Books

8. Unity 5.x Cookbook

Originally Published- 2015
Author- Matt Smith, Chico Queiroz
Level- Beginner to intermediate

Description- Unlike other books on the list, this book by Matt Smith and Chico Queiroz is helpful to everyone. From newbies trying their hand in game development to professional coders shifting to gaming designs, it has something for everyone.

However, if you are someone who’s already built games with Unity, you’ll find this book particularly useful. Why? Well, it propels your game development to the next level. The author’s fun approach to teaching Unity makes the 570 pages book an easy read.

9. Mastering Unity 2D Game Development

Originally Published- 2014
Author- Ashley Godbold, Simon Jackson
Level- Intermediate

Description- As the name suggests, the book’s prime focus is to master Unity 2D game development. It is important to note that before starting with this book, it is beneficial to understand C# and some fundamentals of game development.

While you don’t have to be an expert on the subject, a basic understanding before reading would get the most out of this book. If you are a game developer who wants to concentrate on 2D games, this is your best bet. Also, you should insist on buying the second edition of the book, as the first one covers Unity 4.6

10. Unity 5.x By Example

Originally Published- 2016
Author- Alan Thorn
Level- Beginner

Description- This beginner-friendly book written by Alan Thorn teaches Unity with the help of examples. The book teaches components and game objects with the Unity interface. You can learn how to construct a game from scratch.

It is an excellent book if you have some basic understanding of Unity. Reading this book would feel like someone is walking you through game development in a step-by-step manner.

Conclusion

Game development is an enormous subject in itself and Unity is just a part of it. Even in Unity, there’s a lot to learn, and there’s no single book to know it all. Depending on the skill set, different Unity Books can be helpful to different people. Advanced programmers would love Unity in Action, whereas someone completely new would prefer a step-by-step guide like Teach Yourself Unity in 24 Hours.

People are also reading:

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is the best way to learn Unity?

Answer: The best way to learn Unity is to take a comprehensive course accompanied by the best books to read. This way, you can go through the concepts more thoroughly and understand them in-depth.

Question: Which language does Unity supports?

Answer: According to its official documentation, Unity natively supports C#. You can also use C++, but the process is less friendly and complex.

Question: What is Unity best for?

Answer: Unity is a multi-platform environment for creating cross-platform AR/VR apps, mobile games, and console games.

Question: Is Unity easy for beginners?

Answer: As Unity does not require advanced programming skills, it is easy to use and learn.

Question: How long does it take to master Unity?

Answer: It may take around three to six months to master Unity. If you already have experience with object-oriented programming languages or possess some game development skills, it may require around 3 months.