Challenges for Game Designers gives a brief description of game design components in each chapter and challenges the reader to use said components in non-digital exercises. These non-digital exercises take the form of essays, paper prototypes, and group activities.Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber do a great job of getting the reader's feet wet in real life game design scenarios, however I would not recommend this book as someone's first introduction to the world of game design. Design components are not expanded upon in great detail, and often times the author cites a url or lists another book for the reader to explore in order to find more information on the topic being discussed. Challenges for Game Designers is best read after, or in conjunction with, another source that goes into further detail on game design components (like Jesse Schell's Art of Game Design).
With that said, Challenges for Game Designers is a game changer (pun intended). It is not Brenda and Ian's explanation of design theory that makes this book so valuable, but the way they encourage the reader to practice thinking through game design challenges. I recommend this book for anyone who has a basic understanding of game design and is ready to start practicing the art.
**Side note: There is one chapter on the subject of video games as art. I have encountered this topic several times so far in my studies, and it seems as if this is the civil rights movement for the video game industry. The authors of Challenges for Game Designers are very passionate about this subject and provide some strong arguments for why video games should be viewed as art. I will have to explore this topic further.
