Spelunky - Derek Yu (Game Design)

may

When Derek Yu released Spelunky for free in 2008, his roguelike-inspired platformer took the indie game community by storm with its combination of classic platform mechanics, extreme difficulty, and random level generation. Four years later, Spelunky's HD remake went on to become PC Gamer's Game of the Year and earn perfect scores from Polygon and Eurogamer. But how is a "perfect" game made?

Spelunky is Boss Fight's first autobiographical book: the story of a game's creation as told by its creator. Using his own game as a vehicle, Derek Yu discusses such wide-ranging topics as randomization, challenge, indifferent game worlds, player feedback, development team dynamics, and what's required to actually finish a game. Grab some ropes, a mattock, and your favorite pug—this book is going to dig deep.

Derek Yu is the creator of Spelunky, co-creator of the game Aquaria, and editor-in-chief of The Independent Gaming Source, an indie game development community and news site.


"Maybe the best primer on game design ever written." - Zach Gage

"Well-written and humble throughout, the book humanizes a game that many developers and fans see as an unreachable pinnacle of minimalist design brilliance." - Destructoid

"Seriously, if you have any interest in game design or development, get this book." - Rami Ismael

"Spelunky might be our Understanding Comics." - Adam Saltsman

"A fascinating tour of [Spelunky's] inner workings. [...] Coming from a developer who’s crafted one of the most intriguing, influential releases of the last decade, [the book is an] insightful look at how something so obsession-worthy comes together." - A.V. Club