Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd Edition

Press Start!

If You Are Anything Like Me …

… YOU READ THE first page of a book before you buy it. I find that if I like the first page, I’ll probably like the whole thing. I have noticed that many books have an exciting excerpt on the first page in order to grab the reader’s interest, such as:

The skeleton dragon grabbed the helicopter with bony talons and shook it so hard that Jack’s teeth rattled. Evelyn fought at the controls, attempting any maneuver that would free the copter from beast’s unyielding clutches. “Hang on!” she screamed over the engine’s tortured whine. “We’re going down!” The world whirled around and around as the copter and dragon performed a death waltz. Jack didn’t remember the copter slamming hard into the skyscraper or the crash or the dragon’s bones raining down or being thrown from the wreckage—until Evelyn shook him into consciousness. “Jack! Jack!” she said. “We need to move. Now!” “What’s the hurry, Sis? That dragon’s toast.” Then his eyes finally focused. On the cemetery gate. On the crooked gravestones. On the zombies pulling themselves from the dirt. Jack thought, “Nuts. I should have never opened that book.”

Not that I would ever resort to such cheap tactics in this book. I have also noticed that some books try to gain respectability by publishing a positive quote from an industry professional or famous person on their first page:

I learned more from reading the first page of the second edition of Level Up! The Book of Great Video Game Design than ...