I finished reading this book a few months ago and I very much enjoyed it. It is a collection of essays from some of the leading game designers in the business. Each essay is focused on a specific topic which the author is expert in. The essays are well written and thought provoking.

Topics include issues from how to conceptualize the game from an idea seed, how to really design a game with all the components, how to develop the game into a polished product, and finally how to sell the game.

All the articles are very practical and some are inspirational.

The only downside of the book is that because it is written by professionals who now have all the resources of a publisher behind them it can be a bit discouraging. There is just no way for a beginning game designer to do all the things this book tells you to do. It also may very well describe the past rather than the future of game design. The entire business of publishing has been put on its head by Amazon and self-publishing. Upstarts are coming out and showing how the big publishing houses may not be the only way to go. I suspect the same is the case for gaming. We need only look at some of the more popular games today and see that they did not come out of the big publishing houses.

You can find this book on Amazon: Kobold Guide to Board Game Design