Game Design Deep Dive

For this entry in the Game Design Deep Dive series, it’s a look at how the “soulslike” genre with its unique design became popular over the 2010’s and culminating with one of the bestselling games of 2022 with Elden Ring.

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Game Design Critic Joshua Bycer is back with another entry in the Game Design Deep Series to focus on the youngest genre yet: soulslikes. Over a decade, From Software defined a new genre that has led to studios chasing after them hit after hit. In this book, Josh will cover the history of the genre and popular soulslike games of the 2010s and discuss what aspects of design make a game a soulslike.



The first book looking at the history of the genre
A breakdown of both action and RPG design for fans and designers of both
A lesson on difficulty in games and why harder doesn’t mean better