Game Design Deep Dive
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
Soware dened a new genre that has led to studios chasing aer them hit aer
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.
• e rst 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 diculty in games and why harder doesn’t mean better
Joshua Bycer is a Game Design Critic with more than 7 years of experience
critically analyzing game design and the industry itself. In that time through
Game‑Wisdom.com, he has interviewed hundreds of game developers and mem‑
bers of the industry about what it means to design video games.
Game Design Deep Dive
Soulslike
Joshua Bycer
First edition published 2024
by CRC Press
2385 NW Executive Center Drive, Suite 320, Boca Raton FL 33431
and by CRC Press
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
© 2024 Joshua Bycer
Reasonable eorts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and
publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of
their use. e authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material
reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this
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For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access www.
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and
are used only for identication and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978‑1‑032‑58439‑3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978‑1‑032‑58115‑6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978‑1‑003‑45007‑8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003450078
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