There is this article on our favorite resources posted a few weeks back: https://blog.cgcookie.com/our-favorite-resources/
Other than that, I’d definitely recommend Jesse Schell’s book as well. I bought it after watching his TED talk on a similar subject. Definitely got me excited to start thinking about game design with every day things we do. On the other end of that is another book I’d recommend by Jane McGonigal called Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Where Jesse’s book covers the design process, Jane’s covers the psychology behind why people enjoy playing games and the benefits of them. Worth reading in cojunction.
Other similar books that I have and slowly reading are:
Theory of Fun for Game Design
Game Programming Patterns
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development
Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
I also watch GDC videos quite a bit as well as mentioned in the first article I linked. I think they’re a great resource to learn from. Even if you don’t have any idea how they accomplished what they did, just getting the birds eye view of how they work can be quite fun to learn about.
