Search for a Book
Search for print books and/or e-books in Scholar OneSearch. There are four views in Scholar OneSearch to convey more clearly what is available domestically and internationally online, and in person at Snell Library in Boston, MA and at F. W. Olin Library at Mills in Oakland, CA.
- Boston Campus (Snell Library) Scholar OneSearchIncludes online materials and print books available at Snell Library on the Boston, MA campus.
- Oakland Campus (F. W. Olin Library) Scholar OneSearchIncludes online materials and print books available at the F. W. Olin Library on the Oakland, CA campus.
- International Campuses Scholar OneSearchIncludes online materials available to users studying at international campuses in Canada and England.
- United States Campuses Scholar OneSearchIncludes online materials available to users studying at campuses in the United States other than Boston, MA and Oakland, CA.
Requesting Print Books from the Snell Library (Boston, MA) Remote Annex
Not all print books are located at Snell Library on the Boston, MA campus. Some print books have been moved to the Remote Annex facility. To request an item located in the Snell Library Remote Annex, follow these directions:
- Make sure you are logged in to your Scholar OneSearch account
- Click the "Request" link under the item you need and submit the form
- We'll send an email when items are ready for pickup at the Help & Information desk
How to Find an E-book
For additional information about accessing e-books, consult our E-book guide.
O'Reilly for Higher Education E-books
- O'Reilly for Higher Education Ebooks This link opens in a new windowE-books on technical topics from professional publishers such as Sam's, O'Reilly, Peachpit, and Que. Includes supplementary videos, learning paths, case studies, interactive tutorials, audio books and more. Includes e-books about game development, game design, and computer science.
- How to create an O'Reilly for Higher Education AccountThis tutorial will guide you through setting up an O'Reilly account with your Northeastern credentials.
Selected New Books
Playful Wearables: Understanding the Design Space of Wearables for Games and Related Experiences by
An expert introduction to the world of “playful wearables” and their design, with a wide range of engaging examples, case studies, and exercises.This pioneering introduction to the world of wearable technology takes readers beyond the practical realm (think Fitbits, Apple Watches, and smartglasses) to consider another important side of the technology—the playful. Playful Wearables offers an engaging account of what “playful wearables” are, why they matter, how they work, how they're made, and what their future might hold. The book's authors draw on decades of experience in design, development, and research to offer real-world examples, exercises, and implications, showing how this kind of wearable tech can introduce an invaluable element of play into our everyday lives.
Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2023
Playing Oppression: The Legacy of Conquest and Empire in Colonialist Board Games by
A striking analysis of popular board games' roots in imperialist reasoning-and why the future of play depends on reckoning with it. Board games conjure up images of innocuously enriching entertainment- family game nights, childhood pastimes, cooperative board games centered around resource management and strategic play. Yet in Playing Oppression, Mary Flanagan and Mikael Jakobsson apply the incisive frameworks of postcolonial theory to a broad historical survey of board games to show how these seemingly benign entertainments reinforce the logic of imperialism. Through this lens, the commercialized version of Snakes and Ladders takes shape as the British Empire's distortion of Gyan Chaupar (an Indian game of spiritual knowledge), and early twentieth-century "trading games" that fated French colonialism are exposed for how they conveniently sanitized its brutality while also relying on crudely racist imagery. These games' most explicitly abhorrent features may no longer be visible, but their legacy still lingers in the contemporary Eurogame tendency to exalt (and incentivize) cycles of exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. An essential addition to any player's bookshelf, Playing Oppression deftly analyzes this insidious violence and proposes a path forward with board games that challenge colonialist thinking and embrace a much broader cultural imagination.
Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2023
Playing Place: Board Games, Popular Culture, Space by
An essay collection exploring the board game's relationship to the built environment, revealing the unexpected ways that play reflects perceptions of space. Board games harness the creation of entirely new worlds. From the medieval warlord to the modern urban planner, players are permitted to inhabit a staggering variety of roles and are prompted to incorporate preexisting notions of placemaking into their decisions. To what extent do board games represent the social context of their production? How might they reinforce or subvert normative ideas of community and fulfillment? In Playing Place, Chad Randl and D. Medina Lasansky have curated a collection of thirty-seven fascinating essays, supplemented by a rich trove of photo illustrations, that unpack these questions with breadth and care. Although board games are often recreational objects, their mythologies and infrastructure do not exist in a vacuum-rather, they echo and reproduce prevalent cultural landscapes. This thesis forms the throughline of pieces reflecting on subjects as diverse as the rigidly gendered fantasies of classic mass-market games; the imperial convictions embedded in games that position player-protagonists as conquerors establishing dominion over their "discoveries"; and even the uncanny prescience of games that have players responding to a global pandemic. Representing a thrilling convergence of historiography, architectural history, and media studies scholarship, Playing Place suggests not only that tabletop games should be taken seriously but also that the medium itself is uniquely capable of facilitating our critical consideration of structures that are often taken for granted.
Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2023
A Practical Guide to Level Design by
Written by a AAA industry expert with over twenty years of experience, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the practical skills that all successful level designers need to know. It covers everything from practical production skills to the social and soft skills required to thrive in the games industry. The book begins with a theoretical and abstract approach that sets a common language for the later hard-skill applications and practical examples. These later chapters cover a wealth of practical skills for use during the concept phase, while creating layouts, scripting, and working with AI. The book includes essential chapters on topics such as social and soft skills, world building, level design direction, production, as well as how to gain a job in the industry. This book will be of great interest to all level designers, content leads and directors looking to enhance their skillset. It will also appeal to students of level and game design looking for tips on how to break into the industry.
Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2023
Run and Jump by
How abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players. Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their audiences. Whether the player scrambles up the ladders in Donkey Kong or leaps atop an impossibly tall pipe in Super Mario Bros., this deceptively simple visual language has persisted in our cultural imagination of video games. In Run and Jump, Peter McDonald surveys the legacy of 2D platform games and examines how abstract and formal design choices have kept players playing. McDonald argues that there is a rich layer of meaning underneath, say, the quality of an avatar's movement, the pacing and rhythm of level design, the personalities expressed by different enemies, and the emotion elicited by collecting a coin. To understand these games, McDonald draws on technical discussions by game designers as well as theoretical work about the nature of signs from structuralist semiotics. Interspersed throughout are design exercises that show how critical interpretation can become a tool for game designers to communicate with their players. With examples drawn from over forty years of game history, and from games made by artists, hobbyists, iconic designers, and industry studios, Run and Jump presents a comprehensive-and engaging-vision of this slice of game history.
Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: 2024
Interlibrary Loan
- ILLiad log-in (Opens in new window)Need a book, book chapter, or article not available at Northeastern? Current US-based Northeastern faculty, staff, and students can request materials that aren't available at the Northeastern University Library through ILLiad, our interlibrary loan software.