Books: Peter Prokhorenko released a book on game production—"How to Make Good Games"

The book "How to Make Good Games: From Idea to Launch" has appeared on the shelves of Russian bookstores. It was written by Pyotr Prokhorenko, a veteran of the Russian gaming industry, who has made his mark since the early 2000s at Lesta Games, Nival, ONI Studio, Alternativa Games, Green Grey, and many other companies. Incidentally, he recently started working as a producer at Playducky. The editorial team at App2Top talked with Pyotr about the book.

Alexander Semenov, App2Top: Why did you decide to write your book after a quarter of a century in the industry?

Pyotr Prokhorenko

Pyotr Prokhorenko: Several factors influenced this decision. First, 25 years is a significant milestone! Second, I've gathered substantial factual material; after all, the foundation of the book is my projects, almost thirty of them by now. Third, a certain methodology for development has been formed, and more importantly, it has been tested on several large projects. I think it's a natural stage of development: gaining experience, forming your vision, and adding to the collective pool of knowledge.

How would you describe your work? Is it advice from an experienced developer, a checklist to avoid mistakes, or something else?

Pyotr: It's definitely not a checklist because each developer has their unique path to their pitfalls. There is advice, yes—scattered throughout the text. But originally, I intended to write a book about everything good against everything bad. It's not easy because projects are different, and there were plenty of conflict situations. In this regard, I didn't try to find culprits, avoided mentioning companies or individuals, and focused on the mistakes made. I took all responsibility for them in advance, so part of the book serves as an extended "debriefing."

I personally think the most interesting part of the book is highlighting the importance of specific areas in development that directly affect product quality. However, there are generally few books written by developers, and even fewer by producers.

How practical is it, and does it include cases from your experience?

Pyotr: It's 99% practical because its main feature is that all the principles outlined come from my personal practical experience. Just like the proposed pre-production methodology, it has already been used in several projects. In this sense, the book is composed of post-mortems, closed lectures for employees of various companies, real documentation, and just a pinch of stories and anecdotes.

Who do you see as the target audience for the book?

Pyotr: The part of gamers interested in how the industry functions, aspiring developers, junior development specialists, and non-core investors. They all tend to have a fragmented understanding of how the gaming industry works—this book is likely to be quite useful for them.

Professionals directly involved in development and production probably won't find any revelations (which makes sense), but I think getting acquainted with someone else's experience is always interesting. You can compare it to your own, which will lay the foundation for another retrospective. In general, reading is beneficial.

By the way, beta readers of the book came from both the industry and the general reading public. Based on their feedback, it seems we managed to strike a balance between interest and simplicity of presentation. But of course, I'll let the readers have the final say; I will be guided by their reviews.