Articles & Books From Games

Video Game Design For Dummies
Learn what it takes to design a video game, as a hobby or as a career! Video Game Design For Dummies teaches you what it takes to design games from concept to completion. You'll learn the theory behind great gaming experiences, and you'll discover tools you can use to bring your game ideas to life. An experienced video game developer teaches you the basics of game design and how to motivate and engage players.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-21-2025
Creating a video game can feel as challenging as mastering a final boss fight. Whether you’re just curious about how video games are built or dreaming of designing your own, the process is full of moving parts, creative choices, and technical steps. This cheat sheet outlines the game design skills, tips, and resources you'll need to bring your video game vision to life.
Minecraft Basics For Dummies
The easy way to get started with Minecraft Want to creep into the biggest video game of all time? Grab your pickaxe and let's go! Minecraft Basics For Dummies helps you (or your kids) get started and join the infinite online world that keeps millions of players of all ages engaged every day. Inside this portable-trim book, crafters will get all the tips and tricks needed to get started—on their own or with multiple players—in each of the three gameplay modes.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-20-2022
To master Minecraft, you must gather resources in the three major areas of the game: the Overland, the mines, and the Nether. Being prepared with these resources allows you to survive, build, create, and advance through the game.Getting started in the OverlandThe majority of survival gameplay takes place in the extensive biomes found in the Overland.
Card Games For Dummies
The perfect book for when you’re ready to move beyond 52-card pickup Feeling rummy? Ready to bridge the gap? In the mood to go fish? Card Games For Dummies is your source for rules, strategy, and fun. You’ll learn everything you need to know to play and win at your family’s favorite games, plus a bunch of others that are probably new to you.
Casino Gambling For Dummies
Maximize your odds on the casino floorCasinos are designed for distraction, so it helps to know a bit about when the odds are in your favor and when they’re not before you push a stack of chips onto a table. Professional blackjack player Kevin Blackwood and lifelong sports bettor Swain Scheps know a thing or two about casino gambling.
Texas Hold'em For Dummies
The most fun you can have learning Texas Hold’em (and we ain’t bluffin’) Playing Texas Hold’em is about the most fun you can have with two cards in your hand. Navigating the slang, rules, and intricacies of the game can be challenging, though. With Texas Hold’em For Dummies, 2nd Edition, you’ll learn the tricks you need to know to win your first online or in-person game.
Article / Updated 08-04-2022
The Queen’s Gambit is more than the name of the latest Netflix mega-hit. It’s one of the oldest and best openings in the game of chess and the one Beth, the main character in The Queen's Gambit, uses (spoiler alert!) to defeat Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov to become the world’s top chess player. Going for the Queen's Gambit.
Sports Betting For Dummies
The sports gambling book you can bet on Sports betting combines America's national pastime (sports) with its national passion (gambling). In the U.S., more than a third of the population bets on at least one sporting event every year. With the recent lifting of the federal ban on sports gambling, states are pushing legislation to take advantage of the new potential source of revenue.
Article / Updated 05-19-2020
Baseball bettors tend to get enamored of teams on a roll. As pitchers get hot, and especially as the teams themselves start to roll, their odds get slightly longer than they’re worth. And the inverse is true as well: Teams who have hit rough waters look worse in the eyes of the average bettor than they really are.
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