In Advanced Game Design, pioneering game designer and instructor Michael Sellers situates game design practices in a strong theoretical framework of systems thinking, enabling designers to think more deeply and clearly about their work, so they can produce better, more engaging games for any device or platform. Sellers offers a deep unifying framework in which practical game design best practices and proven systems thinking theory reinforce each other, helping game designers understand what they are trying to accomplish and the best ways to achieve it. Drawing on 20+ years of experience designing games, launching game studios, and teaching game design, Sellers explains:

What games are, and how systems thinking can help you think about them more clearly

How to systematically promote engagement, interactivity, and fun

What you can learn from MDA and other game design frameworks

How to create gameplay and core loops

How to design the entire player experience, and how to build game mechanics that work together to create that experience

How to capture your game’s “big idea” and Unique Selling Proposition

How to establish high-level and background design and translate it into detailed design

How to build, playtest, and iterate early prototypes

How to build your game design career in a field that keeps changing at breakneck speed

Michael Sellers是印第安纳大学伯明顿分校的实践型教授，也是游戏设计课程的负责人。

自1994年以来，Sellers一直以职业游戏设计师的身份专注于社交、移动以及大型多人在线游戏（MMO）的设计。他曾成功成立并运营3个游戏工作室，也曾以首席设计师、执行制作人、总经理、创意总监等身份供职于3DO、EA、Kabam及Rumble Entertainment等知名游戏开发公司。

他的第一款商业游戏是曾获殊荣的《子午线59》（Meridian 59），1996年发行，是世界上第一款3D MMO。他同时也是《模拟人生2》（The Sims 2）、《网络创世纪》（Ultima Online）、《度假村》（Holiday Village）、《爆弹战士》（Blastron）、《狂神国度》（Realm of the Mad God）等游戏的首席设计师。

在游戏领域的工作之外，他还牵头发布了有关人工智能的独创性研究。此项研究由美国国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）提供部分资助，主要专注于“社交人工智能”——创造在各种社交场合均表现得体的智能体。这些潜心研究使得Sellers在下述领域取得了重大突破：令人工智能体基于统一的心理结构进行学习、构建社会关系、拥有并表达情感。

Sellers持有认知科学学士学位。除了设计游戏与研究AI，他还曾是一名软件工程师、用户界面设计师、RPG微缩雕刻家，以及短暂的马戏团临时工、群众演员。

Sellers的贝肯数为2，他希望有朝一日能拥有一个埃尔德什数