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是印第安納大學伯明頓分校的實踐型教授，也是遊戲設計課程的負責人。

自1994年以來，Sellers一直以職業遊戲設計師的身份專注於社交、移動以及大型多人在綫遊戲（MMO）的設計。他曾成功成立並運營3個遊戲工作室，也曾以首席設計師、執行製作人、總經理、創意總監等身份供職於3DO、EA、Kabam及Rumble Entertainment等知名遊戲開發公司。

他的第一款商業遊戲是曾獲殊榮的《子午綫59》（Meridian 59），1996年發行，是世界上第一款3D MMO。他同時也是《模擬人生2》（The Sims 2）、《網絡創世紀》（Ultima Online）、《度假村》（Holiday Village）、《爆彈戰士》（Blastron）、《狂神國度》（Realm of the Mad God）等遊戲的首席設計師。

在遊戲領域的工作之外，他還牽頭發布瞭有關人工智能的獨創性研究。此項研究由美國國防高級研究計劃局（DARPA）提供部分資助，主要專注於“社交人工智能”——創造在各種社交場閤均錶現得體的智能體。這些潛心研究使得Sellers在下述領域取得瞭重大突破：令人工智能體基於統一的心理結構進行學習、構建社會關係、擁有並錶達情感。

Sellers持有認知科學學士學位。除瞭設計遊戲與研究AI，他還曾是一名軟件工程師、用戶界麵設計師、RPG微縮雕刻傢，以及短暫的馬戲團臨時工、群眾演員。

Sellers的貝肯數為2，他希望有朝一日能擁有一個埃爾德什數