The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #003
Massive book drops, some Final Fantasy psychology, and an inspiring interview with Brazilian game designer, Thais Weiller.
Welcome back to another edition of The Video Game Library Newsletter! As always, we’ve got a fantastic issue lined up for you this week.
First, I’ll take you behind the scenes as we (finally!) wrap up the remaining volumes of the Videojuegos Legendarios series, tackle some long overdue strategy guides, and celebrate the blockbuster release of The Minecraft Movie. Then, get ready for a massive list of book announcements and releases from around the world—this is by far the biggest roundup yet! We’ll also dive into a fascinating Final Fantasy psychology book that I highly recommend, as well as the Bloomsbury series of deep dives into the work of influential game designers. To top it off, I had the pleasure of sitting down with game developer and author Thais Weiller, who shares incredible insights on game design and the Brazilian gaming scene.
There’s a lot to explore, so let’s jump right in!
📚 Behind the Shelves
Before we dive into the books added this week, I had the awesome opportunity to guest on the DrunkFriend podcast, part of the Polymedia Network! If you caught last week’s Bonus Post, you’ll remember that DrunkFriend was actually the first podcast to ever feature The Video Game Library way back in its early days, back in 2022. So it was a real full-circle moment getting to return and chat about how this project has grown since.
🎧 You can check out the episode right here
Now onto the cataloging chaos…
This week was a bit more focused than usual—and honestly, it felt good to get in a groove. One of the major highlights was wrapping up the remaining (currently announced) books in the Videojuegos Legendarios series. Nearly 40 new volumes were added! That said, the cover images are still a sore spot; many are low quality, and despite multiple attempts (both from myself and the authors) to contact RBA Editores, we’ve yet to hear back. Definitely a project to revisit down the line.
We were a bit behind on titles from White Owl Books, an imprint of Pen & Sword out of the UK, but we’re officially caught up! The remaining five titles were as follows:
In pop culture news: The Minecraft Movie finally hit theaters—and to my surprise, it’s getting some pretty glowing feedback from audiences! And with every big screen debut comes an inevitable flurry of books. We’ve started cataloging everything from novelizations and making-ofs, to activity books and even a Little Golden Book (yep, those things are still going).
Taylor spent some time this week continuing to chip away at the Angels of Death manga series while Geneviève found some awesome Pokémon Trading Card Game strategy guides to catalog.
And speaking of guides, we tracked down a handful more on Archive.org: classics from Prima, BradyGames, Sybex, Acclaim, and Dimension Publishing. What a lineup!
That wraps up this week’s peek behind the scenes! Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Your feedback helps shape how we deliver these looks behind the curtain.
📰 News & Highlights
April is off to an absolutely crazy start! If you’ve missed any of the awesome announcements from Vol. 001 or Vol. 002 of the Newsletter, be sure to go back and check out those as well.
Without further ado, check out what’s new this week!
Lost in Cult is back with another exciting addition to their Design Works collection: VA-11 Hall-A: Design Works. After teasing it earlier, the official announcement is here, and it’s time to celebrate the world of mixology and cyberpunk storytelling. In fact, the Deluxe Edition actually comes with a bonus book - a replica of the 30 page novella, VA-11 Hall-A: Sapphic Pussy Rhapsody! What a deal! Time to mix drinks and change lives.
World of Tanks fans are in for a treat! The 15th-anniversary celebration continues with World of Tanks: Journey Through Art, coming to us from Cook and Becker. Three different editions will be available, and for long-time collectors, you’ll recall the fantastic World of Tanks 10th Anniversary Art Book from a few years ago. It’s the perfect way to celebrate this iconic franchise!
Hot on the heels of the Minecraft movie release, The Minecraft Movie Junior Novelization is now available in stores. Published by Random House and adapted by David Lewman, this 144-page retelling is a must-read for anyone who wants to relive the action-packed adventure in print.
On the Minecraft note, there’s also a fun collaboration that just dropped: Archie & Friends Level Up! This one-shot comic brings Archie and the gang into the world of video games, featuring over 30 pages of story content with the group taking on Minecraft. A quirky and fun read for fans of both!
Titan Comics has been teasing Diablo comics for a while, and we’re finally getting a taste with Diablo: Dawn of Hatred. Set to be released on Free Comic Book Day, this primer, written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Daniele Serra, is sure to get Diablo fans hyped for the upcoming comic series. Count me in!
Final Fight #4 from Udon Entertainment hit store shelves this week on Apr. 9th. Will Metro City be saved from all-out gang rule? Tune in for more adventures with Haggar, Cody, and Guy in this final issue!
And in Manga news, Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga - Book of Savanclaw Vol. 1 (that was a mouthful) hit store shelves this week. This VIZ Media manga is based off the acclaimed hit mobile title and is translated from the 2023 Japanese series.
Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life is making its way westward by the end of the year. A limited edition will include a beautiful art book, and while there’s little information out now, it’s always great to see these editions!
Pre-orders have just launched this week for Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade. The Deluxe Editions will come complete with a bundled Artbook.
The ever-popular Limited Run Games is releasing Assault Suit Leynos 2, and they’re offering a Saturn Tribute Deluxe Edition that comes with an artbook called the “Unveiled Report”. Fans of the Assault Suit franchise will definitely want to get in on this one!
Continuing the good news from LRG, Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 fame has written the very first Shantae Official Strategy Guide. Pre-orders kicked off on Apr. 10th and are running for several weeks through to May 25th.
Heading across the pond to France, Pix’n Love Editions just announced their latest book - Nolan Bushnell - Le premier Boss du jeu vidéo. As the name suggests, it chronicles the career of Nolan Bushnell, one of the video game industry's most iconic legends, across more than 200 pages.
Meanwhile, Éditions 64K, also based in France, has launched an international crowdfunding campaign for Psygnosis: Game People Play Tome One. This book dives deep into the iconic studio’s history, and I can’t wait to see how this one unfolds.
The global GameDev scene grows as we continue through Europe. Anaya Multimedia just published a Spanish step-by-step guide on how to create video games using Unity - Curso práctico con Unity 3D by David Cantón Nadales.
Héroes De Papel has announced their 3rd entry in the Spanish DeVuego Yearbook series, Anuario DeVuego 2024. It went up for pre-order this week covering 50 Games of the Year, a calendar of Spanish development, and more.
And rounding out the trio of Spanish books, STAR-T Magazine has just announced Colosos en llamas: Xbox o PlayStation, la guerra entre Microsoft y Sony which will be out by the end of the month. It chronicles the console wars of Microsoft and Sony over the years.
Heading farther East, Japanese publisher Shoeisha has released Gameful Design, a Japanese GameStudies book on human behavioral psychology and how the evolution of gamification creates the desire to play.
And ending the roundup with a slight delay. Although its been 7 years since the game’s launch, and The Art of Rust had only just been announced, they’ve confirmed that the release has officially been pushed back a few weeks to September 23rd. Read the latest from The Artbook Collector.
Did I miss something cool? Want to see this layed out differently?
Drop it in the comments or swing by our Discord to share it with the community. Let’s keep this celebration of game-inspired books going strong!
💡 Recommended Read of the Week
The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing the Limit Break edited by Anthony M. Bean
Kishotenketsu storytelling. Gestalt psychology. Heidegger and Dasein. Apotheosis...
Admittedly a few new additions to the ol' vocabulary after reading this book, but words and concepts that have gifted me an entirely new flavor of analysis to some of my favorite games of all time (and beyond).
I loved every single chapter of the Psychology of Final Fantasy. From an eye-opening analysis of the franchise's female archetypes, to a dive into the concepts of memory loss and trauma in FF7. I can speak to the "wholeness" of my own personal FF7 party, and Dr. Rachel Kowert's chapter on Bottom Up storytelling is truly brilliant.
I promise you don't have to have a PhD to love this book. It's wonderfully engaging and enlightening for any fans of the franchise, and one of my favorite "GameStudies" books I've read.
You can find details about The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing The Limit Break here
💾 From the Archives
Each week, I’ll dive deep into the shelves of The Video Game Library to spotlight a hidden gem or forgotten series — with the hope of surprising you with something new, unexpected, or long overlooked. This week, I wanted to share…
…a series about Influential Video Game Designers
Since its debut in 2015 by Bloomsbury, this lineup has become a leading academic collection celebrating industry icons. Each volume explores the careers and contributions of influential game designers, providing critical insight into the creative processes behind some of the most influential games in history.
While scholarly, the books are aimed at both academic and general audiences. They combine interviews, archival research, and developer insights to offer readers a deep dive into the designer’s career, their signature works, and contextual discussions about the games' cultural significance.
So far, the series has covered notable figures like Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Brenda Laurel, and Jane Jensen. As the series expands, it continues to serve as a valuable resource for anyone interested in the intersection of game design, culture, and history. Whether you're a fan of the games or a scholar of the medium, this series offers fresh perspectives on the creators who have shaped modern gaming.
You can find the whole series catalogued right here!
✨ Community Interview
For this week's interview, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Thais Weiller, a game developer, writer, and educator from Brazil. Thais has had an impressive career in game development, balancing roles as a creator of indie platformers, a champion for mental health in games, and a passionate educator.
We delve into her unique journey from studying game design to crafting insightful books for new developers. We discussed her three acclaimed books—Game Start, Pense Pequeno and Como entender e fazer Game Design—and explored how she’s used her experiences in both academia and the Brazilian game scene to shape her approach to game design. Thais also shares her thoughts on the importance of simplicity in development, the power of community, and her commitment to open knowledge through Creative Commons.
Hope you all enjoy this insightful chat with Thais!
For readers who may not know you yet — who is Thais Weiller? Could you share a little about your background and how you became involved in game development?
Oh gee, I hate talking about myself but I don't know. I really like games, I started researching games and ended up doing them too, first as a job and then with Danilo. And that's me, I suppose.
Well, you’ve had an incredibly diverse career — from indie platformers to games exploring mental health, from teaching to public speaking — all while being part of the Brazilian game development scene. How do you balance these different roles, and in what ways have both your varied experiences and cultural background shaped your approach to game design and writing?
I'm not sure, I think I'm just not very good on being idle. And also things here are so unstable that you always need to have a backup plan and a back up to that too. I always loved games but never thought it was something possible to be made here, in Brazil of all places. I got a double bachelor on things I realised I could not work with (or was burned out, hard to tell at 21) so I decided to go to the academic area researching something I really liked, games. But once I started my masters, and I had to move to Sao Paulo for that, I realised for the first time that it was indeed possible to make rent working with games. So I started working for social and mobile game companies while I did my masters.
And that's how I always feel more comfortable, I think, I need to be doing things in different formats at the same time so I can cycle between them. And I also happen to believe that no one can do anything alone, community is the only way we all can really make something meaningful. Making games taught me that, even games made by one person (which are rare) rely on software and knowledge created and shared by so many folk. So yeah, I'm very grateful to everyone who came before and with me because I would not be here without them
You mentioned your Master’s. Your first book, Game Start, grew out of your Master’s dissertation on game design. How did you approach transforming academic research into a more accessible book for game creators?
Oh I love academia, I love the scientific method, I love philosophy. But I'm also a very practical person and though I enjoy my musings, when you are trying to convey a message you need to be very clear with it. And when being clear, the more pragmatic you can be, the better. If you can distil your message to the simpler elements of it and people can not only observe it but also try it out, the message is much more effective. I mean, that's the base of game design right there. If navigating the science realm is fine and even enjoyable for me, I see it as a part of my duty to also assist on its communication to larger audiences. I mean, that's a thing I can do for the community; I can't do everything that needs doing, but that's something I can do and I also enjoy doing.
Speaking of being pragmatic, your second book, Pense Pequeno (Think Small), deals with keeping focus during game development. This was an extremely popular book when I posted it, with a lot of praise from the game dev community. Was this born out of your own struggles in development, or were you addressing common patterns you've observed?
About Pense Pequeno (or think small, a joke on the "think big" concept), it is definitely something from my personal experience but also something I see that most developers also struggle with. When you are doing something you enjoy, you grow to love it so much you want it to be the best possible version of itself. And into this passion, it is very hard to not lose the scope of it. And all of the sudden, you have three new gameplays and systems, characters to match, and the team is still the same size. I've seen a lot of youngsters in particular start their gamedev journey very excited about everything and end up burnt out from never ending project cages of their own desires. So the main idea of pense pequeno is to force yourself, especially in the beginning, to make small projects until you have more sense of the process to know what will really be an interesting project to compromise for a longer time.
How does that advice of simplicity and staying true to a game’s core vision hold up when working on larger, more complex projects like Blazing Chrome or Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider?
I think those messages ring true in all projects, at least from my experience. Even with really big projects, it happens to lose track of the whole thing and to over create things in your area. I never worked on AAA, but I have worked on games with 40-person teams, and it is fascinating how common it is to get into, let's say, the score system, and overcomplicate things in a way it would take much longer to implement and it would be very hard for the player to understand. The best type of complexity in games IMHO is the one that emerges from simple rules. Those are very hard to come up with and balance, but they are totally worth it. On games such Blazing Chrome and Moonrider, decisions need to be made all the time and frequently you can end up complicating things that don't need to be.
Your most recent book, Como entender e fazer Game Design, is aimed at students and new designers. How did teaching game design influence the structure and content of this book?
SO, about the latest book, that's a funny story. I'm a professor on the game development undergrad course here and at some point the university wanted to make an online version of the course. I wrote that book for that, that is literally the structure of the Game Design class I tutor. But after I wrote it, the university decided they would actually not make an online version of the course. So I had all these texts for those classes and no one would ever see it, unless.... That's when I decide to compile it all on one thing and make it available to anyone who wants to read it.
Love it! In fact, all of your books are available for free and under Creative Commons licenses. What motivated you to make this choice instead of going the traditional publishing route?
I'm a big fan of creative commons since I first heard of it and I think knowledge should be free. I mean, I'm only where I am and know what I know due to the kindness of people sharing what they know with me. As I'm in a very privileged position of having two careers that support me well enough, I'm very glad to be able to share what I know to who wants to hear it, and I hope they do the same if they can.
Are there any plans for an English translation?
That would be awesome! I just didn't have the time so far, but anyone who wants to do it can do it without my prior knowledge as it is creative commons. Any translations to any language would be more than welcome really.
Has writing these books changed the way you approach your own design work at JoyMasher or on your personal projects?
Writing helps me formalize mentally things that I do intuitively, and once they are into word form I can test them and improve them, so I'd say writing was critical to my learning. Turning things into words makes them more real, I don't know. These books helped me so much on doing them that I can only wish they will help anyone who reads them as much.
You've mentioned that you want to create experiences that make players uncomfortable enough to reflect and maybe even change their perspective. How does this philosophy show up in both your games and your books?
Well, I think games bring a vast range of emotions, and I try to do that on my projects as a whole. But of course, each title has its own needs, you can try to hit the same key with every project. Of course, what you try to bring with Odallus is different from what rainy day has to offer.
What’s one concept or insight you wish more people — especially new designers — would take to heart from your books?
I think the biggest thing one can take from my writings is unfortunately a lesson I haven't followed to much myself lately, unfortunately. Try to make small experiments, try to release short experiences, try more and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes will always happen, that's part of the deal, better to make a mistake in a 3 months project than in a 3 year game.
Do you see yourself writing more books in the future? Are there specific topics you haven’t yet covered that you would like to explore?
I do want to write more, for sure! I'm doing a PhD at the moment, so there will be a lot of texts to translate to plain English in due time for sure!
Finally, where can readers find your books, follow your work, and keep up with your future projects?
I'm very bad at keeping in touch, unfortunately. There is my website, but I haven't updated it in a while. I will try to update it for this interview though.
Thanks for your time, Thais!
🙏 And THANK YOU for Reading
I hope you found something new to add to your reading list.
As always, your thoughts and feedback are more than welcome—drop a comment, join the conversation in our Discord, or reply directly to this newsletter.
If you’re enjoying these weekly updates, feel free to share them with fellow video game book enthusiasts or consider supporting the project through a paid subscription. Your support helps keep this growing archive alive and thriving.
Until next week — happy reading,
Dean (Founder, The Video Game Library)
Wow, the Video Game Library is such a cool project! Thanks for tackling it. Also appreciate the interview with Thais, very great insight.