Prima Games, £19.99

Meagan Marie, an author, cosplayer and senior community manager at Crystal Dynamics, interviewed more than 100 women across all areas of the video games industry for this epic compilation. Marie celebrates the notable contribution that women – from artists to programmers to voice actors – have made to gaming throughout the decades. Professionals of Play cheerfully pays tribute to the indispensable work of those who have helped make the gaming industry a global success story, but not always received the credit they deserve.

Boss Fight Books, £11.95

Even if you’ve never played the brilliant 2D side-scroller Shovel Knight or you’ve any interest in the hidden workings of game development, you’ll be gripped by the story of how it became one of the most acclaimed indie games of the decade. David L Craddock explains in great detail how the 2014 game offered a satisfying nostalgia trip for fans who had grown up playing classic NES titles such as Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It was not all plain sailing for developers Yacht Club Games, however, as they grappled with the challenges of faithfully producing a retro game in the modern era. A fascinating read.

University of Washington Press, £23.50

This eye-opening collection of essays serves to remind readers of the power and potential of games as a catalyst for change. According to its co-editor Kishonna L Gray, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, games and gamers are imagining the world anew, amid a culture of dehumanising stereotypes, of hostility, harassment and erasure. Woke Gaming seeks to push readers to recognise persistent inequalities, as well as those who struggle for change within both our virtual worlds and in our everyday communities.

BookBaby, £39.99

Some of the most compelling gaming books of recent years have focused on hardware, rather than software. In this book, Harbin reveals a multitude of quirky facts, including an interesting anecdote about the original PlayStation controller. Members of Sony’s management team had pushed for a much flatter controller that resembled the Super Nintendo’s. But Sony’s president vetoed the idea, remembering being shown an earlier 3D design, which was very similar to the one that eventually shipped with the console. Harbin’s five years of painstaking research into the PlayStation and dozens of other consoles has culminated in a surprisingly entertaining book.

Simon & Schuster, £10.99

If you’ve ever wondered how some of the world’s biggest games companies function on a daily basis, this book is for you. As a narrative designer who has worked on several bestselling franchises, including BioShock, Civilization and Borderlands, Williams is well-placed to provide a sharp commentary on gaming’s big players. His own unusual path to success is also described with blunt honesty. Although his love for the gaming industry is clear, the author is unafraid to criticise his peers for making ego-driven decisions. He also highlights other significant issues such as the industry’s addiction to violence and its struggle to innovate.

University of Minnesota Press, £20

Why do games matter? According to Anable, an assistant professor of film studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, they give people the opportunity to rehearse feelings and emotions. In contrast to 2011’s influential Reality Is Broken by Jane McGonigal, this well-researched and often provocative book suggests that playing games is not about escaping from reality, because our emotions are inextricably linked to them. Playing With Feelings breaks down some fairly weighty themes and theories to create an engaging exploration of how a person’s feelings are influenced by gaming.





