Some time ago Austen Allred asked Twitter for game design book recommendations. Here are the crowdsourced suggestions:
- Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
- The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell
- Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design by Scott Rogers
- Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences by Tynan Sylvester
- Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal
As a bonus, folks also mentioned a Standford lecture on How to design addictive games and the Game Maker’s Toolkit community (Youtube / Twitter).