Videogame Atlas Is A Love Letter To Game Levels & Architecture

I love video games, I love architecture and I love fancy books about both, so the upcoming Videogame Atlas is something I am super interested in checking out when it releases.

The book, which takes “influence from late-20th-century experimental architecture publications”, has been written by Luke Caspar Pearson and Sandra Youkhana (both architectural designers with a strong interest in video game worlds), and is described on its listing as:

Through panoramic maps, intricate exploded diagrams and illustrations all prepared exclusively for this publication, Videogame Atlas presents wholly new perspectives on twelve popular videogame worlds. Taking influence from late-20th-century experimental architecture publications, this large-format book offers a playful yet detailed new way of seeing these beloved virtual environments using the practices and thinking behind architectural theory in the real built environment.

Titles such as Minecraft, Assassin’s Creed Unity, and Final Fantasy VII are analyzed and explored in depth in over 200 illustrations at the micro and macro scale, each supported by informed commentary and architectural thinking – the ‘fourth wall’ of familiar virtual worlds are breached and deconstructed as complex urban landscapes. For videogame fans, architects and visual artists alike, this information-rich yet sumptuous publication gives a rare glimpse into the staggering complexities of modern videogame design, delighting the eye and enriching the brain on every page.

The full list of games covered is Assassin’s Creed Unity, Cities: Skylines, Dark Souls, Death Stranding, Dwarf Fortress, Final Fantasy VII + Remake, Fortnite, Katamari Damacy, Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, Persona 5 and Stardew Valley.

The book will be getting a general release in book stores in the Fall, but there’s also a special edition that’s launching online via publishers Read-Only Memory (whose works we’ve covered a few times before). Limited to 500 copies, it costs £75 (USD$95) and “features an exclusive slipcase and three specially commissioned prints.”

You can check out and order this fancier edition here.