Videogame Atlas examines 12 modern game environments in rich detail

Have you ever wanted to examine the worlds of your favorite games through the lens of real-life architecture? If so, you’ll absolutely love Videogame Atlas! The new book chronicles video game world building through panoramic maps, intricate diagrams as well as custom illustrations.

Read-Only Memory announced the project today on Twitter. In addition, they revealed that the ROM edition will only have 500 copies available.

With its large-format design, Videogame Atlas also draws inspiration from late-20th-century experimental architecture publications. Authored by architectural designers Luke Caspar Pearson and Sandra Youkhana, the publication will also allow gamers a new way of viewing their favorite virtual worlds with diagrams modeled after real-word architectural theory. With over 400 illustrations on both a large and small scale, the book analyzes the thought process behind world-building and design.

The 12 games examined in Videogame Atlas include:

• Assassin’s Creed Unity
• Cities: Skylines
• Dark Souls
• Death Stranding
• Dwarf Fortress
• Final Fantasy VII
• Fortnite
• Katamari Damacy
• Minecraft
• No Man’s Sky
• Persona 5
• Stardew Valley

In addition to detailed diagrams and illustrations, the authors also add informative commentary about each of these titles and relate them to “complex urban landscapes”. Overall, Videogame Atlas reveals the intricacies that go into designing creative, yet believable game worlds.

Authors Pearson and Youkhana are also highly passionate about connecting the worlds of gaming and architecture. Together, the two run their own studio that examines how video game technology can be integrated within architectural design.

The aesthetic experience of videogames is immersive yet fragmentary, inconsistent and often seemingly illogical. We might die thousands of times in a game world but also feel at home there.

Luke Caspar Pearson and Sandra Youkhana

Pre-order Videogame Atlas today!

Although the standard publication will be available at general bookstores this fall, the Read-Only Memory edition of Videogame Atlas is available to pre-order now on Volume. However, those who wish to pre-order the ROM version will need to act quickly, as there are only 500 copies available. This special edition sports a sleek custom slipcase, stamped in black holographic foil.

In addition, the ROM version of the publication also includes three exclusive art prints. These prints draw on the structures and game-world topographies featured in the book and are designed to frame both vertically or horizontally. The artworks are also printed in a bold Pantone pink and finished with a high gloss UV laminate.

What do you think about Videogame Atlas? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Via Twitter