Best Unity Books 2023

Updated March 27, 2023

Unity in Action: Multiplatform game development in C#

Unity in Action: Multiplatform game development in C# by Joe Hocking will help you learn to write and deploy games with Unity. You will master the Unity toolset from the ground up. This Unity courses will give you the skills you need to go from application coder to developer. This practical guide shows every aspect of the dev process, including the initial groundwork, creating custom AI scripts and building easy-to-read UIs.

Thousands of new game developers have chosen Joe Hocking’s Unity in Action as their first step toward Unity mastery. Starting with the initial groundwork of a new game development project, you’ll quickly start writing custom code instead of clicking together premade scripts. This fully updated third edition comes packed with fully refreshed graphics, Unity’s latest features, and coverage of augmented and virtual reality toolkits. You’ll master the Unity toolset from the ground up, learning the skills to go from application coder to game developer.

You will learn how to:

Create characters that run, jump, and bump into things
Build 3D first-person shooters and third-person action games
Construct 2D card games and side-scrolling platformers
Script enemies with AI
Improve game graphics by importing models and images
Design an intuitive user interface for your games
Play music and spatially-aware sound effects
Connect your games to the internet for online play
Deploy your games to desktop, mobile, and the web

This is one of the best Unity books for beginners in 2023.

Hands-On Unity 2022 Game Development: Learn to use the latest Unity 2022 features to create your first video game in the simplest way possible, 3rd Edition

Unity is a cross-platform game engine that provides you with powerful but simple-to-use features to solve the most common problems in Game Development, such as rendering, animation, physics, sound, and effects. You’ll learn to use these features to create simple but complete games (and all the nuances needed to handle Unity).

Complete with hands-on tutorials and projects, this book will teach you to use the Unity game engine, create C# and visual scripts, integrate graphics, sound, and animations, and manipulate physics to create interesting mechanics for your game. You’ll then code a simple AI agent to challenge the user and work with profiling tools to ensure code efficiency. Finally, you’ll work with Unity’s AR tools to create AR experiences for 3D apps and games before publishing them to the world. If you are interested in creating impressive, commercial-quality games that are playable on a variety of platforms, then you’ve come to the right place.
You will learn:

Build a game prototype that includes gameplay, player and non-player characters, assets, animations, and more
Set up and navigate the game engine to dive into the Unity Editor and discover unique and new features released in 2022
Learn both C# and Visual Scripting to customize player movements, the user interface, and game physics
Apply shaders to improve your game graphics using Shader Graph and Universal Render Pipeline (URP)
Create win-lose conditions for the game by using design patterns such as Singleton and Event Listeners
Implement Game AI to build a fully functional enemy capable of detecting and attacking the player
Debug, test, optimize, and create an executable version of the game to share with your friends

Unity Game Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself 4th Edition

by Mike Geig will teach you how to master the Unity 2021 game engine, which powers games like Inside, Kerbal Space Program, Subnautica, and many others. The clear, step-by-step methodology of this book covers everything from the fundamentals through advanced game physics, animation, and mobile device deployment procedures. Every course builds on the previous ones, providing you a strong foundation for real-world success. You will:

Use the Unity 2021 game engine and editor to get up and running quickly.
Get the most out of Unity’s graphics asset pipeline.
Take advantage of lighting and cameras.
Use Unity’s landscape and environmental capabilities to create magnificent environments.
Scripting activities ranging from input capture to complicated behavior creation
Use prefabs to quickly create repeated, reusable game elements.
Make game user interfaces simple and intuitive.
Use built-in and custom character controllers to direct players.
Create physical and trigger collisions that are realistic.
Take advantage of Unity’s Animation and Timeline features to their maximum potential.
Incorporate sophisticated audio into your games
Make use of accelerometers and multi-touch screens on mobile devices.
Use Unity’s 2D tools and Tilemap to create compelling 2D games.
Put the “final touches” on your games and deploy them.

Unity 2021 Cookbook 4th Edition

by Matt Smith, Shaun Ferns will guide you through the latest features of Unity 2021 as well as recipes for advanced tasks. This cookbook will walk you through a range of recipes that will teach you how to make the most of the Unity game engine’s core capabilities. You learn about shaders and the Shader Graph before diving into animation elements to improve your game-building abilities.

As you go, you’ll learn how to use Unity’s newest editor to plan out scenes, adjust current apps, and create custom tools for augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences. The book will also teach you how to interface with database-driven websites and handle XML and JSON data files, as well as many other Unity C# gameplay programming techniques.

You will discover:

Learn how to use C# scripting to bring fundamental game features to your projects.
With Unity’s UI system, you can create powerful and appealing UI, such as power bars, radars, and button-driven scene changes.
Work with important audio elements including background music and sound effects.
Learn how to use Cinemachine in Unity to control camera motions intelligently.
Create and customize particle systems to add visual effects like smoke and explosions.
Learn how to use the Shader Graph tool to create your own Shaders.

Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021 2nd Edition

by David Baron is an introduction to the core principles of reusable software patterns and how to employ them to build components efficiently.

In this second edition, you’ll tackle design patterns with the help of a practical example; a playable racing game prototype where you’ll get to apply all your newfound knowledge. Notable updates also include a game design document (GDD), a Unity programming primer, and the downloadable source code of a complete prototype.

Your journey will start by learning about overall design of the core game mechanics and systems. You’ll discover tried-and-tested software patterns to code essential components of a game in a structured manner, and start using classic design patterns to utilize Unity’s unique API features.

As you progress, you’ll also identify the negative impacts of bad architectural decisions and understand how to overcome them with simple but effective practices.

By the end of this Unity book, the way you develop Unity games will change – you’ll adapt a more structured, scalable, and optimized process that will help you take the next step in your career.
What you will learn

Structure professional Unity code using industry-standard development patterns
Identify the right patterns for implementing specific game mechanics or features
Develop configurable core game mechanics and ingredients that can be modified without writing a single line of code
Review practical object-oriented programming (OOP) techniques and learn how they’re used in the context of a Unity project
Build unique game development systems such as a level editor
Explore ways to adapt traditional design patterns for use with the Unity API

Unity Game Development Cookbook

Unity Game Development Cookbook: Essentials for Every Game by Paris Buttfield-Addison, Jon Manning and Tim Nugent will help you discover how to use the Unity game engine to its full potential. Find out how to use the Unity game engine to its full potential for 3D and Unity 2D game development, from the basics of scripting to helpful gameplay, behavior and animation tips. You will learn about the Unity game engine through short recipes that teach specific features of software and scripting systems. Next, you’ll apply a collection of snippets to cover common game scenarios, like keeping score correctly. With this Unity Game Development book, you will see the problem, outline the solution, and discuss how to solve your problem in the best and easiest way possible. This book is ideal for beginning or intermediate Unity developers. This is the best Unity book in 2023.

Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C#

by Jeremy Gibson Bond will give you strong hands-on experience with modern techniques and tools in learning. This Unity book covers game design theory, rapid iterative prototyping, and practical programming. The first edition was among the top-selling game design book on Amazon and had more than 70% of the reviews being 5 stars.

If you want to design and develop games, nothing can replace the rigorous practical experience of modern techniques and tools, and this is what this book offers. The first edition was often the best-selling game design book on Amazon, with more than 70% of the reviews being 5 stars.

Unity Games by Tutorials: Make 4 complete Unity games from scratch using C#

by Ray Wenderlich Team will help you in learning Unity to create games with Unity. By the time you finish learning from this Unity book, you will have made 4 complete mini-games. These games include a twin stick shooter, a first person shooter, a 2D platformer, and tower defense game. You will learn to model your own game assets and work with virtual Reality. Unity Games by Tutorials is one of the best books to learn Unity from scratch.

Unity is a popular game engine used by AAA Studios and individual game developers. Whether you have some game development experience or are a complete beginner, this Unity book will help you learn how to create games with Unity. After you finish reading this book, you have created 4 complete mini-games, modeled your own Unity game resources, played with virtual reality, and published a few of them on your phone! These games include a double stick shooter, first person shooter, a 2D platform and a tower defense game.

Unity From Zero to Proficiency (Foundations)

by Patrick Felicia will walk you through the abilities you’ll need to grasp Unity’s interface, use its key features, and create and traverse realistic 2D and 3D settings. It makes no assumptions about your past knowledge and guarantees that you get all of the information and explanations you require at all times. The information is presented in a sequential manner. This book is for parents or teachers who want to expose their children or pupils to game development; it’s also for Unity beginners or aspiring indie game creators.

Developing 2D Games with Unity

by Jared Halpern will help you build Unity 2D game quickly. Follow the walkthrough of Unity Engine and learn important 2D lessons with an emphasis on scripting with the help of image resources, animation, camera, collision detection and state management. In addition to the basics, you’ll learn the best practices for creating functional 2D games, useful game architecture models, and mastering unity to suit your needs.

Unity UI Cookbook

by Francesco Sapio is based on real-world problems, these recipes will begin by showing you how to create common user interface elements such as counters and health bars. Then you will learn how to manage time using timers and learn how to format them. You will proceed to decorate and animate the elements of the UI to liven them up and give them a professional touch. In addition, you will be guided through the world of 3D user interface and HUD scripting. Lastly, you will learn how to implement complex minimaps in the interface.

With the growing interest in game development, it is essential to design and implement a user interface that reflects the game settings and displays the correct information to the player. The Unity system is used to create complex and beautiful user interfaces in order to give a game a professional look. Although Unity’s new user interface system is powerful and quite easy to use, by integrating it with C # scripts, it is possible to realize the potential of this system and it brings an amazing user interface to games. This unity documentation is an invaluable collection of recipes if you plan to use Unity to develop a game. Starting with the basics of UI components, we’ll walk you through creating complex interfaces that include animations and dynamic elements.

Unity 3D Game Development: Designed for passionate game developers―Engineered to build professional games

This book, written by a team of experts at Unity Technologies, follows an informal, demystifying approach to the world of game development.

You’ll learn the 3D and C# fundamentals before starting to build one short segment of the full game — a vertical slice. With every progressing chapter, you’ll learn to improve this game (alongside building your own) to make it ready to pitch to studios.

Within Unity 3D Game Development, you will learn to:

Design and build 3D characters, and the game environment
Think about the users’ interactions with your game
Develop the interface and apply visual effects to add an emotional connection to your world
Grasp a solid foundation of sound design, animations, and lightning to your creations
Build, test, and add final touches

The book is split between expert insights that you’ll read before you look into the project on GitHub to understand all the underpinnings. This way, you get to see the end result, and you’re allowed to be creative and give your own thoughts to design, as well as work through the process with the new tools we introduce.