The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985-1993
The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985-1993 by Jordan Mechnerby Jordan Mechner
The most recommended of 4 video game history books
Jordan Mechner's journals from 1985 to 1993 show how he built Prince of Persia, with day-to-day detail that readers enjoy, especially gamers who remember the 1990s. One critic said it was not what they had hoped for.
Jordan Mechner's journals from 1985 to 1993 show how he built Prince of Persia, with day-to-day detail that readers enjoy, especially gamers who remember the 1990s. One critic said it was not what they had hoped for.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 11 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Detailed day-to-day development journal entries
“Goes into lots of detail as what was going on through the journal entries of the dev.”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “How we made hit video game Prince of Persia” “it's amazing how the journal feels exactly like today's startup scene”
Comment from 1 Aug 2026 in “The Silicon Valley Founder Meat Grinder” Enjoyable, nostalgic read for gamers
“You definitely will not regret that purchase. It's a very enjoyable read.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: I scraped 3B Goodreads reviews to train a better recommendation model” “It's a very nice trip down memory lane.”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “How we made hit video game Prince of Persia” “highly recommended as 90s gamer”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “How we made hit video game Prince of Persia”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not what some readers hoped for
“it wasn't what I'd hoped for”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “I'm writing a history of Visual Basic, Chapter 1 is up”
Other video game history books people recommend
The three most recommended other video game history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985-1993by Jordan MechnerThis page | 11 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game | 7 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Blood, Sweat, and Pixelsby Jason Schreier | 4 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Game Overby David Sheff | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's amazing how the journal feels exactly like today's startup scene”
“Goes into lots of detail as what was going on through the journal entries of the dev.”
“It's a very nice trip down memory lane.”
“Stripe did such a good job with this book (and the others I bought that they published)”
“highly recommended as 90s gamer”
“it wasn't what I'd hoped for”
“Here’s a human recommendation if you like that you may like these that I’ve read”
“You definitely will not regret that purchase. It's a very enjoyable read.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.