Surprising stories behind the games you know and love to play. Journey through 8,000 years of history, from Ancient Egyptian Senet and Indian Snakes and Ladders, right up to role-play, fantasy and hybrid games of the present day. More than 100 games are explored chronologically, from the most ancient to the most modern. Every chapter is full of insightful anecdotes exploring everything from design and acquisition to game play and legacy.

Instructions, over 300 illustrations for creating boards and playing pieces for 39 games: Pachisi, Alquerque, Solitaire, Queen's Guard, 35 others. Lexicon, supply list, more.

Celebrating the role that board games hold in our lives, celebrities, industry professionals and lifelong gamers share the remarkable and personal stories of their profound love for gaming People want to feel good about their passions, their hobbies included. People want to talk about them, and to listen to others who share their enthusiasm. This book celebrates that sense of affinity while providing diverse perspectives on board games that will allow readers to reflect on what drives their passion in their own particular case. From uber-competitive players learning to lose with grace to the fascinating history of the very first games humans played, and bonding with far-away stepsiblings to the story of the first board game café in Africa, there’s something here for everyone. WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM: Jervis Johnson, KC Ogbuagu, Allen Stroud, Gav Thorpe, Edoardo Albert, Will McDermott, Gabriela Santiago, Holly Nielsen, Fertessa Allyse Scott, Ian Livingstone, Alessio Cavatore, Sen-Foong Lim, John Kovalic, Reiner Knizia, Susan McKinley Ross, Leslie Scott, Geoff Engelstein, Calvin Wong, Jenn Bartlett, Cathleen Williams, Lynn Potyen, Matt Coward-Gibbs, Steve Jackson, Christopher John Eggett, James Wallis, Matt Forbeck, Donna Gregory, Jack Doddy

Leading expert Paul Booth explores the growth in popularity of board games today, and unpacks what it means to read a board game. What does a game communicate? How do games play us? And how do we decide which games to play and which are just wastes of cardboard? With little scholarly research in this still-emerging field, Board Games as Media underscores the importance of board games in the ever-evolving world of media.

Board games have been played throughout the world for thousands of years. Many times, in many different cultures, people have amused themselves by devising mock races, battles and hunts, played in miniature on a small surface. The rules and the level of sophistication has changed through the ages, but the general idea has remained the same. Some of the oldest games, like backgammon, chess and draughts, are still popular today. This book looks at twelve different games taken from various periods of history. Most will not be recognised by the general public, but deserve to be better known. They are pachisi, halma, agon, tâb, fanorona, nine men's morris, wari, konane, xiang qi, tablut, asalto and renju. Each game has a whole chapter to itself, which includes a history, the rules, and a section on strategy and tactics. It is the author's intention that the reader will gain appreciation and enthusiasm for these wonderful old games, and be entertained by them for years to come.

"[A] timely book...It’s All a Game provides a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history."—The Wall Street Journal Board games have been with us longer than even the written word. But what is it about this pastime that continues to captivate us well into the age of smartphones and instant gratification? In It’s All a Game, British journalist and renowned games expert Tristan Donovan opens the box on the incredible and often surprising history and psychology of board games. He traces the evolution of the game across cultures, time periods, and continents, from the paranoid Chicago toy genius behind classics like Operation and Mouse Trap, to the role of Monopoly in helping prisoners of war escape the Nazis, and even the scientific use of board games today to teach artificial intelligence how to reason and how to win. With these compelling stories and characters, Donovan ultimately reveals why board games--from chess to Monopoly to Settlers of Catan, and more--have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations.

This beautiful and nostalgic pictorial celebration of board games will transport readers back to a simpler time, when child’s play didn’t involve video games or computer screens of any kind. More than 100 of the best are featured, from the 19th century until today, with pictures of both the boards and the various pieces. They include Animal Crackers, which dates from 1883; Across the Continent (1888); the ever-popular children’s favorite Candyland (1938); Nurse Ames (1944); the mystery game Clue (1950); Elvis (1958); and many more. Some are well-known, others more rare, but they will surely send readers scrambling to their old toy chests to play another round.