Understanding games--whether computer games, card games, board games, or sports--by analyzing certain common traits. Characteristics of Games offers a new way to understand games: by focusing on certain traits--including number of players, rules, degrees of luck and skill needed, and reward/effort ratio--and using these characteristics as basic points of comparison and analysis. These issues are often discussed by game players and designers but seldom written about in any formal way. This book fills that gap. By emphasizing these player-centric basic concepts, the book provides a framework for game analysis from the viewpoint of a game designer. The book shows what all genres of games--board games, card games, computer games, and sports--have to teach each other. Today's game designers may find solutions to design problems when they look at classic games that have evolved over years of playing.

This book presents a much-needed framework for the critical examination of miniatures games and their design. It provides the reader with both a conceptual model for understanding how these games work as well as a toolbox of mechanical approaches to achieving a range of design outcomes and assessing the fit of any given approach within a specific design. Though dating back to the 1820s, tabletop miniatures games have been little explored critically and lack a conceptual vocabulary for their discussion. Active practitioners in the miniature games design community, Glenn Ford and Mike Hutchinson explore what defines these games, proposing the term ‘non-discrete miniatures games’ to encapsulate the essence of these open and immersive hobby gaming experiences. Discarding the term ‘wargame’, they argue against limiting conceptions of these games to direct armed conflict, and champion their diverse narrative potential. The book provides a fresh conceptual framework for miniatures games, abstracting the concepts of positioning and moving markers non-discretely across scale-modelled environments into inclusive and generalised terminology, untethering them from their roots as military simulations and providing the foundations for a fresh consideration of miniatures games design. Written for game designers, and with a foreword by Gav Thorpe, The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design is a handbook for those that wish to design better miniatures games.

Gaming no longer only takes place as a ›closed interactive experience‹ in front of TV screens, but also as broadcast on streaming platforms or as cultural events in exhibition centers and e-sport arenas. The popularization of new technologies, forms of expression, and online services has had a considerable influence on the academic and journalistic discourse about games. This anthology examines which paratexts gaming cultures have produced - i.e., in which forms and formats and through which channels we talk (and write) about games - as well as the way in which paratexts influence the development of games. How is knowledge about games generated and shaped today and how do boundaries between (popular) criticism, journalism, and scholarship have started to blur? In short: How does the paratext change the text?

The publisher of The Boardgamer magazine created five special issues devoted entirely to one game within the Avalon Hill catalog. They were known as Unofficial Player guides, but were considered the best collection of new information, variants, scenarios, rules variations, errata, inserts, and new articles written for these games. Fans loved the materials, because it delivered new life into a game that was forgotten by Avalon Hill, but still cherished by the players. This item is the collection of all five guides for 1776, PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader, War at Sea, and B-17 Queen of the Skies. Below is a description of each guide: A. This player's guide, the first in a series of five, is dedicated to the naval wargame War At Sea The articles include: Victory In The Atlantic - Strategic Considerations and a Variety of British Opening Moves Admirals Raedar and Doenitz Would’ve Been Proud - Axis Play In War At Sea Mediterranean Strategies - The Exciting Approach To War At Sea Why I’m A “Barents On One” Believer - Allied Opening Strategy For War At Sea Underwater Strategy - Use of U-Boats In War At Sea Ten Hints Everyone Ought To Know By Now - Quick Tips For War At Sea War At Sea – Beginner’s Tip Sheet - Prepared For Avaloncon ‘97 Rules Clarifications For War At Sea - As Of July 1, 1999 Improving Yahtzee At Sea - A War At Sea Variant References From The General - War At Sea Articles Through The Years War At Sea Series Replay #1 - Barents On 1 Challenged War At Sea Series Replay #2 - The North Sea Gambit War At Sea Series Replay #3 - The Rubber Match War At Sea Series Replay #4 - The Mediterranean StrategyAvaloncon/WBC Statistics - From the 1991 – 1998 Tournaments B. In this player's guide, the second in a series of five, is dedicated to the revolutionary-war game 1776. The articles include: The American Revolution - And The Boardgaming Hobby Command Pressures Revisited - Leader For 1776 Partisan Leaders - For 1776 1776 Elite Units, Artillery and Naval Rules - and General Rule Observations Wilmington - The Forgotten City In 1776 1776 Clarifications - and PBeM Play Conventions Trouble Areas - Realistic Supply Movement In 1776 The 1776 Thesis - Strategy In 1776 A New 1776 Thesis - The 1776 Thesis Analyzed Contrasting Games On The Revolution - American Revolution, 13: The Colonies In Revolt, and 1776 The Invasion Of Canada Scenario Revisited - Modifying 1776’s Scenario #1 The British Southern Campaign - A 1776 Short Campaign Game Lincoln’s Southern Campaign – 1779 - Revised The British Dilemma – 1778 - A 1776 Scenario Montcalm And Wolfe - A 1776 Variant For The French & Indian War – 1759 The Tory and Indian War – 1778 - Revised 1776 Revisited - A 1776 Scenario At Avaloncon The British Receding - A New 1776 Scenario In The South – 1781 The Carolinas – 1776 - A New Short Scenario The British Receding - A 1776 Series Replay Insert: Countersheet - Additional Counters for 1776 C. In this player's guide, the third in a series of five, is dedicated to the classic, Eastern Front armor wargame Panzerblitz. The articles include: More New Expressions For A Familiar Face - Do Your Own Panzerblitz Prokhorovka - New Scenarios For Panzerblitz Historical Addendum To Prokhorovka - Historical Orders Of Battle For Each Scenario Panzerblitz Clarifications - and Question Box Variations On A Theme - For Panzerblitz Tournament Situations - For Panzerblitz Panzerblitz Tournament Situations – Part II - And An Analysis Of The Situations The Pieces Of Panzerblitz - Part 2 References From The General New Expressions For A Familiar Face II - Still More Situations For Panzerblitz Operation Wintergale - The Relief Of Stalingrad Beyond Situation 25 - Yet More New Scenarios For Panzerblitz More Historical Corrections - To Panzerblitz Situations References From The Boardgamer Other Products From The Boardgamer Insert: Countersheet - Additional Panzerblitz Counters - Required To Play Scenarios In This Issue D. In this player's guide, the fourth in a series of five, is dedicated to the classic, Western Front armor wargame Panzer Leader The articles include: More New Expressions For Another Familiar Face - Do Your Own Panzer Leader The Battle For The Remagen Bridge - New Scenarios For Panzer Leader New British Scenarios For Panzer Leader - British And Commonwealth 1944 & 1945 Situations Panzer Leader Situations - A Collection Of Panzer Leader Scenarios Panzer Leader 1940 Situations - Variant Situations Updated Panzer Leader Clarifications - And Question Box Other Products From The Boardgamer The Pieces Of Panzer Leader - Part 2 The Pieces Of Panzer Leader - Part 3 - Panzer Leader 1940 References From The General More Historical Corrections - To Panzer Leader Situations References From The Boardgamer The Panzer Leader In Normandy - Situations From The Normandy Campaign Insert: Countersheet - Additional Panzerblitz Counters - Required To Play Scenarios In This Issue E. In this player's guide, the fifth in a series of five, is dedicated to the classic, aerial bomber wargame B-17: Queen of the Skies. The articles include: Bombing The Med - Adding the 9th and 12th USAAF and the RAF No. 160 & No. 178 Squadrons Command Decisions - In B-17: Queen of the Skies In Search of Geographical Accuracy - Or, “Hey Navigator Where Are We?!” The Winged Soldiers of ‘44 - A B-17: Queen of the Skies Variant This collection is a must have for fans of these classic, Avalon Hill wargames.

What if life is a game? Are you winning? Have you even decided what 'winning' is? Game design could be defined in many ways, but here the term is used to denote the practice of creating choices. Designing a game, in this sense, involves crafting limits, rewards, incentives, and risks in such a way that the person who interacts with the game – the player – makes choices that have consequences. Edward Castronova urges readers to think about the fundamentals of the human condition and compare them to different games that we all know. In some ways, life is like an idle game: providing unchallenging distractions that fit easily into a person's daily routine. In other ways, life is like the game Minesweeper: You poke in different places to learn about what you don't know, taking care to avoid big explosions. Or, life is like a role-playing game: You adopt a persona and speak your part, always seeking adventure. Bringing together questions relating to diverse fields – such as politics, economics, sociology and philosophy - Castronova persuades readers to broaden the scope of game design to answer questions about life's everyday obstacles. The object of this book is to take seriously the idea that life is a game. The goal is not to make readers wealthier or healthier. Its goal is to go on a journey into the human condition, with game design as a guide.

Learn the mechanics that take your game from an idea to a playable product. Do you aspire to be a game designer but aren’t sure where to begin? Learning Video Game Design on the Tabletop guides you through your initial attempts to design game mechanics. It goes beyond simple description and definition to explore in detail the issues that designers grapple with for every game they create. Learning to design tabletop games builds a solid foundation for game designers and provides methods that can be applied towards creating paper prototypes of computer-targeted games. Presented in a step-by-step format, this book helps the reader understand how the game design skills that are acquired through creating tabletop games can be used when designing video games. Fully playable games accompany every topic so you can truly understand and experience each component that goes into game creation. The Second Edition includes: Simple, highly focused games that can be played, analyzed, improved, and/or modified in conjunction with a particular topic in the book Integrated game design exercises, chapter learning objectives, and in-text sidebars to provide further examples to apply directly to your game creation process Essays from professional tabletop and video game designers in which they describe their professional journeys and design philosophies.

Scenario Designer's Handbook (ISBN 978-0-9782646-8-0) is intended as a reference for those interested in designing historical scenarios for the Advanced Squad Leader game system. The book features 240 full-colour pages with a variety of information to assist in force and terrain selection, including company, battalion and divisional break-downs of the major armies that participated in the Second World War. Additional chapters deal with scenario lay-out, publishing, researching, walk-throughs of the design process and discussion regarding the various components of ASL scenarios. The 2nd Edition includes an improved layout, additional information on various forces (Chinese, Finns, etc.) and revised appendices with updated map and overlay listing. Note the "discount" price on Lulu is the actual list price - this will not change.