Board Game Books

The Book of Classic Board Games  BUY NOW  $19.95

Asked to name the best board games of all time, what would you say? Chances are your final list would be strikingly similar to the table of contents from The Book of Classic Board Games, which includes checkers, go, mancala, backgammon, nine men's morris, and 10 others. The spiral-bound book is designed to lay flat when opened, instantly becoming a portable playing area. Each two-page spread features a game board on one side with the directions on the facing page, allowing you to play without having to fish around for a rule book (game pieces and dice are also included). There's also a brief history provided for many of the games. Best of all, the entire package is about a third the size of a single board-game box, allowing you to take this cornucopia of contests anywhere you'd like.

In 1742, Edmond Hoyle published the definitive book on whist, the most popular card game of his day. More than 250 years later, Hoyle is still the definitive name when it comes to the rules of games, from bridge to backgammon, Scrabble to blackjack. This handy reference guide has now been updated and expanded and includes rules, strategies, and playing odds for more than 250 games. Readers will learn how to play, hone their strategies, and settle disputes with this newest edition of the classic reference guide. Philip D. Morehead, the son of the late Albert Morehead, is the principal editor of this new edition of Hoyle's Rules of the Games.

The authoritative guide to the world's most popular card, dice, tile, board, and other games of skill and chance, completely revised, expanded, and updated. Covering more than 500 games, the favorite reference work of game players for over four decades is now the standard for the next century.

As families are rediscovering the joys and virtues of staying and entertaining at home, board games have surged in popularity – indeed, sales doubled in the last year alone. this mirrors a trend in the late nineteenth century – the heyday of American boards and table games – when, fueled by the introduction of games coincided with a growing need for middle-class social entertainment. Then, like now, the games that best captured players’ imaginations mimicked, and sometimes poked fun at, the culture that produced them. Organized around themes such as courtship, commerce, travel, sports, and city life, The Games We Played brings together over one hundred eye-catching examples of America’s rare and popular board games. This playful book will cause board and table game aficionados to share in the revelry of togetherness.

The Monopoly game, Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Boggle, and Risk are more than games-they're part of Americana. All of these games were published by one company, Parker Brothers, which began as a dream inside the mind of a sixteen-year-old boy, over one hundred years ago. In The Game Makers, industry expert Phil Orbanes reveals how, by adhering to the principles of its founder, Parker Brothers rose to prominence, overcame obstacles, and forged lasting success. Engaging and insightful, The Game Makers explains the rules that popularized the games we play and reveals the people who built an American business empire.

If you've played with Games magazine at all, you know what to expect here. It's page after page of the best word, logic, number and observation games and countless unclassifiable brain teasers from the magazine's first few years. Some are simple, many are diabolical, and most are witty as well as challenging. Even if you've subscribed from the beginning, odds are there's plenty you've forgotten and will enjoy playing again. Here's a perfect book to accompany you on a long trip--or to give a bedridden friend.

Once again the editors of Games magazine have scoured back issues for their best puzzles, games and amusements. That's a big task since even an average issue of the magazine is brilliant. You'll find ample ways to playfully test your skills with words, numbers, pattern recognition, logic and much more. The challenges range from simple to devilish so sharpen your pencil, have an eraser handy and plan on many hours of mind-tickling play. Plan on several laughs along the way as well since Games' excellent sense of humor is well represented here.

With more than 50 games and activities, My First Game Board Book by Shereen Gertel Rutman, illus. by Julie Clough, contains a padded foam gameboard, spiral-bound book with pullout gameboard overlays and magnetic play scenes. With bright colors and bold design, it's a kid pleaser. Beat boredom with this exciting activity set! This award-winning package offers 50 interactive activities and games.

A revised edition of this classic work, originally published in the 1960s, in which the rules and strategies for 182 board games and tabletop games are explained.