The Book of Classic Board Games

Author: Sid Sackson and the Editors of Klutz   Publisher: Klutz   Pages: 42   Price: $18.95   ISBN:  0932592945



Klutz Press puts out some of the coolest books for kids, and for those of us who neglected to up. One of the great features of their books is that they come bundled with some toy or paraphinalia relevant to the subject at hand. Buy the "Klutz Yo-yo Book" and get a yo-yo; purchase "Best Card Games in the Galaxy" and you get a deck of cards. A book on board games, of course, gets a little tricky: there are jillions of good games out there, and almost all use distinct boards and pieces. Sid Sackson and Klutz Press rise to the challenge and succeed admirably with "The Book of Classic Board Games".

The book comes complete with all the game boards printed directly on the pages, as well as a sturdy plastic pouch containing nearly 100 playing pieces and a pair of dice. The "pages" of the board are made out of stiff posterboard, and the book's spiral binding allows you to lay an opened book flat on a table and play the games directly on the game boards. Most of the game rules appear on the page facing the corresponding board, there's no need to dig around for instructions when a question arises.

In the introduction, the authors claim that they set out to compile the 15 best games of all time in one volume. This is clearly hyperbole, as they were limited to games in the public domain games and those played on smallish boards. Plus, the only playing pieces used are small, plastic beads (half are white and half are black) which obviously rules out the vast majority of games in existence. But, given these restrictions, no one's going to argue with the 15 games chosen for inclusion. Ranging from popular classics to obscure gems, it's a book worthy of the "Desert Island" scenerio.

Amongst the well-known games are "Checkers", "Backgammon", "Nine Men's Morris", "Mancala" and "Solitaire" (the "remove all the pegs until only one peg remains" Solitaire, not Klondike.) You'll also find "Hoppers" (a first-cousin to "Chinese Checkers") and "Dalmatian Pirates and Volga Bulgers" (a workable version of Hnefatafl). There's also "3-D Tic-Tac-Toe", which probably qualifies as the only dud in the lot(I played it, and I can report that the excitement of Tic-Tac-Toe" tripled is still negligable).

Equally ancient but less famous games include two that I'd never heard of before: "Roundabouts" and "Fandango" (or "Fanarona"), hailing from Java and Madagascar respectively. "Hasami Shogi", Japan's popular "Shogi" on a smaller scale, is alos in there. Some relatively modern games also appear in "The Book of Classic Board Games". "Cat's and Dogs" is a reprint of "Blue and Gray", which first appeared in Sackson's own book A Gamut of Games. And Brax -- one of the oddest games in the bunch -- is a veritable tike at 100 years of age.

The two highlights of the book, to my mind, and the entries for "Hex" and "Go". Hex, invented in the 1940's, is an innovative game that deserves more exposure, and gets it's due here. The section on "Go" is an excellent introduction to what is arguably the most popular game in the world. Rather than hit the reader over the head with the full scope and history of the game, "The Book of Classic Board Games" instead presents a "beginners" version, with a 9x9 grid and slightly simplified rules. If you've ever wanted to teach a youngster Go -- or wanted to learn yourself, but felt overwelmed by the strategy involved -- this would be a good place to start.

"The Book of Classic Board Games" is aimed at kids, but adults might want to keep a copy at work to liven up a lunch hour. Not all of the games will be your cup of tea, but you're bound to love a couple. And if you're a parent interested in introducing your children to some classic pastimes, this is virtually a training manual to the wide world of games.