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Avidly Reads Board Games

Eric Thurm (Goodreads Author)

3.92 · Rating details · 36 ratings · 17 reviews

Writer and critic Eric Thurm digs deep into his own experience as a board game enthusiast to explore the emotional and social rules that games create and reveal, telling a series of stories about a pastime that is also about relationships. From the outdated gender roles in Life and Mystery Date to the cutthroat, capitalist priorities of Monopoly and its socialist counterpa ...more

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Paperback, 144 pages

Published October 8th 2019 by New York University Press (first published 2019)

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Aug 26, 2019 Anjana rated it it was amazing

This book tackles games in such a fashion that it has made my recent obsession with board games feel more than justified (I have had other little successes recently but this put a whole academic spin on it). My love for board games is a personal thing, as personal as the number of players required lets me keep it. With the reaches of the internet and my yearly plan to spend x amount of money on games and the discovery of boardgamegeek.com, I have learnt a lot about the 'industry'. Game night is This book tackles games in such a fashion that it has made my recent obsession with board games feel more than justified (I have had other little successes recently but this put a whole academic spin on it). My love for board games is a personal thing, as personal as the number of players required lets me keep it. With the reaches of the internet and my yearly plan to spend x amount of money on games and the discovery of boardgamegeek.com, I have learnt a lot about the 'industry'. Game night is an oft-repeated and very familiar word to people of my generation. I am yet to be that socially active but I have passed on the bug to a few of my relatives. I love the idea of games as an alternative to other forms of entertainment because of the time involved and the space it gives for conversation if required (unlike movies or tv in general). I applaud/salute the intelligence involved in crafting the perfect rules, (I adore/am in awe of the simple rules of Dixit) because I attempted creating my own a couple of times when I was younger and only playing would indicate how absurd my flights of fancy were and they all lie abandoned somewhere. The last few pages of the book have a list of games, their designers and the year they first released. This section surprised me most of all. In India, growing up I watched the original Hannah- Barbara cartoons assuming that they were current. It was only when I first moved away from home, had access to the internet did I discover that they were first released in 1970s! Similarly, all the 'popular' games that I had access to the well-known ones like Clue(1949), Monopoly(1933), Scotland yard(1983), and Life(1960) seem to be much older than I would have ever imagined them to be, their age was something I never gave much thought to. This book has me thinking about that and more!

I will now come back from this entirely personal narrative to talk about the book itself. Apart from providing enough fodder for me to wax poetic about my own history with games, it taught me a lot of new things. It is an almost technical and analytical discussion divided into multiple subcategories about what board games are, their social implications and how it might be underused in some ways and how in others there were attempts to use it as propaganda. There were only a few mentions of the games I knew or played but despite that, the author's love for it all shines through. There is a lot of thought that has gone into this small book, and although it is not all-encompassing and I am sure that there is more that can be wrung out from the dynamics of playing board games, it is a great read. It will have you think about and respect (if you do not already) board games and those who play with the rules a whole lot more than before.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a passing fondness for board games just to enrich your thought process.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but as you can see the review is entirely based on my love for games and appreciation for the authors writing. ...more

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Dec 01, 2019 Chance Lee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: essays, for-grownups, fun-and-games, true-story

The Avidly Reads series is the latest in a line of small-format non-fiction books I've been reading -- ECW Press's Pop Classics, MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series, Bloomsbury's Object Lessons. This one has the worst cover art by far (did they even try), but the best writing. I found this combination of memoir and history of board games a compelling read, especially when Thurm explores how games can transform our minds and our thinking, if only until the pieces go back in the box. ...more

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Sep 06, 2019 Bill rated it liked it

In the Avidly Reads series of short books, an author mixes of personal narrative and research to closely focus on a single topic (similar to the Object lessons series but less constrained), something that both moves the writer personally but also has some impact on culture at large. For Eric Thurm, that subject is board games.

The straightforwardly titled Avidly Reads Board Games opens with Thurm and his siblings setting up a game of Settlers of Catan in the waiting room of a hospital as they wai In the Avidly Reads series of short books, an author mixes of personal narrative and research to closely focus on a single topic (similar to the Object lessons series but less constrained), something that both moves the writer personally but also has some impact on culture at large. For Eric Thurm, that subject is board games.

The straightforwardly titled Avidly Reads Board Games opens with Thurm and his siblings setting up a game of Settlers of Catan in the waiting room of a hospital as they waited to make their final farewells to their dying grandfather. Which they eventually did, after which they returned to the waiting room and then “without a word, started rolling the dice.” This, the reader quickly picks up, is someone really into games.

From there, Thurm interweaves his own personal experiences playing with some historical research on board games, a description/explanation of their various categories with some deep dives into specific examples, and discussion of what they reveal about the culture. While much of it was fascinating and engaging, overall the mix was a bit uneven.

The personal narrative does a nice job in conveying Thurm’s enthusiasm for “hobby” games, brings a humanizing emotion to the research sections, and allows him to employ an appealingly light and conversational tone. That said, for such a short work, the balance felt off, and I could have done with less detail in these sections and fewer of them.

The overview of gaming in general (such as the concept of the “magic circle” — one’s thinking and actions are directed by the rules and gameplay) and the various categories, such as collaborative gaming (games such as Pandemic or Scotland Yard) or legacy games (the newest genre) are clear, fluid, and enlightening. And Thurm offers up detailed, concrete examples of the more abstract concepts (some readers may find them perhaps too detailed; your mileage may vary).

The historical background is equally detailed and often fascinating, though some of it may be familiar to anyone who has read on the topic (the history of Monopoly, the impact of war simulation games, etc.) Thurm generally does a nice job here of placing these historical references in their cultural context, though I did wish he had dug a bit deeper in spots or expanded those sections to provide more insight. It doesn’t take a whole lot of time or thought, for instance, to see how Mystery Date reveals some problematic views toward gender roles. To be fair, some, if not all, of my lack of satisfaction here could simply be Thurm sticking to the constraints of the series’ desire to keep the books short.

The book is at its strongest when Thurm connects all the threads —history, cultural criticism, and personal experience — especially when he and a group of friends play Juden Raus, “a Nazi-Germany era game about forcibly removing Jewish families from their homes in order to deport them.” Sit with that sentence a moment. I won’t go into any detail on that game-play experience, especially as Thurm himself writes that “Most of my other expectations for the Juden Raus session were upended.” Suffice to say its intersection of emotion, introspection, analysis, and horror showcases Thurm at his best.

Avidly Reading Board Games did leave me more than a little unsatisfied, but the good certainly outweighed the not-so-good, and Thurm’s clarity and fluidity, combined with a winning voice, easily carried me through the book in a single setting. Recommended. ...more

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Jul 22, 2019 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

I love board games. I've been really into the hobby for the last two years, but I played plenty of games growing up, from games of Clue with my whole family or intense showdowns of Stratego with my sister. While I have moved on to slightly heavier and more niche games, the attraction of board games for me is the opportunity to get immersed in the world of a game with one or several other people for an hour or two. In Avidly Reads Board Games. Eric Thurm clearly captures the joy of board gaming w ...more

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Jan 19, 2020 Darius Ostrowski rated it it was ok

So, I approached this book with great anticipation – I enjoy board games, love pop culture history, and was looking forward to learning about how board games have evolved throughout the last 100 years or so. As a result of these expectations, I was disappointed in this book. The author focused on a few board games and used them as a starting point for the discussion of societal trends, and how board games play a role in our culture. Catan, Monopoly, and Pandemic were the main games discussed (al ...more

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Jul 14, 2019 Theediscerning rated it really liked it

This was a promising start for me to a new semi-academic series of books, a bit like the Bloomsbury 'Object Lessons' imprint. Our narrator did fall into the trap of reciting too much I already knew, especially about the origins of "Monopoly", but went much further into 'legacy games' which to me seem a wasteful, single-use version of something computer software could do so much more sensibly. But the argument against that opinion is that board games can only be board games if you take all electr ...more

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Sep 03, 2019 Mark Martinico rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction

I received a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. I found it to be a fun, light read, with a mix of general board game history, and the author’s personal game playing experiences. It touched on some games I knew, and some I did not, and presented it all with the enthusiasm of an avid gamer.
It is not entirely clear to me who the intended audience is here - avid tabletop gamer or newbie - but as someone who falls right in the middle, I found it to be an enjoyable read.
Peculiar ...more

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Sep 19, 2019 Ebb rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed reading Thurm's look at board games both personally and in a historical context. He takes us through his personal experience as a board gamer with his family and friends, but also mixes in a rich history of board games and the social and political context that surrounded the creation of some games. This includes a Nazi board game, racial and political board games, and others that make the player take a closer look at how these games can reflect real-life problems. I found the bo ...more

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Oct 07, 2019 Kristine rated it really liked it

Shelves: amazon-reviewed

Avidly Reads Board Games by Eric Thurm is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early October.

Thurm studies the history of board games and offers cultural and psychological analysis while speaking of the shared knowledge of a game, symbolically using the time it takes to play it, sometimes bringing people fundamentally together while (other times) plugging in a wedge of ire and competition, potential of seamless co-op play, feeling content or filled with rage at the end of a game, depending if t ...more

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Dec 05, 2019 Jonathon Jones rated it really liked it

A good, thoughtful meditation on board games and how we play them. I especially appreciated the thoughts about how games affect us through what they are having us do (for example, acting as Nazis to load Jews on trains). Board games' ability to serve as tools for changing beliefs and feelings (like making terrible behavior seems mundane, or alternately to help us to understand the people who lose under capitalism) is certainly worth exploring. ...more

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Dec 17, 2019 David Hill rated it liked it

Shelves: gr-giveaway

This was a fun and entertaining short read, it is exactly as the description describes. I was expecting a little more diversity in the games discussed but from what I have read it sounds like I need to get some friends together for some Catan.
Thank you New York University Press, Eric Thurm, and Goodreads for supplying me with a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Jan 04, 2020 Korryn Mozisek rated it liked it

I found it a bit repetitive and unfocused, particularly as it related to the focus of the book. Needed more depth as to the particular genres indicate various dimensions about culture rather than being so focused on the premise and rules of the various games.

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Jul 12, 2020 Travis Wagner rated it it was amazing

A surprisingly engaging book that asks, at times, obvious questions about gaming, but comes back with some really earnest and evocative answers.

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Sep 27, 2019 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: devastating-essays

I'm no hobbyist but this was too compelling to put down for very long; I was eager to know which game would be next in line for exegesis and how/why. Also: funny! ...more

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Feb 02, 2020 Paul rated it really liked it

An interesting, thoughtful collection of essays examining board games and table-top games as narrative popular culture.

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Oct 16, 2019 Jen rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, netgalley, usa

As a board game player myself, I found this to be an interesting collection of essays about the history and joys of playing board games. In some ways, the collection quite academic in terms of "reading" ganes critically as a subject but the tone is quite light and the essays are not too heavy to read. ...more

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Jul 28, 2019 Brice Fuqua rated it liked it

Most books about board games give strategies for winning or tell anecdotes about playing the games. Thurm's book puts its emphasis on the philosophy of board games. He is particularly interested in collaborative games like Catan, where the players must work together in order for anyone to win.
According to the author, it is this face-to-face interactivity that distinguishes board games from their video counterparts.
Thurm looks at the history of politically motivated games on both the left and ri ...more

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