The Board Game Book Volume 1

by Owen Duffy, Matt Thrower, Teri Litorco

Annual guide to board, card, roleplaying and miniature wargames. Includes game reviews, interviews with game creators and game photography.

Genres: Games, Nonfiction, Reference, Gaming, Design

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 30, 2019

About the author

Owen Duffy’s fiction has appeared in various journals such as Passages North, New South, Storyglossia, New Delta Review, PANK, and Hawai’i Review. He holds an MFA in writing from Rutgers-Newark and currently teaches and mentors young writers. He lives with his family in Charleston, South Carolina.

Reviews

[Katie Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Owen Duffy's Board Game Book series are the best books about modern board games. Modern board games are also called hobby board games. Mass market games, such as Monopoly, and classic games, such as Chess, are not in these books. Each game's entry starts with a beautiful photo and quick reference information. The reference info includes; the designer(s), artist, category type, player count, playing time, recommended player age, and the MSRP. The body of each entry explains the game components, how to play, and the strategy of play. Sometimes the entries also talk about the game's art, history, inspiration, or have an interview with the designer. The games are listed by category type. At the back of the books there's a gamer's glossary and an index. My only complaint about these books is that the print is very small.

I own Volume 1 and 2, which are both out of print. I believe the author intended to write futue editions every few years, but I think that's no longer true. The end of volume 1 says, "For information on future editions, follow us on... boardgame-book.com" That website is no longer active. I couldn't find an updated website or any information on future editions in Volume 2.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truely excellent overview of the best modern board games of the past 2 or 3 years. The writing is excellent and the beautiful photography give you a great idea of how the games look. The stand out sections are the interviews with the designers of these games. A must have book for any board game fan or enthusiast.

[Michiel Tummers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great coffeetable book. As an avid boardgame lover, this is the kind of book i love to read on this specific subject. Beautiful pictures, a game for everyone and very positively written. I love skimming through it. The same goes for book 2

[Javier Viruete · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice review and interview book, most games discussed here a well known, but yet, you can find some surprises.

In my opinion the best potential thing in the book are the designer's interviews, but sadly are too short...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of board games that were released around 2018-2019 with interesting interviews with the creators involved.