Books That Are Almost Games

What I mean by books that are almost games are those books of rules for games using components you've likely got at home.  For example, you can find books about card games at 795.4 in our nonfiction collection, and the only thing you'll need to play the games is a deck of cards (although some card games, like Pinochle have specific sets of cards).

There are a couple of titles on the new books shelves right now that inspired this post.

The first is about dice games.  Written by prolific game designer Reiner Knizia, Dice Games Properly Explained lists more dice games than I knew existed.  If you don't have a box full of dice, raid your closet copies of Sorry!, Monopoly, or even better, Yahtzee!, and you'll find the main ingredient for these games.  Some use scoring boards, which you can copy out of the book, and counters, which could easily be common items, like cotton balls or M&Ms.

Knizia divides his book into sections by type of game, ranging from the simplest lucky scoring games, to bluffing games like Liar's Dice, betting games like Craps, and category games like Yahtzee!  Knizia is a mathematical master, and in addition to the rules of the games, he includes info on tactics and odds. 

This and other titles on dice games can be found at 795.1 in our nonfiction collection.

The second title to inspire this post is about chess.  I don't play chess, but if I did, I'd be interested in Leonard Barden and Erwin Brecher's Chess: 80 Classic Problems.  The bottom of the cover reads, "One move and you're dead!"  Intense.  Basically, this book presents 80 puzzles in which chess enthusiasts have only one move to beat their opponent.

Chess sets can be acquired cheaply if you don't have one, or made if you'd rather upcycle some household junk.

This and other titles on chess can be found at 794.12.

If you'd like to browse our collection of books on games, including everything from backgammon to the World of Warcraft, you can find them in the call numbers 794 through 796.

Books into Board Games: A Game of Thrones

I started this series of posts about board games based on books with sci fi and fantasy stories, and I'm bringing it back around to another fantasy series, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire [1], which currently includes the novels A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows.  Someday, Martin will finish A Dance with Dragons--even if he has to be reanimated, I assure you it will happen.  As a side note, this is one of my favorite fantasy series, meaning that I'm bound to like any game that lets me attack Lannisters [2] with Starks [3], Targaryens [4], or any of the other houses.  

Some background for those of you who have not read any of A Song of Ice and Fire.  It's an enormous, epic story told from the perspectives of many of the characters and deals in battles and intrigue among the noble families in Westeros.  Martin has created a rich fictional world with a variety of peoples, cultures, and religions.  It's more difficult to summarize than Follet's Pillars of the Earth, covered in my previous books to board games post.  Like Follett's work, A Game of Thrones is also being adapted into a series, and it will air on HBO sometime in 2011 [5].

Photo "Playing House Baratheon" by BGG user avssaleos

As far as games go, I've only played Fantasy Flight's A Game of Thrones card game [6,7], which I enjoy for its tough decisions on strategy.  It's what Fantasy Flight calls a Legacy Card Game, which differs from collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering in that there are no rare cards.  The monthly-released chapter packs include the same cards, keeping the pool of options for deck construction even for all players.  Gameplay involves marshaling an army from your hand of cards, limited only by the amount of gold you have.  Then, players challenge one another using their characters' strength in military, intrigue, or power contests.  That's when I usually stare at the table for 10 minutes figuring things out, while my wife waits to massacre my army no matter what I do.

Photo of A Game of Thrones by BGG user ansi

There are also a couple board games, one conveniently called A Game of Thrones [8], and the other based on the Battlelore system called Battles of Westeros [9].  I've heard A Game of Thrones can be brutal, like the classic Diplomacy [10], but set in Martin's world.

Photo of Battles of Westeros by BGG user Yugblad

If you're a fan of the books, but entirely new to board gaming, I'd recommend the new Battles of Westeros.  The Battlore [11] system pits one player against another, sending miniatures into battle on a board covered in hex spaces.  The minis on either side have banners that indicate what kind of attacks they can make.  Players maneuver their pieces into position and roll dice for their attacks.  The rule book likely comes with scenarios, challenging players with different battle set ups.  I'm looking forward to giving this game a shot at Gen Con [12] a couple weeks from now.

Lastly, I ought to mention that you can play the A Song of Ice and Fire role-playing game [13] for free because we own it.  The award-winning rpg was published by Green Ronin, and we have the core rulebook as well as the campaign guide.  I've never played an rpg, so I can't confirm it's quality for you, but at such a low cost, how could you not want to give it a shot?

I hope you've enjoyed this series.  I'll likely have more game-related posts in the future, but perhaps not as in-depth as these have been.  Be sure to check out the links below for more info on titles mentioned in this post.

[1] Check out George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series from the library
A Game of Thrones hardcover
A Game of Thrones paperback
A Clash of Kings hardcover
A Clash of Kings paperback
A Storm of Swords hardcover
A Feast for Crows hardcover

[2] Warning, there be spoilers at the Wikipedia entry on House Lannister
[3] Warning, there be spoilers at the Wikipedia entry on House Stark
[4] Warning, there be spoilers at the Wikipedia entry on House Targaryen

[5] IMDb entry on HBO's Game of Thrones series

[6] Fantasy Flight's A Game of Thrones card game page
[7] BoardGameGeek entry for A Game of Thrones card game

[8] BoardGameGeek entry for A Game of Thrones board game

[9] BoardGameGeek entry for Battles of Westeros board game

[10] BoardGameGeek entry for Diplomacy

[11] BoardGameGeek entry for Battlelore

[12] Gen Con, big gaming convention conveniently located in Indianapolis

[13] Check out the A Song of Ice and Fire role-playing game from the library
Core rule book
Campaign guide

Books into Board Games: Ken Follett's Historical Fiction

Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth was a board game before Oprah chose the book for her book club.  It tells a unique story of...it's hard to describe due to the amount of depth in the story.  If the struggle between nobles and clergy during the building of a cathedral in England is the core of the story, there's still a bit of back story, but it's all interesting.  It's a tome of a book, so I'll understand if you don't take my word that it's worth your time.  If you have cable, you can sample the story this Friday, when Stars airs the first of its eight-part Pillars of the Earth miniseries.

Photo from BoardGameGeek user Artax

Anyhow, I've gotten off track--Pillars and it's sequel World Without End have inspired some good games.  I'm a fan of the The Pillars of the Earth board game, which has the unique round-counting tool of a cathedral under construction.  After six rounds, the cathedral is built, and whoever has the most points wins. Mechanics-wise, Pillars is a worker placement game, where each player has the opportunity to place their workers on sometimes limited numbers of spots, earning either a bonus for themselves or the optimal number of resources to convert to victory points on their turn.  Listen, the game is as hard to describe as the book--it's complex and economically challenging.  I'd rather recommend someone else to explain the game to you--I'll link to librarian/gamer/professor Scott Nicholson's video review at the end of this post.

The World Without End boardgame was published this year and it received a Spiel des Jahres Plus award.  The Spiel des Jahres, or German Game of the Year, is the closest thing to the Oscars for boardgames, and the Plus is a special honor given to a game each year.  I didn't get to play World Without End on my recent Origins trip, but my friends picked up a copy, which suggests that they liked it, although they have something of a board game habit, if you get me.  As I'm completely unfamiliar with World Without End, having neither read that 1000-plus page brick of a book nor played the game, I'll also recommend someone else to tell you about the game--this time, a video review from prolific game reviewer Tom Vasel.

Photo by BGG user Base the Bass

Even if you're not (or not yet) a fan of Follett's historical fiction, these games will appeal to you if you've enjoyed other economic strategy games. 

I'm trying something new today.  I recently read that hyperlinks may be distracting when placed in the text of a blog post, so I'm putting them all below.  Hopefully, this made the post easier to read, and if anything really grabbed your interest, you should be able to find a useful link below.

Check out The Pillars of the Earth from the library:
Book on CD
Hardcover
Paperback

IMDb page for The Pillars of the Earth Miniseries

BoardGameGeek page for The Pillars of the Earth game
Scott Nicholson's Video Review of The Pillars of the Earth

Check out World Without End from the library:
Book on CD
Hardcover

Wikipedia page for the Spiel des Jahres award

BoardGameGeek page for the World Without End game
Tom Vasel's Video Review of World Without End

Books into Board Games: Mysteries

I can't possibly discuss books adapted to games without touching on the most popular fiction genre, which would have to be mystery.  Umberto Eco's novel, The Name of the Rose (also adapted to a Sean Connery film), concerns a 14th century investigation into blasphemy and the deaths of a few monks.  The blasphemy involves a secret library of books that are considered dangerous to Catholicism in the abbey.  I haven't read the book yet, but after learning about it through researching this post, I'm kinda interested.

This book has spawned two games, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and Mystery of the Abbey.  Both are deduction games, and I haven't had the fortune to play either one. 

"Detectives at work" photo of Mystery at the Abbey by BGG user Icefyst

Mystery of the Abbey involves players as monks who ask each other questions trying to determine whodunit, and can be a bit of silly fun on account of things like requiring players to sing Frere Jacques.

Photo from BGG user UnknownParkerBrother

The Name of the Rose game assigns each player a color that corresponds to a monk on the game board.  All players can move each monk, and doing so will remove "suspicion points" from each.  These are basically negative points, so players want to get them removed from the monk of their color.  They have to be sneaky, however, because each round players get to guess their opponents' colors, and if their color is guessed, they get slapped with some penalizing suspicion points.

The Name of the Rose is less related to the theme of the book than Mystery of the Abbey, but if you don't want to sing, this could be the better choice for you.  On the other hand, if you'd prefer to get into the role of a sleuthing monk, The Name of the Rose might be too abstract.

"I have a few suspects...but I need more time" Mystery Express photo by BGG user Chuckila

Aside from monks and abbeys, there's one other game I'd like to mention.  Mystery Express isn't so much based on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (also adapted to film, also suspiciously starring Sean Connery) as it is inspired by it.  There's a murder on the Orient Express in this game that has to be solved before the train reaches Istanbul. Crime cards with info about the suspect, location, motive, modus operandi and time, are placed under the game board, and at the end of the game players will make their accusations, earning points for each of these cards guessed correctly. During the game, players move about the train cars, each of which allow them to take different actions, including things like forcing other players to show their crime cards.  The game ends when the train arrives in Istanbul, when players make their accusations.

I hope you've enjoyed this mysterious post.  If you're curious about other great mystery and deduction games, the best place to find information about them is on BoardGameGeek. 

Books into Board Games: Lord of the Rings

I don't know that any book (or series) will inspire as many games as the Lord of the Rings books have--60 titles are listed as being Tolkien-inspired on BoardGameGeek.  The publication date on these suggests that the majority of them were produced following the release of the first Lord of the Rings movie.  Remember the check out areas at bookstores during those years, hidden behind piles of LotR branded merch?  Some of these games were there, too.

Photo by BoardGameGeek user Aldaron

I've only played The Lord of the Rings, a cooperative game designed by Reiner Knizia that simulates the impossible number of obstacles the fellowship had to overcome in order to get the ring to Mordor.  Different boards are used over the course of the game, each representing a different part of the the journey, with one board being swapped for another after it is beaten.  Fans of the story will agonize over decisions, trying to keep the ring safe from Sauron's forces by not becoming corrupted or drawing the Eye.  You can get really drawn into this game, or at least drawn into the need to win.

Photo of the Dutch edition of The Confrontation by BGG user Matthias_K

There are a couple other Lord of the Rings games that have caught my interest, but I haven't yet had the fortune to play.  The first is LotR: The Confrontation, a small scale wargame similar to Stratego.  I don't know that this title really simulates any of the story, but battling with secret attackers who happen to be LotR characters with special powers sounds like a good time.

Photo by BGG user DougOrleans

I'll admit that I only want to play LotR: The Duel because it looks cool. It's a two-player game in which one player is Gandalf and the other is Balrog in battle on a 3-dimensional bridge. There are four rounds in which card play determines the winner.  The winner of each round goes up a step on the bridge, and whoever's the highest after the last round wins.  Game play doesn't sound that exciting, but the bridge of Khazad-Dum sure is.

Photo by BGG user HuckmanT

War of the Ring is another popular title, and while it seems complex, I suspect that this is the game for die-hard fans.  Players control either the Free People or Sauron's Shadow Armies.  Really simplified, the Free People player recruits armies to battle Sauron and secretly moves the Fellowship toward its Mount Doom goal.  The Sauron player attacks the Free People in their cities and hunts the Fellowship.  After 3 hours (the length of the extended edition of one of the movies), somebody wins.  This game draws on the stealth, politics, and battle aspects of the Lord of the Rings, bringing the adventure to your dining room table (so stash the China somewhere safe).  


Hopefully, I've gotten the interest of some Lord of the Rings fans who haven't heard of or tried any of these games.  I realize I've written about some titles I haven't tried myself, and there's a danger of misrepresenting a game in that, so if you're seriously interested, look up more info on BoardGameGeek.

Books into Board Games: Introduction

Photo by BGG user richardtempura

Note: I had composed one post about books adapted to board games, but it was getting a bit long, so I thought I'd break it up a bit.  

I'm a fan of the trend of adapting books to board games, which isn't that new of a trend.  Frank Herbert's Dune [we've got the Book on CD, Film Adaptation on DVD] was adapted to a board game in 1979, which is well-loved today, or at least ranks 65 on BoardGameGeek.  Another scifi classic, Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers [see also the Large Print Ed., Book on Tape, or Film Adaptation], also made its board game debut in the 70's, but it doesn't have as many fans. Of course, Dune looks cooler and isn't a war game like Starship Troopers, but it also takes twice as long (4 hours).

 Photo by BGG user ZiggyZambo

Anyhow, there are many books that have been made into board games.  BoardGameGeek presently lists 481 titles as novel-based.  I can't possibly discuss them all, but I'll mention a few over the next week or so. 

Also, if you have a copy of Dune and you're looking for someone to play, I'd be interested in giving it a try.

Board Games in Town

 "Dusk in Catan" photo by BoardGameGeek user jamesmattbob

I've recently returned from the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, which has inspired to share a bit about my board game hobby.  I'm assuming the general audience for this blog is not made up of board game geeks like myself, and in doing so, assuming that you readers are unfamiliar with the sort of board games I'm talking about.


You may be familiar with some of the "gateway" titles of the economic style of games I enjoy, such as Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, or Ticket to Ride.  These are considered gateway games because they tend to draw folks deeper into the hobby.  These games are economic in that players are often faced with difficult choices, and ultimately hope to make the right ones in order to earn the most points.  Unlike traditional family favorites like Monopoly or Sorry!, these games are much less random and give players a great deal of control.  Still, the mechanics of these games are simple enough that they, too, have become favorites with many families.

Ticket to Ride photo by BoardGameGeek user garyjames

The publishers of the above four listed titles include Rio Grande Games, Mayfair Games, and Days of Wonder.  These are some of the relatively larger publishers, but they're nowhere near as large as Hasbro, and as a result, you may not find these in a toy store.  To find these games, you'll have to visit your FLGS.

FLGS is geek speak for "Friendly Local Game Store," of which there are two in the Chambana area. 
Just up Vine/Cunningham, you'll find Armored Gopher Games [Facebook page], where folks meet up Sundays after 4:30 for some board game playing.  Other days/times are devoted to specific games as noted on their event schedule.  Armored Gopher has store copies of several popular games, which allow you the free opportunity to try before you buy.  I'd highly recommend swinging by there to see if anyone would be interested in teaching you to play Dominion, if you've never had the pleasure.

Over in downtown Champaign, you'll find the Dragon's Table, where open board game night is on Saturday, and other days/times are also slated for specific games noted on their event schedule.  If you played Hey, That's My Fish here a couple years back on National Boardgame Day, that was DT's kindly lent copy.  I'm sure they have other store copies, so this would be another option for freely trying a game before you buy it--try Hey, That's My Fish if they've still got it around.

Puerto Rico photo by BoardGameGeek user Jormi_Boced

If you're looking for a group to play games with, set up a free account and post to a forum on Board Game Geek.  You can also find more information about individual games than you could have imagined on BGG, as well as reviews, copies for sale, and such.  Another good source for reviews is the blog, The Great Game Gate, written by a presently-local blogger. 


I may have more to say about board games, so expect to see another post or two here.  If you have any questions about games or the possibility of games at the library, please feel free to contact me at the library or post in the comments.