Customer Reviews

100 Strategic Games

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book just came today. I haven't read through all of it, but I can definitely say that it delivers what it promises. 100 strategic games for pen and paper. Only 1 or 2 rely on players hiding information from each other (such as a "Battleship" game, which isn't included here), and another 1 or 2 where the opponents have unequal powers (like "fox and geese", a version of which is included). The rest will appeal to players of PBEM abstract strategy games. Pen/Paper versions of Lines of Action, Fanorona, Halma, Blobs, Mancala and Connect 4 are all included, as well as many variations of Dots and Boxes--I've seen none of these anywhere else. And at the current price, it works out to a dime a game.

I agree the writing suffers from poor sentence construction. Worse, there are a handful of instances where the rules are not explicit enough. However, the gaps are so minor that you can come up with your own rule easily enough. What's important is the idea--that so many games can be played with paper and pen, with no erasing. Some of the original games might even be adapted to board play. Sid Sackson would have been happy to read this book, I think, and there should be more like it.

And if you're still not satisfied, it even comes with a few pages of graph paper.

I've collected thousands of books on math, games, and puzzles, and this book is one of the best.

I've always loved playing with grid paper, so perhaps that's one reason I strongly like it. I keep a Moleskine Square with me, and try to jot down new ideas for puzzles or games constantly.

This book has a grid on every page, and a good idea on every page. For getting inspirations for a new puzzle, this is one of the books I turn to.

Sample Game (39 - Collector): 6x6 grid. Dot vs Circle.
Each turn, a player puts their mark, and also marks X in one of the 8 neighboring squares. A player must do both. Winner is the one with the largest connected group, including diagonal connections.

Thats a fairly good pencil game, and just one of 100. Highly recommended.

This book contains some fantastic games. I have used quite a few in my high school classes and the kids really enjoy them. I particularly like the fact that as exercises in logic, pattern recognition and planning they are great in the maths class, but are not obviously "maths games".

My main complaint is that the instructions are very poorly written. There were quite a few games that left me completely confused. After reading a few I started to get the hang of the author's sparse language but it took a while.

A great book with many good games. However,as an experienced wargames player, I can see that the author is not familiar with writing good instructions or rules. I even suspect that his first language is not English. For example, he uses the word "randomly" to suggest that a player may place his mark anywhere on the board. Overall, still a very good book, comparable to that classic work - Sid Sackson's Gamut of Games.

Walter, in spite of my criticisms, yours is one of the best games books ever.

I had high hopes for this book, and indeed there are plenty
of interesting ideas here.

However, the descriptions of the games are brief to the point
of obscurity, and the few illustrations that accompany each
game are frequently inadequate.

One wonders if the book's editor actually tried to play
any of the games.

This book has the advantage of being perhaps the only book on its subject (as far as I know). And it has several other advantages as well. It's a great book to pick up and skim for just a few minutes (not that it can't be read for longer). It's also fun for repeat reading.

The primary disadvantage of this book is that I've noticed it seems to leave me wanting more after reading about each game. It really does move quickly--too quickly. Often I'm left wondering about a key detail of a game, or have trouble following a diagram, etc. Sometimes an important point or rule must be deduced from the other rules. Usually I have to read the description of the game and the diagrams several times. It's not so much succintness that makes it this way--that's always appreciated--as it is lack of detail.

In the end, I'm not sure I would rather have a few less games and (just a bit) more exploration for some of the best games. Still, this book will be one I'll enjoy for a long time. It is unique and well done, and thanks to the author for that. Hopefully we'll buy enough to encourage more volumes like this to come out.