Connection Games: Variations on a Theme [Paperback]

Cameron Browne (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568812248 | ISBN-13: 978-1568812243 | Publication Date: January 2005

A comprehensive study of the connection game genre, Connection Games provides a survey of known connection games while exploring common themes and strategies. This book aims to impose some structure on this increasingly large family of games, and to define exactly what constitutes a connection game. Key games are examined in detail and complete rules for over 200 connection games and variants are provided.

A connection game is a board game in which players vie to develop or complete a specific type of connection with their pieces. This might involve forming a path between two or more goals, completing a closed loop, or gathering all pieces together into a single connected group.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" is a great book. Every page of Connection Games works well, making it a classic work in an area that needed one. . . This would be an excellent book for motivating a person to like mathematics. -Ed Pegg Jr., Mathpuzzle.com, November 2004
book is an encyclopedic overview on connection games. I don't know anything which is nearly comparable. -Jörg Bewersdorff, Author of Luck, Logic, and White Lies, November 2004
""It's a fascinating book."" -Rezensionen, February 2005
Connection Games has become the definitive text on the subject, literally! -Wolfram Research, March 2005
new book written by Cameron Browne is absolutely a must for anybody interested in abstract strategy games."" -Ralf Gering, Abstract Games Magazine , March 2005
Of Interest to anyone intrigued by board games, this book provides an incredible summary of connection games and their related strategies... -Ned W. Schillow, Mathematics Teacher, December 2005
""This book by C. Browne is truly a masterpiece in an area in which such a thing was desperately needed and there is no doubt that it will become a classic. Moreover, it is likely to attract many people not only to connection games or strategy games, but, in general, to mathematics. What a blessing!"" -Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society , June 2006
""In his well organized book the author has collected the rules of about 200 such games, classifies them, and describes their history and what is known about them. This is not a mathematical book on game theory, but a valuable source of relevant information about ""real world"" games."" -SpringerWienNewYork - Monatshefte fuer Mathematik, May 2008"

From the Inside Flap

"The recent explosion of new connection games. . . is far and away the most exciting development in board game theory. Browne’s book is a magnificent survey of this vast field, covering more than 200 such games triggered by the Piet Hein/John Nash invention of Hex in 1942."

---Martin Gardner

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: A K Peters, Ltd. (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568812248
• ISBN-13: 978-1568812243
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book but published sloppily, January 24, 2007

By 

George Bell (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Connection Games: Variations on a Theme (Paperback)

This book defines a connection game and proceeds to analyze them. About half the book is a catalog of all the connection games that have been invented, most in the past 20 years. I had no idea there were so many. This book will give you a taste of all these games and how they are "connected". It also presents ways of analyzing connection games, and has some tips on playing. Still, this is not a book that will tell you how to win at Hex, I think the author has another book for this.

My big gripe was that all of the page numbers in this book in the Table of Contents and the Indexes (there are several) are off by 13. My book came with a short note on a separate piece of paper noting this error. I found it frustrating looking things up in the indexes, although you soon become pretty good at converting. For a fairly expensive book, this is rather sloppy publishing, and should have been caught.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brief description of a lot of games, November 11, 2005

By 

Piccoli Gregorio "gpiccoli" (Padova Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Connection Games: Variations on a Theme (Paperback)

This book describes a lot of connection games.
Every game is studied using the primitive map of shannon game.

There is a deep description of principal games, like hex, shannon game, Y, trax etc. and a brief descrpition of a lot of other games, all based on the objective of connecting different sides of the board. Some games are invented by the author.

A pleasing book, even if some game has a too short description.

5.0 out of 5 stars Recomended, April 8, 2010

By 

Evgeniy (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Connection Games: Variations on a Theme (Paperback)

Very strong and interesting book about Connection Games. Huge amount of Games inside with good illustrations and page design. Good print quality. There is no programming samples in this book but it can be very helpful for any game designer/programmer.