Customer Reviews

Games Magazine Big Book of Games

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

 

 

This is an excellent compilation of puzzles that you would normally find in the magazine. They range from easy to very challenging. Great for travellers, commuters, or just sitting around with nothing to do. The hours fly by as you get sucked into some of the puzzles.

If you loved the old Games magazine, this will bring it all back. I bought it as a gift for my Dad, but had to force myself not to write in it myself! From wacky crossword-type puzzles to visual games and more, this has everything the old magazine had. Fun for individuals, groups, pairs.

The best way to sum up my opinion of this book is to say that I've now purchased it five times. I first got this book when I was in 7th grade, and I remember spending hours and hours working on the different puzzles. I misplaced the book at some point but purchased it again when I was in college, and again found myself engrossed in the many puzzles. A puzzle I saw recently reminded me of how much fun I'd had with this book, so I picked up a used copy here on Amazon. As I flipped through it, I remembered some of the puzzles from my youth, but others drew me in for the first time, and I realized that I now enjoy very different puzzles than I did as a kid. That makes this book even more wonderful because it encompasses so many different styles and types of puzzles, from vocabulary and word puzzles, math and logic puzzles, to visual teasers and a myriad of puzzles I'd never seen before!

I found another interesting event happened as I dove into this book's puzzles again... my teen daughter heard me giggling and came to investigate, then got pulled into a page of cryptograms (one puzzle I never liked!) She ran for her allowance and promptly begged to purchase it from me. My husband wondered what the fuss was all about and asked to look through the book as well. So, here I am at Amazon again, having just purchased a replacement copy for the one my daughter claimed and an additional one for my husband, since he immediately found several puzzles that caught his eye. So, that now makes five purchases, and something tells me it won't be our last, either, judging by how quickly my daughter grabbed the book and took it with her when her boyfriend called earlier... maybe they'll go do puzzles together. *laugh*

GAMES released at least two other puzzle compilations that are equally good (though I like the starred difficulty ratings in this first book, which are omitted in the others) -- if you can get your hands on a new or lightly used copy, do so! It seems like paper puzzles have gone the way of video games these days, so to find a great compilations of puzzles like this is becoming a rare opportunity. Who knows, maybe you'll reintroduce yourself (or your kids or grandkids) to a new "fad" of puzzles! :D

**One note: some of the puzzles rely on references to then-current media or pop culture icons, so they may be outdated ... or just extra challenging for anyone Gen-X or younger.

I bought this book for my brother-in-law who conducts games and doll exhibition each year in their showroom (www.ramsonsmysore.com) located in Mysore, India to the public. He received great reviews about the exhibit from the visitors and also in National newspapers

I also bought other books listed below

* Asian Games: The Art of Contest
* Favorite Board Games You Can Make and Play
* The illustrated guide to world chess sets
* The World of Games: Their Origins and History, How to Play Them, and How to Make Them
* Games Magazine Big Book of Games II: 10 Great Years
* Games Magazine Big Book of Games
* The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games
* Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations
* Classic Woodturning Projects with Bonnie Klein: 12 Skill-Building Designs
* Oxford History of Board Games
* The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers, from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit