Gladstone's Games to Go: Verbal Volleys, Coin Contests, Dot Duels, and Other Games for Boredom-Free Days [Paperback]

Jim Gladstone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

No Boards! No Boredom!
 
Remember the games you used to play in the car as a kid? You’d enjoy playing them again, but you can’t quite remember all the rules, and besides, the games were awfully easy. Well, Gladstone’s Games to Go has come to the rescue.
 
With updated classics and challenging original games, Gladstone’s Games to Go delivers antidotes to boredom and entertaining ways to spend down-time, whether you’re in transit, on vacation, or wiling away an afternoon at a cafe. You can play word games (like Grandmother’s House, Six Degrees, and Chain Reaction), compete in coin contests (like Molecular Flip and Sliders), master strategy with dot games (like Dots and Boxes and Sprouts), and more. With little to no additional equipment required (pens and paper or a few coins will do the trick), the games are totally portable—and totally playable. All the games are for two or more players (some could even be played solo), and they appeal to both left- and right-brained gamers. Start playing today!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Gladstone, a writer and creative director, has loved books and games since he was a little kid. He is the author of The Big Book of Misunderstanding and his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times. He lives in Philadelphia. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931686963
• ISBN-13: 978-1931686969
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.5 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Reference

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great games. An instruction book that is also fun to read., December 2, 2005

By 

M. Lowe (So. Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gladstone's Games to Go: Verbal Volleys, Coin Contests, Dot Duels, and Other Games for Boredom-Free Days (Paperback)

I bought this book after listening to a segment on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. After listening to Jim Gladstone and Scott Simon play some of the verbal games over the air, I was interested. I wrote the name of the book, purchased from Amazon.com, and have now played nearly all of the games in the past 3 or 4 years.

I have three children under the age of 4 and they are intrigued by the games, but they are much much too young for any of the games listed, but someday... someday.

I'm also the coordinator for the gifted and talented education program at my elementary school. These games are EXCELLENT for gifted students. Some of their parents report that my GATE students would rather play Sprouts or some of the games from this book than watch tv or play video games. Victory!

I look forward to nights, after my three girls are asleep for the night, when my wife and I can sit in the living room and playing "free" versions of Boggle or Scatergories. I love this book.

Buy it. For $10, you can't go wrong. (And it also makes a pretty good Christmas gift.)

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No boredom--and your brain will thank you!, May 13, 2004

By 

M. Borum "michael13218" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gladstone's Games to Go: Verbal Volleys, Coin Contests, Dot Duels, and Other Games for Boredom-Free Days (Paperback)

In this day and age of constant visual and aural stimulation--marketing and advertising messages, music of all sorts, cellphones, PDAs, you name it--it's SO refreshing to see that not everyone has given up hope. Jim Gladstone is obviously someone who values the grey cells, and puts his talent as a writer where his quirky interests are. Not only is this book FULL of original and updated games that often require nothing more than what many of us had on-hand in first grade: a pencil, some paper, a little extra time and a sense of playfulness (okay, and maybe a little competitiveness, too), it's also beautifully designed, durable and very portable. Buy this book and keep it in your backpack, briefcase--whatever you drag your stuff around in. Next time you're stuck on a plane, bus or even your own car and your sick of listening to the garbage on the radio or watching the fluff on TV, pull out Gladstone's Games to Go and give your brain a much-needed workout. For parents who've had enough of GameBoys and giant headphones that keep your kids as alienated from you in the car or on a plane as they are at home, Gladstone offers some fun ways to interact that won't cramp the style of even the most jaded teen or tween. And for the rest of us who just like a good, challenging game now and then (and hate it when dinner party conversation starts to wane), you're CRAZY not to have this book at arm's reach.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Smart, May 12, 2004

By 

Jim Tyler (Menlo Park, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gladstone's Games to Go: Verbal Volleys, Coin Contests, Dot Duels, and Other Games for Boredom-Free Days (Paperback)

I decided to check out this book after reading an interview with the author at UsedWigs.com. I thought it sounded like fun for 10 bucks. Turns out that while some of the games are easy standards that I already new (Password, Ghost), the most interesting stuff here is brand new and really involving. The last board game I bought was Scattergories, which cost like $30...well, this tells you how to play that one without buying any special equipment (its obvious, but I never thought of it), so you end up getting dozens of games for less than what a single one costs when you buy the boxed version. Good deal. Smart stuff.