Customer Reviews

Hobby Games: The 100 Best

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

 

 

This book does a great job given that the author has a wide scope of all hobby games - board, role-playing, cards, etc - and that he takes an unusual approach. He has different designers choose and write a few pages each about their favorite game by another designer. This has the interesting effect of having author names both as authors of sections of the book and listed as designers of another (and sometimes a number of others) game in another part of the book. I think the approach serves well to reveal some insider history to game development and how ideas for different games came about.

There seems to be a good balance here right down to the intro by a well-known Euro designer, and a postscript by a well-known wargame designer. Throughout the book there are a wide variety of different hobby games as noted above and all the types seem to have their fair share of coverage. Any fan of games will find there is a glaring omission of what they would think should obviously be in a book called '100 Best', but that comes from the nature of a hobby where preferences are so divergent.

Where I think the approach may have a few glitches is in how it reflects the title '100 Best'. Of course 'best' is going to be very subjective no matter what. But for example among the wargames represented, there were a good number of great games. However I found most of the wargame selections were of older titles where the games had particular mechanics like the hex and counter variety, and very recent titles where the games are card-driven point to point types. This would follow a misconception that older wargames are hex and counter, while newer ones are usually card-driven with point to point maps. But the reality with wargames at least is that both these types make up a good number of great games both old and new. The reason I mention this is I didn't notice this discrepancy of choices with the other types of games, although perhaps it's because I'm not familiar enough with them.

Despite the one criticism, I really enjoyed reading about all these games from designers' points of view. I got the book for a Christmas present, so it was a great holiday read!

I love the premise of this book: Get 100 games designers, publisher, editors, inventors and so on to write a short essay about their favorite game.

And in that, the book delivers on its promise. That is exactly what you get here; a collection of very short essays (roughly 2 1/2 pages each) that most often give a short background of the game being praised and then reasons for the praise.

I have already learned about several games I'd never even heard of, including one that completely escaped my radar over the years: Fluxx. Suffice to say I've now ordered a copy from the publisher of that game. :)

Where the book falls sort (I feel) is in two places:

1) There are no pictures, graphics, illustrations of any kind in this book. It's all text. While I realize fancy images might have added to the length and therefore the cost of the book it might also have been nice to see some sort of visual representation of what are often very visually-oriented games.

2) There are no "old favorites" in this book. No one (apparently) loved Monopoly, Scrabble, Stratego or even chess enough to write an essay about it. While you could argue that many of the games included in the book are more advanced/mature that the short list of examples above, it's also true that old favorites often get to be that way for a reason.

Overall though, I found this to be a very entertaining book. The structure (the short essay-style) makes it easy to pick-up, read about a few games, then put it down until next time. There's no need to read the book in order to get some satisfaction out of it.

Board gaming has been undergoing a major renaissance over the past 5 years. The sheer number of excellent games of all types and genres is just staggering. If you've fallen away from the hobby, now is the time to strongly reconsider jumping back in with both feet! There's a tremendous amount of fun to be had.

Hobby Games: The 100 Best is a book whose purpose is to expose gamers and newcomers to that wide world of excellent games by taking a look at classic & favorite games through the eyes of famous game designers and writers. While people might endlessly debate if these 100 games are truly "the 100 best", that's not the real point of the book. This is purely a look at great games (many of which you've probably never heard of) and the reasons WHY this collection of all-star designers/writers really love these games and feel they're worthy of merit. That insight and passion is what makes the book a GREAT READ.

I found this book to be educational, funny, insightful, and something which really stirred my personal passion for games. With chapters that run 3 to 5 pages long, each devoted to a single game, it's an easy read. It's also a book that let's you jump around -- you don't really need to read it in sequential order from page 1 onward.

For you curious types, this book will stimulate you to investigate and perhaps go out and purchase some of these fine games. Frankly, I sincerely hope that Green Ronin (the publisher) puts out a second book (perhaps 100 More Great Hobby Games?). I would snap that up in a heartbeat.

Well done and highly recommended.

Over the year I've enjoyed playing games over various types. Since my teenage year, two of my major focus's have been wargaming and roleplaying games, part of what are now called Hobby Games. To celebrate how popular Hobby Games have become, Mr. Lowder received inputs from many of the leading designers, authors, and publishers in the Hobby Gaming industry on the top 100 games. Each person listed their favorite game and why it's their favorite one.

My Likes:
Here's the opinion of who's who (and at times you ask who's this) of Hobby Gaming. Reiner Knizer, Greg Stafford, and Gary Gygax (along with many others); all tell us what their all time favorite or most influential games (I've wondered though how many wanted to list a game someone else had provided input on). Sometimes it's a game that I've never heard of, sometimes it's an old favorite and I get to see how well my opinion aligns with someone in the community. Each person's section is usually 2-4 pages about the game, usually telling us how they'd been introduced to the game, what they liked/admired, and a small summary about the writer.

My Dislikes:
The opinions and the games are constrained as of when they were captured (this book was published in 2007). While many of the writers probably wouldn't change, there are always more good games coming out each year. There's also the question of whom to interview for the listing (there were many names in gaming that I didn't see there, is this because they chose not to participate or because Mr. Lowder chose his participants). Because of these reasons this listing is temporal and subject to much debate.

Bottom Line:
This is an excellent bathroom reader/side of the bed book. I don't expect a person to read thru the listing but it's great for enabling gamer to discuss different contributor's opinions and possibly learning about a game. While I don't agree with all of the games listed and written about, it's a good list and good for making a gamer think. To gamers out there this is a good 3.5 to 4 star book depending on the reader. For those that might have an interest in gaming, this is an excellent way to learn about different games out there and possibly see what might interest them.

If you are interested in modern designer strategy board games or if have a history with classic games from Avalon Hill, RPGs, etc, you should read this book. I am a fairly recent entrant into the hobby of modern board games and I found this book a great read that provided a lot of historical context from some very noteworthy people in the industry. It is well written and edited and I found even the treatment of RPGs and older games with which I am not familiar to be really enjoyable. Grab a copy if you think this sounds interesting.

I appreciated this book for the following reasons:

1. The entries were short, so I can read one every once-and-a-while.
2. Each entry is written by an accomplished game designer. As a budding designer myself, I enjoy reading what has inspired others.
3. The book covers most of the modern classics.

A couple of areas it was lacking:

1. There were quite a few games that fall out of my particular area of interest (too many RPG games). I think the new "Family Games: The 100 Best" by the same publisher and author should remedy this.
2. The top 100 seemed to be less-than-adequate. Again, the forthcoming book should fix that.