56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fairly well detailed and explained, October 8, 2003
This review is from: Yu-Gi-Oh! Rule Book (Prima's Official Strategy Guide) (Paperback)
Okay, I bought this book, hoping to glean some clue as how to play this trading card game. My daughter wanted to collect the cards, and I figured if she was going to collect them, she should know how to play the game.
One reviewer said you could just get the instructions by buying a starter deck. Yes, you do get instructions in the starter deck, but if you have no idea how to play the game, that will not be of any help at all. I read those rules several time and a big question mark floated above my head each time.
We had never seen a 'duel' take place and basically knew nothing about this card game. We needed help.
The book arrived and I eagerly read it, at least most of it. Some of the book explained card combos that you could use in a duel, but that was still too advanced for me. I just want to learn the basics first, before I learn ways to be tricky. It did elaborate much more on the rules and how the game is to be played, more so than the little instructions booklet in the starter deck did. I have to say the concept of the game was much more understood after reading through the rules in this book just once. Because of the wide variety of cards available (monsters, spells, traps), it is very difficult to fully understand the game by just reading the rules. Playing it over and over and studying the cards and their powers is the key to becoming a good player.
The book gives you an example of how an actual duel might go. There are 9 pages devoted to it, where you are basically a fly on a wall reading the dialogue from a duel taking place and what happens between the 2 players. The two players say what card they are playing and why they chose that card. Such as playing a monster card on an attack or using a spell card or a trap card. It was an easy example to follow and made it clear what happens when it is your turn. The instruction booklet in the starter deck never really made that clear to me. That was probably the most useful part of the book to me at this point.
Other parts of the book explain various cards to you, the ones with the strongest attacks, the strongest defenses, the best spells, the best traps. IT explains when those cards would be best utilized and a stategy for playing them. There are also 18 sample decks described. One is the Burning Deck. This one says to forget monster and trap cards, but focus on dealing direct damage to your opponents life points. It then lists the cards you would want for a deck like that.
The end of the book has a large question and answer section for beginner and advanced players, along with a question/answer section about using monster, spell and trap cards. Such as "Can I use 'Trap Hole' on a face down Monster in the defense position??? Answer, No.
So, overall, if you know next to nothing about this game, this book can help out, but it won't be the solve all, I can see that now. The amount of cards available in the game and all the different effects they have make it impossible to learn this game by just reading a book. Still, if you have noone to show you the game and can't figure out the instruction booklet, then there isn't any other option but to read these expanded rules. Something similar might be on the internet, but I could only find the standard rules printed there. I'm not a big 5 star giver, but this book gave me what I expected of it, a better understanding of the game. I wasn't foolish enough to think this would be the answer to all my Yu-Gi-Oh questions, but now I feel like I have a clue!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, November 2, 2003
This review is from: Yu-Gi-Oh! Rule Book (Prima's Official Strategy Guide) (Paperback)
This is a superb book for the Yu-Gi-Oh beginner. If you are familiar with the "for dummies" series, this would make a great addition to it (which is a compliment!). There is a ton of information available, and it is all good. The simulted duel, which lasts several pages, is great. That alone will get you headed in the right direction. Great book.
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