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Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering by [Titus Chalk]

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Titus Chalk

Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering Kindle Edition

by Titus Chalk (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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‘Who doesn’t love a story about small town dreamers who make it big? A gripping tale with a journalistic eye for how fast fortunes, and the world, change.’
Samira Ahmed, Culture journalist and Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Front Row

The incredible true story behind the global gaming phenomenon.

Generation Decks tells the story of the mould-breaking fantasy card game, Magic: The Gathering. The brainchild of misfit maths genius Richard Garfield, Magic combines complex gameplay with collectability. When it came out in 1993 it transformed the lives of quiet braniacs who had longed for a way to connect and compete. It made millionaires of its creators, and it kick-started the era of professional gaming.

Titus Chalk tells the game’s story – from its humble origins to its continued success in today’s digital age. Prepare to meet Generation Decks, a community like no other.

‘After reading Generation Decks, I fell even more in love with the game.’
Jonathan Little, professional poker player and author

‘A fascinating insight to the blood, sweat, and tears that went into creating one of the world’s most iconic card games.’
Jimmy Wong, actor, host and filmmaker

‘An enthralling tale of oddball game makers, fan obsession and big money.’
Tristan Donovan, author of Replay: The History of Video Games

‘This book will add Flying to all the cards in your memory of Magic.’
Ian Bogost, author of Play Anything

Print length

290 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

April 6, 2017
File size

549 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

It was a pleasure to read this well researched book and get back in touch with the game design world from the '90s--Richard Garfield "Game designer and creator of Magic: The Gathering " Who doesn't love a story about small town dreamers who make it big? A gripping tale with a journalistic eye for how fast fortunes, and the world, changes.--Samira Ahmed "Culture journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's Front Row " After reading Generation Decks, I fell even more in love with the game.--Jonathan Little "Professional poker player and author " --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Titus Chalk is a freelance journalist based in Berlin, Germany. He writes and broadcasts about sport, culture, and games for outlets including Deutsche Welle, Tagesspiegel, and FourFourTwo. He has been playing Magic since Revised Edition and even occasionally wins. He is on the wrong side of 30, but coping, thank you. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01NA0067O
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Solaris (April 6, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 6, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 549 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #802,947 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #624 in Science Fiction & Fantasy Gaming
- #895 in Role Playing & Fantasy Games
- #2,408 in Fantasy Gaming

Customer Reviews:
108 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

108 global ratings

5 star		71%
4 star		17%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Amazon Customer

Bought as gift, never seen a book read this fast.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

Bought for self professed non reader as a gift and he was so into it, finished within the week and sent to I'vee of his MTG buddies. Inspired the building of yet anther deck.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2021

Verified Purchase

Great book! Very nostalgic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

This review is going to sound like I hated this book, but I'd say ~95% of it was good. You'll get to know the genesis of the game, early stars, even human interest stories on peripheral figures that are nonetheless interesting (you'll know who I mean).

However, I didn't need a chapter-long lecture on diversity, or a description of the piss resting on local game shops' toilet seats. This sort of SJWism is the biggest threat to Magic, as the decline of the comics industry and the Star Wars franchise makes clear.

Anyway, maybe I remember that stuff more vividly because it's in the third to last chapter and I read some parts of this book months ago. Overall I'd say buy this book, but do yourself a favor and skip chapter 27.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Andrew Nicolle

Fascinating history of Magic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 13, 2017

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I've only recently started playing Magic the Gathering and was curious about the history behind it. I knew the game had been around for 20+ years, but wondered what was responsible for its longevity. This book is exactly what I was looking for.

Generation Decks is a fascinating history of the game, following not only the development and growth of the game from the WotC perspective, but also the author's own involvement with the game and how it has enriched his life over the years.

It covers development of the game through to the growth of official tournaments, and much more. I would've liked to have seen a bit more coverage of the development of and reception to each successive card set and the new mechanics introduced therein, but the topic is so huge, it would easily require several more volumes to even begin to do it justice.

Highly recommended for game designers and gamers alike!

3 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth Stone

Good for anyone, great for Magic players.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I'll admit I wasn't expecting much when I ordered this book. I mean, how interesting could it really be? To my surprise, 10 minutes in, I was hooked. It was fascinating how the game was portrayed as a revolution, and also just how close it came to collapse (being relatively new, I had no idea). Also present is the author's experience with Magic, a nice counterpoint to the historical information. My one critique would be that it was maybe a little dramatic at parts about nerd identity and all that. But in all a riveting, well-researched, well-written story thatI would highly recommend.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

So much more than I expected. The history lesson I was looking for with the surprise addition of the heartfelt account of the author's life & relationship with MtG. The author expertly articulates, in ways I've always struggled to do, what it means to be part of the MtG community. Highly recommend!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

highly recommend for anyone. into magic or looking to get into magic. Awesome history as well

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Henk Willemse

Trip down memory lane

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 1, 2019

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For everybody born in the 75-80's and played magic in their teen years this book is a trip down memory lane.

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Top reviews from other countries

J.P

Crappy cover. But still a great book about Magic: The Gathering

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

I'm not a hardcore magic player. In fact, my only opponents have been reluctant siblings who don't share my interest. I am however a lover of collectible toys and fantasy art and Magic is both. The original ebook released under the title "So Do You Wear a Cape?" some years ago was a very enjoyable read and this work is an expanded version of that.

The most enjoyable parts are the chapters on the origin story of the game. What blood, sweat and tears went into its creation. The stories of players buying in a frenzy stirs up the collector/ hoarder in me that keeps me coming back to re-read once in awhile. However, it seems like the author has morphed this version of the book into somewhat a part auto-biography, detailing his emotional attachment to the game and his life growing up around it, which, I guess must be rather cathartic for himself but really could have done without. The negativity kind of puts a damper on the pacing.

Some sections have also been updated to reflect the development of the game in the digital age. There seems to be a lot more tournament discussion than I previously remembered which made some parts a slog to read through since the specifics weren't all that interesting. Overall though, for magic fans I think this is a must read.

One person found this helpful

NorthLondoner

Everything you wanted to know about Magic: The Gathering (and more)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 9, 2018

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To be honest, if you're not interested in Magic: The Gathering you're not going to read this book. The first third is an interesting discussion of the game's genesis and the early history of Wizards of the Coast, the firm that launched it. Most of the rest is a detailed discussion of how the metagame evolved, various competitions etc and I'm not enough of a MTG nut to be interested so I skimmed. I dipped back in, however, for the bit about Hasbro's takeover of WotC (which made a cleaner into a millionaire) and at the Richard Garfield interview at the end.

Mr. John A. Hilson

Happy Accidental Discovery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

I stumbled across this book by accident. It’s been a long time since I actually played Magic, having originally discovered the game back in 1994. This a great read which is part autobiographical and part history of the game. Much of the earlier part of the book brought back some long forgotten memories of my time In various game stores and the later chapters helped bring me up to speed with things which have happened since I was last involved. If you have ever played Magic, or even have an interest in the phenomenon it eventually became, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

D Ruscic

Great Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book documents the creation and development of Magic as well as the social, cultural, tournament, commercial and artistic aspects of the game. This is a very well written, researched book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The style of writing is easy to read with references to technical information included when necessary.

If you’re considering purchasing this book you’re either:

Already playing Magic – if so read this book.
Have played a small amount of Magic and think you’d rather spend the money on a draft/boosters/cards – I’d say buy the cards. Keep this book in mind. It will answer a lot of questions you will have about Magic. If you keep playing you’ll eventually read this book.
Might buy this book for someone you know that plays Magic – if the person you want to buy this book spends evenings/weekends playing Magic, or just has a lot of Magic cards this book is appropriate.

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