I really liked the first volume of The Board Game Book, and there’s a preview of it on Geek Native. The book looks at the latest and greatest RPGs of the year. In this case, if successful, volume 2 will come out in May 2020.
At the time of writing, there’s 23 days left to back and the book is well over the £12,500 in funding they’re asking for. £12,500 is a lot to ask for a book, but volume 1 was an Amazon bestseller. They’ve fans who want book 2. You can see progress over on Kickstarter.
There are interviews with designers inside including Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride), Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering) and Mike Mearls (Dungeons & Dragons).
As that last name suggests, The Board Game book also takes a quick look at RPGs.
The meat of the book, though, is clean and crisp write-ups on board game themselves. Want to know the board games a geek would recommend? This book will tell you.
I think there’s a real need for the book. YouTube reviews are very popular and range from 30 minutes long to 1 hour long on popular channels. That means you need to build a playlist that could last days if you want to research two dozen or so games for a Christmas or birthday gift. This book allows you to skim, flicking through the pages until you find something you like.
There are challenges, though. Board games are coming out very swiftly, and we’re yet to see just how contemporary volume 2 manages to be. Volume 1 covered some evergreen games. What will volume 2 do, repeat or omit? No easy answer.
It’s a pledge of £14 for a PDF version and £20 plus shipping for the physical version. If you can pick up your copy at the 2020 UK Games Expo, then you can avoid any P&P costs at all.
What are your thoughts? Strike up a discussion and leave a comment below.
