Book: Hobby Games: The 100 Best, Edited By James Lowder

[woodwardiocom]

This book was assembled by asking 100 games industry heavyweights (including princeofcairo and rdansky) to pick a game from the past 50 years that they consider "the best", shimming a bit so there were no duplicates, and asking each to write a few pages about their choice. (With the additional stipulations of A) no games the person themselves created, or B) had a financial stake in, and C) no games by Green Ronin, the publisher of this book).

Of the games on the list, the ones I've actually played are:

• Amber Diceless
  
• Bohnanza
  
• Carcassonne
  
• Car Wars
  
• Champions (Hi, kuragara!)
  
• Citadels (Once, thus far.)
  
• Civilization
  
• Cosmic Wimpout (Still have my original dice and bag from the early 80s.)
  
• Diplomacy
  
• Dungeons & Dragons
  
• Fluxx
  
• Formula Dé
  
• Illuminati (The original, once or twice; INWO, several times.)
  
• Magic: The Gathering
  
• Ogre (And contributed to the mythos by writing GURPS Ogre.)
  
• Paranoia (Once or twice, with tactical_grace GMing.)
  
• RoboRally
  
• The Settlers of Catan
  
• Shadowrun (Maybe. I think I played the intro adventure once.)
  
• Ticket to Ride
  
• Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (Back when it was called Jyhad.)

From this Jon-flavored subset, you can get an idea of the scope of the list (RPGs, CCGs, German-style, tactical sims), though I should mention that there are a lot of Civil War/WW1/WW2 wargames in the full list, which lie outside my field of interest.

At a quick glance, the only designers to get three+ entries are Costikyan (Ghostbusters, Paranoia, Toon), Garfield (MtG, RoboRally, VTES), Jackson (Car Wars, Illuminati, Ogre — Warlock of Firetop Mountain was the other Steve Jackson), and Knizia (Amun-Re, Lord of the Rings, Tigris & Euphrates), though I think Stafford might also have three . . . Note how those four names each embody a different genre: Costikyan has the funny RPGs, Garfield has two CCGs (and RoboRally), Jackson has two tactical games (and Illuminati), and Knizia is, of course, king of the German-style games.

All of the 100 essays are well-written and conversational, giving you a quick summary of the theme and rules, and usually also describing how the writer discovered the game, and how it's affected their lives. They are often rose-colored, but I don't expect anything different when people talk about their faves.

So: Very recommended for the gaming crowd. You'll be planning a trip to the game store after the first dozen.

(Now, I've gotta ask myself: If I'd been asked to write an essay, what would I have picked that isn't on the list? Probably would have been GURPS 3e, or maybe Munchkin. . . )

Comments

[dariusk.livejournal.com]

Mmm GURPS 3e. Incidentally I got to see Warren Spector talk last Friday when he was in town.

[malefica-v.livejournal.com]

Ooh ah! Cosmic Wimpout! I haven't played that in decades, but I miss it.

[bluepapercup]

Yay, RoboRally!

I was just discussing that game last night. I played the original edition which is much more fun than the new edition that was re-released a few years ago.