Games Books

Lots of unique puzzles to jumpstart your lateral thinking skills. Tons of fun, too!

How does one invoke an "Aha" moment? How do you lead people from bewilderment to clarity with simple drawings, letters, and numbers? Lloyd King has perfected the art of puzzles, packing them with a triple punch of outright satisfaction, humor, and surprise.

If you are a trainer or workshop leader, these puzzles can be adapted for your use. The puzzles are great for ice breakers for any group or topic or could be used as exercises to support topics such as creativity, humor, or even change management.

I have been a trainer and/or workshop leader for over twenty years and am always looking for new ideas and ways to adapt existing materials to my training needs. Let me give an example how you can adapt Lloyd's puzzles as an ice breaker.

* Find out the number of participants in your workshop or session.
* Prior to your workshop pick out some puzzles from Lloyd King's book.
* You can simply redraw the puzzle on paper for each group.
* Consider dividing the workshop participants into small groups of 5-6 people.
* Offer participants an overview of the exercise. "Each group will be given a puzzle to solve. You have five minutes to work together and solve it. You will need to pick a representative who will describe your process to the entire group."
* Allow participants 5 minutes to collaboratively solve the puzzle.
* At the end of the time period have the representative from each group come forward one at a time, show the puzzle to the entire group, and describe how they reached the solution. If the group did not solve the puzzle - open the challenge up to the entire group. Provide guidance if necessary.

Liz Lowe

I like Lloyd King's puzzles! They are challenging, creative, often very amusing, and great fun. For me, this is a 5 star puzzle collection, indeed Lloyd is a 5 star puzzler, and has been for the 20 or so years that I have known him.

This genial book is one of three books written by the master of puzzles Lloyd King. This one is his latest and maybe the best one, even if it would be rather unfair to draw that conclusion, because every one of his books is very different and unique in it's own way. Lloyd's book "Test Your Creative Thinking" is the one that made me love puzzles.

"Amazing AHA Puzzles" contains over 300 puzzles. The remarkable and amazing thing is that every single puzzle is very unique and doesn't resemble any other puzzle in the book. That shows the writers colorful and versatile imagination and creativity.

English is not my native language, so in the beginning, I found some of the wordy puzzles rather difficult. The fine thing is that these puzzles will even make you think English and learn English in quite an unique way. Therefore, I would recommend Lloyd King's books even to those who want to learn English and be better at English.

The book's wonderful illustrations show us that an amazing amount of energy and time has been invested into every page of this work of genius.

Coming from a relatively puzzle-less background, I am a recent convert to the imaginative puzzle world presented by Lloyd King's special brand of AHA! creative magic. This beautifully presented book contains puzzles ranging from the relatively simple to the almost impossible. Fortunately all the answers, with full and elaborate explanations, are available in the book so the reader is not only able to obtain emotional release if the need arises (as assuredly it will!) but is also able to gain a real insight into the mechanics of a truly creative and imaginative mind and in so doing improve his/her own creative and lateral thinking. This is a highly recommended book.

I loaned the book from the library when I was 15. I remember that I had to periodically stop reading it because it was so funny that my eyes were full of tears of laughing. I re-loaned it some four or five times, until I moved and could no longer return to the public library where I had found it. After so many years I still remember complete passages of this book, and at that time I was reading three books per week, most of which I can't even remember the titles!

Do you want to have a permanent smile on your face? Just read this book.
It would be great to see the book re-printed.

I first read this book about 20 years ago and though it would make a great movie. I'm sure the Russians would enjoy it too.

A hilarious story suitable for young teens of either sex and those who are still young at heart. A cold war romance set on an island off the coast of England. Also a possible world record winner for 'longest book title in the world'. I enjoyed it immensly when it was first published and am now looking for a copy to give to my boys. (after I've read it again.)

This book is completely crazy! Absurd, funny as hell. (And if you are able to stop laughing for a moment: It is certainly not without sting.)

Today's news (Jan 8th, 2007) made it even funnier: I had no idea that the story of Foul Rock was directly inspired by reality! And now it is up for sale...

The "real" Foul Rock's name is Sealand, located outside the coast of England (although not in the same waters as the fictional Foul Rock). It was founded as a "nation" in 1967, attacked in 1968 - and the book about Foul Rock was published in 1969. There should be no doubt about the source of inspiration!

Now, there are two points worth mentioning: Readers too young to know anything about the Cold War will miss out on a lot of the humour. And, you should be rather familiar with the English language to understand all the word play.

I first read this book in a Norwegian translation. Several times, the only way to see the humour was to back-translate to English to discover the word play. Still I miss out some humour because I am not that familiar with British culture (e.g. the way the various British papers present the news - I guess that you have to know those papers to see the humour), but there's more than enough of it to make you laugh your way through this book anyway.

I beg for a reprint of this book - the day it is published, I'll buy about a dozen copies for use as gifts to selected friends.

This is one of the coolest roleplaying games I have ever played. I have played Traveller, Gurps, D&D, Twilight 2000 etc...

This system is one of my favorite Magic systems ever. The game world is rich and the whole concept behind covenants and mundanes in mythic europe is an exciting one!

My background is in Medieval History and the Arthurian legends. While I have enjoyed RPGs in general over the years, I have never really felt fulfilled by them. Ars Magica changed that.

This is a grand game, not only in terms of system, but also in scope. You are not slogging around odd underground defense installations finding monsters sitting in room with a king's ransom in gems; instead, you are part of a community and your interests are first in foremost in the esoteric study of arcane lore and magic. Assuming you are a mage. The Companion and Custos (Grogs) have a slightly different take on life, but they are lower down the Great Chain of Being.

This game assumes that in the Middle Ages the world was what people believed it was. Demons are real. God is above all else. Faeries are around every corner. Within this context, you, the player, are an anomaly -- a mage with great power, socially shunned (at best), but in the end subject to the world around you and the constraints placed on your magic.

The system is elegant, requiring only 10-sided dice. The magic system is magesterial -- huge, flexible, yet limiting the lesser magi until they have a chance to learn. Most of all, the game puts you within a real world and makes you feel enmeshed in it.

If you are looking for a truly fine RPG, this is it, hands down.

Before Jonathan Tweet moved to Wizards of the Coast, and before Mark Rein-Hagen created the WW's World of Darkness -- they created Ars Magica. This is a wonderfully detailed, and realistic medieval roleplaying game. The magic system is the best there is! The fleshed-out combat system, and the fact that you play 3 characters from different social strata are also wonderful features. The first RPG to have troupe-style play, and it's quite a treat for gamers seeking substance. Minor complaint: I wish there were a few clear and concrete examples of the rules being used during play; in some places the text is dense and a bit hard to digest. But don't let this fool you, the rules are really quite simple -- the presentation just needs to be streamlined.

A grand game for the true hardcore roleplayers. Ars is a system once owned by White Wolf, and one can draw many comparisons between the two, that has only gotten better in the two editions between. You play three characters at once and each is quite detailed. The magic system is the ultimate in imagination and personalization and the combat system is realistic,deadly, and exciting. You need no supplements to have a great time but each adds more detail. Pick it up and get lost in Mythic Europe.

A quirk of many Ars Magica players is that they have a particular edition they value above all others: mine was third edition: to my mind, it was the apex of the games origionality. At its best, Ars Magica was an intensly colourfull game that gave modern players a filter through wich they could percive a fantastic medival world. It was a mix of judith tarr and prof. umberto eco, and propably the best thing mark rein . hagen ever made.
Unfortunately, the current owners of the game do not get all that. They seem to think that its supposed to be a "realistic" simulation of the middle ages: not that the middle ages are not intresting enough on their own, but that just wasnt the point of Ars Magica. Its name means "the Art of Magic", and it was supposed to focus on what was OUTSIDE the medival world: its cosmology was one never thought of in medival times. The main characters are outcast wizards, not, say, knights.
Also, i have a terrible suspicion that the current owners overuse of historical material is due to a lack of ideas of their own. Even the colours used in the game - books have become more grey.
One last thing: the rules have always been a bit heavy - going (even a simplified version of rolemaster can manage to be quite complex), but the basic dice system is easy and logical enough, so with a bit of practice a storyteller should be able to manage with a few general rolls. The fourth edition people should have kept most of them unchanged, i understand.

I have to agree with the other reviews on this book, it's a MUST have at any price.

The art from the early Dragonlance covers has always been some of my favorite fantasy art, and this book dives deeper in the vaults to bring out art that if you're like me might never have seen. Some of the art is from the dragonlance calandars, posters, etc. This book will leave you with a deep appriciation for Larry Elmore and the other great artists who've done these covers.

I was born with the name of Raistlin.. naturally i would want to see the character i was named after. This book provided me with the start to my passion with Dragon Lance.
It goes into detail and explains everything (how the dragon riders stay on the dragons etc.).
I have one copy and so does my Dad, but mine has pages missing from when he used them as posters. I want another copy but it depends how much i am willing to pay on e bay.
This book is worth getting for a price such as £50.

Enjoy.

This book is worth every penny I paid to get it. It includes a short story about how the Dragonlance epic came to be, the four original color roughs (by Larry Elmore), sketches of the dragonlance and saddle and how to use it, sketches and pictures of the many types of draconians, armor and weapons, beautiful oil and acrylic pictures, a little history and pictures of the Heroes of the Lance, pictures and history of minor characters such as Lord Lorac, the elven king, and much, much more! This book is a must-have for any Dragonlance collector. You won't be disappointed!

This gorgeous book is one of the finest compendiums of TSR artwork ever created - it is loaded full of hundreds of illustrations, free of print, on glossy paper; included are every piece of full-color artwork ever created for Dragonlance (up through 1987), supplemented with rich text and many, many concept sketches that appear nowhere else! For Dragonlance afficionados, or those who appreciated classic art by Easley, Caldwell, Parkinson, Elmore, and more, this is the ideal collection.

This was an absolutely beautifully laid out book. It contains 'round 40 full color full page prints of paintings of the dragonlance saga. Along with the prints there is also background info. on how the artists put the images together, along with an intriguing storyline that ran with the images. An absolutely fantastic book... can't say much more about it!

I'm taking a little break from a great serious read, The Hour I First Believed: A Novel -- Very good, but 750+ pages.

I found this wonderful children's book at the library: Bats at the Library, written & illustrated by Brian Lees. The book was released in September-2008. Written in rhythm and rhyme style. This batty adventure is full of silliness, but also references some classic children's literature. In the illustrations, children may recognize some characters from books they may have already read. The illustrations are terrific too. Recommended for children 4-8, as well as for young at heart adults--like me.

What a great book! The illustrations are fantastic. My 3-1/2 year old Grandaughter sees more in the illustrations every time we read it together. It is so cute, I'm donating a copy of the book to our local library. The Martha Stewart Show did a piece yesterday on the book. The author had a bat cut-out done especially for the show. It can be downloaded from Martha's site. The kids can draw a picture on the "book" and the bat folded so that the bat is holding the book. Very cute!

I work in a public library so am always interested in stories set in libraries. There's hundreds of children's picture books doing just that but Brian Lies has come up with an original idea of having bats as his main characters. Well actually its not original characters in the fact that this is a sequel to his very successful Bats at the Beach but original in the bats/library combination.

Anyway the basic plot is a librarian has left a window open and the call goes out into the night that there is access to the library. Apparently bats have been waiting on edge for something like this to happen. A window left open is a rare event and these bats will not hesitate to take up this opportunity. Inside the library the bats use the overhead projector to make shadow puppets (you'd think they could do this with a full moon outside all the time but who knows), read the books and use their imagination to act out scenes from them.

Not the most interesting of storylines but the pictures are very well drawn. One bat is wearing a lifejacket which is never explained though.
For those who are big fans of bats, I'd check this out.

The best three books I've come across that are set in a library are Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Hopkins, Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk.

Bats at the Library is a wonderful book. My grandchildren loved it. Hope there are more "Bats" books to come.

And librarians and the kids they share it with will love this book. The detailed pictures beg for young readers to take a closer look. Baby bats wear swimmies on their arms. A water fountain is turned into a great splashing pool. Characters from books kids know and love make frequent appearances, and the library setting reminds us of the venerable institutions we all remember, or at least wish we'd grown up with. This librarian says the book is not to be missed and I'm off to order my copy now.

Barstow was one of the best. His is one of the few gaming strategy books that takes a serious look at betting progressions, regressions, parlays and hedge moves. His common sense approach pre-dates the work of many currently popular craps authors and appears to be the inspiration behind many of the strategies these other writers are known for.

I constantly refer to this book when comparing systems and the advice in this book has steered me away from "new" super systems that promise to win you millions and stopped me playing some of the old standbys.
It promises consistent wins and delivers on that promise .It also promises you won't win millions and that in itself makes it a rarity an honest book on and look at gambling.

For most it won't appeal to the "gamblers blood"or anyone with a short attention span as the progression/regression series require your full focus and attention and would be to much of a grind for most.

VIC

I read this several years ago and still refer to it often. Some of the mathematical conclusions may not be totally accurate, but this does not diminish its worth in the least. For anyone interested gambling, or just numbers, it cannot be beat IMO. Many, many ideas on "increasing your odds", interesting anecdotes, and basic info on casino games. Without a doubt, it is worth far more than the 6 bucks!

This book is a must for anyone looking to win at a casino. I have found it to be the most informative guide to casino gambling I have ever read. Barstow's chapter on wagering has greatly improved my casino experiences.

If you are going to endure a 4 hour flight or car ride to Vegas, this book is for you. It is a well-written, understandable guide to casino games. It does not try to sell you on a system, or on cash management. It does try to educate you on the odds of winning. It gives you the straight scoop about the games with the best odds- craps and blackjack. It also warns you about games with less favorable odds- the "Big Wheel", roulette and others. Go to the casino with a fighting chance- read Barstow's book.(as you drive through Barstow!) so, as the dealers say in Vegas, "Good Luck!"

Jeff Greenwald has a concise and straight forward approach of putting everything about competition tennis that has given me the "yips" over the past 15 years into chapters and then giving a mental strategy or solution to the problem (which is in my mind). The suggested readings are also helpful. We'll see if this all works.

This quick read will give you great tips for your mental game. It focuses on relaxing, playing freely, not thinking about the outcome and staying in the moment.

Jeff Greenwald delivers a work filled with some stunning insights from himself and other top players that can help you focus, relax, and bring out your best. As he points out, everyone is struggling with something on the court, and it turns out that most of us are struggling with the same things. I have found myself going back to this book again and again because it examines so many of the key mental obstacles that the game presents, and provides a practical, process-based approach to overcoming them.

It is a nice read to have in the tennis bag and read while waiting for a match. It did have some useful angles that I have used on the court.
Worth the money.

As a therapist and tennis player who has read numerous books and articles on the mental aspect of tennis, Jeff Greenwald's book and cd are by far the most helpful and the most relevant I've come across. While other mental tennis books are interesting and helpful, Greenwald has put together powerful and credible insights born from his own tennis career and solid mental health research and experience.

His insights ring true and they are clear, employable and even necessary for being a healthy happy human tennis playing person (and I would think especially necessary for the junior and pro level players to keep a healthy perspective). Often mental tennis advice makes sense (just think positive) but falls far short of being realistically helpful (positive thinking usually doesn't help muscles from getting tense in a close match). But Greenwald has done a superior job of organizing, articulating and delving into the heart of the issue/s that can leave every tennis player from playing their best tennis.

This book was well written, the chapters are short and packed with useful information - no fillers. The author speaks about his personal experience to help you gain a better understanding of what he is trying to say. This was my second book after I read Mensa Guide to Blackjack and I found that the 2 compliment each other. Mensa Guide is heavy on Basic Strategy but light on everything else.

This book offers great advice and recommends many drills that will help you become an advantage player.

I really enjoyed this quick easy read. I purchased the book to read on the plane (DC - CA). I was amazed to discccover that it was a such a fun and interesting read. I really understand the concepts much better and cant wait to put the easy techniques to work!! I highly recommend the book for beginning or advanced players.

If you are a blackjack player this book will help you win. It is worth more than the price. It is endorsed by well-known experts. Many of the books published about blackjack are manuals. This book is more than just a manual. I highly recommend this book if you would like to win at blackjack consistently.

This is the best overall of three books on blackjack I've read so far. You get the feeling this man has a very well-organized mind. He's the first author I've read who adequately explains deviations from basic strategy and the matix tables. He nicely discusses the issue of whether to go with a simpler or more complex counting system. Ironically, he is weakest where other writers are stronger: on betting strategy. Here I think he gets a bit too mathematically precise in his betting tables. Would someone with a $20,000 bankroll really bet in amounts of 83, 133, 182, 267, 338...? (p. 122). Of course not. But I completely agree with Bukovsky when he says, "Don't just read this book. Read everything you can get your hands on....Read and reread..." (219). Sound advice, in my view.

I'm a successful player already at two games: blackjack and poker. I just finished reading this book last weekend and it's the book I will now recommend to friends and players I meet at the tables who want to learn more about how to make money at this game. I was put on to it by a long time friend who now works on an Illinois riverboat. Between us we've been in the game, on both sides of the table, for more than 50 years, and we both agree this book gets you thinking about things in a way no other books can. It is also one that seems to be popular among serious poker players. Simply put, one of the best blackjack books out there.

What a great book. It is full of detail and wonderful ideas to set your creative juices flowing. Judy

This is a book for the serious advanced quilter who wants to produce competition level quilts. Well written, covers the subject in depth.
Not a quickie short cut type book this is a reference level book that belongs on the shelves of all serious quilters.

I have met the author of this book. She is very knowledgable and a good teacher. Her book is well written and is instructive.

Excellent book. Precise directions. She writes exactly how she teaches and this book will give you step by step instructions on how to be a PERFECT quilter and make perfect finishing touches to your quilts. More than just the borders/edges instruction - Sally tells you how to be a better more precise quilter, making your day-to-day sewing even better! You can't go wrong in buying this wonderful book. Read it from cover to cover. Excellent!

This book is the "bible" for anyone interested in the art and techniques of finishing a quilt. Anything and everything you need to know is laid out in an easy to read format, with clear illustrations to demonstrate the techniques. Sally Collins is truly a master in quiltmaking AND in teaching. She explains everything in glorious detail but in a very clear and easy to understand format. Her quilts are candy for your eyes, and make me believe that I can do it too!

My kids are 4.5, the preschool cards were a little easy. the kindergarten cards are about right. Now usually with them I find the age ratings on toys are accurate, like other reviewers said the brainquest products are rated a little too old. Some of the concepts are beyond them but about 80% of the cards they are able to do at this age.

This item was delivered very quickly. My daughter loves to do Q & A type flashcards and this is perfect for her to do. We have purchased the previous two BrainQuests as well and will continue to purchase these as our daughter grows.

My grandson looks forward to bedtime each night just so he can do this "learning." He loves these cards and I have seen him learn so much. We also have the preschool set.

These are great stocking stuffers. My daughter received hers the Christmas before she was to start Kindergarten so she could become familiar with the curriculum.These became her favorite flash cards. It also opened doors to teaching things she didn't know like time. Highly recomended

I highly recommend Brain Quest. We now have several sets and I plan on buying additional. Such a fun way for kids to learn. Since they are compact they can go anywhere. We've taken them on car trips, to the doctors office, shopping...just about anywhere. The kids think of it as a game, not as sitting down and learning. This is a great gift for someone as well.