Capturing Games Books

I played this with friends over New Year's, and we nearly missed the fireworks at midnight because we were so engrossed in this game. It's a little slower paced than Scrabble in terms of turn length, but the anagram fun is doubled because you can use not only the cards in your hand on your turn, but rearrange any word on the board as well. One of the more strategic of the word games I've played, Royalty challenged the word-lover in me and introduced a level of competition to create the most elegant word beyond that in most other word games. Very satisfying.

My wife and I played Royalty for many years. We have tried many other word games especially an all time favorite Scrabble. Royalty provides a very good alternative to Scrabble. Game play Royalty presents complexities and therefore challenges that Scrabble does not have.

In Royalty a player can either play a word from his hand, capture an opponents word by adding cards to form a completely different word, or do both on any one turn. Like Scrabble a player can choose to return cards to the remaining deck. However in Royalty a player must return his entire hand and receive 7 new cards.

Royalty is a an excellent test of vocabulary and mental agility. You will thoroughly enjoy this game.

Royalty is essentially a form of Scrabble but played with cards. I like it because it can be played more casually than Scrabble, but it can also be played in a very competetive manner.



My wife and I play it regularly, for fun, without keeping score.



I am ordering a new deck because my wife gave her's to her sister.



The quality of the cards is good and the package includes a plastic case and instructions.



This game is suitable for ages ten and up. I am 51 and enjoy the game.



Play it for fun, as I do, or for keeps. It is easy enough for fun and complex enough for real competetion. A first rate card game.

I got this book by accident, and a fortuitous one at that. I ordered the first volume in this series, 'The Art of Connecting Stones,' and received this instead. Since I didn't know that there was a second volume I took a look at it and decided to keep it. Now I am waiting impatiently for Volume 1. I have to compliment Yutopian Enterprises for making many fine Go books available to the Western audience.

This volume focuses on sacrifice plays. Two kinds of them in particular. One is the art of crisscrossing sacrifices that is called 'playing under the stones' and the other is using sacrifices to force one's opponent to take on eye space shapes that cannot be maintained. These are some of the most exquisite tactical plays in Go, often involving a lot of reading of the stones, and are devastatingly effective when the opportunity arises.

Finding those opportunities is what this book is about. Using a problem/explanation approach it teaches the player what to look for in play. The technique involved is not all that difficult. But seeing the shapes involved and taking advantage of them takes more practice in reading than most players ever see. This is the frustrating part of getting stronger at the game. In the 91 problems in this book is the experience of a lifetime of playing for most of us.

Many of the problems are well within the grasp of the average amateur. I was able to work most of them out on my board. Which means that Wu Dingyuan and Yu Xing have written the book just as it should be written for the player most likely to benefit from it's contents. Well worth buying.

If you want instruction on how to carve the ultimate in realistic looking faces, any of Jeff Phares books can help you.

If you are interested in carving NA faces or cowboys, you will love this book. The instruction will also be useful in general for any type of face, though the artist seems particularly concerned with aged, lined, character-rich faces.

Great book if you like making wrinkled old men all of the time!

World Champion carver Jeff Phares is kfamous for his lifelike busts and masks and in Carving The Human Face: Capturing Character And Expression In Wood, he shares his techniques for creating masterful human portraits in wood. Part One showcases more than 20 of his current works, focusing in on the wise and weathered expressions of Native Americans, frontiersmen and cowboys. Part Two offers more than 350 instructional photographs taking the aspiring sculptor from a block of butternut to the finished facial mask of a Native American warrior. Part Three of Carving The Human Face includes more than 20 diagrams explaining facial anatomy and how it relates to Carving Masks and busts. Woodcarvers and sculptors will find the material and techniques comprising this single volume "how to" guide and manual to be invaluable in honing their skills and improving their work.

For this being his first book it is very good. It explanes everything step by step, from begining to end.I have my own copy and I am awaiting the next book. You are inspiring to every person who would like to become a woodcarver

John Hammond's book is an excellent first book for the beginning acrylic painter, but also a fine refresher course for the experienced painter. His emphasis on light - developing tonal values is key to bringing paintings alive. It is a book that is more about how to think, how to see than a to techniques and tricks.
- J.S.

the book is good, and the illustrations and explanations also. it has many landscapes to support the advice and lessons

I am an artist and painting teacher working in oils, which I love. But, increasingly, I have students who want to paint in acrylics. There aren't that many books out there on the subject, but this clearly explains how to paint in acrylics and achieve the fine art look of oils. It goes beyond, and shows what acrylics can do that oils can't. So, now rather than think there are two mediums, watercolor and oil with acrylics somewhere far below - I now see acrylics as a third medium with it's own advantages and possibilities. This book covers all of the basics that a good book or teacher covers ... color, temperature, value, edges and design. "Capturing Light in Acrylics" should be on every acyrlic painter's shelf ... and maybe the oil painter's and watercolorist's, too.

I just received this book and already I can see how the techniques described and displayed will greatly improve the "look" I'm going after. An artist friend saw the book and barely wanted to give it back after thumbing through just a few pages. This book is BEAUTIFULLY illustrated with the talented Mr. Hammond's artwork, but his narrative is so clear and concise that you know his good influences will show up in your own work and improve your own style. This is not a book for beginners, but intermediates will gain so much more and even old pro's can incorporate techniques that will help bring paintings to life through light!

I was delighted to look over the book. It is well written, beautifully illustrated, clear to use. It ranks very highly in my estimation.

This is one of the most fun books I've looked at in along time. It had some wonderful swags and arrangements. I'm sure I will get ideas from many of them. Very nice photos.

This book delivers so much less than it promises that I have found it virtually useless in training actual human beings. Maybe it was tested on hares. You would do much better (and be much more creative) coming up your own exercises.

The book is firmly rooted in science, and the exercises are proof: This is not a cookbook. You need to understand the rationale behind the exercises. The book builds up a coherent set of argument, points to further reading, and is a veritable treasure trove of how to be, and help others be, creative. I highly recommend it.

Thank you, Robert Epstein, for demythologizing creativity. As a writing teacher I found this book very helpful in several ways. The games are fun and each one makes a strong point. My students respond to the core competencies with excitement and gratitude and most can't wait to develop these concrete skills. I've found nothing better for tackling the problem of "writer's block." I have used this book with students in classroom and workshop situations and recommend it to managers who want to jump start their employees' creativity.

It is probably no accident that Robert Epstein's _Big Book of Creativity Games: Quick, Fun Activities for Jumpstarting Innovation_ appears at first glance to be a book for children. Its title, colorful cover, and interior design are reminiscent of children's books. While many of the games can be used in classrooms, the primary audience for the book is adults -- people who want to improve the creativity of those in their businesses or other organizations.

The forty-eight games in the book are based on Epstein's Generativity Theory. His ideas about the creative process grew out of his laboratory research. In addition to refuting popular myths about the creative process, Epstein identifies four core competencies that help individuals express their creativity (plus four more competencies to nurture creativity in others):
1. Capturing new ideas
2. Challenging yourself so that new ideas emerge
3. Broadening your base of knowledge and experience
4. Surrounding yourself with an environment -- both physical and social -- that encourages new ideas

Despite the fact that the book is grounded in theory and research, the information it contains is practical and easily accessible. The book is written in lay terms, and the information is as easy to understand as the juvenile format leads you to expect it to be.

The games are categorized by purpose (such as "convincing people that they're creative") and by core competency. It is easy, therefore, to find games to fit a particular need. Epstein devotes about three pages to each game, providing a summary of the game, its objective, the time required (ranging from 5 to 90 minutes), the materials needed (generally readily available), the procedure, and discussion questions. The discussion questions are indeed a key feature of the book, for the games are intended not only to boost creativity but also to demonstrate creativity's basic principles.

Epstein places a high premium on failure. He says that failure causes us to recall past methods of dealing with a problem -- and often discover a new solution. Without failure, creativity is not needed (remember the Apollo 13 mission). Many games involving the second competency, Challenging, deal with managing the frustration and other negative emotions that often accompany failure.

In addition, the book includes an abridged version of Epstein's Creativity Competencies Inventory for Individuals (ECCI-i) along with a self-scorer. These tools are effective for evaluating a person's overall creativity and each of the four competencies. It is easy, then, for a person to see which areas would benefit from development.

This book was a total disappointment. I have never written a review online before, but if I can stop someone from buying this series I will feel like I've saved someone their hard-earned dollars. The subtitle says "Fun Activities for Jumpstarting Innovation". It should have said "Invent your own games because we don't have any good ones to tell you about". At least half the games were not games at all, but instructions for the participants to CREATE THEIR OWN GAMES!!!!! I COULD HAVE DONE THAT! One after the other are worded as follows: "Participants design and carry out their own exercise to demonstrate the importance of _____ for the creative process" -- (insert chapter topic in the blank). Sorry, that doesn't help me at all. STAY AWAY!