Board Games Books

Even if they never remake the alternate boards ( cityscape, dungeon scape, and the rest) it's still one of my favorite board games. Game play is a bit random, and tactics don't help you much but I think it's more fun watching the guy in the lead turn into a toad and lose everything than it would be winning threw guile.
games tend to take an hour per player in my experience so plan accordingly.

This review is more for those who know at least a little of the game. So I mainly cover what the different is from the 1st/2d editions. Also the news I have heard up to date. (FEB 7 08)

Black Industries has done well with this game. the Layout is the same as the 1st/2nd edition game. The Artwork is beautifully done. in fact when I get together with my dad to play his complete 2nd edition with all the expansions we use my board and the updated rules. The important updates that you actually have to go to Black Industries to find out about is that you do draw a card in the desert, and that the prophetess's power (as well as the orb of Knowledge's power) to draw an extra card should work that you draw the proper # of cards and if there is one you do not wish to encounter then you may replace it with the next adventure card but you must encounter that card. (This is a very important rule that helps balance that character out) there were a few other minor things but those were the two most important.

Black Industries did announce that there will be expansions for this edition but so far there is no word as to if they will be the same as the previous edition expansions or not. I really hope that they bring out the alternate endings soon as just the crown of command can get a bit dull.

There are also three downloadable characters from the Black Industries site. the Pixie, Hobgoblin and the Gnome. The Hobgoblin is the only of the three that was in the old list of playable characters.

The Pixie is safe in forest, can avoid enemies in the woods and always has two spells. 1 Strength and 5 Craft.

The Gnome is safe in the forest, starts the game with two spells and teleports anywhere within the region on a roll of six. 2 Strength and 4 Craft

GREAT GAME my wife and I play about once or twice a week. (I use the alternate endings from the 1st/2nd edition that is all I have added)

I played Talisman through my college years in the mid to late 80s. It was our "default" board game and we all loved it. Unfortunately, we all moved on with our lives and the fellow who owned it moved away and fell out of touch. I've hoped for years that it would be re-released as used copies with missing pieces sell for $80-$100 online. I received my copy of this new release of Talisman today and played it with my friends tonight... I can definitely say that the magic is back!

The game itself is basically the same game I played back in the 80s with a more detailed set of instructions and a bigger board. The characters and rules are pretty much as I remember them. Each player randomly selects a character to play (such as the assassin, the prophetess, the monk, or the troll) and maneuvers through three consecutively more difficult regions of the board to reach the center. As the game progresses each character will become more powerful by randomly encountering and defeating various monsters, gaining magical items and followers. Players can also help or interfere with each other as they progress. The game takes one to three hours to play for two to six players.

The only complaint I have about this new edition is that the plastic counters that are used to track lives, strength, and craft are all one color and that makes the numbers a bit hard to read. Overall I am thrilled with my purchase and hope that the old expansions such as The Dungeon, The City, and Timescape are released as well. Highly recommended!

The tangrams themselves all have to be enlarged in order for my students to use them but I do that in Photoshop and it is working fine. I like that all the answers are there as well. Lots to pick from.

This book have 334 pages and it is very complete.
The introduction is very instructive.
There are 11 parts: Letters and numbers, Animals (tangram zoo, cats, dogs, birds, horses, bats, sea creatures...) Mankind (servants, Sam Loyd's portrait gallery, horsemen, medieval ladies...), around the house (watering can, baby carriages, stocking, pistol..), boat and bridges, stories and pictures (the house that jack built, the story of cinderella, a game of billard, the orchestra), a little mathematics (! ), chinoiseries (some chinese characters, dagger, raincot, "drinkink alone"), paradoxes and illusions, double tangrams (rocket, coach, sport car, television set, lion..) et the fifteen-piece puzzle (a pavillon in the moolight, a man asleep in a drifting boat..).
The solutions are given in the back of the book. The illustrations and the explanations are very clear. The author wrote a book really complete about tangram

Ce livre de 334 pages est vraiment complet. Il a une introduction très instructive. Il est divisé en onze parties: Letters and numbers, Animals (tangram zoo, cats, dogs, birds, horses, bats, sea creatures...) Mankind (shoeshine boy and customer, acrobats, medieval ladies...), around the house (pipe, shoes, chairs, pistol..), boat and bridges, stories and pictures (the house that jack built, the story of cinderella, a game of billard, the orchestra), a little mathematics (! ), chinoiseries (some chinese characters, "Buddha hand"...), paradoxes and illusions, double tangrams (house, cyclist, sport car, telescope, microscope..) et the fifteen-piece puzzle (a pavillon in the moolight, a man asleep in a drifting boat..). Les solutions sont données à la fin du livre. Les illustrations et les explications sont très claires. L'auteur a écrit un livre vraiment complet sur les tangrams.

A great read for anyone who is a fan of the game of darts! Very informative and entertaining. Well written.

I never knew the history of darts until I read this book. I recommend it to anyone who plays darts, or is just a dart spectator.

I love the game of darts. When I first started playing I wanted to get as many books on the subject that I could find. My main purspose was to read about how I could become a better player by reading what the experts had to say. This was one of the books that I bought. The book is interesting if you are looking for exactly what the title says, "The Story of Darts in America". If you are looking for more or tips on how to be a better player than find another book. I do still have the book, and I do pick it up from time to time and read a little bit of it. I enjoy it now more than I did when I first bought it. I think it is recommended for someone who loves the sport and is interested in it historically, not for a beginner that wants to learn to play.

Rhino is playing hide and seek with his huggably-drawn East African animal pals. One page shows animals camoflauged in a specific habitat; the next shows the animals bounding away. The book continues like this through desert, swamp, plains, etc. My two-year-old has a great time hunting for the hidden animals. This book is very light on text and suitable for preschoolers, but also seems appropriate for older children. The endpapers contain an illustrated guide to the many species depicted throughout the book, so kids can learn the difference between a vulturine fish eagle and a lesser swamp warbler!

Rhino and his East African animal pals, huggably drawn, are playing hide and seek. On one page, animals are hiding, camoflauged in their native habitat; on the next page, they jump out and run away from the rhino. The book follows this pattern through desert, plains, swamp, etc. Older kids can learn about camoflauge, the East African environment, and the names of 60+ different species (there's a guide on the endpapers). But the book is also appropriate for preschoolers, as it's very colorful and light on text. My two-year-old loves hunting for the hidden animals on every page.

Beautiful drawings of Africian animals.A wonderful and sweet story of animals in Africia. Children of all ages will love this book.

My daughter loves Blue but for some reason this book does not capture her attention like the other books we own. Maybe it is because she does not understand fog yet or why the wind blows things into the yard? She is 29 mos old now. Regardless of that, we love Blue and maybe the book will hold her interest when she is a bit older.

This book is for all you diehard Blues Clues fans! My 3 year old still likes Blues Clues..even tho Bob the Builder is around and Rollie Pollie Ollie! Heck, I like them too! So..go ahead..buy this book!

This book is excellent! I have a 20 month old who loves Blue's Clues and we have recently discovered this book series. As any fan of this show would expect, this book offers plenty of opportunities to interact with your child as they discover the effects of different types of weather in Blue's backyard. My child's language development has been enhanced by naming and pointing to the items in the brilliantly colored pictures. This book immediately captured my child's attention and even though we read it every day she still gets excited when I pull it out for her! As a Child Development Specialist by day and a Mommy by night, I can't say enough good things about this board book and the others offered in this series!

At 144 pages of thick high quality paper for only $7.95 retail in 2000, this book is a great value. The SPIRAL binding is great, because the book lies open flat to any page, and the binding never cracks with use and age. Any concerns that a traditional glue binding is better than spiral are unfounded, even backwards: spiral is better.

It is hard for a chess player to adapt to the checkers notational scheme. I presume that experienced checkers players have learned it and therefore like it. But the cause of checkers is harmed by this needless initial learning curve, as it acts like a barrier to entry.
The answers/solutions in the back of the book are written in paragraph format, with the moves buried in the text. This loosely reminds me of the silly verbal notation used by Philidor and Staunton in their now ancient chess books.

But the answer explanations are good. Further each puzzle is introduced with a sentence or two that quickly orients the reader, and I found I like those sentences. At the bottom under each puzzle there is a upside-down italicized hint, that I also like. The eye does not accidently read these hints, and they are surprisingly well guaged to be helpful hints without being give-aways to the answer.

The layout of the book is a little suboptimal. There is only one puzzle per page, each being 71 mm square. This left enuf room on the page for the correct first moves to the puzzle two pages earlier: but the extra space is instead left blank in the actual layout. This forces the reader to flip to the back to find the solution (disruptive and tedious).

Each puzzle has a title above its two sentence introduction. Most titles tell which color in next to move: "White Paves a Winning Way", or "Black Makes White Turn Pale". But in some cases the reader must read the intro sentences to know which color is on-move, the diagrams are not decorated with that crucial info.

My eyes find the kings and regular checker pieces look too similar to each other in the diagrams. Yes I can tell them apart, but it takes a bit of concentration to distinguish them that would be unnecessary with more distinctive icons.

I wondered whether studying checkers puzzles would have any beneficial effects in how I might perform when studying chess puzzles. I now doubt there are any cross-over benefits.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5 Introduction
7 Description of Puzzle Format
9 Early-Game Puzzles
15 Middle-Game Puzzles
41 Endgame Puzzles
114 Answers
134 Rules of Play
138 Checkers Terminology
140 Puzzle Index

(I cannot tell whether the early-game puzzles are from games using the 3-Move balloting rules or the older somewhat out-of-favor GAYP rules.)
(The puzzle index, page 140, is by puzzle title.)

Robert Pike is a former Massachusetts state champ under the ACF.

Solving problems of the type presented in this book is a great way to improve your game. This book helps enormously with (a) categorized problems according to game stage (opening, middle, end game) and (b) problems shown in order of difficulty. The problems are excellent, challenging, and fun to solve. Highly recommended as an adjunct to study with other books such as Pask and Reinfeld.

My only criticism is small: The fold-out checker board at the end, an obvious but silly marketing gimmick, isn't even square!

(Pike's other problem book, Little Giant Encyclopedia of Checker Puzzles, is also excellent.)

A super 352 page softbound volume with more than 400 large, full color, sharp photos and over 500 black and white pix. The comprehensive work lists and values 9,000 + games. The back of the book has over 100 pages of color shots of the games. Dates range from 1744 to the present! Major topics range from Games Thru The Ages, to Golden Age, Silver Age, Modern Age, Simulation Games, Role Playing Games, Card Collecting Games and much more. There is a most comprehensive listing of games by category, making it easy to locate items. Prices are year 2000. An outstanding work. Add it to your collectibles library. Toy and game, or Americana enthusiasts will refer to it often.

In this day and age of everything electronic it is great to look back to a simpler era when you didn't need to worry about "batteries included" or if a particular game could only be played on a specific gaming system. Here, in this book you can learn about the board game versions of Monopoly, Risk, and 100s of other "acoustic" games. Written by an acknowledged expert in the field of collectibles Malloy has authored books on comicbooks, toys, fast food collectibles, and even ancient coins. So you know he has a real handle on this stuff.

I have the TSR box, & was very happy when SJG brought it back from limbo.

Problem is, unless the "aliens" player is far dumber than the "crew" player, the aliens win, every time. Given evenly skilled players, & roughly equivalent rolls of the dice, the only way the crew has an even chance is to make a break for the escape pod from Turn One.

Sadly, that can make for a ten-minute game. I've meant to gripe to Tom Wham about this for 20 years, hoping to shame him into an "official optional" rule that might make it easier to enjoy his hilarious game a bit more thoroughly.

In the meantime, since it's a 2-player game, players ought to take a turn at each side, & then use number of moves &/or number of survivors to determine who is, overall, the better AGT player.

Hint: my crews survive better if the first thing we do is reach for the zgwortz. I know it's supposed to be food, but it usually turns out to be the most effective weapon!

This game is one of the most original ever developed. It feeds off all those foolish and paranoid B movies from the 1950's and 60's. While the game is rather difficult to win if you are the crew it is good fun and there are good opportunities for strategizing. I first played this game when was 14 and still enjoy it today.

The animals are so cute - my daughter got it for xmas and loves it so much!

This is such a great toy / book for the 6 and under kids. The pieces stay securely in, and each center puzzle piece is shaped like the animal you are putting together. Puzzles are of: Ducks, Kangaroos, Elephants, and Penguins. My 4 year old can almost master each page and has not lost interest.

There are just some books that a little one choses as their favorites, "Big Bird's Color Game" is definitely one of those in our household.
In this book we have different pages with objects of different colors on them. On one page everything is red, on another page it is green. Big Bird describes something, and asks what is he thinking. The little one must guess. It is a good interactive book and one children enjoy guessing over and over again.
Shirley Johnson

Great book!!! My first copy has worn out from so much use!! I use this book in an educational setting. Useful for identifying colors, object use and functions, recognizing object characteristics. Very easy to expand upon with several age groups.