Three items of interest this time around. I've been looking for a copy of Abbott's New Card Games (Funk & Wagnalls 1968, ISBN 63-13237) for years. As an afterthought I mentioned it in one of my posts to rec.games.board and presto! Michael Keller came to my rescue with a copy of this essential volume of eight original card games and an additional game using chess pieces.
Some of these games, like Babel or Eleusis, may be familiar to you. Another, Leopard, has just been published as a standalone game in Germany called Sabotage. The rest are a varied lot— some trick-taking, some partnership, and some using very non-traditional mechanics for a card game. All are interesting enough to warrant exploration.
Thirty years have passed since this book was first published, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a more intriguing assortment of card games in one place. Michael may still have copies available for five bucks-- email him to find out.
A new magazine made its debut this year. Called The Games Annual and bearing the tagline "The Definitive Digest of the World of Games", this 192 page glossy weighed in at a hefty $9.95— that's a lot to plunk down for a single magazine at the newsstand. But I did it anyway. Unfortunately, I was profoundly disappointed.
There are a number of problems with The Games Annual. Perhaps the biggest is that this seems to be a magazine without a clear audience. It tries to be a little of everything, with bits about board games, internet games, paintball, miniatures, computer games, RPGs, puzzles, card games, live action games, play by mail, war games, pinball... it's all over the map. And because its coverage is so broad, each section is shallow. The coverage barely scratches the surface of the material, reading like an introduction to the genre or, even worse, an advertisement. Anyone who picks this up because of an interest in one or more areas of coverage will find nothing inside which he didn't already know. This is clearly not a magazine for the enthusiast, but rather one targeted at a broader audience as if to say, "Here, this is what today's gaming world is like." But anyone interested enough in gaming to pick up the magazine is probably already aware of the current state of the gaming world. I could be wrong, of course, but it seems to me that they're really missing the mark with this.
If The Game Annual were The Games Bimonthly, I'd dismiss the lack of depth as being a first issue introduction. But published just once a year, I find it hard to believe they're going to get more in depth as time progresses. I hope they'll prove me wrong.
The second problem is one of credibility. A staggering number of the contributors to the magazine have advertisements in it as well, lending some question as to the publication's integrity. An editor's note informing the reader of the author's activities is one thing. Full ads for the author's business— on the same page as the article!— is something else again. This isn't journalism, it's nepotism. And it left a sour taste in my mouth.
The most useful part of the magazine is the 24-page master index in back, listing shops, magazines, manufacturers, clubs, and events with contact information. Worth the price of admission? Hmm... Look before you buy.
The final item of interest this issue is Rick Polizzi's Baby Boomer Games ($24.95 + $2.00 shipping: Collector Books, PO Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009). Polizzi is the author of Spin Again covering games of the 50's & 60's, as well as a quarterly magazine of the same name which spun off from the book.
This hardbound "identification and value guide" is a joy to browse through. Hundreds of color photographs (mostly box covers, but a good amount of content shots too) accompany the listings which give the title, publisher, year, and value. Designers and artists are credited when known, and occasionally the author includes a brief description or other info about the game. The book includes games from the end of WWII to around 1976.
The prices given are averages paid by collectors for the game in question, and as with many price guides, should be taken with a grain of salt. Even so, Baby Boomer Games is an invaluable reference source and a delightful font of nostalgia. It can be purchased directly from The Game Report Bookstore.