Three items of interest passed across my desk recently. The first is The Game Inventor's Handbook by Stephen Peek. This is a revised and renamed edition of his earlier book, Gameplan. Peek is a 20-year veteran of the gaming industry and has been involved with over 150 games in that time including Clever Endeavor, Notable Quotables, and U.S.A. Trivia. He's distilled the wisdom gained from his years as a game consultant into 192 pages of advice for prospective game inventors.
Peek covers all the bases, from designing a game to selling it to retail outlets. He talks about selling your idea to a game company and devotes a large section to the how-tos of self-publishing. He stresses the importance of persistance and a good business plan, and spices up his advice with a smattering of real-life examples.
Peek's writing is clear, entertaining and easily understood. To the best of my knowledge, Peek's book is one of the only one of it's kind out there. Given the notorious toughness of the game market, an inventor and prospective publisher could use all the help she can get. The Game Inventor's Handbook is undoubtedly the best, most complete help available short of hiring a game consultant like Peek to guide you. The Game Inventor's Handbook, ISBN 1-55870-315-2 is published by Betterway Books and sells for $18.95.
Item number two is Michael Keller's World Game Review. Keller has published this roughly annual publication for over a decade. Much like The Game Report, World Game Review is put out in the editor's spare time and covers mainly "mainstream games (chess variants, abstract and semi-abstract board games, dice games, and card games) as well as puzzles (mostly of a mathematical nature). Generally it concentrates on areas not adequately covered by other magazines."
Although produced on a computer, the no-frills desktop publishing package Keller wrote himself makes the World Game Review look like it was produced on a typewriter. Although its aesthetics are uninspired, its content makes up for it. The fifty-two pages of issue twelve are packed with reviews, articles, puzzles and information. A good number of pages were written by readers (TGR readers, take note!), indicating an active following. The reviews are brief, and I found the 'zine to lean a little too heavily toward mathematical/geometric puzzles for my taste. But that is a matter of personal taste. Readers of The Game Report are likely to find much to interest them in World Game Review. A four issue subscription costs $11 from Michael Keller, 1747 Little Creek Drive, Baltimore MD 21207-5230.
The final item is Bark of the Dawg, a more-or-less monthly forum for playing postal Campaign Trail, Empire Builder, Diplomacy, and Legends of Robin Hood. Issues contain letters, puzzles, stories, and turn reports for the game being played. Each issue costs $1 and there is a $5 fee per game entered. If you'd like to play one of the above games by mail, write to Krissi Linsey, 170 Forst Ferry Rd., Latham NY 12110.