"[A] timely book...It’s All a Game provides a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history."—The Wall Street Journal Board games have been with us longer than even the written word. But what is it about this pastime that continues to captivate us well into the age of smartphones and instant gratification? In It’s All a Game, British journalist and renowned games expert Tristan Donovan opens the box on the incredible and often surprising history and psychology of board games. He traces the evolution of the game across cultures, time periods, and continents, from the paranoid Chicago toy genius behind classics like Operation and Mouse Trap, to the role of Monopoly in helping prisoners of war escape the Nazis, and even the scientific use of board games today to teach artificial intelligence how to reason and how to win. With these compelling stories and characters, Donovan ultimately reveals why board games--from chess to Monopoly to Settlers of Catan, and more--have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations.

More than 50 games and activities, including mazes, tangrams, superstar hangman, reusable fortune-teller, cosmic science games, optical illusions, brain teasers, write-on/wipe-off drawing board, and much more!

About the book This is the compelling, fictional account of David Andrews - a man unprepared for the complexity of the relationship he has with his Board of Trustees. He discovers he is no match for some of the misguided and mean-spirited individuals he encounters. David, through a difficult period of self-awareness, ultimately realizes that his ability to connect with the Board, and specifically, the Chair of the Board, is what differentiates triumph over chaos. He shares this journey in the hope that his experiences will help others. Features & Benefits o Gain the tools and vital skills to discern what constitutes constructive behavior. o Creates a roadmap that enables you to clearly see where this relationship is headed. o Recognize those with the best interest of the organization in mind, and those with personal agendas. o Clearly discern those persons with genuine leadership ability, from those who do not possess the skills to advance the organization. o Highly engaging format is perfect for individual and group use. Special sections allow for fast access of important concepts and tools.

For thousands of years, people have been planning attacks, captures, chases, and conquests - on a variety of different boards designed for an astonishing diversity of games. Today the compelling mix of strategy, skill, and chance is as strong as ever; new board games are invented almost daily,while the perennial favourites continue to attract new devotees and reveal new possibilities. The Oxford History of Board Games investigates the principles of board games throughout the ages and across the world, exploring the fascinating similarities and differences that give each its unique appeal, and drawing out the significance of game-playing as a central part of human experience - asvital to a culture as its music, dance, and tales. Beautifully illustrated and with diagrams to show the finer points of the games, this is a fascinating and accessible guide to a richly rewarding subject. In his trade-mark accessible, entertaining style, David Parlett looks at the different families of games: games based on configuration or connection, races or chases, wars or hunts, capture or blockade. He focuses mainly on traditional games, the folk entertainments that have grown up organicallythrough the centuries, and which exhibit endless local variations, although he discusses also the commercial products that have tried, with varying degrees of success, to match their astonishing popularity. This is not primarily a how-to book, although the rules and strategies of certain games are discussed in detail, neither does it offer sure-fire tips for success, although with a fuller understanding of a game the reader will undoubtedly become a better-informed, if not better, player. Rather, itis an affectionate and authoritative survey of one of the most familiar parts of our cultural history, which has until now been inexplicably neglected.

Four exciting games: Pirates search for hidden treasure; Medieval Knights race to rescue a beautiful princess; fearless Astronauts try to escape from an alien spaceship; a scary Mummy chases a group of explorers through the tombs of ancient Egypt. Includes an integrated spinner, press-out counters, and storage pockets.