eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
Tabletop gaming is enjoying a huge renaissance. Sales of hobby board games have risen in double digits yearly for the past decade, with more people enjoying the physical, non-digital aspects of playing, along with the social interaction. It's one of the biggest sectors in crowd-funding platform Kickstarter.
Don't Be a Beardy Gamer "A very funny and useful read on its own, but it also makes a great gift for that sore loser in your life." --The New York Times "An indispensable, laugh-out-loud guide to the pitfalls and pleasures of gaming." ~Graham McNeill, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels author; former Games Workshop designer "For anyone looking to be a part of one of the greatest communities in the world!" ~Brittanie Boe, editor of GameWire "A warm, insightful guide for exploring one of geek culture's oldest realms." ~Aaron Dembski-Bowden, author of New York Times bestselling book The Horus Heresy: The First Heretic Whether you're new to the world of tabletop games or a veteran gamer, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming is your go-to game-night etiquette guide. Expert gamer Teri Litorco, of the gaming site Geek and Sundry, helps you to get along as you play and make the most out of your time with your gamer group. Packed with insider advice and etiquette tips, this essential guide includes advice on everything from sharing crib sheets and meeples to avoiding drama and poor sportsmanship at the game table. With 100 gaming etiquette rules, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming provides you and your group with all you need for a fun and respectful game night--without rage-quitters, bad losers, terrible winners, and Incredible Sulks!
Tabletop and board games aren’t just for rainy days or awkward family events anymore. As the game industry grows, people of all ages are jumping to play “the original social network.” In our ever-increasing technological world, playing old-school games is a welcome retreat from the overexposure to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of social media. Over the past few years, board games have become the hot new hobby. Instead of friends sitting around the same table and staring at their phones, they are now either working with or against each other. Millions upon millions of new fans have begun to join their friends in real life for a fun game of Pandemic, 7 Wonders, or Ticket to Ride. The Everything Tabletop Games Book shows how to play some of the best tabletop games in the world, from classic strategy games like Settlers of Catan to great new games like Gloomhaven. Throughout the book, you’ll learn the different genres of tabletop and board games; how to play each game; rules and strategies to help you win; and even where to play online—including new expansions to keep your favorite games fresh and exciting. So gather up some friends, pick a game from this book, and start playing! You’ll be having a blast in no time.
Unlike chess or backgammon, tabletop wargames have no single, accepted set of rules. Most wargamers at some point have had a go at writing their own rules and virtually all have modified commercially available sets to better suit their idea of the ideal game or to adapt favourite rules to a different historical period or setting. But many who try soon find that writing a coherent set of rules is harder than they thought, while tweaking one part of an existing set can often have unforeseen consequences for the game as a whole. Now, at last, help is at hand. Veteran gamer and rules writer John Lambshead has teamed up with the legendary Rick Priestley, creator of Games Workshop’s phenomenally successful Warhammer system, to create this essential guide for any would-be wargame designer or tinkerer. Rick and John give excellent advice on deciding what you want from a wargame and balancing ‘realism’ (be it in a historical or a fantasy/sci-fi context) with playability. They discuss the relative merits of various mechanisms (cards, dice, tables) then discuss how to select and combine these to handle the various essential game elements of turn sequences, combat resolution, morale etc to create a rewarding and playable game that suits your tastes and requirements
Blast off into space with the Starship Operations Manual, Starfinder's latest rules expansion hardcover! Outfit your beloved starship with more than 100 new starship weapons, expansion bays, alternate armors, and systems like drop pods, ramming prows, mines, ablative armor, virtual intelligences, and more. If you're looking for a new ride, you'll find profiles of leading starship manufacturers as well as statistics for more than 40 new starships found throughout the galaxy. The Starship Operations Manual puts you at the controls, offering bold new ways to present starship combat, from dogfights in planetary atmospheres to daring chases through asteroid fields to pitched battles between huge fleets. New rules allow crewmembers to get even more out of their skills and feats, unlocking thrilling critical success results that add excitement to starship combat. Take your adventures into the great unknown and beyond with the Starfinder Starship Operations Manual!
Since 1979, Sanctuary has been the nastiest, ugliest, and grittiest city in fantasy fiction. This summer, Sanctuary returns to roleplaying for the first time in over 20 years and the excitement begins with the Thieves' World Player's Manual. This book includes a detailed overview of the city in the classic and current eras, a culture and background system to customize your adventurer, over twenty core and prestige classes, a unique magic system, and a brand new Thieves' World short story by Lynn Abbey herself. Explore the Maze, enjoy the delights of the Street of Red Lanterns, or take part in the fight against Dyareela's cultists. The Thieves' World Player's Manual is your gateway to adventure.
Reviews over 400 seminal games from 1975 to 2015. Each entry shares articles on the genre, mod suggestions and hints on how to run the games on modern hardware.
Do you have game ideas collecting dust in the back of a closet - or the back of your head? Dust them off, pick up this book, and discover the simple steps to turning your concept to cash in today's game market. Long-time industry veteran gives a concise and complete insider's view of this fascinating world and shares the process of licensing or publishing your board game, card game, or party game for profit. Find out how the industry works and what companies are looking for in a game. Examine what makes a good game good while understanding the basics of prototyping and play testing. Gain the knowledge on how to best approach companies to maximize your chances of success. Learn how to protect your idea and how to strike a deal when the call comes. It is all covered step-by-step in this easy-to-follow guide to game design.
Gaming no longer only takes place as a ›closed interactive experience‹ in front of TV screens, but also as broadcast on streaming platforms or as cultural events in exhibition centers and e-sport arenas. The popularization of new technologies, forms of expression, and online services has had a considerable influence on the academic and journalistic discourse about games. This anthology examines which paratexts gaming cultures have produced - i.e., in which forms and formats and through which channels we talk (and write) about games - as well as the way in which paratexts influence the development of games. How is knowledge about games generated and shaped today and how do boundaries between (popular) criticism, journalism, and scholarship have started to blur? In short: How does the paratext change the text?
