It's all a game : the history of board games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan / Tristan Donovan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donovan, Tristan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Board games--History.

Board games.

Board games--Social aspects.

Social aspects.

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 292 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Thomas Dunne Books, 2017.

Summary:

"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 have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: The birth of a new gaming era

Tomb raiders and the lost games of the ancients: what board games reveal about our ancestors

Chess: the "mad queen's game": how the chessboard came to embody centuries of world history

Backgammon: the favored game of international pace-setters and ancient emperors: how backgammon became the most glamorous game of the 1970s

The game of Life: a journey to the uniquely American day of reckoning: what the Game of Life tells us about the development of U.S. society

The forgotten message of Monopoly: how Monopoly went from anti-landlord tirade to celebration of cutthroat capitalism

From Kriegsspiel to Risk: blood-soaked and world-shaping play: how board game prepared the world for war

I Spy: how chess and Monopoly became tools of espionage and propaganda

Clue's billion-dollar crime spree: how Clue's very British murders cerated a world of armchair sleuths

Scrabble: words without meaning: why words are meaningless to the best Scrabble players

Plastic Fantastic, Mouse Trap, Operation, and the Willy Wonka of toys: how Mouse Trap and Operation took board games into the plastic age

Sex in a box: what board games from Twister to Monogamy tell us about sexual attitudes

Mind games: exploring brains with board games: what board games reveal about our minds

Rise of the machines: games that train synthetic brains: how board games have powered the development of artificial intelligence

Trivial Pursuit: adults at play: how Trivial Pursuit broke games out of the toy box

Pandemics and terror: dissecting geopolitics on cardboard: what board games teach us about disease, geopolitics, and the War on Terror

Made in Germany: Catan and the creation of modern board games: how Germany revitalized board gamine for the twenty-first century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-277) and index.

ISBN:

9781250082725

1250082722

OCLC:

960239246