An award-winning mathematician explores the maths behind the games we love and why we love to play them. Based on Ken Follet’s Pillars if the Earth, this game is about the building of a cathedral. Get craftsman, gold, workers and victory points to win. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle (2016) + The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion (2017)

A game based on Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. Set during the precipice to the French Revolution, as the member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel you’ll help to save innocents from the guillotine! Work together, but only the best will become the Scarlet Pimpernel’s most trusted advisor. The Little Prince: Make Me a Planet (2013) A fun game for the family, or just as a casual game for The Little Prince fans. Build a planet! The Play’s the Thing (1993) The book has a bit of a potpourri approach. Some chapters I enjoyed, others not so much. I would have preferred it to be more structured, and more consistent. However, if you want an insight into how several well-known board games were designed, this is perfect. This is a board game favorite of many. In Shakespeare, you have one week to put together your show at the Globe Theater. Recruit actors, craftsment, jewelers, and more to make your show a success (and net you the prestige points you need to win). Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island (2012) + Mystery Tales Expansion (2019) A lot of other games that didn’t make the cut were good games, but aren’t being made anymore, so are only available if you buy it from someone online, probably for a large markup. For example, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork is supposed to be fantasic, but you’ll have to find it from a collector. There’s also the game The Great Penguin Bookchase, a trivia-styled game, that looks fun, but isn’t available anymore. A Study in Emerald, based on the Neil Gaiman short story, is sadly out of print (“OOP”) as well.

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For as long as there have been people, there have been games, and for nearly as long, we have been exploring and discovering mathematics. A grand adventure, Around the World in 80 Games teaches us not just how games are won, but how they, and the maths behind them, shape who we are. Spanning millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures, Around the World in 80 Games gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding maths can help us play games better, and how both maths and games are integral to human psychology and culture.

I read this book pretty early, probably before I even really got into board games strangely enough. I definitely have to reread it now to fully benefit from it. It’s part (mini) board game, part Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. Choose options. Read about the outcomes. Collect points. Win! The Masque of Red Death (2018) But anyway. Here’s my ultimate list of book-themed board games: Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Board Game of English Magic (2019) Play as the Montagues and Capulets as you compete for control of Verona. There’s also a gorgeous French version of the game, Verone, from Ferti games. Mystery of the Abbey (1995)Fantasy Flight makes a number of Lord of the Rings board games. Journeys in Middle Earth is the newest, cooperative game. Gather your party, battle foes, and have fun traversing through Middle Earth. A Game of Thrones: Second Edition (2011) This book has a variety of contributors, each writing their own chapter on board game design related topics. From this book you learn about design mainly through reading essays about the design of several board games, including Agricola, Cosmic Encounter, and Pandemic, among many others. However, the chapter I found the most useful as an aspiring game designer was entitled “The Greatest Gift” and was about the early stages of the design process. I just wish more of the book was filled with such practical information like this chapter. This highly anticipated board game was originally released in 1979, but is getting a 2019 reprint and update thanks to its many dedicated fans. Based off Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, this game is set on an uncharted planet in space. Manage your faction to gain resources (spices), fight off sandworms (bad guys!), and defeat everyone else. Control the most strongholds on the planet independently or via an alliance to win. Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger (2018) Well, it’s really for me since I’m obsessed with board games. Doing a strictly literary-themed game night is on my list of to-dos but I have yet to find enough friends who are book lovers and who also love game nights ( and who live in the same place, plus whose schedules line up) to do it with me. But, I assume one day the stars will align to make it happen.