Before leaving for GenCon, I finished reading James Wallis’ new book ‘Everbody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made’.
The book is a retrospective and review of the many winners and nominees of the Spiel de Jahres award, one of the biggest awards in the board game industry.
(Yes, I take my obsessions seriously and tend to research them so I know just enough to make everyone else uncomfortable.)
Wallis clearly did a lot of research, finding and playing these old games, many of which were out of print and probably best left on the shelf. The book also contains a brief history of the award and the reason it exists - to introduce families to board games right before the winter holiday shopping season. Slap an award on the box so Santa knows which game to bring!
224 pages, each winner gets a few pages along with some definitons of board game terminology and a quick list of nominees for the year. My gaming awarness grew and, like reading about classic films and tv, I have some knowledge now of the evolution of the hobby. It was interesting to see what ideas stuck around, which were pushed aside and a few that seem to be coming back!
I have a few issues with ‘Everbody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made’ thought:
First - that title. Oof, not only is it a mouthful but that is not the book? This is actually an overview of the Spiel de Jahres winners since the start of the award until 2022 and as Wallis examines each game that won the award, there are many that ranked from “okay” to “let’s pretend that never happened”. It feels like something the publisher picked for the book to make it more accessible.
Second - it’s SO big. It is the size of a board game box which makes it very awkward to read. But perhaps they didn’t expect me to attempt to curl up with it at bedtime, balanced precariously on my tummy, the book so side my reading light couldn’t illuminate it all. I’m sure it would look great on a shelf full of board games though, which I am guessing was the point of the design.
If you’re looking for other introductory books to the history of board games, I would also suggest ‘Board Games in 100 Moves’ by Ian Livingston which goes even further to trace the legacy of games and gaming back to pre-history! (If you have watched the video of Quinns’ panel from Shux ‘19 on the subject, he cites this book at the end).
I think Wallis’ book is a good companion to that title, pick them both up (my public library owns both so check yours to save money and shelf space for more games!) if you too wish to know just a little bit too much about the history of tabletop gaming.