Across the Board: How Games Make Us Human

by Tim Clare

Across the Board is a rollicking journey through the history and culture of tabletop games and the unparalleled way that they bring people together

"Rich with enticing origin stories, and a shining treatise on why games are so universal, so important, and so foundational to the human experience. This book beautifully explores their rich and textured legacy as everything from simple play to divine ritual. An exceptional read."
—Tom Brewster, Shut Up & Sit Down

"The best book on games I've read in years."
—G.T. Karber, bestselling author of Murdle

Tabletop games are ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary because they’re played in bars and cafés, churches and casinos, through sunless winters in polar research stations and in the sweltering summer heat of Tanzanian villages and streamed live over Twitch to millions of viewers. They fill the activity pages of children’s magazines and the halls of senior centers. They appear as smartphone apps and in luxury editions and as game boards scratched into the dirt. 

And they’re extraordinary for precisely the same they’re everywhere, in every civilization, everywhere in the world across all recorded human history. 

In Across the Board, tabletop game aficionado Tim Clare takes us through that history and across those civilizations. We learn how the same games emerge over and over and how they’ve evolved and spread, as well as about the contemporary culture of with rousing enthusiasm, Tim explores games as familiar to us as Monopoly or chess, as niche as The Gathering, and as unexpected as the Japanese poetry-matching card game karuta. We learn about games as recreation and as ritual, and above all, we see how they can be a way for us to come together—because of all the things that make us human, there’s nothing quite so set up for connection as sharing a round of cards or the roll of a d20.

Told with fantastic wit and great love for the subject, Tim Clare’s Across the Board is a book for all of us, from the tic-tac-toe players to the dungeon masters and back again.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Games, Psychology, Geek, Gaming

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2024

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure who this is for; I can't imagine someone picking this up who didn't already know, for example, the basic outline of how Magic: The Gathering works, but it doesn't make the account of MTG particularly interesting nor tell you anything about it you don't know already. You meaning me obviously. The book seems almost to admit its lack: the Monopoly chapter starts 'oh god, we're going to have to talk about Monopoly, aren't we?' and then rehearses the origins of it admitting this is a much-overdiscussed topic. There are two pages at the end of this chapter, which is titled 'The Obligatory Monopoly Chapter', which get into a possible connection between The Landlord's Game and a Native American folk game, which was new to me, which was about the standard ratio for the book. The names cited, texts and interviews, all felt very over-familiar: Wittgenstein and Bernard Suits at one end, Irving Finkel and Ava Foxfort and Quinns Smith at the poppier end; C. Thi Nguyen I hadn't heard of and might end up reading his book--

On a larger scale we rehearse a lot of standard claims in writing about games: games are, i., doing something aesthetic which we don't really have a language to talk about yet; ii., valuable for the communities they engender and the emotional nourishment they offer--but of course we can never distinguish i and ii, and we shoudn't move into a purely functional version, etc. . anyway, this is articulated via a series of chapters which most often take the format Lively Journalistic Intro Leads Into Light Historical Account Leads Into Pat Conclusion--'The smell of za'atar, fragrant yet citric, filled my nostrils as Elaheh sat down from me across the table to set out the Tawleh board...--Tawleh, of course, itself means table... --Now, you might think the humble game of backgammon ...--...but life itself is also a race. I sat and looked at my black stones. Safe from capture'--that sort of thing, you know?

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Game Changers starts off strong, offering engaging historical details about games and their evolution. However, as the book progresses, it diverges from this focus, occasionally meandering into extended discussions that feel disconnected from the central theme. While topics like LGBTQ+ representation, slavery, and autism are certainly important, they weren’t what I expected or was looking for in a book about the history of games. I had hoped for a deeper exploration of why games are so universal—what drives every culture to embrace them? While the book frequently emphasizes that all societies play games, it doesn’t delve into the underlying psychological or historical reasons behind this phenomenon. Overall, I found The Game Changers to be a good read, but not a great one. It offers fascinating insights but could have been more focused, with greater emphasis on the historical and psychological aspects of gaming.

[Liz Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun book if you're a board game nerd like me. This book includes not only the obvious board game stories (eg Monopoly was invented by a woman and later ripped off by a man) but goes one layer deeper (eg Monopoly was possibly based on a Native American board game), so there was lots of new and interesting information. I especially enjoyed learning about the Japanese game of Karuta, where players race to be the first to slap a card containing the second half of a poem which is being read by a judge. I absolutely need there to be an English language version of said game; plus I hear there's an anime series based on the game that I'm adding to my watchlist. My only complaint about the book is that the ending is a bit abrupt: a research thread for the book leads the author to receiving a diagnosis of autism. While the story is interesting, it seems a strange note to end the book on without bringing it back around to board games. Other than that slight stumble, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys board games and wants to defend their closet full of very expensive paper and cardboard as a legitimate and important part of humanity.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

so sweet :') made me homesick and miss my dad
I wouldn't say this is a nonfiction that has ~universal~ appeal—I would think you'll already need to love board games in order to fully appreciate this one. If you're a person whose eyes glaze over when someone is explaining rules, this will probably be a tough one to get through at points.
Fortunately, I love board games and found this incredibly interesting and wholesome

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is this book? It is not a book about the evolution of board games, though it starts off that way. It's not a complete survey of history, or games, or game mechanics - though these all make an appearance. The subtitle comes closest - this is about how games make us human, though it may have been better stated as How Games Connect Us to our Fellow Humans.

When I first saw this, the title was The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World, and Can Change You Too. That is also a good description; I wonder who altered the title? I liked the anecdotes, the personal touch, and the broad spectrum. I want to know more about karuta, and Commander Magic, and learn to play Twenty-Five.

This was a fun read - maybe skip past the title and shelve any expectations beside the obligatory Monopoly.

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like listening to a friend talk about their passion for their hobby.

Because I've listened to his podcast and heard him speak at games conventions, reading this is like having Tom Clare's voice in my head, talking about something that's really important to him. Of course, I'm interested in games anyway, but even if you aren't I think you'll feel his knowledgeable enthusiasm coming out at you from the page. And, more importantly, perhaps his humanity: this is someone looking to understand what it is to be human by looking at what play means to us and how we relate to the world and each other through games. And of course, it's also a heap of facts and a lot of fun. I think I'm going to buy a copy for my father in law too.

[Euan Robertson-Sword · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant read and great fun! A wide range of information focussing on different eras and variations of tabletop games. Interesting to see how common gameplay mechanics have evolved, especially things we consider to be the norm, and how some have come about or changed as a result of their environment. An easy but heartfelt read, and a funny one too seemingly without trying.

[Miki]

Many thanks to Canongate Books and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of Tim Clare's newest nonfiction title, The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too!

The premise of Clare's work really piqued my interest, especially since I hadn't heard of another publication about why playing games is a universal human instinct; why the same games evolved across different civilisations; and how those games make our lives happier, healthier and more fulfilled. And may I say that, in terms of book summaries, this is the most accurate one I have read in so long that I cannot express my appreciation to Canongate Books for not misleading readers with that part of the book, which I feel is rare these days.

I decided to read this slowly and ended up reading one chapter every evening. Clare's book provided fantastic hisotry lessons which give context for games that have been discovered which includes the histories of dice and card games. As someone who loves to read about history, this aspect of the content was great! I also loved the chapters which focused on classic and modern games, tabletop games, digital games, role-play or live action role play games, and everything in between. Clare included information about game companies and also the typical players of games and what those social interactions impact the players both of which I found interesting but not always surprising (like how male-dominated and sexist some games can be).

I like that Clare was demonstrating the importance of games and the positive social impact games have on our lives, and I wish maybe he'd included even more about how games impact or are impacted by socioeconomics, but that's for another book. Regardless of my wishes, I think Clare's book was quite an enjoyable read. I think that the content could have been structured and organized in a way that would have been a bit more direct/streamlined, but honestly, that's my only real criticism. Clare, it's clear, put time, effort, and love into a book about one of the things he loves most: games. To me, if someone asked me, "What are the most vivid memories you have of my parents?" I'd say that oh, so many are centred around when we played games: when we played Hummmzinger, and I kept saying "dinosaur" instead of "unicorn" as they hummed "The Unicorn Song". Or perhaps it was when we played spoons and my mother decided to scatter the spoons after she'd collected all of her cards, and we flew over the kitchen table, almost dying for a SPOON. Or was it the evenings when we'd die with laughter after playing Hedbandz, Balderdash, Pictionary, or some other hiliarious game that came out in the 90s that was a staple in our home since we usually had "family nights" which almost always involved a game. Maybe it's the million times my sister asked me to play Guess Who?, or the first time my partner and I played Wizard with another couple who were so determined to sabotage one another that one of us won every game we all played. It's the way that even though my family drive me insane, when we play a game, there's a period of time when we can actually all get along. Games can make miracles happen!

All jokes aside, Clare evokes that feeling in his book, The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too reminding us how important games are to people because they're one of the most wonderful displays of our humanity.

If you're a fan of historical nonfiction, games, sociology, and/or human behaviour, then this book might be for you!

Many thanks to Canongate Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this new nonfiction title - I greatly appreciate it!

[Jordan Vetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very well-written and researched, but overall it focused too much on ancient history for my taste. The best parts of the book are when he focused on modern games (the chapter on Monopoly was fantastic). But the first half of the book is too much of a slog about the history of dice, cards, boards, etc going back thousands of years. Some people might appreciate all that detail, but that wasn't what I was looking for.

[Liv Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually i think everyone should read the last chapter gamer or not. fun is unnecessary to survival and that’s why it matters!!!! every time a game i play was mentioned i gasped like it was a movie cameo

[Michelle]

an awesome book on the history of table top games! i especially enjoyed the parts about ttrpg’s now that i’m playing dnd 🎲

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining look at table top games, and why we play them. We pass the usual suspects like Uno, Monopoly, chess, learn about the development of card games, history (why there is no "first" board game), peppered through with personal anecdotes and historical tidbits.

Broad rather then deep, but I loved every page of it.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘The Game Changers’ by Tim Clare is as much a love letter as a history of tabletop games. Written with humour and interesting tangents, Clare covers some of the most popular games (Monopoly and Pokémon) and most enduring (chess and mancala). It reads as a series of essays that can be read through in a couple of days (as I did) or as something you can pick up and read a standalone chapter at a time.

Clare manages to convey his passion for tabletop games and their importance in facilitating community, creating safe spaces (particularly for neurodivergent gamers) and in potentially managing stress and loneliness. Clare also tactfully discusses how tabletop games can cross language and cultural barriers.

I loved reading about the Japanese game of Karuta which blends poetry with rapid responses and was deeply moved learning about the importance of mancala to the people enslaved and transported from Africa to the Caribbean.

The moments that shined for me were where, Clare, following the archeological artefacts associated with various games, brings our distant ancestors alive with their shared playfulness and humanity. Clare also shows us his own vulnerable humanity when he shares his own experiences engaging in games from a twelve year old chess whizz Ukrainian refugee now living in Ireland, his nearly decade old dungeons and dragons group and his own father.

Thank you @canongatebooks and @netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Luv2TrvlLuvBks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quotes abound in this book. Often to the point of weighing the read down. Felt like the multitude of quotes was the priority of the author and the surrounding text were fillers.

With that said, I did like learning of a game’s origins and the controversy as to who deserves credit. Until this book, I hadn’t considered games can transcend different cultures and time periods.

#AcrosstheBoard #NetGalley

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Abrams Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Press for an advance copy of this book that look at not just the history to tabletop games but the reasons why we play them, and the benefits, both mental and social that come from rolling a die.

In my family there was an event that became known as "The Great Battleship" incident. There ar different versions of this tale, but the one that my family has come to agree with is that once while playing Battleship, the tabletop game, with my younger brother I might have lost the game. And lost my cool, tossing the games, using words my father used in the garage, but not in the house. The pegs used to show hits and misses appeared in my Mom's vaccum for years, according to her telling of the tale. That's how serious I took my games, and I played a lot of them. I gave them up for reasons I guess, but noticed in the last 15 years that they have made a comeback. Not just Dungeons and Dragons, but other games, Lovecraft based tales, expansive board games, even simple one player card games. I might have thought was putting away childish things, but games are far more important than I thought they were. The teach basic skills, morals, critical thinking, and even more bring people together, even when the world does its best to keep them apart. Never have I wanted to roll some dice more than after reading this book. Across the Board: How Games Make Us Human by Tim Clare is not just a history of board games, but why people are drawn to them, why they play them, and how important they still are, no matter what age.

The book looks at the past, to a time when people hadn't really mastered a language, but still shaped something like dice, made some game tokens and played a game. Clare looks at these early games, and discusses how people with different upbringings, different ways of looking at the world, all loved to have some dice and a board to move things on. Clare looks at how people viewed games, not just as entertainment for the masses, but of ways to teach lessons, to hone skills at looking at the big picture of the board, not just the little parts where one's tokens might lie. Clare goes into the history of games as in the Game of Life, that drew on games from the past, and how a new American business was made from this. Role playing games and their history are talked about and even Twitch channels, watching people play games, while not even involved show that people love the idea of gaming, even when they have no stakes. Clare talks much about his own interest in games, and passing it on to his family, while discussing the role of games with thinkers, players and others.

I really enjoyed this book, though outside of video games it has been awhile since I played anything in a group like this. Clare is a very good writer, able to share history both of the era and of the games discussed, along with personal reminisces that resound with the reader. Clare did a lot of research, and discussed games with a variety of people, people that Clare sometimes disagrees with, but does raise a lot of interesting questions. I learned alot about something that once meant a lot, to me, and found myself thinking of this book well after I finished.

A book that belongs on a shelf loaded with rule books for various games, even better center stage surrounded by cardboard boxes full of games. Game players will like the history, and love the fact the Clare is one of us, or them I should say, with a respect and understanding of why games mean so much. There is a lot of history to learn, and a lot of games to play. I actually went and found my old dice bag after reading this, so for that I have to thank Clare. This is the first book I have read by Clare, but look forward to more. And some good gaming sessions.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you play games? In a different time did you play games? If so, then this book is for you! In Across the Board, Tim Clare talks about what makes board games or table games so universal and yet so unique.

Tim Clare starts off by defining what a game is. He then sets out a list of the sort of games he will discuss -chess, Monopoly, Game of Life, card games such as poker or Uno, and role-playing games such as dungeons & Dragons. And yes, he does delve into philosophy at times.

In fourteen chapters, Clare covers a wide swath of game types. "Dicing with Death" opens with several cases of folks in Sweden rolling dice to see who would live and who would die. The rest of the chapter talks about the long history of dice games. Another chapter - "To Ur is Human" - deals with the various games Sir Leonard Woolley found when excavating a tomb at Ur in Iraq in the 1920s. The rules for the game were discovered in the 1980s by Dr. Irving Finkel. Buddha and his ant-gaming sermon gets mentioned in regard to dice games. In the "Goose Gets Stuffed" Clare discusses how games seem to go in cycles through out history when the comparison of medieval Stuff the Goose being very similar in concept to the ancient Egyptian Mehen game. There is an obligatory chapter on Monopoly which delves into the sordid history of the game and chapters on card games of all types. One of those card games has the players hunting for lines of Japanese poetry. Then there is Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon card games. There is a chapter on Mancala - the bean game which is played in Africa and across the Pacific Ocean. Of course chess, checkers, and the like are covered. Then there are the role-playing chapters, both those done with a board and the live action variety. In the final chapter, Clare lets the reader in on his secret - he wrote Across the Board to figure out why he loves playing and collecting games.

So if you enjoy games, or just enjoy finding out the history of something, pick up Across the Board and find find out what makes you human! You will enjoy the trip!

Thanks Netgalley and Abrams Press for the chance to read this title!

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I've never been a tabletop gamer, I was very interested in this book and the premise. I have never thought about how games differ across countries, cultures, peoples, etc. yet you can find tabletop games and other games everywhere. And even today in the era of high speed internet and smartphones where you can store hundreds and maybe even thousands of games, you can still find that tabletop games endure today.

The book looks at various games from Monopoly to the Japanese game Karuta and more. Clare offers history, insights, commentary, etc. The origins of games, who plays them, why games are so ubiquitous, etc. Even if you haven't played many of them, it was interesting to see how these games have often withstood the test of time or evolved, etc.

Overall, though, this was very dull. It felt like it was a lot of research but not particularly well-organized? I don't mind the history and detail since I did not know a lot of this but I am also unsure if it actually matched what the title said it would. It also may help if you are into tabletop games and/or are at least familiar with them. It actually makes me wonder what a younger reader who may have never seen, let alone played physical versions of manancala or Magic: The Gathering would think.

Perhaps best for historians of things like tabletop games or game aficionados. It is an interesting look and I am unaware of a similar history, except on an individual level (longreads on chess or whatever). As a casual reader who has played some of these games or heard of others, this was fairly dull and not my cup of tea.

Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.

[kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK. man, i haven’t read nonfiction this fun and interesting in such a long time. i am definitely biased because i am so interested in games, but wow! so many fun facts to repeat to others immediately about the origins of monopoly and cards making it from china to portugal to japan.
every chapter ended with a lesson or a takeaway that gave me a feeling of warmth, that really reminded me of all the board games that i have loved. the author’s voice was great and i appreciated the witty footnotes. the only slight criticism was that i thought the takeaway from the dnd chapter was repetitive with the dice chapter, and maybe clare could’ve mentioned something about how it’s not about being the strongest or winning, it’s about telling the best story. but idk, just my opinion.
i learned so so much. can’t emphasize that enough. i’m inspired to try games like cosmic encounter and hyakunin isshu! i felt so connected to everything he said, from the part about feeling uncomfortable in male-dominated gaming spaces (magic the gathering chapter) and the tactile satisfaction of some games (mancala chapter).
i saw this book and one other about tabletop game history at dog eared books (by an oxford mathematician) and chose this one. i’m reading a bunch of other books right now but took this to dolores park immediately and was hooked. felt like a magical world of games! thanks tim clare!!

edit: also, the cover design is amazing….wowowow!!

[Alissa (meetmethroughbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Across the Board: How Games Make Us Human by Tim Clare explores how games—from chess to Monopoly to Magic: The Gathering—have shaped cultures and connected people throughout history. He examines the roles games play as both recreation and ritual, highlighting their universal presence in human society. Using both history and his own personal gaming experiences, Clare illustrates how games foster connection, community, and shared experience, emphasizing their foundational role in what makes us human.

I thought this was a fun, insightful look at why games matter and how they make us more human. I appreciated the commentary on the psychological and sociological aspects of engaging in gaming. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Richard Trinder, and thought he did a fine job. This book is a great read for game nerds who want to learn more about the history of this hobby, however be aware it does have some chapters that get a bit information-dense.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me a complimentary advanced reader copy of the audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and based off of this draft; the final publication may be different. Expected publication date is May 6, 2025.

[E.R. Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clare’s book is a solid history of the board game, although it does feel a bit scattered at times. While the author is free to pick the topics of choice, there are many notable omissions (tactical Avalon Hill wargaming is oddly ignored) and deep delves into the details of ancient board games that drag on for longer than the interest is there. However, the primary weakness in the book for me is the editorial commentary. Clare is a historian, so one might think a desire to stay neutral is what keeps him from assessing modern board games as anything more than mild evolutions of classic board games, rather than a flowering and massive step forward in sophistication. Whatever the case, his personal anecdotes take away from the book quite a bit, including his odd choice of including a diagnosis of autism at the end. Is this his way of apologizing for his professed love of the hobby still coming off as sometimes aloof? No idea. In the end, the portions that were good, had plenty of useful details in the history of the games, even if sections about Senet and Mancala seem focused more on length than interest.

[Haxxunne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, enthusiastic and personal
—
I think that there are four quadrants of readers for this book, split between gamers and non-gamers, and then between gamers interested in history, and those who aren’t, and between non-gamers interested in games, and those who aren’t. I’m a non-gamer who is interested in games, largely from cultural, historic and design perspectives, and I found this hugely enjoyable, excitingly novel and full of the author’s love and enthusiasm for gaming. It made me want to be a gamer and to be somewhat good at it (I’m largely rubbish at it), and to share the enthusiasm with family and friends.

I particularly liked the historic section, delving into the evolution of dice, cards, and boards, the fundamentals of games, and how they represent communication, measuring and counting, and ultimately, competition. There’s also a personal and humorous tone throughout where the author brings in his own life and his neurodivergence into the story, which elevated it from being a good pop history/pop culture book to include a human and individual story wrapped within the history and currency of gaming. Now, a game of Catan, anyone?

[Liz Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an advance copy of this book in preparation to interview the author, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The big "criticism" I have is only a drawback if you want something specific from it: The Game Changers is wide-ranging, and its argument is too broad to call an argument because it is essentially that games connect people. Nevertheless, this thesis serves as the basis for wide-ranging and truly interesting anecdotes about games ranging across centuries and continents. Things I already knew were discussed in an entertaining enough way for me to enjoy reading about them again, and the things that I didn't know fascinated me. On top of that, it is clear that Clare really did his research, which means this book provides a great starting place while also having end notes that I know I will be raiding for further reading. If you want to feel like part of a long chain of humans who have enjoyed games for centuries, then this book will satisfy you.

[maces · Rating 5 out of 5]

I impulsively pre-ordered this book after reading an article in which Tim was quoted/interviewed, and then promptly forgot about it until last week, when it arrived on my kindle. And I'm glad I did—it's the best book I've read in a long time.

It was very well-researched and surprisingly funny (I barked with laughter a number of times while reading it). A number of times, there was a sentence or paragraph so well written that I had to pause and re-read it in appreciation (you know those clever turns of phrase that you just want to turn over and over again in your mind because the words fit together so nicely).

In the book, Tim discusses the history of games, current trends, and some of the psychology behind why we love games and board games. There was the odd clunky segue that an editor probably should have noticed, but that's my only nit-picky gripe.

[Ben Hutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love board games and this is the only book I’ve found that helps me understand why that is. It’s accessible and works as a story- the author layers insights from academia and tabletop hobbyist culture, and then integrates them all into personal experiences.

If the book were to focus on just one of the above, it would fall apart I suspect.


“Games feel like a form of accessibility tool that help me be around other people. I never feel like I’m masking when I’m playing games.”


“Life can be incredibly cruel. Games don’t fix that, but they can, while the spell lasts, give us a reprieve. Permission to step out of the swirling, intimidating confusion of reality into something smaller and more manageable. They’re a place where briefly all that mess and imperfection cannot touch us. A land beyond grief.”

I suppose that’s what we all want - a land beyond grief.

[LdyGray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this. It was compulsively readable; I learned a lot of things I didn't know, and really enjoyed Clare's wry, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. His overall thesis is that games are universal. There's been a lot of convergent and divergent evolution in different types of games, but they are all an important part of human society through the years:
Saying games reduce stress or make us smarter is like saying sex burns calories. t's technically true, but if it's your main motivation I fear you're missing the point. Humans play games because we love joy and we love feeling free. [...] Play is a core human activity.

Shout-out also to my new favorite description of Monopoly, a game I loathe: "Monopoly feels like doing your taxes from the backseat of a snowmobile driven by a monkey."

[Philip Horspool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every year I get a 'quirky' book from the kids for Christmas. 3 of them have a but of a ritual of going present shopping sometime between the 22 and 24 December. Two tears ago I got How to Read Water which was actually pretty interesting. Last year I got Braiding Sweetgrass which I totally loved. This year they git me this - I love games so it should have been a guaranteed winner. And it was - the games described are fascinating- though I'm not a role player so found those chapters less interesting. Covers much more than just description of games though, impact on mental health and well-being, the historical importance and much more. If you like games, you'll probably like it. If you don't like games, you should try harder- they're worth it.

[Vid Stropnik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Clare's writing and the superb audio narration; but the breadth of the books concept left me oscilating quite a bit in terms of my enjoyment of the book.

I really connected with chapters like "The Deck of Many Things, Role and Move and The Golden Age", where the author drives home one of the book's theses; 'Games historically being for everyone', and explores the role of play in modern society, while I found it harder to get through some other chapters that felt like parsing through mandated history class reading.

I do believe The Game Changers is a fantastic, modern and definitive catalogue of the origin of games people play. Just make sure you approach it as such.

[Brittany Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Tantor Audio and Netgalley for the ALC of this book!

I gave this book a try, it is not my usual genre but I do love board games! I enjoyed hearing the history and origins of board games and how they brought people together even back to the early days of civilization. I like that he connects games back to books/scribes/etc B.C. Very cool! It was a little hard for me to follow at times, so I took off stars for that.

I think Richard Trinder did a wonderful job narrating this book. His intonation was great.

3/5 stars.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) A deep dive into the history and heart of tabletop games, this book explores how rolling dice and playing cards have always been part of what makes us human - and as someone who loves board games, TCGs, and roleplay, I was definitely the right audience. I learned a lot listening to this, but I’ll be honest... some chapters (especially the long one on the history of playing cards) had me zoning out a bit. My favorite parts were the sections that covered games I actually play, and the audiobook was really well done overall.

Thank you NetGalley for the E-ARC 🎲📚

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for board game lovers, this book goes beyond the usual stories—like the true origins of Monopoly—and dives into lesser-known histories, including a possible Native American influence. I especially loved learning about Karuta, a Japanese game where players race to slap cards matching lines of poetry. The only downside is the abrupt ending: the author's discovery of being autistic is compelling but feels disconnected from the board game theme. Still, it’s a fascinating, fun read for anyone passionate about games.