Boardgames That Tell Stories

Boardgames That Tell Stories #1

by Ignacy Trzewiczek

Boardgames That Tell Stories, one of the most popular board game blogs at Boardgamegeek.com goes to paper!

Now 35 best of these stories are gathered together, edited and put into one amazng book. Book that tell an extraordinary story about game design. Learn about terryfying presentation of International Gamers Nominee Pret-a-Porter. Learn how much time was needed to design Golden Geek Best Card Game nominee 51st State. Learn how kids helped designind Dice Tower nominee Robinson Crusoe...

Read stories behind scenes. Learn about designing one of the most popular boardgames. You find them all in this one book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Game Design, Games, Gaming, Memoir, Ebooks

278 pages, ebook

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Tudor Ciocarlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about boardgames out there.

[Gavin Breeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little over half of this book is taken directly from the blog of board game designer Ignacy Trzewiczek. English is his second language and, at times, the writing shows that. The book is funny at times (though some of the funniest bits were Ignacy's alternating egoism and despair about his work). He does give a fascinating glimpse at the life of a board game designer and publisher and writes extensively about the subjects of play testing and design. For those interested in those subjects, this book will be an interesting read thought not necessarily an illuminating one.

The second half of the book features contributions from a number of people in the board game industry (mostly the European side). Antoine Bauza, Bruno Cathalla, Vlaada Chvatil, and other board game designers and critics contribute articles on a variety of topics relating to design.

It's certainly not an instructional guide to game design or anything like that, but a fun book for those obsessed with board games.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe because I'm not a board game person, I really didn't get this book. It seems to be nothing more than a collection of blog posts talking about unrelated topics that try to be all about game design. Some of them are, and that works, some of them aren't, and I don't understand why they were included. As a whole, this book does nothing for me. Game design is something I've always been interested in, whether it be paper and pencil, computer, card, or what have you, but this book contributes almost nothing to my knowledge base on this topic. I'm sure some of the anecdotes in the book will be interesting to those with way more board game knowledge than I have, and I'm sure most of this will be interesting to anyone who actually knows one or more of the people written about in the book, but to me, who is just an average person, with no special knowledge of the board gaming market, or it's participants, this book comes off as nothing more than a collection of unrelated material that accomplishes nothing outside of a few pointers for making your games wel play tested. Big deal.

[Tina Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, several good laughs, many smiles at situations recognised from personal board game design experience. A great insight into the ups and downs of designing board games. And of the different stages of the design process. I'll be sure to visit Portal next time I'm at Spiel in Essen.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

There isn't much you can learn from this. Ignacy sells his games well, and the English sometimes feels stilted, but the anecdotes are generally amusing and the book reads quickly. His guest commentators have written well for the purposes of this book too.

Probably worth reading even if you aren't into games, though it won't necessarily whet your appetite for them. I liked it.

[Αλέξανδρος · Rating 4 out of 5]

Α biography and processes of designing of a boardgame. Very interesting and illuminating.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are currently designing a boardgame or interested in the process, this book touches on some of the experiences of a boardgame designer. At times, I found it a bit dull but then again, I have no interest in creating these games - I just like playing them. I do have an obsession with rules and there is a section where Ignacy describes how certain people at conventions who have worked with him never actually play a game, they just explain the rules to people. I'm interested in that.

[neko cam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Academically interesting, providing insight into the design philosophy and methodology of one of the industry's greats. But also providing insight into his humanity - how challenging it must be to feel so passionately and to strive for perfection constantly, as well as to live with someone like that.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting vignettists from various board game designers as well Ignacy himself on the process of creation. Enjoyable.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

After having read this book, I can't help but think, who exactly was this book written for? You might assume it would be aspiring game designers, but the 'advice' in this book is so vague, you would hardly define it as such. Then hardcore gamers, the Trzewiczek fans maybe? Well, no, because most of what is written has already been published online, so the hardcore fan would already have read it. People who are new to gaming then, who just want to hear some of the great stories that boardgame can tell? Also no, because the book assumes that you know most board game related terms, everything from BGG to Essen Spiel, to the difference between euro games and ameritrash games. If names like Tom Vasel, Bruno Cathala or, of course, Ignacy Trzewiczek mean nothing to you, then this book will simply not make any sense. This is not a bad thing necessarily, but I have to wonder who this book was intended for exactly.

I did enjoy it though, so maybe it was intended for me. While I love gaming, I did not know much about Trzewiczek in particular, even though I had heard of his games, and publishing company Portal Games. I find his way of writing very fun and easy to read, meaning I flipped through these pages very fast indeed. I did note, that he sometimes would mention women, both generally in the hobby, but also just women in his life, in a way that felt odd, and while I think most of it was tongue-in-cheek, it felt a little off-putting to me personally.

The last one third of the book was written by other authors in the board gaming industry, and while some of those stories were great, some were not quite as funny, easy to read, or meaningful as Trzewiczeks writing, so I think I would have preferred to have mixed the two sections throughout the book more. I was a little sad when I turned the page only to realize, there would be no more of Trzewiczeks little anecdotes and game stories. But alas, I had a fun time, and I am ready to read book 2!

[Josh Whittington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great insight into the game design process with some very relatable stories from Ignacy Trzewiczek and his peers. As a game designer myself (albeit one who works with videogames rather than board games) I loved hearing things like how they struggled balancing games because of all the conflicting feedback they were getting from their testers and how they had to stick to their guns because they knew once players understood the systems more they would realise the things they complained about weren't actually issues at all. Each anecdote is presented in an entertaining and informative fashion that means you can follow along even if you're not familiar with the boardgames discussed. It feels like the book hasn't gone through much external editing either, so it all feels personal and raw. The writers are often totally forthright and reveal darker sides of the industry without even realising; things like how overworked you can be when trying to develop and publicise games, and how you can rely on the goodness of others giving up their time and effort for free.


While there's plenty for fellow designers to learn (or have corroborated by professionals) it would also be a great read for outsiders to see how much work goes into the creation of games and the toll it takes on the people crafting behind the scenes.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boardgames That Tell Stories is the buzzword-titled collection of blog posts from author/designer Ignacy Trzewiczek.

Connected only a few pages at a time, this book details many humorous thoughts, victories, and fears by Ignacy and his years of work as both a publisher and designer in the board games industry. Each chapter of the book (or blog post) illustrates mental blocks and surprises that come while being a game designer. When your livelihood is based on whether or not people like your brand and games, life is challenging.

It's fascinating to hear from Ignacy and all of the difficulties and moments of triumph he's experienced. It gives me a unique connection to those designers whose games I love dearly.

While you can hear Ignacy's voice in the pages, the weakest part of the book was the second half. Here are many stories from other esteemed game designers. Some of the stories are extremely interesting, while others feel skippable. It's good to hear more perspectives, but ultimately I found myself wanting to hear solely from one man's mind: Ignacy.

Ignacy sounds like someone I'd hang out with and after reading this book, I want to spend money on his games.

Cheers, Poland.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a book about the stories that board games tell, or about the stories behind board games. It's a collection of short essays (formerly blog posts) from a well respected game designer. Sometimes there's interesting stuff in the essay about game design. Sometimes without the context of the game itself, how it was designed is not very interesting. The bonus articles from other designers are also a mixed bag - some are very interesting for anyone into game design; while others are curiosities or anecdotes.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mostly a collection of blog entries by the author, mostly about board game design (which the author does for a living). If that is all the book was, I would have given it 3 stars. However, the last quarter or so of the book is guest articles by a number of different game designers, and that variety of views elevates the book from just an interesting read about one person's design philosophy and experiences to something quite useful if you have any interest in game design yourself.

[Matevž · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book for me.
Firstly because i play(ed) a lot of boardgames and was interested in the process of developing them.
Second because the author provides a lot of interesting insights into the gamin industry and the development process.
And last but not least because I found a lot of similarities in the authors adventures and my life as a boardgame geek.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though you can read much of this for free on his blog, I enjoyed reading them here in book format with some extra insights and content provided from his KS effort to publish this. Ignacy is quite an interesting persona, with his knowledge and expertise in game design, and yet with his interesting stories he tells about his experiences in the industry and with those he meets.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is more for people who are already into the hobby. It's great to read about some of the "behind-the-scene" and to hear from various perspectives from the board game industry. Ignacy's writing is also light and funny.

[Nathan Woll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super narrow focus, but I am the intended audience so I rather enjoyed this.

[Javier Cuenca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es interesante analizar el desarrollo de un juego de mesa desde los diarios de un famoso diseñador. Pero en ocasiones puede ser tedioso

[bubez · Rating 1 out of 5]

A collection of posts appeared on the author's blog became a book thanks to a Kickstarter campaign and to some fellow game designers that wrote the second part of the book, each of them having a chapter where they could talk about whatever they liked.
The very first chapter is okay and and the second half (the new articles by friends) have some good pages, but even with those reading the book is wasted time.
For those who could be concerned, Trzewiczek and some of his friends display some bad attitudes, especially about women, here and there, of the type (not direct quoting right now) "women are emotional but every man needs his wife", "men are from Mars while women are from Venus", etc (nothing worse than that, I promise! And Trzewiczek's wife seems to agree with him and writes the epilogue too).

[Petr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to finish because for some reason Ignacy's style of writing did not sit well with me. It had too much energy or seemed too self-confident for my taste.
However, the content of the book provides interesting insights into the world of a boardgaming designer and the short entries of famous designers at the end of the book is a great wrapping up.

[Alexandre Rivaben · Rating 4 out of 5]

O premiado designer Ignacy Trzewiczek, autor de jogos excelentes como Stronghold, Robinson Crusoé e Imperial Settlers reúne, neste livro lançado via Kickstarter, uma coletânea de diversos posts de seu blog. Também há contribuições de outros autores renomados, como Antoine Bauza (7 Wonders, Ghost Stories, Hanabi) e Vlaada Chvátil (Through the Ages, Galaxy Trucker, Dungeon Lords, Dungeon Petz, Codenames).

Os textos, curtos, instigantes e leves, são "causos" de Ignacy a respeito dos mais variados assuntos: como resolveu um problema nas regras, como um autor famoso participou dos seus playtests, como passou a odiar seu jogo após uma feira em Essen, como achou que seu jogo era melhor do que o de outro autor (e logo descobriu a verdade... - este é o meu texto preferido da obra!), entre outros.

Recomendo a todos os amantes de boardgames! Leitura muito divertida!

Ps. Só não dou 5 estrelas porque acabou muito rápido. Ainda bem que logo mais a versão 2 estará por ai!

[aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

first of all, i am a boardgamer...i love the tactile feeling of cardboard, plastic, and dice while playing a tactical game against my friends and family. that being said, i love the game designer ignacy trzeweiczek. he is a polish game designer who writes one of the most entertaining blogs i've read. it is on boardgames, designing them, and just general fun. this book collects a bunch of his most popular posts into a hardback volume and it is freakin' awesome! it only took me a few days to plow through this book and it was amazing!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous and multifaceted look at board game design. I learned a lot.