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The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming: Rules Every Gamer Must Live By
Don't Be a Beardy Gamer
"An indispensable, laugh-out-loud guide to the pitfalls and pleasures of gaming." ~Graham McNeill, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels author; former Games Workshop designer
"For anyone looking to be a part of one of the greatest communities in the world!" ~Brittanie Boe, editor of GameWire
"A warm, insightful guide for exploring one of geek culture's oldest realms." ~Aaron Dembski-Bowden, author of New York Times bestselling book The Horus Heresy: The First Heretic
Whether you're new to the world of tabletop games or a veteran gamer, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming is your go-to game-night etiquette guide. Expert gamer Teri Litorco, of the gaming site Geek and Sundry, helps you to get along as you play and make the most out of your time with your gamer group.
Packed with insider advice and etiquette tips, this essential guide includes advice on everything from sharing crib sheets and meeples to avoiding drama and poor sportsmanship at the game table. With 100 gaming etiquette rules, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming provides you and your group with all you need for a fun and respectful game night--without rage-quitters, bad losers, terrible winners, and Incredible Sulks!
"An indispensable, laugh-out-loud guide to the pitfalls and pleasures of gaming." ~Graham McNeill, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels author; former Games Workshop designer
"For anyone looking to be a part of one of the greatest communities in the world!" ~Brittanie Boe, editor of GameWire
"A warm, insightful guide for exploring one of geek culture's oldest realms." ~Aaron Dembski-Bowden, author of New York Times bestselling book The Horus Heresy: The First Heretic
Whether you're new to the world of tabletop games or a veteran gamer, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming is your go-to game-night etiquette guide. Expert gamer Teri Litorco, of the gaming site Geek and Sundry, helps you to get along as you play and make the most out of your time with your gamer group.
Packed with insider advice and etiquette tips, this essential guide includes advice on everything from sharing crib sheets and meeples to avoiding drama and poor sportsmanship at the game table. With 100 gaming etiquette rules, The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming provides you and your group with all you need for a fun and respectful game night--without rage-quitters, bad losers, terrible winners, and Incredible Sulks!
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 4, 2020
I'm sure this would be worth a lot more stars to someone who knows nothing about gaming, but I confess that all of the advice in it, while good, was blistering obvious, so I was bored to tears reading it and skipped entired parts - which in my personal punctuation style gets a 1 star.
Could be a good book for someone with 0 social skills or who was raised with wolves.
Could be a good book for someone with 0 social skills or who was raised with wolves.
December 8, 2016
I was excited about this book, reaching out to the local library to suggest they order one or more copies. It contains great information for the novice on gaming culture and customs. Essentially it writes the unwritten rules, and that is part of where it fell flat for me - I encountered little I didn't already know. This could have perhaps been ameliorated by a few more anecdotes, a bit more humor or even some illustrations. 3.5 stars.
December 2, 2016
If i'm honest, three stars feels harsh. It is also, by the way I've used and understood the Goodreads metric, probably fair. I did like the book. I thought it was well written, welcoming and engaging. The thought certainly occurred to be that, in a more dictatorial mood, I might force it upon future gaming group members.
Where I felt it became flat is that the book wasn't nearly as fun as I thought. I found it in a local bookstore's humor section and expected a much more humorous book. However, that doesn't seem to be Teri Litorco's intent. The book, while not dull, is straight forward and direct. Which underlines how good this book could be if embraced by the gaming community and how unfortunate it is that such a book feels necessary. The final thing that undermined the book, and, in the interest of complete honesty, I should point out this is all my own fault and in no way Teri Litorco's, is that I've already read Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball's "Things We Think About Games" which covers similar ground in bite sized morsels. There is more than enough room for both books to coexist and I plan to keep them.
Where I felt it became flat is that the book wasn't nearly as fun as I thought. I found it in a local bookstore's humor section and expected a much more humorous book. However, that doesn't seem to be Teri Litorco's intent. The book, while not dull, is straight forward and direct. Which underlines how good this book could be if embraced by the gaming community and how unfortunate it is that such a book feels necessary. The final thing that undermined the book, and, in the interest of complete honesty, I should point out this is all my own fault and in no way Teri Litorco's, is that I've already read Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball's "Things We Think About Games" which covers similar ground in bite sized morsels. There is more than enough room for both books to coexist and I plan to keep them.
January 26, 2026
Niet alles in dit boek is slecht advies. Wat me vooral stoort is dat de tips steeds als ultieme waarheid worden gepresenteerd terwijl 60 procent van dit boek mijn ervaringen in de groepen waarin ikzelf speel ernstig zou verslechteren: Hoezo is een dm geen speler bijvoorbeeld? Waar is de 'leider' voor nodig in een rpg? (de helft van alle roleplay is de onenigheid in een party). Ga zo maar door. Op den duur raakte ik gefrustreerd en heb ik het boek weggelegd. DNF betekent bij mij bijna altijd 1 ster.
May 8, 2019
Alight hearted, irreverent reflection on all the things we know we should do in society but sometimes forget to follow through on. Yes it is around tabletop gaming but oh how it could apply to many other social activities. Teri is amusing on Youtube and carries the same through in the book. I Australia you could relabel the book "The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming: How Not To Be a Wanker.
Amusing read that can be picked up for those short bursts of reading (bus, train or other).
Amusing read that can be picked up for those short bursts of reading (bus, train or other).
December 30, 2019
Useful if you are new any type of hobby as a lot of it can apply to any hobby that has social gatherings and interactions outside of gaming. But most of the topics should be common sense knowledge about how people should behave with in social pact, but I do realize that the younger generations appears to have become more insular because of technology that they might need this book about how to behave in social gatherings where there is some form of interactions and competitions.
February 8, 2023
P91: “remember to value the relationship over the game”
P93: “… remember that there are other people sitting around your gaming table. Be considerate of them and the time they are spending…”
Cutesy little book. Great for a library. Good stocking stuffer for an aunt or grandparent to give a novice gamer. Highly doubt miserable gamers will read this or learn the lessons within (wash yourself, play nice, don’t be a duck)
Will jot be keeping it on my shelf
P93: “… remember that there are other people sitting around your gaming table. Be considerate of them and the time they are spending…”
Cutesy little book. Great for a library. Good stocking stuffer for an aunt or grandparent to give a novice gamer. Highly doubt miserable gamers will read this or learn the lessons within (wash yourself, play nice, don’t be a duck)
Will jot be keeping it on my shelf
August 28, 2018
A great guide for anyone getting into tabletop gaming, or planning to get involved with gaming groups or conventions. However, it also has useful advice for experienced gamers, especially in ways to get your friends to game with you. The accessible writing style also makes this a pleasure to read. (B+)
May 30, 2019
This is a good read for newer gamers, or those that perform or fail to perform the actions that she advises.
I am a veteran gamer and still found some useful pieces of advice.
Bonus: I only found 1 clerical error. That is the high praise for any book especially one from a lesser or unknown author.
I am a veteran gamer and still found some useful pieces of advice.
Bonus: I only found 1 clerical error. That is the high praise for any book especially one from a lesser or unknown author.
June 21, 2026
This is a good intro to the many facets of tabletop gaming. But within, is an excellent book on hosting.
The attention to understanding your guests, their needs and abilities, and likes should be basic etiquette. But, we don't seem to talk about or teach this anymore. So, it was refreshing to find this here.
The attention to understanding your guests, their needs and abilities, and likes should be basic etiquette. But, we don't seem to talk about or teach this anymore. So, it was refreshing to find this here.
August 1, 2017
An entertaining read with plenty of commonsense rules for getting the most out of being a social tabletop gamer. Whether you only play with friends or like to try new games and gaming groups there's something here for everyone.
August 23, 2019
It's ok. The advice is good but nothing new.
Who is this book for? Is it for the polite and considerate gamer who doesn't need this book or is it for the jerk, selfish, gamer who won't pick it up? (Hence 3 star)
Who is this book for? Is it for the polite and considerate gamer who doesn't need this book or is it for the jerk, selfish, gamer who won't pick it up? (Hence 3 star)
August 2, 2017
An excellent read, but now I want to go buy some games
August 8, 2022
Contains solid information and advice, but is pretty much a retelling of various online advice and articles. Not sure it warrants the price at this length or depth.
November 25, 2023
I did learn a thing or two, but a lot of it was very obvious (at least to people who aren't total douchebags...)
October 4, 2019
Hilarious, insightful and relevant. This book was so much more than I was expecting and I loved reading each and every page. Even pages that I did not think were applicable to me, such as about DMing and attending conventions, I thoroughly enjoyed. I have taken away so many useful things, including some great ideas for new games that I am now thinking of acquiring. This book should be a requirement for the bookshelf of any tabletop gaming fan, whether casual or competitive and I feel that if every fan read this book, the gaming community would be such a lovely place and every event would be extremely well organised.
November 9, 2016
Very informative and with quite amount of good ideas. There were times when I felt it was directing me to see something I might not be so much interested but then saw more options provided to get more insight on some subjects.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews