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Gametek: The Math and Science of Gaming
2017 marks the ten-year anniversary of the GameTek segment on the Dice Tower podcast. Connecting games to math, science, and psychology, GameTek has grown to be one of the most popular parts of the show.
This volume commemorates the anniversary with a collection of over seventy of the best segments, many with annotations and illustrations.
With chapters on everything from Rock, Paper, Scissors to the Prisoner’s Dilemma to Player Engagement to Quasicrystals to Buddha’s Forbidden Games, GameTek is sure to delight not just game designers and players, but anyone who wants to learn about the world from a new perspective.
Game Theory
Math
Psychology
Science
Game Mechanics
Psychology Games
History
From the first time I heard it, the GameTek segment in The Dice Tower podcast became my favorite part of the show. Listening to Geoff is like going to your favorite lesson with your favorite teacher. He teaches about games (yay!) and does it in a very interesting way with lots of examples. He does amazing stuff. He knows about the construction of games, he knows the theory, he knows all that stuff behind the scenes that we gamers do not see when just playing a game and having fun.
Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games
There are many hobby game 'experts' out there, dying to give you their opinion on how the industry works, how games work, what types of games are best, and so on. Geoff Engelstein is the expert that requires your attention. He is a scholar of games, and his research on games and other principles that apply to gaming is matched by none.
Stephen Buonocore, Stronghold Games
Over the years, I’ve listened to a lot of people talk about board games, yet the short snippets that Geoff puts out are the ones that I find myself thinking about in the quiet of the night. His are the segments that you laugh at and say, “I have NO idea what you are talking about” — but later on use to show people just how intellectual you are.
Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower
This volume commemorates the anniversary with a collection of over seventy of the best segments, many with annotations and illustrations.
With chapters on everything from Rock, Paper, Scissors to the Prisoner’s Dilemma to Player Engagement to Quasicrystals to Buddha’s Forbidden Games, GameTek is sure to delight not just game designers and players, but anyone who wants to learn about the world from a new perspective.
Game Theory
Math
Psychology
Science
Game Mechanics
Psychology Games
History
From the first time I heard it, the GameTek segment in The Dice Tower podcast became my favorite part of the show. Listening to Geoff is like going to your favorite lesson with your favorite teacher. He teaches about games (yay!) and does it in a very interesting way with lots of examples. He does amazing stuff. He knows about the construction of games, he knows the theory, he knows all that stuff behind the scenes that we gamers do not see when just playing a game and having fun.
Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games
There are many hobby game 'experts' out there, dying to give you their opinion on how the industry works, how games work, what types of games are best, and so on. Geoff Engelstein is the expert that requires your attention. He is a scholar of games, and his research on games and other principles that apply to gaming is matched by none.
Stephen Buonocore, Stronghold Games
Over the years, I’ve listened to a lot of people talk about board games, yet the short snippets that Geoff puts out are the ones that I find myself thinking about in the quiet of the night. His are the segments that you laugh at and say, “I have NO idea what you are talking about” — but later on use to show people just how intellectual you are.
Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower
330 pages, ebook
Published February 1, 2018
38 people are currently reading
357 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 27, 2018
Pēdējā laikā esmu nedaudz aizrāvies ar galda spēlēm, un vienā šim tematam veltītā blogā izlasīju rakstu par labākajām grāmatām, kas veltītas šim hobijam. Vispār jau vajadzēja paskatīties smalkāk pirms skriet uz amazon pirkt grāmatu, bet tas nav īsti manā dabā.
Grāmata ir Dice Tower podkāsta segmenta GameTek labāko epizožu kopsavilkums. Tajos tiek stāstīts par dažādiem galda spēļu un spēļu aspektiem vispār. Vēsture, Matemātika, Psiholoģija, Stratēģijas, Zinātne un Spēles mehānika. Grāmatas mērķis ir aizrautīgam galda spēļu spēlētājam ļaut paskatīties uz to, kas spēli padara par spēli un to, kādēļ cilvēkiem patīk galda spēles.
Ja cilvēks savā dzīvē nekad nav aizrāvies ar matemātiku, psiholoģiju vai atsevišķiem vēstures aspektiem, bet labprāt atvēl laiku galda spēlēm, tad šī grāmata viņam noteikti patiks. Te pa kripatai vienkāršā, saprotamā valodā viss tiek pasniegts kā uz paplātes. Gribi uzvarēt spēlē Akmens, šķēres, Papīrs, lūdzu! Pirmajās nodaļās uzzināsi uzvarošo stratēģiju! Ja metamo kauliņu varbūtība ir šķitusi mistika, nav problēmas, te viss tiks izskaidrots. Ja vēlies uzzināt, kā spēles veidotāji ir izkalkulējuši veidu un brīdi, kad spēle beidzas, te to var atrast. Pēc izlasīšanas varēsi daudz maz pamatoti apgalvot, ka zini, kā tur viss strādā.
Savukārt, ja lasītājam matemātika (mans gadījums) ir mīļa no bērna kājas, un par patērētāja psiholoģiju izlasīti daudzi folianti, tad tādam šī grāmata šķitīs nedaudz atšālējusies. Visi piemēri daudz izvērstākā veidā jau ir lasīti citās grāmatās, nav atrodams nekas jauns, tāds, kas izraisītu sajūsmu. Tādēļ man nācās secināt, ka šoreiz neesmu autora mērķauditorija, un bija nedaudz jāsaņemas, lai grāmatu izlasītu līdz beigām. Nav diez ko motivējoši zināt autora atbildes uz nodaļas sākuma jautājumu un lasot domāt – Gardners savā grāmatā ir izstāstījis daudz labāk, vai Khānemans izteicās daudz precīzāk. Taču gods kam gods, ja autors uzsāk spekulāciju, kurai īsti nav apakšā teorijas, viņš to tieši pasaka.
No rakstīšanas stila vislielākā problēma ir atkārtošanās, tik īsai un saturā specifiskai grāmatai šāda kaite ir nepiedodama. Ir skaidrs, ka podkāstā pēc nedēļas klausītājs ir aizmirsis to kas stāstīts pirms tam divas minūtes garā segmentā. Taču grāmatā nodaļā, kura pati par sevi ir divas lapaspuses, vienu izmantot iepriekšējās nodaļas atstāstam ir nedaudz par traku.
Grāmatai personīgi liktu 7 no 10 ballēm, taču ja šāda manos nagos būtu nonākusi 12- 15 gadu vecumā es noteikti liktu visas 9 no 10. Šī ir no tām, kad ļoti būtisku ietekmi atstāj lasītāja priekšzināšanas. Tās ļoti ietekmēs grāmatas vērtējumu, garlaicību un jauniegūto informāciju.
Grāmata ir Dice Tower podkāsta segmenta GameTek labāko epizožu kopsavilkums. Tajos tiek stāstīts par dažādiem galda spēļu un spēļu aspektiem vispār. Vēsture, Matemātika, Psiholoģija, Stratēģijas, Zinātne un Spēles mehānika. Grāmatas mērķis ir aizrautīgam galda spēļu spēlētājam ļaut paskatīties uz to, kas spēli padara par spēli un to, kādēļ cilvēkiem patīk galda spēles.
Ja cilvēks savā dzīvē nekad nav aizrāvies ar matemātiku, psiholoģiju vai atsevišķiem vēstures aspektiem, bet labprāt atvēl laiku galda spēlēm, tad šī grāmata viņam noteikti patiks. Te pa kripatai vienkāršā, saprotamā valodā viss tiek pasniegts kā uz paplātes. Gribi uzvarēt spēlē Akmens, šķēres, Papīrs, lūdzu! Pirmajās nodaļās uzzināsi uzvarošo stratēģiju! Ja metamo kauliņu varbūtība ir šķitusi mistika, nav problēmas, te viss tiks izskaidrots. Ja vēlies uzzināt, kā spēles veidotāji ir izkalkulējuši veidu un brīdi, kad spēle beidzas, te to var atrast. Pēc izlasīšanas varēsi daudz maz pamatoti apgalvot, ka zini, kā tur viss strādā.
Savukārt, ja lasītājam matemātika (mans gadījums) ir mīļa no bērna kājas, un par patērētāja psiholoģiju izlasīti daudzi folianti, tad tādam šī grāmata šķitīs nedaudz atšālējusies. Visi piemēri daudz izvērstākā veidā jau ir lasīti citās grāmatās, nav atrodams nekas jauns, tāds, kas izraisītu sajūsmu. Tādēļ man nācās secināt, ka šoreiz neesmu autora mērķauditorija, un bija nedaudz jāsaņemas, lai grāmatu izlasītu līdz beigām. Nav diez ko motivējoši zināt autora atbildes uz nodaļas sākuma jautājumu un lasot domāt – Gardners savā grāmatā ir izstāstījis daudz labāk, vai Khānemans izteicās daudz precīzāk. Taču gods kam gods, ja autors uzsāk spekulāciju, kurai īsti nav apakšā teorijas, viņš to tieši pasaka.
No rakstīšanas stila vislielākā problēma ir atkārtošanās, tik īsai un saturā specifiskai grāmatai šāda kaite ir nepiedodama. Ir skaidrs, ka podkāstā pēc nedēļas klausītājs ir aizmirsis to kas stāstīts pirms tam divas minūtes garā segmentā. Taču grāmatā nodaļā, kura pati par sevi ir divas lapaspuses, vienu izmantot iepriekšējās nodaļas atstāstam ir nedaudz par traku.
Grāmatai personīgi liktu 7 no 10 ballēm, taču ja šāda manos nagos būtu nonākusi 12- 15 gadu vecumā es noteikti liktu visas 9 no 10. Šī ir no tām, kad ļoti būtisku ietekmi atstāj lasītāja priekšzināšanas. Tās ļoti ietekmēs grāmatas vērtējumu, garlaicību un jauniegūto informāciju.
February 21, 2018
A lot of this feels like stuff you would have heard or read before if you are interested in the topics, but it makes a solid read if you are looking for ideas or interested in games. The recommended reading list is well worth checking out too.
November 15, 2018
While there are a growing list of books devoted to Game Design these days, there seems to be a shortage of those that are devoted to contemporary board games. Sure, Chess and Go are mentioned in many Design tomes, but it is rarer to see titles such as "Tigris and Euphrates" and “Incan Gold”. And it’s rarer still, to have the author of the book actually be a published board game designer. Although "GameTek: The First Ten Years" isn't specifically about Game Design, it does touch on the Science, Math, Psychology and Game Theory, in a way that should prove to be of use to both budding and experienced game designers.
“GameTech: The First Ten Years” is a 325+ page hardcover book that includes a dust jacket. When the jacket is removed, it reveals a glossy hardcover that features the same graphics as those printed on the jacket.
The book contains a Foreword by Tom Vassel and is organized into 7 main sections: Game Theory, Math, Psychology, Science, Game Mechanics, Psychology Games and History. Each of these sections are further broken down into individual chapters that are devoted to various topics of interest. The chapters are short and easily digestible, while at the same time succinctly stating the objective of the chapter in an interesting and concise manner. Their brevity provides an impetus for you to keep turning the pages, although there are times when you will want to pause your reading and reflect on the material that you had just read.
There are several illustrations/diagrams scattered throughout the book, but make no mistake, this is a text driven book and it is slanted towards the science/mathematic structure of games.
One of the things that separates this book from others is that Geoff Engelstein has an extensive background on the subject matter. He has designed board games such as: “The Ares Project”, “Space Cadets”, “The Fog of War” and “Survive: Space Attack”. He has a degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering and is an adjunct professor of Board Game Design at the NYU Game Center. He knows what he is talking about and breaks it down so that you will understand it also. That being said, the book does tilt towards areas of interest that are more science/math based, though it never reaches a level that leaves you behind.
And while all of the chapters are interesting, should you like delve deeper into the presented material, the back of the book features a References section that contains an Episode Guide listing links to the original broadcasts, as well as a Recommended Reading list that contains a variety of interesting books.
Although the book can get a bit technical at points, there is nothing that I would consider to be difficult for the average gamer or designer to understand. The strength of the book is that the examples used clearly present the material that is easy to understand due to the known examples. Example: It is fairly common for any book that delves into Game Design to start off with the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma”, yet what differentiates this book from others is that not only does Mr. Englestein provide the classic approach, but then he gives examples from actual board games. For instance he discusses the roles of Italy and Austria-Hungary in the game “Diplomacy” and then follows with an example of its use in “Incan Gold”. This goes a long way towards providing the reader with examples that are easier to understand than some of the “drier” classical examples.
The only real “downside” to the book is that I would have preferred more material devoted to the “Game Mechanics” and “Game Theory” chapters and less to the “Psychology” and “Psychology Games”.
“GameTek: The First Ten Years is a worthy addition to any game designer’s library. Due to the concise nature of the chapters, this is a book that you can pick up and read at any time and quickly breeze through a specific topic and then spend time contemplating on its merits. I look forward to reading this book again in the future!
“GameTech: The First Ten Years” is a 325+ page hardcover book that includes a dust jacket. When the jacket is removed, it reveals a glossy hardcover that features the same graphics as those printed on the jacket.
The book contains a Foreword by Tom Vassel and is organized into 7 main sections: Game Theory, Math, Psychology, Science, Game Mechanics, Psychology Games and History. Each of these sections are further broken down into individual chapters that are devoted to various topics of interest. The chapters are short and easily digestible, while at the same time succinctly stating the objective of the chapter in an interesting and concise manner. Their brevity provides an impetus for you to keep turning the pages, although there are times when you will want to pause your reading and reflect on the material that you had just read.
There are several illustrations/diagrams scattered throughout the book, but make no mistake, this is a text driven book and it is slanted towards the science/mathematic structure of games.
One of the things that separates this book from others is that Geoff Engelstein has an extensive background on the subject matter. He has designed board games such as: “The Ares Project”, “Space Cadets”, “The Fog of War” and “Survive: Space Attack”. He has a degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering and is an adjunct professor of Board Game Design at the NYU Game Center. He knows what he is talking about and breaks it down so that you will understand it also. That being said, the book does tilt towards areas of interest that are more science/math based, though it never reaches a level that leaves you behind.
And while all of the chapters are interesting, should you like delve deeper into the presented material, the back of the book features a References section that contains an Episode Guide listing links to the original broadcasts, as well as a Recommended Reading list that contains a variety of interesting books.
Although the book can get a bit technical at points, there is nothing that I would consider to be difficult for the average gamer or designer to understand. The strength of the book is that the examples used clearly present the material that is easy to understand due to the known examples. Example: It is fairly common for any book that delves into Game Design to start off with the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma”, yet what differentiates this book from others is that not only does Mr. Englestein provide the classic approach, but then he gives examples from actual board games. For instance he discusses the roles of Italy and Austria-Hungary in the game “Diplomacy” and then follows with an example of its use in “Incan Gold”. This goes a long way towards providing the reader with examples that are easier to understand than some of the “drier” classical examples.
The only real “downside” to the book is that I would have preferred more material devoted to the “Game Mechanics” and “Game Theory” chapters and less to the “Psychology” and “Psychology Games”.
“GameTek: The First Ten Years is a worthy addition to any game designer’s library. Due to the concise nature of the chapters, this is a book that you can pick up and read at any time and quickly breeze through a specific topic and then spend time contemplating on its merits. I look forward to reading this book again in the future!
May 27, 2022
(Note: I'm reading paperback edition, not hardcover.)
A shallow dive into the nuts and bolts of game design and strategy-game play. First Engelstein looks at elements of psychology that explain decision-making and can improve one's play. This was the meat of the book for me. An experienced gamer will recognize a lot of these ideas but it's interesting to have it all packaged and examined like so.
Then he delves into mathematical concepts that underpin a lot of game designs. This held less interest for me; I'm a player not a creator.
Some concepts
The history of dice and the emergence of the five "Platonic solids"--There are exactly five ways to create a solid out of regular polygons: pyramid, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron.
Johan Kepler as a model of intellectual honesty and humility.
Kepler discovered that the Platonic solids predicted the orbits of several planets; but when their orbits turned out to NOT be circular--invalidating his beloved hypothesis--instead of rejecting the new data and clinging to his model, he immediately started over.
How to optimize for the prisoner's dilemma mechanic in games (eg Diplomacy). Start with cooperation, then in each subsequent iteration copy the opponent's last choice. In the long run, cooperative strategies prove optimal. This illustrates how cooperation and moral behavior could have evolved.
Memory in games.
This is a bone I have to pick with the author. He asks why some players want to be able to take notes in certain games to ease memory requirements, and dismisses those players as wanting to eliminate the advantage of players with good memories. This ignores what I think is the real reason: hiding information that is temporarily public doesn't reward good memories so much as it rewards shutting out the other players in order to memorize game details. This makes for negative, actively-antisocial play experiences.
Numberous Statistics 101 basic probability concepts. These are fundamental to being competitive in strategy games.
Expectation value--A concept that I've called "expected return" in my head for decades. You can calculate the expectation value of one option, then predict the value of the other option so that you can make an optimal decision. e.g. If a card can be used to either steal 1VP from your opponent or build a manufactory, you estimate how many points you'll get out of the manufactory. If it's more than 2VP, then the manufactory is the better choice.
Endowment effect--People tend to assign more value to a thing that they own. If you're aware that you do this, you can correct for it.
Loss aversion--People have a natural tendency to fear a loss more than they value an equivalent gain. A result of the endowment effect. Again, awareness allows for mitigation.
The Monty Hall problem--This threw me when I first learned of it years ago but the math checks out when you think it through. Relevant here because loss aversion pushes people to make the worst possible choice in this game.
Chaos theory--Illustrated by the game Roborally: Tiny changes in your opponents' card plays can have a massive impact on the location of your robot at the end of the round. (It's true enough but that doesn't give me much guidance on how to plan my turn...)
Three types of randomization:
White noise--Completely 'uncorrelated', or random. Makes gamers feel helpless, choices pointless.
Brown noise--Highly controlled randomization: eg The next value will add +1/-1 to the current value. Highly predictable and boring, makes for obvious strategies.
Pink noise--Lots of small changes with infrequent large changes. Predictable enough to make choices meaningful, unpredictable enough to be challenging.
A shallow dive into the nuts and bolts of game design and strategy-game play. First Engelstein looks at elements of psychology that explain decision-making and can improve one's play. This was the meat of the book for me. An experienced gamer will recognize a lot of these ideas but it's interesting to have it all packaged and examined like so.
Then he delves into mathematical concepts that underpin a lot of game designs. This held less interest for me; I'm a player not a creator.
Some concepts
The history of dice and the emergence of the five "Platonic solids"--There are exactly five ways to create a solid out of regular polygons: pyramid, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron.
Johan Kepler as a model of intellectual honesty and humility.
Kepler discovered that the Platonic solids predicted the orbits of several planets; but when their orbits turned out to NOT be circular--invalidating his beloved hypothesis--instead of rejecting the new data and clinging to his model, he immediately started over.
How to optimize for the prisoner's dilemma mechanic in games (eg Diplomacy). Start with cooperation, then in each subsequent iteration copy the opponent's last choice. In the long run, cooperative strategies prove optimal. This illustrates how cooperation and moral behavior could have evolved.
Memory in games.
This is a bone I have to pick with the author. He asks why some players want to be able to take notes in certain games to ease memory requirements, and dismisses those players as wanting to eliminate the advantage of players with good memories. This ignores what I think is the real reason: hiding information that is temporarily public doesn't reward good memories so much as it rewards shutting out the other players in order to memorize game details. This makes for negative, actively-antisocial play experiences.
Numberous Statistics 101 basic probability concepts. These are fundamental to being competitive in strategy games.
Expectation value--A concept that I've called "expected return" in my head for decades. You can calculate the expectation value of one option, then predict the value of the other option so that you can make an optimal decision. e.g. If a card can be used to either steal 1VP from your opponent or build a manufactory, you estimate how many points you'll get out of the manufactory. If it's more than 2VP, then the manufactory is the better choice.
Endowment effect--People tend to assign more value to a thing that they own. If you're aware that you do this, you can correct for it.
Loss aversion--People have a natural tendency to fear a loss more than they value an equivalent gain. A result of the endowment effect. Again, awareness allows for mitigation.
The Monty Hall problem--This threw me when I first learned of it years ago but the math checks out when you think it through. Relevant here because loss aversion pushes people to make the worst possible choice in this game.
Chaos theory--Illustrated by the game Roborally: Tiny changes in your opponents' card plays can have a massive impact on the location of your robot at the end of the round. (It's true enough but that doesn't give me much guidance on how to plan my turn...)
Three types of randomization:
White noise--Completely 'uncorrelated', or random. Makes gamers feel helpless, choices pointless.
Brown noise--Highly controlled randomization: eg The next value will add +1/-1 to the current value. Highly predictable and boring, makes for obvious strategies.
Pink noise--Lots of small changes with infrequent large changes. Predictable enough to make choices meaningful, unpredictable enough to be challenging.
March 4, 2018
I'm a big board game nerd and have been listening to a board game podcast called "The Dice Tower" for years. One of the recurring segments on that podcast is "Gametek," where a guy named Geoff Engelstein talks about the math and science involved in board gaming. This book collects transcripts of his first 10 years of segments (lightly edited for print).
Let me say two things about this book, one frivolous and one substantive.
Frivolous: This is the ultimate bathroom book. Each chapter covers a different topic, and none of them are longer than about 3 pages. It is fun to just pick up and open to a random chapter or read it linearly through.
Substantive: The book covers a huge variety of topics but none of them in anything beyond entry-level depth. I say that not as criticism for shallowness but as praise for accessibility and diversity. I enjoyed reading it as a fairly-scientifically-educated adult, but I think a book like this would have been mind-blowing for me when I was 10 years old. It does a great job introducing scientific/mathematical concepts and tying them to real examples from board games. For example, one of the early chapters explains why rolling one die is more random than rolling 20 dice, and it includes graphs showing probability curves to illustrate. Simple stuff, but there's a lot packed into it.
So as an adult, entertaining. But if you're a parent with a kid who has any interest in board games, a must-buy.
Let me say two things about this book, one frivolous and one substantive.
Frivolous: This is the ultimate bathroom book. Each chapter covers a different topic, and none of them are longer than about 3 pages. It is fun to just pick up and open to a random chapter or read it linearly through.
Substantive: The book covers a huge variety of topics but none of them in anything beyond entry-level depth. I say that not as criticism for shallowness but as praise for accessibility and diversity. I enjoyed reading it as a fairly-scientifically-educated adult, but I think a book like this would have been mind-blowing for me when I was 10 years old. It does a great job introducing scientific/mathematical concepts and tying them to real examples from board games. For example, one of the early chapters explains why rolling one die is more random than rolling 20 dice, and it includes graphs showing probability curves to illustrate. Simple stuff, but there's a lot packed into it.
So as an adult, entertaining. But if you're a parent with a kid who has any interest in board games, a must-buy.
May 29, 2018
I enjoyed this book a lot. The segments were interesting and have added to my appreciation for board games, both in how they are designed and played. This book may be less engaging for people who are more casual game fans and who are less immersed in Internet board gaming culture. There are a lot of references to online debates about board games or Podcast personalities. The book is made up of transcripts of podcast segments, which is a strength of the book in that you can read little segments at your leisure. On the other hand, although most of the segments are helpful are useful, some are decidedly weaker. Also, some segments recap parts of the previous segments. That makes sense if you are podcasting and your listeners might have missed the previous segment, but it works less well in a book where you are reading a summary of something you read literally a few pages earlier. But these are minor flaws in a book I enjoyed very much and would recommend to anyone who enjoys board games.
May 28, 2018
GameTek is a collection of Geoff Engelstein’s ludology podcasts from his first 10 years with Dice Tower. The episodes have been transcribed, ordered, and grouped by topic. The book was funded through Kickstarter, and I backed it for a PDF copy. Engelstein primarily focuses on board games, but he touches on social and historical games as well.
The larger categories covered in the book are game theory, math, psychology, science, game mechanics, psychology games, and history. There are just over 70 essays total, with each essay taking up 2-3 pages, so somewhere in the area of a thousand words each. With essays that short, Engelstein doesn’t have much room to explore his individual topics, but he does a good job of giving something to chew on in each essay.
If you are coming to the book looking for something focused and educational, you will find the latter, but not really the former. Engelstein approaches the theory and practice of games from both a designer and player perspective, covering principles of strategy as well as design. Sometimes, he just declares his curiosity about a topic. The result is a rather desultory tour through the various elements of game design, like getting a tour from your uncle of his favorite city, where he’s been living for the last 40 years. It’s interesting with a lot of tidbits and stories that make you feel good while it is happening. It doesn’t really make you feel like you know the city, but at least you know where you might want to spend some more time when next you visit.
The book wasn’t what I was hoping for, but that never makes for a fair book review. I plan on putting the book aside for a few months to a year and then reapproaching it with fresh eyes to see how useful I find it from that new place in my life.
If you’re looking for a book on the topic that is friendly, solidly written with humor, insight, and a light touch, this book is worth checking out.
The larger categories covered in the book are game theory, math, psychology, science, game mechanics, psychology games, and history. There are just over 70 essays total, with each essay taking up 2-3 pages, so somewhere in the area of a thousand words each. With essays that short, Engelstein doesn’t have much room to explore his individual topics, but he does a good job of giving something to chew on in each essay.
If you are coming to the book looking for something focused and educational, you will find the latter, but not really the former. Engelstein approaches the theory and practice of games from both a designer and player perspective, covering principles of strategy as well as design. Sometimes, he just declares his curiosity about a topic. The result is a rather desultory tour through the various elements of game design, like getting a tour from your uncle of his favorite city, where he’s been living for the last 40 years. It’s interesting with a lot of tidbits and stories that make you feel good while it is happening. It doesn’t really make you feel like you know the city, but at least you know where you might want to spend some more time when next you visit.
The book wasn’t what I was hoping for, but that never makes for a fair book review. I plan on putting the book aside for a few months to a year and then reapproaching it with fresh eyes to see how useful I find it from that new place in my life.
If you’re looking for a book on the topic that is friendly, solidly written with humor, insight, and a light touch, this book is worth checking out.
April 7, 2018
I've been a fan of the Dice Tower podcast for a long time. The podcast is about board games and card games and has had segments from many contributors. The most consistent contributor is Geoff Engelstein. His GameTek segments have run since 2007. They've covered not only math and science in games, but also theory, psychology, and history. The segments are typically under five minutes and deal with one issue. His attitude is both upbeat and curious, exploring all sorts of ideas that strike his fancy. The games he references run the gamut from simple ones like tic-tac-toe and rock-paper-scissors to deeper and harder games like Die Macher and the 18XX games.
The book contains seventy-one of the transcripts from the GameTek segments, lightly edited. Engelstein has added the occasional illustration, chart, or diagram to help explain the concepts presented. Those are great. Unfortunately, the book could use more editing. I don't mind the occasional typo or grammatical snafu, but occasionally the math or example is wrong (the two instances I wrote down are on pages 233 and 268). When the book is about the math of gaming, it is imperative to get the math right. As a reader, it makes me wonder about concepts (like autocatalytic sets discussed on pp. 94-95) that I don't quite understand. Am I not smart enough or is there a problem with the text? My skeptic light switched on at some point, making the book less enjoyable.
Which does not mean that I dislike the book. Many practical tips and interesting ideas are presented that I will come back to in future gaming and just for the fun of pondering. Also, the book has a list of recommended reading. I've marked off several volumes for further reading on topics like chaos theory, statistics, and game design. Any book that can get me to read about statistics has got to be good.
The book contains seventy-one of the transcripts from the GameTek segments, lightly edited. Engelstein has added the occasional illustration, chart, or diagram to help explain the concepts presented. Those are great. Unfortunately, the book could use more editing. I don't mind the occasional typo or grammatical snafu, but occasionally the math or example is wrong (the two instances I wrote down are on pages 233 and 268). When the book is about the math of gaming, it is imperative to get the math right. As a reader, it makes me wonder about concepts (like autocatalytic sets discussed on pp. 94-95) that I don't quite understand. Am I not smart enough or is there a problem with the text? My skeptic light switched on at some point, making the book less enjoyable.
Which does not mean that I dislike the book. Many practical tips and interesting ideas are presented that I will come back to in future gaming and just for the fun of pondering. Also, the book has a list of recommended reading. I've marked off several volumes for further reading on topics like chaos theory, statistics, and game design. Any book that can get me to read about statistics has got to be good.
January 14, 2018
It's hard enough to give a normal book-fiction or non-fiction- a rating, but when it comes to short story collections or collections of essays it becomes even more difficult. Do you rate each piece and find the median? Drop the top two and bottom two scores and refigure? That's a huge amount of probably unnecessary work. What if half of it is mind-blowing and half is mediocre (not the situation here btw?)
In this particular case most of the essays were incredibly interesting though a few were just beyond my ability grok. I'm certain I will enjoy some games better than I did before, I may make better choices in games-or at the very least not make as many completely stupid decisions- and I better understand why some things work and some don't. I also have a better sense of various aspects of behavioral economics and statistics and game design that I did before.
That's quite a bit of learning from one slim volume.
In this particular case most of the essays were incredibly interesting though a few were just beyond my ability grok. I'm certain I will enjoy some games better than I did before, I may make better choices in games-or at the very least not make as many completely stupid decisions- and I better understand why some things work and some don't. I also have a better sense of various aspects of behavioral economics and statistics and game design that I did before.
That's quite a bit of learning from one slim volume.
March 7, 2018
A collection of essays originally presented as segments of the board gaming podcast the Dice Tower. Here they've been slightly edited to fit the print format and arranged into topical, as opposed to chronological, categories. The result is a highly readable book covering a large number of topics related to board gaming.
The format of each chapter being a mere three pages long contributes to the readability as it makes it easy to read and digest in small chunks.
The Recommended Reading section at the end also includes a good number of interesting titles for further studies.
The format of each chapter being a mere three pages long contributes to the readability as it makes it easy to read and digest in small chunks.
The Recommended Reading section at the end also includes a good number of interesting titles for further studies.
January 26, 2018
The content in this book is excellent, and was excellent on podcast in its original form. The only reason I've docked a star is for a lot of basic grammar errors have gotten in there and could have easily been sorted by a proofreading pass.
Geoff is a great Podcaster and Game Designer and a truly inspiring man, who I look up to immensely and I hope he releases a second volume (willing proofreader here btw) in the future. Well worth a read.
Geoff is a great Podcaster and Game Designer and a truly inspiring man, who I look up to immensely and I hope he releases a second volume (willing proofreader here btw) in the future. Well worth a read.
February 8, 2018
Nothing new in the book. Summary of known knowledge. Yes, nice to read the opinions and ideas, but I was looking for more information how to make a working game. There were around 10 key sentences in this book about this.
Market your channel and boardgames in your own book is like reading a Kiyosaki. Maybe, I misunderstood this book completely.
Market your channel and boardgames in your own book is like reading a Kiyosaki. Maybe, I misunderstood this book completely.
September 20, 2020
Such high value here. This book landed so many concepts that I had floating in my head by giving them an anchor (games) however its important to understand that its certainly not just for boardgamers. Its just a fantastic into to many concepts in math, science, and behavioral economics.
There is a second edition.
There is a second edition.
June 7, 2022
Just love any book that can draw amazing connections between science and fun - in this case between maths and board games. Very easy read and some ideas like the optimal prisoner dilemma over the long term of tending towards collaboration with only short term retribution will stick with me without a doubt
March 2, 2018
Lautapelit ja matematiikka ja hyvin kirjoitetut pikku artikkelit. Mikä sen parempaa? Todella nautinnollinen kirja, vaikka monet näistä pätkistä olikin tuttuja muualta, olihan nämä julkaistu podcasteissa aiemmin.
November 26, 2018
A wonderful romp through games and science
Pick up. Read a chapter. Come back later. And come back you will. What a fun read. A must for any hopeful game designer or lover of games in general.
Pick up. Read a chapter. Come back later. And come back you will. What a fun read. A must for any hopeful game designer or lover of games in general.
February 24, 2020
Engaging and fascinating ruminations on topics from science, mathematics, psychology, and sociology sen through the lens of gaming and game design. Several different nuggets that I think I can use in other facets of my life and career.
December 13, 2020
There are two versions of this book, both are a collection of Engelsteins GameTek posts. The content is the same, but the formatting is different. I preferred the other one’s journey more. The content was better packaged. Read one of them.
August 12, 2023
interesting info, but I’ve never listened to the podcast so I don’t think the format worked for me - it’s basically a compilation of transcripted podcast episode segments. I also wished some of the sections were longer.
November 8, 2017
A fascinating series of short articles (adapted from podcast segments) about the maths, science, psychology and sociology of aspects of board game design. Certainly has a lot of food for thought :)
November 12, 2017
Interesting book. Too bad that there are quite a bit of spelling mistakes in it...
December 3, 2017
Great concepts, and if you are interested in the subject of board game design, there is much to like here. Some weak writing in spots, and some unfortunate typos and layout issues.
January 10, 2018
Keep in mind that this book is a collection of episodes from the Gametek segment of the Dice Tower podcast. It seems to have been transcribed directly from the audio so it reads in a very conversational style.
The book looks at topics related, but not necessarily specific, to modern board, card, and dice games. Math, psychology, decision theory, and game theory among others are all highlighted in a very fun and approachable manner.
I’d sum it up as a series of John Tesh “Did you know?” segments except way more interesting and nerdy.
The book looks at topics related, but not necessarily specific, to modern board, card, and dice games. Math, psychology, decision theory, and game theory among others are all highlighted in a very fun and approachable manner.
I’d sum it up as a series of John Tesh “Did you know?” segments except way more interesting and nerdy.
February 11, 2018
The writing is a bit clunky, but the ideas it expresses are excellent.
March 6, 2018
Lots of fun & interesting tidbits here for the enthusiast.
May 6, 2018
It’s surprising and fascinating how much complexity hides behind games.
June 3, 2018
A fun quick read about game concepts. I'd love to see him do deeper dives in many of these brief topics.
May 4, 2019
The content is very interesting but was not new to me because i have listened to all podcasts of Gametek.
The reason i only give it 3 stars is that i think the editing should have been done better. At some points it is too clear that the text is based on the spoken version.
The reason i only give it 3 stars is that i think the editing should have been done better. At some points it is too clear that the text is based on the spoken version.
December 27, 2019
A little too focused on math and probability. Covered a lot of simpler concepts I'm already familiar with. Well written but not a good fit for me.
May 1, 2020
Lots of interesting sections about boardgame design concepts.
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