The Games We Played

A totally different book than this one, I expected this would be the typical collection of photos of 20th century board games, with a few token pics of earlier games. But, to my surprise, it consists entirely of pictures and stories of 19th century games, and to that end it was very enlightening and educational. It is amazing to see how little the game industry has changed -- games still prey on parents' desires to better educate their children, and they still overhype the nature of the play on the cover of the box, and when one good, new, popular idea appears, dozens of ripoffs and sequels naturally follow. The book is enjoyable and enlightening, and it is surprising to realize what dazzling color artwork was possible for mass produced games two centuries ago.