Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms

At over 500 pages this seems like it should be a steal, but looks can be decieving. The real content of this book is 461 pages after stripping away the index, forward and etc.Each subject is covered in approximately 2 pages, and many of these pages are half blank.While the information provider is decent so, at $75 for a paperback I expected much, much morr.All said this book is much more building blocks, and less encyclopedia.I know much of Englestein's work, from games to podcast to other book. I expected fssr better from him.

The Content of the book is excellent, but the pages themselves are regularly falling out of my copy, which for a $70+ book is INSANE.UPDATE: After a response from the publisher to simply exchange for another copy "from where I purchsed it." Here are photos of my 2nd copy after I simply turned the pages cover to cover.Star rating lowered to 1 so hopefully folks are alerted to this issue. I really hate doing that, because the content of the book is fantastic. If you don't care if your expensive book purchases hold together,then by all means buy it because the content is fanstastic. If you on the other hand feel like a $70 book should be able to hold together when pages are turned, hold off in hopes that the authors will be able to take their content somewhere in the future where it will be treated with the respect it deserves.

I think this is a great book for board game designers because I can look up what mechanics might go best with the feel I'm trying to achieve with the players. They are organized by "type" so if you are looking for an auction mechanic just go to that section and try to find one that may fit what you are looking for. Not only does it explain how the mechanic works it also provides insight about player and industry reactions to it. For newer designers such as myself those pieces of wisdom are critical on understanding your path to getting published.I know this seems trivial but there is huge value in having them organized by section. I was working on an auction/bidding mechanic for a prototype that I've been stuck iterating on for a couple of weeks now. After going through that entire section this last weekend I landed on a mechanic that I think will work much better for my situation. I could compare and contrast the different types all in one place. Maybe you won't find your answer but this book gets my brain thinking about how to solve my problem. This book will be a tool by my side as I continue to design new games. I highly recommend it.

I didn't realize how much I needed this excellent resource. "Building Blocks of Tabletop Design" succinctly organizes the many facets of tabletop game design into logical categories like Turn Order, Game End and Victory, Uncertainty, and Card Mechanisms. Each "block" provides a clear definition, logical examples and clarifying diagrams. The diagrams are among the best I've seen in any book about our hobby.This book is to tabletop games what Henry Brown's "507 Mechanical Movements" is to physical machines. It will stand as the definitive catalog.This book belongs on the desk (not the shelf!) of anyone designing tabletop games.

I read this through cover-to-cover. And I've used it on every project since, simply as a resource. I didn't have any binding issues so far, as others mentioned. It really opened my eyes to thinking about certain mechanics in a new light. It also recommends games as exemplars of certain mechanics, which has helped me as well. I do remember minor typos throughout--but the content is just so good.

This book is a must-have for those already in the game design industry and those hoping to break in. It can serve as both an excellent research tool on the types of game mechanics out there, and as a source of inspiration for game designs.The book is well organized and provides brief, usually a page or two, descriptions and explanations of hundreds of board game mechanics sorted by type, as well as providing examples of games that use the mechanic if one wants to see them in action and experiment with them. Everything is well written and easy to read and understand, and finding information is very easy due to good organization and an excellent index.In general, the content of the book is excellent, however, the actual manufacturing of the book its self can have some issues. While my personal copy has stayed together well, my design partner's copy suffers the same problem as many other reviewers here, with the binding failing and pages falling out. This seems to be a very common issue with the softcover version of the book, which is very disappointing considering the price.

I guess I'm lucky, but I don't see the page issue that others have reported. My book's binding is secure and its an excellent reference for me as a budding game designer, I've been paging through it all weekend and reading when I can. You can't lay this book open flat though as I'm sure just like with any book it would harm the spine and binding and I would not expect to.There are great explanations, good mechanics and definitely a great addition to the library

The book was helpful but 3 of the pages weren’t attached when it came in and a few other pages are already falling out. I would expect better quality from a book this price.

For once the front cover tells no lies as our game designing chums dissect and catalogue in the best Linnaean style the mechanisms behind the present strength of board gaming. Coming, as I do, from designing wargames where a distinct limited number of mechanisms are commonly in use I am impressed by the range and the explanation of strengths and weaknesses. Historical wargaming benefits from a rich contado of topic that far exceeds the themes of wider board gaming; and the use of appropriate and challenging mechanisms is therefore very necessary in that wider context. While the text is excellent, I must award the crown of laurel leaves to Daniel Solis for his chapter heading illustrations that truly are worth a thousand words.

I have been looking for a book like this for a very long time. It explains types of board games, their mechanisms and a short list of games that use that mechanism at the end of each entry. A very well thought out book.

I found this very worthwhile in the on-going development of my board game projects. Each chapter examines a group of similar mechanisms. Topics may be broad or focused, with subjects such as turns, actions, and victory conditions. Categories aren’t exclusive -- a game can have many different mechanisms, with pieces of a game independently described in separate chapters. Overall, a worthwhile research tool, value-for-money.

If you are a board game hobbyist, this is a great book to learn and understand the fundamentals. Only thing I would say is it is very much an academic textbook, so is more for the hardcore than those looking for a relaxing read by the pool.

This book is the dictionary to game design. It's not going to tell you how to make a perfect game but is going to give you the tools and the language to understand game design. The authors have put a lot of head and heart into this book and I can only see great things to come of it. I have spoke to the one of the authors before and they are avid teachers to the game design community.This will set the baseline in the future for persons to develop and understand good and functional table top games. My one criticism would be that I feel there could be a section of weaknesses to each mechanic, understanding faults or weaknesses is also important in game flow.This book is going to be a constant resource that will always be close at hand In the games I am developing in the future. I foresee it easily becoming standard curriculum for design courses. Cannot reccomend it enough.