Bebo - The Everything Tabletop Games Book: From Settlers of Catan to Pandemic, Find Out Which Games to Choose, How to Play, and the Best Ways to Win!

My grandmother first introduced me to tabletop gaming at the ripe age of three, and my love for it grew exponentially over the years. As a teenager, it wasnt exactly the cool thing to do, but as I learned and grew not only did I realize I didnt mind doing uncool things but I found a flourishing community of welcoming people who would change my life forever. As a single mother at nineteen years old, I struggled with fitting in and finding friends who shared my interests. I had always been passionate about art, music, and storytelling; this passion quickly morphed into a love of narrative gaming and eventually all tabletop gaming. When I came back to tabletop gaming, I found myself at home for the first time, surrounded by people who valued spending quality time together. May anyone feeling lost share this world with our community and lose herself or himself in the wonder of the adventures, exploration, and endless universes to discover.

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An Everything Series Book.

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First Adams Media trade paperback edition July 2019

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Interior design by Colleen Cunningham

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Cover design by Heather McKiel and Erin Alexander

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bebo (Game expert), author. | Be Bold Games (Gaming website)

Title: The everything tabletop games book / Bebo of Be Bold Games.

Description: Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2019.

Series: Everything.

Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019006897 | ISBN 9781507210628 (pb) | ISBN 9781507210635 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Board games.

Classification: LCC GV1312 .B39 2019 | DDC 794--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006897

ISBN 978-1-5072-1062-8

ISBN 978-1-5072-1063-5 (ebook)

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Simon & Schuster, Inc., was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

This book is for Hailey, Enver, Link, Eliza, Percy, James, Margot, Gabe, Lucy, and all of the other young and inspiring gamers who continue to make tabletop gaming flourish and grow with the passing of time.

Be bold, play games, be you.

Thank you to every single board game designer, publisher, playtester, artist, graphic designer, and gamer out there for helping create a board game industry that is thriving and bringing joy to tables one game at a time. Watching the industry grow the past six years has been inspiring and thrilling. Ive made an incredible number of friends who are now some of the most important people in my life. Watching my friends and colleagues careers grow and flourish alongside my own has been a magical journey, and I couldnt be more grateful for their never-ending support and encouragement.

As our industry continues to grow I ask that we keep in mind the importance of sharing, learning, and growing together as a community. Education is critical, and sharing the information we have with new designers, publishers, and gamers keeps the tides rising as games and user experiences improve along the way. Its our duty to ensure that all gamers feel welcome and safe, and in order to provide that we must empower underrepresented groups and actively listen to and support them sharing their stories, talent, and passions.

Ticket to Ride. Pandemic. Fireball Island. Exploding Kittens. Today there are hundreds of tabletop games on the market, and its tough to know what to play. Here in The Everything Tabletop Games Book youll find dozens of games that are smart, challenging, and fun.

This book will introduce you to games ranging from widely available classics such as Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan to deck-building games like Dominion to cooperative games like Betrayal at House on the Hill and Pandemic. These and the other widely popular games featured in this book will introduce you to the types of tabletop games on the market and help you decide what kind of game suits you best, for every occasion. Each entry includes:

Difficulty on a scale of one to five

Recommended age range for players

How many players are needed

How long itll take you to play it

Some good times to play it

When it was released

The publishers name

Who the designer is

Then theres a short description of what its like to play the game. Finally the entry lists the top game expansions that have been published. If the game has no expansions, we indicate that.

As tabletop gaming flourishes, its drawing in more and more people who regularly gather together to enjoy these gameswhether at home, at a local game store, or elsewhere. There are even conventions such as Origins and Gen Con at which thousands of tabletop games are played by people from around the world. So, whether you want to explore new worlds and futures, fight off threats to the earth, solve complex puzzles, or more, youll find the game youre looking for.

Now lets start playing!

As youll quickly discover when you start playing tabletop games, theres a whole culture that goes along with them. At local game stores, clubs, libraries, and elsewhere people who are either friends or perfect strangers bond over game boards. In this chapter, youll learn a bit about this culture: where tabletop games are played, the main types of games, a bit about the history of tabletop gaming, and how to assemble a gaming group.

One of the fantastic aspects of game design is that you can take any subject from the real world and transform it into a captivating project. Tabletop games take artwork, storytelling, and system design and weave them into a magical experience for a table of players to share, creating memories and friendships that can last a lifetime. Tabletop games give players an experience they wont soon forget and encourage table talk and shared joy in order to give everyone at the table not only a better understanding of each other, but also a better understanding of themselves.