New Rules for Classic Games

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Summary: I'll have mine with a twist!
Review: In this book we see games we have played many times, and have (maybe) become bored with, revitalized with clever ideas, enhancements and suggestions from the author. As an example, consider the section on balancing non-symmetric games (such as Chess and Go which have an inbuilt first person advantage). Bidding, simultaneous playing of two games and the ingeneous "I'll make a move and then you decide whether to play black or white" idea where one player makes a move that the other player has to decide is bad or good are suggestions that are useful not just in the context given, but in the design and evaluation of all games. Recommended for anyone who enjoys, studies, reviews or designs games -- especially strategy games.

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Summary: I Wish There Were More Books Like This
Review: This book is excellent. This book will open a gamer up to new possibilities and ideas. Lots of variants on common games like chess.

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Summary: A textbook on bringing new thinking to old games
Review: Wayne Schmittberger is a longtime associate of Games Magazine. It's a lot of fun to tinker with games to see how they change. The growth in Chess Variants is just one aspect of this. He explains those well, along with variants on Go, Risk, Monopoly, and many other games. He introduces many games you probably haven't seen before. All of them are great games, too! If you are considering designing a game of your own, or if you just have a collection of games, you need this book.