In this collection of essays and chronicles, it's easy to relate to most of these fellow gamers. Even if the facts in their story with board games are different from yours, the feeling is the same I recognize in me and my friends.

We're here because we are like the challenges, the social interaction, and the distance of screens. We're here because we use only our brains instead of our physical skills to play, unlike what happens in most good video games. And we are engaged in helping our community grow. We perfect the art of teaching games, open local businesses dedicated to the community, get involved in social projects, and even contribute to getting new games out there. Plus all the soft skills that can be learned from a hobby like this.

Personally, as a board game community manager, content creator, and translator, I've seen many of these sides. And I've learned a lot from what the experiences in this book had to say. Definitely one I am recommending to a lot of people.

I have slowly descended into this hobby over the last decade. Access to information and games themselves have improved over the years, and this basically means I knew almost half of the contributors to this book and have heard them speak before. Even with that prior information, the essays themselves were new. I had not heard those particular discussions before.
This is not a book for the uninitiated. If one has no information on the current and older tabletop gaming scene, I personally do not know what enjoyment will be drawn from delving into this. Although a mildly curious person who might have at least at some point played with family or have fond memories of game nights might find some like-minded individuals within these pages.
Each essay is followed by a short bio of the people involved, and it was fascinating to see how some people have managed to do something with their passion. There is not much to talk about the writing itself since each chapter is a note on personal passions and journeys, and they manage to convey the information in an effective manner.
I wanted to read this book because I love the hobby and recommend it to anyone who wants something besides reading (since that is a solo hobby while gaming involves (mostly) other people).
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Thank you to Aconyte Books for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. What Board Games Mean to Me is available now.

I love games. This should be obvious, considering how quickly I jumped at the chance to read this book. Most adults can relate to the busyness that takes over our lives. It can be hard to carve out fun time, but some of my favorite “me” time is spent playing board games with family and friends. In fact, there’s a family that my family and I get together and play with on a semi-regular basis. This started when our kids were too young to do more than toddle around, although they’re now old enough to join in on some of the games (have you ever tried to play Spyfall with an eight-year-old? It’s hilarious). I can almost chart the growth of our friendship through the different games we’ve played.

What Board Games Mean to Me focuses on many instances such as these, sharing the sense of community, joy, social navigation, and creativity that can come with pulling out a board game and “wasting” a few hours. Each chapter features a different answer to the question “What do board games mean to me?”. These answers come from board game creators, writers, and other people whose lives are very much wrapped up in a game. As with most books with multiple contributors, I enjoyed some of the stories better than others.

It was interesting to see what role board games play in each person’s life and how they were first sucked in. From the mom who tried to play Ticket to Ride while in the hospital delivering her baby (I would not recommend this), to the incredibly ill child whose priest taught him chess right after scaring him half to death by giving him his last rites, it was clear that there are important memories tied up in playing games.

There were, of course, a few stories that stood out to me. First was “Picture a Scene” by KC Ogbuagu. He is a board game creator and has been instrumental in the inception of the first sub-Saharan board game convention, among other achievements. His enthusiasm for game creation shone through the pages and I had to smile at his descriptions of his first homemade game. My oldest has been working on his own game for over a year now and it started quite similarly to the way it’s described in the book; with slips of paper poorly cut, slowly refined over time (he is hoping to eventually have a finished product that can be made into a trademarked product and sold).

The one with the new mom, desperately trying to snatch a few minutes to play in the hospital made me laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever gone that far to play a game. That is, I put it down when the contractions started in earnest. Then, there was “More than the Game on the Table” by Susan McKinley Ross, the creator of Qwirkle. It was extremely touching and also very relatable.

I found myself wishing that I could set up an email communication for my son with some of these creators. He has a million questions that beg for answers. However, I plan to give him this book, knowing that he will feel encouraged by the number of best-selling creators who started the way he has, with an idea that won’t stop tickling his brain.

If you don’t enjoy board games, this isn’t a book that will make much sense to you. What Board Games Mean to Me is a love letter to a different sort of way to navigate the curveballs the life throws at us. It is a recognition that sometimes a game is more than a game: it’s a tool to break down social barriers, find time to recharge, and even a way to initiate friendships that maybe aren’t easily formed without that common ground. Oh, and of course, the most important thing:

Board games are fun.

This was an interesting book all about board games and then way that they shaped people's lives. I enjoyed reading about all of the different board games that people grew up playing as well as reading the stories about people that invented games later on in life.

What do board games mean to me? This is a question this anthology makes you ask as others in the field ponder and answer with varying answers from connection, easier socialization, cool mechanics and helping foster a more globally together world. As I read this I pondered the question and pondered some answers and came to the conclusion: this book has a great variety of voices from all over the world and all over the Board Game industry and of all ages. I loved reading the non-western centric essays to see how Board Games mean so much to so many different people around the world. It really is a global phenomenon. The games may be different but we have the same feelings when we play: fun, connection and a great way to be with others peacefully.

This is a must read book for any lover of games, especially Board Games. This is an inherently human book and we can all find an essay or two that resonates with us. Go out and read it!

This was a quick, easy read that highlighted and captured all the different reasons people play games. I felt that the collection offered a variety of voices from the gaming world that spoke to all different facets of those who play, create, design, etc and how board games are used to socialize with others.

A great quick read for those who are looking to understand the important of different game types in peoples lives! Also just for the average board game player who wants to see their own thoughts backed up! Very wholesome and informative at the same time.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the free copy in return for an honest review.

Exactly what it says on the tin, this is a series of short essays on what board games have meant to those included in the book, ranging from world class designers to enthusiastic players of games who have nothing to do with the games industry. What I found most interesting was that almost all the essays talk about how the playing of games enriched their lives in some way, and that in learning how to play games, they gained a greater understanding of themselves and what drove them, which in turn gave them insight into how better to do what they wanted in life.

Very wholesome read, would recommend to anyone, but especially those who think that games have no purpose beyond the playing of them.

I thought this was such a fun and interesting read. Very cool to learn about board games and reminisce on those I played during my childhood. I think our location is really going to have alot of interest in this title.