Stewart Woods

The research is a little dated in some respects, but given the lack of empirical research on board games and board game communities it is still valuable. Moreover, there is a lot of very good historical context on the evolution of the distinctive European style of board gaming, but also how that has been adapted by Anglo-American designers and players. I've used these chapters in classes to help clarify distinctions between hobby gaming and mass-market games, and most students seem to have found them valuable and accessible.

The empirical component here is probably most valuable as a baseline in order to foster new research into what has changed in the intervening decade. Is the board-gaming community still as heavily male dominated as it appears to be in this study, for example? Have the preferred genres shifted at all in relation to changing demographics? The most valuable research questions, however, are those concerning the impact of board games and they don't really get addressed here. Many hobby games require players to engage with complex systems, for example (politics and economics, for example). Does playing these kind of games correlate with a more complex understanding of politics and economics in the real world? This book remains an important background source for posing such questions.… (mer)

Eurogames is I liked a lot. It is good for what it is. It is a scholarly work, so that means there is way too much in-line documentation and a rather dry writing style, as long as you prepare yourself for such you will be impressed.

I found it interesting that Woods, an Australian, spends so much of his time discussing European board games from an American perspective. Is this the only data that was available?

The first half of the book goes about what is a Eurogame, why it exists, how Hobby market came to be etc. I found most interesting the history of German board games, the German history of making fine toys, the community lack of interest in anything War related after loosing two world Wars and many Anglo-American games being illegal due to them containing Nazi symbolism.

The second half of the book is based primarily on a survey he did on BoardGameGeek and his attempt at analyze responses.

It may make me a better gamer, I'm not sure, it seems to communicate that my desire to win by sabotaging my opponents plan is considered bad form. I don't know why that's not cool...he tried to explain and it sounds like they are all just bad losers to me :-)… (mer)