Across the Board is a rollicking journey through the history and culture of tabletop games and the unparalleled way that they bring people together
"Rich with enticing origin stories, and a shining treatise on why games are so universal, so important, and so foundational to the human experience. This book beautifully explores their rich and textured legacy as everything from simple play to divine ritual. An exceptional read."
—Tom Brewster, Shut Up & Sit Down
"The best book on games I've read in years."
—G.T. Karber, bestselling author of Murdle
Tabletop games are ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary because they’re everywhere: played in bars and cafés, churches and casinos, through sunless winters in polar research stations and in the sweltering summer heat of Tanzanian villages and streamed live over Twitch to millions of viewers. They fill the activity pages of children’s magazines and the halls of senior centers. They appear as smartphone apps and in luxury editions and as game boards scratched into the dirt.
And they’re extraordinary for precisely the same reason: they’re everywhere, in every civilization, everywhere in the world across all recorded human history.
In Across the Board, tabletop game aficionado Tim Clare takes us through that history and across those civilizations. We learn how the same games emerge over and over and how they’ve evolved and spread, as well as about the contemporary culture of gaming: with rousing enthusiasm, Tim explores games as familiar to us as Monopoly or chess, as niche as Magic: The Gathering, and as unexpected as the Japanese poetry-matching card game karuta. We learn about games as recreation and as ritual, and above all, we see how they can be a way for us to come together—because of all the things that make us human, there’s nothing quite so set up for connection as sharing a round of cards or the roll of a d20.
Told with fantastic wit and great love for the subject, Tim Clare’s Across the Board is a book for all of us, from the tic-tac-toe players to the dungeon masters and back again.
Praise
"Brilliant and hilarious. The best book on games I've read in years."
—G.T. Karber, bestselling author of Murdle
"Tim Clare is a fabulous tour guide. Across the Board is peppered with unique perspectives on familiar games, rich with enticing origin stories, and has a phenomenally broad scope for such a svelte text. Not just a history lesson, though, but a shining treatise on why games are so universal, so important, and so foundational to the human experience. This book beautifully explores their rich and textured legacy as everything from simple play to divine ritual. An exceptional read."
—Tom Brewster, Shut Up & Sit Down
"A deep, poetic dive into game-playing and its role in human society and mental health. Tabletop games are examined and celebrated, from dice to Monopoly to Pokémon."
—Janice Hallett, author of The Appeal
"Let me tell you, this book is a love letter. It’s infectious."
—Ivan Brett, author of The Floor Is Lava and cast member of The Traitors
"Across the Board digs into all sorts of unexpected corners and startling histories, always coming back to the real physical and emotional experiences of play. It's an absolute delight to read, charming and chatty, overflowing with insight into why we love games, and beautifully researched, with anecdotes ranging from the familiar to the forgotten and everywhere in between."
—Holly Gramazio, author of The Husbands
“A delightful love letter to tabletop games and the joy of play, from ancient times to today, with plenty of poignant, heartfelt turns. Bask in it!”
—Matt Forbeck, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning game designer
