Paper Time Machines : Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games

James Dunnigan's memorable phrase serves as the first part of a title for this book, where it seeks to be applicable not just to analog wargames, but also to board games exploring non-expressly military history, that is, to political, diplomatic, social, economic, or other forms of history. Don't board games about history, made predominantly out of (layered) paper, permit a kind of time travel powered by our imagination? Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games is for those who consider this a largely rhetorical question; primarily for designers of historical board games, directed in its more practice-focused sections (Parts Two, Three, and Four) toward those just commencing their journeys through time and space and engaged in learning how to deconstruct and to construct paper time machines.More experienced designers may find something here for them, too, perhaps to refresh themselves or as an aid to instruction to mentees in whatever capacity. But it is also intended for practitioners of all levels of experience to find value in the surrounding historical contexts and theoretical debates pertinent to the creation of and the thinking around the making of historical board games (Parts One and Five). In addition, it is intended that the book might redirect some of the attention of the field of game studies, so preoccupied with digital games, toward this hitherto generally much neglected area of research.Key Features: Guides new designers through the process of historical board game design Encapsulates the observations and insights of numerous notable designers Deeply researched chapters on the history and current trajectory of the hobby Chapters on selected critical perspectives on the hobby Cover Endorsement Page Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword A Note on Dates List of Abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction Part 1 Context Chapter 2 What Is Critical Game Design? Chapter 3 What Are Historical Simulations? Chapter 4 A Brief History of Board Wargames Chapter 5 A Briefer History of Pol-Mil Wargames or The Greatest Victory Is That Which Requires No Battle Chapter 6 An Even Briefer History of Non-Wargame Historical Board Games or Non-Military Complex Part 2 Design Process and Tools Chapter 7 Overall Design Process Chapter 8 Devising a Thesis Chapter 9 Common Components and Major Mechanics Chapter 10 Major Card Functions and Metaphors Chapter 11 Board Design Chapter 12 Development and Publication Part 3 Designing Historical Board Wargames Chapter 13 Historical Board Wargame Design: Reference Books and Conventions Overview Chapter 14 Design Conventions: Units Chapter 15 Design Conventions: Combat Resolution Chapter 16 Design Conventions: Movement, Morale, and More Chapter 17 Design “Unconventions” Part 4 Designing Non-Wargame Historical Board Games Chapter 18 Case Study #1: Operation Barclay Chapter 19 Case Study #2: Crisis: 1914 Chapter 20 Case Study #3: Peace 1905 Part 5 Selected Critical Topics Chapter 21 Two Unsolvable Problems in Historical Board Game Design Chapter 22 War Stories: Intersections in Storytelling and Board Wargame Design Chapter 23 The Postcolonial Turn Chapter 24 Paper Beats Silicon Index