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

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments. Foreword. A Note on Dates. List of Abbreviations. 1 Introduction. PART 1 Context. 2 What Is Critical Game Design? 3 What Are Historical Simulations? 4 A Brief History of Board Wargames. 5 A Briefer History of Pol-Mil Wargames or The Greatest Victory Is That Which Requires No Battle. 6 An Even Briefer History of Non-Wargame Historical Board Games or Non-Military Complex. PART 2 Design Process and Tools. 7 Overall Design Process. 8 Devising a Thesis. 9 Common Components and Major Mechanics. 10 Major Card Functions and Metaphors. 11 Board Design. 12 Development and Publication. PART 3 Designing Historical Board Wargames. 13 Historical Board Wargame Design: Reference Books and Conventions Overview. 14 Design Conventions: Units. 15 Design Conventions: Combat Resolution. 16 Design Conventions: Movement, Morale, and More. 17 Design "Unconventions". PART 4 Designing Non-Wargame Historical Board Games. 18 Case Study #1: Operation Barclay. 19 Case Study #2: Crisis: 1914. 20 Case Study #3: Peace 1905. PART 5 Selected Critical Topics. 21 Two Unsolvable Problems in Historical Board Game Design. 22 War Stories: Intersections in Storytelling and Board Wargame Design. 23 The Postcolonial Turn. 24 Paper Beats Silicon. Index.

About the Author :
Maurice W. Suckling teaches and researches games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY. He is also a game designer. His first published game was Driver (1999) for the PlayStation, for which he wrote the script. The game won a BAFTA in the Interactive: Moving Images category. Since then, he has worked on over 50 published video games, including Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014), Civilization VI (2016), and Lost Words: Beyond the Page (2020). He has also published five board games. His second published game, Chancellorsville: 1863 (2020) won the Charles S. Roberts Award for the Best American Civil War Era Board wargame in 2021.

Review :
The study of gaming is a burgeoning and exciting academic field. However, we have lacked rigorous academic examination of the foundational core of contemporary gaming -- wargaming and historical simulations. Suckling's work in Paper Time Machines finally rectifies this deficit. This book is mandatory reading for academics, and established and aspiring game designers alike. - Jason Matthews, game designer Maurice Suckling has written a highly informative book that gives sound guidance to readers who may want to add their own contributions to the practice of civilian wargaming. It is also long overdue that game studies took this sector seriously. - Brian Train, wargame designer This book gives us a unique vision of the game design process from the inside, as exposed by a creative and innovative author in full activity. I heartily recommend this very accessible text to anyone who wants to gain a good understanding of the "tools of the trade" and their practical use in recreating history in game form. - Riccardo Masini, wargame expert and YouTube vlogger For the last decade, a seemingly unlikely corner of tabletop game design has nurtured innovative new mechanics and a community of designers and players willing to take on difficult and sensitive topics. That seemingly unlikely space is wargaming. In this book, Maurice Suckling---himself a practicing wargame designer---charts the ways in which wargaming has made itself relevant beyond the battlefield, examining key games and milestones and providing readers with a toolkit for beginning to design (and play!) for themselves. - Matthew Kirschenbaum, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, and Co-Editor, Zones of Control: Perspectives on Wargaming (MIT Press, 2016)