It's all a game : a short history of board games

'Timely... wonderfully entertaining' - The Wall Street JournalIn It's All A Game renowned games expert Tristan Donovan opens the box on the incredible and often surprising history and psychology of board games.

He traces the evolution of the game across cultures, time periods, and continents, from the paranoid Chicago toy genius behind classics like Operation and Mouse Trap, to the role of Monopoly in helping prisoners of war escape the Nazis, and even the scientific use of board games today to teach artificial intelligence how to reason and how to win.

With these compelling stories and characters, Donovan ultimately reveals why board games have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations.