We play tabletop games for fun. These small pieces of cardboard and plastic let us build, grow, conquer, destroy and much more. We learn how to play these games, but can they teach us more? Maybe they already are, we just have to learn to find the lessons.
Your Move is a series of board game related essays. It is written by Joan Moriarity, Game Guru at Snakes & Lattes, and Jonathan Kay. The book is from Canadian publisher Sutherland House, which releases a wide variety of non-fiction titles.
The book is broadly board game themed, but this is treated more as a starting point than an immutable subject. Moriarity and Kay do discuss particular games, from ubiquitous titles like Monopoly or The Game of Life, to more current offerings such as Dead of Winter and Teotihuacan: City of Gods. But these are used as examples or hooks for a much deeper analysis.
Board games are the core of the piece, but what Your Move is really about is life and the world. The authors take aspects of games, or memories of game experiences, and dissect them with a critical eye. Good and positive elements are unearthed, as are an equal number of questionable or disturbing qualities.
Whether they are exploring group dynamics in Telestrations, applauding indigenous recognition in Greenland, or questioning the absurd and ironic nature of rewriting history in Advanced Squad Leader the authors approach each subject with brutal honesty and compelling insight. Which is admirable to see, as some subjects they take on are intensely personal.
Don’t be concerned that Moriarity and Kay are using board games as a screen to talk about themselves, though. The observations, memories and lessons the pair provide support or augment whatever overall idea they are presenting.
It’s a fascinating and informative way to think about board games. To look past the visuals and mechanics of the physical products, and delve into the who, what and why. To offer up not just a series of thoughts and impressions about a game, but memories and realisations which have seen the author grow and change as a person.
Most of all its great to see people are looking beyond the usual board game mindset and beginning to discover what role tabletop plays, for good or ill, in making us who we are. Not only that, but how we can change for the better. And also how a lot of people play Monopoly wrong.
You can find Your Move now on the Sunderland House website, or on book stockists such as Amazon.
