Whether it’s flipping cards, following maps, or rolling dice, just about everyone enjoys playing tabletop games. Now, as game fans see a plethora of new material and rise in popularity of older favorites, it’s the perfect time for The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Tabletop Games.

With the book off to the printer, Scoop chatted with coauthors Carrie Wood and Rick Ankney about completing the project. They provided some details on the book, gave teasers on featured games, discussed the research and writing process, and more.

Scoop: How are you feeling now that the book is completed?
Carrie Wood (CW): I’m always a little anxious for the duration of that period between the book being finished and the book being actually available. But it’s obviously exciting to finish any project, as well, and I’m super pleased with how the end result looks.
Rick Ankney (RA): I am glad for Carrie, who did the heavy lifting on this book. She did such a great job. I am just happy to have been a part of it.

Scoop: How long have you been a fan of tabletop gaming and what initiated your love for the hobby?
CW: I feel like everyone grew up playing board games with their family and friends in some capacity, and I’m hardly an exception to that. Tabletop gaming wasn’t something I did as a regular, scheduled thing until I was maybe eight or nine years old, though – the Pokémon Trading Card Game took off around that time, and I was fortunate enough to have a Wizards of the Coast store at the mall a few miles from my house. So I turned into a mall rat at a pretty young age and spent a ton of time at that store playing cards. It was at that store that I discovered Dungeons & Dragons, too, though it wouldn’t be until high school that I started playing D&D with any regularity.
RA: I have been a fan of tabletop since the late ’70s when we would have Sunday dinner at my grandparents’ house, and all of my cousins and I would sit and play anything from Monopoly to The Game of Life. But my heart really fell into the genre when I rolled my first d20 in a game of AD&D in 1982.

Scoop: Let’s cover the basics: what types of tabletop games are covered and what are some games featured in the book?
CW: Our big three sections in the book are on board games, tabletop role-playing games, and card games. We’ve got articles dedicated to the history of some classic board games such as Clue, Monopoly, and The Game of Life, as well as more contemporary hits like Ticket to Ride. On the RPG end of things, obviously the lead feature in that section is Dungeons & Dragons, but we also include some wargames like Warhammer there as well – you’ll learn how RPGs sort of naturally evolved out of a long tradition of wargaming. And with collectible card games, the reigning titan of the industry continues to be Magic: The Gathering, though we also discuss Pokémon and many others.
RA: Carrie pretty much covers it in her response. I love the diversity of games that we were able to capture in the book.

Scoop: What kind of research was involved in writing this book?
CW: There was a ton of digging into the history of a lot of games and their creators, and giving the games the proper historical context to explain why they became popular in the first place and are valued as collectibles today was important for me to do.
RA: I know that Carrie dug up a lot of great historical content, and I know having the opportunity to speak to some of the industry legends also aided in bringing some of that history to the book as well.

Scoop: Some tabletop games have pretty complicated rules. Do you explain how the games are played?
CW: For a lot of games, their entertainment value is based in the gameplay mechanic itself, so we do go over the basics of the games we featured.
RA: I know we don’t get into the meat of how games are played, as that really wasn’t what we were going for in this book. However, as Carrie mentioned there is content that speaks to the variety of mechanics that exist in the tabletop arena.

Scoop: Does the book provide info on game values, limited editions, rarities, etc.?
CW: While this book is not a price guide – and with the Overstreet name attached to it, I think it’s important to stress that – we did include at least a ballpark price or an average range of prices for desired editions of games. The most detailed we got on pricing was in our card gaming section, which features galleries of cards and an average range of prices for each card as of the book’s publication. We wanted to provide collectors who are exploring these games for the first time a good idea of what to expect when seeking out certain items, but the prices listed are meant to be just that – just a starting point, not a final definitive price guide.

Scoop: Did any industry pros or well known tabletop collectors contribute to the book? In what ways?
CW: The kind of industry talent that we have in our book is honestly awesome. Our foreword is written by Scott Gaeta, the President of Renegade Studios, one of the leading publishers out there today. We’ve also got interviews with Wizards of the Coast Founder Peter Adkison, who currently owns and operates Gen Con, and with Matthew Mercer, who hosts Critical Role but also is maybe better known as a voice actor in dozens of anime and video games. We also interviewed several different creators and publishers for our look at the impact that crowdfunding has had on the contemporary landscape of the industry. But I don’t want to spoil everything, so I’ll leave it at that.
RA: No spoilers!

Scoop: Working together is a facet of many tabletop games. Will the book discuss group dynamics in game play?
CW: Insomuch that it describes how gameplay can be cooperative or competitive while discussing any respective game, yes.

Scoop: How does this book help introduce new players to the world of tabletop gaming?
CW: I wanted to make sure that there was a baseline for understanding the different types of games, so we spent a lot of time on this volume discussing games that everyone’s at least heard of. I wanted newcomers to at least be able to recognize game titles and be able to dive deeper into the hobby from there.

Scoop: What kind of information will experienced players and collectors find?
CW: I think veteran gamers and collectors will enjoy learning about the history of many games and gaming companies that they may not have known much about before. Also, while there’s definitely a lot of overlap within the tabletop community, there’s also plenty of people who only do RPGs, or specialize in wargames, or have only played popular card games – so there’s really something for everyone in the book.

Scoop: How has this book changed or shaped your opinion of tabletop games?
CW: It’s been interesting. I’ve always known that board games had a rich history, but it wasn’t really until I started doing the research for this book that I realized that board gaming went back quite as far as it did – thousands of years! Tabletop gaming sprung up in numerous ways across varying cultures around the world, and it’s really interesting to think about that. It’s such a shared human experience and something I think worth celebrating.
RA: It makes me want to get out and continue to hunt for a lot of those “holy grails” that I still have on my own list. There is nothing more exciting than finding a hidden treasure that fits into one’s collection, and this book will spark that excitement for the tabletop game collector.

Scoop: Did any areas require more attention than you expected?
CW: Not really, thankfully. When planning out the page map for this book I knew that games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering were likely going to need the largest amount of space dedicated to them, and I wasn’t off the mark with that assessment. I was a little surprised at the kind of detailed history that games like Monopoly and Clue had, though – and the same went for gaming companies like Parker Bros. and Milton Bradley.

Scoop: What did you enjoy writing about the most? Any specific title or topic?
CW: Look, I’ve got two different Pokémon tattooed on my back, so it should probably come as no surprise that writing about the Pokémon Trading Card Game was the most fun for me. I was actually into the card game in a big way before I ever played the video game. Almost all of the card scans used in the book are straight out of my personal collection, too. I don’t play the game anymore and haven’t seriously collected the cards in many years but being able to revisit the game, which was such a strong presence in my adolescence, was really cool for me.

Scoop: Since the book covers a variety of tabletop games, do you provide tips on preserving their condition?
CW: Yeah, absolutely. We go into varying methods for preserving cards, minis, and board games themselves. There’s some proven ways to keep things looking their best and some more contemporary takes on storage.

Scoop: In recent years, tabletop gaming has seen a major resurgence in popularity. Why do you think that is?
CW: It really comes down to the rise of crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter – we go into this in depth in the book. Small publishers and individual creators have been able to use those kind of platforms to market their games directly to an audience without the need for a larger third-party publisher, and it means that a far wider variety of games have been funded and produced. It allows for far greater creativity than we’ve ever seen before in this industry now that people don’t have to compete to get on the shelves at a big box store.
RA: Another thing that has given rise to what a lot are calling the “Renaissance of Gaming” is that people still want to socially interact with their friends and family. Even with digital media platforms, and social media being so popular, there is nothing like the feeling you get when you sit down with your circle and play a game and have a wonderful time with great conversation. Tabletop gaming provides this, and with so much diversity in the gaming market there is so much more to take to the table.

Scoop: When will the book be available? Will there be a launch event?
CW: It’s scheduled to hit store shelves on June 6, 2018. Rick and I will be at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio the week after, so be sure to stop by the Game Trade Media booth and pick up your copy there! Or, if you’re in the mid-Atlantic, I’ll be at TooManyGames just outside of Philadelphia on June 22-24.
RA: Carrie called it! Origins Game Fair is the place to get your hands on it directly from us.