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H.G. Wells and Games
Nov. 10th, 2007 05:37 pmThe huz and I just finished listening to two audiobooks available at Librivox, both by H.G. Wells, and both on a subject that I would not have expected him to write about: games.
Floor Games is a brief (45 minutes) essay about the games Mr. Wells played with his sons on a large cork floor. They use boards, toy soldiers and animals, and common household objects to create islands, cities, parks, and other inhabited landscapes. Then the imagination of the boys, both old and young, is let loose to create events and act them out. It's a droll, well-written set of general instructions on how to have fun with your kids.
Little Wars is a slightly longer (1 hour 45 minutes) booklet which should be of interest to anyone who's ever played a turn-based tabletop-style combat strategy game. While I haven't done the research to make sure, I rather think that Mr. Wells' 1913 publication may be the first time that someone had published rules for a game that would eventually evolve into the tabletop games we know today. The writing is clear and often amusing. The instructions themselves are fairly brief, and much of the work is a detailed description of a short campaign between himself and another middle-aged gentleman of his acquaintance. Wells devotes a brief section at the end to thoughtfully commenting on the connections between Little Wars and what he terms Great War - the wars that humanity fights out in the real world.
Both works are narrated by one of my favorite readers on Librivox, Mark Smith. He has a great sense for the text and for making the most out of the drama and humor in both works without overdoing either aspect. I recommend both books to people who like to play games of every sort. :)
Floor Games is a brief (45 minutes) essay about the games Mr. Wells played with his sons on a large cork floor. They use boards, toy soldiers and animals, and common household objects to create islands, cities, parks, and other inhabited landscapes. Then the imagination of the boys, both old and young, is let loose to create events and act them out. It's a droll, well-written set of general instructions on how to have fun with your kids.
Little Wars is a slightly longer (1 hour 45 minutes) booklet which should be of interest to anyone who's ever played a turn-based tabletop-style combat strategy game. While I haven't done the research to make sure, I rather think that Mr. Wells' 1913 publication may be the first time that someone had published rules for a game that would eventually evolve into the tabletop games we know today. The writing is clear and often amusing. The instructions themselves are fairly brief, and much of the work is a detailed description of a short campaign between himself and another middle-aged gentleman of his acquaintance. Wells devotes a brief section at the end to thoughtfully commenting on the connections between Little Wars and what he terms Great War - the wars that humanity fights out in the real world.
Both works are narrated by one of my favorite readers on Librivox, Mark Smith. He has a great sense for the text and for making the most out of the drama and humor in both works without overdoing either aspect. I recommend both books to people who like to play games of every sort. :)
