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"If games were lands to be explored, they would be far too large for one explorer to master. Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design is a much-needed atlas for the explorer—giving a framework of what to look for in a game, and a focus for game play that will be useful for understanding the whole. The game scholar will find this invaluable."

—Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering

"People talk about the art of game design or the craft of game design. Engelstein and Shalev hone in on the science of game design with a razor-sharp scalpel. This book will be within arm’s reach as I work on games and I expect it to be consulted often."

—Rob Daviau, creator of Risk: Legacy and Chief Restoration Officer of Restoration Games

"The most comprehensive and well-researched encyclopedia of game mechanisms that I’ve seen to date."

—Matt Leacock, creator of Pandemic

"The value of this work lies not only in the thoughtful descriptions and discussions of the building blocks themselves, but in the cataloging of example games for each section. So many design problems have been solved before, and this book gives designers a handy overview of those solutions."

- Elizabeth Hargrave (designer of Wingspan):

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