THE CIVILIZED GUIDE TO TABLETOP GAMING by Teri Litorco

The world of gaming is wonderful and varied -- but there's a lot that goes into it.  How does one play well with friends, strangers, and family members?  What goes into hosting a gaming session?  What can you expect at conventions?  How do you deal with dicks at the game table?  The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming: Rules Every Gamer Must Live By by Teri Litorco covers all this and more, providing both concrete instructions and etiquette advice for the rookie and experienced gamer.

The Civilized Guide provides plenty of advice for playing, preparing, and teaching assorted games.  There are step-by-step rules for being a good player -- in both victory and defeat -- for getting players, for teaching players, and even for building one's game collection and loaning out games.  Manners are also handled, whether it's behavior at one's friendly local gaming store (FLGS), at conventions, and even online.  There are numerous references to actual games for illustration, and Litorco mixes in small-but-nice doses of humor to keep the discussion from becoming too dry.

Having dealt with the best and the worst of gamers, I can highly recommend The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming.  This is a quick read (sections can be read individually, and many chapters can be finished in minutes) that has plenty of practical advice and very little I disagree with.  Whether you're looking to start playing games with others or to improve your experience with gaming, this book will help you.

Overall grade: A
Reviewed by James Lynch