The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games

There's nothing to dislike here, unless you have a short attention span and just want quick bullet points on how to play games. I personally love the history and descriptions included, which aren't that long or tedious at all. It's like rules with a side of trivia! Finding new games to play can be like a fun little journey flipping through pages, but if you are in the mood for something in particular, it's easy enough just to go straight to that section and find what you need. I suppose some people might prefer the book were organized differently, but being that I barely knew 4 card games when I bought this, I actually really like starting with some I know (or thought I knew) and then reading about other games that are like it. This, I feel, makes it easier to learn something new without it being so foreign you have to keep referring back to the pages. I didn't even realize I've been playing "Go Fish" wrong ever since I was a child, or that there was a game by that name played in Italy in the 15th century but the rules of that game were lost to time!

So far I have found this book to be an excellent and fairly comprehensive reference for traditional card games. I have read the introductory material and rules for a few games and found the writing style to be accessible and the rules to be as comprehensible as I would expect. I expect to get lots of use out of this book and I am very happy with my purchase. About the formatting; before purchasing I read a number of reviews stating that this book suffered from some serious OCR and formatting issues. While I am sure the authors of those reviews were not imagining things, as of now (April 2014) the book seems to have been fixed. I did notice that most of the diagrams and tables are images and some of them take up entire pages; I am guessing that this might have been their solution to the formatting issues. The image solution doesn't bother me as the text in them is an appropriate size, although you might have an issue you if you can only read really big text sizes.

This book is exhaustive. If you're looking for something that covers nearly every card game known to man--past, present, and future (I'll include that because the author includes some of his own creations--perhaps they will become as loved as some of the other games he covers)--then you will find this book useful. I give this book four stars because some game descriptions aren't "standalone" enough for my liking--they require reading additional game descriptions to understand the game fully. A small quibble, but enough to make me drop my rating by a star.

Finding new games to play can feel like an enjoyable journey, much like flipping through the pages of a book. However, when you're in the mood for something specific, it's easy to go directly to that section and find what you need. Some people might prefer a different organizational style for the book. Still, since I only knew about four card games when I bought them, I appreciate starting with games I'm familiar with (or thought I was familiar with) and then learning about similar games. This approach makes it easier to pick up something new without it feeling completely foreign, allowing me to avoid constantly referring back to the pages.

This is a much less formal encyclopedia of card games than several others I've read. I like how Parlett inserts his opinions and background on the games rather than just listing them and diving into the rules. I'm glad I bought it on kindle so now I can pull up the rules on my phone anytime I need a reminder. One thing that is not great about the kindle version is that many, many passages havewordsruntogether which is quiteannoying. I haven't bought many kindle books so I'm not sure if that's a common problem or not.

This is a comprehensive book on card games. The rules are explained economically and brief historical contexts are given. The rules are clear. This book can turn a simple deck of playing cards into a library of different experiences from the frantic and potentially violent Egyptian Ratscrew to cerebral trick-taking games like Whist or Bridge.

I was looking for a book with many different card games to learn for vacation on the kindle since it was going with me anyway. This is a good one for that. The back stories of card games and cards in general make this an excellent reference and was a surprisingly nice touch. My one complaint is that the text is horribly edited(or converted or... I don't know what to blame exactly). Many words run together with no spaces. Many of the card symbols are just plain wrong (for example see the game Kaiser and see what suits you replace cards in). The words running together is irritating but livable. The symbols being wrong makes for interesting rule interpretation as you just have to guess what they mean.

Absolutely love this book and cannot recommend it strongly enough for anyone looking to learn new card games or maybe just interested in learning the history of games. Only people who wish I hadn’t purchased this are friends and family, because I keep bringing in a new game to try, just as they’re getting used to the last one!

Easy to check the rules. Well written, explain the rules well.

Come detto nel titolo questa è la "Bibbia" degli appassionati dei giochi di carte, un riferimento completo ai giochi con carte francesi, molti giochi con carte regionali e addirittura qualche gioco con i tarocchi. Attenzione però, l'autore ha scelto (giustamente) di non trattare i solitari, se non qualche solitario che si può adattare ad essere giocato "contro" un altro giocatore o almeno in "team". David Parlett è un'autorità in materia e scrive sempre in maniera scorrevole e con tipico "humour" britannico. Non dico che si legga come un romanzo, perchè è strutturato più come un enciclopedia, ma per un appassionato è comunque una lettura sempre piacevole. Ora che non si trovano più in giro i libri di Giampaolo Dossena negli Oscar Mondadori (se li trovate su un banchetto di libri usati non lasciateveli sfuggire!!), probabilmente il testo migliore sull'argomento. Io l'ho preso in inglese, ma credo esista una traduzione in italiano.

Not useful

Parlett is an expert on the history and playing of card games, yet he has managed to produce this wonderful compendium in a way that is easy for any layman to read and absorb. Whether you are interested in an overview of the history and development of card games and the different families or just want to dive in and play a new game or check the rules of an old favourite, it is ideal. For me, it has opened up a whole new world of diverse, challenging or just enjoyable, sociable games using German-suited cards which I had never come across. Our friends and family just love playing them. If you like card games and enjoy something new, buy it.

The recent edition (Penguin Books; 2nd edition; ISBN-10: 0141037873) is a very cheap paperback with pages almost of toilet paper quality. David Parlett's work is an encyclopedic book meant to serve as a reference for many years, not a cheap crime novel meant to be read once and discarded. The contents of the book are top-notch, though, hence 5/5 rating.