Abstract Games

[Editor's Note:] The following information is out-of-date. This magazine ceased publication in 2005.

Recently, I received a sample copy of Abstract Games from the editor Kerry Handscomb. This issue, the second that appeared of this new gaming magazine is dated Summer 2000.

The magazine had 24 pages, including the cover; the editor writes that the third issue is planned to be larger. A single issue costs $5; you may consult the website of the magazine for exact current prices, also for subscriptions.

In issue 2, besides an editorial, letters, and a few smaller texts, one can find game reviews (of the chess variant Bosworth, and the games Octi and Pentagonia), a book review, a 3-page article on Kyoto Shogi, a shogi variant on a five by five board (this was part two of the article; the rules of the game were in issue one); two four page articles on the games Twixt and Hex; an interview with Colin Adams on Tenjiku Shogi (whose title Possessed by Fire Demons seems to me unhappily-chosen), and two two page articles on Lines of Action and Mem; the last one written by David Pritchard.

The journal concentrates on purely abstract board games, and has several interesting and very readable articles on such games. The abstract board gamer can certainly find information of his liking here.

It appears that games whose rules are described in an earlier number do not have their rules repeated, which makes the journal somewhat better suited for a subscription than for reading single copies. The cover is in color; the inside in black and white with clear diagrams.