THE GAMER’S BOOKSHELF:

TORTURED CARDBOARD

by Philip E. Orbanes

(Permuted Press, softcover, 294 pages, $16.99)

Tortured cardboard? That’s the term used by Philip E. Orbanes that refers to the process by which nondescript pieces of cardboard get transformed (cut, punched, folded etc. etc.) into what becomes a classic game. But this is not about the mechanical processes of production. Instead, the book delves into the origins and impacts of these classics. While some books might take a very scholarly path, with Tortured Cardboard, Orbanes opts for a more whimsical approach as he, aided and abetted by the “Games Gnome”, goes back and forth in time to put the focus on the thought and effort – as well as the chaos and luck – that resulted in some of the evergreen games that have occupied significant portions of our lives and the lessons we can take away from them.