Games with James

Many stories, some familiar and some not, have had modern board game adaptations in recent years. If you have liked these books, you might enjoy spending more time in these worlds with these games.

• Sometimes this means the game will be based on a character from a book.
• Other times it means that the entire story of the book is captured in the game.
• Other times it means that a game that was played in the book is recreated in real life.  

Have you read the book? Play the game!

Tak was invented by Patrick Rothfuss and detailed in his book The Wise Man's Fear.  Rothfuss teamed up with modern game designer James Ernest to bring the game to reality. The goal is to use your pieces to connect two sides of the board.  It sounds pretty straightforward, and there are only a few rules, but there is a lot of strategy to work out which rewards repeat plays. This 2 player game plays in about 20–60 minutes.

This is a game for people who:

• Like the tactile nature of nice wooden pieces,
• Want an experience similar to Chess,
• Want to feel like they are playing against Kvothe.

Other games you might enjoy:

• Hive
• Onitama 
• SHOBU

Other Books You Might Enjoy:

• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• The Lies of Locke Lamora
• The Name of the Wind

One of Shakespeare's best known plays, Romeo and Juliet, is the setting for Council of Verona. Players take on the roles of the citizens of Verona as they try to steer the story and determine who will rule city. Players use their influence as they attempt to get certain citizens on the council while exiling other citizens. The 2–5 player game takes 20–30 minutes and is full of charming artwork.

This game is great for:

• People who like interesting and clever moves,
• Those fans that wish they could rewrite stories,
• Fans of cute artwork.

Other Games you Might Enjoy:

• Elevenses
• Biblios
• Fairy Tale

Other Books you Might Enjoy:

• Romeo and/or Juliet
• Two Gentlemen of Verona 
• Juliet's Nurse

Harry Potter is one of the most famous characters in literary history. There have been many different games based on this franchise, but Hogwarts Battle is the most critically acclaimed. It's also a cooperative game where players work together to beat the game itself. 2–4 players, ages 11+, take on the role of Harry, Ron, Hermione or Neville and work together to defeat the villains.

This is a great game for:

• Middle grade children who love the Harry Potter series,
• Younger children that can play with the help of the other players,
• Cooperative gameplay that encourages discussing what each player should do to best defeat the forces of darkness.

Other games you might enjoy:

• Disney Villainous
• Forbidden Island
• The Big Book of Madness

Other books you might enjoy:

• The Screaming Staircase
• The Book of Three
• The Emerald Atlas