Ever bought a game that looked very promising, but after a couple sessions you found that there was a fatal flaw? Need to bring a third couple into your bridge night? Do you love a game, but your only opponent is a couple levels better than you?

If so, this book is for you. New Rules for Classic Games is a book, written by R. Wayne Schmittberger, editor of Games Magazine. The book covers topics from altering games to provide more balance, expanding games for more players, handicapping, and finding whole new uses for gaming equipment you already own.

There are several books out that list rules for various game variations, but this book goes a step further. It explains HOW to tweak existing games to fix an imbalance or simply to breathe new life into a game. It explains how to deal with the "petty diplomacy" problem of three player games. It explains methods to simulate random dice roles for playing games by mail. Don't get me wrong; there are variations for several games listed. Wildebeest Chess is one of my favorites (in fact I wrote a rules file for Zillions of Games)

Sketchwick often uses going to a movie as a yardstick to measure the value of entertainment. Using that scale: This book has given me much MORE entertainment than going to three dozen movies for less than the price of going to one. In fact, if I was asked what my favorite book is today, I'd answer New Rules for Classic Games by R. Wayne Schmittberger.