And they'll love yours the most, thanks to this festive collection of themes, snacks, crafts, drinks, and decor...all handpicked by the party monsters at Quirk D.I.Y., the Quirk Books community for makers of everything awesome. So roll back the rug, call your friends, and let's get at least one of these parties started! Party Themes include: SPARKLE PARTY, featuring Mini Candy Apples, Holiday Cake Pops, Sweet Surrender Punch, and more. OVER EASY PARTY, Featuring Huevos Rancheros Tacos, Maple Bacon Cupcakes, Golden Hog Cocktail, and more. GIANT PARTY for kids, featuring Mini Corn Dogs, Super-Small Deep-Dish Pizzas, Teensy Funnel Cakes, and more. CRAFTERNOON TEA PARTY featuring Pansy Tea Sandwiches, English Rose Cocktail, homemade Pom-Pom Headbands, and more. THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL PARTY featuring Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, Beef-and-Beer Chili, homemade Plush Penguin party favors, and more.

      In this classic study, Caillois defines play as a free and voluntary activity that occurs in a pure space, isolated and protected from the rest of life. Play is uncertain, since the outcome may not be foreseen, and it is governed by rules that provide a level playing field for all participants. In its most basic form, play consists of finding a response to the opponent's action--or to the play situation--that is free within the limits set by the rules.   Caillois qualifies types of games-- according to whether competition, chance, simulation, or vertigo (being physically out of control) is dominant--and ways of playing, ranging from the unrestricted improvisation characteristic of children's play to the disciplined pursuit of solutions to gratuitously difficult puzzles. Caillois also examines the means by which games become part of daily life and ultimately contribute to various cultures their most characteristic customs and institutions.            Presented here in Meyer Barash's superb English translation, Man, Play and Games is a companion volume to Caillois's Man and the Sacred.

    Regardless if they are customers, employees, patients, students, citizens, stakeholders, organizations struggle to meaningfully engage their key constituent groups who have a precious and limited resource: their time. Not surprisingly, these stakeholders have developed deflector shields to protect themselves. Only a privileged few organizations are allowed to penetrate the shield, and even less will meaningfully engage. To penetrate the shield, and engage the audience, organizations need an edge. Gamification has emerged as a way to gain that edge and organizations are beginning to see it as a key tool in their digital engagement strategy. While gamification has tremendous potential to break through, most companies will get it wrong. Gartner predicts that by 2014, 80% of current gamified applications will fail to meet business objectives primarily due to poor design. As a trend, gamification is at the peak of the hype cycle; it has been oversold and it is broadly misunderstood. We are heading for the inevitable fall. Too many organizations have been led to believe that gamification is a magic elixir for indoctrinating the masses and manipulating them to do their bidding. These organizations are mistaking people for puppets, and these transparently cynical efforts are doomed to fail.This book goes beyond the hype and focuses on the 20% that are getting it right. We have spoken to hundreds of leaders in organizations around the world about their gamification strategies and we have seen some spectacular successes. The book examines some of these successes and identifies the common characteristics of these initiatives to define the solution space for success. It is a guide written for leaders of gamification initiatives to help them avoid the pitfalls and employ the best practices, to ensure they join the 20% that gets it right. Gamify shows gamification in action: as a powerful approach to engaging and motivating people to achieving their goals, while at the same time achieving organizational objectives. It can be used to motivate people to change behaviors, develop skills, and drive innovation. The sweet spot for gamification objectives is the space where the business objectives and player objectives are aligned. Like two sides of the same coin, player and business goals may outwardly appear different, but they are often the same thing, expressed different ways. The key to gamification success is to engage people on an emotional level and motivating them to achieve their goals.

    Jay Paterno paints a full picture of his father’s life and career as well as documenting that almost none of the horrific crimes that came to light in 2012 took place at PennState. Jay Paterno clear-headedly confronts the events that happened with cool facts and with passion, demonstrating that this was just one more case of an innocent man convicted by the media for a crime in which he had no part. Noting that the scandal itself was but a short moment in Joe Paterno’s life and legacy, the book focuses on Paterno’s greatness as a father and grandfather, his actions as a miraculous coach to his players, and his skillful dealings with his assistant coaches. A memorial to one of the greatest coaches in college football history, the book also reveals insightful anecdotes from his son and coaching pupil.

    Like civilization, play requires structure and participants willing to create within limits. Starting with Plato, Huizinga traces the contribution of Homo Ludens, or "Man the player" through Medieval Times, the Renaissance, and into our modern civilization. Huizinga defines play against a rich theoretical background, using cross-cultural examples from the humanities, business, and politics. Homo Ludens defines play for generations to come."A happier age than ours once made bold to call our species by the name of Homo Sapiens. In the course of time we have come to realize that we are not so reasonable after all as the Eighteenth Century with its worship of reason and naive optimism, though us; "hence moder fashion inclines to designate our species asHomo Faber Man the Maker. But though faber may not be quite so dubious as sapiens it is, as a name specific of the human being, even less appropriate, seeing that many animals too are makers. There is a third function, howver, applicable to both human and animal life, and just as important as reasoning and making--namely, playing. it seems to me that next to Homo Faber, and perhaps on the same level as Homo Sapiens, Homo Ludens, Man the Player, deserves a place in our nomenclature. "--from the Foreward, by Johan Huizinga

    A Basic Stitch Guide and clear, easy-to-follow instructions are included.

    This design workshop begins with an examination of the fundamental elements of game design; then puts you to work in prototyping, playtesting and redesigning your own games with exercises that teach essential design skills. Workshop exercises require no background in programming or artwork, releasing you from the intricacies of electronic game production, so you can develop a working understanding of the essentials of game design.Features:* A design methodology used in the USC Interactive Media program, a cutting edge program funded in part of Electronic Arts. * Hands-on exercises demonstrate key concepts, and the design methodology* Insights from top industry game designers, including Noah Falstein, American McGee, Peter Molyneux

    Sure, they cover the basics. But The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design goes way beyond the basics. The authors, top game designers, focus on creating games that are an involving, emotional experience for the gamer. Topics include integrating story into the game, writing the game script, putting together the game bible, creating the design document, and working on original intellectual property versus working with licenses. Finally, there’s complete information on how to present a visionary new idea to developers and publishers. Got game? Get The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

    Reviews of new razors and other shaving products are included, and the appendix now includes well over 100 on-line vendors as well as forums and reference sites. The book provides excellent guidance for beginners putting together their first shaving kit and discusses tradeoff considerations in the initial purchases. Traditional shaving is enjoyable and thrifty: double-edged blades are as low as 7¢ each---a year's worth of shaves for $3.50---compared to the same amount spent for one single disposable multiblade cartridge. The recommended beginner razor, one of the Edwin Jagger DE8x series, will last a lifetime and uses a recently designed head that easily provides a comfortable shave using techniques described in the book. The multiblade cartridge's tug-and-cut action often results in skin irritation, razor bumps, in-grown hairs, and razor burn---thus all the "protective" shaving preparations and "soothing and healing" aftershaves now offered. Most men with these skin problems decide that they have "sensitive skin," never realizing that the problem is their daily use of a multiblade cartridge whose its tug-and-cut action, made even worse by the shaver pressing hard to try to extend the life of the (expensive) cartridge. The book also includes a chapter on shaving and skin problems, including information on how DE shaving can help those who have acne as well as how to cure and prevent razor bumps and in-grown whiskers. The book is a complete instruction manual and guide in itself, but it also includes links to a host of resources on the Web to complement the book. Included with the book is a comprehensive list of on-line shaving vendors and other sources of equipment and supplies for everything you need to get started. It's a perfect gift for Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthdays, graduations, and bar mitzvahs---and a particularly apt gift for men who shave daily but when asked whether they actually enjoy shaving answer, "No. I hate it." Give them this book so that they can look forward eagerly to their next shave---not an exaggeration. Men who have just started DE shaving frequently write that they wish they could shave more than once a day and look for eagerly to the next shave.

    It provides the perfect opportunity for understanding the potential power of each chess piece in every chess situation—from opening move to checkmate. But the endgame is often viewed as an inaccessible area of play by most players whose experience is limited to watching championship games. Now, Pandolfini changes all of that. With one endgame example per page and covering every endgame category in order of difficulty, Paldolfini walks you through all the basic concepts including: --square of the pawn --critical squares --corresponding squares --other new approaches not mentioned in classic references Featuring a glossary of concepts and diagrams throughout, this volume is the not-so-secret password to a whole new realm of chess play and entertainment for the average player.

    In arcades, living rooms, student dorms, and (admit it) offices from Ohio to Osaka, video games have become a fixture in people's lives, marking a tectonic shift in the entertainment landscape.Now, as Hollywood and Silicon Valley rush to sell us online interactive multimedia everything, J. C. Herz brings us the first popular history and critique of the video-game phenomenon. From the Cold War computer programmers who invented the first games (when they should have been working) to the studios where the networked 3-D theme parks of the future are created, Herz brings to life the secret history of Space Invaders, Pac Man, Super Mario, Myst, Doom, and other celebrated games. She explains why different kinds of games have taken hold (and what they say about the people who play them) and what we can expect from a generation that has logged millions of hours vanquishing digital demons.Written with 64-bit energy and filled with Herz's sharp-edged insights and asides, Joystick Nation is a fascinating pop culture odyssey that's must-reading for media junkies, pop historians, and anyone who pines for their old Atari.

    As suddenly as they gained popularity, they were made obsolete by the next big thing - a newfangled system called the Internet. Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie takes its readers on an exciting journey through the BBS era. Through the author's personal tales and adventures, readers will discover more about these amazing times and what it was like to grow up online. With tales of copyfests, BBS parties and random acts of online debauchery, those who were there will find themselves reminiscing, while those who weren't will enjoy learning about life ""before the 'net."" You know, back when we used to modem uphill, both ways in the snow.

    Why is sport so profoundly important to us? In a journey from the Olympic Games in Athens to the World Cup finals in Germany - via the Ashes, the Ryder Cup and Wimbledon - Simon Barnes ponders such matters as the intellectual genius of Wayne Rooney, the mythic nature of Steve Redgrave and the making of Andrew Flintoff.

    From a vast survey of primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World distills the story of how gamers first decided fictional battles with boards and dice, and how they moved from simulating wars to simulating people. The invention of role-playing games serves as a touchstone for exploring the ways that the literary concept of character, the lure of fantastic adventure and the principles of gaming combined into the signature cultural innovation of the late twentieth century.

    This is the first book in his poker tells trilogy, following by Verbal Poker Tells (2014) and Exploiting Poker Tells (2017). This book will teach you how professional poker players analyze the facial expressions, body posture, physical gestures, and verbal statements of opponents in a live poker game. More importantly, it will give you a mental framework for thinking about and remembering poker tells by emphasizing how common situations can be similar or can be different (for example, the big difference between a Post-Bet situation and a Waiting-For-Action situation). Reading Poker Tells also contains other tips on general poker psychology, including methods for deceiving and manipulating opponents, and ways to stay "unreadable". Many people have said that the greatest value they got from this book was in being able to eliminate some common tells that they were unknowingly displaying.