The collection ranges from early games right up to newly invented games. The rules of all games are explained lucidly, and the tactical advice given is explicit.

    Whether sinister or seductive, ferocious or foul, the creatures lurking within these pages will challenge the most experienced characters of any campaign. This supplement for the D&D game unleashes a horde of monsters to confront characters at all levels of play, including several with Challenge Ratings of 21 or higher. Inside are old favorites such as the death knight and the gem dragons, as well as all-new creatures such as the bronze serpent, the effigy, and the fiendwurm. Along with updated and expanded monster creation rules, "Monster Manual II" provides an inexhaustible source of ways to keep even the toughest heroes fighting and running for their lives. To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the "Player's Handbook" and the "Dungeon Master""'s Guide." A player needs only the "Player's Handbook."

     Chess is one of the world’s most popular board games, and is played by millions of people from all walks of life in parks, homes, online and tournaments. This two-player game is played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight by eight grid called a chessboard. The game begins with each player possessing 16 pieces, 8 pawns, two rooks (sometimes called castles), two bishops, two knights, a queen and a king. The different player’s pieces are colored differently and are usually either black or white, though colors may vary. Regardless of the color variation though, each ‘team’ is referred to as either black or white. The objective of the game is to ‘checkmate’ the opponent’s king by placing it in such a position that it cannot escape capture. There are other methods to winning the game, such as when an opponent forfeits or resigns from the match. Forfeitures are normally as a result of the opponent losing too many pieces, or if a checkmate is seen as inevitable. There are also circumstances where the game ends in a draw for various reasons, meaning that neither player wins. The first official world chess championship was held in 1886 between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukerfort. The victor and thus the first official World Champion was Wilhelm Seinitz. Since the creation of the World Chess Federation in Paris in 1924, the best chess players in the world have been awarded the title of Grandmaster, which is the highest accolade a chess player can get apart from world champion. The latter half of the 20th century saw computers being programmed to play chess, with many home computers now being able to play with such a high level of sophistication that they can outwit some of the best human players. The first computer to ever beat a reigning world champion was the computer Deep Blue, which beat Garry Kasparov in a match in 1997. What You're Going to Learn: Origins and History of Chess Rules and Notations Movements in the Game The Pieces, Their Movements and Values Chess Strategy and Tactics Tips for Beginners What Not to Do More Tactics ...And Much More! Ready to Play Like a Pro ? * * * DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY * * *

    It’s written for players who are smart and who know that to succeed, you have to be different. Because in poker, if you play and think like everyone else, you’ll also get results just like everyone else. There’s a saying in the golf world that you don’t worry about the other players. You just play the course. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing in a big tournament against a hundred other players or against just one. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing against Tiger Woods or against Woody the Woodpecker. You can’t control what they do, so they can only be a distraction. All that matters is the course. And the only thing you can control is how you play it. This is a powerful idea, and it applies just as well in poker. Poker is full of distractions, and most players get hung up worrying about all the wrong things. The things they can’t control. The things that ultimately don’t matter. The Course: Serious Hold ‘Em Strategy For Smart Players, cuts through all the noise. It’s a practical and effective, step-by-step guide to winning consistently at no-limit hold ’em. It teaches the game as a series of skills. The first skill is the most important, but also the most fundamental. Each subsequent skill builds upon the last. Master the first few skills, and you can win at the 1-2 or 1-3 level. Master the next few, and you can win at 2-5. And master the final skills, and you can hang at 5-10 among the best players at your local card room. The Course focuses on the most important concepts that determine who wins and moves up and who doesn’t. And it ignores the distractions. It doesn’t waste your time and attention with ideas that don’t apply to the games you play. Unlike many other books, this book is ruthlessly practical. The ideas in The Course transfer directly from the page to the felt. The book starts out by showing you where and how money is available to win. Everything after teaches you how to go get it. Skill by skill, you will learn to win more money and win it faster. The Course meets you where you are. If you’re just beginning to get serious about hold ‘em, the book starts you with a sound foundational strategy. If you’re an experienced player looking to get over the next hump, the book lays bare the challenge and teaches you what you need to do. Unless you’re already the boss player at your local card room, The Course is the perfect companion to help take you to where you want to go.

    And it's the perfect reference for Trainers looking to master the world of  Pokémon Go.

     Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening?even for the pros. One of golf?s most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game. After introducing readers to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don?t see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley?s primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear. Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley?s short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.

    If you're like most players, you struggle with nearly every aspect of the game: offense, defense, execution and combos, and generally having a game plan that is more complex than just mashing buttons at every opportunity. A Road Map Toward Improvement Street Fighter is a game that requires practice, finesse, and knowledge. Unfortunately, most players don't have any guidance on where to begin when learning the game which leads to lots of frustration and losses. This guide is designed to give you a road map for improving your skills so that when SF5 drops you can hit the ground running!Lots of players are under the misconception that since SF5 is a brand new game, there's no point in playing SF4 and improving. While it is true that there will be lots to learn in SF5 such as new engines and characters, this is not a reason not to improve on your Street Fighter fundamentals in the meantime. The Importance of a Solid Foundation Like anything else worth doing in life, developing a foundation of solid fundamentals is the key to improving. Even though SF5 will have brand new characters and mechanics, the core elements of Street Fighter remain the same throughout the franchise. Execution, footsies and space control, combos, punishing, and resource management are important in all Street Fighter games and this guide will show you how to use SF4 to improve on these aspects of your game. Who is gootecks and why should I bother? I've played Street Fighter competitively since 2003, starting with Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and continuing with Street Fighter 4. I've traveled to compete in tournaments around the world, including places like Japan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, and Europe.A lot of people may know me as the co-host of Excellent Adventures of gootecks & Mike Ross, or perhaps from my work on Cross Counter TV, the entertainment network for fighting game fans.Recently, I've begun training players just like yourself through Cross Counter Training, where players like EG.Justin Wong, EG.K-Brad, Alex Myers are available for helping players of all skill levels improve. Through working with my students, I've developed what I believe to be an extremely effective method of learning how to play Street Fighter. This method is based on the idea of learning one tiny aspect of the game at a time through the eyes of the poster boy of Street Fighter, Ryu. "But Ryu is boring, gootecks!" I know, I know, you think Ryu is boring and everybody plays him and you want to play a cool, flashy character so you can style on people on stage at Evo someday. Unfortunately, you'll need to learn how to walk before you can run and there is no better investment of time as a new player than to learn Ryu in order to build a strong foundation.Taking this time now to develop your fundamentals will serve you well as you transition to Street Fighter 5. Ryu is definitely different in SF5, but the tools and concepts you'll learn in this guide will give you a leg up on the competition when SF5 drops.

    Now comes the ultimate in-depth guide to the turbulent and fascinating world featured in the game — The Old Republic.Created in full collaboration with LucasArts, this in-depth companion covers the spectrum of characters, weapons, vehicles, events, and planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic. More than just an encyclopedia, it is the ultimate guided tour of the dangerous and mysterious universe found in a galaxy far, far away.© 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. ® & ™ All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

    P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, is both a close analysis of the first three Silent Hill games and a general look at the whole series. Silent Hill, with its first title released in 1999, is one of the most influential of the horror video game series. Perron situates the games within the survival horror genre, both by looking at the history of the genre and by comparing Silent Hill with such important forerunners as Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil. Taking a transmedia approach and underlining the designer's cinematic and literary influences, he uses the narrative structure; the techniques of imagery, sound, and music employed; the game mechanics; and the fiction, artifact, and gameplay emotions elicited by the games to explore the specific fears survival horror games are designed to provoke and how the experience as a whole has made the Silent Hill series one of the major landmarks of video game history.

    In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it. The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games -- Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more -- on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, PRESS RESET tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely. Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games -- and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.

    Presenting delicacies favored by the Horde and the Alliance alike, this authorized cookbook teaches apprentice chefs how to conjure up a menu of food and drink from across the realm of Azeroth.Featuring food pairings for each dish, ideas for creating your own Azerothian feasts, and tips on adapting meals to specific diets, this otherworldly culinary guide offers something for everyone. The aromatic Spiced Blossom Soup is perfect for plant-loving druids, and orcs will go berserk for the fall-off-the-bone Beer-Basted Boar Ribs. With alternatives to the more obscure ingredients—just in case you don’t have Chimaerok Chops lying around—this comprehensive cookbook will ensure that you have no trouble staying Well Fed. Each chapter features dishes at a variety of skill levels for a total of more than one hundred easy-to-follow recipes for food and brews, including: • Ancient Pandaren Spices  • Fel Eggs and Ham  • Mulgore Spice Bread  • Dragonbreath Chili  • Graccu’s Homemade Meat Pie  • Bloodberry Tart  • Greatfather’s Winter Ale Whether you’re cooking for two or revitalizing your raid group for a late-night dungeon run, World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook brings the flavors of Azeroth to life like never before.

    But as the gaming industry grows in numerous directions and everyone talks about the advance of the moment, few explore and seek to understand the forces behind this profound evolution. How did we get from Space Invaders to Grand Theft Auto? How exactly did gaming become a $50 billion industry and a dominant pop culture form? What are the stories, the people, the innovations, and the fascinations behind this incredible growth?Through extensive interviews with gaming's greatest innovators, both its icons and those unfairly forgotten by history, All Your Base Are Belong To Us sets out to answer these questions, exposing the creativity, odd theories--and passion--behind the twenty-first century's fastest-growing medium.Go inside the creation of: Grand Theft Auto * World of Warcraft * Bioshock * Kings Quest * Bejeweled * Madden Football * Super Mario Brothers * Myst * Pong * Donkey Kong * Crash Bandicoot * The 7th Guest * Tetris * Shadow Complex * Everquest * The Sims * And many more!

    You'll learn how to construct houses, bridges, ships, floating islands and rollercoasters of the highest quality.

    Full color.

    Next Level Magic is a comprehensive course on realizing your goals in playing Magic the Gathering.