As a youngster one of my prize possessions was The Book of Classic Board Games from Klutz Press. I didn’t know at the time that I was in good hands, the book being authored by none other than Sid Sackson. While Sackson seemed intent on imparting how much could be accomplished with a single set of Go stones, mostly I was enamored with the more “thematic” games in the collection, such as the clay-molded landscape of Dalmatian Pirates and Volga Bulgars or the plump wrestling moves of Hasami Shogi. Thus began my lifelong appreciation for abstract games. (Although please note that “appreciation” and “skill for” are very different traits.)

Over the past few months, I’ve been enjoying three modern abstracts at a leisurely pace. Their common thread is that they were all designed and self-published by Khanat Sadomwattana. Not that you’d know they were self-published by looking at them. These are lavish productions, each visually arresting on their own, with striking aesthetics that aid in making their gameplay as smooth as possible.

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