Every beginner player's dream is to play like the pros and trash the enemies with such finesse and gusto while earning points. That will not be impossible when you read the Kobold guides because it will teach you how to game like the pros.
Kobold guides is a collection of guides published by the Kobold Press. The guides offer a closer look at each aspect of every game and uncovers everything from board game designs to plots and worldbuilding.
Although these guides teach players how to game like the pros, it assumes that those who will be reading them are not new to game speak. That means, they know what an owlbear is. The guides don't cover the basics but gives a high-level and intimate detail of the inside machinations of a game.
Each guide features the best of the best in the gaming world as they translate the skills and know-how into easy, digestive essays that will teach those who want to game like the pros.
According to Wolfgang Baur, founder and CEO of Kobold guides, the reception for the guides have been very good. In fact, a lot of design schools are already using them as textbooks because they provide design students a better and realistic perspective of the inner workings of a game.
One of the featured writers of Kobold guides is Monte Cook, the creator of Numenera and 3D Dungeons and Dragons. Cook has received many awards for his work and is known in gaming circles. He teaches players how to build their own settings in the Kobold guide to worldbuilding.
Aside from teaching players how to game like the pros, the guides have some controversial but eye-opening insights. For example, Clinton J. Boomer, creator of Kobold Guide to Combat, says that "combat isn’t important… No. The only thing that’s important, really, is the grand illusion of combat."
He meant that game designers create an illusion of combat and players should understand that no matter what happens, their characters will still live and be okay. However, if designers don't give that illusion, the game will be boring. So why not enjoy the fight as you have more lives to live again and again.
