All the latest NEWS, announcements, reports, events, calendar listings, new game releases and such sent to us from players, collectors, puzzle people, authors, editors, associations and game companies can be found by going to News in the Main Menu.

How to Navigate this Site

Check the menu at the top and the pages at the left for articles and new posts. In the Main Menu across the top, you can click on any heading and get information (and maybe a photo or two) about what is contained under that heading. Or move your cursor down to pick a specific page within that heading.

In the column on the left, you will find other areas of interest that are not included in the Main Menu. Click directly on the topic you want and you will be taken there immediately. At the bottom of the left column, under “Welcome to the Main Menu bar,”  is a repeat of the Main Menu items, with the subheadings immediately visible. Clicking on “Timeline” under “Game History” at the left, for example, is the same as going to “Game History” in the Main Menu across the top and moving down to “Timeline.”

The right-hand column has links. If you hover your cursor over a link, you’ll see more information about what it is. Click on the link and you’ll be taken directly to the page of the linked site.

The Big Game Hunter website focuses on board games, card games, skill and action games, and parlor games, and on the people who play them, collect them, invent them, manufacture them, and sell them. In addition, the site covers jigsaw puzzles and also mechanical puzzles–those objects for solitaire play with which you need to figure out and put together, take apart, move sequentially, or manipulate something in order to solve the puzzle.
This website will soon include or link to lots of photos of games and puzzles, and include historic photos of early game company factories and the products they produced.
There will also be a detailed listing of a dozen special game and puzzle journals and websites, and we will bring back the over 140 links to great sites in the games and puzzles world that were on our previous site.

Who is “The Big Game Hunter”?

[For a complete bio of Bruce Whitehill, "The Big Game Hunter," click Whitehill.]

The Big Game Hunter is Bruce Whitehill, one of the foremost historians on American games, and author of the book, Games: American Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992, which has been touted as the most authoritative work on the history of American game companies. He has served as the senior editor of Games Annual, the associate editor of the international magazine, Games Games Games and the senior editor of the games magazine, Knucklebones. His writing has appeared in encyclopedias and international journals, as well as in cultural and collector magazines throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is a frequent speaker at the symposia of the academic games research group, The International Society of Board Game Studies. He is on the selection committee of the National Toy Hall of Fame. Bruce Whitehill is the founder of the Association of Game & Puzzle Collectors, an international organization aimed at recording and preserving the history of games and puzzles.

Mr. Whitehill has worked as a game inventor since his two-year stint with Milton Bradley Co. starting in 1982, and as an independent game developer and consultant to the Toy and Game industry since then. His latest game, “Talat” was introduced at the 2011 Games Fair (SPIEL 2011) in Essen.

As a collector, The Big Game Hunter has amassed a collection that represents the cultural history of American games, and he has had major game exhibitions at museums around the U.S. and in Europe.

Why Log In?

It is not necessary to log into The Big Game Hunter site, since you can navigate throughout the site without a login. However, if you wish to comment about an article or participate in a forum or survey, you must create an account and log in using your web name or real name.

Password: A few headings in the left menu are marked “Password Req.” and require a specific password given out only to those for whom that section was intended.

Do You Have a Question? A News Item? A Problem?

If you have information that may be of interest to other readers in response to anything you’ve read on this site (information which does not require a response), you can post that on the website in the “Leave a Comment” box at the bottom of the page; when I get a chance to check (and approve) your posting, it will appear on the site.

If you have a problem or a question or comment about this site, or a question specifically about or for The Big Game Hunter, then click here to be taken to “Contact” in the Main Menu at the top..

How Much Is It Worth?

We are not able to respond to inquiries asking what a game is worth, or how rare a game might be (too arbitrary — too many possible legal problems). However, soon you will be able to submit your inquiry through the Forum, and if your inquiry is posted (editor’s discretion), other readers might respond.

Please Support Us!

A lot of work has gone into creating and continually updating this website. There is no other like it — no website that is devoted to games and jigsaw puzzles and mechanical puzzles, from the oldest and most beautiful games to the latest  game releases, hand-cut jigsaw puzzles and ingenious mechanical puzzle designs. Please donate something, if you can. Click on the “Donate” button in the upper right. Thank you!

Support Our Sponsors and Advertisers

The people and companies who pay to have a link put on this website are helping to keep this website going. Please support those who are supporting us: click on any of the links below or in the “Paid Links” section on the right.

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No matter what you’re searching for in the arena of games and puzzles,
THE BIG GAME HUNTER site should have something about it somewhere:

• board games, game boards
• card games
• skill & action games, dexterity games
• bagatelle games
• television (TV) games, educational games
• ethnic games, cartoon and comic character games
• western games, political games
• German games, English games, French games, Indian games
• old games, antique games, vintage games, classic games
• modern games, new games, games to play, playable games
• boxed games
• gameboards, dice, pawns, playing pieces, spinners
• game rules, game instructions, game parts
• jigsaw puzzles, jigsaws, sliced object puzzles
• mechanical puzzles, dexterity puzzles
• game exhibits, game books, game magazines
• game repair, repairing paper games, cleaning paper games
• cutting jigsaw puzzles, hand cut jigsaws
• games to buy, games for sale, games forum
• inventing games, designing games, selling your game ideas

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