Artsology

The Original Fun Books

A selection of the original Fun Books featuring home-made board games

Pictured above are covers from four of the original Fun Book series created in the 1980s

Click here to view our vintage Fun Book games and pages.

The "Fun Books" were a series of hand-drawn game and activity booklets created by Artsology founder Mark McKinney when he was a kid. The original “Fun Books” were created for amusement in the car during family vacations when McKinney's family drove long distances to reach their vacation destination. These were created at a time in the early 1980′s long before hand-held video games or portable dvd players were available for in-car entertainment. They were handmade in a magazine format, and included flat “board game” interpretations of popular video games, as well as original board game ideas, mazes, word finds, jokes, trivia and other miscellaneous things. There was even a "Fun Books" carrying case, custom game pieces for each game, and an empty pill bottle filled with dice (so that one could "roll" for the board games without the dice flying all over the car). More time was probably spent making the Fun Books than actually playing them, but perhaps that was part of the fun.

Check out our archive of original Fun Book games and pages here.

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