This may sound boisterous, but hear me out. I know a lot about video games. I grew up during the golden age of gaming, getting my start dropping quarters in the arcades and blowing into cartridges for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. I’ve hosted my own gaming podcast for the past seven years, I have my own basement arcade, and I even co-founded a gaming convention: the Southern-Fried Gaming Expo. Like I said, I know my stuff. All that isn’t to brag but rather to express how excited I am when I learn something new and exciting about video game history that I hadn’t discovered before. The new book, A History of Video Games in 64 Objects does exactly that, and I couldn’t be happier.

This 300+ page tome created by the experts at the World Video Game Hall of Fame and published by Dey Street Books (Harper Collins) is big. Big on information, with giant full-color pictures, and hefty enough to be considered a textbook, I only hope that this will make its way into a university’s curriculum soon. Recognizing the importance that video games have had in our culture for the past several decades, the folks at the Strong National Museum of Play established the World Video Game Hall of Fame to celebrate the most important contributions to the medium. Now having inducted their first classes into the Hall, it was only logical to capture and chronicle gaming’s rise through the ages in this new book.

More than just console and arcade games, you’ll find features about PCs, Pinball, Handheld Games, and even ‘Pokémon Go.’

Detailed and thorough, there are many of familiar faces of gaming which I would expect to see in a book like this such as Donkey Kong, Tetris, and Super Mario Bros., which I love. However, the real thrill for me in reading a book like this are the unexpected surprises. For instance, when you think of video gaming, would your brain instantly go to Simon, the electronic push-button memory game? Mine didn’t, but after reading about how Simon captured the nation’s notice as the hot Christmas gift of 1978 and how it was created by the same man who had previously developed the first home video game system, Ralph Baer, it made complete sense and makes me question my discounting it as such all these years.

For every reference in this book you’d expect (Pac-Man), there’s an equally obscure reference for balance (The book 101 BASIC Computer Games by David Ahl) that makes each transition to a new era of gaming refreshing and interesting. The 64 objects reflect a wide array of time period and history ranging from 1947’s Humpty Dumpty pinball machine by Gottlieb which was the first to use flippers, all the way through the hauntingly beautiful That Dragon Cancer from 2016 that was an artistic expression of grief. A History of Video Games in 64 Objects does more than just capitalize on the zeitgeist of a particular game title, it shows us how, despite its digital nature, we as people rely on gaming to express ourselves and connect with one another on a human level.

A simple but clean design and bright pictures make this an attractive addition to anyone’s collection. In the “Remember this?” Ready Player One-era, this book certainly scratches the right itch. I guarantee, no matter how big a fan of gaming you claim to be, you will learn something new reading this book. I was particularly amazed by 1963’s Digi-Comp Computer, which was a plastic and metal “computer” that could be programmed using “logic rods” to do arithmetic, solve puzzles, and even play very basic games. All this while featuring a young girl on a product box cover that didn’t feature an Easy Bake Oven. I’m sure you’ll discover several previously unknown touchstones of gaming too.

As many gaming-related products and books out there, it takes a lot to get me excited about something new to the market that focuses on gaming’s history, but A History of Video Games in 64 Objects has officially wowed me. I’ll be telling my friends. You should tell yours too. Pick up your own copy for $26.99 or less today.

(Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but all opinions are my own.)