This book is a fantastic introduction to the history of video games. This graphic novel does a fantastic job at balancing the amount of information shared and the art. Speaking of the art - they did a great job, the illustrations are suer cute. This book is great for people who know nothing about video games and for video game fans who are looking to learn more about what's lead up the to the games we have now.

This book includes not just information about past games, but information about the people who created them, from the small developers to the big companies that have become household names.

I would like to thank McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

This is an engaging and well-researched graphic novel about the history of video games. The Age of Video Games not only covers the history of video games and how they came to be, but also the impact they have on society. The combination of graphic novel and non-fiction is such a fun and accessible way to learn about a topic. I will admit the dialogue between the two characters was a bit silly at times, but it provided a good break and helped keep me focused and engaged with the topic.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for the digital ARC.

How better than to tell the story of the history of video games, but in the form of a graphic novel. This book helps us travel through time to find out the history of video games.

The storyline is informative, but not overwhelming with too much information, it has just the right amount to get a basic knowledge but have some fun trivia pieces as well. (I thought I was being smart when I was telling my partner about some of the stuff I learnt - forgetting that he is a video game nerd and knows it all already).

I regally enjoyed this book. It’s pretty and will be good for all ages.

The Age of Video Games is exactly what it says on the tin. A graphic novel that explores the history of video games from Pong to joysticks, 8-bit to VR it offers a lively illustrated exploration into its conception and evolution.

This graphic novel uses the narrative style of having the author and illustrator be "characters" in the book. One asking questions and the other being the guide through the history. This style has it's good moments but in general it falls flat. The jokes don't land, the dialogue is clunky and the chronology isn't always chronological. It was a good idea but a poor execution.

The art style is nice enough. It is quite simplistic but it does it's job.

I had a good enough time reading this and I did learn some things. Though it is also quite dense and could have been more light.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel publishing for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Unfortunately this wasn’t as exciting of a graphic novel as I was hoping for going into it. The characters didn’t vibe well with me and it was a bit awkward at times. It really felt like it was just jam packing all the information into every page where it felt like I was studying for a test and having to memorize all the important names and dates and events. The art style was really nice and I enjoyed the little side kick as a fun ice breaker between the two main characters but this one just didn’t do it for me.

This was such a fun and super educational comic all about how video games have changed over the years! As a gamer myself, I had a blast reading it and totally recommend it to anyone who’s even a little curious about gaming history. Especially great for kids who wanna learn in a cool way instead of reading dry theory stuff—this makes it so much easier to get into! Perfect intro for future game devs too. Honestly, this was such a fun read. 🕹

Thanks so much to Jean, Émilie and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to geek out over games like this!

I liked the art style and the characters who traveled through the video game history. Some fun nostalgia for me and I learned some while reading. I can see this actually being part of a video game course, and there is potential for more here if concentrated on individual genres. Absolutely worth a read for comic and game lovers alike, with a side of history.

I'm super grateful to have gotten an ARC of the English translation of this book through NetGalley. A huge thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing.

The concept of The Age of Video Games is that Jean Zeid - a journalist and video game historian - is explaining the history of video games to artist Emilie Rouge- a fan. We, as the readers, get to follow along on the journey because this story is told in comic book form; Zeid and Rouge get the comic book treatment and are inserted in some of the most famous video games throughout history.

I requested this ARC through NetGalley because I was planning on doing some posts about video games over on my blog Grrrl Fans and I thought this would give me some historical context that I could build on.

I really liked the way that Zeid and Rouge framed this story. Inserting themselves into various games and having Zeid (an expert) explain things to Rouge (a fan) was a fun way of going about this. Rouge had the opportunity to respond the way that someone who was learning this information might respond.

Thanks to The Age of Video Games, I learned some history of video games. I discovered some people I want to learn more about.

The only real bit of feedback I can give is that I really don't like NetGalley's app, and that seemed to be the only way to read this. I realize the authors and publishers don't have any control over NetGalley's app, though.

All in all, a good overview of video game history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC.

Unfortunately this really missed the mark for me. I struggled to read it right off the bat with the, in my opinion, unnecessary introduction of the two characters. The pacing and dialogue were awkward, with parts difficult to read with the attempted targeting of a Gen Z and younger audience. It really felt like there was an assumption the reader would be lacking any common intellect, with unnecessary handholding from A to B. It will likely appeal more to the age 10 - 16 American demographic.

TLDR; not for me, disappointed at the lost potential here.

1.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this graphic novel. This is Magic School Bus mixed with a documentary on Video Game history. This art is beautiful, and the information is interesting to read about, however, I think that it is one that I would personally reread in small doses due to all of the facts coming at me since I know very little. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

It was cool seeing the different consoles and how video games got started and how they improved! I only grew up with the wii and nintendo ds as a kid.

"The age of Video Games" is an "immersive" adventure into the history of video games, meaning that the main characters get inside some of the games.

Overall, the story was fine, but there was a lot of back and forth with the timeline and as a result, the chronology is all over the place. For the most part, the story follows a chronological order through the decades, but every now and then, they kept going to the past to remind of a small fact, and that made the storyline all too confusing.


I liked the illustrations and the writers being inside of video games, but I think that it could've been a little more light-hearted and not as dense.

I feel horrible saying this, but this graphic novel was really dull. If I didn't recieve it as an ARC, I would have DNFd it. I did learn some fun facts that were new to me, but overall it was too much. Visually, the graphics were really cute and well done! I found the story to be so focused on telling us EVERYTHING the authors knew about video games and forgetting that it also has to be interesting. The information is so dense that even an avid gamer, like myself, felt checked out.

This book covers the history of video games combined with fantasy. I loved how the art captured the essence of gaming and I was surprised to find this humorous at times. As a graphic novel, it was easy to read and understand, though there were some slang which made it challenging at times but it was still a fun read. I would definitely recommend this to gamers.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy. Opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

In this, we see the history of video games and we have the two authors in this graphic novel as the main characters with a small companion which is adorable, guiding us from the beginning to the modern-day breaking it down to be fun and not filling to over-consuming.

For me, this was a very enjoyable book to read giving over enough to understand what goes into the games u play depending on the reader this will depend on what you get from this because I love learning about gaming and graphics and much more and that helps me to enjoy the games I play more knowing this stuff.

I can see this being a good book for kids to read and becoming fascinated with gaming etc

Publishing date: 22.07.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

TLDR: A very dense and informative book following the history of video games. 3 stars

This is a very interesting book in the sense of the history, however ... It felt a bit like a chore.
In this book we follow two characters wading through the history of video games. One is a more modern and younger player, the other is an older and more retro gamer. These two interact a lot with each other and try to be funny, but it doesn't always land.

The artstyle is fine. Simple, but works. I feel no particular way about it.

Now to a few of my gripes. The history is presented in a pretty linear way to begin with where we start from the very beginning and moving up through the years. Then suddenly, we get a chapter that moves back in time. This was a little jarring and made me lose track of when we were in the previous chapter. This keeps happening several times and took me out as much as the first time it happened. I believe the book would benefit more from a timeline structure instead of chapters tackling certain aspects of video game history. It would feel a little more streamlined and more accessible to readers. Right now, it is just a little too messy.

My other gripe is with the intended audience. While yes, this explains video games in a way that works for newbies, it is just a little too dense to keep their attention. For the more experienced audience (like myself) lots of the pages are dedicated to explaining and showing off more commonly known information. The density was also a problem for me. Just too big of a bite at a time.

Overall, this is very informative and works for the most part. But I find it a little hard to recommend to the right person. Streamline the content, pluck out the densest speaking bubbles into singular frames with the info, and you will have a more accessible read.
Giving this 3 stars for the potential.

It was a great graphic novel which unfolds the history of video games, and the features of each video game is very easy to understand.

thank you to Andrew McNeel publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC.

If you are (1) in middle school doing a report on the historical significance of Video Games or (2) and adult who is VERY into video games already, I think this graphic novel is awesome for you. It is dense with information and clearly well-researched.

If you are a casual video game enthusiast or just find the history of technology interesting, this graphic novel is a bit of a slog. It is very dense and, despite video games often being brightly colored and visually interesting, the graphic novel colors tend on the side of browns and greens, making the book itself... not that visually interesting.

Furthermore, the premise (a person who knows a LOT about video games telling a person who doesn't know much about video games... about video games... with a quirky side kick), almost feels like a PBS show or Moby the Robot short.

There's a lot of good information here, and I liked how the the writer and illustrator made themselves characters and took the audience on an adventure through years of video games. I liked the art, and it's technically well written but I did find the timeline difficult to follow at times. I appreciated that the creators were self-aware and commented when it started to feel like a slog, but I feel like instead of commenting on it, they could have just worked out a way to make it a bit more interesting. I also disliked the way they sort of brushed past gamergate by bringing it up only to say it was bad but never really explaining what it was or how detrimental it was to women in gaming.

Overall, I think anyone who enjoys videogames and wants to learn more about them might enjoy this.

7.5
Funny and charming, yet educational. The reader joins the crazy ride through story of beloved industry from it's beginings unitl most recent mile stones. Powerhouses like Sony, Nintendo and cult classics like Mario, Fallout, StarCraft or even Pong - everything has it's place. The artwork is not fully up my alley, but it's stylized concept fits the narrative. Nice read for all video games' fans - regardless of their age.