The Book of Play

The Book of Play originally came packaged with Ultima III. It is 22 pages long. No "in-game" author is provided. Margaret Ellen Weigers and Roe R. Adams are credited for writing the book.

The Book of Play places more emphasis on lore and internal consistency than its predecessor, although, it does not yet follow the later Ultima tradition of being written entirely from an "in-game" perspective. It does still contain gameplay instructions and screenshots of the interface. Numerous accompanying illustrations not present in previous Ultima manuals are found within.

In Japan, the book was translated twice, first by Starcraft, then by Ponycanyon. While the book from Starcraft has little to do wit the original, Ponycanyon did a faithful translation with the book being in its original form.The book was later reprinted in the Trilogy Manual, in English and Japanese versions depending on the market, with no changes apart from shifting the back story to the front.

Book Content
The following topics are part of the book:


 * Foreword


 * Instructions


 * Moongates


 * The town facilities


 * Bestiary


 * The Story so far...