Review of Spellbinders 2 Break the Game by Andrew Auseon

Review of Spellbinders Book 2: Break the Game

If you’ve ever imagined what it would be like if you could be in one of your TTRPG worlds… check out Spellbinders by Andrew Auseon!  This chapter book series for ages 8-12 continues in Spellbinders: Break the Game (book 2) with more adventures, lore, and character building as larger plots unfold around our returning heroes.

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Spellbinders 2 Break the Game at a glance Format: ~380 page chapter book Themes: Adventure, isekai, self reflection, coming of age, epic quest, friendship Audience: Ages 8-12 Mood: Meta and self-aware while having a flowing story that highlights important themes, both in life (friendship, self-worth) and the story (magic, the nature of quests, deeper lore)

What is Spellbinders: Break the Game all about?

Spellbinders: Break the Game by Andrew Auseon is a continuation of the Spellbinders series started in book 1.  It follows the story of Ben, a TTRPG playing kid who has stumbled into a way to enter the magical fantasy world of his dreams!  While there, he’s made friends, who return in book 2, and had a big impact on the world of Lux before returning to his life on Earth. 

Book 2 starts out with Ben at home on summer break, LARP’ing with Merv, a shapeshifting friend who prefers suburban life… but it’s not long before chaos and danger erupt, reuniting Ben with friends Niara and Drake, while pulling in a new player to this story, the ever prepared, Agnes.

With Spellbinders everywhere going missing, the fundamentals of magic being threatened, and Ben seeking to prove himself worthy, the party adventures forward on another quest.  

Who would Spellbinders: Break the Game be great for?

Like with the first Spellbinders book, Spellbinders: Break the Game is written for kids about ages 8-12 to read on their own, and most of the themes, references, and shenanigans are going to be most relevant to that age group… but that’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable outside of that age range. 

For kiddo (7yo), there’s cool encounters, a wonderfully over-the-top recurring mini-boss who only yells, and multiple quests for the main character, Ben.

For me, there were lots of 90’s references that both gave me a chuckle and made me feel just a little old.  The story flowed along a classic hero’s path, and was fantastically meta about it, having Ben tracking his story through a guide on how to level up your gaming adventurer.  

How does Spellbinders: Break the Game expand on themes from book 1… and introduce even more?

Spellbinders: Break the Game adds quite a bit from book 1 by taking the team on a whole new, wider adventure across quite a few Spellbinder realms, watching Ben and Niara figure out their particular hero-paths, and creating a deeper story about both this multiverse’s magic and the original creator of Lux.

Cover for Spellbinders 2 Break the Game by Andrew Auseon showing Ben, a blonde boy, in holding open the jaws of a giant toy shark while Merv, a changling with silver hair, grips a Spellbinder notebook

While book 1 was establishing the basic mechanics and emphasizing the importance of looking outside your own bubble, book 2 focuses a bit more on self-discovery and figuring out what’s really important to each character… and how it might not be exactly what it initially seemed.  

You’ll also see all of the players in this story getting more and more “game breaky”.  I already mentioned Ben’s guide on building your character and LARP’ing, but there’s also the introduction of cheat codes, dimension hopping, and the power of being lucky coming into play that not only tie this to the meta sense of playing TTRPGs in the Earth world of Spellbinders, but to our own Earth references.

And the tale of Julia, Lux’s creator, runs in parallel to the main party’s story, showing how her journey started, who was with her along the way, and where she ended up.  This was VERY cool to dive into, and I liked how it was sprinkled in throughout the rest of the book to build on the multiverse’s lore.

Beyond this, a larger force is also introduced, and the book is left on a great cliffhanger to tease book 3.  I wish I could say more here about this threat, but anything I put in about this book’s “BBEG” would probably give a little too much away, and I don’t want to spoil it.

Overall thoughts on Spellbinders: Break the Game

I thought the first Spellbinders book was great, and the second kept getting better!  It jumped right into the action, left space for introspection and character development, and explored the larger setting and lore of the books.  It feels like the series is taking off from its established base, and I’m looking forward to checking out book 3 (Spellbinders: Overpowered)!

Find a copy of Spellbinders

You can find a copy of Spellbinders: Break the Game here!

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