ludossier

On January 10th, I saw three new faces at the club. One of them, Peter, joined Michael, Steve, Matt and myself for a game of Zooloretto brought by Michael. In the end it was a relatively close game Read more… »

GAMES, a magazine which is actually more about puzzles than games, started the Hall of Fame in 1984 to

“honour games that have met or exceeded the highest standards of quality and play value and have been continuously in production for at least 10 years; i.e., classics”.

As you can see from the BoardGameGeek user ratings of these games, many players will disagree with the magazine’s editors about the “quality and play value”. For more information, see:

• the official site with the list of games in the Hall of Fame.

spielbox issue 3/1999 was the 100th issue and hence included more content than usual and a look back at the magazine’s history. Read more… »

On the 15th November 2007, I brought along three games: Kontor, No Thanks! and TransEuropa. Read more… »

The German Game Award started in 1990 and is based on popular vote. Ballots are sent to gamers, readers of the spielbox and Fairplay magazines, dealers, game clubs, etc. throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but anyone can vote on the official site. Anonymous votes are not accepted, in order to avoid duplicated votes. Voting occurs until end of July, and only games that appeared in the two previous main German game fairs (Essen and Nuremberg) are eligible. Each person ranks up to five adult/family games and votes for one children’s game. A game gets 5 points each time it is ranked first, 4 points if it gets ranked 2nd, etc. The organisation of the award sums the points and publishes the list of the 10 games with the most points, the award going to the first placed. Given the source of votes, the family/adult award tends to go to “gamer’s games”. The award for best children’s game goes simply to the most voted game.

There is also a special award for outstanding contributions by individuals or organisations and a best rules award. The latter has its own name (Essener Feder – the quill of Essen) and it actually pre-dates the German Game Award. From 1981 to 1988, it was given by the Spiel des Jahres jury. It was not awarded in 1989, and since 1990 it is part of the German Game Award. The winner is selected by a 5 person jury.

The results are announced every year in October, just before Europe’s biggest game fair, in Essen, Germany. For more information, see:

• the official site (in German);
• the English Wikipedia articles about the main and best rule awards;
• a commented list of the past winners.

The detailed  table of contents (in German) of spielbox issue 1/2003 can be found on the spielbox website.

• News: 8 page report on the game fair in Nürnberg; games for disabled people; Gamers of the Year award
• Long reviews: Clans, Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers, Hellas, Moderne Zeiten, Bayon, Krone & Schwert, Ehre der Samurai, Meine Schafe deine Schafe, Crazy Race – Station Manager – Mogul, Virus & Co, Kopfsalat, Keythedral, Zoo Sim, The Napoleonic Wars
• Short reviews: Canal Grande, Scarab, Mömmen, Guillotine
• Children’s games: Stop, Hit The Deck, Num Num, Flotter Falter, Vorsicht Qualle, Jacke wie Hose
• Edition spielbox 60: Dominanz, an abstract movement game for two players by Hartmut Kommerell
• Profiles:
  • Christian Beiersdorf, freelance game developer
  • in memoriam of Gilbert Obermair, co-founder of the first game magazine in German
• History:
  • how Zaibatsu became Moderne Zeiten
    
  • horse race games for collectors
    
  • games derived from Risk (part 2)
  • revisiting GourmetGuru and CigarGuru
  • the roots of Connect Four Professional
• Variants: Moderne Zeiten, Risk (the capital variant)
• Other: discussion between journalist Michael Knopf and publisher Bernd Brunnhofer on the need for game expansions and the role of reviews

Awarded since 1979, Germany’s Game of the Year is probably the best known and most important award for the game industry. This award is aimed at family games, not “gamer’s games”. The winner is chosen by a jury (composed only of independent, specialized game journalists) from 5 games they nominated previously. The nominated games are selected from those published in the preceding 12 months in Germany.

A special award for children’s games was introduced in 1989. It became an autonomous award (Kinderspiel des Jahres) with its own jury in 2001, and follows the same procedure as the main award. Other special awards, e.g. for more complex games, are given out occasionally, at the jury’s discretion. From 1979 to 1997, a special award for the most beautiful game was given out regularly.

The juries also recommend several additional games, besides the nominated ones. Since 2004 the juries edit a brochure (in German) describing the recommendations, nominees, and winners in some detail. They also point out where they beg to differ from the game publisher’s recommended age or average duration.

For more information, see:

• the official site (in German), which contains details about all past recommendations, nominees and winners;
• the more detailed description about the aims and procedures of both awards;
• the English Wikipedia article;
• a commented list of all past winners, nominees and recommendations.

The detailed  table of contents (in German) of spielbox issue 3/2004 can be found on the spielbox website.

• News: the Spiel des Jahres 2004 award; 23rd game author gathering in Göttingen
• Long reviews: Dos Rios, Sankt Petersburg (nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2004), Da Vinci Code, Raiload Dice, Goa, Feurio!, Oase, Rückkehr der Helden, San Juan, Lunar Rails, ASL Starter Kit #1
• Short reviews: XAGA, Ludoviel, So ein Käse, Corsari
• Children’s games: Macius, Schatz der Drachen, Schnelle Welle, Mare Polare (all nominated for Kinderspiel des Jahres 2004)
• Edition spielbox 67: Quattuor Vencit, an abstract alignment game for two players by Martin Schlegel
• Profiles:
  • Alex Randolph (author), on occasion of his death; the profile includes part one of his last interview
  • Rudi Hoffmann (author), on occasion of his 80th birthday
  • Norbert Proena, author of Dicke Luft in der Gruft (nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2004)
  • Heinrich Gumpler, author of Feurio! and co-owner of the Edition Erlkönig publishing house
  • Martin Schlegel (author), on occasion of his 12th game for spielbox
• History:
  • the roots of Hühnerpfanne
  • domino for collectors
  • the development of Feurio!
  • revisiting Rudi Hoffmann’s Spiel der Türme (nominated for Spiel des Jahres 1993)
• Variants: Sankt Petersburg
• Other: an open letter to players of Intrigue

Another relatively modest turnout tonight: we were only 10. Matt brought along Le Havre and played it with Nigel, Keith and André. Ian brought Storm over Stalingrad and played it with Sam. I brought El Capitan and Vabanque, but Paul B. was interested in playing Agricola (which Big Nick had brought), even solo if necessary! As Nick remarked, what’s the point of coming to a games club to then play solo?! David managed to convince Paul to join us in a game of Tikal, which only I had not played before. We played the version where the tiles are auctioned instead of being randomly uncovered. In the end, we were all 10 or more points apart from each other. I remember David won with 119, Nick came second with 109, I came third and Paul last, but didn’t write down our scores. We then played two games of Ave Caesar (the original Ravensburger version). David achieved a hat-trick by winning both races, and I came last twice… What a disappointing night in terms of scoring! At least I finally got to play Tikal. It lived up to expectations of being a good (albeit tough and unforgiving) game.

The German-style or designer board and card games that will be discussed in this blog are not available in the usual toy or department stores (unless you happen to live in Germany). There are various ways of buying such games, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Here are some guidelines based on my experience so far. Read more… »