Showing posts with label carcassone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carcassone. Show all posts

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Game of the Year Nominees Announced May 23

What were the best board games of the year? You may have your own opinions about that, or you could rely on the opinions of the Spiel des Jahres jury. If you are still new on your quest for the perfect game, the Spiel des Jahres (SdJ) is the German Board Game of the Year Award, presented every year in June. On May 23, five lucky nominations for the prize will be announced.


Its kind of a big deal. The German award is considered the top in the world and SdJ winners have consistently become some of the most-famous and best-loved games on the market.

Read more about the prestigious award from wikipedia, or go straight to the source.

Above is a close-up of the actual SdJ trophy to the 2001 SdJ award-winning Carcassone (Hans Im Glueck). Note a second SdJ trophy in the background.


Friday, January 1, 2010

Board Games for Couples

While this post has nothing to do with applying board game mechanics, it does have a lot to do with real life, and real life is often a lot more interesting than theory.

I googled "Board games for couples" just to see what I could find, but I was very disappointed by the results. Of the top ten results five were geared toward "adult" board games, ie, games to spice up your love life. Sex games seem a bit silly to me. Instead of trying to make things happen with cheap ploy's and other's opinions of what makes good romance, why not improve your relationship?

My wife and I enjoy playing board games together as a fun way to spend quality time together. We are both very competitive game players, so sometimes we get upset when we don't win, but overall, playing games together has been a very positive experience, and something that we can have in common. Here then, is a list of top five games that we prefer to play together:

1. Carcassone (Rio Grande Games): Tile laying game. The hardest thing to learn is the scoring. We love it because every game is different, its simple to set-up, and the strategy is not too heavy.
2. Small World (Days of Wonder): Beautiful game with a fanciful theme. Easy to learn and play. Hardest thing is the set-up.
3. St. Petersburg (Hans Im Gluck): Germany's version of Monopoly, only six-times shorter and a whole lot friendlier. Great to play over a mug of hot cocoa and a TV movie.
4. Thurn and Taxis (Rio Grande Games): Non-aggressive game about the first international postal service. A bit counterintuitive to learn, but very easy and fun once you get going.
5. Ticket to Ride (Days of Wonder): Simple game with light strategy. Not a lot of down-time between turns. We like it because you have to plan ahead!

Thats our list for now. Hope you look one of these up and give them a try someday with your significant other, and may your relationships be blessed.