Ameritrash vs Eurogames
This used to be one of those cheesy arguments, like Star Trek vs. Star Wars, Marvel vs. DC, Call of Duty vs. Medal of Honor... A few years back, we could group almost all board games according to their theme and mechanic.
American-style board games, that were derogatorily called Ameritrash, were dripping with themes, with direct player conflict, complex rules and often involving a high degree of luck. Typical representatives of Ameritrash would be games like Arkham Horror, Star Wars: Rebellion or Zombicide.
On the other hand, a style of games originating in Germany was called Eurogames. Eurogames had simple rules, shorter play time, abstract components, often with an economic theme and required more strategic thinking than using luck or conflict mechanic. Typical representatives would be Agricola, Catan or Carcassonne.
The thin line that divides Ameritrash and Eurogames is slowly fading. Modern games are mostly borrowing mechanics from both camps, making them hard to be classified in one of those groups. Take Twilight Imperium for instance, or Mage Knight, Gloomhaven, Chaos in the Old World...
While this categorization might make sense some years ago, that's no longer the case. In the end, what matters the most is that you enjoy playing.
News
Will you be the Master Builder of Yamataï?
Days of Wonder announces their new 2-4 players board game called Yamataï. Designed by Bruno Cathala and Marc Paquien. Illustrated by Jérémie Fleury.
Top 6 Most Anticipated Games of 2017
With 2016 in the past now it’s time to look towards the future and see what great games 2017 will bring us. Peter H. Møller writes about his most anticipated games of 2017.
Fantasy Flight Games Posts Elder Sign: Omens of the Deep Preview
A preview for Omens of the Deep expansion of Elder Sign from Fantasy Flight Games.
New Game Round-up: Tricks, Trades, Treasures, Traps, and Troy
W Eric Martin of Board Game Geek writes about new game announcements - Hotshots, Clank! Sunken Treasures, Hellenica: Story of Greece, Anansi and the Box of Stories and Tomb Trader.
Spirit Of Rebellion Boosters Come To Star Wars: Destiny
Star Wars: Destiny has been quite the success for Fantasy Flight Games and they have now announced the newest set of boosters, Spirit of Rebellion. There’s a certain Rogue One feel about this set!
Tabletopia Launches International Keyflower Tournament
Tabletopia has announced that they will be hosting an International Keyflower Tournament in cooperation with R&D Games, publishers of Keyflower. The winner will get a copy of Keyflower autographed by the authors and an opportunity to play the game online with Sebastian Bleasedale, the co-author of the game.
Articles and Videos
9 Awesome Games Like Settlers of Catan
So you love Settlers of Catan, and you're looking for something new that’s just as fun? Here are 9 Awesome Games Like Settlers of Catan.
Is the “Legacy” genre of board games protected by trademark or patent?
Stephen and Zachary, intellectual property lawyers at The McArthur Law Firm, sat down for an interview with Rob Daviau, the father of Legacy games including Risk Legacy, Pandemic Legacy, and Seafall: a Legacy Game. As fans of Legacy games and as trademark lawyers, we wanted to know if other game designers were free to use the “Legacy” name and game mechanics in their own games.
The Eleven: A Few More Designers You Should Know
Season Five of The Eleven is upon us! And as always, we’re opening it up with eleven more designers you should know. If you don’t see your favorite designer on the list, please check Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV before you yell at me. If you still don’t see them, let me know so I can look into them for Part VI.
Bringing DOOM to the Tabletop
An Interview with id Software's Sean Bean and Fantasy Flight Games' Derrick Fuchs.
A few two-player Tabletop games you may enjoy
Wil Wheaton recommends some two players Tabletop games. This is a very short, totally non-exhaustive list of (mostly lighter) games that I love to play with Anne, as well as some other games that aren’t her jam, but are still pretty great.
Crowdfunding
The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch by CoolMiniOrNot
A Victorian, adventure board game taking place in an alternative England where magic and technology have taken an extraordinary turn!
Delve by Travis
A dungeon building adventure game for 2-4 players by Pete Shirey and Richard Launius!
Medioevo Universalis by Giochix.it
A great epic strategic game for 3-9 players with hundred army miniatures, a lot of tokens and cards and a multi-level strategy. Check out the Table Top Gaming's article too.
GoRoGo - An artisanal variation on the classic game of GO by Doug Masiel
GoRoGo is a GO game with a twist. The tactics used are GO tactics but the strategy is new based on the use of five new "Henge" pieces.
WarQuest 5th player expansion - The Experienced units arrive by L4 Studios Inc
The WarQuest 5th player expansion adds 30+ figures, 5 experience dice, 5 faction dice, and a quickstart companion rulebook.
Defense Grid: The Board Game by Anthony Hanses
A Cooperative, Deck Building, Tower Defense board game, for 1 to 4 players. Campaign with 10 Missions and leveling characters.
Reviews and Playthroughs
La Granja: No Siesta (Stronghold Games) Review by Man Vs Meeple
David and Jeremy talk about La Granja: No Siesta, a standalone 1-4 player dice game, following up the boardgame La Granja.
Onitama - 2 player strategic fun
A review of Onitama by The Board Game Family. Onitama is a two-player, perfect information abstract game with a random starting set-up. On a 5x5 board, both players start with five pawns on their side, with the main pawn in the middle.
Santorini (Game Review by Chris Wray)
Santorini is an abstract strategy game first created by Gordon Hamilton in the mid-1980s. The game was previously self-published, but then last year Roxley Game Laboratory picked it up for Kickstarter release. Santorini’s campaign was one of the most successful Kickstarters of 2016, and copies of the game started shipping last month.
Troyes - Shut Up & Sit Down Review
A very good and funny review of Troyes, a 2010 game that's still very popular and will get a reprint this year. In Troyes, recreate four centuries of history of this famous city of the Champagne region of France. Each player manages their segment of the population (represented by a horde of dice) and their hand of cards, which represent the three primary domains of the city: religious, military, and civil.
Ulm Review
Tahsin Shamma of Board Game Quest reviews Ulm. Ulm is an action selection, resource management, and set collection game for 2-4 players that takes about 60 minutes to play. It plays best with 3 or 4 players.
Review: The Daedalus Sentence
Futurewolfie of iSlaytheDragon community reviews crowdfunded game The Daedalus Sentence, a cooperative escape game that challenges players to use limited actions and effective communication in order to flee from their captors and escape a dangerous and ever-changing prison.
Influencers
Uwe Rosenberg
When you take a look at the top 100 games on BGG, Uwe is one of the most prolific board game designers in the world with new games becoming the instant hits.
Most of his games are complex euro games with economic aspects and innovative card mechanics but he is also designed other type of games, like Patchwork which is at the moment #1 abstract game on BGG.
If you are into euro games, you probably have at least one of his games in the collection. Some of his most popular games are Agricola, Caverna, Le Havre, Bohnanza, Ora et Labora, Patchwork, Fields of Arle and of course, last year's hit, A Feast for Odin.
You can read more about him on Board Game Geek designer page, Flaming Dice Reviews interview, or an older 2009. BGG interview.