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“Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

spieldesjahres.com

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Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#51

Post by parshimers »

jastr wrote: post #22
peteretep wrote: post #19

I'm a digital nomad. I'd like something a bit more exciting than simple card or dice games, but space is at a bit of a premium. Any recommendations for games that have a lot of depth (and thus can be played over and over), are very quick to pick up the basics (so we can teach others), and are physically tiny (or can be)?

Small games with good replay value 1. Jaipur: 2 Players only, acquire different goods to trade in the market. 2. Coup: Multiplayer, lots of bluffing 3. Monopoly Deal: Simple, fast paced game (with little resemblance to Monopoly)

+1 for Coup. It's easy to teach and very fast.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#52

Post by scj »

aaaronic wrote: post #24
peteretep wrote: post #19

I'm a digital nomad. I'd like something a bit more exciting than simple card or dice games, but space is at a bit of a premium. Any recommendations for games that have a lot of depth (and thus can be played over and over), are very quick to pick up the basics (so we can teach others), and are physically tiny (or can be)?

Splendor is a great game that meets your description: https://www.amazon.com/Asmodee-SCSPL01-Splendor-Board-Game/d... Takes about 5 minutes to explain and plays in 30 min or so (After the first game). It has a nice mix of random/strategy, etc. Edit: The box is way bigger than the contents, so a custom foam solution seems to be popular with some people.

If you like Splendor, I can't help but recommend Finca. It has a similar method of acquiring victory points, but the wheel mechanism for gaining $CURRENCY adds just a little more depth.

Side note: I'm processing BoardGameGeek.com data, and one of the goals I've set is around finding a game similar to these two. My best candidate at the moment is "Potion Explosion".

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#53

Post by evanb »

chryton wrote: post #43
peteretep wrote: post #19

I'm a digital nomad. I'd like something a bit more exciting than simple card or dice games, but space is at a bit of a premium. Any recommendations for games that have a lot of depth (and thus can be played over and over), are very quick to pick up the basics (so we can teach others), and are physically tiny (or can be)?

For physical games: Citadels, Hanabi, Love Letter (pick about any flavor), Star Realms, Sushi Go! or Sushi Go Party!, Jaipur, Werewords, One Night Ultimate Werewolf/Alien/Vampire Digital games (mobile or computer): Ticket to Ride, Star Realms, Jaipur, Splendor (I'd recommend the physical game but it is a bit too much air in the box to buy physically for a nomad), Patchwork.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf gives the app away for free, and you can play with just a deck of cards.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#54

Post by HelloNurse »

sethherr wrote: post #26
peteretep wrote: post #19

I'm a digital nomad. I'd like something a bit more exciting than simple card or dice games, but space is at a bit of a premium. Any recommendations for games that have a lot of depth (and thus can be played over and over), are very quick to pick up the basics (so we can teach others), and are physically tiny (or can be)?

- San Juan (2-4 players) - Haggis (2-3) - Dominion (2-4 players, box is nice but you can just have a stack of cards) All the other suggestions are good, but it's nice to have flexibility with player size.

A full collection of Dominion and all promos and expansions is thousands of cards plus special tiles and metal tokens, and even the base game alone is very cumbersome as a loose "stack of cards".

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#55

Post by SilasX »

wolfgke wrote: post #6
awjr wrote: post #3

One of the more interesting games that, in the UK, had pretty much gone no where, was "Settlers of Catan". Then, around 1998 IIRC, it got a 10/10 in a gaming magazine and I think this, very much, spawned the revival of German board games on the UK games scene. Before then it really was mainly war games (warhammer et al), RPGs, and card games (Magic TG from about 1993 onwards). There are some absolutely fantastic game…

> Board games are so so so good these days, just avoid Monopoly. ;) According to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monopoly_(game)&o... Monopoly was intended as a way to demonstrate that an economy which rewards wealth creation is better than one in which monopolists work under few constraints. In other words and put much more harshly: Monopoly is played the right way if after a short time one player is happ…

Okay, but to really make that point, you need:

a) mechanisms to make the game proceed faster, and

b) to play the "follow-up" second ruleset, where (AIUI) you use something like Georgist rules (the land value tax) where players are supposed to realize, hey, you can't monopolize under the LVT because monopoly rents just get taxed away.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#56

Post by the_af »

hypersoar wrote: post #34
TeMPOraL wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really should have been written on the box explicitly. I didn't see the connection until someone pointed it out to me when I was already an adult. All I have from this game is memories of boredom playing it with family as a kid.

It did say that explicitly. The original version of the game was "The Landlord's Game"[1], and it came with two sets of rules: monopolist, as you know the game and anti-monopolist, with a land-value tax. You were meant to play the game with the former rules, and then again with the latter to see how much nicer it was. It turns out that being a monopolist is more fun, so, over time, the game was shortened to just that…

> It turns out that being a monopolist is more fun

...for the monopolist. Everybody else is bored to tears. This makes it a terrible game in its more well-known form.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#57

Post by XaspR8d »

cableshaft wrote: post #14
XaspR8d wrote: post #11

Kingdomino is perfectly fine, but I felt the SdJ nominees this year were all pretty safe choices. If anything, I would've preferred Magic Maze, which seems to be the most unique of the SdJ nominees. Plus, Honshu, which also came out this year, is a much better bid-and-build-domino-cities game than Kingdomino, but I understand it's a little more complex than the average SdJ winner. Meanwhile, Exit winning the Kennersp…

Honshu is good, but I actually prefer Kingdomino myself. The bidding for turn order with the cards that form the pool of cards you get to choose from is a little hard for people to wrap their heads around, and seems a bit arbitrary, although it does work. Magic Maze has the whole no-communicating bit going against it, although it does look interesting and I would like to play it. I'm surprised it got the nomination,…

Funny, that is exactly what makes the game delightful for me: the dual-use of evaluating whether I want to use a card for its bid or try to hang onto it (or both). But yes, Kingdomino admittedly has a much simpler flow to it there, and hence is better for a broader audience that the committee is targetting. Also strictly speaking I don't know if Honshu had a German release this year anyway?

I totally agree that non-communication is a disappointing game mechanic; it almost always ends up being quite... impure design-wise? It still ended up feeling like the most dynamic of the 3 games for me, though admittedly my opinion of El Dorado is only from one play and word of mouth.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#58

Post by Agustus »

SilasX wrote: post #55
wolfgke wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Board games are so so so good these days, just avoid Monopoly. ;) According to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monopoly_(game)&o... Monopoly was intended as a way to demonstrate that an economy which rewards wealth creation is better than one in which monopolists work under few constraints. In other words and put much more harshly: Monopoly is played the right way if after a short time one player is happ…

Okay, but to really make that point, you need: a) mechanisms to make the game proceed faster, and b) to play the "follow-up" second ruleset, where (AIUI) you use something like Georgist rules (the land value tax) where players are supposed to realize, hey, you can't monopolize under the LVT because monopoly rents just get taxed away.

As a heads up, speed is increased significantly by following the official auction rule: When you land on a property, you have the option to purchase it outright; or if you do not purchase, the bank will then conduct an auction of the property.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#59

Post by Splines »

wolfgke wrote: post #6
awjr wrote: post #3

One of the more interesting games that, in the UK, had pretty much gone no where, was "Settlers of Catan". Then, around 1998 IIRC, it got a 10/10 in a gaming magazine and I think this, very much, spawned the revival of German board games on the UK games scene. Before then it really was mainly war games (warhammer et al), RPGs, and card games (Magic TG from about 1993 onwards). There are some absolutely fantastic game…

> Board games are so so so good these days, just avoid Monopoly. ;) According to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monopoly_(game)&o... Monopoly was intended as a way to demonstrate that an economy which rewards wealth creation is better than one in which monopolists work under few constraints. In other words and put much more harshly: Monopoly is played the right way if after a short time one player is happ…

Monopoly really shines in electronic versions, where book-keeping and rule enforcement is easy to do. There's no "free parking money pot" nonsense that just makes the game unnecessarily long.

Re: “Spiel des Jahres” Game of the Year 2017 winners

#60

Post by Splines »

cableshaft wrote: post #40
peteretep wrote: post #19

I'm a digital nomad. I'd like something a bit more exciting than simple card or dice games, but space is at a bit of a premium. Any recommendations for games that have a lot of depth (and thus can be played over and over), are very quick to pick up the basics (so we can teach others), and are physically tiny (or can be)?

An iPad. Seriously, most board and card games either have or are in the process of getting an app nowadays. You can load that sucker up with hundreds of deep complex games with good A.I. and play them to your heart's content. Also, a lot of games have a lot of empty space in their box. I've been able to fit 6 games in the space of a Targi box, for example (great 2 player game that's deep but small, btw). I think I ma…

This is really anecdotal, and I don't have a ton of experience with iPad versions of board games, but I've tried several on Android and it feels like all of them are just slightly rough around the edges. It's really hard to put my finger on it but something about them is just slightly unsatisfying to use. Maybe it's the performance or lack of snappy animations or sounds. Hearthstone is one that feels pretty good to play.
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