Remembering 2003

RANDOM MUSINGS on the fin-de-millénaire games scene . . .

4 Jan 2004 . . . I was recently looking at some Essen reports from 2000, the last year that I attended, and it is remarkable how fast all the past years have blended together. Which were the games from that, which from the year before and which the years after? It all tends to merge into mush. To keep that from happening with 2003, I thought I would preserve some current impressions (anecdotal evidence) of the year past. . . . No game made the huge kind of splash that Puerto Rico did the year before. But then, there so rarely is. What I did notice this year is that when there is a problem deciding what should be played, Puerto Rico has slowly and subtly supplanted Settlers of Catan as the default choice to which no one will object whereas some will now even object to the latter. Its dominance will be complete this year if a copy shows up as a permanent resident at our gaming center. . . . In the world of complex gaming Amun-Re was fairly popular during the long, slack period of summer when nothing new was appearing, but seems to have dropped off a little now. On the other hand, Magna Grecia has been a slow starter that I expect to see quite a bit more. The real winners of the year are probably Finstere Flure in a big way and Santiago in a more quiet way. Everyone seems to be latching onto theme and concept with the former whereas the latter is the one that those who've played it matter-of-factly mutter "get Santiago – it's good." I find it ironic that the former is not quite the "near party game" that many seem to expect – it's much more analytical – while the latter doesn't seem to get nearly the buzz it seems to deserve. But maybe its fans don't want to kill it with overpraise. The small publishers, including Friedemann Friese's 2F above, continue to provide some of the most exotic, yet good adventures. Another of them is Kogge which is getting a lot of positive commentary, but will not exceed 300 copies in existence unless some larger publisher picks it up. . . . Ultralights like Coloretto and King's Breakfast get frequent, if not long, playing times and seem destined to continue in use for quite some time. Edel Stein und Reich is similar if a bit longer to play. Some games made brief, bright impressions before mostly fading out – Mare Nostrum and Paris Paris being the two which come to mind. Of course they may yet make a return. Although New England had a lot of friends at the Gathering, it doesn't seem to have any strong advocates locally. Domaine has more while Eiszeit doesn't seem to have appeared at all yet. I haven't played it either, but am still finding interesting all the dimensions of the oft-repeated Gathering comment about it: "not good enough for an Alea game". Nor have the deserving trio of Europatour, 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in the USA which I may need to remedy. . . . Tichu continues to have a lot of popularity, both face to face and on Brettspielwelt.de which has really come into its own this year, even pre-releasing some games like Yinsh. I get the impression people are tired of the glut of Tolkien-based games as I don't see them much apart from 2002's Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. The Spiel des Jahres winner has had some play, but not a great deal. Still remember what it was? Alhambra. For some Attika is the closest thing to a Puerto Rico and it is readily accessible and replayable, but I don't see folks clamoring for it over and again. Railroad Dice appears to be one of those fascinating ideas inspiring wonder that it hasn't been thought of before. Apparently it has sold out too quickly to reach this coast. A nice game on which to end is the delightful Flaschenteufel re-issue which we continue to enjoy often. . . . Now I'd like to leave 2003 behind for a moment and take a look at 2002. Now that a minimum of a year has passed, we should have a good chance of better sorting out what where the top games of that year. So below are the "standings" per The Internet Top 100 Survey presented by Aaron Fuegi. . . . Looking over the list, a lot of the games in the middle to the end of the list still need more votes, but near the top it appears fair to say that the top nine or so – through Zoosim – were palpable hits. Beyond that the games seem to appeal more to a specialized audience or have had a more questionable reception. Some of those which seem destined to still come up some in the ratings are Fische Fluppen Frikadellen, Canal Grande, Bang!, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Where's Bob's Hat?. We shall see. My comments on most of these games can be found via the links at the end. Meanwhile, best wishes for another happy year of gaming!

 Pos Score  Avg  Game Title                      Publisher                   SDev #Vot Inventor                                                   AKA                                    Comments
   1 8.475  8.63 Puerto Rico                     Alea                        1.55  168 Andreas Seyfarth
  26 6.967  7.26 Carcassonne - Hunters and Gath  Hans im Gluck               1.38   63 Klaus-Jurgen Wrede                                         Carcassonne - Jager & Sammler;;Carcass
  34 6.879  7.48 Der Herr der Ringe - Die Entsc  Kosmos                      1.53   30 Reiner Knizia                                              Lord of the Rings the Confrontation;;
  38 6.832  7.19 Wallenstein                     Queen                       1.83   50 Dirk Henn
  48 6.743  7.27 Age of Steam                    Warfrog                     1.93   33 Martin Wallace
  75 6.527  6.80 Mexica                          Ravensburger                1.59   61 Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling
  78 6.519  6.71 TransAmerica                    Winning Moves               1.63   87 Franz-Benno Delonge                                        Trans America;;Transamerica
 103 6.411  8.17 Les loups Garous de Thiercelie  Self Published              2.29    9 Philippe des Pallières                                     The Werewolves of Thiercelieux;;Die We Published as "Die Werwolfe von Dusterwald" by Asmodee in 2002.
 106 6.406  7.24 Zoosim                          Cwali                       1.64   19 Corne van Moorsel                                          Zoo Sim;;ZooSim;;Zoo-Sim

 128 6.343  7.05 Mare Nostrum                    Eurogames                   1.74   22 Serge Laget
 134 6.317  7.05 Odins Raben                     Kosmos                      1.51   21 Thorsten Gimmler                                           Odin's Ravens;;Odins Ravens;;Odin's Ra
 144 6.288  6.74 Dschunke                        Queen Games                 1.78   34 Michael Schacht
 147 6.280  6.57 Pueblo                          Ravensburger                1.57   53 Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling
 148 6.276  7.36 Lord of the Rings: Sauron       Kosmos/Fantasy Flight       2.57   14 Reiner Knizia                                              Sauron
 152 6.269  6.95 Trias                           Gecko Games                 1.53   22 Ralf Lehmkuhl
 163 6.250  7.75 Settlers of Canaan              Cactus Game Design          1.32   10 Adapted from design of Klaus Teuber                                                               Based on Settlers of Catan with a religious theme.
 183 6.194  6.86 Star Wars Epic Duels            Hasbro                      0.69   22 Craig Van Ness and Rob Daviau
 185 6.187  6.56 Magellan (HiG)                  Hans im Gluck               1.60   39 Tom Lehmann                                                Pizarro & Co.;;Magellan;;Pizarro & Co
 201 6.150  6.88 Santa Fe Rails                  GMT Games                   1.54   20 Alan Moon
 202 6.141  6.29 Auf Heller und Pfennig          Hans im Gluck               1.41   96 Reiner Knizia                                              Auf Heller & Pfennig;;Kingdoms         Rereleased in 2002 by Fantasy Flight Games as Kingdoms.
 254 6.009  6.61 Abenteuer Menschheit            Kosmos                      1.79   23 Klaus Teuber                                               Settlers of the Stone Age;;The Settler
 262 5.983  7.35 Keythedral                      R&D Games                   2.24   10 Richard Breese
 264 5.981  7.69 Hammer of the Scots             Columbia Games              2.52    8 Jerry Taylor
 295 5.902  6.38 Clippers                        Eurogames                   1.25   28 Alan R. Moon
 298 5.896  7.79 The Napoleonic Wars             GMT Games                   0.70    7 Mark McLaughlin
 314 5.875  6.88 Sid Meier's Civilization        Eagle Games                 2.12   13 Sid Meier                                                  Sid Meyer's Civilization;;Civilization
 315 5.875  6.65 Fische Fluppen Frikadellen      2F-Spiele                   1.93   17 Friedemann Friese
 319 5.862  6.73 Attribut                        Lookout Games               1.32   15 Marcel-Andre and Casasola-Merkle
 332 5.829  6.75 Canal Grande                    Adlung                      1.53   14 Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum
 338 5.811  6.27 Clans                           Winning Moves               1.67   28 Leo Colovini                                               Clans (Winning Moves Deutschland)
 352 5.787  6.63 Edel, Stein & Reich             Alea                        1.47   15 Reinhard Staupe                                                                                   Revision of Basari.
 363 5.769  6.34 Tyros                           Kosmos                      1.25   22 Martin Wallace
 365 5.766  6.91 Fist of Dragonstones            Days of Wonder              1.39   11 Bruno Faidutti and Michael Schacht
 378 5.737  6.57 Mogul (Timbuktu)                Spiele aus Timbuktu         0.73   15 Michael Schacht                                            Mogul (SaT);;Mogul
 386 5.725  8.20 Kardinal & Konig - Das Duell    Spiele aus Timbuktu         1.48    5 Michael Schacht
 395 5.703  5.99 Goldland                        Goldsieber                  1.41   43 Wolfgang Kramer
 420 5.656  6.29 How Ruck                        Kosmos                      1.38   19 Richard Borg                                               How-Ruck;;Heave Ho;;Heave-Ho
 468 5.560  6.28 StreetSoccer                    Cwali                       1.81   16 Corne van Moorsel                                          Street Soccer
 488 5.517  6.65 La Guerre des Moutons           Asmodee                     1.76   10 Philippe des Pallières                                     Wooly Bully
 504 5.488  6.19 Hellas                          Kosmos                      1.82   16 Franz-Benno Delonge
 522 5.458  5.90 Bang!                           daVinci Editrice            1.92   25 Emiliano Sciarra                                           Bang
 529 5.448  6.03 Emerald                         Abacus                      1.87   19 Rudiger Dorn
 530 5.446  6.06 Moderne Zeiten                  Jumbo                       1.58   18 Dan Glimne and Grzegorz Rejchtman                          Modern Zeiten;;Modern Times
 544 5.425  7.60 Arabana-Opodopo                 Bambus Spieleverlag         0.55    5 Gunter Cornett
 555 5.410  5.95 Wild Life                       Clementoni                  1.60   20 Wolfgang Kramer                                            Wildlife
 561 5.404  6.75 Fette Autos                     Edition Erlkonig            2.31    8 Heinrich Glumpler
 621 5.325  7.40 WWII Barbarossa to Berlin       GMT                         1.14    5 Ted Racier                                                 Barbarossa to Berlin;;World War II Bar
 645 5.290  5.55 Alles im Eimer                  Kosmos                      1.58   39 Stefan Dorra                                               The Bucket King
 676 5.243  5.59 Nautilus                        Kosmos                      1.67   29 Brigitte and Wolfgang Ditt
 710 5.205  6.83 Fundstucke                      2F-Spiele                   1.47    6 Friedemann Friese                                          Fundstücke
 723 5.175  7.10 Monkeys on the Moon             Eight Foot Llama            1.02    5 Jim Doherty
 761 5.139  7.50 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde           Bambus Spieleverlag         1.29    4 Wolfgang Werner                                                                                   New version of 'Twilight' by Bambus.  Small rules changes.
 774 5.125  6.17 Crazy Race (Timbuktu)           Spiele aus Timbuktu         1.73    9 Michael Schacht                                            Crazy Race (SaT)
 788 5.112  5.73 Too Many Cooks (R&R)            R&R Games                   1.64   15 Reiner Knizia                                              Too Many Cooks;;Too Many Cooks (Knizia
 808 5.088  5.37 Ogallala                        Pelikan                     1.77   32 Rudi Hoffmann                                              Waddingtons                            Available in 2002 edition from Amigo.
 821 5.069  5.77 ad acta                         BeWitched                   1.59   13 Andrea Meyer
 836 5.029  5.45 Drachenland                     Ravensburger                1.74   21 Reiner Knizia                                              Dragonland
 873 4.993  5.27 Piratenbucht                    Amigo                       1.91   31 Paul Randles and Daniel Stahl
 897 4.962  5.27 Kampf der Gladiatoren           Hans im Gluck               1.52   28 Reiner Knizia                                              Clash of the Gladiators
 899 4.961  5.28 Where's Bob's Hat?              Rio Grande Games            1.73   27 Alan R. Moon                                               Where's Bob's Hat
 917 4.942  6.00 Cannes                          Splotter                    2.00    8 Herman Haverkort, Jeroen Doumen and Jois Wiersinga         Cannes - Stars, Scripts and Screens
 924 4.933  5.33 Die Sieben Weisen               Alea                        1.65   21 Reiner Stockhausen
 936 4.925  6.60 Mechwarrior: Dark Age           Fantasy Productions         2.51    5 Matt Robinson, Paul Nobles and Dawne Wiseman                                                      CCG
 937 4.925  6.60 Rome (GMT)                      GMT                         0.55    5 Reiner Knizia                                                                                     Ratings preferred on each of the individual games in this package.  Ratings here are for the 3 games as a set.
 982 4.875  5.78 Cave Troll                      Fantasy Flight Games        1.94    9 Tom Jolly
1060 4.804  5.67 Diceland (Cheapass)             Cheapass Games              1.56    9 James Ernest
1064 4.802  5.13 Goldrausch                      Hans im Gluck               1.39   24 Reiner Knizia                                              Gold Digger                            Released in 2002 as 'Gold Digger' by Out of the Box Games.
1081 4.788  5.75 Wheedle                         Out of the Box              1.20    8 Reiner Knizia
1087 4.781  7.33 Das Prestel Architekturspiel    Prestel                     0.58    3 Thomas Fackler
1110 4.766  5.45 Marvel HeroClix                 Fantasy Productions         1.29   11 Jordan K. Weisman, Monte Cook, Mike Mulvihill and Jeff Qui
1138 4.750  5.69 Burn Rate                       Cool Studio                 1.62    8 Rich Koehler
1149 4.729  5.79 Lord of the Rings Risk          Hasbro                      2.38    7 Stephen Baker                                              Risk: Lord of the Rings;;Lord of the R
1162 4.719  7.17 A Game of Thrones               Fantasy Flight              2.25    3 Christian T. Petersen and Eric M. Lang
1176 4.697  5.21 Bohn Hansa                      Amigo                       1.53   14 Uwe Rosenberg                                              Bean Trader
1194 4.688  5.71 Hekla                           Hozinsel                    0.76    7 Martin Schlegel
1272 4.625  6.00 Flagship                        GMT                         1.22    5 Dan Verssen
1333 4.569  5.08 Die Pyramiden des Jaguar        Kosmos                      1.38   13 Gunter Burkhardt
1382 4.531  6.67 Discovery Island                Tactic                      2.89    3 Bo Jakob Malm and Carl-Johan R. E. Nilsson                 Destination Tresor
1409 4.523  5.58 Affenraffen                     Goldsieber                  1.63    6 Michael Schacht
1431 4.489  4.85 Lumberjack                      Schmidt Spiel               1.46   17 Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum
1437 4.483  5.10 Krone & Schwert                 Queen                       1.60   10 Klaus-Jurgen Wrede
1447 4.477  5.50 Bayon                           Adlung                      1.05    6 Wolfgang Werner
1469 4.472  6.00 Roller Coaster Tycoon           Hasbro                      0.91    4 Craig van Ness
1484 4.464  7.50 Napoleon in Europe              Eagle Games                 0.71    2 Glenn Drover
1628 4.361  5.75 Scarab Lords                    Fantasy Flight Games        1.71    4 Reiner Knizia
1640 4.344  6.17 Delphi                          Heidelberger Spieleverlag   2.02    3 Gunter Burkhardt
1683 4.321  7.00 Mage Knight Dungeon             Wizkids                     0.00    2 Jordan Weisman, Kevin Barrett and Michael Mulvihill
1696 4.321  7.00 Waterloo (Phalanx)              Phalanx                     1.41    2 Richard Berg
1747 4.281  6.00 Schnapp Land Fluss              Amigo                       1.00    3 Haim Shafir
1828 4.208  9.00 Battle of the Bands             Third World Games           0.00    1 Dan Smith
1896 4.179  6.50 Geisterstunde (Ravensburger)    Ravensburger                0.71    2 Dominique Ehrhard
1918 4.179  6.50 Wuhltisch                       Ravensburger                0.71    2 Thorsten Gimmler
1927 4.161  4.67 Squint                          Out of the Box              2.41    9 Deborah Boss
2010 4.114  4.83 Dicerun                         Kidultgame                  1.47    6 Spartaco Albertarelli                                      Dice Run
2021 4.114  4.83 Zahltag                         Ravensburger                1.72    6 Franz-Benno Delonge
2026 4.107  6.25 Mamba                           Toodoo                      3.18    2 Christophe Berg
2028 4.107  6.25 Quest for the Dragonlords       Dragon Lords Inc.           3.18    2 Robert Johannessen
2037 4.104  4.71 Virus & Co.                     Zoch Verlag                 1.38    7 Frank Stark and Jorg Spiegelhalter                         Virus & Co
2072 4.047  4.41 Fantasy Business                Eurogames                   1.85   11 Christophe Boelinger
2084 4.042  8.00 Crypt: The Pharaoh's Curse      Line of Sight               0.00    1 Raven C. S. McCracken
2146 4.039  4.32 Cairo                           Schmidt Spiel               1.64   14 Gunter Burkhardt
2159 4.036  6.00 Die Schatzinsel                 W&L                         1.41    2 Peter Lewe
2175 4.036  6.00 Prussia's Glory                 GMT Games                   1.41    2 Bob Kalinowski
2207 4.031  5.33 Konig der Maulwurfel            Zoch                        2.31    3 Gunter Burkhardt                                           König der Maulwürfel
2247 4.028  5.00 VOC (Splotter)                  Splotter                    1.83    4 Caroline de Lint-Voorburg, Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga
2258 4.023  4.67 Biberbande                      Amigo                       2.34    6 Monty Stambler and Ann Stambler
2274 4.019  4.50 Meine Schafe, deine Schafe      Goldsieber                  1.51    8 Philippe des Pallieres
2297 3.964  5.75 Der Herr der Ringe - Das Duell  Kosmos                      1.06    2 Peter Neugebauer
2302 3.958  7.50 Shendao                         La meche rebelle            0.00    1 Valery Fourcade
2403 3.893  5.50 Agora                           Cheapass Games              0.71    2 James Ernest
2411 3.893  5.50 Diceland (Kidultgame)           Kidultgame                  3.54    2 Spartaco Albertarelli
2445 3.875  7.00 Alien Invasion USA              Immersion Games             0.00    1
2543 3.875  7.00 Sambesi                         Adlung                      0.00    1 Jens Rademaker
2568 3.875  7.00 Tony & Tino                     Eurogames                   0.00    1 Bruno Cathala
2596 3.841  4.33 Im Schatten des Sonnenkonigs    Amigo                       1.21    6 Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum                           Im Schatten des Sonnenkönigs           Revision of "Knights of the Rainbow".
2603 3.827  4.19 Armada (Eurogames)              Eurogames                   2.07    8 Philippe des Pallieres and Patrice Pillet
2654 3.792  6.50 Touch, the                      Anthony Innovations         0.00    1
2660 3.788  4.12 War & Sheep                     Eurogames                   1.89    8 Bruno Cathala                                              Molly & Lore
2710 3.771  4.14 Tin Soldiers                    R&R Games                   1.21    7 Alan M. Newman
2727 3.750  5.00 Freeloader                      Cheapass Games              0.00    2 James Ernest
2738 3.750  5.00 Monster Mash 1                  Evil Polish Brothers        0.00    2 David M. Niecikowski
2775 3.750  4.38 Station Manager (Timbuktu)      Spiele aus Timbuktu         2.21    4 Michael Schacht                                            Station Manager;;Station Manager (SaT)
2801 3.719  4.50 Nodwick (Jolly Roger)           Jolly Roger                 2.29    3 Frank Branham                                              Nodwick
2803 3.712  4.00 Gouda! Gouda!                   Eurogames                   1.60    8 Frederic Moyersoen
2818 3.708  6.00 Banditos                        Spiele aus Timbuktu         0.00    1 Michael Schacht
2857 3.708  6.00 Dwarves                         JKLM Games                  0.00    1 Markus Welbourne
2936 3.708  6.00 Schleck & Weg                   Zoch Verlag                 0.00    1 Manfred Ludwig
2947 3.708  6.00 Superplexus                     Hasbro                      0.00    1
2967 3.708  6.00 Unlur                           Self-published by designer  0.00    1 Jorge Gomez Arrausi
2992 3.694  4.25 Cube Farm                       Cheapass Games              1.26    4 James Ernest
2995 3.694  4.25 Hands Up!                       Schmidt                     2.87    4 Jacques Zeimet                                             Hands Up
3057 3.625  5.50 Baren Stark                     Goldsieber                  0.00    1 Heinz Meister
3071 3.625  5.50 Split (Hasbro 2002)             Hasbro                      0.00    1 David Hoyt
3077 3.625  4.00 Drake & Drake                   Eurogames                   1.58    5 Bruno Cathala
3085 3.607  4.50 Am Rande des Gletschers         Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste    0.71    2 Anja and Patrick Menon
3105 3.607  4.50 Fightball                       Cheapass Games              2.12    2 James Ernest and Mike Selinker
3154 3.604  3.86 Wie Hund und Katz!              Goldsieber                  2.04    7 Chris Bayliss                                              Wie Hund & Katz
3307 3.542  5.00 Snap (Gamewright)               Gamewright                  0.00    1
3341 3.542  5.00 Vampire Hunter                  Milton Bradley Hasbro       0.00    1
3380 3.531  4.00 Tony and Tino                   Eurogames                   2.00    3 Bruno Cathala
3388 3.521  3.71 Theophrastus                    Mayfair Games               1.11    7 Phil R. Chase
3419 3.464  4.00 Der Herr der Ringe - Die Zwei   Ravensburger                1.41    2 Reiner Knizia                                              Der Herr der Ringe: die Zwei Turme das
3446 3.464  4.00 Star Munchkin                   SJ Games                    0.00    2 Steve Jackson
3469 3.453  3.55 San Gimignano                   Piatnik                     1.51   11 Duilio Carpitella
3474 3.425  3.60 Captain Park's Imaginary Polar  Cheapass Games              1.95    5 James Ernest
3488 3.406  3.67 Die Monstermacher               Sphinx                      1.15    3 Henning Poehl
3492 3.406  3.67 Globopolis                      GloBopoly                   3.06    3 Michael Lasher
3515 3.386  3.50 Scarab                          Silberberg Spiele           0.55    6 Nico Reuter
3546 3.375  4.00 Das Steiff-Spiel                Kosmos                      0.00    1 Klaus Teuber
3549 3.375  4.00 Der Herr der Ringe - Die Zwei   Kosmos                      0.00    1 TM-Team
3565 3.375  4.00 Freche Frosche                  Queen Games                 0.00    1 Wolfgang Panning                                           Freche Frösche
3593 3.375  4.00 Lifeboat                        Fat Messiah Games           0.00    1 Jeff Siadek
3626 3.375  4.00 Rigamarole                      Hidden Talents, LLC         0.00    1
3663 3.375  4.00 Vier auf einen Streich          Amigo                       0.00    1 Haim Shafir
3669 3.375  4.00 Zaromba                         Clementoni                  0.00    1 Reiner Knizia
3679 3.361  3.50 Hohlengrolen                    Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste    1.29    4 Mark Sienholz                                              Höhlengrölen
3761 3.281  3.33 Bionicle (Quest for Makuta)     Jumbo                       2.52    3
3764 3.281  3.33 Can't Stop the Turtles          Winning Moves USA           2.31    3 Sid Sackson and Phil Orbanes
3795 3.225  3.20 Biesti Boys                     Amigo                       1.64    5 Howard Kamentsky
3930 3.179  3.00 Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle  Z-Man Games                 2.83    2 Stephen Tassie
3947 3.179  3.00 Star Wars - Das Kartenspiel     Ravensburger                1.41    2 Reiner Knizia
3969 3.150  3.10 Mikado                          Haba                        0.99   10
4012 3.042  2.00 Das Spitzweg-Spiel              Kosmos                      0.00    1 Fritz Gruber
4015 3.042  2.00 Dungeon of Doom                 Pressman Toy Corp.          0.00    1 
4051 3.042  2.00 Oraklos                         Splotter                    0.00    1 Tamara Jannink and Joris Wiersinga
4103 3.036  2.50 Gnome's War                     Tilsit                      2.12    2 Francois Bachelart
4171 2.875  1.00 Arne                            Lauwers Games               0.00    1 Arne Lauwers
4202 2.875  1.00 Word Blind                      4th Law Ltd.                0.00    1