Let’s continue with our discussion of our favorite games from great designers. Today, the trio will be Vlaada Chvatil, Simone Luciani, and Alan Moon. 64 people weighed in with their opinions.

Vlaada Chvatil
Few designers have burst upon the scene more dramatically than Chvatil did 20 years ago. At a time when few gamers even had the Czech Republic on their gaming map, he released a number of notable games, including the all-time classic, Through the Ages. He has maintained that pace through the years, including a blockbuster game from the most recent Essen fair. Here are his top 10 games: Continue reading →

Yesterday, we introduced the Designer Choice Selections—a list of the favorite games from a bunch of notable designers, chosen by the Meeples Choice Award voters and the OG writers. Today, we look at three more great designers: Stefan Feld, Uwe Rosenberg, and Sid Sackson. 63 voters participated in the voting.

Stefan Feld
Feld is one of today’s most distinctive and polarizing game designers. He launched his career about 20 years ago and he gained renown by releasing six consecutive titles in the highly prestigious alea big box game line. He continues to be very productive today, thanks to Queen’s Stefan Feld City Collection of games, and other designs. Continue reading →

So let’s take a look at our favorite games from our first trio of talented designers.  And what better starting point than the Special K’s of German Game Design:  Reiner Knizia, Wolfgang Kramer, and Klaus Teuber?

(By the way, I coined the “Special K’s” label in an article I wrote about a quarter of a century ago and despite its cheekiness, it was adopted by other folks—much to my surprise.  It was just my way of describing the incredible dominance of those three men in the German gaming hobby at the time.)

Reiner Knizia
A total of 61 voters participated in the voting for this triplet.  Let’s start with Herr Knizia.  As one of the most prolific and famous designers in the world, he scarcely needs an introduction.  He released his first games in 1990, had his first hit in 1992 with Modern Art, and achieved superstar status soon after that.  He continues to be incredibly productive and popular. Continue reading →

I assume that some of you know that I administer the Meeples Choice Awards every year.  It’s a labor of love, since not only does the group do a great job of picking the best new games, but there’s always a good deal of scintillating discussion between the voters (many of whom go back to the beginnings of the award 25 years ago).  After the voting this year, we were debating the merits of various Stefan Feld games.  Chris Brandt, one of our regular voters, suggested it might be fun to vote for our favorite Feld games, using the same procedure that we use for the Meeples Choice Awards.  This suggestion was met with considerable enthusiasm, with requests for other designers we could vote on.  I set a few of these up and the designer requests just kept rolling in.  By the time we were finished, we had picked our favorite games for 30 different designers!

The lists are a fascinating insight into the way more seasoned gamers view these great designers.  I knew they would make a very interesting series of OG articles, so, with the permission of the group, I’ve put those together.  I also asked the OG writers to add their votes, so for most of these designers, we have 60 or more people weighing in on their favorite games. Continue reading →

Designers: Daniel Dranove and Tom Weiner
Artist: Michael Zhang
Publisher: Medium Brow Games

Players: 2-4 (5th player in the deluxe edition)

Playtime: 30 minutes per player

Do you have friends who like Catan and Risk who you want to get into more modern board games? If so, Farms Race might be a good game to check out, as it is a Reese’s peanut butter cup of area control and lobbing nukes from Catanish hexes. Their tagline is ‘A parody of Eurogames with communist farm animals and nukes.’

Farms Race is not trying to be something it is not. It is a game for smashmouth gamers who want to go after each other and push every advantage to win, while talking smack when it is not your turn.

It is a race to 10 points, so the name is accurate. The Farm theme works well as an opening gambit. There are people on the board and you play different animals (chickens, sheep, pigs, and cows – rabbits are the 5th animal in the deluxe version) who have gained sentience due to a local nuclear power plant ‘incident’. Paralleling Animal Farm by George Orwell, you want power, so you start by eradicating the people who populate the board and then go after the other animals.
Continue reading →