Larry Levy: Best Games of 2010

Posted on May 4, 2011 by huzonfirst

There has never been a calendar year in which I didn’t find plenty of good new games that I thoroughly enjoyed playing.  But there are better years and there are lesser years and I’m afraid that 2010 definitely qualified as one of the latter for me.  In fact, it’s probably as down a year as I can recall since I discovered German games way back in 1999.  None of the new games struck me as being great and the number of ones that were worth adding to the rotation was considerably lower than usual.  I don’t view this as being anything to get alarmed over—2009 was a very strong year for me and 2011 is off to a fine start.  So it just seems to be a one year issue for me.

Despite this, there were still some mighty fine games to discover and I didn’t have any trouble putting together a top 10 list for the year.  These, then, are my highlights from the year that was. Continue reading →

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Larry Levy: 2011 Gathering of Friends Recap

Posted on May 4, 2011 by huzonfirst

The Gathering was terrific as ever, maybe more so than usual for me, since last year I missed it for the first time since Alan was kind enough to invite me almost a decade ago.  I wanted to summarize my impressions of the new games I played and, like the sycophant that I am, I’ve decided to copy Dale’s idea of presenting them Opinionated Gamers style.  Here they are, where the asterisks show that the game is a prototype.

  • Love it:  Pantheon x 2; Die Burgen von Burgund x 2; Airlines Europe x 3; Cooperative deduction prototype*
  • Like it:  Dungeon Petz*; Asara; Freitag II*; Fragor prototype*; Mine! Mine! Mine!*; 7 Wonders Leaders Expansion; Rails of New England; Gold! x 3; Pictomania*; Last Will* x 2; Sobek x 3; Merkator; Mondo x 2; 11 Nimmt!; Hey Waiter!
  • Neutral:  Die Speicherstadt Münzspeicher Expansion; Pergamon; Artus x 2; String Railway; Letters from Whitechapel; Spring Fever; Snapshot; Olympos
  • Not for me:  Norenberc; Strasbourg

Greg, Dale, and Patrick have done a good job of summarizing the rules for many of these titles and I know that Tom Rosen will be describing the CGE prototypes in a future article.  So I’ll content myself with my impressions of the games and will only go into detail for the designs they didn’t cover. Continue reading →

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Greg Schloesser’s Top 10 of 2010

Posted on May 3, 2011 by gschloesser

I always remember my elders telling me that as one grows older, time seems to pass quicker.  If that is true, I must be getting old.  Time seems to be flying by, and I can’t find the “pause” button.  This is affecting every aspect of my life, including my beloved gaming hobby.

It doesn’t help that new games are being released at a pace faster than Charlie Sheen’s bizarre outbursts.  It also doesn’t help that I was unable to attend the big SPIEL in Essen last year.  This combined perfect storm caused me to fall woefully behind on playing and evaluating new releases.  Fortunately, four months into 2011, I am just about finished playing the games released at 2010’s Spiel.  There are a few more to play, but I don’t think any of those will break into my personal Top 10 from 2010.

So on to the list.  Wait … one more interlude.  I want to mention a few games that just missed the cut.  All of these are fine games that I thoroughly enjoy:  World Without End, Tikal II and Parade.  But, I am limited to only ten choices, so here are my personal Top 10 Games of 2010, listed in reverse order:  Continue reading →

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Toss out the Immigrants! A review of Trollland.

Posted on May 3, 2011 by gschloesser

TROLLLAND

Design by:  Bruno Cathala
Published by:  Ludocortex Editions
2 – 5 Players, 30 – 45 minutes
Review by:  Greg J. Schloesser

A game using racism and xenophobia as the central themes would likely cause a major uproar within the gaming community and amongst the gaming public.  I can practically hear the justifiable cries of protest now.  Such an incendiary topic strikes a raw nerve with just about anyone, especially those who have been victims of such a horrendous offense.  The subject would undoubtedly be considered taboo by many, if not most, and would be a controversial choice as the subject of a game.

Veteran designer Bruno Cathala has tread into these turbulent waters with his release of Trollland.  Published by Ludocartex Editions, Trollland is set in a fantasy land once dominated by a race of trolls.  The land is so attractive, however, that immigrants have begun flooding across its borders, establishing a firm presence in the land.  The trolls have become resentful of these immigrants, as they have customs and habits that are different from their own.  They even look different.  The trolls have had enough, and are now attempting to banish as many of these strange newcomers as possible.  The most successful troll will be appointed as head of Homeland Security.  How’s that for a political statement? Continue reading →

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Kris Hall: Best of 2010

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Dale Yu

Today we’re starting a series of discussions about the best games of 2010.  Or at least our favorite games of 2010.  I’m more comfortable talking about favorite games because I am well aware of my own prejudices, and find it hard to appreciate certain types of games (abstract games, for example).  I doubt that anyone has played all the games that were published in 2010, and there are certainly major games that haven’t made it into my corner of West Virginia (K2 and Navegador among others), but I’ve tried to play every major game (yes, a vague category) that came my way.

The first two games on my list were games that were published in one form or another in years before 2010, but new and improved 2010 editions made them memorable.

Without further introduction, here are my favorite 2010 games. Continue reading →

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The OG Brings You Their “Best Of 2010…” Lists

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Dale Yu

For the next few days (well, weeks) the OG will present their Best of 2010 lists.  These lists are meant to be intentionally freeform, so each writer can spotlight whichever games they want to in whatever manner they desire. Why are we doing this in May?  Frankly – for many of us, it’s taken until May to get a lot of the 2010 games played!  Enjoy!

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