eurogame

Image:Acquire game.JPG

Due in part to postwar aversion to products which glorified conflict, the 3M series of strategy and economic games, including Acquire, became popular in Germany. They offered a style of gameplay without direct conflict or warfare and led the way for designs that focused on resource management and competitive strategy through more peaceful means.{{cite book | title= Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games | last= Woods | first= Stewart | year= 2009 | publisher= McFarland | isbn= 978-0786467976}}{{cite book | title= It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan | last= Donovan | first= Tristan | year= 2017 | publisher= Thomas Dunne Books | isbn= 978-1250082725}}

The genre developed as a more concentrated design movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Germany. The genre has spread to other European countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.{{citation needed|date= July 2012}} During this time, board games in Europe often featured shorter play times than their American counterparts, along with rules that encouraged all players to remain engaged until the end, thereby reducing the risk of early elimination.

Although German-style designs were already popular within Germany, The Settlers of Catan, first published in 1995, paved the way for the genre outside Europe.{{cite web

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}} While it was not the first Eurogame and not the first to achieve popularity outside Germany, it became more successful than any of its predecessors. Millions of copies were sold in Germany alone. The game's success brought new interest, investment, and attention to this genre of board games emphasizing planning and negotiation rather than direct conflict. Game designers like Reiner Knizia became popular globally. Knizia's notable designs include Amun-Re, Blue Moon City, Ingenious, Keltis, Lord of the Rings, Medici, Modern Art, Ra, Taj Mahal, Tigris and Euphrates, and Through the Desert. Many of his designs incorporate mathematical principles, such as his repeated use of auction mechanics.{{Cite web |title=Knizia auction trilogy |url=https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Knizia_auction_trilogy |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=BoardGameGeek |language=en-US}}

File:Agricola board game.jpg being set up ]]As the market expanded, some designers began creating deeper, more complex games often referred to as “gamer’s games” or “expert games.” Titles such as Agricola (2007) by Uwe Rosenberg and Terra Mystica (2012) by Helge Ostertag and Jens Drögemüller introduced more detailed resource management, longer playing times, and heightened decision depth. These games often came with multiple paths to victory, ensuring replay value and a variety of strategies for enthusiasts. Residents of Germany purchased more board games per capita than any other country {{As of | 2009 | lc = on}}.{{cite web |url= http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=all |title= Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre |last1= Curry |first1= Andrew |date= 23 March 2009 |website= archive.wired.com |access-date= 27 May 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150510075137/http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=all |archive-date= 10 May 2015 |url-status= dead }} While many Eurogames are published and played in Anglophone markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, they occupy a niche status there. Other games in the genre to achieve widespread popularity include Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, TransAmerica, Ticket to Ride, Alhambra, Brass, and Terraforming Mars. Today, Eurogames remain an important segment of the board gaming industry, appreciated for their emphasis on strategy, thoughtful interaction, and lack of player elimination that allows all participants to remain engaged. While Germany still leads in per capita board game purchases, the popularity of Eurogames has spread worldwide, and many titles now receive international distribution and acclaim. Conventions such as Essen Spiel in Germany gather thousands of fans annually.

Eurogames tend to be focused on presenting a complex challenge to players. They feature economics and the acquisition of resources rather than direct conflict,{{cite book | title=Your Move | last=Moriarty | first=Joan | year=2019 | publisher=Sutherland House | isbn=9781999439545}} and have a limited amount of luck.{{cite book | title=The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming | last=Litorco | first=Teri | year=2016 | publisher=Adams Media | isbn=978-1440597961}} They also differ from abstract strategy games like chess by using themes tied to specific locales, and emphasize individual development and comparative achievement rather than direct conflict. Eurogames also emphasize the mechanical challenges of their systems over having the systems match the theme of the game. They are generally simpler than the wargames that flourished in the 1970s and 1980s from publishers such as SPI and Avalon Hill, but still often have a considerable depth of play.

One consequence of the increasing popularity of this genre has been an expansion upwards in complexity. Games such as Puerto Rico that were considered quite complex when Eurogames proliferated in the U.S. after the turn of the millennium are now the norm, with newer high-end titles like Terra Mystica and Tzolkin being significantly more difficult to master.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

File:Ticket to Ride Rails & Sails.jpg near the end of the game]]

While many titles (especially the strategically heavier ones) are enthusiastically played by gamers as a hobby, most Eurogames are well-suited to social play. In keeping with this social function, various characteristics of the games tend to support that aspect well, and these have become quite common across the genre. In contrast to games such as Risk or Monopoly, in which a close game can extend indefinitely, Eurogames usually have a mechanism to stop the game within its stated playing time. Common mechanisms include a predetermined winning score, a set number of game turns, or depletion of limited game resources. Playing time varies from a half-hour to a few hours, with one to two hours being typical. Generally, Eurogames do not have a fixed number of players like chess or bridge. Although there is a sizeable body of Eurogames that are designed for exactly two players, most games can accommodate between two to six players (with varying degrees of suitability). Six-player games are somewhat rare; examples include Power Grid and Caverna (the latter supporting seven-player games). Some require expansions, such as The Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. Players usually play for themselves, rather than in a partnership or team.

A growing number of Eurogames support solo play with modified rulesets.{{cite web|last=C.|first=Jess|date=5 July 2021|title=The rise of solo play games|url=https://play.nobleknight.com/the-rise-of-solo-games/|access-date=4 May 2022}} To win, the player either has to achieve specific single-player campaign goals or beat the score of a simulated opponent that takes actions according to special rules outlined in the scenario. Recent Eurogames suitable for solo play include Wingspan,{{Cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Aaron |date=2019-03-16 |title=Wingspan review: A gorgeous birding board game takes flight |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/03/wingspan-review-a-gorgeous-birding-board-game-takes-flight/ |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}} Terraforming Mars, and Spirit Island.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

File:Terraforming Mars vid slutet av en spelomgång.jpg basic three-player game. Shows the board, the player boards and the players' cards at the end of a game round]]

Another prominent characteristic of these games is the lack of player elimination.{{Cite news| last = Faber| first = Tom| title = The transformative power of games| work = Financial Times| location = London| accessdate = 2022-01-19| date = 2021-12-17| url = https://www.ft.com/content/c2f8b5b6-1f30-48cc-a098-71484ded9a00}} Eliminating players before the end of the game is seen as contrary to the social aspect of such games. Most of these games are designed to keep all players in the game as long as possible, so it is rare to be certain of victory or defeat until relatively late in the game. Related to no-player-elimination, Eurogame scoring systems are often designed so that hidden scoring or end-of-game bonuses can catapult a player who appears to be in a lagging position at end of play into the lead. A second-order consequence is that Eurogames tend to have multiple paths to victory (dependent on aiming at different end-of-game bonuses) and it is often not obvious to other players which strategic path a player is pursuing. Balancing mechanisms are often integrated into the rules, giving slight advantages to lagging players and slight hindrances to the leaders. This helps to keep the game competitive to the very end, an example of which is Power Grid, where the turn order is determined by number of cities (and biggest power plant as the tie-breaker), such that players further ahead are handicapped in their option of plays.

File:Samurai board game.jpg is a game of tile placement, set collection, and area control.]]

A wide variety of often innovative mechanisms or mechanics are used, and familiar mechanics such as rolling dice and moving, capture, or trick-taking are avoided. If a game has a board, the board is usually irregular rather than uniform or symmetric (such as Risk rather than chess or Scrabble). The board is often random (as in The Settlers of Catan) or has random elements (such as Tikal). Some boards are merely mnemonic or organizational and contribute only to ease of play, such as a cribbage board; examples of this include Puerto Rico and Princes of Florence. Random elements are often present but do not usually dominate the game. While rules are light to moderate, they allow depth of play, usually requiring thought, planning, and a shift of tactics through the game and featuring a chess- or backgammon-like opening game, middle game, and end game.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Stewart Woods' Eurogames cites six examples of mechanics common to eurogames:

• Tile placement – spatial placement of game components on the playing board.
• Auctions – includes open and hidden auctions of both resources and actions from other players and the game system itself.
• Trading/negotiation – not simply trading resources of equivalent values, but allowing players to set markets.
• Set collection – collecting resources in specific groups that are then cashed in for points or other currency.
• Area control – also known as area majority or influence, this involves controlling a game element or board space through allocation of resources.
• Worker placement or role selection – players choose specific game actions in sequential order, with players disallowed from choosing a previously selected action.

Eurogame designs tend to de-emphasize luck and random elements.{{cite web|last=Stevens|first=DJ|date=13 September 2017|title=Abandoning the screen for cardboard|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/sep/13/hipster-abandoning-screen-cardboard/#|access-date=15 August 2021|website=San Diego Reader}} Often, the only random element of the game will be resource or terrain distribution in the initial setup, or (less frequently) the random order of a set of event or objective cards. The role played by deliberately random mechanics in other styles of game is instead fulfilled by the unpredictability of the behavior of other players.

File:Cartagena Jeu.jpg's theme is the real 1672 pirate-led jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena.]]

Examples of themes are:

• Carcassonne – build a medieval landscape complete with walled cities, monasteries, roads, and fields.
• Puerto Rico – develop plantations on the island of Puerto Rico, set in the 18th century.
• Power Grid – expand a power company's network and buy better plants.
• Imperial – as an international investor, influence the politics of pre-World War I European empires.
• Bruxelles 1893 – take the role of an Art Nouveau architect during the late 19th century and try to become the most famous architect in Belgium.{{cite web|last=Chivers|first=Kyle|title=Bruxelles 1893 Review – An Art Nouveau & Architecture Board Game|url=http://www.euroboardgameblog.com/reviews/bruxelles-1893-board-game-review/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528014704/http://www.euroboardgameblog.com/reviews/bruxelles-1893-board-game-review/|archive-date=28 May 2014|access-date=25 June 2014|website=Euro Board Game Blog}}

Although not relevant to actual play, the name of the game's designer is often prominently mentioned on the box, or at least in the rule book. Top designers enjoy considerable following among enthusiasts of Eurogames. For this reason, the name "designer games" is often offered as a description of the genre. Recently, there has also been a wave of games designed as spin-offs of popular novels, such as the games taking their style from the German bestsellers Der Schwarm and Tintenherz.

File:Kniziabrunnhofer.jpg awards at Spiel 2003 in Essen, Germany]]

Designers of Eurogames include:

• Antoine Bauza, a prolific French designer, creator of 7 Wonders, Tokaido, and Takenoko.{{cite web|last=Law|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Law (baseball writer)|date=13 August 2018|title=The Best Games at Gen Con 2018|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/08/gen-con-2018-the-51st.html|url-status=dead|access-date=30 November 2018|website=Paste Magazine|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930132649/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/08/gen-con-2018-the-51st.html}}
• Bruno Cathala, a French-born game designer, creator of Kingdomino{{cite web|last=Cocagne|first=Jean-Baptiste|date=February 22, 2018|title=Bruno Cathala, auteur de jeux de société en Haute-Savoie|url=https://rcf.fr/actualite/bruno-cathala-auteur-de-jeux-de-societe-en-haute-savoie|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124054957/https://rcf.fr/actualite/bruno-cathala-auteur-de-jeux-de-societe-en-haute-savoie|archive-date=24 November 2018|access-date=23 November 2018|website=RCF Radio}} and Five Tribes.{{cite web|last=Jolin|first=Dan|date=11 October 2018|title=The 30 Best Board Games To Play Right Now|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-board-games/|access-date=29 June 2019|website=Empire}}
• Vlaada Chvátil, a Czech designer of board games and video games, whose games include Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Galaxy Trucker, Space Alert, and Codenames. His rule books are often divided into several "learning scenarios" that gradually introduce players to the rules as they progress through the scenarios.
• Leo Colovini, designer of Cartagena and Carcassonne: The Discovery.
• Rüdiger Dorn, a German designer who created Istanbul, Karuba, Las Vegas, Luxor, and others.
• Bruno Faidutti, French designer of Citadels.{{cite web|author=Law|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Law (baseball writer)|date=26 January 2017|title=Citadels Is Still One of the Best Games to Play in Groups of Four or More|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/citadels-review.html|url-status=dead|access-date=17 December 2019|website=Paste Magazine|archive-date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217180036/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/citadels-review.html}}
• Stefan Feld, designer particularly of games that make use of dice,{{cite web|last1=Casey|first1=Matt|date=2 October 2014|title=Making better use of dice in games|url=http://boingboing.net/2014/10/02/making-better-use-of-dice-in-g.html|access-date=26 January 2016|website=Boing Boing}} and that allow players to score points in a variety of ways.{{cite web|last1=Law|first1=Keith|author-link=Keith Law (baseball writer)|date=13 April 2019|title=Review: Beloved board game Castles of Burgundy is now an app|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/review-beloved-board-game-castles-of-burgundy-is-now-an-app/|access-date=27 June 2019|website=Ars Technica}} He designed games such as Castles of Burgundy, Trajan, Strasbourg, Bruges, and Carpe Diem.
• Friedemann Friese, a German designer, creator of Power Grid{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/01/german-board-games-catan/550826/ |title=The Invasion of the German Board Games|last1=Kay |first1=Jonathan |date=21 January 2018 |access-date=19 December 2019|website=The Atlantic}} and others.
• Mac Gerdts, a German designer of games such as Antike, Imperial, Navegador, and Concordia.{{cite web|date=19 January 2018|title=Concordia, de retour, distribué par Atalia!|url=https://www.trictrac.net/actus/concordia-retour-distribue-par-atalia|url-status=|access-date=25 September 2019|website=TricTrac}}{{deadlink|date=September 2023}}
• Reiner Knizia,{{cite web|author=Law|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Law (baseball writer)|date=28 September 2018|title=Reiner Knizia's Blue Lagoon Is a Great Addition to Your Board Game Collection|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/09/reiner-knizias-blue-lagoon-is-a-great-addition-to.html|url-status=dead|access-date=23 November 2018|website=Paste Magazine|archive-date=24 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124055123/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/09/reiner-knizias-blue-lagoon-is-a-great-addition-to.html}} a German designer who designed over 600 published games. Recurring mechanisms in his games include auctions (Ra and Modern Art), tile placement (Tigris and Euphrates{{cite web|last=Law|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Law (baseball writer)|date=24 June 2015|title=Tigris and Euphrates Boardgame Review|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/06/tigris-and-euphrates-boardgame-review.html|access-date=11 December 2019|website=Paste Magazine}} and Ingenious), and intricate scoring rules (Samurai). He also designed card games such as Lost Cities,{{cite web|author=Zimmerman|first1=Aaron|last2=Anderson|first2=Nate|date=16 April 2016|title=Table for two: Our favorite two-player board games|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/04/table-for-two-our-favorite-two-player-board-games-2/|access-date=30 December 2019|website=Ars Technica}} Schotten-Totten, and Blue Moon, and the cooperative board game The Lord of the Rings.
• Wolfgang Kramer, who often works with other game designers. His titles include El Grande, Tikal, Princes of Florence, and Torres. His games often include an action point system and a geometric element.
• Alan R. Moon, a British-born designer whose games often have a railway theme, including the Spiel des Jahres-winning Ticket to Ride{{cite web|author=Duffy|first=Owen|date=27 October 2014|title=All aboard – how Ticket To Ride helped save table-top gaming|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/oct/27/all-aboard-how-ticket-to-ride-helped-save-table-top-gaming|access-date=2 October 2019|website=The Guardian}} and Elfenland.
• Alex Randolph, who created over 125 games.
• Uwe Rosenberg, designer of games such as Agricola, Le Havre, Patchwork, and several others.
• Sid Sackson was a prolific American game designer whose games, particularly Acquire, prefigured and strongly influenced the Eurogame genre.
• Michael Schacht, German designer of Coloretto, Zooloretto, Aquaretto, Valdora, Africana, Web of Power, China, Han, Hansa, Mondo, Mondo Sapiens, Spirits of the Forest, and Coney Island.
• Andreas Seyfarth, who designed the games Puerto Rico, Manhattan, and, with Karen Seyfarth, Thurn and Taxis.
• Klaus Teuber, designer of Catan.{{cite web|author=Mcnary|first=Dave|date=19 February 2015|title='Settlers of Catan' Movie, TV Project in the Works|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/settlers-of-catan-movie-tv-project-gail-katz-1201437121/|access-date=2 October 2019|website=Variety}}
• Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, the German game designer of the Carcassonne board game series.{{cite web|author=Davis|first=Carl|date=29 March 2013|title=10 Strategy Board Games You Should Be Playing|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/g1112/you-win-or-you-die-10-alternative-board-games/|access-date=2 January 2019|website=Popular Mechanics}}

File:Deskohraní 08-10-05 048.jpg.]]

The Internationale Spieltage, also known as Essen Spiel, or the Essen Games Fair, is the largest non-digital game convention in the world,{{cite web|author=Peerutin|first=Seemy|date=21 August 2017|title=Board games are quietly, nerdily, becoming big business|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-08-21-board-games-are-quietly-nerdily-becoming-big-business/#.WbXZV7pFy1s|access-date=15 August 2021|website=Daily Maverick}} and the place where the largest number of Eurogames are released each year. Founded in 1983 and held annually in Essen, Germany, the fair was founded with the objective of providing a venue for people to meet and play board games, and show gaming as an integral part of German culture.

A "World Boardgaming Championships" is held annually in July in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The event is nine days long and includes tournament tracks of over a hundred games; while traditional wargames are played there, the most popular tournaments are Eurogames and it is generally perceived as a Eurogame-centered event. Attendance is international, though players from the U.S. and Canada predominate.

The most prestigious German board game award is the Spiel des Jahres ("Game of the Year").{{cite book | title=The Game Inventor's Guidebook: How to Invent and Sell Board Games, Card Games, Role-Playing Games, & Everything in Between! | last=Tinsman | first=Brian | year=2008 | publisher=Morgan James Publishing | isbn=978-1600374470}} The award is very family-oriented, with shorter, more approachable games such as Ticket to Ride and Elfenland usually preferred by the award committee.

In 2011, the jury responsible for the Spiel des Jahres created the Kennerspiel des Jahres, or connoisseur's game of the year, for more complex games.

The Deutscher Spielepreis ("German game prize") is also awarded to games that are more complex and strategic, such as Puerto Rico. A few games have had broad enough appeal to win both awards: The Settlers of Catan (published 1995), Carcassonne (published 2000), and Dominion (published 2008).

Xbox Live Arcade has included popular games from the genre, with Catan being released to strong sales{{Cite web|last=Nelson|first=Major|date=5 May 2007|title=Xbox Live Activity for week of 4/30|url=http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/05/05/xbox-live-activity-for-week-of-4-30.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070508043043/http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/05/05/xbox-live-activity-for-week-of-4-30.aspx|archive-date=8 May 2007|access-date=15 August 2021|website=Xbox Live's Major Nelson}} on May 13, 2007, Carcassonne being released on June 27, 2007.{{cite web|last=Porcaro|first=John|date=25 June 2007|title=Build a Medieval Empire on Xbox LIVE Arcade with the Popular German Board Game Carcassonne|url=http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/06/25/551618.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701165045/http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/06/25/551618.aspx|archive-date=1 July 2007|access-date=15 August 2021|website=Gamer Score Blog}} Lost Cities and Ticket to Ride soon followed. Alhambra was due to follow later in 2007 until being cancelled.{{Cite web |last=Tomacco |date=2008-01-29 |title=XBLArcade.com's board game roundup |url=http://www.xblarcade.com/node/1657 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303064309/http://www.xblarcade.com/node/1657 |archive-date=2008-03-03 |access-date=2008-03-05 |website=XBLArcade}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20090217213937/http://xbox360.ign.com:80/objects/850/850006.html IGN: Alhambra] - IGN

The iPhone received versions of The Settlers of Catan and Zooloretto in 2009. Carcassonne was added to the iPhone App Store in June 2010. Later, Ticket to Ride was developed for both the iPhone and the iPad, significantly boosting sales of the board game.{{Cite web|last=Kuchera|first=Ben|date=22 February 2012|title=Days of Wonder CEO explains how iPad Ticket to Ride boosted sales of the real thing|url=https://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/days-of-wonder-ceo-explains-how-ipad-ticket-to-ride-boosted-sales-of-the-re|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327040144/https://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/days-of-wonder-ceo-explains-how-ipad-ticket-to-ride-boosted-sales-of-the-re|archive-date=27 March 2013|access-date=15 August 2021|website=Penny Arcade}}

• BoardGameGeek – online forum for board gaming hobbyists
• BrettspielWelt – free German online gaming site
• Cooperative board game – board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal
• Going Cardboard – documentary about German-style board games and their community
• List of game designers

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.brettboard.dk/ Brett and Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729223445/http://brettboard.dk/ |date=2020-07-29 }} with information on German-style games (has not been updated in some time)
• [http://www.luding.org/ Luding.org] – board game database with over 15,000 English and German reviewed games
• [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ BoardGameGeek] – internet database of over 100,000 tabletop games, with online fan community.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120729010243/http://gamerate.net/board-card/ Gamerate.net] – internet database of board, card and electronic games.

{{Tabletop games by type}}

Category:Board games

Category:Culture of Germany