| The Best Board Games of 2000 | |
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by Erik Arneson
Though 2000 is but a fading memory, some of the games released last year will live on in game collections around the world for years to come. But which ones will we still be playing in 2010, 2020 and beyond?
Lord of the Rings, Reiner Knizia's cooperative game almost guaranteed to spawn imitators in the months ahead, jumps to mind for me in the category of family strategy games. It should enjoy even more attention as the upcoming LotR film trilogy nears release.
Among party games, Fib or Not? is great for those who are natural storytellers. And I'm anxious to try out Thinkblot, a new game from the inventor of Pictionary.
To get a variety of opinions on 2000's crop of games, gamers were asked to post their thoughts on the About Board Games Forum.
Rob Cannon agreed that Lord of the Rings is a keeper, saying that it "breaks away from the typical board game" with "very tense and enjoyable play." Though he worries about the replay value, he likes the fact that Lord of the Rings is among those rare games where everyone can trade high-fives after winning.
Other games on Rob's "Best of 2000" list include Carcassonne, a tile-laying game which he says is "great all around," and Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit. Playing the Queen's Gambit was "the most fun I've had playing a two-player game in quite a while," he said.
Frank Branham, who maintains The Gaming Dumpster, checked in with La Citta and Babel. The former he called a "great game, if just a touch long," while Babel "has immediately hooked me."
Frank's third pick, which modesty almost prevented him from listing, is his own Dia de Los Muertos. "I really like trick taking games," he said, "and ... I really like to play [Dia de Los Muertos] even after having played it 40 times in a few months."
But Frank needn't be modest -- I've played Dia de Los Muertos with two friends from work (non-gamers); all three of us are eager to try it again. And Rob Cannon had a nice description of Dia de Los Muertos: "It took me most of my first game to get into to it because it had been years since I had played any kind of trick-taking game. I'm still trying to get my head around which cards are best to trade to an opponent or a partner, but I felt better about that by the end of the first game. There are a lot of neat mechanisms in the game."
Alfred Wallace checked in with a simple list full of contenders: Carcassonne, Web of Power, La Citta and Battle Cry.
And Greg Schloesser, president of the Strategy Gaming Society, posted a list of the games he's considering nominating for this year's Gamers Choice Awards (Greg's nominations will be combined with those of other judges to form the final list, which will be announced in March), in no particular order:
Die Fursten von Florenz (The Princes of Florence), Taj Mahal, Battle Cry, La Citta, Ohne Furcht und Adel (Citadels), Java, Kardinal und Konig (Web of Power), Carcassonne, Attila, Die Kaufleute von Amsterdam (The Merchants of Amsterdam), Metro, Doge and Silberzwerg.
So which games will still be played a decade from now? You make the call!
