For the most part, the games I have talked about have been the longer, meatier games. Sometimes, you are in the mood for something a little shorter. Or, you are looking for a game that plays a few more players. This is often where the class of games we call "fillers" come in.

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If there is one thing gamers can agree on it's that Monopoly is awful. In fact, a backlash against the tired roll and move mechanics is a big reason that Eurogames have blossomed. But, what if Monopoly were redesigned with a modern sensibility? I think it might look something like Owner's Choice.

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This post would have been a lot more interesting and topical if I had done it two weeks ago when the winners were announced. But, as always I am behind the times. Still, I thought I would spend a little time telling you about the five games that were nominated for the (arguably) most recognized prize in boardgames, the Spiel des Jahres.

The Spiel des Jahres (literally "Game of the Year")is decided by a jury each year. The award is definitely biased more towards family friendly games, and there is certainly an undercurrent of politics with which companies win. I find that the SdJ does a pretty good job of picking a deserving game. This year, the five nominees (of which I have reviewed two for this site, and have played three) all look like excellent games. The winner was not a surprise to me, but seems to have been to many.

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Tuesday at Game Night, I got to try two new games that I really enjoyed. I'll review one today, and then the other hopefully tomorrow (but given that our office Xmas party is tomorrow, no promises…)

In my last review, I talked a little about luck games, and how a new wave of Eurogames have taken elements of luck and used them in interesting ways. Well, this time we have a game that is almost perfect information (especially if your memory is better than mine..) and leaves most of the components face up. It also has great design, incredible (almost gratutitous) bits and entertaining gameplay. Plus, you are making sushi! Ladies and Gentlemen, Wasabi.

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I have written before about the current re-emergence of dice games in gaming. It's an interesting shift, since for the longest time luck was frowned upon by "real gamers." They would turn their noses up at games with anything more random than a deck of cards, and looked for games that limited the effect luck could have on your strategy. This led to some really great games, many of which I quite like. It also led to Puerto Rico (the apotheosis of this movement) which I find boring and programmatic (although, I am definitely in the minority there..) Today's game, Galaxy Truckers, is the antithesis of that idea, and I love it.

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Continuing my certainly not annoying habit of starting features and then using Lamarck's theory to kill them, I will be talking in the next several days about a number of new boardgames I have tried this holiday season. It's a fairly eclectic mix, but I there are some darn good games out there now. One, in particular will make Ken happy (although I haven't played that game yet, so I reserve judgement for now.)

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Dice games are often controversial in the gaming world. One of the points of the Eurogame movement was to avoid luck, and dice add an often unwelcome random element. Personally, I enjoy dice (heck, my favorite game is a press your luck dice game, Manila) and there is a new spate of games that use dice in interesting and strategic ways. I call them "dice games that don't feel like dice games." Games like Kingsburg, Ysphahan and the game we played last night, Stone Age are definitely not Yahtzee.

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Boardgamegeek.com is the premier site for information on any boardgame you can think of. They have a great forum for discussion of specific games, a huge collection of reviews and even alternate rules and errata. Heck, the whole site is really worthy of a Friday Timewaster. But today, I want to focus on one cool part…

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If you are a follower of boardgames at all, the name Agricola has taken on a mythical tinge by now. It is the current "it" game, and is only available in Europe right now, and only in German. That essentially renders the game unplayable, since every card (of which there are hundreds) is chock full of text. Which is too bad, because it really is one of the best games I have played (after one play, of course..)

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A somewhat abbreviated version today, as I wasn't feeling great and only stuck around for one game.

We got to the cafe, and were faced with a first. There were absolutely no tables available. In more than 2 years of playing there, this had never happened. Luckily, the girl behind the counter knows us, and hooked us up, but there was still some delay in the beginning.

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each Tuesday, a group of folks gathers in Alameda to play board games. In an effort to log my thoughts on various games, and to give you an idea of some of the great games out there, I am going to do mini-session reviews for each of the games we play on Tuesdays. I'll also provide a link to each games page on boardgamegeek should you want more information on the game. So, here we go:

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