 | |
| Industry | Games and entertainment |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | USA |
| Products | Board games |
| Website | riograndegames |
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Placitas, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.
In 1995, Jay Tummelson began working for Mayfair Games. At that time, Mayfair had begun to import German-style board games for sale, without doing any localization. Tummelson first suggested that they incorporate an English translation, and then that they completely localize the game for American audiences. Tummelson acquired the rights for Detroit/Cleveland Grand Prix, Manhattan , Modern Art , Streetcar, and The Settlers of Catan , which were published together in 1996.
One part of the localization process was to create original art and components. Tummelson thought that a better solution would be to use the same artwork and components as the originals and to share the cost of printing with the European publishers, as well. In 1998, he founded Rio Grande Games to take that approach. [1] [2]
Since then, Rio Grande Games has published over 350 games and has had a significant effect on board gaming in the United States. [3]
The most popular of the games published by Rio Grande Games are Carcassonne , Puerto Rico , Dominion , Power Grid , Race for the Galaxy , Bohnanza , and Lost Cities .[ citation needed ] More recently, Rio Grande Games has begun publishing its own games and has even begun licensing its games to partners in other countries wanting to localize the games in their local languages. Thus, Race for the Galaxy will soon be seen in Chinese, Korean, and others, as well as its original English, French, and German.
Rio Grande has published a number of award-winning games.
A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game, German game, or Euro-style game, is a class of tabletop games that generally has indirect player interaction and abstract physical components. Eurogames are sometimes contrasted with American-style board games, which generally involve more luck, conflict, and drama. They are usually less abstract than chess or Go, but more abstract than wargames. Likewise, they generally require more thought and planning than party games such as Pictionary or Trivial Pursuit.
Java is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel, and published in 2000 by Ravensburger in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. In the game, players build the island of Java to set up palace festivals and gain victory points. Upon its release, the game received several awards.
Carcassonne is a tile-based German-style board game for two to five players, designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and published in 2000 by Hans im Glück in German and by Rio Grande Games and Z-Man Games (currently) in English. It received the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiele Preis awards in 2001.
San Juan is a card game designed by Andreas Seyfarth and published in 2004 by Alea in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. The game is derived from the board game Puerto Rico, and takes its name from San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico.
The Deutscher Spielepreis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine Die Pöppel-Revue, which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany. The Essen Feather is awarded at the same ceremony.
Hans im Glück is a German board and card game publisher. Though many of their own games are language-independent they themselves publish only printings for the domestic market which include only German-language rules; English-language printings of their games have been published primarily by Rio Grande Games, Dutch versions by 999 Games and so on.
Tikal is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 1999 by Ravensburger in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. Set in a Central American jungle, in Tikal players aim to discover artifacts, excavate, and maintain temple control to gain victory points.
Ra is a board game for two to five players designed by Reiner Knizia and themed around Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis in ancient Egyptian culture. It is one of three auction games designed by Knizia, the others being Medici and Modern Art.
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede is a German board game creator, the creator of the best-selling Carcassonne and Downfall of Pompeii.
Manhattan is a board game designed by Andreas Seyfarth. In the game, players aim to construct and control skyscrapers that will award points. Manhattan received generally positive reviews and won the 1994 Spiel des Jahres award.
41.663062°N 91.538268°WGamicon is Iowa's longest-running non-gambling game convention, currently held at the Marriott Hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Gamicon ALPHA was sponsored by the Science Fiction League of Iowa Students (SFLIS). Gamicon later incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, then merged with the Mindbridge Foundation. Each Gamicon was numbered using the Greek alphabet until Gamicon Omega. After that, the conventions were named by their number on the Periodic Table.
Race for the Galaxy is a card game designed by Thomas Lehmann. It was released in 2007 by Rio Grande Games. Its theme is to build galactic civilizations via game cards that represent worlds or technical and social developments. It accommodates two to four players by default although expansions allow for up to six players, as well as solo play. The game uses iconography in place of language in some places, with complex powers also having a text description. While appreciated by experienced players for being concise, some new players find the icons difficult to learn and to decipher.
Jay Tummelson is the founder of Rio Grande Games.
Michael Schacht is a German game designer, graphician and owner of the small publishing company Spiele aus Timbuktu.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2010. For video games, see 2010 in video gaming.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2011. For video games, see 2011 in video gaming.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2012. For video games, see 2012 in video gaming.
Going Cardboard: A Board Game Documentary is a 2012 documentary about the American adoption of German-style board games, and includes coverage of the 2009 board game event Spiel in Essen, Germany, as well as interviews with many prominent game designers. The film was written, directed and produced by Lorien Green, who was introduced to board gaming by her husband. It was financed through the crowd funding service Kickstarter.