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 multiple ways to score points. 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.
The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award was one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500–3,000 copies to around 10,000, and the winner can usually expect to sell as many as 500,000 copies.
Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer. He was born in West Germany in 1957 and earned a doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Ulm before designing games full time. He is frequently included on lists of the greatest game designers of all time. Many of his hundreds of designs are considered modern classics, and many have won or been nominated for significant gaming awards, including the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiele Preis. His 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.
Mexica is a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 2002 by Ravensburger in German and Rio Grande Games in English. Mexica was awarded 5th prize in the 2002 Deutscher Spiele Preis.
Torres is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 1999 by FX Schmid in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. The game strongly influenced Kramer and Kiesling's Mask Trilogy of games, but is not considered to be a part of the trilogy. The game has since been reprinted.
El Grande is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents renaissance-era Spain where the nobility fight for control of the nine regions. El Grande was praised for its area-control mechanism, and was awarded the Spiel des Jahres prize and the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 1996. Following its release, several expansions and an alternative version were published.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 1999. For video games, see 1999 in video gaming.
The Jeu de l'année was a French games award, given by the Association de Promotion et d'Evaluation des Jeux in October to outstanding parlour games
Wolfgang Kramer is a German board game designer.
Michael Kiesling is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award.
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.
Diamant is a multiplayer card game designed by Alan R. Moon and Bruno Faidutti, published in 2005 in Germany by Schmidt Spiele, with illustrations provided by Jörg Asselborn, Christof Tisch, and Claus Stephan.
Agricola is a Euro-style board game created by Uwe Rosenberg. It is a worker placement game with a focus on resource management. In Agricola, players are farmers who sow, plow the fields, collect wood, build stables, buy animals, expand their farms and feed their families. After 14 rounds players calculate their score based on the size and prosperity of the household.
Dominion is a card game created by Donald X. Vaccarino and published by Rio Grande Games. Originally published in 2008, it was the first deck-building game, and inspired a genre of games building on its central mechanic. Each player begins with a small deck of cards, which they improve by purchasing cards from a common supply that varies from game to game. Cards can help the player's deck function, impede their opponents, or provide victory points. As of December 2022, fifteen expansions to the original Dominion have been released.
Forbidden Island is a cooperative board game developed by Matt Leacock and published by Gamewright Games in 2010. Two to four players take the roles of different adventurers, moving around a mysterious island and looking for hidden treasures as the island sinks around them. All players win if they find all the hidden treasures and they all make it back to the helicopter and fly away, and they all lose if they cannot.
Blue Orange is a French board game company based in Pont-à-Mousson, France. The company is often called Blue Orange international or Blue Orange Europe and mistaken for Blue Orange Games.
Colt Express is a railway-themed family board game designed by Christophe Raimbault, Illustrated by Ian Parovel and Jordi Valbuena, published in 2014 by Ludonaute and distributed by Asmodee.
Kingdomino is a 2016 tile board game for 2-4 players designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Blue Orange Games. In this 15-20 minute, family-oriented game, players build a five by five kingdom of oversized domino-like tiles, making sure as they place each tile that one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play. The game was critically successful and won the 2017 Spiel des Jahres award, and was followed by several spin-offs and expansions.
