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Eurogame
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.[1] 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.

Contents Detailed view at the board during

History Terra Mystica gameplay

Characteristics
Incentive for social play
No player elimination
Game mechanics
Low randomness
Themes
Game designer as author
Industry
Designers
Events
Awards
Influence
See also
References
External links

History
Contemporary Eurogames, such as Acquire, appeared in the
1960s. The 3M series of which Acquire formed a part became
popular in Germany, and became a template for a new form of
game, one in which direct conflict or warfare did not play a
role, due in part to aversion in postwar Germany to products
which glorified conflict.[2][3] 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. The
Settlers of Catan, first published in 1995, paved the way for The 1999 Hasbro version of Acquire
the genre outside Europe.[4]
Though neither the first
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Eurogame nor the first such game to find an audience outside Germany, it became much more
popular than any of its predecessors. It quickly sold millions of copies in Germany, and in the
process brought money and attention to the genre as a whole.

Germany purchased more board games per capita than any other country as of 2009.[5] 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.[5] Other games in the genre to achieve
widespread popularity include Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, and Alhambra.

Characteristics
Eurogames tend to be focused on economics and the
acquisition of resources rather than direct conflict,[6] and have
a limited amount of luck.[7] 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.[2]
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 A game of Agricola being set up.
Avalon Hill, but nonetheless 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.

Incentive for social play

While many titles (especially the strategically heavier ones)

are enthusiastically played by gamers as a hobby, Eurogames
are, for the most part, 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 pre-
A four-player game of Ticket to Ride
determined winning score, a set number of game turns, or
near the end of the game
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 German-style games that are designed for
exactly two players, most games can accommodate anywhere from two to six players (with varying
degrees of suitability). Six-player games are somewhat rare, with Power Grid being one example,
or require expansions, as with The Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. Players usually play for
themselves individually, rather than in a partnership or team.

No player elimination

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Another prominent characteristic of these games is the lack of player elimination. 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 can make only suboptimal plays.

Game mechanics

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 often with a chess- or backgammon-like opening game, middle game, and
end game.

Stewart Woods' Eurogames cites six examples of mechanics common to eurogames:[2]

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.

Low randomness

Eurogame designs tend to de-emphasize luck and random elements.[8] 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.

Themes

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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. Samurai is a game of tile placement,
Bruxelles 1893 – take the role of an Art Nouveau architect set collection, and area control
during the late 19th century and try to become the most
famous architect in Belgium.[9]

Game designer as author

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.

Industry

Designers

Designers of Eurogames include:

Antoine Bauza, a prolific French designer, creator of 7 Wonders,

Tokaido, and Takenoko.[10]
Bruno Cathala, a French-born game designer, creator of Kingdomino[11]
and Five Tribes.[12]
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 Reiner Knizia and
rules as they progress through the scenarios. Bernd Brunnhofer at
the Deutscher
Leo Colovini, designer of Cartagena and Carcassonne: The Discovery.
Spielepreis awards
Rüdiger Dorn is a German designer who created Istanbul, Karuba, Las at Spiel 2003 in
Vegas, Luxor, and others.[10] Essen, Germany
Bruno Faidutti, French designer of Citadels.[13]
Stefan Feld, designer particularly of games that make use of dice,[14]
and that allow players to score points in a variety of ways.[15] He has designed games such as
Castles of Burgundy[15] and Trajan, and three of his games (Strasbourg, Bruges, and Carpe
Diem) have been nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres.
Friedemann Friese, a German designer, creator of Power Grid,[16] as well as many others.
Mac Gerdts, a German designer of games such as Antike, Imperial, Navegador, and most
notably, Concordia.[17]

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Reiner Knizia, one of the most prolific German game designers,[18] having designed over 600
published games. Recurring mechanisms in his games include auctions (Ra and Modern Art),
tile placement (Tigris and Euphrates[19] and Ingenious), and intricate scoring rules (Samurai).
He has also designed many card games such as Lost Cities,[20] 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 have some sort of action point system,
and include some geometric element.
Alan R. Moon, a British-born designer with numerous games to his credit, often with a railway
theme, including the Spiel des Jahres-winning Ticket to Ride[21] and Elfenland.
Alex Randolph, who created over 125 games and is responsible for the placement of the
author's name on the rules and box.
Uwe Rosenberg, designer of games such as Agricola, Le Havre, Patchwork, and several
others.[16]
Sid Sackson was a prolific American game designer whose games, particularly Acquire,
prefigured and strongly influenced the Eurogame genre.[2]
Michael Schacht, German designer of Coloretto, Zooloretto, Aquaretto, Valdora, Africana, Web
of power, China, Han, Hansa, Mondo, Mondo Sapiens, Spirits of the Forest, Coney Island.
Andreas Seyfarth, who has designed the games Puerto Rico,[1] Manhattan, and, with Karen
Seyfarth, Thurn and Taxis.
Klaus Teuber, designer of Catan, which has sold more than 22 million copies.[22]
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, the German game designer of the Carcassonne board game series.[23]
As of June 2020, Carcassonne has 10 major expansions [24] as well as numerous mini-
expansions.

Events

The Internationale Spieltage, also known as Essen Spiel, or the

Essen Games Fair, is the largest non-digital game convention
in the world,[2][25] and the place where the largest number of
eurogames are released each year. Founded in 1983 and held
each fall 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.
Players trade currencies and place
A "World Boardgaming Championships" is held annually in tiles to build an Arabian palace in
July in Pennsylvania, USA. The event is nine days long and Alhambra in Deskohraní 2008
includes tournament tracks of over a hundred games; while
traditional wargames are played there, all of 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.

Awards

The most prestigious German board game award is the Spiel des Jahres ("game of the year").[2][26]
The award is very family-oriented. Shorter, more approachable, games such as Ticket to Ride and
Elfenland are usually preferred by the committee that gives out the award.

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.[2]
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The Deutscher Spiele Preis ("German game prize") is also awarded to games that are more
complex and strategic, such as Puerto Rico. However, there are a few games with broad enough
appeal to win both awards: The Settlers of Catan (1995), Carcassonne (2001), Dominion (2009).

Influence
Xbox Live Arcade has included popular games from the genre, with Catan being released to strong
sales[27] on May 13, 2007, Carcassonne being released on June 27, 2007.[28] Lost Cities and Ticket
to Ride soon followed. Alhambra was due to follow later in 2007 until being cancelled.

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 tremendously.[29]

See also
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

References
1. "German recreation: An affinity for rules?" (http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystor
y.cfm?story_id=12009728). The Economist. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
2. Woods, Stewart (2009). Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board
Games. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786467976.
3. Donovan, Tristan (2017). It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to
Settlers of Catan. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1250082725.
4. Harford, Tim (17 July 2010). "Why we still love board games" (https://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1aab
09a4-8fb2-11df-8df0-00144feab49a.html). ft.com. FT Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
5. Curry, Andrew (23 March 2009). "Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines
Genre" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150510075137/http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gaming
reviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=all). archive.wired.com. Archived from the
original (http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentP
age=all) on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
6. Moriarty, Joan (2019). Your Move. Sutherland House. ISBN 9781999439545.
7. Litorco, Teri (2016). The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming. Adams Media. ISBN 978-
1440597961.
8. Stevens, DJ (13 September 2017). "Abandoning the screen for cardboard" (https://www.sandie
goreader.com/news/2017/sep/13/hipster-abandoning-screen-cardboard/#). San Diego Reader.
Retrieved 15 August 2021.
9. Chivers, Kyle. "Bruxelles 1893 Review – An Art Nouveau & Architecture Board Game" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20140528014704/http://www.euroboardgameblog.com/reviews/bruxelles-
1893-board-game-review/). Euro Board Game Blog. Archived from the original (http://www.eur
oboardgameblog.com/reviews/bruxelles-1893-board-game-review/) on 28 May 2014.
Retrieved 25 June 2014.

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10. Law, Keith (13 August 2018). "The Best Games at Gen Con 2018" (https://www.pastemagazin
e.com/articles/2018/08/gen-con-2018-the-51st.html). Paste Magazine. Retrieved 30 November
2018.
11. Cocagne, Jean-Baptiste (February 22, 2018). "Bruno Cathala, auteur de jeux de société en
Haute-Savoie" (https://web.archive.org/web/20181124054957/https://rcf.fr/actualite/bruno-cath
ala-auteur-de-jeux-de-societe-en-haute-savoie). RCF Radio. Archived from the original (https://
rcf.fr/actualite/bruno-cathala-auteur-de-jeux-de-societe-en-haute-savoie) on 24 November
2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
12. Jolin, Dan (11 October 2018). "The 30 Best Board Games To Play Right Now" (https://www.em
pireonline.com/movies/features/best-board-games/). Empire. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
13. Law, Keith (26 January 2017). "Citadels Is Still One of the Best Games to Play in Groups of
Four or More" (https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/citadels-review.html). Paste
Magazine. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
14. Casey, Matt (2 October 2014). "Making better use of dice in games" (https://boingboing.net/20
14/10/02/making-better-use-of-dice-in-g.html). Boing Boing. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
15. Law, Keith (13 April 2019). "Review: Beloved board game Castles of Burgundy is now an app"
(https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/review-beloved-board-game-castles-of-burgundy-is-n
ow-an-app/). Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
16. Kay, Jonathan (21 January 2018). "The Invasion of the German Board Games" (https://www.th
eatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/01/german-board-games-catan/550826/). The Atlantic.
Retrieved 19 December 2019.
17. "Concordia, de retour, distribué par Atalia!" (https://www.trictrac.net/actus/concordia-retour-dist
ribue-par-atalia). TricTrac. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
18. Law, Keith (28 September 2018). "Reiner Knizia's Blue Lagoon Is a Great Addition to Your
Board Game Collection" (https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/09/reiner-knizias-blue-
lagoon-is-a-great-addition-to.html). Paste Magazine. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
19. Law, Keith (24 June 2015). "Tigris and Euphrates Boardgame Review" (https://www.pastemag
azine.com/articles/2015/06/tigris-and-euphrates-boardgame-review.html). Paste Magazine.
Retrieved 11 December 2019.
20. Zimmerman, Aaron; Anderson, Nate (16 April 2016). "Table for two: Our favorite two-player
board games" (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/04/table-for-two-our-favorite-two-player-b
oard-games-2/). Ars Technica. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
21. Duffy, Owen (27 October 2014). "All aboard – how Ticket To Ride helped save table-top
gaming" (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/oct/27/all-aboard-how-ticket-to-ri
de-helped-save-table-top-gaming). The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
22. Mcnary, Dave (19 February 2015). " 'Settlers of Catan' Movie, TV Project in the Works" (https://
variety.com/2015/film/news/settlers-of-catan-movie-tv-project-gail-katz-1201437121/). Variety.
Retrieved 2 October 2019.
23. Davis, Carl (29 March 2013). "10 Strategy Board Games You Should Be Playing" (https://www.
popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/g1112/you-win-or-you-die-10-alternative-b
oard-games/). Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
24. "Carcassonne Expansion 10: Under the Big Top" (https://www.zmangames.com/en/products/ca
rcassonne-expansion-10-under-big-top/). Z-Man Games. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
25. Peerutin, Seemy (21 August 2017). "Board games are quietly, nerdily, becoming big business"
(https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-08-21-board-games-are-quietly-nerdily-becoming
-big-business/#.WbXZV7pFy1s). Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
26. Tinsman, Brian (2008). The Game Inventor's Guidebook: How to Invent and Sell Board
Games, Card Games, Role-Playing Games, & Everything in Between!. Morgan James
Publishing. ISBN 978-1600374470.

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27. Nelson, Major (5 May 2007). "Xbox Live Activity for week of 4/30" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20070508043043/http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/05/05/xbox-live-activity-for-week-
of-4-30.aspx). Xbox Live's Major Nelson. Archived from the original (http://www.majornelson.co
m/archive/2007/05/05/xbox-live-activity-for-week-of-4-30.aspx) on 8 May 2007. Retrieved
15 August 2021.
28. Porcaro, John (25 June 2007). "Build a Medieval Empire on Xbox LIVE Arcade with the
Popular German Board Game Carcassonne" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070701165045/ht
tp://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/06/25/551618.aspx). Gamer Score Blog. Archived
from the original (http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/06/25/551618.aspx) on 1 July
2007. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
29. Kuchera, Ben (22 February 2012). "Days of Wonder CEO explains how iPad Ticket to Ride
boosted sales of the real thing" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130327040144/https://www.pen
ny-arcade.com/report/article/days-of-wonder-ceo-explains-how-ipad-ticket-to-ride-boosted-sale
s-of-the-re). Penny Arcade. Archived from the original (https://www.penny-arcade.com/report/a
rticle/days-of-wonder-ceo-explains-how-ipad-ticket-to-ride-boosted-sales-of-the-re) on 27
March 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2021.

External links
Brett and Board (http://www.brettboard.dk/) with information on German-style games (has not
been updated in some time)
Luding.org (http://www.luding.org/) – board game database with over 15,000 English and
German reviewed games
BoardGameGeek (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/) – internet database of over 100,000
tabletop games, with online fan community.
Gamerate.net (https://web.archive.org/web/20120729010243/http://gamerate.net/board-card/)
– internet database of board, card and electronic games.

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