Introduction to Strategy Games
In the United States, gathering 'round the table for an evening
of game playing is stereotypically seen as some kind of wholesome
family activity or a lame nerdy pastime. This is partly because
most American games fall into two categories: on one hand, you've
got the randomness of Uno, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Twister, and Jenga.
On the other, you're faced with the braindraining thinking required
for chess, or your standard 4,000-piece, eighty-page rulebook wargame.
In between these extremes are the Strategy Games, also called German
Games, German-style Games, European Games, European Strategy Games,
and Designer Games. Yes, every game requires a strategy, certainly
Chess and even Hungry Hungry Hippos. The term "Strategy Game"
has come to mean a game of the type first popularized in Germany,
consisting of the following general qualities:
1) Simple, elegant rules
2) Short playing times--generally 60-90 minutes max
3) Players don't die or get knocked out of the game--all players
play 'til the end
4) High-quality components (attractive boards, wooden playing
pieces)
In parts of Europe, particularly Germany, playing games is not
only accepted socially, but many people would rather play games
on a Saturday night than go out. Thanks to this game-hungry climate,
the games have gotten better, so people play more, so more and better
games get made.
Just like successful (or marketable) foreign language books and
films make their way to the United States, translated and subtitled,
many of the best foreign games get English-language editions, courtesy
of a handful of American companies (primarily Rio
Grande Games). Some U.S. gamers can't stand the wait for domestic
versions, and purchase imported games online or abroad with downloaded
rules translations.
Here are four excellent "intro to strategy games" games.
Make no mistake, these are not "Fisher-Price baby's first strategy
game." They're solid strategy game experiences, tested and
adored by thousands of gamers, and a great way to test the waters
to see if these kinds of games are fun for you and your gaming group.
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TransAmerica
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Hare & Tortoise
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Carcassonne
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The Settlers of Catan
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TransAmerica
The gist: place railroad track in a race to connect five cities
before your opponents can.
Type of game: abstract position (but don't tell them that)
The board represents the Continental United States. Players get
five cards, each showing a city from a different region in the United
States (East, West, Midwest, North, South). Players choose spaces
on the board to serve as their starting hub, take a handful of track
markers from the box, and begin.
On your turn, place one or two tracks connected to your hub or
your existing track. You'll almost always want to play two tracks,
though crossing mountains and rivers requires two actions to place
one track. If your track network connects to someone else's, you
can build off of any of their tracks (and they can build off of
yours!).
The first player to connect all five of their cities wins the round,
and each other player takes one penalty point for each space distant
to their goal cities. Play lasts several rounds, and the player
with the least penalty points wins. Someone who happens to get city
cards that are close together will have an advantage for that round,
but since the cards are redealt every play the luck of the draw
does get evened out. While there is some strategy to where you place
your starting hub and when you link networks with another player,
it's not so crucial that a player who fails to grasp them will always
be hosed. The flip side of this: sometimes you'll come in dead last
even if you carefully analyze every move. It's very simple and very
quick, but that doesn't mean its not fun. Chosen by Mensa as one
of their Mensa Select® designated games.
What's to like: Quick to explain, quick to play, a crowd
pleaser.
Be warned: Very luck based, a light "filler" game.
For more reviews, or to buy TransAmerica, click here!
Hare & Tortoise
The gist: Move your rabbit forward by spending carrot cards, and
earn more carrots by sending the critter backwards. First rabbit
across the finish line wins.
Type of game: resource/position (disguised as a race)
Hare and Tortoise won the very first Spiel des Jahres (Game of
the Year) award in 1979, and it still holds up. The cartoony animal
art might make you think it's a kid's game. Think again.
The board is a single winding path from start to finish. Each player
controls a rabbit and starts with a supply of carrot cards in various
denominations. Move forward by expending (eating) carrots: one space
requires one carrot, two spaces requires three (2+1), three spaces
requires six (3+2+1). There's a chart that does the math for you,
and each space on the board is numbered, so if you're on space 13
and you want to move to space 36, that's twenty-three spaces. Moving
far consumes carrots quickly, and the best way to replenish your
supply is to run backwards to special tortoise spaces, gaining 10
carrots for each space moved. Carrots can also be won by correctly
predicting what position you'll be (first place, second, etc.) at
the start of your next turn, or losing a turn on a carrot or lettuce
space.
Win the race by crossing the finish line first, while having ten
or fewer carrots, and ditching all three of your lettuce cards on
lettuce spaces. This game has a lot of jockeying for position, as
bunnies race forward to take the lead only to hurry backward for
more carrots. Each space can only be occupied by one player,
What's to like: Involving, good marriage of theme and mechanics.
Be warned: Math turns some folks off, make sure everyone
gets the fiddly rules.
For more reviews, or to buy Hare & Tortoise, click here!
Carcassonne
The gist: Create a rural landscape, piece by piece, earning points
for the size of your cities, roads, and fields.
Type of game: tile placement
First released in 2000, Carcassonne is the latest German import
to capture worldwide attention.
The bulk of the game is a deck of colorful tiles, each depecting
sections of cities, roads, fields, or a cloister. On your turn,
take a random unplayed tile and add it to the growing mass of the
countryside, building the board. You also have the option of adding
one of your Person markers (called a "meeple") on the
tile you just placed--either in a city, on a road, in a cloister,
or in a field. When a city is completed, a road has two end points,
or a cloister is surrounded, a meeple "pops off" the board
and scores points for its owner. Meeples in fields (farmers) never
move once placed, and score points for every city connected to their
field, but only at the end of the game.
Strategy
Do I place this tile here to score points, or here to block you?
Do I continue to build on this area, or start another zone of control
somewhere else? Do I complete this city now for quick points, or
keep building it for a bigger payoff? Players must also place their
meeples wisely: since you don't get them back until their road/city/cloister
is completed, you might find yourself stuck with several half-completed
structures and no meeples to expand anywhere else!
Carcassonne also scales well: a two-player game will be ruthlessly
cutthroat, while a five-player game will likely see alliances and
shared cities.
There are several expansions to the game and one standalone spinoff.
I actually prefer the Hunters and Gatherers spinoff, for the addition
of bonus tiles and the tweaks to the way hunters (farmers) are scored.
As for the expansions, try the basic game first. If you like it,
you'll probably like the add-ons.
What's to like: Cool "organic" feel as countryside
grows, a crowd pleaser.
Be warned: Newbies need to play on all fronts or get slammed
during scoring.
For more reviews, or to buy Carcassonne, click here!
The Settlers of Catan
Type: resource/trading/area control
For many, many gamers (myself included), Catan was the first German
game we played.
An island composed of several hexagonal land tiles, randomly placed
so that every game is different. Each land tile has an associated
resource: forests create the wood resource, mountains create ore,
marshes brick, fields wheat, and pastures sheep. Resources are the
currency of Catan. Players begin with two settlements, anywhere
on the board. Settlements are not placed on land tiles, but at the
triangular point where three tiles meet. So you can't have a settlement
in the woods, but you can have one at the point where the woods,
a mountain, and a field meet.
Each turn a die roll designates which spaces produce their goods,
and all settlements next to those spaces earn resources for their
owners. Resources are spent to improve your settlements into cities,
build new settlements and roads to expand your empire, or draw a
special cards with beneficial effects. Having too many resources
makes you vulnerable to the robber, who could steal half your cards,
so players are encouraged to build structures and buy cards whenever
possible. On your turn, you can trade resources with your opponents,
in the frequent case that someone else has a resource you need.
You can also turn in four-of-a-kind to the bank (four wood for one
brick, for example). This 4:1 ratio can be improved to 3:1 or 2:1,
if you build a settlement on one of the coastal ports. The disadvantage
is that port settlements are only adjacent to one or two land tiles,
and earn you fewer resources.
The first player to earn ten victory points wins. Each settlement
is worth one victory point, and each city is worth two points. Other
victory points are awarded by having the longest continuing road,
and other bonuses earned by the special cards. The Settlers of Catan
is a very simple abstract game that holds a surprising number of
possibilities. The modular board allows near-limitless island combinations,
or save a favorite setup time after time. Focus on dominating one
resource or grab a little of everything. Draw special cards or ignore
them, trade cautiously or wantonly, race for the longest road or
stick to improving your settlements. Several expansions add complexity
to Catan, changing the game into a different experience altogether
instead of "the same, but more." Standalone sequels put
the game in outer space or the Stone Age. For my money, adding barbarians
and boats to this game is like adding computer-generated dewbacks,
Jabba the Hutt, and Greedo shooting first into STAR WARS. There's
no need to mess with a classic.
What's to like: Easy to explain, plenty of options and play
styles supported,
Be warned: Takes a long time to play, only 3-4 players unless
you add expansions (and then it takes a really long time!)
For more reviews, or to buy the Settlers of Catan, click here!
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