{"id":5119,"date":"2011-12-05T15:12:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T22:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/defectiveyeti.com\/?p=5119"},"modified":"2012-01-20T15:50:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T22:50:41","slug":"the-2011-good-gift-games-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/defectiveyeti.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/05\/the-2011-good-gift-games-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2011 Good Gift Games Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Top Ten<\/strike> Eleven<\/u><\/p>\n

My 2011 Good Gifts Game Guide<\/a> (G4), in which I provide capsule reviews for my favorite easy-to-learn-and-teach games of the year, appeared in The Morning News last Friday. The listed games follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/table>\n

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Honorable Mentions<\/u>
\nWhittling the list down to 10 (actually 11 games, as Summoner Wars<\/em> and Jab<\/em> share an entry) was unusually difficult this year, as I started<\/em> with 19 worthy of inclusion and amassed half a dozen more as I asked others for recommendation. <\/p>\n

Here are some that didn’t make the cut but are worth looking into if they pique your interest.<\/p>\n

Elder Sign<\/b> (1-8 players, 90 minutes, dice)<\/em>: Arkham Horror–the dice game! If you are unfamiliar with Arkham Horror<\/a> or uninterested in H. P Lovecraft, this is not the game for you. If you are a fan of the mythos, though, Elder Sign allows you to battle eldritch horrors in as short as an hour. I will be reviewing both Arkham Horror<\/em> and Elder Sign<\/em> soon as part of the H. P. Lovefest<\/a>. Why it was left off the main list<\/b>: Uses the same central mechanism as the more accessable King of Tokyo<\/em>. [Boardgame Geek<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Funagain<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

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Letters from Whitechapel<\/b> (2-6 players, 90 minutes, family strategy)<\/em>: One person assumes the role of Jack the Ripper, carrying out his dark business on the streets and in the alleys of London; the remaining players are detectives, trying to track the killer down and bring him to justice. Why it was left off the main list<\/b>: It is currently out of print and the company that made it has gone belly-up, so there’s no guarentee that it will be available anytime soon. If you want a copy, call your local game store and see if they have any in stock. Otherwise check out the classic game Scotland Yard<\/a> (which uses the same One Person Plays the Bad Guy, The Others Play the Detectives mechanism), or the two-player Mr. Jack<\/a> (which has both the Ripper theme and the deduction element). [Boardgame Geek<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Funagain<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

Mondo<\/b> (1-4 players, 20 minutes, puzzle)<\/em>: More multi-player jigsaw puzzle than board game, Mondo<\/em> has players racing against the clock (and each other) to assemble a map of the world, striving to score points for completed environments and collected animals. Similar in feel to Carcassonne<\/em>, with the timer injecting an element of urgency. Why it was left off the main list<\/b>: It’s a fun game, but the dearth of player interaction ill-suits for the G4. [Boardgame Geek<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Funagain<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

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Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game<\/b> (1-8 players, 90 minutes, adventure board game)<\/em>: Rated highly on Boardgame Geek and perhaps the board game with the most buzz at the 2011 Penny Arcade Expo<\/a>, Fortune and Glory<\/em> is a loving recreation of pulp-era yards, complete with lost treasure, abominable monsters, and boatloads of Nazis. Flying Frog<\/a>‘s streak of producing well-received thematic games remains unbroken. Why it was left off the main list<\/b>: List price of $100. Yikes. [Boardgame Geek<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Funagain<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

Quarriors!<\/b> (2-4 players, 20 minutes, dice)<\/em>: As “deck building games” reach the saturation point (see my review of Thunderstone: Dragonspire<\/em> on the main 2011 G4<\/a>), designers need a unique take on the genre to stand out. WizKids has done so by eliminating the deck entirely, and replacing the cards with dice. The result is a game that plays fast and gives you the great satisfaction of rolling a huge handful of bones on each turn. Why it was left off the main list<\/b>: Same reason as Elder Sign<\/em>, essentially: too many dice games on the main list already. [Boardgame Geek<\/a> | Amazon<\/a> | Funagain<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

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Other Opinions<\/u><\/p>\n

Don’t trust the yeti? Here are the highlights of some other \u201c2011 best game of the year\u201d lists.
\nGerman Game of the Year<\/a><\/b>:<\/p>\n

Survive: Escape from Atlantis!<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
King of Tokyo<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Summoner Wars<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Jab: Realtime Boxing<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Airlines Europe<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
7 Wonders<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Ascending Empires<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Skull & Roses<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Train of Thought<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Thundestone: Dragonspire<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n
Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War<\/td>\nBoardgame Geek<\/a><\/td>\nAmazon<\/a><\/td>\nFunagain<\/a><\/td>\n