Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Top 10 Board Games of 2009

Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week Top 10 Board Games of 2009 13 Jul 2011, 11:02 am While my list of the best board games of 2008 was top-heavy with cooperative games, this year's list includes just one of that genre. But the games included here are just as fun as those from last year, allowing players to hunt for treasure, create civilizations, run an automobile manufacturer, race ostriches, catch Jack the Ripper, and much more. (I have also published my list of the best card games of 2009.) What do you think were the best new board games of 2009? Share your thoughts here. 1. Tobago Image courtesy of Zoch Verlag For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Bruce Allen, published by Rio Grande Games / Zoch Verlag. Players hunt treasure on a jungle island in Tobago, a family-friendly strategy game. The primary innovation in Tobago is the collaborative deduction that goes on to determine the location of treasures. By playing map cards, the players slowly reveal where the treasure is -- and then use their ATVs to arrive at the treasure first. (Every player who contributed to the map shares in the loot, but the player who digs it up gets an extra share.) But beware... because some of the treasure is cursed. 2. Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age Image courtesy of Gryphon Games For 1 to 4 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Matt Leacock, published by Gryphon Games. In Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, players compete to develop the best civilization by rolling up to seven custom dice to build cities and monuments. Each turn brings some tough choices, and you will never have quite enough options to do everything you want to. This is a finely balanced dice game. 3. Automobile Image courtesy of Warfrog Games For 3 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Martin Wallace, published by Mayfair Games. In this strategy board game, players must establish themselves as automobile manufacturers in the late 1800s and early 1900s by building factories, hiring distributors and cutting prices. As market demand fluctuates from round to round, players must make a number of crucial decisions, including: what type of cars to produce, how many cars to produce, and when to upgrade factories. 4. Witch of Salem Image courtesy of Mayfair Games For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Michael Rieneck, published by Mayfair Games. This cooperative board game, based on a series of novels by German author Wolfgang Hohlbein (which themselves were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft), is set in early 20th century New England. Players work together to close portals which are allowing the terrible "Great Old Ones" access to our world. 5. Small World Image courtesy of Days of Wonder For 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Philippe Keyaerts, published by Days of Wonder. Players control a variety of races in Small World -- including dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs and humans -- as they attempt to earn points by conquering territories and maintaining control. The game comes with 14 races and 20 special powers; expansions which add new races and powers are also available. Small World was chosen as game of the year by Games magazine. 6. Savannah Tails Image courtesy of Fragor Games For 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Fraser Lamont and Gordon Lamont, published by Fragor Games. Savannah Tails finds players racing ostriches across the African savannah. Good card management is key, as each player has a hand of four cards and plays one per turn. The number on the card is how many spaces that player moves; the color of the card shows which lane her ostrich must finish on. Players must also avoid obstacles (e.g., crocodiles, cheetahs and elephants) and can pick up bonuses by passing through waterholes. (More about Savannah Tails is available in this interview with the Lamont brothers.) 7. Mr. Jack in New York Image courtesy of Hurrican Games / Asmodée Editions For 2 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc, published by Hurrican. One player takes on the role of a New York City police detective, while the other is notorious criminal Jack the Ripper in this board game. The detective works to capture the Ripper before he can escape the city or time runs out, while the Ripper is trying desperately to avoid arrest. (Jack has only three escape routes -- two by sea, and one by land.) Eight characters are in the game, and any one of them could be the Ripper. Each has a special ability, such as moving another character or replacing a gaslamp with a park. This is an addictive, quick-playing deduction game. 8. Dungeon Lords Image courtesy of Z-Man Games / Czech Games Edition For 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Vlaada Chvátil, published by Czech Games Edition / Z-Man Games. Despite the light-hearted artwork on the cover, this is definitely a gamer's game and best for experienced players. Your task in Dungeon Lords is the opposite of what it is in most dungeon-themed games. Here, you control creatures and beasts who try to stop the so-called "heroic" adventurers from stealing your precious treasure. Throughout the game, you will expand your dungeon, draft monsters, build traps and hide your treasure -- trying not to attract the best adventurers along the way. 9. Livingstone Image courtesy of Playroom Entertainment For 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Benjamin Liersch, published by Schmidt Spiele / Playroom Entertainment. In this very family-friendly strategy game, players are exploring Africa on behalf of Queen Victoria. To do this, you must build huts and place them strategically on the map while also making sure to donate enough coins to the queen. (The player who donates the least is eliminated before the winner is determined.) One of my favorite parts of the game has players digging in mines to find valuable gems. However, if you keep digging for too long, you might cause a cave-in and lose everything found so far on that turn. 10. Tales of the Arabian Nights Image courtesy of Z-Man Games For 1 to 6 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Eric Goldberg, published by Z-Man Games. Playing Tales of the Arabian Nights is an experience I highly recommend. But go into realizing that this is, first and foremost, a story much more than it is a game. It is a great social game, but it should not be played competitively (even though there will be a winner). The fun is in letting the story unfold around you. And what a story it is! Players are each heroes and heroines in an adventure story, encountering evil viziers and imprisoned princesses while trying to fulfill their destiny. Virtually every game has exciting and unexpected twists. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.