German-style board game

Board gaming in Germany is taken far more seriously than in other parts of the world. As a result, there is a thriving boardgaming industry there, releasing games quite unlike those seen elsewhere. These games form their own genre, known generally as "German Games". Because German Games do not necessarily have to be designed by Germans or published by a German company, some people are uncomfortable with the term. "Designer Games" or "Family Strategy Games" are sometimes used instead.

German Games usually have the following characteristics (although as in any classification, there are exceptions.)

They are designed to be played and enjoyed by the whole family. This means that they are fairly simple to learn for older children, but have a good level of strategy to keep adults interested. They usually promote a high level of player interaction. It is most unusual to see a mechanism of "roll the dice and move your counter that many spaces", as is used in Monopoly. Players are not eliminated, but instead a game finishes after a set number of turns or one player achieves a winning condition. Games usually take between 90 and 120 minutes, although there are of course longer and shorter games. The designer of the game is almost always credited on the box.

The most famous German game is The Settlers of Catan, also known as Die Siedler von Catan, by [Klaus Teuber]?. Other games of Teuber's include Entdecker? and Loewenherz?. [Reiner Knizia]? has designed [Euphrat und Tigris]?, Samurai, [Stephensons Rocket]? and [Lost Cities]?. [Wolfgang Kramer]?, in partnership with various collaborators, has designed [El Grande]?, Tikal?, Java and Torres?. Other games of note include Carcassonne?, Bohnanza?, Citadels? and Elfenland.

Although German companies like [Hans im Glueck]? and Goldsieber? only produce German versions of their games, most of the best are available in English, usually from either [Rio Grande Games]? or [Mayfair Games]?.