 Quotes •  Headscratchers •  Playing With • Useful Notes •  Analysis •  Image Links •  Haiku • Laconic
|
|---|
Euro games are a subtrope of board game. Sometimes called "German Style Board Games" Often coming from Europe, these games tend to feature wooden pieces, victory points (often with a track around the board for the easy measurement thereof), and a coherent theme to the game (in other words, they aren't abstract). Sometimes common mechanics are repeated, such as a system of trading materials. Other important aspects are bilingual materials, such as cards in both German and English (or cards using graphics rather than words to avoid the issue), resource management instead of direct player competition, and the importance of player choice and skill in winning (compared to a Luck-Based Mission).
Euro Games tend to have no elimination of players as opposed to some old time favourites like Monopoly or Risk and usually have a smaller window of time needed, so a game will usually take roughly the same amount each time it is played, often through a set number of turns.
In some gaming communities, most people play only combat-oriented games. In that case, "eurogame" might be used to describe any board game that is not combat oriented--even Robo Rally, an American game with no victory points nor resource management.
There is a tendency for games to have multiple Expansion Packs, giving the player new buildings, powers, and sometimes expanding the number of players who can play a game.
Not to be confused with Ero Games.
Out of the top 15 games listed on Boardgamegeek, 80% are Eurogames:
- Puerto Rico
- Agricola
- Power Grid
- Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
- Dominion
- Le Havre
- Tigris And Euphrates
- El Grande
- Race For The Galaxy
- Caylus
- Brass
- Age Of Steam
Along with Puerto Rico, the following are well known even outside eurogaming circles:
Eurogames are quite diverse in numbers. Below are some of the dozens to hundreds of Eurogames that exist:
- Lionheart
- Notre Dame
- Revolution
- Small World
- Stone Age
- Traders Of Genoa
Further, as the term refers to a design style/philosophy, there are increasing numbers of Euro Games that are not from Europe. Games like Pandemic use numerous aspects of the "genre" and this is seen as a good thing, depending on your gaming tastes.
This style of board game provides examples of the following Tropes:[]
- Crack is Cheaper
- Market-Based Title
- No Export for You: Though as mentioned, bilingual or language-independent materials mean that importing a product is less of a problem.