German Board Games are the next big thing. You just watch. Our friends Scott & Amy introduced us to Settlers of Catan some years ago. Back then they were doing board game nights at their place. The first night we went they had multiple copies of Settlers set up around the house. We bought Settlers the next day, and we’ve added Puerto Rico, Dalmuti and Carcassonne to the list. Puerto Rico is our favorite game by far, not because I’m puertorican, the game could have been called Cuba and still be just as good.
Last night we introduced a friend to Carcassonne because it’s a gentle introduction to German games. It plays fast, it has simple rules and there’s an awful lot of luck involved. On the other hand, Puerto Rico and Settlers can seem daunting at first becuase they have lots of pieces, lots of rules and take a couple of hours to play. Keep in mind we play all games with our six year old daughter. How hard could they be.
A year ago these games were available on specialty gaming stores or on specialty websites. Not even Amazon was carrying them at the time. However today Toys R’ Us is carrying them, at least online. This means Amazon is carrying them as well. You see what I mean, it’s going to be big. All I need now is a cool board game coffee house nearby like the ones in Europe.
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After reading this third post 9so far) about “German board games” and in this particular case you talk about the last one my girlfriend bought, I just have to leave a reply ;-)
In the Netherlands we have “999 Games” [999games.nl] that is releasing these games. “Carcassonne” is nice, but I’ve heard the version with the hunters / prehistoric-theme is one of the best so far. Have you ried it (yet)?
BTW I like your site / blog a lot, Melvin!