25.11.2007	"Steam over Holland", an Essen 2007 release of the 18xx series has been on our table. The game claims to have managed to considerably shorten the playing time without loosing any of the key elements of game play of the series. If it fulfills our high expectations is described in Walter's latest review.
11.11.2007	Alert reader will have noticed the new structure of the menu bar on the left. This has become necessary because we wanted to insert a new menu item and at the same mainain usability. The new item is called "Transcipts" and provides a link to transcripts of a selection of our podcasts.
02.11.2007	Yesterday the last of our series of Yspahan puzzles came to an end. We would like to thank all participants of our puzzles and hope you enjoyed it a lot. And our special thanks go to Ystari Games and Huch&Friends for providing the prizes and sending them to the winners. And here's the result of the final puzzle..
03.10.2007	The winner of our fourth Yspahan puzzle has been drawn from amongst the top five entries. Petra Golderer sent in the second best solution with a victory point difference of 29 points. Congratulations from the Westpark Gamers, Ystari and Huch & Friends Verlag. We want to thank all participants and hope that all of you had so much fun that you give the fifth puzzle a try. Details of the solution of contest #4 can be found here.... In his second podcast on innovative game designs Moritz decribes a mechanic that prevents ganging up on the leader.
30.09.2007	As a special service to our English reader we have created an English version of our "League of Six" preview.
August Zooloretto	Quite belatedly we chose "Zooloretto" - now "Spiel des Jahres" - as our "Game of the Month". "Zooloretto" is a typical candidate for the award, as it is thematically broad enough to appeal to a wide audience of all ages, but still giving enough food for thought for the more serious gamer. The boardgame elements enhance its predecessor "Coloretto" (already a successful game in its own right). We would probably chose the new version over the old one now, though. A good new entry into the honourable list of "Spiel des Jahres" games list has been selected.
23.09.2007	Now also the second game of the new Czech publisher Czech Games Edition "Sechsstädtebund" by Vladimír Suchý has been on our table. As with their other game "Galaxy Trucker" we want to provide our first impression of this game in time before Spiel 2007 in Essen with our latest preview vermitteln.
16.09.2007	The first Essen 2007 release has appeared on our table. "Galaxy Trucker" is a new game by Vladimír Chvátil released by the Czech publisher Czech Games Edition. The game uses a sci-fi theme and how we liked it is described by Aaron in his Preview. And there is a new podcast by Moritz.
02.09.2007	"On The Underground" plays in the London Underground (subway-) system and such topics are for railroad game lovers like us a must. Here players try to build lucrative subway lines in order to lure passangers to use them. What looked like another "Ticket to Ride" clone in the beginning developed into a nice strategy game of its own. Walter wrote the review.
26.08.2007	School holidays in Bavaria will be over in 2 weeks and hence the game sessions of the Westpark Gamers are starting to follow their normal schedule again. This means that also our flow of reviews will increase again although our stock of new games close to the Spiel 2007 has deminished considerably. This time we have a look at a game of one of our favorit game designers, Reiner Knizia: "Tal der Abenteuer", which received the award "Game of Games" by the Wiener Spiele Akademie. Walter describes it in his latest review how we liked the game.
03.08.2007	And the winner of our second Yspahan puzzle has been drawn from amongst the top five entries. Armin Görgens sent in the third best solution with a victory point difference of 27 points. Congratulations from the Westpark Gamers, Ystari and Huch & Friends Verlag. We want to thank all participants and hope that all of you had so much fun that you give the third puzzle a try. Details of the solution of puzzle #2 can be found here.... In his latest podcast Moritz defines the 10 commandments for good game designs.
June Caylus - Magna Carta	Successful boardgame-to-cardgame conversions have been surprisingly common these days, and Caylus - Magna Carta is no exception. It could even be stated that this game is actually better than its already fantastic predecessor. Caylus - Magna Carta plays faster and more streamlined than the original game, but offers the same tactical and meaningful decisions while being gripping to the end. Very recommended!
21.07.2007	Our favorit candidate for this year's "Spiel des Jahres" award was of course "Yspahan". But it being a "gamers' game" we considered its chances rather slim and not without surprise the more family and mass market fitting "Zooloretto" received the award instead. If this game will enthuse the seasoned gamers is reflected by Walter in his latest review.
11.07.2007	Here is the winner of our first Yspahan Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Thomas Rettner who achieved a victory point difference of 18. Congratulations from the Westpark Gamers, Ystari and Huch & Friends Verlag. We want to thank all participants and hope that all of you had so much fun that you give the second puzzle a try. Details of the solution of puzzle #1 can be found here....
01.07.2007	In a recent discussion about whether Reiner Knizia or Wolfram Kramer has published only good games we remembered one of our classic games that has been in our top10 list since long: "Euphrat & Tigris". When we noticed that we had never written a review about the game it was an easy decision to put the new release of "Euphrat & Tigris" by Pegasus Spiele on our table. Walter wrote the review. In his latest podcast Moritz defines the 10 commandments for gaming.
May Wikinger	Players compete in building a Viking empire. Piece by piece they expand their insular scenery and populate their islands with warriors, scouts, nobles, peers, goldsmiths and fishermen. They earn money and victory points, they defend against Viking attacks and they supply the population with the necessary food. Everything mates very well. Every player waits with eagerness for his next move. The brilliant game idea has been conceived by Michael Kiesling and Hans-im-Glück has proven with it his reputation as an excellent games publisher.
09.06.2007	It's been nearly 1½ years since our series of St. Petersburg contests came to an end. Well, our Yspahan for Windows also features a so called "puzzle mode" and hence we decided to start a contest with this game. Again, we have a prize to be won sponsored by the publishers Ystari Games and Huch&Friends in the form of the Yspahan boardgame. More details on how to participate in the contest can be found here... And Moritz sent us his latest podcast with the fifth and final report about his Wilderness War match against Jason.
03.06.2007	Correcting a small bug with the selection of the startplayer of the last round in a 3-player game we are today releasing version 1.11 of our Yspahan for Windows game. This version will also be the basis for our soon to start Yspahan competition. We are also happy to announce the Italien version of the Yspahan language package.
27.05.2007	Version 1.10 of Yspahan for Windows is now available for download. Click on the logo left to access our download page. Bug Fixes: The "3 Gold" card can now be used beore buying yellow dice if one owns less than three gold. New features: improved AI to counter the caravan strategy History is now displaying the players' colors three variants implemented to decrease the effectiveness of the caravan strategy.
26.05.2007	A good combination of luck, tactics, strategy and negotiation, this is how Wolfgang Kramer describes his game "Colosseum", which is published by Days of Wonder. Walter describes how we liked it in his new review. In his latetest podcast Moritz tells us about the inventor of wargames.
19.05.2007	Selected as our "Game of the Month" in April "Notre Dame" is now being reviewed by Walter. In his latetest podcast Moritz tells us more about one of his favorit fantasy wargames: Dragon Pass.
13.05.2007	Games by Martin Wallace usually create mixed feelings in our group - some are real Wallace fans, other don't find much in many of his games. This time "Perikles" was on our table and Walter describes it in his latest review. In his latetest podcast Moritz provides part four of his Wilderness War match against Jason. And he produced a new edition of his German Gaming News.
April Notre Dame	Notre Dame puts players - as our Guenther has put it - immediately under high "starving" pressure when managing their pawns. No matter what you do, one has always "too little" to do it: too few actions, too little money, too few pawns and usually way too many rats. It is rare that a game puts such high pressure on the players right from the first round, without being mean or unjust at the same time. Of course this is a typical German abstract Euro game, but its designer has devised so many clever playing mechanics that we were immediately taken by it. High marks by the Westpark Gamers!
26.04.2007	The French language pack for "Yspahan for Windows" is now available for download.
21.04.2007	Yspahan for Windows available for download! Earlier than expected did we manage to execute all our tests, wrote the documentation files and even managed to provide an English language pack (coming soon: French language pack). The PC implementation of Ystari's boardgame Yspahan is now available as a free download. Günther again provided a superb adaptation of an excellent boardgame with hard to beat computer opponents. Try it out! At this point we want to thank Ystari Games for kindly granting the permission to realize this project and to make the result publicly available as freeware. Click on the logo left to access our download page.
15.04.2007	Yspahan for Windows soon to be released It has been quite a while, but another computer adaptation of a boardgame by Günther Rosenbaum is in its final test phase. End of April, beginning of May - depending on how testing is progressing - you will be able to download the final version of "Yspahan for Windows" - like Sankt Petersburg for PC it is freeware. We think that the adaptation for Windows and the strength of the AI are excellent, even Yspahan veterans will have problems beating the AI at the highest strength setting (and as before: the AI does not cheat)! More information, also about the progress of the development, can be read by clicking on the game logo on the left...
14.04.2007	Games by Zoch Verlag do not appear too often on our table. This is by far not due to the quality of the games, which genrally is excellent, but rather due to the fact that theiy don't publish too many "gamers' games". But "Salamanca", released in Essen 2006, looked promissing and Walter describes it in his latest review. In his latetest podcast Moritz provides part three of his Wilderness War match against Jason. And he produced a special April edition of his German Gaming News packed with the hottest news of the scene and an even hotter special guest...
07.04.2007	For those who love the old SPI games "hexwar.com" offers the posibility to play these games online. Moritz hat a look at the site.
31.03.2007	After the success of "Thurn und Taxis" last year and it receiving the "Spiel des Jahres 2006" award, Hans im Glück Verlag decided to publish an extention called "Glanz und Gloria". The rules have not been changed a lot but nevertheless a completely new game feeling is the result. Walter describes in his review how we like these changes. In his latest podcast Moritz delivers part 2 of his Wilderness War Match against Jason.
25.03.2007	Much sought after by game collectors and highly priced are the games of the 3M Bookshelf Series. Moritz reports about "Jati" and an initiative of the European Game Collectors Guild related to that game. In his latest podcast Moritz reports about a second important game accessory.
16.03.2007	"Wilderness War" simulates the struggle between Britain and France for the contral of North America in the 18th Century. And exactly this game has been selected for the fight of a wargamer (Jason, Point2Point) against a Eurogamer (Moritz, Westpark Gamers). Moritz reports about the contest. In his latest podcast Moritz reports about his favorit game accessory.
February Space Dealer	It is very rare that innovations appear in boardgaming, so Space Dealer has to be applauded simply for trying something really new and making a good job out of it. A "real time" game in which all players act simultaneously has been attempted often and often it hasn't worked (memories of the atrocious "Time Agent" anyone?). But here a good solid Eurogame design, which takes heavy influence from computer resource management games, really does the job very well, and Eggert Spiele has to be applauded for the constant rise in quality that they have kept up in the last years. This game is absolutely unlike any other game you've played, so give it a try!
11.03.2007	Moritz reports about "Magic Realm", which is deemed to be unplayable by so many. He provided information that should help you getting a better access to the game. In his latest podcast Moritz tells us about his view in how much free review copies of games have an influence on reviewers.
11.02.2007	Emanuele Ornella in past has been a reliable source for good games from Italy. If his latest game "Hermagor" met our expectations can be found in Walter's review. In our new podcast Moritz talks about new versions of old games.
04.02.2007	Games with titles starting with "Ur" were generally received very faivorable by our group. That this is not a general rule shows Paolo Mori's latest game "UR". Aaron wrote the review. In our latest podcast Moritz provides details about the website hexwars.com.
20.01.2007	The European Game Collector's Guild (ESG) recently made a call to all owners of the rare 3M game "Jati". Although no longer being the rarest 3M game Jati is still one of the most sought after. The ESG would like to publish of photo of every Jati owner on their pages. The first responses have already arrived: http://www.e-s-g.eu/Sammlungen/Themen/Jati3M.htm. Every Jati owner who wants to participate should contact ESG under admin@e-s-g.eu! The latest podcast is about Moritz favorit game Magic Real Bericht.
December 24/7 The Game	"24/7 The Game" is a great light game of number tile scoring, a bit reminiscent of but much better than Zatre (which plays much slower). Sunriver Games has again managed to produce a winner! Very recommended for any type of gaming group. Rules: bilingual (German and English), can be explained in 2 minutes Game material: impeccably good Game length: 20 minutes, and you want to play again immediately
05.01.2007	The name did not sound very convincing. "Vegas Showdown" suggests to be a gambling game of the Las Vegas kind, the type of game we do not play too often in our group. But we were wrong. "Vegas Showdown" is tile placement and bidding game that uses the Vegas Casino scene for its setting. Wolfgang describes the game in his first review. Moritz provides a new podcast with his Top Ten List of classic games.
31.12.2006	The nice little dice game "Verflixxt!" has reveived an expansion pack called "Verflixxt nochmal!", adding a few new elements to this already good game.If the really enrich the game is clarified by Walter in his latest review. On the podcast side we have Moritz' latest version of the German Gaming News.
23.12.2006	Alan Paull presented to us his latest game, "Tara - Seat of Kings", on this year's Spiel in Essen and finally we have had the time to put it to the Westpark Gamers test. Moritz wrote one of his scenic reviews about this abstract tactical game. The "Tara - Seat of Kings" review is also available as a podcast.
16.12.2006	Sunriver Games' last year release "Havoc - The Hundred Year War" immediately became one of our favorit games. At this year's Spiel in Essen they released their new game "24/7" and Moritz wrote a slightly different type of review about it. Additionally, he had a look at the new edition of "Quest for the Dragonlords". The "24/7" review is also available as a podcast.
10.12.2006	During the summer of 2006 Hans im Glück held a little competition where players were asked to create maps for mtheir Hazienda game, using Günther's Hazienda Map Generator, and send them in to HiG. The competition is since long over and we would like to share some of the most interesting entries with you and make them available for testing and playing. Therefore we are providing an extra page, where we describe the layouts and possible rule extentions and of course provide the requires .haz files.
November Yspahan	It's not often that the Westpark Gamers vote a game of the month in complete unison, but here it was like this. Yspahan is a game that has us all in its grasp: Günther and Walter immediately started to construct complicated probability tables, the others simply want to play it again and again. Even though it's a dice game its die mechanic itself is a blast, and the various decision trees make life difficult for the player. Several roads lead to victory, but none of them is completely calculable. Luck is the spice of the game, not its dominating factor. In short: a fantastic game, that easily outmatches the already classic Ystari games of late in the fun department.
09.12.2006	Regularly publishers decide to release professionally made games of the 18xx series to the waiting fans. This year in Essen we notices 1861 published by JKLM, who seem to finally have learnt how to produce high quality game components. Walter wrote a review of the game. And Moritz takes reminiscence of "City of Chaos" in his latest review. On the podcast side we have Moritz' latest version of the German Gaming News.
02.12.2006	Just in time for our Game of the Month election (see below) Moritz provided his review of the excellent "Die Säulen der Erde" published by Kosmos. And on the podcast side there is Moritz' third lesson of how to talk Spielsh.
October Die Säulen der Erde	An excellent offering that comes as a surprise when looks at the very few succesful book/film tie-ins that are out there (and especially Kosmos' speckled history in that respect). In fact the game mostly avoids a close representation of the book, which mostly is some flair text on the cards (and there is very little flair text). This is simply a very delightful and challenging game for gamers, with more than a passing resemblance to Caylus but with some aspects that make the game actually more accessible and even more forgiving. The different phases work very beautifully together, there is no downtime as all phases are interactive and the game also doesn't overstay it's welcome but is engrossing up to the end. The fancy turn counter (the cathedral IS the turn-counter, in case you wondered) made Richard Borg laugh so hard that he nearly fell out of the chair, when he watched our game. And it was a hearty laugh if there ever was one! But seriously - if you like involved but not too heavy games with lots of beautiful bits and pieces you should clearly consider purchasing this wonderful game. It was one of the very rare cases that a German company produced game was actually completely sold out at Essen, even though it was available in great numbers originally. Very recommended!
25.11.2006	Already in Essen at the Spiel 2006 it became clear that the new Ystari game "Yspahan" would become one of our favorit games, and the first game sessions quickly revealed the exceptional qualities of the game. Peter describes some of the new game mechanics in his review while Günther has calculated the probabilities of the dice rolls and describes them in his article. If you are able to understand German you may like our recording of an Yspahan session, if not you may want to listen to Moritz' second lesson of Spielsh.
18.11.2006	Two game designers have made a major impact in on the preferences of games the Westpark Gamers like to play: Francis Tresham with his 1829 system and Lew Pulsipher with his Britannia system. At this year's Spiel in Essen Phalanx Games presented Andreas Steding's "Italia" based on the Britannia system. Moritz describes how we likes it in his latest review. Matching the topic, Moritz has designed solitaire rules for the original Britannia game by Lew and we provide these rules for download here. On the podcast side Moritz has started a series of shows about the correct pronounciation of German game talk. The first of his "How to talk Spielsh" podcasts is online now.
11.11.2006	The first game sessions after Essen 2006 are over and our review writers have started their work. As a first result Moritz' review of "Kabale und Hiebe" is ready. And our webmaster at last found the time to publish Moritz' report of Spiel 2006. And the review of "Kabale und Hiebe" is also avaiable as a Podcast.
28.10.2006	The Spiel 2006 in Essen is over and a huge pile of games is waiting to be played and reviewed. It will take a while before our first reviews will appear here and Peter took the chance to write down his thoughts about ideal "Games for Three Couples". Sounds a bit weird as a topic, especially if one knows that the Westpark Gamers never play in a group of three couples. But we have podcasts about our initial impressions of Essen 2006. There's a review of "Die Säulen der Erde" and Moritz' "Top 10 list of Spiel 2006 games".
21.10.2006	Moritz latest Podcasts about the weird Euro game "Frantic Frankfurt".
14.10.2006	Moritz neuer Podcasts with capsule reviews about "Nottingham", "Taluva" and "Canal Mania".
08.10.2006	It's been a long time since Peter wrote a review about one of his beloved two-player games. But he finally got his act together and had a look at the latest Queen Games release "Aton". And we finally have the German version of the 1830 Rules as a PDF file for downloading and printing.
September Maestro Leonardo	The title sounds like art, but the content is pure commerce, however of the finest kind. The players develop crafts shops, acquire raw materials for their production, recruit employees, and complete orders to gain profit and victory points. The topic is resource management and development optimization, which must be accomplished using a nifty auction mechanism. Sharp calculation is demanded, just as tactics, logistics, psychology and ability of self assertion. Four Italians developed the game and achieved an excellent balance between thinking and working. For friends of calculable business games it is a pure pleasure, for game geeks it marks a peak of the current game season.
03.10.2006	Only three weeks to go until the biggest game event of the year opens its doors: the "Spiel 2006" in Essen. Flights and hotels are booked, the tickets already bought to avoid the queues at the entrance and our suspense is increasing day by day. Moritz preview of this year's Essen releases published as podcasts is now also available in text form. And Moritz produced the seventh and final part of his podcast with previews of new releases at Essen 2006.
23.09.2006	We are still having discussions if "Flaschenteufel" is a poor game of luck or if it is possible to win the game by good play. During the last week the game has seen a small revival in our group and Walter decided to do some intensive research about winning the game. Today he presents his "Tips for Tops", which may help you to win the game. And Moritz produced part six of his podcast with previews of new releases at Essen 2006.
16.09.2006	Moritz produced part five of his podcast with previews of new releases at Essen 2006.
10.09.2006	"Moderne Zeiten" appeared four years after its release on our table, simply because we had overlooked in in the pile of other games. Stock market games, besides the one's of the 18xx series, are liked too much in our group, so we looked with some suspicion at this offering of Jumbo. Aaron wrote the review. And Moritz produced part four of his podcast with previews of new releases at Essen 2006.
02.09.2006	"Maestro Leonardo" by Abacus Spiele is the first of the Essen 2006 releases that came on our table. Acchitocca (F. Brasini, V. Gigli, S. Luperto and A. Tinto) created an interesting mixture of known game elements to form a coherent new game with a lot of replay value. Walter wrote the review. And Moritz produced part three of his podcast with previews of new releases at Essen 2006.
27.08.2006	Here is part two of Moritz' Podcasts about the new releases at Essen 2006.
18.08.2006	Uwe Rosenberg's "Nottingham" was on our table. Since we liked his "Bohnanza" and "Sole Mio" quite a lot, we were curious to see what his Nuremberg 2006 release would be like. Aaron wrote the review. In addition, Moritz produced his first of a series of Podcasts about the new releases at Essen 2006.
12.08.2006	Moritz brought one of his many fantasy boardgames, a genre we do not play too often. But even Walter can be pursuaded to play these games, provided there is a minimum of tactical challenge involved in the game mechanics. How he liked "Vampires: Prince of the City" can be found in his latest review. In addition, in his latest podcast Moritz talks about this year's Spiel des Jahres award winner.
06.08.2006	"Liars Dice" is probably the game we play most often for the simple reason that it is so ideally suitable as a closing game of a game session. Ravensburger's "Pow Wow" is a new release using bluffing mechanics and Aaron finds out in his latest review if this one could become our new favorit . In addition, in his latest podcasts Moritz recommends the Top 10 of German games for newcomers.
30.07.2006	The Soccer Worldcup in Germany is over and we wanted to recreate some of the excitement of the matches by playing Urs Hostettler "Millionen von Schwalben". If our expectations of this new game were met is described in Moritz' latest review. In addition, Moritz gives some insight into the German gaming culture in his latest podcast.
22.07.2006	It's been a while since the last German Gaming News do to the Soccer Championship here in Germany and Moritz' envolvement in it. Today Moritz tells us about the German cardgame " Quartett".
16.07.2006	What sounds like the latest in yuppie food services is in fact a short dice game by Abacus SPiele: "Sushi Express". Walter wrote the review.
13.07.2006	When Walter heard that the two farthers of "Caylus" would attend the "Haarer Spiele-Abend" there was no stopping him; he just could not miss that opportunity.
08.07.2006	The first nominee of this year's "Spiel des Jahres" award was on our table: "Thurn und Taxis". Walter's new review describes if the game fulfilled our expectations.
June Thurn and Taxis	Hans im Glueck always delights us with great games, and their new “Thurn und Taxis” is no exception. With 2, 3 or 4 players, the search for the best stage coach track is always fascinating. Elements of “China” and “Transamerica” fuse together to create a game of regional domination and fast connections. A game that is short and fun and also a tactical highlight is a rare thing, but here it has been accomplished.
24.06.2006	It took a while to publish this update to our site mainly because of the start of the soccer world championship here in Germany combined with the holiday season beginning of June. The results were several canceled gaming session due to lacking players or interesting soccer games. But now, most of us are back and the first reports and reviews are coming in. The highly acclaimed "Kleopatra" published by Days of Wonder had to stand the test this time. Walter explains in his latest review if there is a good game behind the outstanding chrome. And there are two new podcasts by Moritz about the German gaming scene: about German game stores and about the German Stammtisch.
31.05.2006	Here is a new essay by Moritz as podcast and as text.
31.05.2006	Here is a new essay by Moritz as podcast and as text.
May Mamma Mia - Sole Mio	This fine card game has been revived by the expansion/independent game "Sole Mio" and advanced rules. In it’s original form this was a kind of inverse Bohnanza. Players play ingredients and recipe cards on a pile, hoping that the cards below their recipe (after all card plays the tile is reversed) will be enough to fulfill the pizza recipe. Some recipes work, some don’t, and one can never be sure as remembering the actual ingredients in the pile is very difficult. The expansion adds some very odd recipes with partly complicated rules, and the possibility to “help” other players with finishing their recipe – for the price of finishing one of your own recipes for free. The odd recipes make the game more chaotic and unforeseeable, the “helping” options make the game more tactical. All in all this is a good and fun mix of ingredients, and the game was very well received in our group and has been on the table often recently.
28.05.2006	The latest game published by Ystari "Mykerinos" was on our table. Aaron describes how we liked it in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast.
20.05.2006	We became aware of Tom Lehmann because of his last year's game "Um Krone und Kragen". Now we had his latest game "Jericho" on the table an Walter describes the details in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast with infos about the Kramer Leiste.
13.05.2006	"Manifest Destiny" published by GMT Games is a constructive area control and development game situated in North America. Players expand there control into the different regions, harvest the local produce and goods and use the money such gained for development. What sounds like a successor of "Civilization" is explained in more detail in Moritz' latest review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast.
06.05.2006	"Doge", a Goldsieber produktion, given as a gift to Peter finally ended up in the Westpark. The game actually is a lot better than the first impression let's assume. More about the game in Walter's review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast and as text.
29.04.2006	Walter reviews ALea's new boardgame "Um Ru(h)m und Ehre", which features an innovative movement principle. Find the details in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast and as text.
23.04.2006	In his little essay, Moritz provides some insight about the reasons why there are no German wargames.
April Power Grid	In German all game titles by Friedeman Friese start with the letter "f", and very often his games are really "fantastic", either through very unique themes, crazy ideas or very thoughtful game designs. "Power Grid" is an absolute "gamer's game", because it will impress the most in a round with expert gamers who explore the system to its fullest potential. All players have to keep up with the technological energy development, but very much unlike similar games like "Outpost" the last ones suddenly can become the leaders in the endgame. The winner is mostly only clear in the final round, but is not created by randomness. This is a rare design achievement, and not only because of this Friedemann Friese can proudly wear the designer crown this month.
17.04.2006	"Parthenon" by Z-Man Games was on our table. This well equipped trading game suprised us with its long setup time; Walter describes how is plays in his latest review. And there is a new issue of Moritz German Gaming News postcast, this time resolving some April Fools Day jokes of the gaming scene and some not so funny information about the "Games International" magazine.
May Mamma Mia - Sole Mio	This fine card game has been revived by the expansion/independent game "Sole Mio" and advanced rules. In it’s original form this was a kind of inverse Bohnanza. Players play ingredients and recipe cards on a pile, hoping that the cards below their recipe (after all card plays the tile is reversed) will be enough to fulfill the pizza recipe. Some recipes work, some don’t, and one can never be sure as remembering the actual ingredients in the pile is very difficult. The expansion adds some very odd recipes with partly complicated rules, and the possibility to “help” other players with finishing their recipe – for the price of finishing one of your own recipes for free. The odd recipes make the game more chaotic and unforeseeable, the “helping” options make the game more tactical. All in all this is a good and fun mix of ingredients, and the game was very well received in our group and has been on the table often recently.
28.05.2006	The latest game published by Ystari "Mykerinos" was on our table. Aaron describes how we liked it in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast.
20.05.2006	We became aware of Tom Lehmann because of his last year's game "Um Krone und Kragen". Now we had his latest game "Jericho" on the table an Walter describes the details in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast with infos about the Kramer Leiste.
13.05.2006	"Manifest Destiny" published by GMT Games is a constructive area control and development game situated in North America. Players expand there control into the different regions, harvest the local produce and goods and use the money such gained for development. What sounds like a successor of "Civilization" is explained in more detail in Moritz' latest review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast.
06.05.2006	"Doge", a Goldsieber produktion, given as a gift to Peter finally ended up in the Westpark. The game actually is a lot better than the first impression let's assume. More about the game in Walter's review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast and as text.
29.04.2006	Walter reviews ALea's new boardgame "Um Ru(h)m und Ehre", which features an innovative movement principle. Find the details in his review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' German Gaming News as podcast and as text.
23.04.2006	In his little essay, Moritz provides some insight about the reasons why there are no German wargames.
April Power Grid	In German all game titles by Friedeman Friese start with the letter "f", and very often his games are really "fantastic", either through very unique themes, crazy ideas or very thoughtful game designs. "Power Grid" is an absolute "gamer's game", because it will impress the most in a round with expert gamers who explore the system to its fullest potential. All players have to keep up with the technological energy development, but very much unlike similar games like "Outpost" the last ones suddenly can become the leaders in the endgame. The winner is mostly only clear in the final round, but is not created by randomness. This is a rare design achievement, and not only because of this Friedemann Friese can proudly wear the designer crown this month.
17.04.2006	"Parthenon" by Z-Man Games was on our table. This well equipped trading game suprised us with its long setup time; Walter describes how is plays in his latest review. And there is a new issue of Moritz German Gaming News postcast, this time resolving some April Fools Day jokes of the gaming scene and some not so funny information about the "Games International" magazine.
25.03.2006	Since quite a while Friedemann Frieses "Funkenschlag" had to wait before coming on our game table, simply because there were so many other new game releases. This month we had the time to play it and to discover what we had missed all the time - Walter wrote the review. And there is a new issue of Moritz German Gaming News podcast.
March Elasund	The Catan games series has literally been done to death with countless expansions, scenarios and variants readily available, some less, some more succesful. So it comes as a total surprise that quite out of nowhere this new excellent game comes along, that introduces many new elements and in fact is a very challenging and fun game in it's own right, reminiscent in some mechanics of the classic "McMulti". "Elasund" is a tense and nailbiting affair that really enriches the Catan game world without giving the feeling that they were only in it "for the money". No, it is a game with heart, from gamers for gamers, and this is greatly appreciated by us!
March Magic Realm	From now on we will present our "Gems of the Month" in a new format. Instead of a short description we will provide a full review of the game. The first entry in this new format is "Magic Realm" by Avalon Hill.
05.03.2006	Here is a new edition of Moritz' "German Gaming News" podcast. He talks about the latest list of recommended games by the Hippodice Game Club in Bochum, the new games by "Symbiose" and other new games published in Europe.
25.02.2006	Z-Man Games published quite a few games for Essen last year. This time wwe had their "Dungeonville" by Mike Selinker and James Ernest (the latter known for his "Cheapass Games") on the table and Moritz wrote the review. And there is a new edition of Moritz' "German Gaming News" podcast.
18.02.2006	Some time ago "Dividends", a stock market game by the new games publisher Fun Factory from Singapore had been on our table. Now, "Giza" had to stand our test. Moritz wrote the review.
11.02.2006	After "Caylus" won our Game of the Month election, we are now publishing Walter's review about the game - this time including a little analysis of the internal dependencies of the game. In addition we have a new Podcast - from now on in its final format - about the new Amigo game "Um Krone und Kragen (Royal Advancement)".
05.02.2006	Beer & Pretzel games are not too common on our game table - not because we don't like that type of humor but more because these games usually impose only minimal intellectual challenges. From our trip to Essen last year we brought home "Wench!" without knowing that we had a real B&P game in our hands, even one that is suggested to be played in men-only groups ("a drinking man's game"). Nevertheless, we played it in a mix group, recorded in our Podcast and described in Aaron's latest review.
February Caylus	At long last a game that is worth the hype. "Caylus" is a great game by the young publisher "Ystari" and it is a convincing successor to games like Puerto Rico, in which the ramifications of the many actions available to each player form a complicated whole that can be enjoyed by anyone who loves great game mechanics. "Caylus" is elegant and very streamlined, but anything but a "light" game. In fact it is very unforgiving to first time players! Still, gamers will ponder over this game for years to come, so it fully deserves our title "game of the month".
28.01.2006	As an abstract strategy game "Daimyo" is the kind of game our group usually likes a lot. Moritz has the details in his latest review.
22.01.2006	Trading and economy of its best. That's how Walter describes Emanuele Ornellas latest game "Il Principe". Our expectations were high following the success of "Oltre Mare" by the same designer.
21.01.2006	If you are able to understand German, why not listen to our new medium "podcast", where we provide insight into the latest games in the form of recorded sessions of our gaming nights.
18.01.2006	Following the success of "Age of Steam" Martin Wallace has now published an equally exciting but less complex game: "Byzantium". Moritz has the details in his latest review.
15.01.2006	Besides the American editions of "Il Principe" and "Reef Encounter" Z-Man Games presented at Spiel 2005 a few games of their own making. "Castle Merchants" was the first on our table.
08.01.2006	In visual appearance "Alexander der Grosse" by Phalanx Games is very similar to "Waterloo" and "Age of Napolean"from the same publisher. Moritz investigates, if it is similarly a rather "dry" CoSim game in his review.
January Big Kini	The lightly handled theme creates a fun atmosphere – the island setting is artificial but somehow fresh, and the humoristic drawings are actually quite cute and funny. We like this game – it plays fast, and can be taught quickly as well. It is certainly not above Settlers in its level of complexity, and so could be a good game to introduce new gamers to the finer arts of boardgaming while giving seasoned players a lot of food for thought without them feeling undernourished… PlayMe - originally a mail-order store for games - can be congratulated on giving Guido Eckhof a chance to develop this great new game and risking to publish it in an already crowded market. It certainly has made a good splash at Essen, and we are sure it will continue so in the future.
03.01.2006	A disk crash and the usual Christmas season stress did not prevent Günther to complete the new version 1.10 of the Hazienda Map Generator. It is now available for download. Version 1.10 now supports multiple languages of the user interface by implementing language packs. The first additional language provided is English. (If you only need a German user interface you do not need to download the new version as no additional functional changes are included. However, if you want to use language packs you MUST have installed V1.10!)
02.01.2006	Every now and then new German publishers present themselves at Spiel in Essen. In 2005, Cahoona Isle introduced their first game "Banana Republika" in the category "absurd, extravagant and trenchant". Walter has no problem to fully agree at least with the first attribute in his review.
01.01.2006	Yesterday the last of our series of Sankt Petersburg puzzles came to an end. The best result was sent in by Rainer Elsäßer from Germany and the lucky draw amongst all valid entries made Petra Golderer, also from Germany, the second winner. Congratulations to both of them from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück Verlag. We would like to thank all participants of our puzzles and hope you enjoyed it a lot. And our special thanks go to Hans im Glück for providing the prizes and sending them to the winners. And here's an analysis of the final puzzle..
31.12.2005	Since a few months we are publishing short reports about our gaming sessions in our forum. You can reach the entries via the menu item "Session Reports".
29.12.2005	We already reviewed "Haselwurz und Bärenklau" but now we have the English version written for "Games International" issue 23 online. And in addition, this year's second game of Mr. Zucchini "Lucca Cittá" underwent our test procedures.
25.12.2005	Packeis am Pol is a rerelease of "Pingvinas" published in 2003 - this year published by Phalanx Games together with its English version "Hey - That's My Fish". Hence, this might be a real classic. Walter's review describes our opinions about the game.
21.12.2005	When Euphrat&Tigris, the boardgame, had been released in 1997 it immediately draw attention. It became a nominee of the Spiel des Jahres award and established Hans im Glück as one of the best game publishers in the world. Today, its fame is legendary and the game has settled firmly in the top games lists around the world...
December Hazienda	This is not a reinvention of the wheel, but a very solid game design by veteran Wolfgang Kramer that has players fight for control of herds, waterplaces and land. The beauty of the system lies in the many possibilities that players have each turn, and the several roads one can follow to achieve victory. Each strategy is equally worthwhile and one has to watch the game closely to see what strategy will be the most successful in a certain context. The Hans-im-Glueck edition looks beautiful and even gives the players a variant board in addition, as well as the possibility to create new boards with a software available at our website, so replayability is very high.
December Puerto Rico	Considered by many to be the crowning achievement of Euro game design this game has everything that makes it a durable gem: 1) Many viable strategies that interlock in always interesting ways; 2) asymmetrical roles that players can take each round; 3) money management that makes you bite your nails; 4) beautiful game material, and 5) already proven durability. This is one of the games that can be the ideal gateway to Eurogames in general, as it shows perfectly what this medium can achieve. A classic.
17.12.2005	Bluffing games are ideal candidates to open or close a gaming session. "Fruit Bandits" by Ian Vincent is supposed to be just that. How we liked it is described in Moritz latest review.
10.12.2005	Collectable card games are not really "our thing". But Moritz could not resist when he read that it says "The History Channel" on the cover. Here is his review of "Anachronism".
04.12.2005	Due to the absense of our webmaster we can publish the winners of our November Sankt Petersburg Contest only today. This time the winner had to be determined by the number of Rubels left at the end of the game as two players sent in solutions with the highst victory point difference. The best result was sent in by Andrea Melegari from Italy and the second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Cristina Grisenti also from the Italy. Congratulations to both of them from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
03.12.2005	Asmodée published "Dungeon Twister" in French in 2004 and now ProLudo offers an international version of the game. Moritz wrote the review.
27.11.2005	Last year in Essen we noticed the Italien publisher daVinci Editrice for the first time. Their games however were not quit to our liking. This year they brought a few new games to Essen, which are distributed in Germany by Abacus due to a trademark issue here. We had a look at one of their new games, "Palatinus" and Walter wrote the review.
20.11.2005	First published in 2001 as a DIY game, "Gods" is now rereleased by Michael Schacht as a box game with professionally made components. Walter has the details in his review.
15.11.2005	A new German publisher. Professionally made, beautiful game components. Some memories of 2004 return... Will "ZwergeZocken" be a success? Walter wrote our review.
November HAVOC: The Hundred Years War	One of the import discoveries of Essen 2005. In our opinion this should immediately replace poker as a game, as HAVOC is much more colourful and fun. In fact knowing poker helps a lot to get into this game, but the hundred years battles add a nice flavour to it, and card management is of the essence. The card pictures are beautifully captured from original art, and the game may appeal to geeks and non gamers alike. What doth one wanteth more? A cool "starting player finding device"? Check!
November Die Macher	How to describe "Die Macher" to the uninitiated? Well, imagine a game that makes even non-Germans develop a keen interest in the otherwise extremely boring German election system - people who hate statistics and percentages suddenly strive for parties they have never heard of in their life. The game is a realistic simulation on the one hand, a superb puzzle for gamer geeks on the other. Although completely abstract it is a totally engrossing, if not a little dry game. Let the "spin doctors" (a rough English translation of "Macher") rule forever!
13.11.2005	Already sold out on the first day of Spiel 2005 "Shear Panic" must have something special about it. Is it the beautiful game pieces? Or the two extraordinary designers? Or is "Shear Panic" simply an excellent game? Walter has the answers in his review.
12.11.2005	Thanks to Norson Botrel there is now a Portuguese langage pack available for download for our Sankt Petersburg computer game.
08.11.2005	"Die Macher" most likely is not one of the games seen every night of your game sessions, although it is a fascinating game with surprisingly well balanced mechanics. Aaron revisits the game in his report.
04.11.2005	Many years ago we liked to play the excellent game "Supergang", where players had to shoot at little cardboard figures to determine the result of a duel. While the motorically challenged had a clear handicap in the game, these players stand a much better chance to win in the new Repos game "Gash 'n' Guns". Here is Walter's review.
02.11.2005	Here are the winners of our September/October Sankt Petersburg Contest. The best result was sent in by Martin Munzel from Germany who was one of the few who won the game against the computer (with a mere victory point difference of 4 points)! The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Luca Chiapponi from the Italy. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
30.10.2005	"Sunriver Games", founded about a year agon, published their first game just in time for Spiel 2005: "Havoc - The Hundred Years War". It appears to be another poker clone at first looks but that's a deciving impression as Moritz states in his review.
23.10.2005	The first game from Essen 2005 was on our table: "Big Kini", much hyped there. Moritz has the details in his review.
October Friedrich	Richard Stubenvoll/Sivel has created a game that is a rarity among most new designs - something that is utterly new. Friedrich is a wargame, but there are no, as often in wargames, dice, and it also doesn't last 8 or more hours. An interesting period of european history is the basis for an engrossing boardgame that uses simple playing cards as it's mechanic for battles, without ever being foreseeable or dry. The basic principles can be explained very quickly, but the game possesses immense depth. Friedrich can be recommended to anyone who is on the lookout for new gaming experiences.
19.10.2005	Returning from Essen packed with new games Moritz recollects what happened during his two-day visit at Spiel 2005. Here is his Essen report.
16.10.2005	"Hazienda" is the new release by Hans im Glück at this year's Essen fair. Moritz had the chance to play a few sessions during the prototype phase and describes his impressions in his "preview".
10.10.2005	In sync with Hans im Glück's latest release "Hazienda" we are offering players a map generator, which can be used to generate and print new maps for the game for trying out new strategies. The software has been created in cooperation with Hans im Glück, and like our computer version of Hans im Glück's "Sankt Petersburg" was programmed by Günther Rosenbaum. Here are the details...
01.10.2005	There are good games and bad games, co-operative games and mean games. Can a mean game be a good game? We discussed this question after our recent session of "Intrige". Walter wrote down his views in his latest review.
18.09.2005	We had planned to publish a review about "Die Macher", synchronized with today's elections for the German Bundestag, but unfortunately we had to skip our game session last week. However, two weeks ago, instead of political parties, indians fought it out when "Ogallala" had to show its potential for being our gem of the month. Walter has the details in his review.
September Modern Art	The durable quality of this game is that it has gained cult status DESPITE unusually ugly graphics. Players from all over the world face the eyesore cards and play the game regularly, so there must be something to it! It is simply a fascinating game, in which auctioning and the "stock market value" of paintings create a tense and challenging combo. It is not exactly an overlooked gem, but the Westpark Gamers would like to applaud one of the most long lasting and interesting German designs, and therefore also it's author, the inimitable Reiner Knizia!
13.09.2005	After our first impressions of its prototype in Nüremberg this year, Murmel's new release "Haselwurz und Bärenklau" in its final form was on our table. Walter describes the details in his latest review.
01.09.2005	Here are the winners of our August Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Rainer Elsaesser from Germany who achieved a victory point difference of 132! For the first time remaining rubels had to be used as a tie-braker. The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Robert Birks from the Australia. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
August Oltre Mare	Emanuela Ornella has created an unusual trading game, that finds room in a tiny box. In fact it's a lot of game for little money, because even though the game board and the pawns are tiny, the game immediately evokes the feeling of classical mediterranean trade. Especially interesting is the use of a special "ordered cards" mechanic, that reminds of Bohnanza, and is very difficult to master. Moving on the board is also tricky, as your ship gets isolated and deprived of bonus markers very easily. A very interesting game that demands communicative skills as well as grey matter. Recommended!
August Zoff im Zoo	This game is an absolute classic in the repertoire of the beautiful "Doris & Frank"-games. A real card-shark game, with appealing trick-taking mechanic that even surprises old cracks again and again. One has to definitely play the game as a series, otherwise you'll miss the team mechanic which works very well. The cuddly graphics by Doris Matthäus also contribute to making this game an evergreen in any game collection.
21.08.2005	Not often do we write two reviews about the same game at the same time. If this happens it usually reflects our fascination with a game, which did not deteriorate after multiple game sessions. That's why there are two new reviews of "Friedrich" now, one written by Walter in German with his impressions after the first game and a second one by Moritz in English, written after having played several sessions of Friedrich.
11.08.2005	Since our first few games "Australia" has been on our table in a number of different groups and settings. Our impressions are recorded by Aaron in his review.
08.08.2005	"Friedrich" has been on the table as the sole game in our last session. Here's our session report.
07.08.2005	When "Rumis" from the Swiss Murmel Verlag was on our table already a while ago we were pretty much excited about the game. Now we received one of their new games "Enix", presented in Essen 2004. If this completely different game concept was equally well received by our grouup is discribed by Walter in his review.
06.08.2005	It's been a while that we had a pure stock market game on our table. That added an extra bit of suspense when we played the new release "Dividens" of "Fun Factory Games" from Singapore. Moritz describes how we liked the game in his detailed review.
02.08.2005	Here are the winners of our July Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. Again, the best result was sent in by Astrid Bönning from Germany who achieved a victory point difference of 30! The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Jan Neustadt from the Czech Republic. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
31.07.2005	After his much acclaimed Analysis of "Sankt Petersburg" Walter had an in depth look at the successor to "Outpost" and created an equally comprehensive Analysis of "Das Zepter von Zavandor".
July Maharaja	A wonderful offering of Kramer and Kiesling, that has many things going for it. The rules are logical and concise, and the use of the different characters and the order of victory point scoring is handled very cleverly. The visual design is simply stunning, rarely has their been a game of equally flawless designwork. And it is an interesting game full of nail-biting decisions, with even an element of travel planning thrown in for good measure. Beneath it all it is another German abstract majority-in-an-area scoring game, but it rarely gets better than this.
13.07.2005	Arne Stanneck sent us his article about 1830, which he allowed us to publish here. He describes some important considerations to be made when acquiring stock and trains in this game.
12.07.2005	Günther already wrote an article about player chances in "Bluff", on of our most liked closing games. Now he has written the second part - a must for anyone interested in game theory.
03.07.2005	Here are the winners of our June Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Astrid Bönning from Germany who achieved a victory point difference of 181! The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Stephan Wasserroth from Germany. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
May Louis XIV	An excellent new offering by Ruediger Dorn, an almost perfect game of considerable decision making trees. Where should I place my influence pawns? Should I try to fulfill missions or go for the insignia? Is has the same potential for continuous replay as "Puerto Rico" with its "let's play again because I want to try something different" value. And it even uses very little physical space in your collection! But don't expect a strong theme here (although the selected nobles and their portraits show great historical research), this is a very abstract game that creates little historic atmosphere... The only slight problem is with the final additional VP's for insignia majority, which seems to jar with the perfect rest of the game (as it is pure luck of the draw, with no way to influence it), but it is possible to leave that rule away and just treat the insignia as simple VP's.
27.06.2005	Today the winner of this year's "Spiel des Jahres" prize has been announced: "Niagara" designed by Thomas Liesching and published by Zoch Verlag. Congratulations to the designer and the team from Zoch!
24.06.2005	In our search for short and entertaining cardgames Reiner Knizia's new game "King Arthur" was on our table. Walter wrote the review.
17.06.2005	Nine days before the winner of this year's "Spiel des Jahres" award is announced we put one of the nominees to our test. Walter describes in his review how we liked "Verflixxt!".
14.06.2005	"Diamant" is one of the few remaining new Nuremberg 2005 releases on our table. Moritz has the details in his review.
02.06.2005	Here are the winners of our May Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Rainer Elsäßer from Germany and Axel Brochard from France, who both achieved a victory point difference of 22! A draw from the hat made Rainer the winner of the game. The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Poon Ho Yeung from China. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our next puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the puzzle.
29.05.2005	Due to vacations and the A*DEvangarde Festival there was no update of our pages during the past two weeks and there were only few players available. Nevertheless, a small group of three players gathered and had a look at Kosmos' new cardgame "Gelb gewinnt".
April Tower of Babel	This month "Tower of Babel" did not win our "Game of the Month" award undisputed; didn't we build houses and auctioned for majorities in many a game so far? But "Tower of Babel" undoubtedly provides a felicitous combination of well-known game elements to form a new coherent entity. The bidding principles create new situations, new considerations and new solutions, when both the acceptance and the refusal of an offer has sufficient potential for both joy and harm on both sides of the deal. A neat idea, whose effects will take a while to fathom out.
04.05.2005	Published already three years ago "Alles im Eimer" has just been re-released by Kosmos-Verlag. If the game deserves the resurrection is described in Walter's review.
01.05.2005	Here are the winners of our April Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Christian Neumann from Germany, who achieved a victory point difference of -2! The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Axel Brochard from France. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our fourth puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the third puzzle.
28.04.2005	In Essen only presented as a prototype is Alea's "Louis XIV" now available in your favorit games shop. In his review tells how we like this game without a board.
March Manila	After seeing nearly every place on earth transformed into a German game (Slough is still waiting for a good game bearing its name, though) "Manila" comes along - and surprises the jaded gamer with an interesting and relaxed mixture of elements that remains fresh throughout. "Manila" is a racing game, but there are also chosen roles with special abilities and even something like shares. The relaxed aspect is the most important though, but the gamer geek gets enough interesting mechanics and options to be entertained throughout without ever feeling forced. In addition it is, as always with Zoch, a very beautiful looking game, so we applaud one of the best new games of the season.
25.04.2005	Today we received this exciting news: Boardgamegeek.com and Games International magazine have formed a partnership to distribute electronic versions of the magazine. Users will be able to download PDFs of current issues for $2.99 each or 10 issues for $20. In addition, all the back issues of the magazine, which dates back to 1988, are available from the site at $1.49 each or all 16 for $14.99. Finally, there's an all-inclusive package which combines the back issues with a 10 issue subscription for $34.99. Games International editor Brian Walker comments: "This deal will give us terrific exposure in the US, and should benefit the print version. Normally the PDF will be available a few weeks after the print edition, but for the launch we decide to publish the two simultaneously. Like any gamer, I've always had a lot of respect for the Geek, and for what Derk and Aldie have achieved, so it's great to be associated with them in this manner." Aldie and Derk comment: "For a while now, we have been aware that gamers desire a more professional, more cohesive look at the gaming world. Once you have the file, you can view it on your computer, or print it out for extra reading material in that most private of rooms. Eventually, we're hoping to have hyperlinks from the database to this premium content, making the electronic versions the perfect compliment to all the great data already in the 'Geek. We're excited about the idea of bringing such a product to the gamers of the world." As reported earlier, Games International has also agreed a deal with the Atlanta Game Factory who will now handle US subscriptions for the print version in the US, enabling a price decrease of almost fifty percent. A 12 issue subscription will now cost $65. From June, the magazine will be distributed in the US and should be on sale in all major game shops. For those of you who would like to have a look at some of the contents of the early releases of GI, habe a look at our "Best of GI" section.
23.04.2005	In Nürnberg we had spotted "No Merci" as a potentially nice filler game. Aaron describes how we liked it in his review. And we had Avalon Hill's new game "Sword & Skull" on the table. Moritz' review tells about our impressions and whether the game could fulfil our high expectations.
21.04.2005	Two new releases of Kosmos, "Petri Heil" and "Amazonas" were on the table. Peter tells about our impressions in his reviews.
16.04.2005	Already in Essen 2004 "Der Untergang von Pompeji" attracked our attention, but it took a while until it was on our table. If the game could fulfil our expectations is described in Peter's review.
13.04.2005	There haven't been too many two-player games on our table and if so, it's usually Peter and Loredana who are testing them. Zoch Verlag's latest release "San Ta Si" is different all together, though. Not only is the game componentwise on aestetic treat, but the gameplay itself by no means comes second to its visual appearance. Peter describes our impressions in his review.
11.04.2005	We are excited to learn that one of our favorit game magazines, Games International, is now available in the U.S. through Atlanta Game Factory.
10.04.2005	The size of the game collection of some of the Westpark Gamers is growing steadily, occupying already several yards of shelf space. That's why we have decided to sell some of the games in our new "Flea Market". This flea market is used only by the players of the Westpark Gamers to sell some of their games privately on a more or less regular basis. Have a look regularly and you may find a bargain.
06.04.2005	On this year's toy fair in Nuremberg Reiner Knizia's new "Der Turmbau zu Babel" from Hans im Glück Verlag had made a good impression on us, already. Now it was on our table and had to prove its qualities. Walter writes about our impressions in his review.
04.04.2005	"Manila", one of the new releases of Zoch Verlag was on our table and our expectations were pretty high after the fabulous "Niagara". Whether or not the game was able to fulfil them is described in Walter's review, which also contains an analysis of the value of the port master.
01.04.2005	Here are the winners of the second Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Werner Gehringer from Austria, who achieved an amasing victory point difference of 135! The second winner, drawn from amongst all participants is Jasen Robillard from Canada. Congratulations to both of you from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that you take the challenge and give our third puzzle a try. Every participant has a chance to win a game! And as usual, here is a little evaluation of the second puzzle.
21.03.2005	It's been a while since Ravenburger has published a game that we really liked. But this year's new release "Australia" is just that. Walter writes about our impressions in his review.
February Betrayal at the House on the Hill	This game works relatively well as a traditional exploration/character advancement game, but really kicks into gear when it comes to the second part, where one player will be the evil traitor and the other players fight together to overcome one of 50 totally different evil scenarios. Some of them play like little wargames, others demand deduction and skill. Great fun for everybody involved, as the game really depicts the theme well, and the scenarios have been lovingly crafted to represent every imagineable haunted house story/cliché.The replay value is high, as the endgame is always different, but the exploration stays a bit samey. The game would profit from expansions, which could easily be integrated. Great design with wonderful atmosphere, easy to pick up, relatively short playing time - what doth the geek wanteth more?
February Flaschenteufel	Günter Cornett has a great talent for inventing interesting trick-taking games with a twist, and “Bottle Imp” is no exeption. In this game each player gets a distribution of 36 cards (numbered 1-18 and 20-37) in 3 colours. The trick is won by the player who played the highest card of the same colour (or any colour if he is out of the colour) which is the highest lower card as the current “bottle imp”, or, if nobody played a card below the imp’s number, simply the highest card. Of course this is not as simple as it sounds. Well, it didn't even sound simple to start with! "The Bottle Imp" is not only a clever game, but also lovingly crafted around a famous short story of Rudyard Kipling, which, as an additional bonus, is fully included with the game, in German AND English (as are the rules). Luck of the draw might play a role, as if you have many very low cards in your initial draw it will be very difficult to get rid of all of them at the right time, but still this is a very enjoyable card game that doesn’t leave the brain out of work and also has a high “fun through torture of other players” factor. Recommended!
12.03.2005	In Essen 2004 Andreas Stedings released his game "Kogge" in a better, more professional looking design. In his latest review Walter describes the inner qualitities of this game.
02.03.2005	Here are the winners of our first Sankt Petersburg Puzzle. The best result was sent in by Jürgen Eberhardt who achieved a victory point difference of 39. The second winner, drawn from all participants is Teis Jacobsen. Congratulations from the Westpark Gamers and Hans im Glück. We want to thank all participants and hope that all of you had so much fun that you give the second puzzle a try, too. Every participant has a chance to win! As promised here is a little evaluation of the first puzzle.
01.03.2005	Our first Sankt Petersburg puzzle reached its entry deadline yesterday. We are currently evaluating all 124 valid entries and will publish the two winners here soon. There's the second Sankt Petersburg puzzle avaibale for download now. The rules are the same as for the first puzzle. This one is a little easier because the UNDO function has NOT been disabled.
27.02.2005	Moritz recent interview with Rick Heli has now been published on Rick's website "Spotlight On Games". Here is the link to the interview.
January Im Schatten des Kaisers	"Hans im Glueck" keep their high standard with "Im Schatten des Kaisers", an interesting medieval game of power and intrigue. Memories of "Kremlin" arise when one is trying to keep his important nobles from ageing and dying away. There are several opportunities to act, and especially to annoy your fellow players. Several nifty mechanics prevent the game from becoming a kingmaker fest. The actions of the players are tied to the occupation of certain spaces on the gaming board, another interesting aspect. Without doubt, this is a game that stands above the rest through its originality!
January Yucata'	Yucata is a jolly cardgame along with a small board and coloured token stones, which are worth one special mentioning because of their aesthetic appearance. The players move by playing cards in the direction of the goal and try to pick up as many victory stones as possible, leaving the negative stones to their opponents. This is not easily achieved and many greedy stone collectors were crushed later by the burden of their negative stones acquired involuntarily. Opinions about the game are far apart. For some it's only fun with three and more players, others believe it to be a brain teaser for exactly two players. Hence there's something in it for everyone: hard mental exercise for exactly two and jolly card fun for three to four fellows. Both categories are contained in the game at a high standard. Enough to become our "Gem of the Month".
24.02.2005	Sven Andressen took the classic "Britannia" game system and transcribed it to the ancient Greece. How his "Hegemonia" plays and what the differences are to the original system can be read in Moritz' review.
23.02.2005	New reviews for a game each of the years 2003 (Carcassonne - Die Burg), 2004 (Im Auftrag des Königs) and 2005 (Coloretto Amazonas).
19.02.2005	Two weeks without new reviews - due to the Nuremberg fair we had to skip last weekend for updates. But now we have four new reviews, three of which are about Essen 2004 releases. Moritz writes about "Fairy Tale", "Casanova", "Flaschenteufel" and "Piranha Pedro".
05.02.2005	"1860 - Railways on the Isle of Wight" is the latest addition of the 18xx series of railroad games. Aaron writes about our impressions in his review.
03.02.2005	1830 on the menue? Our article "1830 for Gourmets" is the ultimate restaurant guide for gamers.
31.01.2005	We have simplified the entry form for our puzzle: with the new form it you just have to enter your name, your email address and the game file - your VPs etc. will be taken straight from the game file. NEW! We will draw one additional winner from ALL valid entries (disregarding multiple entries of a single player).
30.01.2005	Here are three new reviews just before the end of the month: Walter writes about the card game "Danger" and Moritz had a closer look at two Essen 2004 releases: "Die Gärten der Alhambra" and "Frantic Frankfurt".
26.01.2005	"Sicilianos" is a Spiel 2004 release by Zoch Verlags. Walter describes in his review how we liked it.
23.01.2005	"Metallurgie" was the third game on our table of the new games publisher Argentum Verlag and Moritz provides the details. In addition he wrote the review about Queen Games Essen 2004 release "Flandern 1302".
December Reef Encounter	Reef Encounter, the new fascinating tile conquering game by Richard Breese, is strangely reminiscent of "Euphrates and Tigris", but interesting in it's own right. The rules and options are VERY confusing at first, so it might turn some first time players off. But it comes together in the game, which plays very tense - every action counts! Kudos also to an unusual and well handled theme, that holds together the abstract design without feeling forced on. Another winner by the prolific Breese!
December Acquire	Acquire is of course a "classic", not a gem in the strict sense (lately we have allowed to enter "classics" into this list as well as "gems"). And it has remained a classic that is played! Compared to some newer games this might now seem a little basic and dated, but strangely it's simplicity is part of it's appeal. There have been many discussions about the luck factor of the draw, but in my opinion this element creates good tension that gives the game a quasi relaxed character that makes it more of a family game than let's say "1830" (which has some similarities with "Acquire"). As this is one of the most influential games of all times it should be an essential part of any collection.
16.01.2005	Westpark Gamers' Sankt Petersburg Puzzle is online! Here we are! It's time to reveal the secrets behind the puzzle mode of Günther's computer adaptation of Sankt Petersburg. Today we are starting of a series of puzzles where you have the task to reach the best possible score against the computer's AI. Like in any good puzzle we are offering a prize to the best player! Find the rules and the online entry form here or click on the image on the left.
09.01.2005	Following "Popeln" the second new release of Sphinx Verlag was on our table. Walter, too, wrote the review about "Hexenhammer". Our second review this week is about another Essen 2004 release : "Hispaniola".
07.01.2005	Today we have a new issue of our game analysis articles. This time, Günther took the game "Yucata" by Stefan Dorra in the 2-player setting and tried to find optimal winning strategies for the different starting positions. Here you find his complete analysis of the player moves.

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