Let's Talk Some Knizia Games

Modern Art is a design I admire more than I enjoy. It's maybe his most interactive game, but at least three of my five or six games went completely pear-shaped based on inexperienced players. I'm willing to say it's a great design more than I'm willing to play it again.

Knizia has a ton of games that everyone loves, most people own, and hardly anyone plays. At various times I've owned Samurai, Through the Desert, Rheinlander, and a few others, but nowadays the only one still on my shelf (because it gets plays) is T&E. Oh wait, I have Quandary there, but it doesn't come out much, as it's the gorgeous overproduced bakelite version that isn't worth toting around. I do have Poison and Battle Line, but only because they're small card games; the never get played. Lost Cities is one my wife likes (and I do too) so its stayed on the 2p shelf after Times Square and others have left.

I haven't played too many Knizias I just flat out don't like (well, I wasn't crazy about LoTR, either one) but there are few that I find myself hankering to play. I respect a lot of them more than I want to play them.

Man, I love Knizia! In fact, I actually played Medici just last night. (I lost, as usual, despite leading the first two rounds. I underbid a crucial late offering because I thought no one would challenge me for it.)

The classics have all been mentioned, but I'll add a few more to the list:

Amun-Re - I don't understand why this one isn't more respected. I think it's a fantastic design. The mid-game property reset is brilliant.

Traumfabrik - A closed-economy auction game. It was reprinted as Dream Factory, but you really should make the effort to get the original German edition.

Lego mentioned Quandary (which I have and love as well), but the game has been published many times in different forms (Loco, Botswana). It's such a minimal design, yet totally effective.

Loot is another game that's usually targeted at children due to its simplicity, but is actually quite good for adults. Can usually be found dirt cheap at Target, too.

LOTR: The Confrontation is one of the best two player games ever made. Sure, it's Stratego...but it's so refined and the LOTR setting really comes through. It really feels like the Fellowship player is trying to screen Frodo and engage the Shadow. Mirror plays like both a hunt and a crushing military campaign. I love the deluxe edition, the extra characters add a lot of variety without fouling the balance.

Kingdoms/Auf Heller und Pfennig is another good one.

Knizia games I still own. The first three are on my forever shelf. The first two are in my top five favorite games.

Tigris & Euphrates
Ra
LotR The Confrontation
Fabrik der Traume
Medici
Through the Desert
Keltis: Das Kartenspiel
Circus Flohcati
Blue Moon legends
Carcassone the Castle

I like a lot of his games, but to me nothing has stood out from him in the past decade. All his best designs are his older ones.

Oh, I forgot about Carcassonne: The Castle. It's the only Carc I still have, and I really dig it.

LOTR: The Confrontation is definitely a case where the theme killed it for me. If it had been something else, I might be able to pay attention to all the units and their special powers. But there is no way to make me give a damn about hobbits and shit.

T&E and Battleline are amazing. I really enjoy Poison, though not with 3 players.

Most of the rest I've never played, though I own a few of them. I'm trying to decide whether or not to acquire a copy of Samurai that I have a trade offer for.

I'd like to give Ra a shot one of these days, too.

Michael Barnes wrote: LOTR: The Confrontation is one of the best two player games ever made. Sure, it's Stratego...but it's so refined and the LOTR setting really comes through. It really feels like the Fellowship player is trying to screen Frodo and engage the Shadow. Mirror plays like both a hunt and a crushing military campaign. I love the deluxe edition, the extra characters add a lot of variety without fouling the balance.

Kingdoms/Auf Heller und Pfennig is another good one.

I'm sorry "Sure, it's Stratego... but" don't you mean, "hell yeah it's like Stratego!"? Stratego is the best mass market classic, bar none, and LOTR The Confrontation Deluxe is the best Knizia game.

I love Modern Art as well, but I hate teaching it. It's a very simple game at heart, but explaining how it works has always been a pain for some reason. If we're ever 5 players at a table, I always suggest it, and after a game or two, people usually warm up to it.

I always really love Lord of The Rings: Confrontation and have probably played over 50-60 games in the past few months. It's portable, a breeze to teach, and just pure fun. I love to experiment with starting positions and push my luck. I'll never get rid of it.

i've played T&E, Modern Art and Through the Desert.

I liked T&E quite a bit, it felt like a very refined conflict game to me and in a weird way its abstract nature lends itself to its theme.

Modern Art i thought was tight but difficult to play well.

Through the Desert didn't do much for me. Probably because i actually like Go and felt that this just didn't cut the mustard in comparison.

I have more Knizia games in my collection than any other designer. My favourites are Battle Line (not sure how this is much more complex than ST), Medici, Ra, Winner's Choice, T&E, Ivanhoe, and LotR Confrontation. He's also got about a half dozen more I think are pretty good like Wheedle and Scarab Lords.

I see a lot of folks commented on Traumfabrik/Hollywood Blockbuster/Dream Factory being one of his best, I played it and wasn't really impressed with it (played it with 5), could someone expand on what they like in that game?

I traded Modern Art recently, I just never wanted to play it, I'd always rather play Medici. I'm thinking of trading Through the Desert, because I have both Samarkand (the new one from Queen) and Kingdom Builder and I think I like both better. Not sure If I'm into Colossal Arena either.

WHile we're on Knizia games, has anyone played Merchants of Amsterdam? I saw a copy at the FLGS and it just has the LOOK of an older classic. Not sure I want to invest the time just yet.

Barnes sent me an extra copy of Beowulf: The Legend. I glanced over the rules, and now I'm really excited to try it.

This is going to sound really weird, but for me Beowulf: The Legend really immerses me in its setting and theme. I'm not a dark beer fan at all, but come winter time, I _love_ to play Beowulf: The Legend with a pint of dark beer. I feel like I'm a Geat marching along with the company, drinking mead/beer and looking for my share of the loot.

I dunno. I really dig this game.

It definitely seems to approach it in one of those sideways Knizia fashions that ends up being surprisingly effective. I read somewhere (maybe from Christ Farrell) that when Knizia really themes something he tends to push the players toward making the same kind of decisions those in that setting would make. The trappings and flavor remain pretty abstracted, but the decision-making process is where that theme is reflected.

Sometimes it's clearly not important, like in Ra or Taj Mahal. But that view does give games like Lost Cities, Beowulf, and Medici some surprising thematic depth.