Lost Treasures of the Eurogames Reclamation Project

Agree with Around the World in 80 Days - should not be out of print.

Another one I keep recommending to people though I haven't had a chance to play it in ages is La Citta - another good to great game that seems to fallen out of favour.

Kramer's Wildlife - which I have but haven't played seemed to be highly regarded when it came out, from what I remember.

And, of course, there's Primordial Soup.

You know, if I were to be honest with myself, the games I like the most are the same ones your average 10 year old would like. I do like heavier games, but overall, the ones that get played by me and my group the most are the same ones that I could sit back with my nephew and his friends and play.

If anyone would care to share some opinions on these, it would be appreciated:

Africa - A Kinzia one that's described as perhaps too random and more of a "kids game".

Africana - A ZMan title with some sort of "adventure book" mechanic and I assume is about exploring.

Journey to the Center of the Earth - A Mayfair game where you adventure through a few areas. Looks pretty neat and fun.

I think Jeb talks highly of California which is a game about interior decorating a house I think.

What about Maya? An Uberplay game in the same size box as Hansa and California.

Mammoth Hunters? And Valley of the Mammoths?

RE: Journey to the Center of the Earth- none other than Nate Hayden (designer of Cave Evil, After Pablo, Mushroom Eaters) has a great review of it over at BGG.

I did not like 80 days at all. But that was like 10 years ago, and to be honest I remember very little about it now.

I wish I had bought Tobago when it was around.

I've been thinkin about California myself...it's dirt cheap.

Mid-2000s? I second In The Shadow Of The Emperor - it's my second favorite euro next to T&E.

Manila is a pretty good gambling game. Wish I hadn't gotten rid of my copy years ago...

Diamant was from around that time. Republished as Incan Gold, right? I got bored with it but it was pretty fun for awhile.

I sort of liked Niagara - can be a little nasty when you speed up the river and dump someone's canoe, or when you steal gems from other rowers.

I quite like Africa - it is very much a family game but it does have a feeling of exploration and there is some player screwage in it, which is always welcome.

I'm working up a trade that would include 80 Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Africa, and California. Boosh. ERP makin' it REAL yall.

Lots of love here for In the Shadow of the Emperor...I liked it, but for some reason it felt like something was missing from it. The aging mechanic was like a simpler version of Kremlin and that was cool. Might like to try it again some time.

I should try Diamant again...I actually HATED it back then, but at the time I was more interested in playing Up Front.

What about Mall World, does anyone remember Mall World. I don't think I've ever met anyone who ever even played it.

Africana looks pretty neat, it's a Michael Schacht design...I like his stuff more than I think I realized back then. For the most part. He also has things I just don't like at all, like Hansa. But then there's Web of Power...and Zooloretto.

trif wrote: Another one I keep recommending to people though I haven't had a chance to play it in ages is La Citta - another good to great game that seems to fallen out of favour.

La Citta is one that I think comes fairly close to capturing that elusive 90 minute civ game. Yeah it has its shortcomings, but I think overall it does a pretty good job. One that is almost criminal how little and how long ago I played.

Medina is one that I thought was a really good tile (well wood piece) placement game from years back and it looks like Stronghold managed to land the reprint. Kind of surprising really.

And I'll throw out Pack & Stack. That's a fun little game and is very much on the lighter side.

I had mixed feelings about La Citta...I remember when it was up around $100 like 10 years ago, I found a copy for $35 at an out-of-the-way online shop and thought I hit the jackpot. I remember it being interesting, but sort of over-complicated. One I'd like to spool up again sometime soon to see how I take it now.

Medina looks neat, I'll get the reprint of it. It's a Stefan Dorra thing.

Here's another that I'm kind of surprised flopped - Sidibaba.

It is an all vs one game where one person has a map of a dungeon hidden behind a screen. The other players form a party diving into the dungeon looking for treasure.

This game is for all of the old school video game dungeon spelunking player that remember wire-frame renderings of images of hallways showing perhaps a bend up ahead or a door down the hallway and had to draw out your maps on graph-paper. Because that's what the GM shows you...Cards with similar images.

I know the game got knocked a bit because your party could be standing right next to the treasure but doesn't look the right way. And I know an evil GM can basically slow the party to a crawl by throwing enemies and roadblocks their way. But there is no other board game like it that I know of and I'm very much intrigued by it.

EDIT: I should explain more, basically the DM has behind a screen a map with treasure placed on it, the party enters and then the GM shows cards that details the shape of that hallway segment. The party then decides which way it is going, or turning, and then the GM shows a different card showing what they see after their movement. A pretty neat idea I think.

EDIT2: And I believe the party cannot write down the map, they have to work from memory. And then the party leader rotates so if there are arguments everyone has a chance to get them lost. And there is a sand timer so I think they have to get in and out under a certain time.

(If you can't tell, this is one I've been really interested in trying someday)

Forbidden Desert

Lost Valley

Mission:Red Planet

Wicked Witches Way

Morgenland

Metropolys

Power Boats

Planet Steam

Wiraqocha

I've been doing my own ERP, but I've stuck to games from 2005 and earlier. If they're still being talked about, they've stood the test of time. So far, all the old games have ended up on my 'forever' shelf. Bear in mind, I've only been in the hobby for about three years...

La Citta. The best trade I ever did (La Citta and Mexica for Trajan). It's an interactive civ game with lots of interaction. You can steal other player's citizens!

Metropolys is a brilliant elegant auction game for 2 to 4 people. You're sort-of bidding for adjacent spaces. It's like the auction bit of Goa, but a whole game of it. Brilliant.

Wildlife Adventure has been reprinted as Expedition: Famous Explorers. We played a first game last Saturday - it's enormous fun and the reprint looks beautiful.

Show Manager. The art is hilarious. Again, we played a first game last weekend and we were trash-talking every show we put on, based on the art. It was 'Lipstick on Broadway featuring Barbara Cartland, a Rabbit, a hipster artist, a spectacle-wearing zombie who wandered into our office, and some bloke out of a Scandi crime show'.

Domaine. A backstabby area control euro, which can be played as Lowenhertz using a custom P&P Artscow pack. Two games for the price of one.

Aladdin's Dragons. This game is brilliant. It is nearly 100% blind bidding. We had the funniest silliest time with five players, one who we'd hoodwinked into the game by telling him (truthfully) that it was a euro by the designer of Keyflower. He sat through an hour of blind bidding with his mind slowly exploding. The board is gorgeous and it has these lovely jewelled pieces. Absolutely amazing.

Las Vegas (new game from 2012 or so). The best light dice game of take-that and screwage ever. We played two-player with a dummy and we spent so long screwing each other over that... the dummy player won.

Cafe International. For unknown reasons, I'm obsessed with this game on the iPad. I had to buy a physical copy. The artwork is utterly and totally tasteless.

Not played yet:

Um Reifenbreite. Cycling game that won the 1992 SdJ. I've printed Artscow P&P English versions of the event cards.

Carolus Magnus. A 2000 game compared to El Grande, but by the author of Cartagena and Clans. It's an abstract, but I'm cool with that.

Cartagena. I LOVE this game and Ravenburger have brought out what looks like an unofficial 2014 Pirates of the Caribbean retheme with Jack Sparrow on the front and plastic pirates. WOOT!

I've liked La Citta less every time I've played it. Was the first euro I played that really showed the problem with lack of player elimination. Every game has at least one player who will be on a downward spiral from the second turn onwards with no chance of recovery. I know from experience its not fun to sit there watching the "rich get richer" while you just lose more and more. Better to have been eliminated so you can do something else for those 2-3 hours (never known this game to play in 90 min).

Mad Dog wrote: I've liked La Citta less every time I've played it. Was the first euro I played that really showed the problem with lack of player elimination. Every game has at least one player who will be on a downward spiral from the second turn onwards with no chance of recovery. I know from experience its not fun to sit there watching the "rich get richer" while you just lose more and more. Better to have been eliminated so you can do something else for those 2-3 hours (never known this game to play in 90 min).

Ah, we've only played two-player. If one player gets too far ahead, we concede.