Lost Treasures of the Eurogames Reclamation Project

Santiago does look dull as dirt, but is actually really good and super nasty. Hell, one of the main mechanics is everyone bribing the hell out of the player who's the canal master this turn. The canal master can decide to take a bribe (or not) to place a section of canal in a particular spot, which will probably leave some poor schmuck's crops to wither and die. I'll take any game where "bribes" is a part of the turn order. Really sad I let my ex take my copy when we split.

I don't know if it really fits this category, but I love the hell out of Reef Encounter. It's a pain in the ass to teach, but once you figure out how everything works together, it's a really cutthroat area control game.

I'm going to second VonTush's recommendation of Pack & Stack. It's a fun game that can be explained in all of a minute, lasts for maybe 20, and has perhaps one split-second decision per turn. But it works for reasons that I haven't totally figured out. I think it's partially because of how tactile it is and how fun it is to see what everyone else is doing.

Metropolys is a half a terrific game and half a boring one. Unfortunately the boring half is almost always the beginning before the board gets crowded. Once that happens it picks up. It's kind of an ugly game too.

Chaz wrote: I don't know if it really fits this category, but I love the hell out of Reef Encounter. It's a pain in the ass to teach, but once you figure out how everything works together, it's a really cutthroat area control game.

Reef Encounter is one of my favorite games ever, but Barnes hates it.

I don't have much to offer here, but some comments on already listed items:

Santiago: really is good stuff, but you need exactly 5 for it.

In the Shadow of the Empire: Underrated game. I think it's best with four, though.

Palastegefluster: I love this game. It can go a bit long, so we've houseruled it a little.

Biblios (aka Scripts and Scribes) is a great 2p game that can also play more,

Ra the Dice Game didn't get as much traction as nonsense like Roll Through the Ages and To Court the King, but it's better than both of them. A rare dice game in which it matters that there are other people playing.

An older game, but I'm a big fan of That's Life, a Kramer roll-and-move that can get nasty and force some tough decisions.

Origo is a Kramer game that is basically the area control portion of Wildlife. It was a German-only release, but the cards are easy to figure out.

I'll also second Witch's Brew, though it's crazy expensive now, I think.

I like Ad Astra as a Catan enhancement

That's Life: Yes, that's one I neglected to list. Super fun, super simple game.

And hard to find at a reasonable price...expansions too, which seem to be completely gone.

Pack and Stack too.

Can anyone compare In The Shadow of the Emperor with Blood Royale and more importantly Fief?

Also, I'm looking forward to reading comparisons on Knizia's The Hobbit vs Beowulf.

(and Farrell is bringing up Beowulf again... illuminatinggames.wordpress.com/2014/07/...ck-or-the-card-game/ )

2014 is the year of Beowulf. I am glad to be at the vanguard of bringing this game back from the dead and I am honored that Mr. Farrell has heeded the call to adventure.

Ha! Fitting since you buried it on release.

Beowulf's journey is now complete...

VonTush wrote: 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.

That sounds like it's like the C64 game, Gateway to Apshai. I might have to check it out, I've never heard of it and it never comes up in dungeon crawl conversations.

It's different so be sure to check out what you can. It isn't a perfect game from what I can tell, but I oh so want to play it because it is so different.

Pack and Stack is rubbish.

witches brew i could pick you up in german for about 25 bucks but the shipping from Europe kills it ie. at least doubles the price.

SebastianBludd wrote:

VonTush wrote: 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.

That sounds like it's like the C64 game, Gateway to Apshai. I might have to check it out, I've never heard of it and it never comes up in dungeon crawl conversations.

It's not very good, the time pressure means you can't map out the cave, we just stumbled around until we found the treasure then stumbled around until we got out. It's a charming idea but it doesn't translate into a fun game.

While it doesn't hail from your target timeline, Dragon's Gold, played with the "Advanced Rules" and magic items, is a true lost treasure. With a beer-fueled group that likes to backstab, argue, negotiate and steal, it's a raucous party-starter. Yet I rarely see it mentioned on the interwebbe and no one remembers it when I bring it up. It has Forever Shelf Plus status in my collection.

San Il Defanso wrote: Wyatt Earp is a fun game that I am mentioning so you will buy my copy.

Wyatt Earp is great, and is the best three-player card game I've ever played. It's great with more players, of course, but it's the rare card game where three players is the sweet spot.

trif wrote: 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.

Africa is very light, very pleasant. Girlfriends and nieces/nephews tend to like it, so it's stuck around in my collection all these years.

You will make me NOT want to trade Wyatt Earp and play it again. It's been literally years since I've dusted it off, and now I want to.

Easier than shipping a game, I guess.