121209 - Best of 2009!

THINK: The best games of 2009


2009/12/11

EDWIN WONG

From cards to strategy, here are EDWIN WONG’s pick of the best designer games of the year.

WITH more than 600 new designer games released this year alone, how does one tell what’s good from the rest? Here’s a quick guide and our take on what we think were the best of 2009! Four steps to spotting a good game


● It’s been designed and released recently.
For a start, a game that has been designed in the last one to two years is sure to be better than all the traditional games we grew up on (such as Monopoly, Risk, Clue, Game of Life, etc). They were, after all, designed more than 40 years ago. This is due primarily to the use of new and innovative game mechanics, among others.

● Look for the designer’s name.
It’s easy to separate mass market merchandise games from quality designer games. The designer’s name is always featured prominently on the box cover of designer games while mass-market merchandise disguised as games never feature the name of the designer anywhere.

● Look for the publisher.
Although there are a number of successful independent game publishers, you cannot go wrong with the following since they have a track record of popular and award wining games: RioGrande, Fantasy Flight, Days of Wonder, Z-Man, Asmodee, Atlas, GMT, Da Vinci, Splotter, Zoch, Amigo Spiele, Abacus Spiele, Kosmos, Rackham, Games Workshop, Battlefront Miniatures.

● Look up www.boardgamegeek.com.
 This is the ultimate site for designer game enthusiasts. Almost every game ever published can be found here. Why is this resource so valuable? Well, millions of enthusiasts go there to check out and read about what others think of the games.




Below is the best of 2009... 


Family Strategy — Ice Flow (Available from York House, Bangsar Shopping Centre)
The Spiel des Jahres (SdJ) is the industry’s most coveted award for Family Strategy games with “Small World” by Days of Wonder taking the honours this year.

However, our pick is Ice Flow, as it’s a fascinating game.

Each player tries to be the first to get his/her three explorers across the Bering Straits from Alaska to Siberia while avoiding the polar bears using only rope, fish and wits!


Advanced Strategy — Le Havre (Available from Toybox, Jalan 20/16, Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya) 
Although “Dominion” won this year’s prestigious Deutscher Spiele Preis (a.k.a. gamer’s game of the year), its appeal is less universal than the runner-up, “Le Havre”. Dominion is a “card drafting” game similar to Trading Card Games (TCGs) such as “Magic: The Gathering” only that it’s non-collectible. 

In the harbour of Le Havre, you take goods such as fish and wood from the wharves and use them to either feed your community, construct buildings and ship, or process them into finished goods.

The winner is the player with the greatest net wealth at the end of the game.

The real joy in Le Havre is that it allows many different paths to victory. Like all advanced strategy games, they have a steeper learning curve, but the more you play, the better you get at mastering the game.


Co-operative — Pandemic & Battlestar Galactica (Available from www.boardgamecafe.net)
Very rarely do you get two games that are worthy to be considered best picks, let alone in the co-operative category where so few games are actually produced! But this year, quite remarkably, Pandemic swept 14 awards between 2008 and 2009.

It is a brilliant co-operative game and truly represents the speed at which various diseases can break out throughout the world.

As specialists at the CDC/Atlanta Centre, Pandemic is tense, requires quick but incisive decision-making and good teamwork.

Battlestar, on the other hand, is about uncovering the deception and treachery of the Cylons as they attempt to sabotage your mission to get back to Earth safely! Like all family strategy games, both are fairly easy to learn. You’ll play it again and again especially in the case of Pandemic.

More often than not, the outbreaks will probably overwhelm your team.

As for Battlestar, the mistrust and intrigue with Cylons and the struggle for survival will keep you coming back!


Great For Kids — Haselwurz & Barenklau (Available from Borders Bookstore, The Curve & Gardens) The official game of the Zurich Geo-Botanical Institute, H&B is a charming game about discovering rare species.

Players are cute little pixies that travel via their friends — the badger, dragonfly, bird and grasshopper — as they race to discover habitats where they can find rare plants and animals.
Got a great travel photo? Can it win this photo contest?

Adults, teens and children from seven years old will learn of the many rare/endangered species out there and the types of habitats where they can be found.


Party — Wits & Wagers (Available from Mage Café, Jalan SS22/21, Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya)
If you’re planning a party this year-end, then you must get Wits & Wagers.

Each round, a question’s asked and each player secretly writes his answer, which is always a number, on his player card. And unlike Trivia games that makes you feel stupid if you don’t know the answer, no one’s expected to know the answer to questions in Wits & Wagers.

You just have to get the closest estimation to the correct answer.

Wargame — Pacific Typhoon (Available from www.squarkgames.com)
Although there’s a steady supply of new “hex & tile” wargames being released, and “Unhappy King Charles” grabbed the IGA Historical Games Award (International Gamers Association), the one that we fancied most turns out rather surprisingly to be a card game! Pacific Typhoon depicts all the major conflicts of WW2 in the Pacific theatre and is a game where every round, a historical battle is chosen together with the terms of engagement.

Would it be a land, air, sea or combined battle? Would it be a day or night battle? Broken promises, failed alliances, conspiracies and the occasional stab-in-the-back are what makes this actually a fun wargame! 


Miniatures — Flames of War (Available from Toybox, Petaling Jaya)
Join the fastest growing hobby in the country!

The world’s No.1 15mm WW2 historical miniatures game’s now in Malaysia. And it’s attracting everyone from historians to captains of industry to students as they step into the shoes of their favourite generals to match wits with others!

More than just a game of tactics and strategy, Flames of War encourages research, analysis as well as the creative arts as enthusiasts assemble, construct and paint metal miniature models and terrain.