Everybody Wins

Boardgames were my primary hobby for some fifteen years. It started around 1996 when I was introduced to Settlers of Catan and Robo Rally. The former, now known simply as CATAN, went on to change boardgames from niche industry to mainstream. I still have my Mayfair first edition of Settlers; it doesn’t mesh with any of the expansions so I don’t own any of those (I highly recommend Seafarers but not Cities & Knights). While Robo Rally is not as well known, I have a coveted first edition including three expansions (Armed & Dangerous, Grand Prix, Radioactive) that I could sell at significant profit on the secondary market.

 

Then my interest waned. I also got busy with a big move and a new job. I was previously the nexus of a game group – hosting game nights, being an evangelist for the hobby, and teaching new games to new people. None of that anymore. I still play games here and there, and I still enjoy them, but I don’t foresee going back to those good old days. I used to be very knowledgeable about the latest releases and what were considered the best games. I even owned many of them, but I’ve slowly downsized my collection to some 125 games (not including expansions).

 

So it was a blast from past to read the beautifully produced book Everybody Wins by James Wallis. It is subtitled “Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made” because it goes through the winners of the coveted Spiel des Jahres awarded annually to the supposed “best” game of the year. Wallis, a game designer himself (of the delightful storytelling Once Upon a Time), does an excellent job introducing and critically evaluating the awardees. Some are well-known, some are obscure, some are questionable, some are clear winners. He mixes his narrative with vignettes about designers, game mechanics, and other great games that didn’t win the award. It’s a great coffee-table book if you’re a game evangelist. (I borrowed my copy from the library so I won’t be owning it.)

 

I liked how Wallis divided the 44 awardees into 5 era groups.

·      1979-1985: Opening Moves

·      1986-1995: Settlers & Co

·      1996-2004: The Golden Age

·      2005-2015: Identity Crisis

·      2016-2022: New Purpose, New Direction

The historical arc was helpful in understanding why and how the award came about in Germany and why the first winners weren’t German designs. Then there is a narrowing of choices and we see the rise of the more famous German designers culminating in Settlers of Catan. This kicks off the Golden Age of the new classics from El Grande to Ticket to Ride before yet another divergence.

 

Of the sixteen winners from 1995 to 2010, I owned all but two. But in recent years, I’ve given away some and sold others on the secondary market. I used to have many Renaissance city-building games (quite the fad back in the day) but I’ve trimmed many out of my collection. I’ve also given away many family games to colleagues with pre-college-age kids. There wasn’t much reason to maintain such a large collection when I was hardly playing most of my games. My collection is still fairly diverse and includes old “wargames” from the 1980s, but I don’t have many newer games. My buying habit decreased in 2012 and I doubt I own any new games since 2016. I’ve played newer games, and there are many good ones out there, but it’s hard to justify purchasing more games to only have them sit in my shelf most of the time.

 

Kickstarter has completely upended the board game industry. Many of the stalwart game producing companies have disappeared. The locus of creative inventions has shifted from Germany and Europe to the United States, with Asia also on the rise. The hobby is thriving and I’m glad for it. The Spiel des Jahres helped even as its importance lessened. Once upon a time I could recite all the winners. Now I no longer pay attention to the award (although I would like to try Cascadia!) and that’s okay too. I’m no longer a games guru but I can still introduce some of the oldies – they’re still great games. Everybody Wins is an apt title for this retrospective, but one that also looks forward. And they have great game suggestions if you’re looking for something new to try!