Are you like me and dreading another Iowa Winter full of ice storms and sub-zero temperatures? Thanks to a decade old Renaissance in board games coming out of Europe; I’ve beaten the Winter blues by welcoming the excuse to stay indoors for several months playing games with family and friends.

Known as “euro games“, this new genre of board games are more engaging and exciting than what most people think of when they hear the term “board games”.

Here is a list of five euro games I recommend trying out to fight the Winter doldrums.

The Settlers of Catan

I have yet to meet anyone who finished their first game of Settlers and didn’t immediately start thinking about their next game of Settlers. Settlers of Catan is the most popular of the euro games; having won several awards, spawned several expansion and editions, and brought euro games to the limelight. The game mechanics are simple to learn while still allowing for complex dynamics and strategies.

Description: In Settlers of Catan, players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine what resources the island produces. Players collect these resources to build up their civilizations to get to 10 victory points and win the game.

Great if you like: trading, building
Ages: 10 and up
Players: 3-4, or 5-6 using the expansion
Playing time: 60-90 minutes

Carcassonne

Another classic euro game! Like Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne is a great “gateway” game to introduce new players to the world of euro games. The rules are simple, play is fast and while there is substantial luck in the game, there are plenty of tactics to discover to improve your chance of winning.

Description: A clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique Roman and Medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious.

Great if you like: city building, medieval
Ages: 8 and up
Players: 2-5
Playing time: 60 minutes

Pack n Stack

I love Pack & Stack because it’s something you can dump out on the table with friends, explain the rules, and start playing within 10 minutes. The game usually involves making some huge laughable mistake one turn, and then beaming with pride over a perfect score the following turn.

Description: Players try to fill their trucks as perfectly as possible. They start each round with a random selection of goods. Then the available trucks are revealed and everybody tries to get the one truck that is most useful for his goods. The players get negative scores if they packed their truck and it was too large (a lot of unused space) or too small (a lot of goods don’t fit). So it’s a matter of picking the right truck quickly.

Great if you like: math/geometry, speed/interaction
Ages: 6 and up
Players: 3-6
Playing time: 20 minutes

Through the Desert

The first thing you will notice when opening up Through the Desert is all the little candy colored camel figures. It’s an attractive game that is as fun to look at as it is to play. Unlike the other games in this list, Through the Desert tends to be played with little conversation: players tend to be deeply attentive to their opponents moves while pondering their own.

Description: During the game, players score points by placing a camel on top of a watering hole or playing a camel adjacent to an oasis. At the end of the game, players score points for the longest caravan (most camels) of each color and for areas that have been enclosed by one of their caravans.

Great if you like: abstract strategy, area enclosure mechanics
Ages: 10 and up
Players: 2-5
Playing time: 40 minutes

Dominion

Dominion is possibly the best game ever made.

It combines the best mechanic of collectible card games (like Magic the Gathering) but without the bank breaking aspect of requiring you to buy countless packs of cards. The game achieves brilliance by providing both incredible variety (3.2 million ways to set up the game) and depth of play (countless strategies to develop, some simple, some complex).

Description: In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can “buy” as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.

Great if you like: card games, deck building, Magic the Gathering
Ages: 10 and up
Players: 2-4
Playing time: 30 minutes

The great thing about “euro games” is that they typically do not involve player elimination. Every player who starts the game will remain in the game to the end, and it is not rare to have a player come from last place in the final turns to win the game.

You can buy the games listed above and more at Kobold’s Corner game store here in Fairfield, located just North of the Square on Main Street (111 N Main Street). If you don’t see it on the shelf ask them to order it for you!