Today I’ll give a little intro on what the world’s most popular specialist boardgames are. These games are popularly referred to as “German-style boardgames” or “Eurogames.”

Ever wanted a game that you can involve the whole family in? Your significant other doesn’t get your gaming obsession? Well we reckon the fun-and-friendly approach that these games take, might just solve your dilemma, and turn those family reunions into gamefests.

The moniker “German-style boardgames” apparently came from the fact that Germany produces more boardgames than any other nation – so says Wikipedia. Another popular name is “designer games,” referencing the fact that plenty of such boardgames carry the names of their designers or creators.

You may have seen people playing some of these games, in cafes and restaurants. German-style games have pretty much redefined the tabletop gaming genre, over the last decade here. It’s interesting to note that while a strict definition of a German-style boardgame does not exist, most agree that as a whole, they focus less on conflict, unlike the so-called “American-style” boardgames (which I’ll shine the spotlight on no doubt, in the coming blog updates :-D.

It’s certainly not a stretch to say that the popularity of such games are not only due to their low-complexity-but-rich-strategy nature, among others, but also the runaway success of a little German game named Settlers of Catan.

Settlers has been described by cited by many as “the killer app” of its gaming genre. The game is extremely family-friendly, easy to learn and has an easily accessible theme.

I won’t wax lyrical about this game too much – I mean, when it’s already a popular iPhone app, has sold over 15 million copies worldwide since it first came out in 1995, and is available in multiple versions, languages, variants and sequels, Catan is without a doubt the game to own.

So, find out more by checking out its official website here. Do look up all the variants by searching for the Catan name at BoardgameGeek.com.

Settlers of Catan and its spinoffs (the actual boardgames, discounting all the virtual / electronic / online versions) are available in better game stores everywhere.

Err, they’re all closed for the holidays, but if anyone is keen to try Settlers during the holidays, follow me on Twitter (@arcturus_mengsk), and I’ll point you in the right direction! (I will be very reasonable with my “rental charges” LOL.)

This is a Catan variant that simulates the fall of the Roman Empire. Ok so it's less abstract, but hey, it looks good right?

In the meantime, hope you all are having a great Chinese New Year, and a great holiday season!