[spielfrieks] 2003 Retrospective

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Next on the venue is 2003. We nominated 25 games for the original election that year; in alphabetical order, they are:


A Game of Thrones
Alhambra
Amun-Re
Attika
Balloon Cup
Carcassonne: The Castle
Coloretto
Die Fugger
Die Sieben Siegel
Domaine
Edel, Stein & Reich
Europa Tour
Fearsome Floors
Industria
Logistico
Magna Grecia
Mare Nostrum
New England
Pirate's Cove
Princes of the Renaissance
Railroad Dice
Santiago
The Bridges of Shangrila
Yinsh
Zendo


Note that Europa Tour includes 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in the USA, which are very similar games.


There were five games from 2003 that didn’t get nominated that are currently in the top 1000 on the Geek. Here they are; if anyone seconds them, they’ll get added to the list:


Blokus 3D
Europe Engulfed
Gulo Gulo
Hey, That's My Fish!
Ubongo


And as always, feel free to nominate any other 2003 game that you think you’ll put in your top 3. If someone else seconds it, the game will be added to the list.


I’ll keep things open as long as the suggestions keep rolling in. Then we’ll redo the election and see if our tastes have changed. Thanks!



Larry

[Phil Alberg [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I second Ubongo

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
Next on the venue is 2003. We nominated 25 games for the original
A Game of Thrones
Alhambra
Amun-Re
Attika
Balloon Cup
Carcassonne: The Castle
Coloretto
Die Fugger
Die Sieben Siegel
Domaine
Edel, Stein & Reich
Europa Tour
Fearsome Floors
Industria
Logistico
Magna Grecia
Mare Nostrum
New England
Pirate's Cove
Princes of the Renaissance
Railroad Dice
Santiago
The Bridges of Shangrila
Yinsh
Zendo
Note that Europa Tour includes 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in the USA,
which are very similar games.
There were five games from 2003 that didn’t get nominated that are
currently in the top 1000 on the Geek. Here they are; if anyone seconds
Blokus 3D
Europe Engulfed
Gulo Gulo
Hey, That's My Fish!
Ubongo
And as always, feel free to nominate any other 2003 game that you think
you’ll put in your top 3. If someone else seconds it, the game will be
added to the list.
I’ll keep things open as long as the suggestions keep rolling in. Then
we’ll redo the election and see if our tastes have changed. Thanks!
Larry

[Jimmy [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I'll second That's My Fish and nominate R-Eco (not sure if it's considered 2003 or 2009)

-Jimmy

Sent from my iPad

Post by Phil Alberg ***@gmail.com [spielfrieks]
I second Ubongo

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
A Game of Thrones
Alhambra
Amun-Re
Attika
Balloon Cup
Carcassonne: The Castle
Coloretto
Die Fugger
Die Sieben Siegel
Domaine
Edel, Stein & Reich
Europa Tour
Fearsome Floors
Industria
Logistico
Magna Grecia
Mare Nostrum
New England
Pirate's Cove
Princes of the Renaissance
Railroad Dice
Santiago
The Bridges of Shangrila
Yinsh
Zendo
Note that Europa Tour includes 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in the USA, which are very similar games.
Blokus 3D
Europe Engulfed
Gulo Gulo
Hey, That's My Fish!
Ubongo
And as always, feel free to nominate any other 2003 game that you think you’ll put in your top 3. If someone else seconds it, the game will be added to the list.
I’ll keep things open as long as the suggestions keep rolling in.. Then we’ll redo the election and see if our tastes have changed. Thanks!
Larry

--
"When playing a game the goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning."
- Reiner Knizia

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

There's a number of years that R-Eco could qualify for, but 2003 is the year it was first published (no doubt a tiny print run by Kawaski's own company), so I'd say it's eligible. I don't think it's ever been nominated in any year before.

Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I'll second R-Eco

Perter van der Raaij

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

So we’re all set for the 2003 retrospective voting. There are 29 games in the poll, all set up at http://meepleschoice.win/ http://meepleschoice.win/. As usual, vote for three or fewer games. I’ll shut things down on Friday, August 3, and give the results. The games are given below. Thanks to everyone for participating!

A Game of Thrones
Alhambra
Amun-Re
Attika
Balloon Cup
Carcassonne: The Castle
Coloretto
Die Fugger
Die Sieben Siegel
Domaine
Edel, Stein & Reich
Europa Tour / 10 Days in

Fearsome Floors
Gulo Gulo
Hey, That's My Fish!
Industria
Logistico
Magna Grecia
Mare Nostrum
New England
Pirate's Cove
Princes of the Renaissance
Railroad Dice
R-Eco
Santiago
The Bridges of Shangrila
Ubongo
Yinsh
Zendo


Larry

[Ted Cheatham [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

At one point I owned 21 of these.

I still have 3. And, I think I have played them all but Yinsh...but I may have played that.

Ted Cheatham

So we’re all set for the 2003 retrospective voting. There are 29 games in the poll, all set up at http://meepleschoice.win/. As usual, vote for three or fewer games. I’ll shut things down on Friday, August 3, and give the results. The games are given below. Thanks to everyone for participating!
A Game of Thrones
Alhambra
Amun-Re
Attika
Balloon Cup
Carcassonne: The Castle
Coloretto
Die Fugger
Die Sieben Siegel
Domaine
Edel, Stein & Reich
Europa Tour / 10 Days in

Fearsome Floors
Gulo Gulo
Hey, That's My Fish!
Industria
Logistico
Magna Grecia
Mare Nostrum
New England
Pirate's Cove
Princes of the Renaissance
Railroad Dice
R-Eco
Santiago
The Bridges of Shangrila
Ubongo
Yinsh
Zendo
Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I believe I've played all of them as well. It was a different time back then--you could play every prominent game released in a calendar year without too much difficulty. No way I'd be able to do that now. For example, I've only played 21 of the 27 games nominated for the 2017 awards; and the only reason the figure is that high is that I'm including some plays of prototypes!

Larry

[Ted Cheatham [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Exactly, Larry. Today people bring games over to the house to play and I go,”never heard of it”

Ted Cheatham

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
I believe I've played all of them as well. It was a different time back then--you could play every prominent game released in a calendar year without too much difficulty. No way I'd be able to do that now. For example, I've only played 21 of the 27 games nominated for the 2017 awards; and the only reason the figure is that high is that I'm including some plays of prototypes!
Larry

[Fraser [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Interesting to see a lack of love for 2003. Scanning through the list and
my memory we own 20 of them, I have played 18 of them and there are 4 that
I consider meh. I will actually find it difficult to cull it to three.

Cheers,

Fraser

[Doug Orleans [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Ditto, plenty of solid games here. I still own 15 of them and would gladly
play any.

Post by Fraser ***@gmail.com [spielfrieks]
Interesting to see a lack of love for 2003. Scanning through the list and
my memory we own 20 of them, I have played 18 of them and there are 4 that
I consider meh. I will actually find it difficult to cull it to three.
Cheers,
Fraser

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Well, even a poor year has plenty of good games. There are probably 10 titles from 2003 that I'd be reasonably happy to play. But Amun-Re and Santiago are the only two games from that year that I ever play and are the only two that excite me (although I was always fond of Industria and, if I still got in some 2-player gaming, I'm sure both Balloon Cup and Mystery Rummy 4 would be hitting the table a lot). The thing is, that's probably a lot less than for most other years.

Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Well, even a poor year has plenty of good games. There are probably 10 titles from 2003 that I'd be reasonably happy to play. But Amun-Re and Santiago are the only two games from that year that I ever play and are the only two that excite me (although I was always fond of Industria and, if I still got in some 2-player gaming, I'm sure both Balloon Cup and Mystery Rummy 4 would be hitting the table a lot). The thing is, that's probably a lot less than for most other years.

Larry

['Sharon Khan' [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I’ll second Gulo Gulo



Sharon





From: ***@yahoogroups.com [mailto:***@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: 20 July 2018 23:16
To: ***@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spielfrieks] 2003 Retrospective





Next on the venue is 2003. We nominated 25 games for the original election that year; in alphabetical order, they are:



A Game of Thrones

Alhambra

Amun-Re

Attika

Balloon Cup

Carcassonne: The Castle

Coloretto

Die Fugger

Die Sieben Siegel

Domaine

Edel, Stein & Reich

Europa Tour

Fearsome Floors

Industria

Logistico

Magna Grecia

Mare Nostrum

New England

Pirate's Cove

Princes of the Renaissance

Railroad Dice

Santiago

The Bridges of Shangrila

Yinsh

Zendo



Note that Europa Tour includes 10 Days in Africa and 10 Days in the USA, which are very similar games.



There were five games from 2003 that didn’t get nominated that are currently in the top 1000 on the Geek. Here they are; if anyone seconds them, they’ll get added to the list:



Blokus 3D

Europe Engulfed

Gulo Gulo

Hey, That's My Fish!

Ubongo



And as always, feel free to nominate any other 2003 game that you think you’ll put in your top 3. If someone else seconds it, the game will be added to the list.



I’ll keep things open as long as the suggestions keep rolling in. Then we’ll redo the election and see if our tastes have changed. Thanks!



Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I will definitely second Ubongo. I may like the later, more complex versions, but this is still a fun game for those who like puzzles.

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

2003 is probably my least favorite year for games since I discovered German games in 1999. Amun-Re is an excellent design that continues to get steady play and the wonderfully evil Santiago is a favorite of my games group. But there's not much else. There's probably only 9 or 10 games from that year that I have any interest in playing, which is much fewer than for any other year. Does anyone else feel that way or am I an outlier (as I was for 2008)?

Larry

[Chris Sjoholm [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Larry,

From that list, I count several among my all time favorites (not that it
means I get to play them that often)...

Balloon Cup, Coloretto, Europa Tour, New England, and YINSH are all top
games for me. I haven't played Santiago, to my regret, and I got rid of
Amun-Re. :-)

- Chris

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
2003 is probably my least favorite year for games since I discovered
German games in 1999. Amun-Re is an excellent design that continues to get
steady play and the wonderfully evil Santiago is a favorite of my games
group. But there's not much else. There's probably only 9 or 10 games
from that year that I have any interest in playing, which is much fewer
than for any other year. Does anyone else feel that way or am I an outlier
(as I was for 2008)?
Larry

[Jacob Lee [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

2003 is probably my least favourite year so far but I would need to see all
the titles listed in groups side by side. But I'm with you, Larry. I
think it was an off year. Or a year where many designers were busy
designing and playtesting their prototypes for the greatness to come.

Jacob

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
2003 is probably my least favorite year for games since I discovered
German games in 1999. Amun-Re is an excellent design that continues to get
steady play and the wonderfully evil Santiago is a favorite of my games
group. But there's not much else. There's probably only 9 or 10 games
from that year that I have any interest in playing, which is much fewer
than for any other year. Does anyone else feel that way or am I an outlier
(as I was for 2008)?
Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Good point, Jacob. 2004 was such a great year for so many gamers, it makes sense that the year before might be a bit of a dud, possibly just because some games missed '03 and were delayed to the following year. For me, at least, 2005 was also an off year, so maybe that's part of it as well.

Larry

[[e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

Okay, time to shut things down. 48 people voted, and again, there wasn't dramatic change, although the original winner was dethroned. Here's the top 10, together with their vote totals, and with the original place given in parentheses (n/a means that the game wasn't nominated the first time around):


1. Amun-Re - 20 (3)
2. Alhambra - 13 (4)
2. Attika - 13 (2)
4. Coloretto - 12 (6)
5. Santiago - 10 (1)
6. Balloon Cup - 7 (20)
7. A Game of Thrones - 6 (5)
7. Ubongo - 6 (n/a)
9. Hey, That's My Fish! - 5 (n/a)
9. Princes of the Renaissance - 5 (7)
9. Zendo - 5 (16)


In the original election, the three winners were grouped very closely together and there was a significant drop off to Alhambra in fourth place. This time around, though, the big gap is between first and second, as Amun-Re is far and away the most popular of the year's titles. Alhambra jumps into the top 3, making 2003 the year of the "A" game.


I was fairly surprised during the original election at how well Santiago performed. I think at least part of that was timing, as its Z-Man American version became available just prior to the voting. However, its fifth place finish shows that its original showing was based on substance.


The top 10 game that had the biggest jump was Balloon Cup. Nice to see that Snoop's design has displayed staying power (but can you believe it's been 15 years since this came out???).


26 games got at least one vote. The only ones which were shut out were Pirate's Cove, Railroad Dice, and The Bridges of Shangrila. The latter two finished near the back of the voting the first time around, but Pirate's Cove had a 13th place finish originally, so it looks like it's been forgotten. You can check out all the results, together with who voted for what, on the app.


Our final retrospective this year is for 1998. I'll check out the potential nominees and get back to you soon. Thanks to everyone who participated!


Larry

[Jacob Lee [e-mail] [spielfrieks]]

I like Bridges of Shangri-La a lot. But there weren't enough votes to go
around. Bridges will always make me feel a little sad because the company
that published it, Uberplay, didn't last long and the prices of all their
games when I bought it were being heavily discounted.

Jacob

Post by ***@comcast.net [spielfrieks]
Okay, time to shut things down. 48 people voted, and again, there wasn't
dramatic change, although the original winner was dethroned. Here's the
top 10, together with their vote totals, and with the original place given
in parentheses (n/a means that the game wasn't nominated the first time
1. Amun-Re - 20 (3)
2. Alhambra - 13 (4)
2. Attika - 13 (2)
4. Coloretto - 12 (6)
5. Santiago - 10 (1)
6. Balloon Cup - 7 (20)
7. A Game of Thrones - 6 (5)
7. Ubongo - 6 (n/a)
9. Hey, That's My Fish! - 5 (n/a)
9. Princes of the Renaissance - 5 (7)
9. Zendo - 5 (16)
In the original election, the three winners were grouped very closely
together and there was a significant drop off to Alhambra in fourth place..
This time around, though, the big gap is between first and second, as
Amun-Re is far and away the most popular of the year's titles. Alhambra
jumps into the top 3, making 2003 the year of the "A" game.
I was fairly surprised during the original election at how well Santiago
performed. I think at least part of that was timing, as its Z-Man American
version became available just prior to the voting. However, its fifth
place finish shows that its original showing was based on substance.
The top 10 game that had the biggest jump was Balloon Cup. Nice to see
that Snoop's design has displayed staying power (but can you believe it's
been 15 years since this came out???).
26 games got at least one vote. The only ones which were shut out were
Pirate's Cove, Railroad Dice, and The Bridges of Shangrila. The latter two
finished near the back of the voting the first time around, but Pirate's
Cove had a 13th place finish originally, so it looks like it's been
forgotten. You can check out all the results, together with who voted for
what, on the app.
Our final retrospective this year is for 1998. I'll check out the
potential nominees and get back to you soon. Thanks to everyone who
participated!
Larry