Family Board Games - Eurogames Vs Ameritrash Games

German games, also called "eurogames" represent an interesting niche in the board game environment. They are like a throwback to the age of the Parker Brothers classic board games. We have not really seen a classic board game in the standard family game market for some time. Maybe Trivial Pursuit counts. But other than that, it is hard to identify another that truly stands the test of time. The games that come to mind from the America market are Monopoly, Life, Clue, Sorry, Risk, Scrabble, and the like. If you want to include kids games, Chutes and Ladders and Candyland certainly make the list.
German games land in a great middle ground for most adults. They are easy enough for children around the age of 10-11 to understand, but they also have deep enough strategy that adults can play them with satisfaction.

These Games Are A Great Value

One of the best things about these games is that they are considerably inexpensive for what you get. Usually, you can get into a game of any theme without much of a knowledge hurdle. This is very different than a typical war game, where it really helps to have a strong familiarity with World War II or whatever the environment is. Typically a German-style game will cost about $40-$50. This gets you a complete and playable game with nice wooden pieces, professional artwork on the cards and game board, and the materials tend to be high quality. Of course, many of them have expansions available, but they are not required to enjoy the core game. If you are considering playing a role-playing game (like Dungeons & Dragons) or a collectible card game (like Magic or Pokemon) you are just getting started at the $50 entry point.

There are a few central features that seem to reoccur in most games of this style. This is good, because these are what seem to keep fans coming back and attract the interest of newcomers.

• There seems to be a lot of interaction - you are not just playing the game. These are strategy games, so you play against other people's minds.


• The artwork and design of the game is interesting - you are not just sitting around waiting for your turn. There is always something else to look at or think about.


• You are not just moving pieces around on the board. Like Chess, every move is important and early mistakes can cost you dearly later in the game.


• Most of the games of this style can be played in a rather short period of time. They average 60-90 minutes. This makes them perfect for a party event. You might even consider playing twice or two different games.


• Usually the rules can be easily understood with a reading and a play-through of the game.

It can be a little overwhelming to think that you are going to try some elite game from overseas that nobody has heard of. You will be very surprised to know that they are more prevalent in the USA than you might think. For example, you will find an excellent board game, published by Days Of Wonder, called Ticket to Ride. This is a US-based company and your goal is to connect as many specific US cities as possible with the set number of trains you have available. As a matter of fact, if you have the Xbox 360, you can try out this game on the online arcade, along with some other popular games of this genre - Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, and Lost Cities.

Many of the overseas publishers work with US publishers to convert the games for American audiences. You may find that you get several versions of the rules in a box. An example of this might be the game Eketorp. It comes with six different versions of the rules - one of which is English. The title may be unfamiliar, but it is a game about building Viking strongholds, stealing precious building materials from other players, and protecting your fortress from siege. Not exactly what you think of when you think of "German" games.

There is another style of game that is similar to the German or Eurogame. This is the American version of the eurogame. It usually means the game emphasizes a well developed theme, player to player conflict, and there is usually a high level of luck. Don't let the nickname fool you. These are fairly popular games as well.

Games that are examples of what gamers might call "Ameritrash" are Twilight Imperium and War of the Ring. Many gamers might even say that these types of games focus more on theme and dramatic game play experiences, while eurogames focus on a streamlined game with an abstract theme wrapped around well-balanced game mechanisms.

There are some common elements to Ameritrash games that make them different from Eurogames. Here are a few of them:

• High levels of drama - dice rolling and hidden cards or values are common. There is also some ongoing tension that builds into a climax that causes players to win points. The main point here is that there are usually a few single points of drama, versus the slow build of drama that leads to the endgame of Eurogames.


• Heavy theme - These games a filled with some sort of theme. They tend to focus on science fiction and fantasy, however there are some that are partially based on history or just some nonsense theme.


• Conflict or "Screw You" factor - This is opposite of a typical Eurogame. The Ameritrash game players love to stick it to their opponents, either through direct competition or some sort of evil negotiation.


• These are not "light" games - These games tend to come with lots of pieces, dice, cards, and large boards. A "fun" Ameritrash game tends to have some strategic effort along with lots of dice rolling and can take an hour to set up and two or more hours to play. Again, this is opposite of a typical Eurogame.

It needs to be stated that Ameritrash games are not war games. This is a different breed of game altogether and we are not covering that as part of this article.

Why the Horrible Name?

The name"Ameritrash" was originally introduced in the late 1990's to identify American board games that were, in fact, trash and not worth playing. It was used to separate the US market from the professionally high standards set by the German game market. American game fans later adopted this term as a standard definition. Other terms were Amerigames, Amerigold, and Ameritreasure. None had the traction of Ameritrash.

Because of the speed at which the to gaming markets are coming together, one might find these terms confusing. Much like Eurogames don't have to come from Europe, Ameritrash games don't have to come from America - and not all American game publishers. These terms really just represent styles of games.

There are a few prominent publishers of these types of board games. Each publisher has their own personality and style of games for which they are known.

These companies and some representative games are:

• Rio Grande Games - Leading Eurogame publisher - Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, Power Grid


• Mayfair Games - Eurogame publisher - Settlers of Catan, BANG! The Card Game


• Fantasy Flight Games - Ameritrash game publisher - Arkham Horror, War of the Ring, Starcraft, World Of Warcraft


• Days of Wonder - Ameritrash/Eurogame publisher - Ticket to Ride, Memoir '44, Shadows Over Camelot


• Z-Man Games - Eurogame Publisher - Agricola, Pandemic, 1960: The Making of a President

The nearly-complete globalization of games in recent years has made the terms such as Ameritrash and Eurogame confusing to some gamers. It should be noted that these names refer to a style of game's point of origin. Certainly it is not required for Ameritrash to be American, nor do all American game companies make Ameritrash, nor is it even easily identifiable which game companies are actually American. Fantasy Flight, a company frequently identified with Ameritash, is in large part a publisher of European game designs. Mayfair and Rio Grande, large publishers by the standards of American hobby game companies, produce European games almost exclusively.