Eurogames (tabletop games)

A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game, German game, or Euro-style game, is a class of tabletop games that generally have indirect player interaction and abstract physical components. Euro-style games emphasize strategy while downplaying luck and conflict. They tend to have economic themes rather than military and usually keep all the players in the game until it ends.

Eurogames are sometimes contrasted with American-style board games, which generally involve more luck, conflict, and drama.

Eurogames are usually less abstract than chess, but more abstract than wargames. Likewise, they generally require more thought and planning than party games, such as Pictionary or Trivial Pursuit, but less skill than classic strategy games, such as chess and Go.

Eurogame is a common, though still an imprecise, label. Because most of these games feature the name of the designer prominently on the box, they are sometimes known as designer games. Other names include German Style Boardgame, family strategy game and hobby game. Shorter, lighter games in this class are known as gateway games, whereas longer, heavier games are known as gamers' games.

Contemporary examples of modern board games referred to as eurogames, such as Acquire, appeared in the 1960s. The 3M series of which Acquire was a part became popular in Germany, and was a template for a new form of game, one in which direct conflict or warfare did not play a role, due in part to aversion in postwar Germany to products which glorified conflict. The genre developed as a more concentrated design movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Germany, and today, Germany purchases more board games than any other country per capita. The phenomenon has spread to other European countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. While many games are published and played in other markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, they occupy a niche status there.

The Settlers of Catan, first published in 1995, paved the way for the genre in the United States and outside Europe. It was neither the first "German game" nor the first such game to find an audience outside Germany, but it became much more popular than any of its predecessors. It quickly sold millions of copies in Germany, and in the process brought money and attention to the genre as a whole. Other games in the genre to achieve widespread popularity include Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, and Alhambra.

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