Boardgaming for the Masses

It's nice that the Columbus Dispatch finally gets around to recognizing that they have the largest board gaming club on the planet in their own backyard.

Build a sprawling metropolis. Raise baby monsters. Challenge other species in a grim struggle for survival.
Board games aren’t in Candy Land anymore.
If you haven’t ventured beyond Monopoly and Scrabble in a few years, you might be surprised by what’s out there.
So-called Eurogames, which emphasize strategy over chance and often heed political or historical themes, have become increasingly popular nationally since the introduction of the Settlers of Catan in 1995.
Catan dares players to outdo one another by building settlements on a fictional island.
Other games, though, have more offbeat themes — such as the Cold War (Twilight Struggle), old presidential campaigns (1960: The Making of the President) and subsistence farming (Agricola).
Unlike American classics such as Monopoly, some Eurogames tend not to eliminate players before the end, said George Sauer III, president of the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (www.buckeyeboardgamers.org).
Some even reward cooperation among players.
“What fun is it when you have your friends over to play games and you play Risk and someone gets knocked out?” Sauer said. “What do they do then?”
Eurogame themes can be odd and even unsettling, said Jeff Kayati, a society member from Worthington.
A game called Labyrinth, for example, pits terrorists against the U.S. military.

But I can't ever think of anyone categorizing Labyrinth as a "euro-game"...

By: Brant