Bruno Faidutti: There Are Too Many Great Games!

On the November 11/19/2014 posting of Bruno Faidutti's personal blog, Bruno discusses the plethora of games that are being released in recent days, specifically at Essen this year.  With the constant flood of new releases, one would guess that a few gems would rise to the top above endless seas of chaff.  On the contrary, the bar for quality has been raised considerably.  "The overall quality of games, not only in production but also in design, seems to be paradoxically increasing with quantity – and it’s making their job quite tough for seasoned game designers like me," Faidutti states.  "Many of the so-called groundbreaking games published ten or twenty years ago, some of which have become regular sellers, would pale in comparison to more recent stuff if they were published today – they just still have the good old charm of forerunners." Faidutti proceeds to then introduce a dozen (actually, 15) games that he has been enjoying most recently, listed in order from the lightest to heaviest in weight:

1.  Seventh Hero (Kuro, IELLO/AEG) 2.  8 the Liar (Odd Hackwelder, Swan Panasia Co., Ltd.) 3.  Dragon Run (Bruno Cathala, Blue Orange) 4.  Tales & Games: The Hare the Tortoise (Gun-Hee Kim, IELLO) 5.  Wakanda (Charles Chevalier, Blue Orange) 6.  Colt Express (Christophe Raimbault, Ludonaute, Asmodee) 7.  Ivor the Engine (Tony Boydell, Surprised Stare Games, Ltd.) 8.  Black Fleet (Sebastian Bleasdale, Space Cowboys, Asmodee) 9.  Cash 'n Guns (Ludovic Maublanc, Repos Production) 10.  Sheriff of Nottingham (Andre Zatz and Sergio Halaban, Arcane Wonders) 11.  Manifest (Amanda Milne and Julia Schiller, SchilMil Games, Ltd.) 12.  Sons of Anarchy (Aaron Dill, John Kovaleski and Sean Sweigart, Gale Force Nine) 13.  Five Tribes (Bruno Cathala, Days of Wonder) 14.  El Gaucho (Arve D. Fuhler, Argentum Verlag) 15. Lords of Xidit (Regis Bonnessee, Libellud)

As I read the article, the games that most intrigued me were Colt Express and its 3D cardboard train, The Hare and the Tortoise (looks like oodles of fun for my kids), and Black Fleet.  What sold me on Black Fleet was not only the big map, neat miniatures and pirate theme, but specifically Bruno's comment, "I would have loved such a game when I was ten, and I still quite like it at fifty." What's not love about a game like that? Check out Bruno Faidutti's blog HERE.