RANDOM MUSINGS
on the
fin-de-millénaire games scene . . .
21 September 2007
. . .
The
results of the popularly-voted
Deutscher Spiele Preis
(German Game Award) were announced the other day. The results were
somewhat surprising and difficult to fathom, probably because this year
there didn't seem to be an across-the-board favorite.
The results:
Such as, why do some popular games not place in the top
ten at all? This is probably a problem of distribution. The majority of
the voters are German and if the game is not published in Germany, does
not enter the German distribution system or does not have German rules,
this limits its chances. This probably hurt the following games (the
number in parentheses is the game's current and impressively high ranking on
boardgamegeek.com):
There were two games which it seemed should have placed:
Taluva (165) and
Hermagor (235), but strangely did not. Perhaps they were numbers 11
and 12.
But mentioning BGG is a reminder that there is a "people's choice" style
award occurring there on an ongoing basis.
Of course votes from the rest of the world and especially
native English speakers are much more prevalent. In addition, probably
those who bother to rate games should be considered more hard core than the
DSP voters. Their winner, for example, would have been the aforementioned
BattleLore with Shogun coming in second place.
How do the DSP top ten fare in BGG? (BGG ranks at left, change from DSP in parens):
First, consider weight.
With Imperial it's very likely that it's too heavy for the DSP voters,
not all of whom are numbered among the hard core, though these probably count
for very many of the BGG voters.
Second, consider time.
Leonardo da Vinci
appeared early in the year, i.e. over a year ago. On BGG the ratings were
made as the game was played and frozen in time. But DSP voters have had a
lot more games to play since then and may well have moved on, burying their
memory of this game somewhat. It seems that game makers with potential
award winners may need to start thinking like American
movie studios and put their product out right at the end of the judging
period. Or, bring out a significant expansion kit that gets people playing
it again.
Third, consider other awards.
Zooloretto
is the rather recent Spiel des Jahres winner.
This certainly got it a lot of attention and no doubt plenty of those who
had not played it yet reconsidered it and played it. This may have
helped its chances.
Fourth, consider presentation.
Perhaps since until recently all German games look so much nicer than
our American ones, this is not considered an important factor in America
and elsewhere. But I believe that in Germany there is a strong feeling
that an award winner should not only play well, but look good.
Pillars of the Earth
(photo,
photo)
and
Notre Dame
(photo)
were games considered to have excelled in that regard.
On the other hand this may have hurt the chances of
Leonardo.
Fifth, innovation. A winner should bring something entirely new.
This is another factor that may have hurt the chances of
Leonardo.
Sixth, theme.
Vikings
had the interesting wheel innovation, but game play reminded less
of the pillaging of the fearsome sea warriors than of drafting
the Minnesota variety.
Seventh, and last, luck. While a fair amount of luck is perfectly fine
for the Spiel des Jahres, it is often a limiting factor for the DSP
and this year that probably hurt Thebes
What now? Having learned the seven important factors that alter BGG rankings
for the DSP, let's see if next year we can perfectly predict the DSP 2008 top
ten. Are you game? Good, see you here in a year.
This would seem to definitively settle things about what the game of year
is, but if you think about it, it just raises more questions.
Then there are games whose semi-remake status or combative nature or both –
BattleLore (8), Shogun (9) – probably effectively excluded them. Others may
have fallen by the wayside by virtue of being considered too small
or "only" for two players
– Mr. Jack (104) –
or "only" a card game Caylus Magna Carta (123) (the 2004 winner
St. Petersburg was a card game canny enough to include a board).
Past rankings are
here).
24. Imperial (up 6 places)
Ignoring for a moment the big jump of Imperial, the next three places are
just the same as for the DSP. After that, basically
it seems that
Leonardo da Vinci
and
Colosseum
come up to pretty much swap places with
Vikings and
Zooloretto
which fall lower
How should we understand these differences?
45. Pillars of the Earth (down 1 place)
46. Notre Dame (down 1 place)
70. Yspahan (down 1 place)
108. Leonardo da Vinci (up 3 places)
159. Arkadia (same)
169. Colosseum (up 3 places)
204. Vikings (down 5 places)
221. Zooloretto (down 4 places)
256. Thebes (down 1 place)
