German Game Authors - #2: Stefan Dorra Credits: Banque Fatale (Blatz), For Sale (Ravensburger / FX Schmid), Intrige (FX Schmid), Linie 1 (Goldsieber) (a.k.a. Streetcar - Mayfair), MarraCash (KOSMOS), Njet! (Goldsieber), Olympia 2000 v. Chr. (Hans im Glück), Razzia (Ravensburger), Die Safeknacker (ASS), Schloss Rabenstein (Piatnik), Schwarzmarkt (Amigo), Tonga Bonga (Ravensburger), Um Kopf und Kragen (Berliner Spielkarten), Volle Hütte (ASS)Yucata (Hans im Glück), Zum Kuckuck (FX Schmid). Stefan Dorra has designed a number of games - all of the games listed above have been published since 1992 - and has had some success - both Razzia and Linie 1 were Spiel des Jahres nominees - but still seems to receive little notice.

According to KMW's Spielplatz, four of Dorra's games have gone out of print over the past year (including Banque Fatale and Intrige), with only one new game (Tonga Bonga?) available.

Perhaps some of the lack of recognition Dorra has received stems from the types of games he designs - fillers. Of the 16 games listed above, over half are typically completed in under 30 minutes, and only a few such as Linie 1 are of a length and depth comparable to Die Siedler. In my opinion, however, many of Dorra's shorter games are among the best examples of the genre.

For Sale (FunAgain $15) is possibly my all-time favorite filler. First, 20 properties are auctioned off, with each player receiving the same number. Then, all properties are sold - hopefully, but not always, for a healthy profit. The player with the most cash wins. The game is easy to understand, fun to play, and can be finished in 5 minutes. My favorite Dorra game, however, is the somewhat meatier MarraCash (FunAgain $39 / Adam Spielt, 42.50 DM). Players take on three roles - property auctioneers, tourist guides out for kickbacks, and shopkeepers eager for increased business. In the end, only cash matters, and concentration of tourists brings in more cash than scattered tourists - which can mean that it's worthwhile to buy a shop purely to discourage the flow of tourists away from another of your shops. Steve Kurzban and I both enjoyed the game enough to split an extra set, thus creating a 5/6 player expansion. We're of mixed feelings about the results - I think that the game works nicely with 5, OK with 6, and the extra pawns make the 4 player game better; he's less enthusiastic about playing with more than 4.

Linie 1 (FunAgain, $29 (Streetcar) / Adam Spielt, 42.50 DM) is perhaps the best fundamentally broken game I know of. The tile laying portion of the game is excellent - offering both offensive and defensive opportunities and interesting tile upgrades. However, this part of the game is effectively sabotaged by a fatal flaw - conflicting goals. I've read on multiple occasions that the race game is flawed or anticlimactic; I don't believe the problem is within the race game itself, however, but within the victory conditions. Players are given multiple goals:

• Create a short route.
• Create a route with few stops.
• Create a route quickly.

The race is then really nothing more than an attempt to score the game. However, every endgame I've seen (the Goldsieber and Mayfair races, plus at least three variations of these) falls short for two reasons. First, they can not be anything _but_ anticlimactic - after all, all that is really happening is scoring (and effectively adding a die roll to the result). But more importantly they don't really seem to reward meeting the goals of the tile play. Some systems reward having no stops. Some systems reward speed. Some systems reward short routes. Most reward luck, in one form or another (it's worth noting that there is a wide range in the quality of starting positions). But I've yet to find one that rewarded me for playing.

Dorra has made heavy use of the basic Hol's der Geier mechanism, wherein simultaneously played cards earn various rewards for the players. Besides For Sale (which uses the mechanism for selling off properties), Olympia 2000 v. Chr., Razzia (FunAgain, $19), and Zum Kuckuck (FunAgain, $15) all use some form of it. Olympia 2000 v. Chr. is built around the mechanism, as players choose athletes to perform in various events. Dorra adds two twists to the game, though - the athlete who finishes last gets to pick the event after next, and each athlete has a different rating in the 5 available events. Razzia uses a different form of the mechanism, where the cards played are not completing directly but instead are specific to a locale, where they will compete with other cards specific to that locale. In the context of the game, the locales are speakeasies, and the cards represent gamblers and policemen. In many ways Razzia is similar to Adel Verpflichtet, but with a bit less depth. In Zum Kuckuck, players try to avoid having their nests invaded by cuckoos - a difficult task when the better a hand a player has, the smaller the nest. In the game, two nest value cards are turned over each round, with the player choosing the highest card getting the lower of the two nest values, while the player with the second highest card gets the higher of the two nest values. Then the player with the highest current nest value often not the player who took the highest card this round) gets invaded.

Njet! (Adam Spielt, 11.50 DM) is yet another trick-taking card game, with the clever bit being that trump, partners, opening lead, the value of tricks and the like are determined by the process of elimination. This has the odd -and not particularly desirable - effect of frequently playing the hand where no one wants it. After a single play it was clear that the game wouldn't be coming out often enough to keep it around. Intrige (FunAgain, $39) is a negotiation game which has received some good press, but I'm not fond of negotiation games, so I have yet to try it.

Yucata (FunAgain, $26) is a very abstract "race" game, where winning the race isn't always the right move, but falling behind is almost certainly bad. Certain stones throughout the race count negatively - with each additional bad stone counting more negatively. Also on the abstract front, Um Kopf und Kragen (Adam Spielt, 12.50 DM) is a zero-sum betting dice game, which isreasonably clever but somewhat less involving than Yucata. Players must spend some money every turn, and can spend additional money to try to improve their die rolls. However, only the player with the best die roll will take home any money.

Volle Hütte (Adam Spielt, 47.90 DM) was one of the most silent releases of 1997, occurring between the Nuremberg and Essen fairs. It remains the only board game I know of themed around bar-hopping. Players work to build up their bars and attract customers, only to see them walk away (sometimes without paying) to the place up the street just because they have a pool table. The game is very much one of picking on your right-hand neighbor (since her departing customers see your bar first), and doesn't have any great depth to it, but it plays quickly and always seems to be enjoyable. The same can be said for Die Safeknacker, a 15 minute game about cracking safes. Players either build teams (to tackle the tough jobs) or use a team they already have to crack a safe - the leader gets the money, but has to pay out those they've contracted for the job.

Schwarzmarkt (FunAgain, $25) reminds me of Volle Hütte in some ways, but without the fun. Players sell goods, with roughly no control of the price they'll receive, until eventually players run out of goods twice. I've heard some good things about the game elsewhere, but it never really worked for my gaming group. In contrast, Tonga Bonga (FunAgain, $39 / Adam Spielt, 49.50 DM) is reasonably enjoyable, but has hit the table less often than Schwarzmarkt. In Tonga Bonga players race to different islands, trying to pick up bonuses for being the first to arrive. Each turn players have to decide how much to pay their crew, and after that where to place their own sailors to earn the most.

Of Dorra's games, I would recommend MarraCash and For Sale with no hesitation. Of the others, there is a group that I enjoy (Olympia 2000 v. Chr., Die Safeknacker, Volle Hütte, and Zum Kuckuck) and would certainly recommend to fans of lighter, "filler" games. Razzia, although never a favorite, stays on my shelf as one of the fewer 7-8 player fillers. Linie 1 (or Streetcar) is worth trying as well, to see how the endgame works for you.

I will be more than happy to try to answer specific questions e-mailed to Joseph.Huber@compaq.com. However, I am not an expert on board games, nor am I a collector of boardgames. I just happen to play them and occasionally write about the experience. I would welcome any constructive feedback.

Disclaimer: This article represents my own opinions only. Some opinions are based on only a single play; some of the information presented is based on nothing more than hearsay. I will always try to note such instances, but I would always recommend playing a game before buying it (or deciding not to buy it, for that matter).

I have included some additional data with regards to the availability of games for informational purposes only; mention of a business does not represent an endorsement (either positive or negative) of the business. I have received a (constructive) piece of negative feedback about the inclusion of price information here. I believe it to be useful data, so rather than removing it I'll state my personal suggestion for buying German board games. As a first option, support a good local retailer - Rio Grande and Mayfair are making many German games available in English through the normal distributors. When local doesn't work, there are many mail order sources available - Fine Games, Boulder Games, The Games Store, Board Not Bored Games, FunAgain Games, Small Furry Creatures, Spirit Games, Adam Spielt, Games People Play, and so on - any reasonable attempt to find retailers will produce a wide range to choose from. Pick a few that offer what you need (good prices, good service, English translations, inexpensive shipping - whatever suits you), and try them.