Greetings & Salutations A good friend once attempted to delineate what made me (and my friends Greg Schloesser, Ted Cheatham, & Ty Douds) different than other gamers had mat. He came up with: "You guys like to win but you love to play." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Not that I mind winning, or that I'm the poster child for -Losers Anonymous-. (For the record I win about 38% of the games I play.) Winning, however, isn't the only great gaming experience for me. There's the sharp intake of breath when you open a now game and pick up the bits for the first time (ah, the first time I saw the Castillo from EL GRANDE).... or the audible'click! in your brain when you we how a particular ad of rules work (as I did with MEDICI).. or THE JOYOUS rush of making a most excellent play that manages to better your position at the expense of your chief nemesis. (This is probably the beat feature of TORRES.) Great gaming experiences include those perennial favorites(my yearly playing of THE GOTHIC GAME or my now 11+ year battle against my in-laws at CANASTA) as well as the joys of playtesting.. and even the occasional dud. (Hey, MAGALON may not be a very good game, but we had a lot of fun playing it!

Over the next few mouths, I'll be telling you a little more about myself and my gaming habits. We may even delve into the caverns of my long-term memory (which my wife swam an filled with bat guano!) and explore how a shy, bookish elementary school student became an outgoing gum collector running a gaming club and a website.

Before we continue on, let me got a couple of things out of the way I'm a thirty-five you old resident of Nashville, Tennessee, happily married to a beautiful woman who tolerates my gaming obsession as long as she doesn't have to play SETTLER OF CATAN. (Amazingly enough, we of her favorite games is the odd cooperative horror go= from GDW, MINION HUNTER.) Despite having no children (YET!), I'm in the process of collecting a rather Imp dash of children's games.

But enough about me

Easy As One, Two, Three

Each mouth, this column will feature my own highly opinionated listing of the top three games of a particular type For example, I might choose to give you the top three dexterity games, or the top three games about a gangster, or the top three games from a particular company.

This month, well start with something easy. Though not the first German game in my collection (that honor belongs to Ravensburger's SCOTLAND YARD), DIE SIEDLER VON CATAN (aka The Settlers of Caton) from Kosmos/Mayfair has taken up a huge chunk of my gaming time and attention. And I'm not alone. Kosmos realized quickly what a major hit it has on it's hands and haven't waded any time in exploiting it. Mien are currently 6 expansions and 4 standalone games based on to Settlers system. (klaus Tauber, the designer, is a very busy and wealthy - man!) AH those named in English are available in English from Mayfair Games.

Expansions .5-6 PLAYER EXPANSION SET . SEAFARERS OF CATAN (+ 5-6 Expansion.) - STADT & RITTER (+ 5-6 Expansion) - soon to be released in English as Cities & Knights - HISTORISCHE SZENARIEN

Stand-Alone Games - SETTLERS OF CATAN CARDGAME (which also has a Tournier expansion as wall as 5 Theme expansion docks... unfortunately, the expansions are still in German) - DIE SIEDLER VON NUREMBERG -DIE STERNFAHRER VON CATAN (+ 5-6 expansion in the works) - DIE SEEDIER PC-CD (from Ravensburger Interactive only in German)

By now you're thinking, "I thought this clown said he was going to rank the top three!" Wall, by golly, you're right. On to the serious business of waving my opinion in the air like a red shirt in front of a bull! (Note: I have not played DIE SIEDLER VON NUREMBERG and so will not attempt to rank it)

1. The best of the bunch is the HISTORISCHE SZENARIEN (Historical Scenarios). These two 'alternate settings' for the go add some interesting twists without disturbing the basic game unnecessary Both un one side of a double-sided mapboard and a ad of extra counters (gold, events, etc.). The first scenario Cheops, was originally released as a poster (complete with mistakes!) and it's popularity led to the production of this much nicer boxed set Set in ancient Egypt, players compete not only to build up a network of settlements but also to help Pharaoh complete his great pyramid. Trade is vital in the scenario, as no player can assure himself an am distribution of resources due to the nature of the bout For me, Cheops betters TAL DE KONIG, an expensive but beautiful pyramid building game. The second scenario is my personal favorite, Alexander the Great. Players take the role of Alexander's advisors, bidding resources for the right to establish now villages and solve problem in the wake of Alexander's conquest of the Middle East. Markedly different from any other Settlers variant I've seen, Alexander the Great manages to incorporate suctions into the tried & true Settlers system with great play results. Nothing is required to play these scenarios besides a Settlers ban set. Prices for this well-produced box ad run around $20 ... making it an excellent value.

2. Next in line is THE SEAFARERS OF CATAN. Finally, a use for all those dad gum sheep! With the addition of ships (built for a wood and a sheep) and a wide variety of scenarios, this expansion breathes now life into the Catan franchise. Granted, some of the scenarios are slightly unbalanced, and most of the "exploration! scenarios am essentially hick of the draw, but it's dill a lot of fun to play. Expect it to add 30-60 minutes to your average Settlers union. There we a bunch of new hexes included as wall as a nice frame for the board. It costs the so= as the basic ad (roughly $35) which makes it on the expensive side, but it does have great play value.

3. To round out the top three, THE SETTLERS OF CATAN CARDGAME. It's difficult take a game that centers around trading cards and convert it into a two player game, but Klaus Tauber did it with style. The spinning card mechanism to indicate which resources you've received is brilliant and the artwork on the cards is stunning. (In me of their wisest moves, Mayfair retained the German artwork for their English edition.) Complaints about luck are lessened by the one time use of action cards and the ability of either player to "search" a dock at the cost of two resources. Yes, the game is a bit long for what it is (about 2 hours) and after a number of playings with the same player can devolve into repetitive patterns, but I'm looking forward to Mayfair publishing the Them docks to take care of that. At $20, its a very good game for two players, especially two Settlers players who could find anyone to play with.

But what about the 5-6 player expansions? Well, I'm of two minds about those. While I enjoy them and the variety they add to the game, Settlers works much better with four players. DIE STERNFAHRER VON CATAN and STADT & RITTER I've played once each... enough to know I enjoyed diem but neither was exciting enough for me to pay the price for them

In related good news, Kosmos will be putting out another box like HISTORISCHE SZENARIEN in the upcoming mouths.

Don't Buy the Hype

The other monthly feature of this column will be my attempt to pump up an under-appreciated game (aka EDISON & CO) or poke a hole in the overinflated reputation of some other games (aka DIPLOMACY) Nothing like rocking the boat a little!

And speaking of rocking the boat, take this as your warning to avoid the leaky yacht that is SCHOKO & CO. Granted, it's an excellent business simulation with a well thought out ad of interlocking mechanisms Sad to say, its' greatest strength is also its vested weakness. Its just not that much fun to play. Ty Douds put it beautifully: "It's too much like work" There are plenty of other games that deserve the 3-4 hours required to finish a game of SCHOKO & CO. that won't (a) give you a headache, and/or (b) nuke you feel like an overworked businessman. (Of course, if you enjoy feeling overworked, you're probably not going to have the time necessary to play this game!)

[Mark Jackson runs Game Central Station, a Nashville, TX, based gaming group and website. This week his favorite game is VINO). website: geocities.com/scaryjo gamemark@bellsouth.net