Its been a good year so far for new games... For what it's worth (your mileage WILL vary), my ranking of games are: 1. Santiago (I love negotiation games, and this one really floats my boat.) 2. Attika (Is this a 2004 game? Attika is weird because it's hard for me describe why I like it: It's dry, but it's fast. A strange balance between long term planning and flying by the seat of your pants.) 3. Finstere Flure (Almost all the games I've played have had unexpected massacres (quite fun)...I wonder if this will hold up as people get more used to the game. Anyway, the art design is awesome.) 4. Hansa (Another dry game, but the theme works well. The game is so *tight*. Very nice.) 5. Ticket to Ride (Fifth on my list, but still a great game, although it should be said I've only played it once...and I got hosed: NO tickets completed!) 6. Industrial (Again, I've only play it once, but it was fun (if a little plodding). The auctions are strange, which OK in my book, but I can see why others would be put off by them.) 7. Bridges of Shangri-La (2004 game? Surprisingly nasty game, which I like. I'm not sure about it's replayability, though.) Biggest disappointment: Tongiaki. Your situation when your turn comes around will very rarely be at all what you expected...and sometimes you'll practically have nothing to do. Doesn't work as a strategic or a light game in my opinion. Most looking forward to trying: Memoir '44. Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 5 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com