Dear game lovers,

The new top 50 has been put online.

The game database, which I maintain since mid 2002, contains 3645 games.   

A game can only be taken into account if it has at least 3 ratings. Those ratings come from 27 internet sources

This amounts to exactly 1723 games with 3 or more ratings.

Still number 1: Puerto Rico (Alea)

Caylus (Ystari, 2005): New in the top 10!

More info about this brilliant game can be found on the Ystari website: http://www.ystari.com/caylus/eindex.php

New in the top 50: Betrayal at House on the Hill (Avalon Hill)

From the press release:

’Betrayal at House on the Hill’ (3-6 players) quickly builds suspense and excitement

as players explore a haunted mansion of their own design, encountering spirits and

frightening omens that foretell their fate. With an estimated one hour playing time,

‘Betrayal at House on the Hill’ is ideal for parties, family gatherings or casual fun with friends.

The top 10:

1 (1) Puerto Rico (Alea)

2 (2) Euphrat & Tigris (Hans im Glück)

3 (16) Caylus (Ystari Games)

4 (3) San Juan/ Puerto Rico Kartenspiel (Alea)

5 (4) Die Fürsten von Florenz (Alea)

6 (5) Yinsh (Don & Co)

7 (6) El Grande (Hans im Glück)

8 (7) Die Siedler von Catan(Kosmos)

9 (8) Der Herr der Ringe: Der Ringkrieg/ War of the Ring (Phalanx Games, Fantasy Flight Games)

10 (9) Die Siedler von Catan: Card game + expansions (Kosmos)

The current top 50 of best games is:

Version: 26/01/2006 (previous version: 26/11/2005)

Position	Last position	Game	Publisher	Year	Players	Duration	Type	Author
1	1	Puerto Rico	Alea	2002	3-5	90	Bord	Andreas Seyfarth
2	2	Euphrat & Tigris	Hans im Glück	1997	2-4	90	Bord	Reiner Knizia
3	16	Caylus	Ystari Games	2005	2-5	150	Bord	William Attia
4	3	San Juan/ Puerto Rico Kartenspiel	Alea	2003	2-4	45	Kaart	Andreas Seyfarth
5	4	Die Fürsten von Florenz/ Princes of Florence	Alea	2000	3-5	90	Bord	Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich
6	5	Yinsh	Don & Co	2003	2	30	Bord	Kris Burm
7	6	El Grande	Hans im Glück	1995	2-5	90	Bord	Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich
8	7	Die Siedler von Catan	Kosmos	1995	3-4	90	Bord	Klaus Teuber
9	8	Der Herr der Ringe: Der Ringkrieg/ War of the Ring	Phalanx Games, Fantasy Flight Games	2004	2-4	240	Bord	Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello, Roberto di Meglio
10	9	Die Siedler von Catan: Card game + expansions	Kosmos	1996	2	90	Kaart	Klaus Teuber
11	12	Medina	Hans im Glück	2001	3-4	90	Bord	Stefan Dorra
12	10	Keythedral	R&D Games, Pro Ludo	2002 - 2004	2-5	90	Bord	Richard Breese
13	11	Torres	FX Games/ Ravensburger	2001	2-4	90	Bord	Wolfgang Kramer, Michael Kiesling
14	13	Java	Ravensburger	2000	2-4	120	Bord	Michael Kiesling, Wolfgang Kramer
15	14	Funkenschlag	2F- Spiele	2001	3-6	120	Bord	Friedemann Friese
16	15	Goa	Hans im Glück	2004	2-4	90	Bord	Rüdiger Dorn
17	17	Blokus	Sekkoia, Winning Moves	2000	1-4	30	Bord	Bernard Tavitian
18	18	Machiavelli/ Ohne Furcht und Adel/ Citadelles	Hans im Glück	2000	2-7	60	Kaart	Bruno Faidutti
19	19	Rush Hour	Binary Arts	1996	1	15	Bord	Nob Yoshigahara
20	21	Löwenherz / Domaine	Goldsieber, Kosmos	1997 - 2003	2-4	90	Bord	Klaus Teuber
21	22	Magic the Gathering/ Magic die Zusammenkunft	Wizard of the Coast, Amigo	1990 - 1995	2	20	Kaart	Richard Garfield
22	20	Louis XIV - Ränkespiele am Hofe des Sonnenkönigs	Alea	2004	2-4	90	Bord	Rüdiger Dorn
23	23	Raja: Palastbau in Indien/ Maharadja	Phalanx Games	2004	2-5	90	Bord	Wolfgang Kramer, Michael Kiesling
24	24	Die Händler von Genua/ Traders of Genoa	Alea	2001	2-5	120	Bord	Rüdiger Dorn
25	25	Serenissima /Méditerranée	Descartes	1996	2-4	120	Bord	Dominique Erhard
26	26	Carcassonne	Hans im Glück	2000	2-5	60	Tegel	Klaus-Jurgen Wrede
27	27	Schatten über Camelot/ Shadows over Camelot/ Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde	Days of Wonder	2005	3-7	90	Bord	Serge Laget, Bruno Cathala
28	29	Age of Steam	Warfrog/Winsome Games	2002	3-6	120	Bord	Martin Wallace
29	28	Go	3M, Ishi, ...	1973 - ev	2	90	Bord
30	30	Sankt Petersburg	Hans im Glück	2004	2-4	60	Kaart	Michael Tummelhofer
31	31	Ursuppe	Doris & Frank	1997	3-4	120	Bord	Doris Matthaus, Frank Nestel
32	39	Santiago	Amigo	2003	3-5	90	Bord	Claudia Hely, Roman Pelek
33	32	Tikal	Ravensburger	1999	2-4	120	Bord	Wolfgang Kramer, Kiesling
34	33	Die Werwölfe von Düsterwald/ Les Loups-Garous de Thiercelieux/ Mafia of Kansas City/ De weerwolven van Wakkerdam/ Werewolf	Asmodée, daVinci games	2002	8-18	60	Kaart	Philippe des Pallières, Hervé Marly
35	35	Tadsch Mahal	Alea	2000	3-5	90	Bord	Reiner Knizia
36	34	Die Macher	Hans im Glück, Moskito	1997	3-5	240	Bord	Karl-Heinz Schmiel
37	36	Zicke Zacke Hühnerkacke/ Jakkiebak! Kippenkak!/ Chicken Cha Cha Cha	Zoch	1998	2-4	15	Kind	Klaus Zoch
38	38	Roads and Boats	Splotter Spellen	1999 - 2000	1-4	240	Bord	Joris Wiersinga, Jeroen Doumen
39	40	Einfach Genial/ Genius	Kosmos	2004	1-4	20	Bord	Reiner Knizia
40	47	Oltremare - Merchants of Venice	Mind the Move, Amigo	2004	2-5	60	Bord	Emanuele Ornella
41	37	Middle Earth: the Wizards	Iron Crown Enterprises/ Queen Games	1995	2-5	90	Kaart	Coleman Charleton
42	42	Das Zepter von Zavandor	Lookout Games	2004	2-6	60	Bord	Jens Drögemüller
43	43	Rumis	Murmel	2002	2-4	60	Bord	Stefan Kögl
44	41	Junta	Descartes, West End Games, ASS	1985	2-7	240	Bord	Vincent Tsao, Ben Grossman, Eric Goldberg
45	44	Lauras Sternenspiel	Amigo	2002	2-4	20	Kind	Kai Haverkamp, Rüdiger Husmeier
46	45	La Citta	Kosmos	2000	2-5	120	Bord	Gerd Fenchel
47	46	Obstgärtchen/ Boomgaardje/ Le petit verger	Haba	2004	2-8	10	Kind	Vera Baumeister
48	48	Dvonn	Don & Co/ Rio Grande Games	2001	2	30	Bord	Kris Burm
49	49	Civilization	Avalon Hill	1986	2-8	360	Bord	Francis G. Tresham
50		Betrayal at House on the hill	Avalon Hill	2004	3-6	60	Bord	Bruce Glassco

Dropped out of the top 50:

Last position	Game	Publisher	Year
50	Diplomacy	Jumbo, Avalon Hill	1956

Extra lists:

The Yvesiezi website is updated from time to time with new info.

New/Updated lists this month:

- the worst games on the market:

Winner: Arne (Lauwers Games, Piatnik)

The worst games (Jan/2006):

Games which receive the worst ratings and aren't fun to play:

The worst game in my ranking is the Belgian game 'Arne'.
The list of 10 worst games can be found below:

Worst Games
Position	Game	Publisher
1723	Arne	Lauwers Games, Piatnik
1722	Mikado/ Pick Up Sticks	Haba, Diverse
1721	Die Knastbrüder	Amigo
1720	Yes	Ravensburger
1719	Online	Hasbro
1718	Willi	Hans im Glück
1717	Gran/ Quest	Ravensburger
1716	Odyssee	Hexagames
1715	Das Geheimnis auf dem Nil/ Mystery on the Nile	Descartes
1714	Candy Land	MB

- the best 2-player games:

Winner: Yinsh (Don&Co)

The best games for 2 players (Jan/2006):

Best 2-player games (and only playable with two) that are rated the best:

The best game for 2 players is the abstract game Yinsh.
The list with the best 2-player games can be found below:

Best 2-player games
Position	Game	Publisher	Genre
1	Yinsh	Don&Co	Abstract
2	Die Siedler von Catan: Card game + expansions	Kosmos	Card Game
3	Magic the Gathering/ Magic die Zusammenkunft	Wizard of the Coast, Amigo	Collectible Card Game
4	Go	3M, Ishi, ...	Abstract
5	Dvonn	Don & Co/ Rio Grande Games	Abstract
6	Sternenschiff Catan/ Starship Catan	Kosmos	Card Game
7	Hive	John Yianni, Gen Four Two	Abstract
8	Battle Cry	Avalon Hill	Wargame
9	Cathedral/ Cathedral World	Diverse	Abstract
10	Babel	Kosmos	Card Game
11	Jambo	Kosmos	Card Game
12	Zertz	Don & Co, Schmidt Spiele	Abstract
13	Schotten-Totten	ASS	Card Game
14	Quads	Gigamic	Card Game
15	Twixt	3M, Schmidt, Kosmos	Abstract
16	Tom Tube	Kronberger	Abstract
17	Pünct	Don & Co	Abstract
18	Advanced Squad Leader	Avalon Hill	Wargame
19	Lines of Action	Hexagames	Abstract
20	Blood Bowl	Games Workshop	Wargame

Best new games compared to last mailing:

Best new game this month: Jenseits von Theben (2004).

From Boardgamegeek:" Jenseits von Theben

(2-4 players) plays in 1900.
The players try to find ancient relicts in Greece and Near East to get 'fame' (which is needed to win the game).
Knowledge about the ancient cultures and some objects to help digging are also needed
to be successful and can be find and get while traveling through Europe."