Dear game lovers,

The new top 50 of unplugged board and cardgames has been put online

 

The ratings of the Siegpunkt site have been removed. The ratings weren’t updated anymore since 2006.

The current top 50 of best games is:

Version: 13/03/2008
(previous version: 06/01/2008)

Expansions, adaptations, role-playing and children's games aren't taken into account in this list!

Position	Last position	Game	Publisher	Year
1	1		Puerto Rico Alea	2002
2	2		Caylus Ystari Games	2005
3	3		Der Herr der Ringe: Der Ringkrieg/ War of the Ring Phalanx Games, Fantasy Flight Games	2004
4	4		Yinsh Don & Co	2003
5	6		Die Fürsten von Florenz Alea	2000
6	7		Euphrat & Tigris Hans im Glück	1997
7	5		Die Säulen der Erde/ De Kathedraal Kosmos	2006
		Good expansion: Expansion for 5-6 players (with extra features)
8	8		Through The Ages Czech Board Games	2006
9	9		Funkenschlag/ Power Grid 2F- Spiele	2001
10	10		El Grande Hans im Glück	1995
		Good expansion: El Grande: Grossinquisitor & Kolonien
11	11		San Juan/ Puerto Rico Kartenspiel Alea	2004
12	12		Die Siedler von Catan: Card game + expansions Kosmos	1996
13	14		Keythedral R & D-Games, Pro Ludo	2002
14	15		Java Ravensburger	2000
15	13		Torres FX Games/ Ravensburger	1999
16	22		Agricola Lookout Games	2007
17	16		Goa Hans im Glück	2004
18	19		Roads and Boats Splotter Spellen	1999
19	20		Go 3M, Ishi, ...	1973
20	17		Löwenherz Goldsieber/ Kosmos	1997
21	18		Die Siedler von Catan Kosmos	1995
		Good expansions: Die Städte & Ritter (Steden en Ridders) - Seefahrer (Zeevaarders) - Das Buch zum spielen
22	21		Louis XIV - Ränkespiele am Hofe des Sonnenkönigs Alea	2004
23	24		Wikinger/ Vikings Hans im Glück	2007
24	23		Blokus Sekkoia	2000
		Good related games: Blokus Duo (for 2 players), Blokus Trigon
25	28		Ohne Furcht und Adel/ Machiavelli/ Citadels Hans Im Glück	2000
		Good expansion: Die Dunklen Lande/ The Dark City/ Donkere landen
26	37		Ursuppe Doris & Frank	1997
27	27		Middle Earth: the Wizards Iron Crown Enterprises/ Queen Games	1995
28	29		Age of Steam and expansions Warfrog/Winsome Games	2002
29	41		Rush Hour Binary Arts	1996
30	31		Tadsch Mahal Alea	2000
31	35		Imperial Eggert-Spiele	2006
32	26		Serenissima /Méditerranée Descartes	1996
33	25		Medina Hans im Glück	2001
34	34		Carcassonne Hans im Glück	2000
		Good expansion: Händler und Baumeister/ Builders and Traders/ Kooplieden en Bouwmeesters
35	33		Die Macher Hans im Glück, Moskito	1997
36	36		Raja: Palastbau in Indien/ Maharadja Phalanx Games	2004
37	30		Die Händler von Genua Alea	2001
38	39		Mr. Jack Hurrican	2006
39	40		Rumis Murmel	2002
		Good expansion: Rumis+
40	32		Schatten über Camelot/ Shadows over Camelot Days of Wonder	2005
41	42		Santiago Amigo	2003
42			Im Jahr des Dachen Alea	2007
43	38		Tikal Ravensburger	1999
44			Galaxy Trucker Czech Games Edition	2007
45	44		Railroad Tycoon Eagle Games	2005
46	45		Octi The Great Amer. Trading Company	1999
47	46		Time's Up R&R Games, Asmodée	2000
48	47		Ticket to Ride: Die Märklin Edition Days of Wonder	2006
		Adaptation of the original 'Ticket to Ride' game.
49			Notre Dame Alea	2006
50			Dvonn Don & Co/ Rio Grande Games	2001

Dropped out of the top 50:

Position	Last position	Game	Publisher	Year
51	50		Memoir'44 (and expansions) Days of Wonder	2004
53	43		Einfach Genial/ Genius Kosmos	2004
		Good adaptation: Einfach Genial Reise-Edition (2 players)
55	49		ConHex 3-Hirn-Verlag, Clemens Gerhards	2002
60	48		Leonardo da Vinci/ Maestro Leonardo Abacus Spiele, daVinci	2006

 

• 4 new games in the top 50 compared to the previous update:
  42. Im Jahr des Drachen (Alea – 2007)
  44. Galaxy Trucker (Czech Games – 2007)
  49. Notre Dame (Alea – 2006)
  50. Dvonn (Don & Co – 2001): re-entry

 

Im Jahr des Drachen & Notre Dame (2 games from Stefan Feld, distributed by Alea)

 

• Puerto Rico remains the number 1, before Caylus and War of the Ring.

 

• The best new game - in total - compared to the previous update is Marrakech (Gigamic)

 

 

 

• A special list has been made: the best games per number of players compared to the game weight.
  For example: good light games for 4 players are Carabande and San Juan,
  while Roads & Boats is one of best ‘heavy’ games.
  
  
• The list of best children games has been updated. A new game on number 2: Burgritter/ Kasteelridders,
  a game for ages 5 and up.
  
  

The best children games (March/2008):

Rank	Picture	Name	Minimum age	Mechanism(s)	Info
1.		Akaba Distributed by Haba		Action/Dexterity	2-4 players try to blow their flying carpets about the game board and try to be the first to collect all the presents. (from BGG) Winner of the 2005 Deutscher Kinderspielepreis
2.		Burgritter(GE) Kasteelridders(NL) Castle Knights(UK) Distributed by Haba		Action/Dexterity Co-operative Play	All of the players are Knights working together to build three new towers before King Duncan returns home to his castle. Collect three tower cards before King Duncan gets to the castle and you win.(from BGG)
3.		Loopin' Louie(GE) Le Fou Volant(FR) Stef Stuntpiloot(NL) Distributed by MB		Action/Dexterity	In Loopin' Louie, a battery-powered motor placed in the center of the table rotates a boom with a little plastic plane. Very silly and very addictive. (from BGG) Winner of the 1994 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
4.		Chicken Cha Cha Cha (UK) Zicke Zacke Hühnerkacke(GE) Jakkiebak Kippekak(NL) Pique-Plume(FR) Distributed by Zoch		Memory	You must steal the feathers of other chickens in order to win. When you find the face down tile showing the same drawing than the one in front of your chicken-pawn, you can move forward. (from BGG) Winner of the 1998 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
5.		Tier auf Tier(GE) Dier op Dier(NL) Distributed by Haba		Animals Action/Dexterity	The animals want to show how good they are at making tall pyramids! They must be skillfully careful: Who will position the penguin on top of the crocodile, the sheep on top of the penguin, the serpent on the sheep? The hedgehog wants to stand on top of the pyramid but the height is making him dizzy. (from BGG)
6.		Manimals(GE) Distributed by Adlung		Animals	Manimals is a beautiful animal game that is also well-suited for learning in the classroom or for use in homes. Through the game, players learn the attributes of animals. Rules for ages +4 and +6. (from BGG)
7.		Affentheater Distributed by Amigo		Animals Dice	The monkeys ate all their bananas and have to find a new banana field. Who is the first to reach it, while hyenas and snakes are on their path? Children's game for 2-5 players.(from BGG)
8.		Nacht der Magier(GE) Nacht van de tovenaars(NL) Distributed by Drei Magier Spiele		Action/Dexterity Adventure	Nacht der Magier is a new game for 2-4 players, and is played in the dark... It's a game like no other, a strange mix of tactics and poetry, that works even better with adults than with children.(from Bruno Faidutti's website)
9.		Giro Galoppo Distributed by Selecta		Animals Racing Memory Bluff	Giro Galoppo is a horse racing game driven by cards for players 6 years and up. (from BGG)
10.		Burg Appenzell(GE) The Castle of Appenzell(UK) Kaas Kasteel(NL) Distributed by Zoch Verlag		Animals Memory Maze	Each player controls colored mice and tries to collect pieces of cheese in Castle Appenzell. The first player with 4 different pieces of cheese wins the game. (from BGG)
11.		Die kleine Hexe(GE) Distributed by Kosmos		Action/Dexterity Memory Co-operative Play	Die kleine Hexe is a game based on the childs book by Otfried Preußler (published in English as: The little Witch). The players move the little witch and her raven Abraxas around to help them do her good works. If they succeed within a set number of rounds, all players win (the player who helped most wins a little bit more). Otherwise, all players lose. (from BGG)
12.		Das Kleine Gespenst Distributed by Kosmos		Action/Dexterity	Das Kleine Gespenst (The little ghost) is based upon the book by Otfried Preussler. The game picks up the storyline about the players, on the stroke of midnight, spending the witching hour flitting through the dark halls of Castle Eulenstein with the little ghost. (from BGG) Winner of the 2005 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
13.		Lauras Sternenspiel Distributed by Amigo		Set Collection Co-operative Puzzle	Action game in which children are helping Laura to clean up her room just before bedtime. Contains german components (cassette + story)!
14.		Kayanak Distributed by Haba		Collection Dice	Players punch holes through the ice (A4 paper) and fish for various sized steel balls (fish). Large steel balls (big fish) are worth more than small steel balls (small fish). The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.(from BGG) Winner of the 1999 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
15.		Maskenball der Käfer(GE) Gemaskerd bal voor de onzelieveheersbeestjes(NL) Distributed by Selecta		Animals Puzzle Co-operative Play	Co-operative game in which the children should try to make the ladybugs ready for the costume party. But watch out for the ants. If all seven of the ants are on board, the players lose the game. (from BGG) Winner of the 2002 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
16.		Viva Topo! Distributed by Selecta		Roll and Move	Players attempt to move their mice (pieces) from the start to any of various goals. The further the goal, the more cheese (points) it is worth. But watch out for the cat, who speeds up as the game progresses. (from BGG) Winner of the 2003 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
17.		Höchst verdächtig(GE) Highly Suspect(UK) Distributed by Haba		Puzzle	In Highly Suspicious 2-4 detectives are chasing the crook who's hiding in the park. The bord is tiltable, and by tilting the board in one direction all detectives and the crook will walk as far to this side as they can, until they hit an obstacle. The goal is to get your detective to land on a square next to the crook, thus catching him. (from BGG)
18.		Leinen Los! Distributed by Haba		Action/Dexterity Racing	Leinen los! is something different. The object of the game is to push a little wooden ship, following the race track and avoiding the buoys. The winner is the first ship at the end of the track. Each player moves on turn, time limited by a funny chronometer/egg timer. (from BGG) Winner of the 1997 Kinderspiel des Jahres.
19.		Mago Magino Distributed by Selecta		Roll and Move	The evil Witch has taken all crystals from the Wizard Mago Magino. The children have to help him to collect the crystals. But the witch can still transform the children into small frogs. So beware. (from BGG)
20.		Obstgärtchen(GE) Boomgaardje(NL) Le petit verger(FR) Distributed by Haba		Memory	Smaller version of Obstgarten: The children have to pick up all the cherries before the crow can steal them from the tree. The game is smaller than the original one, but it has still a cooperative mechanism and it is greatly based on memory. The board is integrated in the box, and the result is a funny and less expensive adaptation of the original game. (from BGG)

The best role playing games (March/2008):

Rank	Name
1	Die Werwölfe von Düsterwald/ Les Loups-Garous de Thiercelieux/ De weerwolven van Wakkerdam/ Werewolf
2	KRIMI total - Die zweifelhafte Welt der Märchen
3	KRIMI total - Im Schatten der Premiere

The best Role-playing game is Werewolf, a fantastic deduction game for 8-18 players. From Boardgamegeek:

Werewolf is a game that takes place in a small village which is haunted by werewolves. Each player is secretly assigned a role - Werewolf, Villager, or special character such as The Captain, The Hunter, the Witch, the Little Girl, The Seer and so on... There is also a Moderator player who controls the flow of the game. The game alternates between night and day phases. At night, the Werewolves secretly choose a Villager to kill. During the day, the Villager who was killed is revealed and is out of the game. The remaining Villagers (normal and special villagers alike) then vote on the player they suspect is a Werewolf helped (or hindered) by the clues the special characters add to the general deliberation. That player reveals his/her role and is out of the game. Werewolf is a social game that requires no equipment to play, and can accommodate almost any large group of players.