Top Ten Lunch Games

I've written on the subject of lunch games many, many times, but probably most completely here. The category of lunch games--games that can be played and in most cases taught in an hour--is near to my heart for several reasons, not least of which is lunch when I am most likely to have time free to play a game. The pressures and responsibilities of home prevent me from attending more than one game night a month. But over lunch? Then I am free.

In my earlier post, I listed several criteria for ideal lunch games. They are:

• Goldilocks playtime (neither too short nor too long)
• Simple rules
• Simultaneous (or near simultaneous) play (in other words, there's always something to do)
• Chaos factor (players have an opportunity to break gameplay conventions)

So which games am I most excited to play over lunch? Here's my list.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (a review of Bruges)

Lots of things are going wrong in the town of Bruges. Money is tight, even the king and queen are hiring their services out to wealthy merchants, and threats of plague, flooding, fire, and raid loom on the horizon.

There's no better time to be an entrepreneurial mover-and-shaker in Bruges. Now's your chance to build canals, bolster your reputation, and erect houses for your helpers, all while flaunting what little wealth you've got in a bid for prestige.

News Bits: 10/14/2013

This week's NEWS:

Terra Mystica, Le Havre: Inland Port win International Gamers Awards [Link] The International Gamers Awards focus on gamer games rather than the Spiel des Jahres' (and to some extent the Kennerspiel des Jahres') more family-oriented games. And the results look like two big wins for Z-Man Games in the US. I know supply problems have hampered the first, and I've not played either. Anyone have any thoughts on these winners?

News Bits: 10/7/2013

The NEWS:

GAMES magazine announces 2013 award winners [Link] GAMES is known (to me at least) for choosing off-the-beaten-path games for their awards, and this year is no exception. The top honors this year go to Garden Dice (our review here). Congratulations to the winners.