Can't understand the brain-burning German board game? Might as well look for feelings from these games.

Since the 1995 board game Katan Island became popular all over the world, board game players gradually began to divide board games into two camps: American and German (also known as European).

American board games generally refer to those games with strong themes, full sense of substitution and diverse modes, which are mainly random adventures and plot experiences; German board games, on the other hand, are relatively abstract, with more emphasis on rigorous strategy and scoring. Few players will be eliminated halfway, which is inconsistent with the theme and the accessories are relatively simple.

However, many board game designers hope to bring players a more comprehensive experience, and many American works are also commendable in strategy through careful design; Some German board games have also begun to work hard on the fit between the gameplay mechanism and the theme, and strive to make players feel a strong sense of substitution while burning their brains and immerse themselves in the game settings.

This article will introduce some German board games with great strategy and theme.

The name "/Twilight Struggle" is believed to be a household name in the board game circle. This board game is based on the cold war between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, in the 20th century. Players control one side separately and compete in international diplomacy, military affairs, regional wars, space competitions and other fields.

The process of the cold war is not complicated. Players play six or seven cards in turn each round to expand their influence in the target area and reduce the influence of their opponents. Generally speaking, the player who wins 20 points first wins, or more players win after 10 round, but other situations that affect the winning conditions also happen from time to time.

As a card-driven work, the game brings a high degree of strategy and replay with its excellent multi-type card design, distinctive settings of the United States and the Soviet Union, and delicate and balanced rules. Although the stand-alone game takes a long time, it is definitely a masterpiece for board game lovers who want to re-strategize.

Although it is a standard German board game, it has a strong sense of substitution in the game. First of all, the game layout is a miniature of the real world, which is divided into six regions, giving players a sense of strategy in the duel.

Secondly, the competitions between the two sides in various fields, including the space race, simulated the real situation of the Cold War at that time, including some cards corresponding to famous real events, which was full of immersion for players who knew history.

Finally, the characteristics of the United States and the Soviet Union are very appropriate, such as the large sphere of influence of the United States in the early stage, the changes in the offensive and defensive posture of both sides in the early, middle and late stages, and the nuclear war between the two sides seems to be on the verge of exploding, with emphasis on control. These are all true.

These settings make players feel that they are really in that changeable and turbulent era in the fierce battle of the game.

In the board game "Fast Food Chain Tycoon/Food Chain Tycoon" nicknamed "Fat Sausage Noodles" by players because of the English initials "FCM", players will play the role of the owner of fast food chain stores, run their own restaurants and compete with other competitors.

It is common to simulate commercial board games, but fast food chain tycoons truly show the complexity and arduousness of running a restaurant from a realistic perspective.

In the game, players should choose to recruit employees in different positions and establish the organizational structure of the company; It is necessary to train these employees to improve their ability; Food should be prepared and placed, and appropriate marketing strategies should be implemented; Pay employees, otherwise no one will work for themselves; It is necessary to clean up the expired food that cannot be sold and prepare for the opening of the next day.

Moreover, the location of the restaurant is also very important. In the game, you can build houses and parks to ensure the passenger flow, or you can build a new restaurant and move the restaurant directly. After everything is ready, how many guests will come to dinner will be affected by many factors such as distance, advertising, price and service, just like eating in some popular restaurants in reality.

Along the way, players can fully realize that the restaurant is not easy to operate and has a good sense of substitution. There are no redundant rules in the game, and the overall rhythm is very smooth. The interaction and competition between players are also very fierce. Every step of every transaction needs careful calculation, step by step, short-term strategy and long-term planning are indispensable, and there is no influence of luck. The winner belongs to the player who is best at business, which perfectly embodies the essence of an excellent German board game.

You can learn how to manage restaurants in "Fat Intestines Noodles" and how to manage hotels in "Austria Hotel/Grand Austria Hotel". In this board game, players will return to Vienna in 1930s, and serve as hotel owners to provide high-quality catering and room service for various dignitaries, businessmen, artists and members of the royal family.

As a highly acclaimed German-style boutique game, the dice drive of Austria Hotel is quite eye-catching. Players must first roll the dice together, and the number of points of each dice corresponds to an executable action. The more dice with the same number, the stronger the corresponding action effect.

Players can make two moves each turn, and each action will take back a dice corresponding to the number of points, so the effect of this action will be weakened. If there is no suitable dice, you can choose to skip the turn and wait for other players to act before rolling the dice again. Therefore, although there is a dice-throwing mechanism, it does not affect the balance, brings in few elements of luck, and is deeply combined with strategy, so it is widely praised.

The executable actions of the game are very realistic, which is also the biggest reason for players to feel the sense of substitution. These actions include recruiting employees, welcoming guests, preparing food, delivering meals, and arranging vacant rooms. , basically covering all matters of a high-end hotel.

Money resources in the game are very tight, so players need to carefully meet the needs of different guests and improve the hotel occupancy rate. But if they operate properly and have enough money, they can spend any amount of extra action when it is their turn, which can be described as a true portrayal of "money can do whatever they want."

If you can play combo in the game, it is still very refreshing, but there is no combo route to guarantee the player to win. It needs careful management and changes according to the situation in order to be in an invincible position. Generally speaking, the game is full of strategies and has a high degree of reopening.

Mr. Wu, a "big farmer", has designed many classic board games, but his most famous masterpiece is Farmer/agricola, which once ranked first.

This is a worker placement game. What players have to do in each round is simple. They take turns to arrange workers to occupy the station, plant wheat and vegetables, raise pigs and cattle, expand fields, build fences, etc., and harvest crops to earn points. Under the unpretentious appearance, the strategy and playability of the game are greatly improved through excellent card design, random workstation and card position mechanism, as well as numerous professional cards and development cards.

The substitution of farmers has a feeling of "keeping things quiet", and various development routes are interlocking. With the renovation of houses, the increase of family members and the increase of farm animals, people grow up step by step, and people unconsciously immerse themselves in it and begin to enjoy the feeling of running a farm. The long 14 round seems to have passed unconsciously.

It may be a bit inappropriate to say that it is enjoyable, because the peasant life in the17th century is not so pleasant. At the end of each season, feed your family (2 servings per person, newborn 1 serving), and deduct 3 points for each missing 1 serving!

For this board game, the feeling of "hunger" is really uncomfortable, but it does simulate the situation that farmers have to face in reality.

Fuge Vital Lacerda's works are famous for their high gravity, but in fact, most of them have a strong sense of substitution. But when it comes to the combination of gameplay mechanism and game theme, many people may think of carbon dioxide.

In this game, the player plays the boss of an energy company. On the basis of meeting the energy needs of customers all over the world, he will build an environmental protection power station according to the requirements of the government to reduce carbon emissions.

"Carbon Dioxide" shows the consistent style of Fuge. The mechanisms of capital use, resource acquisition, scientific and technological development, project preparation and power plant construction are closely linked. Once the energy supply in a certain area is insufficient, various fuel power plants will be opened, which will greatly increase carbon emissions.

The essence of the game is to adopt a semi-cooperative mechanism. Although everyone should work hard to develop, there is only one winner in the end. But if we don't cooperate to control carbon emissions, once the emissions exceed the standard, there will be disasters everywhere, which will have a negative impact on all players. If the upper limit is exceeded again and again, all players will fail together.

It's like a real enterprise. Although there is a competitive relationship between us, if we don't pay attention to environmental protection, the result of the deterioration of the earth's environment can only be mutual destruction. Brother Fu hopes to convey this concept of environmental protection through board games with good intentions.

Although the game is interesting and strategic, and pays too much attention to the sense of substitution, it has caused some problems-once some players fall behind too much, they are likely to give up on themselves and commit suicide to increase carbon emissions, so that everyone can fail together. ) seriously affected the experience of other players.

Therefore, Fuge later released "Carbon Dioxide: Second Chance", adding pure cooperation mode and SOLO mode, so that everyone can work together to solve environmental problems.

The sci-fi board game/eclipse looks a bit like an American masterpiece at first glance, with a distinct theme and many accessories. The game of mutual car fighting and elimination mechanism have also been added, but the core of the game is still multi-way brushing.

In Eclipse, players control different interstellar civilizations in the Milky Way and launch a fierce battle for hegemony in space. Before you fight, you need to be prepared. In each action stage, players can explore in space, place impact markers, develop technology, build and upgrade spacecraft, build turrets and other buildings, move spacecraft and pass (skip actions).

Players take turns to perform 1 action, and the number of subsequent actions is unlimited. But the more actions are done, the more expenses will be paid in the later maintenance stage. Therefore, passing the ball is very important. After passing, you can actually do a second action, but the efficiency is halved.

After the action phase, enter the battle phase, and the battle result is determined according to the spacecraft and dice deployed by both sides in each sector until there is only one left. Then, in the maintenance stage, it is necessary to pay the required fees and generate resources. If the cost is not enough and the resources and control area are still insufficient, it will be eliminated.

Although the theme is clear, the sense of substitution is strong, the car battle is very refreshing, and there is the shadow of American games, but it is still a German board game in the bones. The victory or defeat in the combat phase is mainly based on the strategic management achievements of the players in the action phase. Dice has little effect, and the number of points can be corrected. Although there is an elimination mechanism, ordinary players will not be eliminated all the time as long as they calculate the cost slightly.

The most important thing is that the player with the highest score wins at the end of the game, which is not determined by the outcome of the battle or the number of territories controlled. Therefore, while feeling the Galaxy Star Wars, if you want to become a generation hegemon, you should honestly calculate the points.

Although Eclipse of the Stars means a little "beautiful mind", it is the "/blood anger" of the wolf teacher that really makes the word fire.

Blood Wrath is based on Nordic mythology. Players play the role of Viking tribal leaders and fight with other tribes on the mainland myth map. The game restores the unique settings of the tree of the world and the nine realms in Nordic mythology. The strength of well-known Nordic gods such as Odin, Tyre, Loki and Frigga is also different according to their respective positions in the story. Coupled with the exquisite atmospheric model and original painting, there is a strong sense of substitution.

The process of the game is roughly as follows: players first draw cards in turn to build their hands until each player has six cards. Next, take turns to play cards on the map for various actions and regional control. Actions include sending troops to occupy an idle area, moving troops, improving combat effectiveness, completing tasks and plundering an important war zone. In this process, it is inevitable that players will have a bloody battle PK, which is very exciting.

It looks like an American masterpiece, but it's not. There is no elimination mechanism in the game. Although fighting is encouraged, the defeated can also get compensation after each war, and sometimes even give up strategically, so that their units can gain more honor by entering the Ghost Hall. The highest player in honor points is the ultimate winner.

In addition, when preparing for the battle, players should master the three characteristic points of fury, tomahawk and horn helmet, formulate a reasonable regional control scheme, and at the same time take into account the completion of exclusive tasks, which is compact, exciting and refreshing, and also has a high strategy. Later, many Germans also referred to its practice to make the brushing of strategy games less boring.

Looking at those board games in Germany that give players a strong sense of substitution, they try their best to match the theme in the gameplay mechanism, and all kinds of settings are closer to the reality or the background created by the game, so that players can brush up tasks and scenes. In addition, there are many works, such as Bloody Fury, which focus on German board game strategy and pay attention to art design, models and mutual car experience, commonly known as "Mei Pi De Xin".

And a really good game is never based on American or German style, learning from each other's strong points and complementing each other's advantages to give players a comprehensive experience. This is the development trend that board games are accepted by a wider group of players. Just like the current exam, arts and sciences are gradually indistinguishable, and more attention is paid to the selection of comprehensive talents. A board game with both beauty and virtue is a game with more potential.