Bruno Faidutti's 2006 Game of the Year & recommended games
Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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For those that don't know Bruno Faidutti is a French game designer who has done lots of colaborations with other designers (including Alan Moon).
He has published his best of 2005/2006... that can be found at http://www.faidutti.com/index.php?Module=divers&id=437
I've turned his list into this geeklist (in the order he listed them) and quoted (in double quotes) what I felt are his relevant comments for each of the heavy and middle weight games catagories (he has too many in the light catagory for me to expend the full effort).
Jeff
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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2006 Game of the Year!
"This small and unimpressive game appeals to all kind of gamers, be it children, casual or hardcore gamers. Hey! That’s my Fish! is a nearly abstract game ... The rules are clever and simple, the components are cute, and game itself is much more subtle than it first looks. With three or four players, it’s nasty and fast paced. With two players, it's fast paced and brain burning"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"Warrior Knights and Caylus are probably the two heaviest games in my recommended list. Both are highly sophisticated, with lots of intriguing mechanisms, but while Warrior Knights is in the American baroque style..."
It should be noted that Bruno is one of the four designers of this game.
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3.
Board Game: Caylus
[Average Rating:7.97 Overall Rank:10]

Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"... Caylus is in the German classical style. A heavy german game, with strategic depth, which was an instant hit with Puerto Rico, Euphrat & Tigris or Princes of Florence players"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"... best game in the Catan brand for long, probably because Klaus Teuber managed to keep the inspiration of the original while feeling free enough to use completely new systems. The result is a completely new game, more complex and more involved than the usual Catan, with just a few nice references to its predecessor."
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"... a kind of Catan / Civilization mix in an ancient Greek setting. Players collect and trade resources to develop their small village and make it one of the powerful Greek cities. This extremely dynamic and involved game is at its best with six players"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"... a small print run from a small English publisher, JKLM games, and the components are really poor. It’s a pity, and this very original game, which reminds of Elfenland, Citadels or Puerto Rico, should have deserved to be published by Alea, Hans im Glück or Ystar"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended heavier games
"... a true American style wargame, a kind of lighter Axis and Allies in a science fiction setting and with glow in the dark miniatures. It hasn't the epic dimension of Warrior Knights, but it plays shorter"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... has gorgeous components .... It may be a bit overproduced, but this adds to the pleasure of playing this clever card game in which players collect resource cards ... and spend them to build the various parts of Cleopatra's palace. A similar collecting and building system drives Reiner Knizia’s Blue Moon City, with its surprising psychedelic graphics, but the games are different enough to be both worth buying."
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... Hans im Glück opted for a classic German design, which has been much compared with Ticket to Ride. Some reviewers even seemed to mind the common feel of the games. There are far more shameful comparisons, and I would like to see one of my games linked with Ticket to Ride!"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... also feels a bit like Alan Moon’s train game. It’s not about building train networks, it’s about building canal networks to bring water to your villae. A game with simple and cleverly designed rules, with just the right mix between luck and tactics"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... was not very well received by the hardcore gamers who dissect every new Alea game... surprise since the same gaming microcosm had highly praised Stefan Feld's former game, Roma, which had a similar feel – moderately complex and involved rules, strong theme, original systems, and heavy on luck. Don’t be fooled, this is a masterwork, with cleverly entertwined systems, and a stronger theme than most German games"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... published... in a smaller box than Caylus. The rules are also shorter, and the games shorter, but this tricky majority games is nevertheless, clearly, a gamer’s game"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... looks like a wargame, but is also a euro-style majority game, with clever and original systems. The theme also fits the game very well, something rather unusual with majority games"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... also a complex majority game, with new islands to explore, ministers to elect and other strange stuff. The systems are clever, with more luck than is usual in this kind of games. The theme doesn’t work a single turn but it almost makes the game more fun"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... a strange mix between german rigorous game systems and French heavy humor. The action of this nasty placement game, much better with two or three than with four ..."
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... is the second game self-published by Australian gamer Don Bone. It’s less original than his first attempt, but also much, much better"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... one more area majority game, but it’s very cleverly designed, light, simple and easy to play"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... feels a bit like Key Largo. Instead of looking for lost treasures in sunken wrecks, the players look for archeological treasures at the foot of the pyramids or of Troy's walls"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... brain burning deduction game, for those who want to look beyond Cluedo and Murder at the Abbey"
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20.
Board Game: Iliad
[Average Rating:6.65 Overall Rank:808]

Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... a gorgeously illustrated card game based on the same basic system than Dominique’s earlier Condottiere. Iliade, which is at its best when played in teams, is one of the very few card games in this list, since this year the trend was more towards big boxes"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... a stand alone American style card game (even when published only in French so far) which feels like the best CCGs"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended middle-weight games
"... also in French only, is a very original deduction game by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc"
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended lighter games
Also his 2006 game of the year (see list item #1)
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended lighter games
[Edited July 5th to change to correct game, sorry]
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Jeff M
United States Windham New Hampshire
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Recommended lighter games
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