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My 2011 in Review: A look back at some new games

Posted by EndersGame

Game Reviews

06 Dec 2011

Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

I managed to play and review almost 50 different new games in the last 12 months, not including familiar games I've learned in previous years and which made it back to the table. I figured that this would be a good time to reflect back on the games that I've had a chance to look at over the past year, especially those that I was able to explore in more depth by means of a review.

I've arranged them into different categories as follows:

• Strategy Games
• Family Games
• Two Player Games
• Card Games
• Word Games
• Party Games
• Dexterity Games
• Children's Games
• Themeless Games
• Unique Games
• Old Favourites

Look for the first installment to appear here within the next day! (and consider subscribing to the blog if you wish to be notified of additions)

12 Comments

Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:01 am

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Marco Arnaudo

(marnaudo)

United States
Bloomington
Indiana

"My spoon is too big!"

wargames?

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:36 am
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

marnaudo wrote:

wargames?

That's a category sadly absent from my 2011 repertoire I'm afraid Marco. Does playing Twilight Struggle online count?

However, all is not lost, and perhaps some reviews from 2009 and 2010 will help restore some of your faith in me. These are from a time when I was dabbling with some introductory block war games:

So you're wondering about the best introductory block war game: Let's learn how to play with a pictorial review of Hammer of the Scots' brand new cousin!

So you're wondering about your first ever block war game: A Comprehensive Pictorial Overview of a time-tested classic that even eurogamers can enjoy

A Comprehensive Pictorial Overview: The newest kid on the Columbia Games block, with the newest blocks for the Columbia Games kid

Edited Wed Dec 7, 2011 6:33 am
Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:58 am
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Marco Arnaudo

(marnaudo)

United States
Bloomington
Indiana

"My spoon is too big!"

if I may humbly suggest 2 phenomenal block games from 2011:

Crusader Rex (2nd ed.)

Strike of the Eagle

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 6:23 am
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Andy Andersen

(Orangemoose)

United States
Newark
Delaware

I'm looking forward to this.

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 2:41 pm
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Jamie Scott

(puncr0c)

United Kingdom
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire

Any chance we could have them with your personal ratings or maybe in order of your preference? So maybe an "Ender's top 10 of 2011" type thing?

I love your reviews and make an effort to read them all (if I weren't saving up for an avatar, I'd definitely tip you some GG!) There are so many reviews though that often I find myself wondering whether you personally preferred one game over another (especially if from the same category). Your reviews are so captivating that I often come away wanting to buy all of them, so a measure of your personal preference of one game over another would be much appreciated.

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 4:41 pm
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

puncr0c wrote:

Any chance we could have them with your personal ratings or maybe in order of your preference? So maybe an "Ender's top 10 of 2011" type thing?

Thanks for your feedback Jamie. And yes, I am listing them in order of preference, along with a rating out of five stars for each.

You'll find the first article here:

My 2011 in Review: Two Player Games

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 4:45 pm
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Jamie Scott

(puncr0c)

United Kingdom
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire

Nice one!

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 4:46 pm
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

The next two articles are up:

My 2011 in Review: Word Games
My 2011 in Review: Strategy Games

Happy reading!

Edited Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:21 am
Posted Thu Dec 8, 2011 4:32 pm
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Jamie Scott

(puncr0c)

United Kingdom
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire

I'm sure I just saw the Children's games article come up but now it's disappeared - or am I going slightly mad?

Posted Fri Dec 9, 2011 10:47 am
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

puncr0c wrote:

I'm sure I just saw the Children's games article come up but now it's disappeared - or am I going slightly mad?

I posted it by mistake when it wasn't quite finalized, so I removed it shortly afterwards. Look for it to appear in just a few hours from now.

My apologies for causing you to question your sanity!

Edit: It's now up, as is the Party Games category.

My 2011 in Review: Children's Games
My 2011 in Review: Party Games

Still to come are some lists of great new games in the Family Games and Card Games categories, and much more!

Edited Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:01 pm
Posted Fri Dec 9, 2011 11:14 am
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

Three more articles have been posted:

My 2011 in Review: Themeless Games
My 2011 in Review: Card Games
My 2011 in Review: Unique Games

Still to come are the remaining two installments: Family Games, and Old Favourites.

Posted Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:36 am
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

And here are the final two articles in the series:

My 2011 in Review: Family Games
My 2011 in Review: Old Favourites

Posted Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:04 pm
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Views & Reviews with Ender

My 2011 in Review: A look back at some new games

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