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The Hotness
Games|People|Company
Dominion - Stash Promo Card
Runewars
Dominion: Alchemy
Thunderstone
Dominion
Dungeon Lords
Alexander the Great
Agricola
Twilight Struggle
Murder at the Four Deuces
Stronghold
The Republic of Rome
Race for the Galaxy
Small World
Arkham Horror
Founding Fathers
Race for the Galaxy: The Brink of War
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
Vapor's Gambit
Battlestar Galactica
Chaos in the Old World
Le Havre
Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game
Mystery Express
Puerto Rico
Endeavor
Power Grid
Vasco da Gama
Warhammer: Invasion
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Space Hulk (3rd Edition)
Pandemic
Hansa Teutonica
Carson City
Campaign Manager 2008
War of the Ring
Livingstone
Cosmic Encounter
Stone Age
Le Havre: Le Grand Hameau
Tobago
Cosmic Encounter: Cosmic Incursion Expansion
Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition
Summoner Wars
War of the Ring Collector's Edition
Macao
Carcassonne
Dominion: Prosperity
Neuland
Steam
Public Domain Games with the Best Looking Bits
Jim Wickson
United States
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Recommend
7
The PD games will always remain with us as they are not bound by copyrights and thus will never go out of print. We need not depend on the financial success of the manufacturers. They also tend to be well play tested as they predate the copright era.
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The items in this GeekList are ordered by average rating
Posted Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:01 am
1. Board Game: Go [Average Rating:7.79 Overall Rank:36]
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United States
Fort Wayne
Indiana
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 Some really great looking stones and boards that you can purchase for go. Be prepared to shell out the $$$ though. An 8" kaya masame floor board can run upwords of 19,000USD!!
Jim Wickson
United States
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:DThanks! How could I have overlooked Go?
The more expensive sets are indeed exceptional.
Even with the cheaper sets, a 19x19 board is a component worthy of note.
Random Access
United States
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Viewing an ongoing game can be like waatching a developing work of abstract art. It has the same sort of aesthetic effect as watching Life on a computer.
David Bush
United States
Lexington
Virginia
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Of course, the $19K is just for the board. Naturally you would need stones and bowls of equal quality. And a place to play and store it. And the dollar has been losing ground lately...
2. Board Game: Schafkopf [Average Rating:7.67 Overall Rank:1051]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 As a rule, continental playing cards are much more aesthetically pleasing than their Anglo-American counterparts. The German suited "Wilhelm Tell Bild" is among my favorites.
3. Board Game: Crokinole [Average Rating:7.78 Overall Rank:38]
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Tom "Snicker Daddy" Pancoast
United States
Richmond
Virginia
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 Bits so great that I can't afford this game!
Tim Kilgore
United States
Sturgeon
Missouri
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patron05
You can get a playable version for $20 plus shipping on ebay. Trouble is, many of us that want this want a work of art - I am in that camp - and a game second.

I've got a backgammon set that I paid way too much money for because it looks awesome, feels awesome, and I enjoy playing just a little bit more because of it. But I have actually played backgammon in the past, have used my set many times, and will use it many times in the future. Bakelite can really make beautiful pieces and they also feel good in the hand.

Never having played Crokinole - heck, I don't even know for sure if I pronounce it correctly - makes it difficult to plunk down $100-$300 for a top quality playing surface. But seeing boards like that one really have made me look at it long and hard.

Tim

BTW - I am pronoucing it crow-ken-ol
Sonja Elen Kisa
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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A Canadian classic! I just uploaded a bunch of new pics to this game!
4. Board Game: Shogi [Average Rating:7.29 Overall Rank:468]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 Form follows function in this Japanese member of the Chess family.
5. Board Game: Chess [Average Rating:7.06 Overall Rank:209]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 By far the best looking western game BC (Before Copyrights)
Its inclusion here should be obvious. In fact, the entire Chess family of games has a tendency to have eye pleasing bits.
Arne Kaiser
Germany
Düsseldorf
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Sadly, it is not a western game. It origin is Persian (todays Iran), as indicated by the name:
English: Chess comes from
German: Schach comes from
Persian: Shah (meaning king).
Jim Wickson
United States
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:meeple:True, Chess is derived from a Persian game. The Persion game, depending on whom you believe, was derived from an Indian or a Chinese one. I am using "Chess" here to refer specifically to the more modern game with the long ranging Bishops and Queens. The Persian game with the more limited movements of the Bishop (Fil) and Queen (Fers) I would call "Shatranj"
6. Board Game: Tarot [Average Rating:6.67 Overall Rank:1374]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 Whether French or Italian suited, Tarot decks are among the best looking cards in the world. NB, the Tarot was originally designed for playing a card game and was not initially a vehicle of the occult.
Brett Myers
United States
Madison
WI
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As evidenced by it's entry on BGG...
7. Board Game: Backgammon [Average Rating:6.48 Overall Rank:664]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 One of the most well-designed gameboards in the Western world.
8. Board Game: Mancala [Average Rating:5.86 Overall Rank:2206]
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Lowell Kempf
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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 Although you don't need to buy anything more exciting than an egg carton to play Mancala, there are many beautifully carved boards out there, as well as many different variations.
Jim Wickson
United States
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:D Excellent choice!
Sonja Elen Kisa
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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Mancala is my friend!! I like both Kalah and Oware!
9. Board Game: Dou Shou Qi [Average Rating:5.87 Overall Rank:4012]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 Also known as "The Jungle Game"
10. Board Game: Pachisi [Average Rating:4.39 Overall Rank:5921]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 Also called "Ludo" in the UK and perhaps in other anglophone societies. It appears typical of race games to have great looking boards. Perhaps this is a compensation for rudimentary game play.
11. Board Game: Zodiac [Average Rating:3.50 Unranked]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 I must confess to not being too familiar with this one, but it looks good to me.
12. Board Game: Snakes and Ladders [Average Rating:2.72 Overall Rank:5943]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 This entry is as luck-based as Candyland, of which this game is an ancestor, but the boards are also as attractive.
13. Board Game: Siege of Paris [Average Rating:0.00 Unranked]
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Jim Wickson
United States
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 This appears to be an example of the various "War Chess" games of the 18th and 18th centuries which were designed to add more verisimilitude in the representation of warfare.
Jim Wickson
United States
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:meeple:oops! typo here: It should read "18th and 19th centuries"
Dr Zachary Smith
Thailand
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
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To see the very handsome original pieces for this game go to
http://www2.odl.ox.ac.uk/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=d&a=d&c=bodj...
Click "Open item" and have a look around.
2 comments [Hide]
Derek H
South Africa
Durban
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How about some of the more modern games that have been placed in the public domain... perhaps ones that are self-published on the web?
Jim Wickson
United States
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:)If you know of any, feel free to add them.
I may have seen some modern PD games with exceptional components, but I could not recall them when compiling the geeklist.
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