1991–2004 Games of the Year

2005 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2004 issue of Games)

2006 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2005 issue of Games)

2007 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2006 issue of Games)

2008 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2007 issue of Games)

2009 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2008 issue of Games)

2010 Games of the Year and Other Awards
(From the December 2009 issue of Games)

2005

Traditional (Nonelectronic) Games

Game of the Year: BuyWord

(Face2Face Games; designer: former Games Contributing Editor Sid Sackson; a word game with an economics twist) Read review.

Abstract Game: Yinsh
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Kris Burm)

Advanced Strategy Game: Tahuantinsuyu: The Rise of the Inca Empire

(Hangman Games; designer: Alan Ernstein)

Family Game: Vanished Planet
(Vanished Planet Games; designers: Samuel Blanchard, Kelly Blanchard, Craig Oliver, and Jennifer Oliver)

Family Card Game: Victory & Honor
(Jolly Roger Games; designer: Talon Douds

Family Strategy Game: Alexandros
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Leo Colovini) 

Party/Trivia Game: Cranium Hoopla
(Cranium; designers: Richard Tait and Whit Alexander)

Word Game: Word Rich
(Faby Games; designer: George Yemec)

Historical Simulation: Memoir '44
(Days of Wonder; designer: Richard Borg) 

Electronic Games

Game of the Year: City of Heroes
(NC Soft; PC/Internet; a massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Read review.

Action Games: Far Cry
(UbiSoft; PC) 

Role-Playing and Adventure: Fable
(Microsoft; Xbox)

Strategy and Puzzle: Rome: Total War
(Activision; PC)

Handheld: Metroid Zero Mission
(Nintendo, Game Boy Advance) 

Sports/Racing: MVP Baseball 2004
(EA Sports; Xbox, PlayStation2, GameCube, PC)

BuyWord
Face2Face Games, 1-4P, $24.95
Designer: Sid Sackson

What greater compliment is there than to be described by Wolfgang Kramer as “the greatest game designer in the world”? Sid Sackson, a longtime GAMES contributor unequaled in his contribution to the development of modern board games, passed away in 2002. But the folks at Face2Face Games are ensuring that his great ideas will live on, and BuyWord is a worthy example.

Shuffled in the bag are 108 letter tiles, each valued from 1 to 4. Each player starts with several Wilds (value 1), and $200.

A die roll determines how many tiles (from two through five) each player draws. Two sides of the die (“Choice”) permit the active player to select between two and five tiles. Players in turn then either discard the tiles from play or hold them in reserve, after paying dollars equal to the square of their total value. Players may end rounds by forming one or more words, optionally using one Wild in each, and discarding the tiles to earn the square of their total value. Forming words, or discarding extra tiles, is compulsory if a player has more than eight tiles in reserve. Play ends when there are insufficient tiles for all contestants. Players then get a final opportunity to form words, and whoever has the most money wins. Try playing solitaire: Ending up with $800 is about average, while earning $1,000 is outstanding.

There are also several variants to the already impressive basic game. Our favorite is the Auction. Instead of discarding or buying tiles they have drawn, players may auction them: Starting at the owner’s left, players either bid or pass. The owner has the last opportunity to bid, and it’s a real challenge for the others to set their bids so that the owner doesn’t get the tiles too cheaply. The active player can, alternatively, draw tiles equal to the die roll multiplied by the number of players. Contestants then select one letter per turn.

In the Crossword variant, tiles forming words are not discarded, but are added to a crossword grid (using at least one letter of a previous word). Scoring includes the values of the reused letters.

You can also play by allowing trading (of tiles and/or money) between players.

In an age when most companies won’t even consider publishing new word games because of the dominance of Scrabble Crossword Game, we salute Face2Face for bringing BuyWord to us. It’s an eminently innovative game that languished unpublished in Sid Sackson’s archives for far too long, and we believe it is destined for classic stardom. Even if you think you don’t like word games, give this one a try.—John J. McCallion

City of Heroes
NCsoft, PC, $50 + $15 per month subscription

This year’s Game of the Year had stiff competition from major franchises like Halo, Half-Life, Doom, and Splinter Cell, all of which made respectable-to-superb appearances in 2004. Yet City of Heroes trumps them all because of its sheer audacity and enjoyability. It’s the superhero game that comic-book fans have long pined for. It’s also a massively multiplayer online RPG that drastically lowers the complexity level of previous MMORPGs, providing a welcome entry point for those new to the genre.

City of Heroes leaps online gaming phobia with a single bound, thanks to its streamlined interface, ridiculously engaging character-creation process, and expansive gameworld. This is not EverQuest. There is no need to pump countless hours into building up a character and managing the minutiae of skills and stats. Characters are shaped by a pair of factors (“origin” and “archetype”) that help define their powers. You can either build a hero from scratch or create a fair approximation of almost any existent character. A forthcoming expansion will create a City of Villains, but for now, all questing is team-based against computer-controlled enemies.

You begin with a series of training missions to help you get a grip on the controls, but after that you’re free to roam the world at will, jumping around its many cities and accepting missions ranging from exterminating monsters to hostage rescue or data retrieval. You choose new powers or enhancements as you level up, but the system remains fairly simple. At more advanced levels, you can choose to form or join a superhero group, fighting with your own version of the Justice League or the Avengers. All of the action takes place in a bright, diverse, and detailed gameworld with plenty of places to explore and challenges for every level of ability. Even if you’ve found massively multiplayer games daunting in the past, City of Heroes should make a believer out of you.—Thomas L. McDonald

2006

Traditional (Nonelectronic) Games

Game of the Year: Australia
(Rio Grande Games; designers: Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling) Read review.

Best New Abstract Strategy Game: Project Kells
(Tailten Games/Funagain; designer: Murray Heasman)

Best New Advanced Strategy Game: Louis XIV
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Rüdiger Dorn)

Best New Family Game: Der Untergang von Pompeji (Escape from Pompeii)
(Amigo/Funagain; designer: Klaus Jürgen-Wrede)

Best New Family Card Game: Die Weinhändler (The Wine Merchants)
(Amigo/Funagain; designer: Roman Pelek and Claudia Hely

Best New Family Strategy Game: Primordial Soup (a.k.a. Ursuppe)
(Z-Man Games; designers: Doris Matthäus and Frank Nestel) 

Best New Two-Player Game: Jambo
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Rüdiger Dorn)

Best New Party Game: Snorta!
(Out of the Box Games; designers: Chris Childs and Tony Richardson)

Best New Puzzle: Tipover
(ThinkFun; designer: James W. Stephens)

Best New Historical Simulation Game: Friedrich
(Simmons Games; designer: Richard Sivél) 

Electronic Games 

Game of the Year: Psychonauts
(Majesco; PC/Xbox) Read review.Best New Action Game: God of War
(SCEA; PlayStation2) Best New Role-Playing and Adventure Game: Jade Empire
(Microsoft; Xbox)Best New Strategy and Puzzle Game: Empire Earth II
(Sierra; PC)Best New Sports Game: Fight Night Round 2
(EA Sports; Xbox, PlayStation2, GameCube)Best New Driving Game: Forza Motorsport
(Microsoft; Xbox) Best New Handheld Game: Advance Wars Dual Strike
(Nintendo, DS) 

Australia
Rio Grande Games, 2-5P, $39.95
Designers: Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling

We have not had a German Game of the Year since Torres in 1999, by...Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling!A booming Australia invites players to its 24 regions, each of which has a Conservation tile and a random facedown Industrialization tile (valued from 4 to 9). Exploration camps border two or more regions. You begin with two cards and an airplane and Explorers in your color. Faceup are four decks of cards, each showing a provincial color and a combination of gold and Explorers.Each turn, choose two of three possible actions, in any order: (a) Fly your airplane to a region and reveal its Industrialization tile. (b) Discard a card matching the color of your airplane's region, or pay three gold to discard any color. Earn the card's gold. Place Explorers (up to the maximum the card permits) on one vacant adjacent camp or on one already containing your Explorers; alternatively, gain two points. End turns by replenishing cards. (c) Return to supply up to four Explorers adjacent to your airplane's region.Gain three points by occupying the last vacant camp bordering a region, and discard its Conservation tile. Everyone earns one or two points for each Explorer in the region's camps. Industrialization tiles similarly score when the number of Explorers on adjacent camps equals the Industrialization value-even if some camps are still vacant. Remember that Industrialization can also be triggered by the action of removing explorers!Beyond the usual Actions, you can spend four gold any number of times to move one Explorer to another camp. Using this ploy to occupy a vital camp often results in lucrative scoring in several regions simultaneously. Play ends when the cards are depleted and someone plays his last. Add a point for each remaining gold. Highest score triumphs.An Advanced Variant features a traveling Windmill, whose value increases as it moves. Discarding a card in the Windmill's region lets you allocate Explorers to a track where, several times during play, whoever has the most Explorers earns the Windmill's current value in points.

With volatile scoring leading to frequent changes of leadership, and its appeal to all levels of players, Down Under has deservedly soared to the top. (originally reviewed 9/05)—John J. McCallion 

Psychonauts
Majesco, PC/Xbox, $50

Psychonauts is an action/adventure game that is positively brimming with invention, clever dialogue, and genuine humor, some of it sly and mature, but none of it crass. The game centers on Razputin (Raz), a runaway circus boy who sneaks into a camp that trains gifted kids as psychic secret agents. Soon after he begins his training, Raz learns that someone is snatching the brains of the psychonauts, leaving them as TV-obsessed zombies. Psychonauts is so rich in character and plot that no summary can really do it justice. The camp is populated by a wild array of bizarre characters, and the story soon takes off in unexpected directions.Perhaps the most striking aspect of Psychonauts is its level design. The landscapes represent the minds of the subjects, each reflecting a unique character. No two people have the same mental landscape, and the result is a wild, constantly changing atmosphere. All of this is done with a very light touch, complete with funny dialogue, unusual enemies (such as the censors who help the mind control unwanted thoughts), and clever powers.Adding to the richness of the gameplay is the comically profuse variety of items you can collect, from arrowheads (used to buy things) to mental cobwebs (which can be vacuumed up and weaved into objects on a special loom). Elevating Psychonauts above the traditional platform adventure format is the broad selection of psychic powers available to Raz. As he proceeds through the game, he gains levels and proficiency and can acquire new skills, such as telekinesis or pyrokinesis. All of these must be used, at one time or another, to bypass an obstruction, solve a puzzle, or defeat a foe.

Psychonauts lays an amazing, funny, endlessly engaging world at the gamer's feet. There is a lot going on in this game, and some of it actually resonates more than you might expect. The tone rarely strays from the absurd, yet creator Tim Schafer and his team manage to create dimensional characters and offer some sharp observations on the mysteries of the human mind. That's not the point, of course, but like most lasting comedy, Psychonauts works on multiple levels and is deeper than it appears. (originally reviewed 11/05)—Thomas L. McDonald

2007

Traditional (Nonelectronic) Games

Game of the Year: Vegas Showdown
(Avalon Hill; designer: Henry Stern) Read review.

Best New Abstract Strategy Game: Pünct
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Kris Burm)

Best New Advanced Strategy Game: Reef Encounter
(Z-Man Games; designer: Richard Breese)

Best New Family Game: Tricky Town
(Kelmar Games; designer: Fernando Diaz)

Best New Family Card Game: Trumps, Tricks, Game!
(Mayfair Games; designer: Günter Burkhardt

Best New Family Strategy Game: Hacienda
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Wolfgang Kramer)

Best New Party Game: Wits and Wagers
(North Star Games; designer: Dominic Crapuchettes)

Best New Puzzle: Gordian’s Knot
(ThinkFun; designer: Frans de Vreugd)

Best New Word Game: Parlay
(Real Deal Games; designers: Paul and Jennifer Sturgis)

Best New Historical Simulation Game: Silent War
(Compass Games; designer: Brien Miller)

Electronic Games 

Game of the Year: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
(Bethesda Softworks; 360/PC; Rated: T) Read review.

Best New Action Game: Splinter Cell: Double Agent
(Ubisoft; PC/360/PS2/PS3/Cube; Rated: M) 

Best New Role-Playing/Adventure Game: Kingdom Hearts 2
(Square Enix; PS2; Rated: E)

Best New Puzzle/Arcade Game: New Super Mario Bros.
(Nintendo; DS; Rated: E)

Best New Sports Game: Fight Night Round 3
(EA Sports; PC/Xbox/360/PS2/PS3/PSP; Rated: T)

Best New Strategy Game: Sid Meier’s Railroads!
(Firaxis; PC; Rated: E)

Kudos to successful collectible card game designer Henry Stern for making it to the top with his first board game design. He invites you to create the hotel-casino complex that will garner the most customers, money, and Fame points.

Everyone has a personal 7x5 grid on which room tiles are placed. You start with money and initial levels of Revenue and Population. Restaurant, Lounge, and Slot tiles, with unchanging minimum bids, begin faceup on the bidding board. Shuffle facedown three stacks of Premier tiles of different sizes, reveal one from each stack to the bidding board, and mark its initial price on its bid track.

Each round, earn income equal to either your Revenue or Population levels—whichever is lower. Unclaimed Premier tiles decrease in price and disappear when they reach their lowest price. A random Event card determines a benefit or handicap applicable only to the current round, such as paying taxes or gaining Fame points for having specific rooms. The Event also illustrates the stack from which to replenish vanished Premier tiles.

Players in turn choose one of three actions: (a) Bid at least the starting value of a Tile, or outbid a competitor to force him to bid again or choose another action. Bidding ends when each bidder has bid on a different tile. Highest bidders pay to either place the tile immediately, or save it for later. Tiles placed increase your Fame, Revenue, and/or Population. Some tiles require others to have been placed during earlier turns. (b) Remove up to two tiles from your grid and replace them with up to two saved. (c) Gain a Fame point and optionally place one saved tile.

Play ends when one of the Premier stacks has been depleted, or when a player has filled his entire grid. Add Fame Points for Population and Revenue levels, remaining money, and various tile configurations. The player with the most Fame points wins.

The accessible mechanics and random Events will appeal to casual players seeking simplicity and an element of chance, but will not discourage serious strategists who relish money management challenges, complex auctions, and different placement tactics on the tense road to victory.

Alert: There’s a good chance this game will soon be out of print, so don’t delay if you want to get a copy.—(originally reviewed 5/06)—John J. McCallion 

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Bethesda Softworks; PC/360, $50-$60; Rated: T

A strong, deep single-player RPG always flies to the top of our “must-play” list, and when that game is as good as Oblivion, it ends up on a very short list for Game of the Year. The appeal and promise of Oblivion are obvious from the outset, when you get to dig into an almost limitless character creation system that allows you to shape a very specific avatar for a particular style of play.

The Elder Scrolls series has developed a complex race, class, and skill system over the past decade—one with a direct impact on the game experience. The three core gameplay styles are fighter (action-based), thief (stealth-based), and wizard (magic-based). In character creation, these styles can be taken pure, or blended to create a wholly new hybrid class. This is a huge plus in a world so large and diverse.

The spine of the experience is a main quest involving an assassinated king and rising evil, but you’ll encounter other quests, large and small, along the way. There are at least five secondary quests that are almost as vast as the main story line, as well as countless free-form quests of different sizes, all of them optional. It seems inconceivable that a single gamer could go everywhere and do everything this game has to offer in less than 100 hours.

Fortunately, it’s such an appealing system and world that you may just want to spend that long inside it. Visually, it’s one of the most striking games on either Xbox 360 or PC, moving effortlessly from dark, colorless dungeons to bright, lush expanses of countryside. Oblivion is much more user-friendly than previous Elder Scrolls games, with a self-annotating map, faster travel, and a very accessible system that organizes the intimidating glut of player data, quest info, inventory items, and more.

Both versions of the game play well, so you really can’t go wrong. But the Xbox 360 version will look tremendously impressive on a widescreen HDTV. With either the PC or 360 versions, you can look forward to a game with an impressively long life, thanks to add-ons and expansions that can prolong the Oblivion experience indefinitely. (originally reviewed 8/06)—Thomas L. McDonald

2008

Traditional (Nonelectronic) Games

Game of the Year: Pillars of the Earth
(Mayfair Games; designers: Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler) Read review.

Best New Abstract Strategy Game: Easter Island
(Twilight Creations; designers: Odet L’Homer and Roberto Fraga)

Best New Advanced Strategy Game: Khronos
(Rio Grande Games; designers: Arnaud Urbon and Ludovic Vialla)

Best New Family Game: If Wishes Were Fishes
(Rio Grande Games; designers: Peter Sarrett and Michael Adams)

Best New Family Card Game: Bull in a China Shop
(Playroom Entertainment; designer: Michael Schacht

Best New Family Strategy Game: Shear Panic
(Mayfair Games; designers: Fraser and Gordon Lamont)

Best New Party Game: GiftTrap
(GiftTrap Enterprises; designer: Nick Kellet)

Best New Puzzle: Sacred Myths and Legends Series
(Family Games; designers: Yvan David and Francois Vachon)

Best New Word Game: Unspeakable Words
(Playroom Entertainment; designers: James Ernest and Mike Selinker)

Best New Historical Simulation Game: Ran
(GMT Games; designers: Richard Berg and Mark Herman)
 

Electronic Games 

Game of the Year: Bioshock
(2K/Irrational; PC/360; Rated: M) Read review.

Best New Action Game: Gears of War
(Microsoft; 360; Rated: M) 

Best New Role-Playing/Adventure Game: Lord of the Rings Online
(Turbine; PC; Rated: T)

Best New Puzzle/Arcade Game: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
(D3; DS/PSP; Rated: E)

Best New Sports Game: Mario Strikers Charged
(Nintendo; Wii; Rated: E)

Best New Strategy Game: Supreme Commander
(THQ; PC; Rated: E10+)

Effortlessly reaching the top this year is a tale of cathedral construction. It blesses gamers of all levels with a tremendous number of choices, and it plays splendidly with any number of contestants.

Three builders in each color begin in the bag. You have 12 workmen, three primitive craftsmen cards, and initial gold. Start each round by revealing seven random resource cards and two craftsmen from their respective decks. Place two additional craftsmen and two privilege cards faceup on the board.
Players in turn purchase an available craftsman, or allocate workers (two to 10) to book the resources on a vacant card. This first phase ends after all players have withdrawn and added remaining workers to the board’s wool mill.

Next, the active player draws builders, one at a time, from the bag. The builder’s owner may pay to place it in an available area (accommodating one to four builders) on the board. Initial builders have more choices, but cost more—and gold is never abundant. Alternatively, send your builder to the “end of the line” and place it free after all builders have been drawn; sadly, by then, the best places are likely to be occupied.

After placing all builders, reveal a random event card, affecting everyone for good or ill. Next, resolve the board areas in order, including awarding gold for workers at the wool mill and collecting resources booked in the first phase. Occupying builders reap their area’s rewards. Rewards include: protection from a malevolent event card; victory points; immunity from taxes (determined by a die roll); a free craftsman; extra workers to use next round; and the right to buy and/or sell resources, to become the starting player next round, or to acquire a privilege card. Privileges enrich the already abundant possibilities by offering a plethora of enticing advantages.

Now, everyone optionally activates their craftsmen, which convert specified amounts of resources (discarded) to victory points or gold. The craftsmen deck is arranged semi-randomly, to ensure that increasingly efficient and remunerative craftsmen become available. The number of resources you can carry to future rounds is limited, and acquiring a craftsman beyond your maximum forces you to discard one. Tough decisions abound.

At the end of each round, a piece of the Cathedral is added. The player with the most victory points triumphs when the Cathedral is completed. (originally reviewed 7/07)—John J. McCallion and Robin H. King

Bioshock
2K/Irrational; PC/360, $50-$60; Rated: M

Sometimes a spoiler comes along just as we’re compiling the Electronic Games 100, dethrones our intended Electronic Game of the Year, and sucks up all of our time so that we miss deadlines. Bioshock is that spoiler. Until this heir to System Shock showed up, Lord of the Rings Online was leading the pack. It only took a few hours with Bioshock to know that couldn’t last.

System Shock is one of the landmarks in PC gaming history: a deep, first-person game that offers a vivid world and narrative, then lets you progress through combat, stealth, puzzles, or any combination of the three. Irrational Games, staffed by some of the original System Shock team, has called Bioshock a “spiritual heir” to that classic, and it’s easy to see why. Several of System Shock’s core elements have been carried forth into a new and even better game.

Bioshock is set in 1960, and begins with a plane crashing into the middle of the ocean. As the sole survivor, you swim through the wreckage, only to encounter a strange kind of lighthouse rising out of the deep. Inside, a bathysphere takes you into a city of wonder on the bottom of the Atlantic. Called Rapture, this city is the work of a megalomaniacal visionary named Andrew Ryan, a radical Objectivist millionaire who seeks to create an anarcho-capitalist utopia: Ayn Rand via Charles Foster Kane. As you’d expect from such a libertarian wonderland unfettered by morality or restraint, it doesn’t take long for Rapture to descend into utter chaos, leaving it overrun by genetic mutants as various factions fight for power. The story of Rapture’s collapse emerges piecemeal through messages and recordings collected in the course of exploration—a technique used to great effect in the original System Shock that works even better here.

From a pure gameplay perspective, Bioshock can be called a first-person shooter, but that would sell it short. The combat elements are handled elegantly, with many ways to approach each enemy. As you progress, you pick up Plasmids and Genetic Tonics, which can be loaded into a finite number of slots on your character. These genetic modifications add different kinds of attacks, but also enhance various physical, engineering, and combat skills. By using special stations, you can customize your character with very specific attacks and skills, enabling each player to create a unique character. The game also incorporates System Shock’s “hacking” mode, which allows users to solve puzzles (styled on the Water Works tile game) to bypass certain obstacles or gain bonuses.

There is much more in Bioshock than this. The world itself is a richly detailed art deco hell populated with a large cast of characters and creepy enemies. And I won’t even go into Big Brothers and Little Sisters, who are not only strange and wonderful, but key to the entire game. Indeed, the game forces you to make a very moral choice in dealing with the Little Sisters. It’s the kind of choice a radical Objectivist like Ryan would believe is irrelevant to society, but it has a central effect on how the game plays out, leaving us with a very clear message about right and wrong and the place of the individual in society. And just how often does that happen in a video game?—Thomas L. McDonald

2009

Traditional (Nonelectronic) Games

Game of the Year: Tzaar
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Kris Burm) Read review.

Best New Abstract Strategy Game: Ponte del Diavolo
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Martin Ebel)

Best New Advanced Strategy Game: Key Harvest
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Richard Breese)

Best New Family Game: Pandemic
(Z-Man Games; designer: Matt Leacock)

Best New Family Card Game: Palast Geflüster (Palace Whisperings)
(Adlung Spiele/Funagain; designer: Michael Rieneck

Best New Family Strategy Game: Stone Age
(Rio Grande Games; designer: Michael Tummellhofer)

Best New Party Game: Go Nuts!
(Gamewright; designers: Garrett Donner, Michael Steer, and Brian Spence)

Best New Puzzle: Doris
(Kadon Enterprises; designer: Zdravko Zivkovic)

Best New Word Game: Jumbulaya
(Platypus Games; designers: Julie and Karl Archer)

Best New Historical Simulation Game: Pacific Typhoon
(GMT Games; designer: Ben Knight)
 

Electronic Games 

Game of the Year: Spore
(EA/Maxis; PC/Mac; Rated: E) Read review.

Best New Action Game: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
(LucasArts; 360/PS2/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP/iPhone; Rated: NR) 

Best New Role-Playing/Adventure Game: Mass Effect
(Microsoft/Bioware; 360/PC; Rated: M)

Best New Puzzle/Arcade Game: Braid
(Microsoft; Xbox Live; Rated: E)

Best New Sports Game: MLB ’08: The Show
(SCEA; PS2/PS3/PSP; Rated: E)

Best New Strategy Game: Civilization Revolution
(Tale 2/Firaxis; 360/PS3/DS; Rated: E)

Belgian designer Kris Burm produces abstract strategy games that testify to his love for those timeless classics that began the history of board games. His Dvonn was our Game of the Year in December 2002, and he has once again triumphed with another masterpiece arising from simple rules.

Surrounding an impassable area in the lined board’s center are 60 intersections. White and Black each have three kinds of discs, all of which are equal in power and movement ability: six Tzaars, nine Tzaaras, and 15 Totts in each color. The game begins with all the discs placed randomly on different intersections, although beginners might prefer to use the suggested starting array. Experienced players may prefer the tournament version, in which contestants in turn add one of their pieces to the board until it is filled.

White begins by capturing an adjacent enemy by occupying its space and removing it. Further turns must start with a capture, followed by one of three possible actions: (a) capturing again, with the same or another unit; (b) placing a friendly disc or stack on top of another friendly disc or stack; or (c) passing. Stacking/capturing is executed on adjacent pieces, or by moving across contiguous vacant intersections to reach the first occupied intersection. A stack captures singletons or other stacks of equal height or less.

Win by depriving the opponent of a capture on the first part of his move, or by eliminating one of his kinds of discs. Only singletons or discs on top of stacks count. It’s supremely difficult to balance the creation of tall, strong stacks with capturing and weakening the opponent. Expect fascinating endgames that demand extremely accurate play as you strive to get the last capture while protecting your weaker discs. (originally reviewed 10/08)—John J. McCallion

Spore
EA/Maxis; PC/Mac, $50; Rated: E

Spore is Will Wright’s magnum opus. The creator of SimCity has spent 20 years creating “software toys” that simulate life. SimCity, SimEarth, SimLife, SimAnt, and The Sims were all leading to this: a game that takes life from a single-celled organism, through all the stages of evolution, and finally to the creation of civilization and into space.

The sheer scope of the thing is dazzling. Its working title was SimEverything, which pretty well captures what the designers have attempted and, largely, achieved. The gameplay itself shifts effortlessly among genres, beginning with the feel of a casual game, then building element upon element: creature creation, real-time strategy, design, life simulation, civilization, and galactic exploration and conquest, all of it delivered as the ultimate God game.

Each phase of the game is more complex than the last, creating a constantly shifting and evolving gameplay experience. You begin in the Cell phase as a single-celled creature, carnivorous or herbivorous, swimming around in a primordial soup. This has the feel of a casual game, as the creature fights against currents in the tidal pool, attacking and eating weaker creatures while avoiding being eaten by stronger creatures.

As it consumes different organisms, it grows and accumulates DNA points, which can be spent to modify the creature. By selecting items from a growing palette of body parts, you equip your evolving critter with different kinds of mouth, legs, arms, feet, hands, eyes, and other features. Creature creation is a major part of the game, since many of the body parts affect other areas of gameplay. As the game progresses, these different parts will increase elements like attack and defense, sound, motion, speed, and more.

Eventually, you’ll have the option to move onto land and enter the Creature phase. Now you need to seek out a mate, reproduce, and maintain a nest. The area is surrounded by creatures both hostile and benign. You continue to gather DNA points, but now you can do so either by eating creatures or by befriending them. The combat is simple point-and-click, but you draw from an array of attack types determined by your creature design. Design also determines social interactions, as you can equip your creature to perform a variety of poses and sounds that appeal (or not) to other creatures.

As you’re expanding your territory, the creature is continuing to evolve, and its brain is growing. Once it reaches a certain level, you move on to the Tribal phase. Your control over specific elements of creature design fades, and you begin to focus on how these creatures behave. At this point, Spore begins to feel more like an RTS game, as you assign different tasks to your creatures, barter with other tribes, and domesticate creatures for food. Each time you befriend or destroy another tribe, you get a piece of a totem pole.

When you have enough pieces, you move on to the Civilization phase. The tribal camp becomes a city, you get a building and vehicle editor, and you start spreading your influence through both propaganda and force. At this point, Spore becomes a kind of mini-Civilization. Once this civilization reaches a certain size and technology level, the game zooms out to view the world from space. You get a spaceship editor, and can start expanding to other planets. By exploring, terraforming, and colonizing these planets, your creatures spread their influence throughout the universe. They’ll eventually encounter other beings—many of them created by other users—some hostile, some friendly.

The cumulative effect is simply dazzling. The game is one long, slow zoom out from an extreme closeup to a vast wide angle, encompassing the entire sweep of life from the tiniest organism to the far reaches of space. There is even a significant online component, since the creatures/tribes/civilizations of other users are uploaded to a central site, and may appear randomly in any user’s game. Thus, the life forms you encounter can be incredibly diverse, and not limited to those packaged with the game.

It is a simply spectacular achievement in game design, the culmination of Will Wright’s lifetime of experience building life simulations. Many games throughout the years have been called “God games.” Spore is, at last, the real thing.—Thomas L. McDonald

Previous Game of the Year Awards

2004 (Traditional): New England (Überplay)
2004 (Electronic): The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo)
2003 (Traditional): Dvonn (Rio Grande)
2003 (Electronic): Neverwinter Nights (Atari)
2002 (Traditional): Evo (Eurogames-Descartes USA)
2002 (Electronic): Black & White (Electronic Arts)
2001 (Traditional): Aladdin’s Dragons (Rio Grande)
2001 (Electronic): The Sims (Maxis/EA and Aspyr)
2000 (Traditional): Torres (Rio Grande)
2000 (Electronic—Computer): Half-Life (Sierra Studios)
2000 (Electronic—Console): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo)
1999 (Traditional): Fossil (Rio Grande)
1999 (Electronic): Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (GT Interactive)
1998 (Traditional): Quoridor (Great American Trading Co.)
1998 (Electronic): Obsidian (SegaSoft/Rocket Science)
1997 (Traditional): 25 Words or Less (Winning Moves)
1997 (Electronic): Links LS (Access)

(Note: Beginning in December 1996, Games of the Year were designated with the date of the upcoming year. Thus, the 1995 Games of the Year appeared in December 1995 Games, but the 1997 Games of the Year appeared in December 1996 Games.)

1995 (Traditional): Sharp Shooters (Milton Bradley)
1995 (Electronic): Virtual Pool (Interplay)
1994: Myst (Broderbund)
1993: Inklings (Mattel)
1992: Pipeline (Playco Hawaii)
1991: Trumpet (International Games)