Desert Island Games is a recurring feature in which TGR readers and figures in the game industry tells us which ten games they'd take with them to a desert island. No restrictions are imposed on which ten games are chosen. Cards, pencils, paper, chess, checkers, backgammon, go, and ample opponents are assumed.
I couldn't even end up on a desert island like everyone else, could I? Here I was, flying to Ohio on business, when the plane gets hijacked and starts heading South, only to be mistaken by a Cuban fighter jet for a stealth bomber and shot down. Fortunately the plane was only grazed, but still - there I was, in the middle of the Atlantic, with nothing but my seat cushion. Thank goodness I listened to the emergency instructions.
Thankfully, however, I almost simultaneously came upon my suitcase and caught sight of a small but fertile island. The suitcase was in the wrong direction, but given its contents I was not going to let it go. I quickly managed to grab it, and then swam for shore.
Opening my suitcase, I couldn't decide whether to be thankful I'd been planning to get together with friends in Ohio, and therefore had brought my favorite games, or to regret having therefore not packed more clothes. Fortunately my suitcase (a cousin of those which did such a wonderful job in "Joe vs. the Volcano") had kept everything high and dry. Now what had I brought again?
Carefully setting aside a couple of shirts, I'm looking at none other than Die Siedler von Catan (Franckh/Kosmos) [published as Settlers of Catan by Mayfair in the US - ed]. More than enough has been said about this game; I'll suffice it to say that this might be a particularly good one to hook any of the small group of people coming ashore who don't yet happen to be gamers. My set has the English cards from a Mayfair set tossed in to help the beginners along.
A pair of slacks later, I see 2038 (TimJim/Prism). A desert island should be the perfect place for this great, if long, game. It's my personal favorite from the 18xx series, with the small luck element in the tile draws a welcome change from the often predictable, sometimes nearly structured track development in others from the series. I'm also particularly fond of the choices of ships available, and the claims, bases, and fueling stations. I've always wanted to play this more; perhaps now I'll have the chance.
Speaking of long games, the next game out is Advanced Civilization (Avalon Hill). It's been a favorite for years, and being here on a desert island should mean a good chance to actually finish games.
The fourth game I pull from the suitcase is Elfenroads (White Wind). While much shorter than 2038 or Advanced Civilization, it's still long enough that I get to play it less than I'd prefer. It's perhaps the best game I've ever played in terms of providing many choices with very limited resources, and as such is a must.
I snuck a deck of cards into the Elfenroads box (and I believe a few more in other games as well - a few thousand hands of bridge might wear down the first) so that it wouldn't count; I would have brought it, though, even if it had. The fifth game that counts, then, is Mr. President (3M), probably the board game I've played the most in my life. In spite of playing it so much, it's still a favorite. When a friend of mine and I discovered this game while we were in junior high, we enjoyed it so much that we eventually created our own candidates to add to the game.
While there's an argument for sticking to tried-and-true favorites when when picking desert island games, I was packing for a trip, not an extended stay. And, to be honest, I'm not sure I would have changed things if I could have. For while the next three games to rear up their boxes might lose something with age, early impressions are quite sufficient to justify their inclusion.
The sixth game out is thus Marracash (Kosmos). While such blatantly abstract games rarely capture me, Marracash has quickly become a favorite. The simple mechanisms provide each player with numerous desirable choices each turn, and the game involves the overriding need to adjust to the current situation which I find very enjoyable. The seventh game to appear, Air Baron (Avalon Hill), is a far different game, with luck playing a far, far greater role, but to my eyes it has enough variety and options at each point in time to make it worthy of its place.
The third new game, and eighth overall to have earned its place in my suitcase, is El Grande (Hans im Gluck). In spite of the extensive German on the event cards to slog through, it's a fast game with some great interactive mechanisms. I don't think I've played any other a game which packed so much into so little time.
The ninth game stuffed away in my suitcase is Time Agent (TimJim/Prism). While I've had Time Agent much longer than the above three, it's long play length has prevented me from playing it nearly as much as I'd like. A desert island should prove to be the perfect place to rectify this situation, and give this little time travel-themed gem a go. With the differences between the races in the game I'm not terribly worried about burn-out of this game in the near future.
That leaves just one more game in the suitcase. It's going to be a long time before I get to play Der Fliegende Hollaender, 1856, Acquire, History of the World, Fast Food Franchise, Keywood, Hare and Tortoise, Modern Art, Sixteen Thirty-something, or Merchant of Venus, I guess. And even ignoring those games, there was a tough decision - Santa Fe or Wildlife Adventure. There are enough similarities between the games that both weren't going, but there was no way I wasn't bringing one of them.
The winner, by a nose, is Wildlife Adventure (Ravensburger). (I just hope I didn't end up on the same island as many of the previous islanders, because if I did I think there will be more than enough copies already.) The classic example of a nominal "children's game" that offers gameplay far beyond its appearance, it wins out over Santa Fe mostly for its more widespread appeal - I'll need something besides Die Siedler to hook people with.
You know, perhaps this way of getting to a desert island really isn't so bad. After all, I already made my agonizing decisions - and the rest of my games are just sitting at home, not on the ocean floor.
Oops - gotta go. A couple of people seem to be interested in trying out Die Siedler...
Desert Island Games is a recurring column. Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Go, pen and paper and decks of cards are provided to castaways for free.