by castaway Mike Siggins

When I last probed my inner thoughts to see which ten games I would cart off to a desert island, it was 1988, I was writing for the late lamented Games International and the German Games Invasion had not long landed. Golden days indeed. Things have certainly changed. I am now firmly attached to short, punchy games with concise rulebooks (and preferably multi-player). For a number of reasons, notably lack of time, RPGs are a distant memory, computer games are trying to edge their way in, I find myself all but detached from the board wargame field (too many duffers and too little history), I have drifted away from sports games (well, the longer ones anyway) and there have been enough excellent new European games in the past five years to make a large impression on The List. Ask me tomorrow and it might look different, but today it shapes up as follows (in no particular order):

Daytona 500 (Milton Bradley). Hardened fans of Niki Lauda's Formel 1 (probably the most misspelled title in gaming) raise their eyebrows when I wheel this one out in preference to the all-but-unobtainable German classic. Nevertheless, I think it works better as a race game, the corner rules are neat, it has lost the stupid catch up cards and the single lane blocking and, moreover, looks rather good. I am never in two minds about playing this one and only wish it could accommodate a wider number of players. Outstanding.

Railway Rivals / Dampfross (Rostherne). A survivor from the first list and still deserving of its long and illustrious reign at the top. A classic, timeless design which never fails to interest, frustrate and educate in phase one, and excite in the race section. Recently re-released in a sumptuous edition by Laurin, this one should be on every gamer's shelf. A masterpiece (and you get all those lovely maps as well).

Assassin (Avalon Hill). A recent aberration offered only as a sorbet to clean the palate for the next course.

Modern Art (Hans im Gluck). How envious can one be about a designer who gets up every morning and knocks out a game or three before breakfast? Well, pretty envious since you ask but nothing will cloud my judgement on the quality of this game. In my view the best of Herr Knizia's designs and a modern day classic. Well balanced, tough to win, long term play value, superb production and a fundamentally brilliant system. This is everything that is good about German games for gamers. Buy one today!

1830 (Avalon Hill). You've got to take one long game along if you are going to spend years on a desert island, so you may as well go with the best. My first game of 1830 was as close to a religious experience as I've ever had (still not really sure about that 'bearded man in a chariot' cloud formation in 1967 though) and it has not disappointed since. As I've said many times, I don't believe the 18xx series is perfect by a long way, but it is about railways and is certainly the best big game system we've got (and there would be plenty of time to redesign it). Why 1830? Because it's the shortest in the series until the great 18xx glut of 1994 appears.

Formule De (Ludodelire). On my occasional bad days, where I get all over-critical and twisted, I mark Formule De down as a roll the dice and hope game, with little substance. At all other times I am happy to live with what must be the best overall F1 race system. I know it is transparently simple and luck based and that I have been suckered into letting style win over content, but I love it. It's great fun, I love the tracks and the little metal cars and the system and the fact that you can gamble your last tyre point on a glorious, come from behind win or a spectacular last corner crash. Brilliant.

Heimlich & Co. (Perlhuhn / Ravensburger). You can't choose just one Ravensburger game. It just isn't possible. It's like nominating the best Phil Dick or Woody Allen— you just CANNOT do it. So this is the one I chose as representative of Alaska, Flying Carpet, Elefantenparade, BorsenSpiel, Metropolis, and the rest. All superb games, but today Heimlich and his boys get the nod.

Wildlife Adventure (Ravensburger). Told you. A top ten classic, and no mistake.

Homas Tour (Homas Spelen). Re-released by Jumbo as Um Reifenbreite in Germany and Demarrage! in France. A strange game with a strange history. You couldn't get hold of this one for love or money for years, then all of a sudden it is re-released with a daft name and it is Game of the Year. Even as Spiel des Jahres it cannot attract a following and sales are 'disappointing.' Meanwhile, Siggins mortgages his granny to get hold of an original, plays it but once before the Jumbo version appears and then can't give the old one away! Well, hand me down my bible. Okay, so I like race games and I love cycling games and I would be quite happy if every game invented in the future were a card game, so this, you might say, is right up my street. A classic, and I will hear no more on the subject.

Star Fleet Missions (TaskForce). No, only joking.

Elfenroads (White Wind). The most rewarding game of an excellent range from Alan Moon's fertile mind. A game so good it is difficult to quantify, but I reckon it to be one of the very best games to have emerged from Germany, albeit by way of Massachusetts. We are back in Woody Allen country with Alan's games again so I choose this as representative of a quality selection— Airlines, Elfengold, Santa Fe, Freight Train, Wer Hat Mehr and the rest are all fixtures at our game sessions and I look forward to the next White Wind release with interest.

Metric Mile (Lambourne). And its cousins Long Distance Double and 800 Metres are, quite simply, the best sports games on the planet. Managing to combine the best of replay and gaming qualities, these games never fail to please. As a committed atmosphere junkie, I can think of few better games for putting you in the shoes of the commentator as ten or more world class milers come round the last bend, Ovett elbowing his way out of a corner, Coe prancing along in third, Walker preparing his traditional sprint for second and Cram ready to cruise calmly past and win it all. It's a bloody good game system as well.

First Reserves: Flying Dutchman (Milton Bradley Germany), Trump (Milton Bradley), Liar's Dice (Milton Bradley), We the People (Avalon Hill), Dune (Avalon Hill), Cosmic Encounter (Eon), Drunter & Druber (Hans im Gluck), Was Sticht? (Moskito), Bausack (Zoch, aka Bandu (Milton Bradley)) and Rette Sich Wer Kann (Walter Muller). if you'd asked me to do the list six months ago, the latter game would have been top ten, even top three. However, as we haven't played it since, the memory has faded somewhat. Still provides more laughs in an evening than most people can handle.

Out of interest, the games I chose before were (and my current views):