1) Dominant Species.
This game synthesizes worker placement with amazing area scoring and optimization. It also drops in a tiny bit of uniqueness to each race, and therefore bouys itself out of being an entirely Eurogame. Has a map, has geometry, has competition, and has alternate ways to win. A lot like Founding Fathers, but easier to Grok, with perhaps slightly more replay value (and a longer play time)
2) 7 wonders.
I'm not the only one lining up to have this game's babies. It takes the (machine building) mechanic from RFtG/PR/51st state, and then allows for unique
players, and has perhaps the ultimate opportunity-pimp mechanic (pass your hand to the left, pick up the player's hand to the left) after each play. Add into this a brilliant distillation of competition on map games (All competition/interaction lies in the players to your right/left), and some unique abilities from each city (fixed components/races) and you've got another Card-Game that isn't a Card game...The ease of play and speed of games looks mighty attractive also.
3) Merchants & Marauders. This is an Ameritrash title that I can get behind--a strong theme, many options, and player competition in paralell (to a high score) and in series (combat, opportunity pimps). There is a colorful map of the carribean, upgrades like chain shot to your ship, and perhaps most importantly, little plastic men (err...ships.) Z-Man seems to be a rising star if th
is game is one to judge them by.4) Kingsburg (not new, but I just realized that it wasn't exactly Ameritrash. I simply assumed that most everything that FF published was all armies and boards.) A sublime combination of the worker placement mechanic with a dice roll that determines which opportunities you can bid on. Not all bids are equal. Of course, there are several goods-trading and challenge-resolution mechanics, along with base-building, which are layered onto the game for good measure. In some ways this game is what TI3 attempts--a combination of depth/number of layers ala' america, with the elegance and depth of thought required of a Eurogame.
5) Alien Frontiers. This game also uses dice for its workers, though some say it has a player downtime issue. However, it has something perhaps more important: WICKED GOOD THEME, absent from many of the worker placement games. Of course, it's out of stock, too.
6) A GAME NIGHT THAT HAPPENS REGULARLY.
Boardgames are simply too good to ignore. It's my aim to get going on getting people together at the 5+ per table level more often. Boardgames are so much more entertaining, reliably, than video games, drinking without boardgames, and usually...roleplaying games. As the DM, I'm more or less exhausted by the pressure to keep people engaged and entertained...In more cohesive groups, the DM can afford to suck or do something more in-depth, requiring a bit of patience/investment on the part of the party...
But in the group I have now isn't that. On top of that, because of the short attention span, I really don't feel motivated to prep monsters/encounters
