Sunday, May 27, 2007

Board and Card Game Countdown: From 100 to 0

102 game titles, from 100 down to 0:

100: Havoc: the Hundred Years War
A contemporary card game with poker mechanics, and rather good. Although the number 100 here refers to the length or name of the war, rather than the year that it took place, a great many of the following entries refer to specific years, which is a sad commentary on human affairs.

99: Ninety-nine
A trick-taking card game. Many card games are named after a single number, and usually because it's the number of points you need to win.

98: Aussie-ASL '98 Pack
Many game revisions or expansions are named also after their release date.

97: Ninety-seven
This is one of those games from the 1970s I imagine would have graced the pages of Playboy magazine (I only read those for the game articles, by the way). Bright-orange chips, laminated boards, luck, minimal strategy, and some dice.

96: 96 Kabal
Some sort of uninspiring card game.

95: Monopoly - Harley Davidson 95th Anniversary
You can find XXth editions for just about any reason in a Monopoly variant.

94: Beyond Planet V94
This looks like one of many cheap '80s sci-fi games.

93: 93 Game Studios (publisher)
One of the numbers for which I couldn't find a matching game. I tried to include only games with XX in the title, and not 19XX or 18XX or similar. 93 Studios is an RPG publisher.

92: Hockey 92
Not sure why this is called 92, but I'm assuming after some sort of championship played that year.

91: Ultraquiz 91
A Japanese trivia game focused on American culture

90: The 90's Game
There are many games based on decades, most of them either trivia games or versions of standard games.

89: Mauerfall 89
Other current events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, also contribute names to game titles.

88: 88
One of many war games in the list, though 88 is the name of the company or something, not the year.

87: Cold War Battles: Budapest '56 & Angola '87
Another war game.

86: WM Superspiel Mexico 86
Another sports game commemorating a sporting event. World Cup 86 in Mexico.

85: Murder High School Reunion: Class of 85
This is a murder mystery game, consisting of instructions, but no other components. It's meant to be acted out. Class of 85 is a theme for role-playing during the event.

84: Nineteen Eighty-Four
I couldn't find another 84 game, and I could hardly pass over this classic number, so I cheated a bit.

83: 83
A variant of the card game Pedro.

82: Beirut '82
One of too many war games based on the Israeli-Arab conflict.

81: 81
Color Sudoku.

80: Around the World in 80 Days
Rather than "XXX the '80s edition" I chose a game based on a famous book.

79: Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers
Couldn't find any 79 games, so here is a game with 79 tiles, a defining element of its components.

78: Gundam Axis UC0078
Another sci-fi game, based on some universe.

77: 77
Some kind of German card game.

76: Spirit of '76, The
An American revolutionary war game.

75: Indy 500 75th Running Race Game
A card game, I have no idea where the name comes from, but didn't want to add another Monopoly game if I could avoid it.

74: Pit
Another number with no entries, so here's a game with 74 cards.

73: Suez 73
Another game on the Israel-Arab conflict.

72: Par "72" Golf
The number 72 probably has something to do with Golf.

71: 71 Games Multi-Pack
Not a game but a bulk pack allegedly containing 71 games.

70: 70's Game, The
Trippy, man.

69: Deadly 69's
A poker variant.

68: Mai '68 Le jeu
We're now in the thick of the Vietnam era. This game is about the 1968 riots in France.

67: Middle East Battles: El Arish '67
A pull-out game on the Six Day war.

66: Route 66
One of several games about the famous highway of dreams in the U.S.

65: Travspelet med V65
A Swedish auction betting horse racing game.

64: 64 Milestones. The Game of Life
Not sued by Hasbro for the name, this looks like a game designed by someone who thought they had a cool idea.

63: Sixty-three
Just like 83, a variant of Pedro.

62: Ottocento
Can't find a game for this number, so here's a game with 62 cards.

61: Druid (Boudicca's Rebellion, 61 A.D.)
Briton vs Rome.

60: 60 Minutes to Save the Earth
No "Gone in 60 Seconds" game, as of yet.

59: 59 Seconds
A fast paced card game.

58: 58 Holes
Otherwise known as Hounds and Jackals, this game is 4000 years old or so. Something like Snakes and Ladders.

57: Raceway 57
A pretty game by the fancy game publisher, Front-Porch Classics.

56: Middle East Battles: Suez '56
Another Israeli-Arab conflict game.

55: 55
Some sort of dice strategy game, also an expansion for an earlier game.

54: Car 54, Where Are You?
From the TV show of the same name.

53: 53
A dice based drinking game.

52: Alesia 52 B.C., the Jurassian Hypothesis
Julius Caesar vs Vercingetorix.

51: Silent Death Annex: Hangar 51
An expansion for some game called Silent Death.

50: Contra 50
I passed up many 50th anniversary games to bring you this apparently mediocre abstract game.

49: The 49ers
That would be the 1849ers, i.e. the Gold Rush.

48: Genesis 48: The First Arab-Israeli War
Guess.

47: AK47 Republic
Roleplaying and war gaming.

46: Luftwaffe 46
Now entering WWII games, this one is from an alternate reality.

45: Budapest '45
A WWII battle.

44: Memoir '44
A recent highly-regarded tactical war game system with several WWII scenarios.

43: AT-43
Skipping several WWII games, here's a sci-fi tactical war game.

42: 42
A dominoes game.

41: Blitzkrieg '41
So many XXX '41 games to choose from.

40: Life Begins at 40
One of many games aimed at girl's night out.

39: Poland '39: The Nightmare Begins
Exiting WWII territory.

38: 38th Parallel
About the Korean War.

37: Pompeii - The Last 37 Minutes
Pretty pieces, not much of a game in my opinion.

36: 36 Fits
A tile race game of some sort.

35: Sesame Street 35th Anniversary Game
Always an anniversary on the 5's and 10's.

34: T-34
An armored combat war game.

33: Thirty-Three
Silly looking colorful game from the '80s.

32: Leuthen (VaeVictis n°32)
December 5, 1757, battle at Leuthen, Silesia.

31: Showdown/31
An old west card game from the early '80s.

30: Za! - 30 minutes or free
There are also a number of games on the Thirty Years War, or games where you have 30 seconds to complete some task.

29: B-29 Superfortress
A solo-game of flying bombers and bombing Japan.

28: Harvest 28 - The Ultimate Bowhunting Board Game
Designed by bow hunters for bow hunters.

27: The First Battle of Alamein - July 1st to 27th 1942
Oh look, another WWII game.

26: Twenty-Six
A dice game from the 1920's.

25: Twenty Fives
Something akin to Pachisi.

24: 24 DVD Board Game
DVD games; fear them.

23: C-23
A Magic: the Gathering clone.

22: Catch 22
A modern chaotic-looking strategy game.

21: 21E
A cooperative code breaking game. (You were expecting Blackjack, perhaps?)

20: 20 Questions
You can play for free, or buy this version.

19: 19th Green
18 hole golf always turns into 19 holes.

18: Ninja Golf: 18 Holes of Death!
Unless you're playing with ninjas. There are also a few 18 wheeler trucking games.

17: 17!
Dice and pieces, capture your opponent's pieces.

16: 16!
No relation to 17!. Build a square from 16 shapes with different numbers of dots.

15: Schnelle 15
Align 15 counters ascending from 1 to 15. Quickest player wins.

14: Silo 14
"Can your highly trained group of commandos stop terrorists from launching the missiles that will start a nuclear confrontation?"

13: Lucky 13
A kid's card game, from the looks of it.

12: Suits by Twelve
A trick-taking card game.

11: Endeavor Eleven
Lots of dice. Lots and lots of dice.

10: 10
A bluffing bidding card game. There is also a series of games called 10 Days in Africa, and other places.

9: Nine Months and Counting
A pregnancy board game. Not nine-men's morris.

8: Crazy Eights
A classic card game, now supplanted by Uno.

7: 7 Ages
A long civilization type game.

6: Six
An abstract strategy game of laying hexagonal tiles.

5: Battle of Five Armies, The
One of several games based on Tolkein.

4: Connect Four
"Where? I don't see ..." "Here, diagonally!"

3: Three Player Chess
It's very hard to make a three player abstract game work, because two players will always team up to make sure the third doesn't win.

2: Bridge for Two
Also known as Honeymoon Bridge, for those heady days of yore when all couples played bridge, and sometimes couldn't find opponents.

1: One Card Game
A match game of fractions, trying to add up to 1.

1/2: Half board chess
Chess on half a board, where setup is initially hidden.

0: Zero
A card game based on a popular traditional game.

Yehuda

2 comments:

Gerald McD said...

Quite a list!

We enjoyed playing Oh No 99, when our kids were youngsters. It was good practice for them, adding and subtracting numbers in a card game.

MaksimSmelchak said...

Hi Yehuda,

Brilliant post! Very clever!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.