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)

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

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)