Game Jargon Definition: “Eurogame”
Eurogame (noun) - Eu · ro game /ˈyərō gām/
A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game or Euro-style game (and generally just referred to as “board games” on the European side of the pond) is a style of board game that is commonly compared and contrasted with American-style (i.e., United-States–style) board games which are also known as “Ameritrash.”
American-style board games tend to emphasize mechanics involving luck, direct conflict, player elimination, and game immersion, including high quantities of theme, lore, flavor text, and artwork. Eurogames, by contrast, tend to emphasize the following characteristics:
Low Randomness: Eurogames tend to shy away from mechanics that use dice, excessive card shuffling, or other mechanics that increase input or output randomness, with designers preferring other mechanics.
Acquisition of Resources: Players must make difficult decisions and consider tradeoffs in order to acquire resources that they can then use to acquire other types of resources (often including victory points) to attain favorable endgame conditions.
Individual Development and Comparative Achievement: Rather than engaging in direct conflict in a type of zero-sum-game situation, Eurogames tend to have players compare individual achievements, awarding victory to the player with the greatest level of individual achievement according to the rules of the game.
Lack of Player Elimination: Unlike many Ameritrash games (especially those with high amounts of direct conflict) where players may be eliminated before the game ends, Eurogames tend to allow all players see the game through to completion regardless of how well they are doing during the mid- and late game.
Designer as Author: The designer(s) of Eurogames are often respected as authors, and are given a byline on the front cover of their board game boxes (much like the author of a novel). Many Eurogame designers have a fanbase following. This trend of respect for individual game designers is catching on in the United States and other countries as well. While there are certainly many others, a few examples of accomplished Eurogame designers are: Vladimír Chvátil, Friedemann Friese, Reiner Knizia, Wolfgang Kramer, and Klaus Teuber.
Common Eurogame mechanics include: tile placement, auctions, trading/negotiation, set collection, area control, and worker placement. During the current golden age of tabletop gaming, the community is seeing more games being published in the United States (as well as in a number of other countries around the globe) that incorporate gaming elements that have traditionally been considered Eurogame or Ameritrash in nature, and while more stylistic blends have come on the market, the two styles of games remain distinct.
Examples of Eurogames include: Puerto Rico (2002); Power Grid (2004); Caylus (2005); Agricola (2007); Brass: Lancashire (2007); Le Havre (2008); The Castles of Burgundy (2011); Trajan (2011); Terra Mystica (2012); Caverna: The Cave Farmers (2013); Concordia (2013); Arkwright (2014); Food Chain Magnate (2015); Kanban EV (2020); Coffee Traders (2021); Great Western Trail: Second Edition (2021); Carnegie (2022); and Weather Machine (2022).
