Ender's 2011: An Overview of 50 Great New Games That You Should Know About

Ben Bateson

(ousgg)

United Kingdom
Ross-on-Wye

Owner of original 'crappy art' GtR and pleased about it.

I have to say, I don't think it's been a classic year for games at all, but you've managed to make it look about as good as it could look.

Love the box-cover linky things. Very effective.

Posted Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:33 pm
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James Bentley

(jrbentley)

United States
Cleburne
Texas

Ender,
Thanks! As always, full of style, class and helpful information!

Posted Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:26 pm
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Dominic Crapuchettes

(domcrap)

United States
Bethesda
MD

This overtext is brought to you by the abstract strategy game Battle of LITS and the number 20.

Ender - thanks for the best written reviews on the BGG! I love the effort you put into each of your reviews. I also noticed that you dominate the top of the review list for the 100 best reviews of the past year. Congratulations!

Edited Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:07 pm
Posted Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:48 pm
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

ousgg wrote:

I have to say, I don't think it's been a classic year for games at all, but you've managed to make it look about as good as it could look.

Thanks for the feedback Ben. My comment about 2011 being a great year for gaming was intended more as a reflection on how the year was for me personally. As you can see from the list, some of the new games I got to play for the first time this year were released in 2009 or 2010, or were new editions of previously released games. So I wasn't making an exclusive statement about the 2011 crop as such, although many of the games in this list were released in the past 12 months. I hope you had a great year as well!

Posted Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:58 am
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Håkan König

(hakko504)

Sweden
Oxie

Enders,

I haven't been very active at the site this year (not a good year for gaming for me) but I was given Railways of the World for Secret Santa this year, and when I started researching that game I found your excellent reviews and geeklists on the game, and when I found more in the top 100 list I read some more, and you really write excellent reviews! Keep up the good work, and I promise to be more attentive in the future.

Posted Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:42 am
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

hakko504 wrote:

Enders,

I haven't been very active at the site this year (not a good year for gaming for me) but I was given Railways of the World for Secret Santa this year, and when I started researching that game I found your excellent reviews and geeklists on the game, and when I found more in the top 100 list I read some more, and you really write excellent reviews! Keep up the good work, and I promise to be more attentive in the future.

Thanks for your kind and encouraging words. If you want to browse more of my comprehensive pictorial reviews, or get notifications whenever I post new ones, you can check out or subscribe to this list:

Ender's Reviews: Comprehensive Pictorial Overviews

I hope you have a great time learning Railways of the World, and come to enjoy it as much as I do!

Edited Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:47 am
Posted Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:46 am
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Håkan König

(hakko504)

Sweden
Oxie

EndersGame wrote:

hakko504 wrote:

Enders,

I haven't been very active at the site this year (not a good year for gaming for me) but I was given Railways of the World for Secret Santa this year, and when I started researching that game I found your excellent reviews and geeklists on the game, and when I found more in the top 100 list I read some more, and you really write excellent reviews! Keep up the good work, and I promise to be more attentive in the future.

Thanks for your kind and encouraging words. If you want to browse more of my comprehensive pictorial reviews, or get notifications whenever I post new ones, you can check out or subscribe to this list:

Ender's Reviews: Comprehensive Pictorial Overviews

I hope you have a great time learning Railways of the World, and come to enjoy it as much as I do!

Will do.

Actually I played Railroad Tycoon a few years ago, so I know I will like Railways of the World. I also rate Age of Steam as one of my favourite games. The problem is just to get the wife to play them...

Posted Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:45 am
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Todd Redden

(tmredden)

United States
Manchester
Connecticut

"Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught." - Honore de Balzac

EndersGame wrote:

ousgg wrote:

I have to say, I don't think it's been a classic year for games at all, but you've managed to make it look about as good as it could look.

Thanks for the feedback Ben. My comment about 2011 being a great year for gaming was intended more as a reflection on how the year was for me personally. As you can see from the list, some of the new games I got to play for the first time this year were released in 2009 or 2010, or were new editions of previously released games. So I wasn't making an exclusive statement about the 2011 crop as such, although many of the games in this list were released in the past 12 months. I hope you had a great year as well!

Why Did the Chicken?... came out in 2004. Only a few on your list actually came out this year (as you mention.) My personal favorites on your list are:

Troyes, London, Finca, Pergamon, Jaipur, Biblios, Railways, Railways Through Time, and Can't Stop (an OLD game, been around for a LONG time.) I suppose I need to make my own list of other favorites of mine you should know about!

Posted Sat Dec 31, 2011 4:43 pm
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Ender Wiggins

(EndersGame)

tmredden wrote:

Why Did the Chicken?... came out in 2004. Only a few on your list actually came out this year (as you mention.)

Well it's more than just "a few". About 20 were brand new 2011 releases, while about 10 were new editions released in 2011 for older games. Around 15 were new releases from 2009 or 2010. Only the remaining half a dozen or so were genuinely `older' games from pre-2009 that weren't in a new edition of some sort.

Posted Sun Jan 1, 2012 1:07 am
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Ken B.

(franklincobb)

United States
Fayetteville
Tennessee

Nice list, Ender. 2011 was an absolutely PHENOMENAL year for games...I am having a hard time picking one for my year-end GOTY column on Fortress: AT. Easily the best year for games since the 1-2 wallop of 2004/2005. No questions asked--and possibly *better* than that.