Eurogames tend to be focused on presenting a complex challenge to players. They feature individual economic competition and resource management rather than direct conflict, and have a limited amount of luck. They also differ from abstract strategy games like chess by using themes tied to specific locales. To win, the player either has to achieve specific
single-player campaign goals or beat the score of a simulated opponent that takes actions according to special rules outlined in the scenario. Recent Eurogames suitable for solo play include
Wingspan,
Terraforming Mars, and
Spirit Island.
No player elimination Another prominent characteristic of these games is the lack of player elimination. Eliminating players before the end of the game is seen as contrary to the social aspect of such games. Most of the games are designed to keep all players in the game as long as possible, so it is rare to be certain of victory or defeat until relatively late in the game. Related to no-player-elimination, Eurogame scoring systems are often designed so that hidden scoring or end-of-game bonuses can catapult a player who appears to be in a lagging position at end of play into the lead. A second-order consequence is that Eurogames tend to have multiple paths to victory (dependent on aiming at different end-of-game bonuses) and it is often not obvious to other players which strategic path a player is pursuing. Balancing mechanisms are often integrated into the rules, giving slight advantages to lagging players and slight hindrances to the leaders. That helps to keep the game competitive to the very end, an example of which is Power Grid, where the turn order is determined by number of cities (and biggest power plant as the tie-breaker), such that players further ahead are handicapped in their option of plays.
Game mechanics '' is a game of tile placement, set collection, and area control. A wide variety of often innovative
mechanics are used, and familiar mechanics such as rolling dice and moving, capture, or
trick-taking are avoided. If a game has a board, the board is usually irregular rather than uniform or symmetric (such as
Risk rather than chess or
Scrabble). The board is often random (as in
The Settlers of Catan) or has random elements (such as
Tikal). Some boards are merely mnemonic or organizational and contribute only to ease of play, like a
cribbage board; examples include
Puerto Rico and
Princes of Florence. Random elements are often present but do not usually dominate the game. While rules are light to moderate, they allow depth of play, usually requiring thought, planning, and a shift of tactics through the game. Stewart Woods'
Eurogames cites six examples of mechanics common to eurogames: Often, the only random element of the game will be resource or terrain distribution in the initial setup, or (less frequently) the random order of a set of event or objective cards. The role played by deliberately random mechanics in other styles of game is instead fulfilled by the unpredictability of the behavior of other players.
Themes 's theme is the real 1672
pirate-led
jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena Examples of themes are: •
Carcassonne – build a medieval landscape complete with walled cities, monasteries, roads, and fields. •
Puerto Rico – develop plantations on the island of
Puerto Rico, set in the 18th century. •
Power Grid – expand a power company's network and buy better plants. •
Imperial – as an international investor, influence the politics of pre-
World War I European empires. •
Bruxelles 1893 – take the role of an Art Nouveau architect during the late 19th century and try to become the most famous architect in Belgium.
Game designer as author Although not relevant to actual play, the name of the game's designer is often prominently mentioned on the box, or at least in the rule book. Top designers enjoy considerable following among enthusiasts of Eurogames. For that reason, the name "designer games" is often offered as a description of the genre. Recently, there has also been a wave of games designed as spin-offs of popular novels, such as the games taking their style from the German bestsellers
Der Schwarm and
Tintenherz. == Industry ==