by: Michael Barnes

After a very long hiatus, Barnes’ Best is back and I’m ready to roll out my top games from the 1990s. Who’s nostalgic yet for that godforsaken era? Not me. But there were at least some pretty good- and quite monumental- games released in this period.

There are a couple of interesting things about tabletop gaming in the 1990s. One is that it was still sort of before the rise of video games into the mainstream conscience so there is definitely a sense that these games were occurring at the cusp of a transition. Another is that in the latter part of the decade, the internet help make imported games from Europe (and Germany in particular) more widely available, facilitating a shift away from the core values of American hobby games. And it’s unavoidable that the conversation about 1990s gaming is dominated by two specific titles, both of which I’ll get to posthaste.

In case you’ve forgotten the rules, Barnes’ Best is about what my favorite games of the respective decade are. Because I have such immaculately impeccable taste and a preternatural eye for what is truly great in games, sometimes this jives with what are also the most innovative or most significant titles of the period. In compiling this list, I actually found it easier to pick the top ten than in the previous installments of this series. The best were pretty clear from the start...

1) Magic the Gathering (Richard Garfield, 1993-current) - There is no game published during the 1990s that has had such a profound, lasting effect on all of gaming than Magic: The Gathering. It was not only an entirely new format, a new type of product, and a new gaming concept, it was also an era-defining game that touched the lives of practically everyone who rolled a die, drew a card, or pushed a chit during the 1990s. From its release in 1993 until around 1997, I didn’t know anyone that played any kind of game that wasn’t into Magic to some degree, and some of my best times spent gaming were during this period of energy, excitement, and engagement with what seemed at the time to be the best game ever made.

It still continues to be influential and widely played today. Any time you look at a card in any game that has that formatting with the picture box, text below with keyworded abilities, a little fluff, and a cost in the corner, you’re looking at Magic. The concepts and formats this game codified have trickled down into almost every area of gaming- even video games. Good thing the game is incredibly fun and rewarding, too.

2) Settlers of Catan (Klaus Teuber, 1995) - When I first saw Settlers of Catan in its first edition US printing at one of those Game Keeper shops that used to be in some shopping malls, I thought “that looks completely boring”. I had read good things about it at the rec.games.board newsgroup (remember those?), so I bought it anyway because my friends were sort of burned out on Civilization, Axis and Allies, and even Magic. What followed was something like two years of playing the game constantly. I bought a full set of the German edition with the expansions, and we played it into the ground.

Settlers remains the best Eurogame ever published, a dynamic and highly interactive trading game with a simple investment mechanic and a subtle gambling element not too far removed from Craps or Roulette. You just get grain instead of chips. The modular board, resource mechanics, and other elements have turned up in a host of other games since, but nothing plays or feels anything like Settlers. It’s the Beatles of the Eurogame movement, and now you can buy it at Target.