Your First Eurogame: A Gentle On-Ramp for the Curious
Heard the word 'eurogame' and nodded along without really knowing? Here's what it means, why people love them, and the three games to start with.
A eurogame is, loosely, a board game that emphasizes strategy over luck, resource management over conflict, and ends with a point salad rather than player elimination. The name comes from the German design tradition that produced the modern hobby.
If that sounds dry, it isn't. The best euros are engines you build with your own hands — and watching yours out-produce your friends' is deeply satisfying.
Where to start? We recommend a gateway trio: one worker-placement game, one tile-laying game, and one engine-builder. Together they teach the three core grammars of the genre in about six total hours of play.
From there, the rabbit hole is bottomless. Welcome aboard.