How do you tell the difference between wargames and euro games?
Here's a handy guide for when you're spotting them out in the wild:
Euros: If there are human beings pictured on the box cover, they will be awkwardly smiling at you and/or engaged in mundane economic activity. Like loading rolls of cloth onto a mule cart. You will occasionally see something exciting depicted, like Vikings about to get on a longboat - do not be fooled! There will be nothing exciting happening in the game if it's a true euro.
Next, crack open the box. If there are coloured wooden cubes, zero dice and a big pile of tiles, it's probably a euro. There will be no plastic - this is only manufactured in America. Euro games are made in Germany entirely from wood, cardboard and the brainpower of slightly autistic mathematics professors.
Next, read the rules. If every single thing in the game is about swapping one kind of coloured cube/tile for a different kind of coloured cube/tile, you have stumbled on a euro. If the picture on the box seems to have nothing to do with the actions in the rules - definitely a euro.
Wargames: Look at the box cover. There will be an explosion somewhere. If a tank is depicted, it will be a Tiger and that means the game is about the Battle of the Bulge (if a wargamer is standing next to you they will joke about their own expanding waistline - this is also a good clue). There may be planes on the cover - this means the game is about the Pacific, which consists of 2 battles - Guadalcanal and Midway. If the box is the size of a fridge and has spaceships on it, you may have stumbled upon a particular type of wargame - what is usually known as "Ameritrash" or "dudes on a map." If you pick up the box, euro gamers standing nearby will tut-tut and comment (in a German accent) that it's a silly game with too many pieces.
Next, crack open the box. There will be sheets of tiny counters. Thousands of them. Then there will be a paper map with thousands of tiny hexagons. If it's Ameritrash, there will instead be huge piles of plastic miniatures. Bright red spaceships and tanks, that kind of thing. And there will be dice. Lots of dice. This is because wargames are made by Americans, who love fun and gambling.
Next, sit down to play the game. If it takes 16-24 hours, it's probably a wargame. If the longest section of the rulebook is entitled "Combat" it's probably a wargame. Next, look at the designers name. If it's a red-blooded, all-American name like Mark, Mike, Hank or Ted - it's a wargame.
With this knowledge, you will never accidentally buy the wrong type of game again.
Huge thanks to all our Kickstarter backers!
And also to our publisher partners, for letting us host your board games!
And also to the Next Wave Fund!
We could not have done it without all of you.
We are in the final 3 days of our Kickstarter campaign for Ludika, a new VTT for playing heavy strategy boardgames! please help us get past the goal line, and share with friends! https://t.co/TqpMWpAcxy
@AgpWargame We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules. We can provide a digital platform for you for playtesting and reaching new players! https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@Clint_Davey1 We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@PHALANX_LTD We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules. We can provide a digital platform for you for playtesting and reaching new players! https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@bigboardgaming We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@PHALANX_LTD We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@exQUIZitely We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. It already imports TzunTsu and will soon import VASSAL modules.
@markherman54 We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it, it will be able to import VASSAL games too. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@DR_b347a0 We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it, it will be able to import VASSAL games too. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT. .
@PastorJoelT@gmtgames I would like to ask you for your thoughts. We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT
@markherman54 I would like to ask you for your thoughts. We built Ludika as a browser-based VTT for heavy wargames such as this, and would love your opinion on it. https://t.co/1ryWhRtVaT