I'm told that the game that began the German games craze is Settlers of Catan - which, I can attest, is an absolute marvel of balance and playability. Tikal (pictured on June's webpage) is also fun, though Settlers is a far more enjoyable game. (FWIW, it's a resource-trading/city-building game with a healthy dose of diplomacy and just enough randomness to level the playing field.)

I've nothing to say about the wider industry, but it's a bit like French New Wave cinema, I imagine - a convergence of talented people doing linked work for an appreciative audience in the right kind of commercial atmosphere.

Thanks, Wally!

I'm fascinated by how cultural traits can eventually lead to an overwhelming push towards one form of entertainment or another. There's the German example. The Japanese are nearly obssessed with video games of every form (to the extent that it's common for Japanese mothers to say 'Cura' as they comfort an injured child - Cura being the common name for a healing spell in video role playing games...)

There's also the fairly well known Korean example. Online computer gaming has a saturation to an almost unbelievable level, with literally millions playing the popular games, and even small cities may have multiple public centers connected to the internet solely for playing games. Playoffs in top games like Starcraft are televised, and players can recieve corporate sponsorship. In 2002 it was estimated 26 million people played such games, out of a combined population for North and South of around 75 million.

Very interesting James, particularly in light of the extreme political divide between North and South Korea. Are there controls or other forms of censhorship on the northen gaming population?

Just have a look at these sites:
www.thegamesjournal.com
http://kumquat.com/cgi-kumquat/funagain/home
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/
http://www.boardgamecentral.com/
http://www.boardgamesstudies.org/ (academic)
www.spielwiese.at
www.spieletest.at
http://www.monpetitcoin.com/spielen/index.html
http://www.spielbox-online.de/
http://www.spielanleitung.com/
http://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/luding/

Awards:
http://www.spiel-des-jahres.com/ (the most important)
http://www.spiel-der-spiele.at/
http://home.swbell.net/cmcedit/awards/
http://boardgames.about.com/cs/awards/tp/gamers-choice.htm

Finally, you might well find the sites of two relevant gamefairs, which take place in Essen and Nuernberg...

Hope this helps - enjoy!

Wow, thank you!

it is interesting to see, that german games are recognized in the usa. i am a german student and we are playing tikal, the settlers of catan ... regularly

people meet for one evening only to play catan.
the game i appreciate most is carcassonne. it is structered like the settlers of catan. you have to build houses and castels, control streets and lakes ...

http://www.hans-im-glueck.de/ - the site for the game carcassonne
http://www.die-siedler.com/index2.htm - the official site for the settlers of catan
both only in german

That's a very interesting topic. I'm a real gaming fan but I've never played german board games. Now I will - thanks for information!