If you've spent any time browsing a specialty board game store — say, a particularly good one at DFO Jindalee — you've probably noticed the word "Euro" floating around. Euro game. Eurogame. German-style game. People say it with a certain reverence, like it means something important. And it does. But if you're new to the hobby, it can feel like jargon nobody bothered to explain.
Consider this your explanation.
Where the name comes from
The term Eurogame — or Euro game, used interchangeably — refers to a style of board game that emerged primarily from German and European designers in the 1980s and 1990s. Germany's influence is one of the main reasons the genre has the name it does. The Spiel des Jahres — the most prestigious award in board gaming, handed out annually in Germany — is essentially the annual celebration of this tradition, and its winners tend to define what a Eurogame looks and feels like.
Catan, released in 1995, is often credited with popularising German-style board games outside of Europe and growing the hobbyist game market to a wider global audience. If Catan is already in your collection, congratulations — you own a Eurogame.
What makes a Eurogame a Eurogame
There's no official checklist, but Euro games tend to share a recognisable set of characteristics that distinguish them from other styles of play.
The first and most important is indirect competition. In a Euro game, you're building your own thing — an engine, a network, a farm, a city, a trading empire — rather than directly attacking what someone else has built. Conflict exists, but it's usually economic. You're competing for the same limited resources or spaces on the board, not destroying each other's pieces.
Euro games focus on individual economic competition and resource management rather than direct conflict, with a limited amount of luck. That last point matters — luck is minimised or managed. When dice appear in a Euro game, there's usually a way to mitigate bad rolls. Victory points are the universal currency. Rather than one player conquering the board or eliminating everyone else, all players pursue multiple paths to points simultaneously. Player elimination is almost unheard of — everyone plays to the finish regardless of how things are going.
The rules tend to be elegant. Euro games are often described as easy to learn, hard to master — the complexity comes from the interaction of simple systems working together rather than from complicated rules. And the theme, while always present, is usually a vehicle for the mechanics rather than the point of the exercise.
Two mechanics turn up in Euro games more than any others, and we've written about both: worker placement and deck-building.
Why this matters for you as a player
Euro games are genuinely great entry points into the hobby, and they're also where a lot of experienced players spend most of their time. The indirect competition means they tend to run at lower emotional temperatures than more confrontational games — nobody flips the table because nobody burned down your settlement. They're social without being chaotic. Competitive without being combative. And the engine-building satisfaction of watching your strategy come together over the course of a game is something most players find genuinely addictive.
Some Eurogames worth starting with
If you want to explore the category, the classics are classics for a reason. Catan is the obvious starting point — the game that introduced most of the world to Euro-style play, with its resource trading, settlement building and elegant point-scoring. Ticket to Ride is another excellent gateway, with simple card-collecting and route-building mechanics that anyone can grasp in minutes. Carcassonne is beautifully simple on the surface and surprisingly deep once you've played a few times.
From there, the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to. Wingspan and Wyrmspan for the engine-builders — both among the most acclaimed Euro games of the last decade. Tokaido and Dixit for something lighter and more beautiful. Agricola, Viticulture and Le Havre for anyone who wants a genuine strategic challenge. And if you're after something right at the accessible end of the spectrum, Azul is one of the most beautifully designed gateway games ever made.
For the collectors
We also currently have a small run of sealed, out-of-print euro classics in the shop — the sort of thing that doesn't turn up often: Caylus (2005 original), The Traders of Genoa, Saint Petersburg and Medici. One copy of each, still in factory shrink.
Come and find yours
At Cartell Games in DFO Jindalee, we hand-pick our range with exactly this kind of player journey in mind — from first-time buyers all the way through to people who already have a hundred games at home and are looking for their next obsession. Our staff play what they sell, which means when you ask for a recommendation, you'll get a genuine one.
Browse our Strategy Board Games collection, or come in and talk to us — we'll find your Euro game. Free click & collect from DFO Jindalee, or we'll post anywhere in Australia.
Photo by Dave Photoz on Unsplash