Mark's #18: Bohnanza

Yep, "The Bean Game." When you first start playing Bohnanza, it's easy to assume that the game is all about "the art of the deal." Which is important, but... Bohnanza is all about using the art of the deal to facilitate hand management.

Which, granted, makes this game sound like the most boring thing since watching paint dry. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a brilliant trading game that plays well with 4-7 players and has spawned a number of expansions. (Fans of the game MUST try High Bohn, which adds Cosmic Encounter-like special powers to the game.)

#13: Bohnanza

Who would have thought that a guy with the name "Uwe" could get so much mileage out of a pile of beans? This card trading game is one of the great "gateway" games - recently, I (Mark) had some of my college students tell me about playing what they called "The Bean Game" with some friends and loving it. And if you like Bohnanza, there are plenty of expansions for it! [Mark: Highly recommended by me: High Bohn, which, oddly enough, adds Cosmic-like powers to the game. And I like it anyway.]

Joe Huber: "With either the first expansion or High Bohn, preferably. The best trading game around. Oh, and the best hand management game too."

Greg Aleknevicus: "The finest trading game ever invented, it comes as close to perfection as I can imagine. From the production to the player involvement scope for desperate deal-making, Bohnanza has it all. It has never failed to appeal to any group I've introduced it to. I'll be taking this one with me to the grave."

Dave Arnott: "It's a negotiation game, but without all that ill-will that most negotiation games can generate. Add on some ingeniously novel mechanics in a compact card-game design and you've got a solid winner."

Jeremy Avery: "I have played this near 100 times by now. And I still don't get tired of it."

Peter Sarrett (on High Bohn): "High Bohn is the best expansion for any game, ever. It enhances the base game in a transformative way while preserving the essence of the original gameplay. Brilliant."

Mark's One Hundred: #20-#11

#20: Entenrallye

• designer: Walter Muller
• date of publication: 1989

#19: Return of the Heroes

• designer: Lutz Stepponat
• date of publication: 2003

#18: Bohnanza

• designer: Uwe Rosenberg
• date of publication: 1997

#17: Monopoly

• designer: Elizabeth J. Magie
• date of publication: 1903

#16: Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper

• designer: Mike Fitzgerald
• date of publication: 1998

#15: Smarty Party

• designer: Aaron Weissblum & Pitt Crandlemire
• date of publication: 2003

#14: Ticket To Ride

• designer: Alan Moon
• date of publication: 2004

#13: Union Pacific

• designer: Alan Moon
• date of publication: 1999

#12: Carabande

• designer: Jean du Poel
• date of publication: 1995

#11: Entdecker

• designer: Klaus Teuber
• date of publication: 1996

We're Numero Uno

Here's a list of the games that received 1st place votes from the participants. (It's important to note that no games made it onto The One Hundred with only a single voter.)

Six Votes

• Euphrat & Tigris

Five Votes

• Puerto Rico

Four Votes

• Tichu

Three Votes

• Cosmic Encounter
• El Grande
• Taj Mahal

Two Votes

• 1830
• Acquire
• Bridge
• Die Macher
• Fresh Fish
• Go
• Ra
• Settlers of Catan

One Vote

• Age of Renaissance
• Bohnanza
• Can't Stop
• Crokinole
• Diplomacy
• Dune
• Expedition/Wildlife Adventure
• Flaschenteufel
• Goa
• History of the World
• Liar's DiceMedici
• Power Grid
• Princes of Florence
• Saint Petersburg
• Times Up
• Torres
• Union Pacific

The five highest rated games that received NO first place votes were:

• Age of Steam
• Lord of the Rings
• Memoir '44
• Mu & Mehr
• Ticket to Ride

The following games received first place votes but didn't make The One Hundred:

• 500
• Aladdins Dragons
• Confusion
• De Bellis Mutitudinis
• Duel of Ages
• Familienbande
• Medina

Through The Years

And, since I've got a spreadsheet "and I know how to use it" [Mark: "I'm a donkey on the edge!"], here's the The One Hundred broken down by year of publication. [Mark: Yes, I realize that some of these games, particularly the public domain games, don't have a definitive date of publication. In those cases, I did some research, considered my options, then picked a date that sounded good to me. Scientific, eh?] All other dates of publication are from Board Game Geek... note: the dates used are for the FIRST publishing of the game, even if it was less well-known (as in Crude/McMulit or Homas Tour/Um Reifenbreite).

3000 BC

• Backgammon

1500 BC

• Go

1810

• Poker

1860

• Bridge

1865

• Crokinole

1937

• Spades

1948

• Scrabble

1959

• Diplomacy

1962

• Acquire

1974

• Hare & Tortoise
• Liar's Dice
• McMulti

1977

• Cosmic Encounter

1979

• Dune

1980

• Can't Stop
• Titan

1981

• Civilization

1982

• Um Reifenbriete

1984

• Wizard

1985

• Expedition/Wildlife Adventure

1986

• 1830
• Code 777
• Die Macher

1989

• Ave Caesar
• Taboo

1990

• Adel Verpflichtet/Hoity Toity
• Daytona 500

1991

• Breaking Away
• History of the World
• Res Publica
• Tichu

1992

• Modern Art

1994

• 6 Nimmt!
• I'm The Boss/Kohle Kies & Knete
• Quandary
• RoboRally
• Was Sticht?

1995

• Carabande
• El Grande
• Flaschenteufel
• Medici
• Mu & Mehr
• Settlers of Catan

1996

• Age of Renaissance
• Hannibal: Rome v. Carthage

1997

• Bohnanza
• Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde
• Euphrat & Tigris
• For Sale
• Fresh Fish
• Lowenherz
• Showmanager/Atlantic Star

1998

• Basari
• Elfenland
• Gipf
• MR1: Jack the Ripper
• Samurai
• Schnappchen Jagd
• Through the Desert

1999

• Battleline/Schotten Totten
• Chinatown
• Lost Cities
• Mamma Mia
• Ra
• Ricochet Robot
• Roads & Boats
• Stephensons' Rocket
• Tikal
• Torres
• Union Pacific
• Vinci

2000

• Battle Cry
• Blokus
• Carcassonne
• Citadels
• La Citta
• Lord of the Rings
• Princes of Florence
• Taj Mahal
• Time's Up
• Traumfabrik
• Web of Power

2001

• Africa
• Capitol
• Dvonn
• Power Grid/Funkenschlag
• Royal Turf
• San Marco

2002

• Age of Steam
• LOTR: The Confrontation
• Puerto Rico
• Wallenstein

2003

• Attika
• Domaine
• Smarty Party

2004

• Goa
• Memoir '44
• St Petersburg
• Ticket To Ride
• War of the Ring

I think what's really interesting grouping these games by years is that it allows me to see what was "in the works" at the time. Some highlights from the synapses firing in my brain:

• 1999 was an amazing year - and I got in on the front end of it, thanks to Gulf Games 3 being timed perfectly so that Jay Tummelson flew in from Nuremberg with the first copies of 5 of the 12 games listed.
• 2000 had ten games listed - when we talk about a "golden time" in gaming, was it 1999-2000?
• Acquire is all the more amazing when you realize it was published in 1962.
• What was going on in Germany in 1996? The only two listed games are Avalon Hill wargames. (Was everyone so busy playing Settlers that they took the year off?)

Thank These Guys

Thought y'all might be interested in some overall information about the designers & The One Hundred:

six of the games have no known designer:

• Backgammon
• Bridge
• Crokinole
• Go
• Poker
• Spades

Reiner Knizia designed seventeen of the games (wow!):

• Africa
• Battleline/Schotten Totten
• Euphrat & Tigris
• Lord of the Rings
• Lost Cities
• LOTR: The Confrontation
• Medici
• Modern Art
• Quandary
• Ra
• Res Publica
• Royal Turf
• Samurai
• Stephensons' Rocket
• Taj Mahal
• Through the Desert
• Traumfabrik

Wolfgang Kramer designed seven of the games (by himself or with a partner):

• 6 Nimmt!
• Daytona 500 (w/Mike Gray)
• El Grande (w/Richard Ulrich)
• Expedition/Wildlife Adventure (w/Ursula Kramer)
• Princes of Florence (w/Richard Ulrich)
• Tikal
• Torres (w/Michael Kiesling)

Alan Moon designed five of the games (by himself or with a partner):

• Capitol (w/Aaron Weissblum)
• Elfenland
• San Marco (w/Aaron Weissblum)
• Ticket To Ride
• Union Pacific

Klaus Teuber designed four of the games:

• Adel Verpflichtet/Hoity Toity
• Domaine
• Lowenherz
• Settlers of Catan

Richard Borg designed three of the games:

• Battle Cry
• Liar's Dice/Call My Bluff
• Memoir '44

Uwe Rosenberg designed three of the games:

• Bohnanza
• Mamma Mia
• Schnappchen Jagd

Sid Sackson designed three of the games:

• Acquire
• Can't Stop
• I'm The Boss/Kohle Kies & Knete

Aaron Weissblum designed three of the games (with partners):

• Capitol (w/Alan Moon)
• San Marco (w/Alan Moon)
• Smarty Party (w/Pitt Crandlemire)

Kris Burm designed two of the games:

• Dvonn
• Gipf

The team of Eberle, Kittredge & Olotka designed two of the games:

• Cosmic Encounter
• Dune

Friedemann Friese designed two of the games:

• Fresh Fish
• Power Grid/Funkenschlag

Dirk Henn designed two of the games:

• Showmanager/Atlantic Star
• Wallenstein

Alex Randolph designed two of the games (by himself or with a partner):

• Ricochet Robot
• Code 777 (w/ Robert Abbott)

Karl-Heinz Schmiel designed two of the games:

• Die Macher
• Was Sticht?

Francis Tresham designed two of the games:

• 1830
• Civilization

Richard Ulrich designed two of the games (with a partner):

• El Grande (w/Wolfgang Kramer)
• Princes of Florence (w/Wolfgang Kramer)

And the rest of the games on The One Hundred - their designers only appeared once. Still, it's a nice crowd to be in when it includes such notables as Robert Abbott, Stefan Dorra, Rudiger Dorn, Jean du Poel, Bruno Faidutti, Mike Fitzgerald, Doris & Frank, Richard Garfield, Mike Gray, Philippe Keyaerts, Dave Parlett, Wolfgang Riedesser, Peter Sarrett, Michael Schacht, Andreas Seyfarth, Reinhard Staupe, Martin Wallce & Klaus-Jurgen Wrede.

The Whole Enchilada

Here they all are - from #1 - #100!

1. Puerto Rico
2. Euphrat & Tigris
3. El Grande
4. Settlers of Catan
5. Princes of Florence
6. Power Grid/Funkenschlag
7. Age of Steam
8. Ticket To Ride
9. Ra
10. Tichu
11. Acquire
12. Lord of the Rings
13. Bohnanza
14. Cosmic Encounter
15. St Petersburg
16. Union Pacific
17. Time's Up
18. Crokinole
19. Medici
20. Mu & Mehr
21. Memoir '44
22. Die Macher
23. Taj Mahal
24. La Citta
25. Lost Cities
26. Civilization
27. Liar's Dice/Call My Bluff
28. Showmanager/Atlantic Star
29. Battleline/Schotten Totten
30. Modern Art
31. Carcassonne
32. RoboRally
33. Torres
34. Expedition/Wildlife Adventure
35. Web of Power
36. Fresh Fish
37. Roads & Boats
38. Through the Desert
39. Tikal
40. I'm The Boss/Kohle Kies & Knete
41. For Sale
42. Bridge
43. Traumfabrik
44. Lowenherz
45. 1830
46. Attika
47. Titan
48. Adel Verpflichtet/Hoity Toity
49. Poker
50. Goa
51. Go
52. Ricochet Robot
53. Daytona 500
54. Can't Stop
55. Wallenstein
56. Diplomacy
57. Schnappchen Jagd
58. Wizard
59. Hannibal: Rome v. Carthage
60. Blokus
61. Stephensons' Rocket
62. Smarty Party
63. San Marco
64. LOTR: The Confrontation
65. History of the World
66. Elfenland
67. Citadels
68. Ave Caesar
69. Flaschenteufel
70. Scrabble
71. Breaking Away
72. Basari
73. Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde
74. Taboo
75. Quandary
76. Hare & Tortoise
77. War of the Ring
78. Was Sticht?
79. MR1: Jack the Ripper
80. 6 Nimmt!
81. Spades
82. Backgammon
83. Age of Renaissance
84. Um Reifenbreite
85. Battle Cry
86. Res Publica
87. Vinci
88. Gipf
89. Code 777
90. Dune
91. Chinatown
92. Royal Turf
93. Domaine
94. Carabande
95. Capitol
96. Mamma Mia
97. McMulti
98. Africa
99. Dvonn
100. Samurai

For more detail (designer, date of publication) and direct links to each entry, check out the Recaps listed on the right hand side.

Recap: #20-#11

#20: Mu & Mehr

• designer: Doris Matthaus & Frank Nestel
• date of publication: 1995

#19: Medici

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 1995

#18: Crokinole

• designer: ?
• date of publication: c. 1865

#17: Time's Up

• designer: Peter Sarrett
• date of publication: 2000

#16: Union Pacific

• designer: Alan R Moon
• date of publication: 1999

#15: St Petersburg

• designer: Bernd Brunnhofer, Jay Tummelson, Michael Bruinsma
• date of publication: 2004

#14: Cosmic Encounter

• designer: Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Peter Olotka
• date of publication: 1977

#13: Bohnanza

• designer: Uwe Rosenberg
• date of publication: 1997

#12: Lord of the Rings

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 2000

#11: Acquire

• designer: Sid Sackson
• date of publication: 1962