Mark's #6: Showmanager/Atlantic Star

You have to cast four shows with the best possible actors - but so does everyone else. Each turn you can hire a new actor or put on a show. (You can also pay to see a new slate of actors - the infamous cry of "Clear!") And that's pretty much all there is to the game.

Still, Showmanager is a joyous play experience - fast-moving (notice that's a common element of most of my top games?!), fraught with tension, and rewarding wise play. (Much like Expedition, this game is not nearly as random as some seem to think.)

The easier to find Atlantic Star (pictured here) is pretty much the same game, but I don't like the theme (creating cruises), the way the board works (you have to slide cards in a semi-circle?!), the dumbing-down of the ending rules, or the added cards in the ship deck. In other words, find yourself a copy of Showmanager. :-)

#28: Showmanager/Atlantic Star

Showmanager has the virtue of playing quickly while offering lots of agonizing decisions and moments of elation & rage. Most often played with 5-6 players, it scales well with other numbers. I (Mark) have a 78% win ratio at this game - so it's not nearly as "luck-based" as some people assert. It has been published in three editions: the original Premiere and the Spiel des Jahres nominated Showmanager are themed around putting on productions, while Atlantic Star uses the same game framework with the theme of creating ship cruises.

Scott Tullace: "My favorite six-player game."

Aaron Fuegi: "The only Dirk Henn to make my list although several others like Texas and Timbuktu just miss. Great game. Clear!"

Mark Edwards: "Another game where you feel like you're competing against your opponents AND the game. Resource/hand management was never so fun."

Andrea Meyer: "Best design by Dirk Henn. I love how it flows with any numberof players indicated. I love the dilemma, and I like this version better than Atlantic Star because it has more 'aura'. "

Mark's One Hundred: #10-#1

#10: Lowenherz

• designer: Klaus Teuber
• date of publication: 1997

#9: Fast Food Franchise

• designer: Tom Lehmann
• date of publication: 1992

#8: Expedition

• designer: Wolfgang Kramer
• date of publication: 1996

#7: Um Reifenbreite

• designer: Rob Bontenbal
• date of publication: 1982

#6: Showmanager/Atlantic Star

• designer: Dirk Henn
• date of publication: 1997

#5: Puerto Rico

• designer: Andreas Seyfarth
• date of publication: 2002

#4: El Grande

• designer: Wolfgang Kramer & Richard Ulrich
• date of publication: 1995

#3: Memoir '44

• designer: Richard Borg
• date of publication: 2004

#2: The Princes of Florence

• designer: Wolfgang Kramer & Richard Ulrich
• date of publication: 2000

#1: The Settlers of Catan

• designer: Klaus Teuber
• date of publication: 1995

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: #30-#21

#30: Modern Art

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 1992

#29: Battleline/Schotten Totten

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 1999

#28: Showmanager/Atlantic Star

• designer: Dirk Henn
• date of publication: 1997

#27: Liar's Dice/Call My Bluff

• designer: Richard Borg
• date of publication: 1974

#26: Civilization

• designer: Francis Tresham
• date of publication: 1981

#25: Lost Cities

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 1999

#24: La Citta

• designer: Gerd Fenchel
• date of publication: 2000

#23: Taj Mahal

• designer: Reiner Knizia
• date of publication: 2000

#22: Die Macher

• designer: Karl-Heinz Schmiel
• date of publication: 1986

#21: Memoir '44

• designer: Richard Borg
• date of publication: 2004