Interesting Observations:

Ticket To Ride skirted dangerously close to breaking Puerto Rico's record (missed by 0.21... now that's a photo finish!) I expect TtR to drop some next year with the release of Ticket To Ride: Europe, which is likely to draw more "gamer" play than the original game.

San Juan & Saint Petersburg both came out of the gate with a bang, benefiting from their presence on BSW, shorter playing times & lower price points. Of course, San Juan's association with Puerto Rico didn't hurt. :-)

The biggest surprise this year is the number of newer and/or newer games that made it onto this list. Perennial favorites like Liar's Dice, Carcassonne, Crokinole & Take 6 continue to appear. Carcassonne lost another 15%, but it has hung on much longer than I would have expected at it's release - I'm just waiting to see when the "another expansion and/or spinoff?!" backlash kicks in. (Note: the Carcassonne numbers include the expansions & the base game, but not any of the stand-alone games, such as The Castle, The City or Ark of the Covenant. The same is true for Settlers.)

Speaking of Settlers, another big story is it's "slippage" - this year, I was part of the trend, as I played markedly less Settlers than before.

Transamerica continues to hang in there - and I'm a convert. Multiple plays on BSW have convinced me that there's more going on there than you get at first glance. (I feel the same way about Cafe International, only more so.)

And what's the deal with Ra? It's reprinting this year should push it up higher.

Say what you like about "slimming down" a game - but Power Grid breathed new playing life into the wonderful (but long) Funkenschlag.

Hansa, much like Paris Paris from the year before, will NOT make this list next year. (Mark just put on his prognostication hat.) Sadly, Memoir '44 may also drop, though the promised expansions may give it a boost. Attika will also tank, as the majority of folks have squeezed all the gaming goodness out of it.

Interesting Observations:

The most telling stat: Power Grid going from 0 people playing it 10+ times to 12 people doing so.

And now, 2002 is starting to look like the odd blip on the Ra front, as consistently about 14% of folks are getting 10+ games of this in each year.

You can also see some slippage here for Puerto Rico - less people live & die for PR now.

Interesting Observations:

Funny... Coloretto & King's Breakfast are sticking together here, just like last year.

I predicted that Clans & Paris Paris would be off this list from last year -- and I was right! This year, I'm pretty sure you won't see Hansa again, and you're unlikely to see Goa here. I'm POSITIVE that Tongiaki will be gone.

I'm very curious to see what happens to San Juan - because I'm not a fan (though many others are), I have trouble predicting where it will go.

Interesting Observations:

It saddens me to see Balloon Cup at the top of the list... it's a great 2 player filler. Of course, I didn't play it 5+ times this year, so it's partly my fault. Sigh.

It's no surprise to see the crash of Clans, Paris Paris, or Amun-Re... I called Paris Paris the game "most likely to be here" last year.

Fresh Fish is an excellent game, but it seems it's blip of an appearance was due to it's rerelease by Plenary.

This is Puerto Rico's biggest drop - and it's still ranked 5th overall.

Likely to be here next year: Ticket To Ride (which will combine natural attrition plus the release of T2R: Europe to take a bit of a fall), Goa (which will succumb to the "gamer-d out" syndrome along with Saint Petersburg), and Tonigaki (which is South Sea Islander for "jumped the shark last spring".)

Interesting Observations:

These are the games that are mounting a comeback... or, in the cases of Attika, Coda, Die Sieben Siegel, Hive, Carc: The Castle, Yinsh, & Die Fugger, seeing more serious play after being released late in 2003.

The streamlining of Power Grid/Funkenschlag caused a huge jump in play. No surprise there, really, except that the streamlining WORKED and didn't kill interest in the game. Nice work on the part of 2F and Rio Grande!

Alhambra (inexplicably for me) grew in popularity, possibly fueled by the expansions. Don't expect this to happen again next year. Of course, I predicted this would happen last year, but I still don't get it.

It's nifty to see Medici working it's way back up...

Coolest trend to watch: MR2, a partnership card game that was greeted with a less than enthusiastic reception at it's release FINALLY gettting the play time it deserves.

Interesting Observations:

San Juan made a big splash this year... but will it last? (I think the answer is "yes" - short playing time coupled with Puerto Rico card interaction.)

Hopefully the promised expansions for Memoir '44 will keep it fresh in the minds of gamers, but the track record of it's big brother, Battle Cry, indicates otherwise.

As I've said before, kiss Tongiaki goodbye... along with Hansa, Goa, La Strada & Oasis. Not implying that there's anything wrong with these games (well, except Tongiaki) but they are unlikely to generate repeated play in the face of the classic and the new.

OK, Bottle Imp isn't exactly "new" - but it has NEVER been on the Five & Dime lists before. The new edition gave it new life.

Santiago should lose some ground, but it's rerelease in English ought to give it a bit of a boost.

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