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Pen, Paper, Board–Online

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A funny thing happened in the last few years: board games are popular again.

Settlers of Catan

Much of that is due to the innovations pioneered by European board game designers. The game that perhaps signaled the resurgence of board gaming was Settlers of Catan, the seminal title by German game designer Klaus Teuber, which arrived on the scene in 1995.

Today, there are a host of excellent board games out there, both in the "Eurogame" mold and other titles. These games are different than the traditional board games. For one thing, the concept of competition has been enhanced. Older games were almost all purely "player versus player," in the mold of the classic game Risk. However, that's expanded.

Today, we have co-operative games, like Arkham Horror, where players work together to defeat the game. Another variant are "multiplayer solitaire" titles; the Ticket to Ride series of railroad games are good examples, where players are optimizing their own routes, and only occasionally clash with other players.

Pen and paper RPGs have also seen a resurgence, with Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition garnering much interest and companies like White Wolf seeing ongoing success with dark, but innovative games like Changeling.

It was perhaps inevitable that the "analog" gaming fans of all stripes would find ways to connect through the Internet. Connectivity options can range from simple information—game wikis and Web sites—to full blown online game playing. In between, there are a raft of tools and utilities that enhance the game playing experience. Let's take a look at the range of options. Continued…