Settlers of Catan and Blokus Rank on Amazon.com Top 10 List

According to Amazon.com, board games are still a big hit at the holiday times.

Every year, they post a Top 10 list of Christmas Toys. This year, we wanted to point out two items on the list. The board game bookends!

The first is the #10 item. The premiere strategy game from Mayfair Games, Settlers of Catan.  This game has reached mainstream status. It never gets old and can be expanded through three other expansion sets. The replayability is here and definiately worth checking out. If you have ever played civilization-building games on your PC, you will love this game. In Settlers, the process of resource gathering and strategic planning creates constant interaction with your opponents and every person’s turn can affect you – positively or negatively.

The other item is all the way up the list, at #1. The abstract game, Blokus, is one of the most accessable and intrigueing games in a long time. If you like games like Tetris, this is definately a game for you to try. It is extremely addictive. One of the cool aspects of this game is you can play it by yourself. Each player has a series of plastick tiles in different shapes. The simple goal is to put as many of the tiles on the board as you can. However, you must  follow a single rule – Each of your tiles must only touch a corner of another of your tiles (the same color). After a while, it becomes very hard to place any tiles because each other player is doing the same thing. Talk about a mind bender…

So, do away with the electronics and isolation this holiday season. Save yourself some money. For about $50, you can get two games that will have tons of replayability, the entire family will enjoy, and you might actually have a smarter child in the end.

For the record, we run the online board game store, Best Dang Games. Our sales pattern has shown that Blokus hits at #8, and Settlers of Catan hits at #10. But, we offer a strategy game bundle that includes Settlers of Catan, and it is ranked #2.

Get Settlers of Catan or Blokus.

Amazon’s 2008 Top 10 List