Links: Orphaned Game Mechanisms, Games of the Year & Japanese Minimalism

Ten years ago, we used to single out two schools in game design, German and American, which could also have been called classical and baroque. The former produced abstract or weakly themed games, esthetically sober if not bland, with clear rules, little interaction and some strategic depth. The latter designed highly thematic games, often violent or humorous, graphically heavy, with long and confusing rules, with incessant tactical decisions often leading to chaos....

Things are becoming more complex, and I wonder if we could now add a third school, which we can call the minimalist or the Japanese school – even when it's already internationalized.

Like painters, writers or chefs, most game authors dream of a pure and uncluttered design, an epitome of simplicity capturing the true essence of gaming. We all gave it a try. Ultra-simple games based on a single mechanism, needing only a dozen pieces or cards and emphasizing a zen esthetic have always been around. Think of many small abstract games, like Steffen Müllhauser's Six or Linja, or my Babylon/Soluna. Think of some German card games like Thorsten Gimmler's No Thanks! or Doris & Frank's Pico. Think of Werewolves and its many siblings and cousins.