Game Tastings

Time is one of the biggest challenges we face every Game Tasting. So, the games that we tend to like best are those that have the fewest rules, are the easiest to understand, and the quickest to play.

Every now and then, we get a game that is too complex for us. It's promising, but we simply don't have time to give it what it deserves. Sometimes, we get a game that is not only too complex, but also somehow falls short of our combined ideals. The rules aren't really clear enough. The materials not attractive enough. And sometimes our players are just too jaded, know too many other games to view something with a fresh enough eye.

Proclaim is one of those games. It's a word game whose rules are just a little too complex for us. We got impatient. But we did play it, and, though we couldn't give it an award, we also couldn't let it go unnoticed. There's something about it that's unique. It's like a lot of other games we could think of, but after a few rounds, we discovered that to play it well, we had to be unusually thoughtful. There's an economy that's required - a finesse, a cleverness, and a knowledge of langauge and of the other players - that is unlike any other word game.

It may not be a perfect game, but it is undeniably fun, challenging, memorable. And so, though you won't see Proclaim! on the Awards page, it is more because of the restrictions of the Tasting process than it is because of the game itself. I decided not to create a "runner-up" or "second place" category, because that could be too easily misread as a game that's not "good enough" to get the award, when it's just as likely that our Tasting process is not good enough to give the game its due.

To get your own "taste" of Proclaim, check out this sample game.