Vasel’s law states that any truly good game will eventually come back into print. For the most part I subscribe to this law. See: Snowdonia and Rococo. There are a few notable exceptions. In this article I’m going to explore the five out of print games I most want to try. I’m not including out of print games I’ve already played and love, even if I haven’t found a reasonably priced copy yet (Ginkgopolis I’m looking at you). I’m also not including games like the aforementioned Rococo what are currently out of print but have upcoming re-releases. These games are out of print for various reasons – from rights issues to bad juju surrounding the games release. Lets get it on!
- Bruges: I love me some Stefan Feld. Castles of Burgundy is still my favorite of his, but I love games like Trajan, Oracles of Delphi, Carpe Diem etc. etc. as well. Several of Feld’s games are criminally out of print but Bruges is easily the one I’m most interested in. I love pretty much any form of multi-use cards and the way in which your action cards interact with the board state in this one seems super interesting. Other than Ginkgopolis this is the game I most want to see reprinted.
- Star Wars: Queen’s Gambit: I’m a HUGE Star Wars nerd. As in I’ve read almost the entirety of the EU (now Legends). So naturally I want to track down and play pretty much every Star Wars game out there. While Episode I is definitely not my favorite, a game packed with Star Wars miniatures is going to grab my attention. I’m really interested in the segmented nature of the battles where you have to fight on two fronts – both above and on the planet of Naboo. It’s only two players. It’s long winded. It’s incredibly expensive. But I don’t care. Give me the Star Wars!
- Glory to Rome: No out of print game list would be complete without the elusive Glory to Rome. There’s been entire books dedicated to this so I’m not going to go too far into the back story and why this will never, ever see a reprint. You can still easily find it’s less heralded cousin, Mottainai, but I want to play the original! Deep small box games are hard to find and this one promises plenty of swingy, overpowered, strategic fun with its wildly different cards and short play time. While I really want to play Glory to Rome, a part of me is scared I’ll like it so much I have to (over)pay for a copy.
- Forbidden Stars: While I’m more of a Eurogamer at heart, this game speaks to me in the same way Twilight Imperium did. It promises a fun space themed romp with good strategy and tons of player interaction. I spent endless hours playing Starcraft as a kid and the gameplay here reminds me of a slowed down version of an RTS. Any good RTS blends the long-term strategy of how to upgrade your forces to take over the battlefield with short-term tactical decisions about troop placement/deployment and how to best counter act your opponent’s moves. I’m still searching for a board game that can give me those same feels and I think Forbidden Stars may be it.
- Palace of Carrara: A Kiesling and Kramer game that was already out of print by the time I really got into the hobby, The Palaces of Carrara looks like the type of mid-weight Euro that promises good depth of played balanced with accessibility for maximum playability. I love city building game and games with a good economy and this appears to have both. It doesn’t appear to suffer from the multiplayer solitaire that some Euro games do thanks to the way you can lock other players out of scoring in particular cities based on your actions. The Palace of Carrara looks like a really solid little Euro and one I’d love to check out some day!
