Bridge (Contract Bridge)
About Bridge
The Classic Partnership Card Game
Contract Bridge is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships. Players bid on how many tricks they can take, and the highest bidder tries to fulfill their contract while the opponents try to defeat it.
Why I Play Bridge:
- Deep strategic gameplay combining bidding, card play, and partnership cooperation
- Every hand presents unique challenges
- Rich community and competitive play opportunities
- Constant learning and improvement
Learning Resources
Online Resources:
- ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) - Main organization
- Bridge Base Online (BBO) - Play online
- Larry Cohen Bridge - Learning resources
- Pavlicek Dot Net - Advanced bridge theory
EHAA (Every Hand An Adventure)
Natural Bidding System
EHAA is a highly natural bidding system characterized by aggressive, destructive bidding with a "get in quick, get out quick" style.
Key Features:
- Four-card majors
- Weak two-bids in all four suits (5+ cards, 6-12 HCP, no suit quality requirement)
- Mini notrump (10-12 HCP, 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2)
- One-level openings show full 13+ HCP
- No forcing opening bid
Resources:
Bridge Training Games in Collection
Autobridge
Solo bridge practice game from 1938 for learning bidding and card play.
Challenge Bridge
Four-player bridge training game for practicing bridge concepts.
Strategy Games
Pax Series by Matt Eklund
Pax Renaissance (2nd Edition)
Play as a powerful banker controlling the gears of empires during the 15th and 16th centuries. Features asymmetric paths to victory using religion, trade, conquest, or enlightenment. Co-designed with Phil Eklund.
Pax Transhumanity
The only Pax game not based on historical setting. Play as a startup entrepreneur in the not-too-distant future, ensuring your vision for humanity's future is dominant. Explore the fringes of the achievable as scientists and technocrats rewrite the human condition.
Pax Porfiriana
Play as a rich businessman (Hacendado) in the turbulent pre-revolutionary borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico during the 33-year reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz. Build business empires of ranches, mines, rails, troops, and banks while subverting opponents with bandidos, Indians, and lawsuits.
Complex Euro Games
Gaia Project
Terra Mystica in space. Terraform planets and develop advanced technologies as one of 14 asymmetric alien factions. Deep strategic gameplay with multiple paths to victory (complexity: 4.4/5).
Mage Knight Board Game
Epic adventure combining deck-building, exploration, and conquest. Rich tactical combat and character progression in a fantasy world. One of the most complex and rewarding solo/co-op experiences (complexity: 4.4/5).
Die Macher
Classic 1986 German political game simulating elections across different states. Negotiate, campaign, and manage party opinion polls in this heavyweight political strategy game (complexity: 4.3/5).
Hansa Teutonica: Big Box
Route-building and network optimization in medieval Hanseatic League. Tight resource management and multiple paths to victory make every decision crucial. Includes all expansions (complexity: 3.0/5).
At the Gates of Loyang
Uwe Rosenberg solo-optimized economic game. Farm vegetables, manage customer orders, and build an efficient production engine in ancient China (complexity: 3.1/5).
Bios Series by Phil Eklund
The Bios Trilogy - Evolution of Life and Humanity
Bios: Genesis
Simulates the origins of life on Earth over four billion years. Players start as organic compounds working toward Autocatalytic and Darwinian Life (complexity: 4.4/5).
Bios: Megafauna (Second Edition)
Evolution from the Cambrian explosion through the age of dinosaurs and mammals (complexity: 4.5/5).
Bios: Origins (Second Edition)
Human cultural evolution from stone age tribes to modern civilizations (complexity: 4.2/5).
High Frontier 4 All - The Continuation
The logical continuation of the Bios series into space. Players represent space enterprises attempting to establish factories and colonize space. Extremely detailed simulation of realistic space exploration with scientific accuracy - Phil Eklund's most complex game (complexity: 4.8/5). Includes all modules: Terawatt & Futures, Colonization, Conflict, and Exodus.
Fantasy & Adventure Games
Magic Realm
The Granddaddy of Complex RPG-Style Board Games
Designed by Richard Hamblen and published by Avalon Hill in 1979, Magic Realm is a fantasy adventure board game with sixteen unique characters. Players can play solitaire or with up to 16 players in sessions lasting 4+ hours.
Features:
- Personal victory conditions (Great Treasures, Spells, Fame, Notoriety, Gold)
- Deep tactical combat system
- Extensive scenarios and tutorials
- Custom components and character sheets
- Digital implementation: RealmSpeak (Java application)
Links:
Dragons Down
A Distillation of Magic Realm
Dragons Down is an adventure game inspired by the classic Magic Realm, designed by Scott DeMers. Set in Western fantasy, players act as adventurers seeking fame and glory through hunting for hidden treasure sites, looting great treasures and epic artifacts, fighting monsters, and attempting to become legends.
Key Features:
- 1-6 players - Full solo and multiplayer support
- Streamlined Magic Realm experience
- Hunt for hidden treasure sites
- Combat against monsters
- Complete missions for legend points
- Epic artifacts and treasures to discover
Dragons Down: Natives & Legends Expansion
Adds new natives to the game, each with their own goals and quirks, plus new surprises, treasures, missions, and locations.
Links:
Card & Quick Games
Cuttle
Strategic Card Combat with a Standard Deck
Cuttle is a battle card game played with a standard 52-card deck. A fast-paced two-player game where you use number cards to build your point total and face cards for special abilities, while attacking your opponent's cards and defending your own.
Play Online:
- Cuttle.cards - Official dedicated platform
- Board Game Arena - Play in browser
- BoardGameGeek
Other Card Games
Compile: Main 1
Dueling card game where you play competing AIs trying to understand the world. Select three Protocols to test, play cards into command lines to breach thresholds and defeat your opponent.
Mindbug: First Contact
Co-designed by Richard Garfield (creator of Magic: The Gathering). Summon hybrid creatures and battle, but your opponent can use Mindbugs to steal your creatures twice per game - creating tense, strategic duels.
Tichu
Partnership climbing card game with strategic passing and bold predictions.
Chimera
Three-player climbing card game with one player taking on the other two.
Yokai Septet
Trick-taking game with Japanese folklore theme and unique scoring mechanics.
Dice and Cards Baseball Simulations
Payoff Pitch
Fast-Playing Dice Baseball
Payoff Pitch is a quick-playing baseball simulation game using custom dice. Features realistic baseball action with pitcher-batter matchups, strategic decisions, and exciting gameplay that captures the essence of America's pastime.
Season Ticket
Card-Driven Baseball Management
Season Ticket combines baseball simulation with card-based gameplay. Manage your team through a full season, making strategic decisions about lineups, pitching rotations, and in-game tactics using a deck of cards representing player abilities and game situations.
APBA Master Game
The Classic Baseball Simulation Since 1951
APBA (American Professional Baseball Association) is the gold standard of baseball simulation games. Using cards based on actual player statistics and dice rolls, APBA recreates realistic baseball with incredible accuracy. Play with historical teams or current rosters.
Features:
- Cards based on real player statistics
- Historical seasons from 1900s to present
- Detailed pitcher-batter interactions
- League management and replay capabilities
- Solo or head-to-head play
Links: