Ameritrash vs Eurogames

This used to be one of those cheesy arguments, like Star Trek vs. Star Wars, Marvel vs. DC, Call of Duty vs. Medal of Honor... A few years back, we could group almost all board games according to their theme and mechanic.

American-style board games, that were derogatorily called Ameritrash, were dripping with themes, with direct player conflict, complex rules and often involving a high degree of luck. Typical representatives of Ameritrash would be games like Arkham Horror, Star Wars: Rebellion or Zombicide.

On the other hand, a style of games originating in Germany was called Eurogames. Eurogames had simple rules, shorter play time, abstract components, often with an economic theme and required more strategic thinking than using luck or conflict mechanic. Typical representatives would be Agricola, Catan or Carcassonne.

The thin line that divides Ameritrash and Eurogames is slowly fading. Modern games are mostly borrowing mechanics from both camps, making them hard to be classified in one of those groups. Take Twilight Imperium for instance, or Mage Knight, Gloomhaven, Chaos in the Old World...

While this categorization might make sense some years ago, that's no longer the case. In the end, what matters the most is that you enjoy playing.