Wikipedia: German-style board games

There's a well written article on Wikipedia (which is a site that everyone should bookmark, it's an excellent free internet encyclopedia, no advertising) about "German-style" board games. I highly recommend reading it, here's the link:

Wikipedia: German-style board games

Here's a good example, quoting from the section on characteristics:

"The following characteristics are typical of German games:

• Variable number of players - The games are designed to be played with a wide ranging group. Typically the minimum number of players is only two or three, and the maximum might be four or five or even more.
• Simple, clever rules - The rules for most games are only a few pages and simple to learn. Novel mechanisms such as auctions, rotating roles, special cards, and trading are often incorporated. The "roll-and-move" mechanic of games like Monopoly is almost never seen. If a monetary system is included at all, it is usually very simple.
• No player elimination - The games usually continue until some defined set of criteria is met. At that point, a winner is determined. Players don't get kicked out in midgame by running out of money or armies."

I also discovered an interesting link to a website containing over 15,000 english and german games on the wiki, www.luding.org.