Board Games: Own/Want
Own
1. Alhambra
2. Battleball
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game
5. Heroscape [+ "Gorillas & Hounds", "Kilts & Commandos" -- holy crap, just saw the clever subtle joke in that one -- "Lawmen & Samurai", "Knights & the Swog"]
6. Mall of Horror
7. Mission Command: Air Game
8. Mission Command: Land Game
9. Mission Command: Sea Game
10. Puerto Rico
11. Risk -- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Edition [$10 at the Fred Meyer!]
12. The Settlers of Catan
13. The Settlers of Catan, 5-6 Player Expansion
14. Shadows Over Camelot [Stupid Days of Wonder DVD.]
15. Ticket to Ride: Europe
16. Titan: The Arena
Want
Mall of Horror
1. Betrayal at House on the Hill
2. Arkham Horror (2nd Ed.)
3. The Cities & Knights of Catan
Shadows Over Camelot [Stupid Days of Wonder DVD.]
4. Memoir '44
Heroscape [Although I feel like I shoulda got on the ground floor with this one.]
5. Mystery of the Abbey [Stupid Days of Wonder DVD.]
6. Pirate's Cove [Stupid Days of Wonder DVD.]
7. Dungeon Twister
8. Lord of the Rings (Reiner Knizia version)
9. Formula Dé
10. Entdecker
11. The Seafarers of Catan
12. Carcassonne - Hunters & Gatherers
13. War of the Ring
Some games in your list come from the french creator/publisher Asmodée Editions, that's nice, they have great fresh games based on cool concepts and with easy to learn yet subtle rules... The british company Days of Wonder do great stuff as well, have you ever played The Queen's Necklace?
I haven't played The Queen's Necklace yet, but I can play it for free through the Days of Wonder website. I've glanced at the rules and it looks intriguing... intriguing enough that if I like it, I just might buy it.
Also: I thought Days of Wonder were also a French company?
Could be, I must admit I assumed they were british because their main website is in english and the web adresses are all in english and many of their games have "british" themes (railways, WWII, medieval abbeys) but it could very well be a trick caused by my prejudice, or rather by the clichés that still exist about the UK here on the french-speaking part of the continent...
Well, apparently Days of Wonder is an american company who operates offices in California for the US market and in Paris for the EU market... so, I guess you were closer to the truth than I was :)
and yes, the Queen's Necklace is very clever and strategically subtle (or should that be subtly strategical?) anyway, you have my recommendation if you ever buy it, I assure you you won't be disappointed...
I recently played WEG's (week end games) "Dead or Alive" (tentative translation from the french title which itself was a translation from the original unknown-to-me title) and it had some game mechanics close to the Queen's Necklace but because DoA is based in the Wild, wild west it is much more straightforward in the strategy but still a good game as well...
I've been having this feeling for a while that more and more people are growing tired of the same old same old Milton Bradley/Parker Brothers best-sellers and though timeless classics like Clue, Monopoly or Risk will always hold some appeal I truly believe the board game world was in need of fresh material after the heroic fantasy surge of the 80's (thinking here about Games Workshop notably, through titles like Talisman, Warlock on Firetop Mountain or BloodBowl) but once again, and before I become too boring, games are mostly meant to be played and not dissected by talking about them... Sorry, I get carried away easily when it comes to topics I enjoy
Ah, good ol' Talisman and Blood Bowl... haven't thought of those in years. I remember playing the 1st edition of Talisman for something like 8 hours straight with 7 people -- lasting until 4 in the morning, and everyone getting cranky -- all because we misread one little rule that woulda chopped the game time in half!