Board Games after Ur

I read with fascination your article on museum curator Irving Finkel and his research into the Royal Game of Ur [June 30-July 7]. But Finkel's claim that Monopoly introduced the last "momentous" innovation in board games is not true by a long shot: the last 15 years have seen great innovations in board game design, with one title, Settlers of Catan , almost single-handedly sparking a renaissance in board gaming in Europe. It doesn't end there: other ground-breaking designs and retoolings of classic American games (like Risk ) have introduced ideas that leave many older games in the dust. Dedicated fans — such...