Java is a German-style board game

German-style board game

German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...

 designed by Wolfgang Kramer

Wolfgang Kramer

Wolfgang Kramer is a German board game designer.Kramer formerly worked as an operations manager and computer scientist, but since 1989 he has worked full-time on game design. He has designed over 100 games, many which have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres...

 and Michael Kiesling

Michael Kiesling

Michael Kiesling is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award.He is best known for co-authoring the board game trilogy Tikal, Java and Mexica with Wolfgang Kramer....

 and published in 2000 by Ravensburger

Ravensburger

Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH is a German game company. It is a leader in the European puzzle market.-History:The company was founded by Otto Robert Maier with seat in Ravensburg, a town in Upper Swabia in southern Germany. He began publishing in 1883 with his first author contract...

 in German and by Rio Grande Games

Rio Grande Games

Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...

 in English. It is illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel

Franz Vohwinkel

Franz Vohwinkel is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.-Works:Vohwinkel drew the cover art for the book Dataware for TSR's Alternity game, and illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game...

.

Java won the Deutscher Spiele Preis

Deutscher Spiele Preis

The Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...

 9th place in 2001 and the Games Magazine Best Advanced Strategy Game in 2002. It is the second game in the Mask Trilogy

Mask Trilogy

The Mask Trilogy refers to three award-winning German-style board games designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. The trilogy is given this name because the box of each game features a mask from the region which gives the game its theme...

, following Tikal

Tikal (board game)

Tikal is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 1999 by Ravensburger in German and by Rio Grande Games in English...

and followed by Mexica

Mexica (board game)

Mexica is a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 2002 by Ravensburger in German and Rio Grande Games in English. Mexica was awarded 5th prize in the 2002 Deutscher Spiele Preis....

.

The game provides the atmosphere of the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Java on a hexagonal board

Hex map

A hex map, hex board or hex grid is a gameboard design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into small regular hexagons of identical size.-Advantages and disadvantages:...

. Players build the island and score by setting up palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

 festival

Festival

A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

s at opportune moments. When players run out of hexagons to build the island, the game is over. A final scoring phase now takes place and a winner is declared.