Top 100 Games (26-50)

26. Nations

Like Through the Ages, Nations is an epic civ game that spans millennia. However, Nations is far more tactical than its cousin. For example, it is much cheaper to move workers between different roles, so I end up with very indecisive workers while I stall for time.

27. Wit and Wagers

My favorite trivia game, mostly because it doesn’t require you to know anything.

28. Summoner Wars

A 2 player miniature game that uses cards for miniatures.  Lots of diversity between decks gives each faction a very different feel.

29. Amerigo

Feld + Cube Tower = Win

30. Linko

A fun set-collection card game where the end-of-game rushes up unexpectedly.   If you finish with a positive score, you didn’t do too badly.

31. Patchwork

Another excellent two player game involving buying tetris shaped patches and placing them on a grid.  Despite its simple rules and quick game play, there are lots of competing elements that lead to difficult decisions.

32. Nefertiti

One of those games I really like while playing, and completely forget everything about the game an hour later.

33. Scrabble

Yeah I wish that not every 2 letter combination was a word, but I still enjoy it.

34. Merkator

A game of completing increasingly difficult orders.  Can drag a little bit, but lots of senses of achievement throughout.

35. Fits

Tetris the board game  The official and unofficial expansions give it nice variety, though some are overwhelming.

36. 10 Days

The perfect filler.  Plus I now know where all those small eastern Europe countries are.

37. Ticket to Ride Family

There have been a couple duds, I’m not overly fond of the UK map for example, but for the most part the Ticket to Ride Family has been consistently good.  It is difficult to pick a favorite, but I’ll go with the Nordic Map, if for no reason other than the exquisite snow-capped train cards.

38. Shogun/Wallenstein

Did I mention I love cube towers?

39. Resistance

Don’t play it much since it is best with 7+ and requires everyone to enjoy this type of game, but has had some of my most memorable game moments.

40. Lords of Waterdeep

Nothing spectacular or particularly innovative, but still an enjoyable D & D themed worker placement game.

41. Mu

A tricky five player trick taking game with rotating partners  Hard to grasp, especially the bidding element, but shifting loyalties makes for some intriguing relationships.

42. Bohnanza

The absolutely positively best game about planting beans.

43. Crokinole

A dexterity game on a large wooden board.   You can make some amazing shots, occasionally even on purpose.

44. Planet Steam

A weird steam punk themed economic game which, at least in its original form, came in the most oversized box that you will ever see.  However, it handles market fluctuations really well, so i can forgive it some eccentricities.

45. Star Realms

A quick mostly two player deck building game.  It hits the right spot of difficulty and speed to be a perfect phone app.

46. Fairy Tale

A drafting, game where you are making a story.  It is not quite as thematic as it could be, but making combos and blocking opponents allows for some agonizing decisions.

47. Battleline

A two player game where you are battling your opponent along nine fronts to get the best Poker hands.  Trying to plan your battles involves a lot of math and a lot of really hoping you draw that card you need later on.  

48. For Sale

A simple auction game that shifts into a new game halfway in.  Simple and fast, yet always tough to figure out just what to bid.

49. Alhambra

A game that almost always goes over well given its simple rules and the walled city you get to lay out in front of you.

50. Vasca De Gama

Another worker placement with a generic exploration theme, but I like that type of game, and Vasca is a particularly good one.  It does have some unique mechanics, such as its turn order bidding and sailing systems, which help it stand out.

Top 100 Games (1-25)

1. Dominion:

The game responsible for much of my gaming circle and thousands of played games.  This year has had its issues, but I can now happily play Dominion Online again, so it’s not all bad.

2. Codenames:

If you find me on some interstate transportation, I probably had Codenames with me.  Just a great simple amusing game for nearly any group.

3.  Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization:

The new version fixed this game, which is pretty impressive given how good this game already was.  An epic that feels like you are telling a story about the rise and fall of empires.

4. Splendor:

Our go to phone app game.  I’ve played Splendor many times and feel like I’m very good at it.  There are highly competitive players that have a completely divergent strategy from mine.  That is amazing for so simple a game.

5. Tichu:

It doesn’t get played as much as it used to, but still my go to partner game.  Just filled with incredible absurd moments that are talked about long after.

6. Mage Knight:

I just bought an expansion for this game despite almost never getting to play the base game.  This is how much I like Mage Knight.  It is a many hour slog, even with two, but oh what a fun slog is. Anyone want to play?

7. Twilight Struggle:

The game that fixed war games for me, despite not being a war game.  Fighting a war by proxy throughout all the regions of the world is just fascinating.

8. Macao:

My favorite Feld with lots of dice rolls, four billion cubes, and incredibly satisfying super turns.

9. Castles of Mad King Ludwig:/ 10. Suburbia:

Two similar games designed by Ted Alspach with different strengths.  Castles is much more streamlined and results in having a castle built, maybe even with a Cheese Room.  Suburbia tiles are individually thematic, and it is the more strategic affair.  Both great and often flip in my personal ordering.

11. Keyflower: 

Accomplishes the task of giving players lots of options without overwhelming them.  It has a unique auction/worker replacement combo that feels very different from game to game.

12. Pandemic Family:

Pandemic is a satisfying puzzle game that was my favorite co-op, but I’ve grown a little tired of it.  Lately I’m enjoying Pandemic the Cure, as the dice rolling adds some much needed unpredictably to it.  Pandemic Legacy is also a worthy experience about which I have a write-up to post.

13. Catan:

I don’t play it much any more, but it is still a great ambassador for the hobby.

14. Mombasa:/15. Russian Railroad:

Mombasa and Russian Railroads are the two games I utterly fail at explaining.  They are complex Euro games with lots going on, which don’t tend to fit into a thematic box.  They are both fantastic and filled with diverse strategic options.  There are always things to do, but if you don’t plan well, you will get crushed.

16. Strasbourg:

Strasbourg is an auction game where it is okay to not win auctions, because runner-ups gets stuff two.  However, the game is maddeningly tight, so if you plan poorly and completely lose a needed item, the effect can be devastating.  It is fast paced and exciting, if occasionally stressful.

17. Apples to Apples:

Apples to Apples gets a lot of flak from “real gamers,” but I still enjoy it.  IT is the only game where I don’t try to win.  I’d much rather get the inappropriate sarcastic remark in.  Not really strategic, but still really funny.

18. Black Friday:

My favorite Stock Market game featuring the joy and agony of price fluctuations.  Wish I got to play it on days other than the day after Thanksgiving though.

19: Brass:

Couldn't tell you what it has to do with Brass, but it is another medium-heavy themeless Euro game with an enjoyable progression.

20. Risk Legacy:

Risk Legacy is an amazing achievement; it made Risk good.  I might never play it again now that we finished the campaign, but I remember more moments from it than most other games on this list.

21. Ice Cool:

See you flick Penguins…  My favorite dexterity game, I think because the penguins’ wobbles match my own.  Just so neatly put together.

22. Mech VS Minions

The game that makes every other appear to be an overpriced piece of crap.  It is just incredible.  it is really silly and fun.

23. Endeavor:

One of my go to games for five players, who don’t mind historical use of slavery.  The game has a nice buildup, going from a short and simple first turn, to a far more involved endgame.

24. Notre Dame:

A well paced tight drafting game that is easy to teach and does any player count superbly.  

25. Hansa Teutonica:

Careful with this game, cars have been known to get totaled outside during play.  The game itself is great though.  In a twist from most game,  you really want to be attacked here, and spend a lot of time tempting opponents.  

Top Ten Disappointing Games

There are games that you expect to be bad and live up to those expectations.  Exploding Kittens is a hideous use of cardboard, but I could at least enjoy the pain of others as everyone tried desperately to lose first.  There are other games that are generally considered good, but aren't the type of games I like, such as Race for Galaxy or Power Grid.  The frustrating ones are the ones I expect to enjoy, but fall flat.  Onward to the negativity in no particular order.

Civilization

Past me, a person who was halfway into this game, was a big fan.  It had exploration, a tech tree, civ based special powers, and 4 distinct paths to victory.  Then we reached the end game, where two colluding players and a stupid rock paper scissors combat system destroyed my hard built empire.  I gave the game a 2nd try at 2 players, but it ended in an equally aggravating fashion.  The combat system is bad enough that an expansion completely replaced it, but I don't imagine I'll give this a third try.

Steam Park

A game I bought on sale due to a cool theme -- building an amusement park, and mostly positive reviews, but it failed before it was even ready to play! The pieces were such poor quality, an x-acto knife was necessary to separate them from their moorings.  Even the theme was disappointing, as it turns out you are building a theme park for Robots.  Mainly though, the game was just dull.  I cared so little about what other players were doing on their turns that I found myself wandering away from the game to see what else was going on.

Kingdom Builder

Kingdom Builder was Donald Vaccarino's attempt to be known as a Game Designer rather than The Dominion Designer.  Well it turns out I'm more of a Dominion fan than a Donald Vaccarino fan. Like many on this list, Kingdom Builder was just boring.  You get to do so little on your turn, and often it was obvious what to do.

Trajan

Trajan, at the time, was the top rated game by my favorite designer, so the odds were I was going to like this one.  Sometimes you roll snake eyes though.  The game revolved around a Mancala inspired mechanic that allowed you to play a series of mini-games. It was trivial to manipulate ones pieces in the Mancala section to take whatever action you wanted.  It didn't matter though as all the actions were uninspired, tedious, and disconnected.  For people who do not like Stephen Feld games, this must be what playing one of them feels like.  They still are mostly wrong, just not on this one.

Stone Age: Style is the New Goal

This expansion for Stone Age strives to add complexity to a simple game, but the additions undo the simple elegance of the original version.  In Stone Age,  one of the key decisions is to pick which resources to get, but the new trading mechanic makes it meaningless.  The other editions were either unbalanced or uninteresting.  I was hoping that Style would add life to a game I'd grown a little bored with, but it utterly failed on all accounts.

Catan Trails to Rails

A Catan spin-off with a cool looking map.  Sadly it missed much of what made the original great, like exponential growth and multiple paths to victory.  The game was repetitive and went on well past its welcome as each player did slight variations of the same thing.  There was a time where I wanted to own every Catan game, but I have seen a number of duds over the year, none more so than this one.

Great Snowball Battle:

I don't fund a lot of Kickstarters, but I couldn't resist one with a snowball fight theme.  The artwork and card names are cute, but it couldn't overcome terribly designed game mechanics.  Players ganged up on an unlucky participant or the game falls into an endless loop of attacking and running for cover.  I was tempted to try to redesign the game completely, as I do still love the theme, but I'm lazy, so I traded it away instead.

Haggis

Marketed as Tichu for 2-3 players, I was automatically intrigued.  It lost me quickly by giving players 3 wild cards every hand, resulting in a game that is based much more in short term tactical advantage and repetition than its predecessor.

Nations Dice Game

Nations is a neat game.  Nations the Dice Game takes nothing from the original beyond the name and symbolism.  Most purchases are similar and way too often you have dice that you can do nothing with.

Labyrinth The War on Terror

From a designer of Twilight Struggle, it is the first attempt to game-ify modern conflicts.   Sadly, it fails to capture what makes Twilight Struggle great.  While TS had two opponents battling back and forth, in Labyrinth the two sides feel disconnected.  More problematically,  while TS has lots of die rolls that allow luck to balance out, Labyrinth has a few crucially important ones.  Either the bomb goes off and you win or it fails and you don't, which is way too big a swing for one roll.

Dishonorable mention

Founding Fathers: Squarely in the cool theme, poor execution category.

Troyes: I didn't think I could dislike a dice game quite this much.

VS System: I enjoyed the CCG,  so was hopeful for a streamlined version, but it streamlined away the good parts.

Bananagrams: I am a big fan of both word games and bananas, so I had high hopes for this one.  I like making cool words though, and Bananagrams doesn't care as long as you do it fast.

Quarriers:  Dominion with dice.  The randomness of dice rolling added to the randomness of picking dice from a bag, made planning utterly pointless.