There's a lot of good in games. I've played (and reviewed) over 100 games on this blog (see the main games page), and it remains a life goal to design one. That said, choosing my top ten was exceedingly difficult, perhaps because it's possible to 'solve' those you play too frequently.
Solving a game means that players may find a strategy that's more likely to work than others, and default to that. This creates "strategic collapse:" one or two options are clearly superior. Since good games need meaningful choices, obviously better strategies reduce the experience: the choice is no longer meaningful. It becomes a race to see who can execute the known strategy first. Characteristics of Games does a good job explaining this.
In today's saturated games market, it's easy to play a game only a few times and not explore it enough to detect such a flaw (if one exists). But the more you play, the more you might notice. And games get boring fast once they're solved. Many board game fans play each game surprisingly few times, in part for this reason.
Enough about this; on to the list.
Produced: 1993-present
Magic defined a genre and launched the collectible card game craze of the mid-90s. Impressive that it's still going strong almost 30 years later. I play Magic more than any other game; it gets around the 'solved' problem by consistently releasing new sets of cards that change the options. I like this game so much I recently started another blog dedicated to it.
Produced: 2003-2010
I have many good memories playing Star Wars Miniatures with friends over the years, during its run and since. Another collectible game, this one focused on building squads of Star Wars characters and sending them against your opponent(s) in battles to the death. Several maps (each showcasing a different world familiar to the Star Wars universe) varied the experience, as did the squad customization. I even participated in two Star Wars Miniatures German Championship tournaments. (I did really poorly in both.)
The objective of Clank! is straightforward: get into the dungeon, get a lot of treasure, and get out before the dragon kills you. It's also a deck-building game, which means you buy cards on your turns to be shuffled into your deck and used in future rounds. The cards help you navigate the dungeon in different ways, so buy wisely. Clank! is a lot of fun and has released several expansions/variants over the years after its initial release in 2016.
Isle of Skye is a tile-laying game with elements similar to Carcassonne (see 9 below). But rather than a blind draw, Isle of Skye has an interesting bidding mechanic that helps you get the tiles you want (or price them away from your competition), and you're each constructing separate maps (rather than contributing to one big one). This 2015 release is a lot of fun and worth a look.
Four strains of viruses are taking over the world, and it's up to you and your team to stop them. This is a cooperative game, meaning you're all on the same team fighting the game itself. That in itself is a lot of fun. But the other thing I enjoy is its system- each turn, you get 4 actions (you can move, cure viruses, or do other things based on the character you have). This "action point allowance" system is (to me) a great mechanic and enables meaningful decisions every single turn. And the viruses spreading each turn is a naturally suspenseful concept that keeps everyone engaged and on their toes. Since this initial offering in 2008, many variants to this system have been released, looking at different themes (like science fiction and history), all with variations on the same core mechanics. Check this series out, unless the theme hits too close to home at the moment.
This 2017 "real-time" (nobody has turns, everyone goes at once) cooperative experience lasts only five minutes and is frenetic fun for kids and adults alike. The goal is to get through a 'dungeon' (a stack of 'boss' and 'minion' cards) in five minutes or less. You do this by playing card(s) from your hands with symbols matching the type and number on a given enemy card. Once met, the enemy is discarded, allowing you to face the next. As soon as you play a card, draw a card. It's fast and fun.
In concept, it's very simple. Draw a card (from the discard pile or draw deck), discard a card. When there are 10 cards in the discard pile, the game is over. Then, points are tallied: each card gives more bonuses (or penalties) for the other cards in your hand. This 2017 offering is simple but offers depth.
Toss-up here between this 2013 party game and King of Tokyo. Both are fast-moving "take that" games that are really fun.
Released in 2000, this is one of the trailblazing games that helped make tabletop gaming 'mainstream.' Carcassonne is a tile-laying game: draw a tile, add it to the common map, place your meeples, and score points based on certain features as they're completed. A nice concept, done well.
I was torn between this 2015 game and Tournament at Camelot. Both are card-based games with twists, and both are excellent. In Dragonwood, your goal is to defeat monsters by attacking them with combinations of cards and dice rolls. It's a simple concept done well, and my kids love it. I do, too.
Produced: 1995-2001
This card game needs to be mentioned because it changed my life, for better or worse. I had a starter deck when it came out, but didn't do much with it. Fast forward to college. The year was 2002, and the game had just announced its end. Sellers were scrambling to sell off their stock, and I saw booster boxes for as little as $10-$20 (they had been $70+ retail). I scooped them up, resulting in the largest package I've ever received (I still remember my mom's disapproving look when it arrived). I amassed a huge collection, and randomly met someone at Penn State who played. We would end up playing every Sunday afternoon, and it was awesome.
Like Magic, Star Wars CCG is a customizable game where you build a deck of cards and duke it out against your opponent. (It's one of the few games that gave Magic a run for its money in the mid-90s.) Unlike Magic, this game really isn't that great- it had several significant flaws that make it clear (in hindsight) that its days were numbered. I still maintain a small collection, but have sold most of my lot- thankfully, for amazing prices, as there's still a healthy (if small) fan base that has driven demand way up.
Flaws aside, it had enough good qualities about it to find a special place in my heart, and for that, it deserves inclusion. Fun fact: the company that produced it, Decipher, was making cards before the prequel movies and much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe had been released. As a result, the company was given the freedom to create some characters (or name the obscure ones in the movies). Their decisions would become 'canon' until Disney scrapped the EU.
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Happy gaming, everyone.
Solving a game means that players may find a strategy that's more likely to work than others, and default to that. This creates "strategic collapse:" one or two options are clearly superior. Since good games need meaningful choices, obviously better strategies reduce the experience: the choice is no longer meaningful. It becomes a race to see who can execute the known strategy first. Characteristics of Games does a good job explaining this.
In today's saturated games market, it's easy to play a game only a few times and not explore it enough to detect such a flaw (if one exists). But the more you play, the more you might notice. And games get boring fast once they're solved. Many board game fans play each game surprisingly few times, in part for this reason.
Enough about this; on to the list.
1. Magic: the Gathering
Produced: 1993-present
Magic defined a genre and launched the collectible card game craze of the mid-90s. Impressive that it's still going strong almost 30 years later. I play Magic more than any other game; it gets around the 'solved' problem by consistently releasing new sets of cards that change the options. I like this game so much I recently started another blog dedicated to it.
2. Star Wars Miniatures
Produced: 2003-2010
I have many good memories playing Star Wars Miniatures with friends over the years, during its run and since. Another collectible game, this one focused on building squads of Star Wars characters and sending them against your opponent(s) in battles to the death. Several maps (each showcasing a different world familiar to the Star Wars universe) varied the experience, as did the squad customization. I even participated in two Star Wars Miniatures German Championship tournaments. (I did really poorly in both.)
3. Clank!
The objective of Clank! is straightforward: get into the dungeon, get a lot of treasure, and get out before the dragon kills you. It's also a deck-building game, which means you buy cards on your turns to be shuffled into your deck and used in future rounds. The cards help you navigate the dungeon in different ways, so buy wisely. Clank! is a lot of fun and has released several expansions/variants over the years after its initial release in 2016.
4. Isle of Skye
Isle of Skye is a tile-laying game with elements similar to Carcassonne (see 9 below). But rather than a blind draw, Isle of Skye has an interesting bidding mechanic that helps you get the tiles you want (or price them away from your competition), and you're each constructing separate maps (rather than contributing to one big one). This 2015 release is a lot of fun and worth a look.
5. Pandemic (and variants)
Four strains of viruses are taking over the world, and it's up to you and your team to stop them. This is a cooperative game, meaning you're all on the same team fighting the game itself. That in itself is a lot of fun. But the other thing I enjoy is its system- each turn, you get 4 actions (you can move, cure viruses, or do other things based on the character you have). This "action point allowance" system is (to me) a great mechanic and enables meaningful decisions every single turn. And the viruses spreading each turn is a naturally suspenseful concept that keeps everyone engaged and on their toes. Since this initial offering in 2008, many variants to this system have been released, looking at different themes (like science fiction and history), all with variations on the same core mechanics. Check this series out, unless the theme hits too close to home at the moment.
6. 5-Minute Dungeon
This 2017 "real-time" (nobody has turns, everyone goes at once) cooperative experience lasts only five minutes and is frenetic fun for kids and adults alike. The goal is to get through a 'dungeon' (a stack of 'boss' and 'minion' cards) in five minutes or less. You do this by playing card(s) from your hands with symbols matching the type and number on a given enemy card. Once met, the enemy is discarded, allowing you to face the next. As soon as you play a card, draw a card. It's fast and fun.
7. Fantasy Realms
In concept, it's very simple. Draw a card (from the discard pile or draw deck), discard a card. When there are 10 cards in the discard pile, the game is over. Then, points are tallied: each card gives more bonuses (or penalties) for the other cards in your hand. This 2017 offering is simple but offers depth.
8. Bang! The Dice Game
Toss-up here between this 2013 party game and King of Tokyo. Both are fast-moving "take that" games that are really fun.
9. Carcassonne
Released in 2000, this is one of the trailblazing games that helped make tabletop gaming 'mainstream.' Carcassonne is a tile-laying game: draw a tile, add it to the common map, place your meeples, and score points based on certain features as they're completed. A nice concept, done well.
10. Dragonwood
I was torn between this 2015 game and Tournament at Camelot. Both are card-based games with twists, and both are excellent. In Dragonwood, your goal is to defeat monsters by attacking them with combinations of cards and dice rolls. It's a simple concept done well, and my kids love it. I do, too.
Honorable Mention: Star Wars CCG
Produced: 1995-2001
This card game needs to be mentioned because it changed my life, for better or worse. I had a starter deck when it came out, but didn't do much with it. Fast forward to college. The year was 2002, and the game had just announced its end. Sellers were scrambling to sell off their stock, and I saw booster boxes for as little as $10-$20 (they had been $70+ retail). I scooped them up, resulting in the largest package I've ever received (I still remember my mom's disapproving look when it arrived). I amassed a huge collection, and randomly met someone at Penn State who played. We would end up playing every Sunday afternoon, and it was awesome.
Like Magic, Star Wars CCG is a customizable game where you build a deck of cards and duke it out against your opponent. (It's one of the few games that gave Magic a run for its money in the mid-90s.) Unlike Magic, this game really isn't that great- it had several significant flaws that make it clear (in hindsight) that its days were numbered. I still maintain a small collection, but have sold most of my lot- thankfully, for amazing prices, as there's still a healthy (if small) fan base that has driven demand way up.
Flaws aside, it had enough good qualities about it to find a special place in my heart, and for that, it deserves inclusion. Fun fact: the company that produced it, Decipher, was making cards before the prequel movies and much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe had been released. As a result, the company was given the freedom to create some characters (or name the obscure ones in the movies). Their decisions would become 'canon' until Disney scrapped the EU.
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Happy gaming, everyone.
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