Let’s do a bit of a kickoff of the year sort of things. I’ve already talked about the board games that I want to buy, that I’m exicted for coming from crowdfunding, and games I’m excited for that’ll be on Kickstarter and Gamefound. This list is going to be different. These are going to be 10 games that I own already, but for whatever reason, haven’t been played yet.

And let’s not forget that is one of my goals. I think I own 130 or so games that I haven’t played yet. That is more than I like. Now, some of them are campaign games, they are trickier to get to the table. But by the end of 2022, my resolution, which you can find here, was to be down to 100 games I own and haven’t played. I’d love for it to be even lower than that, but 100 is the target. But let’s get to the list.

10 Games I Want To Play

10. Catapult Feud

I know, I keep on talking about this game. But I really am excited to play it. Like I said, I am even thinking about just building a castle and shooting stuff at it. And this one, even though it’s a two player game, is going to get set-up at game night and we can play as teams.

I don’t know that I need to talk about this one much. It is just building a castle and knocking it down. I can imagine setting it up and playing it multiple times during the evening. Or just having fun building a massive castle (though I can’t get too massive yet) and then knocking that down.

9. Res Arcana

This is one that’s been on my shelf for a little bit. I think I haven’t played it because the rules make it seem a bit challenging to learn. It might be a game where I need to set it up and play a hand to figure out what is going on. But it is an engine building game and a race to 10 points, I believe, So the idea is interesting to me. I like a good, fast, engine building game.

8. The Crew: Deep Sea Adventures

Another game that I really should have played. I actually just gave away the first version of the game as a Christmas gift because I really don’t need two of them. But The Crew is a cooperative trick taking game. That is an interesting concept in and of itself. And for me, trick taking is a genre that I like, but not one that I have a lot of.

How it works is that there are challenges put forth. It might be something like, I can’t take a trick that has a 1 in it. You need to get get the red three, and so on. Then, with limited communication, we have to make it work so th at we can get all of the cards to the right people. It’s a bit like The Mind, but with more of a game to it.

7. Mechs vs Minions

Now we get into a bigger game, Mechs vs Minions has been on my kind of grail game list. By that I mean a game that is harder to find but you really want to find it. Well, I got it with Mechs vs Minions. It might not be the top game on that list, that is still Battlestar Galactica, but it is on there.

This is a cooperative game where you program out what your robots do. You are mainly trying to kill waves upon waves of minions. But beyond that, each scenario has objectives as well. I think in the end you fight a giant boss, but I really don’t know. This is just a massive game that looks fun, and it isn’t a campaign game.

6. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Another game that I probably should have played sooner is Lost Ruins of Arnak. Now I am even debating about waiting until I can get an expansion for it. The expansion makes it so that you start out differently than any other person. You have a special power and I believe special cards in this deck building worker placement game. All of that sounds amazing to me, hence maybe waiting.

But like I said, this is a deck building worker placement game where you have a theme of exploring the lost ruins of Arnak. You improve your deck, gain resources, and fight guardians along the way. But like most Euro style games, this is all about getting as many points as you can by the end of the game. The theme looks to be there, and the aesthetic on the game is amazing.

5. Dwellings of Eldervale

Speaking of another amazing looking game, we have Dwellings of Eldervale. This is another worker placement game that is dripping with theme. You are exploring the lands, building out dwellings, and everything just gives you this big world that you are in. Plus, you are grabbing spells, unlocking new meeples, and getting cards that give you improved powers.

It looks really interesting. I don’t always love worker placement, but worker placement with giant monsters you can fight, I’m there for that. Plus then the engine building aspect interests me a lot. I enjoy engine building as mechanic. I like trying to make something work so I can be more efficient than you can be.

4. Under Falling Skies

This is a solo only game, well, maybe two player but really a solo game. It reminds me of the old video game Space Invaders. In that you try and blast alien ships out of the sky. Here you are doing that too, but you are doing it with dice placement. And the better a die you use, the faster the aliens are going to advance upon you. It’s really a question of when you can time out that perfect hit.

And there is a campaign in this game as well. It’s one that I might play on the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel because it’d be decent to stream. And it is a shorter campaign. That means that I can get through it quickly. Of course, though, I’m streaming Sleeping Gods first, starting tonight.

3. Destinies

Another game that I’d consider streaming is Destinies from Lucky Duck Games. This is an app assisted game where you are trying to fulfill your destiny. Originally called Time of Legends: Destinies, this game has similar minis to those in Time of Legends: Joan of Arc, it was just a legal dispute that messed up that naming.

This looks like a really thematic story driven game. You are trying to get your own destiny taken care of before the other players do. So that is a cool thing as well. Most story driven games like Destinies are going to be cooperative. But in Destinies you are trying to beat your opponent to getting your destiny first.

2. Deep Madness

Another one that I’ve considered streaming. Now, thinking about it, I think this might be one that I just get to the table solo for fun. It is kind of campaign game, but more so it’s a scenario driven game. And it is a horror themed game, which I really like. Honestly, every time I think about it I want to watch The Sphere which it reminds me of, I don’t know why I haven’t.

But to me, this game has a lot of cool things about it. You are fighting monsters. Each scenario has more of an objective to it then that as well. You might need to kill the monsters, but killing all the monsters won’t be your end objective. That is one knock I have on Gloomhaven, too many of the scenarios are just “kill all the monsters”. I like it when games can ratchet up the tension by having it be more than just fighting waves of monsters.

1. Terraforming Mars

Finally we have Terraforming Mars. And now, I could have put other games on the list for sure. I wanted to do a variety of games. And every time that I see Terraforming Mars, I want to try it out. This is a massive, and pretty ugly looking, engine building game. You are Terraforming Mars and trying to do the best job at it.

The reason, also, this one is at my top spot is because I really like Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition. I know it is the more streamlined simpler card version. But I want to see what the big brother is like of it. And I suspect that I’m going to like it a lot as well. It just seems cool with what it is and how it’ll work. And I can see myself going down a dangerous rabbit hole if I like it and getting the giant box that makes the game look better.

Which of the Games To Play First?

That’s the question as always, and let’s face it, this list, I tried to change it up some. I could have done a big box list and a smaller box list. I have games like Nemesis, Solomon Kane, Middara, Roll Player Adventures, and Heroes of Land, Air, & Sea that I want to play. I also hae small games like Blank, Matcha, 6 Nimmt, and No Tanks I want to play. So it’s not like I’m at a shortage of games. I can see some like Catapult Feud, or Res Arcana getting to the table potentially faster,. Or in the case of Catapult Feud, to the floor.

And of course, something like Under Falling Skies, Destinies, Deep Madness, or Dwellings of Eldervale could get played sooner. Why, because I can play them solo. So that makes them easier to get to the table as well. I think that I might try and learn Under Falling Skies soon here, have it be a game that I can play while putting on a football game in the background.

Which one would you want to get to the table first?

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