It’s time for another list, this time it’s going through 15 different deck building games that I have played. Now, this doesn’t include deck construction games. I’ll talk about that in a second. But for as much as I like deck building, I’ve only played fourteen games, and some of them, you’ll see when they show up on the list, the deck building isn’t a huge part of it.

Deck Building vs Deck Construction

So let’s talk about this really quickly because one game that isn’t on this list is Gloomhaven. Though, you do add cards to your deck throughout the whole of the Gloomhaven campaign. And there is another one on the list, no spoilers, where you do the same thing. But it’s done in a different way.

Deck Building allows you to add cards to your deck when you can purchase them. And while you might be able to do things to manipulate how many cards you have in your deck, those rules aren’t as in place. In some of them you might need a lot of cards in your deck.

Deck Construction, on the other hand, allows you to focus your deck. You decide what you want to put into your deck and keep in your deck. Often times there are rules as to how you can even construct your deck. Gloomhaven only allows you to have a set number of cards. Or Magic: The Gathering, in standard, you can have a 60 card deck, no more, no less.

The Rankings

14. Dominion

I know that Dominion would top a lot of people’s lists. But for me, Dominion is not that interesting a game. The mechanics are perfectly fine, but it’s just deck building for the sake of deck building. It is just the mechanic for the sake of the mechanic. And it doesn’t look good on the table. Plus, Dominion misses on one big thing for me. A person who can look at all the cards and figure out the best strategy before the game starts will win. I like a bit more randomness in my deck building so it’s more on the fly decisions versus from the very start.

13. DC Comics Deck-Building Game

This one I haven’t played in so long. I remember it being perfectly fine but nothing really stood out to me. Add in the fact that DC Comics don’t interest me that much, mainly because there are too many comics overall to keep up on, and it is low for me. I would play this one again, but it is mainly a forgettable experience.

12. God or War: The Card Game

Another one that falls into this category, God of War was just a dud when I played it at GenCon. The game play seemed too easy and the decision making space was so limited. I get that it was a demo scenario, and maybe the game is more challenging, but I like a cooperative game challenging. This I felt like I’d win 75% or more of the time, and that doesn’t interest me. Plus, how you got the cards was just okay. You divided them amongst the group, and did it cooperative, but the choices were limited. It barely, if at all, qualifies as a deck building game.

11. Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game

Now to a theme that I love, but one that is really low on the list. Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game should work for me, but it misses on three things. Firstly, the game set-up is way too long. Some of that is too much stuff for the game. The other part is just it’s too complex with it’s set-up. Then the game takes too long. You take forever to start being able to hit the boss. Finally, the theme is missing for me. I want it to feel like a super hero team-up. But when you have cards of five heroes, and I have cards of those five heroes as well, it doesn’t feel like that.

10. Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game

Another Legendary game from Upper Deck, and this one I like a bit better. Mainly because the balance feels better. The scenarios, different episodes, are fun to play through. And while it does have the same thing as Marvel version where we are all playing all the characters, it just works smoother. I think having less stuff makes it play faster and be faster to get to the table.

9. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

This is one that I’m bummed I never got to play through the whole game. I could have kept Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle in my collection. And it might come back to my collection later. But it wasn’t getting played, and in terms of campaign games, I felt like it wasn’t going to be one that I came back to any time soon. The game is fun in that you unlock things as you go along. So not a legacy game, but a resettable campaign which is cool. And it took you through the books.

8. Cry Havoc

Another one that left my collection, and this one it is because I have Root. Cry Havoc and Root do different things, but I’d prefer to teach and play Root if I’m going to play an asymmetric game. Combat is really cool where you put your troops on a track to determine how it goes and then manipulate it with cards. And the deck building is interesting as you use them in combat, for powers, or to do basic actions. So card uses were really cool in the game.

7. Clank!: A Deck-Building Game

Now we start to get into the heavy hitters and games still in my collection. Clank! A Deck-Building Game is a wonderful time. It is a nice light deck builder, but one that isn’t only deck building. You build up your deck as you adventure down into a dungeon. All the time you are trying to do it as quietly as you can so the dragon doesn’t find you. But some of the better cards make you go clank. It’s a great push your luck game with a nice theme.

6. Ascension: Deckbuilding Game

Ascension goes back to being a pure deck building game. But I like this one so much better than Dominion. Firstly, there isn’t a fixed market. That means that I need to think about and adjust my strategy on the fly. And there is fighting monsters. Yes, everything can give you points. But in Dominion, everyone works towards the same points, here, someone can focus on getting cards for points or for combat, or do both.

5. Aeon’s End: Legacy

This is almost cheating, because it maybe should be combined with an entry coming up. But I do think that Aeon’s End Legacy and Aeon’s End are two different games. At least until the legacy experience is done. I really enjoyed my time with Aeon’s End: Legacy, and I do think it’s a great game. If you want to learn Aeon’s End, I would recommend you play this before you dive into the base game. But once you are done and you play against other nemesis, the game will seem easy.

4. Clank! In! Space!: A Deck-Building Game

Another Clank! game on the list. I prefer Clank! In! Space!, because it is even goofier than regular Clank!. And I do think that I like the space theme better. Plus, the game play is better for me. It adds in two changes. Firstly, how the game ends, there is no longer a timer, it is just until the players all get out, or Lord Eradikus takes them down. In Clank! it is a set number of rounds. And I like that you need to unlock the treasure room. It means there is more than just rush in grab treasure and rush out.

3. Aeon’s End

Later this year when I do my Top 100 Games (of All Time) 2022 Edition, I might combine this with Legacy. But I do think that the base game, or any of the expansions are better. Aeon’s End is a great cooperative deck building game. I like that you don’t shuffle, if you are good, it adds to the challenge. I also like how different the breach mages are and how different the nemesis are. It gives the game a lot of good challenges. Plus there is so much content to dig into.

2. Xenoshyft: Onslaught

I’m trying to remember, I’m not sure I’ve ever beat Xenoshyft: Onslaught. I think maybe one time. But I have come close a lot of times. This is another cooperative game, and you defend a base from waves after waves of bugs. Yes, this might sound like Starship Troopers the board game. I would say it is, but maybe slightly more serious. I love the challenge, and I like how each different area you can play has different powers and abilities.

What pushes this game ahead of Aeon’s End for me is how you can help others. I might draw a hand where I hold three weapons. But I only need two. I can give you that card to equip to one of your guys. Your line of defense getting weak, I can drop a paratrooper in. I’m getting some tough monsters, you can throw a grenade. It is highly cooperative and I love it for that.

1. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Finally, this is the one I was talking about when I was talking about deck building versus deck construction. And in all fairness, I don’t play this for deck building. I play Tainted Grail for the story. But you do deck building, spending XP to get random card draw and then picking between them to add to your deck. And while you can remove cards from your deck whenever, there aren’t a lot of limits on how many you can have, just how few you can have. It’s a small part of the game, but making a great combat deck can be a challenge.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of deck building games that I still want to play. In particular, I want to play Clank! Legacy because I love the theme for that one. And I know there are more deck building games out there to try. It is a mechanic that I really love, like roll and writes, so I don’t think I will ever complain about finding new favorites to work into the rotation. I’ll probably do deck construction games here soon, because I do like them as well, though I own and have played fewer.

What are your favorite deck building games? If you’ve played Tainted Grail, would you consider it one? Let me know in the comments below.

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