This is a weird list for me. Generally I know if I like or I don’t like a board game pretty quickly. But every once in a while there is a board game that I come back to and play again and it works for me. So what am I doing? Well, for this list, I’m looking at games that I rate 5 or lower and that I maybe should give another try. Because, maybe I missed something on them or it feels like I should like them. What are the 10 board games that deserve a second shot?

Top 10 Board Games that Deserve a Second Shot

10. Bottom of the 9th

Bottom of the 9th is one of a few board games on the list that are Gen Con games. So what does that mean, it means that I got to demo those board games at Gen Con. And that is not always the best spot to do it. This one is lucky feeling. And I think that is going to be one of the common reasons why it is lower.

But I didn’t play a full game at Gen Con. So is there more fun interaction, I suspect there could be. Even if not in the game, Bottom of the 9th is probably a decently fun time with the right person that you are facing off against. It can become a game of just trying to get into that players head. And that, I think, could make the game more fun.

9. Lucidity: Six-Sided Nightmares

This one I think just didn’t work for me because it’s maybe not best at two players. And it isn’t going to be the only one of the board games on the list like that. But this is a push your luck dice game as you try and traverse nightmares. And you might even get turned into a monster.

That is something that I love the sound of. However, like I said, this is a push your luck dice game where generally bad things just happen. And you find that any control you have is very limited. For me that is the biggest letdown in the game. But I do think with more than two players, it is going to balance a bit more. One player still might run away with it, but it won’t feel as lopsided.

8. A Fake Artist Goes to New York

This one I already feel like I should rank higher. And for that reason it is lower on the list. To me, this is a pretty enjoyable hidden role game. However, I don’t love hidden role board games, unless there is more to go on than just social deduction. And A Fake Artist Goes to New York does give you a bit more of that.

Plus this is a fast game and easy to play. It is way less set-up than other hidden role games. It’s just drawing a picture and adding to it each time, but there is one person who doesn’t know what is being drawn. If you figure out who they are, the players who know what the image is get points. If not, the fake artist gets points. And it’s relatively easy to figure out who it is, but if that person can guess what the drawing is, well, they get points that way too.

7. Arkham Horror: Final Hour

This one I suspect is not a great game. But again, it is one of those Gen Con demo board games on the list. And we got to see how some of it works, but not spend enough time with the game. That’s the downside of a game that kind of fizzles immediately, it isn’t back at Gen Con.

In this game you want to interrupt a ritual. And to do that you need to figure out what the ritual is all while dealing with cultists. The game, I think, has a bit of mastermind feel to it, or simple deduction maybe (it’s been a while) where you figure out symbols that are part of the ritual or not. And then you need to correctly guess all of them. But at the same time you need to avoid being overrun by cultists which adds to the game. I like Lovecraftian games though, generally, so I want to try this one again.

6. Sword Art Online Board Game: Sword of Fellows

I only played this game a couple of times solo. And it is one that is actually still in my collection. It never left because I like the IP so much and it’s pretty unlikely we’ll get a ton more games in this IP. Though, Japanime Games did just crowdfund a new skirmish Sword Art Online game. I am interested to see that one, and probably pick it up, at some point in time.

But this one is a die rolling game. And I think that there are some interesting elements to it. Mainly, you face off against three bosses in the game, one after the other. As you go you level up your character and unlock new abilities. That is pretty simple and normal, but it brings in from the anime the “switch” mechanism. If you get a perfect hit, aka use up all your dice, you switch with the next person. And that person just jumps straight into their attack. The bad guy doesn’t get to deal damage to you. That is a fun thematic twist from an otherwise Yahtzee style game.

5. Fallout

Now, I own Fallout Shelter, and that’s not the one I’m talking about. Though, I need to play Fallout Shelter still. But I’ve only heard generally good things about that one. This one I’m talking about is the big Fallout board game where you are exploring the world, seeing story, maybe allying yourself with factions, and upgrading.

The issue I saw with this game is that it could get out of balance pretty quickly and there is just too much luck when it comes to pushing the end game. I went for one way of scoring, based off of my character, and things just didn’t line-up for that. What I’ve heard is that the expansion improves the game. I’m not sure it is going to be one of those board games on this list where I start to love it if I play it again, but I’d be interested to try again with the expansion.

4. Celestia

Celestia is another convention board game. Though this one isn’t a Gen Con game. I learned and played this one at AcadeCon which is mainly an RPG convention. My wife and I had downtime between games and we decided to give it a try.

This is one of the games on the list where I know that I played it wrong. I think we rolled too many dice at the lower levels. So we never really progressed up as we went. And Celestia being a push your luck game, I think two players is probably not the right number. In fact on Board Game Geek, they recommend 3-6 players and really say it’s best at 5-6 players. So I want to try it again at a game night and see if it’s better. This is one that I might pick-up to see if it works for me.

3. Smash Up

I did enjoy this game. But it is a game that fell off some for me. I think that I should try it again. Because, I suspect that I’d still find enjoyment in the game. Or maybe more enjoyment now that I haven’t played the game in a while.

Smash Up is one of those board games with a great concept. You take two factions, you mix them together and then you battle for area control. But, I think that the game works at three. Mainly because three factions can battle over the locations. And then the number of locations as well. The game just feels too lopsided at times with two. One player might just get their combo or dinosaurs and bears to work perfectly while the other players wizard robots never get going. But at four, it’s a bit too much randomness.

2. SeaFall

This one might be shocking on the list. But I think with the right group of three players, none of whom have analysis paralysis tendencies at all, the game could be fun. I thought that there were some good ideas in SeaFall, and some fairly easy things to fix that could have made the game better.

But the biggest thing is that the game at five players is just way to long. Especially when I played it, there were a couple of people who loved to think heavily through their turns. So even though they had four turns before theirs, their turns would be as long as the three players who didn’t have analysis paralysis. So I think the game could be fun with three for me. Though, even I’ll admit, it is going to need to be the right three.

Side note, I’d love to see a second edition of this come out. And in the second edition the story be fixed, and game length, so that the story, being redone is more of a narrative progression. I think faster game length (so fewer points to win), progressing story, and balancing winning and losing combats would by relatively easy fixes to the game.

1. Nidavellir

The final game on the list is a bit of a cheat. But I came to realize as I played Nidavellir on BGA (Board Game Arena) for the first time in a couple of years why it maybe didn’t work for me. I think that there are some strategies in two players that makes Nidavellir not that fun. But at three players or more, I think it works well.

Nidavellir is a blind bidding game where you recruit dwarves into your group. Each type of dwarf is going to score a different way. Generally the more you have the more you score. But some of them the numbers on them matter as well. You also gain bonus dwarves as you fill in complete sets of dwarves. And these bonus ones often give you some really nice extra scoring or abilities. But one of the abilities is kind of broken in two players if you get it. So that just makes the game less fun.

It’s like I’ve said with some other board games. At two players it is prone to a run away leader issue. But at more players there is more of a balancing act that needs to be done. And I don’t find that with more than three, which sometimes can become too random, Nidavellir becomes too random. I think it still works well.

Final Thoughts

What are some games that you ranked poorly in the past that you think you should revisit. Now, know that my list is not all the games that I’ve ranked that low. And I think that there are some that I rank low that people would be shocked about. For example, I really dislike Concept and Dominion. Neither of them made the list for me to revisit them.

Let me know which ones would make your Top 5 or even just a couple you think you should revisit?

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