Some games are good but not great. Then after a while a second edition, an improved edition of the games come out and they are better. But not all games get this treatment because maybe it is just a big enough miss that one one wants to. So what are some games that I thought, generally were good but could have been great. Let’s see which ones I’d like to see be even better.

Top 5 Games I Want A New Edition Of

5. Sword and Sorcery

When playing through the first box, I liked elements of this game. I thought that the puzzle of what you were doing on the board is interesting. But the more I played, the more repetitive it got. And the more the game was just a move, battle, battle, move. Your actions were almost always set in a predictable way.

Sword and Sorcery is one of those games that could improve in two ways. First, get a more varied scenario. There is always probably going to be an element of beat the bad guys. But make that element more interesting and dynamic in the game system. And make it so I don’t feel like I’m just doing the same thing over and over again.

The other one is the story. While some games feel like they live in a unique world, Sword and Sorcery does not. If the writing were to improve that would help the game a lot. The basis of the game, heroes being reborn to save a new age, that is interesting. But the rest of it just felt generic which is disappointing. It has a cool premise and pays off none of it.

4. Boss Monster

This one is tricky. There is a new campaign that added more to the game so maybe that already exists. But when I watch the videos with that crowdfunding campaign it seems more of the same, for me. Boss Monster is a game that I want to like in theory, but in actual execution is just lacking.

You build up a dungeon that heroes are going to go through and you want to attract them. If you attract them, you want your dungeon to be able to kill them. So it’s building the most efficient dungeon murdering path that you can. The issue is that not that much is going on in the game. Most of what I do isn’t that unique or different. You just put down cards with symbols for heroes and damage.

This one it’s harder to know how I want to improve it. I think that Brotherwise Games is on a better track with Overboss and Dungeon Karts where they are games set in the same setting but completely different. For Boss Monster, though, I want something that feels more creative in what I do. Because, a lot of the time it feels like I’m just locked into one thing.

3. Castle Panic/Xenoshyft

I got no major complaints on this one, really. A second edition would just be fun to have for Castle Panic. The game play is appropriately simple and I like that. But, maybe that is one area that I’d want to see more in it. But Castle Panic is a family game for families with younger kids, so I don’t want to ruin that.

Instead, what I think I want is just a new tower defense game. I want something that uses elements of what Castle Panic does but makes you be even more clever. And thinking about it, it might be that I want a new version of Xenoshyft instead. I love that game so much, and it’s a more complex tower defense game.

But give me somethings that combines the two. Less deck building, but more combos and big card play moments to keep waves of monsters from reaching the base. I think just adding in a little bit to what Castle Panic does would be a fun time. And something that could be supported with more. But the more I think about this, I think of other games that maybe cover it for me as well.

2. Dead of Winter

This one seems like a no brainer. And Plaid Hat has been doing some games with this Crossroads system. Whether or not they have the rights to do another Dead of Winter or that is still with Asmodee, I’m not sure. But I’d love to see a new edition of this game.

Firstly, get rid of the hidden traitor. The traitor can just tank the game too easily at any point. And it makes it tricky to teach the game. It’s no fun when the traitor is the person who knows the game. Or as a player who doesn’t know anything about it, and now you’re trying to be the traitor. Just make the game harder, if you need to, to win a scenario. There are plenty of games that are challenging without a traitor.

Next up streamline the game some and maybe provide some campaign like elements to the game. Or at least make it make sense in a way to chain standalone scenarios. That would be awesome, I think that Dead of Winter actually could be an amazing setting for a legacy game. But to do that, you need story outside of the game generating it’s own. And you need the sessions to be a little bit shorter. For a game with a fragile balance, Dead of Winter takes too long.

But please give me a new version of this game. Or something with a similar feel even if it can’t be zombies. But zombies really do work well, and to have a new game come out with the zombie theme, zombies were hot but they aren’t that hot anymore.

1. Charterstone

I know that this is unlikely to ever give me what I want. But Charterstone is a fun game, just not one that I really loved. Mainly because it’s a legacy game where the legacy elements are just okay. I think with what companies like Open Owl Studios are doing now, Charterstone shouldn’t be a legacy game anymore.

You make Charterstone a campaign game. And the legacy elements of unlocking new things, that can still happen. But now it’s about what you add to your board and is saved between each session. It’s not about a permanent sticker, it can be done with cardboard pieces. And you get a campaign sheet to mark instead of a box. But there isn’t a reason that it couldn’t work that way.

Then clean up a few of the unlocks and surprises which weren’t that surprising or interesting in the twists. They wouldn’t work for a non-legacy version, but they aren’t needed. And add in a bit more story. Honestly, get Open Owl Studios to do the production and Ryan Laukat to add to the story of the game and world and keep the Stonemaier core design, it could be amazing instead of just okay.

Final Thoughts

Each of these games are just on that cusp of being a great game for me. The furthest away from that is Castle Panic which mainly I say because I already like the game a lot. And I don’t want to remove the family nature of what game. So it’s really a new cool tower defense game that I’m looking for there. And that might be a list that I do. Take a mechanism or core idea and talk about what I’d want to see in a game like that.

But what are some games or a game that you’d like to see get a new and improved edition?

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