Top 15 Campaign Games I Still Need to Play

15. Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West

I know that I’m going to like this game. So why is Ticket to Ride Legacy lower on the list? Some of it is because it is a legacy game. The two “legacy” games that I have on the list are the bottom two. But also because while I like Ticket to Ride a lot, it’s not a game that I play all that often. I think that the legacy version will likely breath new life into the game for me. But it’s more of a comfort food pick than a really exciting new bite to try. And for that reason it’s lower on the list.

14. Clank Legacy 1 & 2

The other legacy game is actually two legacy games. So did I cheat, I’ll let you decide. But this one is lower on the list because I know that I love Clank! already. And I really like the Acquisitions Inc guys as well, so that is a great theme for me. But it’s like I said for Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West, this is more comfort food. I already know that I will like both of the games. But it’s higher on the list because I like Clank better than I like Ticket to Ride, and because I think the writing is just going to be a great time that’s a ton of fun.

13. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Speaking of fun writing, I expect that Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is going to be another game with fun writing. This one is supposed to be a simpler, or less in depth dungeon crawler game and there are some good playthroughs of it. I’d recommend checking otu the playthrough that was done done on Meet me at the Table. They’re one of my favorite channels, and it shows how fast it is to get the game to the table and get playing.

12. Kinfire Chronicles

Speaking of another campaign game that I’ve heard a lot of good things about, we have Kinfire Chronicles. This is again supposed to be a friendlier and easier to get into campaign game than some. I like the look of the aesthetic of the game. And it’s not a mini heavy experience which might make it easier to get to the table. But it’s probably easier to see what it’s like at the table. I really do like how the cast of characters looks like a ton of fun and familiar fantasy but not the completely normal fantasy.

11. Tidal Blades 2

For this one I’ll add a video from Man vs Meeples. But I know more about this one. Some of the previous ones I just went on theme. This one is a dungeon crawler or adventure style game with scenarios where you are in this beautiful world dealing with monsters who attacked a festival and more in the story.

But the mechanisms got me to pick up this game. I like how you add in cards to a grid and then you activate a row or a column. But once every spot in a row or column is filled and you activate it, it wipes. And you have basic actions on spots without cards, but it’s a rising and falling action as you try and play through the scenario and defeat the monsters.

10. Etherfields

Now we’re onto Etherfields. The only campaign game from Awaken Realms that I haven’t gotten to the table. And this one actually left my collection for a very short time. But as I said, I love campaign games so I got it back. I put this one where because I love the theme of it. I have heard that it is rough around the edges but the theme gets me.

You are exploring dreams and each dream is going to be a little bit different. Some of them might be more dream like, but the fun of dreams, at least in a board game is that they can be nightmares as well. And that means that the game is going to have twisted and crazy and surreal scenarios and that sounds amazing to me. I know one element was a bit of a grind, but I believe that there are rules out there now that help fix that.

9. Kingdom: Death Monster

Then we get to one that maybe should be higher on the list. Kingdom: Death Monster is not the grand daddy of all campaign games, that’s Gloomhaven in a lot of ways. But this one is one of the games that really showed what you could do and create a massive game with a ton of expansions and a ton of minis in it. I only have the core box and there is a ton in there.

In this game it’s a boss battler campaign. You start at no one, really you don’t even have language yet. But as you play, you grow you tribe, figure out new things, like ways to make weapons and armor, develop language and more. All that while sending out your hunters to try and defeat boss monsters who are sometimes going to take out your hunters. And that’s why you need to keep growing your village. But Meet Me At The Table has great videos on this as well.

8. Divinity Original Sin

This is a game that I need to play through both as a video game but also as the board game. I had fun watching Felicia Day an Ryan Day play through it on their streams back in the day. So it is a game that I have played some, in the video game. But the board game sounds great for it as well. The theme definitely helps with that as does the fact that this isn’t a grid movement map but more of an area movement game. And I really like how there’s that campaign element and adventure element to it without purely being a dungeon crawler game.

7. Dragon Eclipse

Alright, I kind of lied about having played all of the Awaken Realms campaign games. This is one that might actually get to the table sooner because I think it might be easier to get to the table. I didn’t think of it though, because it just got in. In this game you are collecting dragons and battling dragons. Does that sound a bit like Pokemon, that makes sense. But it’s a game with a fun theme and compared to some campaign games, it’s a campaign game that you can play true solo which is great for me.

6. Nova Aetas Renaissance

You’ll notice and probably already have noticed a trend of the videos that I share here. A ton of them are from Meet Me At the Table. A lot of these games I had already backed before they played them. But this is one that I tracked down because of the channel. I love the 3D nature of the experience for this game. And how, in one of the scenarios a house that is 3D can be taken apart and flattened. But there is more than that as well.

The story of the game is fun. It feels like it mixes up a few things from historical to make fantastical. And then it uses a fun mechanism for whose turn it is. You spend you action points and move around a time track. Whomever is at the end of the track is going to be who activates next. There are some other rules for it as well. So you can’t just stack up turn after turn after turn before the bad guys go, but it’s a fun element to the game.

5. Agemonia

Then we have Agemonia. This is a rare campaign game that I didn’t back right off the bat on crowdfunding. Or I should say a rare one that I looked into a lot and didn’t end up backing. This game seems to have a fun world and setting to play in and that’s some of what drew me in right away for it. But there were other elements that kept me coming back for it as well.

I liked how the maps were in books and that felt different. But also beyond that, as more places are doing that now, the world would change. You draw out a card after interacting with a point and cover it up. That might create a different point of interaction or it might be nothing to do there anymore. And the game play just seems simple enough to be easy to learn and play, but offer some solid choices in combat as well.

4. The Elder Scrolls

Next is another new one to come in. But it’s a fun theme that a lot of people are going to be drawn to. For me it’s less the theme and more that it’s a shorter campaign based off of the Too Many Bones system that I really am excited for.

If you’re not familiar with the system, you level up after missions. Or you can anyways. And as you spend your points to try and level up you get better or unlock new abilities. You can add to base stats, which can be good, or you can add to the specialty dice that you roll. And while this streamlines it a bit from what it was with Too Many Bones, I’m excited for it and the world that the game is set in certainly helps.

3. Middara

Now the top 4 are going to be ones that I really would love to play. Yes, you read that correctly, we’re on #3 and we have four games to go including this one. How is that, I couldn’t pick between my top two. But Middara is very safely into that group. And soon I’m going to be having more Middara come in. I say soon, I expect maybe this time next year.

But Middara is going to be a classic dungeon crawler with a ton of story and a ton of dice chucking. But I really like the theme and look of the game. You go to another world, chosen to go there kind of it’s weird to explain. But you are chucking dice to defeat monsters, level up and become awesome. But the whole aesthetic of the game gives me a really strong anime feel. I’ve heard that sometimes trips up the writing, but overall people really enjoy it. And to me that sounds exciting.

1c. Oathsworn

Next we have Oathsworn. And this, this is the three way tie for first place. Why did I not just remove the last game from the list, because I wanted to mention it too. Oathsworn is another boss battler game. But it is a game that is split into two parts. And that excites me about the game. You get a mystery or exploration phase where you experience a lot of story. And then you go beat up that boss. But if you do well on the story the boss maybe is easier.

And I really like the mechanisms in the game. I kept games that I’d really played off of the list. I did a short demo of this one two years ago at Gen Con and I adored it. There is this great card system where cards have to cool down before you can use them again. And then you decide how many dice you are going to roll, some are required, but the more you roll the more chances you to bust and miss, but the greater a hit could be. Or you could play it safer and draw cards, but eventually that deck of cards will run cold and do you switch to dice then?

1b. Primal: The Awakening

Next tied at the top is Primal: The Awakening. This one is another boss battler game. And this one I should probably get to the table sooner than some. A nice thing about Primal is that it doesn’t need to be a campaign, you can also play it as a one off. And that would definitely make it easier for me to get it to the table.

But this is a game that is all about the boss battle. There is a little story between scenarios and a chance to upgrade, but it’s not going to be nearly as much other stuff as just a pure battle. And the battle is different as well. You play on a tiny board with just four sides of the monster that you can be on. And depending the stance the monster is in, you need to be in specific spots to do damage. Add in card play for this which you can pull of powerful combos, that’s great. Of course, depending on what cards you play, you might trigger a lot of monster reactions.

1a. Arydia

And finally the most recent game to the campaign game collection. This one barely beat out Elder Scrolls for that title, we have Arydia. Arydia is another game that I passed on originally when it was on crowdfunding but then I went back and late pledged it. I just kept on being drawn into one part of the game.

The game is at three different levels. Now I don’t mean that you build stuff up on the table. I mean that you explore the world at three different levels. You explore at a high level where you get general encounters and interactions. Then you can dive down deeper and start to interact with specific characters or explore a location in more detail. Finally, you might then drop into combat which is tactical movement on a map. And that massiveness of the world really drew me to the game.

Final Thoughts

You might think that is enough. But there is going to be another list, probably tomorrow for games that I want to come back to or that are new editions or versions of games that I’ve already played as campaign games. I expect that is only going to make it to ten, but that’s a lot. And this list even didn’t include everything. The campaign in Solomon Kane could have made the list. And I know that I just didn’t see some games on the shelf that would have made sense for the list as well. And there are games that I likely missed too because I don’t think of them as campaign games.

What campaign games do you want to get played? And how do you find time to play them all? Or are you like me where you have more campaign games than you can play?

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Top 10 Anticipated Crowdfunding Games

10. Grimcoven

Let’s start with Awaken Realms and a game that is just about to go live by the time this article is coming out. In fact, it might have, and I can’t wait for this one. It is a boss battling game where you are hunters who tap into powers to defeat monsters. But tapping into powers can make you monstrous in nature yourself. So how do you not give into that dark side while leveling up and defeating a monster?

Now that might all sound like a campaign to you, but the fun thing is that it’s not. It is a thematic boss battler that you play a one off. You still get to level up your character in the battle, but no needing to plan on playing the game for weeks on end. Instead you can just pull it off the shelf, grab your hunter and start fighting.

Back now.

9. Avatar: The Journey of Aang

I want a fun Avatar game and this one looks like it. A cooperative game where you need to help Aang get all his powers in line because if you go too slow the comet will come and Fire Lord Ozai might be too powerful to defeat. It isn’t a give campaign game, but it is going to provide story as it goes along. Which I like that about it because it makes it more accessible for me to play with people who just like Avatar and are maybe less into board games.

8. Edgeguard

Now we’re coming to a campaign game. I got to demo this one and do a bit of coverage on it when it was on crowdfunding the first time. The game is fun, it’s a good straight forward campaign game with dice chucking, leveling, weapons, and really all that you would want. Did it stand out as something that is highly unique, not really, but it stood out because it was solid and familiar feeling. I’m not sure when this coming back to crowdfunding but I can’t wait.

7. West Story: A Town Building Game

Next up we have something smaller again. An old west game where you aren’t fighting bandits but instead you’re making your town and trying to have the best town possible. It is going to be that sort of engine building and tableau building that I definitely find interesting. And it is probably going to be one of the cheaper games on this list because it isn’t going to come with a ton of minis for it.

6. StarDriven: Gateway

Next up is StarDriven Gateway, and I’m not going to say too much about this one. Why, because I’ll be saying more about it leading into GenCon and I already talked some about it with the Feast and the GenCon events that I signed up for. So I get to demo this one and I’ll really get to know if it is a game for me.

5. Skytear Horde Campaign

This list has a few campaign games on it and a few expansions on it. This one is both. Skytear Horde is a game that I like a lot. It’s a very good solo tower defense game, or two player. And I like the energy management of the game as you try and figure out how to keep the horde from overtaking your troops and taking down your base.

This is going to offer a mini campaign. So I like that about it, maybe a game I can sit down in an evening and play all three connected games or one that I can stream over a few weeks. One I want to get back to the table soon.

4. Odalin

Next we have Odalin. It’s a dungeon crawler in a dark desert fantasy setting. That element is different, it’s not the typical European setting. But what will it offer that is different. Dragori games, though, has a good track record so I’m definitely hopeful for this one. I do need to know what price point this one is coming in at, because there  is another big game that might steal the funds from this one that we’ll talk about coming up.

3. Ascension Legends

Next up is Ascension Legends. I like Ascension a lot as a deck building game. It isn’t all that complex and Ascension Legends is just going to offer another box of stuff and another jumping in point. My main question, or the question I’m asking myself, is do I need more of Ascension. It is already a game that I own a fair amount for it. And it does hit the table still with good ease, but do I need more?

2. The 7^th Citadel

You might think, I already have that game. And y es, you are right. You can see how my Drums of Desolation play through is going. But The 7^th Citadel is coming back for those who missed it. And if you are like me, it is coming back with more threats that you can add into your game. That is going to open up even more replayability in the game. And I think even now with the Drums of Desolation there are certainly things that I could do a whole lot better. So I’m excited to see what new stuff will be added.

Back it now.

1. Lands of Evershade

And this truly is my #1. I am so excited for Lands of Evershade. This is a giant RPG and board game experience from Awaken Realms. I love their massive story games. ISS Vanguard is one that I want to get back to. And I beat everything in the original Tainted Grail. And I won’t lie, I’m very tempted to get back Etherfields to experience that one. But Evershade look amazing and I’m really curious to see what all the game is going to have. Because the RPG elements, I’m curious to see how they’ll manage to create a story  that doesn’t just seem like a choose your own adventure.

Final Thoughts

First off, no honoable mention, it’s shocking. There are some that I could put on an honorable mention, but 10 is a lot. That’s a lie, here are some of them just with no details what so ever. Also catching my attention:

• HEXPlore It: The Mountains of Godai
• Flames of Fafnir
• Agemonia Reprint/New Heroes
• Dragonbond Quest

That’s enough for now. And while I’m expecting those most of all the ones I’ve mentioned will come out this year, who knows. Some of them might be pushed back. I just expect with the Awaken Realms or any of them that were part of the Gamefound Feast, we’ll be seeing those on crowdfunding in 2024. Is there any that stands out to you as a must back? Or any crowdfunding games I missed that I should checkout?

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Top 5 – The Campaign Game I Want to Play Next

5. Agemonia

The order of the list doesn’t matter much, if it’s a campaign game, I want to play it. Agemonia is the most recent campaign game to come in and this one is a big box of fun. So I want to get it to the table. I didn’t back it all in for the minis, but I do have the giant core box which gives you the monsters as standees.

But Agemonia looks like a unique world with fun characters to play as. And while it doesn’t look, to me, to be the most complex game on the campaign game scale, I like what it offers. Card overlays that will change if you don’t interact with something in a certain time, or depending on what action you take. So it shows you want you need to know on the board and who you might be interacting with, but throughout a play, that can change and get covered up.

4. Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

This is a tricky campaign game to put on the list. Mainly because, though it’s not as obvious, this is a legacy game as well as a campaign game. I really enjoyed going through Aeon’s End Legacy on the stream. And Aeon’s End is a system that I really like. I think as a solo deck building game it works amazingly.

And a legacy game is always fun to play on Malts and Meeples. Or just to be one that I want to play in general. The idea of an emergent story and changing rules is fun. The original one I really enjoyed, but it was very basic in what it did. Some fun twists, but mainly basic. So I want to know what this one is going to offer and how it can play around with the story of Aeon’s End.

3. Wild Assent

Next up is Wild Assent. I recently got this one from a local game story that buys and sells uses games. I was selling some games and I came back with the same number of boxes, but fewer games. Wild Assent is the reason for that.

But this isn’t as heavy a campaign game. So while I talk about Agemonia that meant that from what I remember the game play is lighter. In Wild Assent I mean that it’s not as long as other campaign games. The commitment to it isn’t there because it’s mean to be played over a few sessions and that is a campaign. So it’s resettable you grab new characters and go again. That is an intriguing option for a campaign game experience.

2. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is the next campaign game expansion. Red Dragon Inn is a game that I like and that I don’t like. I like it because it should be a fun, light, silly game with some crazy powers and cards for each character. It is that, but the issue is that it almost always takes too long. It might be a game that I’d only play at four because that’s the right amount of time for it to go on, it feels like.

But that’s not the game on the list, Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is supposed to be an easy to get into campaign game. It builds off of the world and some elements of Red Dragon Inn, but obviously changes it up some from being a free for all. What intrigues me is about the ease of set-up of the game. Everything you need for the map is printed on it. So it’s more of a grab what you need and go versus as intensive a game in terms of set-up.

1. Mythwind

Finally I have Mythwind for my list of campaign games. And this one is interesting in that it’s less of a campaign game and more of a persistent world. It’s not meant to take you through this epic journey that a lot of campaign games do. Instead Mythwind is meant to be a cozy game like a Stardew Valley where you can just play.

The game offers you a number of characters to play as. Each of them has their own mini game. What you pick and who you play as, that’s up to you. And you can change that any time. So you get to explore different characters all while leveling up your town, unlocking buildings, going exploring, and completing your own goals. I like the balancing nature of this and think, from what it shows, it offers some fun story and experience.

Which To Play?

Now these don’t have to be the only options. Kinfire Chronicles, Hoplomachus Victorum, and others, are all sitting on my shelf waiting to get played. Or even non-campaign games like Unsettled still offer a group of games to play through because there are different planets each time.

Help me decide what to play. Which campaign game sounds the best to you? And one of them might just end up being played on some Monday streams as well depending on what my schedule looks like. Is there a campaign game that stands out to you or one that you think is just so good I need to get it to the table?

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Top 10 Crowdfunding Project To Be Delivered

10 – Mythwind

This one is such a weird one. I can see myself not liking this game. It’s Stardew Valley the board game, which is not something that I thought I’d want. More so than the actual Stardew Valley game which gives you and end game condition. But Mythwind from Open Own Studios (formerly OOMM Games) promises that, a game where you can just build everything. Like I said, this might not be for me, but I am very curious and want to try.

9 – Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

On the flip side of Mythwind, Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin is a game for me. I already know that I like the system. And Kings of Ruin tries to take the things that people didn’t like, the grind, the keeping the Menhir lit, and make the game more streamlined for the story.

My little soapbox time. People are complaining about the grind and how hard it is to survive. The Story Mode takes care of most of that, extra house rules put in place show that people didn’t pay attention to what they were backing. Tainted Grail promised a hard campaign with attrition and grinding from day one. To complain about a game delivering on what it promised feels like a miss on the players behalf not the companies or the game as the complaints seem to say.

But back to Kings of Ruin. It’s more of a game and a system that I really love. I’m wrapping up the third campaign soon, and I want to know what story the are going to come with. Because story in this game is always so good.

8 – Agemonia

Agemonia is one that I late pledged. I couldn’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger when it was on Kickstarter (I believe), but late pledge got me. This is an adventure game with a lot of story and a campaign to it. Alex Radcliffe from BoardGameCo has a good video showing it off.

There are a couple of things that drew me towards it. Firstly it doesn’t seem to be as heavy as a lot of campaign games. As you might know from watching Malts and Meeples, I appreciate that. But also, I like the card system. It’s a nice system that in these specific scenarios changes up the board. So the world is dynamic as you spend time doing things.

7 – Stonesaga

The most recent one on the list and yes I am a bit biased knowing one of the people who worked on this game. But I’m still excited for it. It’s a nice system as you build out your stone age civilization. And the game does some fun things. There are a lot of mini games, they are fun. And there are some good decision making points which work nicely as well. Stonesaga is a legacy game, so know that about it, some elements will get used, but it’s not a single use legacy game.

6 – Robomon

Robot Pokemon is what Robomon showed off. A solo or two player adventure game, you go around capture and upgrade your Robomon. Sound a lot like Pokemon, it should. But there is never going to be a Pokemon game like this, I think, due to licensing. So Robomon looks like it will offer a lot of story and adventure in an interesting world. I like the idea that this is a very open world system.

5 – Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies

Sleeping Gods is a game that I know a lot about. And I had a few minor issues (as well as a mistake in how I played it) that I thought would make the game more fun. Now, I’m not sure my mistake got changed, but my minor issue did in Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies. It is like Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin in that it took what players knew and used the feedback to improve it. So I’m excited to get this one in and see what new adventure awaits.

4 – Witchbound

Witchbound is the second newest on the list, from this year. And it might be one of the earlier to come in from these games if the creator can keep up their frenetic pace on turning out new story and artwork. But Witchbound is a point and click adventure of a board game with RPG elements. It’s what I would call a relaxing solo story game. You don’t need to hold a ton of rules in your head, so I am excited to dive into the whole thing.

3 – Primal: The Awakening

From one of the shortest to one of the longest, we have Primal: The Awakening. A monster hunting board game that can be played in a one off or as a campaign. I can’t wait to get this one in, and while it has been outstanding for a long time, they do provide updates. I am very interested in the deck construction and combat mechanics of the game. How they created such a small grid and still gave an interesting game and game play.

2 – Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Arydia is another late pledged board game. This is one where I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I decided I wanted to get in on it still. Arydia is an interesting game in how it works on three levels. And I mean three types of maps. Firstly, you play on a world map traveling around. Then you have local maps, general areas that you explore and interact with people and points of interest there. Finally you get down to the tactical battle map.

That three levels of game play is just unique. And while a lot of games do these things separately, or at least two of them separately, Arydia more seamlessly moves between them. That is really interesting. Plus the game itself is just a big epic adventure game.

1 – Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapter

And finally at number one, we have a big epic adventure game. One that I saw game play of ages ago, and it is still so high on my list. I don’t know much about the World of Darkness RPG stuff that has Vampire The Masquerade in it, but I know I’m excited for this game. You can see some game play below.

That is just the prototype and there is a lot game and story in there. There’s even more with the game that is coming through Kickstarter. I like the different levels, again, how you get your main story through just story elements and a few decision points. But then you get to that tactical map, there is still more story and you can pick how to interact. But it’s really well done and it looks like a lot of vampire intrigue in the final box.

Final Thoughts

There are so many games that I am waiting on that just missed. The Chip Theory Elder Scrolls game, Tidal Blades 2 the dungeon crawler. Slay the Spire is up there, HEL: The Last Saga which I still hope to get. The Dark Quarter, a vampire mystery game. Divinius a legacy game or Arkeis an Egyptian themed legacy adventure game.

Like I said there are a ton of games. And I am going through my collection to get rid of games to make room for them. But all of these I want to see what they are like, and so many of them I hope are great solo games. So over the next two to three years, look forward with me for these games to come in and get a chance to explore them.

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Top 20 Board Games on my Wish List

20. Sagrada Artisans

Yup, things can be on this and other lists. So I’ll go over them quickly. This is a legacy roll and write game based off of Sagrada. I played Sagrada again recently and I really do enjoy it, to me it’s a pretty relaxing game to play. And I want to know what the legacy version does. And how many years it should take to play is also a big question. The Sagrada Familia is still being built which is why I make that joke. But I like the stained glass theme so I’m excited for it and I like the dice drafting.

19. Planet Unknown

One that I wish I’d backed on Kickstarter, Planet Unknown is a game of picking tiles and placing them onto your planet to terraform it the best. Terraforming a planet is a common theme, but one that I like. The thing that caught my eye is the mechanism of the rotating center board. So when I pick a tile, that means that you are picking the tile that is facing you, or where your marker is. So we are all getting a tile every turn. I think that’s a really clever mechanism because not only do I need to think about what I need, but I need to think about what I am giving you.

18. Aeon’s End Trespass: Odyssey

Do I need another big game? The answer is no, I do not. But this one which is just delivering from Kickstarter looks great. This is one of those pipe dream games where if I can stumble across it local and used and not too expensive I’d buy it. But Aeon’s End Trespass is a massive dungeon crawl adventure game with a lot of minis, you know the drill. The cooperative, soloable and campaign style game that I enjoy.

17. Dice Manor

Also on a list recently, and that is when I added it to my wish list. The game play just looks simple and clever. You either allocate dice to unlocking some more dice, I think, so you have a bigger pool, or to getting tiles, or to putting into your house to score you points. I guess I should explain more. In Dice Manor you are building up a house, and you need to allocate dice of certain numbers to get rooms. If you get that room you add it to your house. So it’s dice allocation mixed with figuring out how you want to put together your house. And then, like I said, using dice in the house to score points. Three pretty simple things that seem to offer really good decisions.

16. Agemonia

You’ll see a lot of these campaign soloable games on the list. Agemonia is another one of them. Though, I don’t think it’s as massive as some of them. Agemonia is one that I almost backed, and I was in for a dollar on it, but I didn’t upgrade it in the pledge manager. It looks like a fun one because the world looks more vibrant and dynamic than a lot of them, in terms of the boards you are playing on.

You might start out in a tavern and then go out into the town to interact with things. And as you do that, you might change what’s at a location so you find a card and put that down. And then you end up with new actions that you can do, all while trying to complete some goals that you need to in a set amount of time. Plus, it’s fantasy but not your standard fantasy, so I really want to get my hands onto this one.

15. The Everrain

This one I maybe shouldn’t have on my list. It’s kind of getting fulfilled now, but the company is in financial trouble, it seems, which doesn’t bode well for my Village Attacks pledge. But Everrain is a sea exploration adventure game. And that just sounds fun to me. As they put up, you have your crew and are building up your crew and ship before you’ll have to face off against a Lovecraftian great old one, which I’m sure is not too difficult at all. And you are exploring in a cooperative gaming experience.

14. Monumental

Like Aeon’s End Trespass this one is a pipes dream to find. Monumental is a deck building, area control, moving people on a map, and did I say deck building game? And it’s been out for a little bit and isn’t in retail. The company is having some issues fulfilling their next one, so I’m not hopeful that there’ll end up with too many in the market. And Monumental is well liked.

The interesting thing with the deck building is that you don’t have a hand of cards. You have a grid of cards and you activate a row or column. Then those cards get wiped and new ones get added in. I want to try the game just for those interesting mechanics. Deck building is a mechanic that I really enjoy, and to see something so different, it makes me want to track it down. But it’s expensive when you can find it.

13. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game

One that I passed at on Gamefound. The game looked decent, it’s supposed to be like Skyrim as a board game. So that means you have a main quest that you are trying to complete but also that you can just go and do a bunch of side quests. It’s not really a dudes on the map game but more of that adventure experience which I enjoy. It’s one that eventually it’ll be back in retail and I’ll get a copy just to experience it. And I’m pretty sure it can be played solo so there is that element that I like as well.

12. Birds of a Feather: Western North America

That’s a long title for a little play out a card and check off stuff on a sheet. You are basically trying to get as many birds that you’ve seen as possible, so bird watching. And there are some interesting rules around it as you see things at the terrain you are at. So if I play down a desert and you play down a desert bird we see both of them. But if everyone else plays down a forest bird, I don’t see them. It’s a clever system. But not all is lost because you can go next round to the forest, if you have a forest bird, and see the ones played previously. Unless someone plays down a predator bird which scares them away. So, like I said, a clever system.

11. Arkeis

Another one previously on a list, but a legacy adventure game. I like that a lot and it’s set in Egypt and almost seems like it’ll have an Indiana Jones vibe to it. If it has that, and they can promise what looked like a not too complex but still very interesting game, I’ll pick this one up on the theme alone.

10. S.H.E.O.L.

I blame Meet Me At The Table for making me want this one. S.H.E.O.L. is a game about a weird future where there are robot monsters and you’re exploring, fighting them, interacting with people and places and it’s again that big campaign, adventure, combat, and solo game that I enjoy. Plus the setting is just different. The aesthetic of the game is basically black and white and it isn’t a bunch of dungeons but ways that you create the paths. The whole thing is just intriguing and hard to find.

9. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

A racing game from Days of Wonder, this one is already out and it’s really interesting to me. It looks like a lighter game than some racing, like Formula D, but also not a betting racing game that a lot of lighter ones are, like Downforce. So I’m really intrigued by this one and people are really liking the game. So I want to give it a try as you balance pushing to go faster without building up too much heat that can clog up your hand and slow you down. A balancing act which I always enjoy that question of when do you push or when do you hold back.

8. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

Also on another list. Tidal Blades 2 is a dungeon crawler set in the interesting world of Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef which gives you the story that you are missing in the first game. And from what I can tell, the mechanics are interesting as well. You play out actions and slowly as you get more and more actions out you become more powerful. But then they’ll all get pulled back sometime so you’ll do it again. I like that ebb and flow and that it’s a dungeon crawler without just being a dice chucker.

7. Rove

One coming to Kickstarter this year, Rove is from a designer who did a fan expansion for Gloomhaven. Rove promises a dungeon crawl set in it’s own unique world. I don’t know too much about it beyond that, but I’m very intrigued by it because it’s someone who made a Gloomhaven expansion. Gloomhaven is my favorite game, so I’m hoping that it takes some of things that were learned from making and expansion and adds it to Rove.

6. The Great Split

The Great Split is already out as well, but hard to come by. It’s a game where you are giving your opponent the option between two things and they are doing the same for you. So how do you make it, as you push up tracks based off of what you get, that you get what you want and they don’t get exactly what they want. The game system seems like it is pretty simple but also offers really good decision making. And it’s from Horrible Guild a company who I’ll generally always checkout what they are making.

5. The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era

Yes, it’s a second Elder Scrolls game, this one from Chip Theory Games. And yes, this one is coming to Gamefound this year. So I’ll probably end up backing it. It’s an adventure mini-campaign game that is based off of the Too Many Bones system, a system that I enjoy. And Chip Theory Games tends to make games that interest me. And I mentioned campaign, but did I mention you can play it solo? So even more reason why I’m interested in the game.

4. Hoplomachus: Victorum

Speaking of Chip Theory Games and solo games and campaign games, we have Hoplomachus: Victorum. This builds upon their Hoplomachus system, makes it purely solo and adds in a campaign and leveling as you go. You are a gladiator or fighter going through lands, fighting in arenas, recruiting troops all as you work your way up to face off against your final adversary. Will you be strong enough to defeat them? It’s one that I’m so close to pre-ordering from Chip Theories website, I might have just talked myself into it.

3. Clank!: Catacombs

This is the newest version of Clank! A game that I like all the versions of. Clank!: Catacombs is going to offer one really unique and new feature to go along with the deck building, and that is that the map is modular. So as you delve into the catacombs you are building it out. That sounds like a lot of fun, and I doubt it’ll even mean that I get rid of any of the others. Clank is one of those games that I just want to have a lot of it because whether it is Clank!: Catacombs, Clank!, or Clank! In! Space! I think that it’s going to be a fun time.

2. Stonesaga

Also on a previous list, Stonesaga is a legacy game set in the stone age where you are all working together to build out your civilization. Of course there are some monsters, there are other trials and tribulations that you can go through, and well, I’ve had a chance to playtest it and I had a lot of fun with it. The game really gives you some story of building up your civilization as you play. Without it being too heavy handed in the story elements of the game. I think it has more story than something like Charterstone or My City, but less than a Pandemic Legacy, for example.

1. Rogue Angels

Another one that I’ve already played, though like Stonesaga, which I hadn’t mentioned, just on TTS (Tabletop Simulator). And it’s great on there, but I really want to get my hands onto a prototype and show that off at some point in time. And I’m hoping it can get to Kickstarter or Gamefound this year.

The trick right now for the creator is getting enough eyes on it and getting enough people showing it off. But it’s kind of Mass Effect the board game or that is the designers intent. And I think that comes across. There are missions where you are doing combat, there are missions that just have a specific challenge(s) that you need to complete and everyone feels different.

Then there are mechanics which are so simple, do two actions which are generally playing cards. But when you play down a card it goes in a slot and then cools down over time. So a really good card might take longer to get back into your hand. And there are ways to speed that up, but that probably means that you’re not doing something else useful. Just a fun system with interesting characters and interesting story.

Final Thoughts: What is on Your Wish List?

Let me know what is on your wish list. You can do that down below or over on Twitter. And my wish list isn’t just 20 items. In fact, there is one, Paper Dungeons Expansion that isn’t on the list because expansions were filtered out. And even then my list is 55 items long. Some are in the maybe I’d want to get it category. Others, especially in this Top 20, I’d love to get my hands on them. Of course, time to play them, and money to get them is always a question. But I hope I can end up getting or playing a lot of these.

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The $1 Crowdfunding Pledge

Let’s talk about the $1 pledge level. Why do I pledge at that level sometimes, and how often do I get more?

So what is a $1 pledge? It is basically a cheap way to get the updates on a Kickstarter campaign. With Gamefound you can follow along if you subscribe to it. But Kickstarter, is is $1 and often times it gives you access to the pledge manager as well.

The nice thing about a $1 pledge is that you don’t need all the money at once. If both Final Girl and Marvel Zombies run at the same time – they did – then you don’t need to give both of them a couple hundred dollars right at the same time. You back $1 now you can get one now and save up for the other one later.

But how often do I back for $1, once in a while, and I’d say maybe 2 out of the 6-7 that I did that with, I ended up adding in the pledge manager. One, for sure, that I did was The Witcher: Old World. And I believe there was another that I added. I don’t care enough, most of the time, to do $1 and get the updates.

The Drink

A Negroni again. It’s such a good drink, again a warm day and one that is nice to have on a day like that. But a good drink to have stuff around for. It is really one that I like to sip while grilling as well. On a hot summer day it is refreshing and with some ice in there, it doesn’t feel water down when the ice melts.

Upcoming Streams

Tomorrow I’ll be streaming, I think my plan is more Paper Dungeons. So join for some fun to play along. I’m still working my way through that campaign.

I talked about this on the stream, and maybe I’ll talk about it more tomorrow. But I am getting a gaming table with a topper. That will allow for me to leave a bigger campaign game set-up on the lower level and put the top on when I want to play something else. So once that comes, I am going to be getting back to streaming a larger game.

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