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100 through 91
90 through 81

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 80 through 71

80. Flamecraft

• Published by Cardboard Alchemy in 2022
• Deliver on the most goals and score points as you play out adorable little dragons who help around the town

This game immediately grabs you with the artwork. The dragons are amazing, and Sandara Tang gives each of them such great personality. Beyond that the game is simple but fun, you go to a location and are either activating the cards and dragons there, or adding some, or spending resources to complete goals. As the locations get more and more dragons the more powerful they become. It’s a great ramping mechanism for a simple game. Though the game is not fast one, which might be my only knock on it.

Buy Flamecraft

79. Just One

• Published by Repos Productions in 2018
• Work together to get the guesser to the right answer with just one word

A party game on this section. I’m not sure, I expect that there are two more party games on the list, but we’ll see. I honestly have forgotten. But Just One is a great cooperative party game. One person is the guesser and everyone else needs to write down a one word clue to get the guesser to guess their one word. Sounds simple, right, but if you double up with anyone, now both those words are gone. That means that an easy clue can become very hard very fast. So you want to be obscure with your clue, but not so obscure that it won’t lead the person to the right answer.

Buy Just One

78. On Tour

• Published by BoardGameTables.com (AllPlay) in 2019
• Create the best route for your band to tour the map going from low to high numbers

This one is a fun roll and write. While I love a ton of roll and write games where they have a lot of combos, this one is a different type of puzzle. In On Tour two dice are rolled and players each place the numerical combinations on two spots on their board. But there are rules as to where they can go. And you may want to watch the city to gain bonus points, but if it won’t connect well to your route, is it worth it to push your luck?

Buy On Tour

77. Mythwind

• Published by Open Owl Studios in 2023
• Build up your settlement and play your mini game in this cozy gaming experience

Open Owl Studios went into making Mythwind with the plan of making a cozy game. So something that works well like a Stardew Valley or an Animal Crossing. They do that by creating a peaceful story world to play in, there are interesting elements to it though. And then each person plays their own little minigame. I demonstrate what the minigame for the farmer looks like. And One Stop Co-op Shop and Meet Me At The Table play some of the other ones. It’s just a unique feeling game that is fun, and relaxing to play.

Preorder Mythwind

76. Betrayal at House on the Hill

• Published by Avalon Hill in 2004
• Explore a haunted house but beware, someone is going to be come the traitor

This is a game that I still love though I haven’t played it in a few years. I fully recognize that the game has issues. When you sit down to play you know that the haunt may not work as planned because either the traitor is going to be overpowered or the other survivors will be. And the haunts themselves have janky rules. But I still love the game anyways because it’s thematic, silly, and just a fun time.

Buy Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition

75. Clever 4Ever

• Published by Schmidt Spiele in 2022
• Another combotastic game in the Clever line of roll and writes

I don’t know what else to say about this one. Clever 4Ever offers a ton of fun combos and a few different feeling sections of your sheet. How Wolfgang Warsch keeps on coming up with different and interesting ways to handle rolling five dice, using one, getting rid of lower ones and then rolling them again, I don’t know. But he does and this one is great, I especially like the sections where you can fill in different shapes depending on the number rolled. That element really feels different.

Clever 4Ever is either new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) this year or it just made the cut last year. I know I hadn’t had the game for long.

Buy Clever 4Ever

74. SpellBook

• Published by Space Cowboys in 2023
• Learn spells and feed your familiar to get the most points

This is a really simple game. All it is when you boil it down is set collection. You collect materia, you get enough of a color, you learn that spell. Then you use that spell you learned to collect more materia or learn new spells easier. Each spell you learn gives you points, or you can just feed the materia to your familiar for more points as well. The is fast, and there is a fun puzzle as to how you can optimize your spell usage as you get into the game.

Buy SpellBook

73. Century: Golem Edition

• Published by Plan B Games in 2017
• Get crystals, upgrade crystals and get golems to give you points

Another engine building game. Century: Golem Edition again, like SpellBook, has quick snappy turns. In this game it’s all about hand management and using those cards in hand to get more and upgrade crystals. Then you use those crystals to grab Golems that are going to score you points. But you literally just play a card, trade crystals for a golem, pick-up all your cards, or buy a new card. One of those things on a turn and the game just flies.

Buy Century: Golem Edition

72. New Frontiers

• Published by Rio Grande Games in 2018
• Build out the grandest space empire by doing the best action for you

New Frontiers is another engine building game. In New Frontiers you are doing it at a space level though, colonizing new planets, getting new technologies, fighting and conquering planets. All of that done through action selection where what action you pick gives you a bonus. But, everyone else is going to follow along with that action as well. So what is the best action for you and maybe not a great one for other players? I believe that New Frontiers is new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) as well though it isn’t a new game.

Buy New Frontiers

71. Meadow

• Published by Rebel Studio in 2021
• Create a beautiful tableau of nature through tricky card drafting

Meadow is another gorgeous game. I start out and end this section with beautiful games. In Meadow you want to score points by playing out creatures, taking pictures, and gaining trinkets. But to do that you need to build up your meadow from the land type up through bugs and maybe eventually all the way into deer, foxes, or other creatures. How you pick the cards you get is great. You use a fence post that tells you how far into a row or column you are picking. So you need to determine the best spots to play to get all the cards that you want and hope no one blocks you.

Buy Meadow

Final Thoughts

Firstly, let me know what your favorite of these games are. I obviously enjoy all of the tones in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition, so Meadow needs to be my favorite. But in terms of easily getting it to the table, I’m kind of feeling a big old stream and playthrough of all the clever games on Malts and Meeples. And let me know if there is one that you would want to get played as well that you haven’t tried in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition.

Join me next week for the next batch of games in my Top 100 Games. It’ll be starting around 9 PM Central on Wednesday if everything goes as planned. You can subscribe and click the notification bell to get notified when the video goes live. Thanks so much for watching.

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Top 5 Quick and Cute Board Games

5. Gasha

Gasha is some of the reason that I’m thinking of this topic since I played it earlier this week. This is a cute set collection game about getting toys from a Japanese vending machine. You can see my whole review of it here.

This one definitely makes the list because the mechanics or action on a turn is very simple. You draw two cards or you trade in a matching set of cards for a scoring card. That is it. But there is some fun to what you do. You need to decide when to try and match up tickets, if you should push for that bigger scoring card, or maybe if you collect for a little bit so you can knock out scoring cards and maybe surprise end the game.

But mechanically it is simple and offers choices and fast choices. And theme wise it is very bright and welcoming. But because it comes in a small box and has kid like artwork (for kids not by kids) it is going to be apt to looked over.

4. Ohanami

In even a smaller box is Ohanami. This one is even simpler in how it sounds, you draft two cards and you add them across three columns. The columns go from highest to lowest, and you always add to an end, either higher or lower. That is very simple.

Where this game stands out, though, is in the scoring. It is not a simple game of just see how many you can get in a row. No, the first round the blue cards score, then green and blue, and finally pink, grey, green, and blue. So blue is the fewest points, but if you get them in the first round, the most points. So it does become a puzzle of how to maintain your columns to be able to play cards, but not take too many cards that won’t score many points.

I sometimes forget that the artwork is really pretty in this game. Why, because it is fast and fun to play, so I draft and go. But if you want, you can spend time to study and enjoy this peaceful artwork in Ohanami. Again, the small box and pretty artwork is going to hide the interesting decision making in the game.

3. Century: Golem Edition

This one I almost didn’t put on the list as I wonder if it might be a little big. But I again played this one recently, and Century: Golem Edition has snappy quick turns, great and cute artwork, and at two players, especially, doesn’t play in much time at all.

This is a hand management game as you manipulate the gems that you have in order to get golems, for points. But building up a hand of cards that you can play out and pick up to manipulate your gems is all of the game. It fits for this list, though, because you do one of four things on your turn, play a card, pick up your cards, get a new card, or get a golem.

It is that simple and while there is great strategy, for some it might seem at first look the game is going to be targeting a younger audience. But it also fits for this list because it is that quick game to play. No one said it needed to be too light, it just needs to be quick and cute.

2. Via Magica

Via Magica is kind of gamers bingo. Super Mega Lucky Box could make the list as well, as a gamers bingo. But Via Magica is cuter as you collect different elements to open portals. When you open a portal it gives you some bonus and some points.

What is going to trip up most gamers is that this is a bingo like game. By that I mean, I draw a element from a bag and everyone covers up that element on one of their portals. And you need certain elements to come up to complete those portals. The mechanics of the game are simple. But if you plan it out well, you get some good benefits for completing a portal. If I complete one that allows me to cover up two water on another one immediately, I want to make sure I have something to cover.

There are a few things that will get this one skipped over. The small box, the cute artwork, and this idea of bingo. It sounds like it is going to be random. But I think it is on par with randomness for something like Quacks of Quedlinberg, which is a bigger game, but doesn’t offer that many more choices.

1. Floriferous

Finally we have a game that might be a bit slower with more people, but it is a fun drafting game. The pretty flower theme and small box, you see a theme here of small boxes being overlooked, are going to be why gamers would skip it.

But Floriferous punches way up with the amount of game in the box. It is a drafting game where you are not only drafting flowers and things for your guardian, you are drafting your own scoring. So if I draft a scoring card, that means, for that round, I didn’t draft a card that would score. But draft too few scoring cards, you won’t score that many points.

Plus, the turn order adds to the puzzle of the game. When you draft a card, you are doing so from a column of cards. If I draft at the top of the column, I will draft first the next round. Likewise, if I draft from the bottom, where the scoring cards are, I go last. So sometimes you draft a bad card to get a card that would complete an arrangement and match up with two scoring cards for sure the next round.

This is one that I think if it had a playmat in the box, and was in a bigger box, people would be playing way more than they are. Which is a shame because Floriferous is a really fun game. And I hope that people will start seeking it out, because it is worth it.

Final Thoughts

Now, as I wrap up, I totally get why people often times will pass over these smaller games. Often times in a game store it is harder to see them all with how they are displayed. Or if it is a mass of small box games so it’s easier to overlook one game out of a group.

The box size also, so often, is a factor with that cuter artwork. But I encourage gamers to look at these games. And maybe it won’t be for you, maybe you really only play big box epic adventures or heavy thinky euro games. But I often make the argument, it is good to have some lighter games for when people wrap up and don’t have time for a big game. Or people finish a game and wait for others to finish another.

So what is your favorite game that is quick and cute? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.

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How To Play – Via Magica

Like I said, Via Magica is a bingo style game. Or maybe more Super Mega Lucky Box style game, though, Via Magica came out first. In this game you are trying to capture animus to open different portals, all very magical. What that means is you have three portals in front of you and as a player draws out tokens, you match the animus type, colored white, blue, red, brown, green, and black, to the animus needed on that card. There are wilds, and when that is drawn, you reset the bag of tokens and draw some more.

However, you only have a limited number of crystals. You put them out and you might have two near completion but no crystals left. Depending on what is drawn, you can move crystals around to get a card completed. When you complete a card, you pick a new card. And once someone has completed seven, the game is over.

But it isn’t just that, each card has a power, or a lot do. It might be that you score two points for each green animus that you have. Or it might give you 12 points but be a hard card to complete. And some might make a color wild or allow you to place animus of a certain type for free. So you try and build up combos that will help you get the most points. Because at the end of the game, most points wins.

What Don’t I Like?

I have played this at two and it plays up to six, so I want to play with more. The reason I want to play it with more is that the market of portal cards is pretty static with two players. I might complete a portal, take a new one, and then complete a second one with only one new portal being available. This isn’t a major issue, but with more players the market would be in flux more. It’s a minor quibble with the game, though.

I also wish that the tiles that you draw were nicer. In my final thoughts I’ll talk about how this gives me a bit of a Splendor vibe. Splendor has great chips in the game, and then fewer other components. I wish this one has Splendor like chips as you do draw them from a bag, so as they are handled they will start to wear out. Not as fast as Quacks of Quedlinburg, the chip here are handled less. But it’s worth noting.

What Do I Like?

Simplicity

I like the simplicity of the mechanics. The game is easy to setup, easy to teach, and easy to play. It says 30 minutes, I think in lower player counts that is a bit long for the game. Two players probably takes 20 minutes, unless you get really poor draws. So it falls easily into that category of from box to teach to table in 10 minutes tops. And if everyone knows how to play, probably five minutes.

The game is also going to scale really well. I draw an animus tile, everyone puts down on their portal, if they can or if they want. So while with more players it’ll take longer because it’ll take more time for people to pick portals. This is not going to be a long game ever. Maybe at the full six players it’d take 40 minutes in a slow group. Goes back to that simplicity of the mechanics.

Strategy

I also think, that while it is simple to play, there is strategy and choice in what you are doing. Not tons of a complex level, but when you finish a card matters. I play down onto a portal that lets me place out two crystals on blue animus immediately. Well, if I don’t have two open blue animus in play, that is a waste of my play. Or in the last game I played, I got three colors to be wilds for me which wasn’t a ton of points, but gave me a ton of flexibility early in the game to then go for bigger points.

I think this is an area that people will overlook. They will see it like Super Mega Lucky Box and see such a simple game but not realize the strategy that you can have. And probably lose their first game because of that. There is a lot of luck in the game, what is pulled out of the bag. But there is strategy or thought that goes into which portals you do and when you try and finish a portal.

Who Is It For?

This is a good filler game for gamers who want something quick while waiting for more people to show up. Or maybe as the game night is winding down. Not some party game, but a game with decisions that is fast to play and get to the table.

But, this is also a good game for when you are with non-gamers. The artwork is cute, the rules are so simple, and it plays fast. I could see pulling this one out with family and playing it twice or three times in a sitting, because the game is that easy to get to the table. And it is that level of a Splendor where the rules are simple, animus is drawn, you place a crystal. But as you play you learn more of the game.

Final Thoughts on Via Magica by Hurrican

I really enjoy this game. In fact, I prefer it to Splendor. There are a few games, Century Golem Edition, and now Via Magica, that I put in the same weight as Splendor, same depth of strategy as it were. And I prefer both of them to Splendor. Both Century Golem Edition and Via Magica have more strategies that you can try. And while I might eventually feel like I’ve played enough of either, it’ll take much longer than it did with Splendor.

Now, it isn’t going to be a game that works for everyone. It is a very simple game, but treating it as such should entertain most people. It is a great filler where it isn’t just a lucky party game. And there is no scaling to worry about for the game. So it will never play longer, which I love in games. That way it falls int some of those roll and write categories like Super Mega Lucky Box. But it is also like Sushi Go Party! that way with decisions but not too many.

I want to always have a game like this in my collection. The type of game I play with anyone. It might not get played all the time, but it will get played. It is like Ticket to Ride or Small World in that way. I play those once a year, maybe. But they come off the shelf, and I keep them because they will always find time to get played.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: A

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100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 70-61

70 – Just One

Just One is the first of the party games in this section. This game works well because it is a cooperative party game. And it follows one of my keys for a solid party game, it needs to give players the ability to make choices. Not like something like Cards Against Humanity, where you don’t need to be creative. Here you are trying to give clues but each player only is allowed one word. If you match with another player, both your clues cancel out. So you don’t want to get too obvious, but also a too obscure clue might point them in the wrong direction.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

69 – Cross Clues

Cross Clues is another party game. Again a cooperative game, but this time, you want to give a clue that lets other players figure out the combination of two words. You get a grid of 5×5 (or 3×3) where each row and column has a letter or number assigned. So you might get A3, and if A’s word is wood and 3’s word is flying, you might give the clue kite. But kite might work for something else, say tail and wind. So now you need to figure out if your clue is good or not. It’s a simple, but fun game.

Buy on Miniature Market

68 – Marvel United

Yet another cooperative game, Marvel United is not a party game. Marvel United is a Marvel comics and superhero game where you play as heroes to defeat a villain. The game play is pretty simple, you need to complete two objectives before you can take down a villain. All the while the villain is trying to get you out by causing you to expend cards and lose the game. What works in this game is that you play down a card you give symbols to help the next player. And you also get symbols, punch, move, or heroic action, to aid in what you are doing. It gives that superhero team up feel in a simple game.

Buy on Game Nerdz.

67 – The Reckoners

Apparently this section also has a lot of cooperative games. The Reckoners is another cooperative game and another game with super powers. But the super powered people aren’t the good guys in this, they are known as Epics and bad. You play as a team, the Reckoners trying to take them down and eventually take down the big bad Steelslayer. I like that there is no downtime in this game. Everyone rolls dice at once and discusses as they build up their pool. Then everyone plays out their actions at once. It’s a nice game because of that and being a harder cooperative game.

Buy from Nauvoo Games.

66 – Blank Slate

Blank Slate, we’re back to party games. Blank Slate is not the newest (or highest) party game on the list, but it is new to me this year. In this game you are trying to fill in a word and match with other people. The twist comes that you don’t want to match with too many people. If you match your word with one other person, it is three points, if you match with more than that, it is one point. And all you are doing is a fill in a blank like “Truck______”. You come up with the second half, it’s simple and a lot of fun.

Buy on Miniature Market

65 – Clever Cubed

Clever Cubed is a roll and write game from the Clever line of games, which there are four of now. Clever Cubed is the one that I think gives you the most combos. I like it a lot because it’s fun to get a ton of combos and a lot of points in the game. If there was a knock, it could be that it takes away some strategy. But I do think there are some real things you need to think about as you play. And it does have a lot of combos which I really like.

Buy on Amazon (Note German Edition)

64 – Five Tribes

Five Tribes, maybe my highest of the classic Days of Wonder games, I’m not sure if i have any above it. But Five Tribes is a great game with mancala style movement of meeples. By that I mean you pick up all of them from one spot and drop them off one at a time. I talk about it with Fruit Picking as well.

What makes Five Tribes so interesting, though, is the bidding for turn order. Mainly because money at the end of the game is points. So you are losing points to go sooner. Do you have a spot that for sure is going to get you more points back? Or maybe you need to block your opponent from getting a lot of points.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc.

63 – That’s Pretty Clever!

That’s Pretty Clever is the first of the Clever games and so far my favorite. I need to get and play the fourth more. I have played it on the app. But That’s Pretty Clever I always enjoy because it is a bit simpler. But also because I kind of know how I want to take on the puzzle of the game. I think that’s my issue with Twice as Clever, I haven’t quite gotten clever enough to figure out my strategy, or it seems to score lower. Here I know what combos I want to create, can I do it in a way that will give me the most points is the question.

Not Available

62 – Medium

The final party game for this section of the list. Medium follows a common trend. You want to match words with the person you are paired up with. But with Medium, you do that by each playing down a word. Then you try and come up with a word between. So it might be Mouse and Quesadilla and you need to both land on the same word. You probably could in that time with the word Cheese. But if you miss, you now use your new words and try again. It’s a lot of fun, and leads to a surprising number of laughs.

Buy on Amazon

61 – Century: Golem Edition

To wrap out this section we have Century: Golem Edition. I do think I’d enjoy Spice Road version, but the Golem Edition is just cuter. So that is the one that I want to play. This is an engine building and hand management game. I like how simple the game is, you either play down a card which will get or manipulate the games you have, pick up all your played cards, grab a card to be played, or get a golem. And no action is going to take too long. It’s a very fast moving game with an opportunity to create a really fun engine in your hand.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday is the continuation of my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition. I am going to be going through games 60 through 51, getting to that mid point of the list. Here is a link to the upcoming video. If you want to catch it live, click that notification bell.

And coming up next Wednesday, I don’t know what I’ll be streaming. I think I have two different options, firstly, Chronicles of Drunagor is sitting on the shelf waiting to be unboxed and played. I could dive into a game of that, or do some smaller solo games. For those I have games like Set a Watch, Black Sonata, and Final Girl that I could get to the table as well.

Let me know what you want me to stream next? I am leaning towards Chronicles of Drunagor, if I have time to learn the rules but if not, what small solo game would you want to see?

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The question is, what can make a game stand out, and how much does a game need to stand out?

Does Your Board Game Need to Stand Out?

The answer in my opinion is that it does. Though standing out can mean a number of different things. You need a game that immediately catches your eye with the box. This could be bright and flashy, or it could match the type of game that people expect for it. Euro games often don’t have the most striking boxes, but you know what is in them.

But generally, you want something that stands out on a shelf. If you can get someone to pick your game up off the shelf and look at the back, that is step one. And that might be enough to get a number of sales for the game.

The next part of this question is do you need to stand out with game play and components, and what does that even mean? The short answer, as we’ll dive into what it means coming up, is that maybe you need to stand out. Not all games need to stand out, but you need to match the standards expected. Beyond that, you can certainly help your game with both of those.

What Can Make Your Game Stand Out?

Theme

For me the first thing that I think of is theme. If your theme is different, not only will the box probably catch my eye, but also it’ll keep me around to see how that game works. But it isn’t just that, it is also for more standard themes. If you do a fantasy game, how do you not fall into the trope of fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric? Or if you are doing a space game, how is it not Star Wars?

Examples

First Rat

First Rat never would have caught my attention except for the theme. And even then, with the company the game is coming from, I have nothing really against them but their games don’t catch my attention, I wouldn’t have been that interested. But the theme of a rat building a rocket ship to go to the moon meant that I’d be willing to try it.

And I am glad that I did, but that’s not really the point. The point is that you took a game with basically some resource gathering and victory points and put a weird theme on it. And when I got into the mechanics, I realized that I really enjoyed the game. The theme definitely helps. If this were just pushing up a track to get resources to trade at a Medieval market, I would be less interested.

Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is an example of a theme that is pretty common. It is fantasy. But Isaac Childres built a world that is completely unique to Gloomhaven. The characters are all different and it feels like no fantasy that has been done before.

But it also doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be that. Let me give an example, theoretical, of how this works. It has characters who can heal, but they aren’t the cleric. It has better tanks, but they aren’t a barbarian for a fighter. Each of them does something that feels different than your classic D&D tropes. And it does that without making itself too confusing or convoluted. A lot of fantasy games go with grand fantasy names and a backstory that doesn’t matter that much.

ISS Vanguard

ISS Vanguard is a game that actually isn’t in my hands yet. It will be soon, but it isn’t yet. This does fall into that epic space game. But it isn’t so much the good versus evil that you end up with in Star Wars. It probably is closer to a Star Trek where there is more exploration.

But what feels different about this one is that exploration. You travel throughout this galaxy or area that you’ve decoded a signal to. The call is making you want to know more, but the directions are less clear. ISS Vanguard is all about exploring space and figuring out everything that is going on. Plus maintaining your ship, keeping crew happy, everything like that as well.

Etherfields

Etherfields is very much a world that is completely different than anything out there. A world where you dive into your dreams and nightmares and are exploring. This would again fall under fantasy, but in such a different way than your standard high fantasy settings or epic fantasy settings like Lord of the Rings.

Etherfields pivots a long ways away from the standard which I think is good. It is going to draw people in because it feels completely different. It doesn’t need to walk that line of fantasy that we know and the fantasy that it is. Being it’s own thing so completely means that it doesn’t need to build off of anything that we know.

Components

Components are another way that you can stand out. This could be a mountain of plastic minis, it could be amazing nature artwork, it could be a volcano. Whatever it is, when you flip over to the back of the box and see it, it catches your eyes. Some of these fall into the next category, the Gimmick, so I’ll talk about those then. But there are plenty of games that stand out because of the pieces that they have in the game.

Examples

Wingspan

Wingspan is an easy one to put on the list. Firstly, there is all of the amazing artwork. This is an example of a cover that immediately draws you in. But going along with that, it isn’t just on the cover. All the cards show off Beth Sobel’s artwork. And all of the birds are different, so there is a ton of artwork. Then you add in the eggs and the bird house dice tower. The game gives you great components.

Century: Golem Edition

Century: Golem Edition is another one that gives you amazing components. I wanted to come up with a game that has metal coins in the box, and Century does. And I could talk about the artwork here as well. But the artwork isn’t the other component that immediately draws you in. In Century Golem Edition you are collecting games. And the game pieces are vibrant and fun tactilely to play with. Collecting those and trading them around really makes the game stand out.

Marvel United

Finally, I mentioned minis, so if you want a game with a lot of minis, Marvel United is a way to go, especially if you backed the Kickstarter. Chibi minis might not be everyone’s style, but I enjoy them. And I think for a light, family weight, easily accessible board game, they work great. So if you get everything, you can play as whatever hero you want. And for a fan of the IP, that is easy for me to want them all.

Mechanics

Let’s not overlook mechanics. There are a number of games that come out with a mechanic that just feels different. Some of these again border on gimmick, but they are important to the game, and generally not the only game that uses them. But a slight twist on a mechanic can make a game stand out.

Examples

Cartographers

Cartographers does two things that I think make it unique for a roll and write game. The first is not totally unique to it. But the idea of how it scores. You score two things for spring, then one of those things and a new thing for summer. But when you get back to winter, you score one of your objectives from sprint again. So you kind of plan out your scoring a little bit as you go. And not everything scores every round. But also, you write on your opponents board as well as your own. When a monster comes out, you figure out the bad spot where to place it.

Gloom

Gloom is another example of two things, neither which is highly unique, but still are enjoyable. In Gloom you try for the fewest points possible. That is fairly unique. You want your family to die the worst deaths with the most negative points possible. Gloom also uses transparent cards. So you layer on these negative effects on your own or positive on your opponents. You still see your character through the cards, and the negatives that you’ve played before. Other games do this, but I enjoy it a lot in Gloom.

Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven makes the list in a couple of different categories. But for mechanics, it’s all about that card play that you do. You pick two cards to play. One you will use the top half, generally an attack. The other you will use the bottom half, generally movement. But you want to pick with flexibility. Because the situation at the start of a round, as monsters and other players go, might not be the same at the end of the round. Plus, it is just a dungeon crawl without chucking a handful of dice.

Gimmick

Another way is by a gimmick, and this is kind of the last one. Gimmicks in board games can be great, or they can hide the fact that there might not be much game there. So a gimmick can be a bit of a risk. There are three games I can think of passing on because I wasn’t sure about the gimmick in them. Two haven’t fulfilled yet from crowdfunding. The other one I backed the second time it was on there.

Examples

Canvas

Canvas uses that clear cards, something that I put in as a mechanic. But it is also a gimmick, one that is needed for some games. In Canvas, it is needed for the mechanics of the game as you try and layer symbols to complete pictures and score points. It also creates really wild pieces of artwork which counts for a lot as well. At least in terms of the fun of the game.

Potion Explosion

Position explosion on the other hand is really a toy piece in the game. A little chute that drops marbles down into a tray in different columns or paths. Then you pull out the marbles trying to get like colors to hit and collect those. And you put them on potions to make those positions. The whole thing of the game is there there is toy factor, but the game has a lot of fun game play as you combo potions you’ve made into being able to complete more potions.

Ice Cool

I probably could have put only dexterity based games on the list, but that isn’t fair. By their nature they tend to have more of a gimmick and more of that toy factor to them. Ice Cool, though, really stands out as having a gimmick to it because the boxes are the board. You take off the lid and there are more boxes inside. You put them together in such a way that you have a school. It is unique and fun.

Final Thoughts

Anything you can do to get a game noticed is probably not a bad thing. Though, some companies take it too far. It is important to put out a game first. But there are things that can be done, sometimes that are ignored, to make a game stand out more. And get more people to pick it up off a shelf to try and play it. That is really the most important first step is getting it in front of the people who will be interested.

What are some things that have made a game stand out to you? Any games that had the perfect packaging but then were a dud?

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Simple But Deep Board Games

10. Black Sonata

One of two solo games on the list. Black Sonata is about figuring out who the “dark lady” was in Shakespeare’s sonnets. But it is really fascinating because it is a solo game where the dark lady moves around in basically a hidden movement sort of way by an AI deck of cards.

What you do as a player is try and get ahead of the dark lady so that you can look for her, and basically find out clues about who she is not. So your turns are pretty simple. You move, or you search a location. But figuring out that pattern of where they are going is challenging. And then it is a Mastermind style puzzle, or so it feels, to figure out who the lady is. I really enjoy that puzzle aspect, but simple game to hit the table.

9. Century: Golem Edition (Or Spice Road)

This one is not a cheat having two games on it, Golem Edition and Spice Road are the same game. I prefer the Golem Edition because it looks better, and I like that. But this is a game that is about building up an engine of cards in your hand. But how you play is extremely simple. Mainly because you do a single action on your turn.

On your turn you pick up the cards you’ve played, you get a card, you play a card, or you get a golem. You never complete more than a single action a time. And turns fly because of that simplicity of all the actions and the single action. But when you get a card, how much you pay for it, how it works into your engine, all of those things make a very rich but simple game.

8. Quarto

This, I get is one that has depth to it but not one that I like. The game is pretty simple, you are trying to get four in a row. But you pick what piece your opponent is going to play. So you want to give them something that’ll set-up you with the options that they have left to give you. It’s a cool idea that I enjoyed the couple of times that I played it, but it didn’t grab me enough.

Still, for a lot of people, this is going to give them that feeling of outthinking their opponent in a game. Basically making your opponent give you a win. But all you are doing is either placing a piece of picking one for your opponent to place.

7. Potion Explosion

This one is maybe one of the less simple on the list. But what you do on your turn, or at least on every turn is very basic. You pull a marble and then any like colors that hit. Then you put them into a potion, trying to complete them. That is very simple and fun action for a turn.

But where the game is more complex or offers interesting decisions is when you get your potions done. Now they give you powers, and how or when you use a power offers great decision making space. Especially when you can chain a few potions together to complete a potion and then use that potion to complete another potion. It offers that nice combo and cleverness feel a game with depth in it’s decision making should give you.

6. The Fox in the Forest

I could have a number of trick taking games on the list. Matcha, The Fox in the Forest Duet, and others, but I just put The Fox in the Forest on the list. This is a two player trick taking game where you are trying to take some tricks, but not too many. Because if you “shoot the moon” you get no points. And if you just get a few tricks, but slightly too many, it reduces your points a lot.

It becomes a question of how you can give your opponent just enough tricks so that they score poorly and you can score well. Or to trick them into taking all of the tricks. And since it isn’t a one and done sort of game, it allows you to develop more strategy based off of your opponent as time goes on.

5. Letter Jam

Letter Jam is almost a party word game. But it isn’t because you need to figure out how to give good clues. Let me explain, in Letter Jam everyone has a scrambled word in front of them, or the letters for it. Unscrambling wouldn’t be too bad if you could see the letters. But you can’t see your own.

Instead, you have one facing away from you that everyone else can see. And they give clues, in the form of a word, by putting down chips in front of other people’s letters to help you. For example, if I have an R in front of me and someone else has an F, O, and M, you could give the clue FROM or FORM. But one clue is better than the other because FORM could be FOAM as well. So how do you give the best clue to get people to know their letter?

And everyone needs to give clues too. So that adds to the challenge. I have a word, you have a word, and everyone does. So you need to give clues to help me, and I need to give to help you. It’s a very clever design that seems simple to start, but offers a lot of depth.

4. Floriferous

A drafting game, kind of, a set collection game, and a game where you are building up different scoring things. But how you draft is what makes this game so clever and gives it depth. Turn order for each round of drafting, since you pick from a limited set separately, is based off of the person who took the highest thing from a column the time before.

Let me explain that a bit more, in a two player game you have three rows. Two or them are flowers and one is a scoring card. The scoring card is always at the bottom. If I pick-up the scoring card, for my pick, that means that next time, since I’m at the bottom of the column, I pick last. So if there is something I really want in the next column, I would want to pick the highest thing in the column, just to guarantee I go first next time. But if you don’t get enough scoring cards, now you aren’t scoring many points.

3. Under Falling Skies

The next solo only game on the list. A few can be played solo, Under Falling Skies is a combination of Space Invaders meets Independence Day. That it in and of itself sounds pretty cool. But how does it play, what is simple about it. The game is basically rolling a bunch of dice and placing them so that one is in each column to activate things. That is pretty straight forward for what you are going to do.

The depth comes in with how you place the dice. The higher the number, the more the alien ship in that column descends. And if too many hit land you lose the game. So you need to blow them up, and you can do that by putting dice onto attack spots. But that then eats up other things you can do, and that also causes a ship to descend.

So you need to think not only about what power the die is going to give, higher means more, but also what it does to the ships. And you also still only have one die per column. And once you place it, it locks in. So if you aren’t careful, you end up placing a dice in a less than ideal spot with your last placement.

2. Calico

The top two were two that I instantly thought of. Calico is a very simple game with massive brain burning tendencies. In Calico you are making a calico quilt to get cats to sleep on your quilt. You score points by getting like colors adjacent for buttons. Patterns in certain groupings to attacks cats. And finally there are scoring tiles on the quilt that give you points based off of both pattern and color combinations.

That is a fair amount for scoring, but your turn is simple. On your turn you place a quilt tile onto your board and take one of the three available. But because the scoring overlap where you’ll use tiles for a button or cat in your quilt scoring. You really need to think through and plan out what you want to do. It’s a brain burner of a game. But I love it, and I love the limiting it puts on you, so you might be hoping for that one last tile you need to get pulled from the bag.

1. Hanamikoji

Instantly thought of this game, Hanamikoji is a simple game but such a brain burner. You want to win the favor of Geisha by giving them gifts. That isn’t that complex an idea, and the game gives you actions that you take to put gifts in front of the Geisha. But how you do that creates a fascinating puzzle of a game.

You must do all of the four different abilities. So whether that is putting one face down that you use at the end of the round, or discarding two face down that only you know are hidden, that limits what you know and your opponent. Plus then the other two actions are much trickier to figure out. You need to give your opponent the choice of one of three cards, you use the other two. Or two sets of two, they get one, you get the one they don’t pick.

And while those decisions are very tricky to make. There are so few of them that it doesn’t make the game too complex to play. You’ll just be worried about what is going to give your opponent what they need. And try and read their brain to see what it seems like they have.

Final Thoughts

I think I had about 25 games in my list that I sorted. There are some games that once I was further into them that are big games that now I realize are pretty simple. I’m going to mention Gloomhaven and Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift. These two didn’t make the list that I sort, but once you learn the core loop of the game, the card play in Gloomhaven and Rondel with card play in Perdition’s Mouth, they aren’t that difficult.

But that is only once you get to that point. Because if you play either of those games enough, you just know what the status effects do. But to get to that point with either of those games is going to take time. You need to learn the symbols and learn the game. But the core loops are simple and give great depth of game play. So they don’t quite make the list, but could fall into that category.

Just missing were the likes of Photosynthesis, Sonora, Hats, and Orchard. All of them have pretty simple base mechanics. But the optimize what you are doing and your scoring, you need to think a few steps ahead.

What are some of your favorite simple but deep games?

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Casting Shadows from Unstable Games

Casting Shadows is going to be a battling game for two to four players. Players are going to gather cards, summon companions and sling spells in a strategic game. This is from the company that brought Here to Slay and Unstable Unicorns. I haven’t played either of those games and they aren’t high on my radar. But I always checkout the games because the artwork on Here to Slay is great, and same with Casting Shadows.

What interests me less about the game is the style of game that it is. I am always only so interested in skirmish style games. Especially where the game seems to be focused most on slinging spells and knocking out your opponent. I own Super Fantasy Brawl in the genre, and it gives me ease of game and objectives. It reminds me in some ways of a combination of Magic: The Gathering and Super Fantasy Brawl. I own both, so the artwork isn’t enough to bring me in. This is a Brick for me.

Fire For Light from Greenbrier Games

Greenbrier Games is another well known company. They’ve done some fun games like Folklore: The Affliction, Grimslingers, and Champions of Hara. This one feels different than some of their other games. Fire For Light is a narrative driven cooperative game. They have done stuff like that before, but the polish of this game seems less than their other games.

That said, I do like that this is supposed to be a light, fast to the table narrative driven campaign game. A lot of campaign games end up with a million little pieces and take forever to set-up. Fire For Light looks like it should be faster. And it offers character leveling. I also like that Fire For Light is a 15 game campaign. You saw Sleeping Gods played over 10 sessions, I like some shorter campaigns right now. That said, it is still a campaign game, and how many do I need? This is going to be another Brick for me.

Jurrasic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar by Prospero Hall

Dive into the world of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. Build up your dinosaur islands, create new dinosaurs and hope that things don’t go wrong. That’s the hole of Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar anyways. This is a big cooperative legacy game from Prospero Hall who has done a lot of work with Target for games before, but this game is too big and expensive for a mass market store. So it is coming to Kickstarter, and I expect to see it show up at local game stores as well.

Obviously, the main thing that draws me in is it being a legacy game. Whenever someone says Legacy I am going to be interested. But, I am also interested in it because of the dinosaur theme. There have been a lot of games that promise dinosaurs from Dinosaur Island, Dinogenics, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, Welcome To Dinoworld, and more recently. But this is the first truly Jurassic Park one.

I like that about it, but there isn’t much that is Kickstarter exclusive. Yes, this game might be harder to find when it comes to retail, but what’s the added benefit of backing it? Apparently they are looking to address that, but until they do this is a game I will get, but at retail.

Mercurial by Hyperlixer

This one I don’t know nearly as much about as some of them. It hit my radar because of the artwork and someone telling me about it. Which, I mean, other people being interested in a game makes it more interesting to me. I like it when I don’t have to fully vet everything myself. And then great artwork that is going to draw me in even more. I don’t know much about Hyperlixir as a company, so while I don’t think it is a big risk that this is never going to fulfill, expect it to be later than the estimated date.

Mercurial seems like it might be some of an engine building game, at least to some level. I almost get a bit of a Century game vibe to it, Spice Road or Golem Edition. The game appears to have you adding in cards to your hand and rotating those cards to get different resources, then using those resources to complete bigger cards. It’s a system that looks interesting, but I’m not quite sold on it yet, so right now it’s a Brick for me, but one I want to look into more.

Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders by Druid City Games

So, while this is in the same world as Tidal Blades, it is a very different game. This is a dungeon crawler versus that was a dice upgrading and engine building game. Druid City Games, is also an established company and definitely makes very pretty looking games. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders is definitely the interesting part of this campaign to me. Cypher System RPG is great for some people, but I am sticking with D&D for my RPG’s.

What interests me a lot in the dungeon crawler is how you activate. This building action as you play down cards to a grid and when you get full rows or columns they activate for a big action, wipe, and you build up again. I see this an interesting puzzle, but I wonder about the downtime between the big actions. That said, this looks like a deluxe game, even if you don’t pledge at the minis level. And the character progression and the different paths you need to keep track of is cool to me. It has a lot going on that I like in a campaign game.

But, that said, it is also a campaign game. That means that it will take a while to play. And Druid City Games, and what they have done before, they generally do see some level of retail. I’m tempted to wait on this one, but it’s teetering whether or not this is a Back or Brick for me, right now it’s a Brick because of upcoming games, but I really want to get it at some point in time.

Ares Expedition: Discovery – Foundations – Crisis from Stronghold Games

So, when the original game that this is expanding upon came out it was called Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition. The game, from what I know, plays different than Terraforming Mars, but is similar in some ways. It appears for this Kickstarter they are focusing on the fact it is a different game. That might have made it more interesting or better set expectations for some gamers the first time.

There are three expansions for this game that they are doing. You’ll be able to get all of them later, but the big draw of buying it now is getting dual layer boards, as an add-on, if you want, and the fact it comes in a big box. The big box means that you can store everything, including the base game, more easily. And that’s the most tempting reason to back it.

Discovery adds in awards and and milestones. Those are interesting, but less interesting than the upgraded phase cards. In the base game you all have the same phase cards that add extra powers if you play down that phase. The upgraded phase cards means that my cards can become more unique as th game goes on.

Crisis adds in a cooperative mode. Basically, Mars has been terraformed and now things are happening to undo all our hard work. Can we keep up as bad things keep happening. It’s an interesting add to the game.

Foundations is a 5-6 player expansion, so you can play with more. Plus it adds in an infrastructure track and 20 project cads that you can work on for that track.

Right now, I think I will end up backing this one. But I am waiting on it. Out of all of them it’s the most likely to be a Back for me. Mainly having a big box that will store the base game and expansions sounds great.

Crowdfunding Madness Final Thoughts

There are so many games that came out this week. I know that there are some others that I haven’t looked into as much because they didn’t jump out at me. But there are a strong six games here, so let’s go through quickly and rank my least to most likely to back.

6: Casting Shadows – Great artwork, not my style of game.

5: Fire for Light – Looks like a light campaign game and some interesting things, but it’s campaign and the aesthetic doesn’t draw me in.

4: Mercurial – I need to look into it more, I hope it’s hand/engine building, but I don’t know. Also, I have games like that.

3: Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders – Game looks gorgeous and I really am intrigued by the building up rows and columns for actions.

2: Ares Expedition – Discovery -Crisis – Foundations – I really like the base game, so expansions are almost a no brainer. The only thing is, do I need the big box, that’s the main reason to back it on Kickstarter.

1: Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar – It’s a legacy game, it’s a cooperative game, and it’s a dinosaur game. But right now while I know I will buy it sometime, I don’t need to back on Kickstarter to get a fancy sleeve.

Which one are you most interested in?

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Different Types of Board Game Versions

I think it’s good to talk about the different types of versions you can find within these board game reprints. To me, there are three different categories of board games game reprints or versions that can happen. There might be more, but these are the three that stand out. A board game could also just get reprinted as it was before, but that really isn’t a change from what I already might own.

• The Updated Look Reprint
• Same Game New Theme
• Version 2.0

The Updated Look Reprint

This type of reprint is going to give you the same game that you had before. The game itself is getting a new look and feel to it. So this is something like the different editions of Pandemic that have come out. And while it isn’t a reprint, this is kind of what Pandemic Legacy does with season 1 and season 2, they each are available in two different options of box colors. Those box colors mean nothing to what is in the game.

A reprint like this happens most often when a game has been out for a while. It starts to look dated and people are buying it less. So even though it’s a classic or popular game, it needs a reprint to get it into the hands of more people.

Why might you want to get a reprint? It might get the game to the table more. If the artwork and aesthetic are better, people might be more willing to play it. Or if you old version of the game is well played, then you might want to get a new copy of the game and the new artwork and aesthetic might make sense versus tracking down an old copy.

Same Game New Theme

The game also doesn’t change or change much in this sort of version or reprint. It is more of a new version of the game though. The easiest example of this comes from CMON and all their different versions of Zombicide. You have Zombicide, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide Green Horde, Zombicide Invaders, Zombicide Undead or Alive. They might do a minor tweak to the rules to improve them ore make them more thematic, but the games generally stay the same.

This again helps sell more games because some people like other themes better. This is true for myself, Undead or Alive with zombies and an old west theme is way more interesting than orcs in Green Horde. And the same with the just standard version of the game, it interests me less. This also is why I have Century: Golem Edition instead of Century: Spice Road. The theme makes a difference to if I want to play the game.

So, I think this is a better reason to get a new version of a game. For me, I could have backed Zombicide 2.0 when that came out, the updated version, but the theme wasn’t interesting. I almost backed Zombicide Invaders, but theme didn’t grab me as much. So depending on your group a new theme might make a game more interesting for getting to the table.

Version 2.0

This type of version doesn’t change the theme, most likely, though it might. And it keeps the core of the game the same as was before, but it tries to improve upon the game that already existed. Lords of Hellas to Lords of Ragnarok is kind of a Version 2.0 of a game. Some of the original DNA is in the game, and while the theme changed, it is going to feel similar to at least some extent.

Another example of this would be Galaxy Trucker getting a new version. Galaxy Trucker, the original, was played over building your ship and flying three times. Each time you build a new ship and then go off flying through space. The new version gives you that option, but you can also play the game just doing the building and flight once. That drastically shortens the game time. Or any game that Restoration Games does like Downforce or Return To Dark Tower could be 2.0 versions of a game.

This is the one that I’m much more likely to want and I think that a lot of people want. A 2.0 version should improve your gaming experience not just because the looks or theme have changed. It should make the game more streamlined, better balanced, less obtuse rules, generally better in some meaningful way. Now, not everyone will like the changes, but the goal is that the game should be more accessible overall.

So Get A Version 2.0 Board Game?

Not always will you want to get that, because you can ask yourself a few questions. Will I play it over the version 1.0? Can I bring the new rules back to the old version? Do I play this game enough to need a new version or two versions? Do the changes improve it for me?

Let me use Lords of Ragnarok as an example for this, because I’m questioning this right now for myself. The game is backed, but I’m not sure if I’ll keep it because I have Lords of Hellas and do I really need both, even though Lords of Ragnarok does change up the system.

Will I Play It Over Version 1.0?

This one is tough, I have a lot of stuff for Lords of Hellas, which I mean, you get with any Awaken Realms crowdfunding. And I have played a solid chunk of it, but not all of it. So I do have stuff in version 1.0, Lords of Hellas, to explore still. But, Lords of Ragnarok is also a different enough experience that I suspect I’d play both of them. Gone is questing, one whole way of winning the game has been removed. The end game doesn’t trigger on a monument being built but Ragnarok.

There are a lot of different things that make me think I’d play both games. Lords of Ragnarok even has a tighter board, so you’re going to be in each others way more often and there should be more conflict between pieces on the board. This might be a 2.0 version of Lords of Hellas, but there are certainly a good amount of changes to the game.

Can I Bring The New Rules To The Old Version?

This one is easy to answer, no. The whole Ragnarok end game trigger is not something you could bring into Lords of Hellas easily.

Do I Play This Game Enough To Need New/Two Versions?

I put the word need in there, but that’s really more want. I love the Vikings and Norse Mythology theme, so I want Lords of Ragnarok for that. And I also think that this will feel enough like a different game that they will feel different. Dropping one way to win a game is a lot, and they changed up an end game trigger. So I am not sure I need two versions because of them, but mechanically I can see keeping both of them on my shelf.

Do The Changed Improve It For Me?

This I wonder about. BoardGameCo and Quackalope have done some content on this. And I’m slightly concerned, but this is also Awaken Realms and they have a very good track record for me. It seems like Lords of Ragnarok has pulled back on some of the things that can make you unique. I really love that about Lords of Hellas. Now, Awaken Realms might be looking at that feedback. And the more things that are unlocked in the Gamefound campaign, the more likely it’ll have more things to make you unique.

But also the end game trigger changing, I like that. One knock that people had on the previous game, Lords of Hellas, was that you’d only get one monument on the board. And that was on the board for the last three rounds of the game because it was the game end trigger. Lords of Ragnarok seems to encourage that building more. The game no longer ends on that but on Ragnarok. Though, even Ragnarok sounded like it might need tweaking or better selection for how fast it’ll trigger.

You can see how it might be a tough decision. For a new theme, I just keep the game that I like the theme of better. For a new edition/printing of a game if the rules haven’t changed, I don’t even care. Even something like Galaxy Trucker, I have my version, I don’t need the new one. But this is so much tougher because the games are different enough, and from a company that I love their stuff.

So Do You Get A New Version?

This is really one of those things that you need to decide. Even after laying out everything, pros/cons, comparison between theme and changes, I still don’t know if I’ll keep my Lords of Ragnarok pledge. Will I like the game, most likely. Will I be able to sell the game if I don’t like it for what I paid for it, most likely. But when a new version or new edition of a game comes out, don’t assume that it’s always going to be better as well, or that your old version isn’t worth it anymore.

Way out the pros and cons of the new version. Even if it’s just an artwork update, that might be enough to get the new printing of a game. Or a new theme if it gets it to your table more often. Generally I try and consider that as the biggest factor. Will I get this new version to the table more.

How do you decide to get a new version or printing of a game?

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The Problem

So, there is a reason that I want to talk about this. This is something that I’ve been harping on for a little bit with people who are entrenched in the hobby game scene. We often forget what it was like to start playing board games. I know that I don’t love a game like Splendor anymore. Why, because I’ve played it enough times and it doesn’t offer enough variety for me. But Splendor is a great game to introduce people to.

It’s common to kind of turn up a nose at Catan now. And I get it, there are a million different versions and expansions of games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Munchkin, all games that a lot of people got started. I don’t get excited when they announce a new version of Catan, but again, Catan is a game that got so many people into the hobby.

And all of those games, we played them a number of times. It wasn’t like we played them only once. I played Catan probably 20 times at least while I was getting board games. The same goes for Ticket to Ride. I can’t even begin to think about how many times I played games like Skip-Bo, Dutch Blitz, Uno, and more while growing up. But now that I’m a game, there is a temptation to push people along fast.

So What Is the Right Pace?

Unfortunately, that depends on the perspective gamer. Some people move through games like Catan really fast. Others never stop playing Catan. Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t introduce new games, but it means that there is no perfect formula.

How Do You Know When?

1. Ask the person
   It can be as simple as that and it should be as simple as that. The person you play the game with, ask them. They might say no, and that is okay. Play those introductory games longer.
2. How often do they win
   Not everyone knows when they are ready to try a new game. So another sign can be how often the other player wins. If the person wins most half the time or often enough, maybe introduce a new game. Ideally one with similar mechanics but I’ll get to that more.
3. Amount/how often you play the game
   This might be the biggest one. Now not everyone wants to play a game all the time. But if you go from playing a game a lot to playing a game less, it might mean that they are ready for another game. They know the game and now they want to try something new.

What Do You Play Next?

This is another big question that you need to answer. What game are you going to play with them next. Now, I’ll point you back to that Top 10 list that I linked at the top and streamed yesterday. I think there are a lot of good options in there. But that doesn’t answer the question fully.

To do that there are a few things that you need to think about, the most important being, what do they like about the games they know? Do they like being really competitive, work that direction. Maybe they like solving a puzzle, lean that direction.

Let’s actually take a dive and look at Catan. What all does Catan have in it? Catan has resource management. It has city/route building. It has a luck to it and probability. Which of those elements does the person like? Let’s work off of my list of games from yesterday.

Resource Management

Century Golem Edition would be my top choice. It has you manipulating your resources more than Catan does, but you are pushing for certain groups of gems to get your Golem. And there is more control over what you are getting as compared to what Catan does. This will cut down on the randomness and add in more strategy for a Catan player.

City/Route Building

I think that Draftosaurus would make some sense for this one. You are collecting different groups of things, but it is fairly different. I also think that Marvel United oddly enough could be interesting or The Lost Expedition. You aren’t building your own city or route. But working together you are creating a chain of things, either actions or a path you take. But Draftosaurus would probably be the best.

The Odds

Sagrada would seem like the likely option. It has the dice rolling in it, but I’m not sure I’d put that at the top. In think that Silver might actually be best. With that game it has a bit more push your luck to it. And I think that is what some people like with the odds. So both Silver and Sagrada would be great options for the next step on that side of things for Catan.

So you can see how different games might work better. I think the big thing is give options, but not too many. And talk about what they like or maybe don’t like as well about a game when picking the one for the next step. And expect to play that next game a few times. I have friends who I can pull out a new game with them every time I play, but new gamers, those aren’t the people to do that with.

What do you do to pick a game? Any tried and true tips that you have for helping new gamers try new games?

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Why No Modern Classics?

I talk about it some in the video, but a quick recap. Modern classics like Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Small World, Carcassonne, and King of Tokyo are great. But you can find most of those without much problem. A lot of people who are interested in hobby gaming have already played the likes of Catan and Ticket to Ride, and the rest.

As a gamer, that means that I don’t need to do that work anymore. I don’t have to show people that next small step up from games like Clue, Scrabble, and more. People already know that next level of game, at least in name and a lot of time in play. So I wanted to make a list of other games you could get in front of people.

The Drink

So, from Sociable Cider Werks I had a dry apple cider. Now, it isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. Why, because it is too sweet for me. I went on a little bit of a rant how there are a lot of ciders out there that claim to be dry, but cider as a whole is so much sweeter now. I get that a lot of people like sweet ciders, but I like a really good dry cider that has a solid acidic bite to it. And this is a common issue, so not something that just Sociable Cider Werks has an issue with, but almost all cider companies do this.

The List

Alright, if you don’t have time to watch the video (please still give it a thumbs up), let’s see everything that made the list.

10. The Lost Expedtion

9. Homebrewers

8. Silver

7. Marvel United

6. Draftosaurus

5. Point Salad

4. Century Golem Edition

3. Potion Explosion

2. Sushi Go Party!

1. Sagrada

Which of these games would you use for a new gamer, or which one would you want to try?

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