Top 10 New To Me Board Games of 2025

10. Schadenfreude

One of the few games that I didn’t play first or only play on Board Game Arena (BGA). Schadenfreude is a trick taking game but one with some weird rules. You want to be second in the game. If you win the trick you aren’t getting the points. Instead whomever comes in second gets the trick and scores their card and any that don’t follow suit. Some cards are going to give you positive points and some are going to be worth negative points.

But what I really love beyond that with the game is that as you get points you are trying to get as close to 40 total points as you can. This is something that might take a few hands. But the game is over in the hand where someone goes over forty points. If you go over forty points, you lose the game, you can’t win anymore, instead it’s the person who is the closest without going over who is the winner of the game. It’s a neat little twist on trick taking.

9. Pirates of Maracaibo

The biggest of the board games on the list just in terms of what is going on, Pirates of Maracaibo is the first of three games that I just always have a game of going on BGA. That’s because I constantly play it with one other person and it’s just always going. I love it when I come across someone who wants to keep playing a game so I can really learn it.

Pirates of Maracaibo is all about being a pirate, getting treasure, hiring crew, upgrading your ship, and exploring lands. There is a lot going, but almost all of it is pretty simple to learn and play. There are a few things that I want to get better at with the game, and that one person, I still haven’t beaten them. But I have gotten close so I think I will one day. But the game, when you know it, is thinky but fast to play and I really enjoy the theme and different strategies in the game.

8. Space Base

I owned Space Base and then I sold Space Base, why because I wasn’t playing it. I like to try a game before I sell them, but I just wasn’t playing it. And I had played games like Machi Koro and Valeria and those were fine. Then I played it on BGA and now I love it. I love it so much that I got it back into my collection and I have played it already.

The game is roll dice, activate spots, get income, buy cards and upgrade those spots. But I really like how as you play, you improve what you do on your opponents turn. When you upgrade a spot, the old cards flip vertically and now they activate a different ability on your opponents turn. And it is a race to see who can get points the fastest.

There are some trickier cards to teach in the game. But I think you can teach them as they come up. And once you know the handful of basic cards, the game is easy to play. And I like it a bunch more than Machi Koro which is fun, but feels slightly limited. This one feels like it was created with more purpose.

7. Symbiose

The second of three games that I have a standing game on BGA. Symbiose reminds me of games like Silver or games that I grew up playing with a deck of cards. In those you start with face down cards and you want to get rid of them and get rid of points. In this case, you start with face down cards and you want to build out an optimized scoring set-up.

I love how scoring works in this game. It’s a two by four grid, so two high and four wide. And the middle four cards, the middle two in each row, they are the ones that score for you. So the scoring on the bottom half of the card is what matters. And they score your whole grid. But to the left and right, those score your opponents to your left and right. So you need to decide when you flip those cards over and swap them. It’s simple but such a fun game.

6. The Guild of Merchant Explorers

I thought at one point that The Guild of Merchant Explorers could end up as #1 on this list. It is the game that I have played the most thus far this year. And that is because I love it on BGA. I often set-up a number of two player games because they go really fast and you don’t feel like you lose anything. Plus I play with a group of two others where we just have a standing game. So when one game ends a new one begins.

Watch me play it below and see if it’s for you. But I love how simple it is once you know how the game works. I think it’s even a very simple teach.

5. Kingdom Legacy: Feudal Kingdom

You saw me play through this on Malts and Meeples. And you can catch-up on that and watch it down below. This is a solo legacy game where you want to build out the best kingdom possible. You flip out cards and then you spend those cards to upgrade other cards. It’s all about managing your deck and setting it up so that you gain stronger actions. Of course there is a lot that you want to manage and you decide what scoring and what paths you go down in the game. I already bought another copy to play it again.

4. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

Do you love Lord of the Rings, this game is steeped in theme. Do you love trick-taking? Well this one is cooperative and pretty different in how it plays. Because you play through The Fellowship of the Ring with different characters depending on where you are in the book. And each character is going to want to win tricks in a different way, maybe a certain number of tricks, maybe a certain suit. So it is very tricky and changing and works really well. I want to dive into this more with a group of people.

The one thing I will say is that I think that The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game is not an introduction to trick taking. It is a very good game, but because there isn’t communication you need to have some idea of how trick taking works. It is too easy, otherwise to just repeat the same chapter over and over again. Because like a game like Euchre, you want to tell your teammate, in this case everyone that you have or don’t have.

3. Zenith

Zenith is a great two player game where you are battling for favor on planets. But there is more going on with it than just that. I really like how you battle for one of three different planet victory conditions. You can gain favor three times from one planet, once from four different planets, or five total favor tokens. But you do that by card play to gain favor, going up a technology track, and then spending cards to manage other things like gaining more income or more cards on your side of the board.

I really feel like every time that I play Zenith the game is different. And that is what I love about it so much. I don’t feel like I found a strategy that is going to work every time. I sometimes go for all favor from a single planet by playing cards. Or I might try and get a lot of technology/research done and manipulate the board that way. But the game is really good at making you adapt as you go and it is tense as you battle for favor with your opponent.

2. Clank! Catacombs

The last two are kind of “cheats” so to speak. Clank! Catacombs is just a new version of Clank a game that I already know I love. This push your luck deck building game is really now just modular. The game does change in a few other ways but it is mainly that it now adds in a modular board. And I like that element that the game is going to be different each time you play it. In base Clank you might find your optimized path and strategy. Here the game is going to be different each time. And you decide how it is going to be different based off of how you explore it.

1. Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men

It’s almost unfair to have this on the list. I know that I love Marvel. And I know that I love dice Throne. So of course I love the combination. But it’s still new to me this year and I still really enjoy it. Plus I get to play as Gambit which is always a win for me. I won’t spend much more time on it than that because you know what Dice Throne, battle Yahtzee with special powers and cards. But yes, the new X-Men stuff is good. And I’m excited for even more of it to be coming in.

The Whole List

Thoughts on the Board Games Outside of the Top 10

I like most of the board games that I’ve played new this year. I think that beyond maybe the bottom 11 of them I want to play most of them again. Karvi is an interesting one and it’s on that edge. I played it once and I need to play it more. But I’m not 100% sure that I understood everything and I messed up my first play. There is an interesting track where you go around and take your actions. But you can go as far forward as you want. I didn’t understand where the starting point . So I’m not sure if it is a game that I’ll love or not.

But just outside the Top 10 I want to highlight a few board games. I just wrote my review for Scratch & Catch, which is #17 and I think the game is a really fun filler game. I like the different strategies and plans that players can have in the game. Also Knister and #13 is such a simple roll and write game, but while it is very lucky, as a lot of roll and write games are, I think it’s a very good one to play.

And one final one because I’m not sure where it will and is Apiary. Right now it is sitting very much in the middle at #36. But I think it could rise. I also think it could drop. I just don’t know because I need to play it in person. And when I play it in person that means that I need to learn the rules better so I can teach it. And it feels like a game where nothing is too complex but there is a lot going on. So that is a bit intimidating for the teach.

Final Thoughts

My goal at the start of the year was to learn 50 new board games. I’m well past that at this point. And I plan now to shoot for 100 new board games. If I keep up a pace of 1 per week I won’t quite make it there. But already this week I learned three new board games, all of them on the list. So it isn’t like I’m running behind on that and running behind on learning new board games.

That is a new game that you really have loved this year? It doesn’t have to be from 2025, it just needs to be a new game for you. Let me know that down in the comment section below.

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What’s Deck Building and List Criteria

Deck building is when in a game you are adding cards to a deck or cards that you then draw and play from. IT is not a game where you build a custom deck to start and no cards are added during the game to that deck of cards. This eliminates games like Arkham Horror The Card Game, Marvel Champions and Star Wars Unlimited from being on the list.

For this list, one of the important elements is that it needs to matter in the game. There are some games where you maybe add a card or two during the game. Those aren’t going to be making the list. I’ll talk in each about how much the deck building matters in the game.

Top 10 Deck Building Games

10. The Quest for El Dorado

The Quest for El Dorado is the only deck building racing game that I have on the list. In fact, I’m not sure that I can think of any. Heat can have a drafting element before the rest to kind of create some deck construction, but that’s it.

This one is all about getting to El Dorado as quickly as you can with your explorer. You play out cards matching terrains to be able to move along. And there are big blocks of different terrains, so you build up your deck one way and then you need to be able to pivot away from that or not get so deep in that because you need to get cards for the next terrain type as well.

One of the cool thing about this game is that as you empty out piles or cards, the next player picks what new stack of cards is going to go into that pile. It creates this interesting element where the players are the ones who set the market.

9. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle is the one campaign game on the list. Though there are two more that offer campaign modes. But this one is only a campaign game where you play through the books of the Harry Potter series. It’s a fun game as you add new spells to your deck and you balance getting cards to get better spells and getting spells to help deal with the threats that can start to pile up.

There is a negative to this game. While it does offer cool unlocks of new things that are added for each book, there are also the same bad guys. So each time you play there are more and more bad guys. Now your deck should be getting more powerful because of the added cards, but you don’t carry anything over. So while I enjoy this game, it’s not one that stuck in my collection because it’s not too fast.

8. Knights of the Hound Table

Knights of the Hound Table is a game that I need to get played again. After playing it at Gen Con I decided I should pick it up. This game is an interesting little game where you are adding dog knights to your deck and them facing them off against your opponent.

You play out three cards each turn and depending on how the fight goes, that is going to determine who gets to buy first and who is gaining points in the game. Each card is going to give you something special. The ones on either end of the three you play give you attack and defense, respectively. Then the one in the middle is going to give you a special power of some sort (I believe I have that order correct). So it becomes an interesting little game of how you can manipulate your hand of cards to get a winning combination out there.

7. Hero Realms

Hero Realms is another two player head to head game, or it can be solo/cooperative against a boss/enemy deck. But I like this game a lot as a two player head to head game. You are trying to whittle down the other players health.

To do this you are playing out troops and they can either attack your opponent, assuming there is no enemy troop who forces you to attack them first. Plus there are other cards that offer more than just troops. Some of it might be money to buy more cards. Or you might be healing up and keeping ahead of your opponent that way.

The game also has a lot of expansions. I really like to use the characters for the game. Each character is going to provide a slightly different starting set-up and some powers that you can use throughout the game. It is going to give you a bit more of that asymmetrical experience while keeping the goal the same.

6. Ascension

Ascension is the most straightforward of the deck building games on the list. It is about grabbing cards, fighting monsters, and getting points. It’s one of two deck building games that I would consider great spots to get into deck building that I’ve played. The other being Dominion. But I don’t like Dominion that well and I think that it struggles more disparity in player experience.

There are three big things that I like better about Ascension. Firstly there are monsters. So it is not just about buying cards to get the victory point cards, you also want to buy troops to fight the monsters and get victory points from killing them. You also have a changing market. By that I mean that when a monster is defeated or a card is bought a new random one is flipped out. Finally are the constructs which stay in play. They give you a bonus that keeps going from round to round, unless your opponent destroys them.

5. Mistborn

Now we move onto the newest game on the list. Mistborn is a competitive deck building game to see who can be the best Mistborn. Or you can play it cooperatively against the Lord Ruler. You can see that cooperative style of game on the Malts and Meeples YouTube and down below.

Both ways work well for the game. And while it is a deck building game, the game offers some very unique things. The big one is that it pulls in burning metals like they do in the Mistborn books. And as you go through the game you get better at burning metals. That means that you can burn more on your turn which means that you can play more cards.

I also like that you can burn the metal on a card to play another card. It offers just a little bit more strategy. And I mentioned leveling up. The game is great with that because you level up each turn. And sometimes you can play cards to make that move faster. But it means that you feel more powerful and also can push the end game faster as you get further into the game. So it doesn’t stagnate in what you can do.

4. Clank! (All Versions)

This spot on the list includes Clank! The Adventure Deck Building Game, Clank! In! Space! and Clank! Catacombs. I recommend if you are starting out, get Clank! Catacombs. That is the newest one but all of the games generally follow the same system. The system is get into the dungeon/spaceship, grab a big treasure and get out.

Clank! is a deck building game that is competitive again, I have one more competitive one on the list. But what you can do to mess with other players is limited. Instead, your big concerns are making too much noise, clank, and then the monster drawing them out of the bag and damaging you and knocking you out before you can get out.

The deck building is all about pushing further into the dungeon. You want to grab cards that are going to let you move. But you also need cards to deal with the monsters or get coins to buy from other markets and grab points that way. The game gives you a lot of ways to get points while also giving you a very nice push your luck feel as you try and race back out once you’ve gotten your treasure. Because when people grab treasure that is going to push the game closer to the end.

3. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Lost Ruins of Arnak is the game on the list that is way more than just a deck building game. And you don’t always draw a ton of cards in the game. So as you build your deck, you might find that you only see cards one or two times. But the deck building is important in this game, as is the worker placement and resource gathering.

Let’s mainly talk about the cards. The cards are always going to augment what you can do in the game. There are two different types that I like as well. There are goods cards which you can buy, and they go to the bottom of your draw pile. So for a game with only a few turns it means that you see those cards quickly. And then there are relic cards that you get to use immediately, without paying their cost and then discard.

I had someone explain them to me this way. Relics are things you find while you explore the Lost Ruins. So it makes sense you can use them right away. The goods, though, are being shipped over to your expedition. So they take a bit more to get to you.

2. Xenoshyft: Onslaught

Xenoshyft: Onslaught is one of my favorite deck building games and just games overall. The first part I guess I didn’t need to say, really. But I love how cooperative this game is. And the final two deck building games on the list are cooperative.

In Xenoshyft, you are battling waves off bug aliens who want to destroy your base. So it is really a tower defense game. And each player has their own side of the tower that they defend against. But the total health of the tower, that is shared across all the players and all sides of the base.

There are a few things that make me love this game. Firstly, the game feeds you money. For each wave you get through you get more and more money. And that corresponds with unlocking better and better troops. So you are always able to buy troops.

I also love how cooperative this game is. I use my cards like grenades or healing on your turn defending the tower. In fact, we talk through that and work through that all together. But there is more than that. Maybe you didn’t draw enough troops because you have a lot or armor. Well, I can just play a troop your side of the base and now that is your card. Or maybe you have an extra weapon. You can equip that card to one of my troops and now that stays in my deck.

1. Aeon’s End

The final game on the list is cooperative and it has a campaign. I love Aeon’s End, and there is a ton of it to choose from. This game is all about surviving a big boss fight. And the bosses, called nemesis, all are slightly different. And the mages that you play, they are all slightly different as well. So your strategy each game is going to change depending on the mages that you play with and nemesis that you are going up against.

One of the big unique things for Aeon’s End is that you don’t shuffle your deck. That seems like one of the standards for deck building, but it’s a negative to shuffle your deck. When you buy cards they go to your discard. And after you are done buying and playing cards, you take those cards that would go to the discard and put them into the discard in the order that you want. So you can try and split-up cards if you get too many spells by each other, or you can create combos in your funding to really optimize your money.

Finally, I like how the spell and turn systems work. Though, the turn system make it so that I think Aeon’s End is a two player game or solo. The turn order is random and you draw a card to see who goes. With more than two, it can be a long time between turns. But with two, players get to go twice in a shuffle of turn order cards with the nemesis going twice as well. And that works well because you play a spell one turn and shoot if off the next. So you feel like you are doing stuff each round.

Final Thoughts

I managed to get 13 games into a Top 10 list. I like deck building and I think there is a ton of fun going on with it. There are other games that I want to play that have deck building in them, or ones that just missed the list. Shadowrun Crossfire is one that I enjoy but I need to play more of it. And Etherfields has a deck building component to it. So does Dune Imperium, which I own but have yet to play. And I suspect that if I were to think about it, there are a few more as well that could have made the list, or have that element that I need to play.

What is your favorite deck building game?

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Clank! Overview

Clank! is a deck building game. In every iteration is going to remain the same. And it is also a press your luck game. The main core of the game is going to be around building up your deck of cards and getting a treasure and getting back out.

There are a few other things that are consistent across the games. The first is that there market isn’t fixed. That means that you flip over cards so what is available is going to change after someone has made a purchase. There are going to be monsters in this section of the cards as well. And there are a few fixed cards that always give you a chance to buy attack or movement. But they don’t have points on those cards.

The treasures are going to be consistent as well, at least in terms of you can only carry one, with a couple exceptions and you want to get the ones with the most points on them, but they are also the farthest into the dungeon or spaceship.

There is also a secondary marketplace you can buy from in all of them. These credits or coins are harder to come by. But they often give you a benefit when you get them or additional points for the game.

Finally, you need to get in and get out with the treasure. But there is an area of the board you can make it to and be safe. It’s just that if you don’t make it the whole way out, you miss out on some big bonus points.

Clank! Deckbuilding Adventure Game

This is the original one so I’m going to say that there isn’t a ton to say. Everything about the game I mainly covered in the first part as to how you play the game. But there is one main difference about the original Clank and that is how the game ends. We’ll talk about it’s way here and then what the newer versions of the game do with the other ones.

The big thing is that when you escape, or the first person escapes that starts a timer for the game. There are four rounds left at that point and if you don’t get out you don’t get out. So you need to be booking it back to the safe zone at that point and you need to make sure you have a treasure. There is a downside to this, though, because someone can pop in with a lot of movement and grab the cheapest treasure and just try and take everyone out quickly.

Clank! In! Space!

Clank! In! Space! has a few different elements to the game. The first one is around the end game. And this carries through into Clank! Catacombs as well. But on the players turn they now draw a number of cubes from the bag. So the game might go longer than four rounds if someone can manager their noise (Clank) well. But on the flip side, it can end faster for people as well if they put too much. The big benefit of this is that it keeps the player who escaped more engaged in the game.

The other thing it introduces is the idea of the locked treasure vault. So you need to get a treasure, but it’s locked. So you go around first to a couple of terminals and once you have gone to two you can access the vault. Basically, you hack your way in. This means that you just can’t find an optimal path and go as fast as you can.

Then there is the lift. This allows you to move around faster. But at some point in time the lift is going to get closed down and you need to make your way through the halls like normal. It’s just a small tweak but something that can make a pretty big difference at times.

Plus there is board that can change. Now we’ll talk about a truly open board concept in Clank! Catacombs. But in this case you can flip tiles and place them in different spots to create the space ship. The shape of the ship is always the same, but what’s in the different areas can change and change up the game.

Clank! Catacombs

Clank! Catacombs offers a few new changes to the game. There is one very large one though, and that is that there isn’t really a board to the game. There are tiles, but it’s a catacombs so as you go around you explore and create different pathways. You do this by drawing tiles and you determine how you want to orient that tile so that it works out best for you. This means that you could create a looping path to move around or branch out in one direction, it is up to the players.

There are also new shrines. These shrines do have a couple of benefits to them. One you can trade in a minor secret of the puzzle box type for a major secret. But the main thing that you can do is place a cube there and then for each one you visited you get a gold coin for the marketplace.

Finally, there are locked things. There are three different types of things that you can unlock. The first is a treasure chest which is where you get your major secrets. The next is a library which allows you to get a secret tome. And finally a prison cell where you get two helpers. These helpers are new to the game as are the lockpicks. So while in Clank! In! Space! you hack everything, here a lockpick is a one and done item.

Best Elements Of Each

For the main Clank! Game it’s tricky because I think that the other two improve upon it. So it doesn’t always have something that stands out as that much extra about it. But with that, I will say there is a bit more simplicity to the game. Each subsequent version is going to add in another challenge that you need to deal with while you play the game.

For Clank! In! Space!, I really like the addition of going around and hacking before you can get the treasure. That slows down that rush in and rush out mindset of the game. And of course the new game ending mechanism when someone escapes is something that I like better.

And for Clank! Catacombs, of course it’s going to be that modular board. But I thought about the prisoners as well. It just means that you never are going to play the same game and that makes for a fun experience. And it means that the game is going to be easier to expand.

The Battle and Winner

For me it comes down between two. Unfortunately base Clank or original Clank! is just very good, but doesn’t take that extra step. And that makes sense because it’s the one that started it all. So it’s going to come down between the other two. And yes, I might redo this when I eventually play Clank! Legacy.

But for the other two there are elements that I like a lot about both. Clank! In! Space! makes sure that you know this is a silly game. It parodies a ton of different things in the Sci-Fi realm which I enjoy. Clank! Catacombs is still light and fun, but isn’t so much of a parody of anything in the game. I think that parody element for some people might be a turn off, though for the game.

On the other hand, Clank! Catacombs offers more flexibility and that promise of the game being different every time. I really enjoy how you build out the map and as I said, it is going to make it really easy to expand. Add in more tiles that do different things will be easy to do in the game, but that’s in the future. Mainly because I don’t have the first expansion for the game yet, it’s on its way. And the expansions for Clank! In! Space! are fun as well.

That said, I do think that Clank! Catacombs is the better game. The addition of the lock picks and that extra resource and the prisoners that you can free and get a bonus are great. And they are such minor additions that they don’t add much to the complexity of the game. So Clank! Catacombs is our winner.

Final Thoughts

I love this series of games. In fact, I own all three versions that battled here plus the two legacy versions of the game as well. And the legacy ones I suspect will be my favorite as they are Acquisitions Inc themed and I love Acquisitions Inc. But right now, obviously, they can’t be on the list and a legacy game is always going to be a somewhat different animal.

Now, do I need all of the versions of the game. No, I do not. But I do own them all because it’s such a fun game. And I can see, after playing Clank! Catacombs with the expansions that I might get rid of original Clank!. But even that is a fun game still to play as well.

What is your favorite version of Clank!?

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Five Board Games I Really Need To Play

5. Robinson Crusoe Collectors Edition

I owned Robinson Crusoe for a while. And I owned the sequel to it, First Martian. I did play First Martian which I enjoyed. There were some elements of it that weren’t amazing, but the theme also interested me less. Now I own Robinson Crusoe again, with the collectors edition, and I need to get this one played.

There are two reasons why I think I’d like this game. Firstly, it’s a cooperative game and I enjoy a good cooperative game. And the theme for this type of game works as well for me. So theme and cooperative nature. But I want to talk about the type of cooperative game that it is. It’s supposed to be a very difficult one. And some of that has been a bad rulebook in the past, possibly, but also just hard to beat in general. I love a good cooperative game where I feel like I’m struggling with it.

4. Lord of the Rings Living Card Game

Lord of the Rings LCG is another one of those board games that I’ve had in my collection now twice. I got a copy of the old version and when the new version was on a good sale somewhere, I picked it up. But this is another one that I need to try. And I know a friend who would gladly teach and play it with me, I just haven’t gotten to it. And he and I are playing through Scarlet Keys Arkham Horror LCG right now so might not get to the Lord of the Rings one soon.

But Lord of the Rings is a theme that I like, hence why I keep on getting it back. It is also a one off scenario game which is nice. Yes, there is still that deck construction that you expect in the LCG’s that Fantasy Flight Games puts out so there is going to be some time there. But I don’t need to plan a few sessions of it like I do with the Arkham Horror LCG and that is certainly a benefit.

3. Cascadia

This one I don’t know why I haven’t gotten it played. It’s not supposed to be a very complex game and it’s a nature theme. There are a lot of people in my game group who would enjoy this sort of game. I bought this one, again on sale, because it’s from the same people who did Calico a game about cats and quilts that I like a lot. And that one is tight and puzzly. This one is supposed to be freer and still a good puzzle as well.

I think that it’s odd as well that I haven’t played it because I think that my wife would enjoy it. Sometimes I buy games where I think, we could try this one and probably would go over well. But then I never get around to pulling them off the shelf. Not that I think many people would balk at playing Cascadia.

2. Spirit Island

Spirit Island is one that I’ve been very hesitant to play. I don’t know why, really. I know a ton of people love this game. And it’s supposed to be a difficult but worthwhile investment of a game. You play as spirits who are trying to drive colonizers off an island. That is a great theme, unfortunately while the cover looks good the board and components don’t really sell me on the game. I know that is the big reason why I haven’t played the game. In fact, I just ordered upgrades to encourage myself to play it.

But this game sounds really interesting. Each spirit that you play is going to play differently. And for a cooperative game, they spirits add in enough complexity that one person can’t really alpha game the whole game. At least that is what I’ve heard. So I want to give this one a whirl, both as a multiplayer game and as a solo game.

1. Clank Catacombs

I love Clank! In! Space!. I like Clank! Adventure Deck Building Game a lot. So it is probably natural that I am going to like this game. But I need to play it still. It is keeping that delving into a dungeon theme here. But instead of it being a fixed map, Clank Catacombs is going to build out the map as you go, and that is a cool element to the game. Why, because it means that the map is never going to be the same every time that you play it. And that sounds wonderful.

Plus it’s still what I love from the other games. You want to go into the catacombs, find treasure, buy cards, and get out before you are knocked out of the game. It’s that push your luck and deck building combined that really works so well for me. And based off of a system that I know I love, it’s not one I can go wrong with.

Which To Play First?

So which of these board games will I get played first. I have a friend coming over, likely, next Tuesday. So maybe it’ll be a situation where I can get one of these off of the shelf. Cascadia and Clank Catacombs are the two that I think are most likely. And I want to get Clank Catacombs played more because I like Clank so much. So I think that is going to be the game that I target for next Tuesday. And maybe I’ll find time to play Cascadia as well.

Some of the others, not the Lord of the Rings LCG, but the other two, I can play solo. So I think maybe once I finish off my Button Shy games on Wednesday streams I should jump into one of those. And Spirit Island is probably the right spot to start. Though, as I say that, I need to make sure that I have it on my shelf still, but I’m pretty sure that I do.

What is some game that you feel like you really need to play because of how it’s talked about in the hobby and because it sounds like one that you’d like?

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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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And for other ideas check out the previous lists.

Two Player Games
Campaign Games
Solo Games
Party Games
Welcoming Games

Medium Weight Games

Now, I know that some of these games are going to feel pretty light to people who play heavier games. I mean Medium Weight Games as those next step level of game, where you know some games but you haven’t played a ton.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Let’s start out with a racing game for our medium weight games. While Heat: Pedal to the Metal follows a nice system of what actions you take, there are a number of actions to keep track of. That’s what kept me from putting it in my welcoming game list.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal, like I said, is a racing game. And it’s one that moves along pretty quickly as you gun it down straightaways, slam on the brakes and hit corners. You paly out cards for how far you want to go each turn, depending on what you have in your hand and what gear you are in. But if you blast around a corner, or need to accelerate or brake too quickly you build up heat in your engine. This clogs things up, and while you can drop down in gears and start to cool down, you’re costing yourself speed potentially.

This game is a great balancing act of trying to push it as fast as you can while managing the heat as well. And as you play more, you can do tournaments or cups through several races. It even has a solo mode which is fun to play as well.

Dice Forge

Dice Forge is a dice building game. There aren’t that many of that type of game out there. But you roll dice to collect resources and then spend those resources to buy cards or upgrade the faces of your dice so that they are better.

I like how this game has a nice pivot point. You want to improve your dice. But at some point you pivot to getting more cards for points. When do you pivot, though, is the question that determines how well you do in the game. And you also need to figure out the strategy that works the best with the faces of the dice you have. Some cards might be more unattainable than others, but you might be generating points in other ways.

I also appreciate that you do something on your opponents turns. You don’t do much, but you roll your dice. So it’s not a slow resource generation. You can generate a lot of them quickly, and there are rules for two players to roll more so that it doesn’t slow down the game there as well.

Asking for Trobils

Next up we have a worker placement game. But this one is a bit friendlier and goofier than most. It parodies a lot of classic sci-fi stories and shows.

Basically, Trobils are causing troubles. So you need to catch them, and you get points. But of course you need to build the traps to get them. And everyone is racing around to do that. The worker spots are limited, but the number of ships you have to place out is limited as well before you need to pull them back. And you can recruit pirates or do other things to mess with players, but it’s not really a take that sort of game.

If the idea of this worker placement and almost contract fulfillment, building the traps to get the trobils, interests you, Asking for Trobils is on the lighter side of worker placement games, but will still feel like there is a bunch to do.

Clank! In! Space!

Now we’re moving to a slightly heavier game in Clank! In! Space! In this game you are racing around, building out a deck and trying to get treasure before the evil Lord Eradikus takes you out. But of course, the faster you go, the noisier you are.

I like this game a lot because it offers fun deck building. You buy cards that help you buy more cards, or fight bad guys, or race around the board. And I like how in Clank! In! Space! the board is modular. I know that Clank Catacombs offers that as well, but I need to play that one still. You compete with the other players to get in, get a treasure and get to an escape pod. But if you just get to the bay, you are rescued and can win the game. But you might not even make it out and will be out of the running.

Any version of Clank is good. Regular fantasy, Clank Catacombs with it’s even more modular board. Or Clank! In! Space!. And there is a good app for it if you want to try out the game because you aren’t sure.

Slay the Spire

Finally a cooperative game to wrap up the medium weight games list. I put this one on here because it’s cooperative, it’s based off of a video game, and it’s a lot of fun to play, both the board game and video game.

This is a rogue like deck building game. You battle against monsters to gain more and new cards for your deck. You heal up, upgrade cards, and buy more cards as well as you go along. Can you climb all three levels and win the game?

The game is also a ton of fun because it takes what’s a solo computer game and makes it multiplayer in a way that works really well. I love how it builds up towards that. And it still offers you the unlocking experience that you get in the video game as well. There’s so much going on and it’s just a very fun time for deck building. And you play three acts, but it’s easy to stop between and save if it gets too long.

Final Thoughts

These are just some oft he games that I could put down for next steps. The list is long and there are a lot of great classic games that could work on here as well, things like 7 Wonders would make sense, for example. But which of these games would you want to get and play or do you already have that you love?

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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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100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

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50 through 41 here.

40 through 31 here.

30 through 21 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 20-11

20. Lords of Hellas

Lords of Hellas is big game from Awaken Realms, and one of their first games. So that doesn’t mean it isn’t without some rough edges but it’s a game that I really enjoy. It offers so much for you to do, you can go questing, fight monsters, build temples and monuments, or try and take over area in the game. And all of them give you some benefit and can help you win the game.

And that is one of the really cool things with Lords of Hellas. The game gives you a lot of ways to win it. That means that every player isn’t going after the same objective, or they might be, but that’s not from lack of options. You can win by taking over two large areas. Or you win by holding five temple spaces. And if a monument if fully built, whoever at the end of three turns is holding it wins the game. Or, if you defeat three of the monsters you can win.

As you play, also, your goal might change. Because you get more powers and those help develop a strategy for how you want to play the game. The first time that I played, I think all the players were within a turn or two of winning.

Buy on Game Nerdz

19. Spire’s End

Spire’s End is a dark choose your own adventure game with combat. And really a pretty simple game as you make choices, you fight combats and you really hope that you don’t die too quickly. As it is a challenging game. But I really enjoy the story in the game. The idea of a spire showing up, town folks have gone missing, and now you need to explore this mysterious thing to see if you can find them is great.

Plus the dice combat works, it is not the most complex game. But the dice combat is fun as you try and figure out when you push, using energy which is your life, for a bigger attack in hopes that the enemy won’t be attacking you. And of course, there is still a chance that attack will just straight up miss anyways.

Buy on Favro

18. Paper Dungeons: A Dungeon Scrawler

Now we’re onto one of my top roll and write games, not my top one, but close. And this is one that I’ve played a lot on Malts and Meeples. Paper Dungeons is a “dungeon scrawler” their words not mine. What that means is that each player is delving into a dungeon, leveling up their adventuring party, crafting items, fighting monsters and everything you’d do in a dungeon crawler. And it even has a campaign.

Now the campaign is nothing to write home about, but Paper Dungeons is a nice level of complex. Do you want to spend your time leveling up your heroes and just making it to the boss monsters to fight them that way, or is racing around the dungeon, taking damage and getting loot the way to go. Well that might depend on cards that you’ve gotten so the whole system just works. I just wish the campaign were a bit more.

Buy on Game Nerdz

17. ICECOOL

Icecool has dropped slightly on my list, but that’s mainly because there are so many good games. Plus, Icecool is my favorite dexterity game. You are flicking penguins around trying to get fish. And you are doing that trying to avoid the one hall monitor who is out to get you. The game is simple, flick your penguin, get them through a door and get points. But it is always a grand old time when I play it.

I also like that like Pitchcar you get excited when someone makes a good shot. So it’s never hyper competitive, well, maybe it was for a few people at the North American championships in 2019. But most of us even for a tournament with a pretty awesome prize were just having fun with it. It’s a great try to win game, but I never feel bad if I’m not winning.

Buy on Amazon

16. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

Now onto a bigger game, Ares Expedition, which they might just be calling it now, borrows from another game. But it’s a great pretty fast playing space epic game of terraforming Mars. All you are doing is building up a tableau of cards in front of you to then trigger things that raise the temp, oxygen level, and basically make the planet habitable by the end of the game.

But the cool thing is how actions are chosen. Each player chooses an action at the same time. And whomever picks the action, multiple people can, do it and get a bonus. If you didn’t pick that action, you still can do it, just without the bonus. So everyone is involved throughout the whole of the game.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

15. Hanamikoji

Now onto a two player game. Hanamikoji is a push and pull as players try to win the favor of either four Geisha or 11 total points worth of Geisha. All done through simple but fun card interaction. In fact, there are only four actions you do during the game, but it creates an amazing puzzle as you play.

You either pick a card to keep for winning favor, discard two that no one will use, put out three options and your opponent picks one. Or put out two sets of two options and your opponent picks one. So at the start of the game you are feeling out your opponent to see what they might have in their hand. At the end, you hope that you’ve saved the right action to give you a shot to win. I think it works so well because sometimes you might have to give your opponent what they need, but you get the information that you need.

Buy on Miniature Market

14. Railroad Ink

Final roll and write game on the list and it’s easily my favorite. I really like Railroad Ink or Railroad Ink Challenge. And I need to play it more and more with the expansions for it. But Railroad Ink is a route building game where you are connecting road and rail connections at the edge of your board to complete massive routes and score points.

I know that some people don’t like the Railroad Ink Challenge version as well because it adds in some to the game. It gives you challenges that you need to complete, or should, for more points. Now they don’t always work out but it’s fun when they do. And I like it because it adds variety to the game without adding in a complete additional rule set with the expansions.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

13. Destinies

Now we’re getting into games that I’d consider my bread and butter. That is not a knock against the other games, I think that Destinies is just the type of game that I write about and talk about more. Why, because it is a bigger campaign feeling game.

In Destinies you are trying to complete your destiny faster in a story driven game. And that is cool and unique about the game as most story driven games are cooperative. But you are trying to get yours done first and shape the story around you, at least for that session. And then it strings together a series of stories, not too many, to tell a bigger experience in the game.

I also really appreciate the simplicity of the game. There is a great app that handles the story element. But beyond that, how you do and manage skill checks is great. You are spending dice, you always have two and can add more that refresh over time, to do a check. If you don’t get it, you lose out on information, if you do, it progresses. But it’s not just a roll to see if you beat a number it’s a roll to see how many success you get. Because you have markers on your stats, and how every many you match or beat number wise, you get. It’s a simple system but one that works well.

Buy on Miniature Market

12. Sleeping Gods

And another big story game, and another one that shouldn’t work as well as it does. That is not a slight to anyone more so that the game is really impressive. Sleeping Gods is a story driven open world game. You go into it not knowing what to do, other than find some totems and that’s your quest. And to create a compelling story is tricky in a setting like that, but Sleeping Gods does that.

It also is not just a one time game because of it. I went off several different directions on the map. But I didn’t go anywhere to the east, I didn’t delve into the dungeons much and I didn’t go to the south much. In fact, I probably have 75-80% of the world left to explore. That makes Sleeping Gods an easy game to come back to and explore the story of it again and again.

Buy on Amazon

(or I’d recommend checking out Sleeping Gods over on Gamefound and getting it with the new version there)

11. Clank! In! Space!

And wrapping up this section before we get to the Top 10, we have Clank! In! Space!. A deck building push your luck game set in space. This also counts for Clank! as well, and I wish for Clank! Legacy, but that’s one I still need to get to the table.

In Clank! In! Space! you are building up your deck to move as efficiently around a spaceship as possible. All the while you know that you’ll be making noise, clank, so that when cubes are added to and pulled from a bag, you are going to start losing your health. Think the bad guys finding you when your color is pulled.

Plus the game has good humor in it. It knows that it’s a silly game and it leans into the space themes and tropes. So you’ll recognize the characters you are finding on the ship, or at least have an idea of some of the different sci-fi properties that it references. Clank! In! Space! is just a good deck building game that offers more to do than just deck building.

Not Available. But Checkout Clank Catacombs coming soon.

Upcoming Streams

So, only planned stream and I know that this is late coming out because of the holidays, but tonight we have 10 through 1.

Join me live for this finale of my Top 100 Games. Let me know what games make it into your Top 10 (of all time) 2022 Edition. And just for a good time in general to talk about board games and what we love about them.

Then on Wednesday, we’re getting to the holiday season. So I am not starting another big box campaign until the start of 2023, but we’ll be highlighting some and then playing smaller games leading up to that. So join me on Wednesday as I start that process.

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Top 10 Games to Demo at Gen Con 2022

10. 3000 Scoundrels

I love a weird west themed game and this one seems like it does that in an interesting way. Plus, cards or sleeves that allow you to upgraded character, or get scoundrels, I believe with different powers, this is going to be an interesting game. And then add the aesthetic on the box and the cards, this one I am very curious about. I hope that with kind of that in your face wild west that it isn’t too much take that.

9. Steam Up: A Feast of Dim Sum

Steam Up is a game that I almost backed on Kickstarter. But I want to mess around with this one because it looks amazing with steam baskets for your ingredients. It is one of those games that will get noticed for it’s toy factor. It doesn’t look like too heavy a game mainly focused on set collection, but I’m fine with that. If it is one that can easily make it to the table, it’ll be one that I checkout when it comes, if it comes to retail.

8. Starship Captains

I really don’t know a ton about this game other than the artwork is very Star Trek like. I enjoy Star Trek, so I am curious about this, plus there is something about the artwork that looks cartoony in a good way, like it should give a laugh for two. The game itself looks like a deck or engine building game with drafting, so two things that I enjoy and will want to checkout.

7. Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles – Episode 1 and 2

Another game that was on Kickstarter, the Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles is a game with dinosaurs. I don’t even love Jurassic Park that much, which is where a lot of people my age got their love of dinos, but I just enjoy that as a theme. First episode you build out a foot hold on the island where you end up, or location. Second one you are trying to defend it against a dinosaur onslaught. It’s from Mindclash Games so I expect it to be heavier, but I really want to try this one as I like the theme and look.

6. Mosaic

Mosaic is one that is getting talked about a fair amount. It is going to be a civilization building game, a genre of game that I don’t often play. But one with card drafting and it just looks neat. However, while it is one that I really want to demo and see what it’s like, I suspect it’ll be a harder one to get to the table, so might only be a demo.

5. Heroes of Barcadia

An RPG game where you life is what is left in your drink. I really like the gimmick of this game, much like the dungeon crawl with quarters. It takes something that I like and gives it a weird twist. I don’t know how you’ll demo this one at Gen Con, but It’s one that I want to see and mess around with because I could see this just being a goofy good time.

4. Fit to Print

The animal theme on this is a bit odd, but Fit to Print looks very fun and interesting. You are trying to create the perfect front page for a news paper. It is a drafting, tile laying and real time. I don’t love the idea of real time, except that it doesn’t appear to be only real time. You draft tiles and then print as fast as you can until you think that you’re ready, or you can draft from tiles and go slower in a more relaxing version. Really both sound like they could be fun.

3. Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar

I’ve talked about this one before as well when it was on Kickstarter. I passed on it then, and I really don’t want to demo it too much or see too much. But I doubt they will show too much. I don’t want to because it is a legacy game. But seeing the pieces, that seems interesting, they appear, though, to be doing their events through paid demos, since they knew it would be popular. And I believe those are all full.

2. First in Flight

Speaking of Kickstarter, First in Flight was on there just recently. First in Flight is going to be a deck building or engine building game. You are building up your airplane and building up a deck that allows you to fly the furthest. Now, things won’t always work out as planned. But I love the artwork on this game, I love the historical aspect of this game. Overall, I think, while it doesn’t look too heavy, it might be a theme and game style that really works for my group.

1. Clank! Catacombs

Finally we have Clank! Catacombs. I really love Clank! In! Space! and Clank! is a game I need to play more. Plus, I want to start a game of Clank! Legacy. So a new version of Clank! I am interested. Do I need all the versions of Clank!, probably not, but I might want them. Plus catacombs does something different as you build out your map through the game. I don’t need anything to breath new life into Clank! for me, but this sounds like a fun twist.

What Do You Want to Demo?

Let me know what you are looking forward to demoing. Like I said, I have 45 games that are just available for demo at Gen Con 2022 that I’m interested in. But I really do think a lot of these games will be ones I am very interested in. There are a few bigger games on the list, Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles or Mosaic, that might be fun to demo but not for me to buy.

But let me know your top few, and if you want someone to demo them with, let me know as I’m up for trying most any games.

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Top 10 Campaign Games

10 – Marvel Champions: The Mad Titan’s Shadow

I had to put one of the campaign boxes onto this list for Marvel Champions. There are a number of them, a Spider-Man one, a Red Skull one, Guardians of the Galaxy, soon to be Mutants as well. But I went with The Mad Titan’s Shadow just because that box feels the most epic. And I can take anyone into that one and it makes sense thematically.

I’ve heard that these are lighter campaigns which is not a bad thing. It means that I could and maybe will, set it up sometime and just play it over a few evenings. And you know I’m going to be running Thor up against them, or maybe Doctor Strange. There are enough characters know that it might actually be a tricky decision.

9 – Massive Darkness 2

I picked this one up because it did have a campaign. And I want to get it to the table, at least for scenarios fairly soon. I like that you level up a lot in this game, and the minis are cool, the classes are cool, the weapons are cool.

Plus, this is also a lighter game. You don’t need to know nearly as much how to play it as some of the other games on the list. That means that even if I don’t play it as a campaign soon, it’s probably one I can sit down and knock out a scenario with some friends easily in an evening.

8 – Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

One that I also need to sort some more, which is why I haven’t played it yet. Reichbusters came out with an errata pack for improved card wording and rules. But because that was coming, I waited on playing it. Now I own it and, well, I need to sort the cards in.

This is going to be a game of sneaking into enemy base and trying to stop their experiments. Think kind of Howling Commandos vs Hydra, if I were to take it over to Marvel. There are crazy experiments going on, and monsters you need to fight. But every mission has an objective and if you’re too noisy, well, things are going to go sideways for you fast and you’ll get swarmed. So it’s not a guns blazing game, which I think sounds interesting.

7 – Betrayal Legacy

I did put a few legacy games on the list. Legacy games are campaign games too, and it surprised me a little bit, but the one at the bottom of that is Betrayal Legacy. I love Betrayal at House on the Hill, even with it’s wonky scenarios and problems with sometimes the traitor being too strong, sometimes the other characters. And I want to see what the legacy one has to offer.

I am really curious about the legacy aspect of it. You play as a family versus a character coming back generation after generation. I want to know how that plays out in the game. I think it could offer some cool game options and ways to progress and tell a bit story.

6 – Descent: Legends of the Dark

Moving back to just a campaign game, we have Descent: Legends of the Dark from Fantasy Flight Games. This is going to be their Descent, but not third edition, game, of exploring tiles, fighting monsters, and interacting on the map.

Like a lot of bigger Fantasy Flight games in recent history, Mansions of Madness, Journeys in Middle-Earth, and Star Wars: Imperial Assault, there is an app piece. I like it for this game, it was a bit much in Journeys in Middle-Earth, but in Descent it offers some fog of war. It is in that category of games like Massive Darkness 2 for me. It looks like a blast to play as a fun dice chucking game.

5 – Folklore: The Affliction

Now moving into another bigger game, and I think the top 5, with the exception of the legacy ones, are the heaviest of the campaign games that I own, at least right now. Of course there are more coming in. But Folklore: The Affliction is going to be a game that borrows a lot from pen and paper RPG’s. You roll more than a standard six sided die. And that is intriguing to me.

Plus, I like that it’s a darker setting. I don’t need all my fantasy to be grim and dark, but sometimes that is what I want. And since I always am the Dungeon Master for D&D, I believe that it’ll give me that RPG feel without me needing to be in charge of everything. Though, if I paly it solo, I will be, but I’ll be doing the same thing as the players.

4 – Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

Another Legacy game and this one just came in from Indie Boards & Cards. I played through the first Aeon’s End Legacy on stream. And I had a blast with that game. Plus, just in general I really like Aeon’s End, so much so that I keep on backing and tracking down everything for it.

Legacy of Gravehold is going to be another legacy campaign. Where I knew a little bit of the campaign for the original Aeon’s End Legacy, I know nothing about the story this time. I just know that the box is bigger and heavier. That probably means more cards, but I’m hoping for more story as well.

3 – Clank! Legacy

And the other legacy game is Clank! Legacy. This one is higher for me just because I want to play it with some friends. I love the Acquisitions Inc theme on it as their game play is hilarious. And I suspect that the humor in the game will be great as well. Plus, I like the system that it is built upon. I prefer Clank! In! Space! to Clank I think, but the legacy version with the fantasy theme, I’m still there for it.

This is a deck building push your luck game. You are going into it trying to complete missions and get treasures. And it’s competitive in that you are trying to be the best so that you can end up with the franchise within Acquisitions Inc. I have to imagine that the whole of the story is going to be goofy, and it sounds like there is a lot to unlock so that is exciting as well.

2 -Middara: Unintentional Malum

A huge box with two more huge boxes on the way. I give that as my excuse for not getting it to the table sooner, I want Acts II and III to show up as well. But really, it’s just such a table hog and such a big game, I am not sure that I want to play it solo, but I really do want to play it.

Middara has more of an anime style to it’s game look. The artwork, and from what I can tell, the world building and story look fairly anime. It is going to be a leveling up, dice chunking, monster fighting, dungeon crawling game. And I think it’s going to be one that I find to be a lot of fun to get to the table and play. But like I said, I suspect the game would work best with four players, or two players controlling two characters each.

1 – Stars of Akarios

Call me cult of the new if you want, and it’d be fair in this case. But I am excited to plays Stars of Akarios. This is a big space exploration and adventure game. What really intrigues me is how it is split into two parts. There is that space exploration and then you can be down on an planet as well. That is intriguing.

It also looks like it uses a combination of cards for modifying your attacks and things but also uses dice. And just the production quality on the game is great. While it is a big game, compared to some of the others, it looks like it should be easier to play solo. And I want to get it to the table and play it on Malts and Meeples.

Final Thoughts

I say this almost any time I talk about a campaign game. And I feel like I can redo this list in different ways pretty often. But I have a lot of them coming in. 15 more campaign games in fact, which is a lot. Now some can be played as more of a one off situation such as Primal: The Awakening. Otherwise might be smaller sit down and play a campaign of it in a sitting, Spire’s End: Hildegard. But most of them are going to be much much bigger than that.

Just to show everything that is coming, and there is a lot, in alphabetical order, we have:

1. The 7th Citadel
2. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread
3. Chronicles of Drunagor
4. Divinus
5. Ehterfields
6. Frosthaven
7. HEL: The Last Saga
8. ISS Vanguard
9. Mythwind
10. Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
11. Primal: The Awakening
12. Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies
13. Spire’s End: Hildegard
14. Valor & Villainy: Lludwik’s Labyrinth
15. Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters

What campaign games do you own, if any, that you want to get played?

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