Top 10 Board Games that Offer Good Choices

10. Lost Ruins of Arnak

One of two games that I played at Gen Con that made it onto the list. Lost Ruins of Arnak is just on that edge because I do think once in a while there are too many decisions a round that bog you down. Granted, some of that is adjusting on the fly, which is a good thing.

But the basics of what you do, play a card, buy a card, place a meeple, and move up on the research track, it’s pretty straight forward. It’s honestly a game that looks bigger than it really plays in some ways. And because of the limited number of rounds, I feel like it’s a great balance for that decision making. You know what you want/need to get done, it’s just a matter of creating your engine/puzzle to get it done.

9. Floriferous

Floriferous falls into that category of limiting what you can do on a turn. You place your meeple next to a flower or a scoring card and take it. That by itself is a bit too simple. But based off of the grid that is laid out, the higher you are on it, the sooner you go in the next round. So you need to consider what is in the next round. Is there a card that is perfect for you so you’d take a less optimal card now?

That little bit of an addition to the puzzle means that you have an interesting decision. Which is better, that good card now and hope to get that perfect card. Or take that slightly worse card and guarantee of getting that card. But you don’t need to plan further out than that, so each turn has just enough to plan.

8. First Rat

First Rat makes the list as the other game I learned at Gen Con. First Rat is all about building up a rocket ship for your rat. Except, it’s just that in theme. Instead it is a really interesting ladder climbing game. You have one track you push up on to gain resources and trade those in to score points. That is like most euro games, it is all about getting resources and points.

For me, though, First Rat, besides having a theme that is more fun, does a really interesting thing. You can either move one rat up and be able to move faster and farther. But if you don’t do that and you move two rats, you are limited as to how you can place them. They need to match colors that they end on, and they can’t move as far. But if you can do that, you get the resources from both spots.

Then you add in lighting the path. You land on spots to push your bulb forward. But if you spend time doing that early, you get double resources on any spot your bulb has passed. Which can be great to push one rat up to the top moving the bulb up to then start moving your other rats for more resources. But at the same time, you’re missing out on the top scoring spots fort he different rocket parts. Really clever design.

7. Gloomhaven

My Number One game of all time, Gloomhaven, is not at the top of this list. I actually think Gloomhaven suffers in two ways. Firstly, most of the missions are just beat all the monsters. So you go into a scenario or mission and it’s generally going to be the same. The decision space, and choices weren’t used the best there. And with the city or road events, the results can be a bit random, so the decision space could use refinement.

But it’s on the list because of the card combat in this game. There is so much decision space when playing out cards. But at the same time, you know what cards you have, and you want to give yourself flexibility, you don’t know what the other characters will do. So it’s picking the cards you hope to have work, and then having to use them on the fly to adjust your decision making. And when you upgrade and swap in a new card, that allows you to refine your puzzle and choices. It’s just great for that feeling of improving what you can do and clever plays.

6. Arboretum

Arboretum, I think, is the meanest game on the list. In Arboretum you are planting trees for your arboretum, or something like that. But what you are really doing is creating routes of trees in ascending order. That in and of itself is not that difficult.

The decision making space comes from knowing that you won’t score your great path of trees unless you still, at the end of the game, have the most of that tree in your hand. So, you could create an amazing route to score, but if someone holds back one card that is higher than the one you hold back, you won’t score it.

Arboretum is a very mean game that way, but it creates an interesting decision. How much do you push to create a great path or row of trees? When do you hold back maybe a card or two more than you would because you suspect someone is trying to block you. The choice matters, and you’re never quite sure if you made the right one.

5. Marvel Champions

Marvel Champions gives you one of the common ways to get some interesting decisions into your game. That is firstly by multi-use cards. So I have a card, I can use that card either for it’s affect or pay it out for resources to play another card. And you need to pay for cards always, so which cards are better to hold onto to play later, or is it better to use it now to get another card out.

I also like the decision about if you defend against damage or not. Defending is good because it means you less likely need to flip over and spend a turn or two healing while the villains schemes. On the flip side, not defending means that you get a hero action to attack or thwart the next round which you might miss out on.

There is just a lot clever in the game. And I like that what I’d consider some of the harder choices, how to build the deck, are done prior to the game. Granted, I don’t do much of the deck building, but I should do more of that. That construction really can set you up for success or failure.

4. Super Fantasy Brawl

Super Fantasy Brawl is a very big box game, but one that is also light to play. You have a limited number of cards that you can play out. There are a few things that I appreciate about the decision making here. Firstly, you have a limited number of cards to use, and you are limited to which ones you can use. There are activation tokens of different colors, and each round you can activate three cards one of each color.

Of course, that leads into the other interesting thing, or one of them, you can sometimes play defense. But if you play a card for defense, that means that I use up one of my colors. I’ve activated that on your turn to play a defense. When it comes to my turn, I’ll have two activations left, so is it worth it?

I also like that you score objectives at the start of your turn. That means if you position yourself to get two trophies, by having majority in some area, I can come in and try and knock you out or push or pull you out of there. It’s a good way to give interesting scoring because you need to take your opportunities to get those trophies when your opponent can’t manipulate you as much.

3. Calico

Calico is a brain burner of a game. But one that I really enjoy the decision making space of it. Mainly because you have such a limited number of options, but how you place everything matters so much.

I pick one of two tiles that I have to play. But I need to think about the scoring objectives on my board when I place it. And I need to think about how it might attract a cat because of it’s pattern. Or how I can get buttons by matching colors. I think the three different scoring things to think about might be too much for some people, but I really like it as a thinky game without too much going on in it.

2. Tainted Grail

Tainted Grail is on this list for two reasons. Firstly is combat and diplomacy. The card play in those allows for some interesting things. If I go first, how can I get the combat stopped at the right point so you are setup to finish off the enemy? Or how do I get it setup right so that when I stop, I take as little damage as possible.

But then you also have the story element in this game. And Tainted Grail, I feel like, has some of the best story decisions. I wish that I could see more of the story every time that I play. And in the base game, we went down one path which totally shuts down other paths. It isn’t consistently shutting down huge paths, but it might limit little things, which is fun as well.

1. Hanamikoji

Hanamikoji is a pretty easy #1 on the list. The decision space is great because so much of what you are doing is letting the other person decide for you. But in the game you take four actions. Keep one card hidden to win favor. Keep two cards hidden to discard. Let your opponent pick one of three cards for winning favor. And let your opponent pick one set of two cards to win favor. That is it, but there’s so much to think about.

And so much about it is trying to get into the mind of your opponent. How do you tell what your opponent has when you can’t see their cards. What can you infer from the option that they just gave you. It’s so interesting as you need to read your opponent to understand what is going on. But really manipulate your opponent into picking what you want them to pick based off of what you know.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of games that make for really interesting choices. These are just some that really stand out to me as being that nice balance. I wanted to put Stars of Akarios on the list but I think it can push past that sweet spot a little bit into extra thinky. Not really a bad thing, more just a part of the game that doesn’t make it the sweet spot. But Stars of Akarios is still a lot of fun as it has that story element to it as well.

I really like the simple decisions but tough decisions of a game. As especially with the likes of Calico and Hanamikoji at the top of the list, those two really drive home that decision making level that I love. I don’t have a ton of options of things to pick, but what I pick really matters for the game. Probably why I like trick taking as well, though none made the list. But there a few that were close.

What game(s) have the best decision making space to you?

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The Board Game Terms

Fast or Short

This is a game that doesn’t take too much time to play. So something that’s probably 30 minutes or less in terms of how long the game actually takes.

Quick

Quick is more about how engaged and involved you are in turns. And how long those turns take.

Long

Long is going to be the length of the game. So we’re probably talking about 90 minutes or more.

Slow

Slow talks about games that are going to encourage longer turns. Less engagement when it isn’t your turn and if there are a lot of people that the whole game could scale up considerably based off of player count.

Quick vs Fast

So, this is the one that I want to focus on more so, because I think that long and slow fall into an area that makes sense once we look at these other two. And I think that quick is really the highlight of what we are looking at and what I want in a game.

The Issue

Often times with board games, and let’s step back and talk about the issue, a board game might get a bad rap because it is a long game. Or people will be less apt to play it because it becomes more of an event. And on the flip side, some people look at little fillers as bad because they are too short to make a meaningful decision.

Let’s just say, in my opinion, both of these opinions are wrong. You can make meaningful decisions in a short game. And in a long game, it doesn’t mean that it’s not optimized for what it should be. But people are judging the game based off of how long or short, fast, the game is.

The Importance of Being Quick

For me, though, a game is more about whether it is quick or slow. Because that determines, more so, your engagement in the game. If a game has quick and punchy turns, then the players at the table are less apt to get distracted. And this is true even in a longer game. It doesn’t matter that the game takes longer, it matters if you are engaged in a game.

And the reason why I thought about this with Aldarra is that Aldrarra is not a short game. Now, almost three hours for three players, definitely longer than a normal game would be. Probably if people know the game, two hours for three players or slightly less, and that’s a pretty long game. But because of how tight the board is and how close you are to your enemies, you stay engaged. And the turns are pretty quick, even combat generally went quickly.

And that was with a three hour game. Now, on the flip side, you can play games that are short in how long the game takes. But you aren’t engaged in what is going on. A lot of classic games might fall into that category. Something like Yahtzee or Skip-Bo, it doesn’t matter what you do, really, for it to affect my turn. Not the best examples, but Skip-Bo works decently since you might have a long turn. Yes, the game won’t take longer because of that turn, but it does make a turn and game feel longer for everyone else.

Decision Making Space

So, I also don’t want to say that games need light decision making space. I think that’s some of the reason people shy away from smaller games, they think it’ll be too light. But there is a difference between simple decision making and engaging decision making. If I care what you’re doing on your turn, then it doesn’t matter if it takes a while.

It is more that I need to care in that case. In the case of Aldarra, I care about what you’re doing, even if you aren’t attacking me. Why, because it changes the board state a lot, it might open up new opportunities for me to move in, or it might squeeze into a smaller area. But what you do matters to me in that case and affects my strategy. Or you might be attacking me, and then I really care.

So What Is My Preferred?

Let’s wrap this up talking about what I look for. And honestly, the big thing for me is that I look for quick games. Now, this can mean a few different things, though I’ve mainly talked about it in terms of how long turns take. But again, that doesn’t matter so much, it’s more, how quickly do I move from decision to decision.

Decision to Decision Quickly

A bigger game might give me an option to follow your action on a turn if I have resources or something like that. I know that Scythe is a game that uses that mechanic. Well, your turn might take a while, but I can follow what you do, and do my own things, I’m interested. Or Ganz Schon Clever (or any of the Clever trilogy), you roll and I care about the dice that you leave behind. So even though I don’t have a full turn, I care of what you are doing.

And I think that moving from decision to decision makes the game feel faster. Area control is good for that, I care what you do because I don’t want you to attack me. And I do want you to weaken your armies and the other players. But a lot of other games make that work as well.

All At Once

There is another type of game as well, everyone go at once that works as well. This falls into the category of real time games, something I don’t love, but more so roll and write games. Metro X, Cartographers, and Welcome To… just off the top of my head, those are easy ones to play because everyone fills in things at the same time. There isn’t the pressure of a speed element instead it’s a smaller decision space and everyone acting at once, and that works well.

Story

And one final way that works for me, is if your turn has story to it. A lot of the time this means literally there is story that is being read out. But it can also mean that the game has a whole narrative flow. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 or 2 would be an example of this. And being cooperative helps, but you decide what you want to do on your turn, and that creates the story of what is happening. Especially in Season 2 with the discovery aspect, the game tells a great story.

Final Quick vs Fast Board Game Thoughts

Do you find that you have a preference, maybe based on length a board game takes? And is it really the length of the game that makes a difference?

I do feel that game length does matter, but I think for a lot of gamers that perception of game length often is tied to the decision making space. And for me, that is more about the quickness of a game versus how long a game might take. And how meaningful and interesting the decision that I can make are. Do you find something similar to that as you think about games?

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How to Play Imperial Settlers Roll and Write

This game is a bit of an engine building roll and write. You roll dice that give you resources and then an action die that determines how many actions you can take. The main goal of the game is to get victory points by going down four different paths. At the same time you need to build buildings to improve your engine. After ten rounds, the player with the most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

The big thing for me is the decision making space in this game. You start down a path and you just see how far you can get down them. While you do build up a little engine and unlock other things, the engine is so small that it’s practically built for you. If you knock out those few engines in the first two rounds or so, now you just push down the tracks.

Plus, rolling for actions is dumb. It’s limited, and there is a power that you can use as well which might help with that. But I roll a die and get three every time, I’m going to score lower when playing solo. If I roll a five every time, I’m going to score much higher. It feels like randomness added for the sake of rolling more dice. And once in a while you don’t use all your actions, but most of the time you can.

What Works?

I like the three abilities that you pick one of to use each round. Like I talked about, Imperial Settlers Roll and Write is a very basic roll and write game. And you do the basic things that you can do. But the choice of which extra ability you use is a decision to make. There is going to be a better one option, but can you figure it out. And I think it’s the most interesting part of figuring out your engine for that round.

Who Is This For?

I think anyone who wants to play a roll and write game and really loves them? Honestly, for me this is not a great game. I think that it’d be decent for someone who wants to try a roll and write with a theme. But they only have played roll and write games like Yahtzee and Qwixx. Something very simple and they just want to try a game that is a little bit more or a game that has what looks like theme.

Final Thoughts – Imperial Settlers Roll and Write

This is not a good roll and write game. The best part of the game might actually be that the dice are wooden. But that also means that they weigh nothing which doesn’t feel right. Overall, the decision space in this game is tiny. It’s can you pick the right bonus for that round and do you roll to get a lot of actions are not? Beyond that the game basically plays itself. And the buildings that give you bonuses, the bonuses are not that intriguing.

I don’t think that people who like roll and writes and play a lot will like this game. Thinking about the game, I am not sure there is a good game in it or how to make it better. More powers, more bonuses, maybe, but it’d end up being a very different roll and write. Would I play it again, sure, if someone pulled it out. But my copy, I’m going to trade it away, maybe someone else will like it better than me.

My Grade: D
Gamer Grade: D
Casual Grade: C-

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How To Play No Thanks

No Thanks is a bidding and bluffing game where you are trying to score the fewest points possible over a set number of rounds. And the players set how many rounds they want to play. In a four player game, we played four rounds.

Each turn someone is the first player, they flip over a card, and decide if they want to take it. The cards range in number from 3 to 35. But there are 9 removed from the deck. Lower number cards are obviously better. But each player also starts with eleven chips. These chips allow you to say no thanks to a card and pass on it. But if you don’t have a chip, you must take the card. Whenever someone feels like there are enough chips on the card, and it is their turn, they can take that card and the chips.

Once all cards are gone through, players count up their points. Cards are worth the value printed on them. Unless, they are part of a run, then only the first card in a run is worth points. So, a run of 10, 11, and 12 is only worth 10 points. And any chips you have left are worth -1 point per chip. Fewest total points at the end wins the game.

What Doesn’t Work?

Honestly, this game is so simple that it works very well. I do think that some people can “crack” the game faster than others. For example, three of us were close in score and my wife had a much higher score. This comes down to just how people value the cards and chips. But that is a lot of what is good about the game too, so I’ll talk about that later.

I could also see some players getting frustrated with bad luck. In the game you remove nine cards, like I said, so it’s very possible that a player is shooting for a long run only to have a card missing in the middle. That increases scores fast when you can’t complete a long run. But that is a known part of a game and part of the pushing your luck in the game.

What Works?

Let’s start by talking about the valuation calculations that everyone is doing. I really like that aspect of the game. If I have a 32 and 33, taking a 34 is zero points for me. But for everyone else, that is 34 points. So I can make a decision to pass on it assuming it’ll come back around to me. Now, in a four player game, I get three additional chips. But then I let it go around again. Will it come back around, do players have chips left? It’s a judgement that I need to make to milk as much value as I can.

That piece of the game is fascinating to me. And it is tricky to get the value right. And sometimes you need to push your luck. If I already have the 32, and the 34 has 10 chips on it, do I take it risking that the 33 won’t be in there. If the 33 is in there, I now have 10 more chips to bid, a good chance I’ll get more chips with the 33, and then would only be scoring 32 points on those chips. But if it isn’t in the deck, now I have 66 points, with chips left to offset that scoring.

I also really like the speed of the game. The decision space is interesting. And the table talk is interesting, but the game still moves fast. Once in a while you reach a tough decision, but only two options exist. You either pass and put a chip on the card, or you take the card. So it moves around the table very quickly. And I think it’d scale well, as well. You just get less chips to start out with, which would change up how you value your chips.

No Thanks – Final Thoughts

This is a game that kind of seems like it shouldn’t work. The market value that is being created for each card depends on the group. Sometimes, depending on the card, the chips are more valuable to lose than others. So it might not work for some groups. But for myself, and the groups I play with, I think it will work most of the time. Because the game is an interesting bit of push your luck and bluffing as you go.

And while I think for some people the depth of No Thanks will be trickier to grasp, how to play it is so simple, and it can still get to the table easily. Even if people aren’t playing optimally, they can still understand what is going on. And it is still fun, because this game encourages table talk. Playing, we goaded players into taking cards, and talked about our decision making. it might not be ideal, keeping stuff hidden might be better, but it’s so like, we played it for fun.

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

Have you played No Thanks? If you have, what do you think of it?

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