Catch Up on the Top 100 Games

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41
40 through 31
30 through 21
20 through 11

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 10 through 1

10. Rebel Princess Deluxe Edition

Published By: Bezier Games
Designers: Daniel Byrne, Jose Gerardo Guerrero, Kevin Pelaez, Tirso Virgos

Buy Rebel Princess Deluxe Edition

The top trick taking game on my list is Hearts. Well, not completely Hearts, it’s Hearts with shenanigans and that is the element that makes it amazing. If you are familiar with Hearts, you know you don’t want to win the hearts because they are worth points. In this game, you are doing the same thing, but as princesses trying to dodge the proposals of the princes and of course the very dangerous frog princes.

But let’s talk about the shenanigans because that is where the game separates itself from Hearts. In Rebel Princess you each get a princess with a special power. It might be to force someone to lead a suit, or you take over the lead of a trick even if you didn’t win the previous one. They are once per round. The bigger shenanigans comes from the rule for each round. It tells you how to pass cards, but also then something special that round, like the number furthest from the led card wins the trick, to make the trick taking different.

9. Zenith

Published By: PlayPunk
Designers: Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel

Out Of Stock Currently

Zenith is the new one on the list, and it blew me away on BGA so much that I knew I needed to pick it up when it came out. Zenith is a two or four player, but really two player game where you are having a tug of war over different planets. When you get influence on a planet all the to your side, you get a token, and you win with three from one planet, four different ones, or five total.

But let’s talk about winning influence. The simplest way is to play a card down on your side of the table, that’ll move it one towards you and give you some other bonus. But to do that you need to pay the cost, so sometimes you need to do other actions to get more money. One of them is to discard a card for a bonus. Depending on the type of card, you get a different bonus for it, and you gain the leader token which means you get an extra card in hand. Finally there is technology which you use to gain bonuses but also move influence on planets.

8. Slay the Spire: The Board Game

Published By: Contention Games
Designers: Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, and Casey Yano

Buy Slay the Spire: The Board Game

You know that I love Slay the Spire the video game and the same is true for the board game. In the board game it’s the same thing as the video game, but everything is scaled down. This is a very smart decision because I don’t want to do a lot of math, but I still want to play the same game I love. So you climb the tower, you fight normal and elite monsters, and you rest and add cards, everything that you love about Slay the Spire the video game.

But there is an extra twist for the board game as well. In the board game you also can play it cooperatively. And I love that for the game because there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to. It levels up how much health the boss has, and each character gets their own row of normal monsters to face. The cool thing about that row is that I can help you attack your row if your monsters are attacking for too much. Or you can help with mine, but whichever row you attack, you get attacked by your row. So there is a strategic puzzle to figure out as a group.

7. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

Published By: Portal Games
Designers: Jakob Lapot, Przemyslaw Rymer, and Ignacy Trzewiczek

Buy Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

I might be the person in the world like Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game the most. But I think it is worth talking about and I think at least the core box is one that more people should play. The core box is a series of intertwined cases that you need to figure out the leads and what to track down. The best way, and I mean this as compliment, I can describe the game is that it’s like NCIS or CSI but fun because you are the detectives.

The game has so much going for it. You need to figure out what lead you want to track down, you need to take evidence to the lab and get your results, or you need to spend resources pressing people for more information. All of that is going to cost time, so you need to get it done before time runs out.

And all the cases are different. Even in the core box where they link together, they are all unique. And the one off cases are all different as well and set in different time periods or different locations. Even the Batman version of the game is a ton of fun.

6. Dice Throne

Published By: Dice Throne Inc.
Designers: Nate Chatellier, Aaron Hein, and Manny Trembley

Buy Dice Throne

Dice Throne is probably always going to be game in my Top 10. Mainly because they keep on coming out with more Dice Throne and I keep on buying it. But the game is a great plug and play game that can be described as battle Yahtzee. But that is not fair to the game because Dice Throne is more than that. Yes, it uses the Yahtzee style rolling to deal damage to your opponent, but the cards, and dice manipulation and how you work that together is where the game is so fun.

Plus, each character in the game is unique and does something different. Whether that is with Marvel and Gambit who has his aces that he can play, Doctor Strange who has spells that he can cast, or Scarlet Witch who can swap out the dice that her opponent roles. Or it is unique for the non-IP characters as well with the Gunslinger having a showdown type of defense, the Treant having sapplings that do unique things, or the Pyromancer building up their flames.

5. Aeon’s End

Published By: Indie Boards & Cards
Designers: Jenny Iglesias, Nick Little, and Kevin Riley

Buy Aeon’s End

I love deck-building and Aeon’s End is my favorite mainly deck-building game. I put it that way because I have another game that uses deck-building, but it is less of a deck-building game. This one is great because it gives you a boss battler as well as you play the game. You need to cast spells to deal with the bosses actions, minions, and hopefully knockdown the boss, the nemesis, if you can.

The game does a couple of fun things. Firstly, I like the turn order in the game, though I will say, I think that it makes it a two player game. The turn order is randomly drawn from a deck, so you might go twice in a row, if you have two of your number in there, or you might have the nemesis get multiple turns in a row. It keeps the game feeling tense and stressful. But I think it works best as a two player game because otherwise you might have a long time between turns.

Then the deck of cards. As you add cards and you need to draw again, you don’t shuffle the deck. Instead you just flip it and you draw from that. If you are smart, you can set it up so that you are drawing a strong hand. It is tricky, but it’s also a ton of fun when you get it right.

4. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Published By: Czech Games Edition (CGE)
Designers: Elwin, Min

Buy Lost Ruins of Arnak

This is the other game that has deck-building, but it’s less of the game. Lost Ruins of Arnak is a deck-building, worker placement and resource management game that I just love. The theme really helps sell me on the game where you are exploring the jungle and trying to become the most famous explorer. Yes, that theme is hiding behind the mechanisms in some ways, but it’s there.

The game is really a great puzzle as you need to figure out how to explore new locations, defeat those monsters, and go up a research track. But they do it thematically in some areas, and I love that. You can buy new gear with money, but when you do that, it goes to the bottom of your deck of cards. Why, because it needs time to ship over. But if you buy a relic, that’s there, and you can use it immediately. Or on the research track as you advance, you need to discover, magnifying glass, before you can write about it, journal.

And the Expedition Leaders makes the game even better. It means that each player is starting at a unique spot. And it helps shape how you want to solve the puzzle. I thin the game is a 9 for me without this, but with it, and it’s an easy addition, it’s an easy 10 and in my Top 10 of all time.

3. Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon

Published By: Awaken Realms
Designers: Krysztof Piskorski, Marcin, Swierkot

Buy Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Now a game that has been in my Top 10 for a long time with Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. I still think this game has the best story and writing of any game that I’ve played. It does an amazing job of weaving together a narrative over three different campaigns. And you want to explore and read all the story. It’s so good and the storymode fixes the issue, that even though the regular game is a grind when it comes to resources, this is still a game that I love.

I think that the game works so well too in what you are doing. The combat and diplomacy checks you come across offer interesting puzzles of card play. And then when you go to a new card and you find new choices, it’s really interesting. I also should mention with combat, I like how you sometimes just want to runaway. A combat is going to be too hard for you and instead of taking a ton of damage, if your draw bad cards, you should just run.

As an aside, I can’t wait to play the new game in the series. But it’s being waited on because of other campaign games to play. I’ve heard it is less grindy, so if you are worried about that in the base game, maybe check out that version.

2. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Published By: Fantasy Flight Games
Designers: Nate French, MJ Newman

Buy Arkham Horror: The Card Game

At number two is a return to glory in some ways. I think that Arkham Horror: The Card Game was in the Top 3 or so when I first started the list. But it is back here because I’ve gotten to play more over this past year. I’ve done the story in the core box and started on another one. And I built my own character for that which is fun to do as well.

The game is just impressive with how it uses cards in such an interesting way. I love how they become a map for the house, city, or whatever you are in. And how they use simple symbols to help you know what connects to what in the game. And each campaign feels different. I played the Arkham Nights one at a game store, and that was super unique and fun, while the base box felt like a great introduction, and the Scarlet Keys is already shaping up to be different.

I also like that each character you build is going to be good at different things. So you need to balance the party. But you might want a challenge and create a different and unique combination of characters to go with as well.

1. Frosthaven, Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Published By: Cephalofair Games
Designer: Isaac Childres

Buy Frosthaven

The final spot on the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition is the same as it’s always been. This is Gloomhaven, or Frosthaven, or Jaws of the Lion. They are all the same game, though Frosthaven does add in a city management phase which is very fun for the game as well. This is an amazing dungeon crawler game and very worth checking out if you haven’t played a dungeon crawler before. Especially Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion as a starting point for the game.

In this game you play different scenarios and you need to figure out with your unique character how to defeat the enemies and complete the objectives. In Gloomhaven a lot of the objectives are defeat everyone. But Frosthaven adds in more variety, so you need to figure out the puzzle.

And how do you do that? You do that with playing cards from your hand. Each card has a top action, a bottom action, and an initiative on it. You pick one of the two cards to set your initiative and then generally you have a plan of which top of a card and which bottom you want to use. But, if the board changes, maybe the enemies move on you, you can adjust which top and bottom you want to use from the cards you play. And did I mention that each character is unique and feels different in how they play, because they do. And you get a try a lot of them.

Thank You For Joining The Journey

I hope that you’ve had fun with my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition. I always have fun putting together this list. And I apologize for it being a bit delayed in when the article came out as compared to the video on Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. My schedule has been weird as of late.

So with that, be aware I will be streaming as I can. I still want to go through my 101 through 200, aka the games that I still love but couldn’t crack the Top 100. And really, I love a lot more games than just 200. But that video is going to come out when it can. And it might not come out live depending on what my potential filming schedule looks like. The same with other streaming like Legendary Kingdoms and Baldur’s Gate 3. And then I have other games I want to play too, like Regicide Legacy that are going to stream well.

So all of that is to say, thank you for watching. And subscribe and click the notification bell to know when new videos come up on the Malts and Meeples channel.

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The Game – Batman: Everybody Lies

Like I said, I’m not going to get into too many details on the game because, it’s a system that’s been done before. It does tweak what was done in the base Detective game, though, a little bit. So let’s focus on the differences here so you know what has changed.

Firstly, each character that you can play as has some backstory that you, as the player gets to find out about. Basically an introductory letter to the case and a specific mission that you want to find the answer for. And you can push further at some locations and some leads to find your answer. You are tested on them, so you want to do that as that’ll help your overall score.

Next, time is fixed in this. I don’t mean that it wasn’t working before, but it was variable, it might take you two hours it might take you three. Now everything takes one time unit and it isn’t done in days, you just has certain check points where you can stop.

Finally, there are also scenes. Now this is something that they kind of did for the original. But the basic idea is that there are comic panels that you can look at and try and figure out clues from it. It adds to the immersion of the game play.

What Doesn’t Work?

The group as a whole thought it was a bit odd how little Batman was in a game about Batman. No one plays as Batman, he is just a side character whom you can interact with. That makes sense in some ways because Batman would just always be the answer to doing anything. But it struggles a little bit because there isn’t enough Batman, not enough interactions with Batman or Bruce Wayne or Alfred.

The story is tied together, each part loosely connects in, though it feels like more so through the cast of characters versus a deeply intertwining story that the original game has. And some of it might be that we didn’t play it as consecutively, but the story is just not as strong, which makes sense in some ways because they needed to work with DC to get everything approved for a story.

What Works?

I do think that Batman in general for a setting works well, or Gotham I should say. And while I have some issues with how it was pulled off, it is still a solid experience playing it. Mainly because a lot of Batman’s rogues gallery is fun. And they use parts of it throughout, I won’t say who all shows up but they do a solid job of mixing in characters.

And I think some of the new things work well. The time is fine either way, but it makes it easier for new players. But the other things, the comic panels, I like those. And I like that each character has their own thing, sometimes which you run out of time to figure out. But because we know the characters you play as, or at least they are in the comics, they can create that extra bit of connection with them.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for someone who wants a deduction game or wants to get people to play a deduction game. The Batman theme is going to be more appealing than what feels like NCIS or CSI. At least for some people it will be. And because of certain things being easier, I think that it’s simpler to get to the table.

On the flip side, it’s just a little bit less interesting in a lot of ways than the other one. My complaint about how the story ties together won’t be noticed, though, if you haven’t played the other. But I do think for some people it might feel like it’s lacking a little bit.

Final Thoughts on Batman: Everybody Lies

I was going to talk about which one I preferred but it’s clear that I like Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game better. Now that doesn’t mean that Batman: Everybody Lies is a bad game, it just isn’t as good. I had a lot of fun with it and I know that they are working on more. And I hope that it builds up in the future to more in depth or connected stories.

I definitely think that there are elements that work well. And it’s fun to have it in a fictional setting like this one. And I do think that it’s easier to get into and that’s a good thing. So I more see it as that I’m not the target audience completely for this one. Because I know the other game and was up for that challenge, but if it was my first one, I think I’d have loved it more than I do.

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

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And catch up on any you’ve missed before:

100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

70 through 61 here.

60 through 51 here.

50 through 41 here.

40 through 31 here.

30 through 21 here.

20 through 11 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 10-1

10. Roll Player Adventures

We know that I like my big box adventure games, and the more that I play Roll Player Adventures the more that I like the game. It might even be higher now after having played it a couple more times since making the list. But Roll Player Adventures is a choose your own adventure style of adventure game tied in with dice manipulation.

The game takes a world that didn’t exist too much in Roll Player and creates a greater and more interesting story around it. And the story is just fun, some of the backstories are a bit heavier, but the main story is a great and lighter fantasy experience. And beyond the story, I really like the dice manipulation that can go on. It can be a bit easy, sometimes, at 4 players, but that doesn’t make it less puzzly to figure it out, it’s just that we can make it so we rarely miss a challenge.

Buy from Thunderworks Games

9. Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness has consistently been in the Top 10, and it’s going to stick around, I’d guess, in my Top 20 at least for a long time. I really like that it’s a story driven game, but one without a campaign to it. Though, I do want a campaign from time to time with the game. But each scenario is something completely different as you try and solve a mystery, stop a ritual, or maybe just get out of a town.

Mansions of Madness also offers such good game play. It is more of a die chucker, but it implements puzzles and monsters, and so much through an app system that doesn’t take over the game, but supports it in the play. It takes something that’d need to be one versus all and turns it into a cooperative experience.

Buy on Miniature Market

8. Xenoshyft Onslaught

Xenoshyft is the next game in the Top 10. This is a deck building game of tower defense as you fight off waves and waves of bugs. I really like it because it does a couple of things that make it feel different for a cooperative game and for a deck building game.

Firstly, it handles the currency really well. Every round you need to have troops and money to buy more, so you get money at the start of each round. You draw your hand and you take a money so that you always can buy something. Plus, you can then trade in money, in future rounds to go from having 3 1’s in the deck to 1 3 in your deck of cards. So you keep the deck lean.

The other thing is how much interaction there is. You don’t have enough troops to defend your side, not a big deal, I can give you an extra I have in hand. Or you can pass a weapon over to me if you have extras. And I can use a stim pack on your guy or you can toss a grenade on my side to take out my bugs. It is very cooperative in what you do, which I really like.

Buy on Amazon

7. Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios, you can watch game play of that on Malts and Meeples but it’s one of my top gaming experiences for 2022. I love this game so much which is how it can make it so high. The story is just fun, and the different game modes for the most part work really well.

The game really shines with it’s tactical space combat. It is such a good puzzle as you roll dice and then need to figure out how to use those dice to activate abilities, get in position for attacks and blow the enemy ships out of the sky. That is a puzzle every turn as you activate and then the enemies go so by the time you come around, they might be flanking you and you need to scramble to be able to target them again.

Plus the planetary exploration works well. And it’s a lot of fun with a 7th Continent type of vibe to it as you explore and open up a map and a whole world as you discover new things. It’s a bit more fiddly, but there is a lot of story to discover there. And they do a good job of giving you different things that you can play around with, different story elements or mechanics on the various planets.

Buy from OOMM Games

6. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

Detective made the list last year in a big way and some of that was because it was one of the gaming experiences that worked really well during COVID. But also because it is legitimately a really fun game of deduction as you try and figure out which paths to go down to solve cases. I’ve liked all the different versions that I’ve played and I have a lot more of Detective to play.

In the original box, and the Batman box, I like how the cases are tied together as well. Each case might be solving it’s own thing, but there is an overall story that runs together. And I don’t mind at all the addition of technology into the game. The database to update with what you’ve found, and looking up information or finding matching information from previous cases is just a lot of fun and would be hard without the website.

Buy on Miniature Market

5. Aeon’s End

The last deck building game on the list is Aeon’s End. And I really enjoy this one as well because of a few different things starting with the turn order. Now that turn order might make it into a two player game only for me. Because it’d be too long between turns otherwise, but it being a random card draw from a deck of two cards for players one and two and two for the nemesis is great.

I think Aeon’s End also does a great job of giving you unique nemesis to fight against and unique mages to play as. And as the game has gone along further, the legacy version offers an amazing point to jump into the game. Plus just enough legacy goodness, the story is just okay, that you want to see what you unlock next for your character.

Buy on Game Nerdz

4. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Marvel Champions is a deck construction game, so slightly different than deck building. You are taking a Marvel hero into battle against a villain where you need to try and thwart the scheme and defeat the bad guy. All before the bad guy can either complete their scheme or knock you out.

The game does a good job of giving you that superhero feel to it. And I really appreciate how the cards flip. So you can go from Peter Parker to Spider-Man and back and that’s part of the strategy of the game because if you just stay as Spider-Man, the bad guys will beat you down. If you just stay as Peter Parker you can’t fight or thwart their schemes. So it’s a fun balancing act.

I wish that there were more campaigns or a more in-depth campaign like Arkham Horror LCG, but what they have works well. And, theoretically, it makes it easier to get to the table because you don’t need to worry about getting it back tot he table repeatedly.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

3. Tainted Grail

Next is another big campaign game that I’m nearing the mid point of the third Tainted Grail campaign, and I have Ruin of Kings ordered as well for more game play. But this is a survival adventure game where you really aren’t a hero. You are close a hero, but you all have weaknesses and rough pasts. In fact, in the base campaign there are heroes who have gone out to see what is happening and they haven’t come back. So you are the B-team sent out to see what is going on.

But that’s not what makes the game so much fun. I do like the combat and diplomacy checks. But it’s all about the story for this game. I’d read the story of our adventures as a novel because the writing is so good in what is going on. And for that reason we play in story mode, it makes it a bit less grinding, but it also means that we can explore more which means we get more of that story.

You Can Maybe Find on Ebay or Board Game Geek Market

2. Dice Throne

My number two is still Dice Throne. This is a game that doesn’t feel like it should work, it looks like Yahtzee and combat all rolled into one, but it works really well. There is someone much smarter than me who has figured out how to balance abilities and make abilities feel unique for so many characters from classic fantasy to Marvel heroes and anti-heroes to Santa vs Krampus.

I know that most people like this game only as a two player head to head battle. But I think as a game where it’s king of the hill, which incentivizes hitting the player with the most health it works well as well. Overall, this is just a nice filler game while waiting for more people to come to a game night. Or one that I’ll pull out when I do have two players and we can try all sorts of combinations.

Buy on Miniature Market

1. Gloomhaven

Finally, no change with my number one. And I don’t think with Frosthaven coming soon, it’ll get dethroned. Mainly because Frosthaven is more of that same Gloomhaven goodness from what I can tell and I’m so excited to get it to the table.

But Gloomhaven is a massive dungeon crawler that doesn’t have you chucking dice. In fact, there are no dice at all to be chucked it is all done through card play. Card play that determines your attacks, your moves, and how fast you even act in initiative order. It also is a game where with just cards, each character really feels different in what they are doing, maybe that is one of the things that I really appreciate about a game, unique characters.

Looks at Top 10, yeah, seems reasonable to say that I enjoy unique characters.

Buy on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

So on Wednesday I am going to be streaming Spire’s End Hildegard, the follow-up, prequel, similar but different game to Spire’s End. In fact, over the next few weeks I’ll probably stream both of them. Just so that I can play them enough and be able to review both and compare and contrast both. So look for Spire’s End and Spider’s End: Hildegard on upcoming Wednesdays.

Monday is no longer going to be the Top 100 games, the list is done. Instead, I want to stream some of the more casual solo games that I have, maybe play some of them I’ve already played before. And just use that time to get in some gaming but also be able to just hang out and chat with people as we get closer to the new year. Then starting in 2023, it’ll be time for a new campaign game.

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Story in Board Games

I believe that is one of the great things about modern board games, though. The fact that you can put story into the games. Or a game is very thematic that can tell a story itself. But when you look at most classic games, there might be a theme but not one that you could really engage with.

Going into really classic games, like Monopoly, Clue, Chess, and Scrabble only one of those games contains much theme. Clue gives you some of that through telling the story of a murder as you try and deduce who the killer is. But now games integrate that story and theme so much more into the games that you can play.

Two different types of story can be in board games. You likely know what they are because of the title. The first is that the game can contain narrative, your story driven games. The second is a game that has an emerging narrative to it. A lot of games can have this, something like Pandemic, which doesn’t have it’s own story, develops a story as you play along. But let’s dive deeper into those two.

Story Games

A story game is going to have an active narrative throughout the game. It can be as big as a game like Gloomhaven where you read story elements as you get into each dungeon. Or something like Spire’s End which has story on every card. But even these show examples of how different story games can be.

With Gloomhaven you end up with a fair amount of text. You read it as you go into every scenario. There might be text for the scenario as you open doors. There is text then at the end as well. Plus you have city events that add more flavor and story for the town of Gloomhaven and road events for when you travel to locations outside of the town walls. Everything adds in story.

Spire’s End, you have all of the story on the card. You flip a card and you read story. It might give you a choice, it might lead to a battle. But I think that a better example of a different type of story, in a vein similar to Spire’s End, is Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. That game has cards with story and a website (police database) that you use. But the story, while it is almost everything in that game, doesn’t get told in such a narrative, linear, structure.

Emergent Story Games

The basic idea of these story games is that as you play, the story itself becomes clear. This might be through text, but the choices you make develop the story for the game. It doesn’t give you the option to just read through everything, like a novel, and get the story. It is only through playing the game. And there might not even been story text to read, the game might just give you choices that create theme and story.

An example of this would be something like Western Legends. You play as a character in the wild west, and you can decide what you do. Do you become a lawman hunting down other characters who might be robbing a bank and gaining infamy. Or maybe you are running cattle up to the train and making your living that way. But when you come out of the game, you have a story of what your character did.

And then with Sleeping Gods, for example, that does have pieces of story that you can explore. But it is just pieces, little vignettes into the world. And you pick and choose the pieces of story that you go on. You can watch my game play and see the little bits of story that I messed around with, but together, all of that made a narrative of the adventures of my crew in that game. Next time I can explore in a new direction or try and complete stories I didn’t fully see.

Old Game to New Story Game

But I think that this is hard to talk about without giving some examples. Plus, I just like examples of a game that you might know to a game that has more story to it.

Clue to Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

An example for a game that I already gave here with Detective. But Detective that’s that who-done-it nature of Clue. You try and figure out these five interconnected cases, but each of them is it’s own story as well. But it takes it from Clue where it’s more purely deduction as you try and ask the right questions to eliminate information. To Detective where you want to deduce what is going on, but that is picking out elements of a story/narrative that you consider to be the best leads to go down.

I always describe Detective in a way that I think will be a turnoff for some people. But I mean it as a compliment. It’s a bit like a crime show. Yes, not the most fun thing and if you’ve watched CSI or NCIS that seems boring. But when you are the detective versus watching a detective it makes for a much more fun experience. It’s one of the better stories I’ve played in a game as well.

Munchkin to Betrayal at House on the Hill

I think you could make an argument that you end up with a bit of a narrative of what your character did and got in Munchkin, but it’s really more about everyone messing you over. And I think that is a style of game that a lot of people get into the hobby with. It’s taking Uno but instead of making it colors and numbers, you have monsters, weapons, armor, and fighting.

For a more thematic experience I’m going with Betrayal at House on the Hill (or Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate). It has a similar feeling of kicking open doors as you explore this haunted house. You find crazy bits of story or items, and omens that will eventually lead to one player betraying the rest. It gives you that sense of surprise that you get in Munchkin as you flip over a room. But has story and has tension as you know that betrayal is getting close.

Catan to My City

This one is maybe a bit of a stretch, but My City does have story to it. It is pretty light on the story, but as you play through different chapters, new things happen. And It gives you that feeling of building up your own city as you go or you own area. It’s similar to what Catan does that way, but it has those little bits of story as it adds in new mechanics.

Charterstone would also work for that, but I think My City is more accessible and for me more fun to just sit down and play. But they both offer that city element or building out your area in a way to help you the most. Charterstone maybe a bit more so because you have that resource gathering element like in Catan. But My City is just so accessible and easy to just sit down and play a few games in one sitting.

Ticket to Ride to AuZtralia

Finally, Ticket to Ride doesn’t have much theme. You could just be connecting random points together with blocks. But if you want a game that builds out routes and has some story that develops throughout the game, AuZtralia might be a solid option.

Now AuZtralia has no story on it’s own. But in a game where you face off against great old ones as you try and build up your tracks and hope that the monsters go after everyone else, that is story. Plus the game has solid and interesting mechanics as you spend time to do actions but that then means other people get to do more. But back to story, fighting a monster, having the old ones win the game potentially, all of that will create moments of story where you eek out a victory or have it snatched away from you. All while building out trains.

Final Thoughts on Story in Board Games

For me, if a game can promise and deliver upon story, I am always going to be interested. A lot of my favorite games have that story element. But not every game needs a story element to it. An abstract game like Quoridor doesn’t need to try and tack on a story, or a trick taking game like Matcha. But when there is a chance to add in theme and add in pretty artwork, I appreciate it when a game does that.

A good story for a game, even if it’s not a campaign, just intrigues me. It keeps me wanting to come back to the game over again. Even something like Homebrewers which really doesn’t have a story, I like to put one on there with the beers that I’m brewing with their odd ingredients and what that might look or taste like. So it is possible to add in your own story to a lot of games, it just depends on if you want to.

What is your favor game with story or best story you’ve come across in a game?

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Cooperative Games Rankings

So just be aware I’m going to talk less about these games because there are a grand total of 52 that I ranked. Expect a sentence or two on each one of them.

52. FUSE

Fast paced game of rolling dice and then using them to try and complete enough cards to diffuse the bomb. I don’t love games that are only real time, and FUSE is only real time. It plays fast, but the game isn’t that interesting the more you play it.

51. Magic Maze

Another real time game, this time taking adventurers through a shopping mall. This one is more interesting because you need to work together more. But it’s going really fast without talking and sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t.

50. Forbidden Island

This one is a great introduction to cooperative gaming and gaming in general. It follows the standard, do something and then something bad happens. My issue is that the game is too easy and generally just an okay game.

49. Arkham Horror: Final Hour

Now, on the flip side of Forbidden Island, this game is hard as you try and guess some ruins to be able to stop ritual from happening. It basically takes Arkham Horror and tries to make it shorter. It succeeds on that, but it also just isn’t interesting. The couple clever things it tries to do are just misses.

48. God of War: The Card Game

And another game that was too easy when I played it. I wonder about playing a whole game if that would make it more challenging, but what I played was fairly boring. I also feel like the decisions weren’t that interesting in the game. Most of the time it was do the obvious thing.

47. Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game

I talked about this yesterday. It’s a fine deck building game. It is just too slow to get to the table and too slow to get to feeling powerful. If they were to come out with a second edition and make the game play ramp up faster, I’d probably like it a lot. But right now, the ramp is just too slow.

46. Forbidden Desert

I like this a fair amount better than Forbidden Island, it offers more to do and a more clever mechanism of figuring out where to get things. It follows that Pandemic formula for things of do good things and then bad things happen. Played it a few times, enjoyed it, and have moved on.

45. The Mind

This one is an interesting one. You try and play cards down in numerical order without talking. The concept is cool, and the game works, but only sometimes. This is one where it really depends on who is in the group. And I had some good times with it but moved on again.

44. Sword Art Online Board Game: Sword of Fellow

I need to try this one again, it’s been a little while. The concept isn’t bad, you are basically playing the boss battles from Sword Art Online the show, and it has the main characters. The downside is that the rules aren’t that great, and it’s pretty simple and lucky. That said, it is tiny, so I don’t mind luck as much.

43. Exit Games

Exit Games are fun, but any escape room game is always hard to rank. I’ve played less Exit Games, and I don’t love that you can’t pass it on. Granted, I did see it kind of work with them at Fantasy Flight Game Center (now GameZenter), but I don’t want to buy something I need to then replace.

42. Flash Point: Fire Rescue

This is basically Pandemic but with fires. You haven’t seen Pandemic yet on the list so you know it’s higher. I think that Flash Point: Fire Rescue might end up being one that I get. And that’s because it might replace base Pandemic for me, but we’ll talk about why later. Very standard cooperative game.

41. Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game

On yesterday’s list, it is one that I like the theme of. Firefly was a great show, and the game is playing through the episodes. The game isn’t that easy and the artwork is just okay. Again, the ramp speed doesn’t seem right for the type of game it is, but it’s better than Marvel Legendary.

40. Stuffed Fables

This is one that I had a good time when I played it, but ended up being one that I never wanted to come back to. The game has a cool story about a kid who has a blanket, I believe, stolen, and you play as animals going under the bed with all the broken toys to get it back for her. But the mechanics were not that well taught and things that changed up on each different storybook page were worse taught.

39. Legacy of Dragonholt

Another one that was in my collection and left. When I heard about an RPG in a box, I thought it was going to be great. And in all fairness, it is a fun game with a lot of story in the box. But the story and writing was just okay. The best I can compare it is that it was written like a YA novel, but not one of the great ones. I think the system was very good, but I wanted writing.

38. Marvel Battleworld

This is dumb little game. I know it shouldn’t be this high on my list, though we’re not even half way yet. It is just a game where you roll a die and advance a track. The fun of the game is buying blind packs and getting little Funko figures. So I have it this high because it’s a fun toy with a little game attached to it.

37. Ghostbusters: The Board Game

We’re still in the area of games that are just okay, but we’re soon to games that are still in my collection. I loved the minis in the game, and the translucent ones look cool. But the game play was just okay. While there were different scenarios, they weren’t bad, but it wasn’t all that interesting. I just wished there was more.

36. Elder Sign

Another one that left my collection, some of that was just because I had only the base game. I have heard that the expansions help improve the game, and add more to the story of what you are doing. The base game is basically a Yahtzee type game, and I wish that it played a little bit faster for what it is.

35. Legends of Andor

Story driven puzzle game, Legends of Andor is good. The reason that it left my collection is that I never wanted to just sit down and play through all of it. So when I did want to play it, I’d play through the introductory scenario again and I did that a few times. But I like the story and the mechanics are pretty cool.

34. Sword & Sorcery

I played this one a lot, I got through the base game and one expansion. And I do like this game. Once I played that, though, I got rid of it. Even though I had more characters to play with, I wasn’t interested in going back through. The story doesn’t branch enough for that. And I wish that you could retire characters like in Gloomhaven.

33. Castle Panic

I almost culled this game, and I might, the board is a bit dinged so the FLGS didn’t take it. But the game is still playable. We’re not here to talk about that, though. The game is fun, and it’s a very light tower defense game. I like that I can play it with almost anyone, and while you rarely lose, it feels like you might. If I don’t lose a cooperative game fairly often, though, I will move on from it.

32. Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger

This is a fun silly little game. I would say that it’s pretty much a solo game. Because you all play as one character and basically just do a choose your own adventure. You can make decisions as a group and pass around who is reading and rolling a die, but that’s how it’s cooperative. It is fun for that, though, because it’s so silly that everyone is laughing together.

31. Mysterium

Mysterium bounces all over for me. I think it was in my Top 100 games this past year and now with this ranking it wouldn’t be. If and when I play it again, it likely will move up. This is about figuring out who the murderer is. And there are rules about how that all works, but really it’s about giving clues as a ghost to everyone so they can figure theirs out. It’s cool concept that can get in it’s way with how it tries to be a game.

30. Unlock Games

The better escape room style board game. Unlock Games you don’t destroy anything, unless in a fit of rage. And I like how it counts down building up pressure versus Exit which is just see how long it takes you. And there are a lot of these with a lot of different themes. I want to play more, but it’s kind of a lot of a game night and works better with 3-4 people not 6.

29. Arkham Horror

This is the 2nd Edition, I haven’t played my 3rd Edition yet, but I need to. This is a grand epic game that takes forever to play. But it is a lot of fun. I felt like when I’ve played it that I get into what is going on in the game. The story is light, but the longer you play, the more story develops just from what you are doing.

28. Dead Men Tell No Tales

I like pirates, so that helps this game. And the supernatural twist on it is good. It again falls into that category of do some things and then bad things happen. What ended up causing this one to leave my collection is that it is that bit more. There are so many things to keep track of and the game isn’t as familiar, I didn’t pull it out over Pandemic.

27. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

Another deck builder on the list, and one that I just got rid of as well. Why, because I own a lot of deck building games. This one I like the theme of it, and the mechanics are fun. The game gets a bit longer as you go, and I wish there were more characters in the base box. It’d be one I’d gladly get back when I have a group to play it.

26. Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

It’s odd how many leave my collection, and this is another. And I actually just realized that I forgot to rank Star Wars: Imperial Assault which also just left. So this counts for both. They are great games, The apps work really well, and you can pick your preferred theme. These are campaign games with a nice sense of adventure, but because they are campaign games, that’s why they left.

25. First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet

This one is still in my collection, huzzah. And it’s probably surprising because when it came out people didn’t love it. But I really enjoy this game. It is a tough cooperative game where you can play all sorts of one off missions with different focuses. Or you can do a mini campaign. And it has an app, not a great one, to handle a lot of the bad things that happen, which I like.

24. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

I really should buy a copy of this game. I played a few times at Fantasy Flight Game Center and really liked it. But never picked it up, and then played a bunch on the app. There is story, campaign, deck construction, and a lot of cool card play. I prefer the game that this is based off of, but I’d gladly have both in my collection.

23. The Lord of the Rings

While some might argue this game is fairly abstract, where you are pushing up on tracks as you go through the story of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I really enjoy this game. It is a very hard cooperative game, but it gives you rewards at just the right time. It’s one I haven’t played in ages, but now that I’m thinking about it, I want to play it again.

22. Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

My favorite book series in a board game. When talking about this one, I always want to to point out that it is abstracted. And while the theme is there, it is mainly there if you know the books. I love picking out one of the books to play and then characters from that book and trying to beat the game. I like it best, I think at two, though three isn’t bad either.

21. Just One

Party game on the list, Just One is a great game. And I really like that we are getting a number of cooperative party games. Here one person is trying to guess a word, and everyone else gives them a one word clue. But any duplicate words cancel. Simple game, clever idea, don’t need to play for points, and always a blast.

20. Cross Clues

Another party game, I told you there are a few, Cross Clues I like just a little bit better. Though, last time I played it I was so tired that I messed up a few times. Here you are giving a one word clue to get people to guess the intersection of two words. So it might be day and octopus, what word is between those two? Eight might be a good option. Simple and a lot of fun again. You can play real time, 5 minutes, see how well you do, we never do that.

19. Pandemic

Here are all the Pandemic games. And I have to say, I don’t know that I need to play base Pandemic again. Pandemic Legacy games just kind of ruined it for me. Still in my collection, but like I said, I might get Flash Point and replace it. If I want to play Pandemic again, I’ll play legacy, I think.

18. Village Attacks

A bigger tower defense game, I am still waiting for my Kickstarter to come in. It funded in 2019. But I am excited for it when it does. Village Attacks has you playing as the bad guys with the villagers coming with pitch forks and torches. You might be grotesque or horrifying, but the theme is just funny to me, so while it’s a dark game, it doesn’t come across.

17. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

I really need to play more of this game, it’s another one that I just really love. Arkham Horror: The Card Game, is the living card game (LCG) from Fantasy Flight, and it’s so cool how they can do so many different things with the game. Great card play and fun deck construction that I want to do more of. I prefer it two player, I think, but it’s good solo as well.

16. Similo

Final party game on the list, but not final light game. Similo is game where one person is it. That person is giving clues of either a card being like or not like the secret card. Then the rest of the players eliminate cards. Simple concept for a game and a ton of fun, especially to mix decks. How do you tell players that a chicken is or isn’t like a vampire or medusa?

15. Apocrypha Adventure Card Game

This is the game that the Pathfinder Card Game was based on, though the Pathfinder one came out first, it’s confusing. But I like the dark theme of this one, there is warfare going on between supernatural forces, and not everyone can see it, but you can. So how can you stop it in the different scenarios. Good game, great art, and my sort of them. Horrible rule book.

14. Say Bye to the Villains

Definitely the hardest game on the list, at least in terms of winning. The play is simple, spend time to improve your stats, look at what a villain is doing, and hope that you can win when you run out of time. And there isn’t enough time to do everything in the game. I’ve come so close to winning so many times, I’m sure eventually I will.

13. The Reckoners

Pretty high on the list for limited plays, but I love the theme of the game. The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson is a great series. And I love the game play, it’s tough, even on easy, but it has a lot of good choices. And you feel like you can do a lot on your turn as you roll dice and every face on the die is probably something you need.

12. Marvel United

Marvel United is a pretty easy game, but I love it a lot. In the game you are playing down cards to stop a super villain. As superheroes you all work together. So the last card you played, if I’m next to go, I’ll get to use as well. The villains also feel so different in this game, and while I have everything for it, the grab and go get it to the table is great.

11. Letter Jam

A game that just made me realize I forgot to rank Hanabi, I play a lot of cooperative games, Letter Jam is a game where you are trying to guess your word. But you can’t see the letters that make up your word. Only through clues and words given by other players can you infer what your letters are. There is some good strategy in figuring out what are good clues. Loads of fun and one that I think a lot of people will like.

10. TIME Stories

The highest escape room style game on my list, though this one has more going on than that. I really like TIME Stories for the puzzles that it gives. I haven’t played all of them yet, and I have heard that some are weaker than others. But every one that I’ve played thus far I really enjoy.

9. Roll Player Adventures

I’m really excited, I get to play into a campaign of this in February. Roll Player Adventures is my highlight from GenCon in 2019. Getting to playtest it was great. In the Roll Player universe, this takes characters you might have rolled up, or pre-made ones, and lets you take them on adventures. The adventures are fun, and the combat is interesting. It’s a lot of choose your own adventure and so good at that.

8. Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition

Another Lovecraftian game, and another cooperative one. All of Fantasy Flights games in their Arkham Files line are cooperative. Mansions of Madness is app assisted and so much fun. Like Arkham Horror The Card Game, the game can be so different depending upon scenario. Some might have you stopping a ritual in a mansion, others exploring a town. One that I want to play more of to see what else they can do with it.

7. Sleeping Gods

You can watch me play this tonight, Jan 26th, on Malts and Meeples. Sleeping Gods is a big adventure game that I’m playing solo right now where you are the Manticore, a ship, and sailing around with crew that go on adventures. The game has an amazing aesthetic and story. Even though the story isn’t linear, it works well. And the world it’s set in is really cool.

6. Marvel Champions

I like Marvel a lot, and for me Marvel Champions is the best Marvel game. The different heroes feel like that hero, and you can take them up against any bad guy. While Marvel United you play as one hero they are a bit more generic. And Marvel Champions gives you that alter ego side, so you push and pull to keep the villain at bay. And there are so many heroes and villains already and there can be so many more.

5. Aeon’s End

Another one I talked about yesterday. Aeon’s End is a cooperative deck building game where you try and stop a nemesis. A great solo and two player game. There are so many set-ups and so many cards for it. Now this does include Legacy as well, which is a great introduction to the game. And I like that the randomness in the game isn’t shuffling your deck, it is turn order and what the monster does.

4. Xenoshyft: Onslaught

Another deck building game, this one is Starship Troopers and tower defense. I like how collaborative the game is. I build my deck, but if I have an extra troop and you need one, I can give it to you to defend your part of the base and it goes into your deck. It allows everyone to really balance out what is going on and have a chance, which is good, because it’s a tough game.

3. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

I feel like this one I talk about and always describe it in a way that doesn’t sound that fun. But in this game, I feel like I am a detective. It’s a bit like a detective TV show, but fun is how I put it. You get into the case and the theme and if you allow yourself to be immersed in figuring out the story going on it is a great time.

2. Tainted Grail

Another one from yesterday, Tainted Grail is an amazing story adventure game. You take these characters and build them up through a grim dark storyline. And the writing on the game is just so well done. In terms of thematic games, I feel like this one might top my list, though, not my favorite cooperative game.

1. Gloomhaven

For my favorite cooperative game, no shock, it’s Gloomhaven. I love this game. I love the leveling in this game and the card play in this game. And I love that you retire characters and get new ones. I think that the mechanics are amazing and the story is interesting. But overall it leads to a great cooperative experience.

Final Thoughts

I’m guessing since I missed Hanabi and Imperial Assault that I likely missed others. And I also found it interesting how many I’ve gotten rid of. I think a lot of that has to do with me having so many I’ve played. It means that they are fighting for playing time. So only the top ones stick around. Especially when you get down to campaign games, for those it’s even a tighter field because of Kickstarter games coming in and time.

What is your favorite cooperative game?

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Now, I won’t complain too much about some of those themes. I like the Cthulhu or Lovecraftian stuff that Fantasy Flight Games does. Marvel, I’m clearly a big Marvel fan as you can see from here and here. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other themes or really IP’s that I’d like to see games put it, or more games coming from.

The Dresden Files

This one does already have a game. And it has a game that I like. I think that The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game is good. But the theme is something that the players bring to the game. The game does remind you about what the story you’re playing through is, but if you don’t know the story, the cards won’t help that much. I want something that tells more of the Dresden Files story.

What Would I Want?

I don’t know that I want this to be a dungeon crawl type of game. I feel like it would work for Dresden, but not be as interesting. Plus, there are other themes that I’d want a dungeon crawler. What I would love is to see a Detective: A Modern Board Game style Dresden Files game. Dresden is always puzzling out mysteries. And we already have books of short stories that are other cases he’s done. It would work well for creating new cases, and it could be a massive case tied together over 5 smaller cases.

And then you could have Harry, Murphy, and some of the other characters as the ones who give you things to activate. And using magic in the game would be interesting and different. There definitely needs to be some sort of combat mechanic which base Detective really doesn’t have, but it is something that could easily be added. But for a lot of it, and a lot of what Harry does is investigate and get punched.

Sword Art Online

Another one that technically has a board game. But it is a small game from Japanime Games that needs the rule book to be updated or just fixed. And the game gives you a tiny bit of the SAO theme. You play as the main characters, and you can switch, but that is it.

For those of you not familiar with Sword Art Online, it is an anime where the characters get trapped in a video game. If you die in the video game, you die in real life. And the only way to escape is to beat the game by climbing to the top of the tower/levels and beating the final boss. There are more seasons as well with different things, but that’s a good starting point for knowledge.

What Would I Want?

I’d want a boss battling game. Something along the lines of Primal, Kingdom Death Monster, or Townsfolk Tussle. Really, mostly along the lines of Kingdom Death Monster. If you put that theme on KDM, I’d be paying $700 to get everything for it.

Kingdom Death Monster is a boss battling game, but it also has you building up your tribe/colony, adding armor, weapons, and more. That would work well for an RPG style video game which is what Sword Art Online is. While everything you’d be doing is working towards the next boss battle, what you do outside of that matters as well. And the depth of story and world in SAO, side quests that might appear as boss battles, all of those are good. I think that you could really create a good game for SAO in that style.

Tomb Raider

Yes, another one with a board game already. Though, I should say, a board game I think. I forget what happened with it, I demoed it at GenCon in 2019, and I was severely disappointed. And there are a few others a well, but none that have made waves in board gaming. And Tom Raider is a very cool theme. Especially when you think about the newer video games.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want this to be done in the style of 7th Continent or maybe more like 7th Citadel. I could have said Detective as well, because it is a mystery most of the time. But I think that treasure hunting, getting dropped on an island that you don’t know what is going on. Or going to that bigger set piece area, that is cool.

7th Citadel adds in more story. And I could see that working really well, because you get that exploration, but you could make it feel like a bigger story. In fact, you could drop all the base cards for health, some skills, and some characters. Then you could add in other packs to add in more stories, new treasures to hunt. Almost make it a combination of 7th Citadel and TIME Stories. But actually pay off on a big story.

Locke & Key

Maybe all of these will have a board game done on them, because Locke & Key does. But this is another one that the game looks lacking and too abstracted. Locke & Key is a horror series where there are magical keys. These keys can do all sorts of crazy things, and the Locke family is the protector of the keys. But there are almost Lovecraftian type creatures from beyond, that want to get their hands on the keys and take over.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want a one versus all game. Maybe even with an element of questioning if someone one is infected or not. So it could end up being a Battlestar Galactica type of game or Unfathomable with hidden traitors. Like, who has been infected by the other world. But I also think it could maybe work better as a one versus all game.

But let’s break it down more so, I think we have one person who is playing an infected villain. Someone under the control of the other world. And then they are trying to get the keys from the Locke family, since they can’t just take them. And at times the Locke’s will need to figure out how to banish them and go to the Omega door, which seals away the other worldly creatures. They need to open the door to get more material to make a new key, but there is a chance someone else can be hit. And if they are hit, then they become other worldly.

Of course, it might not be obvious if they are hit. So every time you do that, you risk getting someone else infected. And if someone else is infected, they start working with the group still, but being less optimal. How do you hide it, when do you switch sides and just start working obviously for the bad guy. It’s more about trying to stop each other versus kill them.

Disenchantment

I know this one doesn’t have a game. And honestly, it is so weird, it might not work all that well. Disenchantment is about a princess who has some lousy friends who go on adventures in all sorts of weird places. And then eventually people want to kill them, everyone wants to kill them. It’s a lighter story, and a completely weird world.

What Would I Do?

This, to me is a great one for a dungeon crawler. They end up in a world of gnomes, elves, castles, hell, other castles, and more. They really get pulled around everywhere. Give it a nice world map and see where all you end up, how you can make it through challenges, and if the monsters will kill you. Or your own mother, or really anyone will kill you.

And because you can go to hell, and they do in the show, I think that’d be a fun way to keep a dungeon crawler moving forward. If you die, it isn’t the end, you just need to get back out of hell. Maybe make a hell book of scenarios. Then every time that you die you play through another one of those. It could be determined by where, or how you die, but it could also just be done randomly. And if you die too many times you eventually get stuck.

Keeper of the Lost Cities

I did just write about this. So if you want to know a bit about the series, you can find that here. But the basic idea is that a girl is plucked from her not so normal human life. She finds out that she is really an elf, she gets into elf school. She makes friends, and yes this sounds like Harry Potter, but the world is better and more interesting. And the magic, each elf has a different skill or could have a different skill. And the world is in unrest and their are secret organizations trying to mess with the status quo.

What Would I Want?

This is tough, mainly because I don’t want to repeat too much of what I’ve already done. And this is a really cool world to play in. Firstly, I would want character creation for this game, or at least some ability to pick. Maybe something like Midarra which is very story heavy and you can build out characters however you want.

The elves unlock their powers, but they also have skills that they all can do. It just depends on how well they train themselves. So really setting up stats in different ways and then picking what power you want from being an empath to mind reading or inflicting emotions on someone else. Plus so many more.

I think this would kind of ben another dungeon crawl type of game. Maybe a bit like something like Arydia which isn’t out yet and I might late back, possibly. The concept of Arydia is that you dig deeper. You spend time at the world map level, you make story decisions, and then you get down to a narrower focus.

What Theme Would You Want?

Do you feel that there are some that need more love? I could probably spend time and come up with more. Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson is getting another one, otherwise it’d be on my list. The Call to Adventure version is cool, but there is so much that could be done in that world. And there are plenty of IP’s that could be treated better. I’m going to call out Japanime a little bit here, I think that they often put out okay games with a big IP. I’d love to see some of their anime IP’s get a better developed game.

Let me know which of my ideas sounds the coolest. And let me know what you want to see a game made about that doesn’t get enough love.

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Miniature Market Order

If you want to go to a board game shop with really good online sales, Miniature Market is the best I’ve found so far. Granted, it is an issue, because well, board games. But let’s see what I order this time.

Horizon Zero Dawn

I finally took the plunge on this game. I wanted to back it it when it was on Kickstarter, but the all in for Horizon Zero Dawn was a lot. Then I heard, when it came out that the game was good, but there wasn’t enough in the base box. Now with even more reviews coming out and more reviewers I knows talking about it. I am back to being very interested in it.

Plus the expansions, or at least some of them, are available. So if really like the game, I can get expansions. If I don’t like the game, well, I suspect I’ll like the minis. We’ll need to see, the game might just make me want to get back to playing the video game. I have too many video games that I really need to get played. Horizon: Zero Dawn, and The Witcher are the top two.

Cockroach Poker

We go from a big box to a small box with Cockroach Poker. I knew about this game, but not how to play it until I watched an anime actually. It shows up in Afterschool Dice Club, and the game looks fun. Plus the game looks like a fun filler. The person who is it passes a card to the next person telling them what is on the card. But that could be a lie. The person either can look at it and pass it to the next person saying what it is. Or call the persons bluff. If they call their bluff, and they lied, it goes back to that person. If they are telling the truth, it goes in front of the person who called their bluff.

The concept is simple. And I like that for a filler game. But the game itself seems fun. When do you bluff, when you do not? You are trying to not get four of a bug in front of you. So if it is something you don’t want to get do you tell the truth, or do you lie and hope it gets passed on one further? The game play feels clever to me.

Detective: Signature Series – Petty Officers

Of course I’m going to get more Detective. I love the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system that Portal has created. And Petty Officers looks great. It isn’t about a Petty Officer as in the military, it is about pet detectives. I don’t know how that will work, but I’m excited to see. And I really liked the Dig Deeper case from the signature line. I think that it is a fun way to get a lot of different stories into the game.

Final Girl: Feature Film – Slaughter in the Groves

And this is the other reason that I’m talking about Final Girl in the title. I found one of the feature film boxes in the wild. But of course, I haven’t been able to find the core box. I am constantly checking for it on Miniature Market and CoolStuffInc and other sites. Because I’d love to get that and get the game to the table sooner versus waiting for the Kickstarter to fulfill. This is just another horror movie to be played through. I know I will eventually collect them all.

All Systems Go

My boss game me a gift card for the holidays to my favorite board game shop. And I had a bunch of games to trade in with them. That was part of the big point of sale I did a little bit ago. But when I brought in the trade, I did pick up a game, and a big one at that.

Marvel Champions: Vision

But let’s start small. The latest expansion, Vision, is out for Marvel Champions. All Systems Go knows to set aside a copy for me every time. I always say I need to play this game more, and I really do. Because there are so many characters and villains out now that I need to play against. I have everything sorted, I just need to throw stuff together to play again.

That might be another goal I give myself this year. When I sort characters into my big boxes to pull out a villain and face them off against it. That way I can play through more characters, even if I do only play them that one time right away.

Sea of Legends

This is the big game that I got. And it is a big game because it was a Kickstarter. And the game comes with an expansion box as big as a game. Another one that I almost backed on Kickstarter. But I am glad that I didn’t. When the game delivered, the app it uses, wasn’t ready to go. So it really wasn’t playable. It sounds like the rule book has issues as well.

All of those things are a negative. But I have heard that the game is good when you play it. When it is working right it is a lot of fun, and it sounds like it is working right now. Plus the game does some cool things. Each player picks a Captain, Lover, and Nemesis. And you enter that into the app and that determines how story in the game unfolds. It reminds me, in concept, of Merchants and Marauders, but with even more.

Kickstarter

Final Girl: Season 2

I already spoiled it that Final Girl is on the list. The question is, what did I back for it? So, I wasn’t sure what I was going to back. I originally did an a la carte option where I could get the core box and add on a few of the feature film boxes. But then Van Ryder Games made my job easier. I don’t care about some things like minis, or other odd extras that the game has. Yes, it makes it more thematic, but I don’t want them.

Instead, what they gave me was the game play option. That is all five feature films for season two. Now, I need a core box as well. But I could add that on, which, I did. And that is cheaper than getting everything separately. It is cheaper than getting stuff in the big bundle which has things like minis in it. If I cared more about the minis, I’d get them. But this is a solo game. I don’t feel like I need minis for it.

Which is Most Exciting?

Let me know in the comments below which of these games would you want to play first?

For me, I think I want to get Horizon Zero Dawn played the most. I can play that one solo. And while it is a bigger game, I will likely make weekend time to get it played. The aesthetic of the game is just so cool, and I think I’m going to dig it. I know there are some weird things about the them. For example, you shoot and kill a monster across the board, the loot drops next to you. Thematically doesn’t make sense. But makes it nicer to just pick up something.

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But, like I said, the list is at the end, and I’m not sure how much I should stall before I get to the video and write-ups on the games. Streaming will continue next week, I’m not sure what I’m going to be streaming up until the new year. Probably some solo games and talking on some board gaming topics. But 8 PM Central will be when the streams continue, at least for now.

100 Through 91

90 Through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

60 through 51

50 through 41

40 through 31

30 through 21

20 through 11

Top 100 Games 2021 Edition – 10 Through 1

10. Blood Rage

Higher on my list being as high as number two before, Blood Rage has slipped a little bit. The last time I played it, it was still a lot of fun, but didn’t land quite as well. Probably didn’t help with two new players and a four player game. I think I like Blood Rage best at 3, and I don’t mind it at two.

Still, I love Blood Rage because it has great action management, the area control is fun, but it’s the drafting that really makes the game. A different choice in drafting means that you score in a completely different way and have a different strategy. And, that might be some of it for me too, I just am used to drafting for a lower number of players, so I need to adjust my strategy, which is never a bad thing, when more emerges in how to play the game.

Buy on Miniature Market

9. Cartographers

The only roll and write in the Top 10, though, so many on the list, (stats coming later). But this one is my favorite for the theme, for the monsters, and for the scoring. It really does so many things in an interesting way. Cartographers is all about mapping out a section of a kingdom. You put in towns, fields, farms, rivers, and I feel like I’m blanking on one right now. But they all score differently and differently each game.

And the scoring is very good because you score four different things, but each of them only twice. So you build out your map to try and optimize that scoring depending on the season. So in spring you score something that isn’t then scored again until winter. It’s simple, but it’s clever, and then there are monsters. And monsters make Cartographers interactive. You put a monster on your opponents board in the least ideal spot to cost them as many points as you can.

Just that interaction is so different when it comes to a roll and write game. Most roll and writes can be played solo because what everyone else does doesn’t matter that much for you. With Cartographers, it doesn’t, completely, but that monster interaction is just fun to add into the game.

Buy on Thunderworks Games

8. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Dropping slightly from last year, Marvel Champions has slipped just because I haven’t played it as much as I should. Marvel Champions is a life style game of battling your favorite Marvel heroes (X-Men eventually, hopefully coming), against your favorite villains.

I like that this is a deck construction game. I haven’t gotten too far into that, but it’s something that I miss from Magic: The Gathering. But for me, I think the game itself is more fun than Magic, Magic didn’t even make the Top 100, I don’t think, because I haven’t played it in so long.

The superhero/alter-ego thing also works so well for me. I like that I can play as Spider-Man and be flipped on the Peter Parker side and the bad guy won’t attack. Why, because Peter Parker, who is he? The villain just schemes away giving Peter a chance to recover. When you flip to Spider-Man, though, now the villain comes after you. But they scheme less, so it’s balancing the game in a very thematic way.

Buy on Miniature Market

7. Mansions of Madness: Second Edition

Another bigger game on the list, this one is all about exploring mysteries in an app driven game from Fantasy Flight games. Mansions of Madness delves into the world Arkham Files to deal with monsters, cultists, and Lovecraftian mysteries.

The app is great in this game, though, I know for some people that will be a turnoff. It means that everyone can be playing the same game, though, one person doesn’t need to run everything. The app keeps points of interest as mysteries as you unfold what happening in the mansion, town, or where ever you might be. And it means that they can introduce puzzles into the game in a great interactive manner.

It’s a fun game that has a lot of scenarios that you can play, and a lot of expansions that I’d like to own so that I can play any scenario out there. I like that it’s not campaign based but still gives me that immersive story feel that I get from some bigger campaign based games.

Buy on Miniature Market

6. Aeon’s End

Now, I already had Aeon’s End: Legacy on the list. To me, Legacy versions of games are different enough that they generally deserve their own spot. But as I play more don’t be surprised if Aeon’s End Legacy becomes lumped in with Aeon’s End and Pandemic Legacy becomes lumped in with Pandemic.

Aeon’s End is a deck building game where you are trying to drive back a nemesis from the town of Gravehold. Of course, that Nemesis isn’t going to be easy to beat as it attacks you, the town, and unleashes minions upon all of you as well.

The deck building aspect is a lot of fun. I don’t always love games with a fixed market, or at least competitive deck builders with that. It gives someone who can “solve” the buying puzzle the fastest an advantage. But in a cooperative game, that means that everyone can focus in on what they do best. And you need to, because, this is a hard game. If you haven’t played before I recommend starting with the easier version, Aeon’s End Legacy.

Buy on Miniature Market

5. Lords of Hellas

A big game from Awaken Realms this is my type of thematic, mechanical and just a little bit messy. Lords of Hellas has you in a Greek Cyberpunk Future, fighting mechanical monsters, building monuments and temples and taking over lands. There is a lot going on in this game, but also I don’t find it that hard to play. They do a good job with the actions, once you know what the actions are.

One thing I really love about the game is that you can win in multiple ways. If you control two of the large land groups, you win. Defeat three monsters, you win. Control five temples, you win. Or, if a monument is completely built, whomever controls it at the end of the third turn wins the game. So it has a nice variety of ways to win, and in a 5 player game, four of us were one turn from winning and the other person two.

Plus, Lords of Hellas has variable player powers, and that becomes even more variable as temples are built. You draft different powers and that can shape what you are doing. And what you are doing at the end of the game to win might not be the same thing at the start.

Buy on Amazon

4. Detective: A Modern Crime Game

Do you like Detective TV shows? This is it, but good. I know that’s not a selling point but Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game is an amazing deduction game. And the base box ties together a really interesting story.

Another game that uses technology which can’t be avoided. But it helps with the thematic immersion of the game as you look stuff up in the police database, or through a librarian to help hide information from people and spoiling the game. Plus, sometimes you get to look stuff up online because they tied in real world history to the main box of the game at least.

I like deduction and puzzles in games, and Detective, for me, does them the best. Something like the Unlock or escape room style games, those are fun to puzzle out, but Detective gives me the puzzles and the story. And the story is just interesting and brings it up that whole other level.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

3. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Speaking of story, Tainted Grail has the best story of a board game that I’ve played. Detective is close, but Tainted Grail, I think, is better. It’s a game that immerses you in exploring different parts of the world of Avalon and the legends of King Arthur all will a grim dark fantasy twist to them.

It is very much a survival game to go along with the adventuring, but it works so well. Now, I do recommend playing on story more. While the survival aspect isn’t bad, it can really extend your game if you need to maintain the Menhir as much and if the monsters are a bit more deadly. And like I said to start with Tainted Grail, I want the story from this game.

The card play in the game is fun as well. And when you get into it, it goes pretty fast. At the start, it feels like it’s a break from the story that you don’t always want to have. But it’s still a good time and it makes the world and the choices you make feel bigger as you go through diplomatic and combat encounters.

Not Available

2. Dice Throne

Now for a different type of game, Dice Throne is much lighter, though not much smaller in terms of how much I have for it. In Dice Throne you are fighting either head to head or in a free for all against your opponents. And this is done by upgrading abilities, playing down statuses, and then rolling dice, like Yahtzee, to do as much damage as you can.

The game sounds simple, but with 16 different characters, they manage to make each one of them feel different. The Pyromancer deals out a lot of damage and wants to keep the fires of their fire mastery going. The Shadow Thief is stealing CP, the thing that allows you to play cards. The Gunslinger is going to fight a duel with you to see how much damage they take and can reload to deal even more damage.

I like this game at two, and I know some people don’t like it with more, but I do and I’ll gladly play king of the hill style with three or four people. The game adjusts y our health, so it doesn’t add that much time to the length of what you are doing. And soon I’ll have Marvel characters as well, which I’ll never complain about.

Buy on Roxley Games

1. Gloomhaven

Finally at Number 1 we have the number 1 board game on Board Game Geek and what has been my number one board game for several years. I have a tough time imagining Gloomhaven getting displaced, though, maybe it’s sequel Frosthaven will do that.

I just love everything about Gloomhaven, how big it is, how the combat works, the story (even though it’s not the best) and the different characters. It’s also that first massive campaign experience I’ve had. I did play Pandemic Legacy Season 1 before, but Gloomhaven is just a different animal.

Let’s talk a little bit about combat. I don’t love combat where I have to roll dice as the only thing that determines combat. The card play of picking two cards and then using a combination of the top of one and the bottom of another is just so interesting. And picking cards that won’t run through everything too fast and knock you out is important. Also picking cards that allow you to be flexible as you don’t know the order you’ll pay in.

Buy on Amazon

Top 100 Board Games

But that’s it, that’s the whole of the list of my Top 100 Board Games (of all time) 2021 Edition. Let me know your thoughts on it down below. What games to I have too high or too low? What is your favorite from my list?

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Gloomhaven

No shock I’m adding this one to the list. I love Gloomhaven. On my 2019 and 2020 Top 100 Games (of All Time) it was #1 both times. And the 2021 list is on-going. But this is a great big box game that is probably intimidating. In it you take different heroes or mercenaries and go off on missions, fighting monsters and unfolding story as you go. The game is spendy, but it’s worth it for what you get in the box.

You could also jump in first with Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lions. This game can be found for a whole lot cheaper and it brings you into the game nicely. It teaches you the game over a few scenarios, and while your characters won’t retire, you still get to level up and have the Gloomhaven experience, just in a much smaller and cheaper package.

Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness is one of two Arkham related games on the list from Fantasy Flight Games. This is the bigger one of the two. This is an app assisted game where you are investigating a mystery. In the introductory scenario you are trying to find out what is happening at a Mansion, where the owner has gone, and then how to stop the ritual that has been started.

The app works nicely because you can play a scenario a few times without it being identical. The story might unfold the same way as before, but the rooms will have moved around. And the app makes the game work really well. Plus this game is scenario based not campaign based. That means that you can play a single scenario and call it good and then pick up months later without missing any story.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

The second of the two Arkham and Lovecraftian games from Fantasy Flight Games, Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a great little experience much like Mansions of Madness. You are exploring Arkham or Dunwich or Carcosaa, where ever it might be, trying to stop rituals. The game, however, doesn’t have an app and is just cards.

What is so amazing about this game is that you explore just using cards. And the game is different as you go through linked scenarios. At the start you might be trying to find a way out of your house and fight a ghoul. The next scenario you are hunting down cultists. The game just has a lot of fun to it and feels so unique with just using cards.

Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

This one is a completely different theme, but it’s an adventure in it’s own right as it’s a great deduction game. In the base game you are solving linked cases that tell and unfold a story of a murder from long ago. This is done with the use of a computer with a database you can look things up in, as well as cards that unfold the story.

I call this a procedural cop show, but it’s fun. You are the cops, or the investigators. If someone you know really loves stuff like NCIS and CSI, this game might be a great one to play with them. It’s five scenarios long and 3 hours per scenario. So you can get a lot out of the game and it’s one of the most immersive games in terms of theme that I’ve ever played.

Aeon’s End Legacy

Finally we have a Legacy game on the list. A legacy game means that there are components that you destroy or permanently alter. Gloomhaven has a little bit of that, but Aeon’s End Legacy has a whole lot more. This is going to be a good game for someone who wants to build out their own character. While others on the list do that to some extent, Gloomhaven mainly, this one really gives you big choices on what you do.

This game also teaches you how to play Aeon’s End. Much like Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion brings you up to speed for Gloomhaven, Aeon’s End Legacy will teach you how to play Aeon’s End in all it’s forms. And th ere is a lot more content. But in the game you work together, build your characters, and fight off monsters coming through breaches. The story is lighter on this one but it’s still a lot of fun.

I have a lot more of these games on my shelf. I won’t recommend Deep Madness as it’s hard to find, and if you can it won’t be cheap. But Nemesis will give you a sense of adventure as well as Roll Player Adventures that just came out and Reich Busters thought both might be harder to find again. There are a lot of these big box games that tell you story, but I hope I gave you a good variety to checkout and for a number of different budgets. Do you have a favorite adventure game?

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The Games

10. A Gentle Rain

This game might feel too much just like an activity.

9. Ohanami

The decision space, while matching the aesthetic of the game, might be too simple.

8. The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

You can bring the theme to the game but for a game that should have more theme it is very mechanical.

7. Apocrypha

The rule book is horrible.

6. Say Bye to the Villains

The game is too long for the stuff in the box.

5. Galaxy Trucker

Chaos and then destruction.

4. TIME Stories

You go on runs over and over again.

3. Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

The game doesn’t let you do everything and you need the internet.

2. Icecool

It’s a flicking game.

1. Betrayal At House On the Hill

The scenarios are hard to understand and if a too strong a character is the traitor they can win easily.

The Beer

Last nights beer was from Bent Brewstillery out of Roseville MN. It is another brewery very close to where I live, though one I haven’t been to in a few years. They make good beer but not always my favorite beers. This one, a hazy fruited sour, O.P.P., is a very solid beer. To me, it would have been a great summer beer because of the very fruity nature. That sweetness balanced out against the tart nature of the sour for a very refreshing drink. I think that it’s getting a bit cold in Minnesota for a beer like that, but still really enjoyable.

What’s Coming Up On Malts and Meeples

Starting tomorrow I am tackling my Top 100 of all time live. The list is ready to go so every Wednesday at 8 PM from September 15th through November 17th I’ll be doing the next 10 on my list. Again that’s at 8 PM Central. Subscribe, click that notification bell and join me live as I talk about my Top 100 games of all time. That’s going to be mainly what I stream coming up here. There might be some Monday night streams, 8:30 PM Central, and those will be chats while playing a small game.

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