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.

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

So this is a list of 10 games, in no particular order. Also worth noting, it’s a list of 10, I’m unlikely to buy most of them as a lot will be big, but I’ll likely buy a few.

10 Board Games in 2023

10. Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game

I almost considered backing this one, but it just didn’t quite draw me in. But I love the material that it’s based on, I think I mainly played Heroes of Might and Magic IV. And it’s a world exploring adventure, fighting game which has some interesting systems. So I want to get my hands on this one and try it, because of that. And because it’s a big game but isn’t one that is all about the minis or all about an epic campaign which is different. And it’s not cooperative, which is also different for me.

9. Earth

Another one that was on Kickstarter, and Earth is a much smaller game than a lot on the list. But for that reason, I didn’t back it, I thought it was an interesting one to pick-up later. It’s an engine building game, which I generally like. And with a smaller package I’ll enjoy that as well. Plus it’s an engine building game about creating your own ecosystem which is fun, and the game looks very pretty. So that’s enough for a reason for me to be interested, it’s a pretty game.

8. Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game

I didn’t consider backing this one because the Terraforming Mars games, generally no need to back them. And the Dice Game looks interesting and like more Terraforming Mars. I already own Ares Expedition and I like that one. Plus I own Terraforming Mars that I need to play. But like Earth, this is going to be another engine building game which I’m certainly interested in. And it’s based off of a system at least with Ares Expedition that I like and a theme that I like.

7. Arkeis

People are complaining a lot about this one because it’s taken a long time to deliver. I believe it was crowdfunded in 2019 or very early 2020 and it’s got a 2023 date. But it’s one that I am very interested in grabbing at retail when it comes out.

It’s a legacy game, but a legacy game set in Egypt and delving into tombs and temples to get treasures. I’m not sure how it’ll all work, but I’m excited for it for the legacy campaign aspect but also for the setting and the potential for story. I really like Lost Ruins of Arnak which generally has that theme, so I’m hoping that Arkeis will be more immersive game play.

6. Soul Raiders

This one says it was on Kickstarter or Crowdfunding and it looks vaguely familiar, but I’m surprised I didn’t look into it more. The designer did Splendor before, a game that I don’t love, I think this one sounds very interesting. A high fantasy setting will get me interested.

Plus then it had deck building in it as well, which I enjoy. I’ve wanted to find a good campaign game that uses deck building heavily in it as I think it’s a mechanic that makes sense. And the artwork looks nice, so it’s one that I want to try and play, maybe not own, but play.

5. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

Have I mentioned that I like big campaign games? Well, I do. And Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders is a follow-up, in setting to Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef, which I just got. So I do want to get this one as well, it’s a dungeon crawling campaign game set in that world. And that world, while it might not come through too much in Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef, is gorgeous to look at.

So if I can start to get story and explore characters in that world, I’m interested. Plus when it was on crowdfunding, I thought it looked intriguing. Mainly it looks like the action system is going to be very different with ebbs and flows of it building from lighter turns to bigger turns.

4. My Island

This one I doubt that I’ll get in 2023 but I wouldn’t be surprised if I get it later. It’s a legacy game, follow-up to My City, this time with an Island. I haven’t beat My City yet, or completed it I should say. But I’m really liking it when we do get it played. It is an accessible, easy to pick-up and easy to put down legacy game.

My hope is that My Island is the same thing just some new twists on it. And it’s a legacy game, so I like that element as well. And that’s the reason that I’ll get to it when I get to it. I have enough other legacy games that I really need to get played.

3. Sagrada Artisans

Another one that was on Kickstarter, Sagrada Artisans takes Sagrada and turns it into a legacy game. From what it looked like, it kept a lot of the game the same with drafting dice and creating stained glass windows. But it also added in a coloring element.

So that they could mess around with the windows more, you aren’t placing the dice on the windows but instead coloring in the color you picked, and I’m assuming putting the number down. That sounds like an interesting twist, not the coloring but the non-square windows, and how that’ll work. I hope it’s a light, fun, legacy game, like My City has been and like I hope My Island will be.

2. First in Flight

At this point in time you should know that most of these have been on crowdfunding. Some of that is because it’s hard for publishers to know when a game will come out so far in advance unless it is on crowdfunding. And First in Flight is one that is different, though, it’s a smaller, lighter game where you are trying to collect cards to be able to pull of the longest flight possible.

It’s historically based, so you’re competing with others trying to do the first flight of some length, I believe. And the helpers you can get are actual people. That element also makes it more interesting because it’s a lighter game that is going to give you history. When it was on crowdfunding, I was definitely interested. But it’s in that range of buying it later is probably the smarter plan.

1. Tales from Red Dragon Inn

I’m not going to buy this one, but I do want to play it. I think that Red Dragon Inn is an okay game, and I fully know that I’d like it better if I played it with fewer. I’ve always  played it over the player count, and it just takes a silly game and makes it too long. Tales from Red Dragon Inn is the dungeon crawl adventure that you all go on. I don’t really know how it’s going to work, but they’ve created very interesting characters for the world. So I think it’s something or a world that would be fun to play around in.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good games out there. I said that there were 16 pages of 2023 games on BGG, I didn’t go through all of them to get my list of 10. Am I missing something huge that I’ll end up loving, most likely. But that’s the fun of gaming and new board games coming out. It’s finding that new board game that you want to play over and over again. Last year, for example, Stars of Akarios wasn’t even on my radar, and now it’s in my Top 10. So we’ll have to see what game comes out of nowhere and just surprises me.

What game are you anticipating coming out in 2023?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

How To Play Tumblin-Dice

This is a very simple game, you have a set of dice, the game comes with six sided dice (D6), and you roll them on the board. You need to hit the top and then where it ends up, if it’s on the board you get a multiplier for your points. The further down the board you roll it, the higher the multiplier is, going from x0 to x4 in a few spots at the bottom.

After everyone has rolled all of their dice, you figure out everyone’s totals and the person with the most points wins. That is the whole of the game and there are some tweaks or things to think about that you can do. But I will talk about those coming up here.

What Doesn’t Work?

Firstly, this is a simple luck based game. You are rolling dice and trying to keep them on the board so you get points. But they can be knocked off and knocked over, so you might go from a 6×3 to a 1×4 or even nothing if someone bumps you. It is purely luck in this game with what numbers you get, kind of, I’ll talk about that more in what works.

The other thing that the game suffers with a little bit is that the game play is very fast, but scoring is not as fast. Someone needs to add up everyone’s scores, and if people aren’t good at math on the fly, it slows it down. Even if people are, it’s generally a group process so it isn’t that fast. Scoring doesn’t take longer than the game, it just isn’t the fastest and easiest thing.

What Works?

The first thing that works is that this is a fast and easy game. When we played it, we talked about how this is kind of a bar or drinking game. You don’t need to pay much attention, you can just have fun with it. Now, your math is going to get worse the more you drink. But that’s what phone calculators are for. But the sentiment still stands, it is a game meant for people to have a silly or fun time with it.

And this is a variant to the game, I don’t know if it’s needed, but it is fun. You play the game with a set of RPG dice instead. Now you’re rolling a D4, D6, D8, two D10, a D12, and a D20. It makes the game a whole lot more swingy. You could get 80 points if you rolled a 20 on a x4. But it’s fun to get those bigger numbers and if someone gets that great roll, well, it gives the next thing I enjoy.

I talk about how it is all luck, an the game is all luck. You roll a die down a board and sure, you can get decent at it to get it to stop on the board, but what number, that’s luck. How far down the board, that’s some luck. But there is some “strategy” to the game. If someone has a 6 on the x4 or x3, you want to knock them off their spot. And that is the strategy you get, going for that shot to move someone’s dice, and that is fun as well.

Who Is It For?

I kind of gave away some of it, but I think this is a good game for a bar or for when you’re just hanging out, having a beer, and want to do something but nothing too serious. I actually think this is a good option for a barbecue type of event because you could set it up, be standing around chatting and play a slow game.

Along with that, I also think that it could be a solid family game. And even a teaching tool for kids who are learning their multiplication. In the base game you can have the learn or practice their 1-6×1-4 tables. It’s not a ton but it’s practice. And with the variant that I played from the Dice Tower, you now have a whole lot higher numbers to work with, and it’d be a solid way to do something fun and learn.

Final Thoughts on Tumblin-Dice

This one I don’t think is quite as good as Strike. Mainly because Strike delivers more of those, what was that shot moments. But Tumblin-Dice is still a good time when you play it. Mainly because it is so simple. And it looks impressive on the table.

The board that you roll on is big. And everyone standing around it makes it look fun. So, Tumblin-Dice is a game that will attract people to it and to play it. And for some people it will be a miss. It isn’t a serious game, but if you can have fun with it, it works. And I think a lot of people will be able to have fun with it.

I didn’t expect deep strategy when I played it. I went in expecting that I’d have a fun time rolling dice. And I left with those expectations being met. Often times if you can do that, that is enough to make a game fun. And Tumblin-Dice meets expectations so is a fun time as a game.

My Grade: B-

Gamer Grade: D

Casual Grade: B

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Pros

• Amazing Theme
• Amazing Components
• Cooperative Game
• Can get Base Game as well as Expansion

Cons

• Expansion
• Price

The Page

This is a company that has run successful Kickstarters before, and you can tell that in this page. They have a really nice blurb at the top to kind of sell you on the idea of the game. They show you how it’s played in a video by Watch It Played and Rodney Smith, they have quotes and their BGG rating for the base game listed.

Then they do a good job of showing you what’s in the expansion and the new things that are added to the game. I think this is a pretty standard Kickstarter page, but that means that it sells the game well.

There are a couple of knocks I have on it, they again do most of their text in and on images. This isn’t accessible, and while they do a great job of keeping the font and text fairly large, it doesn’t scale perfectly for phones. I know it might not be graphic design 101 to not have text on images, but it’s web design 101, and this is on a website. The other thing is that while we have a video on how the base game is played, the information on rule additions or changes from the expansion aren’t laid out.

The Game

Let me start out by saying, I have the base game. So for that reason I’m interested in the expansion.

But I do like what the game does. I like the dice rolling to see what actions you can take and even if an action isn’t ideal you have things to do. I like that the actions are extremely thematic to the books. In them you have to research an epic and that’ll make it easier to defeat them. There’s just a lot of the theme that works for me.

From what I know of the base game, it is extremely challenging but generally a lot of fun. I haven’t played my copy yet. And this expansion helps dial that back a little bit by fixing a few of the extremely tough Epics (superheroes) in the game. Plus I like that the expansion is modular so you don’t need to use all of it if you don’t want.

Back or Brick

For me, when I heard about this a few days before the launch, I knew I was going to be very interested in it because of how much I love the book series and for that fact that this isn’t going to hit retail. Now, there will still be opportunities to get the expansion at conventions or directly from the company, but I wanted to get it this way if I could. So for me this is a Back. I think that the stuff it adds, from what I can tell, seems fun and adds more to the game but isn’t necessarily adding more complexity, in fact might make it easier. And I’m really excited for the new bosses to face because there are three in the series and just to deal with them.

How about for you, is this game a back or a brick for you?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

Then, it just kind of sticks with you as something that looks interesting, and the Kickstarter starts to deliver and you start to hear about the game. Now, it isn’t without it’s issues, it’s from Mythic Games and they are known for bad rule books, in fact, they are sending backers or have digitally sent backers an updated rule book that will be going out with the game going forward. But even with that, people were still enjoying the game. In particular there are two content creators who have done several videos, 3 playthroughs actually, that made me strongly interested in the game, that is GloryHoundd and DrGloryHogg whom I’m talked about before on the channel. I’ll add their videos of them playing the game at the end of the article.

Even with that, it was a Kickstarter game, there were Kickstarter exclusives, and I wasn’t sure if it was coming to retail or not. Then, during Gen Con Online, Mythic Games announced that they were opening up a webstore and selling some of their games, and that Reichbusters was going to be coming, eventually to retail. But through their web store, you could get the Kickstarter version of the game, because they had gotten extras. So doing a little research, I figured out what was Kickstarter exclusive and ordered some of that content, so I have the base game, a terrain expansion that just adds to the look and feel of the game, and one Kickstarter exclusive expansion.

What drew me to the game, though, besides it being a campaign game? Firstly, the theme, I like the idea of being this team that is going into a bunch of secret Nazi bases, taking out the Nazis but also stopping their experiments, and Nazi zombies and mechs. But what interested me with the theme is that it isn’t just a kick down the door, roll some dice, kick down a door, roll more dice, you have to plan more than that, you are trying to make as little noise as possible, because once they know you’re there, all hell will break loose and it’ll be much harder to win, so you want to push that off as long as possible. I also like that while it is a campaign game, you can also just play in a skirmish mode. So you just want to play a single mission in the campaign, they tell you how to do that, I like it when games do that, and even though Sword & Sorcery isn’t a game I’ve played that way, I appreciate that they do it, and Reichbusters does the game thing. Do I want to play through the campaign, absolutely, but I have a lot of those games, so I like that I don’t have to, and I can pull this out on a smaller game night and play it with people.

So for you, do this game seem interesting? If you are interested in it, check out the videos that are right below, because they do a good job of selling the game and the fun of it.

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

Thank you all for listening to the podcast. I hope that you are enjoying the brief bits of Marvel news and topics each week. If you are, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating and review. Those help more people find the podcast and join into the 10 Minute Marvel community. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, and Stitcher.

If you want to get a hold of the podcast, you can leave a comment below. Otherwise you can find me on Twitter, @TheScando, or use #10MinMarvel in your tweet. I’m checking Twitter regularly and tweeting fairly often. I’m especially interested in comics I should be checking out or any rumors you’ve heard about the comics or the MCU.

But with that, I’ll see you next time.

Pros

• Successful Kickstarter Company
• Based off of a good game
• Great demo at GenCon 2019
• Campaign/Story driven game
• Solo play

Cons

• Dice Luckiness

Thoughts On The Page

Great looking page that really lays things out nicely. Polished and professional Kickstarter company that lays things out in a way that I’d expect. A lot of previews of the game on the page which is great, and good levels of pledges.

I really like how they lay out the game play. I think that other Kickstarters could learn from that as game play is huge in a game that isn’t just a mini’s fest. Those often succeed on minis alone, but personally, even with those, I want to see a lot with strong rules, because I’m not buying the minis just to paint. I also like that they didn’t feel the need to make this a minis game. Not every game needs to have minis.

Back or Brick

Now, technically, this is a back for me. However, with that said, I’m not actually backing it. If you like story driven games, I can’t highly recommend this enough, even in a game where we found situations and combinations that potentially got us stuck in the playtesting and play through at GenCon that we did, the game is amazing. There is only one reason that I’m not getting it, that’s because a good friend who I have played through all of Gloomhaven with is getting it, and I know that I can get in on playing his game, or at least I’m assuming I’ll be able to. If you want a lighter story driven game, this game is amazing and very much worth checking out in Kickstarter. If I had the money for it, I’d be getting the $400 bundle because that would get me caught up on everything for the game. But you don’t need to do that, the $400 all in gives you everything and lets you make your own characters for it more easily, but you could do that just getting the base game, which you can find at retail sometimes, and adventures, and you can play just with adventures. If you are on the fence of Roll Player Adventures and no one from your gaming group is getting it, or you game solo, I highly recommend this game.

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

It’s the wild west, and dice slowly are blowing through the streets of your town like tumbleweeds. Can you build up the best dice town possible in this engine building game?

Pros

• Game looks easy to teach
• Solo play
• Good price point
• Light engine builder

Cons

• They kickstarted Dreams of Tomorrow which I don’t like
• Aesthetic is just okay
• Graphic design is just okay

Thoughts on the Page

They do a solid job of laying out the campaign and giving you a rules overview. The page isn’t as polished as some and that’s mainly because of the graphic design, but in terms of information presented, it looks good and interesting. The one thing I will knock them on is having “reviews”, a lot of those are previews, not reviews, and reviews don’t matter on a Kickstarter page because you are only going to post good reviews anyways.

Thoughts on the Game

But I really like the theme of the game, the old west is fun, and there are definitely some fun things you can do with dice manipulation and engine building. However, how massive does this differentiate itself from Old West Empresario, an old west dice rolling and town building game? I know this relies more on the dice, but is it going to be better than Old West Empresario which it’ll be fighting against for market space. For me, that would be a tough sell because Old West Empresario is already out and available for purchase and from a company that I trust more to put out a good game.

Back or Brick

For me, this is a Brick. Not just because I have limited funds, I’d say something’s a back even if I don’t back it, but because Old West Empresario already exists. Do we really need another dice based old west game? Probably there is room in the market for both, but Dreams of Tomorrow was such a miss for me that seeing this Kickstarter it’s making me more likely to get Old West Empresario now than back this game. Now, it’s very possible that this might be a game for you. I think that if you’ve enjoyed their other games, the price point and shipping are great.

Would you back or is this a brick?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

In Age of War, you are rolling dice trying to match symbols are Japanese fortresses. To do this, you have to be able to place a dice each roll or you lose a die. But you’re completing sections, not just placing a single die each time. So some sections it might be, get four swords, the highest sword count is 3, so you’d have to use at least two dice to get that. When you complete one, if you can on your turn, it goes in front of you and is going to give you points. However, it’ll give you more points if you complete a set of like colored fortresses because they flip over and it’s a higher point total. Once someone has claimed a fortress, they aren’t safe though because for a slightly higher cost, it can be stolen from you. So players might fight over a fortress trying to complete their color set, or to stop a player who is getting close to locking in a color set. Because once they are locked in with a full set, they can’t be stolen anymore. In the end, once all fortresses have been claimed, the player with the most points wins.

This game does a lot of things that people are familiar with, rolling a die, saving it to match symbols. It has a feel like Yahtzee or King of Tokyo, though those games have more of a set limit on number of times you can roll. But the mechanic remains that familiar dice rolling. One thing that I like about this dice rolling that’s different than the games that I mentioned is that you are locking in or tossing out a die each turn. You can’t pick up discarded or locked dice to reroll, and once you decide which fortress you’re going for, you are locked in. So it can be tempting to push for a big once, but that is going to take more luck with your rolls. Also, with the dice rolling, I talked about the swords, there are more sword sides than other symbols, there are three other symbols, but you need to use your swords smartly. In my example, I was looking to get up to four swords, so using two dice is what you want to do, if I have to use three and then I’m looking for specific symbols later, I’ve lowered the number of dice that I’m going to be rolling.

What also works in this game is the ability to steal fortresses. I think without that the game would feel stale and players would probably just go for the most expensive fortress first, in terms of how many dice you need to complete it and victory points given, and then just work down. Though, that might not be the best plan all of the time. But being able to steal and trying to get sets creates more player interaction and while it is just one sided because they can’t defend against it being stolen, it adds an interesting piece to the game. That combined with colors locking if you have a complete set adds some strategy to what you’re trying to roll for. But it isn’t just as easy if as getting in the first place. There’s always an additional symbol that you need to roll, so the cost is going to be higher to steal, so is it worth it to push for that if there are still castles of similar prices and points out there? It still is just about pushing your luck, but it gives you more interesting choices to work on.

There are a few final things working for this game for me. First, it’s an easy game, the dice rolling feels familiar and the rules are easy to teach. And with minimal pieces in the game, you can set it up fast and get it to the table. It also plays up to 6, and I think it works well at that number, probably better at a slightly lower number, but with six, sure, it takes longer to get back to your turn, but it doesn’t add additional length to the game. Which is the final thing I wanted to mention, this is a fast game, so that helps, it’s fast to teach, turns are pretty fast, and the game is done quickly. For a game that comes in a small package, that is what I really want to see.

Overall, I like this game. It’s a good easy filler that offers more than some filler games. It gives you a few choices while being easy to get to the table, play, and put away while waiting for more people to show up for a game night. For some people, it’s going to be lacking because it really does come down to the luck of a die roll quite often, but it offers some choices, and that’s what I want in the game. I think that it’s pretty fun for what it is, and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

Overall Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: B

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.

As I said, Dice Forge is a dice crafting game. At the start of the game each player has two dice with removable sides. The two dice are different, one with more of one crystal type and the other one with the other. And then a lot of gold. You use the crystals to buy cards that give you various actions that you can do or they give you points. The coins are used, and this is the most exciting part of the game, for buying sides of dice. The dice, you can pop a face off and put a new face on that gives you more money, points, or crystals. You play through a certain number of rounds and then the person with the most points from cards and scoring points during the game is the winner.

There most important thing to talk about is the dice. This seems like it could have been a gimmick that might not have worked that well, but it actually works really well. The dice are engineered extremely well, and you actually have to snap the face of the dice out and snap a new one in, and in several plays and plays of copies that have had more than a few plays, the dice are holding up well. Now, the tray for storing the dice sides that you’re going to put on, I think that it’s an interesting idea, but the sides are just sitting in there, and I don’t think that works as well that well, because a jostles can knock them loose, and moving the box can certainly mess that up even more. But the dice themselves are awesome, and making the best dice you possibly can is where the fun really comes in.

One of the mechanical things that I really like about the game is that you aren’t just rolling the dice on your turn. You roll the dice every turn, however, you can only spend what you’ve collected on your turn. So you have tracks where you are keeping track of how much gold you have as well as the crystals and points. So when you roll, you’re tracking it there, this should help give players something to do when it isn’t your turn, and because you’re only getting a roll of the dice when it is your turn, you should be able to start planning some. Now, that changes with two players, but in a multiplayer game, when you’re rolling on the turn previous to yours, you should have a plan already somewhat in place.

Let’s talk a bit about the card piece. I think that the cards work fine in this game. They are mainly going to give you points or the ability to manipulate what you have. This game has a fantasy theme on it and it’s mainly on the cards. However, that theme doesn’t really come through. I like that there is a theme, because there really isn’t any reason to have one, other than to make the game more aesthetically pleasing. The cards, however, they feel lackluster compared to the dice and changing the dice face. They are basically just another way to spend resources. I wish that it was more about the interesting dice side changing part of the game, but I understand that it would cost a whole lot more to change the cards into something more or to make more faces to add to the dice or even more of the dice.

Now, I called this a fast game, and it is. It says 45 minutes, in a two player game, it should take less time than that, but I played a four player game, and it took longer. I know some of that was the players I was playing with as two of them can have some to all the analysis paralysis on their turns. But I do think that a teaching game with four people is going to take longer than the 45 minutes, even though the game isn’t that difficult. Dice Forge, I think, is a good length and a good way to introduce engine building and resource management to new gamers. The tactile nature of the dice faces is really nice in the game and it’s going to draw people in to want to check out the game. And then, they did a good job with a simple game that will work well for lots of levels of gamers.

Overall, I like Dice Forge. I think that it does something really new and unique. I think that the game has good turn decision making, it doesn’t have long term planning because you don’t know what resources you’ll roll, but that helps keep the game something that is easier to introduce new gamers to. Dice Forge isn’t on my shelf, but that’s because I know people who have it, otherwise it probably would be for the ease of play and dice forging which is just a lot of fun.

Overall Grade: B
Gamer Grade: B-
Casual Grade: A-

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.