Often times, though board games find trouble when it comes to doing racing games. Part of a good racing experience often times is the tension at the end. Did I do enough to win? Can I get that last second pass in? I want to get that feeling from a board game. So let’s talk about what games give that experience for me the best.

Top 5 Racing Games

5. Tiny Turbo Cars

Let’s start with one of the more unique games on the list. Tiny Turbo Cars is an RC racing game. You play with a controller and everything. Except this is a crazy racing time as you race across a house and try to be the first one to launch across the finish line. I enjoy the house theme for this game. I find that it makes the game feel different.

But the biggest element that makes the game feel different is the real time element. And I appreciate that you get a burst of real time and then it’s not. So, like a Galaxy Trucker, it isn’t just doing things in real time all the time. But for the real time you are programming how your car and move. It’s a slide puzzle and it’s great and challenging because you activate the eight symbols in the middle two rows. Mess it up and you might find yourself crashing, a lot. But that’s some of the hectic fun of the game.

4. Pitchcar

Next up is Pitchcar. This one is a dexterity game. You flick your car along as track as far as you can. But you need to stay on the track so you can’t go purely with power. It’s balancing launching forward all the time while hitting turns. There is skill to this game and the more you play the better you’ll get. But it also has a great element of, sometimes you just get lucky with an amazing shot. And when you are a few cars back half way through the race and you hit that shot to catch up, or you got stuck somewhere and you blast through, people get excited.

I like that about the game because I want you to do well. Not better than me, but I want you to do well. And there is an excitement about the game that is heightened by the fact everyone is standing up. The experience is just a little bit different in this game when it comes to racing.

3. Dungeon Kart

Now, maybe you want a Mario Kart style of game. Dungeon Kart from Brotherwise Games is going to give you some of that feel. It’s a bit like Tiny Turbo Cars in that there are certainly a good amount of chaotic elements to the game. But this one makes the game simpler than that one is.

In this one you get a car and a driver with a power and what you are better at. You want to race around the track, collecting spells and using them to keep yourself in the front. You blast someone, well, that might be good, but there is no guarantee that will stop them from catching up and blasting you next turn. But it isn’t just pure chaos. You also need to plan out your movement because some lines are shorter, but is it worth it for hitting the brakes and going across grass?

2. Ready Set Bet

I only put one mainly betting game on the list. Others like Long Shot: The Dice Game and Downforce could hit the list as well. But I went with Ready Set Bet because it is a racing game that has stand-up moments in the game.

In Ready Set Bet one player is calling the game each race. And that is just done by rolling dice. Everyone else is betting in real time. You want to end up with the winning horse paying out well for you. But so does everyone else. So if the seven horse gets out to an early lead is that enough for you to go all in there? Or do you want to risk it for bigger odds on a less likely horse? I’ve seen horses in from every lane, so it’s crazy chaos.

And at the end of the game after all the bets are done, the players stand around and a pulling for certain dice rolls. There is actual tension to the game as it wraps up which I find amazing. How can just rolling some dice create so much excitement?

1. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Finally I want to add Heat: Pedal to the Metal, probably the most popular racing game as of late. This one takes hand management and push your luck in a really fun way. The coolest element to me is how you need to manage the heat on your engine. As you push to go fast on the straightaways and then need to slam on the brakes going into a corner, everything can heat up your engine.

So you need to know when to push it and build up that heat. When is it worth it to push around a corner faster than you should? It might cost some heat, but if you save a turn, is that a good enough reason to do it? That element of the game is just a ton of fun and a great puzzle to try and figure out.

Plus it makes sense, you push your engine too hard you risk running into issues. Or at least it is going to force you to cool down your engine. But if you can kind of hang out just by the leaders you can potentially draft past them at key times without exerting your engine as much.

Final Thoughts

I really like racing games. There are more racing games that didn’t make the list that I have really enjoyed or do really enjoy. The Quest for Eldorado might look like a deck builder, but it is a racing game where you are trying to build up that deck that let’s you race to the end faster than others. Titan Race has that Mario Kart feel to it and then the two that I mentioned with Ready Set Bet offer great betting and racing.

One that might make the list if I do it again in the future is Rallyman Dirt. This is a time trial race like rally racing is. And I really enjoyed my play, though it wasn’t a full game play at Gen Con. I think there are a ton of cool elements to it and the fact that you can do a series of races is also great. That one and Heat: Pedal to the Metal are ones that I’d love to do a race circuit of with friends to see who is the best racer out of all of them.

What are your favorite racing games?

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Checkout 100 through 91 first here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition 90-81

90 – The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

I really enjoy trick taking games, though not a ton of them make the top of my list. The Crew: Mission Deep Sea makes the list for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is a cooperative trick taking game. So everyone works together to complete certain objectives. That is fun, but it is also fun because I can play the same scenario over again and I’ll have different objectives. That’s something that made me like it better than The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine which was fixed.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

89 – Too Many Bones: Undertow

Too Many Bones, a bit game from Chip Theory Games, is one that I think will move up higher as I get more characters and get it to the table more. I like it every time I play, but it’s a beast and I need to relearn the rules. But Too Many Bones is generally a tactical fighting game where you level up characters as you go. Eventually you face off against a big boss. What you level up are stats but then also unlock new dice and abilities to use. And then I like that fact that the characters aren’t normal. The Gearlocs aren’t cute, but what they do is different than a lot of standard fantasy games.

Buy on Chip Theory Games

88 – Downforce

Downforce is an interesting light and quick betting game. In this game you buy a car, race that car, and then get your points, or money, for who you place a bet on, where they finish, and where you vehicle finishes. There is one thing, there are more, but one in particular, that is so clever though. As the cars race along, that is done by people playing down cards. The cards have a list of car colors and how far they move. If you plan it well you can get a car trapped and slow it down, which offers more strategy than you’d expect from the game.

Buy on Miniature Market

87 – Fruit Picking

Another one that has been on the list before and another lighter game like Downforce that way. But otherwise it is more like Mancala with set collection. You move seeds around, figuring out how to land on spots where you can either get a lot more seeds or you can buy different fruit. All you are trying to do is figure out that puzzle as quickly as possible. And of course, to land in the right spot to get those fruit and collect your sets.

Buy on Amazon

86 – Atlantis Rising

Atlantis Rising is new to the list, and a very good cooperative game. As I say in the video, it’s almost an introductory or welcoming cooperative game. In this game you are trying not to keep Atlantis afloat, but as it sinks, get off the island by making technology and end up in another realm. What I like is how the board shrinks as you play, parts sink and you lose some of the better options for going out. Of course, if you want to more likely get what you need, you go out to the end of an peninsula, but there is also a great chance it’ll sink and you get nothing.

Buy on Miniature Market

85 – Flamecraft

Flamecraft is one of the prettiest games out there with all the cute dragons. But it’s a fun light game to play as well. It is a very good welcoming game because of the artwork, but because there isn’t too much going on as well. You are either adding dragons to shops to get resources on your turn, and use powers of the dragons or shop. Or you are completing goals and gaining points. It’s such a friendly game that is a lot of fun to play and look at.

Pre-Order on Miniature Market

84 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Arkham Horror: The Card Game has fallen for me a lot. Mainly because I just don’t play it or have someone to play it with consistently. For me, it is a fine solo game, but I like it better multiplayer. In this game you are an investigator looking into some strange mystery, probably dealing with an elder god or some great old one. Of course, that means weird things can happen, and Fantasy Flight Games has done a great job of putting something together that uses the cards to create really unique experiences.

Buy on Miniature Market

83 – Village Rails

Village Rails replaces Village Green for me on the list. So another new game. It is still laying out things in a 3×3 grid, but now you’re trying to connect routes and score points that way. Plus playing out train engines to get even more scoring opportunities. What I like about it though is that the route building is a bit simpler to grasp than how the greens work. It’s a solid filler style game, I’d say, where it offers good decisions but not that long a game play time.

Not Out Yet

82 – Isle of Cats

The Isle of Cats from City of Games, is a great big polyomino game where you are rescuing cats. The same for the Explore and Draw which I’d maybe rate higher but hadn’t rated yet by the time I did my list. In both you are filling up a boat with cats, trying to get families – colors of cats- next to each other on the boat. And then there are objective cards as well that you can draft and give you more end of the game scoring. There is a lot to the game but it’s a fun one to play both versions of it.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

81 – The Lost Expedition

The Lost Expedition is another one that has been on my list for a long time and has dropped some lately. Mainly because it got played a lot and there is less to see. But I still enjoy The Lost Expedition a lot. Mainly because it’s a cooperative game that is hard or even impossible for one player to really run for everyone. You’re trying to find the lost city of Z and explore along different paths every day. When making that path, each person needs to make the decision themselves and can’t discuss with other players. Eventually you make it, or often times you run out of food and your guides all perish.

Buy on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

Next Monday the Top 100 Games 2022 Edition continues. You can find the video below for that one. If you want to join live, it’ll be at 8:30 PM Central on Monday. Only week where it might not happen at that time is October 31st as it’s Halloween.

Then on Wednesday, it is time for more Stars of Akarios. This is assuming my internet is back by then. If not, I’ll tweet it out. But you can find that link here. The following week I will be out of town so no Stars of Akarios. But hopefully you are still having fun, and most likely there is a fair amount to catch up on after seven games.

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How To Play Long Shot The Dice Game

In Long Shot The Dice Game you are trying to complete the game while having the most money. So yes, this is a bidding game, not as much a racing game. On a turn the person who is first player rolls the dice. This determines which horses move and and the other die determines how far.

Then every player uses that horse die, the color eight sided die, to fill in something on their board. There are four different areas you are able to fill in. Firstly, the concessions where you are trying to complete rows and columns. When you complete one you get a special bonus. Or you can fill in a jockey helmet or jockey shirt. Getting a pair gives you points at the end of the game. But they also allow you to either bet late on a horse, or add movement to one of the horses cards. Finally you can bet on a horse up to $3 per round.

The person who rolled followed by other players can then choose if they want to buy the horse who’s number was rolled or not. If they do, deduct the money and you get a special power. There is another way to get a horse with concessions as well.

At the end of the race you tally up your money from what you have left over, pairs of jockey helmets and shirts, bets, and any winnings you get if the horse you own placed. The player, like I said, with the most money wins.

What Doesn’t Work

This is not the most intuitive roll and write game. Nothing about a jockey helmet says you can bet late. Nothing about a jockey shirt says make a horse move more often. Even the concessions filling in rows and columns isn’t thematic. This is not a knock on the game play, though, this is a knock on how you have to teach it. If you’re not careful, you’ll miss something or a rule will get explained multiple times because it isn’t obvious. So for a light, fast, roll and write game, there is strategy but still not that much going on, it takes a bit to teach.

What Works

Firstly, I do think that the racing part of the game works. You want your horses to do well. As a group you kind of build up a horse or two to move faster. Try and buy them and get them across the finish line. So there are points where you are just getting excited for a horse, for a roll, to see what happens. Will a horse move this turn past the betting line or not?

I also think that the betting is fun, and I like that it’s not an even distribution. Betting on 7 or 8 is a long shot. But if they win, the payout is great. I do like that you don’t bet everything at once. It isn’t like I can spend all $12 of my starting dollars in one turn. You need to slowly bet it out in smaller increments. Which means you might spread out your bets a little bit more between horses.

And I think the highlight for me is the jockey shirts. Yes, other parts are fun, I like getting a column or row in the concessions. But crossing off a horse on another card/number is great. Having a 4 rolled and then 1, 2, and now because I marked it off 7 move as well is a lot of fun. Plus, if multiple people get behind a horse, now it just starts consistently moving up the track and can catch up, even if it’s number isn’t rolled.

Who Is It For?

I think that this is a roll and write game for most people. The tricky part is that it’s not the easiest to learn or teach. But a lot of the concepts are pretty easy to follow along with once you get them. And it has more than your normal roll and write. There is an element of this that makes it more of a party game. Which I think that racing, watching the horses move, takes it up a notch in terms of who it can be for.

But Long Shot The Dice Game is generally a concept that works well. And one that I think will get people into the game as you play. And for that, it is one that you can probably play with most gamers, and even people who are game interested.

Final Thoughts on Long Shot The Dice Game

I enjoy this game a lot. I like racing games, though I find that most of them are really betting games. But that works well, it is in some ways nicer than just pushing luck down a race track and rolling dice. I do want to play Formula D for that reason though, because it is. But that luck might frustrate some people, so betting games, also with luck, can work better with racing.

I wish the things made a bit more thematic sense. Though, to get the game to work, I’m sure it needed to be the way it is. And coming up with more thematic things is tricky. The oddest part to me is the pair of jockey helmet and shirt being $5 at the end of the game. The other actions at least affect the race a little more. But I do think it can help offset not buying a horse, so there is that.

Long Shot The Dice Game is one that I’d definitely recommend. I think that the game play is fun, and, it reminds me of Downforce another betting/racing game that I really enjoy. This one, though, I think offers more variety out of the box than Downforce does.

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

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The Board Game IPs

So how did I create this list, let’s start there. This is based off of a video by Foster the Meeple, which you can find here. Their list was mainly IP’s that didn’t already have a board game with them. Or they only had more mass market games. I didn’t quite do that. Mine might already have a game with them, but I want more games with that IP. Or I want better games with that IP.

Let’s run down the list quickly.

10. Mutant Chronicles

I’d want to see this as a Project Elite type of game. Mainly something where you go after lots of monsters, play real time, and just have fun scenarios and powers.

9. Sonic the Hedgehog

For Sonic, I’d like a game like Downforce where you have a specific car that is yours though and you are racing to get as many rings as you can. Player with the most rings at the end wins.

8. Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone, it could go two different ways. One way is playing at character level. Get into that dungeon crawl or adventure style of game. The other way would be to pit all the factions against each other in a race for dominance.

7. Locke & Key

Chronicles of Crime or Destinies from Lucky Duck Games would be the one that I’d base a game off of. Give it story and give it that dynamic element of the app. Especially with the VR element that Chronicles of Crime can add it’d really show off the weird world that can be Locke & Key.

6. Stormlight Archives

This one is coming, in some form. But another game that I think would work well in two ways, like Shadow and Bone. I think the idea of factions is even easier with the different lords you could play as and control. But there is so much rich story and history to the world, an adventure game would be amazing.

5. Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities has that Harry Potter like vibe to it with the displaced kid finding where they are really supposed to be. For this game idea, I’d want that adventure or dungeon crawl type of game. I think even exploring the school, Foxfire, over years as you level up your character and gain new skills would be interesting. Place some big mystery over everything, kind of that adventure type of game makes the most sense.

4. Stranger Things

For Stranger Things, I would love a Mansions of Madness style of game. Solve mysteries and fight monsters like the kids do. And the location tiles, when you eventually go into the upside down, which you might not always do, you flip everything over and on the reverse side of the tiles is the same location but just the upside down version.

3. Arcane

Arcane definitely needs to be a story driven dungeon crawl game. I think I suggested something to Middara. It’s a rich world with a lot of story to reach and choices to make. But then there is a dungeon crawl element. I’d want that dungeon crawl and campaign element for Arcane because of again a very rich world.

2. The Dresden Files

The Dresden Files, I bounced around a while where I wanted this game idea to land. I want it to be a Tainted Grail style of game. It’s dungeon crawl adjacent but really more of a of an adventure game. Give me a game set in the world of magic, monster and fey that Dresden Files has. I don’t even need Harry Dresden in it, well maybe some references to him, but a big campaign about what other wizards are doing would be amazing.

1. Sword Art Online

Finally, the IP I’d love most to have a good game for is Sword Art Online. There is a little card game but it’s not that great. The rules are definitely poor. But I want a boss battler, but not just a boss battler. A game I haven’t played yet, but is coming soon, Oathsworn or another one like that ISS Vanguard, would be solid examples. Oathsworn, in particular, has story/mystery that you play through and then fight the boss monster. That’s what I’d love for an SAO game.

Upcoming Streams

So change to the schedule. I can finally get some more games played on Thursday so I am pushing off the stream. Now, possibly, I am going to do my first Crowdfunding BIG and little on Friday. But I’ll know for sure soon. Life just got in the way of a lot of gaming over this past week, so I don’t want to miss out on more.

But tomorrow at 8 PM Central I will be streaming again. This time more Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. You can find the upcoming video here. So join me then on Malts and Meeples to chat and watch some game play.

And then next Monday there is not going to be a stream because it is the 4th of July. So no stream for the holiday mainly because I’ll probably be wrapping up driving by the time I’d normally be streaming and if not I’ll be tired out. So I’ll be streaming on Wednesday next week.

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124-101

100 – 76

Unplayed Board Games 75 -51

75: HEXplore It: The Forest of Adrimon

Yes, this moved up slightly. Mainly because I missed it and I didn’t want to go back and adjust it a few spots. But I do think it could be higher. HEXplore It is an adventure style game, so one that I think I’ll like. And the Forest of Adrimon is supposed to be one of the easier to get into. It has some feel like another game that will be on another list in that it’s an RPG but a board game.

74: Formula D

Racing games, I’ve really been digging them lately. And in general I’ve liked them. I have TItans Race which I enjoy as a silly racing game. And Downforce which is amazing for racing and betting. But Formula D is the most involved and I really want to give it a whirl. I think doing something that simulates racing a bit more might be cool, though possibly slower in terms of game play.

73: Arkham Horror 3rd Edition

I am surprised how far down Arkham Horror 3rd Edition is. I like Arkham Horror 2nd Edition but I got rid of it because it is too long. So I suspect I’m going to like this version of it as well, and a shorter play time. So I need to get it to the table. But I think because it is familiar and because I have games like Arkham Horror The Card Game and Mansions of Madness, I feel like I might not need to play this as soon,

72: Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar

I bought this one when it was cheap at Target. Well, the price hasn’t changed, but the version of the game now at Target is a cheaper one, and I think smaller. This is when shipping was backed up so Target bought a bunch of Restoration Games’ stock. This is going to be a good and silly time. But I just need to find the time to play it. I don’t think game play will last too long for it.

71: Everdell

Everdell for a lot of people, I’d guess, is higher on the list. I know this is a well loved game, and the tableau and engine building it looks to offer seems great. Plus then the artwork is amazing on the game. I definitely notice that I’m a big fan of engine building games, and ones where they have some of those more euro mechanics to them as well. It’s lower for me just because it is a bit less thematic.

70: The Table Is Lava

This is a silly game. The Table Is Lava has you throwing cards onto the table, placing down meeples to get points. But when you throw you try and knock down other peoples meeples which is hilarious to me. I’m going to turn off the fan in the game room when I play this one because that might interfere with throwing cards. Should just bust this one and have a good time with it some game night.

69: Star Wars: Unlock!

The last of the escape room style games that I own. It’s higher than the Lovecraftian themed one just because of theme and being three games in one box. My wife and I need to play these because we both like Star Wars. And after the Olympics and before Moon Knight comes out, it’d give us something to do for a few weeks. I’ve heard they aren’t too challenging, but it’s still Star Wars, so I’m sure it’ll be fun.

68: Cockroach Poker

And a small game in Cockroach Poker, this is almost a classic filler game, if not one, at this point. You either tell the truth about the card you pass or you lie. And you don’t want to get sets. If you call the persons bluff and they were telling the truth, you get the card. If you can call and they were lying, they get the card. Or you can peek at it and pass telling the next person who you think it is. Clever idea, seems like it should be fun with the right groups.

67: Drawn to Adventure

By the name Drawn to Adventure might sound like a roll and write, and it is a roll and write. It’s about adventuring the best that you can. And you do it over several maps. The production is great, but one thing keeps it down the list a bit. The several maps makes me wonder how long the game will take. If it’s interesting enough, it being a bit longer won’t be bad, but we’ll have to see.

66: Matcha

This is a little card game that I don’t know a ton about. But I like the tea theme and I like the aesthetic. So why so high on the list? It seems to do some things that I like, and it’s a two player game. That makes it easier to get to the table. I like set collection and hand management. It’ll be interesting to see how the bluffing works.

65: Mariposas

A couple games about butterflies on the list, but only one on this section. Mariposas is about generations of butterflies flying up north and then returning back to the south for the winter. I like the idea and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes over. The pieces are solid and the mechanics seems simple enough. It’s more about the puzzle of getting as far north as you can but then being able to go fast south again.

64: Tannhauser

A grail game for me, Tannhauser is lower on the list, just because I think it might take me a bit to learn. But I love the World War II theme of it, plus a bit of a weird world setting as well. Plus, it’s another game that Sam Healey was a big fan of, and like I said, his and my tastes generally match pretty well. It’s hard to find, though, because it’s out of print, so I’m glad to just own it.

63: Air, Land, and Sea

A little lane battling two player card game. I actually have this one sitting at work waiting to get played. Probably will happen next week. It’s a short little game where you deploy out troops to try and win three different theaters of war, air, land, and sea. I don’t know that it’ll be my go to two player game, but it’d be nice to have on in the mix.

62: Shakespeare

A Euro game at the middle of the list, Shakespeare is about putting on a play. You do different rehearsals, build sets, get actors, and get costumes to do the best performance possible. It’s been in my collection for a while, but I don’t want to get rid of it. Even with the fact it’s a euro, I like the theme a lot. And I( think that it’ll be a puzzle that works for me.

61: Foodies

Foodies is one of three games that I own where you roll dice and everyone can do something. Space Base, higher on this list, and My Farm Shop, already played, are the other two. I previously have owned Machi Koro, and I want to buy Machi Koro Legacy when I have a group for it. It’s a mechanic that I like, but will Foodies beat out My Farm Shop? And could Space Base beat out both of them?

60: Papillon

Another butterfly game, and this one is higher, slightly because the aesthetic is cooler. Plus, I like some of how the game works. You build out different patches of flowers, trying to close them off then place butterflies on locations And those locations are an area control/majority battle. So the game seems really cool and offers different areas to focus on for strategy. Diversify across all flowers to get some points in a lot of spot. Or go for a lot of points in a few spots.

59: Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak

This is another one versus all game like Descent. But this one is newer and I’m getting the campaign or legacy version of this via Kickstarter with Lludwick’s Labyrinth. I do want to try this version as well as both the villain and the heroes and see how it plays. Mechanically I think it is interesting and I like the leveling up that you do in just a single scenario.

58: Flick of Faith

Two dexterity games now in a row. Flick of Faith reminds me a bit of Sonora, but just with flicking being the focus of it versus the roll and write aspect. You flick discs trying to get control of certain spots. And you have bigger discs that are harder to knock out of the way. And then there are god powers that change up how you play the game each round.

57: Rhino Hero Super Battle

The other dexterity game is about stacking. Three on this section of the list with The Table Is Lava. And this one definitely needs the fan off as you try and be at the top of the tower, or at least the highest up when it topples over. Unless, you knock it over, and then everyone else wins. Simple game, but I like simple and fun dexterity games.

56: Doodle Dungeon

Doodle Dungeon is a roll and write game, but the biggest box I have, well, up there with Sonora, and I own the Railroad Ink big box. But this is a dungeon crawling or creating game, which I think leans into the Boss Monster side of things. We aren’t the heroes, we’re the monsters in the dungeon trying to stop heroes. I need to look into this one more, but I think it’s going to feel like a much bigger game than a normal roll and write.

55: The Bloody Inn

A game with a morbid theme but one that seems like a lot of fun. In The Bloody Inn, you run an inn. But you find out that it’s more lucrative to kill off the people staying there, hide their bodies, and take their money. Who can do that the best, and will the police crack down on you? Card game but one that the theme while morbid is also funny.

54: Wingspan

Wingspan is not a game that I thought I’d own. But a friend got an extra copy, so we traded games. And I do think that I’ll like Wingspan. It’s a tableau building game about bird watching. That theme isn’t that interesting to me, but everyone seems to love the game. Family weight plus game, it might work well for a lot of groups. I am excited to try it for that reason.

53: Welcome To New Las Vegas

Another roll and write, we have four on this chunk of the list, one more to come. And Welcome To New Leas Vegas is a harder. That’s kept it on my shelf. One thing that I like about it’s predecessor Welcome To, is that it’s easy to play. I can teach that game to basically anyone. But will this one be too hard for my group. I need to try it and see.

52: Welcome to Dino World

The other roll and write is Welcome to Dino World. I like the idea of a dinosaur park. I didn’t grow up watching Jurassic Park and the sequels, but the concept is still fun. This one looks like a good time and you can have dinosaurs escape which every good dinosaur park should have happen. Because I’ll never ask if it should be done, just if it can be.

51: Camel Up

Final game is another racing game. Camel Up is kind of a classic at this point in time. Mainly because the game is goofy. You bet on who wins and the earlier you bet on it, the more you can win. But it’s hard to know who can win. The camels, as they race, stack. And the camel on top is in the lead. But if a camel on the bottom moves, they move the stack. So a camel can get lucky, move up to land on someone and then bound ahead again when that came moves.

Final Thoughts

We definitely had a few bigger games this time. And four roll and writes. But we’re still not to the big ones yet. The top 25, for sure, will be a lot of big games. And I do think that the roll and writes will be played on this section of the list. Plus some of the games like Matcha and Air, Land and Sea should be easy to get to the table.

Which game would you want to play on this section of the list? Which one should I play first?

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Honorable Mention Board Games

There are a lot that could go on here. Downforce has been great fun as well as Night Cage, I’m not sure, but I think I played Super Fantasy Brawl for the first time this year. So that one isn’t getting added to the list. Aeon’s End Legacy which I streamed. I’m not sure which all roll an d write games, but I think Metro X, for sure Deadly Doodles, Patchwork Doodle, and maybe Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade. Tiny Towns would be this year and has been played a number of times.

And I think that’s it, there might be more for the list as well. I have played a lot of new board games this year and I’m sure I’m missing some. Unfathomable is one I just saw on my shelf, as well as Similo or Ohanami. And I just did my Top 100, so I could just pull from that list, which you can see here.

5. A Gentle Rain

A small little solo game, this is one that I’m thinking might slowly drop on my list, which is a weird thing to say for a game that is my Top 5 for 2021. I got to game more with people this year, but not as much as I wanted. I didn’t get to cons and things like that, which gave different gaming experiences. So some small solo games got a lot of enjoyment this year.

A Gentle Rain is a very relaxing game to play. In it you are flipping out tiles trying to place them down in a way that all four sides can match. In fact, all four sides need to, to get fully surrounded – like Carcassonne. But if you get a square of four tiles, that corner you create you put in a disc matching one of the flower sides you matched.

It’s very simple, flip a tile and play it. It’s more of an activity in some ways as you are just trying to see how high a score you can get, or can you get all 8 discs out. But there is some strategy as to how you create your pond to optimize how you can finish those squares. So it’s not just luck.

4. PitchCar

This is a game that I keep adding more to. Whenever Eagle-Gryphon has some of it on sale, I buy more of it. I think I own all but one expansion which allows big PitchCar to connect to mini PitchCar, and I still want more. I wouldn’t mind another base set to just get more of some of the basic shapes.

But PitchCar is a simple racing game. You flick car discs around the board trying to be the first one to complete a circuit. The game play is simple but a lot of fun, and half the fun is building crazy tracks. I even have a loop for it that you can go around, and yes, flicking a disc around a loop is possible.

3. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

I love this vesion of Terraforming Mars. I still need to play actual Terraforming Mars, but this one works well for me. It’s still about Terraforming Mars, but it does so in a smaller package. You just keep track of resources and then playing out cards to raise the oxygen levels, flip ocean tiles and raise the temperature. So stuff you do in the bigger game.

But it does it with very slick card play and action selection. Each round everyone selects an action from five different actions. It can be building, doing research, getting resources, but it’s always done in a specific order. If I pick an action, I get to do it and you do as well, but I get a bonus. It’s a fun system that keeps everyone involved the whole time.

2. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

Another solitaire game. I think I’m up to 110 plays of Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game, just because it’s so fast to play. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer good decisions and isn’t fun. It’s a lot of fun and a really good puzzle as you try and beat your previous high score.

You are layering cards, matching the different fruit tree symbols of apples, pears, and plums. The higher you stack and overlap the more you get. So, for example, if I get a pear on a pear, that gives me one fruit, or one point. Another layer, I’m up to three fruit. And you can go as high as ten. But getting the cards, with nine cards, to overlap that much is hard. It’s a great little puzzle of a game.

1. Railroad Ink Challenge

Finally, I put down Railroad Ink Challenge. I really like this game, because it’s fun in person and great on the app.This is one where the app gives such a fast experience it’s almost as good as playing in person. I already liked Railroad Ink a lot. It’s a good roll and write game about connecting routes along the edge of the board. You get points for filling middle spots and lose points for having roads or train tracks not connect.

But Railroad Ink Challenge takes it up a notch. It adds in, well, challenges. These are basically things like, on turn three have a complete row or column filled in. On turn five have five spots in the middle filled in. I like that better than the base game as it gives something more to focus on. When a route doesn’t easily connect to an exit, now you know what to do with it.

It’s a great roll and write and really high quality. I own a ton of tiny little expansions that I really need to play with. Even the base game without mixing in any expansion is a ton of fun, though. Highly recommend this game and the app. It’s a roll and write that I think is accessible, but also very thinky, a really good combination.

Final Thoughts on 2021 Board Games

It was so nice to play a lot of board games again this year. For my birthday I did a full day of board gaming. That is probably what I missed most in 2020, sitting around a game table and playing with friends. And I didn’t even start doing much in person gaming until almost half way through 2021.

If you’re reading this, you are probably a board gamer. But maybe you are here to see what new games might work well as a gift for a board gamer in your life. I really recommend all of them, though if they don’t play solo, I wouldn’t recommend Orchard or A Gentle Rain. But for a lot of us board gamers in the past two years, what we want is more time to play board games. And more time to play with people, so that’s a great gift to give.

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Now, if you are in the market for board games, I will say that there are a lot of sales going on. A lot of board game companies or online board game retailers have been running longer sales versus a massive “Black Friday” sale. So there are still deals to be found, but let’s talk about what I found.

All Systems Go

I think I talked about how last time I was there, I got enough in store credit to get a free $100 game, but I wasn’t sure what game I wanted to buy. Ankh interested me, but I want to try it before I buy it. Well, it’s no longer the case that I don’t know what game I want. It’s also no longer the case that I have the credit or points to get a $100 game.

Mythic Battles Pantheon + Pandora’s Box

I think it was early in this year that Mythic Battles Pantheon: Ragnarok came on Kickstarter. I backed it, but only at one dollar. And then I never upped my pledge in the pledge manager. I don’t regret that too much. I like the Viking and Norse theme a lot, but it is an expensive game. And there was a copy, I think all in on the Kickstarter, for Mythic Battles Pantheon that had been sitting in All Systems Go for a while.

Now, the base box was over $100, so I didn’t consider it for my free game. But on Small business Saturday, it was discounted by 20% off (as was Pandora’s Box), and that took the base game right to $100. So, it was time. I know I want to try this game. The concept is a lot of fun. You take gods or titans up against each other and see who wins in a fight. It comes with big minis and terrain or some sort, because you can pick up a tree and smash someone with it.

It just seems like a great big game that won’t get played too often, most likely. But when I do play it, it is going to be a lot of fun.

Marvel Champions: Hood Scenario Pack

It’s more Marvel Champions, but also a character that I don’t know a ton about when it comes to the comics. I know he’s a villain, scenario packs are for villains, and I think I’ve read a comic or two with him in it. But more Marvel Champions, what can I say, eventually I’ll have a full Kallax cube full of only Marvel Champions, but not quite yet. If I sleeved all my cards, I’d probably be there already.

Haba

Haba is running, or maybe was running, a by one get one sale on select games. And a few weeks before the toddler, who has been enjoying his first board game, Animal Upon Animal, we talked about a car game. He really likes anything with cars, or trucks, or construction vehicles. I asked on Facebook for recommendations in a board game group, the most common answer came from Haba, and was on sale.

Monza

One of two games for the toddler to play with on a theme that he loves. Monza looks like a simple racing game. And while he might just enjoy the cars right now, I want the idea of games and gaming to be common to him. He gets some of the ideas of Animal Upon Animal. This one looks like a game where you roll dice and move cars around the board.

But it is from Haba, so I expect there is a tiny bit more than that. But it will be simple and good for him eventually. I’m not sure when he’ll get the game, we already have a Christmas gift for him, or two, or three, but when something he’ll like is on sale, especially a board game.

In A Flash Firefighters

I know even less about this game than Monza. But he likes firefighters and there is one on the box. it looks like it’s maybe a speed based game, and a little bit more complex. Or at least smaller pieces, though, this is Haba, so will be good for kids I’m sure.

Now, it’s not rated as well as a lot of Haba games, so I’m guessing a bit more complex so doesn’t work as well with kids, but it is really just guessing. And, like I said above, Haba is doing a buy one get one sale. So that means, it is a free game.

Biffleys

You’ve never heard of Biffleys. That is okay. Biffleys is a use book, video game, DVD, and a board game shop. It is going out of business in my home town. Now, I don’t know if that’s because it didn’t have enough business, but I suspect because it was a lot of work. It isn’t a new business, so it’s lasted 20 years, or so. But 30% off games meant when I was in town for Thanksgiving, time to check it out.

Quadropolis

This is a Days of Wonder game that I wanted to try for a long time. Days of Wonder makes Ticket to Ride, Five Tribes, and games like that which are very accessible. Quadropolis is their take on town building. In typical Days of Wonder fashion, though, it isn’t too complex, but offers a challenge.

What I find really interesting, in theory, about this game is how you get city tiles. You place down markers and that limits rows and columns you can use in the future. At least, that’s how I think it works. It also doesn’t have some of the financial stuff that bigger games in the genre do, I’m excited to play it.

6 nimmt!

This game showed up the first time on After School Dice Club, an anime that I watched because, I like anime and board games. It isn’t super fresh in my mind, but I think it is basically a game of trapping your opponent into cards or points. It is only a card game, and I like that it’s in a small box.

I want to try this one because it was on the anime. I also want to see how tricky a game this is. If a game is very accessible, I can play it with my groups. And card games, especially those that feel a bit more familiar, are good options. I think 6 nimmt might be a game like that.

No Thanks!

No Thank! is a game that I don’t remember where I heard about it. But I like the concept for it. And I know they talk about it on the Dice Tower sometimes. You want as few points as possible in the game. To do that you are saying no thanks to cards with points. To do that, you put a marker on the card, but you only have a limited number of markers. Eventually you need to take something.

But the card you take, you get the markers on it. At what point in time is a 75 worth it to take? If you get 10 markers is it worth it, if you get 20 is it worth it? That is the question you are asking yourself. You get the 75 with 20 markers, now you can make people take lower cards and several of them. Or is it worth it to just take a 10 without any markers on it because it is a lower number?

I don’t know what strategy for this game. But the concept is extremely simple, so I’m excited to find out. This is one of those games that I think will work well in larger groups And I think it will work well with gamers and non-gamers.

Horrible Guild

Now, the most dangerous thing that happened was Horrible Guild opening a web store. I love their games. And in particular, Potion Explosion and Railroad Ink Challenge, anything for those I want. So now, because they opened a store, I own more for Railroad Ink Challenge at least.

Railroad Ink Challenge

I’m going to list everything I got here. They had a nice discount, not for Black Friday or anything, well, kind of, but for the web store launch.

• Arcade Expansion
• Eldritch Expansion
• Electricity Expansion
• Futuristic Expansion
• Sky Expansion
• Underground Expansion
• Additional Card Pack
• Collectors Storage Box
• Solo Board

That is a lot. All of the expansion ones are just small expansions that have 4 dice and some rules, maybe some challenges. I am curious and I really want to start diving into the expansions, probably will start doing that on stream. The additional cards I believe are additional challenges that can be added in. And the Collectors Storage Box just takes all my Railroad Ink and puts it into on box. Solo board is a board for solo game play, not sure what is different, but I want to see.

BGG Promos

This is kind of like Horrible Guild, Board Game Geek is doing a buy 4 get the 5th free for some of the promos they have. So I decided to grab a bunch of them, well, a few. I didn’t want to go too overboard, and I did find ones for games that I like, or that are just cool for games I have coming.

Aeon’s End: Thieving Spirits

I love Aeon’s End, we’ve been through that. This just adds in a new set of cards that you can play with. I need to, now that I’ve played through Aeon’s End Legacy, to get all my games into a single box, and then I’ll have a massive Aeon’s End experience to play around with, which is pretty exciting.

Deep Madness – Magnetic Saw Gun

It’s a magnetic saw gun, I’m not even sure what that means. But it sounds dangerous and Deep Madness is on the list of games that I am going to play this year, well, maybe not this year but soon.

Downforce: Civilized

Downforce is a game that really became interesting for me as a racing/betting game. I want to play it more because I think there’s still strategy to be tapped into. And the different powers, like Civilized is, changes up the game. This one will add in more variety to the game. I think that the powers really do make an interesting difference, and could be leveraged more in my game play.

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game: Ra

Ra is not a character in the Dresden Files, but it is more for the game. And characters are really easy to slot in. So while I normally play characters from the current book I’m playing in the game, I could slot Ra into the game. And this one might be a little bit of me being a completionist, I won’t like.

Icecool : Blocked Doors

This is what it says it is, it is a way to block doors. And I like blocking off doors, it’s just a fun thing to add to the game. It’s also one of those things that doesn’t change up the game too much or make the rules more complicated. Some expansions add more depth to a game, but for a simple game, I want it to stay simple. Just a few more cards, and that’s really it, doesn’t change up the game much.

Silver: Marauders

Like the Aeon’s End Expansion, Downforce, and Ice Cool, this doesn’t change up the game much, it is something that is easy to slot into what you are doing. With Silver you just play with any combination of 0 through 13. This just another set of cards to drop in at a number. I don’t know that I need more combinations of cards, but also, more combinations aren’t going to hurt. I think with 4 different combinations at each numbers, that’s probably enough for life.

Time of Legends: Joan of Arc: Sam the Blacksmith

This one is because I like the Dice Tower, and I like Sam Healey. He was a lot of fun when he was on the Dice Tower. And he loves Time of Legends and in fact now works for Mythic Games. This is just him in the game, as a Blacksmith. The card looks cool and it’s more content that I’m hoping can just easily be slotted into what I already have.

That is a lot that I picked up but a lot of it was quite cheap. Even Mythic Battles Pantheon and stuff from All Systems go, which would have been over $200 was just over $50, so a massive game with a ton of stuff, but pretty reasonable for me to pick it up. Did you get anything on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or now Cyber Monday deals?

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The next 10 are going to be on Wednesday at 8 PM Central Time. You can join me over on Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel. You can flick the notification bell, here, to know when I’m going live. I hope that you can join as we get higher into the Top 100 list.

100 Through 91

90 Through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

60 through 51

50 through 41

Top 100 Board Games – 40 through 31

40. Not Alone

This is a one versus all game, and normally I don’t gravitate towards that type of game. The one is either playing a different game orrunning the game. But in Not Alone, while the game they are playing is a little bit different, it is a lot of fun. The one is the planet trying to kill off the crew of a crashed spaceship before they can be rescued. Everyone else is trying to survive and signal the ship to get there faster. The group can discuss but it must always be done so that the one can hear. The card play works well, the game play fast, and overall a fun time as crew or planet.

Not Available

39. Downforce

I think this is the highest racing game that I have on the list, or at least racing themed game. Downforce has you bidding to get cars and race them around the board, as well as bet on who you think is going to win. The game actually is more about. how well you can tell early in the game who is going to win? because the betting is where you make the most money.

The card play in the game is very clever as well. You play down your cards and you have to move every car on the card in order from fastest to slowest. This can create bottlenecks and strategic card play. The game feels like a racing game, but it doesn’t take too long. Some racing games can feel more drawn out but Downforce doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. And keeps you engaged as other people are moving all the cars as well.

Buy On Miniature Market

38. Sushi Go Party!

Another good big group game, in fact all of these games work best, thus far, towards their higher player counts. Sushi Go Party is a drafting and set collection game as you build out your ideal meal to score points. All the cards score in different ways, and Sushi Go Party allows you to swap around the cards that you use every game. It means that you can create some very unique combinations that either give a ton of points or can cause people to go negative in points. And you can really tailor it to your group.

Buy On Miniature Market

37. Roll Player

A dice drafting game, in Roll Player you create a Dungeons and Dragons, or RPG character. The whole game is about how well you can build your stats for the character. I really like how the game works and I really like building up D&D characters. My one knock on the game is that you don’t do anything with the character, you just build it. Monsters and Minions expansion is supposed to help with that. Plus then Dice Throne Adventures is coming which I know helps with my issue.

When it comes to this or Sagrada, I do think that there is enough difference between to the two to keep both. Sagrada is more family friendly in how it plays in that it is easier to play. Plus the theme is much less nerdy, not that a nerdy theme is bad. Roll Player with creating a character for an RPG, that is a theme that specific groups will enjoy better but also one that some people won’t be interested in at all.

Buy on Miniature Market

36. Homebrewers

Homebrewers is a nice and fast engine building game. In it you compete to be the best brewer of beer at Summerfest and Oktoberfest. Mechanically this is a pretty simple engine building game. You roll dice and can trade them around to determine what actions you get to take in a round. You can brew, sanitize, add ingredients to your pantry or beers or use them to get an advantage.

For me the theme of brewing makes this game very appealing. I homebrew my own beer and it’s fun to come up with crazy ingredient combinations. Would I want to drink a full point of a smoked oyster porter, most certainly not, but I’d try it. And at the end of the game I like to look and see what is the best one that I’ve created, even though that doesn’t determine the winner.

Buy on Miniature Market

35. Clever Cubed

The only roll and write on this section of the Top 100 games, Clever Cubed, or Clever Hoch Drei, is part of the Clever trilogy of games. This one follows the same standard as the others with rolling dice, taking one and discarding all the ones lower. But this one gives you the most points as you play. It’s fun because the pink section really lets you lean into combos, filling in lots of other spots on the board. Yes, the game is themeless, but I really enjoy the puzzles that the Clever games bring.

Buy on Miniature Market

34. The Night Cage

If you want a game for Halloween, The Night Cage might be an ideal one for you. You are trapped, as a group, in an ever changing labyrinth that you can only crawl through. You only illuminate the spaces directly around you and if you go backwards to where you were before, the labyrinth will have changed. Plus there are monsters in there, and you need to avoid them if you can. You all are searching for keys and then a portal to be able to escape, but all of you need to find a key and get to the same portal to activate it. All this as your candles burn down.

This is really kind of an abstract game, but it is still thematic as you deal with the monsters and search for keys. The game also has a really nice tile holder which looks like a candle that is burning down, so as you put more tiles onto the board, the more that the candle will have burned down. It’s a very easy game to play, but it has an amazing tension as you get further into the game.

Buy on CoolStuffInc

33. Orchard: A 9 card solitaire game

I talk about Orchard fairly often, and I backed it’s successor Grove on Kickstarter recently. It’s still up for backing if you want to check it out. But Orchard is a great solo game. It’s a game that has you stacking cards and matching up fruit tree symbols to grow as much fruit as you can. The more you overlap cards, the more points you’ll get from the fruit you grow.

Orchard is an extremely fast play and generally I’ll play it several times in a single sitting. It also has a little footprint and easy set-up and pick-up. The game isn’t too mindless, but I call it a good mental reset game. I always feel like can refresh my brain and distract myself for a little bit while I play to then have fresh eyes to look at some work problem again.

Buy On Miniature Market

32. Ohanami

Ohanami is a very simple game. You draft two cards and then you put them into three columns split up however you like. But you always need to put down higher or lower numbers. The game is a lot of fun at it’s high player count of four or low of two and changes a lot as you play between those two. At two players it is much more strategic. At four players you only see two cards from that original hand come back to you. So drafting changes up greatly at higher player counts.

But there is also the scoring that keeps the game interesting. You draft over three rounds and score at the end of each. The first round you score for blue cards, the second blue and green, and the final, blue, green, grey and pink. Blue cards are worth less overall, but if you get them early, they can be the most lucrative to have drafted. So while the game is very accessible to any type of gamer, it isn’t too simple for heavy gamers.

Buy On Amazon

31. T.I.M.E Stories

The biggest game on the list T.I.M.E Stories is a campaign style game but also an escape room. You work together to try and figure out how to stop timing from being changed off of the proper flow that it’s supposed to be going. Your consciousness is sent back in time or across timelines so that you can investigate. If you can’t get it done in time, you can always restart armed with the knowledge that you now know.

I know that some people don’t love every scenario, and the scenarios aren’t always consistent. The game also promises are story throughout it linking each different scenario, and that doesn’t really exist. But the game is a lot of fun for me. I don’t mind going back and taking another run at things. The stories have all been enjoyable, some more so, but I’m always ready to see what the next puzzle or scenario is going to be when I finish playing.

Buy on Miniature Market

The Next 10

If you want to catch any of the remaining Top 10’s live, you can check them out and my normal streams on Wednesday at 8 PM Central time. If you subscribe and click the notification bell you’ll know whenever I go live or upload a new video to Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. When I’m not doing my Top 100, you can find me on Wednesday playing board games solo on the YouTube channel.

Now, I did say I wanted to talk about my streaming times. Through the Top 100 list, I am going to keep my 8 PM Central time on Wednesdays for streaming. However, this might be changing. A channel that I like to watch and be part of their live chat, the GloryHoundd channel is adjusting their schedule. And I know I have crossover viewers from their channel. If they take that 8 PM Central Wednesday spot, I might look at making my main streaming day on Monday. Be aware that change may come.

But what game do you like best out of this part of the Top 100? Are there any that you want to get to the table that you haven’t played in this bunch?

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But, enough about that, let’s get to the games.

Orchard – 34 Plays

So this game alone is going to push me over the finish line for the year, maybe even with a month to spare. I really like Orchard, and I really like Orchard because it is such a simple solo game. And it doesn’t take up much space. You are overlapping cards to get matching tree colors which allows them to grow and produce more fruit. It is one that I can play while having a baseball game or a football game on in the background. Really, this game just works.

Ohanami – 5 Plays

This is such a good little game. It’s one that works well at the lowest player count, two, and the highest, four. I will say, this game changes drastically between player counts, though. With more players it is more relaxing and casual. You draft 2 cards from a hand of ten, so you can’t plan. When your hand comes back it’ll have two cards that you need to take. At two players, I can look at what someone has an optimize my drafting strategy. I can leave cards I might want because I know you won’t take them.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon – 4 Plays

We’ve finished playing Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. And we’re going to jump into the two expansions coming up here pretty soon. This is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had. Is the game play the best, probably not, but the story it tells is so amazing. And with how we played it, we could certainly go back and play it again and find even more. Which is really cool because we got a lot of play out of the game.

My Farm Shop – 3 Plays

This was a Pop-Up GenCon game that I picked up because it is very easy to get to the table. I do wonder how long it’ll stick in my collection. While I like it, the more I’ve played it, the more I can see how light it is. I did a TableTopTakes on that very recently that you can see here. But I do want to play it more. I want to play it with three or four players because while two is fu n, it can limit the game a little bit. I think it might be stronger with more.

Downforce – 3 Plays

Now this is a great game that I was really glad to play at the the start of this month. It’s a racing game, but it’s a racing game where bidding matters as much, if not more, than how well your car does in a race. I really want to set-up a “season”. It’d be pretty easy to do and I think would be a lot of fun. I have all the tracks for it, and going through all of them once would be very interesting to do and see how strategies might change.

HexRoller – 2 Plays

A new game to the collection, I got it played twice over a work lunch. This is a very fast roll and write and I’ll be writing up a review on it soon. The basic idea is that you are trying to connect numbers, fill in groups of hexes, and generally just score the most points that you can. But how you score points is interesting and how the dice come out is as well. You are rolling seven or eight dice and playing groups of numbers which feels different.

Unfathomable – 1 Play

Another Pop-Up GenCon play, as is the next game. Unfathomable is the new version of Battlestar Galactica (BSG). It’s a big social deduction game or hidden traitor game. I really enjoy it because it feels a bit more streamlined than BSG. I’m not sure it is that much but with BSG you had two expansions that could be mixed in. And it’s never a bad thing when you can spend a chunk of a game just blasting away at deep ones.

Descent: Legends of the Dark – 1 Play

The final Pop-Up GenCon game, I wanted to play this one not because I wanted to know if I’d like it, but because I already knew I would and I wanted to learn how to play it. Game play, it turns out, is very easy to do. And the game play is interesting. It’s an app driven game that causes the map to emerge as you go. And I really like that about the game. It gives you that fog of war as your characters race to complete their goals and not die.

Aeon’s End Legacy – 1 Play

This will likely be the final play of Aeon’s End Legacy for a while. I did see my FLGS has a recharge/reset pack for this legacy game. I could see, if I got a group, buying that and playing it again. But another very good gaming experience. I knew I’d like it because I like Aeon’s End and legacy games. Now I need to figure out what to stream after my Top 100 list is done. It might be some smaller solo games until 2022 and then dive into another new campaign.

PitchCar – 1 Play

Finally, I played PitchCar again. This time I didn’t put in the loop or a change of elevation, but it was still fun. I really like the loop but that can slow down the game. You get stuck at the loop and now it takes a few rounds for people to really progress. On a flatter course it feels more like a racing game as you speed around. Definitely shortens the game time. Doesn’t make the game better or worse, just, mainly faster.

Yearly Gaming Stats

So let’s start out with how close I am to the goal. As of today, which is a few days after the end of the month, I have 66 plays left in 88 days. Two other ways to put it are that I’ve gotten 299 plays under my belt and am 82% of the way done with the challenge. For the year, I have two games that I’ve played over 25 times (Tainted Grail and Orchard) , six more th an 10 times and 7 more than five times. I think that Orchard might break the century mark. I’ve also played 66 different games. 15 of those different games are roll and writes.

So right now it’s looking good. But I know that I’ll likely need get a number of plays this month and before Thanksgiving because the holidays might put a damper on a late gaming push.

Which game would you want to play out of Octobers list?

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Let’s see everything that was played.

Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game – 28 Plays

So that is a ton of plays of this game. But I talked about it in my recent review, this is a very easy game to get to the table. It calls itself a 9 card game, there are actually 18. But you only use 9 each game. That means I can shuffle up once, split the deck and play twice in a row. It’s also a good solo game because it doesn’t take up much space. I got in something like 10 plays during under a quarter of a college football game. This is a really good solo game.

Aeon’s End Legacy – 4 Plays

So, like I said, probably not getting that played tonight. But I’ve really loved my playthroughs of this game. It’ll be on the list for the last time next month though. I only have one more to go. But you can check out all the plays over on Malts and Meeples. Really good legacy game and I can’t stress enough, this is how I’d recommend that people learn to play Aeon’s End, it teaches you so well.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon – 3 Plays

We’re getting towards the end game of Tainted Grail as well. I do think it’ll run through all of September as we only will get in a couple of plays. But I’m still really loving the game. I and I really like how much the world has changed because of a few things we’ve done. I’m not sure it always changes that way, but it’s given us some cool and interesting things to think about. The story is really what makes this game so good

The Night Cage – 3 Plays

I’ve been waiting on this one to show up for a bit, so when it did, I needed to get it to the table. And it was a lot of fun to get it to the table. I like Night Cage as almost a horror themed game, well, it is one but it gives you that feeling of tension. I think that the candle burning down as you play out tiles and showing how that is shortening up works really well.

Downforce – 2 Plays

It happens from time to time but not all that often that I will get an expansion after playing a game. In the case of Downforce, I liked the two plays of it that I had so much that I got two expansions for it. Those expansions are just more maps to race around, but it’s going to be a lot of fun to get those to the table. I think that this upcoming months board game night might be racing games.

Claim – 2 Plays

It’d been a while but every time I play a trick taking game, I realize that I do like trick taking. It is just a lot of fun to see how well I can play. And it is interesting too because with this game, you are first winning tricks to build your hand to then win tricks to actually win the game. First game was close then dominated in the second one, which is the only downside I have for this game, it can be a bit swingy.

Hanamikoji – 2 Plays

In terms of two player games, I think that Hanamikoji is my favorite. I really like how smoothly and simply it plays. I could have used this for my abstract game example because it’s easy to learn abut offers amazing decision making space. One that I know I’ll keep on coming back to.

Deranged – 1 Plays

Got this during 2020 and needless to say, I didn’t get 3+ player games to the table then. But I got to play the introductory scenario of the game again. And I still really enjoy this game even after so long. This was one that I originally played and demoed at GenCon back in 2019. Another horror themed game but one that is lighter in tone than Night Cage but also more thematic as you try and break curses. I want to play the bigger version of the game just to see how it goes.

Detective: Dig Deeper – 1 Plays

So I’ve talked about Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game a fair amount. It is one of my favorite thematic games where what you are doing matches the theme so well. This takes you into the 70’s, so things are a bit different but still offers an amazing thematic experience. And I am curious to see who will be the next designer they announce for this signature series because it is fun to see what other people are doing.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – 1 Plays

Got in a really fast play of this game last night. And it was surprising how fast, basically one hour for two players. Generally they’ve taken longer, but we got our engines up and running very quickly. I still really like this game. The mechanics are smooth and that engine building aspect is so much fun. I need to get the paper off of my overlays for the boards so I can make it even easier to keep track of things. I know some people are mad about Target getting retail copies before they got their nicer Kickstarter copies, but it’s a really good game.

Parade – 1 Plays

This small little card game with kind of an Alice in Wonderland theme is always fun to play. I like it as a puzzle to solve, how you can push for a fair amount of one color if you can avoid the rest of the colors. The clever thing of having the most of a color and that making all those cards worth a point each instead of face value really works for me. And the game plays pretty quickly, you need to think a bit on your turn, but you don’t have too many options to get analysis paralysis.

Calico – 1 Plays

Another play of Calico, and the more I get of it, the more I realize how much I like the game. It just works for me because it is a simple game to play but the puzzle gives you hard choices. Plus it’s cats so that theme is always good. I do think it might be too much of a puzzle for really casual gamers, but overall it’ll be one that works for a lot of people.

Cartographers – 1 Plays

This, I think, is becoming my favorite roll and write game. It just works so well and works well with a large group of players. I like making maps and I can’t wait to get more maps and more expansions and stuff for this game. If you want a thematic roll and write, this isn’t the best, Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade I would say is, but it’s up there. And I think the simplicity of this game with the theme of map making is going to draw people in.

Sonora – 1 Plays

Another roll and write game, but of course this starts with flicking. I really like this game. It is not the easiest roll and write game to play. It is so combotastic that filling out your board can take a while. And for some people that take longer. But I still really like it for that aspect. In fact, it’s very high on my list because it feels different every time. I can pick a new area to try and optimize.

Dice Throne – 1 Plays

A game I got in last night of Vampire versus Samurai and the Samurai had no problem winning. I was rolling really poorly as the vampire. And I was really pushing for blood power. I want to try that match-up again, or play around more with the Vampire Lord. I feel like I need to come up with a better strategy. Even getting stomped, I want to play it again and still love the game.

Railroad Ink Challenge – 1 Plays

Final game played this month. Railroad Ink Challenge I think is a better version of Railroad Ink. I talked about it before, it just offers more to do. This one was fun because we had eight people playing it. That means that we had a lot of wildly different boards and scores. The challenges just offer more direction early in the game. Regular Railroad Ink is fine, but challenge for me is the better of the two, though harder to teach.

Yearly Gaming Stats

So like I said, I am all caught up. 244 total plays and 121 plays left to go in 121 days. With that there are 62 different games that I’ve played and 7 that I’ve played over 10 times. I think that Orchard is going to help me keep up on my plays, and probably a few more of A Gentle Rain coming as well. I’m also now at 22% of the base, not expansion, board games that I own played in this calendar year.

So which of those games would you want to play from this past month?

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