124-101

Unplayed Board Games – 100 through 76

100: KeyForge: Call of the Archons

KeyForge has been on my radar for a little bit, mainly because the concept sounded interesting. It’s almost a TCG (trading card game) but you can’t build decks. All of them are prebuilt but also are different. And it’s a two player head to head game, take out monsters, get keys, and first to a number wins. They were on sale around Christmas, so I figured it was time to pick up a few decks to give it a try.

99. Vault Wars

This is one that I backed on Kickstarter because I find the concept funny. And I suspect that the game play is going to be easy enough to get it to the table with my gaming group. Vault Wars is basically fantasy Storage Wars. You bid to get the best vaults to get you the most points or money by the end of the game. I hope it’s a goofy good time.

98. Mage Knight

Probably should be higher on the list, but I’m intimidated by the rules for this game. It is notoriously hard to get to the table and learn. But it’s also supposed to be one of the best solo games out there. And while big solo games can be tricky to get tabled for me. I feel like I need to give it a try.

97: Shadows of Kilforth

This one I bought because Rolling Solo did a play-through of the predecessor to this game, Gloom of Kilforth. It’s a fantasy game and one that kind of has a story emerge as you go. But you play as a hero going out into this dark fantasy world, fighting monsters, getting cards of companions and equipment to see if you can defeat the boss in the end. I like the ideas of the game, I just need to play it.

96. Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse is on the list for an odd reason, or this low on the list for an odd reason. In 2020 at the Holidays Greater Than Games had a crazy good sale for Sentinels stuff. So I got all of it, or most of it. And I think I paid $75 for all of it. So very cheap. But now I have all the stuff, and it’s a bit intimidating to pull off the shelf. I just need to do it and play it. Because super heroes and super villains are my jam for board games.

95. Narabi

This is a little card game that is hard to explain. You are trying to get all the cards into ascending numerical order. But with that, each card is only allowed to move in a certain way, or has a movement rule on it. So it becomes a puzzle where you can share limited information to swap cards around to see what they can do, until you get it into order. A cool puzzle of a game idea where you see how fast you can do it.

94: Quadropolis

This is an older game that I just got. But Quadropolis is one I’ve had my eye on. It’s a city building game that looks simple but intriguing. I really like the mechanics of how you determine what tiles you can get to add to your city. And Days of Wonder, while not everything is a smash hit for them, has made some of my favorite accessible games like Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Five Tribes.

93: Jamaica

Jamaica, when I heard about it, I knew I wanted to try. But it is not a game that has always been easy to get. When Fantasy Flight Game Center, now GameZenter, was clearing off their demo wall to rebuild it better, it isn’t better, they sold the games. So, I need to do a piece count and then play this, but it’s a pirate racing game, that sounds like a fun time, assuming the pieces are there.

92: Heaven & Ale

Normally I don’t get Euro Games, but again, a sale. Also, one of the reviewers I follow, Ryan from Man vs Meeple, is a big fan of this game. So that recommendation and a euro game about brewing beer, I was interested. And I say that I normally don’t get euro games, I don’t, but I don’t dislike them. So I need to do my best monk brewing beer impression sometime soon.

91. Silver & Gold

Silver & Gold is a roll and write game, another one that I need to try. And one that I think will be a lot of fun, because you get to fill out cards throughout the game. So like Super Mega Lucky Box, you get to use dry erase markers on the cards. And it has this treasure hunting theme, but is more of a shape filling in game. I think it looks like one that is easy enough to learn but still interesting to play.

90: This War Of Mine

I’m intimidated by this game, much like Mage Knight. I’ve heard it it hard to learn. But more than that, this is a game about a fictional war and trying to survive in it. The concept is cool, but also a dark concept. And it’s tough to want to sit down and play a game with story that you know you probably won’t survive. Especially if it’s a harder game to learn and get to the table. But the concept sounds very intriguing and different to try.

89: Boomerang

Not the last time you’ll see a Boomerang on the list. A roll and write game. Won’t say too much about it, looks like a good puzzle of a game, like the one you’ll see coming up. This version just doesn’t look at nice as the other.

88: Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Descent is an interesting one, and this isn’t the big box version of the game that just came out. This one has been out for a little while. But it’s interesting as I do want to play the game, but I mainly got the game so I could practice painting minis. That is something I that I need to get back to doing, and we’re getting close to the point where I might be able to prime them outside. But I do want to try the game, because fantasy dungeon crawl, I like those.

87: MonsDRAWsity

We go from a big fantasy game to a small fantasy game, a party fantasy game. MonsDRAWsity, has one person a monster that they look at and then describe. Everyone else draws the monster. And I believe, the person with the closest drawing wins. It’s a drawing party game, but one that looks silly and fun.

86: WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game

Speaking of silly and fun, I’m a professional wrestling fan. It’s true, I mainly just watch the pay-per-views with a group of friends. And the Royal Rumble is the best one. This one is a take that style game where you try and be the winner of the Royal Rumble. Your guy gets tossed out, you get a new one, and the last one standing wins. Clearly I already know the group I want to play this with.

85: Shadowrun: Sprawl Ops

I really like the world of Shadworun. This cyber-punk future where corporations run everything. And you go on runs, hacking into systems, and exposing dirty secrets, great idea. And I’d love to play in a Shadowrun RPG campaign. This is a board game version, and it’s about setting up for a run. I have a massive box of stuff, but how the runners of the Kickstarter handled distribution, there were lots of problems, I’m less excited to play it.

That’s probably not a great reason not to play it. I think that it looks like a fun game. I still love the theme. It’s just harder to get into wanting to play it. Though, I did get the cooperative expansion, so maybe that’d be an easier way to get it to the table.

84: Boomerang: USA

I told you Boomerang would be back. The first, more logically, it set in Australia, but using the system, the designer made more versions. This version just looks nicer than the version I own of Boomerang. Either way, I need to play one or both. And then decide which one I want to keep, if I keep one, because I doubt I’ll want both of them.

83: Palm Island

I don’t know why this one is still on the list. Mainly I think because I play Orchard most of the time when I want a small solo game. Palm Island is a solo game that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s a resource management style game, if I remember correctly. You are trying to build up your engine to get more cards flipped around to flip more cards. I need to give it a whirl.

82: Blueprints

Blueprints is one that my FLGS recommended to me. It’s an abstract game about getting dice to build buildings. This falls into that category of a game that looks like it’ll be an interesting puzzle every time you play it. And I like those games where there is a good puzzle to it. Will the puzzle last a long time for me, we’ll have to see.

81: Specter Ops

Specter Ops is a hidden movement board game. One player is infiltrating a base to get to different objectives and then get out. The other player(s) are trying to figure out where they are and take them down. I like the concept and the theme of the game. This one is just the matter of learning both sides so I can teach it.

79: Crash Octopus

From the company that made Tokyo Highway, a dexterity game that I love, Crash Octopus is another one. This one is about flicking treasure to your ships and balancing the treasure on them. It seems like a silly game and one that will, like Tokyo Highway, look cool on the table. I want to see if it works as well as Tokyo Highway does for my gaming group.

78: 6 nimmt!

I don’t think the first time I heard about 6 nimmt! was from an anime, Afterschool Dice Club, but that is where I learned the most about it. This is a card game about trying to avoid taking points. I picked it up on sale when I got No Thanks! and both of the games kind of fit into that same mindset of figuring out clever play. I hope that this one works as well for my group as No Thanks! did.

77: InBetween

Two of the last three I got because of Sam Healey liking them on the Dice Tower. His and my tastes in game often overlap because we both go towards bigger, Amerithrash style games. The two on this part of the list are not that. InBetween is a two player game that feels, from what I can tell, like Stranger Things. One player is trying to get everyone to one side, while the other player is trying to flip them into the “upsidedown”.

It’s not actually a Stranger Things game. But the theme definitely has that vibe to it, and I think it came out about the same time. So theme wise, I like it. And as a two player game, I should be able to get it to the table.

76: Heroes of Terrinoth

This is another game that I saw on Rolling Solo’s YouTube channel. And it also looks good, card play game from Fantasy Flight, I liked how you level up in the game. And I like that you can pick from a variety of heroes. It isn’t a dungeon crawl game, but it almost has that feel. You pick a scenario, you can move between places, and you fight monsters. Plus you level up to improve how you can do things, which was cool.

75: Codinca

The final Sam Healey recommended game on this part of the list is also small, and it’s abstract. So that’s probably why it hasn’t gotten played. I’m bad about playing my abstract games, even though I normally like them. Codinca is a game where you want to create a pattern.

Final Thoughts

We’re still not into a ton of the big board games. But I do think this will be a section where I can get a lot of games off of the list. Stuff like Boomerang USA and Boomerang, Silver & Gold, Codinca, and Blueprints, all of those shouldn’t be hard to table.

On the flip side, I’m also going to be a bit surprised if I do get This War of Mine or Mage Knight to the table as part of clearing off games. I am very intimidated by both of those rule books. And I’m generally the one learning how to play the games so I know I can. But those two look like beasts to learn and with not great rule books, probably tough to get rules right.

Which one should I play first?

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

This is going to be a list article, with all my unplayed games ranked. But before I dive into that, I want to talk about some of the terms that I just used. Mainly shelf of shame and shelf of opportunity. They are the same term phrased in different ways. Let’s dive into them and then the big list of games to play.

Shelf of Shame vs Shelf of Opportunity

This is a term that I’ve heard thrown around for a few years now. The idea that games on your shelf have this title. First off, I think this is kind of silly. Games that you haven’t played don’t have a special spot in existence. Now, maybe they do have a special spot on your shelf, but they aren’t held in any sort of light. They are just a board game.

But the first term I heard is Shelf of Shame. The idea behind this is that you feel bad since you haven’t played all your games. This is silly. I go back to my talk about collection versus a hobby. Know what you have on your shelf. For me, board games are a collection and a hobby. That means it’s fine to not get to every game quickly. They are part of my collection. But I play them, as they are part of my hobby as well, and hobbies get used or worked on.

Then came the term Shelf of Opportunity. Shelf of Shame is very negative, and opportunity sounds much better. But I, again, find this not much better. Yes, they are games that you play eventually. And yes, it spins it in a positive light. But both terms keep a focus on the fact the games aren’t played.

What Do I Call Them?

I call them what they are. Board games to be played. A board game is just an object. In labeling them either way, it places power on that object. Yes, one puts it in the light of a game being an opportunity for something new, and new exciting opportunities are good. But it leaves the pressure on actually playing the game.

Like I said, I play games. I buy games. Board Games are a collection and a hobby for me. I own games that might take a long time to get played. Campaign games where I play one at a time or two, and I am already playing two. Those wait for when I have time, and that is okay. I feel like the label places a cloud, no matter what label, over the games, and in the end of the day, games are just games.

If I never play a game in my collection and it collects dust for five years. I shouldn’t feel bad about leaving that opportunity out there. I most definitely shouldn’t feel shame. It is a game and I play games. So I play other games and not the game that is sitting there. I am still enjoying the hobby without playing every game I own.

So Why Write This Out?

I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of the year. Not because I feel guilt about games that I haven’t played. But because it is fun to play games. And I want to play games, I want to experience new games, and I want to cover new games.

For me, my challenge isn’t to get all the games off the shelf. It isn’t because I feel like I miss out on an opportunity. And I care not about shame from it. For me it’s about trying new things and almost making a game out of it. If I don’t make it by the end of the year, I don’t care. I play these for fun.

Unplayed Board Game List

Let’s Talk About the List

124 Games on it, and my goal is to get it down below 100 by the end of the year. You add in a bunch of Kickstarter games coming in, and you can see why it is a big list and also a challenge. And of course, then, there are campaign games on the list. If we look at campaign style games, I think we’re sitting at 14 on the list. And that is a lot of games to play through a campaign of, so that isn’t going to happen. Though, with Sleeping Gods coming off the list to start the year, it will some over on Malts and Meeples.

There are also some kids games on the list. Right now, I don’t think I will play those this year. Monza looks fun, but the toddler isn’t quite ready for it. But the toddler is also three, so who knows, maybe by the end of the year, we can play those games a bit more. But right now I’m not expecting to.

I also think it’s important to note that a lot of big games are at the top. Those are the ones that I’m most excited to play and cover. And some of them should be getting played soon. Probably after this weekend I’ll be lining up a time to get started playing Roll Player Adventures.

To go along with that, there are a lot of solo games as well. I could play, in the top 20, around 75% of them solo and some of them are solo only games. So I need to start knocking those out first, because they are high on my list. That won’t be how I get under 100, though.

Final Thoughts

I think that it is fine to challenge yourself to play your unplayed games. I think it is fine to limit how many unplayed games you own. When that becomes the focus or the obsession, I think that is when we start to lose the focus on what we are doing. Or when tie to it other emotions, like shame.

When I see people post about clearing their shelf of shame, I am sure it feels good for them. But on the flip side, in the comments, you see people feeling guilty about their unplayed games. I am not that way. I don’t feel guilt over that. And you shouldn’t either.

This is an odd article, I wanted to talk more about the games, and I will soon. But before I could do that, I think it is import to talk about the shame or guilt that can be thrown around in the hobby. Not always intentionally malicious but always harmful.

Also, let me know what game you think I need to try first. What is your favorite on the list that I have too low, or that you know I would like or should try?

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