Top 10 Games of 2024

10. Dungeon Kart

Do you want to play Mario Kart? Do you want to play a board game? Why not do both and play Dungeon Kart from Brotherwise Games. This is a racing game where you play as the characters from Boss Monster, those bosses who are trying to build up their dungeon, well, they want to blow off some steam. So hit the track and use their abilities and their cars to the best of your abilities to get around the track first. If you fall behind, don’t worry. You get spells and blast away at your opponents to slow them down so you can get back into the race.

I like this one because it is a fast game and a theme that people like. I like Mario Kart a lot, and I know that a lot of people do. So Dungeon Kart is an easy one to recommend. Add in that the game is simple to play, and it is even easier to recommend. There are a few things that you need to know, but overall, not a complex or difficult game to learn. And the fact that the characters and cars are different, that’s fun as well.

9. Snowfall Over Mountains

Snowfall Over Mountains is one of a few smaller games on the list, but the only one that is only solo. I enjoy this game for the solo experience because it’s one of those calming and relaxing solo games. You are drawing cards and trying to build a snowscape around you that is going to score the most points.

You score points for different things like rabbit tracks or trees. And there are a few different scoring cards for each of the elements. That is good because it means you can mix and match and get a lot of different combinations for a lot of good variety in what you are doing.

The footprint isn’t as small as some solo games, but it’s not huge. And the box that the game comes in is a nice and small box so if you are traveling and want a solo game to take along this is a solid one.

8. Star Wars: Unlimited

Next up, this game could have been higher, I think. I really like Star Wars Unlimited and I really enjoy the TCG aspect of it. As I say in the video, without the theme I’m not sure I’d be as excited for it. But being able to build a deck with clones, droids, Mandelorians, rebels, whatever factions they have thus far, that’s a lot of fun. And there are a number of aspects that also help the game.

I want to focus on one aspect here. I really like that you always have a leader in this game. The leader is going to give you an ability that you can use, even when they aren’t in play, and that ability is going to give you a focus for your deck. There isn’t just throwing your favorite cards into a deck, you need to think about synergies as well between your characters.

Okay, one more aspect that I really like, and I promise that is it. I appreciate that the game doesn’t let you run out of energy. There is no card draw and hope you get credits or whatever so you can play out cards. Instead, it uses this great system, you draw two cards and, if you want, put one into play as a resource. I love that decision space as I need to decide, do I want this card or do I want the resource, and that is often times a very tough call.

7. The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth

Now for another theme that I really like, we have The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth. This game reimplements 7 Wonders Duel, but it’s not just a straight reimplementation. And for me that is a good thing. I like 7 Wonders Duel a lot. But I think that I like Lord of the Rings Duel (as I’ll be calling it) more. And of course, the theme is a great reason for that.

I also like that the game doesn’t end with scoring. Yes, I’m not 100% sold on how it does end, but there are a number of ways for it. There is only one way that I have an issue with or wish there was a bit more. The first way is that the ringbearer makes it to Mount Doom and chucks in the ring, or the Nazgul catches the ringbearer. Or if you rally the support of the different races of Middle-Earth that’s another way too. Finally, if you take control or have a piece of control in every area. If none of those happen it’s whomever controls the most areas, and that’s okay.

But if you like Lord of the Rings, this is a great two player head to head game that I really recommend. If you don’t like Lord of the Rings, it’s still good. Especially if you want something with a bit of theme in it compared to 7 Wonders Duel.

6. Castle Combo

Now for a game without much theme but that’s still a lot of fun. Obviously Castle Combo is a lot of fun, it’s in my Top 10 Games of 2024 and at #6. But this is a game about building out the best scoring grid that you can. The game is simple, you play it in nine rounds, and at the end, you have a 3 by 3 grid of 9 cards.

But there are elements to the game that offer a great challenge or some good fun. I like how the cards are all divided into three things. The first element is the cost, you need to be able to pay that coin cost to get it. The next is an instant effect. It might be that all cards of a certain type cost 1 less now. Or it might just get you coins or keys. Finally there is the scoring, and that is going to happen after all your grid is full. So you need to figure out how to optimize that scoring while still getting coins and keys to get more cards.

And I really like the key mechanism in the game. The keys either let you wipe the row of cards you are on. Or you can use the key to move you to the other row so you can buy from there. But, it won’t less you do both in one turn. I really like that challenge element of the game because I could wipe, but will I get something good. Or I could move, but maybe wiping will give me something better.

5. Let’s Go! To Japan

Next up is one that didn’t make my Top 100 Games because I hadn’t played it yet. But I really love Let’s Go! To Japan. This is a game about planning out your itinerary for going to Japan. And you need to plan out three things to do each day in Tokyo, Kyoto, or both.

Each day has a particular theme that it wants you to go for as well. It might be that you want to get food one day and go to a nature sight another day. That order changes for every game, but the different symbols remain the same. The fun thing is that you need those symbols to score your cards each day, well to score the one that you can see the end game scoring on anyways. So if you need food and it’s before the food day, you probably need to get some food in a less than optimal way.

It is also a good drafting game. I like how I get two cards, one Tokyo and one Kyoto. I pick one to add to my itinerary and give you the other, or person to my left or right. But not to use right away, to collect into a hand of cards that then you’ll pick from later in the game. So I can set you up with stuff you don’t want. Or I can just focus on what is best for me. But it’s a nice twist on drafting.

4. Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game

Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game was one of my most anticipated games for 2024, and clearly it didn’t disappoint. I really enjoy this game and of course, I love the theme and I love deckbuilding. But those two elements aren’t enough for me automatically love the game. I think the solo/cooperative play helps it as well, though I really do enjoy it as a competitive game too.

There are two elements I want to talk about that I really like. The first is the burning of the metals. I love how they make that a thematic part of the game. Pewter is going to give you more attack and healing. Things that help you sooth emotions or rile them up could heal or get people to be generous and give you more money. But they are thematic and I like that you are limited in how many you can burn, so there is a good amount of strategy in your deckbuilding.

I also like that the game has a leveling track. Each player levels up once per turn. That gives you new abilities that make you more unique and powerful in the game. And it starts to let you burn more metals. I think that combination just works well so that what could be a longer game, can’t be as long because you start to ramp and get stronger. And soon you might be buying and using cards with Atium and doing a lot of damage or leveling to win the game.

3. Rebel Princess Deluxe Edition

I never thought that I’d put Hearts on my top games list, but here it is, Hearts, albeit with shenanigans is my #3 game for 2024. I really like this one because it’s a familiar trick taking game. Instead of avoiding hearts and the queen of spades, you avoid the princes proposals and the frog prince and his proposal. That element is very much the same.

But it’s very different in a lot of other ways. You each have a princess and they have a power. You can use that power once per hand of cards. And then you, instead of passing left, right and then across, you pass however a flipped card tells you to. And that flipped card also has other things on it, like some special rules for that hand. It might be that the person furthest from the card that led the trick, numerically, is going to be the winner of that trick. It causes chaos but is so much fun.

2. Slay the Spire: The Board Game

The last two are ones that I’ve played on Malts and Meeples. First off we have Slay the Spire. I love the video game and the board game works just as well. In fact, it offers something that the video game can’t, you can play Slay the Spire: The Board Game multiplayer, and it’s amazing. In fact, I think I prefer it multiplayer, or maybe multihanded better than purely solo.

The game does a few things to make it work. While the core of climbing the tower, and adding cards to your deck, is the game, there are elements that are different. Firstly, it scales down the health and attack levels. I love this because it makes the math easier. Next you roll a die to determine the enemies attack and what relics that you have activate. This makes it simple as compared to keeping track that something goes off every seventh round or anything like that.

And I want to talk about multiplayer. Each player gets their own row of enemies that will damage them. But you are able to support your allies by attacking the enemies. So maybe mind are just playing defense for a round, that means that I can help wipe out your row of enemies and then you don’t have to worry about anything so you can go all out attacking. It’s a great addition to a great game.

1. The 7th Citadel

Finally, at #1, we have The 7th Citadel. I really love this game and it’s what I had wanted from The 7th Continent, though I do appreciate that open and very sandbox system in The 7th Continent. The 7th Citadel gives you that same sandbox to play in but gives you more specific and focused missions. I know that I need to find something southeast. I’m not sure where for sure, but I just know that I need to go southeast, and I really enjoy how that works.

But the game keeps some of the core elements to it that are great. I like that you still are spending cards from a deck. And while that deck isn’t your life and won’t just instantly kill you if the wrong thing is drawn, bit kind of is your life. You put cards back into the deck by spending hit points. So if I want to get 10 cards by in, that’s five of my life. And while the game isn’t always punishing you with combat and taking life that way, there are a ton of challenges that you need to deal with.

Final Thoughts

Like I said at the beginning, I’m annoyed I missed Rock Hard 1977. I really like that game, so it’s an honorable mention and probably would be in about the middle. And I look at my shelf and I see more 2024 games that I want to play. Bomb Busters is a big one as is Stamp Swap that I want to try.

It is always a good year for games. If you don’t find one that you love, it means that you either got caught up in the hype for some game or weren’t looking that hard. And I love that I can find amazing games all the time to try. I definitely want to spend more time playing 2024 games, and maybe late in 2025, I’ll look back again at 2024 and see what my Top 10 looks like then.

Let me know your favorite game from 2024?

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

And for other ideas check out the previous lists.

Two Player Games
Campaign Games
Solo Games
Party Games
Welcoming Games
Medium Weight Games

Thematic Games

ISS Vanguard

Now, I said that all my thematic games weren’t going to be campaign games. But I’m starting off with one of them that I’ve played some on Malts and Meeples YouTube. This is a big space adventure and exploration game. Let’s get you intrigued, possibly, by the pitch.

A message was decoded on Earth that gave us the coordinates to what looked like an empty spot out in space. The ISS Vanguard was sent out there to figure out why those coordinates were important. When they got there, they realized that wasn’t the case, there was something out there that was hidden away.

In ISS Vanguard you play as the crew of the ship exploring planets and dealing with maintaining morale and researching and improving your technologies. The game really has this interesting divide between exploring the planets which is one type of game play. And managing the ship which is another type of game play. But Awaken Realms did a great job of managing to make both of them feel important and thematic as you play.

Dungeon Kart

Next up is a racing game. Racing games often aren’t the most thematic games. But Dungeon Kart for me is a great Mario Kart style of racing game that works. It is quick, you get spells to sling around, and it feels like you are playing Mario Kart on the table top.

Each player is one of the characters from the Boss Monster world that Brotherwise has created. And they are driving around in a kart trying to get around the track the fastest. But each character has their own special things that they can do. And each vehicle has their own special ways of handling. I forget how much overlap or how static that is. But you also, at the end of each round, check to see who is where, and the further back you are, the more spells and things you get to cast and try and cast up. I love that catch-up mechanism in the game, because it makes it feel like no one is ever out of it.

Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade

Now for the smallest of the thematic games on the list. This is a roll and write game that is pinball. You each get a board, a ball, and dice get rolled. Depending on the numbers on the dice, that determines where the ball is going to go. It always is going to move down, with a few exceptions, just like a pinball table. Then you use your flippers, launch it back up, and keep on going.

The game is all about how well you can use the dice. Two are rolled and you just use one so you generally have options. But if you need to, they offer thematic options like nudging the table. Of course, you nudge too hard, and there is a chance that you get a tilt. And the bumpers, generally three in the middle of a table, the ball can rattle around in there without needing to drop down.

They also sell a lot of options for the game. There is the base game, which I have. But there is an expansion that adds more tables. There is a Star Trek version or maybe DC is more your thing, or you want to play it at Christmas, you can buy Christmas pinball tables. You decide what makes the most sense, or intrigues you the most.

Roll Player Adventures

Now we’re onto another campaign game. The final one for the thematic games is also kind of a campaign game, but I’ll get to that. I love Roll Player Adventures, though, and it has a fun story to it. Roll Player is a thematic game about making a D&D character. Well, they took what they made in that game and created a whole world around it that you can play in Roll Player Adventures.

In this game, it’s a shorter campaign game than some. You play through stories with a map, move around that map, but the game is mainly built around dice placement and dice manipulation. You build up a hand of cards for your character, and then use those cards to get dice onto skill checks and or for fighting monsters. But you need specific color dice to do that, so you need to spend your attributes to pick the dice to get the right colors. Or maybe you just risk it and draw from the bag. There is this great balancing of resource management in the game.

I really enjoy this game. I like the game play a lot, and the story is also great. And I appreciate that it’s not that long a campaign. The game is probably best at 3 players. At 1 or 2 it is going to be harder. My play was a 4 player game, and it became a bit easy. So know that, but if you are up for a challenge at lower players or just want to enjoy the story, grab this fun, big game.

Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

Finally for thematic games, I want to share Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. This is the kind of a campaign game and kind of not game. Mainly because the core box is a campaign. It’s five cases that are tied closely together that tell a really good story. But they also sell single castes or a box of cases that don’t all link together.

In this game you play as detectives trying to solve cases, no surprise there. But it is more than just that. You investigate different locations, meet up with people to question them, and you even gather DNA samples. This is a very in-depth detective game. I take so many notes when I play, over the five cases in the base box, I think I ended up with 12-15 pages of notes. And you use a computer to query against the system to see if you find DNA matches, look up details from old cases, run finger prints. And you even, once in a while, look up things online to gain historical context to what is being talked about.

Now, if you want to try different versions of this you can as well. Maybe crime isn’t your thing, no big deal. You buy the Batman set, or there is Dune, or 1980’s, or other one off cases that you play as well. This is just one of the best, if not the best thematic deduction game that I’ve played.

Final Thoughts

I love so many thematic games. I even now see a few more that I could have and should have mentioned. Things like Marvel Champions is a great thematic Marvel game. Rock Hard 1977 let’s you live out your rockstar dreams. And of course I own a lot more campaign games like Stars of Akarios, The 7th Citadel, and more that I want to talk about here as well.

What are your favorite thematic games? And which one would you want to add to your holiday list or gift to someone?

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

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?

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

How to Play Dungeon Kart

Dungeon Kart is meant to be a Mario Kart style racing game. You play as one of the Boss Monster bosses trying to complete the circuit of the track. It’s Mario Kart style in that you get spells and those spells can affect the race and the leader to allow other characters to catch up.

Players use a dashboard where they shift up or down to move. And using their abilities it’s about taking the best line possible, avoiding hazards, and trying to figure out how to set yourself up for your next turn. The game ends simply (ish), I’m not sure what they landed on, but generally it’s if a player crosses they line in a round and no one else does, they win. If multiple do, it’s who goes the furthest or who has the most money, or another option to be determined.

The Crowdfunding

Let’s talk a bit about the crowdfunding page as well. What’s the main reason to back Dungeon Kart now?

Checkout the Kickstarter page here.

The main reason to get it now is to get it sooner. I think that’s where most of the value resides with backing this game. It’s also a game with some nice components, stands for the shifters, acrylic monsters and car standees for racing, and that is going to add to the value, but you can get that whether or not you back it now, I believe those are going to be in retail.

But let’s also talk about price point on this one. Price point with shipping, as that’s always a pretty big factor, are reasonable on this one. The base pledge level if going to give you good content and sell you the game at MSRP, I would assume. So likely you can get it cheaper, but it would be cheaper later.

At the higher levels the value goes up with expansions. It mainly adds a few things like a racer and dashboard that you can add in. I like that it adds in more map pieces as well. We’ll get to the variability in this game next.

Variability in the Game

Let’s talk about some highlights of the game now. And I think this is one of the biggest ones for me. The game comes with a lot in the box. You get a good number of racers, dashboards, and track pieces. Each of those are going to offer additional things when it comes to game play.

The racers for Dungeon Kart are going to offer you specific powers that each character can use. The dashboards aren’t the most unique, but they will have two things that they are better at. And the dashboards work with any character, so it changes thing up. And finally the race track is modular so you can setup the race how you want.

Game Speed

The final thing I( want to talk about is the speed of this game. When you build a game that is compared to Mario Kart, thanks to the name Dungeon Kart and blowing up your opponent, you need a few things. One of them are the spells to slow down the leader that is nice. The other thing is the speed of the game.

If turns take a long time and there is a lot to think about and plan, it’s going to mess up the feel of the game. Brotherwise Games create a game, in Dungeon Kart that is fast. Turns are fast, yes, there is a moving on the board that requires a bit of planning, but you do that as you go, not something programmed out.

And the rule set is simple, so you get into the game and keep going. It is a racing game that keeps you engaged in the game not on your turn and there isn’t that much downtime between turns. So it feels like a racing game that way.

Final Thoughts on Dungeon Kart

I very much enjoyed my play of this game. I got to play it as a three player game and that didn’t take long. The track is bigger on the Kickstarter, but it’s modular so you set it how you want. And I like that you can adjust it that way.

Dungeon Kart is a fun game that I think a lot of people will like. It’s an accessible game in what you are doing. Turns don’t require much explaining, and it’s a game that you do need to plan, but you only need to plan a little. And sometimes you just need to react to the fact your car got spun out and you need to adjust your plans, but it’s always fast.

This is an easy back for me, and a game where I look at the added things and it seems to add more of the same, not add complexity to the game. So one that I definitely recommend that people checkout and I can say, with having played it, this is a very fun game.

Are you going to back Dungeon Kart?

5 – Need for Speed

Need For Speed was one of the first gaming franchises that I really took note of. I’d play it on the computer a lot with and it was always a ton of fun. I like how it’s not that complex a racing game, and they have kept that for the most part. Some of them, more recent ones, try and add in too much story or complexity for kitting out your car, making it more like a Fast and the Furious movies than like original Need for Speed, and it just loses something. I want to go and race immediately, not have to drive around to find the next event, hope it’s a type that I have my car kit ready for. But the game is just a classic at this point, and some of them, Hot Pursuit 2 in particular are just awesome.

4 – Mario Kart

Needless to say, I like racing games. This goes back to what I said in the open, I like games that aren’t going to take multiple sessions that are hours long to play. I can sit down with a group of friends and knock out a Mario Kart tournament in a few minutes, and that has a group of people with it. I like Mario Kart slightly better than Need for Speed because while both are fun, Mario Kart can be more social, and while Need for Speed isn’t highly realistic in damage to your car or it blowing up, Mario Kart is less so, which just makes it that much more fun.

3 – Tales from the Borderlands

This is a kind of bigger game, but mainly it’s a kind of silly game. I love the Borderlands franchise and this is obviously completely different than those looter/shooters, but it is still a blast. Tales from the Borderlands tells a good story set in that world, and even ties into the 3rd (4th) Borderlands game. It does a good job of keeping the humor and tells what is a very traditional Borderlands story in a condensed and faster game play. I like that I can pick my story decisions and make changes to the world because of them. It’s not all amazing because there are some quick time events that are just annoying and feel like they are there so you, as the player feel like you’re doing something, if it’s been a bit between choices, but generally, like I said, just annoying. Great story overall though, and a lot of good choices.

2 – Borderlands Series

Next up we have the whole of the Borderlands series, Borderlands, Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands 3. These are just fun looter shooter games. This is a bigger series of games, and the 3rd one has been harder to get through because I just don’t have the time to sit down and play a ton, but I do really like that they are couch co-op and not that difficult to play. They give you a good silly time as you run around, blow up monsters, get crazy guns, blow up bandits, blow up bad guys, get more guns, and did I mention blowing stuff up with guns? That’s basically what the series is about, and the silly humor that it has to go along with it. Such a good time and easy to get into without having to be that good at the game, you can always just go do something else, shoot and blow up something else, and come back when you’re at the right level.

1 – Dragon Age: Origins

Finally, Dragon Age: Origins. I do like the 2nd one as well, but the 3rd one lost me a bit for a few reasons. What I like so much about Dragon Age: Origins is that it’s an “open world” game. By that I mean that you can do stuff in different orders, and explore different sections, but it is a pretty limited open world game. You can’t just wander off in a direction to see what is there, you’ll run up against how far you can go pretty quickly. And you can’t just randomly stumble into a late game quest. This is just an interesting story of a game that is told while giving you a lot of choices but you kind of work in quest batches that you can pick the order of but will always end up at the same ending spot. Now that might seem like your choices don’t matter, they do, some, but the dragon must be slayed no matter what.

Those are some of the top ones for me, a few that just missed the list would be Powerstar Golf, probably my most played game, because I can sit down and play it so fast, and couch co-op. Jazz Jackrabbit, Alpha Centauri and Tony LaRussa Baseball which I grew up with. 1943, a top scrolling flying game, and then stuff like Mortal Kombat and Super Mario, that I can play, but are easy to pick-up and set down.

What are some of your favorite games, with my taste, what games should I checkout?

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

10 – 1942

There will be a number of older games that I really like on the list. One of the reasons that I like a lot of these older games is that I can sit down and play a few minutes. 1942 is a WWII flying game, but in classic arcade, it’s top down so you’re just moving up and down and left and right on the screen while firing non-stop. I really enjoy that type of game, whether it is WWII or some crazy sci-fi adventure or alien world, it’s a good time to just sit down and play through a few levels trying to blow everything up and usually failing a lot. A simple game that I can really enjoy.

9 – Jazz Jackrabbit

You’re a crazy rabbit in this side scroller who can jump, and fire a wide array of guns. This was one that I loved and played so much of, even if it was only just the demo version (I’m not 100% convinced there was a full version, I could never find it as a kid). It’s your classic game kind of like Mario, but while Mario tended to be more linear, this had more ups and downs and backtracking and going under what you’d done before. The guns were a lot of fun, and it was a good one growing up that I could again, just sit down and play a level or two and eventually I got really good at those early levels. Definitely a classic style of game that I could have picked a lot of different games from, but I really enjoyed this one a lot as a kid.

8 – Myst/Riven

One thing I like a lot in my video games is puzzles, and while there aren’t many puzzle games on the list, there are some like Chip’s Challenge that just missed the list. Myst and Riven are two of the biggest puzzle games from my childhood out there, and I believe I have at least Myst for steam. They are really though games, but I love their complexity and their story. The puzzles all make sense, but you really need to search and think to be able to figure them out, because a puzzle might be based off of a sound in a whole different part of the world. Definitely challenging, and very hard to get through without hints, but if you want to spend hours on puzzles this works well, and you could save so you could get through a puzzle and then come back later to do more.

7 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Another of those side scrolling games. I like TMNT because it’s TMNT, also because it’s not that difficult a game. I played this at an arcade probably eight to ten months ago, and it was just a blast four player. We were able to get through the whole game in not that much time and without that much money sunk into it. But it’s just a good time. I love playing as the turtles, and I like taking on all the crazy bad guys that they throw at you. I’m not that great at the game, probably died more than the other people I played with, but who cares, it was a fun time and the game is just about a bunch of button mashing.

6 – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Another genre of game that I really enjoy are racing games, and in particular the Need for Speed franchise. I started playing with Need for Speed 2, I’ve played the rebooted Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, and others as well, and as long as they are just straight up racing games, they are awesome. There was one that got too bogged down in cut scenes and random locations to go to and that one wasn’t that great, but give me a standard racing game and I love them. Street racing is even more fun because you get to outrun the cops or you get to be the cops trying to keep in contact with the racers, deploy spike strips and do other things to knock them off the road and arrest them. The game is a blast and again, it’s one that you can just sit down and do a couple of races and call it good.

5 – Mortal Kombat

This is kind of a placeholder for a number of games, DC Injustice, Street Fighter, Capcom games, all of those games that just have you moving left and right on the screen, kicking, punching, jumping and trying to figure out the combos, I really like those types of games. Again, it’s just fun to face off against your friends in a few small battles over time and just see who is the “better” fighter or button masher. Mortal Kombat just has some more of the games that I’ve played recently with the Retron system, and always a good time to just sit down and play for a little bit and then give up when I start to run into the computer using logic and then try again.

4 – Super Mario World

So more of that side scrolling action, though last one on the list, it’s hard not to have a Mario game, and I picked Super Mario World as probably my favorite. I have put more hours into the Wii game but this one is probably preferred because I like the older and a bit slower games, more my speed. Though, any game that I can play as Luigi is good as well. A placeholder really for most Mario games, I again like being able to pick it up and set it down easily just to see how far I can get into it and find where the water levels are and figure out if I can avoid them.

3 – Powershot Golf

Kind of different than the rest of my list which is a bit more retro, at least at parts, Powershot Golf is another one of those games that I can play 18 holes of golf in 30 minutes and then be done if I want. And it’s a silly golf game as well. I don’t mind a more serious golf game, but this one is just more enjoyable because who doesn’t want a golf ball that looks like a skull and moans or an enchanted putter. The game plays fast and is pretty simple, I’ve gotten pretty good at it and it’s one that is easy for new players to get into as well. And there are a lot of fun unlocks you can get, overall just a good and relaxing game to play.

2 – Dragon Age

As I said at the beginning, I do like bigger games, it’s just hard for me to get through them. The top two here are bigger games, and even franchises of games. When I say Dragon Age here, I’m talking about the first two games in the system, I was less of a fan of Dragon Inquisition. The main reason is that was too open world for me, Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 are both open world enough that you can run around and do random side quests, but you can’t just accidentally wander into a whole new area that you maybe shouldn’t be going to yet. I like the story, I like the combat, and I like the way you can build up your power throughout the game. I’ve beat the original game a three or four times now at this point, but doing it the first time took a long time because I’d get distracted, play or do something else for a few months and then come back and restart because I had forgotten where I was and how I was playing my character.

1 – Borderlands

Now, is aid that I don’t love long games, and I don’t love FPS, and I don’t love open world games, but Borderlands, I love. Firstly, I love it because I can easily play it couch co-op or online. With it being couch co-op, it just gets to be a good afternoon or evening sitting around, playing a completely absurd looter shooter and drinking beer. And while it does have a story, I don’t care that much if I’m on the main quest or if I’m doing a side quest or whatever is going on because I’m there for shooting things, dying, respawning, shooting more things, getting crazy guns, leveling up, but really, mainly, the crazy characters who say absurd things. Borderlands, all of them are just a blast and games that even if you don’t love FPS’s I really do recommend.

Ah, so many games that just missed the list as well. The classic arcade Track and Field, I could probably spend a day at an arcade playing just that. The original Final Fantasy is great. Sports games like Madden or Tony LaRussa Baseball 2. Racing games like Mario Kart or Speed Racer (such an awesome game). But I only had room for 10 on the list and I think that those are really my top few. I could have even said something line minesweeper, I got very good at that game.

What are your top video games? Are there any based off of my taste that I need to try, are there any classic games that are a must track down for NES or SNES?

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.

I’m kicking it off with video games, now, these don’t have to be games that I played in 2019 or are from the year 2019, but just games that I really enjoy.

5 – Diablo III
Now, I played this when it came out, and it was basically unplayable. Things were horribly out of balance and they were changing it up seemingly every couple of days to try and balance things out, so you could play one session and things would be nerfed, and then the next session your character would feel OP, if you weren’t playing every day. They have fixed that and now everything is more stable, and I’ve had a lot of fun in this hack and slash or magic loot based game. It’s a pretty fast game once you get into it as you can just run around and destroy, especially when not playing on a high level.

4 – Tales from the Borderlands
The first of two Borderlands titles, this is not the classic looter shooter style of the other ones, but a story based choose your own adventure type of game. The plot is fun and funny as it matches up with the humor from the looter shooters. The choices that you have to make are interesting, and I’ve played through it twice, which isn’t that common for a video game. The whole game plays fast, though, and for that reason I was able to get it back to the Xbox. And, even with that, I feel like there are branches of the story that I haven’t really explored yet, which makes me interested in going back to it.

3 – Myst
This game I haven’t played in a long time. Maybe I’ll stream a playthrough of it on the Malts and Meeples Twitch channel as I have it for Steam. But I really loved it growing up, and I have fond memories playing it with my siblings and cousins as kids trying to figure out all of the puzzles. I don’t remember a ton of the story of the game or anything about the puzzles, but I remember how interesting the world was and how difficult some of the puzzles could be. It’s a classic game that sticks out in my mind and probably helps me love of puzzles in general.

2 – Borderlands 2
The best Borderlands thus far, I haven’t played through all of 3 yet, Borderlands 2 is just a fun and silly looter shooter. Every time they release a new Borderlands game, it’s always about what insane guns you have and can use. And there is a plot as well, which is generally quite good, which it definitely is in Borderlands 2. I also like the level of character customization in this game with the skill trees. A fairly open world game, but it does a solid job of keeping you on track.

1 – Dragon Age: Origins
This game has been high on my list for a while and one of the few games that I’ve completed multiple times. It’s open enough to give me interesting choices, but focused enough to keep me from feeling like there is too much to do. I like the story and while it is pretty straight forward, it always feels like there is a lot to do in the game. I also really like the dialogue and humor in the game.

I almost did a top ten, but since it’s been the top 5 for a couple of years now, I kept it that way, that, of course, means that we’re going to get some honorable mentions:

Dragon Age 2
Borderlands Pre-Sequel
Heroes of Might and Magic
Mario Kart (Switch/Wii)
Alpha Centauri
Need for Speed

What are some of your favorite video games of all time? Any crossover with me, or do you prefer a different genre of video game than some of my preferred?

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.

1. Borderlands[amazon_link asins=’B00SHXKC82′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8935bf1c-9e5c-11e7-b346-abe9f25fc8a9′]

I am not a fan of first-person shooter games; however, the Borderlands games are amazing. With the irreverent dialogue, the weird but complex characters, and the fun guns, all of the Borderlands games are just great. They are made even better by the fact that you can play local co-op. So you and your friends can just hang out, blow stuff up, go shopping, and repeat. The missions were funny, the bad guys were great, and the whole concept of the game was a weird mix of seemingly sci-fi, shooter, and fantasy done in an absurd way. The best character is the crazy-pants robot, Claptrap, who seems like he is related to Bender from Futurama in some ways with his desire to party and score. The characters you can play are fun as well; each has unique abilities and skill trees, and you can pay a little to reset them and change them up as you want. All of the games in the series are really good, and they got a lot of love when they were released. I always hope there’ll be another one in the works so I can be insulted by Claptrap and whomever the villain might be in hilarious ways once again.

There were a lot of other games that were close to making this list. I mentioned, with Heroes of Might and Magic, Age of Empires, which is a really fun series. There are all the Need for Speed games, as well as sports games like Madden, Tony LaRussa Baseball II (super old game and super easy with tons of classic players like Tris Speaker and Walter Johnson). And there are party games like Mario Kart or Wii Bowling that are always fun to pull out in the right situation. The last honorable mention I have is Jazz Jackrabbit, a classic side-scrolling game where you are a jackrabbit named Jazz who has plenty of awesome guns that seem to run out of ammo pretty often.

What games do you look back on as some of your favorite games to play?

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

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