Catch Up on the Top 100 Games

100 through 91

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 90 through 81

90. Wandering Towers

Published By: Capstone Games
Designers: Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer

Buy Wandering Towers.

This is just a fun simple game of trying to remember where you wizards are hiding and get them to the main tower. I like how easy it is to make it work. You play out two cards and if you have potion bottles filled you can cast a spell. The spells are simple, the cards are simple, you choose to either move a wizard or a tower as far as it says on the card. But it’s still a lot of fun because of that memory aspect and burying your opponents wizards under a stack of towers.

89. Grove: 9 care solitaire game

Published By: Side Room Games
Designer: Mark Tuck

Buy Grove.

This one is two games in one really with Grove and Orchard. I put them together because the games are very similar, though I do slightly prefer Grove. In this game you stack cards to get matching tree types to overlap. As they overlap you tick up dice that are going to give you more points. The more points you have at the end of nine cards, the better you do at the game. Grove adds in scoring cards, and that addition is what pushes it over because it’s bonus scoring, but also how many points you need to beat to win the game.

88. Via Magica

Published By: Hurrican
Designer: Paolo Mori

Buy Via Magica.

It is weird to think that drawing chips out of bag and everyone getting a cube to add to their spells, basically bingo, can make a fun game. But it is great in Via Magica. This is a simple game with powers that you get from completing spells. It’s one of two games that actually has abilities or powers from completing spells on this section of the top 10. But it’s all about drawing those chips and hoping to get the right ones. Or then being smart about the spells you take so you can always use the chips.

87. No Thanks!

Published By: AMIGO
Designer: Thorsten Gimmier

Buy No Thanks!

This section of the list has a few push your luck games on it. No Thanks! isn’t a tradition push your luck game, but it does have those elements. In particular, you need to decide when it is worth taking a card. Cards are bad, cards give you points, so you want to say no thanks to them. But you need chips to do that, so No Thanks! is a game about determining when there are enough chips on a card to make it worth taking. Because, not only a chips needed for saying no thanks, they are also negative one point per chip at the end of the round.

86. Strike

Published By: Ravensburger
Designer: Dieter Nuble

Buy Strike.

Imagine a gladiatorial battle in the Coliseum. Actually don’t, this game is all about rolling dice to get pairs and knowing when to stop if you don’t get pairs. You just want to be the last one in the game and that’s it. It’s a simple game and simple system but it is always fun when it hits the table. I think everyone just likes to make a decision to roll a fist full of dice. And if you don’t get any matches, you can always roll more dice that you held back, but beware the one because when a die lands on that side, that die is gone forever.

85. Marvel United

Published By: CMON and Spin Master
Designers: Andrea Chiarvesio and Eric M. Lang

Buy Marvel United Multiverse Core Box.

Do you want to team-up as Marvel heroes to defeat villains in a fast and easy game? Marvel United is great for that. You pick your hero, the villain to go up against, and a few locations and you are ready to play. This game is all about managing what the villain is doing, and they do some fun stuff, and then chaining off of what your superhero teammates did, because you use the last card played, to have a great turn. This is a great game to teach people cooperative game play because you can really cooperate. And there is so much for it.

84. Homebrewers

Published By: Greater Than Games
Designers: Matthew O’Malley and Ben Rosset

Buy Homebrewers.

I like brewing beer, I did it for a long time. I’m not sure it’s hobby I’m going to return to. But I can still get my beer brewing fix with Homebrewers. This is about brewing the best beers you can. You brew a beer and you go up on a track, then you need to deal with the spent grains, sanitize, get more grains and brew again. All of that is like homebrewining.

But then the game offers different ingredients you add to your brewing. And these cards stick around between brews. So if you brew a porter with almonds, you now always will. And those ingredients give you brew something special that might be more money, or it might be that you move up on another beer. At the end, you just want to be the best homebrewer out there.

83. Chronicles of Drunagor: Age of Darkness

Published By: Creative Games Studio
Designer: Eurico Cunha Neta

Buy Chronicles of Drunagor.

I love my big campaign games. And Chronicles of Drunagor is no expection. It is just lower on the list because one of them has to be and it is one that I haven’t played a ton of. There is so much in the game, but I highlight three things in the video. I want to highlight one here, the activation system. You use different colored cubes to activate abilities of those colors. But when you run out of cubes or need a specific ability, you need to pull back those cubes. Then you cover up a spot so you can’t use it. It’s a unique system that I find a lot of fun.

82. PUSH

Published By: Ravensburger
Designers: Prospero Hall and Brian Kirk

Buy Push Here.

I like simple push your luck games, and PUSH is my favorite of them. This one is just push your luck, but as compared to other simple push your luck games, this one offers just a few choices. Mainly you create three stacks of cards on your turn. But those stacks can’t have the same color or number in a single stack, aka you can’t have two blue cards in a stack. Well, that is easy enough, you could stop early. If you do that, then other players could push their luck for more points. And then there is the die, if you have the roll the die, you might lose cards. It’s all about balancing that risk for points.

81. Potion Explosion

Published By: Horrible Guild
Designers: Stefano Castelli, Andrea Crespi, and Lorezno Silva

Buy Potion Explosion Here.

If you want a game that feels like app game, Potion Explosion definitely meets that need. It is one of those games where if like colors are touching they explode, or in this case, you get them. And it’s all about chaining together colors of marbles the best you can, and then you use them to complete spells. And those spells give you points that you need to win the game, but they also give you one time abilities that you can use to chain together more marbles and complete more spells. This game is just tactile and fun.

Join Next Week

Just as a reminder, I am streaming my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition every Wednesday night at 9 PM Central Time. The next few videos have their links up, so you can click notify on them to know when I go live. Or you can subscribe to the channel and click notify to know whenever a new video comes out. Currently I am playing through Legendary Kingdoms on Monday and then my wife and I are playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on Fridays. So join us for those videos.

And thank you for checking out the video and articles. Let me know what your favorite game from this chunk of 10 is and which one you would love to get played.

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Top 5 Games Better with an Expansion

5. New Frontiers – More Variety

I’m not only telling you which games are better but how they are better. I enjoy New Frontiers, a Roll for the Galaxy Board Game quite well. And even out of the box it’s a fun game. But this is one of those games where the expansion does it right. It just adds in more stuff. That means you get more variety and variability in what you start with. Is it needed for the game, not completely, but I think that it makes it better because it just adds in a little bit more to the game.

So what does it add, it adds in new home planets, new planets and new development that you can do. All of those things are in the base game. It also adds in new actions that you can take. Those new actions replace the old ones and they provide again that added variety. And you can add in goals with them as well. Plus there is a solo mode now. But mainly it just adds more of what you already like about the game.

4. Pitchcar – More Track

I think this one is easy to understand why it’s great to have expansions. Expansions just give you more track for the game and allow you to create crazier different routes to go on. It gives you that freedom to decide, do we want to have a track that goes up and over? Do we want to do a loop? Do we want to make some narrow sections or really long straightaways? All of those things are now an option. I’m not sure that I need to say more than this, so I won’t.

3. Marvel United – More Characters and Villains

This one is odd because I think there is a tipping point for it. Now I am definitely past that tipping point. I have everything in terms of game play for Marvel United. And there is so much stuff. I haven’t even dug into all the Marvel United: Multiverse stuff. But this is a great and simple to table cooperative game. It is made even better by the fact that everything is plug and play. It is so easy to drop in a villain or a hero from another set and just start playing. No matter who it is, it’s just a few minutes to get started.

And I think the expansions really do help. The core box of Marvel United is fine. I don’t think it stands out as an amazing game. Though, if you’re not a gamer, it’s good because it’s easy enough to understand and no heroes or villains are too complicated. And while none of the heroes or villains are complicated in the expansion, they tend to add in more flavor which is great and I think for people who enjoy the base game at all, they are needed for more robust game play.

2. Dice Throne – More Characters

Speaking of more characters, I think that Dice Throne really benefits from the expansions. And the expansions are just that, they are more characters for the game. The big reason is that the characters in the base game are fun, but they aren’t great. The Barbarian feels pretty standard, and that is on purpose. But you get six characters, originally, and if you are like me and love you, you want more.

So I think that the expansions are really great. And I think that the Marvel expansions are great as well for multiple reasons. One, they are fun and thematic. But it is also a great spot to get people into a game system who might be interested in it without the IP (intellectual property). And those characters are thematic as well, so it works very well.

1. Lost Ruins of Arnak – Expedition Leaders

And this is the game that made me think of the topic. I got to play Lost Ruins of Arnak twice last night. One time was just the base game, and the other time with the Expedition Leaders. Now, I love Lost Ruins of Arnak even as the base game. But the Expedition Leaders make it a even better. So what does Expedition Leaders add?

It is mainly just adding in what it says, expedition leaders. These are unique starting cards and leaders wit their own flavor to the game. It really makes for a more interesting experience because now everyone has something unique that they do in the game. And while the base game offers variety, this adds in more, just through the leaders. But it also gives you new research tracks and more cards to mix in, so it’s a great expansion where it just adds in more. But not just more, a bit more complexity as well, if you want it.

Final Thoughts

If a game isn’t good out of the box, I don’t want an expansion to fix it. I want a new, fixed, version of the base game. And I think that for the most part publishers are good about this. All of these things where I talk about the expansions, the base game makes a good game better.

The closest to a game that I’d be not so interested in without the expansions is Marvel United. Spinmaster Games wanted the base game to be simple because they wanted it to be in Target. And I understand that, but as a gamer, it felt like it was too little to me. I could see the fun in it, but I wanted that more, and because I love Marvel I got that more for it.

But the others really are great games without the expansions. The expansion just make a great game better. And the times where I’ve seen an expansion needed to fix the game, it’s often Kickstarter. And it’s often a time where they offer that expansion that makes the game good as part of the Kickstarter or crowdfunding campaign. Which I find to be a bad practice and definitely don’t want companies doing. Always give us the whole game in one box.

What are some of your favorite expansions for board games?

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Top 15 Board Games I’m Waiting On

15: Critter Kitchen

Based off of Flamecraft I am excited for Critter Kitchen. It is a very different game, but still it looks amazing. And I like the food theme, the idea that you’re basically chefs trying to impress critics is a fun theme. I feel like there is a bit more going on in this game than Flamecraft, so what is keeping it lower on the list is I want to know the weight and accessibility of it, because the artwork is amazing and very welcoming.

14. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

This one is very new to the list as in that I preordered it this week. But it’s Lord of the Rings, a theme that I love. But there is way more that I love about this game than just that, or at least the theory of it. It sounds like you play cooperatively through The Fellowship of the Ring in various missions. So cooperative, trick-taking, and scenarios with a theme I love, I’m all in.

13. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

Now one that I’ve been waiting on for quite a while. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders is why I got Tidal Blades, a game that I still need to play. The first one interests me a fair amount, I like the idea of leveling up and improving your dice. But the second one, well, it’s a dungeon crawler and we know I love dungeon crawlers. Plus scenario/campaign based and some interesting sounding mechanisms. Especially around turns where you slowly build up what you can do, then after a real powerful turn it resets and you repeat the process.

12. Marvel United: Multiverse

Next up is just more Marvel United. I love all the stuff for the Marvel United board games. Multiverse is going to give me more stuff. So why wouldn’t I want to play with more stuff for the game. Especially since it’s so easy to get to the table.

11. Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game

I need to play the other board games in this line. They are all really different themes, but they all sound like a ton of fun. this one is going to be about space explorers, mercenaries, whatever it might be. And you play them along missions and scenarios in a big adventure. I just like the fact that it’s this crossroads system, the best part of Dead of Winter. I like making choices and maybe not them impacting the whole game, but being meaningful in terms of flavor.

10. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – RETALIATION

This one is on the list because I’m enjoying Vampire the Masquerade: Chapters a lot. Yes, they are different games, but both promise narrative and living in the Edge of Darkness world. So I want to experience more of that. And while there is a ton of stuff about vampires, I feel like werewolves need more, so the theme is even better for me.

9. Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men

Much like Marvel United, Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men is just more stuff. It’s been a bit since I played Dice Throne, but I’m ready to battle it out again in this dice chucking battle yahtzee with unique powers.

8. Stonesaga

Stonesaga is high on the list as a persistent game that sounds really fun to me. And I know that I like the start of it. Though, I’ve done the tutorial enough times that I’m ready to see more. But I like everything going on in the game and the fun minigames within the bigger game. And it’s set well before technology really of any sort, so I love the discovery aspect and process to the game.

7. Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game

Another one that I’ve played, this one I’m still waiting patiently for after playing it about a year ago at CMON Expo. I love this game, I love that it’s a combat game, but not always a combat game. Sometimes you just want to sneak around because when the guards know where you are at they’ll all rush you. And I got to play it in the standalone mode, but I want to try the short campaign in it as well.

6. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

A big campaign game, and there are a few on the list at this point and a few more to come. I love my big campaign board games. Arydia though sounds so interesting to me. Mainly because it plays over three different levels. There is this largest level that is the world, well not full world but let’s say lands that you traverse over. Then you go down to a more focused area, maybe a big camp or a town. Then you can get down to tactical dungeon crawl as you go. The whole idea just sounds amazing and I want to see how it executes.

5. Castle Combo

Another one that hit the list a couple of days ago. Castle Combo is one that I’m playing on BGA (Board Game Arena) right now and I really love it. It’s a simple game where you build out a three by three grid of cards. You spend coins to buy the cards which give you an immediate bonus, probably more coins and then a scoring. And you just want to get the best scoring from the cards you can buy. Simple but a ton of fun.

4. The Witcher: Path of Destiny

I need to play my other Witcher game, but The Witcher: Path of Destiny is still really exciting for me. I like The Witcher a lot as a setting. This is one that I kind of wish was cooperative, but also I get it, all the characters really have their own thing that they are doing. But it’s about building your most iconic and exciting story in the Witcher world, and that sounds like fun. But it’s not really a storytelling game, it’s more about completing challenges to gain those stories.

3. Witchbound

Witchbound is one that I stumbled across two years ago and I’m excited for when it will be coming. The hope is that it would be really fast turn around, it wasn’t. But that is because it needed to be translated into other languages. But it’s basically a point and click adventure as a board game. I find that fun and the artwork is great and the story is great. Solo only game and one that I’m excited to show off when it comes in.

2. Mistborn Deckbuilding Game

Another one that I’ve played, Mistborn Deckbuilding Game is one that I got to play at Gen Con and it’s great. I love the ramping nature of the game, I love the thematic nature of the game. And the game play is so fast. It’s not that the game is too short, it’s more that the game moves along quickly and you feel like you do something each turn. And burning the metals is a great thematic element that works well to separate it from other deckbuilding games.

1. Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

My number one for anticipated board games, as it has been for a while, is Rogue Angels. I’m still so excited for this game, and I’m tempted to reset my prototype copy and play it again. The story is a blast, the game play is easy to follow. And I really like the cooldown system for actions and the flow that everything moves with. The late pledges are still open on this one so if you’re looking for a cooperative campaign game, I highly recommend this one.

Which Is Most Interesting To You?

Let me know which of these board games you are excited in, if you’ve backed or preordered any of them. There are so many good games coming out, it’s hard to keep up on playing everything. So like I said, I’m taking a hiatus from buying just so that I can play more of the games that I already have. Because there are a lot of games that I want to play more or ones that I want to get to the table for the first time.

And when these games come in, I’m going to want to get them to the table as quickly as I can. Though, some of them being bigger games or campaign games, those might take longer to hit the table. But when Witchbound comes in, as long as I’m not streaming another cooperative/solo campaign, it’d going to get started because of how simple it is to get to the table. But now just to wait on those board games and play the ones that I have.

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About This List

So how is this list made? I use the Pub Meeple ranking engine to create the list. This website creates your list by doing side by side comparisons. I explain how it works at the beginning of the video.

But basically if I compare “A” and “B” and I prefer “B” it puts them in the order “B”, “A”. Then if I compare “C” and “D” and prefer “C”, those go in the order “C”, “D”. Then I compare “B” to “C” to see which I prefer, if I prefer “C” then I compare “B” and “D”. So if I prefer “C” and then I prefer “D” it’ll give me a list of “C”, “D”, “B”, and “A”. I never need to compare “A” to anything after “B” because I know since I prefer “C” and “D” to “B” I like it better than “A” because I like “B” mor than “A”.

Also a small tweak this year. In my write-up, I’m going to write less about the games and give more bullet points to help remind you about what I talked about in the video.

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 100 through 91

100. Blank Slate

• Published by The Op Games in 2018
• Big Group Party Game

Blank Slate is a fun game where you are. filling in a blank on a card. It might be [blank] and then “Slate” you need to come up with a word. And you want to match with one person. That to me is the fun element of the game. You want to watch for points, but ideally with just one person to get more of them.

Buy Blank Slate.

99. Skytear Horde

• Published by Skytear Games in 2023
• Solo, Cooperative, and Competitive Tower Defense Lane Battler

Skytear Horde offers really good game play in the tower defense style of games. I find that it’s best as a solo game with one player playing as factions fighting against the waves of monsters attacking. But I like the puzzle in what you do to beat the bad guys. The feeling of being limited is an element of the game I enjoy, even though it means that it’s always a tough battle.

Buy Skytear Horde.

98. Marvel United

• Published by CMON Games in 2020
• Beat back the Villain through Card play and Cooperation

This one works well because you get to feel like a team of heroes. A lot of superhero games you might have them in the game, but rarely do you need to plan and work together. Marvel United, while being a very light game, gives you that cooperation and team-up feel you want from a super hero game. Plus it’s easy to swap in new heroes, villains and locations to set the game up and play again.

Buy Marvel United.

97. Tesseract

• Published by Smirk & Laughter/Dagger Games in 2023
• Save Humanity by Cooperating and Manipulating dice with Special Powers

Tesseract is a great puzzle of a game. You need to work together to get one die of each color set on each number before the whole cube crumbles away. And while I find that I’ve won more often than not, it’s always a rush to the finish. I love that about a cooperative game, I don’t want to win all the time, but if I feel like it’s close, that is what I’m looking for. Plus the toy factor on Tesseract is great, and that’s not something that can be overlooked.

Buy Tesseract.

96. Starship Captain

• Published by CGE in 2023
• Travel across Planets, Deal with Pirates and Complete Missions better than anyone else

This is a game that I need to get back to the table. It has been too long since I played Starship Captains. I remember it being a fun game that gave you a lot of options but also limited them as you went. And I really enjoyed the system where you get three workers and then go back into a queue. So when they come out, you are able to determine the order somewhat. Forward planning, but it isn’t going to happen too quickly.

Buy Starship Captain.

95. River Valley Glassworks

• Published by Allplay in 2024
• Put glass into the river to Collect more Glass and score them by Color

River Valley Glassworks is new this year, and I really enjoy the game. I especially like the simplicity and strategy in what you do. You need to figure out how to best collect glass to score points. Because the points are scores in both columns and rows. And if you do well, you can score in both, but maybe you focus on one area more than the others. It’s a fast and fun filler experience.

Preorder River Valley Glassworks.

94. Atlantis Rising

• Elf Creek Games in 2019
• Push Your Luck to Gather Resources and then Build a portal to save the people of Atlantis Before it sinks

Atlantis Rising is another one of those really good cooperative games. You need to work together to figure out where to place out your workers. And you want to figure out good ways to keep them alive because each round you flip cards and sink more of Atlantis. Can you race against the clock to build a portal to a new world and get off of Atlantis before it sinks?

Buy Atlantis Rising.

93. Draftosaurus

• Published by Ankama in 2019
• Collect Dinosaurs for your Park and Place them to Score you the Most Points

This is a light filler game of drafting dinosaurs, hence the name Draftosaurus. You all want to collect the best parks, and it’s a great little light filler of a game. I don’t know that I’ve ever played less than two games in a sitting because each game takes maybe 10-15 minutes. And the simplicity of play and fun of scoring is great.

Buy Draftosaurus.

92. The Night Cage

• Published by Smirk and Dagger/Laughter in 2021
• Fumble your way through a Labyrinth, Avoid Monsters, Find Keys, and Escape Together

This is a fun cooperative experience for the spooky season. The game says, what if you’re trapped in an every changing Labyrinth with only a little candle. Can you get out in time? Because the candle only lights up the squares around you. So grab a key, help others find a key, and avoid the wax eaters so you can escape.

Buy The Night Cage.

91. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

• Published by Grey Fox Games in 2014
• One of you is a Murderer and the Investigators figure out the Clue and Murder Weapon from the Forensic Scientists Reports

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is the only social deduction game I have on my list. Mainly because it is also a deduction game as the Forensic Scientist is sending up reports. The investigators needs to figure out how those connect to one players murder weapons and clues. And then which murder weapon and clue were used. It’s a great game of talking and accusing and fun.

Buy Deception: Murder in Hong Kong.

Final Thoughts on Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition 100 through 91

A lot of lighter games in this section and a number of cooperative games. Some that even surprised me that they’d fallen this far. I think Deception: Murder in Hong Kong was Top 40 or so last year. But it’s one that I enjoy every time we play it. I probably just need to play it more for it to move back up. Other games have moved down or up as well. And I find that part of the fun of doing a list every year. My tastes in games are always changing, and I like this as a way to track the changes.

Just a reminder, join me next week on Malts and Meeples for the next 10 on the list. The plan is to go live around 9 PM Central time and it’ll be 90 through 81. The best way to know when I go live is subscribe and click that notification bell. That’ll let you know for sure when it’ll be happening.

What is your favorite game from the list and what is one that you want to try?

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Top 5 Boss Battlers

5. Marvel United

First of two Marvel games on the list. This one I think most people would overlook as a boss battler. I think it is even loose in terms of that. I go up against the villain with other players who are dealing with threat, rescuing bystanders and dealing with schemes from the villain. But it doesn’t feel like that traditional boss battler. Might be because you need to work up to facing down the boss.

But the game is great. And I like the variety in both the heroes and the villains. Each villain does things slightly differently, and it feels comic like in that. So when you face off against Red Skull or Ultron they feel different. And while the characters don’t massively change they play differently as well.

4. Final Girl

We’re going from Marvel to horror here with Final Girl. Final Girl is interesting because it really is a boss battler. If you’re not familiar with the concept, the final girl is the last survivor in a horror film. This is a very consistent trope, whether they make it out of the movie alive or not, well that is not guaranteed. But they are going to face off against the killer.

Final Girl the board game is going to lean into that trope. You are the last girl and you need to rescue people, find a weapon, and see if you can take out the bad guy. This is a great game and there are a ton of different girls you can play as and killers or bosses that you have to deal with. It’s a different feeling game, again, for a boss battler, but one that is a ton of fun.

3. Aeon’s End

One without minis, but Aeon’s End is definitely a boss battler. You face off as breach mages against a nemesis of some sort. This is a phenomenal game because each character does some things better than others. And each has a power that you want to use, but also that you need to balance against just doing damage and doing your deck building the most efficiently and effectively.

And then the nemesis is great as well. You need to worry about a number of things from them. The actions that are delayed that you can stop or the minions that are coming out that’ll keep on activating. This game just has that right blend of enough to always be interesting but not too much so it isn’t hard to play. And it is one that if you want to watch the legacy playthrough, I did one of those.

2. Marvel Champions

Second Marvel game on the list. Champions has you (and maybe one other) taking up Marvel heroes against a Marvel villain. This is one that was on the Dice Tower Top 10 list. And I think that it works, but it isn’t what I think of, traditionally, when I think of a boss battler. Mainly because there is no big mini that you are fighting.

But in Marvel Champions you take a hero up against a singular villain in a one off fight. You want to beat that villain and that’s your goal. Some villains might need to be beat in different ways but it comes down to that heroes versus villain. And that is what it is with a boss battler. Or at least part of what it is.

1. Oathsworn

Yes, this did end up on the list. Why, because I have played it, technically. It wasn’t a full playthrough of the game, but I got to do a combat at Gen Con in 2022. And I like Oathsworn a lot in what it does. The game uses a slick card management system where you are playing out cards to push others down to get them back into your hand. Cards only really flow as you play out more cards.

Each boss is also unique from what I’ve seen. I only have faced off against the first one, the rat on the box, but that one felt like a unique monster to fight. And then I’ve seen a tiny bit of the Meet Me at the Table gameplay that Bairnt and Colin did. But I didn’t want to watch much of that so I could avoid spoilers.

Final Thoughts

This is a trickier list, like i said. But I got to five and I like all five on the list. The one that I want to get to the table soon is Primal. But I am also painting the minis on that one. So I need to get a few more of them painted, and even consider which one I’ll face off against first. Once I do that, then I’ll be getting that one to the table, and likely streaming it.

Plus Kingdom Death Monster is sitting on my shelf waiting to get tried. And Catharsis is another boss battle that I should play. I’m guessing if I look around the game room more, I am likely to find more boss battlers that I need to get to the table. Like Wild Assent and who knows what else.

What are your favorite boss battlers? And which boss battlers do you think I need to try?

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Top 5 Board Game Companies I Always Checkout

5. Awaken Realms

No surprise that Awaken Realms makes the list. They’ve made two games that I really like in Tainted Grail and ISS Vanguard. And while I did sell my copy of Etherfields, I am still regularly tempted to track it down and get a copy of it again. And I need to play my copy of Nemesis. Not all Awaken Realms games are for me. When they did STALKER, that one didn’t interest me. Or they do fancy versions of euro games, also not that interesting. But whenever they announce something new I’m curious.

Right now I’m waiting on Dragon Eclipse because it seems like a fascinating game that I really like the aesthetic of. And then they have a huge open world RPG type of game coming to crowdfunding later this year, also excited for that one. And they also have a one shot boss battler type of game with the Grimcoven as well, so many games that I’m intrigued by. Not always the cleanest games, but always something epic.

4. Chip Theory Games

Chip Theory is another one that makes a lot of epic games. But not with a lot of minis, instead with chips as the name suggests. I’m always intrigued by what they are putting out, though I rarely jump on their games right away. The only one I did right away was Elder Scrolls game that they have coming. And that was because it was a system that I knew already as it borrows from Too Many Bones.

But their games all offer something different and unique. And I also appreciate that almost all of their games can be played solo. One that I want to get to the table more after having an amazing time at GenCon playing it is Burncycle. I love the system of that game and the challenges of managing the burncylcle so that you can get the actions you want taken care of. It’s a tough balancing act of a game with a bunch of rules to learn to start, but not that bad when you get into playing it.

3. Open Owl Studios

Next up is Open Owl Studios and their games just really hit with me. Stars of Akarios has been one of my most fun gaming experiences with a big epic tactical space combat to getting down on planets and exploring the story. There are elements to that game that work so well for me. And then there is Mythwind a cozy game that feels like something different. It isn’t a game that I’ll binge all the time, but once that I will come back to a lot because it’s just easy to sit down and play. They call it a cozy game and it really is that.

Then there is Stonesaga their next one coming out. It helps, probably, that I know one of the designers. But he reached out to me because he knew it would be my type of game. And it really is. And I’m not sure what they have coming after that, there was just a reprint and expansion for Mythwind. But whatever it is, I trust that there will be a unique experience playing the game, because that’s what their games feel like to me.

2. CMON

Honestly, an odd one on the list, but I’m always paying attention to CMON. I could combine CMON and Steamforged here because I follow both of them for similar reasons. They both make beer and pretzel style games. Often that means grab a handful of dice and chuck them. But they also get a lot of interesting IP’s. CMON keeps on putting out Marvel games. And I know a lot of people will say it’s a cash grab. There is an element of that, but the games are also a ton of fun. Do I need all the characters and alternate sculpts, definitely not. But I want them, and like I said the games are a lot of fun.

CMON is also easier for  me to pass on. They revisit a lot of things. So when I hear something new is coming out, then I look to see if it matches something that I already have. And rarely do I replace it. Zombicide Undead or Alive go replaced by Marvel Zombies, but that’s because of the theme. I’d not replace Marvel Zombies with the newest Zombicide style game. I just pick the one that is best for me.

1. Pencil First Games

Finally we have the oddest one on the list. All the rest, easy to see what is similar. Big games, sometimes story and epic in nature. But Pencil First Games put out the first game that I crowdfunded and it’s a cute game. I got rid of my copy, but now they are putting out games that I really enjoy. Floriferous is the biggest, but then games like Skulk Hollow as well are great.

Why I’m always checking out Pencil First Games is that they tend to put a lot of interesting decisions into a package that isn’t too big or too complex. They are a company that is 100% on my radar for those games that are easy to travel with, easy to teach, but still really engaging. And while there are other companies who do that which I find their games interesting as well, Pencil First Games has a special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions

Two honorable mentions, only. I thought about more, and maybe I should have done a Top 10. But the two are Cephalofair Games and Serious Pulp. I didn’t put them on the list because for both of them it’s a specific game line that I’m interested in. Obviously Gloomhaven, one of my favorite games. And you can see me playing The 7^th Citadel over on Malts and Meeples YouTube and I’m loving the game. But they have their lanes for their games and generally stick with them.

Who Do You Keep an Eye On?

Alright, a few more bonus board game companies. 25^th Century Games, Reggie Games, Indie Boards and Cards with Astro Knights and Aeon’s End, Roxley Games, though that’s mainly for Dice Throne, and Dire Wolf with their Clank games. And Thunderworks, probably should be a true honorable mention. Like I said, I could have done a top 10board game companies.

But let me know who you keep an eye on. I still even kind of keep an eye on Fantasy Flight Games. But for them it’s a bit more specific. I care about games in their Arkham Files line and if they do anything new with their IP’s like Marvel, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings. They are a company that I wish I could keep an eye on more, but it’s been so hit or miss lately.

Let me know who it is for you down in the comments below. Is there a board game company that stands out?

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What To Know About the Mass Effect Board Game

First off, it’s an Eric Lang design. Eric Lang is known for such hit games as Blood Rage, Rising Sun, and Ankh. But that’s not it that he’s done. He’s worked on story and scenario focused games like Cthulhu: Death May Die as well and other games like the Bloodborne Board Game, Marvel United, and well, the list goes on and on. There is probably an Eric Lang game out there that you like.

The other big name is Calvin Wong Tze Loon. The big credit for him is not a board game. But instead that he has written on some big projects outside of board games. Crazy Rich Asians for one. The board game space is not a new space for him, though. One game that I enjoy a lot, Lands of Galzyr, he helped write for.

But what we know is the pedigree working on the game. And I think that is important to note. Because, right now we know that the Mass Effect Board Game is going to be a cooperative story driven game. That describes a lot of the big games that I pay attention to. So what is this one doing differently to intrigue me?

My Concerns

But I want to call out that this isn’t all roses. And when you look at comments or conversations and discord there are some immediate concerns brought up. For that reason, though, I thought it important to highlight the people working on it.

Modiphius has a hit and miss track record in the board game space. Let’s look at the Skyrim game that came out. It was met with middling praise. I need to play my copy still, but generally people thought fun, not great, from what I can tell. They create games, but none of them are that high.

Eric Lang and Calvin Wong Tze Loon, though, give me hope for the project. No offense to the previous designers, but Eric Lang is pedigree when it comes to the board game space. I believe that he is going to make a good game when I see his name attached to a game. It might not be a game for me, but I believe he’ll make a good one.

That said, there is still concern, will Modiphius let their talent really make a great game? Or is Modiphius a game company who is fine putting out mediocre games? I like the theory I’ve heard, you want games that some people love and some people hate because if someone loves your game, they will tell other people about it. Basically, you can’t please everyone. And Modiphius, I’m not accusing them of trying to make a game for everyone, but it feels like a concern.

What I’m Hoping For?

Well, first I want good game play. And I want a system that feels like a space adventure game. Right now, I know of three space big box games that I really like. One isn’t even that big a box. But Rogue Angels, ISS Vanguard, and Stars of Akarios. So it needs to go up against those, and it needs to do something different.

Rogue Angels is probably the closest to the plot feel. Emil Larson even describes the story as somewhat Mass Effect like. But that is a game with easy to follow rules. It has an interesting and well written story. And Rogue Angels lets the player decide on a lot of things, it is linear but linear with choices.

So I want to make choices that matter in a Mass Effect Board Game. I want the story to remember what I’ve already done. And the game play, I want that to be easy to pick-up with a good rule book. Basically, I want a quick to the table game with good story, good choices, and something that feels big. And finally, the story should not feel generic, it should feel like Mass Effect.

Final Thoughts on Mass Effect

When a game that is story driven and cooperative comes out, I’m generally interested. I like a good cooperative board game. And the Mass Effect Board Game is no different when it comes to that. I hear story drive and cooperative, I am there.

But, as you see, I am not without my concerns about the game. Mainly, can Modiphius make a game that stands out. Mass Effect is not a game that should just be middling. A lot of companies want that intellectual property. I guarantee it. So Modiphius needs to hit a homerun.

I think of other games, Nemesis for example, it’s the best Alien/Aliens game out there. It isn’t a licensed game. But people consider it the best one out there. I know that I love Rogue Angels. I got to play the prototype, and I want to play the completed game still. That sounds weird, I love the game. So, Modiphius needs to pay attention. Make a great Mass Effect game, otherwise, your game might be overshadowed by other space games.

It’d be funny, not for them, if they brought people into the hobby. People love Mass Effect, it’ll bring them in. But then, other games became the Mass Effect game for people to play. And just with the track record, it is a concern that I have.

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Now, I think it can be fun to have everything for board games that you love. But the mindset that it needs to be for everything isn’t sustainable. At least, it isn’t for me. I like to try and play a lot of board games. But maybe you have fewer than I do, so getting everything for all the games you own, is more reasonable.

But this article isn’t about whether you should or not. It’s about five games that I go all in on. Which ones make that list and why. And some of them might be the ones that I have in the past which aren’t coming out with more stuff. But still, I went all in on them.

5 Board Games I Go All In On

5. Tainted Grail

Tainted Grail is one of the first ones that comes to my mind because after I beat the campaign, not fully, but almost, I picked up the Monsters of Avalon. I got the minis after the fact, which I just find odd looking back at it. But Tainted Grail is a game that I love, I put it as my #2 game of all time last year. So of course I want it all.

But even then, I think it’s worth to caveat, I get some aesthetic stuff for games. I don’t do it all the time. So even with a game like Tainted Grail, I don’t have all of the aesthetic add-ons for it. They really didn’t interested me.

So why did I go all in on Tainted Grail? I love the game, it’s as simple as that. As the Monsters of Avalon became more readily available, I wanted to get them. Why, because even though I’ve played it once, I believe that I’ll want to come back and play it again. And that is going to make it more immersive again in the future.

4. Aeon’s End

Next up is Aeon’s End and this is another game that is high in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. So I don’t think it’s a shock, in fact, I’ll probably skip over mentioning that on the next ones. But this one I do get most everything for it. I don’t own all the playmats, but then again, I don’t own a lot of playmats in general for games.

But Aeon’s End, whenever a new expansion comes out, I want to get it. Why, because Aeon’s End is pretty easy to play with more content. You take your breach mages, your nemesis, and cards to buy. That is it. Everything is randomized, but it’s randomized so simply.

The area that I went extra on this one is that I have all of the extra cards. Not all the promo cards, so I am not truly a completionist with it. But for the breach mages as its a deck building game, I need to out of the box, create the decks each time. It’s not hard, but they offered packs to let you do that and leave the decks setup for all the mages. I bought that because it makes it just that much easier to grab and play.

3. Dice Throne

Another one is Dice Throne. You knew this one was going to be on the list. And I keep on thinking of game elements that I don’t own anymore. I don’t own Dice Throne Adventure. Technically it’s an expansion, but it more feels like it’s own game at least to me. And I love base Dice Throne so much that I didn’t want that.

Why do I get it all, because it’s all plug and play. I can grab any characters to face off against each other and play. Santa vs Krampus, sure. Santa vs Thor, absolutely. Krampus vs Spider-Man vs a gunslinger, there isn’t a reason not to do it. And because of that mix and match and ease to play, it is high on the list. And whenever they announce a new set, it’s an easy back.

2. Marvel Champions

Then we have Marvel Champions. This one I maybe shouldn’t be getting everything for. I need to play it more, the same is true with my #1 as well. But I don’t for two main reasons. And I fully intend to keep on buying more of it, though very soon I’ll need a third box to store it. And I do want to play through one of the campaigns for it this year.

But it’s again that plug and play nature. I leave the starting decks or characters together. So I just need to put the villain together and I can hop into it. But I get to pick if I want to have Spider-Man face off against Rhino. Or I can also have Spider-Man fight Kang, or Gambit fight Rhino, it’s so easily mix and match it’s great. The other part is that it’s Marvel. I love Marvel, so it’s easy for me to keep on wanting to get it all.

1. Marvel United

Finally is Marvel United. And I think you can guess one reason easily as to why it is on the list. I love Marvel, so I want it all. But it’s a fun game that I need to play more, and it really is easy to get to the table.

So the main reason, and like so many, is that the game is plug and play. The new characters and villains I get, it’s easy to just drop them into the deck and go. I can take Squirrel Girl, Magik, and Thor up against Nimrod. Or I can end up being way more obscure than that, and that’s pretty obscure already. It has everything for it that’s so much fun to get those combinations.

And I think as you get more combinations it makes the game better. The core box is quite simple, but the game itself is always the same core, but becomes more interesting and more challenging as you mix in things and go up against other villains.

Final Thoughts

I try and limit what I go all in on. And sometimes I do a good job of holding firm. Not on the list is Marvel Zombies from CMON. I want it to be there, but as of right now, I’m not buying that giant Galactus. I own everything else, but just that pile of stuff is a lot, but also probably less than one Galactus. So it is a balancing act.

And like I said, for me, I like to do board games in and out of my collection. If I go all in, it’s way harder to have a game leave. Or it’s way harder to bring in five games at once because they all take up room. Even in this case, I have made my Marvel Champions, Marvel United, and Aeon’s End all take up less space than they would if you kept all the boxes.

Are there any board games that you go all in on? And do you feel like your game is lacking something if you don’t go all in?

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Catch up on my Top 100 Games (of all Time) 2023 Edition:

100 through 91

90 through 81

80 through 71

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition – 70 through 61

70. Medium

I suspect that I am reaching the end of where I have placed party games. But there are a lot of good party games on the list up to this point, and Medium is one of my favorites. Medium is a simple word but it offers some good laughs, it offers chances to feel clever, and it’s an easy one for everyone to play.

In Medium you and your partner, for that turn, each play out a card with a word on it. And then, at the same time you try and come up with a word that connects the two. So if the words were “duck” and “goose” options like “bird” or “fowl” would make sense. If you don’t match the first time, then you try again with the new words that you said. And the faster you match, if you do at all, the more points that you get. You get three rounds to match.

This is a game where when it isn’t your turn, 75% of the time you immediately have the “perfect” word pop into your head. As soon as it is your turn, you’re hoping that if you play down “goose” your partner for the round doesn’t play down “taco” and when they do, your mind goes blank. It’s as fun to play in a round as to watch.

Buy Medium

69. Under Falling Skies

Under Falling Skies is the first of a few games that can be played solo and the only true solo game on the list. I think I said two, but it’s the one true solo. Under Falling Skies is a combination of Space Invaders with alien ships coming down and Independence Day of trying to take out the other mothership. All of this before the mothership comes to Earth and it is too late.

I like how simple this game is, but also how complex it is. What you try and do each turn is pretty simple. You are placing dice to slow down an enemies ships descent, gather more power, blow ships out of the sky, build out your bunkers, and research how to stop the mother ship. That is a lot, but it is all just dice placement. You place dice down and that determines how strong your plane is to blow up alien ships. Or you place a die down to add power so you can actually send out that ship.

But the game has a great twist on it. You want high numbers to make your actions better, but by doing so it makes the enemy ships come down faster. If the little ships reach Earth, then the mothership starts to come down faster, I believe. Or it is getting another end game trigger. So you need to be strategic in what you are doing, like a good cooperative game, to fend off your impending doom.

Buy Under Falling Skies

68. Blank Slate

Another party game for the list, Blank Slate is a newer one to me, though was on the list last year, and one that just always works. A good party game should always work, and it should be simple to sit down and start playing within a couple of minutes.

In Blank Slate you are filling in a blank around another word. It might be “truck [blank]” and you need to fill in that second word. Your goal is to match with one other person. Because, if you watch with one other person only, you get three points each, but if you match with more, each of you get one point. And if you don’t match with anyone, you don’t get any points. And that is the game, it’s the first to twenty I believe, and it moves fast.

So it is about being creative but not too creative. I like party games like that because, like I said, anyone can play them. And Blank Slate might not have as many “haha” moments, but it has some fun game moments that party games which are just there for laughs often don’t have.

Buy Blank Slate

67. The Quacks of Quedlinburg

Now we’re on to The Quacks of Quedlinburg, a push your luck bag building game. And this is one that has a number of things going for it as well. It’s not a party game, but it’s pretty simple. With it being pretty simple, brew your quack potion each round and try not to bust, there is strategy to it. Each ingredient that you get has a power to it that may or may not trigger depending on its condition.

So, the powers are one fun element. I also like that Quacks of Quedlinburg adds in more to the game to balance that push your luck. If you bust, you aren’t out in the cold with nothing to show for it. You get to pick either purchasing new ingredients or scoring points. New ingredients means that it’s harder to bust, theoretically, depends on how much you push your luck. But you get behind in points you need to catch up.

And I didn’t mention this on the video, but there is a catch-up mechanism in the game. The further you are behind the leader the more of a boost you get to start the next round of brewing your potion. It isn’t a massive catch-up mechanism, but it helps you get back into the game, and when you do, it goes away. A nice little piece to the game to make it more fun.

Buy Quacks of Quedlinburg

66. Pandemic Legacy Season One (and all Version)

Now the first game that is just a group of games, this is Pandemic. I put Pandemic Legacy Season One up as the picture because that’s been my favorite experience. If you’re not familiar with Pandemic, it’s a game about trying to control diseases until you can find a cure. If you can get the cure for all four diseases the players win, run out of cards, have too many epidemics, or run out of disease cubes, you lose.

The legacy version adds in some story and a campaign that you play through. That story adds just a enough new things from new objectives to new rules and components to make it a really fun time. Though, I don’t know that you can really go wrong with any version of Pandemic. The base game is a lot of fun as well, for me, I don’t know that I need to play vanilla Pandemic again because of Pandemic Legacy. And Pandemic Legacy, the story, is replayable with a new copy and as fun the next time.

Plus now they have World of Warcraft game in the system and a Star Wars version, so if they keep on doing that, soon there will be a version of Pandemic for everyone.

Buy Pandemic Legacy Season One

65. Skytear Horde

This is the other game that I accidentally called a solo game. And I do think I would lean towards playing it solo. Skytear Horde is a tower defense, lane battler game where you are trying to take out the horde and their leader before they can wipe out your base.

I really like the different factions you can have to play as. I also like that the hordes come in different power levels so I might go for a harder challenge or a harder combination sometime. So the game really does scale to the level of difficulty that you want to play at. And it also means that it won’t get stale.

For me, I do think it’s a better solo game. I look at it, and I want to control what is going on. Because while it does scale, the game is not that difficult to learn your faction and play them. Even playing two isn’t the hardest thing out there. So I look at it, and I think, might as well just play it solo and have more of the decision making on my shoulders versus spread out across the group.

Buy Skytear Horde

64. Marvel United

Marvel United is a really fast and fun superhero game. And that combination is what puts it this high on the list. You can grab a character to play as and a bad guy to play against and be ready to play in a few minutes. There aren’t that many games that you can do that with. Add in that I have about 200 different characters, slightly over, between heroes, anti-heroes, and villains to pick from, that is even more impressive.

The game play is quite simple. You try and beat up thugs, take down henchmen or schemes, and rescue bystanders. When you complete two of those three things, you can start beating up the bad guy. Of course, who the bad guy is might change up what you need to do, and the heroes you take in change up what you can do.

I also like a lot how the heroes work. Not that the heroes are always that unique, they get more unique with the X-Men expansion, but how they promote teamwork. What you play down for your actions is boosted by what the player before you played down. So maybe they take a less optimal turn to set you up for a great turn of beating down on the bad guy. I think that works super well in the game and is a ton of fun. It also feels so much like being super heroes or the comics which is great.

Buy Marvel United X-Men

63. Lords of Hellas

From a very simple game to a complex one and honestly one that is a bit messy. But that is some of what makes Lords of Hellas so good. In Lords of Hellas you can win in four different ways (possibly five if I’m forgetting one). You can control a certain number of temples, areas, or a statue after it’s been built, or you can defeat three monsters. And all of them are viable ways to win. But because of that, it adds complexity to the game design.

Then, not shying away from that, Awaken Realms put in a pretty simple but action selection. Mainly, you can’t repeat actions and need to clear them off to be able to do them again. But to add to that, the character you start as, your leader, has a special power. As temples are built, drafts are done for new and more special powers. It’s just a lot of special powers and great time, but, obviously, that makes it more complex as you play. But that doesn’t keep the game from being a blast.

Sold Out

62. SpellBook

A new game to the list, we now are back to a much more simple game. This is a game about set collecting spell ingredients to learn spells and add them to your spellbook. Then you use those spells to improve your future turns and either get more materials to feed your familiar or learn more spells.

This game has a good progression and good decision space for a pretty simple game. How you learn spells and chain them together is an interesting puzzle. You can only learn each spell once and they have certain points on them. So do you wait for better points, or do you grab one or two early that will help you do better on spells later. And the game ends when someone has cast all their spells, or when someone has fully fed their familiar. And both options work to win, which I appreciate as well.

This is a game that won’t be for everyone. And I think if it just had one set of spell cards, it’d end up being pretty standard. But the different combinations offer room for expansion but also offer room in the base box for different games and different experiences as you play.

Buy SpellBook

61. Draftosaurus

Finally we have Draftosaurus. This is the closest to a roll and write game on the list. That is what it feels like to me. And it’s a light and fast game that is just a fun time. In this game you are drafting dinosaur meeples and putting them into pens to build the best dinosaur attraction out there. The game is super simple with pens having simple scoring rules. But that is what makes the game fun, grab your dinosaur and go.

And the pens are all different. So some of them you want to get all matching dinosaurs, some you want all different and some you want pairs. The not so twisty twist for the game is that you are limited to where you can place them. A die is rolled and what determines where, unless you were the person to roll the die and then you can play anywhere. It just adds a little bit of strategy and random structure to the game without slowing it down. So a light fun, filler of a game.

Buy Draftosaurus

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. And join me next Wednesday for games 60 through 51, so hitting the half way point. It goes so fast, and now I have so many games that I want to play.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things, like I should have a Lord of the Rings Collectors box coming for the new cards. But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies which was on the list today.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

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All the games come from the Board Game Geek Preview list. You can watch me going through that list here.

Top 10 Games to Buy at Gen Con

10. Last Light

A 4x game that is supposed to take a pretty short time to play. And it has some unique mechanisms where the board rotates. While this one is high on my list, I doubt that I pick it up. I might when the retail version comes out, but sounds like Grey Fox Games is flying in some deluxe ones. If I can demo it at Gen Con, though, this might change my mind and I’ll want the fancy version with the fancy planet pieces. Either way, if it lives up to that, about an hour timeline for players who know how to play, I am interested in the game.

9. Redwood

Redwood is a game about taking pictures of nature. There are a lot of nature games out there, fewer about photography, I feel. Redwood, I think, is an interesting looking game because you use a template after you’ve set yourself up for a picture. You are seeing what you can see when you snap that picture and you get points depending on what in the picture. Might it be just a fun gimmick, that’s possible, but it’s a gimmick that I want to try.

8. Race to the Raft

Another one that I passed on Kickstarter but I am still intrigued by. This is from City of Games who did City of Kings, which I own and need to play, Isle of Cats which I like and need to play more, and Isle of Cat’s Explore and Draw which I really like. This is a completely different game from any of those, though. Race to the Raft is about building out paths or keeping paths open for cats to get to rafts, after Isle of Cats, before the island burns down.

It’s a cooperative game where everyone is working on this single goal. I’m very curious to see how it plays. The board looks a bit busy, not because there’s too much on it, it’s just really bright. I’d love to demo this one and see if it’s for me, and I believe it can be played solo.

7. 3 Ring Circus

3 Ring Circus is on this list and this high just for the theme. I enjoyed the circus growing up, and I do not find clowns creepy. I mean, creepy clowns are creepy, but that’s intentional. 3 Ring Circus seems to be a race to build up the best performances and make the most money. We might now have the biggest circuses but if we can impress PT Barnum or someone who is coming through, maybe we’ll get more money and more acclaim. It also doesn’t look like a light little game, in fact it looks very big and a puzzle as you try and get everything done that you want. So very intrigued by that.

6. Freelancers

Freelancers is a game in the Plaid Hat Game Crossroad Games. I think there are four in that system already, or something like that with Dead of Winter, played, enjoyed, and sold. And Forgotten Waters, one that I really want to play. Plus two more, Gen 7 which I’ve not heard great things about, and Comanauts, which I haven’t played. This one, though, sounds a bit more fun, and seems like it is more in the lines of a Forgotten Waters compared to a Dead of Winter. The feel is very Wall-E in some ways, which is a fun theme as well.

5. Sagrada Artisans

Another one I passed on it on Kickstarter, a number of these at the top will be that. But all of them are ones that I was interested in on Kickstarter. Sagrada Artisans is the legacy version of Sagrada where you are coloring in stained glass windows to get points and unlock new things. I am a sucker for legacy games, and I like Sagrada a lot. I have just gotten back into playing the app, actually, which is a very fun app. So I am curious to see what this offers. I didn’t back it on Kickstarter, though, because none of the exclusives interested me enough. It was tempting, though, and it still is.’

4. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Another one from Kickstarter, but honestly, I didn’t look too much at this one. I think that Red Dragon Inn is a fine game. It’s a four player game that often gets played well above that which turns it into a worse game. So when it was on Kickstarter, I didn’t look too much based off of my experiences with the other game. But now that I’m hearing about it, it seems like a fun, lighter dungeon crawl game. One of those that is more family weight, so I want to know more and give it a whirl.

3. Marvel United: Spider-Geddon

It’s straight to retail Marvel United stuff, need I say more? This is going to have some more Spider-Verse heroes, anti-heroes, and villains that you can play as or up against. Either way, it’s one I know will go fast. So it’s unlikely I buy it at Gen Con, but if I can get my hands on it, I will. It’s also one that shouldn’t be too far behind with a retail release, so I’m cool with just waiting for that retail release as well.

2. Return to Dark Tower

Two big games to top off the list, and if I were to guess which one I might come home with, I think it might be Return to Dark Tower. This is a cooperative adventure game, but not a campaign game. You play as heroes building up your skills, finding loot, buying equipment, completing quests and trying to hold back the darkness before you’ll take on a big bad.

But the cool thing is that as a game from Restoration Games this is a new version of an old game. And they always put something cool into it. Here there is a giant tower in the middle, and it’ll open up doors and drop out skulls which is where bad things go. Plus there is an app or website tied to it as well to make it work, I’m very curious about it.

1. Kinfire Chronicles

Finally, and barely beating out Return to Dark Tower is Kinfire Chronicles. There is a new game in this series or setting that I had on my demo list. Kinfire Chronicles is a bit adventure story game. But not as big as some because there aren’t four boxes of minis for it. It uses acrylic standees, something that I like to see in games. And a cooperative story driven campaign game is 100% my type of game. Plus there is narration done via the Foreteller app, so you get the story without having to spend all the time reading yourself. While it looks fairly classic fantasy, there is just some level of charm about it that is really drawing me in.

So Many Games

I believe, as I’ve mentioned before, come into Gen Con with a plan. Come into Gen Con with a budget. It’d be easy to blow through several hundred dollars every day and spend over one thousand dollars on games for the weekend. And that is just this first part of the list that might cost you one thousand. So plan out how you want to attack Gen Con.

But it is a chance to see all of these games. I might put together my strategy for buying games into an article. Actually, let’s do it right now. It’s not that difficult. Don’t rush to buy games, they’ll be available later. Set a budget. And I limit myself with big games, I got Burncycle last year, a big game. Otherwise I buy smaller games because I can, again, get those big games later.

That said, I am very excited to see all of the games on the list, and the next ten coming on Monday. Which game excites you most?

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