And if you want to know the criteria that I’m using, or the conversation starting point, you can read that article here.

My Tableau Building Games

As normal, we split it into games that I’ve played first and then games that I haven’t played yet in my collection.

Tableau Building Games I’ve Played

• 7 Wonders Duel
• Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle Earth
• 7 Wonders
• Splendor: Pokemon
• The Castles of Burgundy
• Arkham Horror The Card Game
• Marvel Champions
• Dwellings of Eldervale
• Forest Shuffle
• Res Arcana
• Meadow
• Space Base
• Faraway
• Castle Combo
• Furnace
• Aquatica
• New Frontiers
• Jump Drive
• Ancient Knowledge
• Starship Captains
• Village Rails
• Call to Adventure: Stormlight Archives
• Cafe Baras
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
• Pixies

Tableau Building Games I’ve Yet To Play

• Everdell
• 3 Ring Circus
• Ark Nova
• A Feast for Odin
• Revive
• Beyond the Sun
• Targi
• Endless Winter: Paleoamericans
• Vale of Eternity
• Expeditions
• Fantastic Factories
• The Bloody Inn
• Raising Robots
• The Witcher: Path of Destiny
• Andromeda’s Edge
• Earth

What Stays and What Leaves?

This is a tough list to really do because they are so unique. A lot of the time there is a pretty big difference between a scoring tableau game and an engine building tableau game. So as I’m looking at the list, it’s hard to say that I should keep this one or another one. Plus sometimes they didn’t really do a great job of putting like games on the BGG list. For example, Terraforming Mars, on the list, Ares Expedition, not on the list. New Frontiers is a tableau building game, but Jump Drive wasn’t part of that list. So I hope that I caught everything, but I’m sure some where missed.

What Is And Easy Leave?

So when we look at the list the ones that I have yet to play, those are generally going to stay. That means that we’re looking at what I’ve played for easy games to leave the collection. It’s not an easy list to pick from. I only have one that is an easy leave from the list. And that is I’m going to be getting rid of 7 Wonders Duel. Mainly because I own Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth. Yes, they are different, but I’m most apt to pick the Lord of the Rings themed one to play.

The other one that is going to leave is 7 Wonders. Now that might be surprising, but I bought I copy and I just don’t play it. If I want a big group drafting game, I go with Sushi Go Party! For that reason while 7 Wonders offers something quite different, it just isn’t going to stick in my collection.

What Is An Easy Stay?

Now for easy stays, I definitely am keeping Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle Earth and then both of the LCG’s on the list from Fantasy Flight Games. I know that I want to keep one of Dwellings of Eldervale and Andromeda’s Edge, but having not played the latter, I don’t know which I want to keep. I’ve heard the latter is the better game, but I like the theme for the former more so.

Space Base, Forest Shuffle, Castle Combo, Castles of Burgundy and Ancient Knowledge easily make the list as well. As does Call to Adventure: Stormlight Archives.

Everything Else

Now let’s touch on everything else and this is where I need to find a few to cut. Do I need Jump Drive in my collection if I play it on BGA so much? I had actually put it in the too sell pile but then I brought it back. And I want to keep it and New Frontiers because I really like both of them. So they stay, though with Jump Drive, it’s tempting because of BGA.

One that it tough for me is Meadow. I like Meadow a lot, but it’s also one that I play less often. I think that this means I just need to play it more to keep it in the collection. The same can be said for Res Arcana. I need to play it more because I really do love that game.

Furnace is going to leave the collection, I’ve decided. Mainly because it’s okay at two players. And I think that I am most apt to play it at two players. Because of that it should leave the collection I think. Another one that I love the theme of but thought the game play was okay so it’s going to leave is Cafe Baras. Mainly it’s super cute, but a bit too simple for my tastes. Even as a game to play with my kid, it’s not quite interesting enough.

So The Tableau Games That Are Leaving

Just to recap we have Furnace, which I really enjoy but less so at two. Cafe Baras is a bit too simple and 7 Wonders Duel is a game that has been replaced by Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth. And 7 Wonders is getting kicked out because it’s the secondary drafting game for big groups for me.

I think that there will be others to leave once I play more. But it’s tricky getting all the tableau building games to the table. Some I maybe shouldn’t keep, like Res Arcana just because when will I play it again.

What is your favorite tableau building game?

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Catch Up on the Top 100 Games

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition 70 through 61

70. Meadow

Published By: Rebel Studio
Designer: Klemens Kalicki

Buy Meadow Here

This game is a beautiful nature game. It’s all about creating a meadow and stacking cards on top of each other really. Each card you select is going to have requirements as to how to place it. To go along with that, the selection process is great. I like how you place a token on a row or column and that token determines which thing you take. So you need to plan that out and sometimes make due with the limited placement access you have.

69. Mountain Goats

Published By: Allplay
Designer: Stefan Risthaus

Buy Mountain Goats Here

Mountain Goats is a little, simple, climbing game. All you do is roll your dice and decide how to split them up. Then you move your mountain goat up the tracks that are those numbers. If you reach the top or are at the top, you gain those points. If someone else is at the top when you get there, you knock them down to the bottom again. The game is so simple, but it works really well

68. burncycle

Published By: Chip Theory Games
Designers: Josh J Carlson, Shannon Wedge

Buy burncycle Here

Now we move to burncycle which is a much bigger game. In this game you complete one off missions as robots. I like the theme of the game, robots took over and now big corporations and people have taken it back and are out after the robots. You need to sneak around to complete missions both in buildings and on the network. And the burndown of the cycle is a great tool for the game as well. Just a lot of really fun elements into a big game.

67. The Lost Expedition

Published By: Osprey Games
Designer: Peer Sylvester

Buy The Lost Expedition Here.

The Lost Expedition is back on the list. This game is a great cooperative game. And I always like to mention, it is a good one for not having too much alpha gaming. The players all make their card choices with no input. And it changes up from morning trek to evening trek, I like that about the game as well. The former is playing cards in numerical order, or they slot in that order, while the other you just play out cards. So it changes up the strategy and sometimes you just end up stuck.

66. ISS Vanguard

Published By: Awaken Realms
Designers: Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krysztof Piskorski, Marcin Swierkot

Buy ISS Vanguard Here.

Now to another big campaign game. This one is all about exploring space and figuring out the mystery of why a message brought humanity out here in the stars. The game is also interesting because it’s split into two parts, the planetary exploration part and then the ship management aspect. I like both parts and it makes for a fun campaign, one that I need to get back to, ideally in a group.

65. Mansions of Madness

Published By: Fantasy Flight Games
Designer: Nikki Valens

Buy Mansions of Madness Here.

Now another scenario based game, Mansions of Madness is a classic at this point. Do you want to go on some big Lovecraftian adventure, but as a one off? This game is going to give you that. I like how grand it is, I like how the app lets the scenarios be different each time (albeit just slightly), and I like how the scenarios you play are so different. This is a good beer and pretzels type of game when you want a big game for an evening.

64. Sonora

Published By: Pandasaurus Games
Designer: Rob Newton

Not Available Currently

I like my roll and write games. And Sonora is a great one for that and it has a fun twist with it. Yes, you get all the combos that you get from a lot of roll and write games. But you also get to flick discs. So instead of rolling dice you are flicking discs with numbers to see what areas you activate. It’s fun to knock someone off a spot that they really wanted. And then, like I said, you go heads down and get to combo as many things as you can.

63. Lands of Galzyr

Published By: Snowdale Design
Designers: Seppo Kuukasjarvi, Sami Laakso

Buy Lands of Galzyr

Lands of Galzyr is an interesting game because it’s really different than most games that I’ve played. This one is all about going on adventures and completing quests. But the stakes, while often cool and interesting, are never that high because what quest you go on, that’s determined by whatever shows up. I like as well how you can rotate your skills, so you might start out sneaking and then end up with great lore, it’s up to you and the quests you take.

62. Kohaku

Published By: 25th Century Games
Designer: Danny Devine

Not Available Currently

I like games where you can draft. And Kohaku gives you that as well as being a beautiful game to play. The copy as own has the acrylic tiles which give it a depth from the surface of the water to the bottom which looks amazing. But the game play is good as well. You pick out a koi and a scoring tile and they need to be adjacent to each other. Then when you play them out, you can never put a koi orthogonally adjacent to another koi and same with scoring tiles. So it’s a bit scoring tableau that you create.

61. Nidavellir

Published By: GRRRE Games
Deisgner: Serge Laget

Buy Nidavellir Here

Finally is Nidavellir. This is a game that I actually got rid of at one point. But then I decided to hop into a three player game on BGA. And I realized what I had not liked about the game before. Nidavellir is a great bidding and dwarf set collection game, but for me, only as a three or more player game. It’s fun to try and get your bids just right and still upgrade your coins. Plus you need to diversify what you collect so you can get the bonus powerful dwarves.

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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Catch up on previous videos here

100 through 91
90 through 81

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 80 through 71

80. Flamecraft

• Published by Cardboard Alchemy in 2022
• Deliver on the most goals and score points as you play out adorable little dragons who help around the town

This game immediately grabs you with the artwork. The dragons are amazing, and Sandara Tang gives each of them such great personality. Beyond that the game is simple but fun, you go to a location and are either activating the cards and dragons there, or adding some, or spending resources to complete goals. As the locations get more and more dragons the more powerful they become. It’s a great ramping mechanism for a simple game. Though the game is not fast one, which might be my only knock on it.

Buy Flamecraft

79. Just One

• Published by Repos Productions in 2018
• Work together to get the guesser to the right answer with just one word

A party game on this section. I’m not sure, I expect that there are two more party games on the list, but we’ll see. I honestly have forgotten. But Just One is a great cooperative party game. One person is the guesser and everyone else needs to write down a one word clue to get the guesser to guess their one word. Sounds simple, right, but if you double up with anyone, now both those words are gone. That means that an easy clue can become very hard very fast. So you want to be obscure with your clue, but not so obscure that it won’t lead the person to the right answer.

Buy Just One

78. On Tour

• Published by BoardGameTables.com (AllPlay) in 2019
• Create the best route for your band to tour the map going from low to high numbers

This one is a fun roll and write. While I love a ton of roll and write games where they have a lot of combos, this one is a different type of puzzle. In On Tour two dice are rolled and players each place the numerical combinations on two spots on their board. But there are rules as to where they can go. And you may want to watch the city to gain bonus points, but if it won’t connect well to your route, is it worth it to push your luck?

Buy On Tour

77. Mythwind

• Published by Open Owl Studios in 2023
• Build up your settlement and play your mini game in this cozy gaming experience

Open Owl Studios went into making Mythwind with the plan of making a cozy game. So something that works well like a Stardew Valley or an Animal Crossing. They do that by creating a peaceful story world to play in, there are interesting elements to it though. And then each person plays their own little minigame. I demonstrate what the minigame for the farmer looks like. And One Stop Co-op Shop and Meet Me At The Table play some of the other ones. It’s just a unique feeling game that is fun, and relaxing to play.

Preorder Mythwind

76. Betrayal at House on the Hill

• Published by Avalon Hill in 2004
• Explore a haunted house but beware, someone is going to be come the traitor

This is a game that I still love though I haven’t played it in a few years. I fully recognize that the game has issues. When you sit down to play you know that the haunt may not work as planned because either the traitor is going to be overpowered or the other survivors will be. And the haunts themselves have janky rules. But I still love the game anyways because it’s thematic, silly, and just a fun time.

Buy Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition

75. Clever 4Ever

• Published by Schmidt Spiele in 2022
• Another combotastic game in the Clever line of roll and writes

I don’t know what else to say about this one. Clever 4Ever offers a ton of fun combos and a few different feeling sections of your sheet. How Wolfgang Warsch keeps on coming up with different and interesting ways to handle rolling five dice, using one, getting rid of lower ones and then rolling them again, I don’t know. But he does and this one is great, I especially like the sections where you can fill in different shapes depending on the number rolled. That element really feels different.

Clever 4Ever is either new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) this year or it just made the cut last year. I know I hadn’t had the game for long.

Buy Clever 4Ever

74. SpellBook

• Published by Space Cowboys in 2023
• Learn spells and feed your familiar to get the most points

This is a really simple game. All it is when you boil it down is set collection. You collect materia, you get enough of a color, you learn that spell. Then you use that spell you learned to collect more materia or learn new spells easier. Each spell you learn gives you points, or you can just feed the materia to your familiar for more points as well. The is fast, and there is a fun puzzle as to how you can optimize your spell usage as you get into the game.

Buy SpellBook

73. Century: Golem Edition

• Published by Plan B Games in 2017
• Get crystals, upgrade crystals and get golems to give you points

Another engine building game. Century: Golem Edition again, like SpellBook, has quick snappy turns. In this game it’s all about hand management and using those cards in hand to get more and upgrade crystals. Then you use those crystals to grab Golems that are going to score you points. But you literally just play a card, trade crystals for a golem, pick-up all your cards, or buy a new card. One of those things on a turn and the game just flies.

Buy Century: Golem Edition

72. New Frontiers

• Published by Rio Grande Games in 2018
• Build out the grandest space empire by doing the best action for you

New Frontiers is another engine building game. In New Frontiers you are doing it at a space level though, colonizing new planets, getting new technologies, fighting and conquering planets. All of that done through action selection where what action you pick gives you a bonus. But, everyone else is going to follow along with that action as well. So what is the best action for you and maybe not a great one for other players? I believe that New Frontiers is new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) as well though it isn’t a new game.

Buy New Frontiers

71. Meadow

• Published by Rebel Studio in 2021
• Create a beautiful tableau of nature through tricky card drafting

Meadow is another gorgeous game. I start out and end this section with beautiful games. In Meadow you want to score points by playing out creatures, taking pictures, and gaining trinkets. But to do that you need to build up your meadow from the land type up through bugs and maybe eventually all the way into deer, foxes, or other creatures. How you pick the cards you get is great. You use a fence post that tells you how far into a row or column you are picking. So you need to determine the best spots to play to get all the cards that you want and hope no one blocks you.

Buy Meadow

Final Thoughts

Firstly, let me know what your favorite of these games are. I obviously enjoy all of the tones in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition, so Meadow needs to be my favorite. But in terms of easily getting it to the table, I’m kind of feeling a big old stream and playthrough of all the clever games on Malts and Meeples. And let me know if there is one that you would want to get played as well that you haven’t tried in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition.

Join me next week for the next batch of games in my Top 100 Games. It’ll be starting around 9 PM Central on Wednesday if everything goes as planned. You can subscribe and click the notification bell to get notified when the video goes live. Thanks so much for watching.

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Top 5 Board Games That Feel Like Spring

5. A Gentle Rain

This one is available again, out of all of these board games A Gentle Rain was nearly impossible to get for a while. But it is back in stock or will be shortly. This game is a solo spring type of game for a relaxing and rainy day. All you do is build out a grid trying to get plants to grow. If you watch the symbols in the corners you get points. If you don’t, well, you just shuffle up the tiles and try again.

The spring elements for me, in the game, are the theme or rain which is very very loosely there. But it is more than just that, after coming out of winter, especially here in Minnesota, there is this idea of the first flower blooming as well. Things not being covered with snow or grime from the snow, but instead new life with the flowers and rain washing away that grime. So A Gentle Rain provides that feeling of spring for me.

4. Dandelions

Now we move on from a nice spring thing to another that could also easily be a summer theme in board games. Dandelions are a menace. But a lot of nature themed games seem to fit the spring theme.

Dandelions from All Play is clearly an abstract game with the theming of Dandelions. The closest thing that makes it feel like that is the artwork. But the game play you could argue simulates or works with the theme of dandelion fluff floating around as you try and collect the most of a number and the majority on tiles for the end game scoring. The game is simple and fun.

3. Meadow

Now we’re moving onto the biggest of the board games on the list. Meadow again has that nature theme to it that works well for summer. In Meadow you are building up your ecosystem of nature to score points. But as well shooting for certain combinations to take pictures and even get more points.

Meadow has some great mechanisms in the game. The biggest being how you get cards into your hand to play out. If you are familiar with Quadropolis, an older game, it does something similar. You play down a token that determines what row or column you’ll take a card from. So I might play a 2 down on the edge of column two. That means that I take the card that is two in from where I played my token. It’s a real puzzle to try and get what you want. And it can be prone, at times to analysis paralysis, especially towards end game.

2. Ohanami

We’re back into our simpler board games with Ohanami. This is a racko style game where you are drafting cards and then adding them to the top or bottom of three columns. The numbers always need to be in numerical order. Ohanami is a kind of cutthroat game at two, but a light fun game at four. Mainly because of how the scoring works where some cards score a few points every round and others score more in later rounds.

This one it is again that nature theme that makes it feel like spring. the flowering trees, the water, just everything gives it a spring feel. And like A Gentle Rain this is a relaxing game. Even with it being a bit more strategic and cutthroat in what you draft as a two player game, none of the decisions feel like they use too much brain space.

1. Floriferous

Finally we have Floriferous. This game is the first game I think of when I think of spring. It’s all about collecting beautiful flowers to get points. The main mechanism is an open drafting system where you draft from one column at a time. But you know what is coming up next, so that might impact how you draft one round. Because the row you draft in the column determines the order that you’ll draft in for the next column.

The game is one of those great balances of enough going on so it doesn’t feel like you’re just following a script. But there isn’t so much going on that you feel like you need your brain always engaged. It’s that good relaxing experience that I find I want with spring board games.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure there are other games that might make you think of spring more. But these board games on the list are some that I associate with spring. I think for me a lot of it is what spring in Minnesota is a nice time to get outside. It’s no longer 10 degrees, it’s in the 60’s and 70’s. And it is before it’s 90’s with 90% humidity. So it is that chance to comfortably go see nature again after it’s been hidden under snow.

And for me, coming out of winter, it’s nice to have that mind space that is freeing up in what I’m playing. Towards the end of winter, the last snow storm that happens at the end of March or beginning April, the snow gets you down. So my brain space can waiver for playing board games. I gravitate towards games that are a bit simpler. So a lot of the spring games don’t overwhelm you with rules.

What are some games that make you think of spring?

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Top 5 Nature Themed Games

5. Arboretum

I’m going to start off the list with the meanest of all the nature themed games. And no, it isn’t because your animal might eat my animal because wolves do that to rabbits. Nope, instead it’s all about trees and building out your most beautiful arboretum. To do that you’re trying to create paths of trees that go from a low number to a high number. And the paths need to start and end with the same types of trees.

That doesn’t sound too bad. Where it gets mean is that in order to score your row of trees, you need the highest total of that tree in your hand as well. So not only are you playing them out to get points when you score them, you need to hold them back as well. And if I see you going for maple trees, I can just hold a 5 and a 7 in my hand and probably block you from scoring them.

But the game itself is a lot of fun. It plays fast and the blocking and meanness isn’t really about me doing something mean in the moment. It’s more a cat and mouse game of how much will you hold back in order to be able to score. So I like that tension a lot in the game.

4. Floriferous

Now Floriferous doesn’t have that much tension. And it’s a nature game because it’s about flowers. But I still really love the decision space in this game. It offers just enough choices to make it challenging and not so many that you feel stuck in them.

Floriferous is a game of drafting flowers to score points. You mainly score points for having a lot of a color of flower, or all the colors, you typical set collection type of things. But you aren’t passing around a hand of cards, you’re drafting from an open grid of cards that everyone can see. And you aren’t just drafting flowers, you also draft the point scoring cards you’ll use. So it’s always a tension of, do I take this flower, but if I do, then I won’t get that scoring card, so which is worth more.

And the drafting system works well. Like I said the cards are in a grid. So you can only draft from the column that is coming up. And which row you draft from, that determines turn order. The higher in the column the sooner you’ll be going next round. And sometimes you might have a perfect card in that following column, so you pass on the previous one. It’s a fun twist and challenge.

3. Forest Shuffle

Now we’re going back into the trees with Forest Shuffle. Forest Shuffle is a tableau building game where you’re building out a forest. In this forest you are growing trees and then putting flora and fauna, mainly fauna around it. And each tree has four spots, top, bottom, and left and right sides where you can add in these animal cards but generally one per side.

The game is a nice balance of playing out cards, and discarding other cards from your hand to pay for them. And then collecting back up and repeating that process. It’s a push and pull of how long do you collect cards to maybe get all the ones that you need for better scoring. But at the same time, the other players are now playing out points, so you’re getting behind that way. And when the game is getting close to ending, well, it’s going to end quickly. So how do you squeeze out a few more points?

2. EcoSystem

Next up is another drafting game. And EcoSystem is a more traditional drafting game. In EcoSystem you have a hand of cards that you are picking a card from. And then you build out a four tall by five wide grid of nature. That’s it, it’s not a complex game. You build out your grid over two hands of ten cards, and that’s kind of it.

But EcoSystem for me is a lot of fun because of how everything scores. And everything does score. Deer want to be in separate rows and columns, basically creating their paths. Bears want to be next to bees and trout, trout, obviously want to be in streams. Everything meshes together in a unique way that you are trying to optimize.

EcoSystem is definitely the breeziest game on the list but it’s still a lot of fun. And there is a Savanna and Coral Reef version as well. So if you feel like you’ve played one enough, get another one and keep playing with the same basic system but now different scoring challenges to figure out.

1. Meadow

Finally we have Meadow. Another nature game that can be a bit mean. But this is the most brain burning of all of the games. That is mainly because of the main mechanism of the game. In Meadow you are building out a tableau again in front of you. And everything you play out builds on top of what was there previously. A fox can be played out, but only if it’s on a rabbit, or a bug can be played on a berry. Those sorts of food chain type of things.

That is a challenge figuring out how to build it all up and get to the point scoring cards. But how you get the cards if the bigger and more brain burning part of the challenge. The game gives you a four by four grid of cards to pick from. But you have specific tiles you get to help you select your cards. How do you do that, well, you are placing your tiles around the edge of the board. Each tile has a one through four on it and depending on where you place it, that row or column, that number is the distance you can go.

So it offers a very big challenge in figuring out how you can get all of the pieces you want. You can’t just jump into it, always, and grab your preferred card. Your opponents might block you out from getting another one. I love that tension in the game, but also the puzzle in a lower player count game of how do I get everything I want. Or do I end up being blocked out somewhere.

Final Thoughts

Nature themed games are fun. I know when Wingspan came out a lot of people wondered, why would I want to play a game about birds. But nature themed games, in my opinion, are more welcoming than orcs and monsters in a fantasy themed game. Or going off into space in a sci-fi game. Now, I personally prefer those themes to nature, but I get why others don’t.

What are some of your favorite nature themed games?

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Medium Games

Meadow

Meadow is amazing nature game, but for being a cute game it’s actually very thinky. It’s about building up a meadow with different animals building out kind of an ecosystem and building it up. But compared to Ecosystem which was on the welcoming list, Meadow is a more complex game. And a lot of that comes from how you get the cards to build up.

Meadow uses a four by four grid of cards that you get to take from. But to take one, you need to place a marker at the edge of the board. And once a marker is placed there, no other one can be placed. So it’s possible that the one card you really need isn’t going to be available to you, if you don’t plan out your moves or other people move into the wrong spot.

Then it’s all about layering the cards to get up to scenes and score. But it’s really about balancing the picking of your different cards to add to your hand and how efficiently you can build up to point scoring cards. Plus there are a few extra powers or actions to take that can really change up what you’re doing or giving you flexibility. The game play is simple that way, but can cause turn angst as you try and find the best play.

Ascension

There are two deck building games on this part of the list. Ascension is the easier one. Ascension is what I’d call a pure deck building game. You score points for adding cards to your deck or defeating monsters, but all you’re doing is playing out cards from your deck and adding in more of them.

It is a game about combos and that is another part I like about the game, but part of what pushes it past just being a good welcoming game. Plus the artwork is not the best, but that’s a side point. The game really shines as you start to know how it works as well because turns become fast in terms of knowing the cards. But they can still take a bit if they end with a lot of card draw and combos, which it should.

Ascension is on the lighter side of medium weight. But for people getting into the hobby it’s going to seem different and there is going to be a learning curve. And if you mix in a lot of the expansions or pick any of the standalone expansion boxes to just play with, it can cause more complexity as well.

Sagrada

Another one on the lighter side of medium weight games is Sagrada. Sagrada is a die drafting game of making a stained glass window. This one again could fall into the simple games or welcoming games. There are a few elements that can add to the complexity of the games.

The main mechanisms of the game are simple, though. You pick a die and you place it on your board adjacent to another placed die. There are rules, though that you can’t have it adjacent to the same number of the same color. That’s not that hard to avoid, except that some of the spots need to be specific numbers and colors. So now that becomes more of a puzzle to figure out.

The more complex side of things is that there are some powers that you can activate. Those powers let you break the rules, some of them are pretty simple. You might draft two dice in a row, that one is easy to understand. But moving two dice of the same color or breaking placement rules around number of color placement rules. But in the simplest terms, this is dice drafting game that people will pick-up easily.

Clank! In! Space!

The other deck building game is definitely a heavier medium game. Clank! In! Space! isn’t just a deck building game, it’s also a push your luck game as you try and get an artifact that’s worth the most points and get out.

I really like that Clank! In! Space!, and I could have picked other deck builders, offer a deck building plus experience. It actually has a board, it’s not just cards that you’re building up. And you use those cards to navigate the board because some of them have movement. You also need to deal with guards and be able to attack them which is also on your cards.

Of course, all of this you’re trying to do while avoiding making noise, your clank. Because you make noise and the boss, Lord Eradikus gets activated, he’s going to to start dealing damage and try and take you out before you can escape. Because you only can win if you make it back to the cargo bay before you’re knocked out. If you don’t, well, you risked too much. So there is a nice balance of that push your luck for more points, but not too much.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

I need to have a worker placement on the list, it’s one of the most common types of games. And I think there are a lot of good games in the worker placement mechanism that make for fun medium games. Lost Ruins of Arnak is about exploring jungle, working your way up a research track and a lot of fun elements to it like that.

The main mechanisms int he game are actually two fold. There is the worker placement where you go out and gather resources to either be able to go and explore or go up the research track. Otherwise you are also buying cards and building a little deck of cards. So there is deck building in there as well. It’s not like a big deck building game where you end up with a ton of cards, but the cards you do get help power your other actions or get more resources.

I think that the Expedition Leaders is almost a needed expansion for Lost Ruins of Arnak, though. Why, because it makes you a bit more unique. Each leader has something special that they do with their camp. IT adds a bit more variety to the game and a bit more complexity. If you want to work up to it, I think it’s a great option to add in, but for me, I played it without and wanted a bit more but with it, it’s one of my favorite games.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Finally we need some sort of story and thematic game on the list. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is going to be that. This is a card driven story game where you are an investigator in Arkham or another New England coastal town where there are cultists and old ones and plenty for you to deal with and hopefully not go insane from.

And it is really just a card game. Though there are a few tokens for resources and then for when you do a challenge. But with the cards they manage to create a good variety of locations and investigators and story that you play through. And it is a bit of a campaign as well, though it tends to be arcs that you can play through that go quickly. It isn’t a thirty session campaign, it might be six.

Each investigator is going to be a bit different as well. Some of them are honestly not that good at investigating. But that is okay, they are good at dealing with the monsters and horrors that are going to try and take you out. You need that balance of characters as you play and it makes for a fun deck construction as you try and bolster what your character is good at and upgrade them to make future challenges easier.

Final Thoughts

There are so many games that I could put in this section. Games like Ra is great. Aeon’s End and XenoShyft are great deck building options. Dwellings of Eldervale and Asking for Trobils would be other worker placement. There is a ton, like I said, that I can pick.

For me, I really like this weight or type of game because they are pretty easy to learn but have a lot of decisions. Some might consider those light, and we’ll get to heavier games. But I like that combination, especially to bring in people who I’ve gotten into gaming.

If you’re looking to dive into more and deeper games, which one looks the most interesting to you or do you want to try?

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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
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition – 40 through 31

40. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

As I always say, I’m not the biggest fan of social deduction games, in fact, there is only one that I like and that’s Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. And a lot of that is because it’s not just a social deduction game, there is more going on. And you always have something to base your conversation off of. A lot of time, in social deduction games, it’s more just taking a stab in the dark as you talk hoping someone will slip up. It’s not until later rounds where it is meaningful.

So, what makes Deception: Murder in Hong Kong different? I think it’s the role of the Forensic Scientist. They send up reports from their basement lab, basically they’re the person who runs the game, and from that lab they give you clues. The murder took place in a “school” the victim was “athletic” things like that.

Everyone else is trying to piece together those reports to figure out who the murderer is. Because it’s someone in the group. And because it’s someone in the group, they are trying to put suspicion on everyone else. But how to the reports help, you might ask? They help because everyone has a set of clues and murder weapons in front of them. So it helps narrow down what it can be. The detectives on the good side need to figure out which combo of clue and murder weapon are the cause. And of course the murder and their accomplice are trying to throw everyone off the sent.

Buy Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

39. Crokinole

Next up is one of the new games on the list. But I should say, it’s new to me. It’s certainly now a new game. In fact, it’s the oldest game on my list. Crokinole is a game of flicking a disc trying to land it in the center of the board. There is a groove there that you can land it into. But if you don’t do that, it’s about trying to get points and keeping your opponents pieces off the board as much as possible.

I like this one as a simple flicking game. You flick with very little thought for objectives beyond get it in to the middle. And while I love the getting up and moving around in PitchCar, Crokinole is fast to get to the table and much simpler in what you are doing. In fact, you can only shoot from a small quarter of the big board. And you can’t get up from your seat. The just simplicity of that system makes it a great game to sit, play, and chat while you’re playing it.

Buy Crokinole

38. Kohaku

Kohaku is the first of two tile laying games in a row here. And I really like Kohaku for how pretty it is, and also the simplicity of game play. You take two tiles on your turn, one scoring and one fish, that are adjacent to each other on the middle board. Then you place them anywhere into a tableau of your koi pond. There’s only two rules while placing, it needs to connect, no starting a new pond. And it needs to not have fish next to fish or scoring next to scoring. Whomever has the most points wins.

But it’s also very pretty, like I said. The newest versions are cheaper and just have cardboard tiles in them. Those are still pretty. The more expensive version, which was the first one they put out, has acrylic tiles to it. And why that works so well is that they can put water on the bottom and then have the fish, dragonflies, lily pads or ripples in the water on the top. So it gives them this depth that looks like looking into very clear water.

Buy Kohaku

37. World Wonders

World Wonders is the other tile laying game, and one of the new games on the list. It again falls into that category of a pretty simple game in what you are doing on your turn. You are paying for a tile to place on your board. Their are restrictions, mainly that it needs to be next to a road or another tile where you can place them. And that’s about it, minus the wonders. The tiles push you up on some tracks, which you want to keep balanced, but it’s mainly about the wonders.

The wonders are all great wooden pieces that are screen printed to all look like different wonders. It’s really cool that way. And the wonders are the most likely way that you’ll get points. As you play out tiles you’ll fulfill requirements to be able to place a wonder. But you can’t just get the wonder. You need to spend the rest of your money to get it. So if you get it early, you might spend more money first before you snag that wonder. But you also don’t want to miss out on a wonder, because again it’s how you get points. It’s a very good system or push and pull that way.

Buy World Wonders

36. Via Magica

Next up is Via Magica, one that I learned about from the Dice Tower group. Though it’s not a favorite of all of them, I really enjoy this gamer’s bingo type of game. Someone is drawing chips from a bag that are all different types of animus that you all use to open gates. So one is drawn out and you can fill in one on one of your three games that matches the type. That’s simple.

It adds a bit to the game when you consider which gates to take. Some of them might make a resource wild for you, so you get more flexibility when opening gates. Or it might let you transfer some animus to a specific color on other cards giving you a head start. Plus they give you points, and you make decisions based on trying to get the most done, but also groups of colors. Because there are bonus points for the first person to get various color groups completed.

It’s a great simple game. The artwork is cute, and it’s one that would work well with most groups of people. Is it the most challenging game, certainly not, but Sometimes I want an easy and fun game to play, and Via Magica is very good for that.

Buy Via Magica

35. Sushi Go Party!

And now another bigger group game. I like Sushi Go Party a lot for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, I like drafting games and how they tend to be games with little to no downtime in them. The most downtime that Sushi Go Party has is when calculating the scores at the end of the round. Otherwise you’re drafting cards all at the same time.

The other thing that I really like about Sushi Go Party is the variability. There are a ton of cards that you can get for the game and that come in the main box, so you can mix it up how it works each time. And it allows you to customize it to who you’re playing with as well. I might want to play a really cut throat version some time, or maybe a more peaceful and zen version another time. With more cards, it can really be set-up for your game group.

Buy Sushi Go Party

34. Meadow

Now a game that looks peaceful, but it isn’t fully. Meadow has amazing artwork and it’s all about building out a tableau in front of you of nature. But the game is a very tight and thinky game with a core mechanism that really challenges you to think through as you play.

There’s a grid of creatures, terrains, and scenery in the middle of the table. And you have four tokens (five in a two player game) that you use to determine which card you get. But the token as a number one it, one through four, and that determines the distances from the spot you put the token and that is the card you get. So there is great strategy for when you grab something, even if you might need it later. Because it might be getting hard to be able to take.

This is one where I know even I take a bit on my turns. There is a lot to think about and that’s part of what is great about the game. It’s a real puzzle that is hidden in a box with very pretty artwork.

Buy Meadow

33. Flamecraft

And speaking of games with pretty artwork we have Flamecraft. Flamecraft is a resource gathering and contract fulfillment game. All of it with adorable artwork from Sandara Tang. But there is more to this game than just the pretty artwork and the fun artisan dragon theme.

In Flamecraft, you are collecting resources and fulfilling contracts. But the game does a lot of other fun things. Mainly as you gather resources you’re adding dragons to shops. So they become more powerful and can help you gather more resources faster. I think that’s an interesting challenge and twist of the game as you build up those shops.

Buy Flamecraft

32. Mansions of Madness: Second Edition

Now a game that has fallen a ways, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition. This one is mainly down here in the 30’s because I’ve played other games that I love, so a few games have moved down. But also because I haven’t played it recently, so it’ll go up if I get it played again before the next time I do my Top 100 Games.

But this is a Lovecraftian themed game in the Fantasy Flight Arkham Files line. This one has a bit more of a localized feel as you play through it. And the app helps with the game allowing it to add in interactive puzzles and change up the map each time you play so scenarios, while the story might not change, feel different.

And the game just does a lot in it. I mentioned the puzzles, but the stories are good. And because of the variety of tiles and monsters in the game, you can really get a wide variety of stories. Often times they take place in houses, but I’ve explored other areas, such as city streets and the shops on there. And it is a longer game, but because it’s cooperative and you all have that one goal, it works well. The immersion into the story and into the game certainly helps as well.

Buy Mansions of Madness

31. Super Fantasy Brawl

Finally, rounding out this section, we have Super Fantasy Brawl. Super Fantasy Brawl is an arena battling board game where you are trying to knock out your opponents characters for points, and complete objectives, for points. And it’s up to five points, so it’s a fast game. And I think it balances everything in the game really well.

I like the action selection system a lot. There are three action chips, each of a different color. You pick one card from each color to active on a turn. So you might be activating the same character multiple times, or it might get split up between characters. But you can also use them for defense. It just refreshes at the end of your turn, so that means that you’ll be missing an action on the offensive.

And I like how knocking someone out just means that they can come back in with a card play the next round. So I can’t knock out all your characters and just win that way. But you also can’t figure knocking characters out, because you need to do that to break up them getting a goal. A check for a goal is at the start of your turn, so your opponent always has a chance to stop it, which is a really good system.

Buy Super Fantasy Brawl

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 30 through 21, 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 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 or For Northwood, 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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How To Play Forest Shuffle

In Forest Shuffle you are building out a forest in front of you of trees and creatures of all types. You might be getting butterflies and and beetles or foxes and rabbits, the choice is up to you. But you look to synergize what you are picking to score points.

To play out cards you are putting cards into a discard row and using them as resources. That discard row is filling up and wiping as the game goes along and as you draw cards. Drawing cards and reducing the draw pile is how the game ends. But back to playing cards, you pick a card to play from your hand and then discard the number of cards in the corner to be able to play it.

Trees you just add to your forest in front of you. But if you play down a creature or a feature of your forest, that attaches to your tree. And trees have four sides that you can attach cards to. The foliage, the base or roots and than either side. So you need to balance playing out cards to score with adding more trees.

Then you draw and play cards until you’ve hit the three winter cards. You won’t know when they show up. But once one or two of them show up, you know the game can end any time. When the game ends, everyone tallies up their points and whomever has the most wins.

Why Is It Getting Popular?

Let me start off and say, I like Forest Shuffle. So me asking this question isn’t me not getting why it is. And I think there are a few main reasons for it getting popular.

Firstly, a lot of people play board games digitally now. Not more than who play in person, but when you can play a game digitally, there is not as much of a time restriction. Especially if you can take your turn and then check later in the day to take your next turn. It doesn’t require you to just be sitting there. It is a chance for people

Another thing is that it is a nature theme. Nature theme games are very popular right now. The success of games like Wingspan and Meadow have shown that you don’t need a big nerdy fantasy theme to make people buy game. In fact, that is a turn off for some people. Nature is a more accessible and friendly theme. It might not be why some people game (or the only theme I want) but it does appeal to a broader audience.

Finally, Forest Shuffle is not a complex game. And I say that in a good way. It is one of two games I picked up with the same premise. It is play out cards to form a forest or tableau in front of you to score points. The other one is either version of Ecosystem, regular or coral reef. What you do on your turn is quite simple. However, what you do on your turn determines the points you get. So there are decisions to be made with how you want to score. It is a good game for simplicity of turns and decision making space.

What Might Not Work For You

But let’s talk about what might not work with Forest Shuffle as well. It is a similar mechanism to other games. I called out Ecosystem, but also Meadow you collect cards to build out a line of cards in front of you. Even Wingspan has you collecting birds and putting them into various habitats and scoring based off of that. So the mechanisms are not highly unique.

I think, for some the general mechanisms of those games across the board will not be what you want. For others, you like it, but the question is how many do you need. Do you need a third or fourth game that offers a similar experience to the other games. Now, it is a different complexity level than the ones I mentioned. Forest Shuffle is more complex than Ecosystem but less than Meadow or Wingspan. So it might fill a niche for you.

What I Want To See More Of In Forest Shuffle

Now, I won’t give a full grade on this. I want to see more in this game and I want to know how it will play after a number of plays. I bought the game, so I like it. Let’s just put it at that. But I feel l like it isn’t one I can give a fully grade to yet.

Mainly, how is Forest Shuffle going to play after five plays? I set five a a number, that is just arbitrary. But what I want to see is, if I play it a number of times, how does my strategy change? Can I have a strategy, I think I did the first game, or is it just luck with cards that come out. How do you balance grabbing cards or passing on cards to play out. What is the tempo of that?

There are a good number of cards in the game. And Forest Shuffle offers a lot of different ways to score. My question and this is the case with any game like this, will I see all the cards, and will there be enough variety to keep the game unique? If the game isn’t unique, than is the game going to stay fun to play.

Forest Shuffle could certainly be expanded. I expect if it does well in retail, not just BGA, that it is going to get expansions. More cards to mix in, or like Ecosystem, another box to play with and vary up the scoring as a standalone game. But that is my concern right now.

Do you like Forest Shuffle?

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How To Play Meadow?

In Meadow you are playing down tokens to pick specific cards. These cards have symbols that they need to be played, and a symbol that they give you. So you build up from habitats to small creatures or plants, then cover those with the creatures that eat them or use them for shelter and build up upon that. Eventually trying to get landscapes and items to remember the location by.

Each card is going to give you points, minus the terrain cards, and you are trying to get the most points possible. The player with the most points wins the game.

Initial Impressions

Now, that is a very simple overview of the game. There is more going on, mainly the campfire and how you select what specific card you take. Both I want to call out here because they are interesting to talk about as well. And both of them I actually enjoy in the game. There is one part of the game that makes it harder for me to get to a full review though. We’ll get to that soon.

Action Tiles

The action tiles are really interesting in how they are used. I call them tiles, it could be arrows as well, or parts of a picket fence, depends on how you want to talk about them. It uses a mechanic that I enjoy in Quadropolis where it gives you a distance, 1 through 4, can where you place your tile, you count that many in. That card is the one that you are taking.

Now, other players can block where you want to go. And later in the rounds, cards will just become in accessible because of how people play. So you need to prioritize getting what you need. But the action tiles aren’t just for getting cards, they each have powers as well, which leads us into the campfire.

Campfire

There is a campfire in the game, not a literal one, but that is another spot you can use the action tiles. In the game each action tile has a special ability. It might be grabbing a card from a deck or from anywhere in the grid of laid out cards. This is great when the cards don’t work for you or the one you want is blocked off. The downside is that you don’t get to play it immediately. Or you can play two cards, or get two roads, which are used for the landscapes.

But there is even more going on. You have scoring tokens that you can put out. Around the campfire are symbols. If you match a combination of two of them, that hasn’t been filled in, so a bird next to a berry for example, you put down a scoring tile. The more you do that, the higher scoring tile you can place. But it isn’t something that always works to do. So it’s a balance of do you want an ability or not? And all this leads into the final thig.

Game Length and Complexity

The first thing to talk about is game length for Meadow. And with that complexity, they really go hand in hand. Meadow is not a game with a ton of rounds, and because of that, you want to optimize your moves. And because you need to optimize and plan out combinations, it can cause AP.

I tend not to get much AP in a game, but in a two player game, in particular, I slow down in this game. And the person I played with did as well. There is a lot going on in this game, and it makes me think I’d prefer it at four versus two. One thing that adds to the complexity and time needed to figure out is a wild tile. It can be any number in a two or three player game. In a four player game you just have one through four. That wild adds in a lot of options. as you can repeat a number or a power.

Who Is This For?

I think that’s an interesting question as to for it’s for. The game is pretty, which might make some gamers think it’ll be too light. On the flip side, it’s going to draw some people in and they’re going to realize it is too heavy. This is not a light game, it gives you a ton of options and a lot of planning that you can do. So I think this is a pretty game for seasoned gamers.

Now, that isn’t a bad thing. I want my games to be pretty. But Meadow reminds me of Calico in some ways. Calico is a very pretty game, a very cute game, but it is challenging. In Calico you can play with most people because it doesn’t give you complex turns. Meadow can give you complex rounds that you need to plan out more carefully. So I think it’s mainly a thing to be aware of.

Final Thoughts on Meadow

I enjoy Meadow. I think that the game play is interesting, I like how you pick your cards. And I really like the artwork as well. My main concern about Meadow and how long it may or may not stay in my collection is the game length.

Like I said, I enjoy the puzzle a lot of this game. I want to figure out how to optimize my turns, but the question is, who do I play it with. When I played it two player most recently, a few rounds 4 player at Gen Con, it was not a fast game. Like I said, I think I prefer it, maybe, at four players just because it limits your choices a bit more. But even that, with more players is going to take a while.

Meadow might be a game that I just play with same people. Which is not a bad thing for the game. Sometimes you find a more complex game and a group to play it with. I think for me, it’s one where I wish, with the artwork, it was easier for more people to play. But once I play it more, I’ll probably appreciate it more for what it is.

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100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

70 through 61 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 60-51

60. Long Shot: The Dice Game

First of two roll and write games on the list, Long Shot: The Dice Game is a horse racing and betting game. It reminds me of Downforce, expect a roll and write. In this game you are buying horses, betting on horses, and completing other things which will get you money at the end of the game. The person who wins the most money, or has the most money, at the end of the game is the winner.

One aspect that I really like is how you can improve the odds of a horse moving forward. The lower number horses are on more cards so that they can move. But if people start to get behind a long shot, you can add movement to other horses cards for that long shot. So they start moving more consistently than other horses and have a shot. Mechanically, though, not the easiest to teach which keeps it lower on the list.

Buy on Barnes & Noble

59. Trek 12: Himalaya

The other roll and write comes up immediately, and one of the other new games on the list, Trek 12 is a mountain climbing roll and write. But really, it is a game of creating runs and sets to score points. It scores in a really clever way and has you placing numbers in a clever way as well.

The scoring is pretty simple, you score each set of a number and each run you have. But you take the highest number in the run or number in a set and that’s your base score. So a set of five twos scores as 2 (the number in the set) + 1 + 1+ 1 + 1. That’s not nearly as many points as a set of three with 9 (9+1+1). So it makes you want the higher numbers. But you also get a bonus for your largest set or longest run.

Then placing the numbers is interesting. You either take the highest or lowest value on the dice, or the difference, combined total, or multiplied total. And you have a limited number of each so you start to lose options as you go. It allows you to get numbers you want and higher numbers, but sometimes that locks you out from other things.

Buy on Miniature Market

58. The Night Cage

I’m doing the list in October, so have to call out the spooky games on the list. The Night Cage is a game where you are stuck in a labyrinth. Everyone in there is trying to find keys and get to the exit portal. But your candle just barely lights your way, so the labyrinth disappears behind you. And if you go back, it’s going to be different than before.

All of this which isn’t too hard, but then you have monsters who might pop up and want to eat the wax of your candle. If they do, not you can’t see around you at all. Or maybe it’ll it get more than just you. And as you use tiles your supply, represented by a candle, slowly burns down. It’s a very fun and stressful game as the candle burns down. But in a good way.

Buy on Miniature Market

57. Meadow

Another new game to the list, Meadow is a game about observing nature. You are in a meadow or building up a meadow or observation. The theme really doesn’t matter that much. But the artwork takes what could be an abstract only game and makes it very pretty to look at.

In Meadow you build up a tableau in front of you. As you play down cards you cover up some symbols, so I need to match a tree to a tree, but my card that needs a tree now has a bird symbol on it. And you create this growing series of symbols that give you more points as you go. Also trying to take scenic pictures to remember where you’ve been. Basically everything gives you points but it’s fun to manage your tableau.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

56. Galaxy Trucker

Galaxy Trucker has been on the list for a while. It is a real time game, for part of it. And it’s a real time game without a timer. I never feel the time crunch because you flip tiles and build your ship. Only for the final person who is trying to get that last piece is there a time crunch. Otherwise the building is just done in real time as long as the group takes.

Then you fly off into space with your junky ship and watch it fall apart. But if you built it well you get points for picking up cargo. And you don’t lose parts of your ship to meteors, pirates, or anything else. It’s a lighter fun game, but it does give you that good real time puzzle as you build your ship.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

55. Pandemic

Pandemic is on the list as a placeholder for all of the Pandemic games. I personally prefer Season One of Pandemic Legacy, which keeps it higher on the list. I haven’t played Season Zero yet, which I want to. But all Pandemic falls into this one, because all version of legacy I’ve played and base pandemic are fun.

Pandemic is a game where you play as doctors cooperative trying to keep diseases in check and find a cure for them. On your turn you move around the world, trade information with other players, and remove disease cubes from cities. Then bad things happen, diseases spread and outbreaks might happen. It’s a good puzzle of a game. The legacy versions of the game just add great story, and I’d play them again gladly even though I know that story.

Buy on Miniature Market

54. Blood Rage

Pandemic, which I didn’t mention, was high on my list when I started and dropping. The same with Blood Rage which was one of my top games. I clearly like it less than I did before. But I’ve also played more games that I did before. Blood Rage is a fun drafting and area control game. It looks like it should just be Vikings and monsters on a map fighting but there is more going on.

What lowered it slightly is some experiences can feel similar. And some strategies even seem to be better that don’t lean into fighting. But it is fun to think about how to break up those strategies. Such as the Loki strategy where that person wants to lose fights and send everyone Valhalla. Or when to hate draft a card and block someone from getting a quest that they are setup for. There is a good amount going on, but not too much in this game.

Buy on Amazon

53. Root

Root also has dropped some from it’s highest. But Root tends to bounce around a bit more. Mainly it’s how excited I would be to play it again. And that’s because Root is a game that is hard to get to the table. There is a lot to learn in Root because each faction is different. And you need to know each faction to keep them in check during a game.

Root is basically an asymmetric war game. One faction is all about area control, another might be about completing little objectives or a grass roots uprising. All of this with cute animal artwork on it. The game is a lot of fun and is big in what it can do. One that I want to play more but you need a dedicated group to play it really that know the factions.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

52. Draftosaurus

This isn’t a roll and write game, but it does feel like one. Draftosaurus is a drafting game where you are putting dinosaurs in pens. And you have a handful of dinosaur meeples to pick one from. The game is really easy, light, and fun to play. It just works for the type of game that it is.

What really stands out, though is the tactile nature of holding the dinosaurs and then picking one. Like I said, how you score, it reminds me of a roll and write. But holding and drafting from those dinosaurs is unique to the game. And the closest thing you get in most roll and write games is rolling the dice.

Buy on Game Nerdz

51. Homebrewers

Finally, to round out the bottom half of my Top 100 Games, we have Homebrewers. Homebrewers is an engine building game where you are a homebrewer brewing your beer at home. You get different ingredients, flavors, to add to your beers that push you up on tracks. All in a goal to be the highest and score points at Summer Fest and OktoberFest.

I really like this one for the theme. Yes, there are a few things that are a disconnect in the game. That you never lose an ingredient that you’ve added to the beer. But it gets so many things right about homebrewing, it’s great.

Buy on Amazon

Upcoming Stream

So what is coming up next. I do plan on Wednesdays soon to start playing Chronicles of Drunagor. However, I am not quite ready to get that one to the table this week. Instead, it’ll be a smaller solo game. I have a few roll and write games that interest me, or maybe it’ll be Root on the app or Slay the Spire. You’ll have to tune in Wednesday at 8 PM Central to find out.

And then coming up next Monday, I have 50 through 41 in my Top 100 coming up. You can click the notification bell to know when I’m going live on the video over here.

Plus, I might have a surprise unboxing this weekend. I believe I have two different games coming in on Thursday and Friday this week. So maybe, if I have time, I’ll unbox them. Or it’ll be a bonus Monday video, we’ll have to see.

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