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.

Send an Email
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Support us on Patreon here

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

100 through 91

90 through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition – 60 through 51

60. Five Tribes

Five Tribes is a classic game at this point. One of the Days of Wonder games that put them on the map and is my favorite of them. This has a mancala style mechanic of picking up meeples and dropping one on each tile you move to. Then you gather the ones that match the color of the last one you place out and that determines what you’re doing, which is basically always getting points.

That’s another feature of the game that is great. You are always getting money, or points (same thing) in this game. No matter what action you do, it is likely to help you. To add to that, the money that you get is also what you use to pay for your turn order. So if you see an amazing move, it be worth paying to go first, but will what you pay offset the points that you get? And that’s part of the puzzle of the game.

Buy Five Tribes

59. Mesozooic

I doubt that Mesozooic will make many or possibly any other Top 100 Lists. Why, this is a light and silly little drafting real time game of making your own Jurassic Park. But it is one that I really like. And I like it because it is fast and silly but still a good time with a little bit of strategy as you draft cards.

You get parts to your monorail system or zoo pens for the dinosaurs as you draft. Then you put them in a four by three grid and because you have one empty spot, you draft 11 cards, it’s basically a sliding puzzle. You then get 45 seconds, I believe, to slide everything around and get it in the order that gives you the most points. Where ever you are at when that time runs out is the zoo you have. So it’s possible to get it perfect, but it’s not that much time, so when to call it good enough is a big part of the game.

Buy Mesozooic

58. Res Arcana

Next up is Res Arcana. Res Arcana is a much thinkier game than the last one, but still not extremely complex. In Res Arcana you are taking your hand of cards, I believe it’s 8 cards, and building a points engine out of them. And the game is basically as simple as that. You do actions each round and when you are done with them all or all you want to do, going turn to turn, you take a special power that will help you the next round of turns.

This game is just a fun puzzle. You can play with the starter decks. I like drafting the cards I get better so that I can try and build up a synergy and get an engine going faster. But either way is fun to play. And Res Arcana is not that long a game which is great as well, so you get your engine going quickly in the game. I like that because it’s like there is a little to no downtime of the engine.

Buy Res Arcana

57. Tesseract

One of the new games, I played this one for the first time at Gen Con and I had an absolute blast with it. It’s a Pandemic like cooperative game in some ways. There is more going on with it, though. The structure of do your turn and then a bad thing happens is very Pandemic like.

The basic “story” of the game is that this Tesseract, a cube of dice has come to Earth. And we’re scientists of different types trying to solve the puzzle of it before it explodes, or implodes I should say, and kills everyone. Our actions are to collect and manipulate dice to get runs and sets and be able to put dice onto tracks matching their color and number. That is how we win, the game wins if the cube is gone, if too many overflows happen (Pandemic outbreaks), and possibly another way, I forget. So it’s a race against time and using your abilities the best you can.

And the dice cube, really is a five by five, I believe, cube. I said four by four yesterday, but think about it, I think it’s five by five. And that dice cube/tower is on a rotating board so that everyone can just turn it to see the other sides. It’s a clever system.

Buy Tesseract

56. Potion Explosion

Another game with a gimmick is Potion Explosion. Potion Explosion reminds me of an app game where you pop a bubble and it causes the column to drop down. If two (or more) like colors hit again, they pop and so on. That’s what Potion Explosion is, and it’s great with that toy factor. It has a nice dispenser for marbles, and then you’re doing what I said, removing one and letting matching colors hit.

But it adds to that by giving you potions that you can craft. Those potions are then special powers that you can use one time. That’s help you get more marble, ingredients for your potion, and let you brew even more potions. It’s a fun game of optimizing which marble you take out of the dispenser with the powers that you have. Great toy factor, again, but also just a great game.

Buy Potion Explosion

55. Forest Shuffle

Another new one to the list, Forest Shuffle is another game that I got to play for the first time at Gen Con. It’s a nature tableau building game, which, that theme or idea is very popular right now. I like how this one works a lot, though because it’s simple. You play from a handful of cards and are using cards in your hand to pay for the cards you want to play. So each card is dual purpose that way.

But they are also mainly dual purpose (besides trees) in that they have two things on them. It’s part of your forests habitat and ecosystem on the cards. So you put those cards around the trees you have in your forest. And you will show one or the other side. But which one you pick means you miss out on the other for scoring.

The end game trigger is fun as well. Three winter cards are shuffled in to the bottom of the deck. When the third one comes out the game is done. So you might find one and have a bit of time, or it might be ending really quickly after that. So you need to determine when you just need to play out cards versus go digging or picking up cards that might just get stuck in your hand and give you no points.

Preorder Forest Shuffle

54. Grove: A 9 card solitaire game

My most played solitaire (solo) game of the year. Grove is a great game that is a ton of fun as you are building up your grove or orange, lemon, and lime trees. You do this by layering cards and matching the fruit that you are overlapping. And you can’t just overlap any trees, you get one overlap that doesn’t match, and that gives you negative points.

This probably sounds a lot like Orchard another game in that series. And what I’ve described is pretty similar. Where Grove is different is that each game you are playing against a challenge. Or you can choose to do that, but I always choose to do it. You get two challenge cards, they give you bonus points. But they also provide a point total between the two cards that you need to win. So it’s not just beat your high score, it gives you a target, for that game, to beat it.

Buy Grove

53. Century: Golem Edition

Century: Golem Edition is one that has stuck on my list for a long time. It’s not one that I play often, but when I get it played, it’s always a good time. Century: Golem Edition is a game of hand management where you are playing out cards to get gems and transform/trade gems into better gems. Then you use those to get Golems, most golem points wins.

But what I like so much about this game are the quick and snappy turns. My turn is basically one of four things. I play a card to manipulate the gems that I have, whether that’s get more or transform them, get a card from the market, pick back up my played cards into my hand, or get a golem. It’s one thing per turn and the game just flies along because of that, plus it has good decisions.

Buy Century: Golem Edition

52. Arboretum

Arboretum is one of those nature themed games where it looks pretty, and it’s pretty mean. But that’s what makes the game one of my favorites. In Arboretum you are building an ascending order of trees. And you score routes of trees that start and end with the same type of tree, always ascending numerically. Plus if you start with a one and end on an eight, both of those give you bonus points.

The tricky, and where the mean comes in, is that you don’t get to score all of your trees. At least not automatically. You need to have the most, card value wise, of that type of tree to be able to score it. So you might have built up a beautifully high scoring line of maples, but if you have a greater value of maples in my hand than you have, they are worth no points to you. And that is mean, but so much fun and adds in a layer of strategy and depth.

Buy Arboretum

51. Cthulhu: Death May Die

Finally, the last new one for this part of the list, Cthulhu: Death May Die. This is one that I got to play for the first time at CMON Expo, and I just fell in love with it. It’s such a fun game of investigating, trying to stop the ritual, or whatever is going on, but knowing eventually you’ll need to fight a great old one. And when you start, you are not in a position where that is going to be possible.

It only becomes possible as you become more insane. The more insane you are, the most powers you can unlock. There are points on the sanity track where it lets you unlock a new power. So you get to decide which of your three tracks you want to go up on. One is unique to each character, and the others are a combination of generic ones. Like the brawler ability, it might let you hit a whole room with an attack, if you level it up, but it’s always a choice of what to level.

Then, of course, you can still die from insanity. So if you die from what, because you leveled up too fast, you’re out of the game and that messes up things as well. So it’s a ton of fun how it lets you push your luck but not too much with that insanity. And it’s also fun to get more powerful as the game goes on the closer to death you are.

Buy Cthulhu: Death May Die

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 50 through 41, 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.

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

Magic The Gathering vs Board Games

Let’s start out with the biggest factor and thing to know about your LGS and CoolStuffInc, but it’s pretty simple. Magic the Gathering, Pokemon to a lesser extent, they make more money for a store than a game does. Being able to buy and sell trading cards is generally how that works.

They buy for less, giving them a profit margin on something that is in demand because of tournaments and sell it for more. And then the people who sold their cards are buying the cards they need for their decks generally at that time, with store credit or money and possibly buying more. So cards more fairly fluidly.

But also cards take up less space. Frosthaven takes up a whole else, it blocks out the sun, it’s a massive box. Magic cards and packs can take up room. But generally packs are behind the deck. And look cards, there are binders or boxes that hold them. So while it takes up room, it is a smaller area. And LGS’s are good at not having too much bulk on hand. Enough that people can find what they want most of the time, but not so much that it’s a chore to keep and maintain.

Storage

This one I touched on a on a bit as I talked about how large Frosthaven is. But for CoolStuffInc, an online and LGS, you need to be able to store a largest backstock of games. That means that you need a lot of room. And space can be expensive.

And some of this might be that CoolStuffInc also runs QML (Quarter Master Logistics). QML is a fulfillment company for crowdfunding games. I believe that has been quite busy right now, and if that is a shared warehouse space, a fulfillment company is going to be more consistent at moving product into and out of the warehouse.

Final Thoughts on CoolStuffInc and the Change

As some people have talked about in the discussions I’ve been a party of, CoolStuffinc has not had a great selection of board games for a while. I suspect some of this is board games have been harder to keep a consistent stock of games. Also that as QML grew, that ate up space as well.

But mainly, it sucks to lose an online retailer. It is a lot of work, and an extra cost for keeping up a backlog. So I wish them best with the TCG (trading card game) market and hope that they stick around for a long while.

Where Else To Buy Now After CoolStuffInc?

So, where in the end will you want to buy board games from. I know I have a few that I use as online stores. As always, there is a plug to shop local as well, if you can. I know that won’t be the case for everyone. So let’s talk about them. And that is for the US, just be aware that they might not ship internationally.

Miniature Market

Probably my most used. It generally has the best available stock, or the largest stock. And they do a number of sales. Is it always the best price when it comes board games, not always, but generally very solid pricing and consistent pricing. Plus there is a $0.01 matching reward system, which is not that great, but something. And free shipping at $100.

GameNerdz

GameNerdz, and the rest below that I use, generally have solid deals, deals of days, and sometimes sales. But generally, because they can sell a bit more in volume that their prices are good. They do have a reward system, and it’s not always just a few cents off, but it is better as you hit levels. And then $75 for free shipping so a better price.

Boardlandia

Honestly, not one that I’ve used a ton. And I’m still waiting on my Heat: Pedal to the Metal to ship. But my experience has generally been good with them. They do some fun sales with it being live for ding and dent games which you can sometimes get a solid deal on, but it’s just a fun experience. Shipping is solid, I believe they have free shipping around $100. And they have solid prices.

Noble Knight

Finally is Noble Knight. I don’t use them too often, either, but when I do it’s because I want to get a used game. Noble Knight buys and sells used games. So it’s a spot to find harder to find games or out of print games. However, they do sell, as they should, used games at used game prices. And they do have free shipping, but I believe it’s at $200, so that means, if you want to hit that, you need a big order. I’ve done that once.

What’s your favorite online board game shop?

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CoolStuffInc

Dungeons and Dragons: The Yawning Portal

I don’t even know that much about this game. But it’s a theme that I like a lot, Dungeons and Dragons. And from what I know of The Yawning Portal, that’s a portal in a tavern that leads to a lot of different adventures. It’s part of the Sword Coast and Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons and Dragons. I’m hoping for a fun, lighter, adventure style game.

TIME Stories Revolution: Cavendish

I still get basically everything for TIME Stories. This is one the new cycle now so I need to get through the first stuff, first. But it’s been a game that we’ve enjoyed a lot. And if I figure out a better storage solution, I can make it take up a whole lot less space on my game shelf. But I’m curious to play more. And even if it isn’t the most loved thing, it should be fun for my group still. We’ll see when we get this far into the series.

Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar

Next up we have a legacy game with mixed reviews. But mixed reviews was enough to keep me from running out to get the game. I think for a lot of gamers it has been. I wonder as it goes on sale more, if more gamers or people will buy it. It’s a Jurassic Park/World park building game where you are avoiding dinosaurs and basically playing through stories around the movies, not really the movie stories. It looks like light fun, which is why it felt like the right price to get it when it was pretty heavily on sale.

Reload

Finally from CoolStuffInc we have Reload. I’ve heard very mixed things about this game as well. But I like what it is in concept. Kind of that battle arena like a Fortnite or PUBG style of game. You run around, the area gets smaller, you want to be the last person standing. It sounds like a fun time with some complexity and decision making, if you make it through the rules.

Miniature Market

Rome and Roll

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but in a short chunk of an evening you can build it up in this roll and write game. Or at least build up your gladiators, warriors, and I believe civilization as well. It’s a heavier and crunchier roll and write game. One that I want to play to see if it’s a good game for me. That, Hadrian’s Wall, and Twilight Inscription might be my heavy roll and write games.

Stranger Things: Upside Down

This one should be arriving today or so, but it’s a Stranger Things board game. And one from the designer of Pandemic. Now, it’s not just the Pandemic system. But it is a light to mid weight cooperative game. And kind of follows some of the things you expect. You do things and then bad things happen. But how the bad things happen and how many is determined by what you do. So it adds this element where you need to push to complete things. but that can cause more bad things to happen.

Lucky Numbers

Lucky Numbers is a game that I don’t know too much about. But it looks like a tile, or number, laying game where you are trying to fill out a grid in a specific way. It looks light, it has a solo mode, so one that I want to try out and see what it’s like.

My City: Roll and Build

You saw this one, potentially, already because I just played it on Malts and Meeples. Let me drop the video below, but it’s a roll and write version of the legacy game My City. I still enjoy it this way, and it makes a nice solo game.

The Quest for El Dorado

Kind of a classic game at this point, and a deck building game. I do like deck building a lot. To go along with that, it’s also a racing game. As you try and navigate a path to El Dorado as efficiently as possible. From what I’ve heard, it has some fun twists on it, which I’m here for. I like deck building a lot, but I don’t need all my deck building games to just be deck building, this one adds in more.

Arkham Horror LCG: Winifred Habbamock

I’m going to have to do a part 2 on this because this article is getting long. And there will be more Arkham Horror LCG character packs on this. I’ve started playing some with a friend, and it’s been a grand time. So I picked up some of the character packs because that is where you get some of the best cards.

Joan of Arc Expansions

This one come from Mythic Games selling off the rights to this game. It’s a bummer because I’m not sure Mythic Games is sitting in that much better of a spot. But for me it’s been a chance to grab more expansions. It’s still a game I need to table. But I like the idea of it as a miniatures style game, but with less overhead.

Omen: Heir to the Dunes

Another one I can’t say that I know that much about. I picked it up because it was on a good sale. It’s a two player head to head game. So the type that might stay in my collection. But it, and Radlands are games that I want to see how they play and if they’ll dethrone my favorite head to head game, Dice Throne.

That’s a Question

Another good sale game. This looks like a simple party game. I’m not sure it’ll be for me, but if I remember correctly it was $3 or $4 so cheap enough to take a flyer on. I don’t know that I need more party games, but I also find that party games are the ones that I rotate the most.

Robots

Robots was another game from that sale. It’s a kids type of game from what I can tell. But in a small box with cute artwork, another one where I look at it and think, why not try it. It might be a fun filler game about making silly robots. If not, it cost $3, so not a big deal.

Skytear Horde

Another one that you’ve seen on Malts and Meeples. So the video will again be below. But this is a tower defense, lane defense game. I like it because it’s just a fun experience that as you start to get into the swing of the game, it moves quickly. Yes, the learning of all the steps can take a bit, but once you’re in, it’s not too bad.

D&D Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain

Finally another roll and write game. This one with again a Dungeons and Dragons theme. I want to play it, and I want to play some of my other dungeon crawling or scrawling roll and writes, but two of them, this one included, don’t have a solo mode. That’s my only bummer about the game. But a D&D based roll and write game is a theme and style I’ll gladly give a try.

And like I said, more to come. But those are some of the games that are entering into my collection. There’s been a lot coming in, which means that I need to have a decent number of them leave soon as well. Which is what will be happening this weekend.

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Games from Miniature Market

Bonfire

This is a game about gnomes building a bonfire, well, maybe that’s some of it. But it’s a Pegasus Spiele game, like the next one. And Miniature Market had a sale on them. Pegasus Spiele got on my radar because they put out First Rat, a game I wasn’t sure I’d like, but then I really did. Bonfire looks more complex, so I was interested in trying it.

Raccoon Robbers

This one I bought because it looked like a fun, more simple game from Pegasus Spiele. So I wanted to give it a go and see if it would work for me. Plus it’s about raccoons, a fun theme and comes with 3D (ish) houses that they climb up on, so fun components.

Via Magica

This is a light game that I wanted to try because I thought when I heard about it on the Dice Tower a while ago, Camilla is a fan of it there, it sounded fun. You can read my whole review here.

Mesozooic: Jurassic Mini Expansion and Triassic Mini Expansion

I’ve written a review on some of the games. Mesozooic I actually bought the base game a while ago. The two expansions were unlikely to be around much longer, on closeout, so I bought them. You can read my review on Mesozooic here.

Abyss: Kraken Expansion

This is an expansion, I own both, for a game that I need to play. It is probably not the smartest plan, but I have them now, so I need to get Abyss to the table soon. Abyss looks like a massive epic game, one you’d expect a lot of minis for. Well, it’s a much smaller simpler game than that type of game. More of an engine building from what I know. So I hope it’s one I really enjoying.

Escape the Dark Castle

This is one that just came back into stock recently. It and Escape the Dark Sector or games with fun dark looking artwork and, well, a dark theme. I want to play them and see how they stack up against something like Spire’s End. I know both can be played solo, so I’ll be getting to this one soon to really know.

18 Holes: Course Architect

18 Holes: Course Artchitect actually needs to get a review written about it. Same with the next one though that one I need to play more. But 18 Holes is about building out a golf course in a roll and write game and seeing how well that you can do. It’s a bit rules heavy for how simple the game is, but the more I play, the easier it is to pick up each time and faster games go. So it’s one that might just stick around as a solo game for me.

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

Bargain Basement Bathysphere is a solo game. And you can watch me play it on Malts and Meeples. It’s a roll and write game that is a campaign. So I want to see how it is over the long run before I write a review. It’s definitely very loosely a campaign. But the two games I played of it were a lot of fun, with really simple mechanics.

Clank! Catacombs

Clank! Catacombs I knew was a game I would buy. I waited until after Christmas, and then when I was told about Bargain Basement Bathysphere, I used Catacombs to get it to a level where I could get free shipping. It’s just another version of Clank! but one with a modular board which is build every time. Clank! In! Space! has a modular board, but that one is set to start the game. This could come out differently every time.

Three Sisters

A roll and write game from the people who did Fleet and now Motor City. I am curious about this one. I like Fleet, but it is a lot of mechanics, especially solo. Though I wonder if I will feel the same with Three Sisters. But it is one that I want to get to solo.

Star Realms Deck Building Game

Star Realms is the space version of Hero Realms, kind of. They are different games and Star Realms came first. But it’s a two player deck building game. I wanted to try it and see which one I like better. I think I’ll enjoy both, but will both stay in my collection?

Thornwatch: The Dark of the Wood Expansion

Thornwatch is a game that I picked up on a sale, probably hasn’t been in a Point of Order yet. I got it around Black Friday from the publisher. It looks like an adventure dungeon crawl sort of gaming experience. And it has some work done on it from Penny Arcade guys who I like their stuff. So I am curious about it and if it’ll be a dungeon crawler for me.

Planet Unknown

This one got an order all by itself. And I still need to play it. But Planet Unknown is a game about terraforming a planet. Yes, I own two games like that already. But it uses polyominoes and a lazy Susan. Though mine doesn’t come with it. But as you select pieces for your planet, you rotate a this central piece. And where I decide to stop rotating it, that determines what you get. So there is a bit of a puzzle where I might take a slightly worse for me piece to stop you from getting the perfect piece.

Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

I own two, no three, versions of Super-Skill Pinball. It is a roll and write game that I really enjoy and one I should play more. It is playing pinball and this one has a, you guessed it, Star Trek theme. There is a Christmas one as well with Christmas movies that I’m less interested in. But I do like Star Trek so I wanted to play this one.

Featherlight

Featherlight, another one that I played on Malts and Meeples with Bargain Basement Bathysphere. So you can find that in the video above. I like it as a way to optimize how you are scoring. It’s kind of a puzzle with some randomness. And I think that works really well for the length and weight of the game. It is very light, but offers you good choices as you play.

Unmatched: Marvel – Redemption Row & Hell’s Kitchen

I hadn’t planned on getting into Unmatched. But Marvel is what drew me in. And I have made a promise to myself that I won’t buy other sets, unless they are Marvel. So I am trying to get my hands on Deadpool, just waiting for someone from a Discord to ship it. But their lives are busy, so I understand. And there are upcoming Marvel sets, but I will talk about those later.

The Librarians

This is one that I got to try in 2020 when I did the digital GenCon. But it is a game around the Librarians TV show. The game is good, and I didn’t back it because I was backing too many things. So when it hit retail and hit a sale, I wanted to get it into my collection. It is a cooperative game and a fun theme that I want to play.

Ascension X: War of Shadows

Ascension, I’ve talked about it, this is my favorite introductory deck building game. I have two expansions, this one and a nature themed one, that I need to play still. But more is good because they are standalone or can be all mixed together. Well, maybe not all, but somewhat mixed together.

18 Holes: Second Edition & Expansion

You saw the roll and write, this is the tabletop version. It is still building a golf course. But you do that as a group. And then you play that course to see how well you do. I’m excited to try it. Sports games often aren’t the right match for board games. But I think that a golf theme works better than a faster spaced sport like Soccer or Football.

Starship Captains

Starship Captains is one that I played at GenCon in 2022. And I enjoyed it, but it is one that I want to spend more time with. It is a fast game, and I think that end snuck up on me in my one play. Is it one for me, or will it always feel too short? We will have to see, but I want to give it more of a try.

Relics of Rajavihara & Expansion

I just wrote a review on Relics of Rajavihara and you can read that here. But it is a fun puzzle game and I hope that this week or in the next two, I can fully wrap up the game. It’s fast and fun and a great puzzle.

Solomon Kane Expansions

Mythic Games is getting rid of their extra stock as they try and raise funds to complete and ship out other games. I could explain it more, but basically the pandemic hit them harder than a lot of companies. So this is a chance to grab the last of the stuff I don’t have. I think I own basically all of it now.

Enchanters

Another Mythic Games, another one that they sold the rights to. So it is discounted as they move their stock. A deck building game, but one I wasn’t super interested in. But when it is on sale and I can get the all in Kickstarter, or near that, it is worth buying and trying.

D&D Books

Just some more setting books and different books for more D&D content. I am there for that, and I want to mix it into my game.

Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama

This is one that Zee mentioned in his Top 100 Games. It is a rework of an existing game, with a theme that Indie Boards & Cards has used before. So I want to try it with that theme. The rest of the Kodama games are less interesting for me. But this one because it’s an existing theme is interesting.

Exit: Lord of the Rings

It’s an Exit escape room board game. And this one my wife wants to try because of the theme. And in all fairness I’m excited for the theme as well. Exit games are not my favorite of the escape room style games because they are destructive. So it’s a one time use thing. But the theme in this case pulled me in.

Skyrim: The Adventure Game

Another one where the theme pulled me in. I avoided backing it on Gamefound. The game play looked fun, but I can only back so many games so often. Then as more came out about the game, the more interesting it became to me. And I hope that it’s a pretty narrative driven game that feels like Skyrim.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

And to wrap it up, another video game one. And one that I wouldn’t have looked at too much. But it turned into one that I was very interested in because it has that big campaign feel to it, and cooperative play. And we know that is what I like in games.

Pre-orders

Plus there are a few pre-orders to talk about.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery & Crisis Expansions

This one I should have added to my other set of pre-orders, but both of these are expansions to a game I really like a lot. Ares Expedition. One gives you ways to upgrade your action selection which will make you different and unique in the long run. The other one is going to offer a cooperative or solo play opportunity. So two things that I’m very interested in. There is a third one as well, but when it was on Kickstarter, it just didn’t interest me as much.

Earth

Another one coming from Kickstarter that I am picking up now. It’s an engine building game that looks like it should be pretty on the table. I find that I really like engine building games. And this one looks like it is in that framework of being light, but not too light. I’m hoping, mainly, that the rules are in a place where it is easy to teach and get to the table.

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom

See what I said about Lord of the Rings before. This one is going to be an adventure book style game where you play through different scenes. Besides it being Lord of the Rings and based off of the same or similar system to the one used in the Princess Bride game I don’t know a ton more. But I’m more excited for this one than the escape room game.

Final Thoughts

Some of this has just been catching up on games that I’ve had an eye on and have been on my wishlist. The Librarians, Skyrim, and Assassin’s Creed were all on that list. And you can see a number of expansions as well.

But if it were you, which of these games would you play first? Of course, I’ve played some already, but I tried to call those out.

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Eagle-Gryphon Games

Tumbling Dice

This is one that has been on my radar for a long time and I wasn’t sure where to buy it. But it’s a cool looking, pretty big game, that is really simple. You take turns rolling a die down a track. And once everyone has rolled their dice, whatever dice are on there and the face they it is on determine how many points you get. Is it a serious game, not at all, but it looks fun.

And the further that you can roll it down the higher a multiplier you get. So if you have a 4 at the top it’s worth 4 times 1. If it’s at the bottom it’s 4 times 4. Of course, you might roll a one as well.

I went with the Tom Vasel method from the Dice Tower, too, I bought some roll playing dice sets. And I’ll probably make up some more as well. That way you aren’t just rolling 4 four sided dice. You can roll the full set of seven dice and get crazy numbers if a 20 lands on the times 4.

Miniature Market

This was over a couple of orders. Miniature Market did sales throughout the month of November, plus then Black Friday sales.

Imperium Legends

This was the one from the first order. It’s a solo game, or multiplayer that I’ve heard good things about. I mainly grabbed it because it was solo and I wanted to try it. I’m not sure it’ll be a solo game for me, because I’ve also heard okay things about Imperium Legends from some reviewers who I tend to match up with taste wise. But on a sale it was worth a try.

Dragonscales

Dragonscales is another one that I’ve heard some about and I’m not sold that it’s for me. But it was on a good sale and in this case it was the last piece to get to free shipping. It’s a push your luck game, and I am hoping to find one that works well for my group I do have Can’t Stop that I need to try as well. But Incan Gold worked okay, we just have some people that really like to push their luck.

Chronicles of Avel

Chronicles of Avel I’ve seen on shelves for a while, not like a super long time the game is pretty new, but every time that I see it, I want to buy it. It’s a lighter more family focused adventure game. And the artwork on the game looks amazing. And it’s supposed to be a lighter game, really good Board Game Geek rating, that gives you the same upgrading and creating characters to play, but for the whole family.

Paw Patrol Spot It

This actually was the main reason that the Black Friday order from Miniature Market happened. I have a kid who loves Paw Patrol, and Spot It is a game that he might not quite be ready for, but I would guess in the next six months we could start playing it. I think Spot It is fine, but to get a version that he’ll love and we can play together as a family, I’m all for that.

Ascension Gift of Elements

I’ve been eying this one for a long time as well, Gift of the Elements has been on sale a lot. I don’t think that I need to get all of Ascension, but I have two other expansions and I want to add this one into the mix. Why, because I think the stuff it can add in looks cool. Really what I’m noticing about Ascension right now is that I need to get it back to the table again. I really love it as a basic deck building game.

Journey Through the Radiant Citadel

And this is D&D adventure book. I don’t tend to buy those, but part of me is wanting to pick them up and grab story elements from my own campaign. Plus it was the alt art book cover. If this one doesn’t work for me, I can trade it in, or I can glean what I want from it and then trade it in. But in terms of adventures, the book seems more interesting than some.

Lone Shark Games

Thornwatch

I know Lone Shark Games for one game, Apocrypha. I actually forgot that they had made more. And this one is with Jerry Hawkins from Penny Arcade. It has solid ratings but again, it was really cheap, cheap to the point with very cheap shipping that it felt bad not to give it a go. I want to know if it has that Penny Arcade humor in the game and if it’s going to be a fit for me, because the cover and description make it look like something I should enjoy.

Snowdale Design

Lands of Galzyr

I blame, directly, Meet Me At the Table, YouTube channel for this one. He had a really good playthrough of one game, and this looks like a choose your own adventure big game, with fun tests and characters, that I love. And it doesn’t just look like that, but it also looks relaxing. A lot of the big games like it tend to offer big decisions and big consequences, whereas Lands of Galzyr offers you good choices but the stakes, at least early on, don’t seem as high.

Brotherwise Games

Call to Adventure: Epic Origins

I almost backed this one on the Kickstarter. And yes, ordering it later means that I missed out on some of the exclusives, but it was also cheaper. And I don’t care too much about the exclusives I missed out on. But I do want to get the game to the table, and I want to see what it adds in, as a standalone game.

Chip Theory Games

Too Many Bones + Tink Bundle

Too Many Bones and Chip Theory got me on this one. It is a good way to start building up the collection. I have Undertow. And I backed the last one that Gamefound that they had about a year ago for two new characters. Now I’ll have a ton of characters to play with and explore the weird world of Too Many Bones.

Amazon

Get on Board

I almost picked this one up at GenCon this year. iello brought it over to the US. But it’s a roll and write, sort of game. There is a main board where everyone is creating bus routes to pick up and drop off people. But you don’t want to overlap with other people and other routes because then you are creating traffic and slowing things down.

That is on a joint main board but then you each have your own board that you are filling in things on that are tracking who you pick up, points that you are getting and possibly other abilities. I like that it has roll and write elements but overlaps more.

Abyss

Abyss is one that I wanted to demo at GenCon, though maybe was a good thing I didn’t or I’d have been tempted to buy it then. Plus Abyss has great artwork, and I think I’d have been disappointed if I bought it when it came out because it looks so epic. The game itself is a smaller game in what you are doing and now knowing that, I think it’s the type of game that I’d enjoy.

Mansions of Madness Expansion

In this case, I finally decided to grab an expansion for a game that I love and is in my Top 10 Games of all time. This is just going to add in a little bit more that I can play, give some new tiles new characters things like that. Definitely makes me want to get Mansions of Madness to the table again though.

Dice Conquest

I thought, when I first looked at it that Dice Conquestjust looked like an okay game. And I suspect I don’t find it amazing but will find it fun, and for a game that I can play solo, I’m excited for that. I always want to find small footprint solo games, and Dice Conquest, while it can be multiplayer, is also small footprint for solo.

In this game you are rolling dice, you standard D&D combination of dice, and fighting off monsters, taking damage and trying to make it through the dungeon. Or at least I think of it was a dungeon, where you will then face off against the big bad guy. Each monster is a bit different, and the characters have unique powers, so it should offer fun repeated plays.

All Systems Go

Cascadia

Cascadia is one that I’ve known that I want to try. I actually went into my local game store not to get this game, but the used game I was interested in was already bought. And I have been wanting to try this one. I like Calico, from the same company, which has simpler game play but more punishing.

I am hoping that Cascadia is still easy enough and with the expanding board will work well for a nice relaxing and fun game to play. To me, I think I’ll enjoy that it has a good amount of variety as well. It might lack the tension that I’ll get from Calico but be more relaxing to play.

Thousand Year Old Vampire

I also grabbed this solo RPG book, Thousand Year Old Vampire. I’ve heard about a handful of times and a solo RPG just sounds interesting to me. You are a vampire and it is basically giving you prompts and things like that which you can answer. It might not be for me, it is mature in theme as you’d expect from a vampire, but I want to give it a try.

OOMM Games

Stars of Akarios Minis

Final item on the list is minis for Stars of Akarios. I love Stars of Akarios, and the standee ships are cool. But to have minis for them, for the enemies since your characters have minis already, is going to be awesome. It’s just going to make the board look more epic, and I’m not going to lie, I kind of want to get it back tot he table when it comes in.

Final Thouhts

It’s a lot of games coming in for sure. And some of them are already here. Plus some Kickstarter and Crowdfunding games that I’ve ordered are starting to come in. Mainly I had Tiny Turbo Cars show up a couple of weeks ago. And I just got confirmation that Zombicide Undead or Alive is on it’s way as well. Plus I know Frosthaven is shipping so there are a ton of games.

In fact, there are enough that I’m actually going through and rearranging my game shelf, sorting things again, and possibly finding some to trade away because I need to get more room on the shelf for everything. I’m disappointed though, I have some time off, and Ikea doesn’t have a 4×4 Kallax available, otherwise I’d run and get one of those to get even more shelf space to use.

Which game out of these would you try and get to the table first? I suspect the first might either be Get on Board or Tumbling Dice.

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00 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

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50 through 41 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 40-31

40: So Clover!

So Clover is another party game on the list and another cooperative party game. In So Clover! you are trying to come up with a word that combines two. We’ve seen this before with Medium and Cross Clues. But in So Clover, each person fills out their grid. Then another card with more words is mixed into it. It’s easy to play, hard to explain without the game. But it is a step up of a party game but still not hard to play.

Buy on Amazon

39. First Rat

First Rat immediately stuck with me because of the theme. It’s about rats building space ships to go to space. But with that theme there is a really good and fun game. Mainly, a game of moving rats up a track, but it gives you different ways to do that. You move up the track collecting resources and getting what you need to build different parts of your rocket ship.

It has a cute theme and it leans into that. Plus it is a thinky game without being overly complex which I enjoy. I need to figure out my route but I can go a number of different ways. And how you build your route, while, we are fighting over scoring, so it will affect me, but not too much. And I went a very different strategy than the other players, and still ended up very close.

Buy on Miniature Market

38. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

Next up one of two solo only games on this part of the list. Orchard made the list last year and it’s a great solo game because it’s extremely fast and just a lot of fun to play. In the game you are stacking, or layering, cards so that like fruit trees cover like trees.

The game is just nine cards per game. And the components and package are really nice. I like the game for the speed it plays. A game of Orchard takes me five minutes. If I’m bored or I want something fast to do, Orchard is a great option. Or if i want to multitask while watching a sporting event, that is great as well.

Buy on Miniature Market

37. Welcome To…

Welcome To has dropped some on the list but still a roll and write game that I really like. I say it’s about building your perfect Stepford neighborhood. All the white picket fences are in the right spot and it’s just set-up perfectly to build you little slice of town.

What makes this game work is that it scales to any player count. But also that with that, the game play isn’t too simple. You have three choices each round of what to fill in, and there is good strategy in that. Plus there are expansions of different maps that you can play with which are fun as well.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

36. Mesozooic

Mesozooic is going to be an overlooked game, and some of that is that it’s not going to be a game that works for everyone. It is a light drafting game where you are getting cards to build your dinosaur zoo, a theme that is really popular right now. The drafting part of the game is light, and then the other half of the game is a sliding puzzle. You move your cards around, like a sliding puzzle, to get the most points possible out of your zoo. It’s clever, it’s light, and it’s fun. And you can pick a more complex strategy in hopes you can slide it right, or go for the easy points.

Buy on Miniature Market

35. Potion Explosion

Another light and fun game, we have Potion Explosion. This game is all about cascading marbles so that like colors hit each other. You then use those marbles, you pick up all that cascade, to complete potions. Those potions in turn give you powers that help you get more cascading marbles and even more potions.

The game moves quickly, but it’s again one of those games that are simple to play, but you can master it. And that’s the fun of a game like that one, figuring out how you can best use your potions on a turn so that you can get more potions completed. Then use those potions to complete other potions the next turn. And when you can do that, the game clicks.

Buy on Miniature Market

34. Letter Jam

Letter Jam is an odd game on this list, now not like Mesozooic odd, but odd in that it’s a cooperative word game where you can’t see your word. In fact, you don’t know what it is or any of the letters, really any clue about it.

So, everyone is trying to give the other players clues. And the clues are done in a form of a word. So let’s say that my letter was ‘A’ and someone else gives the clue, each one corresponding to a letter in front of someone else of ‘F’, blank, ‘R’, ‘M’. It’s maybe a solid clue for someone, but for me, it could be ‘FARM’, ‘FORM’, or ‘FIRM’. It’s helped me some but not that much. Letter Jam gives you a chance to give really clever and good clues, which I like.

Buy on Game Nerdz

33. Final Girl

The other solo only game on the list is Final Girl. I won’t go into how it’s played too much, but the premise, along with fun game play, are what really sell it for me. In Final Girl you are the last survivor, or will be, in a horror film. Now, will the killer get you, the ghost track you down, the monster pull you into the swamp? Or will the final girl survive?

The game play, like I said, won’t go into it too much, is a nice hand management puzzle of playing cards to get things done, having enough to get more cards and repeating the process. Van Ryder Games is really smart with how they made this game. There are elements that are consistent across the whole game. But then other things, their feature film boxes, that give you a new final girl and killer and allow you to change everything up.

Buy on Miniature Market

32. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Lost Ruins of Arnak another new to me game this year. Or I should say, one that I played for the first time this year. It’s nice getting taught a game by someone who already knows it well. And that was my experience at Gen Con. But I’ve played it more since then.

Arnak is a game where you are exploring locations, buying better gear, you can find artifacts, idols and more. Now that makes it seem thematic, and I think that the theme does come through. But Arnak is mainly a worker placement game as you send out your explorer meeples. And then deck building which is how you can get more and more actions to do and push up the tracks.

It would be lower, probably in the 60’s if it weren’t for the Expedition Leaders expansion, though. It makes it so each player starts with a different power. Some of them are easy than another, a third explorer to place on the map. But others then have more complex systems but when you leverage them it turns negative points into positive effects or things like that. The game is really fun with the expedition leaders.

Buy From Game Nerdz

31. Super Mega Lucky Box

Final game in this section of 10 is Super Mega Lucky Box. This is another roll and write game and one that looks really simple, because it is basically bingo. But while it is simple, Super Mega Lucky Box is a lot of fun. The game has you going for a “blackout” fully filled sheet to score it. But as you complete rows and columns you get bonuses.

Sometimes the bonuses are just cross off another number on one of your other cards, you have three. Other times you get lightning bolts. And lightning bolts adjust the numbers of the card flipped that you are crossing off. You don’t have a nine, well, spend a lighting bolt and make it an eight. Spend three and makes it a six. Or stars where the more you get a round the more they are worth. Or moons where the person who has the most gets a bonus 6 points, while the least loses 6. All of those bonuses just make for a really fun game with such a simple premise.

Buy on Amazon

Upcoming Streams

If you are following along with the Top 100, you already know that the next one is going to be coming out on Monday at 8:30 PM Central Time. But if you want the link or the video you can find that here. Chat along, talk about your favorite games with me. See if we overlap as I get closer and closer to my Top 10 Games.

Then on Wednesday, no link for it yet, we have Chronicles of Drunagor. I kept this evening free so that I would have time to get it set-up and ready to be played. I’m excited to get it to the table and I hope that you’ll join with me as I play a new campaign game. Chronicles of Drunagor is going to be a big game and one that looks like a ton of fun.

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100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

70 through 61 here.

60 through 51 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 50-41

50. No Thanks!

No Thanks is a small box game with a lot of fun to it. I think that it is almost a small box classic at this point in time. In this game you try and get as few points as possible by saying “No thanks” to cards by putting tokens on them. But run out of tokens you can’t pass and you need to take whatever number comes your way. So it’s a balance of how many tokens, which are -1 point each, are worth it to take a higher number to avoid taking a really high number?

Buy on Amazon

49. Sagrada

Sagrada has been higher on my list before. I think it’s just dropped a little bit because I hadn’t played it in a while, but I’d also just played it a lot at the start. I still really like Sagrada and the dice drafting. It is also one of those games that I was talking about. It is a relaxing game for me to play. I like the puzzle of drafting and dice placement.

I really like the game as a teaching game as well. I can tailor the difficulty to of the game to different groups. There are expansions you can add in to ramp things up. Or you can up the difficulty with the scoring things you can add in or the tools that you can use. It means I use it often as more of a basic game to teach people and get to the table. I want to mix in more of the things soon.

Buy on Game Nerdz

48. Ready Set Bet

Ready Set Bet is a game that I got to play and learn at Gen Con this year. Ready Set Bet! is a real time horse racing and betting game. And it just has infectious excitement around it as you play it. One person is calling out the the races while everyone else is trying to get their bets. There is a hectic nature to it, but because there is the excitement of how the horses are doing, I feel like compared to a lot of real time games, it is much less tense. And it’s just a game about how well you can do with getting your bets in.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

47. Arboretum

Another one of the really pretty games, Arboretum is not one of the nice games though. It’s a mean game of trying to get your trees in a row. What makes it so challenging is that you need to play out cards of tree types. But to score those trees you need to have the most, value wise, of those trees left.

So, you can hold trees, high value trees, in your hand to keep your opponents from scoring. That can block them from scoring, which is very much part of the game. You also then need to consider keeping enough in your hand of trees so you can score yourself. It is a very interesting and mean balancing act.

Buy on Miniature Market

46. Ohanami

Back to a more relaxing game, Ohanami is a game all about collecting different things like stones or plants to give you points. All of the artwork is beautiful in the game. Though, sometimes I don’t look at it that much, at least not until I play out my cards.

Ohanami is a card drafting game. You pick two cards to add to three columns. Those columns always need to be in numerical order. So you are picking cards that you can add while trying to make sure you can always add to them as you’ll draft 30 cards. What makes this one so strong is that you score different colors different rounds. So when you draft cards matters for scoring as well. It’s easy to learn and play but has fun strategy.

Buy On Amazon

45. Floriferous

Floriferous continues that beautiful game trend. And also the drafting trend that is in this section of games. Floriferous is open drafting where you can see all the cards you’ll be picking from. And all you’ll be picking from for several rounds of drafting.

Floriferous does two things that I think are fun. First you draft your scoring cards. It is like Point Salad in that way where you have a choice. You can draft cards to score with, or cards to help facilitate that scoring. But the bigger thing is that you draft cards from a column. And the higher on the column you take, the sooner you go in the next round. So there is strategy if sometimes taking a less ideal card one time to draft the perfect card the next time.

Buy on Miniature Market

44. Res Arcana

Res Arcana is another pretty game, but not in the same way, it is more cool fantasy artwork in the game. But Res Arcana is a very different type of game, it is a tight engine building game where you are racing to 10 points. Why is it so tight, because you have a limited number of cards, 8 that you start with, to build your engine. And while you can add a few, sometimes, you mainly are working with that limited number of cards. So who can get their engine of gathering resources and turning them into points going the fastest?

Buy on Miniature Market

43. Paint the Roses

Paint the Roses is another new one on the list that I first played at Gen Con. It is a cooperative deduction game. Players give clues by placing down flower tiles into the Queen of Hearts garden. The clues are to give direction so players can guess a color combination on a card, or color or shape, or color and shape combination. All the while the Queen of Hearts is coming to lop off our heads.

This game is very clever in what it does, and while I have yet to win, I really like the pressure it puts on. Each turn when you play down a tile, everyone has to come up with a guess for someone’s card. If you get it right, the queen advances slowly, if you get it wrong, she advances faster. And the further you get around the track, the faster she goes, no matter what. So can you fill it up, which will make her happy, or lose your head, which will make her happier?

Buy on Miniature Market

42. T.I.M.E Stories

T.I.M.E Stories has been on the list since the beginning. It is an escape room style game, but one that has more story. Now, I’ve heard that the overall story doesn’t pay off. But I really like every scenario that we’ve played through. And I think that’s one of things that’s so interesting about the game. Each scenario of TIME Stories can be really different.

In this game your consciousness is transported into the past, future, or some other dimension. And you are trying to keep the timeline in order. I would say this is a bit like that TVA in Loki. The goal is to get the timeline back to where it should be, but that isn’t always easy. The downside is, you don’t make it the first time, you go back through and do it again which can get tiresome.

Buy on Miniature Market

41. Twilight Inscription

Rounding out this section, we have another new game to the list. I got to learn and play Twilight Inscription at Gen Con as well. This is the roll and write version, kind of, of Twilight Imperium. It might not quite live up to that, but it is still a long and epic roll and write game.

I can’t really go through everything on it to explain how to play. More, know that there are four different boards. And on your turn, you pick one you want to activate. If you want to be good at war, well, you can activate that board. If you want to gather resources, or explore planets, there are boards for that. Do you need to do a bit of everything, probably, but you can pick what you want to focus on.

Buy on Miniature Market

Upcoming Streams

On Wednesday, I’m going to be unboxing Chronicles of Drunagor, and probably ISS Vanguard. So two big games, and with the unboxing of Chronicles of Drunagor, I am going to be picking out the two characters that I’m going to start my solo campaign with. Join me for that and help me pick out what characters I should start with.

Then next Monday I’ll not be continuing the Top 100 Games (of all time) 2022 Edition. Mainly because it’s Halloween. I foresee not having the time with taking a kid out for that and needing to do the podcast. Even without the podcast, it’ll be a busy evening, and I might want to watch a scary movie or show as well. But I’ll start up again the following week.

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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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Miniature Market Orders

Yes, it is plural. Though two of them are closely tied together. And the latest one was because they had a very nice sale for the 4th of July week, or the week leading into it.

Massive Darkness and Expansions

This one you’ve already seen on the website because I did an unboxing of it on Malts and Meeples. You can checkout that video below. I didn’t get this one on Kickstarter but I was very interested in it. Any game with a campaign mode is going to interest me. Plus this is generally a pretty well rated game, even the original version. So it is one that has been on my radar for a little while. And I want everything for it, but I know I don’t need it. So I got two character expansions and then the core box and the campaign box because of course I want a campaign game.

Fireball Island: Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees

This is part of the sale. I want to say that they were 33-50% off so a good amount. And this is just going to add in more content for Fireball Island. The Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass actually adds to the board this ship wreck area that is cool. And the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees is an expansion that adds a tiger that you launch as well as then a lot of bee marbles.

Once it is in, I am going to make it a priority to table Fireball Island. I think it’s going to be a fun one for a number of groups. Plus it looks great on the table and is a simple enough game for almost any group. That combination is always a good way to get a game played.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg: Herb Witches

I enjoy The Quacks of Quedlinburg a good amount, I think that the game play is simple and fun. And while you can plan, you are really just pushing your luck, which is fun. I do think that out of the box, since they want you to play specific combinations, it might end up being a bit limited. That is where the Herb Witches expansion comes in.

The Herb Witches is going to be an expansion that adds in two more ingredients, I believe, that you can use, plus more scoring combinations. And while the new ingredients will change up the game play. I don’t know how much I really need more of those. But more ways to score is interesting to me.

All Systems Go

All Systems Go, as a reminder, is my preferred FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) though not the only one that I go to, as you’ll see. But I currently have had a bunch of store credit there, so it is a good spot to get some games.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

You know that I am playing the 2nd edition over on Malts and Meeples. But while I am getting into that, I bought up the first edition stuff. Someone had traded in the Mummy core box and the Wrath core box, including the Wrath with all the story expansions for it. So I grabbed that to go along with my Skulls and Shackles core box. Now I have basically all of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game that is out there. There is a 2nd Edition expansion that I kind of want to get.

Ra

Ra is a game that flirts with my Top 100 often. Why, because it’s such a simple game but with a good auctioning mechanic. I really like how there is a closed market and a loop to it. I bid, I win the bid, I get the bid token in the middle, mine goes into the middle. So if I bid with the 16, I think that’s the highest, now the next person to win a big will end up with a 16 to use the next round. It’s clever and it works well.

Zoo-ography

This is one that I don’t know too much about. It plays from 1-4 players and 15 minutes per player. So the game is going to be on the lighter end of things. But it looks like it comes with a lot of cool animal meeples, always a good thing. And it is a drafting game. I really enjoy drafting, see games like Draftosaurus, Sushi Go! Party, or drafting in Blood Rage. So this one with a lot of cute components really interested me.

New York Zoo

And sticking to the zoo theme and animal meeples, we have New York Zoo. This is a polyominal game where you are getting tiles to put into your zoo. Then getting animals and breeding more animals until you get enough to put in attractions. It seems like a pretty straightforward game like Zoo-ography, but one that will also get played. Plus much like drafting, I enjoy tile placement, and New York Zoo seems like a fun theme for that mechanic.

Target

So, every July, at some point in the month, Target rolls out some Target exclusive games. Most notably in that was Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion a few years ago and then Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition last year. I don’t know when that is happening this year or what the games are. But I do know that they often do clearance on games right before. So I picked up one new, and one clearance.

My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra!

I don’t actually know anything about this game. My Hero Academia is an anime that I enjoy but I struggle to watch consistently. Mainly the main character gets way to emotional way to often. But when they have action sequences it is good. Plus there is a really good story with it. I don’t know if this board game is going to be good. It looks like it just came out, but I figured I’d give it a whirl just for the theme.

Summer Camp

And from the clearance side of things there is Summer Camp. This is a deck building game about Summer Camp, oddly enough. You are trying to go up on three different tracks. From what I know of this game, it is a pretty light game but I figured I’d give it a go. Plus it was 50% off, so the price wasn’t bad at all.

The Source

This is the other local game store. But really it’s games, comics, manga, nerdy things store. And I mainly go there to pick up manga, which I’ll be writing sometime soon about the ones that I’m reading.

Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

This is a dungeon questing, monster fighting board game where you are bouncing a quarter onto a coaster. It is purely silly but I am down for that. I might even work it into my Thursday D&D game. Make that be part of what we are doing for fighting a monster this week. Bring the characters to another dimension or something like that. I haven’t worked it all out.

But this is a game that I want to own just for the goofy nature. You probably know by now that I like my dexterity games. And I’d love to find an evening to just have some beers and play this game coming up here. I think it’ll provide a lot of laughs and a good time.

Half Priced Books

HPB is a book store mainly for used books. I’ve picked up some fun series there. And they have a game section. That is where I’ve gotten games like Tannhauser before. This time only one game caught my eye.

Periodic

This is going to be a game about the Periodic table. I know of someone who might like the game better, they have Genotype as well from Genius Games. I’ve heard good things about Periodic, so when was used there, I figured that I’d grab it. I’m not sure it’s a game for me, but we’ll see. And like I said, I think I know someone who would like the game if it isn’t for me.

eBay

Stars of Akarios

I blame the GloryHoundd discord server for this. You can join me on that discord server here. But one of their members found it on eBay with a listing that had a number of the game as a slightly better price than going through the store.

But Stars of Akarios is going to be a game of fighting and exploring on the fringes of space. But it hits so many of the words that I look for in a game. This is a narrative-driven, cooperative, campaign game that can be plays solo. I don’t know why I missed this one on Kickstarter, but I’m glad to have grabbed it now.

Amazon

Yup, Amazon has gotten a little love too. Mainly I’ll toss on a cheap game from time to time. Or sometimes Amazon is the only spot I can find something.

Skull and Shackles Expansions

This is again more Pathfinder Adventure Card game stuff. The story expansions and I think two character expansions for Skulls and Shackles. The name might not imply it, but this is the pirate base game for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. And that is a theme that I really like. So I am curious to see how they will make that game and story work. I always want to run a pirate D&D campaign, maybe this will inspire me.

Crowdfunding

Marvel Dice Throne

This is one that came in. And it’s already gotten to the table 3 times. The downside of it being 3 times is that I still have two characters I need to play. Black Panther and Captain Marvel are waiting for their shot in the sun. I’ll have a whole lot more on this probably around the end of the week.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

This is one that I just late pledged. My curiosity for the game got the better of me. I again, am a sucker for a cooperative, solo playable, narrative-driven campaign game. And Arydia promises that for me, plus some cool minis that you can customize.

Overall, this is just one of those big box games that I’m going to have to start playing as a campaign. I really want to figure out some game to play as a campaign on my own, not stream. Or maybe one that my wife is interested in, and do that once a week just for a little time. I have half of the gaming table that should be free to play on a lot of the time.

Aeon’s End: Past and Future

More Aeon’s End, I am of course going to back this. It is an interesting project though, and it is available for late pledge. But Aeon’s End Past and Future is not a big box expansion like they normally do. Normally it is the next part of the story that they are going through. This actually goes back to the past and looks to the future and you need specific sets already to be able to play it. Of course it’s mainly just more content, so I am down for that.

Deathly Thrones

Deathly Thrones is the only print and play game on the list. This one is interesting, though because it’s not a roll and write game. It’s a solo print and play roguelike game where you use a deck of cards. I didn’t look into it too much, again it is one that was shared to me via the GloryHoundd Discord server. But I think it looks really interesting and unique. If it can pull off a fun game, I could see having this a smaller sized game to pull out and play.

GameNerdz

I said it was a big list and a lot of it is that it has been a while since I’ve done one of these. I don’t believe that I’ve written about this one.

Vampire the Masquerade – Chapters

This is another one of those games where I wish that I’d backed it on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter hasn’t even fulfilled yet and the regret got me, especially since I found it too late to late pledge. Or found it again too late to late pledge. This is going to be another one of those big story driven cooperative solo campaign games set in the world of Vampire the Masquerade.

What intrigues me so much about this one is that it has story and the story from Vampire the Masquerade where it isn’t just vampires chomping necks and sucking blood. But there’s this whole code of what you do. And then you get down to a tactical level map where you can interactions with people and battles that happen which is really interesting. I like that variety in what it does.

GameZenter

Another LGS (local game store) to go along with All Systems Go and The Source. All of them are very nice, I am lucky to have so many around me. And I like to buy something every time I go somewhere and play. And the GameZenter is my favorite spot to play out of the two that you can play at, GameZenter and The Source.

Spirit Island

Spirit Island is a game that I should have played sooner. And in all fairness I have yet to play it now. But it is a cooperative or solo game that has great puzzle elements to it. And it’s complex enough in what your spirit is doing to fight off the colonizers that are coming to the island. So I really want to give it a go and see how it plays. I suspect it’s going to be a game that is bigger that I really like to play solo or at two players.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, I think, that I haven’t talked about. It’s been a busy time getting in games, or getting them in soon. I need to start playing them. But I am close, still to that 100 game total which I wanted to get under for unplayed games. Granted, that number will go up a bit again soon with a few more big box games coming in. I know that Oathsworn is getting close, so I’m sure I’ll write about that in the next Point of Order.

And then other Kickstarters and Gamefound games are starting to get produced. There is a production copy that was unboxed for ISS Vanguard, so I expect that to show up October or November. And Grove is getting close as well as Tiny Turbo Cars. And I think even Spire’s End Hildegard just locked in it’s shipping addresses, though I might be off on that one. Oh, and Chronicles of Drunagor. So expect another big one coming, likely post GenCon.

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