Catch Up on the Top 100 Games

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 60 through 51

60. Trinket Trove

Publisher: GameHead
Designer: Rocco Privetera

Buy Trinket Trove

I love how Trinket Trove has pretty simple rules. But it is a game that offers more than just simple game play. You collect cards in your hand that will be your score at the end of the game. There is a twist, though, as those cards you also use to bid on other cards. So you need to bid to get more cards or get cards that you want, but that means you mess up your hand. I think that little twist is clever as well as being able to take the cards others have bid to make for a really fun game.

59. Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS

Publisher: FLYOS
Designers: Thomas Flippi, Gary Paitre

Buy Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS

Now to another one of those big adventure games that I love, we have Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS. This is set in the World of Darkness/Vampire: The Masquerade RPG setting. And it is a scenario driven adventure game. Now all the scenarios chain together, so it is meant more as a GM-less RPG sort of setting. I like the simplicity in which it plays. And I think balancing things like hunger and abilities is interesting in the game. The story is the element that really gets me though, as the combat itself is pretty simple.

58. Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala

Publisher: Days of Wonder
Designer: Bruno Cathala

Buy Five Tribes is Not Available Currently

This mancala style game is going to give you a ton of ways to score points. And I like that tension of trying to figure out a good move on your turn. Now, I know for some that might introduce some analysis paralysis and there are people I won’t play it with. But I like that puzzle of figuring out what I think is a good move for me and dropping off workers until I get to that last spot. I also like that everything gives you points in the game as that makes even a less than perfect turn still give you something.

57. Too Many Bones

Publisher: Chip Theory Games
Designers: Josh J Carlson, Adam Carlson

Buy Too Many Bones

Another adventure game on the list, I own so much stuff for Too Many Bones. This one is about the Gearlocs that you have and leveling them up. Each one is going to play differently. Some of them might let you level up archery as you unlock new dice, others might start to build bombs that you can use in combat. But this game is one with a great flow. You do an adventure piece, you fight some bad guys, you level up and then you repeat. You do that until you feel that you are ready to face off against the boss, and if you are lucky, you are ready and can win.

56. First-Class Letters

Publisher: GameHead
Designer: Peter C Hayward

Buy First-Class Letters

I love roll and write games, and I like word games. This one is a bit of both. You roll letters and you need to come up with words that use them. But there is a twist to that because there is a letter that you can’t use as well. And of course that is going to be a common letter to make it tricky. To add to that, there are some spots where they set the letter the word must start with. And all the words at the end need to be in alphabetical order. There is a bunch going on, but not too much to ruin the fun.

55. Super Fantasy Brawl

Publisher: Mythic Games
Designer: Jochen Elsenhuth

Super Fantasy Brawl is Currently Unavailable

I don’t love all fighting games. There are a few that I find great, and Super Fantasy Brawl is one of them. This is a game of fighting against an opponent to knock out their characters and complete objectives. But what I love about the game is the simplicity of the play. I play three cards a turn and do their actions, one for each color. Or, if I use a color for a reaction on my opponents turn, then it’s two cards on my turn. I also like that you score objectives at the start of your turn. So you need to hold that spot through your opponents turn.

54. Century: Golem Edition

Publisher: Plan B Games
Designer: Emerson Matsuuchi

Buy Century: Golem Edition

Century: Golem Edition is a great hand management engine building game. Each turn is simple, but the better you are at figuring out how to create a combo with the cards in your hand, the better you’ll do. It’s all about getting games and leveling up those games to get Golems, who are points, in the game. You can get the regular version of this as well, it’s the same game, but I love the Golem artwork and the gems in this are just more fun.

53. Pandemic Legacy Season 1

Publisher: Z-Man Games
Designers: Rob Daviau, Matt Leacock

Buy Pandemic Legacy Season 1

This one is for all the Pandemic Games. I love the Pandemic System, though I haven’t played base Pandemic in quite a while. Mainly because I think that Pandemic Legacy Season 1 and Season 2 are so good. The system just works and the story that you get within the legacy games is great. I even played Pandemic Legacy Season 1 solo on Malts and Meeples early on. So you can see that there, if you want to see how it went for me. I almost feel ready to play it again. If legacy isn’t your thing, than maybe Star Wars, Warhammer, or Lovecraftian horrors will work.

52. Mesozooic

Publisher: Z-Man Games
Designers: Florian Fay, Alexander Ortloff-Tang

Mesozooic is Currently Unavailable

Back to back Z-Man Games on the list, but Mesozooic is very different from Pandemic Legacy. This one is a small little drafting game where you draft eleven cards to make your zoo. But those cards, you don’t get to decide where they fit in your zoo. Instead, you shuffle them up and then then a sliding puzzle, you race to get them in place in 45 seconds. You do that draft and slide puzzle three times and whomever has the best zoos at the end of that is the winner of the game. It’s silly fun and I like it as something really different.

51. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

Publisher: Grey Fox Games
Designer: Tobey Ho

Buy Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

Finally wrapping up with #51 we have Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. This is the one social deduction game that I like, and that is because there is deduction as well. You start to piece together the clues from the Forensic Scientist to figure out the murder weapon and clue. Of course the murder and accomplice are trying to keep you away from that, and the witness is trying to subtly point you in the right direction. It’s just a great time and there is always a story in this game.

Join Next Week

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

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

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What Is A Legacy Game?

A legacy game is a subset of campaign games so let’s start off with the question, what is a campaign game? A campaign game is a game where you what you do in the previous game chains into the next game or carries over in some way. Often times there is story in a campaign game, but not always a ton of story.

Now, keeping campaign games in mind, what is a legacy game? A legacy game is a game where you make permanent changes to the game during and between plays. This might include, writing on elements, destroying elements, adding stickers to elements and more. A legacy game is generally not replayable as the legacy experience after you play it once. But the big element is those permanent changes.

Top 5 Games That Should Get a Legacy Game Version

So what are my rules for the list. The first thing is that I need to have already played the game. So no game that I know would make a solid legacy game even from theme or mechanisms if I haven’t played it. The other is there can’t be a legacy version of it already. In this case the example would be, I can’t ask for Pandemic Legacy Season 3, three legacy Pandemic games already exist.

5. Mansions of Madness

This one maybe should be my #1 for a legacy game. But Mansions of Madness or really a lot of the Arkham Games from Fantasy Flight Games would be perfect. But I love Mansions of Madness a ton and I want a campaign for it, so why not legacy. In this game you play as investigators trying to stop some Eldritch ritual from happening or horror from coming through.

So create an adventure that is going to tie things together, that is more of a campaign than a legacy game though. What do you do for legacy elements? I think player stats and making those improvable throughout the game would be really interesting. My lore is bad at the start, but I can spend some resource to level that up. Or maybe you fail a mission. Instead of playing it again fail forward. But destroy a location that you might have been able to go to and lock out a benefit.

One element I don’t talk about too much is adding in new rules. But I think this game is one where you could easily add in more rules. You create different types of challenges for the players to face and that’s a new rule. Or you unlock new monsters and new bad things that can happen within the game. There is so much in this game as it is that it’s hard to come up with everything that could work for a legacy game.

4. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Now, they did make a campaign game for Lost Ruins of Arnak, but I think a legacy game would be great as well. This is a worker placement and deck building game. In it you explore ruins, gather artifacts, research and note discoveries and more. The player with the most points wins.

As you explore the game, some sites you explore become tapped out. Or you set that something is always going to be at a location that you can get. And as you play through games, you can upgrade items and artifact cards you can get and lock some of them into your starting deck.

Since Arnak is a competitive game, I think adding to those starting decks and improving those cards would be important. If you lose, you get to sticker a card or cards in your starting deck or on your board to give you more starting resources or more flexibility in the cards you have.

Finally, I think that unlocking new research tracks could be interesting so you explore new temples and that changes up the game. As well as new artifacts and items that you can buy would be great as well for options for a legacy game. And possibly even remove/destroy some. Or make some artifacts or items truly one time use.

3. T.I.M.E. Stories

I want to see someone take a run at this one. T.I.M.E. Stories is a time travel game where your consciousness is sent back into the past and you need to complete a mission. If you fail, your consciousness comes back to the future and you loop and try again. There is supposed to be a story that goes through it all, but it only kind of is there.

But I think there are some interesting ways that you could make this a legacy game. The first being that when you go from the past to the future after failing a mission, let’s say by dying, nothing really changes for you. So instead I think it could be really cool to give out scars there. And each person you jump into has a positive and potentially negative thing you need to deal with. Why not give that to the person who jumps into them as well.

Plus there is a lot of story that can be done as well. And I think, something maybe interesting, would be limiting how you can jump back in. Nothing should lock you out of completing the story, but the more you jump back and forth the more the villains notice you, so you keep track of that as well. And the more you do it, maybe the more you change up a scenario, such as you sticker up to hide some bonus that you could have gotten, or destroy that item card that you could find.

2. Xenoshyft: Onslaught

One of my favorite games, another one that I think would be easy to do as a legacy game. This is a deck building tower defense game where players are dealing with waves of bugs attacking the base. You need to build up your deck and your troops to stop the wave of bugs that’s coming to your side of the board, but you also cooperatively help the other players as well, because any weak side is going to let damage through.

There are a few things that I think make sense for a legacy game. The first thing is your side of the base generally has some special abilities. Start with generic ones and as you unlock the game players sticker on new abilities. You also could add abilities and unlock special versions of cards, or change up your starting deck of cards with stickers.

And for the enemies you could unlock new enemies and destroy enemies in some ways to completely remove them from the deck. Of course that is going to come with some sort of cost to the players. But adding in elements like that would be interesting. And I think elements around succeeding or failing a mission and damage to your base or changing funding or cards that you unlock could be really interesting.

1. Burncycle

This game for Chip Theory Games is one of the first that I spotted on my shelf. Now this could be a campaign as well, but it is also one that could make a very good legacy game. The theme of the game is where that strong legacy and campaign element could really take hold.

The world went through a time where robots were in control or important. Then humanity took back over with mega corporations and now the robots are on the run sneaking into these corporations and trying to complete missions. That is what the base game is.

So how could this become legacy? First you chain the missions together. Next as you play, you create new abilities and sticker them on for your robots. Or you upgrade abilities that you already have and they are persistent through the game and you make them unique for how you want to play. I think also the corporations could also have legacy elements to it. You unlock new abilities that replace old ones as they get wise to your tactics. And if the players hack and deal with the right thing, maybe you remove abilities as well.

Final Thoughts

Those are just five games that I think could work well as a legacy game. What is a game that can be a campaign game already but would work well as a legacy game? Is there something that you look for when you see a legacy game?

Right now, though, I really don’t need more legacy games. I am looking at a shelf where I have a few to play. Like the second Aeon’s End Legacy, both Clank! Legacy, Betrayal Legacy, Ticket to Ride Legacy and more. But I always wan to find more and I’m always excited when they come out because they offer some of the richest overall experiences and let designers really play and change up a game.

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Top 3 Memorable Games

3. Gloomhaven Days

You might wonder why this is lower on the list, but this is mainly because the list isn’t in any order. Also because we did this a few times. When we were playing through Gloomhaven we knew how long it would take us, the game has a lot. So we set aside a few Saturdays or Sundays to play Gloomhaven. It is harder now with Frosthaven, two of us have kids. Multiple times we sat down and played three or four scenarios of Gloomhaven on a Saturday.

I remember those times because I like just having a day of gaming. And to play with a game the whole time is just great. I like days of gaming with a lot of different games. Gen Con is the main spot for that, but I’ve hosted days like that as well. But to pick one game, like Gloomhaven and have the group, drink beer, I think we’d order in pizza for dinner and just play the whole day is great. And it is one of those experiences where I know I can recreate it, but it is rarer or harder to do now.

2. Pandemic Legacy Season 1

I like legacy and campaign games. Oddly enough, I think everything on the list will be one or the other of those. But one is just a one off play. But Pandemic Legacy was a mind blowing gaming event. Or less of an event, but more a year of gaming. We got together once a month or so, and we’d play Pandemic Legacy. We would have a meal, sometimes, and play through the month or maybe a bit ahead if we wanted to get in two plays.

But it was great because it was the first time of having a group game like that. Also, when you play a legacy game for the first time, I think, unless you dislike the game, there is something special about it. I play as a character, I can die, and there is story and changes unfolding in Pandemic Legacy, that is great. And yes, it is hard to destroy the cards at first. But we got into it so we were in the experience. And, I think, it’s one of the first times where gaming was such an event and an anticipation with it. Yes, I did game nights before, but Pandemic Legacy felt different.

1. Roll Player Adventures at Gen Con

This one, I’m not sure I’d put it to the top of my list but it was one of the coolest events at Gen Con. And you’ll notice the only Gen Con related event. I thought about putting some other ones down on the list. But Roll Player Adventures stands out to me because I got to play it as a prototype. And I was there with a friend playing it with two other people. So it was a great group for it as well.

But it started off memorable when the designer/developer who was running the demo asks if we want to play the first or second scenario. If was just my friend and myself and we said second. Then we proceeded to take a stab at how well we did on the first scenario and picked all the options that were us doing it poorly.

So it was just a funny start, and then as the group dynamics were set-up throughout the game, we had a great time. And I started messing around with my character, not in a game breaking way but in a role playing way, to be the unofficial leader of the group, in their mind. It was just a blast and a silly and fun experience that playing through the whole game lived up to.

Final Thoughts

I think I could find more games that are great as I go. Playing Lords of Hellas for the first time. Starting up TIME Stories and that experience of just a different type of game. The Ice Cool Tournament at Gen Con, that maybe should have made the list. Or the games of Metal Gear Solid at CMON Expo really recently.

To a lot of other ones where it might be less about the game, but getting together with the Man vs Meeple crew twice at Gen Con and both times having the AC not working at the restaurant (and then we did game as well). And the first year I got to play Ready Set Bet for the first time and just falling in love with that game.

Or all the times playing Magic the Gathering with a group from work. We’d get together in the evenings, most of us were single and most without kids. And then playing during lunch as well, which morphed into lunch board games as well. That is when and why I got into Magic the Gathering. So many different experiences.

What are some of your best games and gaming experiences? It might even be for a mediocre game, but is the situation is right, that can still be a memorable gaming experience.

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

100 through 91

90 through 81

80 through 71

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

70. Medium

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

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

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

Buy Medium

69. Under Falling Skies

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

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

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

Buy Under Falling Skies

68. Blank Slate

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

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

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

Buy Blank Slate

67. The Quacks of Quedlinburg

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

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

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

Buy Quacks of Quedlinburg

66. Pandemic Legacy Season One (and all Version)

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

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

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

Buy Pandemic Legacy Season One

65. Skytear Horde

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

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

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

Buy Skytear Horde

64. Marvel United

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

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

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

Buy Marvel United X-Men

63. Lords of Hellas

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

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

Sold Out

62. SpellBook

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

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

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

Buy SpellBook

61. Draftosaurus

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

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

Buy Draftosaurus

Upcoming Streams

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

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

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

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There is more thought into this list than what’s my Top 10. My Top 10 games of all time, some of them might make the list, but others not because it might seem overwhelming to me as a teenager. Or it might be a theme that I like more now as compared to what I did back then. So there’s taking all of that, or even complexity of rules, into consideration.

Top 5 Board Games I Wish I Had As A Teenager

5. Betrayal at House on the Hill

This just missed me being a teenager and I definitely played it later. But I think that younger me, like older me, would have enjoyed this game a lot. The whole idea of exploring a board that is always changing would have been cool. I was used to playing weird giant games of Catan, so the modular element as you build as you go I think I’d have liked.

Plus I’d have liked the competitive switch of the game. You are working together but really you want to get what is best for you. So how can you do that quickly for when the haunt comes. And while the haunts themselves likely would cause debate, I’d have been cool with the not well written haunt directions.

4. Pandemic Legacy

Pandemic Legacy probably would have blown my mind. A cooperative game would have done that but also then with it being a legacy game. Being able to adjust the board as we go and that changing the game, that’d have blown my mind. It kind of still did when Pandemic Legacy came out as that was my first legacy game.

And I’d have liked the story that went along with the game. I didn’t have games that really had story with them. But I was a teenager who read a lot. Authors like Robert Ludlum were part of what I was reading with all of these crazy political plots and others as well and Pandemic Legacy would have been a lighter version of that with a game and I always loved games.

3. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion/Gloomhaven/Frosthaven

This isn’t my final three games. But I do have all of them on the list. I think as a 15 year old getting Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, I’d have loved it. And then Gloomhaven and Frosthaven are games I’d have saved up money for. But I don’t think I could have jumped into either of the bigger boxes. Instead Jaws of the Lions with it’s tutorial would be an amazing starting place. And I would then want more, which I think would have kept me busy for a long time.

And I’d have played Gloomhaven solo but also, likely at the same time, gone through it with friends. I wouldn’t have had the consistent schedule on the calendar as an adult who can drive. But one Saturday a month have a friend over and my brother as well we’d play probably 4 scenarios in a day and go late into the night. And then more often as I got a drivers license.

2. Ice Cool

Completely different end of the spectrum here, Ice Cool would have been amazing. I’d have messed around with it more to come up with my own builds. I definitely would have wanted to get Ice Cool 2 as well. But this is just a simple flicking game, but that toy factor and fun factor would have made it great for holidays, still does, and playing with my cousins. It’s really the toy factor on this one that would make it great.

1. Dice Throne

Finally we have Dice Throne, so only my Top 2 games out of my Top 10 made it onto the list. And one even with the caveat that it’s only going through the tutorial. Dice Throne would have been amazing, though, it’s battle Yahtzee. I could have put King of Tokyo onto that list as well. But I think I’d have really loved, and clearly still do, that idea that I pick my own unique hero that I get to play with. That’s not something that shows up in a ton of other games, otherwise.

And the one versus one is nice with the game, or bigger groups. I don’t think that I’d have used this as a family game, play 5 people, but it’d have been three player battles a lot. Or I think I’d have played it solo, not as Dice Throne Adventures, but just running two characters to learn them and their strategies really well, because, well, I had time to do that more than I do now.

What Would You Have Wanted To Play?

It’s a fun question to ask. There are so many more board games out there now than when I was a teenager. And I think I could come up with a huge list for it. I only had two campaign games, one pretty standard and one much more complex. But I think if I got into Gloomhaven young enough I’d have started learning and looking at other more complex games.

When I was growing up as a teenager though, the games I played were Catan, Ticket to Ride, and then more classic games like Phase 10, Yahtzee, Skip-Bo, Rummikub and more like that. What games do you think you’d have loved as a teenager?

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What You To Pay Attention To When Picking a Campaign Game

This list isn’t in a particular order. Each of these things can matter, and a lot of them matter less than you’d think. I’ll explain as I go, but all of them are things to consider when picking out a campaign game.

Ideal Player Count

We’ll start with the player count. I think that this can often be an overlooked part of the game. The reason for that is that some games play at four. And then if you play with less, you have dumbed down versions of characters available. This might be a well implemented system, or it could be clunky. The main reason to find that ideal player count is that you don’t want to play four handed solo, unless you want to play four handed solo. Some campaigns will give you true solo, others will require you to play two or four handed.

Theme

This one is probably already in your consideration. Theme often is the first thing you can kind of tell from the box. But it is worth digging into further. Sometimes a game will be lighter or darker in theme than the cover looks. The easiest way is to use examples. Sword & Sorcery has a somewhat dark looking cover, for the most part that is a lighter and simpler story. Tainted Grail has a dark cover, that is a dark game. Know what sort of theme you are getting into.

Set-up and Tear Down

Now we’re onto one that is harder to find. How easy is the game to set-up and tear own. The simplest way to know is if there are inserts for the game. Now, some games just get inserts to get everything into one box. But if there are third party inserts to make the game easier to table, it’s probably heavy to get the table.

Now, this isn’t always an issue. I have a co-worker who has room at the end of a table to keep a game set-up. That speeds it up a ton. Or I own a gaming table so that means I keep a campaign set-up on the bottom player and put on the topper to play other games. But those are specific situations. If you can’t do that, then this is a bigger question.

Tutorial System

Next up is one that will depend on you again. But I appreciate that more games are coming with tutorial systems to get you up and playing the game. Sleeping Gods walks you through a few turns, Tainted Grail has a tutorial and same with ISS Vanguard and Jaws of the Lion teaches you Gloomhaven in five scenarios.

Is this needed, not always, but it depends on the complexity of the game. And campaign games are often more complex. That means that tutorials really do help get the game to the table. When you learn the game by playing the game it sticks better. And when you use the rule book only as a reference, it reduces the barrier to entry.

Game Length

To go with set-up and tear down, the question is, how long does a game take to play. In Gloomhaven, for example, it took about an hour or so per scenario when we knew what we were doing. We would get two done in an night and be done prior to 10 PM. Others it’s whole night, generally at a relaxed pace, from 7:30-7:45 until 11:30 for the game.

So know how long you have, this one is subjective again because you might have kids and need to check on them or have a babysitter so until 11:30 might not work as well as 10 PM. Know your situation when picking a game. And factor in that set-up and tear down time because if it’s a two hour session and thirty minutes to set-up and thirty to tear down, you really have a three hour session.

Campaign Length

This is different than the game length, and maybe what you thought I was going to talk about when I said game length. But this is how long is the overall campaign? Is it 12-24 sessions like Pandemic Legacy, or 50+ sessions like Gloomhaven?

This one is again one that will depend on your needs. There is no hard and fast rule, really with any of these, only things to think about and figure out what matters to you. But if you can’t commit to a very long game, don’t do so. Gloomhaven might be too long, but does Jaws of the Lion work for you as a shorter smaller box version? Know what sort of commitment you have from yourself and if playing with others, the group.

Complexity

Finally, and that again doesn’t mean least important, know the complexity of the game. I would recommend using Board Game Geek to get the weight of a game, but know that it is not always the most consistent. Meaning that a war game that is a 3 is probably much heavier than a board game that is a 3, and a campaign game that is a 3 is probably more complex than a regular board game that is a 3.

The reason for this is that people who rate those games, the war or campaign games, are used to that type of game. The difference between a campaign game and a regular game will be less though. I recommend using that number in comparing within the style of game. Figure out how complex you want to go for the game.

And know that a campaign game is likely going to be more complex. Something like Legacy of Dragonholt is pretty simple because it’s basically choose your own adventure. But that is an outlier when you look up campaign games. Most are going to be a bit more complex, just decide how complex you want to go. And know if there is a tutorial because that can help make it simpler to learn.

So What Game Do You Pick?

That’s such a good question. And while I gave you a lot of things to look into, that won’t always make it easier to pick. There are a ton of campaign games to look at out there. And some of them might be for you, others might not work out for various reasons.

I think the last piece of advice or two pieces are less around about the game, and more about researching. So with my list it is looking at the specifics of a game. Here is about your picking or starting that digging in process.

Firstly, narrow your scope. All of them might look great. But ask yourself some basic questions, how many do I play with and filter the results to match your player count. What theme do I want? Filter your results even further. Get it down to 3-5 that look really good and dig into those.

Secondly, while Board Game Geek and Nerdologists.com will give you some advice, it is words, generally. Or video reviews on Board Game Geek, and that doesn’t show you the game as much. So I recommend tracking down game plays. Malts and Meeples and Meet Me At The Table are two I recommend for actual game plays.

Hopefully this will help with picking a campaign game. There are a ton of them out there and I’ve played a number. So if you are curious about one, leave a comment or question one of the ways below. I tend to respond quickest to Facebook or Twitter.

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This game, I’ll say, caught my eye because of the artwork and because I know one of the designers. With that said, as I look at what might not work and what might, I’ll try and be fair and balanced. I do want people to know, when reading this, that I have more of a connection to the game than sometimes. On the flip side, I’ve played it as part of OOMM Games playtesting, so I have experience with it. You can checkout the campaign here.

How To Play Stonesaga

Stonesaga is a legacy game where the decision you make about how to build up your society will affect the game. I will talk more about legacy aspects later. But the game play is pretty simple, you have a limited number of action points to take actions with each round and players can take their action(s) in any order.

The actions are things like gather resources, craft, hunt, fish, explore new areas and more. All of these things, or most, are done through there little game. For fishing, you are trying to complete fishing tracks to get fish as a reward and any other bonus, like more water. For hunting or foraging, you explore a tableau trying to avoid the monster and collet resources. And then you can craft using resources that you’ve found to invent or build new things.

Each of these actions is going to help you find and build towards different goals that you have. Each goal is going to lead to another though some of them are going to lead to another and to the end of that game session. And as you find stuff, your story will progress.

Why You Don’t Need This Game

Firstly, it is a legacy game. I did say that I was going to talk about that. I understand the risks of a legacy game. However, it is a legacy game that you can reset and play again, finding the story you missed maybe 2-4 times, depending on player count. But it will limit how many times you can play the game.

Also the price point of this game. It is not a cheap game, again for a legacy game as well. If you go all in, it’s a fair amount and is that worth it for a limited number of plays. To OOMM’s defense on this one I have Stars of Akarios and the products they put out are high quality. But for a game that isn’t minis filled, it is expensive, though the other content is what makes the price go up. Shipping, on the other hand, is very reasonable.

Finally, and this ties into the first one, it is a legacy game and the best legacy games for me have good story to them. I say that, but I also enjoyed Risk Legacy which is light on the story. But Pandemic Legacy seasons 1 & 2 had a lot of story and I liked them the best. Or they stuck with me the best. Charterstone was some mechanics with pasted on story. Where will Stonesaga land. And maybe it isn’t an issue for me, but I think about it.

Why You Need This Game

Let’s start out with that it is very mechanically sound and interesting. The minis games are a lot of fun as you start to dig into all of your options. Delving deeper and deeper and then needing to get back out is interesting. Fishing is a dice placement puzzle of trying to catch what you can but also not fail the check and have bad things happen. Foraging/hunting in the forest might cause you to come across a monster. But it also gives you a grid to layout to create your most optimal gathering.

Also, since I have played it, there is some solid story to it. Is it the most story, is it like Pandemic with story between missions that tells you how the world is changing, or a paragraph in Aeon’s End Legacy, no, it is less. But it is more than Charterstone. And the decision you make, how you build up your settlement, will make a difference in what you explore next as the story branches out. And I like that story but I also like how it does the branching as well.

Finally, this one is based off my experience with OOMM Games games not doing the playtesting or the company itself. But their games are a lot of fun. They offer a ton of different and unique things in them. Stars of Akarios is very ambitious but works really well with a hodgepodge of mechanics and provides a fun story. So based off of my gaming history with OOMM Games, I don’t know if this is a game you’ll want to miss.

Back or Brick – Stonesaga

This is a Back for me. And I backed it at the highest level. Now, I will say that if it wasn’t OOMM Games and I didn’t know the designer, I might have backed it at the lower level. The value seems just a bit stronger there for what you are getting. Though as the campaign goes on, that might change.

But this is a game that will have limited retail availability. OOMM does seem to get some extra stock but they don’t have wide retail releases. And things like expansions will be harder to get. Yes, that is leaning into the FOMO, but I’m doing so based off of playing it.

Now, there are reasons it won’t be for everyone. If you like to get two games a year and delve into them 50+ times each, legacy won’t work. But you already know that. I do think mechanically, with snappy quick actions it is accessible. I found that it is very collaborative as you play, and that players stay engaged because of the mechanics.

How about for you, is it a back or brick?

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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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Top 10 Games to Start A Board Game Collection

10. Super Mega Lucky Box

This is a roll and write game that is basically bingo. The reason that this is lower on the list is only because there are a good number roll and write games that can work. In this one you are filling in sheets of numbers and as you get in rows and columns you get bonuses. It’s light, it’s easy, and it’s a lot of fun. Plus, there is more strategy than you’d think as you pick more cards to fill in.

9. Ohanami

Ohanami, and a few on here, are because they can remind you of other games. Ohanami has a bit of a Rack-o feel to it, but with interesting scoring. You are drafting cards, first of three drafting games on the list, and then adding them to columns. It also needs to decrease or increase the number in a column which can be a bit tricky.

But what makes this one good for a game to start a collection with is the scoring. You only score some things certain rounds. So blue cards you score every round but they are worth fewer points. Green only the 2nd and 3rd rounds and grey only the last round. Plus then pink at the end of the game. So it’s interesting strategy as to when you want to draft cards.

8. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

This one might surprise some people, but I think a good campaign game is not a bad thing to have. And Jaws of the Lion teaches you how to play, slowly adding in rules over the first few scenarios. And it allows for deeper strategy as you go. I think that it’s on the heavier end that I’d look for if I were getting into board games. But it is pretty accessible and for someone who really wants to jump in that good big option.

7. Just One

This one you can swap out, though I’d say less easily than the roll and writes. But more so, some people just don’t want party games. Just One, I think, is different enough that it works really well. But I also get why someone might not want a party game in their collection. Or that people might already have party games. Just One is different as it’s a cooperative party game, though. So I think it works better because of that and because it’s just less random.

6. Sushi Go Party

Another drafting game with Sushi Go Party. This one is on the list as it offers simple set collection. It has great artwork, and for a drafting game, it has good variety. An issue that I have with some other drafting games no longer in my collection is the variety. I don’t think I’d recommend Sushi Go, but Sushi Go Party means that it can stick around for a really long time in a collection.

5. Sagrada

Sagrada is the last drafting game on the list. The reason I have this one here is that it’s a pretty game, there is some complexity that can be added in with which tools you use, but generally it’s not hard to table. And you can scale up in difficulty as you go. And it sells itself when you pull it out and put it on the table. The dice are great, the game is just fun and it even scales challenge level for players as well.

4. Small World

Small World is one that sticks in my collection because I play it still every couple of years. But it’s that game that is the Risk replacement for the collection. And one of two really in your face games on the list. The next one is coming up soon. Small World is all about battling over areas on a board, scoring points, but doing so with crazy class and power combinations. It’s also a game where if one person is beat up on, well, they go into decline and come back onto the board with a new combo and beat everyone else up. It’s a game of laughter and slaughter.

3. Dice Throne

I originally had King of Tokyo on the list. But I now think that Dice Throne is the better option. There is more going on but less going on in this head to head battler (or King of the Hill). It’s basically battle Yahtzee with powers and abilities for the characters you are battling with. And the fact there are so many characters out there, you can start by buying a box or two, or getting the Marvel 4 character box, and add on from there. And the game is so mix and match as well, it’s great.

2. Pandemic

Pandemic, a classic cooperative game, makes the list as well. I think that this one could also be Pandemic Legacy Season 1. It’s a good campaign option, but base Pandemic gives you more replayability and unlike my other campaign game, Pandemic Legacy can only be played once through per game purchased.

But Pandemic is a game about stopping disease outbreaks across the world and looking for cures. The cooperative nature of the game can mean that one person takes over and tries to run everyone’s turn, but push back on that. Pandemic is a great one in that most people can pretty quickly grasp it and be doing well and discussing and working together.

1. Ticket To Ride

Finally we have Ticket to Ride. Yes, I don’t have Catan on the list. I think that Catan is a solid game but Ticket to Ride has stayed on my shelf and is unlikely to leave. This set collection, route building game is just a classic at this point. And it’s a classic where there aren’t expansions. I don’t play it that often but it’s one that I won’t say no to playing and I think for a lot of people, Ticket to Ride stays around for that really accessible game to play.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of board games that could make up a great start to a collection. Like I said, there isn’t really a right or wrong way to start it and that’s part of the fun of it. I considered games like Century: Golem Edition, Potion Explosion, Kohaku, and others for some relaxing games. Or party games like So Clover or Medium. There are really a ton of great options. And who knows you might be so excited you just want to start with 10 campaign games (not recommended).

Which game would you want to start if you were building your collection for the first time?

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Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven, and I’ll include Jaws of the Lion, is going to be a campaign game for the person who wants a lot of control over what they are doing. The card play in Gloomhaven is great and really smart. I love picking two cards, one to use the top of and the other to use the bottom. But if I’m slower than other players or the enemies, now I need to put flexibility into what I’m doing. Gloomhaven also provides great character progression. It isn’t too fast so you learn and can use and enjoy the new cards but then be gaining XP for the next new card.

I also think that Gloomhaven, the big box, works well for players who like the change it up. You retire a character after some time. You’ll hit your secret goal and it’ll be time to retire them and move on. If you get really attached to a character or a way to play the game, Gloomhaven won’t be for you. It is better for a game that changes everything up as you get new characters with how you play them.

Sword & Sorcery

As compared to Gloomhaven, Sword and Sorcery is light and small. Now it’s still a big box with a lot of minis in the box. But Sword and Sorcery is all about the dice chucking. The story is pretty light, the decision making space in where the story goes really doesn’t exist. But when it comes to optimizing how many dice you can have and roll, Sword & Sorcery does that.

Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios is an interesting hybrid. I would say that this game is for people who want something like Gloomhaven, though the game is very different, but set in space. You can watch game play here. But this is going to be your big space epic game, and probably the biggest space campaign game, at least until ISS Vanguard comes out soon.

But this is also the game for the person who wants a little bit of everything. There is some choose your own adventure. Tactical space combat and then space and planet exploration. So really a little bit of everything that you could do. And they manage to make all of them work, though you need to be in for the space combat because that is the biggest piece.

Pandemic Legacy

This is one I’d say three introductory campaign games. And Pandemic Legacy is a legacy game on top of that. This one, though, might be the best, because in Pandemic Legacy Season 1, if you’ve played Pandemic, you can basically jump in and play the game. If not, it’s an easy teach and a cooperative game.

This is really just a story driven version of Pandemic. It does introduce rules as you go along. But it ramps up players slowly. So if you know someone who is interested at all in gaming, this is a great option to start.

Tainted Grail

Moving to the other extreme, this is not introductory friendly. There are rules you kind of need to look up to figure out what is going on. And there will be situations where the rules maybe don’t explain everything. But Tainted Grail offers some of the best story experience I’ve had in a game.

The story is dark, the story is adult. And the game has a strong survival element as well. I really recommend this one on story mode. The game is still very hard at times. There are going to be combats where you just look at it and run away. But when you dive into the story, it is just so good. So much depth to the world and every expansion gives even more story that is just amazing.

Charterstone

Charterstone is a euro campaign game. It’s one that I think euro players will like, it is a campaign game, and it adds in things. I also think that Charterstone is also a good one for a budding euro player. It’s pretty simple to start and definitely adds in a lot as you go along.

The story for me on Charterstone is very weak, and I honestly thing it pretends too much with it. But the game play is solid. It is a good euro game. And for a legacy game, you can still it after. They even offer a recharge pack, as does the next one on the list as well. But I don’t know what I’d want it.

Aeon’s End Legacy

Aeon’s End Legacy is another one with a weaker story to it. But a story that I sound fun. You can watch the whole of the game over on Malts and Meeples, I’ll put the first part down below. But if you like deck building or are interested, this is a great spot to start.

I also think that this is a great game for players who want to make their own character. As a legacy game it allows you to build up your breach mage with the cards you want the way you want. Other games allow you to customize somewhat, here you really get so much choice over that. Deck building helps provide some of that, but also with the powers you get, it works nicely as well.

My City

Another legacy game on the list and another one that is really easy to get to the table. It is a tile laying game where everyone has their own set of tiles and a card if flipped over to determine which one to put down. There are additional rules that are added as you play further into the game, but it is never too much.

This is also a great campaign or legacy game for people who don’t have that much time. Or don’t have a big block of time. It’s easy to pull out and play a game that takes maybe 30 minutes. Then you do that again two nights later, and so on and it’ll never take you that long to be back up and running.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Another one that I played on Malts and Meeples. This one is kind of like Aeon’s End Legacy, but instead of deck building through game play, this offers deck construction. So if you like optimizing your character to be good at some things, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is good for that.

I also think that this works well for maybe the person who doesn’t have time to play Pathfinder. If you’ve played Pathfinder and done the adventures, you’ll get more into the story, recognize characters and places. But it’s less of a commitment than jumping into another campaign and planning out 3 hours every week or two to play, at least.

Paper Dungeons

Paper Dungeons is an odd one on the list. It is technically a campaign game, you play through cards with monsters to fight. But it doesn’t need to be, it can be a one off. Nor do I think the campaign is all that great. But if you really like roll and write games, and Paper Dungeons is a very good roll and write game, this is going to give you a heftier roll and write to play. And also one that I played on Malts and Meeples.

Sleeping Gods

Alright, one more that is on Malts and Meeples. Sleeping Gods is for the player who wants a weird fantasy world but also wants to be able to do whatever they want. All the other campaigns on the list give you a general order of doing things. Some might have side missions but generally they’re about the main story that is going through.

Sleeping Gods gives you fun card play and a lot of interesting powers and decisions. Now, I’d recommend that you get the sequel one, it’s coming out sometime probably next year. It’ll make a few things cleaner, like not having to control as many characters. But the one you can get now is great as well and the story tends to be one of the lighter ones and more fun. And the story works as well which is impressive with no real direction.

Risk Legacy

Another legacy game on the list and only one more after this one before the list is finished off. But Risk Legacy is going to be for the person who likes that in your face game. But whereas Risk can be annoying and take forever. In Risk Legacy the games are much faster, so it’s also for the person who likes that in your face but finds Risk way to long. I’m one of those people, so this one is a lot of fun when you want something very competitive.

Seafall

Finally, I had to put it on the list because I technically did play probably half of it or a bit more. This one I don’t really recommend. I think that there are elements of the game that work but most don’t. If you go back to Sleeping Gods where I talk about open world, that one tells a great story in spite of that. Seafall is also open world but it doesn’t tell a good story.

Also the games are just too long, so I really don’t recommend it for that. The longer you play the higher the points get, plus you unlock things so that means there is even more to think about. I want this to be so much better than it is, it had potential and it just falls flat.

Final Thoughts

13 campaign games on the list. And I thought about adding in Arkham Horror the Card Game, and when I get around to a campaign box for Marvel Champions. So clearly I love campaign games, but like I said, not all of them are for everyone.

If you are looking to dive into a campaign game, I really recommend probably three games as my top choices. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a great small box version of Gloomhaven. And it’ll give you the exact same game just with less stuff and less cost. Pandemic Legacy is a good one to jump into as well because a lot of people know Pandemic. Start with Season 1 and it’ll be an easy way to see how much you like legacy games and campaign games. And finally, I think that if you want something bigger and maybe a bit more challenging, I recommend Sleeping Gods. I like it solo, but I think most people will like it at three players.

But let me know what your favorite campaign games are? And how do you play them?

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