Wish List Board Games

41: Pyramid of the Pengqueen

Low on the list, but let’s be fair, I do still want all of these games. This one just seems like an interesting idea, and it’s penguins. But the basic concept is what one person is playing as the Pengqueen who is going around her Pyramid, but no one can see where she is going. Everyone else is trying to get treasures. It’s kind of a hidden movement with a board that is vertical and magnets on both sides. So if you get to close, the magnets attract. Cool simple looking game for the holidays and with the toddler eventually. That’s why I want it.

40: Stella: Dixit Universe

A twist on Dixit where it keeps the great artwork. But players are trying to associate words with pictures and match up those words. And to me that sounds more interesting, and overall just a good looking party game. It also doesn’t have the thing that I don’t love of find the right answer in a bunch of them or tailor your answer to whomever is picking the best that so many also have. This one there isn’t a “right” answer, but you’re playing everyone.

39: Thunderstone Quest!

Thunderstone Quest! is a deck building game, so you might think it’d be higher on my list. For me, I think that I’d like the game a lot, but I’m not sure how much I’d play it over the other deck building games that I love. Thunderstone Quest with it’s fantasy theme and dungeon delving looks cool. But compared to something like Xenoshyft: Onslaught, Aeon’s End, or Clank!, I’m not sure that it’ll do enough for me. It looks like it’s basically just a deck building game.

38: Mice and Mystics

Mice and Mystics is one of the older games on the list. And one of the first storybook games from Plaid Hat Games. These are the ones where there is a book with maps and those are the boards that you play on. I like the feel of this where you play as the mice fighting other things. It’s lower because I really wanted to like Stuffed Fables and I thought it was a bit much for what it did. And that was building off of the Mice and Mystics system, slightly. So I’m worried this will feel like there are too many extra rules with the different pages as well.

37: Coconuts

Now for something very silly. Coconuts is a game where you are tossing coconuts with a monkey trying to get them to land in cups. As they land in cups, you get them and you are trying to complete a collection up to a certain number. But people can steal your cups. A fast paced dexterity game that is meant for that fifteen minute palette cleansing game.

36: Blank Slate

Another party game, in Blank Slate. Blank Slate is a matching game, where you put own a word to complete a phrase, [blank] Run for example. And they are trying to match with another player’s word. If they match up with one person, you get two points each. If you match up with more, well, you still get points but not as many. Simple concept of a game, but one that I could see working in almost any situation.

35: Qwirkle

One that I’ve played before. Qwirkle is an abstract game where you try and complete rows of six either of the same color or of the same symbol to get a lot of points. It’s kind of a cross between Scrabble and Rummikub. Both of them are classic games which I still enjoy. This one is definitely in that classic vein, but very easy to learn and play. So good one to pull out and have some fun with.

34: MicroMacro: Crime City

A combination of Where is Waldo and a who done it, MicroMacro: Crime City gives you a big map that you’re looking to follow a crime that has happened. The artwork is pretty cute and done all in black and white. What is cool about this one is that while it’s just a single map for all the cases, the cases are still dynamic. You can follow a blood trail and still see the same character as if they are moving. So the world is in motion which is really clever.

33: SET

Another classic game, and one that I mainly want to have in my collection because I’m good at it, or I was. It would kind of be one of those party trick games where I could dominate and impress. Kind of like Mastermind and always getting it in five rounds. So it’s more nostalgia than I think this is a great game. But I am curious to see if I’d still be as good at it.

32: Unmatched

Unmatched, and in particular I want the Marvel stuff that was announced a while ago and still isn’t out yet. But I do want to play this game system. It’s pretty clever how you spend cards to do actions, including to draw cards, and you’re looking to keep that balance of attack, move, and defend cards to play around with. Plus, when can you fight Bruce Lee vs some Raptors? Or Buffy the Vampire Hunter against Little Red Riding Hood?

31: Ramen! Ramen!

This one I mainly want because I think it’s going to be a small and cute set collection game. And because the artwork really makes me want ramen. So maybe that’s what I really need is to order or make some ramen soon. But the game looks like simple fun in that weight of something like Sushi Go. And with cute artwork like Sushi Go, that generally means that it’ll get played fairly often.

30: Risk: Shadow Forces

This is a new version of Risk Legacy. Now, there does seem to be fewer legacy elements to it than Risk Legacy, but you’ll see a number of legacy games on this list. I really like legacy games, and Risk is a fine game. I thought that Risk Legacy really improved upon it. So I’m hoping that this will just be another fun version of Risk.

29: Transhumanity

This isn’t a legacy game but more of a campaign game. Earth has leapt to somewhere else gone is the sun, next to us now, a scarlet dwarf star. Or maybe Earth stayed and they switched the other way. But the theme is cool and it’s a cooperative campaign where you are trying to influence what happens on Earth or the other Earths that have shown up as well as improve your deck of cards through card drafting. I’m mainly digging this one for the story, but I suspect it’s going to be right up my alley.

28: Gloom of Killforth

I own Shadows of Killforth that I need to play. But this is going to be a fantasy survival game where the world is very shrinking as the gloom takes it over. And you as a hero are building up your cards so that by the end of the game you’ll be able to defeat the big bad. And you can go to spots where gloom has taken over, but it’ll be harder to do anything there. Good concept and good artwork. I mainly want this because of completionist tendencies and I should just play Shadows of Killforth

27: Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories is supposed to be a very hard cooperative game. Players are trying to drive back ghosts and take them out in this game. And I like the horror them. Plus I really like the very hard cooperative nature. I know that sometimes cooperative games can be too hard, and I don’t want them all to be too hard, but this one, I want to bang my head against it’s difficulty and see if I can win.

26: Aqualin

Aqualin is a two player game from Kosmos. It doesn’t seem like too difficult a game but looks fun. One player is trying to group sea creatures by color. The other is trying to do it by fish type. It almost reminds me a bit of Qwirkle, but each player has a specific goal. I like little simple games like this that shouldn’t take too long to play but offer lots of very good choices.

25: Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawler – Heroes of the Undermountains

There are a few roll and write games on this list, I don’t own all of them. But this one is on the list for two reasons. Firstly, I like the Dungeons and Dragons theme. And I know it isn’t the first and hasn’t been the last, but I like the idea of a dungeon crawler roll and write. I’m worried that it might be a cash grab of a game, considering the IP and popularity of roll and write games, but I still want to give it a try.

24: Machi Koro Legacy

Another legacy game, this is basically just Machi Koro, a game that I like. But it’s a short legacy campaign and then you can play Machi Koro. So, I want to get the game to just be able to play through the campaign and then have a copy of the game back in my collection. This is a legacy game that I can sit down and play with anyone, or probably even play over a weekend if I really wanted.

23: Menara

Menara is a dexterity stacking game. But a cooperative one, so no one is pulling for someone else to knock over the tower. To me that’s more interesting than something like Jenga. It changes the game from “haha, you knocked down to the tower” to “oh no, the tower fell down”. And that just feels better as a game when something game ending happens and it’s not about it being one person who is losing.

22: The Librarians: Adventure Card Game

This is another one that I’ve played. Granted, it was in prototype form on TableTop Simulator. The game was a good time and I really like the show. And the game has you playing through season one of the show. It’s a good cooperative game with solid mechanics. And I’d be more excited for this if I could play a real copy of it. And even with that less than ideal play, I am still ready to pick it up if I get a chance.

21: Star Wars: Rebellion

And another game that I’ve played. Star Wars: Rebellion is the original trilogy in a box, but your version of the original trilogy. It’s a lot of fun and a great two player game with one side being the Rebels and the other being the Empire. It has been on sale a few times, the only reason I haven’t picked it up is I know someone who owns it.

20: Adventure Ink: Five Factions of Filigree

I don’t know when this one will be hitting Kickstarter or published, I’m not sure which it’ll do, I’m guessing Kickstarter. And for that reason it is pretty low on this list because I am very excited for it. It’s a big story game but also a roll and write type game where things that you roll will get drawn onto things, I believe dry erase. The whole concept sounds very ambitious and very different. So like most games and projects that I enjoy.

19: Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

So, I was talking about roll and writes, here’s another one. And one that I know that I like. Super-Skill Pinball is maybe the most thematic roll and write game that I’ve played. And this basically slaps a Star Trek theme onto it, I’m curious I want to know what the tables will do. Because if it’s basically just taking existing tables and making them Star Trek, then this would drop off the list. But I’m guessing it’ll be all new tables.

18: Floor Plan: The Winchester Mystery Mansion

I got rid of Floor Plan, but I’m excited for this. My issue with Floor Plan, while fun, was that I didn’t feel too much like I was making a floor plan. The houses that were made were just too crazy. You could build a room with zero doors, and as long as it met criteria, it would give you points. But the Winchester Mystery Mansion is crazy in real life, so a crazy floor plan will make more sense.

17: Dungeon Party

This could also be called Dungeon Quarters. And that’s why I want the game, it looks like one of those games that would be simple enough to pull out almost anywhere. But also be a silly good time when you play it. It’s, like I said, basically quarters, bouncing a coin onto a monster to deal them damage. Plus then with the dungeon crawl theme on it and powers for your characters. I’d bring this one out to a brewery and have a great time.

16: The King’s Dilemma

More legacy with The King’s Dilemma. This is one that’s kind of a story telling game as you all are making decisions about what to do and opening lots of envelopes with story and more choices. And the choices, you might not agree in real life with what you decide, but it’s to get points, so it gives a chance to role play your character hoping to get your way on this thing that’ll help you. I’m really intrigued by it and another one I want to play but I won’t buy until I know who I’m playing it with.

15: Divinus

Yet more legacy with Divinus. Divinus, from Lucky Duck Games, pits the Greek Pantheon against the Norse Pantheon. And you are working to become a demi-god as you support one of the two sides, or both, throughout the game. It’s intriguing because you are placing dice to get tiles to build out lands in front of you. And then it uses Lucky Duck Games technology to scan locations and tell story. I feel like it might be a bit mechanical from watching some game play, but how will the story develop, I want to know.

14: Hadrian’s Wall

I think this is the final roll and write on the list. Hadrian’s Wall is a hefty roll and write. Two big sheets of stuff as you build up defenses along the wall to keep the invaders from being able to get through. I don’t know a ton about the game, but it’s a heavy roll and write, so I’m interested. And everyone who I’ve talked to about the game who has played it really likes it.

13: Die of the Dead

I wish that I had backed this one on Kickstarter. Then I wish that I had picked up the copy someone traded in at my FLGS. From what I know about this game, you are trying to manipulate dice to get them rolled and played onto this 3D stairs and make it to the top. The concept seems interesting and the game is just amazing to look at.

12: Strike

Now to a much simpler dice game. In Strike, you are rolling dice into a bowl and trying to get matches to build up your die pool and avoid getting a strike which will end your turn. It’s a last person standing with dice sort of game. This is one that just seems like a silly good time and one that would be great to pull out to end a board game night with some good laughs.

11: Tsukuyumi: Full Moon Down

Now we’re into mainly big games, there are a couple of smaller ones left, but Tsukujumi: Full Moon Down is not one of them. This is an area control sort of game where different factions are battling over areas. And what drew me to this game is that Sam Healey, formerly of the Dice Tower liked it, and I tend to like games that he likes. It is one that I think I’ll really dig, but also one with the price tag that I might want to try before I would buy it.

10: Maximum Apocalypse

Survive the zombie apocalypse, or alien, or dinosaur, or kaiju, or well, you get the picture. What is cool about this game is that it’s very much a survival game but feels like on the lighter ends of things. I maybe even want the latest version more so that offers a campaign to the game, but also, without a campaign it might be easier to play. Because who doesn’t want to play a scenario were a kaiju is stomping across the land to get you? And I like that the map is set-up as well.

9: Doodle Dash

Now one of the few smaller games left. This is basically just racing to draw something as fast as possible so that your clue is given first. Though, if you go too fast and draw too poorly, they might not get it. So it’s a balance of how fast you doodle, probably very fast though. Seems like a good party game that is similar to some, but I don’t have many drawing party games.

8: Townsfolk Tussle

This is one that I looked at on Kickstarter as a boss battler game but I didn’t back. I know it’s coming back to Kickstarter, but I’m not sure I’ll back it that time either, even though I definitely want it. But Townsfolk Tussle is a lighter game where you fight against different mustache twirling villains. I like the artwork on the game, which is Cuphead or old cartoon/comic like. And it is kind of a campaign, but not a massive campaign game. I just have Oathsworn and Primal coming as boss battlers.

7: Monumental

Monumental is a game that I wish wasn’t available only on Kickstarter and probably one that had standees. This is a deck building game where you fight, get more cards, and move and explore on a big map. What draws me to this game is how you activate. It isn’t a normal deck builder in that you don’t play a hand of cards. Instead you have a 3×3 grid and you activate a row or a column for the cards. That feels very unique in what it does.

6: Kingdom Death: Monster

Now the grandfather or all boss battlers? Well, maybe it isn’t that, but it’s the biggest one that really put them on the map. I’d love to get my hands on Kingdom Death: Monster. But I really don’t want to spend an arm and a leg like it costs. And I really don’t want to but together all the minis. This is one that I’d love to have, but I’d need to find it for the right price, which I doubt I ever well.

5: Iron Forest

Iron Forest is another one that I could get right now on Kickstarter. But I am not backing it, mainly because $80 for a flicking game, plus shipping, is more than I want to pay. I can probably find it cheaper used later. But I love Icecool from this company, and Iron Forest is two layer Icecool with some extra rules. If there was a game where I wanted to have it in front of me and play it tonight, this might be the one.

4: Arkeis

Arkeis is another legacy style game. I’m not sure if it is truly legacy, it’s been a while since it was on Kickstarter. But this is a game where you are exploring tombs in Egypt, I believe. And that theme is really cool. Plus it’s a campaign game, so I always like those. Just the Egypt theme has me really excited for this one. And it is a game where the box creates rooms for you to go into. It just feels like it’s going to be epic.

3: So Clover!

Now a small game again, So Clover! is a party game from the makers of Just One. In this game you have a clover leaf that you has four cards on it with four words on each card, one per side. So each leaf has two words on it. You put down a word that connects those two for all the leaves you have. And then you shuffle in a fifth card. Everyone else is doing the same thing. Then one player at a time, everyone who didn’t write on the board tries to unscramble it. It seems like it will work with almost anyone and be just a bit harder than Just One.

2: Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters

Now a really big game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters is going to be playing a story driven dungeon crawl maybe boss battler game. And of course it’s a campaign as well. So really it is everything that I love. I didn’t back it when it was on Kickstarter because I thought it was too expensive, and do I really need another campaign game? I probably don’t, but I love the mystery and intrigue that Vampire: The Masquerade Chapters promises. So I really want to try and track this one down when it finally delivers.

1: Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

Finally Rogue Angels. I don’t need to say much about this one. You can watch me play it here. It’s not even on Kickstarter yet, or back on Kickstarter anyways. And from what I know about the changes coming to the game, all cosmetic, it’s going to be amazing. Plus, the game play itself is great. I can’t wait for this to come back to Kickstarter and then sometime in the future to be delivered.

Final Thoughts

Rogue Angels is easily my top game on my wish list. Though, there are others, So Clover! for sure, that I’ll be getting before it. I’m waiting for that one to come back into stock because when it does, it’ll get played right away. It’s going to be a great game night and holiday option for me. And some of the other ones, they might never get picked up. I mean, Kingdom Death: Monster, I’m never going to buy that. But some others, Vampire The Masquerade – Chapters, I definitely want to track down.

What game is #1 on your wish list?

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So we are going to look at a number of classic board games and see how well they hold up now. Am I still interested in playing them myself still? Or are they games that I’ve played and I’m done with now.

Uno

Uno is a simple game with simple rules. You play down a matching color or number. It is pretty typical, and really is what so many card games are based off of. Which means that there is take that, you can skip someone else’s turn, make them draw, sometimes draw four, or reverse it away from them.

This is a game that I rate pretty lowly at this point. It is an okay one growing up, but there are so many more card games that I’d play now. Something like Ohanami is just as simple and way more fun. And games can take a long time, or be over really quickly. Is there strategy, a tiny bit, but sometimes it is just luck.

Grade: 3/10

Skip-Bo

Now we move to another pretty simple card game. This one is about putting cards down in numerical order to get rid of your pile of cards. But there are Skip-Bo cards that can be used as any number. When you can’t play anymore, or don’t want to, you discard a card to one of three discard piles you have. You can use those cards to help play out more cards later, assuming the card you need is on top of the discard.

This game is generally play out everything that you can, and then wait for your next turn. But sometimes you don’t want to because you don’t want to leave your opponent(s) opportunities to play down a card from their pile. So you might pull back a little bit. And adding cards to your discard pile is also an interesting decision space in the game. I’d play this one again, though it is very light and simple.

Grade: 5/10

Dutch Blitz

Much like Skip-Bo where you are trying to get rid of all of your cards and putting them down in numerical order, you do that with Dutch Blitz as well. Except that Dutch Blitz is done in real time. You flip two cards from your pile and you can play the top one down. The game is fast and hectic, and can reach a situation where no one can play at which point you flip one card before flipping two again.

This is another one that I wouldn’t mind playing again. I likely won’t pull out my copy of the game though, because the game is just okay. It is a speed game that works for some quick entertainment. And it is again really easy to learn and play. It won’t be for everyone, though, because of that real time speed aspect.

Grade: 5/10

Yahtzee

Now, this one is going to be the highest graded game on the list. I think in 2020 it was in my Top 100, just barely, or just missed it. Yahtzee is a fun roll and write game where you are trying to get certain rolls of dice. It might be sets of numbers, or a run, or a full house, or all of the same number, a Yahtzee. And depending on what you get determines where you can place it on the score sheet.

My family and I play this one often. We kind of have it down to a science knowing what the odds are on certain rolls and what roll is the best one to go for in a given situation. It makes the game kind of silly because we can make snap decisions on what to do, when to push our luck, and stuff like that. I dropped on my list because I have played it a lot, but it is still a fun one.

Grade: 7.5/10

Scrabble

Not too far behind Yahtzee is Scrabble, another game I’d play again for sure. It is a lot of fun to try and come up with good words. But that’s not how you optimize Scrabble. It is about scoring as many points as you can with the words that you have. So if you can build off of what other people have done to create multiple words at once, that is how you do well.

And while I like Scrabble, I do think that it has diminishing returns. Or more so, skill level for the game matters a lot. Using all your letters can score you a ton of points, but that is tricky. So setting it up that your opponents can’t score well and that they’ll give you spots to score a lot is more what the game is about. Vocabulary doesn’t matter, it’s more about knowing the board and how leverage scoring.

Grade: 6.5/10

Clue

Another one that I don’t mind, are there better deduction games that don’t having you roll and move, for sure. And it sucks if you get stuck without being able to try and find out information, but the game is still interesting. And when you play, you start to realize how you can get information not on your turn. How you can create scenarios where it is meaningful information to help you narrow down things quickly.

This is like Scrabble. There is the game you are playing that you can play easily. Then there is the game that you can play which will get you the win. So you need kind of the same level of skill for players, otherwise some players will have a distinct advantage as they play. And the roll and move and potential dead turns isn’t fun.

Grade: 6.5/10

Monopoly

Monopoly is a classic game of too long game play and not enough interesting choices. You roll the dice, you move, you buy the property, if you can, and if not, it goes up for auction. That is a rule that no one remembers, though, and that makes Monopoly take forever. And even with that rule the game is way too long for the decisions that you make.

Maybe if the game played faster it’d be better for me. But it isn’t that, and never will be. Yes, it is extremely popular because everyone knows it. And there is a Monopoly for everything. So if you want a copy, it is a game that people know how to play, even if they don’t know the actual rules.

That is the one thing cool about Monopoly. People know how to play the game, not because people read the rules. Monopoly’s rules are an oral tradition at this point. That means that rules might vary from teacher to teacher. It doesn’t make the game any better, but it is interesting.

Grade: 1/10

Life

While I do like Life better than Monopoly, Life has less decision making space than Monopoly. In Life you spin a spinner and something happens to you. Never versions offer some choices. Like what house you buy, you draw two and buy the cheaper. Why, because how much money you have at the end of the game is what determines if you win.

Why do I like it better than Monopoly, all be it barely, because it tells a silly story. You spin and move, sure. But you spin and move and get a job, a house, a spouse, kids, and a lot of other random things that happen. So at the end of the game, you have a story that you can tell about your family. Is it a dumb game, yes, but it is silly as you play.

Grade: 2/10

Rummikub

Now we come back to another game that I generally like the puzzle of. You create sets of tiles based off of number without repeating colors or runs in colors. The game play is pretty simple. You build off of what is already out there, and draw a tile each turn. Your goal is to get rid of all your tiles. But if you can puzzle out a way to move those sets around into runs or vice-a-versa, that is so much fun.

Rummikub really gives you a way to feel clever. Now to do that it is basically causing every player at the table to have analysis paralysis. Especially late in the game when there are a ton of tiles on the table. But it is a simple game and easy to teach. And it feels enough different from a lot of classic games that it works.

Grade: 5/10

Set

Finally we have Set. This is a game where skill matters a ton. Some people are good at pattern recognition and others aren’t. You are looking at a 3×4 grid, I think or maybe 3×3 and looking for a set of three cards that match up some way. They can be completely different in every way. Or they need to match exactly one thing. or they need to match all but one thing. It is tricky to explain without the cards.

This is a game that I kind of like. It’s tricky, I like it because I am very good at pattern recognition. It isn’t a great game, but it is one that works for a wide audience. Though, sometimes that audience will get stomped.

Playing Set growing up, I’d generally play with two cousins. I forget how many possible sets you can get, but on average, I’d probably have 70% of the sets, my other cousin would get 28% of them, and the third player would maybe get one. And that was his goal in those games, get a set. So, Set is not a game that everyone will be as good at.

Grade: 5/10

There we have it. 10 Classic Games with a quick review on all of them. Are there any games from your childhood that you still play? Are there any that you won’t play? Let me know in the comments below.

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What Do My Ratings Mean

The baseline that we should get started with is looking at what the numbers means. Obviously a 10 is the best and a 1 is the worst. However, it is more nuanced than that. I do use the half point scale as well. So right now I have everything from 10’s to 1’s, but no 0.5’s in there.

A 10 is a game that is as close as perfect for me as you can get. And I say for me, some board games are objectively good and some are objectively bad, but when rating games, so much as to do with taste. So a 10 is a game that is as close to perfect for me as you can get.

A 9 is a game that I love, and I’d always want to play it. 8 is a great game for me and I’d likely not say no to playin that game. 7, I like and I’d play, but I won’t seek it out. 6 is a decent game but I probably am not that interested in playing it often. 5 is okay and I’d play it if people want to. 4, I’ll try and recommend another game to play. 3, I don’t want to play it. 2, I actively don’t like the game. 1, I wouldn’t play that game again ever.

The Breakdown

10’s –

I have 12 games that I rate a 10. That is 4% of the games that I’ve played and rated. I’m sure that I’ve missed a few games, but likely not tens. There is also a wide variety of games in there, I have a massive dungeon crawler with Gloomhaven and then I also have a dexterity game with Ice Cool. But 67% of the games really immerse you in the story and world of the game, which I think will be a trend for these high spots.

9.5’s –

21 fall into the 9.5 category, this 7% of the game that I’ve played. We again stick with a lot of story with games like TIME Stories and Arkham Horror: The Card Game. We also get some lighter games like Sushi Go Party and The Lost Expedition and our first party game with Just One in this category.

9’s –

38 games fall into the 9’s, all the way up at 13%. I wonder if this might be one of the higher percentile groups out there. This is where we start to hit a lot of roll and writes with games like Clever Hoch Drei, Doppelt so Clever, and more. We also get a lot of games that aren’t as story driven anymore. More games like Letter Jam and Super Fantasy Brawl that give you more of a classic board game experience. We also get A Gentle Rain in this section.

8.5’s –

16 out of 283 are rated as 8.5’s. That is about 6% of my rated games. The trend holds pretty steady from the 9’s with a lot more of the classic board game experience. Another party game with Wits & Wagers makes the list. And we have a new game that I just played recently a few times with Merchant’s Cove.

8’s –

We likely have it the big number here, 50 games that are 8’s, which is 18% of my collection. So as you add up the percentages, keep in mind I am rounding up or down so it might not equal 100% in the end. But I feel like in the 8’s we get a number of games that are in that lighter category, more filler games. Things like Skull and Fruit Picking are easier to play and teach than a lot games earlier.

7.5’s –

At 20 games in the 7.5’s, we are at 7% of the collection again. While other sections have had games that were previously owned, with the 7’5’s, I definitely noticed a few more. Machi Koro, Winter Tale, Krosmaster: Arena and at least one more were in my collection and have left. It’s not because they are bad games, but I have other games that do it better. And with Krosmaster: Arena, I got rid of that before Super Fantasy Brawl, but I just didn’t have anyone to play it with.

7’s –

Sitting at 12% with 34 games out of 283, we again see a number of previously owned games. But we also see games that I grew up playing. Set, Dutch Blitz, and Scrabble all make it into this category as well as the party game Scattergories. I obviously have some level of nostalgia with these games, but at the same time, I’d still play them again right now.

6.5’s –

13 games in this number, for 5%. I think this is where we’ll start to see the numbers dropping off in terms of number of games rated in the area. It is also a lot of games that I don’t own but have played in this area. I guess that means that I buy games that I like a lot. Donner Dinner Party and Flapjacks and Sasquatches are two that I’d definitely play again, but I have games that I like better that do something similar, especially with Donner Dinner Party.

6’s –

A tick up here with 24 games which is 8%. Most of the time the whole numbers seem to have more than a half numbers ,I guess. I own a few games in this section, though some of that is nostalgia, or with a game like Splendor, it’s because I know other people who like it a lot. I probably won’t ever pull Splendor off the shelf to play myself, but I know my wife likes it, so I won’t remove it from the collection.

5.5’s –

5 games make up the 5.5’s which is just barely 2%. We are reaching the social deduction game area, I feel in the 5.5’s, and 5’s. Where I would play them again, but I won’t seek them out. They tend to be the very simple social deduction games like Secret Hitler, While that game does have a little double blind fun going on with it, the theme doesn’t interest me, and it’s just a fine game.

5’s –

Down in the 5’s we have 21 games at a whopping 7% again. Again more social deduction games like The Resistance and One Night Ultimate Vampire. These two really do what I don’t like about a lot of social deduction games, they don’t give you anything go on right away or in general much to go on at all. We also have all of Red Dragon Inn, a fun game but often is played with too many people. I think 4 is about my max for that game, maybe 5.

4.5’s –

1 out of 283 which is 0% for those keeping track at home. And it’s Seafall. I feel like it’s fair that Seafall falls into this spot by itself. It is a game that I want to like more, it is a game I can see the potential of it. It just ends up being a flop. The story doesn’t play out as it should, it is a just a bit too random, and the games are way too long. And the more you play the longer the games get. Yet, it’s just on that cusp of I’d play it again without an AP players.

4’s –

9 games or 3% of what I’ve played. This is where we get into a lot more of a mass market or mass market adjacent games. Not that there haven’t been some before, but we have stuff like Guesstures, Forbidden Island and Dominion. Yes, I have Dominion as a 4. It is a game that I’d play if you twisted my arm, but it is also a game that if you know the game extremely well you will win, and it’s not interesting enough for me to know it that well.

3’s –

You might be wondering where my 3.5’s are, the answer is there were none. Instead we have 10 3’s. That is 4% of what I’ve played. Again a lot of mass market games, and a lot of games I grew up with. This goes back to growing as a gamer, stuff like Malarky and Pit had their place getting me into the hobby, but I don’t need to go back to them.

2’s –

3 games or 1%. Monopoly falls into this group. It isn’t the worst of the worst, but it is very bad. Another super popular or at least well sold game, Exploding Kittens lands here as well.

1’s –

Finally, I have 5 1’s, or 2%. I really don’t like these games, and most people won’t like most of them. The two that will probably surprise people are Cards Against Humanity and Concept. Cards Against Humanity at one point in time I would have rated higher, but now I consider it a worse version of Apples to Apples because the jokes are created for you and often not funny. Concept is one that I know a lot of people like. It just didn’t work for me. It has this group feel to the game, but ends up just being boring.

Alright, there we have it, all the games in my collection rated. What do you think should be rated better? Or what do you think that I should rate lower?

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A card game is a board game!

Let Me Explain

The easy way to talk about this is to talk about sets and subsets. This is a nerdy topic and something that I know well from the math courses I’ve taken and the computer programming I’ve done.

Let’s say that we’re talking about some numbers here, 1, 2, 3, …, 10. So our whole set of numbers is one through ten. In that, I can create a smaller set of numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, so all of the even numbers. Those are evens but they are also still numbers.

This is how it works for board games as well. I have all my board games, Gloomhaven, Ticket to Ride, Uno, Skip-bo, Catan, and Splendor. That is my set, board games. Within board games we have subsets. Ticket to Ride, Catan, and Splendor would fall into a subset of gateway games. Uno and Skip-bo, those are both what type of game, a card game.

Why Not Just Call The Set Games?

Well, we can, we can call the whole set games and then we bring in some other things. Video Games, those are games, Role Playing Games, those are games. And then becomes subsets of what is known as a game. Then, since we’re dealing with mostly analog where there are components needed, I create a subset known as board games.

Now, an RPG is mostly analog and you have things that you need, paper, pencil, dice, so why a separate category for them?

Board Games are a subset separate from an RPG because with a board game you get everything in a self contained box or shipment. In an RPG, I buy stuff separately, I don’t get my dice that I need for the game because I bought a book or put together a character. The pencils don’t come with anything. With a board game I get everything all at once. I don’t have to buy separate trains for Ticket to Ride, I don’t buy a pack of Wild Draw 4’s for Uno. Those all come in the game.

That is why I put card games as a subset of board games and board games as a subset of games.

So Why Is This A Question?

This is a question because I see a lot of new gamers, people who are super excited about board games but will turn up their nose at card games. This goes back to how people limit themselves as gamers. I have talked about that a lot in this article, Why Limit the Board Games You Play.

I won’t touch on everything again from that article, about how elitism in the views of certain types of games can hurt people joining into the hobby, but also hurt yourself from finding great games to play. This is the same here, people who separate the two, they are keeping great games from themselves.

Marvel Champions, a game that is in my Top 10, that game is just cards. That game offers amazing decisions. It gives you challenges to beat the bad guy and to deal with the threats showing up. Building the character is fascinating, and playing the different aspects changes up every superhero. But there is no board. It is a still a board game, but if someone can’t get past that there is no board, they, in my opinion, are missing out on a great game.

So How Do We Counteract This?

Firstly, be willing to try new games or different games. The more that we play all sorts of games with all sorts of people, the more acceptable that card games are board games will become. It also opens up eyes that card games can offer a ton of challenges and there are a ton of options out there.

What we are fighting against, and what people who make the distinction between card games are board games is mainly the people who think of Uno, Skip-bo, or anything with a deck of cards. They think that card games means something that they played as a kid with their Grandma. And those games have a place, but people who want to grow as gamers will often look down on them.

Secondly, refer to all games as board games. It doesn’t matter if it’s Yahtzee with everyone having their own sheet or Skip-Bo with a deck of cards. We want to change the perception, change how we talk about them. The more common the wordage is used, the more common it will be.

Finally, if someone is going to thumb their nose at a game without a board, remember that is their loss. Don’t feel like it is less because they do. Instead, just play the game, enjoy it, and if they want to miss out on a fun time, that is their issue. And if they see people having fun with a “card” game, they will probably start to be more interested in them.

What do you think, is a card game a board game? Is it a subset of that larger group?

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So, what are the requirements to make this list. The game has to have been published before the year 2000. I considered going earlier, but that seemed like it would work best. One game you’ll see missing from my list is Chess. Chess is great game, and if you get into it, you can really get into it and get good at it. I wanted to balance how good a game was with how easy it was for everyone to play it. So a game like Chess has too much of a divide between player levels to be on the list.

5 – Balderdash

I’m starting with a party game that might not have made it to the list in it’s original form. Balderdash, when it came out, just had you writing down definitions of words, or what you thought they were and then players voting on which one they thought was right. Since then, they came out with Beyond Balderdash, which is now just what Balderdash is which added in acronyms, weird laws, and movie synopsis. The game is still a lot of fun, mainly because it eventually becomes less of a game and more of a silly activity where people use in jokes from previous rounds and keep those jokes going.

4 – Cribbage

Cribbage is the only pure card game on the list. I like it quite well, in particular in a bar setting. It’s small, not many pieces, and easy enough to teach. There are definitely some complexities to the rules, but I can generally get through them in a pretty quick time frame. I’m sure there’d be some debate about a more experienced player beating a less experienced one more often than not, and I’d agree, but it’s not a massive difference. And once you’ve played a hand or two, you have the general idea.

3 – Clue

Probably up there with Monopoly in terms of games people think of when they think of classic board games. It, unlike Monopoly, made my top 5. Clue is a lot of fun and I like that it gives you real choices in the game as you craft your accusations. As a kid it took me a bit to get all the subtlies down of game, but now it’s still fun to play once in a while because of the deduction aspect and how detailed you can keep track of notes and how you reveal or don’t reveal information to other players. It’s just nice and clever in how it works. Not one I’d play all the time or want to play all the time but one that hits the table every few years.

2 – Scrabble

It’s close between my top two, but Scrabble comes in at number two. Scrabble is a word game that can be about the big words that you know, but is more about optimizing your points and blocking other players for being able to get large amounts of points. I say that with Scrabble (or Banagrams though I prefer Scrabble) my ability to recognize patterns quickly helps me a lot. And of course knowing all the two letter words that the Scrabble dictionary accepts (I don’t know them, helps a ton as well.

1 – Yahtzee

Probably not a huge surprise that the game at the top of my list is basically a roll and write game. Yahtzee is a game that I might have played too much at this point, because it’ll basically play itself. There is some strategy to it, when to push your luck on the top, how risky you want to be. Otherwise, once you’ve played it enough, you can figure out the probabilities and you adjust your rolls accordingly to it. But I do like this one as a game that you can play and just chat while playing because there are some push your luck moments or exciting moments of getting Yahtzee, but it doesn’t have the most thinking at all times in the game.

There are other older games that I could put on the list as well. I kept Quoridor off of the list because it’s less known, but a good one, just not one that people grew up with for the most part. I personally really like the game SET, but I left that one off because I like the game SET, it’s a pattern recognition game that I’m good at. What are some of your favorite classic board games?

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