Games from Miniature Market

Bonfire

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

Raccoon Robbers

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

Via Magica

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

Mesozooic: Jurassic Mini Expansion and Triassic Mini Expansion

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

Abyss: Kraken Expansion

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

Escape the Dark Castle

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

18 Holes: Course Architect

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

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

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

Clank! Catacombs

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

Three Sisters

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

Star Realms Deck Building Game

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

Thornwatch: The Dark of the Wood Expansion

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

Planet Unknown

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

Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

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

Featherlight

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

Unmatched: Marvel – Redemption Row & Hell’s Kitchen

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

The Librarians

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

Ascension X: War of Shadows

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

18 Holes: Second Edition & Expansion

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

Starship Captains

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

Relics of Rajavihara & Expansion

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

Solomon Kane Expansions

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

Enchanters

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

D&D Books

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

Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama

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

Exit: Lord of the Rings

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

Skyrim: The Adventure Game

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

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

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

Pre-orders

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

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery & Crisis Expansions

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

Earth

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

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

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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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Ranking My Solo Games

So, one thing that I haven’t talked about when ranking is how I rank them in each category. And that’s somewhat because this is the category that needs this explanation. In a lot of them, I can just pick my favorite game, which game is my favorite roll and write. Here, I am trying to factor in a combination of what my favorite is, but also what my favorites for solo are. So if something is harder to get to the table, I might rank it lower.

I think that is important because solo gaming is a different beast. I think that some very complex games might be high on the list, if I could leave them set-up all the time. So I could go and play them for thirty minutes to an hour in an evening every evening. But when it takes twenty minutes to set-up, that isn’t an option.

28. Sword Art Online Board Game: Sword of Fellows

This might be the worst game in the group, and I still own it. I have played it solo a few times and it’s a fun push your luck sort of game. But when you’re controlling three characters, or two, it isn’t as fun. And the theme of the game, Sword Art Online doesn’t come through.

27. Legacy of Dragonholt

I think I I had streamed Legacy of Dragonholt, which I had thought about doing, I might put this higher on the list. The game is fine, the mechanics are solid, but the writing on the story was just fine. And when the game play is solid and the story is fine, it wasn’t going to stick. I’d love to see Fantasy Flight use some of their IP’s and create a story in this vein. Or even an Arkham game that uses the same mechanic.

26. Second Chance

Second Chance is easy to get to the table, but the game plays out the same every time. And with roll and write games, when I play them solo, I prefer that I can then compare a score, or something like that. Second Chance you just see how well you do. Sure, you can use the empty spaces as a score, but it’s not that interesting solo.

25. Criss Cross

This one is also one where you can just see how well you can score. I have it lower on the list, even though it is easy to play, because I have played it a lot. I don’t think I’d pull out Criss Cross to play solo again. Other roll and write games, yeah, those are higher on the list, but Criss Cross I’ve played a lot.

24. Marvel Battleworld

This one is easy to play and has high toy factor. But it is barely a game, the rules allow you to play some sort of game, but they aren’t that clear. You really play Marvel Battleworld to open up the little “Thanos Stones” to get new heroes and do the blind buy. It’s not a great game, but fun toy value.

23. Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension

Gravwell is a game that generally would be higher in my Top 100 games but drops so solo, not because of set-up, but because the game is much more random solo. It feels like mechanically the game isn’t as good. So I don’t want to play it solo all that often. I’d play it with people, but solo is just okay.

22. Floor Plan

Floor Plan is another one where the solo seems added on and not fully planned. You get a certain number of rolls for solo play and see how well you do. But it lacks the tension of racing to complete different features that people want.

21. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

This one I played through solo on Malts and Meeples, and it is a blast to play that way. Technically, it doesn’t have a solo mode, but no information is hidden, so you can easily play solo. But I wouldn’t play it solo again after doing that once. I would play it for the third time because the story and game are fun.

20. Marvel United

I was a little bit surprised that this one was lower on the list. But I prefer to play it with others. It again comes down to a solo mode that is okay. And you can play it solo like you’re playing multiple people, and it’s good. But the game is more fun with more players and working together cooperatively and discussing how you can set up the next player.

19. Tainted Grail

This is fun solo, and I’d love to have it higher on the list, but even three player, the game is a beast to get to the table. I’d maybe come back to it solo if I could leave it set-up. And I’d love to explore it again that way, which maybe I eventually will. But right now, three player play is great.

18. Onirim

Actually just got rid of this game, but I really enjoy Onirim and I still own the app. Onirim is a nice little puzzle of a game with a lot of shuffling. And I feel like the decision space is good. But as I get more solo only games, that are higher on the list, I know that I’m going to play it less and less. So the app is good enough for me, for now. I can always pick it up again.

17. A Gentle Rain

The first solo only game on the list. I think technically you can do two player, but it just means you split up half of the stuff, which means it’s less fun. The game is simple, but it is very relaxing to play. And for me, that’s nice. It comes in a small box, but plays large, in area, on the table. I wish it played a little bit smaller, so it was more portable.

16. The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Now back to a bigger game, The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, I like to play that one at two best. But three is good as well. And the game while having a lot of cards, is pretty fast to set-up and get to the table. I think it works best as a game in general, if you know the books. The theme is there, but it’s hidden behind mechanics.

15. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

One that I’d love to play solo more. And I think the game works really well solo for keeping the game moving. But Arkham Horror: The Card Game, it takes effort to get to the table. There are a lot of cards, and setting up each scenario takes time. I’d love for a faster way to get it to the table so I could play it more often because the story is good.

14. Doppelt So Clever

We’re going to see a lot of roll and writes now. Which makes sense because they are easy to get to the table. Doppelt So Clever is on the lower end because while it is easy to play, it is less satisfying than some. Mainly because I feel like I’m not doing as well as I should be. That is a function of the game and scoring sections, but still, it’s less fun.

13. Deadly Doodles

Deadly Doodles is a dungeon crawler roll and write, kind of. I’d say it is a more like D&D where you go diving into a dungeon, get some treasure and be done. Maybe more of a classic thing, here you find treasure, get weapons and fight monsters. Very simple game, but a fun one to play solo.

12. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Now back to a living card game that is easier to get to the table. Marvel Champions works very well as a solo game. I prefer it two player, but either works. You play as a hero trying to stop a villain and thwart their evil scheme. Deck construction is fine, but I just like that this is a mechanically fun game, simpler than Arkham Horror, but still thematic game.

11. Welcome To…

Back to roll and writes, Welcome To is a game that works as a solo game. Though, I will say that it is better with more players. And I’m not 100% sure, they might have improved the solo mode in a small pack. But base solo mode is go through the deck and eventually hit a point where it ends and see how well you did. It works, and the game play is still a lot of fun, just the overall experience doesn’t feel as robust.

10. Aeon’s End

Some people might disagree with me. You need to control multiple characters, I recommend only two. But I think this is fairly fast to get to the table. Use the randomizer, pick the market, grab two breach mages and a nemesis and get going. There is more than that, and there are tokens, but Aeon’s End is easy to control two at once. I think that’s a thing for a lot of bigger games, they might be better controlling two characters, but is that easy.

9. Clever Hoch Drei

The third of the Clever roll and writes, and the middle one on my list. It’s a good solo game and this one lets you feel like you can do everything. It is more rewarding than Doppelt So Clever, but almost too rewarding. You can do everything, like every track will be filled in a lot at the end. You can optimize it still, which is what I love about the game. But huge points.

8. Ganz Schon Clever

Last of the Clever trilogy or first if you read top down, Ganz Schon Clever is just fun. I still play it on the app. And I love the game two player. I think that it helps improve the game play and is less lucky than solo while still getting all the rolls and all the rounds. But at any player count, I always want to know what is going on during your turn. And the combos, it feels like the right amount.

7. Metro X

Metro X is a roll and write that has a great puzzle. It isn’t one that has many combos, but the game play feels so tight and restrictive. You try and complete routes, and as you fill in one route, it might help another route. But since you are filling in 4 spots, if you now only can do three before you hit a filled in spot, is that optimizing what you do. The game’s puzzle feels tense from the start.

6. Spire’s End

New to the list and new to me. When I did my cooperative games, I couldn’t put this one on the list. Since it technically is cooperative, though, it just splits it up so that a person controls each of the characters. I’ve even heard of three player with one person being the dungeon master. But Spire’s End, and I’ll talk about it more in the future, is a story driven game where you take characters into a spire for some reason. And you fight monsters in there, but game play is simple and smart.

5. Sleeping Gods

Hey, this is the one that I’m playing right now. You can what last nights stream here. For some people this might seem like a lot because there are nine crew you are in charge of. But you always control them as a group and I think makes it easier. Plus this game is so story focused that if you miss a mechanic, I don’t feel bad about it.

4. Super Mega Lucky Box

One that when I played it the first two times I thought might leave my collection quickly. But no, I really like this game. It’s basically binge, you draw a card, cross of a number. So roll and write mechanics with bonuses when you fill in rows and columns on your card. The game is very fast and so much fun. And there is depth to how you try and get combos working in the game.

3. Railroad Ink & Challenge

Another one that works well solo because you are just trying to beat your previous score. I like either version, so I think that Challenge adds some good stuff to the game. It’s mainly about connecting routes of rail and road. This one also has a strong puzzle to it and the right amount of luck, I feel. The app is a lot of fun too.

2. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

Another true solo game, Orchard is amazing. Orchard is all about laying cards on top of each other and growing fruit. It hits that great spot of simple but interesting. The combination of layering cards, creating a few dead spots to try and score more, it’s interesting. And I can knock out games so fast while watching something from sports to cooking shows. If I don’t need to pay complete attention, Orchard is great.

1. Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

Finally, Pinball. I love Super-Skill Pinball, I haven’t played multiplayer yet. But the roll and write works as a pinball game. It is maybe the most thematic roll and write game that I own. And there are a lot of boards, pinball machines, you can play on. The production quality is high and game play is so much fun, and I’ll 100% be getting the Star Trek version when it comes out.

Final Thoughts

Solo gaming is something I want to do more of. And I know it’s goin to be a way to help me get through my goal of getting under 100 unplayed games in 2022. Right now, the number sits around 130, and when I can learn and play it solo, it helps. I’m curious to see how two, Village Green and Floriforous play solo. Mainly because it’d let me learn the game to make it easier to teach to others, if I’ve played it.

What are your favorite games to play solo?

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The Roll And Writes

19. Second Chance

If you want to play about the most accessible roll and write I’ve played, Second Chance is that. It is very simple, flip two cards, everyone fills in one of those two shapes on their board. And you try and fill in as much as possible. If you can’t play either, you get a second chance card you can use. If you can’t use it, you are out of the round. So extremely simple, but works well. And it is fun to doodle and fill everything in.

18. HexRoller

HexRoller should be just as simple, but for some reason it a bit more confusing. In this roll and write, you fill in spots with numbers trying to connect paths and fill in hexes. It gets confusing when you try and add in the straights that can score you points based off of the dice you pick. It is a good puzzle of a game, but doesn’t feel like it has that much diversity to how it’ll play.

17. Cat Cafe

Cat Cafe I think should be higher on my list. It just isn’t one I pull off the shelf all that often. It is a fun roll and write game about building cat towers to attract cats to your section of a cat cafe. And it has drafting in the game. I really like the everyone goes at once but everyone is slightly different. The die you draft determines half of your action. And there will be one die left that determines half of everyone’s action. So there is strategy in how you build things out. Plus it’s about cats.

16. Criss Cross

This one is also on the list this low, like Second Chance, because it is so simple. Now, that simplicity means that it gets played often, or did. But it also means that it isn’t as interesting as some to play over and over again. Basically you want matching symbols in rows and columns. And you need to put two dice adjacent to each other as they are rolled. More more likely symbols you have adjacent in a row or a column the more you score. I like this on also because it’s very easy via Zoom/Hangouts/Facetime, even if you don’t own the game.

15. Yahtzee

The OG roll and write game. Yahtzee still works well as a game. It is a simple push your luck rolling game to get as many points as you can. But it works. And it works well for people who want a bit more casual of a roll and write. It is another one that I don’t need to play a ton more of because I already have a lot. But it is also one that I can play with anyone. Some because they likely already have played it, and some because it is that easy to teach.

14. Floor Plan

This one has dropped a fair amount since my Top 100. I actually got rid of it from my collection. Granted, that’s to make room, eventually, for Floor Plan: Winchester Mystery Mansion. A theme that I think works better for this game. In the game you make a floor plan. It is fun because you end up with crazy houses. The downside is you end up with crazy houses. I wish the rules made it so you built more of a house. Like negative points if you didn’t have a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom all with doors. But if you want to build a crazy house, it is a lot of fun.

13. Deadly Doodles

This one is another one that I feel like moves around. I like it as a dungeon crawl roll and write. Basically, you go into the dungeon every day, fight some monsters, and get weapons and treasures. All of that in a goal to get the most points possible. The expansion makes make the game more difficult or give more options, but the base game is a lot of fun. It is another one of those games that I really like because of how fast it plays. And you get a story as you play of what is happening in your dungeon.

12. Patchwork Doodle

Now to move away from theme again, Patchwork Doodle is a very abstract roll and write. It is about trying to create the biggest quilt that you can. It reminds me a ton of Second Chance, you start with a shape and then add more adjacent to it. Patchwork Doodle, though, has more going on with it. And that little bit additional just adds enough to the strategy that it make sit more fun for me. And the big thing that Second Chance has going for it is how relaxing it is to play, I think Patchwork Doodle is just as relaxing.

11. Doppelt So Clever

One of a few combo focused games coming up on the list. Doppelt So Clever is my least favorite of the Clever trilogy or roll and writes. And it’s not because it’s the only one that I don’t own in German. It feels like it’s just the most punishing and locks you into lower scores a lot of the time. But the mechanics are great, and you do still get a lot of combos to play around with.

10. Clever Hoch Drei

Now we’re up to another Clever game. As compared to Doppelt So Clever, Clever Hoch Drei is the easiest to do well at. That means you get even more combos going, and that is because a lot of the tracks are so littered with combos you can’t avoid them. It feels good to get a lot of combos and all of a sudden what looked impossible to do is possible.

9. Super Mega Lucky Box

This is the newest roll and write on the list, and Super Mega Lucky Box is one that I wasn’t sure how high it’d get when I first played it. It is a very easy game to play. A card is flipped, you fill in that number on one of your bingo cards. But the more you play it, the more you can see how there are interesting decisions and combos as you finish off rows and columns. Whenever you finish a row or column, you get a bonus, and how you leverage those bonuses really matters for the winner of the game.

8. Metro X

How do can you maximize your bus routes, or subway routes, is what this game is all about. But it is clever in what it does, and I really like it for that. Multiple routes might go through the same station. And you are just trying to fill in stations. But you always fill in from the first empty spot down. And you can’t skip over filled spots. It’s hard to explain, but it works well, and makes you think about how to optimally fill in your routes so you can complete as many as possible.

7. Ganz Schon Clever

The final of the Clever games, and the original. I really like Ganz Schon Clever. This is even with knowing generally how to optimize the puzzle. I always push to see if I can do a little bit better. And the app for the game works well. I might not play it as much as I used to on the app, but it is still the one I go to first when playing any Clever game. And in person, I think it’s even more fun. There is something about hoping for the perfect die rolls in person that is more compelling than an app.

6. Welcome To…

This, I think, was originally at 10 in my Top 100 Games (of all time) and clearly with five more roll and write games above it has slipped. I really like Welcome To still. It mainly has slipped because I haven’t played it recently. And while I enjoy it every time I play it, I also do think I want to start mixing in the expansion maps. I think that it’ll change up the game enough that it’ll feel refreshing. This is also a roll and write with a theme that I like a lot.

5. Sonora

This is the final one that is all about the combos. And compared to any of the Clever games, this one has more combos. Plus Sonora has you flicking discs around a board to determine how you fill in things. Each quarter of the board fills in a specific spot on your scoring sheet. And as you fill in spots you get scoring bonuses, but then, basically, extra discs that you u se as well to fill in. And that can lead to more. Sonora gives you a great rush of feeling like you can do almost everything, every time you fill in on the board.

4. Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade

Probably the most thematic roll and writ eon my list, Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade and the expansion(s) give the feeling of playing a pinball machine. Everything bounces in a way that makes sense, and while your flippers are limited, which isn’t the case in actual pinball, for a game it makes sense. And the boards are all so different. I really like the hacking board and the special that is on there. It can ramp a score like crazy, but will you fail because you push your luck too far?

3. On Tour

On Tour maybe should already have been in my Top 10 Roll and Writes and Top 100 Games, but I held off on ranking it until I played a physical copy. Why, because sometimes that’s different. And with On Tour, where you are making your best route for a band tour, I was worried it’d be hard to score the best route. Turns out, it isn’t that hard. But let’s talk about the game.

You make a route of low to high on states, but depending on what is rolled and cards flipped out that becomes tricky. You are limited to where you can play down the numbers. And everyone is limited in the same way. And as you fill in more and more spots, you become more limited. I think that is one thing I like best, the game becomes so much more tense at the end of the game, and each decision matters so much. But because you have fewer available spots, the game doesn’t slow down. It’s a great game arc.

2. Railroad Ink/Railroad Ink Challenge

So, in my Top 100 I had these two games separate. Now I put them together because they really can be together in that their mechanics are mainly the same. In both you build out train and road routes and your goal is to connect exits. Railroad Ink Challenge adds in challenges that you want to complete at certain points to score more points. Some people find it more complex, or too complex, but I like that it gives an additional thing to focus on. It makes my decisions faster generally as well. Really good roll and write with a very high production.

1. Cartographers

At the number one spot, not a big surprise, is Cartographers. The theme is a lot of fun in this game. I like making a map. There is player interaction as you put monsters on my board. But what really makes the game is the scoring. You score for A and B the first round and then going through rounds, in round four you score D and A, so you come all the way back around. It makes for an interesting puzzle to solve and try and optimize your points. And like most games on my list, everyone goes at the same time, so nice and fast to play, while offering great decisions.

What is Your Favorite?

I have so many that I need to play still. I own Copenhagen Roll and Write, Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write, Imperial Settlers Roll and Write, Welcome To Dinoworld, Welcome To New Las Vegas, Fleet: The Dice Game, and more on my shelf that I need to pull out. A lot can be played solo, so maybe I’ll do a big solo roll and write stream or day of playing coming up here.

Let me know what your favorite is down in the comments below. Or you can let me know on Twitter or Facebook as well.

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Honorable Mention Board Games

There are a lot that could go on here. Downforce has been great fun as well as Night Cage, I’m not sure, but I think I played Super Fantasy Brawl for the first time this year. So that one isn’t getting added to the list. Aeon’s End Legacy which I streamed. I’m not sure which all roll an d write games, but I think Metro X, for sure Deadly Doodles, Patchwork Doodle, and maybe Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade. Tiny Towns would be this year and has been played a number of times.

And I think that’s it, there might be more for the list as well. I have played a lot of new board games this year and I’m sure I’m missing some. Unfathomable is one I just saw on my shelf, as well as Similo or Ohanami. And I just did my Top 100, so I could just pull from that list, which you can see here.

5. A Gentle Rain

A small little solo game, this is one that I’m thinking might slowly drop on my list, which is a weird thing to say for a game that is my Top 5 for 2021. I got to game more with people this year, but not as much as I wanted. I didn’t get to cons and things like that, which gave different gaming experiences. So some small solo games got a lot of enjoyment this year.

A Gentle Rain is a very relaxing game to play. In it you are flipping out tiles trying to place them down in a way that all four sides can match. In fact, all four sides need to, to get fully surrounded – like Carcassonne. But if you get a square of four tiles, that corner you create you put in a disc matching one of the flower sides you matched.

It’s very simple, flip a tile and play it. It’s more of an activity in some ways as you are just trying to see how high a score you can get, or can you get all 8 discs out. But there is some strategy as to how you create your pond to optimize how you can finish those squares. So it’s not just luck.

4. PitchCar

This is a game that I keep adding more to. Whenever Eagle-Gryphon has some of it on sale, I buy more of it. I think I own all but one expansion which allows big PitchCar to connect to mini PitchCar, and I still want more. I wouldn’t mind another base set to just get more of some of the basic shapes.

But PitchCar is a simple racing game. You flick car discs around the board trying to be the first one to complete a circuit. The game play is simple but a lot of fun, and half the fun is building crazy tracks. I even have a loop for it that you can go around, and yes, flicking a disc around a loop is possible.

3. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

I love this vesion of Terraforming Mars. I still need to play actual Terraforming Mars, but this one works well for me. It’s still about Terraforming Mars, but it does so in a smaller package. You just keep track of resources and then playing out cards to raise the oxygen levels, flip ocean tiles and raise the temperature. So stuff you do in the bigger game.

But it does it with very slick card play and action selection. Each round everyone selects an action from five different actions. It can be building, doing research, getting resources, but it’s always done in a specific order. If I pick an action, I get to do it and you do as well, but I get a bonus. It’s a fun system that keeps everyone involved the whole time.

2. Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

Another solitaire game. I think I’m up to 110 plays of Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game, just because it’s so fast to play. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer good decisions and isn’t fun. It’s a lot of fun and a really good puzzle as you try and beat your previous high score.

You are layering cards, matching the different fruit tree symbols of apples, pears, and plums. The higher you stack and overlap the more you get. So, for example, if I get a pear on a pear, that gives me one fruit, or one point. Another layer, I’m up to three fruit. And you can go as high as ten. But getting the cards, with nine cards, to overlap that much is hard. It’s a great little puzzle of a game.

1. Railroad Ink Challenge

Finally, I put down Railroad Ink Challenge. I really like this game, because it’s fun in person and great on the app.This is one where the app gives such a fast experience it’s almost as good as playing in person. I already liked Railroad Ink a lot. It’s a good roll and write game about connecting routes along the edge of the board. You get points for filling middle spots and lose points for having roads or train tracks not connect.

But Railroad Ink Challenge takes it up a notch. It adds in, well, challenges. These are basically things like, on turn three have a complete row or column filled in. On turn five have five spots in the middle filled in. I like that better than the base game as it gives something more to focus on. When a route doesn’t easily connect to an exit, now you know what to do with it.

It’s a great roll and write and really high quality. I own a ton of tiny little expansions that I really need to play with. Even the base game without mixing in any expansion is a ton of fun, though. Highly recommend this game and the app. It’s a roll and write that I think is accessible, but also very thinky, a really good combination.

Final Thoughts on 2021 Board Games

It was so nice to play a lot of board games again this year. For my birthday I did a full day of board gaming. That is probably what I missed most in 2020, sitting around a game table and playing with friends. And I didn’t even start doing much in person gaming until almost half way through 2021.

If you’re reading this, you are probably a board gamer. But maybe you are here to see what new games might work well as a gift for a board gamer in your life. I really recommend all of them, though if they don’t play solo, I wouldn’t recommend Orchard or A Gentle Rain. But for a lot of us board gamers in the past two years, what we want is more time to play board games. And more time to play with people, so that’s a great gift to give.

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If you want to see the Top 10 games on the list live, click the notification bell on the scheduled stream. I hope that you can join me then and that you’ve enjoyed the previous parts of my Top 100 Board Games (of all time) 2021 Edition. Or, if you just found it, you can catch-up with the links below.

100 Through 91

90 Through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

60 through 51

50 through 41

40 through 31

30 through 21

Top 100 Board Games 20 through 11

20. Super Fantasy Brawl

Super Fantasy Brawl is a two player (can be more but really two player) battling game where you are fighting to knock out your opponents characters and complete objectives to get trophies. The first player to get to five trophies wins the game.

This is not my normal type of game, two player only games tend not to hit my table as often. And head to head battling games are not ones I gravitate towards, but Super Fantasy Brawl is really good. All the characters play so differently, and you can create a team that does all sorts of different things. I think I have 9 or 12 different characters so you can have a ton of different teams of three.

I also like in this game that you can get trophies for knocking out other peoples characters, but they don’t go away. So it’s not too much of a blow. And you probably won’t win just be knocking out enemy characters. You need to deal with the objectives as well, if not to get them, to keep your opponent from getting trophies that way. And the game is easy to learn and play, which is great.

Buy On Miniature Market

19. Clank! In! Space!

A deck building game, Clank! In! Space! does a good job of not being too simple. In it, you are racing around a ship, hacking into consoles to get access to the treasure room, grabbing a treasure, running out, and hoping you don’t cause too much noise. Because Lord Eradikus is on the ship and if you clank about too much, he’ll find you and stop you.

This game works so well for me because there’s more going on in the game than just the deck building. How much do you push your luck and run into the treasure room. And some of the better cards you can buy in the game, that might combo with what you are doing can create more clank. When you clank you add a cube to a pool that Lord Eradikus will draw from when he actives. He might draw a neutral cube and nothing happens, but too many of yours drawn and Eradikus stops you.

Buy On CoolStuffInc

18. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

I feel like I always put this disclaimer out there, I don’t love social deduction games, but I do love Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. Why, because it gives you something to talk about right away in the game. Most social deduction games build to the point where you are maybe hazard a guess as to who the “bad guy” is. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong does that from the start.

How? Well, the murder picks a weapon and clue in front of them. The forensic scientist knows what they are, but they can only send up reports to tell the detectives. So the report might be the murder location and the forensic scientist picks from a list on a tile which one makes the most sense. The game really starts and accusations start when that first piece of information is put out.

This is also a social deduction game where being in any role, forensic scientist, murder, accomplice, witness, or a just a regular detective is a lot of fun. Everyone is trying to figure out what the combo of clue and weapon is. And even the murderer, accomplice, and forensic scientist are trying to figure out the story either to direct people to the clue or weapon or away from it.

Buy on Amazon

17. Hanamikoji

We go from a big group game to a two player only game in Hanamikoji. I talk about this one a lot because I really love the game. It’s such a fast but thinky two player game. In it you are trying to win the favor of Geisha by giving them gifts. The game, however, is extremely clever in how you give them gifts.

There are only four actions you can do in the game and each player does all four once per round, alternating turns. You can save a card to give to a Geisha face down, you can discard two gifts face down, you give your opponent the choice of three gifts and they pick one, or you give your opponent the choice of two pairs of gifts, and they pick one. You are trying to win favor with four Geisha or 11 points worth of Geisha to win.

The game plays extremely fast, but the decisions are really tough. Giving something to your opponent is always a rough decision as to what you want to even let them pick from. I feel like what you do, though, is simple enough that I can pull it out with most people as a two player game.

Not Available

16. Welcome To…

The first of four roll and write games on this section of the list. Welcome To… has long been one of my favorites in the genre. In it you are creating your perfect neighborhood. You are getting all the house numbers ready, putting in pools and parks, and building white picket fences.

Every turn everyone is playing as well, which is really nice, so there is little to no downtime in the game. It’s also fun because you are trying to optimize how you are scoring points. And the three objectives that can give you points also gives you a good direction to go in the game. This one has a fair number of rules but that makes it interesting because it’s a bigger roll and write game.

Buy on Amazon

15. ICECOOL

This game is just silly fun. It’s one that I love to pull out for a game night because flicking penguin high school students around a board to try and get fish and avoid hall monitors is a lot of fun. The game is simple, get through doorways and get fish which are points. Or all the hall monitor, hit the penguins students to get their student ID and get points.

ICECOOL works with all ages and really with all groups that I’ve played with. It’s just a silly good time for people who have been drinking or for families to get to the table. And the board, which is the box, that builds out into this big 3D board is just great. Add in ICECOOL 2, which is the same game, you can now play on a massive board with eight people.

Buy on Amazon

14. Sonora

Another dexterity game, but also another roll and write game. In Sonora you are flicking discs onto a big board. The board is split into four areas, one for each part of the roll and write portion that you fill in. The discs have numbers which determines what number of things you fill in on that roll and write portion.

What I l love about this game is that it’s full of combos. If a fill in a spot in the upper right, that might then let me fill in something in the lower left, and that might let me fill in something in the lower right. So the whole filling in things is a really interesting and fun puzzle to optimize what you are doing. And it’s always fun to complete a combo and feel smart.

Buy on Amazon

13. Railroad Ink Challenge

Another roll and write game as well. Railroad Ink was already on the list, but I prefer Railroad Ink Challenge. Why, because of the challenge aspect. Much of the game is the same, you are trying to connect routes, get long stretches of road and rail and fill in the middle. But the challenges add in a nice twist and something to focus on.

The challenges are basically objectives. It might be something like, have a full row or column filled in by round 4, and that’ll give you 4 points if you’d done it by then, fewer the longer it takes you. Or fill in nine spots to create a square. It just gives you something else to go for and think about in the game. And it’s already fairly challenging even without the challenges. I just like the extra challenge, direction that the game gives you in this version.

Buy on Amazon

12. Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

The final roll and write game in this section, Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade is the most thematic roll and write that I have played. It somehow manages to pull off the feeling of playing a pinball machine. You get points for bouncing off the bumpers and knocking down targets. If you knock down a full group of targets you get a bonus and you’re just seeing how high a score you can get.

I like that the game comes with four different boards, as well. There is a circus one that is just a simple pinball machine. The Cyber Hack board gives you a secret location where you are doing a run and hacking into the machine for more points, but also a press your luck for how long you stay up there. Each board feels different and really fun, and having little pinballs you move around the board to keep track of where you are at is great too.

Buy on Miniature Market

11. Xenoshyft: Onslaught

Finally, we have Xenoshyft: Onslaught. This is another deck building game and a tower defense game. I call it Starship Troopers the board game because you are defending your base from wave after wave of bugs. And you are doing that cooperatively, which is fun. And it does a cooperative thing that I don’t see in other deck builders or cooperative games.

You are all setting up your defenses at the same time. So, I might have five troops but only room to put out four of them, and you might have only a single troop in your hand. I can give you one to put in your lane of defense to stop the wave of bugs coming in that side. And you can use grenades from your hand to help deal with bugs on someone else’s lane as well.

Plus, you get money every single turn. So even if you shuffle horribly and end up with no money in your hand, at the start of each turn you get money to add to your hand and deck. So you are always able to improve and add to what you have. And what you buy that turn doesn’t go to a discard pile, you can play it immediately.

Buy on Amazon

The Next 10

So no stream next Wednesday. It’s the day before Thanksgiving, but to go along with that, two episodes of Hawkeye are coming out that day. That means that I have some TV to watch for the 10 Minute Marvel podcast. Instead, the Top 10 are going to be coming out on December 1st at 8 PM Central Time.

If you want to know when I am going live, you can subscribe to Malts and Meeples and click that notification bell. That’ll let you know whenever I go live. Once I’m done with my Top 100 list, my schedule might be changing, depending on a few things, so clicking the notification bell will let you know for sure when my streams are happening.

Which of these games do you like the best, or would you want to play?

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Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game

This is going to be a little solo game. It says it’s a 9 card game, so you’d expect a small package. In this game you are overlapping cards to grow fruit. The more fruit you get the more points that you have. But you need to overlap the same types of trees, so it makes it an interesting puzzle.

This is a very fast game to play. And while it says 9 cards, it comes with 18, so you split the cards and you can play it twice very quickly. Which I think works well for the game. This is a game that I sit down and play 4-10 times in a sitting because a game takes five minutes or maybe 10 if you are trying really hard to optimize everything.

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

A bigger game, this one can be played multiplayer, but solo you take a hero against a villain to try and beat them up and stop their schemes. I really like this one as a thematic Marvel game. Each hero plays very differently, and you can change up how they play through deck building. The villains play differently as well.

And this is a game where the base box comes with some heroes, but you can get additional heroes. Now, there are a lot of heroes and a lot of content out for the game. And while I own it all of it, you don’t need to. If someone you know likes Thor, get them the base box and the Thor expansion. Or maybe they like Spider-Man and his villains, give them the base set and the Green Goblin pack. You can customize who the person can get really easily.

A Gentle Rain

Back to another small game with A Gentle Rain. This is for the casual gamer who might like that solo activity. A Gentle Rain is meant to be a relaxing game and it really is. You are flipping over tiles trying to match sides. If you can get it so that you match all the corners, you put a disc down. The goal is to get all of the discs out or as many of them as you can.

This one is a simpler game than Orchard and takes up a bit more space, but both of them fall into a category of fast and little games to play. This game also has a really nice aesthetic. This is even a solid one that you could give someone to take into work as something to fidget with when they get stuck on a work problem or something like that.

Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

A lot of roll and write games can be played solo. I could have picked Metro X, Ganz Schon Clever (or any of that trilogy) and a whole lot more. But Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade is a fun one because it’s a thematic roll and write. In it, you are playing a pinball game basically seeing how high a score you can get.

The cool thing about this roll and write is that they have four different boards, plus four more coming in an expansion. Some of the boards are easier, or pinball machines, so you can learn the basic concept of the game on that, and then move onto harder boards. And even the harder boards don’t make the game much longer or more difficult. If you want a good thematic game in a small package, this might be it.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

On the flip side, this is a very thematic game, but in a very big package. It’s also going to be harder to find than some. I know places like Game Steward, I believe, still have copies of the Kickstarter available though, so not impossible to find. This is a big survival game that can be multiplayer, but also works well as a solo game where you control one character.

This is a dark retelling of the Avalon and Arthurian legends. And it has an amazing story. I recommend playing it in story mode because it’s a great story to experience and the survival in the regular mode can be very challenging. I’ve played through the main quest and started on the expansions and talked about it a lot because it’s an amazing game. It’s going to be more expensive but such a good experience.

Honorable Mention Solo Games

Of course, I can add in a few honorable mentions. Onirim is a fun little solo game where you are trying to deal with nightmares and create patterns in cars you play down to get doors. There is a lot of shuffling and A Gentle Rain and Orchard have replaced it for me. I could have put Gloomhaven or Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion on the list as well. Those can be played solo, but unlike Tainted Grail where you can play with one character, in Gloomhaven you need to control two.

What are some solo games that you’d want for Christmas or that you’d recommend to others?

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Quick disclaimer, I use the term roll and write for all sorts of “blank” and write games. This can be a flip and write or a flick and write and or whatever mechanic is chosen. Roll and Writes were just more of a thing first, with Yahtzee so the term got coined that way.

Cartographers

Cartographers might be my favorite roll and write game. It’s a bit more complex but not that hard to play. The basic idea is that you are creating a map, putting in forests, lakes, villages, and fields. But the game really shines with how you score points in it. The game has a creative way for it with playing four rounds, and each rounds scores differently. Spring scores A & B and Summer B & C and so on but Winter then scores D & A, so each scoring things gets scored twice.

Plus there are monsters in the game. When you draw a monster, you pass your sheet to someone else draws monsters in the least useful spot. The game plays fast that is a lot of fun and you get to draw a map. This might seem more complex when you start but it’s really not that hard to play.

Railroad Ink Challenge

Railroad Ink Challenge is a route connecting roll and write. You try to get as many of them connected as possible. There is Railroad Ink where that is about it, but Railroad Ink Challenge adds in, well, a challenge. And I think the challenge is more fun because it gives you something more specific to go for.

This game comes with really nice components. The box has a magnetic clasp, the dice are really nice, and the boards are dry erase. This is a bit more of a brain burner, I would say, of a game. Getting all the routes connected and optimizing your scoring can be tricky, but it’s a lot of fun.. And if you want to give it a try, there is an app.

Second Chance

Second Chance is the easiest of the games on the list. All you are doing is filling in shapes on your board hoping to have as much filled in as possible by the time you can’t place another shape. That’s all there is too the game, but it’s really a relaxing game to play.

Plus, it’s a game, like Cartographers, that allows you to be creative. As you play and fill in areas, a lot of us like to doodle in the different shapes. If you don’t rush through it and just enjoy that process, it can be a very relaxing game to play with anyone.

Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade

Now we’re onto the most thematic of the list, I’d say. This one feels like you are playing pinball as the ball moves in certain ways around the board as it bounces off things. It also is probably the longest of the roll and writes, but the different boards, pinball machines, you play on are a lot of fun.

The game basically has you picking dice to use to bounce off of different bumpers, knock down targets and score points. You can get a bonus ball in play or score double points. It’s another game that works great solo and there are a lot of different maps, four in the base box, that are a really fun time to play.

Ganz Schon Clever (That’s Pretty Clever)

We go from the most thematic to the most abstract. Ganz Schon Clever is all about maximizing the points that you score by filling in spots and numbers. This game shines with the combos that you can create though. Filling in a spot in one section can link to another section so you fill in there, and you can fill in a lot of things.

The game play is pretty easy, but compared to some of the more thematic ones it might be harder to teach. Still, it’s a great puzzle for players to try and figure out. And even when you figure it out, you still want to optimize the puzzle so you can score the best you can every time. Plus there are two more games in the series once you feel comfortable with this one.

These are just some, I wanted to give a good variety. I have 28 different ones on my shelf and I want to get and play around with more. So there are ones for everyone. Love cats, Cat Cafe, Jurassic Park, Welcome to Dino World, build a house, Floorplan, and more. So pick your favorite theme, so some are better than others, I will say. What is your favorite roll and write? And which one would you give or want to get this Holiday season?

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But let’s work our ways onto the games that I did get played and see which ones top the list for the month of June.

A Gentle Rain – 5 Plays

This one got played a lot on stream last month. A Gentle Rain is really such a relaxing game. I should probably pull it out and play it again some evening. The game play is simple, but I don’t feel like I need to think much about it. A good solo only game that is a nice quick play and a chance to relax and let my mind clear.

Tainted Grail – 2 Plays

Normally this would have given me a few more plays. I count each session we play as multiple games depending on where we go with the chapters of the story. But we are on Chapter 7 now, and our first session we finished up Chapter 6, second session started Chapter 7. That means only two plays of this. And I get to play it again tomorrow. I’m still really loving Tainted Grail. it is such an epic story driven game.

Merchants Cove – 2 Plays

A new game for me this past month was Merchants Cove. It is a fun asymmetrical game where players are running their own little engine to try and score the most points possible. You can read my full review of it here. The game play just works for me. It takes a bit to play for such a light game but I like how the engines work, and I like how the different characters play. Plus there is just enough interaction with loading the ships to make it interesting, but not so much to make it feel cut throat.

Xenoshyft Onslaught – 2 Plays

A game that I always love to play, I talked about it in my Top 10 cooperative games over on Malts and Meeples.

Then I immediately got it played the day after. Xenoshyft: Onslaught is so much fun. It’s a game that I don’t win often, but I still love it. And when I play it, I want to play it again. I think t hat I’ve played this game around a dozen times and maybe won twice. But it always feels so close. And it is a fun deck building game that does some different things.

Medium – 2 Plays

Another new game for me, Medium was picked up on a whim at Target. A friend had demoed it at GenCon and thought it was fun, and I thought the concept was fun. Medium has two players trying to match up words. Or come up with the same word between two words. If it’s cat and turtle, what is the word that links the two or is between the two? Animal would make a lot of sense for that, but pasta and turtle that might take a bit more time (shell) and cat and spaceship, might be even harder. Can you match it up in three guesses, it’s fun and good for a laugh.

Homebrewers – 2 Plays

Almost forgot to add this one to the list, in fact if you saw this right away it wasn’t there. Homebrewers is such a fun game. I got to play two players again and I love it for the engine building. You get to create crazy homebrew and see who is the best brewer. Plus at the end, I always like to decide if I’d try the beer or not. The answer is basically always yes, I’d try it, but there are a number where I’m not sure if I want to drink a full pint of it. If you want a fast and light engine building game, Homebrewers is great.

Railroad Ink Challenge – 2 Plays

Yet another new game, Railroad Ink Challenge is just another version of Railroad Ink, but it adds in even more to the game. Another one that I played on Malts and Meeples, you can watch it played below. It just adds to Railroad Ink in a really fun way. You now have goals you want to complete. Can you get them done in time, how well can you score, the game is just a blast and worth checking out for a roll and write.

Blood Rage – 1 Play

This is my #2 game of all time. And while I did have fun playing it again and it won’t ever leave my collection, I do wonder if it’ll stay at #2 come October. I like this drafting and dudes on a map game. There is a lot of strategy and a lot of fun in the game. And I got to play it four player which is pretty rare, I’ve normally played it two player. The winners both had different strategies and the two of us lagging behind were going for more of a Loki style strategy. It was fun to see all the different options, and I’m kind of ready to play it again just have some revenge.

Aeon’s End – 1 Play

Now, technically this was another new game for me. I have played Aeon’s End War Eternal several times. But now that I own everything for Aeon’s End, I finally played the base game. Aeon’s End is another deck building game that does some different things. I like fighting the giant monster, I like trying to keep the town alive, and I like how different each giant monster is. I think I will start playing Aeon’s End Legacy on Wednesday over on Malts and Meeples. Join me if you want to see more Aeon’s End there. I really think it’s a very good cooperative deck building game.

Clever Hoch Drei – 1 Play

Yup, I played all the Clever games again. They are just such nice roll and write games. And now I’ve taught a lot of people, so it makes it really easy to get to the table.

Hues and Cues – 1 Play

So Hues and Cues is a pandemic purchase. I got it because it was one that could be played via Zoom. But, I think it is more fun in person. Like most games, it is easier to just talk across the table and it helps up the silly level of the game. Sometimes you just want to play something is silly and a good time. Hues and Cues doesn’t force silliness, but gives a lot of good laughs. Plus it’s tricky to give one word clues or two to get people to guess a color. So there is lots of time to chat while playing without slowing down the game.

Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade – 1 Play

Another o ne that I played on Malt and Meeples, I won’t post the video this time. But check it out over there if you want to see how Super-Skill Pinball plays. The game is a lot of fun and gives you some good choices. The thing I always come back to with Super-Skill Pinball is that it is the most thematic roll and write that I’ve played. Does it feel just like playing a pinball machine, it’s can’t really, but the mechanics all make so much sense, and as you get combos it just works so well. And it does truly try and have a theme and ends up with a solid theme to it.

Ganz Schon Clever – 1 Play

What, more Clever roll and writes? No shock there. I still think the first is my favorite, but I can get some really great games of the third one at times.

Doppelt So Clever – 1 Play

Yes, the final Clever game. Right now I almost always play them as a trilogy. It is fun to see how well I can do across all three of them. And sometimes the answer to that question is not well at all, and other times I end up with a really high score.

Sushi Go Party! – 1 Play

I got to play this two months ago and then this month. I actually like the fact that I had some time off from it. We were playing it fairly often, but now I’m ready to play it more. Sushi Go Party is a fun drafting game, and now I own 4 different promo cards for it. So I can play with even more variety than I normally would And I will say that some of the promos are a lot of fun. Sake gives you three points but then the next card is drafted blind. That one is just goofy, but somehow thematic at the same time.

Onirim – 1 Play

Final one that got played is Onirim. Another solo game, Onirim definitely gives you a bit more to think about than A Gentle Rain, but still not too much. I think my only real knock on Onirim is that it can be a bit fiddly. While I have streamed it, I almost prefer Onirim for when I’m watching a sporting event or something like that and want to keep my hands busy. I don’t need to be completely engaged but it gives me something to do.

Yearly Stats

Half way through the year and I have 166 plays under my belt. That is 48 different games and 18% of my current collection. This month was interesting because like I said, there were some bigger games in there. Blood Rage, Xenoshyft, and Merchants Cove were all games that might have gotten played twice or might have had more games played in those evenings if they didn’t take as long.

Tainted Grail still leads the way with most plays. Followed by Deadly Doodle, Dice Throne, Ganz Schon Clever, and Metro X, so a huge game and three smaller games. But 10 games are at the 5+ plays or more for the year. And I feel like 18% of the collection played isn’t that bad. Though, I hope by the end of the year to have that pushing into that range of 1/3 of my collection played or more.

Which of my games last month do you want to play most?

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Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade

Like I said at the beginning this is a very fun game and a thematic roll and write. A lot of times roll and writes end up being very mechanical. There might be some theme wrapped around them or it might be completely abstract like Ganz Schon Clever.

Obviously, this is imitating a pinball game. And that just works really well for me. You can see more thoughts on my TableTopTakes review of Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade.I’m not sure where it currently falls in my Top 10 roll and write games, but fairly high again. I think that the basic machine is fun, but I do like the hacker one more just because it gives you more to do and more choices. The game does a good job of simulating a pinball machine while still saying mechanically sound.

The Beer

I believe that I drank before on stream, Fantasy Factory by Karben4 Brewing out of Madison, WI. It is a good solid IPA. A good one for hot days, which is what I want around this time of year, especially with it being in the 90’s. I give a little breakdown on the loose rules surrounding the different types of Pale Ales from Pales Ales to EPA’s to IPA’s and just what that difference means.

Upcoming Streams

Assuming no more migraines, I am going to be doing my Top 10 cooperative games coming out on Monday. And then with Loki probably streaming some shorter games, maybe more Marvel United or other roll and writes so that I can watch Loki on Wednesday evenings as well. Let me know if there is a roll and write that you’d want to see played, assuming it can be played solo.

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