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

My Tableau Building Games

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

Tableau Building Games I’ve Played

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

Tableau Building Games I’ve Yet To Play

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

What Stays and What Leaves?

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

What Is And Easy Leave?

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

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

What Is An Easy Stay?

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

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

Everything Else

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

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

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

So The Tableau Games That Are Leaving

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

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

What is your favorite tableau building game?

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Negative Player Interaction

Let’s start out with the negative version of player interaction. This is when a player in a game can cause another player to lose something or to take something from another player. Or some other action that is actively putting them further away from winning the game.

A game like Uno, for example, is actively built around negative interactions for it’s core interaction. You are close to winning, draw two or skip your turn or I’ll reverse it away from you. All these actions are likely to keep you from winning the game. Or if I can deduce/guess what color you have, I might intentionally change it, though that one is more of the next type of interaction.

But you can get the idea for negative player interaction. It is about making another players position in the game worse. Now, sometimes that might be keeping them from winning the game, and that might be a part of the game, but games that rely too heavily on negative interaction are often the ones that end up in fights or people not liking games as much.

Neutral Player Interaction

Next u up is going to be neutral player interaction. This is when players might be racing towards a shared goal, for example. Or when spaces are limited for players. I go somewhere that you want to go in a game and it blocks you from going there. I’m passively impacting your strategy in the game. But it’s not, normally, done out a negative reason for it. It can be, but that’s again that situation where you might be blocking someone from winning a game.

An example of this is common in worker placement games. There are five worker spots that do different things. But only one worker can go to a spot. So if I take the one that sells goods, that means you can’t go there with your worker to sell your goods. You still play with the other options, but I’ve interacted with you in the game so that it limits what you can do.

I think a lot of games strive for this one because it’s pretty basic. And you don’t want it to be off putting to you players to have negative interactions. But a smart player can block good moves from another player if they want. However, it’ll cost them something in return and therefore going for that negative interaction is generally a bad plan.

Positive Player Interaction

Finally we have positive player interaction. This happens in a number of different games, so I’ll break it down in a couple of different examples. But the gist of it is, I do something and you get a benefit as well in the game.

An example of this would be New Frontiers or Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition. You pick an action to do and every other player gets to do that action. So that’s a positive because it means you get to do something every round. But as the player who picks that interaction, I get a benefit, so it’s not like I’m just picking something for everyone to do the same thing. This is a nice way to do it because it keeps players engaged at all times.

Another example is Flamecraft. In Flamecraft it’s a worker placement game but the spots aren’t limited. Instead, if I go to a location where another player has their worker, I give them a good. That is a positive because I go where I want to for my strategy, but there is a cost to me that benefits another player. It’s a bit different than the other type of positive interaction, because it can be seen as a slight negative for me, but only a slight one.

This sort of interaction is meant to make players feel good. It also shows up in worker placement games where you bump a worker back to someone’s worker pool, for example. That means they don’t need to spend a turn bringing back their workers.

Why One Way Or Another?

Now, I want to say, I don’t think that any version of player interaction is particularly bad or should be avoided. But I think that some maybe are more polarizing. Especially when it comes to positive or negative interactions. Mainly from two camps, “I don’t want to help others” or “I don’t like it when a game is mean to me”.

Both of them do, I think, have their place. And generally their space is on the opposite end of the spectrum. If I play a short game, I am more fine with negative interactions. Why, because the game is over fast, and the same with two player games. You are mean to me, I am mean to you. That is the expectation and there is no ganging up on someone. When it is a higher player count or longer game, that is less palatable because someone might be ganged up on and then be playing catch up for two hours.

On the flip side, I think positive interaction works better in longer and higher player count games. Firstly, at a higher player count it can help shorten the game. And in the example of New Frontiers and Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition, every player is engaged throughout the game. But I like that for a longer game because it keeps you from getting stuck behind or ganged up on.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think there is a right way or wrong way to do player interactions. And each way works, depending on the game. I think that some of them are better than others in certain situations though, and as a game designer or player, you need to know what makes sense for a game or for you.

Don’t add in a few negative interaction cards because that is what games do. Or as a player, don’t pick a game you can tell has take that cards if that doesn’t work for your group. Know your game and your group to create the right gaming experience.

But let me know your favorite games with all the different types of interaction.

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Catch up on previous videos here

100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41
40 through 31

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 30 through 21

30 – Hanamikoji

• Published by EmperorS4 in 2013
• Give gifts to win the favor of Geisha through tricky card play

This is one of my favorite if not my favorite two player only game. There are others on the list that I like at two a lot, but this probably my favorite pure two player game. In this one you want to win the favor of Geisha and you do that by giving them gifts. But it’s how you give them gifts that is so much fun. The four actions you take per round, and each them offers a good decision. Mainly because you don’t know what your opponent has, you don’t know what’s yet to be drawn, and of course you sometimes have to give the ultimate decision to your opponent.

Buy Hanamikoji

29 – For Northwood!

• Published by Side Room Games in 2021
• Try and win the favor of the woodlands rulers by taking the exact right number of tricks

This is a weird game. For Northwood! is a solo trick taking game. And that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it really does. Mainly because of the powers and abilities and how all of those work. You play out eight hands and you need to win 0 to 7 tricks each time. But you need to decide how many tricks you’ll win before hand. So it’s using your powers and abilities to mitigate or push for winning those tricks and not getting too high or too low. If you can pull off all eight, that is going to be perfect win.

Currently Not Available But Could be through Gigamic.

28 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game

• Published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2016
• Investigate, fight, and solve the mysteries around Arkham in a Lovecraftian story

This is a fun game in Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Files line, in fact it’s my favorite of them. I really like how they use deck building and just cads to create an immersive narrative and experience for a game. It’s fun to play through the story, use your deck, and try the best you can to not fail the checks that you’re given. And it’s also nice because it is a campaign, you play through multiple scenarios, but it’s not a long campaign, so you can pick and choose which short campaigns that they’ve put out for the game that you want to play through.

Buy Arkham Horror: The Card Game

27 – Star Wars: Unlimited

• Published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2024
• Battle to beat your enemy by destroying their base with your dominance in space and on the ground

This is the only Trading Card Game to make the list. And you know I have some beef with Fantasy Flight and Asmodee around how they are handling sending out destroyed cards and basically saying it’s not their fault. But this isn’t for that.

Because, I love the game. The game is a ton of fun to play and I like the deck building for it too. It’s fun to always have a “commander” basically that helps determine what colors you should build it. And I like how the game play is simpler than that of Magic the Gathering. You never worry about running out of lands because your ability to play cards is just cards. Of course, it gives you a great decision as to which cards you put into play as resources or keep in your hand to play.

Buy Star Wars Unlimited

26 – PitchCar

• Published by Ferti in 1995
• Race around the track and be the first to cross the finish line in this flicking dexterity game

PitchCar is just a fun game. I love how simple it is to teach and play and of course how fun it is to set-up a track and build something crazy, if you want. You want a loop, you can build that. You can add in a jump or you can go up a level and have more track go beneath. Of course you need a buy a bunch of it to do that, but it’s worth it to build more and crazier tracks. At the same time, it’s also fun just to have the basic track as well to play with. And it is a good game for all ages.

Currently Not Available

25 – Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

• Published by Stronghold Games in 2021
• Build up your card engine to be the most influential corporation in the terraforming of mars

This is fun card engine building game. You build out a tableau of cards that provide you resources, take actions, help you terraform. But there is more to the game than that. You need to pick what action you want to do, as do your opponents. You may pick the same one but whatever action you pick, you get a bonus doing that. But it isn’t just your action you take, you take your opponents action as well. So I love the strategy in what action do I take based off of what action I think my opponents will take. I might not get a discount or a bonus for doing it, but I do for the one I pick.

Buy Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

24 – Forest Shuffle

• Published by Lookout Games in 2023
• Build up your forest and surround them with the nature that gives you the most points

This is such a pretty game. That is not the spot you’d thought I’d start most likely, but it is. And I like the game a lot for that, but also because it’s a really fun game. In Forest Shuffle you place out trees and then surround those trees with creatures and other plants to build out your forest. Each tree only is able to support a card per side, with a few exceptions. Every card you play is going to give you points in some way. I love it when a game is able to let you score points while still keeping the game simple, which Forest Shuffle does amazingly well.

Buy Forest Shuffle

23 – First Rat

• Published by Pegasus Spiele in 2022
• The moon is made of cheese, so as rats you want to collect items, build space ships, and get to space

The game has a great theme, let’s start there. I enjoy the theme of First Rat and I’m sure that it does help push it higher. But I also like the diversity in what you can do in the game. You might rush to get pieces and shoot one of your rats way up the board. Or you may collect points in other ways, unlock more rats and get them onto the board or push the lights further so when you start to collect resources you get more. And each way is going to give you a good way to win the game. So fun theme, not too complex, but lots of good decisions.

Buy First Rat

22 – Ready Set Bet

• Published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) in 2022
• Bid on a horse race in real time, can you make the right calls and win all the money?

This is a party game, kind of. I say kind of because it isn’t a party game in the traditional sense. Or what you think of a party game when you think of the mass market ones you find at Target or Wal-Mart. But Ready Set Bet is a fun, light betting game that is done in real time. I love this game for it’s stand-up moments. All the bets are down and all of a sudden the #2/3 horse is coming out of nowhere because you rolled it’s number twice and the race changes.

Buy Ready Set Bet

21 – Paper Dungeons

• Published by Alley Cat Games in 2020
• Roll the dice, level up your heroes, and explore the dungeon in this roll and write game

I suspect that this is my highest rated roll and write game on the list. I don’t know of one that I’d have put higher. But I like this one because it gives you a lot to do but not too much. You need to balance leveling up characters, getting health potions, moving around the dungeon, crafting items, and being able to fight the various bosses to score points. That is a lot, but it really comes down to rolling some dice and deciding how to use two of the dice rolled. And then, if you figure out what to do well you combo into a whole lot more.

Buy Paper Dungeons

Upcoming Streams

Just a reminder on my streaming schedule. It’s not just all my Top 100 Games (of all time).

• Monday night, time varies, I play different small solo games, though I might be looking to start up a campaign again. And generally the streams do start between 8 and 8:30 PM central time.
• Wednesday at 9 PM central is going to continue my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition for another six weeks. After that expect this to be when I play my small games. Only 5 more weeks left of my Top 100 Games, then likely this will switch to smaller solo games and video games.
• Friday at 9 PM central my wife and I are streaming a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Join us for the adventure of Nina and Kaerok and see what choices we make.

The best way to know when we go live, though is to subscribe and click that notification bell. I can’t promise, and in fact it’s pretty unlikely, that I’ll have events to click on ahead of time. Though I do want to get better at it. I hope that you can join a stream and hop into the chat. And let me know what games in this list are your favorite or that you want to try.

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Games from Miniature Market

Bonfire

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

Raccoon Robbers

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

Via Magica

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

Mesozooic: Jurassic Mini Expansion and Triassic Mini Expansion

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

Abyss: Kraken Expansion

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

Escape the Dark Castle

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

18 Holes: Course Architect

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

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

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

Clank! Catacombs

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

Three Sisters

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

Star Realms Deck Building Game

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

Thornwatch: The Dark of the Wood Expansion

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

Planet Unknown

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

Star Trek: Super-Skill Pinball

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

Featherlight

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

Unmatched: Marvel – Redemption Row & Hell’s Kitchen

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

The Librarians

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

Ascension X: War of Shadows

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

18 Holes: Second Edition & Expansion

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

Starship Captains

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

Relics of Rajavihara & Expansion

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

Solomon Kane Expansions

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

Enchanters

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

D&D Books

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

Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama

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

Exit: Lord of the Rings

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

Skyrim: The Adventure Game

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

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

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

Pre-orders

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

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – Discovery & Crisis Expansions

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

Earth

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

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

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100 through 91 here.

90 through 81 here.

80 through 71 here.

70 through 61 here.

60 through 51 here.

50 through 41 here.

40 through 31 here.

30 through 21 here.

Top 100 Games 2022 Edition – 20-11

20. Lords of Hellas

Lords of Hellas is big game from Awaken Realms, and one of their first games. So that doesn’t mean it isn’t without some rough edges but it’s a game that I really enjoy. It offers so much for you to do, you can go questing, fight monsters, build temples and monuments, or try and take over area in the game. And all of them give you some benefit and can help you win the game.

And that is one of the really cool things with Lords of Hellas. The game gives you a lot of ways to win it. That means that every player isn’t going after the same objective, or they might be, but that’s not from lack of options. You can win by taking over two large areas. Or you win by holding five temple spaces. And if a monument if fully built, whoever at the end of three turns is holding it wins the game. Or, if you defeat three of the monsters you can win.

As you play, also, your goal might change. Because you get more powers and those help develop a strategy for how you want to play the game. The first time that I played, I think all the players were within a turn or two of winning.

Buy on Game Nerdz

19. Spire’s End

Spire’s End is a dark choose your own adventure game with combat. And really a pretty simple game as you make choices, you fight combats and you really hope that you don’t die too quickly. As it is a challenging game. But I really enjoy the story in the game. The idea of a spire showing up, town folks have gone missing, and now you need to explore this mysterious thing to see if you can find them is great.

Plus the dice combat works, it is not the most complex game. But the dice combat is fun as you try and figure out when you push, using energy which is your life, for a bigger attack in hopes that the enemy won’t be attacking you. And of course, there is still a chance that attack will just straight up miss anyways.

Buy on Favro

18. Paper Dungeons: A Dungeon Scrawler

Now we’re onto one of my top roll and write games, not my top one, but close. And this is one that I’ve played a lot on Malts and Meeples. Paper Dungeons is a “dungeon scrawler” their words not mine. What that means is that each player is delving into a dungeon, leveling up their adventuring party, crafting items, fighting monsters and everything you’d do in a dungeon crawler. And it even has a campaign.

Now the campaign is nothing to write home about, but Paper Dungeons is a nice level of complex. Do you want to spend your time leveling up your heroes and just making it to the boss monsters to fight them that way, or is racing around the dungeon, taking damage and getting loot the way to go. Well that might depend on cards that you’ve gotten so the whole system just works. I just wish the campaign were a bit more.

Buy on Game Nerdz

17. ICECOOL

Icecool has dropped slightly on my list, but that’s mainly because there are so many good games. Plus, Icecool is my favorite dexterity game. You are flicking penguins around trying to get fish. And you are doing that trying to avoid the one hall monitor who is out to get you. The game is simple, flick your penguin, get them through a door and get points. But it is always a grand old time when I play it.

I also like that like Pitchcar you get excited when someone makes a good shot. So it’s never hyper competitive, well, maybe it was for a few people at the North American championships in 2019. But most of us even for a tournament with a pretty awesome prize were just having fun with it. It’s a great try to win game, but I never feel bad if I’m not winning.

Buy on Amazon

16. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

Now onto a bigger game, Ares Expedition, which they might just be calling it now, borrows from another game. But it’s a great pretty fast playing space epic game of terraforming Mars. All you are doing is building up a tableau of cards in front of you to then trigger things that raise the temp, oxygen level, and basically make the planet habitable by the end of the game.

But the cool thing is how actions are chosen. Each player chooses an action at the same time. And whomever picks the action, multiple people can, do it and get a bonus. If you didn’t pick that action, you still can do it, just without the bonus. So everyone is involved throughout the whole of the game.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

15. Hanamikoji

Now onto a two player game. Hanamikoji is a push and pull as players try to win the favor of either four Geisha or 11 total points worth of Geisha. All done through simple but fun card interaction. In fact, there are only four actions you do during the game, but it creates an amazing puzzle as you play.

You either pick a card to keep for winning favor, discard two that no one will use, put out three options and your opponent picks one. Or put out two sets of two options and your opponent picks one. So at the start of the game you are feeling out your opponent to see what they might have in their hand. At the end, you hope that you’ve saved the right action to give you a shot to win. I think it works so well because sometimes you might have to give your opponent what they need, but you get the information that you need.

Buy on Miniature Market

14. Railroad Ink

Final roll and write game on the list and it’s easily my favorite. I really like Railroad Ink or Railroad Ink Challenge. And I need to play it more and more with the expansions for it. But Railroad Ink is a route building game where you are connecting road and rail connections at the edge of your board to complete massive routes and score points.

I know that some people don’t like the Railroad Ink Challenge version as well because it adds in some to the game. It gives you challenges that you need to complete, or should, for more points. Now they don’t always work out but it’s fun when they do. And I like it because it adds variety to the game without adding in a complete additional rule set with the expansions.

Buy on Cool Stuff Inc

13. Destinies

Now we’re getting into games that I’d consider my bread and butter. That is not a knock against the other games, I think that Destinies is just the type of game that I write about and talk about more. Why, because it is a bigger campaign feeling game.

In Destinies you are trying to complete your destiny faster in a story driven game. And that is cool and unique about the game as most story driven games are cooperative. But you are trying to get yours done first and shape the story around you, at least for that session. And then it strings together a series of stories, not too many, to tell a bigger experience in the game.

I also really appreciate the simplicity of the game. There is a great app that handles the story element. But beyond that, how you do and manage skill checks is great. You are spending dice, you always have two and can add more that refresh over time, to do a check. If you don’t get it, you lose out on information, if you do, it progresses. But it’s not just a roll to see if you beat a number it’s a roll to see how many success you get. Because you have markers on your stats, and how every many you match or beat number wise, you get. It’s a simple system but one that works well.

Buy on Miniature Market

12. Sleeping Gods

And another big story game, and another one that shouldn’t work as well as it does. That is not a slight to anyone more so that the game is really impressive. Sleeping Gods is a story driven open world game. You go into it not knowing what to do, other than find some totems and that’s your quest. And to create a compelling story is tricky in a setting like that, but Sleeping Gods does that.

It also is not just a one time game because of it. I went off several different directions on the map. But I didn’t go anywhere to the east, I didn’t delve into the dungeons much and I didn’t go to the south much. In fact, I probably have 75-80% of the world left to explore. That makes Sleeping Gods an easy game to come back to and explore the story of it again and again.

Buy on Amazon

(or I’d recommend checking out Sleeping Gods over on Gamefound and getting it with the new version there)

11. Clank! In! Space!

And wrapping up this section before we get to the Top 10, we have Clank! In! Space!. A deck building push your luck game set in space. This also counts for Clank! as well, and I wish for Clank! Legacy, but that’s one I still need to get to the table.

In Clank! In! Space! you are building up your deck to move as efficiently around a spaceship as possible. All the while you know that you’ll be making noise, clank, so that when cubes are added to and pulled from a bag, you are going to start losing your health. Think the bad guys finding you when your color is pulled.

Plus the game has good humor in it. It knows that it’s a silly game and it leans into the space themes and tropes. So you’ll recognize the characters you are finding on the ship, or at least have an idea of some of the different sci-fi properties that it references. Clank! In! Space! is just a good deck building game that offers more to do than just deck building.

Not Available. But Checkout Clank Catacombs coming soon.

Upcoming Streams

So, only planned stream and I know that this is late coming out because of the holidays, but tonight we have 10 through 1.

Join me live for this finale of my Top 100 Games. Let me know what games make it into your Top 10 (of all time) 2022 Edition. And just for a good time in general to talk about board games and what we love about them.

Then on Wednesday, we’re getting to the holiday season. So I am not starting another big box campaign until the start of 2023, but we’ll be highlighting some and then playing smaller games leading up to that. So join me on Wednesday as I start that process.

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Why Lie About Player Counts?

The simple answer for this is money. If a game is really best at 2 to 3 players, that’s a specific group and size that you need. But if you can make it 2-5 players or even 1-5 players, you’re not getting bigger groups. And you are getting the solo players. So your market just got a whole lot larger.

For myself, if a game has a solo mode, I am interested in it. But sometimes, those counts are a lie. A Euro game might be a nice thinky 90 minute game with three players with not too much downtime. And then balloon to 3 hours with 4 players and so much more time between your turns. Or a game might work solo, but you need to play as four characters no matter the player count. That means you need to keep up with a ton of things. Or there are automa players that you flip a card and do their actions making the game go longer than just playing with someone.

Now, it is nice to have that flexibility. And I talk about it like this is common or everyone believes that it is a lie. Some people have no problem with a complex automa that you’re playing against. Some people have no issue with the downtime between the turns. Three hours is a fun night to hang out and play a big thinky game. But for a lot of gamers, neither of those will sound fun.

How Can You Spot A Lie?

This is going to be fast, go to Board Game Geek, look up the game, and they will show you the player count. Plus the community player count. That’s the communities, people who have played the game, recommended number. You can even click on that and see the percentages of how people vote on that to really help you make an informed decision.

What Makes A Game Tell The Truth?

This is a bit of an odd question, but what are things, if you can’t get to BGG (Board Game Geek), that might help a game. Because there are a number of things that can help a game, even if it does fluctuate with player count, still be good.

Turns at the Same Time

This one is pretty simple, everyone is doing stuff at the same time. Drafting games do this often. Everyone has a hand of cards, you pick a card and then pass the rest of the hand. Or some roll and writes, the die are rolled and you fill in on your sheet.

But even bigger games sometimes do this. And it’s more that you do this part of the time. Gloomhaven, for example, has everyone pick their cards at the same time. Playing out the actions on your cards is done separately. But the big decision is done at the same time. And because it’s cooperative, I think players stay more invested in the turn. But during that turn, or round, you do something all at once.

I Get Something On Your Turn

Another big one is that everyone gets something on the turn. So you play down a card, maybe I can do that action, or you get two actions on a card and I get the lesser one. So I always need to pay attention. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is kind of this. It’s more the first, but as the person who picked a phase to activate, I get a special bonus.

More of an example for this would be Ganz Schon Clever or any of the roll and write games in that series. The person’s whose turn it is rolls the dice, but at the end of that players turn there are three dice that the other players can pick one of to use. So I need to pay attention to those dice at the end of your turn.

Cooperative Play

Cooperative games deal with this another way than a lot of the other reasons. A lot of them try and keep you engaged through something you are doing. Cooperative games are because you’re invested as a group. I want to know how your turn goes because it’s going to help tell the story or beat the game. I am invested in you doing well.

This can lead to alpha player problems. If I’m too invested, or don’t think you’re doing the optimal thing, then I might step on your decision in the game. That is a problem of the players, not of the style of game.

But when I care about the story that you are finding out, or how you optimize to get rid of the disease cubes. That is fun, I care about your turn. And cooperative games can be collaborative where everyone discusses what happens. And more cooperative games are starting to have a group decision space. We all have our own character, but the main, or big, decisions are made as a group.

Limited Spaces/Choices

Finally, at least on the list right now, is that you limit what is going on. If there are too many possible options at a lower player count, say if nothing is blocked off in Lost Ruins of Arnak, there might be too many choices. Or with Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, you can’t play with all the special roles at a lower count, and you add them in very intentionally.

This is really important because it keeps the game from bogging down as much. Lost Ruins of Arnak, for example, you cover up 5 worker placement spots. In a four player game, none of them are covered. But because there are more people putting their workers onto the board, it becomes equally as tight with more players. Limiting how much someone can over think as you play is important.

Final Thoughts on Player Counts

We’ll never get perfect player counts. Like I said the main reason that game companies put different counts on to get people to buy it. So be smart, use resources, like Board Game Geek, that are out there. And generally the information on BGG is good.

But also, it is fine that some games are good 2 and 3 player games but suck at 1 or 5. Not every game needs to hit every player count in your collection. I don’t think anyone, really, is complaining, or would complain that the latest big Euro doesn’t play up to 12 like their favorite party game does. It hits a different spot in your collection for playing with different groups.

What player count do you play at most? What game maybe was disappointing because it didn’t work at that player count?

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Why Talk About Future Crowdfunding?

Well, because the hype is real. Not only that, while I think there are good sources for what’s coming up on Kickstarter, I don’t think it hurts to have some extras in there. This is me weighing in on a fairly crowded space, in all fairness, and talking about games that I’m interested in, but also that might be missed by everyone in the hype of some of the big games coming out.

It is also to help me budget what I’m going to get. I’m putting down 10 games that I know some about but not a ton. And these games aren’t all going to be games that I back, because, well, it’s expensive. But this will give you an idea of what is coming out to help plan out what games you might want, and of course, this is only quarter one, so don’t blow all your budget here.

This might become a monthly thing, though, unless I can find good ways to keep track of this long term. Like I said, there are people covering things weekly or bi-weekly, and that’s great. But it does mean that I’ll need to spend more time tracking down games in the future. And BoardGameCo, I hope he does a quarterly video, but he’s doing this one right now since Kickstarter/Gamefound are very slow.

Top 10 Quarter One Crowdfunding

So what games are making my list for the first quarter.

10. Tidal Blades: Rise of the Unfolders

I expect this one to be a lot higher on a lot of people’s lists. It isn’t for me just because, while the first Tidal Blades game looked amazing, I felt like it wasn’t a game for me. And while it isn’t a series in terms of you need the first to play the second, I might feel that I’m missing out on something. But the world of Tidal Blades is cool. A land covered in water, monsters coming up from the deep or through that you need to fight. A tournament to decide the next heroes of the land. That is all cool.

And this takes it from a dice upgrading game into a dungeon crawler. And oddly enough, not one that really uses those dice. We all know that I’m a sucker for dungeon crawl games. That is the reason this is on the list. It is a cool world, and Druid City Games/Skybound Games always makes high quality games. So, if nothing else the production is going to be amazing. I can see this one tempting me.

9. Jurassic World: The Legacy Of Isla Nublar

This game from Funko would only kind of be on my radar if it weren’t for the fact it’s a legacy game. It is this low because of the price point. The legacy game is played over 12 game sessions, and the game costs $120 on Kickstarter plus shipping. That is expensive. Now, doing the math, let’s say I play three player and twelve sessions and each game takes an hour and a half. That is about $2.22 of fun per person per hour.

But a legacy game set in the Jurassic World world, I’m interested in that. I need to know more how the game plays. Because, it’s a theme that interests me, who doesn’t like dinosaurs, but also I don’t have as much nostalgia/attachment to the original movies or the new ones. Even with that, I still like dinosaurs, so I’m still tempted by this game.

8. Seas of Havoc

Another one lower on my list that I’m generally interested in. This is a deck building, sea fighting game. That is a concept that sounds interesting to me. And while it might not be pirates completely for this game, I can see it having that feel. I need to play my newest pirate game, Forgotten Waters, but generally I’m looking for good pirate themed games.

Seas of Havoc is higher on the list than Jurassic World for the theme. It is very close though, because a legacy game is always interesting to me. But as much as I love the legacy mechanic, I also love the deck building mechanic, maybe even more so. And doing that with the high seas and adventure, I’m curious to see how that goes.

7. The Dark Quarter

This game could be higher on the list as I learn more about it. What I know is that this is set in New Orleans and has almost a gothic style horror feel to it. And I’m here for gothic horror. Plus it’s a collaboration between Lucky Duck Games and Van Ryder Games. While I haven’t played much from either, their stuff always interests me. Mainly because they both focus on story first games.

This one, like I said, I don’t know too much about. It seems like an interesting setting though, and I suspect we’ll be seeing vampires show up. And I’m expecting with Lucky Duck Games being involved that there is going to be some sort of app driven component. I don’t need apps in all my games, but when there is a lot of story, I like it so that they can hide information better.

6. Astro Knights

From Indie Board and Cards, this is kind of a successor to Aeon’s End. If you watched my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2021 Edition, you’ll know that I really like Aeon’s End. It’s a good challenging game with a lot of variability. Plus, like I mentioned with Seas of Havoc, I like deck builders. And Aeon’s End is a very good deck builder.

Astro Knights seems to have changed up some things, like not having a fixed market. And while I don’t mind the fixed market in Aeon’s End, I really like more random markets. Granted, in a cooperative game it matters less to me. But I’m curious about this one, and I like the artwork on it. I didn’t start backing Aeon’s End games until this most recent one, so I might wait for this to come to retail.

5. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition Expansion

Another one that I’m really excited about is just an expansion from Stronghold Games. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition was one of, if not, my top game from 2021. It just works in that it’s fast to set-up, fast-ish to play, and even though the game might take a bit to play it doesn’t seem long because you do stuff every turn.

I just want more cards in this expansion and maybe something small extra. But more development cards and more research cards, that’d be great. Even a few more corporations, that’d be good. Or maybe a separate track to manage some way in the game. I suspect that we’ll be getting a sixth action, and that is fine, but I don’t really need that. What works well with Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is that you can make decisions pretty quickly for what you want to do. I hope they don’t bog that down.

4. Final Girl

Now the first of two games, in a row, that are already out. They are just coming back to Kickstarter. From Van Ryder games, second time on the list, this one is about being the final girl in a horror movie. It’s a trope of basically that one person left and will they or won’t they defeat the murderer who is out to get them.

This is a purely solo game and a theme that I really love. Have I said that I like horror before? But this isn’t just horror, this is campy horror, at least what is what I liken it to. So I’m really curious about this game, and it is getting amazing reviews thus far. So when Season 2 comes to Kickstarter, we’ll have to see how much of it I end up backing.

3. Unsettled

The next one is a theme that I maybe like a little bit less than horror, but it’s up there, and that’s sci-fi. Unsettled is a planetary exploration game from Orange Nebula. This one also is out already, they are just coming back for more. The game reminds me of the exploration/planetary phase from ISS Vanguard, what I’ve seen of it. Combined with a plug and play system that is reminiscent of how cool it was for T.I.M.E Stories, but this time in space.

The production on this looks really good. And, like I said, the reviews are very strong as well. it can be played solo, but sounds like a better game multiplayer. What I like about Unsettled and Finale Girl, compared to my normal crowdfunding, is that these are one off games. So I don’t need to plan a whole campaign/players around it.

2. Rogue Angels

But now we are back to a campaign game. And Rogue Angels is a game that I’ve even had the chance to play and mess around with. You can see some of my thoughts here. But the game mechanics were smooth, and what I really liked about the game is the card play.

Just to touch on that a bit. All cards have a cooldown cost. So if I use a card that costs three, I’ll get it back in three turns. And you play with a limited hand of cards. But you also have cards that cost zero. They aren’t great actions, but they’ll do in a pinch. Plus they come back right away. So when you use certain cards that are more powerful but will take longer to come back, that is a great question.

Plus this is a replayable legacy game. And by that I don’t mean that it has a free play mode at the end, the other legacy game, Jurassic World does, but instead it means that this game comes with a lot of characters. And there are a lot of scenarios and branching decisions that you can make. Depending on how you match up with a faction will limit your options as well. So even once you’ve played the story through, there is still more story to find.

1. Marvel Zombies

This is easily my most anticipated game in the first quarter. And I think they’ve officially said it’s in Q1, but there isn’t an official date yet. I haven’t played a Zombicide game before. Undead or Alive isn’t going to make it here in time for before this campaign, most likely. I’m guessing mid summer for that game. So will I back this? It’s Marvel, most likely. And reviewers who have been critical of other Zombicide games have been enjoying previewing this one.

This is going to have so much Marvel to it, and it’s taking a storyline that people liked from the comics and creating a game around it. Plus getting to play as the zombies sounds different than normal Zombicide. I’m not sure why that makes it more interesting, but it does. And a 2.5″ tall Galactus that you actually play with, well you get the idea.

What Crowdfunding Games Are You Looking Forward To?

Let me know that in the comments below. I definitely picked a lot of bigger games for my list. But in all fairness a lot of those bigger games advertise more. If you want to see a massive list of games BoardGameCo covers a whole lot more, though not Rogue Angels. I’ll leave the video below for your viewing pleasure, and it is a fun watch.

But let me know what Kickstarter or Gamefound you are looking forward to in the start of 2022. There are a lot that I didn’t mention that I’ll be keeping an eye on as well like LastLight and The Dice Tower campaign. And if I knew for sure when Sea of Legends was coming out, that might have made the list 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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100 Through 91

90 Through 81

80 through 71

70 through 61

60 through 51

50 through 41

40 through 31

Top 100 Board Games – 30 through 21

30. A Gentle Rain

A Gentle Rain is what I call a pallet cleansing solo game. All you are doing is flipping tiles and placing them, trying to get four corners to meet so you can put down a disc. If you get all the discs out you win the game. It is pretty lucky, I have won, I’ve also gotten only 4 of the 8 discs out. But it is nice and relaxing to play. The whole point of the game is to have a nice relaxing time.

It’s also nice because while it might take up a bit more space than small solo games ideally do, it is a small box and it plays very fast. So it’s a good little puzzle to play through and have something to think on, but without spending a lot of time or brain power on it. Plus it’s pretty cheap and really good quality.

Out of Stock

29. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

I will start by saying, I have yet to play Terraforming Mars. It’s on my shelf and I want to get it played. But Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition drew me in because it looked better. The artwork was really good on it, and when I saw it played, I really liked the mechanics. In particular, I like the action selection, how fast that goes. Each player selects an action and everyone gets to take it but as the person who picked it, you get an extra bonus. Any action that isn’t used is skipped that round. Gives good strategy.

Now, I wish I had backed this on Kickstarter. I did end up buying board overlays because the cubes will slide on the board. That said, the quality of the game is nice and the more you play it the faster you go. I think my first few two player games took around two hours, but by the third, we had the game down to basically an hour. And adding in more people won’t really slow down the game. Really fun engine building board game.

Buy On Miniature Market

28. Aeon’s End Legacy

I really enjoy Legacy games, and Aeon’s End was no exception. I knew I’d likely like it a lot, but you can see how much over on Malts and Meeples. What I wasn’t expecting is how good Aeon’s End Legacy is at teaching you how to play Aeon’s End. The game play is just slick and really enjoyable. And they start you off easy and teach you the game.

In fact, that’s one thing I do and don’t love about the game. I already knew how to play Aeon’s End. So when Aeon’s End Legacy dumbed it down a little bit, there were things that I wanted to do that I couldn’t at the start of the game. But this is an amazing way to learn Aeon’s End. The story is solid and the game play is a ton of fun, plus it’s cooperative which is always a bonus.

Out of Stock

27. Potion Explosion

Now we move onto a game with a ton of toy factor. The main mechanic of the game is pulling marbles from a tray that they roll down. You pick one marble and then like colored marbles that hit you also get, and it can cascade into a lot of marbles. You use those marbles to brew potions that give you points and give you one time abilities.

This game when it’s on the table people notice because of the marble tray and just how different it looks. The game play is solid with more depth than it first looks. Optimizing how and when you use the potions means that you get can give you really powerful turns. So while it is light and fun there is strategy.

Buy on Amazon

26. Sagrada

Sagrada is another game with a great table presence. This one has you making stained glass windows. You draft dice which you then have to place into your stained glass window based off of number or color rules. The game play on this one is pretty simple but getting the numbers and colors you need can be tricky.

I like this game a lot because it works well with family. My parents play board games, but they don’t play a ton of them. A lot of modern board games are going to be too complex, but something like Sagrada they were able to get quite easily. So with it’s great look and ease but interesting game play, Sagrada is a great game.

Buy on Amazon

25. Metro X

New game to the list, Metro X is a roll and write I’ve played on the Malts and Meeples channel before as well. This is about completing bus routes the best that you can. The game play, for me, is a lot of fun because of two things. Some routes use the the same stops. So if I fill that stop in I’m working on completing two or more of the routes. But you always are starting from the earliest spot on a route when you fill in, and you can’t skip. It makes it a really good puzzle.

I also like that the game plays fast. This is a game that might trip some people up to start out with because it is doing some interesting things that might not be intuitive, but when you get into it, it’s quite simple to play. And it comes dry erase already which is a bonus. I wish that the expansion bus routes/maps would come to the US.

Buy on Amazon

24. Roll Player Adventures

This game is actually coming in the mail today. Normally I don’t like to put prototypes on the list, but I had such a great experience with this one at GenCon in 2019, that it has been on the list before. I think I dropped it last year because it was a prototype.

This is a more family friendly, from what I can tell, adventure game. It reminds me of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, not in game play, but in the idea that you are exploring at a higher level and then you drop out of that into combat, but it’s not a tactical combat. Plus you can bring your Roll Player characters into this game which I really like as a concept too.

Buy on Miniature Market

23. Letter Jam

Most word based games aren’t cooperative, but Letter Jam is. That is some of what makes it on the list. The game play is also really clever as you can’t see the letters that make up your word. They are facing away from you, so through clues you have to deduce what your letters are.

If I were to give the clue, and you can see the letter FR*M where the * is your letter, you can probably guess that it’s FROM so you letter much be O. But had I done F*RM now it could be FARM, FIRM, or FORM. So you need to be clever as you give clues because you want to limit how many letters it could be. And if you give a clue that means you aren’t getting helped so everyone needs to give clues.

Buy on Miniature Market

22. Betrayal At House on the Hill

Buy on Amazon

21. That’s Pretty Clever (Ganz Schon Clever)

Final one on this part of my Top 100 Games of all time is Ganz Schon Clever. This is the last of the Clever trilogy on the list, through the first one of them to come out. I really like Ganz Schon Clever because like Doppelt so Clever and Clever Hoch Drei, this game is all about combos. You fill in one thing, that unlocks something which allows you to fill in, in another spot.

This game also has an app that is really good. I do prefer playing the physical version, but sitting down and playing a quick game is a lot of fun on the app and it works really well. And while the game I think does take longer with more people, it’s still a really good multi-player experience and solo game.

Buy on CoolStuffInc

The Next 10

If you want to catch any of the remaining Top 10’s live, you can check them out and my normal streams on Wednesday at 8 PM Central time. If you subscribe and click the notification bell you’ll know whenever I go live or upload a new video to Malts and Meeples YouTube channel. When I’m not doing my Top 100, you can find me on Wednesday playing board games solo on the YouTube channel. I’ll be streaming next week but then a week off for Thanksgiving and Top 10 will be on December 1st.

Now, I did say I wanted to talk about my streaming times. Through the Top 100 list, I am going to keep my 8 PM Central time on Wednesdays for streaming. However, this might be changing. A channel that I like to watch and be part of their live chat, the GloryHoundd channel is adjusting their schedule. And I know I have crossover viewers from their channel. If they take that 8 PM Central Wednesday spot, I might look at making my main streaming day on Monday. Be aware that change may come.

But what game do you like best out of this part of the Top 100? Are there any that you want to get to the table that you haven’t played in this bunch?

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Let’s see everything that was played.

Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game – 28 Plays

So that is a ton of plays of this game. But I talked about it in my recent review, this is a very easy game to get to the table. It calls itself a 9 card game, there are actually 18. But you only use 9 each game. That means I can shuffle up once, split the deck and play twice in a row. It’s also a good solo game because it doesn’t take up much space. I got in something like 10 plays during under a quarter of a college football game. This is a really good solo game.

Aeon’s End Legacy – 4 Plays

So, like I said, probably not getting that played tonight. But I’ve really loved my playthroughs of this game. It’ll be on the list for the last time next month though. I only have one more to go. But you can check out all the plays over on Malts and Meeples. Really good legacy game and I can’t stress enough, this is how I’d recommend that people learn to play Aeon’s End, it teaches you so well.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon – 3 Plays

We’re getting towards the end game of Tainted Grail as well. I do think it’ll run through all of September as we only will get in a couple of plays. But I’m still really loving the game. I and I really like how much the world has changed because of a few things we’ve done. I’m not sure it always changes that way, but it’s given us some cool and interesting things to think about. The story is really what makes this game so good

The Night Cage – 3 Plays

I’ve been waiting on this one to show up for a bit, so when it did, I needed to get it to the table. And it was a lot of fun to get it to the table. I like Night Cage as almost a horror themed game, well, it is one but it gives you that feeling of tension. I think that the candle burning down as you play out tiles and showing how that is shortening up works really well.

Downforce – 2 Plays

It happens from time to time but not all that often that I will get an expansion after playing a game. In the case of Downforce, I liked the two plays of it that I had so much that I got two expansions for it. Those expansions are just more maps to race around, but it’s going to be a lot of fun to get those to the table. I think that this upcoming months board game night might be racing games.

Claim – 2 Plays

It’d been a while but every time I play a trick taking game, I realize that I do like trick taking. It is just a lot of fun to see how well I can play. And it is interesting too because with this game, you are first winning tricks to build your hand to then win tricks to actually win the game. First game was close then dominated in the second one, which is the only downside I have for this game, it can be a bit swingy.

Hanamikoji – 2 Plays

In terms of two player games, I think that Hanamikoji is my favorite. I really like how smoothly and simply it plays. I could have used this for my abstract game example because it’s easy to learn abut offers amazing decision making space. One that I know I’ll keep on coming back to.

Deranged – 1 Plays

Got this during 2020 and needless to say, I didn’t get 3+ player games to the table then. But I got to play the introductory scenario of the game again. And I still really enjoy this game even after so long. This was one that I originally played and demoed at GenCon back in 2019. Another horror themed game but one that is lighter in tone than Night Cage but also more thematic as you try and break curses. I want to play the bigger version of the game just to see how it goes.

Detective: Dig Deeper – 1 Plays

So I’ve talked about Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game a fair amount. It is one of my favorite thematic games where what you are doing matches the theme so well. This takes you into the 70’s, so things are a bit different but still offers an amazing thematic experience. And I am curious to see who will be the next designer they announce for this signature series because it is fun to see what other people are doing.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition – 1 Plays

Got in a really fast play of this game last night. And it was surprising how fast, basically one hour for two players. Generally they’ve taken longer, but we got our engines up and running very quickly. I still really like this game. The mechanics are smooth and that engine building aspect is so much fun. I need to get the paper off of my overlays for the boards so I can make it even easier to keep track of things. I know some people are mad about Target getting retail copies before they got their nicer Kickstarter copies, but it’s a really good game.

Parade – 1 Plays

This small little card game with kind of an Alice in Wonderland theme is always fun to play. I like it as a puzzle to solve, how you can push for a fair amount of one color if you can avoid the rest of the colors. The clever thing of having the most of a color and that making all those cards worth a point each instead of face value really works for me. And the game plays pretty quickly, you need to think a bit on your turn, but you don’t have too many options to get analysis paralysis.

Calico – 1 Plays

Another play of Calico, and the more I get of it, the more I realize how much I like the game. It just works for me because it is a simple game to play but the puzzle gives you hard choices. Plus it’s cats so that theme is always good. I do think it might be too much of a puzzle for really casual gamers, but overall it’ll be one that works for a lot of people.

Cartographers – 1 Plays

This, I think, is becoming my favorite roll and write game. It just works so well and works well with a large group of players. I like making maps and I can’t wait to get more maps and more expansions and stuff for this game. If you want a thematic roll and write, this isn’t the best, Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade I would say is, but it’s up there. And I think the simplicity of this game with the theme of map making is going to draw people in.

Sonora – 1 Plays

Another roll and write game, but of course this starts with flicking. I really like this game. It is not the easiest roll and write game to play. It is so combotastic that filling out your board can take a while. And for some people that take longer. But I still really like it for that aspect. In fact, it’s very high on my list because it feels different every time. I can pick a new area to try and optimize.

Dice Throne – 1 Plays

A game I got in last night of Vampire versus Samurai and the Samurai had no problem winning. I was rolling really poorly as the vampire. And I was really pushing for blood power. I want to try that match-up again, or play around more with the Vampire Lord. I feel like I need to come up with a better strategy. Even getting stomped, I want to play it again and still love the game.

Railroad Ink Challenge – 1 Plays

Final game played this month. Railroad Ink Challenge I think is a better version of Railroad Ink. I talked about it before, it just offers more to do. This one was fun because we had eight people playing it. That means that we had a lot of wildly different boards and scores. The challenges just offer more direction early in the game. Regular Railroad Ink is fine, but challenge for me is the better of the two, though harder to teach.

Yearly Gaming Stats

So like I said, I am all caught up. 244 total plays and 121 plays left to go in 121 days. With that there are 62 different games that I’ve played and 7 that I’ve played over 10 times. I think that Orchard is going to help me keep up on my plays, and probably a few more of A Gentle Rain coming as well. I’m also now at 22% of the base, not expansion, board games that I own played in this calendar year.

So which of those games would you want to play from this past month?

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