I love making top 10 lists (or the equivalent of that with differing numbers). So naturally after having tried (and bought) many board games the last couple of years, I think I have played just enough to try to make a coherent top 10 of my favourite ones.
I usually do not number my lists, because I cannot choose between the grouping, which one is the best, but I have tried this time to number them anyway, since I was able to at least know which two board games where in my top 2. Since I was able to do this, I thought I should “give it a go” in ranking all of them.
So without further ado (and it was not that much “ado about nothing“ this time) my list of my favourite board games as of the 30th of April, 2016:
I loved Pandemic Legacy. And yes it is in past tense, because the game has ended, and even if I buy a new copy it will never be the same again. For the people who might not know, Pandemic Legacy, is a well, legacy game. It means you open the box, and the through several playthroughs a story unfolds, where you have to make changes the gameboard (yes I have written on ours, and put on endless amount of stickers), gets new pieces, rips up cards that are no longer in use etc. And when you are done with the story, well the game is done – for good. Unless you buy a new copy and play it again, but this time you will know what is going to happen, and that will make it less exciting.
It was an amazing experience. It felt like any one move I made during a game, would have the potential to affect me later (and it did), so it made every game stressful (in a good way) and sometimes when you had to draw cards at the end of your turn, your hands shook, because you worried about what might come up – much more than I have ever experienced in regular Pandemic. I shared the whole experience with my boyfriend, in an amaxing two-player playthrough of Pandemic Legacy. Ohh, and it’s Co-op, so successes are shared, and so was the losses. And I really like Co-op games.
Time stories is also a game, where when you have finished playing it, you cannot play it again, with the same experience. And it’s yet another Co-op game. But Time stories comes out in modules, so you play one module until it is finished, and then you can buy a new one (if you have not played them all). Up until now I have played the first three modules, and I love all three of them, and are eagerly awaiting that the next one will be available in Denmark where I live.
***There might be something spoilerish here***
So far I have been part of a Lovecraftian mystery puzzle story, a zombiesque first person shooter like story and a part fantasy part sci-fi kind of story, and next up is “something to do with Egyptians”, as soon as The Mask comes out.
**End of spoilerish section***
Time stories is a game that lets you play time traveller, both in your own world, and in other dimensions, and both the idea and the execution of said idea is done brilliantly, as to suck you into the game and the theme, and push you to do the best you can, but also explore as much of this new world as you possible can. It is not as good as Pandemic Legacy, but it is the second best game I have played so far in my career as a board game hobbyist.
This was a game I got interested in not long after I discovered the vast amount of board games out there, but with its relatively high price point, it took until Christmas last year, before I finally got my hands on it. Yes, I love co-op games, and this was praised as one of the more involved and difficult on the market. And it is. It is amazing, and I love it to death every time I get my boyfriend convinced to play it with me, but I can see that it is quite a heavy game. I have already played several rules wrong, and forgotten to do this or that, but I does not really matter, because the game is just so intense and interesting none the less.
You are stranded on a (maybe) deserted island, and depending on the scenario you play you will have certain theme appropriate things you have to accomplish to win. Underneath this amazing theme, is a quite involved worker placement game, where the placement of you workers, and how many workers, depend on how you feel, and just how much you wish to push your luck. For me it just hits the right spot, between gameplay and theme. This of course also means that I am looking soooo forward to First Martian (from Portal Games) when it comes out this year. It should be a game build on the Robinson Crusoe gameplay, but set on Mars, and with some Legacy system implemented into it (the part where the game play matters later, not the actual opening of boxes and getting new pieces). I am so excited to see what Ignacy Trzewiczek (the designer of Robinson Crusoe, First Martian and owner of Portal Games) comes up with.
Okay, this might not objectively be one of the best games in world, based purely on game mechanics. But this is my list, and even though I acknowledge this, I still love this game to bits. It is one of the games one my shelf that I played the most. My boyfriend and me can almost always find the time (even with our 8 month old taken into account) to play a round of Marvel Legendary. I have lots of expansions for it, so there are many hours of gameplay still left in this game.
In short it is a game where you through deckbuilding, becomes some of Marvels best known (or not – I have had to buy a subscription to Marvel to try to figure out who half of them are) superheroes, and try to defeat both villains, henchmen, a master villain and disrupt their evil plot all in one game. We play it strictly Co-op, as most others do, since it, in my opinion, suits the game better. It is hard enough to beat with also to trying to beat out each other.
This is a “simple” co-op card game, and it is the simple part that is so deceptive. Just because it is simple, does not mean it is easy. It is one of the hardest co-op games I have tried, especially if you have many players involved. It revolves around trying to survive the 1. World war. You play as one of the guys in the trenches, trying you best through cooperatively card play, to stay alive. There is perhaps one positive card in the game, the rest you will just have to deal with, the best you can. And the more people you are, the more difficult it becomes, because unless everyone is on par with what everyone else is trying to do, then everything falls to pieces. Ohh by the way, you are not allowed to talk about what cards you have, so you have to try to show through your card play, what you have on your hand still. It is very clever, and really amazing. Only down side is that the two player variant (I mostly game with only my boyfriend, because have loads of game nights are exceedingly difficult when you have an 8-month old baby), is not amazing. It works, but it is not as good as playing with more people. But the expansion coming out soon, should rectify this problem, and give us a better 2-player variant.
This is, not at all a Co-op, so even though I love co-ops this game has sneaked its way in on my top 10. But, but, but – this game is by Bruno Cathala, and I have yet to play a game by him that I do not like. If you look at me and my boyfriend’s list of games on board game geek, it will tell you that the one designer I have the most games from is Bruno Cathala. And this is one of his finest. It looks aesthetically pleasing when it is sat up. When you start it, it seems like you could start doing anything to get points. And as you continue through the game you have to develop an almost new tactic every time it is your turn, to try to maximize your points in accordance with both what you have done earlier in the game, how the gameboard looks right now, and maybe also taking into account that you do not want to leave an obvious good move open to the next player. And despite all this, it is deceptively simple, as soon as you start playing. To me it is just the perfect combination of amazing looks (what did I expect, it’s a Days of Wonder game), strategy, tactics and luck.
This is a competive party game, where abstract thinking and knowing your other players well is key. Since I first played Dixit, I have absolutely loved it. It is simple, yet enticing. Almost everyone seems to like it, and it can replace more cumbersome and longer party games. People have fun, and at the same time enjoy the art work, and have to use their brain, to try to come up with clever enough words/sentences that only parts of the players will guess it, to maximize their points.
Yes, my number one is Pandemic Legacy. And this is the game Pandemic Legacy is built on. And I have not played it since I have played Pandemic Legacy. So what is this game doing on my list? Well, Pandemic was one of the first board games I got, after getting into the hobby, so it has a special place in my heart. I have played Pandemic many times, and I would never back down from playing yet another game of Pandemic. This is because I still find it fun, intriguing, and interesting to try to save the world from the evil deceases. And it is a 100% co-op. I have in the past struggled a bit with an alpha-gamer syndrome, when playing this game, but I have learned to be better at not interfering unwanted during other players turns, and still enjoys the game, even though my control is lesser this way. And I just could not make a top ten list without this game.
This is a game I would have liked to have played more. I have only played it as a 2-player game, even though it is originally a solitaire game. But the mechanics in the game is just rock solid, the art and theme weird and slightly creepy, as you try to navigate through coloured dream doors and try to avoid the nightmares. It is a small card game, with lots of expansions (which I have not played yet), and it is just so well made, that it draws you in with it mechanics, and the crushes you, as you yet another time finds out that the nightmares are too many for you.
I am not sure this game belongs on this list yet, since I have not played it that many times yet. But, it is a co-op deck builder with a “starship trooperesque” theme, that just hits on all cylinders. So far I am still very much enamoured with the game, and for that reason alone, it ends up getting the last spot on the list. It is a quite difficult game, that is beatable, if everything goes right, and you and the players you play with are very good at teamwork. Because in this game you need teamwork. You die pretty quick in this game, if the teamwork does not work. And I love that. That you have to work together no matter what, because otherwise the game will beat you faster than you can say, “but why”.
This was my top 10 for now, I am sure that it will change over the months and years as I get to play more and more board games.
They just did not make the cut:
7 Wonders: Duel and Concept.
Hope to see you some other time
Gro, Now officially a board game hipster
P.s.: Should Peter, Diana or Rikke want to take up the challenge, then be my guest 😉
A Hipster's Guide to the Galaxy... 