The Top 50 Things of 2014
These are my top 50 favorite TV shows, movies, board games, podcasts and songs of 2014. There are a lot of movies I haven't seen yet in 2014, so I will add them in later in the next few months. As well as the new games I have yet to play. But as of now, these are my 50 favorite things.
50. Marry Me
Marry Me is a show with a lot of promise. It is my the creator of Happy Endings and stars Casey Wilson and Ken Marino, both who I really like. The ensemble is starting to come together well. The early episodes followed the formula of "oh no, I noticed something that makes me question this marriage. Then third act realize something that makes them think that they were meant for each other"
49. Let's Be Cops
I think I would of disliked this movie if it didn't star Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. They make this movie. It's pretty silly movie but pretty funny and entertaining.
48. All about that Bass - Meghan Tranior
I thought it was about the fish before a heard it, so I was set to like it. But then I realized it was about butts and I liked it more! There aren't enough song about butts. There was only 700 of them released this year.
47. The Theory of Everything
Total Oscar bait but it's a pretty good movie
46. Guardians of the Galaxy
Don't hate me, I fell asleep during most of this movie. But what I saw, I really liked. I was tired and saw a 11PM show. Needs a rewatch and maybe rerank.
45. La Isla
It's a light game, but still very Feld.
44. Machi Koro
Good filler game. Easy to teach, has some engine building and strategy to it, but still requires luck.
43. Girls Chase Boys
42. Blank Space - Taylor Swift
First Taylor Swift album to have two songs I love on it
41. Big hero 6
Solid Disney flick.
40. The Interview
Pretty funny movie, not worth starting WW3 though.
39. Amazing Race 25
After a lackluster All Stars season (John and Jessica, Team You Tube and Country Singers aren't quite All Stars, bring back Ken and Gerard. Did we need to see Margie and Luke a third time? If there would be a third timer it should be Charla and Mirna and Danny and Oswald) this season was breath of fresh air. Most teams were either entertaining or good racers or both. The whole final 6 I wouldn't mind winning and that is rare. Wrestlers were one of the funniest teams in a while. The Cyclists were a super strong team that took a chance that didn't work out and went out in 5th but still would rank among the best F/F teams of all time. Dentists, Scientists and the sufer girl with one arm all added good stuff to the season.
38. Tabletop
I look forward to Will Wheaton's You Tube series Tabletop every Thursday when they have a season. Even if the game sucks, it is usually an entertaining episode. There might be better play and more complexity with other run through shows but Tabletop is about the entertainment and I appriaite what it does for the hobby.
37. Kroll Show
This is the season Kroll Show really popped. I like that its a new spin on using reoccurring characters. Merging the characters together really worked like C-Zar and Publizity. Wheels Ontario is still my favorite though, that and Too Much Tuna.
36. Neighbors
Solid funny movie. One of the funniest movies this year.
35. The Middle
Underrated show IMO, Heck if this show hasn't grown on me more and more over the years.
34.. Lego Movie
Just good fun from beginning to end. Glad the makers of Clone High are finally getting their due. Clone High is the new Freaks and Geeks. Great show, creators get their due 8-10 years later.
33. Concept
Great new party game.
32. Big Brother 16
Way better than last season. A lot of likeable people to root for like Zach, Donny, Hayden. It had maybe the 3rd best player of all time Derrick. He's like Will and Dan level good. Caleb was also very entertaining. We even had a villain to hate, Frankie.
31. Archer
Season 4 felt like same ol Archer just not as good as the prior seasons. Season 5 however, was a great change of pace. A smokey and the Bandit theme where they smuggle and try to sell cocaine the whole season with hillrious results. A true return to form.
30. Mindy Project
This show actually turned into a good show this year. It had always been just a show I watched with no real interest for the first 2 years or so. I always thought it had some potential but never reached it until now. The Mindy/Danny relationship is working for me as is the addition of Adam Pally ( although he is leaving the show soon) works.
29. I - Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar might be my favorite rapper now that never appeared on Community.
28. Don't Stop or We'll Die
I've been waiting for a new album from these guys for 3 years and this did not disappoint. Lisa, The President's Beer and Blood are standouts.
27. Weird Al - Mandatory Fun
The 7 videos in 7 days to plug his new album was a awesome idea. Weird Al is still on top of his game. Somehow he took two things I don't like, people who correct grammar and Blurred Lines into maybe the best song on the album.
26. Veronica Mars movie
This long awaited movie did not disappoint. Felt like the same ol' gang.
25. Muppets Most Wanted
Not as good as the first one but the songs might actually be better. Bret McKenzie is a genius.
24. Splendor
I had a 11 game winning streak at this at one point. Easy to teach game that also has a lot of strategy to it. Deserved to win the Spiel over Camel Cup.
24T. Boyhood
Very well done movie that follows a boy from ages 6-18. Good acting and story throughout, felt like you got to know the boy and the family.
23. Impractial Jokers
Maybe the show I laugh the most out loud at. These guys work so well as a team together. Easily the best of the hidden camera shows ever.
22. 22 Jump Street
I think this improved upon the first one. The meta jokes still work.
21. Review
Finally Andy Daly is getting some mainstream attention. This was the perfect vehicle for him. I give Review 5 stars.
20. Harmontown
It is essential listening to a Harmonite like me. Dan Harmon has one of the most unique minds out there and we get to hear it for 2 or so hours every week.
19T. Broad City
Comedy Central killed it this year with great new shows. The chemistry between these two friends is awesome. Plus, Hannibal Buress!
19. Parks and Rec
Not it's best season. But a ok season is still one of the best shows on TV. And I am very much looking forward to the 3 years later season. I expect this to be higher next year.
18. Sweatpants - Childish Gambino
I bought Because the Internet but I only really listen to this, 3005 and a few others. I think he tried a lot of different stuff that didn't quite work with me, but this is standard Gambino and it's one of his best. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is for beginners, you don't even know.
17. Comedy bang Bang TV show
Another great year for this show. It has become a reliable good show this year. It didn't have as many great episodes as last year. I'm glad it's airing a lot more episodes.
16.South Park
Wow. 17 years in they bring out one of their best seasons ever out of nowhere. Usually it's some ok episodes with the occasional great one. But this season had a bunch of great episodes. It was helped by the random decision to have continuity between the episodes. Randy Marsh remains one the best characters on TV and further cemented that with his being Lorde ( ya ya ya).
15. Too Many Cooks
Yea, this was brilliant IMO. Every time you think they would wear out the joke, it took a new, weird, unexpected turn. People being the credits was amazing. Absurd comedy at it's best.
14. Comedy Bang Bang podcast
Technically (no down boo over) this was below the TV show, but I just listened to the best of the year and there was some great episodes. Oh Golly Part 1 & 2, the Don't Stop or We'll Die episode, Christmas special with Ho-Ho, another great Time Bobby episode, Hollywood Facts, JW Stillerwater and Solo Bolo. I'm sure I forgot some great episodes.
13. Bob's Burgers
Not much new here, it's still remains one of the best shows on TV.
12.Never Not Funny
Same with this one, it remains one of the best podcasts in the business. The move to Earwolf has worked out great, especially now I get two episodes a week with my players club membership. Getting my name mentioned a couple of times this year on the podcast doesn't hurt.
11. New Girl
I liked season 3 more than most. I thought the Nick- Jess relationship was handled well. It just didn;t have the spark of season 2. Season 4 brought that spark back. "Background Check" might be one of the best episodes of this year and best of the series.
10. Five Tribes
This is thus far my favorite board game of 2014. I went out a bought it a few weeks after I played it. It has a lot of interesting mechanics I like. All the ways to get victory point seem fairly balanced to me. Every game seems different to me.
9. Survivor: Cayagun
This is one of the best seasons of Survivor of all time, which is impressive in it's 28th season. There was a great cast of characters such as Tony, Spenser, Kass, Woo along with unpredictable tribal councils. I lot of it had to do with Tony, one of the best characters Survivor has had in a while.
8. Nathan for You
The second season of Nathan for You did not disappoint. In fact, I would say it was even better. Dumb Starbucks was great ( I sing Shave Tonight everytime I shave), but my favorite was the Souvenir Shop episode. Every part of that is brilliant. I wish I had a ticket to that East Los Angeles Film Festival. Guy Farting on Command was robbed. Awkward comedy at it's finest.
7. Shake It Off
Again, a catchy pop songs wins Sean's song of the year award. I fucking love this song despite the fact it is my least favorite song topic ever. Waaaaaah someone once said a bad thing about me on the internet, I'm going to make a whole album about it and the paparazzi. Ugh. But this song is great and will be on my Spotify for years to come. Oh wait. C+
6. BoJack Horseman
It started of as a funny show about the entertainment business but then, wowza wowza bo bo bowsa, out of nowhere it became this super deep show about life and depression while still being hilarious. I literally watched the whole season in 1 day. I could not stop. And I have rewatched it more than once. Great voice cast with Will Arnett, Paul F. Tompkins and more. Awaiting the next season, this shows hay day I feel is far from over. Get it? Cuz horses eat hay. C+
5. Brookyln 99
Last year I had said that this was a show that worked from day one. And it continues to be one of the best shows on TV. The cast just gels so well, you can put any combo of people together and it works. Andre Bruagher might be the best supporting actor on TV right now, he is so good. C+
4. Rick and Morty
Another shows that was brilliant from day 1. I put it at number 12 last year based on two episodes. That hunch was right. The writing on this show is top notch. The show has created many expansive universes in just one short season. C+
3. Harmontown Movie
Dan Harmon is such an interesting character a documentary about him was never not going to place high. I was super excited for this movie and it did not disappoint. Despite the fact that "Chicken Noddle Man" or "Pringles Dick" don't appear at all! It could of been 2 hours of Dan's "I fucked your mom raps" and I would have loved it. But it a doc that really get's into the psyche of Dan Harmon and also tells a great story about Spencer Crittenton, which made me appreciate him more. C+
2. You Talking U2 To Me?
God, I love this podcast. The 12 or so episodes so far are the crowning achievement of podcasts. Fuck Cereal. This should be the podcast everyone is talking about. It's basically two hours of glorious tangents and 30 minutes (maybe) of U2 talk. Adam Scott is in the running for my favorite person right now. The Staind Glass, PFT episode and Commentary special are just brilliant uses of the medium. The only podcast that is possibly better is Talking Bout Turtle. This may be my favorite podcast of all time, so I will give the highest grade I can ever give a thing. C+
1. Community
Community once again tops my year end list. It took a year off, not just from number 1 but from the list altogether. This was a great comeback for one of my favorite shows of all time. The Ass Crack bandit, Pierces will ep, Troy leaving hot lava episode and the Meow Moew Beanz all rank super high on the best Community episodes ever countdown ( expect that soon).
I'm just so happy to have my show back.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Top 50 Board Games of All Time: 10-4
10. Trains
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121408/trains
In the 19th century, shortly after the industrial revolution, railways quickly spread over the world. Japan, importing Western culture and eager to become one of the Grand Nations, saw the birth of many private railway companies and entered the Golden Age of railways. Eventually, as a result of the actions of powerful people and capitalists, many of these smaller companies gradually merged into larger ones.
In Trains, the players are such capitalists, managing private railways companies and striving to become bigger and better than the competition. The game takes place during the 19th and 20th century in the 2012 OKAZU Brand edition, whereas the 2013 AEG/Pegasus edition is set in modern times, with bullet trains, freight trains and more. You will start with a small set of cards, but by building a more effective deck throughout the game, you will be able to place stations and lay rails over the maps of Osaka, Tokyo or other locations. The trick is to purchase the cards you want to use, then use them as effectively as possible. Gain enough points from your railways and you will ultimately manage the most powerful railroads in modern Japan!
I may as well quote a noted board game blogger from his Top 6 Board Games of 2013 list.:It's Dominion with a board. However, I like it better than Dominion. And I like Dominion. The Waste cards, which give you extra cards that do nothing in your deck, are a nice addition. The waste cards come whenever you do something that helps you with points such as building rails on the board, getting points cards and placing stations. You have to balance the points you are scoring with it with the waste you are getting. The different combos of cards that are available per game can change the strategy.
9. Encore
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2879/encore
Suppose your team gets the word "red"... you now have to come up with at least 8 words of a song with the word "red" in the lyrics. If you do... the other team is in the hot seat. Can the other team do the same? It goes back and forth until one of you blows it.
Ummm, I get to sing! No duh this is in the top 10!
8. Telestrations
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46213/telestrations
"Each player begins by sketching a TELESTRATIONS word dictated by the roll of a die. The old fashioned sand timer may limit the amount of time they get to execute their sketch, but it certainly doesn't limit creativity! Time's up! All players, all at the same time, pass their sketch to the next player, who must guess what's been drawn. Players then simultaneously pass their guess -- which hopefully matches the original word (or does it??) -- to the next player who must try to draw the word they see -- and so on."
"Telestrations contains eight erasable sketchbooks and markers, a die, a 90 second sand-timer and 2,400 words to choose from."
Telestrations is my favorite party game. I suck at drawing, that is no secret. But that makes the game even more fun! Telestrations is Pictionary with the game of telephone. Rarely a game goes by without a lot of laughs. This game works even with people you do that know. Party games usually suffer if not played with friends, but this works every time. I even have a very popular instragram series of #guesstheTelestration ( by very popular I mean one of them got 5 likes)
7. 7 Wonders
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders
( Wow, Board of Games has ads on Board Game Geek now?)
You are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World. Gather resources, develop commercial routes, and affirm your military supremacy. Build your city and erect an architectural wonder which will transcend future times.
7 Wonders lasts three ages. In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player. Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways. (Players have individual boards with special powers on which to organize their cards, and the boards are double-sided). Each player then chooses another card from the deck they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After three ages, the game ends.
In essence, 7 Wonders is a card development game. Some cards have immediate effects, while others provide bonuses or upgrades later in the game. Some cards provide discounts on future purchases. Some provide military strength to overpower your neighbors and others give nothing but victory points. Each card is played immediately after being drafted, so you'll know which cards your neighbor is receiving and how his choices might affect what you've already built up. Cards are passed left-right-left over the three ages, so you need to keep an eye on the neighbors in both directions.
Though the box of earlier editions is listed as being for 3–7 players, there is an official 2-player variant included in the instructions.
7 Wonders is a wonderful game. It's the rare game that plays just as well with 3 as it does 7. Card drafting is among my favorite mechanics in a game. I won't say it's a good gateway game. It is not because of all the iconography. It is however a game all people becoming gamers should play. It's perfect for someone a few months in but I think it's a mistake as someone first or second "legit" board game ever. The expansions only add to the game, especially Leaders. Cities isn't as good but is underrated by most. The short playing time is nice as well, this game fits a lot of niches.
6. Trajan
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102680/Trajan
Set in ancient Rome, Trajan is a development game in which players try to increase their influence and power in various areas of Roman life such as political influence, trading, military dominion and other important parts of Roman culture.
The central mechanism of the game uses a system similar to that in Mancala or pit-and-pebbles games. In Trajan, a player has six possible actions: building, trading, taking tiles from the forum, using the military, influencing the Senate, and placing Trajan tiles on his tableau.
At the start of the game, each player has two differently colored pieces in each of the six sections (bowls) of his tableau. On a turn, the player picks up all the pieces in one bowl and distributes them one-by-one in bowls in a clockwise order. Wherever the final piece is placed, the player takes the action associated with that bowl; in addition, if the colored pieces in that bowl match the colors shown on a Trajan tile next to the bowl (with tiles being placed at the start of the game and through later actions), then the player takes the additional action shown on that tile.
What are you trying to do with these actions? Acquire victory points (VPs) in whatever ways are available to you – and since this is a Feld design, you try to avoid being punished, too. At the Forum you try to anticipate the demands of the public so that you can supply them what they want and not suffer a penalty. In the Senate you acquire influence which translates into votes on VP-related laws, ideally snagging a law that fits your long-term plans. With the military, you take control of regions in Europe, earning more points for those regions far from Rome.
All game components are language neutral, and the playing time is 30 minutes per player.
Yes, yet another Feld game. Surprise surprise. I love the mancala mechanic in this game. So much to think out, you need to think moves and moves ahead. You can do that move but then you won't be set up to do the next move you want because the mancala doesn't work out. It's another game where I like to try all parts of the point salad. Today, I'm going to just eat the tomatoes (Senate track), one day I'll just eat bacon bits (Military). Of course, you need to eat multiple points of the salad to win ( taste good). This analogy doesn't work, right?
5. Hanabi
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98778/hanabi
Hanabi — named for the Japanese word for "fireworks" — is a cooperative game in which players try to create the perfect fireworks show by placing the cards on the table in the right order. (In Japanese, hanabi is written as 花火; these are the ideograms flower and fire, respectively.)
The card deck consists of five different colors of cards, numbered 1–5 in each color. For each color, the players try to place a row in the correct order from 1–5. Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite, as in this game you hold your cards so that they're visible only to other players. To assist other players in playing a card, you must give them hints regarding the numbers or the colors of their cards. Players must act as a team to avoid errors and to finish the fireworks display before they run out of cards.
Hanabi is the best co-op game out there. The instructions are simple. Build a fireworks show by placing cards in number order. But to master it is hard. Because you don't need to just master it, the other plays have to master it as well. A second level clue is wasted on someone who won't understand it. You need to think why someone would give you a clue. The game is about getting the most cards played with the least clues possible. I've been part of one perfect game and hope to be part of another. With rainbows this time!
4. 7 Blunders
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/895830/7-blunders
Here are my rules for 7 Blunders:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121408/trains
In the 19th century, shortly after the industrial revolution, railways quickly spread over the world. Japan, importing Western culture and eager to become one of the Grand Nations, saw the birth of many private railway companies and entered the Golden Age of railways. Eventually, as a result of the actions of powerful people and capitalists, many of these smaller companies gradually merged into larger ones.
In Trains, the players are such capitalists, managing private railways companies and striving to become bigger and better than the competition. The game takes place during the 19th and 20th century in the 2012 OKAZU Brand edition, whereas the 2013 AEG/Pegasus edition is set in modern times, with bullet trains, freight trains and more. You will start with a small set of cards, but by building a more effective deck throughout the game, you will be able to place stations and lay rails over the maps of Osaka, Tokyo or other locations. The trick is to purchase the cards you want to use, then use them as effectively as possible. Gain enough points from your railways and you will ultimately manage the most powerful railroads in modern Japan!
I may as well quote a noted board game blogger from his Top 6 Board Games of 2013 list.:It's Dominion with a board. However, I like it better than Dominion. And I like Dominion. The Waste cards, which give you extra cards that do nothing in your deck, are a nice addition. The waste cards come whenever you do something that helps you with points such as building rails on the board, getting points cards and placing stations. You have to balance the points you are scoring with it with the waste you are getting. The different combos of cards that are available per game can change the strategy.
9. Encore
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2879/encore
Suppose your team gets the word "red"... you now have to come up with at least 8 words of a song with the word "red" in the lyrics. If you do... the other team is in the hot seat. Can the other team do the same? It goes back and forth until one of you blows it.
Ummm, I get to sing! No duh this is in the top 10!
8. Telestrations
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46213/telestrations
"Each player begins by sketching a TELESTRATIONS word dictated by the roll of a die. The old fashioned sand timer may limit the amount of time they get to execute their sketch, but it certainly doesn't limit creativity! Time's up! All players, all at the same time, pass their sketch to the next player, who must guess what's been drawn. Players then simultaneously pass their guess -- which hopefully matches the original word (or does it??) -- to the next player who must try to draw the word they see -- and so on."
"Telestrations contains eight erasable sketchbooks and markers, a die, a 90 second sand-timer and 2,400 words to choose from."
Telestrations is my favorite party game. I suck at drawing, that is no secret. But that makes the game even more fun! Telestrations is Pictionary with the game of telephone. Rarely a game goes by without a lot of laughs. This game works even with people you do that know. Party games usually suffer if not played with friends, but this works every time. I even have a very popular instragram series of #guesstheTelestration ( by very popular I mean one of them got 5 likes)
7. 7 Wonders
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders
( Wow, Board of Games has ads on Board Game Geek now?)
You are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World. Gather resources, develop commercial routes, and affirm your military supremacy. Build your city and erect an architectural wonder which will transcend future times.
7 Wonders lasts three ages. In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player. Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways. (Players have individual boards with special powers on which to organize their cards, and the boards are double-sided). Each player then chooses another card from the deck they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After three ages, the game ends.
In essence, 7 Wonders is a card development game. Some cards have immediate effects, while others provide bonuses or upgrades later in the game. Some cards provide discounts on future purchases. Some provide military strength to overpower your neighbors and others give nothing but victory points. Each card is played immediately after being drafted, so you'll know which cards your neighbor is receiving and how his choices might affect what you've already built up. Cards are passed left-right-left over the three ages, so you need to keep an eye on the neighbors in both directions.
Though the box of earlier editions is listed as being for 3–7 players, there is an official 2-player variant included in the instructions.
7 Wonders is a wonderful game. It's the rare game that plays just as well with 3 as it does 7. Card drafting is among my favorite mechanics in a game. I won't say it's a good gateway game. It is not because of all the iconography. It is however a game all people becoming gamers should play. It's perfect for someone a few months in but I think it's a mistake as someone first or second "legit" board game ever. The expansions only add to the game, especially Leaders. Cities isn't as good but is underrated by most. The short playing time is nice as well, this game fits a lot of niches.
6. Trajan
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102680/Trajan
Set in ancient Rome, Trajan is a development game in which players try to increase their influence and power in various areas of Roman life such as political influence, trading, military dominion and other important parts of Roman culture.
The central mechanism of the game uses a system similar to that in Mancala or pit-and-pebbles games. In Trajan, a player has six possible actions: building, trading, taking tiles from the forum, using the military, influencing the Senate, and placing Trajan tiles on his tableau.
At the start of the game, each player has two differently colored pieces in each of the six sections (bowls) of his tableau. On a turn, the player picks up all the pieces in one bowl and distributes them one-by-one in bowls in a clockwise order. Wherever the final piece is placed, the player takes the action associated with that bowl; in addition, if the colored pieces in that bowl match the colors shown on a Trajan tile next to the bowl (with tiles being placed at the start of the game and through later actions), then the player takes the additional action shown on that tile.
What are you trying to do with these actions? Acquire victory points (VPs) in whatever ways are available to you – and since this is a Feld design, you try to avoid being punished, too. At the Forum you try to anticipate the demands of the public so that you can supply them what they want and not suffer a penalty. In the Senate you acquire influence which translates into votes on VP-related laws, ideally snagging a law that fits your long-term plans. With the military, you take control of regions in Europe, earning more points for those regions far from Rome.
All game components are language neutral, and the playing time is 30 minutes per player.
Yes, yet another Feld game. Surprise surprise. I love the mancala mechanic in this game. So much to think out, you need to think moves and moves ahead. You can do that move but then you won't be set up to do the next move you want because the mancala doesn't work out. It's another game where I like to try all parts of the point salad. Today, I'm going to just eat the tomatoes (Senate track), one day I'll just eat bacon bits (Military). Of course, you need to eat multiple points of the salad to win ( taste good). This analogy doesn't work, right?
5. Hanabi
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98778/hanabi
Hanabi — named for the Japanese word for "fireworks" — is a cooperative game in which players try to create the perfect fireworks show by placing the cards on the table in the right order. (In Japanese, hanabi is written as 花火; these are the ideograms flower and fire, respectively.)
The card deck consists of five different colors of cards, numbered 1–5 in each color. For each color, the players try to place a row in the correct order from 1–5. Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite, as in this game you hold your cards so that they're visible only to other players. To assist other players in playing a card, you must give them hints regarding the numbers or the colors of their cards. Players must act as a team to avoid errors and to finish the fireworks display before they run out of cards.
Hanabi is the best co-op game out there. The instructions are simple. Build a fireworks show by placing cards in number order. But to master it is hard. Because you don't need to just master it, the other plays have to master it as well. A second level clue is wasted on someone who won't understand it. You need to think why someone would give you a clue. The game is about getting the most cards played with the least clues possible. I've been part of one perfect game and hope to be part of another. With rainbows this time!
4. 7 Blunders
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/895830/7-blunders
Here are my rules for 7 Blunders:
Use all of
the same rules from 7 Wonders with a few small changes
- You cannot discard a card for 3 coins unless you have no other legal play. Show your hand to person who passed them to you to verify. Building your wonder counts as a legal play. So if you can build your wonder, you cannot get 3 coins
- When playing a card you must use the least expensive way to buy it. For example if you have a trading post, you must my resources from that neighbor first. You cannot pay your neighbor for resources that you already have to use. If you have the Caravansary or Forum ( or the Alexandria equivalent), you must use it. If you have a prerequisite (“chaining”) card, you must use it.
- Wild Science (from Wonders or guilds) must be scored in the best manner possible.
- Lowest score wins. Tiebreaker most coins
Other minor situational rules
- If one is to build the same card twice, the normal house rule is to chuck the card for three coins. However since that is a “good” play in this game, the wrongly duplicate card gets a 4 point penalty in Age I & II and 6 points in Age III
- Halicarnassus – there must be at least one card in the discard for you to use the power on this wonder
- Babylon Side B 2nd Stage – Must use the power if built. Must verify they cannot build the 2nd card to get 3 coins.
- Olympia Side B 3rd Stage – Must choose the highest scoring guild (for yourself)that your neighbors own
- Olympia Side A 2nd Stage – If built, you cannot throw away a card for 3 coins if you have not used your free card action that Age yet. Otherwise, you are not forced to use the power each age.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Top 50 Board Games of All Time 20-11
I messed up on counting the games on the list with the late minute entries so there are two more games in the list. Both would be around 21-20 so I'll just tie them.
21T. Piece Of Cake
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37371/piece-o-cake
Everyone knows the cake rules: one person cuts,the other chooses. In this way, one makes the slices as equal as possible so that one does not end up with the short end. But this rule does not apply to "...aber bitte mit Sahne (...but please, with whipped cream)." Here a person can cleverly offer larger pieces to the others and still get the most in the end.
5 cakes with 11 slices of different varieties are divided. Each variety awards a different amount of points. One can immediately eat slices to guarantee a number of points, or collect them in the hope of scoring bonus points for having the most of that variety at the end of the game. Only skilled dividers with an eye on their opponents’ pieces can score the most points and win the game.
There is so much deep thinking actually placed in this short filler game about pieces of yummy pie! The longest I've seen people AP is at this game! You have to devide the pie just right to not only try and get what you need, but prevent others from getting their piece of the pie. It makes me want to eat pie for some reason.
20T. T'Zolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126163/tzolk-mayan-calendar
Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar presents a new game mechanism: dynamic worker placement. Players representing different Mayan tribes place their workers on giant connected gears, and as the gears rotate they take the workers to different action spots.
During a turn, players can either (a) place one or more workers on the lowest visible spot of the gears or (b) pick up one or more workers. When placing workers, they must pay corn, which is used as a currency in the game. When they pick up a worker, they perform certain actions depending on the position of the worker. Actions located "later" on the gears are more valuable, so it's wise to let the time work for you – but players cannot skip their turn; if they have all their workers on the gears, they have to pick some up.
The game ends after one full revolution of the central Tzolkin gear. There are many paths to victory. Pleasing the gods by placing crystal skulls in deep caves or building many temples are just two of those many paths...
The gear mechanic is this game is really cool. But the game is much more than a cool mechanic and cool board. It's a worker placement where you have to time things just right. The game is really tight in terms of resources and how much time you have to do something. There are many different ways to get victory points, which is a thing I like. The feeding your workers thing I not a huge fan of in games but it doesn't bother me that much as it does in Agricola.
20T. Glass Road
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143693/glass-road
Glass Road is a game that commemorates the 700-year-old tradition of glass-making in the Bavarian Forest. (Today the Glass Road is a route through the Bavarian Forest that takes visitors to many of the old glass houses and museums of that region.) You must skillfully manage your glass and brick production in order to build the right structures that help you to keep your business flowing. Cut the forest to keep the fires burning in the ovens, and spread and remove ponds, pits and groves to supply yourself with the items you need. Fifteen specialists are there at your side to carry out your orders...
The game consists of four building periods. Each player has an identical set of fifteen specialist cards, and each specialist comes with two abilities. At the beginning of each building period, each player needs to choose a hand of five specialists. If he then plays a specialist that no other player has remaining in his hand, he may use both abilities of that card; if two or more players play the same specialist, each of them may use only one of the two abilities. Exploiting the abilities of the specialists lets you collect resources, lay out new landscape tiles (e.g., ponds and pits), and build a variety of buildings. There are three types of buildings:
A sign of a good game is if it plays in a good amount of time for what it is. As in, you get good value for your time. A game could be good, but if takes 4 hours when it only needed 2 hours to be a good game something is off. Glass Road is a semi deep game that plays in 1-1.5 hours. You get a highly strategic game without taking 4 hours. There are many different strategies to go with. The mechanic where you have to balance the resources is brilliant. If you build this resource it could cause you to have less of another resource. So there is a lot of thinking and timing involved. Plus you have to take into consideration what your oppoents do as if you do the card at the right time when neither of them have played it you can play both parts of the card. But you also want to play similar cards as them as you can get extra actions as well. Just a well made game.
19. Dominion ( all Dominions)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion
In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.
Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play—leading to immense variety.
There is a reason why after hundreds of deck builders coming out, Dominion is still on top. It is a very well made deck building game. The expansions only make the game better and more interesting for the most part. It's a decent gateway game as long as you teach how the process works. It's a game where you can create some crazy engines. It can get annoying when people do an engine that allows them to play their whole deck and their turn takes like 5 minutes. "Ok dude. Can you hurry it up? We know you are going through your whole deck. You have 3 coins. It's the same thing as before"
18. No Thanks
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks
No Thanks! is a card game designed to be as simple as it is engaging.
The rules are simple. Each turn, players have two options:
However, the choices aren't so easy as players compete to have the lowest score at the end of the game. The deck of cards is numbered from 3 to 35, with each card counting for a number of points equal to its face value. Runs of two or more cards only count as the lowest value in the run - but nine cards are removed from the deck before starting, so be careful looking for connectors. Each chip is worth -1 point, but they can be even more valuable by allowing you to avoid drawing that unwanted card.
The first versions of the game supported up to five players, but a 2011 edition supports up to seven.
Another simple, fun card game makes my list. It is a filler game about pressing your luck and balancing when to take cards. If you take to long to get a card you may be left without chips and regularly get stuck forced to take cards. You also have to know how long to "milk" a card. Milking is when you place your chip on a card you need but know no one else wants. I used to tell people to maybe try and milk when I teach them but now I like to see if they come up with that themselves.
17. Times Up
Based on the popular game Time's Up!, Time's Up: Title Recall challenges players to guess the titles of books, films, songs, and more. Players try to get other players to guess the same set of titles over three rounds. In each round, one member of a team tries to get his teammates to guess as many titles as possible in 30 seconds. In round 1, almost any kind of clue is allowed. In round 2 no more than one word can be used in each clue (but unlimited sounds and gestures are permitted.) In round 3, no words are allowed at all.
Times Up takes a lot from other party games like Charades, Taboo, etc. But putting them all together and with the same clues each round makes those games way better. Times Up is pretty much always a good time, even if the people you are playing with aren't great at pop culture, it still works. This is a perfect game to break out at a Thanksgiving.
16. Bruges
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/136888/bruges
Bruges in the 15th century – culture and commerce flourish and make the Belgian Hanseatic city into one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.
In Bruges (a.k.a. Brugge or Brügge depending on the country in which you live), players assume the role of merchants who must maintain their relationships with those in power in the city while competing against one another for influence, power and status. Dramatic events cast their shadows over the city, with players needing to worry about threats to their prosperity from more than just their opponents...
The game includes 165 character cards, with each card having one of five colors. On a turn, a player chooses one of his cards and performs an action, with six different actions being available: Take workers, take money, mitigate a threat, build a canal, build a house or hire the character depicted on the card. In principle, every card can be used for every action – but the color of the card determines in which areas the actions can be used or the strength of the chosen action, e.g., blue cards provide blue workers and red cards help mitigate red threats. All of the action is geared toward the gathering of prestige, with the most prestigious merchant winning in the end.
It's a Feld.
15. Five Tribes
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157354/five-tribes
Lead the Tribes and Take Control of Naqala
Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. The old sultan just died and control of Naqala is up for grabs! The oracles foretold of strangers who would maneuver the Five Tribes to gain influence over the legendary city-state. Will you fulfill the prophecy? Invoke the old Djinns and move the Tribes into position at the right time, and the Sultanate may become yours!
Designed by Bruno Cathala, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games that feature wooden meeples. Here, in a unique twist on the now-standard “worker placement” genre, the game begins with the meeples already in place – and players must cleverly maneuver them over the villages, markets, oases, and sacred places tiles that make up Naqala. How, when, and where you dis-place these Five Tribes of Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers determine your victory or failure.
As befitting a Days of Wonder game, the rules are straightforward and easy to learn. But… devising a winning strategy will take a more calculated approach than our standard fare. You need to carefully consider what moves can score you well and put your opponents at a disadvantage. You need to weigh many different pathways to victory, including the summoning of powerful Djinns that may help your cause as you attempt to control this legendary Sultanate.
Five Tribes is for 2 to 4 players, ages 13 and older and takes approximately 40-80 minutes to play.
Maybe it's this high because it is new hotness and I'm still chopping at the bit to play it again but this is a really good game. It's a worker "displacement game" which is interesting. It has a similar mechanic to Trajan where the last place you place a meeple is your action. So you have to plan out your moves to do many things. Not only to do the action you want but also to possibly score camels and not set someone else up for a great play. The bidding mechanic of points is also interesting as you have to weigh how much points is a move worth. There is a lot to think about in this game. Many different ways to go, I like exploring different strategies.
14. Mondo
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91523/mondo
In Mondo, players compete against each other while also racing against the clock. Each player has a small world board with empty spaces on it, and all players simultaneously pick tiles depicting different animals and environments from the middle of the table and place them on their world board, trying to create complete areas of the same environment. A new tile must be placed next to an already placed tile, but the environmental borders don't have to match. (These errors will earn negative points when the board is scored.)
When the timer runs out, players score bonus points for each animal and each completed environment and score negative points for volcanic tiles, empty fields on the world board and mismatched tiles (for example, a tile with a forest border connecting with a tile with a water border).
Mondo includes three degrees of difficulty, in addition to additional goals and ways to achieve (and lose) bonus points, as well as rules for solo play.
One of the very few games I have never won a game of (Istanbul, Caylus, Macao and Among the Stars are the only others, but all of those I've only played 1-3 times). I'm not that great at it, I always have at least -10 in wrong edges every round. But I always have a good time playing this game. It is my favorite of the tile placement genre.
13. Splendor
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor
Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops — all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.
On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card — in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don't get it — you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.
All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.
Again, maybe it is high because it is the new hotness, but I think this will stand the test of time. It's nice and short, easy to teach and has a lot of strategy. Helpful tip from Seany G: Don't Consentrate on the nobles. Look at what the dominant colors are in the top row and aim for those 4-5 point cards. Concentrate on those colors on that card. The chips are nice too.
12. Amerigo
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/137408/amerigo
In Amerigo, the players help Amerigo Vespucci on his journey to discover new land. The players explore the islands of South America, secure trading routes, and build settlements.
The actions available to players are determined through the use of a specialized cube tower, which has appeared in the Queen titles Im Zeichen des Kreuzes and Wallenstein. At the start of the game, this tower is seeded with action cubes, which come in seven colors, with each color matching a particular type of action. During the game players will drop additional action cubes into the tower – but some of these cubes might get stuck in the floors of the tower while other cubes already in the tower are knocked free. Thus, players need to play both tactically – taking advantage of the actions currently available in the best way possible – and strategically – using their knowledge of which actions do what to play well over the course of the game.
The game board is composed of nine, twelve or sixteen tiles, depending on the number of players. Players sail their ships through the landscape created for this game, landing on islands to plan and build settlements, which then supply resources and allow the player to earn victory points. Players might want to invest in cannons to protect themselves from pirates roaming the waters or acquire progress tokens to gain special advantages.
Feld. Point Salad. Om nom nom. Point Salad. Cool ass cube tower!
11. Bora Bora
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/127060/bora-bora
Stake your fortunes in the mysterious island world of Bora Bora. Journey across islands, building huts where the resilient men and women of your tribes can settle, discovering fishing grounds and collecting shells. Send priests to the temples, and gather offerings to curry favor with the gods.
In Bora Bora, players use dice to perform a variety of actions using careful insight and tactical planning. The heart of the game is its action resolution system in which 5-7 actions are available each round, the exact number depending on the number of players. Each player rolls three dice at the start of the round, then they take turns placing one die at a time on one action. Place a high number on an action, and you'll generally get a better version of that action: more places to build, more choices of people to take, better positioning on the temple track, and so on. Place a low number and you'll get a worse action – but you'll possibly block other players from taking the action at all as in order to take an action you must place a die on it with a lower number than any die already on the action.
Three task tiles on a player's individual game board provide some direction as to what he might want to do, while god tiles allow for special actions and rule-breaking, as gods are wont to do. The player who best watches how the game develops and uses the most effective strategy will prevail.
Bora Bora is another great Feld game. The dice mechanic is very interesting in that big number rolls get you more but can get blocked out and small number rolls can block others out. Lot of interesting timing in this game. Again, it's another point salad which is my favorite kind of salad, even more than a Chinese Chicken Salad.
21T. Piece Of Cake
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37371/piece-o-cake
Everyone knows the cake rules: one person cuts,the other chooses. In this way, one makes the slices as equal as possible so that one does not end up with the short end. But this rule does not apply to "...aber bitte mit Sahne (...but please, with whipped cream)." Here a person can cleverly offer larger pieces to the others and still get the most in the end.
5 cakes with 11 slices of different varieties are divided. Each variety awards a different amount of points. One can immediately eat slices to guarantee a number of points, or collect them in the hope of scoring bonus points for having the most of that variety at the end of the game. Only skilled dividers with an eye on their opponents’ pieces can score the most points and win the game.
There is so much deep thinking actually placed in this short filler game about pieces of yummy pie! The longest I've seen people AP is at this game! You have to devide the pie just right to not only try and get what you need, but prevent others from getting their piece of the pie. It makes me want to eat pie for some reason.
20T. T'Zolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126163/tzolk-mayan-calendar
Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar presents a new game mechanism: dynamic worker placement. Players representing different Mayan tribes place their workers on giant connected gears, and as the gears rotate they take the workers to different action spots.
During a turn, players can either (a) place one or more workers on the lowest visible spot of the gears or (b) pick up one or more workers. When placing workers, they must pay corn, which is used as a currency in the game. When they pick up a worker, they perform certain actions depending on the position of the worker. Actions located "later" on the gears are more valuable, so it's wise to let the time work for you – but players cannot skip their turn; if they have all their workers on the gears, they have to pick some up.
The game ends after one full revolution of the central Tzolkin gear. There are many paths to victory. Pleasing the gods by placing crystal skulls in deep caves or building many temples are just two of those many paths...
The gear mechanic is this game is really cool. But the game is much more than a cool mechanic and cool board. It's a worker placement where you have to time things just right. The game is really tight in terms of resources and how much time you have to do something. There are many different ways to get victory points, which is a thing I like. The feeding your workers thing I not a huge fan of in games but it doesn't bother me that much as it does in Agricola.
20T. Glass Road
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143693/glass-road
Glass Road is a game that commemorates the 700-year-old tradition of glass-making in the Bavarian Forest. (Today the Glass Road is a route through the Bavarian Forest that takes visitors to many of the old glass houses and museums of that region.) You must skillfully manage your glass and brick production in order to build the right structures that help you to keep your business flowing. Cut the forest to keep the fires burning in the ovens, and spread and remove ponds, pits and groves to supply yourself with the items you need. Fifteen specialists are there at your side to carry out your orders...
The game consists of four building periods. Each player has an identical set of fifteen specialist cards, and each specialist comes with two abilities. At the beginning of each building period, each player needs to choose a hand of five specialists. If he then plays a specialist that no other player has remaining in his hand, he may use both abilities of that card; if two or more players play the same specialist, each of them may use only one of the two abilities. Exploiting the abilities of the specialists lets you collect resources, lay out new landscape tiles (e.g., ponds and pits), and build a variety of buildings. There are three types of buildings:
- Processing buildings
- Immediate buildings with a one-time effect
- Buildings that provide bonus points at the end of the game for various accomplishments
A sign of a good game is if it plays in a good amount of time for what it is. As in, you get good value for your time. A game could be good, but if takes 4 hours when it only needed 2 hours to be a good game something is off. Glass Road is a semi deep game that plays in 1-1.5 hours. You get a highly strategic game without taking 4 hours. There are many different strategies to go with. The mechanic where you have to balance the resources is brilliant. If you build this resource it could cause you to have less of another resource. So there is a lot of thinking and timing involved. Plus you have to take into consideration what your oppoents do as if you do the card at the right time when neither of them have played it you can play both parts of the card. But you also want to play similar cards as them as you can get extra actions as well. Just a well made game.
19. Dominion ( all Dominions)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion
In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.
Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play—leading to immense variety.
There is a reason why after hundreds of deck builders coming out, Dominion is still on top. It is a very well made deck building game. The expansions only make the game better and more interesting for the most part. It's a decent gateway game as long as you teach how the process works. It's a game where you can create some crazy engines. It can get annoying when people do an engine that allows them to play their whole deck and their turn takes like 5 minutes. "Ok dude. Can you hurry it up? We know you are going through your whole deck. You have 3 coins. It's the same thing as before"
18. No Thanks
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks
No Thanks! is a card game designed to be as simple as it is engaging.
The rules are simple. Each turn, players have two options:
- play one of their chips to avoid picking up the current face-up card
- pick up the face-up card (along with any chips that have already been played on that card) and turn over the next card
However, the choices aren't so easy as players compete to have the lowest score at the end of the game. The deck of cards is numbered from 3 to 35, with each card counting for a number of points equal to its face value. Runs of two or more cards only count as the lowest value in the run - but nine cards are removed from the deck before starting, so be careful looking for connectors. Each chip is worth -1 point, but they can be even more valuable by allowing you to avoid drawing that unwanted card.
The first versions of the game supported up to five players, but a 2011 edition supports up to seven.
Another simple, fun card game makes my list. It is a filler game about pressing your luck and balancing when to take cards. If you take to long to get a card you may be left without chips and regularly get stuck forced to take cards. You also have to know how long to "milk" a card. Milking is when you place your chip on a card you need but know no one else wants. I used to tell people to maybe try and milk when I teach them but now I like to see if they come up with that themselves.
17. Times Up
Based on the popular game Time's Up!, Time's Up: Title Recall challenges players to guess the titles of books, films, songs, and more. Players try to get other players to guess the same set of titles over three rounds. In each round, one member of a team tries to get his teammates to guess as many titles as possible in 30 seconds. In round 1, almost any kind of clue is allowed. In round 2 no more than one word can be used in each clue (but unlimited sounds and gestures are permitted.) In round 3, no words are allowed at all.
Times Up takes a lot from other party games like Charades, Taboo, etc. But putting them all together and with the same clues each round makes those games way better. Times Up is pretty much always a good time, even if the people you are playing with aren't great at pop culture, it still works. This is a perfect game to break out at a Thanksgiving.
16. Bruges
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/136888/bruges
Bruges in the 15th century – culture and commerce flourish and make the Belgian Hanseatic city into one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.
In Bruges (a.k.a. Brugge or Brügge depending on the country in which you live), players assume the role of merchants who must maintain their relationships with those in power in the city while competing against one another for influence, power and status. Dramatic events cast their shadows over the city, with players needing to worry about threats to their prosperity from more than just their opponents...
The game includes 165 character cards, with each card having one of five colors. On a turn, a player chooses one of his cards and performs an action, with six different actions being available: Take workers, take money, mitigate a threat, build a canal, build a house or hire the character depicted on the card. In principle, every card can be used for every action – but the color of the card determines in which areas the actions can be used or the strength of the chosen action, e.g., blue cards provide blue workers and red cards help mitigate red threats. All of the action is geared toward the gathering of prestige, with the most prestigious merchant winning in the end.
It's a Feld.
15. Five Tribes
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157354/five-tribes
Lead the Tribes and Take Control of Naqala
Crossing into the Land of 1001 Nights, your caravan arrives at the fabled Sultanate of Naqala. The old sultan just died and control of Naqala is up for grabs! The oracles foretold of strangers who would maneuver the Five Tribes to gain influence over the legendary city-state. Will you fulfill the prophecy? Invoke the old Djinns and move the Tribes into position at the right time, and the Sultanate may become yours!
Designed by Bruno Cathala, Five Tribes builds on a long tradition of German-style games that feature wooden meeples. Here, in a unique twist on the now-standard “worker placement” genre, the game begins with the meeples already in place – and players must cleverly maneuver them over the villages, markets, oases, and sacred places tiles that make up Naqala. How, when, and where you dis-place these Five Tribes of Assassins, Elders, Builders, Merchants, and Viziers determine your victory or failure.
As befitting a Days of Wonder game, the rules are straightforward and easy to learn. But… devising a winning strategy will take a more calculated approach than our standard fare. You need to carefully consider what moves can score you well and put your opponents at a disadvantage. You need to weigh many different pathways to victory, including the summoning of powerful Djinns that may help your cause as you attempt to control this legendary Sultanate.
Five Tribes is for 2 to 4 players, ages 13 and older and takes approximately 40-80 minutes to play.
Maybe it's this high because it is new hotness and I'm still chopping at the bit to play it again but this is a really good game. It's a worker "displacement game" which is interesting. It has a similar mechanic to Trajan where the last place you place a meeple is your action. So you have to plan out your moves to do many things. Not only to do the action you want but also to possibly score camels and not set someone else up for a great play. The bidding mechanic of points is also interesting as you have to weigh how much points is a move worth. There is a lot to think about in this game. Many different ways to go, I like exploring different strategies.
14. Mondo
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91523/mondo
In Mondo, players compete against each other while also racing against the clock. Each player has a small world board with empty spaces on it, and all players simultaneously pick tiles depicting different animals and environments from the middle of the table and place them on their world board, trying to create complete areas of the same environment. A new tile must be placed next to an already placed tile, but the environmental borders don't have to match. (These errors will earn negative points when the board is scored.)
When the timer runs out, players score bonus points for each animal and each completed environment and score negative points for volcanic tiles, empty fields on the world board and mismatched tiles (for example, a tile with a forest border connecting with a tile with a water border).
Mondo includes three degrees of difficulty, in addition to additional goals and ways to achieve (and lose) bonus points, as well as rules for solo play.
One of the very few games I have never won a game of (Istanbul, Caylus, Macao and Among the Stars are the only others, but all of those I've only played 1-3 times). I'm not that great at it, I always have at least -10 in wrong edges every round. But I always have a good time playing this game. It is my favorite of the tile placement genre.
13. Splendor
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor
Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops — all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you're wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble at some point, which of course will further increase your prestige.
On your turn, you may (1) collect chips (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card. If you collect chips, you take either three different kinds of chips or two chips of the same kind. If you buy a card, you pay its price in chips and add it to your playing area. To reserve a card — in order to make sure you get it, or, why not, your opponents don't get it — you place it in front of you face down for later building; this costs you a round, but you also get gold in the form of a joker chip, which you can use as any gem.
All of the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give you prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.
Again, maybe it is high because it is the new hotness, but I think this will stand the test of time. It's nice and short, easy to teach and has a lot of strategy. Helpful tip from Seany G: Don't Consentrate on the nobles. Look at what the dominant colors are in the top row and aim for those 4-5 point cards. Concentrate on those colors on that card. The chips are nice too.
12. Amerigo
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/137408/amerigo
In Amerigo, the players help Amerigo Vespucci on his journey to discover new land. The players explore the islands of South America, secure trading routes, and build settlements.
The actions available to players are determined through the use of a specialized cube tower, which has appeared in the Queen titles Im Zeichen des Kreuzes and Wallenstein. At the start of the game, this tower is seeded with action cubes, which come in seven colors, with each color matching a particular type of action. During the game players will drop additional action cubes into the tower – but some of these cubes might get stuck in the floors of the tower while other cubes already in the tower are knocked free. Thus, players need to play both tactically – taking advantage of the actions currently available in the best way possible – and strategically – using their knowledge of which actions do what to play well over the course of the game.
The game board is composed of nine, twelve or sixteen tiles, depending on the number of players. Players sail their ships through the landscape created for this game, landing on islands to plan and build settlements, which then supply resources and allow the player to earn victory points. Players might want to invest in cannons to protect themselves from pirates roaming the waters or acquire progress tokens to gain special advantages.
Feld. Point Salad. Om nom nom. Point Salad. Cool ass cube tower!
11. Bora Bora
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/127060/bora-bora
Stake your fortunes in the mysterious island world of Bora Bora. Journey across islands, building huts where the resilient men and women of your tribes can settle, discovering fishing grounds and collecting shells. Send priests to the temples, and gather offerings to curry favor with the gods.
In Bora Bora, players use dice to perform a variety of actions using careful insight and tactical planning. The heart of the game is its action resolution system in which 5-7 actions are available each round, the exact number depending on the number of players. Each player rolls three dice at the start of the round, then they take turns placing one die at a time on one action. Place a high number on an action, and you'll generally get a better version of that action: more places to build, more choices of people to take, better positioning on the temple track, and so on. Place a low number and you'll get a worse action – but you'll possibly block other players from taking the action at all as in order to take an action you must place a die on it with a lower number than any die already on the action.
Three task tiles on a player's individual game board provide some direction as to what he might want to do, while god tiles allow for special actions and rule-breaking, as gods are wont to do. The player who best watches how the game develops and uses the most effective strategy will prevail.
Bora Bora is another great Feld game. The dice mechanic is very interesting in that big number rolls get you more but can get blocked out and small number rolls can block others out. Lot of interesting timing in this game. Again, it's another point salad which is my favorite kind of salad, even more than a Chinese Chicken Salad.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Top 50 Board Games of All Time #30-21
30. Takenoko
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70919/takenoko
Via BGG:
A long time ago at the Japanese Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear as a symbol of peace to the Japanese Emperor. Since then, the Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court members (the players) with the difficult task of caring for the animal by tending to his bamboo garden.
In Takenoko, the players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of bamboo (Green, Yellow, and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo garden. They will have to bear with the immoderate hunger of this sacred animal for the juicy and tender bamboo. The player who manages his land plots best, growing the most bamboo while feeding the delicate appetite of the panda, will win the game.
Takenoko is another good gateway game. It's got cute pandas, simple rules and the chance to say om nom nom over and over again. I find a farmer strategy works well in this game. A lot of the time, if you draw well, you can have other people do your farmer work for you. Tip: I would avoid the 8 point card where you need 4 stacks of bamboo on level 3. It takes so long to do between pandas eating, the fact that bamboo cannot move from a no pandas spot and timing issues. It takes too many moves to do if you actively plan for it, it is not worth it. Just let it clog your hand unless you can get there in a few moves.
29. Rampage ( Terror in Meeple City)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/97903/rampage
In Rampage, you arrive in Meeple City as a gigantic, famished, scaly-skinned monster! Your goal: Dig your claws and dirty paws into the asphalt, destroy buildings, and devour innocent meeples – in short: sow terror while having fun. The monster who has caused the most damage after the carnage finally ends wins the game.
The buildings in Meeple City are comprised of floor tiles and meeples, with the meeples serving as pillars that support the floors. Four wooden vehicles are on the ground in the eight neighborhoods in the city. Each monster, which consists of a wooden paws disc and a wooden body, starts in one corner of the game board. On a turn you take two actions from four possibilities, repeating an action if desired:
- Move: Pick up your monster body, flick the paws disc, then place the body back on the disc.
- Demolish: If your paws are on the sidewalk surrounding a building, you can pick up your monster body, drop it onto a building, then collect any floors that have no meeples on them.
- Toss a vehicle: If you're in a neighborhood with a vehicle, you can pick up the vehicle, place it on your body, then flick the vehicle at a building or another monster.
- Breathe: Even while away from sidewalks with no vehicles, you can cause destruction by placing your chin on your monster's body and blowing across the board.
In addition to the character card, each player has a power card and a superpower card unique to his monster, with the former lasting the entire game and the latter being a one-shot effect that's revealed only upon use.
Rampage includes rules for monsters that evolve over the course of the game, that lose points for meeples not in sets, and that want to combine two game boards to allow for play with up to eight players.
Rampage is just good 'ol fun. It's a set collection game for the most part, but it's more about being able to pretend you are a monster and destroy buildings and throw cars. The blowing action has never ever worked out for me. It is usually embarrassing how bad I am at that.
28. Macao
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55670/macao
At the end of the 17th century, Macao – the mysterious port city on the southern coast of China – is a Portuguese trading post in the Far East. The players take on the role of energetic and daring adventurers. Many exciting tasks and challenges await the players, whether they are a captain, governor, craftsman, or scholar. Those who chose the wisest course of action and have the best overall strategy will earn the most prestige at the end.
Macao lasts twelve rounds, and in each round players select one new card from a display specific to that round, two of which were revealed at the start of the game and others that were revealed only at the start of the round. The deck of 96 cards includes all sorts of special abilities, with the more powerful actions costing more resources to put into play.
One player rolls six different-colored dice, then each player selects two of those dice (possibly the same ones chosen by opponents), then places cubes equal to the number and color of the two dice on a personalized "ship's wheel." For example, if a player chooses the blue die that shows a 5, he places five blue cubes on the ship's wheel position five spots away from the current round. (A player can never claim more cubes than the number of remaining rounds).
Players rotate their ship's wheels each round, then use the cubes available to them in that round to perform various actions: activating cards selected in that round or earlier rounds, buying city quarters and collecting the goods located there, moving that player's ship around Europe to deliver those goods, acquiring gold coins, taking special actions with card previously activated, and advancing on a turn order track.
Players score points by delivering goods, paying gold coins, using the powers on their cards, and building in Macao. Whoever has the most points at the end of twelve rounds wins.
Yet another Feld is on this list. The game, much like Trajan has an interesting mechanic behind it. The amount of cubes you place on your wheel position is what you can do. The way you handle that is important to the game. If you don't place them correctly, you won't get what you want. Much like in Trajan. There is so much to do and think about, which is why I love me some Felds.
27. Ginkopolis
2212: Ginkgo Biloba, the oldest and strongest tree in the world, has become the symbol of a new method for building cities in symbiosis with nature. Humans have exhausted the resources that the Earth offered them, and humanity must now develop cities that maintain a delicate balance between resource production and consumption. Habitable space is scarce, however, and mankind must now face the challenge of building ever upwards. To develop this new type of city, you will gather a team of experts around you, and try to become the best urban planner for Ginkgopolis.
In Ginkgopolis, the city tiles come in three colors: yellow, which provides victory points; red, which provides resources; and blue, which provides new city tiles. Some tiles start in play, and they're surrounded by letter markers that show where new tiles can be placed.
On a turn, each player chooses a card from his hand simultaneously. Players reveal these cards, adding new tiles to the border of the city in the appropriate location or placing tiles on top of existing tiles. Each card in your hand that you don't play is passed on to your left-hand neighbor, so keep in mind how your play might set up theirs!
When you add a new tile to the city, you take a "power" card of the same color, and these cards provide you additional abilities during the game, allowing you to scale up your building and point-scoring efforts.
Ginkopolis is a fine game, it's a great combination of card drafting and area control. One of the things I like most about the game, is that it is not always obvious who is going to win. One move in the last round can chance everything. Change a spot's color or make a huge move to get majority in a area can switch things around drastically. Having a good engine is good in the game, you want to do the actions that will not only get you an action but more resources and points.
26. Love Letter
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/129622/love-letter
All of the eligible young men (and many of the not-so-young) seek to woo the princess of Tempest. Unfortunately, she has locked herself in the palace, and you must rely on others to take your romantic letters to her. Will yours reach her first?
Love Letter is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2–4 players. Your goal is to get your love letter into Princess Annette's hands while deflecting the letters from competing suitors. From a deck with only sixteen cards, each player starts with only one card in hand; one card is removed from play. On a turn, you draw one card, and play one card, trying to expose others and knock them from the game. Powerful cards lead to early gains, but make you a target. Rely on weaker cards for too long, however, and your letter may be tossed in the fire!
Obviously this is the best party game of 2013. Not really, I don't consider this a party game, but for a cheap, easy, short game there are few that are better.
25. DC Comics Deck Building Game
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/125678/dc-comics-deck-building-game
Batman! Superman! Wonder Woman! Aquaman! The Flash! Green Lantern! Cyborg! The Justice League of America is ready for action – are you? Fight the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and peace in the DC Comics Deck-Building Game!
To start the game, each player chooses one of the seven over-sized hero cards, each of which has a special power, and starts with a deck of ten cards. Each turn, a player starts with a hand of five cards and can acquire or conquer the five types of cards in the game: heroes, villains and super-villains, equipment, super powers, and locations. To defeat villains, you'll need to have power – but when a super-villain is defeated, a new one comes into play, attacking all the heroes while doing so. Make sure you've acquired defenses – like superspeed or bulletproof powers, or The Batsuit equipment – to protect yourself from harm.
Craft your hero deck into a well-oiled machine to take on the most vile villains in the DC Universe in your quest for Victory (Points)!
With deckbuilders, a lot of the time I like a simple one. Get some power, buy some cards, use them to get points, etc. DC Comics is pretty simple. Yes, the theme makes no sense. So I'm the Flash and I'm using the Batmobile to defeat Aquaman's Trident? But I just find the game fun, as well as it's counterparts which are mostly the same game ( LOTR, Mortal Kombat, etc.)
24. Notre Dame
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25554/notre-dame
The players take on the roles of the heads of influential families in Paris at the end of the 14th century. In the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral, the players compete for prosperity and reputation. Each family controls one of the 3 - 5 boroughs that surround the site of Notre Dame. As head of his family, each player tries, through clever use of his action cards, to advance the power and prestige of his family, but penalties are assessed on those who do not take care of the health of the people who live in their borough. The player with the most prestige at the end is the winner.
---
Players play as well-off Parisians in the 15th century who wish to improve the importance and appearance of the city quarter around the famous Notre Dame cathedral. The primary game concept is original, but simple, card play players use to permanently improve their influence in the quarter. However, turn after turn, round after round, players must make choices that can have major implications. If one does one thing, then the other can't be done. Concentrating on one aspect means automatically ignoring another, which, above all others, is particularly dangerous in the case of the gradually approaching plague....
After 9 exciting rounds and about 75 action-filled minutes, Notre Dame is over. The 'maitre' who has made the most of his cards and has garnered the most prestige points is the winner.
Another Feld, more interesting mechanics. The more cubes you place on a action spot the more you can do that action. I think I fell into a strategy that seems really strong if not prevented. I put one cube on gaining more cubes, most of the rest on getting money. Avoided the rest. Halfway through take the card that switches 3 cubes to another spot and put it on points. Gets you a bunch of points each turn if you able to do the points action. The losing two points and a cube for letting the rats doesn't effect you much if you score like 10-15 a round. Good thing no one reads this blog otherwise I'd never win doing this again. #hatasgonnahatedraft
23. Helios
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/154182/helios
In Helios, players are high priests in a distant world of the sun god AHAU, and the power of the sun drives everything in the game as players try to build temples, expand cities, and make their civilization flourish.
Development can succeed, though, only if you've secured a supply of the limited raw materials available, and the more that you've built of your temple, the more expensive the remaining parts will be. Glass manastones are the game's currency, and with them you can acquire people, increase the number of points you'll score, and more.
Helios is semi complex game that plays in a short time. It's a good hour long time game. It has multiple ways to win. Each time I've played this I've tried a different strategy. I found that the three strategies (build few but go around the sun a lot, heavy resources and heavy temple) could be somewhat equal if played right. I scored the most with temples, but I made some misplays with the others which might have been just as successful if played right.
22. Blueprints
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140933/blueprints
In Blueprints, players are architects who must use different colored dice to build three different structures from blueprints, with the dice providing different advantages to you. In the game, each round progresses like this:
- Discover your blueprint.
- Each turn, choose a die and place it in your building.
- Reveal your building, tally your points, then discover who wins the awards and prizes.
Blueprints is another great filler game. It's simple, short and fun. Something I have yet to describe a game as on the countdown! Strategy for me is to try and get multiple awards per turn and always pay attention to the in demand materials. I wish someone would run a tourney of this at the con. I think I have a chance at this game to win some sweet dealer dollars.
21. Ticket to Ride
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride
With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes, while providing players with intense strategic and tactical decisions every turn. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route.
"The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket – each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get additional Destination Tickets," says Ticket to Ride author, Alan R. Moon. "The tension comes from being forced to balance greed – adding more cards to your hand, and fear – losing a critical route to a competitor."
Ticket to Ride continues in the tradition of Days of Wonder's big format board games featuring high-quality illustrations and components including: an oversize board map of North America, 225 custom-molded train cars, 144 illustrated cards, and wooden scoring markers.
Since its introduction and numerous subsequent awards, Ticket to Ride has become the BoardGameGeek epitome of a "gateway game" -- simple enough to be taught in a few minutes, and with enough action and tension to keep new players involved and in the game for the duration.
No doubt about it, Ticket to Ride is one of the best Gateway games out there. I still enjoy it and all it's versions. This entry is really for the Ticket to Ride series. Marklin, India, Europe and Team Asia are among my favorites. Base game is good too as it's the only one where I don't have to spend 5 minutes looking to see where my routes are. I think I set a record for myself in this game with a -30 point game. Someone blocked me for getting to a place where literally 3 routes needed it to achieve. So I just turn after turn decided to Hail Mary and hope to pick up a bunch of routes I already completed. But I did it too much and got a -30 score.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Top 50 Board Games of All Time #40-31
40. Metro
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/559/metro
Via BGG:
Similar to Streetcar, Tsuro, Tantrix and Spaghetti Junction, this game has players putting square tiles onto the board to form rail lines. The major difference in this game, however, is that players are not striving to make short, direct routes like those sought in Streetcar. Instead, the object of the game is to make the rail lines as long as possible. Players start with a number of trains ringing the board. Whenever a tile placement connects a train to a station (either on the edge or the center of the board), that train is removed and the player scores one point for each tile that the route crosses, which can cause one tile to score multiple times if the track loops around. However, players score double for city connections, which are the stations in the center of the board.
Metro is one of my favorite tile laying games. I think it improves upon Tsuro. Trying to figure out how to make your route longer and avoid getting screwed over by another persons placement is part of the fun of this game. You want to get your train to the middle to score double points but don't want to get there too quick. It's fun if you like screwing over people and it's also fun if you don't. The only drawback I have with this game is that turns can take a while if everyone is seeing what every spot they can place track does every turn. Overall, a fun time though.
39. Tokido
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123540/tokaido
In Tokaido, each player is a traveler crossing the "East sea road", one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. While traveling, you will meet people, taste fine meals, collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, and visit temples and wild places but at the end of the day, when everyone has arrived at the end of the road you'll have to be the most initiated traveler – which means that you'll have to be the one who discovered the most interesting and varied things.
The potential action spaces in Tokaido are laid out on a linear track, with players advancing down this track to take actions. The player who is currently last on the track takes a turn by advancing forward on the track to their desired action and taking that action. So, players must choose whether to advance slowly in order to get more turns, or to travel more rapidly to beat other players to their desired action spaces.
The action spaces allow a variety of actions which will score in different, but roughly equal, ways. Some action spaces allow players to collect money, while others offer players a way to spend that money to acquire points. Other action spaces allow players to engage in various set collections which score points for assembling those sets. Some action spaces simply award players points for stopping on them, or give the player a randomly determined action from all of the other types.
All of the actions in Tokaido are very simple, and combined with a unique graphic design, Tokaido offers players a peaceful zen mood in its play.
This is not the last of the Antonie Bauza games you will see on this list. Tokaido is a fun, light, relaxing game. I talked about this on my last blog about Gateway. The rules are simple, it's easy enough to teach. This is a fine gateway game. The expansion, Crossroads adds a little more to it and I prefer to play it with it because it gives you more stuff to do.
38. Caylus
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18602/caylus
Once upon a time ...
1289. To strengthen the borders of the Kingdom of France, King Philip the Fair decided to have a new castle built. For the time being, Caylus is but a humble village, but soon, workers and craftsmen will be flocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up.
The players embody master builders. By building the King's castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King's favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins the game. The expansion Caylus Expansion: The Jeweller was included in the 2nd Edition.
Each turn, players pay to place their workers in various buildings in the village. These buildings allow players to gather resources or money, or to build or upgrade buildings with those resources. Players can also use their resources to help build the castle itself, earning points and favors from the king, which provide larger bonuses. Building a building provides some immediate points, and potentially income throughout the game, since players receive bonuses when others use their buildings. The buildings chosen by the players have a heavy impact on the course of the game, since they determine the actions that will be available to all the players.
As new buildings are built, they stretch along a road stretching away from the castle, and not all buildings can be used every turn. Players have some control over which buildings are active by paying to influence the movement of the Provost marker. The final position of the marker is the newest building that can be used that turn. The Provost marker also helps determine the movement of the Bailiff marker, which determines the end of the game. Generally, if players are building many buildings and the Provost is generous in allowing them to be used, the game ends more quickly.
For as high ranked as this game is, I don't see it around much, which is a shame. Worker placement is among my favorite game types and this is a pioneer in that genre. I dunno if I'm a big fan of the Provost marker, but this game has a lot of stuff I like. Stuff that appears in later games on the countdown. I need to play this more.
37. Coloretto
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5782/coloretto
Game play in Coloretto is simple: Either draw a card to play to a row, or take a row of cards to add them to your collection. A row can have at most three cards, so at some point everyone is forced to take a row. Once all the rows have been claimed, players start a new round, drawing or taking once again.
What are you trying to do with these cards? Collect huge sets - but only in three colors as every color beyond the third will cost you points. Jokers are highly-prized as they always match what you want, and +2 cards provide sure points, giving you a back-up plan if everything goes south in terms of the colors you're collecting.
Once only a few cards remain in the deck, the round ends and everyone tallies their score, choosing three colors of cards to score positively while any other colors count against you. Each color is scored using a triangular number system: the first card in a color is ±1 point, the second card is ±2 points, and so on. The player with the high score wins!
A two-player variant is included with some versions of Coloretto, with the only change being that rows can have only 1-3 cards placed in them, depending on the icons on the row cards.
Coloretto is a nice simple card game. I like the set collection aspect. You are trying to collect as many card in a few certain colors as you can, but you might have to take cards that cost you victory points to get them. It's a good system of risk/reward and pushing of luck. It's a game I've considered getting as a nice filler I can teach non-gamer friends.
36. RA
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12/ra
Ra is an auction and set-collection game with an Ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn players are able to purchase lots of tiles with their bidding tiles (suns). Once a player has used up his or her suns, the other players continue until they do likewise, which may set up a situation with a single uncontested player bidding on tiles before the end of the round occurs. Tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round (epoch), or give points after the final round. The game lasts for three "epochs" (rounds). The game offers a short learning curve, and experienced players find it both fast-moving and a quick play.
I'm not too big on auction games, but I like me some RA. It's a well done game about pressing your luck. You have to play to what suns you have to spend and try and get the best value for your suns. It's exciting to see what tile is coming out next, especially if you are pushing your luck that there is not an automatic RA to end the round. There are many different ways to get points but you need a good mix of all of them or you lose or miss out on points. It's a good game to play for an hour and has a pretty good ios app.
35. Spyrium
Spyrium is set in an alternate world, an England set in a steampunk-based universe. Players build factories, needing workers to manage the production of a commodity previously unknown to us called "Spyrium". Producing Spyrium in one factory, then processing it in the next results in victory points (VPs) for that particular player. Alternatively, Spyrium can be purchased, but the material is rare and expensive, and players are constantly scraping for money.
Only those who from the beginning of the game manage to increase their regular income or their base of permanently employed workers (who can be used again and again to raise money) will be flexible enough to get their hands on the important end-of-game buildings to generate many VPs.
The circular nature of the game is flexible as each player can decide for himself when to move out of the placement phase and into the activation phase. With the two tracks in the game, those involved with delivery during the worker phase can then be used to raise money, to purchase an adjacent card, or to work on their own in an idle factory. All of these things are important, but in the end only the player who has dealt best with the lack of money, workers and Spyrium will win.
Spyrium is an interesting game. I feel each move has to planned out carefully. It's a game where money is somewhat tight. You have to rely on being near other people to pull for money. But keep your guy there for too long without scooping up the card you need you can be in trouble. You need to get a good system going to gain points. You need to create spyrium and then have a way to convert it to points. I like games where resources are tight, it creates more tension in the game. I also like games where you can have a shit ton of resources and score copious amounts of points too.
34. Forbidden Island
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65244/forbidden-island
Forbidden Island is a visually stunning 'cooperative' board game. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the game. Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking, while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- sacrifices must be made.
What causes this game to truly stand out among co-op and competitive games alike is the extreme detail that has been paid to the physical components of the game. It comes in a sturdy and organized tin of good shelf storage size. The plastic treasure pieces and wooden pawns are well crafted and they fit just right into the box. The cards are durable, well printed, and easy to understand. The island tiles are the real gem: they are screen-printed with vibrant colors, each with a unique and pleasing image.
With multiple levels of difficulty, different characters to choose from (each with a special ability of their own), many optional island formats and game variations available, Forbidden Island has huge replay value. The game can be played by as few as two players and up to four (though it can accommodate five). More players translates into a faster and more difficult game, though the extra help can make all the difference. This is a fun game, tricky for players of almost any age. Selling for under twenty dollars, oddly, Forbidden Island is a rare game of both quality and affordable price.
For those who enjoy Forbidden Island, a follow-up project by Gamewright titled Forbidden Desert was released in 2013.
From the publisher's website:
Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!
Forbidden Island is a fantastic gateway game. If you want to introduce non-gamers into co-ops, this might be the choice. It's simple enough for people to get. Yes, as in any co-op there can be an alpha gamer problem, but since it's somewhat simple enough, new players can easily figure out what needs to be done. I like Desert as well, but I find this to be the more fun option. And it's short enough a game, that sometimes you can play again if you failed the first time.
33. Concept
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147151/concept
In Concept, your goal is to guess words through the association of icons. A team of two players – neighbors at the table – choose a word or phrase that the other players need to guess. Acting together, this team places pieces judiciously on the available icons on the game board.
To get others to guess "milk", for example, the team might place the question mark icon (which signifies the main concept) on the liquid icon, then cubes of this color on the icons for "food/drink" and "white". For a more complicated concept, such as "Leonardo DiCaprio", the team can use the main concept and its matching cubes to clue players into the hidden phrase being an actor or director, while then using sub-concept icons and their matching cubes to gives clues to particular movies in which DiCaprio starred, such as Titanic or Inception.
The first player to discover the word or phrase receives 2 victory points, the team receives points as well, and the player who ends up with the most points wins.
Concept is a great, new party game. It's interesting to figure out how to get your team to guess something just based on placing cubes near pictures. There are many different and creative ways to get your clue across. It's fun talking post game about how you would have went about someone's clue. It's more creative and works more brain muscles than a game of Pictionary or Charades.
32. Istanbul
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148949/Istanbul
There's hustle and bustle at Istanbul's grand bazaar as merchants and their assistants rush through the narrow alleys in their attempt to be more successful than their competitors. Everything must be well organized: wheelbarrows must be filled with goods at the warehouses, then swiftly transported by the assistants to various destinations. Your goal? Be the first merchant to collect a certain number of rubies.
In Istanbul, you lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge, though, is that to take an action, you must move your merchant and an assistant there, then leave the assistant behind (to handle all the details while you focus on larger matters). If you want to use that assistant again later, your merchant must return to that location to pick him up. Thus, you must plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything...
In more detail, on a turn you move your merchant and his retinue of assistants one or two steps through the bazaar, either leave an assistant at that location or collect an assistant left earlier, then perform the action. If you meet other merchants or certain individuals at the location, you might be able to take a small extra action. Possible actions include:
You likely thought #32 would be Constantinople. But #32 is Istanbul, not Constantinople. I'll never not make that joke when playing this. Even though there is no game named just Constantinople. This game just came out this year and I really like it. I like games where you have to plan moves ahead. You have to find the most effective way to move through the bazaar to get you the most rubies. There are many different avenues to go down. The first time I played this it was pretty epic, all 5 of us got to 5 rubies on the exact same turn. 5 way tie! Tiebreaker was money and had little money so I finished 5th.
31. For Sale
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172/sale
For Sale is a quick, fun game nominally about buying and selling real estate. During the game's two distinct phases, players first bid for several buildings then, after all buildings have been bought, sell the buildings for the greatest profit possible.
For Sale is a great, short game. It's a game about correct timing and predicting when people will play certain cards. It's simple to teach but also can have a decent about of strategy in a small package. Again another game when getting the best value for your moves is the way to win. I do enjoy short filler games along with my meaty Euros.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/559/metro
Via BGG:
Similar to Streetcar, Tsuro, Tantrix and Spaghetti Junction, this game has players putting square tiles onto the board to form rail lines. The major difference in this game, however, is that players are not striving to make short, direct routes like those sought in Streetcar. Instead, the object of the game is to make the rail lines as long as possible. Players start with a number of trains ringing the board. Whenever a tile placement connects a train to a station (either on the edge or the center of the board), that train is removed and the player scores one point for each tile that the route crosses, which can cause one tile to score multiple times if the track loops around. However, players score double for city connections, which are the stations in the center of the board.
Metro is one of my favorite tile laying games. I think it improves upon Tsuro. Trying to figure out how to make your route longer and avoid getting screwed over by another persons placement is part of the fun of this game. You want to get your train to the middle to score double points but don't want to get there too quick. It's fun if you like screwing over people and it's also fun if you don't. The only drawback I have with this game is that turns can take a while if everyone is seeing what every spot they can place track does every turn. Overall, a fun time though.
39. Tokido
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123540/tokaido
In Tokaido, each player is a traveler crossing the "East sea road", one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. While traveling, you will meet people, taste fine meals, collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, and visit temples and wild places but at the end of the day, when everyone has arrived at the end of the road you'll have to be the most initiated traveler – which means that you'll have to be the one who discovered the most interesting and varied things.
The potential action spaces in Tokaido are laid out on a linear track, with players advancing down this track to take actions. The player who is currently last on the track takes a turn by advancing forward on the track to their desired action and taking that action. So, players must choose whether to advance slowly in order to get more turns, or to travel more rapidly to beat other players to their desired action spaces.
The action spaces allow a variety of actions which will score in different, but roughly equal, ways. Some action spaces allow players to collect money, while others offer players a way to spend that money to acquire points. Other action spaces allow players to engage in various set collections which score points for assembling those sets. Some action spaces simply award players points for stopping on them, or give the player a randomly determined action from all of the other types.
All of the actions in Tokaido are very simple, and combined with a unique graphic design, Tokaido offers players a peaceful zen mood in its play.
This is not the last of the Antonie Bauza games you will see on this list. Tokaido is a fun, light, relaxing game. I talked about this on my last blog about Gateway. The rules are simple, it's easy enough to teach. This is a fine gateway game. The expansion, Crossroads adds a little more to it and I prefer to play it with it because it gives you more stuff to do.
38. Caylus
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18602/caylus
Once upon a time ...
1289. To strengthen the borders of the Kingdom of France, King Philip the Fair decided to have a new castle built. For the time being, Caylus is but a humble village, but soon, workers and craftsmen will be flocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up.
The players embody master builders. By building the King's castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King's favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins the game. The expansion Caylus Expansion: The Jeweller was included in the 2nd Edition.
Each turn, players pay to place their workers in various buildings in the village. These buildings allow players to gather resources or money, or to build or upgrade buildings with those resources. Players can also use their resources to help build the castle itself, earning points and favors from the king, which provide larger bonuses. Building a building provides some immediate points, and potentially income throughout the game, since players receive bonuses when others use their buildings. The buildings chosen by the players have a heavy impact on the course of the game, since they determine the actions that will be available to all the players.
As new buildings are built, they stretch along a road stretching away from the castle, and not all buildings can be used every turn. Players have some control over which buildings are active by paying to influence the movement of the Provost marker. The final position of the marker is the newest building that can be used that turn. The Provost marker also helps determine the movement of the Bailiff marker, which determines the end of the game. Generally, if players are building many buildings and the Provost is generous in allowing them to be used, the game ends more quickly.
For as high ranked as this game is, I don't see it around much, which is a shame. Worker placement is among my favorite game types and this is a pioneer in that genre. I dunno if I'm a big fan of the Provost marker, but this game has a lot of stuff I like. Stuff that appears in later games on the countdown. I need to play this more.
37. Coloretto
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5782/coloretto
Game play in Coloretto is simple: Either draw a card to play to a row, or take a row of cards to add them to your collection. A row can have at most three cards, so at some point everyone is forced to take a row. Once all the rows have been claimed, players start a new round, drawing or taking once again.
What are you trying to do with these cards? Collect huge sets - but only in three colors as every color beyond the third will cost you points. Jokers are highly-prized as they always match what you want, and +2 cards provide sure points, giving you a back-up plan if everything goes south in terms of the colors you're collecting.
Once only a few cards remain in the deck, the round ends and everyone tallies their score, choosing three colors of cards to score positively while any other colors count against you. Each color is scored using a triangular number system: the first card in a color is ±1 point, the second card is ±2 points, and so on. The player with the high score wins!
A two-player variant is included with some versions of Coloretto, with the only change being that rows can have only 1-3 cards placed in them, depending on the icons on the row cards.
Coloretto is a nice simple card game. I like the set collection aspect. You are trying to collect as many card in a few certain colors as you can, but you might have to take cards that cost you victory points to get them. It's a good system of risk/reward and pushing of luck. It's a game I've considered getting as a nice filler I can teach non-gamer friends.
36. RA
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12/ra
Ra is an auction and set-collection game with an Ancient Egyptian theme. Each turn players are able to purchase lots of tiles with their bidding tiles (suns). Once a player has used up his or her suns, the other players continue until they do likewise, which may set up a situation with a single uncontested player bidding on tiles before the end of the round occurs. Tension builds because the round may end before all players have had a chance to win their three lots for the epoch. The various tiles either give immediate points, prevent negative points for not having certain types at the end of the round (epoch), or give points after the final round. The game lasts for three "epochs" (rounds). The game offers a short learning curve, and experienced players find it both fast-moving and a quick play.
I'm not too big on auction games, but I like me some RA. It's a well done game about pressing your luck. You have to play to what suns you have to spend and try and get the best value for your suns. It's exciting to see what tile is coming out next, especially if you are pushing your luck that there is not an automatic RA to end the round. There are many different ways to get points but you need a good mix of all of them or you lose or miss out on points. It's a good game to play for an hour and has a pretty good ios app.
35. Spyrium
Spyrium is set in an alternate world, an England set in a steampunk-based universe. Players build factories, needing workers to manage the production of a commodity previously unknown to us called "Spyrium". Producing Spyrium in one factory, then processing it in the next results in victory points (VPs) for that particular player. Alternatively, Spyrium can be purchased, but the material is rare and expensive, and players are constantly scraping for money.
Only those who from the beginning of the game manage to increase their regular income or their base of permanently employed workers (who can be used again and again to raise money) will be flexible enough to get their hands on the important end-of-game buildings to generate many VPs.
The circular nature of the game is flexible as each player can decide for himself when to move out of the placement phase and into the activation phase. With the two tracks in the game, those involved with delivery during the worker phase can then be used to raise money, to purchase an adjacent card, or to work on their own in an idle factory. All of these things are important, but in the end only the player who has dealt best with the lack of money, workers and Spyrium will win.
Spyrium is an interesting game. I feel each move has to planned out carefully. It's a game where money is somewhat tight. You have to rely on being near other people to pull for money. But keep your guy there for too long without scooping up the card you need you can be in trouble. You need to get a good system going to gain points. You need to create spyrium and then have a way to convert it to points. I like games where resources are tight, it creates more tension in the game. I also like games where you can have a shit ton of resources and score copious amounts of points too.
34. Forbidden Island
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65244/forbidden-island
Forbidden Island is a visually stunning 'cooperative' board game. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the game. Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking, while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- sacrifices must be made.
What causes this game to truly stand out among co-op and competitive games alike is the extreme detail that has been paid to the physical components of the game. It comes in a sturdy and organized tin of good shelf storage size. The plastic treasure pieces and wooden pawns are well crafted and they fit just right into the box. The cards are durable, well printed, and easy to understand. The island tiles are the real gem: they are screen-printed with vibrant colors, each with a unique and pleasing image.
With multiple levels of difficulty, different characters to choose from (each with a special ability of their own), many optional island formats and game variations available, Forbidden Island has huge replay value. The game can be played by as few as two players and up to four (though it can accommodate five). More players translates into a faster and more difficult game, though the extra help can make all the difference. This is a fun game, tricky for players of almost any age. Selling for under twenty dollars, oddly, Forbidden Island is a rare game of both quality and affordable price.
For those who enjoy Forbidden Island, a follow-up project by Gamewright titled Forbidden Desert was released in 2013.
From the publisher's website:
Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!
Forbidden Island is a fantastic gateway game. If you want to introduce non-gamers into co-ops, this might be the choice. It's simple enough for people to get. Yes, as in any co-op there can be an alpha gamer problem, but since it's somewhat simple enough, new players can easily figure out what needs to be done. I like Desert as well, but I find this to be the more fun option. And it's short enough a game, that sometimes you can play again if you failed the first time.
33. Concept
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147151/concept
In Concept, your goal is to guess words through the association of icons. A team of two players – neighbors at the table – choose a word or phrase that the other players need to guess. Acting together, this team places pieces judiciously on the available icons on the game board.
To get others to guess "milk", for example, the team might place the question mark icon (which signifies the main concept) on the liquid icon, then cubes of this color on the icons for "food/drink" and "white". For a more complicated concept, such as "Leonardo DiCaprio", the team can use the main concept and its matching cubes to clue players into the hidden phrase being an actor or director, while then using sub-concept icons and their matching cubes to gives clues to particular movies in which DiCaprio starred, such as Titanic or Inception.
The first player to discover the word or phrase receives 2 victory points, the team receives points as well, and the player who ends up with the most points wins.
Concept is a great, new party game. It's interesting to figure out how to get your team to guess something just based on placing cubes near pictures. There are many different and creative ways to get your clue across. It's fun talking post game about how you would have went about someone's clue. It's more creative and works more brain muscles than a game of Pictionary or Charades.
32. Istanbul
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148949/Istanbul
There's hustle and bustle at Istanbul's grand bazaar as merchants and their assistants rush through the narrow alleys in their attempt to be more successful than their competitors. Everything must be well organized: wheelbarrows must be filled with goods at the warehouses, then swiftly transported by the assistants to various destinations. Your goal? Be the first merchant to collect a certain number of rubies.
In Istanbul, you lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge, though, is that to take an action, you must move your merchant and an assistant there, then leave the assistant behind (to handle all the details while you focus on larger matters). If you want to use that assistant again later, your merchant must return to that location to pick him up. Thus, you must plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything...
In more detail, on a turn you move your merchant and his retinue of assistants one or two steps through the bazaar, either leave an assistant at that location or collect an assistant left earlier, then perform the action. If you meet other merchants or certain individuals at the location, you might be able to take a small extra action. Possible actions include:
- Paying to increase your wheelbarrow capacity, which starts the game with a capacity of only two for each good.
- Filling your wheelbarrow with a specified good to its limit.
- Acquiring a special ability, and the earlier you come, the easier they are to collect.
- Buying rubies or trading goods for rubies.
- Selling special combinations of goods to make the money you need to do everything else.
You likely thought #32 would be Constantinople. But #32 is Istanbul, not Constantinople. I'll never not make that joke when playing this. Even though there is no game named just Constantinople. This game just came out this year and I really like it. I like games where you have to plan moves ahead. You have to find the most effective way to move through the bazaar to get you the most rubies. There are many different avenues to go down. The first time I played this it was pretty epic, all 5 of us got to 5 rubies on the exact same turn. 5 way tie! Tiebreaker was money and had little money so I finished 5th.
31. For Sale
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172/sale
For Sale is a quick, fun game nominally about buying and selling real estate. During the game's two distinct phases, players first bid for several buildings then, after all buildings have been bought, sell the buildings for the greatest profit possible.
For Sale is a great, short game. It's a game about correct timing and predicting when people will play certain cards. It's simple to teach but also can have a decent about of strategy in a small package. Again another game when getting the best value for your moves is the way to win. I do enjoy short filler games along with my meaty Euros.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)