My Top 50 Games (as of Jan. 1 2014) Part 5 10-1

Welcome back to my top 50 games list as of the start of 2014.  My top 10 has 6 of the same games as last year.  Even then, 4 games make their debut in my top 10.  I'd wager that there won't be another year with more than 4 new games in my top 10.  I played a lot of amazing games for the first time in 2013, and I think the amount of new games on this list reflects that.


#10 Article 27  New

Article 27 is a pure negotiation game.  Everyone is trying to get their way, but most of the time, no two players want exactly the same thing.  Each round is 5 minutes of chaotic negotiation, but oh my, what a fun 5 minutes.  I really enjoy Article 27 because the game plays quickly, but it packs a big punch in that timeframe.

#9 Star Wars: X-Wing  Down 4

X-Wing drops for a couple of reasons.  The main one is further down on this list, but the second is really the lack of support from FFG.  Production is constantly delayed, and they don't communicate with the fans.  Their tournament support is a bit lacking in comparison to another company.  The other big reason is that I want missions and/or a campaign.  Dogfights are fun in X-Wing, but they aren't everything that I want to experience in the game.  The game is still a lot of fun, but others are more fun.

#8 Incan Gold  Up 1


Incan Gold gets a bump because I played it a lot in 2013, and I really enjoyed every play of it.  It's a really fun push your luck game that I rarely win.  I usually run at the same time as someone else, run too early, or run far too late.  Still, the game is quick, and has a lot of laughs and good tension throughout.

#7 For Sale  Up 3

For Sale moves up because it's become a game I can play with anyone.  It's not a super deep game, but there are still important choices to make every turn.  It plays blazingly quick, around 20 minutes, which is the perfect filler for me.

#6 7 Wonders  Down 3


7 Wonders moved down simply because I'm playing it less.  The game is still a lot of fun, but I feel like I'm missing something when I play it.  There's still a lot to the game that I haven't delved into, so I need to get it back to the table for that.  It's a good design in my mind, with a lot of ways to win.  Adding in Leaders and Cities has given me a lot of variety, and I'd be happy with the game exactly as it is.  Of course, more wonders add variety, and another expansion might give me that little something I'm missing, so I'm not really sure.  Anyways, I enjoy 7 Wonders.  It's one of my go to games for a larger gaming crowd.

#5 King of Tokyo  New

King of Tokyo is a great dice chucking game.  I'm a sucker for any game where I get to roll lots of dice and use them to do something.  What better thing to do with your dice results than rampage Tokyo and attack the other monsters?  The game does suffer from player elimination, especially if you go out early, you can be waiting around for awhile.  Even then, KoT is a fun game to watch, so I don't mind that too much, but others might.

#4 Ticket to Ride Down 2

Ticket didn't really move down in my opinion, it's just that #2 and 3 jumped over it.  Ticket to Ride is a really fun, yet simple train game.  The game is fairly simple, with only 3 choices on each turn, but how players utilize those choices makes a huge difference in their game.

#3 Resistance: Avalon  New

I picked this up on a whim.  I played normal Resistance, and wasn't a big fan, but after watching a play through of this online, I thought it just might work.  Turns out I was right, and 50 plays in 2013 later, it's #3 on my list.  I mainly play it on Friday nights with a larger group, and we get really into the game.  We play at least 3 times every meeting, which has led to some discoveries of tells.  It has turned us all into better liars, which probably isn't the best thing in the world, but we've all promised to use those powers for good, not evil.

#2 Star Trek: Attack Wing  New


This is the aforementioned game that knocked X-Wing down.  Yes, the model quality is worse than X-Wing by a wide margin, but that pales to the enriched gameplay and missions that exist in the game. The tournament support has been fantastic, and more amazing things are coming this year.  I came into the game with a lot of skepticism, thinking it would essentially be X-Wing in Star Trek colors, but boy was I wrong.  The gameplay is so much deeper, with a lot more options in squad building and actual game play.

#1 Cosmic Encounter No Change

Cosmic holds on to the #1 spot, though it almost lost it to Star Trek.  Cosmic is a game I love every time I play it, and there is never a bad game of Cosmic.  I know it isn't a game for everyone, but for those people who enjoy a bit of chaos, and having to work together, but find the opportune moment to make a power play, this is the game for you.




What did I learn in 2013?
The biggest thing I learned is that there are great games coming out all the time.  My personal gaming tastes are changing all the time, and just about any game could find it's way onto my list.  My top 5 games have almost nothing in common as far as mechanics go.  I like them all for completely different reasons.  To me, that's a great testament to my desire for variety.  Stay tuned for this list next year.  I'm sure many things will change again.

Top 42 Part 6 (7-4)

Woo! Top 7. It's been a fun ride so far and I think it will be even better next year since we'll get comparisons to this year.

#7 Star Trek Fleet Captains

I never thought that two plays would make a game jump this high on my list.  Maybe it's a desire for wanting great games, maybe I'm colored by the newness of the game, but I can see myself playing this a lot for a long time.  The Star Trek theme is incorporated wonderfully. Everything from the ships to the encounter cards and the locations are directly out of Star Trek.  There's a lot of room for expansions, both in the federation fleet as well as other races from the show.  This game is perfect for Star Trek fans.  I can't speak to it's enjoyability if you don't know Trek, but the game mechanics seem to be solid.  There are many paths to victory for each side from scientific achievements to military conquest.  The game plays fairly quickly once you understand the rules, which does take awhile, but gameplay seems to speed up as it progresses, and the endgame seems to hit just as things are getting interesting.  I've only played with the recommended point count, but there's always the ability to undertake a longer game.

#6 Eminent Domain

I recently reviewed Eminent Domain, so the details are there so I'll make this quick.  I enjoy playing Eminent Domain, and I think with an expansion it could move into my top 5.  I love the diverse strategies possible in Em-Do, and the way a player has the follow or dissent option on other player's turns is brilliant.  It's quick to play and fairly different every time you play.  It's one game I want to play more as a 2 player for the longer strategies, but it's fun as a 3 or 4 player game.  Plus having friends start this whole "I'm going to warfare your (fill in the blank) has become an iconic phrase between us, and it's good fun to have those inside jokes.  TMG did an amazing job with the entire Kickstarter campaign, and it is a game I probably would have paid more, but I'm glad I got a bargain.   As a final note, it's really cool to see your name in print, even if it is only at the Silver Supporter level.

#5 Battlestar Galactica
Here's another one I've reviewed, so I'll keep it short again.  This is an amazing game with the right group of people.  The theme is once again dripping through the game.  I often feel like the series is happening as we play, watching the cylon fleet jump in by surprise and change the flow of things is great fun.  Watching morale drop is frightening for the players.  I wish there was a way to not know how many cylons were possible, since once they're known the tension tends to evaporate.  Still, there's a lot of fun here.  It would be higher if the the playtime was a bit shorter, and if I played more in real life instead of only forum games these days.

#4 7 Wonders

I was tempted to put this at #7 just for the pun, but 7 Wonders has moved up a lot in the last few months.  It's not the easiest game to learn, but the effort is worth it.  We're still at the point where we have to look up symbols, especially on the leaders, but it's getting easier.  I'm planning on a full review soon, but that's going to take a new camera, so I won't go into tons of specifics here.  I enjoy that the interaction in the game is only with your immediate neighbors.  It makes the game scale from 3 to 7 players withe ease, and you can almost ignore the strategies of your non-neighbors.  I think my favorite wonder to play is Babylon, though that probably has to do with the fact that I built a model of them in 6th grade, plus I always like to take the science route. The great thing is the lack of a completely dominant strategy.  If one person seems to be running away with things, others can always throw out the cards they need, or use them as wonder build markers.  The gameplay is pretty quick, the variety is excellent, and the huge player range is rather nice to have.  For all those reasons, 7 Wonders comes in at #4.