There’s something about a top 100 list that makes you want to say ‘bullshit’ and make your own. For me, the list were the various top 100 lists that Dice Tower put out, which had many entries that made me want to write nasty things in the YouTube comments (because that always works). But then I remember, hey, I have a blog. Maybe I should use it.
So I’ll roll out the list over the weekend. I figured it was a good enough reason to get me to think about games and to do some writing about game design. Because I decided that one of the things I wanted to do was include at least one reason that I, as a digital game designer, like the design of the pile of cardboard in front of me.
Other notes:
- I’ve played most, but not all, of these games at least twice. The older ones have a lot of plays, but the newer ones have fewer because I have a toddler, which limited my board game playing time (and not coincidentally, also turned a room of my house into the Horrific World of Choking Hazards.
- I made no effort to weed out the ones that are out of print. I think that includes at least 2 in my top 20.
- I made an effort to list at least one interesting mechanic or other reason I love a game. In many cases, it’s not the first game that has implemented that mechanic, but usually it’s the best example I’ve seen of it.
- No, I haven’t played everything. Yes, there are whole classifications of games I’m not a big fan of. Doing research for this little project HAS added to my ‘I gotta go play that’ list, though.
- Images, when visible, is stolen shamelessly from somewhere.
- This list is as of right this second. Been working on this in the background for a month, and even last night, 2 games fell off the list and one fell 40 places. I’m sure if I made this list again in February, it’d shift again.
Anyway, do enjoy one game designer’s desperate excuse to dive back into his collection, and fall back in love with some games he hasn’t played in quite some time.
The list:
100. Colony
98. Las Vegas
97. Dragon Rampage
96. Red November
95. Tsuro
94. The Gallerist
93. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
92. Prime Time
89. Nothing Personal
87. Saint Petersburg
86. Catan
85. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords
83. Bora Bora
81. Cosmic Encounter
77. Dead of Winter
75. SET
73. Citadels
72. Courtiers
71. San Juan
70. Evo
68. Suburbia
66. Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age
65. Fury of Dracula
64. Pandemic
63. Codenames
62. Ghost Stories
61. Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game
59. Anachrony
58. Fortune and Glory: the Cliffhanger Game
57. Elder Sign
56. Tokaido
55. Imperial 2030
54. Kanban: Automotive Revolution
53. Guillotine
52. Aeon’s End
49. Puerto Rico
48. Yamatai
47. Castles of Mad King Ludwig
46. Java
44. Dominion
43. Blueprints
41. Transatlantic
39. Dominant Species
38. Star Realms
35. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
34. King of Tokyo
33. Azul
31. Mombasa
30. Blokus
29. 7 Wonders
25. Stockpile
23. Scythe
22. Porta Nigra
21. Fields of Arle
20. Yedo
18. Forbidden Desert
18. Eclipse
17. Merlin
16. Yokohama
15. Alien Frontiers
14. Tzolk’in the Mayan Calendar
13. 1960: The Making of the President
12. Sagrada
10. Francis Drake
8. Kingsburg
7. Power Grid
4. Trajan
3. Pandemic Legacy: Season One
2. Clank!
And that’s all she wrote! If you have complaints, feel free to put them in the comments here!
So, I get the impression we are very different board gamers, so this might just be me liking heavier games, but I’m very surprised to see both Roll versions of Through the Ages and Race for the Galaxy, but not the original games themselves, as well as a lack of any Vlaada Chvatil games other than Codenames.
Are these too inaccessible too make the list?