F@#$ Top 5 lists.

Bill C. requested I give my top 10 favorite games.  This is actually quite quite hard for me, because (and this is strictly my perspective, insert your own Darren hates every game joke here) I find most games adequate(read greater than 50%), a not insignificant minority poor, and a few brilliant.

Honorable Mentions:

These are games I like a lot, that just don't quite make the cut for a favorite list.

Galaxy Trucker

I like this game a lot because for half the game, everyone is participating simultaneously.   Plus you might get to hear some funny running commentary from Mike.  Oh!  That's a good one!

Now the game has problems.  There is quite a steep learning curve.  An experienced player playing with n00bs is going to the zoo to shoot goats.  And a n00b at a table of veterans is the proverbial blood donor.   Similar skill levels really need to play one another.

Dominion

This is a really really good game that unfortunately had a great, intuitive implementation on BSW at a time when I wasn't playing board games every week.  So I OD'd on the BSW version.  I feel that I know all the secrets from the first 2 expansions and am reluctant to invest further time and money in playing the follow up expansions that are likely to radically change what was an awesome game.

Dixit

Dixit is quite fun but might be better categorized as a party game and not a hard core nerd game.

Ra


Ra is a solid game that is very well balanced, and has several ways to win.

The problem with Ra, is that it is a pure auction game.   Auctions are a perfectly reasonable mechanic, but when that's all the game is, it has pronounced limitations. 

I still really like this game, but the auction only mechanic places this in the play 2-3 times a year category.

Race for the Galaxy

We played RftG regularly for about 18 months so it has immense replay value.  We just hit the wall.  And the follow up expansions broke the game.

The list:

#5

Space Alert.

This game is amazingly innovative and with the right group loads and loads of fun.  Here's the thing:  Its cooperative and difficult.  What that means is one bad mood or one flaky player at the table and this game becomes stressful and not fun.  Still it makes the list because in our early plays when we were able to laugh at our mistakes, these were among the best gaming nights I have had in the last 2 years.

#4

No Thanks

Ok this is a filler card game.  Play a hand or two at the end of the night or while waiting for the other table to finish their game.  However, this is the best filler game I have played.  It remains in regular rotation after 2 years of weekly play and that is really an amazing feat.

#3

Notre Dame

There's nothing unique about this game.  It's a pretty generic worker placement game.  But all the parts come together quite well, and I have an appreciation for well crafted game design.

#2


Alhambra

A tile laying game that I like lots with any number of players.  There is legitimate criticism that as the amount of players increase the tactical options decrease because there are way too many moves in between your turns.  I personally don't mind the chaos and welcome the improvisation that the 5+ player game fosters.

#1

Brass

I have come full circle on Brass.  At first the web implementation was 500 times better than the board game implementation.  But board games are meant to be social, and waiting 6-10 hours between turns eventually turned me off to the online version.  That's not to say that the face to face version doesn't need tweaks, but that's not in game play.  The tweaks are needed in the materials.

Your currency is given in gold and silver coins. Gold is worth 5$ (maybe 10, doesn't matter) and silver is worth 1$.  Ok so far.  Except that it is quite easy to spend over $50 in a turn and have $150 banked.  How much you spend determines turn order, so its quite a big deal, and the pile of coins in the cash spent spots on the board is far from ideal.  If I were to play face to face again, I think I would insist on pencil and paper records of cash on hand and how much you spent per turn.

The other problem is end game.  There is a loan cut off, based on how many turns are left.  The cut off is the last turn that you refill you hand with new action cards.  So there are cards left when you start the turn and its quite easy to forget that this is your last turn to get quick cash.  NABD, if you think about that at the start of game.  Place two piles of cards.  One that announces the cut off, and then the final replacement cards.