#30-#21
30. A Game of Thrones Card Game
Anthony Says: The game that redefined how expandable card games could be played, both casually and competitively. With incredibly thematic decks, hundreds of cards from the Game of Thrones universe, and tense, downright cutthroat sessions with up to 4 players, this living card game – now in its second edition – is a cut above the rest.
29. San Juan
Chris Says: Cards as resources and buildings! Brilliant! Easy game to get into and fun even for hard core gamers. The second edition is even a bit better if that’s possible.
28. Between Two Cities
Daniel Says: A deceptively simple tile placing mechanic with a lot of complexity in play. Scales easily between minimum (3) and maximum (7) numbers with almost no delay, and the need to keep track of which player has the highest low score requires a sort of awareness that goes beyond even much more complex games.
27. Voyages of Marco Polo
Anthony Says: No game has more perfectly captured the joy of worker placement with variability than The Voyages of Marco Polo. Combining dice allocation, worker placement, resource management, and a bit of a race element in a perfectly blended package, this game has exceptional replayability. The downright game breaking player powers make it even more fun to try again and again to see what happens next.
26. Runewars
Chris Says: Runewars is the epic fanasty war game. The map is modular, the races are specialized with unique units and powers. Not to mention you have heroes questing for special benefits. You also have card/action selection that allows you to do all the 4X you want over multiple seasons. It’s hard to find, but there is nothing like it. You get everything you are looking for and more with this game. Just remember, no matter how much fun it may be, you win by runes, not by domination!
25. TIME Stories
Anthony Says: This game did what no other board game has done for me before – pulled me into a story that depended on my input to be completed. Like a well-written adventure video game or a brilliantly DM’d RPG, I felt a part of the experience at every step and kept playing until I was able to finish the quest. The expansions and new adventures add even more depth and build out what is an incredibly engaging science fiction premise across multiple worlds.
24. Battlelore Second Edition
Anthony Says: This game bore down to the core of what makes Richard Borg’s Command and Colors system so effective and stripped away the rest. The result is a quick, tense, incredibly satisfying one-on-one battle game that offers plenty of options with three factions and several armies each, quick setup with the point system, and hopefully many more to come.
23. Concordia
Chris Says: Trading in the mediterranean has never been more sleek and engaging. Play personality cards to expand your economic outreach and then purchase new cards with better abilities. At the end of the game the number of personality cards act as a multiplier to your buildings and resources that you built up throughout the game. It’s a smart, sleek game and every time I finish a game, I want to get up and applaud it.
22. Pandemic
Drew Says: Pandemic has replaced Risk as the perfect game to tinker with and reimagine. Did I mention “Legacy”?
21. Tzolk’in the Mayan Calendar
Drew Says: “And the Oscar for ‘Best Use of Rondels in a Board Game’ goes to…. Tzolk’in!”
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