Every year, my board game club (the DC Gamers) spends some time putting together our Top 10 list for the previous year. We each submit our own top 10, and our eccentric statistician compiles the lists and comes up with our overall Top 10. This is posted to the Board Game Geek website, and almost no one comments on it. What fun! If you want to see some examples, check out 2007, 2006 and 2005. I was involved in the voting for those three years.
I assembled a list, posted it, and then felt instant regret. I have left a lot of good games off my list. Perhaps a top 20 would be a better exercise? Just kidding…
What you will read is the email I sent to my game group. After the Top 10, I’ll name the games that didn’t make the cut but probably deserved to.
NOTE: if you don’t know these games, please check out the links to Board Game Geek. I wrote this to my game group, so I didn’t take the time to explain much about how these games actually work.
Here is my list for 2008. It is interesting for me to see how much my tastes have changed over the past few years. Co-op games, minis games, dice games and race games are all included on this list and are ranked at the top. This would not have been the case back when I first moved to DC.
Anyway…
Pandemic by Matt Leacock, published by Z-Man Games. My favourite game of 2008!
1. Pandemic – The first co-op game I have ever enjoyed! I have loved playing this game over and over again. The expansion coming out soon (titled Pandemic: On the Brink) will hopefully make a great game even better, including rules for super mutating diseases, a bio-terrorist traitor mechanic, and many more special powers for the players. I have been truly amazed at how much I enjoy this game.
2. Monsterpocalypse – as some of you know, I used to be a miniatures gamer back in junior high and high school. I discovered GW when I was visiting family in England back in 1993, and got tons of mileage out of Blood Bowl and 40k. Monsterpocalypse is one of the best minis games I have played. It offers a ton of depth in a relatively short playing time. The dice/resourece management mechanics of the game are very novel, and the miniatures are fantastic. Yes, it is collectible. I found a cheap shop online, bought enough singles to make three armies and haven’t spent a dime since. I have spent less than $150 on a game that has given me many hours of play. $150 with GW will get you a rulebook and a few squads. I feel like there is a lot of value for the money here.
3. Sushizock im Gockelwok – totally better than Pickomino! This dice game has been a blast to play. I have introduced this to gamers and novices alike, and everyone has had a blast. I really wonder why RGG is not releasing this one.
4. Snow Tails – a brilliant racing game with a short play time. I like that you can build your own tracks. Maybe the Asmodee edition will manage an SdJ nomination for next year?
5. Diamonds Club – as others have said, this is a fun middle weight game. The purchasing mechanism is really neat and offers some tense decision making and prioritization. I do not think that the forest strategy dominates the game, as others have mentioned.
6. …aber bitte mit Sahne – i love games that use fair division principles. San Marco was one of the first Euros I played and remains a favorite to this day. Sahne is a perfect way to teach someone about “I cut, you choose”. I am tempted to buy an extra copy of this to mail back to my college mathematics professor.
7. Space Alert – Another co-op! Wow! Space Alert is a truly unique game experience that needs to be tried by everyone. I need to play this game more often.
8. Keltis – Contrary to many in our club, I really like Keltis and all of the spin-offs. I think it was a deserved SdJ win. I have the German edition, not the eyesore that is Lost Cities: the board game.
9. Ghost Stories – It’s really funny that I hated co-ops until 2008. Ghost Stories is brutal, and that is why I like it! It is optimal with 4, but I will play it with any number of players. I’ve only won twice, and on the easy setting. I find the game takes tons of teamwork in order to succeed… often more than players are willing to give. I’m curious to know how they will expand this game.
10. 2 de Mayo – I have only played Dani’s game a few times, but every play has been truly enjoyable. I think this is a great war/euro hybrid game and would love to see the system tinkered with and applied towards other settings. The war/conflict themed games I enjoy and want to repeatedly play are short and abstracted enough so that I don’t have to get bogged down with hordes of rules that take away from my enjoyment. 2 de Mayo is a perfect example of something like this that works well for me.
The games the I feel guilty for not putting on the list are (in alphabetical order): Byzanz, Le Havre, Royal Palace, Sorry! Sliders, Strozzi, and Tinners’ Trail.
And I haven’t even played Fluch der Mumie, Giants, Leader 1, Shanghaien, Steel Driver or Timber Tom yet!
A Top 20 list suddenly seems so much more reasonable…
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