It’s been a while since I updated my best-of-all-time list, so today we remedy that situation. I have been looking forward to making this list this year, but as is always the case, the choices where hard and it took almost as much time to decide as it took to write the article. Here we go!

20. Underwater Cities

A new addition to my list, this is a game that had an immediate impact on me the first time I played it and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I just saw, from the get-go, all the amazing possibilities and I couldn’t wait to start exploring it.

It might be infatuation, games usually enter my list that way and it’s only through many follow-up plays that I will determine as to whether or not a game is worthy to remain on the list. That said, I think it’s looking pretty good for this one.

This little Euro about building cities underwater has a lot in common with many other long-time classics on this list. It’s a tight little worker placement and resource management game with that simple design, but that deep gameplay combination that makes so many of my favorite Euros grace our tables on repeat. I’m looking forward to seeing if the hype holds up long-term. Could it be a challenger worthy of comparison to Terraforming Mars? Maybe with some expansion, for now, it’s got novelty on its side and that is good enough for me.

The brilliant part with Underwater Cities is that it managed a little magic trick very few Euros pull of which is that at its core all mechanics of this game are critical to winning. You can’t ignore or disregard any part of it, do so and you WILL lose. Everything on the board is part of your strategy, it all matters and I love that. So many games have key mechanics that are essentially pointless or victory point areas that simply don’t matter which is both a trap for inexperienced players and a boring element of the game that goes mostly unused. Few games manage to avoid such pitfalls but Underwater Cities ensures that everything included really matters.

More than that, Underwater Cities makes sure that every card in the game serves a purpose within some strategy, there are no useless cards you never play which is so common with card-driven games as well. I’m reminded of Terraforming Mars which has cards that are simply dead draws that you never use.

Great game with tons of potential.

19. Tapestry

Tapestry is something of a staple game in my group’s consciousness, but it rose and fell off our radar over time. We don’t play it often but every time it does come out, we are all reminded of its brilliant yet rather odd mixture of complexity merged with elegant simplicity. Simply put, this is a fantastic game we all love, we just sometimes forget about it in the mix of the hundreds of games we own and play between the seven members of my gaming crew.

I love describing the core rule of the game because it’s so simple. For each round, you move a cube on one of 4 paths (Science, Exploration, Technology, or Military). That’s it, that’s the game. What happens on those spots, how the mechanics and resource management converge to create strategy, is where the genius of this game stems from. It’s more than that though because there are lots of resource management games out there, What makes this game unique is the dynamic “cultures” you can play, each with its own angle on the game, its own advantages, and its own mechanical architecture. This mixed with the critical play of Tapestry cards creates infinite dynamics making each game a true white elephant experience.

I would not argue all of these “cultures” are created equally, there are certainly winners (looking at you Historians) and losers (Mystics), but we have found over the years playing this game that anyone can win with just about any culture, it’s just about solving that immutable puzzle that lays within and the dynamic nature of how board state develops.

I think it’s worth taking a moment to pat the developers on the back for the expansions to Tapestry as well. Usually, I’m lukewarm on expansions, they tend to overcomplicate already great games and with little payout. With Tapestry the expansions service the game well, adding great new, alternative options that help struggling cultures and balance out the really strong ones. Well done!

Fantastic game, I’m happy to both recommend it and bring it back to my best-of list, it deserves the praise and honestly probably should have been on this list all along.

18. 1830: Railways and Robber Barons

Slipping some in recent years, the 18XX game that started an entire sub-genre of gaming is one I find fewer and fewer opportunities to play this one with only a single play in the last 24 months (roughly). That is not a reflection of its quality in any way shape or form, it’s just a bit tough of a game to get to the table.

I still think this is one of the best economic games ever made, in fact the entire 18XX game genre is amazing with wonderful handling of the stock market and company management, a great system for creating and running railways with a deep and meaningful, albeit cutthroat, strategic core gameplay. It’s just a great game, but it does fall into that “takes a long time to play” category of games for most people, so it’s hard to get a crew together to play it.

It’s also not particularly easy to teach so unless you are playing all the time, it can be a bit rough to remember all the rules and pass them on to players even if they are coming back for a 2nd or 3rd run. In fact this one is kind of guilty of having some gotcha rules, so knowing the games mechanics in great detail is critical to success and this can frustrate less attentive players. Suffice it to say it’s just a “difficult” game for a number of reasons and it’s hard to muster up the strength and excitement to get it to the table. It’s definitely a lifestyle game, but fortunately, if you learn one 18XX game like 1830, you are pretty much ready to play any of them.

Even with all that said, I get requests for this one from select members of my gaming group so it is in our consciousness and there is a desire to play it, but yeah, it’s a tough one to recommend to the average gamer. You really need to have an affinity for economic train games, the obvious being obvious. It’s a classic favorite of mine, but it’s getting harder and harder to justify its existence on this list and it drops on this list as a result of the “I must be playing it” rule that I have layered over this list to ensure that everything on here is everything I’m actively still playing.

17. Star Trek Fleet Captains

I’m happy to see this game still make the list, but it’s been quite a while since I was excited to get it to the table. This is a great 2-3 player game for Star Trek fans only which I’m finding fewer and fewer people are these days, though I definitely think its the best Star Trek game I have ever owned or played.

The premise is quite simple, it’s a kind of competitive adventure game with everything you know and love about Star Trek crammed into one game, you get the characters, the ships, the missions, the stories, and the atmosphere you know and love. It’s about the same feeling I get as watching classic Star Trek from any era without the edge lord bullshit of modern Star Trek which by the way, I hate, a stain on an otherwise perfect franchise!

Great game, a great theme, a great look, it has everything you want out of a Star Trek and is the only Star Trek game you will ever need once you have played it. It covers the original series, next-generation series including Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and the Enterprise series. In my view, when Star Trek was at its absolute best.

Unfortunately, this one is out of print and what is available on the secondary market is crazy expensive. It’s kind of a bummer for someone reading this today and wishing to get their hands on it. Before you ask, no I will never sell this one, it’s a permanent fixture and a pride of my game collection.

17. Tides of Iron

Despite having not played this one in quite a while, I will still stick to my guns here and say that this is the single, best tactical World War II game ever made. It’s got simple rules with deep meaningful gameplay without that historical “edginess” a lot of historical war games can have. This is a historical war game made so that anyone can play it without that “war gamer” mentality of most historical war games jammed in there.

Not only that, Tides of Iron uses a lot of very familiar historical war game mechanics so if you want to sort of explore the genre further, it’s a really great ground floor, a sort of entry level into the larger world of historical war games. For a long time, I had a regular opponent for this game and I played the crap out of it and I never felt any need for the many expansions that were put out for it. These days Tides of Iron is played mostly online through various virtual tabletops but it has a niche, but loyal audience and it’s not difficult to find them.

Sadly I don’t think this one is in print right now either, so it can be difficult to find but it was nicely supported for a very long time so there are plenty of copies out there on the secondary market unlike many out-of-print games, this one is very much “gettable”. If you are looking for a great two-player World War II game, this is a fantastic one, well worth the investment

16. Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan

New to the list, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to try a war game using a “blocks” system, reminiscent of classic games like Stratego where you have a sort of dynamic fog of war in which each player can only see their own units. Somehow I knew I would love this sort of game and my instincts were quite right.

I love medieval Japanese themes, probably among my favorite historical and cultural eras so this game in particular fit like a glove. I waited a long time for an updated printing, picked it up and it did not disappoint.

This is a card-driven game (which is another genre I love) combined with a “block” game in which players fight over Japan in a bid for the shogunate in a very straightforward war game.

It does have that “historical war gamer” feel to it, but the mechanics are relatively simple and straight to the point, the gameplay is deep, the strategic elements refined and as a whole the game is perfectly balanced. This game has been around for a long time and for good reason, It truly is a game of skill, but it’s not so involved that a player needs multiple plays to be competitive. Most people I have introduced the game to took to it right away and put up a good fight even on their first run. It’s ranked 200 on Boardgamegeek which is pretty decent for a historical war game, but notably, it holds a very prestigious 5th highest-ranked war game on BBG which is a pretty big deal.

I highly recommend this one for fans of war games, looking for a great two-player experience and though it’s the only block game I have ever played, I would imagine it does quite well by comparison to others in its genre. This is a game with awesome replayability, a new fixture in my collection, and one I always look forward to getting to the table.

15. Terraforming Mars

Putting Terraforming Mars on this list at this stage may seem quite odd, why has it never made the list before? The answer here is quite complex, but it is worth pointing out that this was Gamersdungeon 2016 Game of The Year and scored a 3.65 on its review which is quite decent for a Euro on this site. I’m harsh with Euro games probably because I find games that are not interactive to make for a weak experience and many if not most Euro games are practically solo games you play simultaneously. That is not he case for Terraforming Mars however and not the reason it has been excluded from this list before.

The main reason for it never making a list is because frankly I just didn’t really play it after the initial novelty of it wore off. It had collected dust for the better part of 4 years and I never felt motivated to get it to the table. It is a well-designed game but it is excessively long with a slow, boring start and it’s not particularly fun to teach or even play with people who don’t already know how to play it well. This is one of those games where if you are new, I’m going to beat you senseless for the first dozen or so games until you figure it out.

Over the last few years, several things have changed in my gaming group and for the game in general. For starters, they released several expansions for the game that all targeted the thing about the game I disliked the most which was its slow start and length. The Prelude expansion in particular cuts out that first full hour of the “nothing happens” period at the start of the game. In addition, everyone in my group continued to play the game and they all got good at it, so now when we sit down to play, everyone knows the rules and everyone is very competitive and the game moves at a reasonable pace.

Those two things combined have catapulted this game to the front of the line and it got a massive resurgence in my gaming group. Under such ideal conditions, Terraforming Mars shines and is without question what I recognized about it early on, a true gem in the rough that takes a bit of work to fish out. I love this game, I always have but there are lots of games on my shelf I love that rarely see play for various reasons. War of the Ring for example is among my favorite games of all time but it’s a complex two-player game that takes many hours to play. It’s an absolute bear to teach, and like Terraforming Mars sucks balls when playing against new players who don’t know what they are doing, so it’s nearly impossible to get to the table and I haven’t played it in years.

Terraforming Mars earns its rightful place on this list and I’m happy to add it and I’m especially happy to be playing it again.

14. Great Western Trail

This Euro about running cattle in the old west resurfaces on my list for several reasons, but perhaps only one matters which is that I’m playing it all the time online and at home. This game started to run cold for me for a long time but it just keeps coming back around because it is so replayable, so fun, and challenging. It’s just a really good game and I’m happy to welcome it back to my top games list.

I think this is the only game that has ever completely dropped off my top games list and then made a comeback. This is a game that I recommend to all hobbyists without any caveats, for me it’s almost like the new Settlers of Catan, just a staple of my gaming collection worthy of a wide range of situations.

There are two new variants of this one now which give fans even more cowboy for their buck, Great Western Trail New Zealand and Argentina, as well as the Rails of the North expansion.

I haven’t tried the new variants of Great Western Trail, so I have no opinion to offer there, but I have tried the expansion and like most expansions, I find it completely unnecessary. All Rails of the North does for the game is extend its length and makes an otherwise very elegant game, messy, adding needed complexity to the rules.

I personally saw no reason to upgrade to the 2nd edition of the game, but I do find that it’s a bit more streamlined, so if you can get the 2nd edition, it’s probably the way to go. The changes are extremely minor though, so if you already own the 1st edition, there is no reason to get the 2nd edition.

13. Hansa Teutonica

This 2009 Euro about building trade routes first made an appearance at our big board gaming weekend a few years back and has been a staple of that event ever since. The more I played it the more I wanted to play it and at this point, I have come to realize that this one belongs on my list.

This is a tight little action economy type of game about building trade routes in Germany and I will grant you, so far as the theme goes it does not sound exciting because it’s not. This is a thinker, one of those games that will make your brain hurt but win you over on mechanics. It’s a highly interactive Euro with a lot of take that kind of moves and just fits perfectly with my gaming crew of sociopaths who love to watch the world burn.

There is nothing particularly “special” about this cube pusher on a high level, it’s very traditional victory point salad-style game, but it has this really clever interaction and tension from start to finish and the games are always close. I find when my group plays this one, everyone is highly attentive and contemplative with each move. It’s a thinky and clever game that draws out the competitive nature between players and ultimately creates a great gaming experience.

I find this game is far better with more players and though it can run a bit long, on the 2-3 hour side, I find that during the end game, everyone is wishing there were just a couple of more turns so that they could finish this or that route. It is long but in a good way.

Great game, I definitely recommend it if you’re already a fan of Euro games.

12. Western Empires

This one made my TOP 5 BOARDGAMES THAT WERE ALMOST GREAT, BUT HAD A FLAW THAT RUINED THEM list in the number 1 spot for one very critical reason and that is that it has player elimination, made more egregious by being a 12+ hour event game. It’s a terrible sin, especially given that Western Empires is a remake of the 80’s classic Advanced Civilization and 999 games did not take the opportunity to correct this one game-breaking flaw.

Still, it would be a stone-cold lie to pretend like the game is not extraordinary even if it is a product of its time (aka a remake of Advanced Civilization for better or for worse).

Western Empires is not just a game, it’s a gaming experience, an event game of epic proportions that allows for a large gaming group (even larger if you blend it with Eastern Civilization to create Mega Civilization able to support up to 18 players). In fact, the more the merrier, this game really shines with a full table.

While elimination is a part of the game, it’s not exactly a likely scenario with players who are even moderately competent, but it’s a tough game to get any experience with because how often do you have 9 players willing to spend 12+ hours at the table?

I love it, I would love to play it a hell of a lot more than I get an opportunity to, and I do think if you have a group that can get this to the table, this is a gaming event on a scale of which nothing ever produced can match. It’s a one-of-a-kind, white elephant and it earns its place on the list of best games of all time if for no other reason than posterity!

11. Spirit Island

When it comes to complex, intricate, and deep cooperative games, there is only one game that rules the genre today and that is Spirit Island. Easily one of the most elaborate and dynamic cooperative games I have ever played with infinite replayability as well as one of the most challenging games in existence. Be prepared to lose…a lot.

It boasts a massive library of expansions, each one better than the last, Spirit Island is practically a hobby in its own right, certainly a lifestyle game. You can play this one solo, though I think it’s a much lesser experience. This game is best played in a group of 3 or 4.

It’s a long and very contemplative game, you spend a great deal of the time discussing how to approach the constant influx of micro puzzles that need to be solved and there is nothing quite as satisfying as coming up with an answer to seemingly impossible-to-solve situations. In fact, the satisfaction of winning a game of Spirit Island is so rich, I can’t think of a game I’m more eager to play.

It is a time-consuming game though, even with a group well versed in the rules, Spirit Island is an absolute minimum of a 3-hour experience and will usually hit that 4-5+ hour space which means it borders on an event game. I would argue it’s actually a great game to build an event around, though it’s not the sort of “everyone is laughing and having a good time” type of event, more of a “serious gamers” type of event, which is not my personal favorite way to run big gaming events. I rather have everyone drinking beer and giggling at my events and this game doesn’t really produce that kind of atmosphere.

Fantastic game, destined to become a classic.

10. Paths of Glory

I will be the first to admit that this is not a game for most people, hell even among historical war game fans this game falls into a rather niche genre. For one it’s based on World War I which is a historical period that isn’t exactly well-known, in some ways it almost feels like you’re playing some sort of historical fantasy game. It’s a card-driven game, it has a point-to-point map and it’s driven by some quirky mechanics to flesh out the history you probably don’t know that much about. Suffice it to say, it’s peculiar from most perspectives.

That said, I find it to be an establishment in its own right, this is a game you can study, learn its intricacies, and really dive deep into the many implications of strategies and counter strategies. It’s absolutely one of the most beautifully designed games I have ever run across, but it demands a lot from a player, a true commitment to find its genius and if you can find a regular opponent that enjoys all of these amazing nuances as much as you do, you get magic at the table.

Hands down one of my favorite historical war gaming delicacies, this refined masterpiece is a piece of gaming history no true hobbyist should pass up. Historical war games simply don’t get better than this, it’s a historical war game that is itself a piece of gaming history by which all others are measured in my opinion.

9. Through The Ages: Story of a New Civilization

Through the Ages in one form or another has been on my top gaming list for many years, at one point even rising to the number 1 spot. I’m a huge fan of Vlaada Chvatil, I find him to be a completely uncompromising and highly original game designer. By being that however, he tends to make very niche games that for most gamers fall into either the “love it” or “hate it” category with little in between.

I consider Through The Ages Chvatil’s Mona Lisa, but he has brought other amazing original titles like Mage Knight The Board Game, Codenames, Galaxy Trucker, Dungeon Lords, and Space Alert most of which grace my shelves, all distinctively unique and classics in their own right. Each one is more ingenious than the last, he is an absolute miracle worker. You want to be a great designer, play his games, and learn how it’s done.

Through The Ages is more than just a brilliant original design, it’s one of the most intriguing, robust, and challenging games I have ever played. It’s definitely far too long falling into that “pretty much all day” category, but I can’t think of another game on this list that I would happily call in sick to work and spend 8 hours in a chair playing. This is a game that keeps you busy, you are constantly trying to assess and reassess your situation, formulating your grand strategy, and trying to find that narrow line to victory. It feels very much like a race in a lot of ways.

It’s an engrossing, full-bodied Euro game that treats you with intelligence and respect. You always know what you want to achieve, but finding the route to victory is difficult yet so satisfying. No game have I ever played that I enjoyed both winning and losing as much as Through The Ages, it is an absolute masterpiece of game design.

If you lack the time or players to get this one to the table, I highly recommend the digital adaptation. It shaves a couple hours of the gameplay time and its a perfect translation of the table top game.

8. Dune Imperium

At this point, I consider Dune Imperium a staple of my gaming collection and a default option for any board game night. I have spoken about this game endlessly and with how popular it is, it’s pointless to recommend it as anyone reading this has probably already played it. If you haven’t, you’re being silly, this is your next purchase, no gaming collection is complete without this one on the shelf. Its perfectly suited for any gaming group of any level and being a Dune fan is just a candy-coated toping and is not mandatory to enjoy this title.

Its clever combination of deck building and worker placement is flawless, its balance a perfect diamond and it looks amazing on the table. I adore the Dune setting and as a fan, I can tell you that the theme sticks the landing made even better with perfectly executed expansions. It’s a tight, strategic and dynamic Euro that basically perfects every mechanic it uses. There is nothing wasted, nothing overcooked, it’s effectively a perfect game.

If I have any complaints about Dune Imperium is that I don’t get to play it often enough.

7. Twilight Imperium 4th edition

Twilight Imperium has been swimming around on my top 10 list for more than a decade at this point, I have played it so much over the years I have lost count. It is one of my all-time favorites, one of the greatest epic civilization builders ever made and one of the best event games I have ever owned. It is pure magic in a box but any recommendation comes with some caveats.

It’s a very long and complex game that requires a fully committed table of 4 to 6 players ready to give up their day and fully engross themselves in this 4x game that is as much about game state as is player state of mind. That is not an easy table to fill. It’s also a tough and not always fair game, equal footing is not a thing here with various dynamics that are only leveled by player interaction and game knowledge. In a way its both a test of your skill and your character, with a lot of take the mechanics and sometimes even mean-spirited moves that are required to win. It takes a mature audience with the ability to handle this style of competitive game, definitely not something for everyone. Over the years I have found far more players that are not suited to the game than I have those that are.

The more years pass the fewer TI4 games I have as a result and though I dare not say it is fading out of existence, over the last couple of years I have found much easier games, less in-your-face games of its ilk to get to the table and so I find myself sort of replacing it.

I think Twilight Imperium is a masterpiece, an experience that cannot be matched, there is no doubt in my mind it’s one of the best games ever made, but I would say you want to make sure you have at least 4 players ready to take on this beast. It’s a lifestyle game without question.

6. Eclipse The 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy

Eclipse, though I would argue is not a replacement for Twilight Imperium by any stretch of the imagination, certainly is the game I would pull off the shelf in most company to get a 4x experience. Eclipse is a Euro-style game, with clear rules and considerably less punchy mechanics. It’s also a lot shorter game than Twilight Imperium by at least 2-3 hours, so it’s a hell of a lot more accessible and easier to get to the table. You don’t get the same experience mind you, but you do get a great, full-fledged 4x experience nonetheless.

Aside from its obvious comparison to Twilight Imperium, it has its own thing going on. There are a lot of unique handling of classic 4x mechanics, in particular in the area of technology development and fleet building. It’s a diverse and interesting system that allows players a great deal of freedom in customization over the units they will conquer the galaxy with.

It also has a much easier-to-digest point-scoring system so there is a lot less meta-explanation required to understand the difference between knowing the rules and knowing how to play as is the case in Twilight Imperium.

The result is a much lighter, very entertaining, and very approachable 4x game that doesn’t require you to do a lot of event planning. Like any other board game, you can just pull it out and play.

There is a ton of strategy in the game so you get the full robust 4x experience, You’re not trimming any fat here, it’s just a lot more streamlined, and perhaps it’s fair to say more focused on letting the mechanics do the talking. Great game, definitely deserves the win over Twilight Imperium if for no other reason than it sees far more table time.

I will say this about the Twilight Imperium to Eclipse gaming experience comparison. Twilight Imperium is to Eclipse what fine dining is to Taco Bell. Meaning, it is not a game of which one can become a connoisseur, you are not going to turn Eclipse into a lifestyle game or plan events around it. Your exploration of the nuances of this game is relatively shallow by comparison to Twilight Imperium. In short, Eclipse is a fantastic game, but it’s not a unique gaming experience.

In a perfect world, I would pick Twilight Imperium over Eclipse always, but as I live in the real world, Eclipse is a far easier game to get to the table and far more approachable by the overwhelming majority of gamers. If you are looking for a truly robust and heavy 4x game that you can really sink your teeth into, Twilight Imperium has no equal.

5. Star Wars Unlimited

I will be the first to admit that I’m smitten with this game and its addition to the list notwithstanding, putting it in the number 5 spot is presumptuous at best. Still, I cannot deny how addictive this game, how clever the mechanics are and what a joy it is to build decks and play Star Wars Unlimited the CCG. I can think of no game I played this year that has had this much pull.

Not since Magic The Gathering when it was first released have I bought into a CCG with so much excitement and gusto. I really hope that Fantasy Flight Games continues with this CCG with the delicate and precision it requires, because right now after the core game release and its first expansion, I can say without reservation that they nailed it.

In theme, mechanics, the business model, the right mixture of rarity and the delicate balance are all nearly pitch-perfect. It’s on such a great track and if FFG can keep the momentum going, I can see this game making a big, long-term splash in the competitive CCG genre and in my gaming group. It’s without a doubt one of the best CCGs I have played in a great many years.

4. Imperial Struggle

There is no game on this list that I long to play more than Imperial Struggle, the absolute king of the influence control card game genre. The little brother to Twilight Struggle, this quasi-card game takes a side step from its forebearer, and rather than focusing on the card play itself, it instead shifts the focus of influence control to a far more elaborate and complex area control game and in my humble opinion, nails it.

Imperial Struggle handles the history of the 100 year war between England and France splendidly, while creating a complex and highly replayable card-driven area control game that offers tons of dynamics, but retains that “strategic pre-planning” you got with Twilight Struggle hand management. Unlike Twilight Struggle however you don’t need to memorize the decks in order to be competitive, this is far less a game resolved by player knowledge and far more on player strategic execution at the table and it’s why I find it a far superior game to its predecessor.

You might notice that Twilight Struggle is not on my list, but that is not meant as an insult, I really do love playing Twilight Struggle, I think it’s a fantastic game, but it’s one that is incredibly difficult to get to the table in good form. What I mean is that the game is difficult to teach, it takes many plays to be proficient at it and its an absolute chore to play against an inexperienced opponent. The only way to get experience is to lose tons of games and that is neither fun for the teacher or the student.

Imperial Struggle suffers from a high learning curve as well, but the game is played on the table, not in the nuance of card management and that just makes it a lot more approachable and a lot easier to offer advice and teach as you play. I find it much easier to get someone into a competitive state and you can be off and running with this game with great competitive matches after no more than a game or two.

I love Imperial Struggle, I think it’s hands down one of the best games ever made and earns its rightful list at the top of this list.

3. Lord of the Rings The Card Game

Lord of the Rings the living card game to me is the single best solo game ever made and this is how I play it almost exclusively. Not to say it’s not also a great cooperative game, because it’s outstanding when played in 2 or 3 players, but the game requires a high-level commitment to deck building and that is not an easy thing to get into if you’re not collecting. Building decks for others to use works ok, but this is not a casual pick-up-and-play game either so without that full buy-in from everyone at the table it’s not going to deliver on its potential.

As a solo game, however, LOTR is an absolute beast and a masterpiece of the highest order. I adore this game, I have been playing it with considerable consistency for the better part of a decade and I’m as excited to get it on the table today as I was the day I got it.

It has tons of expansions with amazing versatility and is unquestionably one of the most challenging games on this list. Every victory in this game is so satisfying, it feels fantastic, but it’s a brutally tough game. Every quest is a self-contained puzzle to be resolved and it’s truly a rare deck that is up to the challenge of conquering all of these. You spend a lot of time rebuilding decks and it’s just pure joy for card players like me. Every build is designed to target a specific puzzle presented by the countless quests and that moment when you figure it out and beat something that seemed simply impossible to overcome is an experience no gamer should live without.

If you like card games and are looking for something for solo play, in particular, if you love the Middle Earth setting, this game is perfect for you and comes with my highest recommendation.

2. Empire Of The Sun

I can’t lie, while I love all sorts of games to me there is nothing quite as engrossing and as addictive as a big, epic, historical war game and I’m completely fascinated by the war in the Pacific which I think is one of the most strategically complex conflicts in all of human history. To replicate it in perfect detail in a card-driven war game, especially one designed by the master himself, Mark Herman, the Chuck Norris of historical war game designers is absolute bliss.

Empire of the Sun has a learning curve so high, that there is nothing to compare it to, it is one of the most involved and intricate games I have ever learned to play. It took me the better part of a full year before I was playing the game correctly. Hell, it’s an achievement in its own right just to understand how to play, let alone learning how to play it well. Teaching it is an absolute nightmare but when you find someone who has taken the time to learn, the result is table magic.

This game is a masterpiece of historical war game design, You feel powerful and in command of the entire war from one of the two sides (Allied Forces or The Nation of Japan) and you get a sense of rewriting history. it is in a word, one of the greatest games ever made.

1. War Room

War Room is a unique entry to my list, it’s unquestionably my favorite game of all time, but it’s unique in that I don’t normally recommend it to most gamers and gaming crews.

The reason is simple, this massive game that comes in a box larger than classic Milton Bradly master series games is a 12+ hour epic level war game. To call it niche is an understatement. It takes a gaming group with very specific tastes to really get the most out of this one.

As an event game I think it’s quite perfect. It’s a team-based game so you don’t have this “I’m doing badly but still have to play for 10 hours” thing a lot of event games have which is a huge boon. There is a sense of camaraderie and interest in the stuff going on, on the board even if you’re not involved and it has these great moments of planning and contemplation with exciting “let’s see what happens” resolution.

You also don’t need to grind games out to a finish, at any time either side can surrender and you still end up with a satisfying resolution as there are no victory points, you either win the war or you don’t.

Mechanically the game has hidden orders (ala-classic diplomacy) and a clever use of initiative so each round you put in your orders and then later discover how it all plays out. There is a lot of risk management and mitigation but the board is so big and the number of orders you can give is quite limited so you have to pick your battles carefully. It’s all about strategy, making feints, long-term and short-term planning and glorious combats that play out on a semi-tactical battle board for those exciting dice-chucking moments. Its just the perfect game for a big gaming event, but I would always caution gamers considering the purchase that no matter how enthusiastic you are to play this game, and believe me I understand the pull. There is nothing worse than owning it and watching it collect dust so make sure you have the gaming crew ready to put in the hours on this one.

One of the best gaming experiences you will have ever, bar none.

Conclusion

Comparing the list to the one I did in 2022 a few games have dropped from the list.

Root was hanging on in the number 20 spot, but doesn’t quite make the cut this time around. I still think it’s a great game, but it has two core and related issues that are really tough to get around. Its an absolute bear to teach largely due to its most prominent feature, the asymmetrical sides which leads to the second issue which is that it never makes the table because playing against people who are learning really spoils the game. It’s one of those games where everyone needs to know what to and not to do, else a weak link can king make someone pretty quickly and kind of ruin the game for everyone else. It’s a bummer, I love playing this game, but only with people that are already proficient at the game. It’s actually a surprisingly quick game when everyone knows how to play and one of the longest and most painful ones to bring the table when people don’t.

War Of The Ring also drops off the list. Over the last decade, this game has been dropping from my radar and collecting a lot of dust. Much like root, the issue isn’t the game, it’s teaching the rules and that combination of playing against someone who doesn’t know what they are doing is really boring. The fact that it’s a two-player game also doesn’t help in my situation as a 2 player game night is pretty rare around these parts these days. I love it and hope I will get to play it in the future, but for now, it goes the way of the Dodo bird.

The U.S. Civil War also makes an exist. I love historical war games, especially big epic ones but this one is just not to the tastes of most of my gaming crew. The good news is that its a fun solo game and I do pull it out once a year to have a run at it and I do enjoy it, but that is not the stuff of a best-of-all-time game.

Peloponnesian War also exits but just barely. It was a battle between a stone-cold classic that I love to play and a new lover (Underwater City). I chose Underwater City less so because it was new and more because games are generally more fun to play against opponents. Peloponnesian War is an amazing and very unique solo game, I love the hell out of it and I expect it might even resurface on this list in the future but for now it sleeps in the unregistered 21st position on this list.

Washington’s War was largely replaced by Imperial Struggle. These are two card-driven influence games and though I think they could happily live on the list together, the truth is that since I got Imperial Struggle when a two-player opportunity comes up, I have a heap of games that I would rather play, in particular Imperial Struggle. The same thing for Caesar: Rome vs. Gaul, I love it and will happily play it but given the opportunity, I’m more likely to jank of Imperial Struggles chain instead.

The Big Board Gaming Weekend!

In less than 48 hours the annual big board gaming weekend begins and for 8th year in a row, my crew will get together for a 4 day fun-filled and non-stop gaming weekend. There are sure to be new games that will show up and as I do every year, there will be a thorough blog post!