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Top 10 Table Top Games of All Time 2017 Edition

Its time once again to refresh my top 10 best table top games of all time list.  Its been an exciting year, the last time I did this was back in August of 2016 and a lot has happened since then.  In fact, I think this will probably be one of the most significant updates to the list I have ever had with a ton of changes and several new games arriving to the list.

I do want to say one thing about this latest list, much like everything in life, my gaming preferences are driven by new experiences and while I don’t consider myself a cult of the new type of gamer, I do believe that in the last few years the gaming industry has improved in so many ways and there are so many new game designers and design concepts being introduced that it was inevitable that I was at some point going to experience a changing pallete.  I think this list is a reflection of a culmination of experiences over the last 2 or 3 years, but it has only now sort of arrived.

Ok no sense in stalling any further, lets get to the list.

1. Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization

Making its second official appearance on my top 10 list and driving up to number one, this is perhaps the most jarring and biggest surprise even for me.  The truth is that I have always loved the Sid Meier PC game series Civilization, as long as I can remember being a gamer I have been playing it.  I have also been on a never ending search to find the perfect board game version of the game, a road ripe with disappointments.  Finally I find Through The Ages, a game that brings that PC game feel to the table.

There is no question in my mind that the original Through The Ages was a great game, but when people refuse to play it because it looks like a prototype excel sheet, its hard to justify for a top 10 list.

Now why was 1st edition never on my list?  The truth is that while the changes in the 2nd edition are subtle, they were vital and they brought the game out of that weird space it existed in for a long time. I always liked the game, but I just felt that the 1st edition was so ugly and so unforgiving and stringent that it was impossible to bring it to the table with anyone but the most die hard fan, to the point where people didn’t want to try it based on appearances alone.  This new version changed all that.

With new visuals, streamlined rules and important design fixes it brought this classic game out of the closet and while I won’t say it made it mainstream, it did make it a lot more approachable.  I was able to get it to the table, I got plenty of excitement and requests to play it again.  Its now part of the line up of games I can pull out to my gaming group without getting a lot of groaning and moaning.

For me personally it grew on my slowly, very slowly in fact, but when I consider this list I always think to myself, if I had a chance to play any game right now, tomorrow or next week, what would it be.  Through The Ages is now that game.  I would rather play this one on any given day then anything else and as such it simply belongs in the number one spot.

Its a brilliant game that demands a lot, while maintaing that spark of thematic presence culminated with years of PC gaming and a sense of nostalgia.  I absolutely love it the feel of this game and I’m happy to put it at the top of my list.

2. Star Wars: Armada

When it comes to FFG games, there are always going to be a few on this list, but if you had asked me a year ago that Star Wars: Armada would dethrone X:Wing on this list I would have laughed.  What can I  say, While Star Wars: Armada was having an epic year with awesome new ship releases, not to mention the fantastic campaign box, X-Wing was floundering with weird and out of character releases like a Rebel Tie Fighter which left the game wanting.  X-Wing was just not that exiting anymore, the power creep and ambush tactic releases just made it less fun to collect and play.

Wave II game Armada a much needed boost, but it wasn’t really until Wave III I felt the game had achieved FFG’s vision of a proper capital ship battle game.

In the meantime Star Wars: Armada has finally grown into the epic capital ship combat miniatures game we have been waiting for, it took a while, and there was a lot of waiting but its here, its amazing and with recent announcements, its definitely going to get even better.  I love this game and while I consider it a bit exhausting, requiring regular breaks, I can’t think of a whole lot I rather being doing on any given game night.

3. Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

My review of Lord of The Rings: The Card Game might have offered some clue that it would make an appearance on my top 10 list but to be frank and honest the first time I tried this game I was sure I wasn’t going to like it, let alone have it make my personal gaming shelf.  To make it into my top 10 list in the top 3 spot is nothing short of amazing.

This game’s art work is amazing, it really helps to bring out the theme.

Its a cooperative card game set in the Lord of the Rings universe, for me personally this is a mixed recipe as I tend to not like cooperative games,  I’m usually luke warm on most card games and while I like the Lord of the Rings universe, I’m not what you would call a super fan.  In the end however there were three key factors that really allowed this game to break out and become not only among my favorite games, but hands down the most played game on my shelf this year.

First is the fact that the game can be played solo, not something I ever thought I would do for any other reason than the occasion boring night or to test a deck, but it turned out I love it.  In fact I have played this game solo an almost obsessive amount of times and I never seem to tire of it.  Secondly is the fact that the story elements of the game are vibrant, engaging and addictive.  Not a month goes by where at least some of my fun money doesn’t go to a new adventure pack or expansion set.  I just love how everything is strung together and each new adventure pack offers new mechanics, new angles and in many cases an entirely different approach to the game as a whole.  Finally and perhaps most importantly this is without a doubt one of the most challenging games I have ever played.  Each quest adventure is unique, offering new puzzles to solve, puzzles that you solve via intricate deck building, tactical play and often a little bit of luck.

I absolutely adore this game, I travel no place without it and on any given weekend I often find myself pouring a glass of wine, lighting a candle and spending my evening shuffling cards.  A well deserved appearance on this list.

4. War of The Rings

There is nothing like the feeling of a epic scale game that captures a story, War of the Ring is the best of its kind.

I claim to not be a huge Lord of the Rings fan, yet there are two LotR games on my list and both are here largely because of their amazing connection to the Middle Earth story’s theme. I have said this countless times, but this is Lord of the Rings in a box and there is no other game on this list that has as rich and has as engaging gameplay linked to the theme as War of The Rings.   Without question of one of the best adventure/war games in existence, no serious LotR fan or board gamer can live without this on their shelf.  A Classic!

5. Blood Rage

This is a game that has been on my “must review” list for quite a while but every time I play it, while I absolutely love it, I don’t feel quite ready to define it in a review.  Suffice to say however its appearance on my top 10 list should give some indication of how this review is going to go.

Blood Rage miniatures are absolutely beautiful, I’m not at all surprised people take the time to paint the mini’s.

One of the most intriguing strategic games of the decade, Blood Rage blends the fine tuned and thinky mechanics of Euro Games with a thematic, Ameritrash appearance and while I would not call this an overwhelmingly thematic game, it has it were it counts and it looks beautiful on the table.  For me personally though this game is all about gameplay, with endless strategies,  mind games and an astonishing amount of replay-ability, Blood Rage is without question E. Langs masterpiece.

6.  Game of Thrones: The Card Game (2nd ed.)

For a guy who is “not that into card games” this last year has definitely changed my mind about a lot of games. While we see it drop on my list, its definitely not an issue with the game.  This is one of the most intense, challenging and thinky games I have ever played.  It draws out not only the advanced gamer in me, but it pulls out the emotional inner child as well, one that wants to kill you in all manner of horrible ways.

My relationship with this game is…. complicated. I love it, I love hating it, I’m pretty sure it hates me back, but I can’t stop playing it.

Much like the books and show, Game of Thrones the card game is a game of deceit, a game of maneuvering and above all else a contentious, confrontational game of war, one fought not just with the cards but with all of the mind games you can muster.  I both  love and love to hate this game, its as infuriating as it is rewarding.  A must own for any serious card player, but really for any gaming group that loves to get in each others face.

7. Game of Thrones: The  Board Game

Another GoT game on my list, this one effectively accomplishing the same thing as the card game but in a more direct and perhaps classic way.  Its a game of control, both of your emotions and the battlefield, one in which players jockey for position of power through alliances, betrayals and outright war.

This is a game that is played in the minds of the players, the board and pieces are mostly distraction.

GoT is the Diplomacy of my generation, one that taps into the same basic concept mechanically but draws on a modern theme that is both relevant and super fun.  Now I will say this about GoT the board game, you really need to play this with friends, this is not what one might call a family game or a game to play with work colleagues or at a local game store.  Its a bit too personal, you are going to be doing things that are out of character for a typically morale person.  Telling someone that you will help them and then screwing them the next moment is a normal part of the game, in fact its a very good strategy in many cases.  That’s not something you want to do to someone who signs your paychecks or baptises your kids if you get my drift.

To me however this is the perfect game and while it is truly a rare occasion that we actually get around to playing it, its always a memorable one and looking back at the years of gaming I have personally done, I can very vividly remember the many great moments this game has produced.

8. Star Wars: X-Wing

X-Wing takes a pretty dramatic fall and truth be told it has not only fallen out of favor for me personally but in the last year has all but disappeared for the majority of my local gaming group.  There was a time when my only question when it came to gaming events was, when is the next X-Wing game night, but today I have cooled my jets and haven’t touched my figures since K-Wings were released.

Still an amazing game, light, fast, easy to learn. What’s not to love.

I often wonder why that is and while I haven’t come up with anything concrete, I do believe a part of it is simply the fact that I have played it so much that its simply played out.  That happens to games, even games I love.  I don’t think my opinion about the positive qualities of X-Wing have changed any, I can certainly say that I don’t love all of the releases that have been put out this last year but that has always been the case since the very beginning.  I think in the end I just played it too often and too much, certainly not a bad quality for a game and I do know that games that held my attention for as long as X-Wing did tend to come back around.  Its certainly in no danger of being culled from my collection, I love it, but some of the fire has been vented through the plasma manifolds.  I do believe some of the issue is that i’m often put to the test when it comes to purchases and right now I’m far more excited about getting Armada miniatures then I am about X-Wing.

In either case, it had a good run, I still love it and if you have not played it yet, all I can say is, what are you waiting for.  It was a fantastic experience for me, so it still comes highly recommended to newcomers.

9. Empires: Age of Discovery

A new comer, or perhaps more accurate to say, a late comer given that it has been out for the better part of a decade as Age of Empires III is Empires Age of Discovery.  This little Euro style worker placement game is without question one of the best of its kind.

I predict we will be seeing a lot of this one in the coming years.

My review of the game says everything I really have to say about it, other than to mention that the fire is still hot, I’m always aching to play it and every game I have had at this beauty it has been absolutely fantastic.  Its just one of those  A+ titles no one should miss.

10. Shogun (Queens Games Version)

I love it when an old game that I have loved for years is introduced to new players and suddenly it just comes back around again like its fresh and new.  Shogun is without question one of my absolute favorite games and I love watching new players discover it.  The nuances, that split style environment of quiet contemplation followed up by explosive action is just something you don’t want to miss.

I predict this game will always have a place on my shelf and for now it still has a place in my top 10 list.

In my humble opinion this is one of the best designed games of all time, its simultaneously clever, strategic and “roll the dice and see what happens” fun, while being built into one of my favorite themes, medieval Japan.

 

The Fallen & Honorable Mention

Certainly the biggest drop out this time around is Twilight Imperium, a game that has been on this list for over a decade,  it was a tough decision for me to finally remove it.  The truth of the matter is that I haven’t played this game in well over 2 years at this point (maybe more) and while I certainly have a desire to, I’m not losing any sleep over it.  Its a classic, its an epic and its amazing but with a 6 hour time frame, high level of complexity and a big table space requirement its an event game to say the least.  For me part of the issue as well is that I don’t have a good core TI3 group anymore and this game is just not that much fun when your a veteran and your always facing novices.  It takes several plays to fully understand this game and turn yourself into a challenging opponent and right now I don’t have the group willing to invest that kind of effort into TI3, so it sits on my shelf and collects dust.  I would never get rid of it, I always have and always will love it, but it no longer belongs on this list.

On the top 10 list for over a decade, it had a pretty damn good run, but its retirement was inevitable.

We say good-bye on the list to Dead of Winter and Fury of Dracula.  Now Dead of Winter I’m not all that surprised, it was an infatuation, a hot love affair if you will.  I still enjoy it and think its a great game but its definitely not long term top 10 material.  Fury of Dracula on the other hand was a tough choice.  This is a game that has been along with TI3 on the list for a decade, but while I would never say an ill word about it, it just doesn’t have the chops to stand up among the rest of these giants.  When games move up, something has to go!

There are a number of games however that were definitely up for consideration for the list.  The first that comes to mind is Fleet Captains, a game that fell off when I made my last list, but man its still so strong.  Among the most thematic games I own, I love this game not just for its amazing gameplay and tightly connected theme but for all its nostalgic glory reminding why I’m such a huge Star Trek  fan.   That said however there are a few faults with the game that can’t be denied.  Component quality is a bit disappointing for one and there are several mechanics that are a bit wacky and unclear.  Still to this day I’m not 100% certain I’m playing it right.  Definitely a great game though, in particular if your Trekie!

Roll For The Galaxy was also considered and actually may still make the list in the future.  I discovered this game quite late, its been out for quite a while but man it had an instant impression on me.  I have always been a fan of Race For The Galaxy but there was always something about its logic that just didn’t sit right.  More than that though its just a real bitch to teach. Roll for The Galaxy clears up both the logistics and the difficulty to teach while simultaneously holding on to everything that makes Race For The Galaxy a great game.  In the end though I couldn’t bring myself to put a dice chucker into my top 10 list, not that there is that much luck in the game but it just feels wrong somehow, in particular among a list of games like Through The Ages, Star Wars: Armada and Blood Rage.

It already stole the number 1 spot in my top 5 dice games list and while it didn’t make this list, I would not be surprised if it made an appearance at some point in the future.

Well that’s it for this years updated list, at least for now.  I always have and will continue to update this list anytime I feel its run its course, but for now…. Gamersdungeon out!

 

What Makes It Tick

What Makes It Tick: Twilight Imperium Part III

Twilight Imperium has a lot of intricacy, just learning the rules can take time but actually learning the subtle long term impact of the very wide range of potential strategies, racial benefits, technologies, strategy cards, political cards, different resources and positions, just to name a few things, takes many… many plays.

There are however some established, classic strategic and tactical concepts that can always be deployed and while I’m not going to get too deep with the specifics, I have constructed a short list lof some of the top tips & tricks.

Mecatol Rex For The Win

The importance of controlling and denying control of Mecatol Rex, the central planet of the game cannot be overstated.  While most players will prioritize “production” and “military” instinctively, the truth is that in TI3, all players will ultimately build up military forces that will be fairly evenly matched.  More than that, war is a poor path to victory and even when facing a much smaller force, you will be sacrificing resources to go to war, weakening your position whether you win or lose the war.  This is mainly because TI3 is in the scope of things, is actually a pretty short game in terms of rounds.  Most games with experienced players will end somewhere between round 6-8.

Most inexperienced players will question the value of Influence and skip Mecatol Rex as a target until they realize that controlling Mecatol Rex is about a whole lot more than that.

Hence production is really about creating a line of deterrents, its like investing in the future mutual destruction of anyone who decides to go to war with you, but usually that investment isn’t going to be turned into Victory Points through an act of war.

The true defining and usually deciding factor of a TI3 victory will be the player who diversifies the best.  You need to have technology, resources, influence, command token advantage, fleet supply advantage, military strength and political/diplomatic control.

To that end Mecatol Rex is an amazing contributor.  Its a single planet that provides 7 resources (1 production and a whopping 6 Influence).  More than that though a wide range of secret objectives are only possible to accomplish through the control of Mecatol Rex, not to mention that its a platform of control as you can project your force from the center of the galaxy at any player.  Of course having 6 influence each round is amazing as it gives you political control during voting, its a core resource in several public objectives and its used in the secondaries of several strategy cards.  There are a lot of benefits to be had just by controlling the planet.

More importantly however is that simply by controlling it, you are likely denying several players the opportunity to complete their secret objectives (2 points) which is key since in the vast majority of games, a player that completes his secret objective will win the game.

Mecatol Guardians is a variant introduced in Shattered Empire, effectively NPC units that protect the planet it to make it harder to take…. this however is just a cat in a box.

Mecatol Rex as a result is a key, strategic position and a worthy investment in most games for you.  In particular controlling it early can create a stacking effect of benefits, the longer you control the better position you will be in.

Controlling Mecatol Rex is however not about space combat, its about ground combat and as such its all about getting ground forces on the planet.  Its unlikely that should another player or more typically players decide to take it from you, that you will be able to stop them.   Its a central planet, everyone will be able to get to it.  Invading someone on Mecatol Rex with ground forces however is a considerably more difficult task thanks to the logistics of moving troops, in particular if a defending player has really built up his ground defenses.  Hence taking control of Mectol Rex and keeping it in your grasp is key, even if you only control the planet.

Command Token Management & Stalling

All the resources, military and planning in the world will fail if you do a poor job of managing your most vital resource in the game, Command Tokens.  Without question the most common thing you will hear at the end of a TI3 game is about how someone would have one if they had just one more Command Token.  It cannot be overstated how critical action economy is in TI3, every move you make will cost you command tokens, you must conserve them, spend them wisely and do everything in your power to create a reserve.  If you find yourself playing a game of TI3 two command tokens at a time that you earn in the status phase, or praying that someone will kick of the strategy card that earns you additional tokens you are not only going to lose, you are going to lose horribly.

There are a number of really important conservation methods when it comes to command tokens but the topic gets fairly complex.  I think the simplest and most direct advise I can give is to simply ask yourself “Why am I taking this action”?

One of several races with an ability to stall by spending command tokens. While they don’t help to conserve, at least you get something for your expenditure.

Simply put, you want to make sure every time you put down a command token that its with a very specific purpose in mind that garners a clear benefit, preferably one that will lead to a victory point.  You want to avoid dropping tokens just to “stall”.  Aka you don’t want to pass, but you have no worthy actions to take.  Often, in particular in early parts of the round it may be more prudent to pass.  More commonly however you are going to want to stall.

Knowing that at some point (likely all the time) you will be in that situation, you really want to find and hold on to anything that would allow you to stall.  Whether its a racial ability, an action card, a strategy card or something else.  You really want to have at least a couple of ways you can stall your turn each and every round of the game, barring perhaps the first round as this is largely for optimizing expansion.

You might at this point realize that some races are better equipped to do this then others, some even have an outright “pass” ability like the Yssaril Tribes.  Well, this is exactly why the tribes are often referred to as “the best” race in TI3.  The ability to stall, is very powerful and comes in handy throughout the game and it’s squarely because of this ability to conserve command tokens.  You will need to stall often with every race, but command token conservation is all about not stalling by spending command tokens.

Arguably a race with a terrible start, command token conversation and building up reserves is your priority in such a case.

Perhaps the best method of conserving command tokens is to simply build up a big reserve, so that you can spare command tokens to stall with. Some races benefit from this in one way or the other,  like Federation of Sol for example gets a direct benefit for simply spending a command token (get 2 free ground forces) while other races have absolutely no default way to do this, building a reserve is more important for these races.  In some cases it’s absolutely vital and a first priority.

Projecting Mutual Destruction

I have already mentioned several times in previous articles that TI3 is not a war game, but do not be fooled into thinking that means that there will not be war, nor that you can skimp on the projection of your military force.  In fact, this is not only a priority but constant.  You must always be building up a threatening, versatile force, ready to strike and bleed your enemies.

That said, the purpose of this build up is not a prelude to invasion or as a part of an ultimate plan to win a great war, its actually to project a military that is strong enough that anyone who attacks you would be assuring your mutual destruction.  It should be clear that to attack you, is to wage a war in which there will be two clear losers.  Its kind of like two world powers building up nuclear weapons, if the war ever does happen, its over for the both of you.

War is usually not a great move, but some races are much better equipped then others for conflict.

The reason is simple, you are here to earn victory points and carve a piece of the galaxy that offers enough resources that getting more from the control of other players in not necessary.  The galaxy however is far too small for everyone to get their fair share and as such, its inevitable that some players will have no choice but to fight for their claim.  You want to make sure that you make a poor target and that someone else appears to be a much better one.

Creating a proper military defense is not just about “more units”, its about creating nets of impossible odds and”stupid moves” that must be made to invade you.  You want to make it costly and that means DPS in a net protecting your key assets, lots of throw away fighters to use as cannon fodder and plenty of shooty units, preferably upgraded with technology.  Don’t skimp on ground forces either, you want to make sure that even if someone manages to take control of space, they are still not going to get your planets.  Finally you want to make sure that you can always counter-strike, so position your units in such a way as to ensure that if any spot is attacked, you have the means to make an immediate counter attack resulting in your opponent losing his units and gaining nothing for it.

Is this easy to do?  No its hard, it takes practice and there are insurmountable variables that can effect the decisions that must go into this.  This can only be learned through experience, but the important lesson you should take away here is that, the goal is always a threatening, costly defense that can only be overcome through a stupidly expensive engagement.  The goal here is to discourage attacks in the first place.

A Weak Mans War

One final piece of advice is regarding the relative starting strength and dynamic starting positions in the game.  TI3 is not a fair game, in each game there will always be players who have a clearly better and clearly worse start.  You might think that starting of in a position of strength is good, but its actually not.  Weakness leads to alliances and cooperation, strength leads to hostility and ultimately war.  Being in a weak position means you have just cause to agitate the fragile peace in the galaxy.  Out of a weak position you want to trigger wars, but you also want to make sure that your participation is just a gesture.

Play the wounded dog, in fact the longer you can maintain the illusion of being out of contention for the game the better (real or imagined).  Always remember that wars are not won on the battlefield, they are won through diplomacy, politics and manipulation with the your enemies enemy.  There is no better method to ensure victory than to draw in two players into a conflict between them with the illusion that you are taking sides.  When playing from a weak position your goal is to always create conflict between players.  Point out the possible moves, the possible threats to each other, theorize about how people will act, what actions they might take and never be afraid to make some shit up.  Put doubt in the minds of everyone and stir chaos, distract the shit out of them and push them to make mistakes.

If you ever find yourself playing the Xxcha, stirring the shit is your top priority, they are the definition of a weak starting hand.

Weak positions typically mean smaller military and fewer opportunities, as such you must create your own options, but often as it so happens it can be impossible to recover from a weak position.  Its in these cases you really learn the most about how TI3 is really played.  Its a mind game, a game of guesstimating about what people will, might or can do.  When you aren’t a threat, no one can accuse you and say “hey your trying to distract us so you can sneak in the win”, often identifying a weak position of a player is not hard to do.  Hence your weakness becomes your legitimacy, there is a sense of “he has no reason to lie” in the atmosphere that surrounds a player in a weak position.  Leverage the shit out of that, force everyone to play their hand in the open by being observant and vocal.

Its hard to play from a weak position, but it might surprise you to know that of all the victories I have ever had, starting from a weak position accounts for about 70% of my wins.  The truth is that there are no weak positions in TI3, there are just perceptions of that.  Winning from a weak position is all about the spin and to win you must be the spinster.

How that was all helpful, see you guys next time.

What Makes It Tick

What Makes It Tick: Twilight Imperium Part II

In our next TI3 article we are going to be talking about some theorycrafting surrounding this amazing epic.  We are going to talk about the meta game, table action, some do’s and don’ts and a few strategy tips to get you started all built around the theory of the Revenge Factor.

The Revenge Factor

The revenge factor is a concept that applies to a lot of games but no place is the theory more prevalent than in Twilight Imperium thanks to its rich political environment where everything is connected in one way or the other.

First lets talk about the theory itself, what is the “Revenge Factor”.  It basically breaks down like this.  In Twilight Imperium, almost every action you take is going to negatively effect someone at the table in some way.  Its a very confrontational game.  In a game of TI3 every player always has a general status of either being in contention or out of contention for the win.  While this status can change over the course of the game, the later the game becomes the less likely someone that is out of contention for the win will make a comeback and be back in contention.  This is important to understand because the revenge factor effectively kicks in when a players status changes from in contention to out of contention, whether imagined or real.

Lots of games have Revenge Factor elements, GoT The Card Game is another good example, in particular in multiplayer games. Be weary of injuring people in this game, if you put them out of contention, it doesn’t take much for someone to take you with them.

Another property of the Revenge factor is understanding that in Twilight Imperium, barring very unusual circumstances, you can always sacrifice yourself to take someone with you.  Basically if you realize that you are not going to win, you are likely still in a position to target someone and make sure they don’t win either through a wide range of actions, from playing cards, the way you vote in political rounds, using special abilities or just outright attacks, self-destructive or otherwise.

The Revenge Factor thus is the act of realizing that you are out of contention, identifying the person who caused you to be out of contention and then actively pursuing him/her and ensuring, while you won’t win, neither will they, aka, getting your revenge.

Anyone who has ever played a confrontational game like TI3 knows what this is, perhaps they call it something else but that element of “getting even” is always a prevalent force.  In TI3 this is amplified by the fact that there are so many ways to negatively effect someone at the table.

The phenomenon takes different shape depending on the player count, typically the higher the player count the more likely two players will find themselves in a pointless conflict that will put them both out of contention for the win.

The “Revenge Factor” is a very real thing and I find in almost every TI3 game I have ever lost, its been as a result of this table phenomenon.  In a lot of ways, its really not possible to win a game of TI3 entirely on your own in most circumstances, external events, alliances and political maneuvering in which you end up getting help, either willing or unwittingly is an absolute must to secure a win.  If someone is really gunning for you, willing to sacrifice their own potential victory,  victory for you is very unlikely.  Again, in most circumstances, their are obviously often exceptions but to really come to grips with this phenomenon you must both understand it, embrace it and vigilantly prepare for it.

There are many different ways to deal with the “Revenge Factor”.

First and foremost, be conservative in how you negatively impact people.  Simply lashing out randomly or negatively effecting someone just because you can, in particular if there is no benefit to you (no way to earn points for it yourself) is a sure fire way to become a target of someones revenge.  Avoid this.

A good way to do this is to always ask yourself a simple question.  How does this action help me.  If the answer is not “I will get a victory point as a result”, its usually not worth it, at least not during the early and mid game.  Things change a lot in late game where there might not be enough time to get revenge but we will talk about how to manage the end game very specifically in a later article.

This is a game about victory points, never forget this, this IS the only way to win. Swapping plastic in a war that does not yield VP’s out of spite is a sure fire way to lose the game.

The second way to avoid being the target of revenge is to anticipate and prepare for it.  Holding coveted cards like Sabotage, sitting on a Diplomacy Strategy card, creating neutral zones using military units, simply having a much larger military or even arranging a negative action through diplomatic talks with the player so he knows “ok he is going to do this so he can get a point, in trade for X or Y”.  All these things and much more can be done to anticipate or curve someone lashing out.  Understanding what a player could potentially do in response and being ready for it is important but be weary of screwing with a player who has a hand full of action cards, is within striking distance of a system you need, has more command tokens than you or is in position to help one of your other enemies at the table.  Action cards in particular can create a lot of chaos, you never want to be the target of someones action card wrath.  They can do a lot of damage and its a common strategy to stack your hand for just this purpose.

Finally and perhaps most importantly hold out negative actions for the end game.  A typical game of TI3 doesn’t end with a player getting that last and final point in the final round of the game.  It more often happens that a player scores 2, 3 or even 4 points in a single round.  Often referred to as “making  your play”, essentially the act of setting up a way to score multiple points in a single round so that players don’t have time to respond and are caught of guard.  If your sitting on 8 or 9 points in the final round, odds are you are about to play a round in which every person at the table is going to be trying to stop you, but if your sitting on 6 points people will assume there is plenty of time to deal with you.  Hence sitting on those big Fuck You actions until the right moment and then unloading to score big in a single round is the most effective way to ensure no one ever gets a chance to get revenge on you.

The golden rule in TI3 is that at 6 points you’re a threat in contention for the win. At 9 points, you’re just the guy about to get his ass handed to him by 5 other players.

Now that is not to say you should not make plays against people throughout the game, but remember the first part of this theory.  Players aren’t going to suicide it on you just because you play a Local Unrest on them in round one because they will still feel in contention for the win and won’t want to risk too much, but if you do something that really knocks them on their ass and they perceive that they are going to lose the game because of it, in particularly early or mid game, its a good chance you will have brought the wrath upon yourself and you will be dealing with a player taping your resources for the rest of the game on a suicide mission to take you with them,  making it difficult if not impossible to win.

Building political and economic power is a far better way to advance, then taking it away from someone else.

That is in a nutshell the revenge factor, know it, learn to love it and of course always be prepared to institute your own revenge should someone foolishly go after you.  Stack those action cards, arrange your military on the borders of your enemies and always be ready to pay them back 10 fold for their foolishness.  You really want to set this precedence at the table.  Everyone should know that, to screw with you is to unleash the demon, make them pay for coming after you and let them know that if they take you out of contention, your going to take them with you.

That’s it for today, hope you enjoyed the article and good luck!

Gaming Articles

QUICK PLAYS & REVIEWS

The last couple of weeks I enjoyed quite a number of great games, in particular the opportunities to game have come from outside of my normal gaming circles which made for some very interesting and fun experiences.

Deception Murder in Hong Kong
Score: 4 christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

I picked this game up on a whim and while it was very well received among my standard gaming group, to the surprise of no one, it was particularly interesting to see how it held up among non-gamers.  I took this bad boy with me on a family skiing trip and we played it several times with people who quite literally had their first modern board gaming experience.

Whether your a gamer or not, everyone loves solving mysteries, making deception a truly universal game that can reach everyone.

In a 8 player game Deception Murder in Hong Kong not only held up but was a hit in the purest sense.  It engaged everyone, the discussions went off the rails and we spent the evening confused, accusing and counter accusing each other all night.  It was a blast!

Its really no surprise to me that this game is held in such a high regard, while the premise is simple, there is something about trying to unravel a mystery that is universally human and Deception Murder really taps into that with perfection.  I have quite a few different social deduction games and while I love them all, I think this one is probably one of my favorites at the moment.    Highly recommended.

Camel Cup
Score: 3 christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Sometimes called Camel Up, this race betting game is not something that I would ever bring to board game night at the club, but as a family game, Camel Cup really has just enough game in it to keep an old school gamer like me invested, while being sufficiently silly and simple for non-gamers and casuals.    I was really surprised by this one, I mainly bought it for the kids, but I really wasn’t expecting it to make my personal shelf.

Camel Cup makes getting the family to the gaming table very easy, gambling is just something that appeals to everyone when its not for real money.

Camel Cup is essentially a gambling game and I think that in itself is really where casual family games do really well.  Gambling mechanics ensure that no one is expecting to win based on “strategic play”, you sort of push your luck, roll  the dice and hope for the best, but Camel Cup does offer up just enough decision to trick you into thinking you might just be able to out think your opponents.  As a family game, this is among the best I have played in recent years.  Light hearted fun for the win.

Grimslingers
Score: 3 christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

A friend of mine picked this one up on a whim, I think mainly because he liked the theme and art work.  We weren’t expecting much from it when we dropped it on the table, but to our surprise, it was actually super fun.

Some of the coolest art in one of the best themes in a card game I have seen in a long time.

With fantastic artwork, and kind of a weird science-fiction western theme where you can be a gun wielding cat (for example), this is a game effectively about trying to outguess your opponents, read their mind and asses “the most likely plays”.  I can see how this game might land a bit flat if you played it with strangers, but among friends, people who you know a thing or two about the personalities, this one flourishes.  Its really just a mind game, one with simple mechanics and plenty of interesting decesions.

While I enjoyed it one on one, I think this one in particular was much better with 3+ players.  Really cool concept, a simple game that gets everyone involved instantly.  Like it a lot!

Kingdomes
Score: 3 christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

This Knizia classic is actually one of the few games from this designer I like.  While its a bit mathy, I think I like it because its very intelligent while being very easy to teach so you can introduce it to a group of non-gamers and they won’t feel like idiots.  It rely’s less on your skill as a gamer and more just on plain old fashioned intelligence.

I don’t like math, but this game somehow manages to make it fun.

It makes a good “camping” game, as it takes up very little space (at least the old version which I have).  Always really liked this one for non-gamer gaming.

Roll For The Galaxy
Score: Full Review Coming Soon

Man I feel like I’m talking about this game all the time right now, but it really hit on all pistons for me.  Its really hard for me to say exactly what it is about this game that “does it for me”, but I believe its kind of a combination of simplicity, science-fiction theme, dice element not driven by luck yet with strategic depth that really requires a lot of exploration.

One of the biggest surprises for me in a very long time.

I loved the game it was based on “Race for the Galaxy”, but I always struggled with that one mainly because its such a bitch to teach.  Roll for the Galaxy captures all the same elements of Race For The Galaxy, yet manages to be far simpler to teach, yet still has that “impossible to master element”.

Just a fantastic all around game, so much more then the sum of its parts.

 

Best of List

Top 5 Dice Games

Dice games are a really mixed bag, suffice to say, there are a lot of really bad ones.  In fact up until the last couple of years I doubt I would have been able to scrape together 5 dice games I actually liked.  That however has definitely changed in recent years.  Not only are there a lot of great quality dice games out there, some I would even categorize as reaching well beyond the simplicity that is usually associated with the genre.

Enjoy the list

1. Roll For The Galaxy

This was one of the biggest surprises for me in a very long time, absolutely love it.

While the review is still pending, I can give you a preview, in short, I loved it.  In fact Roll For The Galaxy inspired me to make this list.  It is effectively everything I love about Race For The Galaxy, but with dice.  Its far simpler to learn and play then its predecessor, yet maintains that intensity and theme that makes Race For The Galaxy such a fun game.

I love the fact that despite beyond a dice game, there is actually a tremendous amount of control over the game.  You are not going to lose this game because you “rolled bad”, it’s definitely a strategy game, one that rewards clever players.  My absolute favorite aspect of Roll For The Galaxy is that it brought to the foreground that mind reading aspect of Race for the Galaxy, being far more prevalent here.  You really want to guess right about what your opponents are going to do and what they want you to do so you can throw them for a loop or when the tables are turned leverage their actions on your turn.

Absolutely fabulous game, I was hesitant to try it and I’m very glad I did, it really earns its interstellar stripes.

2. Nations The Dice Game

Clever and quick, its one of the few games that does justice to both the dice and civ building genres.

Its no secret that I’m a big fan of Civilization building games, both Through The Ages and Nations are in my collection not to mention many others like Twilight Imperium.  Unfortunately when it comes to replicating civilization building games in dice form there are a lot more disappointments out there then pleasant surprises (I’m looking at your Roll Through The Ages!)

Nations The Dice Game however was not only a pleasant surprise, it’s become one of my favorite games to play on Yucata.de where I have at least 3-4 games going at any given time.  Oddly its one of the few games on this list not on my shelf yet, a problem I will be remedying in short order.

Now I will admit, this was one of those games that sort of grew on me over time.  It wasn’t love at first sight, but I definitely consider this one of the best dice games out there not only doing justice to the genre of civilization building but in its own right being a fantastic strategy game.

3. Star Wars: Destiny

FFG could have made lots of money from me, instead they got zero thanks to the decision to make this a CCG. Too bad!

Of course Fantasy Flight Games needs to have a moment in the sun on this list too, but well deserved.  Star Wars: Destiny despite disappointing me horribly for being a CCG rather than an LCG, still earns its rank in the number 3 slot.  Really well constructed design that pits classic and new heroes and villains against each other in a weird abstracted format where the Millennium Falcon can for some reason attack Darth Vader?  Whatever, Its weird but its a really well designed, very easy to learn, quick and dirty and just plain fun.

Now I will admit I’m not a collector, this is strictly an online affair for me so perhaps I’m cheating but I simply can’t get over the CCG thing with this game, especially coming from FFG where they have this wonderful, proven LCG concept.  Oh why or why did you do this to me FFG!

4. Dungeons and Dragons: Dice Masters

D&D feel with the D&D time frame.

The Dice Masters series is one of those oddities where the game didn’t win me over until I found the right theme for me.  I tried the various super hero versions and it just didn’t do it for me, not until I tried Dungeons and Dragons.

Call it nostalgia or nerdiness if you like but I love D&D and while I consider the mechanic to be fun, its really the thematic representations and how it flows through the game that I love in D&D Dice Masters.  It really captures that D&D essence and its an absolute blast to pit a variety of D&D factions and monsters against each other.  It conjures up imagery and sings thematically.  There is nothing quite like dropping an Owl Bear to counter that pesky Elf Wizard!  Quick, simple, really the perfect filler.

5. King of Tokyo

Instant classic!

King of Tokyo is a take that game, one that is so simple and so to the point and so thematically perfect that I can’t help but add it to this list.  You roll dice and attack the guy who foolishly decided to be in the middle.  Its just fantastic and while I would say of all the games on this list, this is the only one that I can say with 100% certainty will work with any group, any time.  This is not a gamer’s game, its a game for everyone, making it an easy add to anyone’s collection.

Honorable Mentions

We really need to squeak in a couple of honorable mentions, it would be criminal not to.

Kingsburg
I didn’t put it on the list because strictly speaking you can make a fair argument that its not a dice game but a worker placement game, an argument that justly kept it off the list.  None the less, I think its a fantastic game and while it was culled from my collection it had nothing to do with the quality of the game and everything to do with the tough standards I have for my personal shelf.  A really great game, one I highly recommend to new comers and while its “dice game” status is questionable, I still think it deserves mention.

Voyage of Marco Polo
Another questionable choice for a dice game list, but Voyage of Marco Polo is a game I like mainly because of the dice.  I think its such a clever way to make use of a dice mechanic and while it definitely leans more towards the Heavy Euro zone, its clever dice mechanic design cannot be ignored!