Mine were pretty easy to pick, although no doubt I'll discover there's another ten I should have put in. In reverse order!
10 Wordsy
Need at least one word game on the list and I think this just beats out Letter Tycoon. I'd played Movable Type and Paperback in 2017.
9 Burgle Bros
Co-op that's great fun for both kids and adults. It seems so well engineered to reach a heightened tension at the optimum time.
8 Just One
Just great. Raj-style duplication penalties, but with players working together - a much faster-moving Decrypto.
7 Auztralia
Need a big sprawling story in there somewhere, and although I've only played it twice I really liked it both times.
6 Heaven and Ale
Euro-heaven.
5 Facecards
Gurn-heaven. It got a bit played-out for me (saw the table a lot at home) but those first few times were hilarious.
4
3 Root
Odd to put my probably-favourite-game at number three, but for GNN I was in a minority so it's not been played that much and felt a bit hit-and-miss when it has. Nonetheless I love Root.
2 The Mind
Could almost have been played exclusively for the first three months of the year. Hysterical and would have been a worthy number one. But...
1 Decrypto
Yeah, it's heavier than Just One and there's considerable lulls in play. But I've had so much fun playing it, almost always losing! - I think it bumps The Mind and Root out of top spot.
Bubbling under: the lovely solo-game that is Nemo's War, Euro-bunfight Calimala, Risk-done-right Spheres of Influence, spreadsheet civ Historia, and any number of Martin's trick-taking games!
So what's yours?
Not all that many overlaps but a couple at the top end.
ReplyDelete1. The Mind - so many great moments with this. I'll never forget Joe slow-rolling the 1.
2. Circle the Wagons - lovely 2p microgame that does so much with 18 cards. It's been a lunchtime standby with Joe and Sarah likes it too.
3. Decrypto - think this surpasses Codenames for me and have loved playing it with you guys, even if Sam and I make a hopeless partnership.
4. Iron Curtain - the other lunchtime highlight for me and Joe. Definitely the best of the recent 'condensed Twilight Struggle' games.
5. The Shipwreck Arcana - really enjoy this co-op deduction puzzle.
6. Blue Lagoon - Knizia's back and brutal!
7. Krass Kariert - got played more earlier in the year but I still really enjoy the process of gradually turning a hand of crap into gold.
8. Texas Showdown - mmm tricktakers (Voodoo Prince was 2017 for me)
9. Lost Cities: Rivals - another nice new Reiner that feels more like Ra than Lost Cities
10. Yokai Septet - and another tricktaker, this one a nice simple partnership game.
Just One and Mini Rails are contenders for late entries too.
Yikes - I played Voodoo Prince in 2017 too. Will replace with your choice Martin.
DeleteAnyone remember where to find Martin's BGG script which tells you which games are new to you from your logged plays?
Deleteno sorry Andy. I don't log plays anyway - I check the blog and my unreliable memory.
DeleteI made a new one: https://qwertymartin.shinyapps.io/only-you/ - then go to the 'New to you in...' tab, enter your username and 2018. Andy, you'll need to do 'Baron%20Frog' as I forgot to do a fix for usernames with spaces in :)
DeleteCan't recall what I played when.
ReplyDeleteThe Mind is certainly up there. Texas Showdown too, and Decrypto.
Will need to ponder the rest
After a year where I kind of avoided new games, I whittled it down to ten, with these just falling outside: Burglar Bros, JamSumo, The Climbers, and Welcome To Centreville.
ReplyDelete10. Sakura, a simple idea, rich with comedy potential.
9. Calimala, eurogaming that doesn’t stick around too long.
8. Illusion, who’d have thought that guessing the size of coloured areas would be such fun?
7. Heaven & Ale, a delight.
6. Texas Showdown, a mean and often hilarious trick taker
5. Cryptid, only played it once, but watched it too and I love it’s clever design.
4. Face Cards, brilliant.
3. Circle The Wagons, it’s an unassuming work of brilliance.
2. The Mind, tense and comedic.
1. Decrypto, such a brain-burner but also such fun.
Ah yes lovely Illusion. I like it too. I think I'm the only GNNer who doesn't go for Circle the Wagons.
Delete