Games of the Year 2013!

It's that time of year again - the time when I don't have any pressing work and can peruse the gaming universe at leisure. And as it also happens to be December, I thought I'd launch us on "games of the year" -

The rules - choose your favourite games that you played for the first time in 2013.

So my perennial favorites of Lords of Waterdeep, Macao and Tinner's Trail are out. And Snowdonia - which I like - just misses the cut for me, as I played in in December 2012.

I must say the ten below as a collective are not quite the classic group of last year, but I guess as our gaming knowledge expands there are fewer and fewer things to discover.

Here's my top ten, in reverse order:

10 A Castle For All Seasons

If this were a top-ten of two-player games then ACFAS, as it's affectionately known, might be nearer the other end of the line. Andrew and I have spent many an hour on this mixture of worker-placement and card-play alá Citadels. It's got a lot going for it. What goes against it is it doesn't seem to translate well to multi-player and in both instances there's one building that's potentially too powerful.

9. Castle Dice

The game that shoots itself in the foot with apparently three different designers squabbling over how it would look. The cartoon dice? The differently cartoon cards? Or the Workers In Road style infographic Villagers? I have a lot of time for this game but, as I didn't anticipate, it doesn't seem to fit into the GNN bracket. Conversely my kids love it. Perversely so does my mum.

8. Samurai

A very Knizia-esque puzzle-type game where apparently optimum moves can be undone by other players. Simple rule-set, lots of depth... just a wee but dry and abstract.


7 Canal Mania

The game you don't want to drop any letters on in a google search. For those of us who find Brass too long, too confusing, or too bound up in imminent fated loss, perhaps Canal Mania is the way forward. We played it once, we all liked it, we never played it again. I would like to.


6 Kakerlakenpoker

I'm terrible at this, but it's great fun. Someone passes you a card and tells you it's a rat. Are they telling the truth or not? If you're Adam it doesn't matter, as his always-pass-a-card-on system has served him well. Or if you're Gonz, you simply use you X-ray vision to look into that person's brain.


5 Taluva

Another game with streak of losses for me, I'm not even sure it's seen the table at GNN? It's pretty simple rules, but aesthetically more pleasing than Samurai.


4 Kingdom Builder

Making a trio of games I suck at. But I do like Kingdom Builder - it's great actually. I just don't like coming fourth.


3 Sticheln

Excellent trick-taking game with some nuances that now escape me. There are some numbers you don't want? Or colors? What are the rules, Joe?

 2 Love Letter

Out-couping Coup in my eyes is this less-agonising, faster moving (but longer) game of elimination. There are less opportunities for bluffing so I guess it's quite a different Beast to Coup in some ways, but  quick to pick up and play.

1 Cube Quest

 If I was ordering these in the order I feel like playing now, Cube Quest would be lower. But no other game has had quite the impact on the (male side of) GNN, racking up a series of plays over a fortnight. Since then it's receded from sight a little, but I think it just about deserves top spot. 

 That's mine then. What are everyone elses?