2018’s Best Games done Concisely

Here we are in the run up to the holidays, another year’s worth of games have arrived which we have parsed through the all to find the best available for you guys to consider.

I’ve separated out these into categories to help you narrow down your choices to just a few games. Some categories are blank because we didn’t feel there was a standout game this year (traditional 2-player). A couple of games that would have been on the list have been left off because they are currently unavailable until another print run happens (Root). So, let’s start with:

Family strategy

Azul

This year’s SDJ and DSP winner. It’s fabulous as a 2-player and deceptively cut-throat. Players draft tiles onto their boards, once rows fill they move one of their pieces onto the scoring section…blah, blah, blah. Sounds boring, its not. It’s tough to explain but easy to love. (Good with 2-players)

Blue Lagoon

A full redesign of a game from 15 years ago called Through the Desert. You are placing tokens and huts over a South Sea map to get majority on islands, link them together and pick up resource tokens -> many ways to score points. In the second half, you must place tokens from your huts, which leads to lots of blocking and swearing. In other words another cut-throat game, but one with lots of options, so even if the one you wanted has gone, you have plenty of others. (Good with 2-players)

Majesty for the Realm

The next game by the ‘Splendor’ guy. It also has the little poker chips (although smaller). You pay from your supply of meeples to draft cards which you put under a row of buildings to get points and various abilities. Quick, fun and a nice varirty as the building cards are double sided.

TOP GAME – AZUL

Medium/Heavy Strategy

Lowlands

It has the feel of an Uwe Rosenberg farming game, you are indeed making a sheep farm. But the twist is the dam that must be built communally to prevent all your wolly critters washing away. If dam holds, the best sheep farmers do best, if it fails those who contributed most to the dam will do better. A very clever push and pull game as you try and do just the right amount of each to maximize your points.

Heaven and Ale

Nominated for the KDJ, this game of making beer with monks is about resourse management and timing. Its got a very different end game scoring that throws a lot of people off in their first game, but it really packs a punch with a lot of interlocking mechanisms.

Rajas of the Ganges

The uber couple of board game design Inka and Marcus Brand have done it again (can we call them Inkus going forward?). A worker/dice placement game, where the winning condition is when you get your prestige (going clockwise on a track round the board) to cross over your money going counter clockwise. It plays really smoothly, has lovely translucsent dice and is dope. (Good with 2-players)

TOP GAME – Rajas of the Ganges

Party Game

Decrypto

This one definitely riffs off of Codenames, it also suffers from ‘I don’t get it’ syndrome till you complete the second round, then everyone goes…’Ooooooh, I get it’. It’s so great though and worth the patience. A Codebreaking, team based word game.

Bob Ross – Happy Little Accidents

Everyone draws a little doodle and then passes it into the middle. They are shuffled and handed out again, where you have to then turn the doodle into a specific thing, a car for example. Do it three times and choose your favorite. Its just lovely and jolly.

Pantone

This takes pop culture figures and asks you to create them visually using coloured rectangles, similar to those paint colour swatches. Everyone gets a turn to guess and if no-one gets it they are given a clue, repeat until someone guesses the answer and gets points.

TOP GAME – DECRYPTO

Dexterity Game

Drop it

This has been a hit in the cafe as it’s so easy to learn. Drop your wooden pieces into the screen a la Connect 4 and try to make sure they don’t come to rest touching pieces of the same colour or shape. The higher they are up the screen the more points you will get. It’s a lot trickier than it seems. (Good with 2-players)

Menara

One for the Engineers! In this co-op game you are attempting to build this temple of columns and floors up to a certain height. You will draw cards that will tell you what to place and the floors tell you what colour. Every time you can’t or don’t want to add a colmun you must build one floor higher. (Good with 2-players)

Klask

It’s air hockey with magnets. You control your ‘Striker’ that sits on the playing surface with a strong magnet that resides under the play area. If you are too aggressive you’ll lose your connection with the striker so more subtlety is required. A real game of skill, very addictive. (Only with 2-players)

TOP GAME – Klask

Deduction/Escape/Story Game

House of Danger

It’s a classic Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) gameified with a few more choices. You work through 5 chapters, pick up some items which will help you as well as open up specific paths through the game. Great for that 10-14 yr old range or adults who love a bit of nostalgia. (Good with 2-players)

Chronicles of Crime

This game uses an app on your device A LOT. But in the best of ways. You go to a crime scene and hold then phone up and move it around to look for clues. Each clue/person/location has a QR code that you scan to get information about. You can QR code a person to talk to them and then QR an item to ask them about it. It works really smoothly with great plots. Highly recommended. (Good with 2-players)

Legacy of Dragonhalt

Another kind of CYOA game, but this one is set in a more classic D&D environment and is a much bigger story. You will create a character with traits (Strength, dexterity etc..) and develop them through the game. Certain traits will allow you to progress to certain choices as you go through quests. (Good with 2-players)

Fog of Love

Described as a Romantic Comedy Board Game. This is for 2-players, where each of you will take on the role of one half of a relationship (your choice of identity) with certain personality traits, goals and desires. To succeed you must make the relationship last a year and meet it’s own needs. You do this by answering scenario based questions (this things happens, do you A…, B…, C… or D?) Role playing your character is encouraged. (Only with 2-players)

TOP GAME – Fog of Love & Chronicles of Crime

Kids Game

Outfoxed (5-10 years)

This one is like a co-operative Clue. Players roll 3 dice hoping to match all 3 by showing either clue or sustpect symbols. If they are successful they get to reveal suspects or search for clues. If they fail, the pie stealing fox moves towards the exit. You use simple logical deduction to narrow down the suspects till you have your fox. (Good with 2-players)

Emojito (5-100 years)

Another co-operative game, but this time it involves pulling faces. A player grabs a card which will show a cartoon animal pulling an expression and then attempt to mimic it. They will mix the card in with 6 others and everyone has to try and guess the cards they were mimicing (the team gets a point for every correct answer, the game for every incorrect one). There is also a great ‘Telephone’ varient where you must show one person your expression, who then passes it to the next person around the table. Yes it can easily double as a drinking game…

My Little Scythe (7-100)

A father and daughter combo took the orginal Strategy game and made a kids My Little Pony varient, putting the files online for people to print and play. The original designer saw it, tried it and decided to make it into a full retail version (minus the Ponies, cos law suits). It’s really, really good. Keeping the core idea of Scythe and simplifying it while maintaining a good level of strategy for young kids.

Stuffed Fables (6, with adult help – 12)

From the designer of Mice and Mystics, this game sees you taking on the roles of stuffed toys trying to save the child they love from the evil mastermind. The game uses a storybook, which tells you the intro to each tale, the rules and the game board. Again it has tinges of D&D (all the rage people) in it, but importantly the narrative is about things that matter to and are scary to kids (wetting the bed, creatures under the bed). Beautiful game.

TOP GAME – they are all so good, it was an amazing year for kids games…but Outfoxed.

Co-operative

Rescue Polar Bears

You are working together to collect data to try and convince governments that the ice is melting and to stop using fossil fuels. However, at the same time you have to rescue the polar bears that are sinking into the water. Get enough data, you win. Too many bears sink, you lose. Everyone has a unique boat that can do different things. Note, this game is hard to win and its even harder to not spend all your time saving the cute bears, but you need that data to win the game. The rulebook isn’t perfect, but get past it and you’ll find a real winner here.

Spirit Island

You’ll take the role of a spirit defending its island from those bloody colonising humans! You have a wide variety of spirits to choose from and they vary wildly in what they can do. Combo-ing with your team mates is key to doing well in this hugely successful, but hard and fairly complicated game. If you want a challenge and variety, you’ll struggle to find a better more unique game.

TOP GAME – Spirit Island