This continues our list of staff faves:
Jack and Bill’s can be found here
Arlo, what can you say about him? He will play a lot of games, but most will just float on by, fogotten forever. Those he loves, he loves and will play 10’s to 100’s to 1000’s of times. These enter into the Arlo pantheon at a rate of about 2 a year. I feel those games should have a sticker on them like the Mensa award, but just Arlo’s face with a thumbs up.
10. Las vegas
A cafe classic. Players compete to earn the most money by placing their coloured dice on 6 casinos representing each side of a dice. Who ever gets the most on the casino gets the best cheque. The twist is that any ties (i.e. 2 players each have 3 dice on a casino) cause both players dice to be removed leading to unexpected winners and crys of pain.
9. Isle of Skye
Winner of the 2016 KSJ, its kind of like Carcassonne, but instead of drawing the tiles you buy them off each other to build your own mini kingdom. 4 random scoring tiles from a selection of 16 are used each game meaning you have to re-evaluate the worth of the tiles every game. Its also in Scotland so there are some cows and whisky and castles and stuff.
8. Eight Minute Empire: Legends
You can play this game in eight minutes (if you don’t think and just do random stuff). Otherwise it takes about 20. An area control game with a modular board set up. You draw a card from a row, cheap on the left more expensive on the right, using a fixed set of cash. What you start with is all you get for the entire game. You then use those cards to manipulate the board state to try and control the different areas to get points. Designed, produced and drawn all by the same uber talented Ryan Lauket.
7. TransAmerica
Arlo won’t play Ticket to Ride, even if you bribe him with West Coast IPA’s, but he loves this game. A simple route building game, where you try to connect 5 secret cities with your track pieces, which eventually become other peoples’ track pieces when you join their network. Another teach in 3 minutes but play for life classic.
6. Stone Age
The classic worker placement game where the number of shaggy haired guys you put down equals the dice you roll which then translates into resources. You can gain tools to get improve rolls, send them to the ‘Love Hut’ to gain more people or to the fields to grow stuff so you don’t have to keep hunting bloody meat. Beautiful board by Michael Menzel and various strategies to try out. It even comes with the Stone age’ish’ dice cup.
5. For Sale
Steffan Dorra’s ‘triffic little auction game. Players buy properties numbered 1-30. First to drop out of the auction takes the worst property, paying half their bid. Keep going till one player is left who has to pay full price for the best card. Once all the cards have been bought (5-6 rounds), cheques are distributed ($0-15000). Players see the cheques available, one per player, and then play a property from their hand face down. Best property gets the best cheque, next highest gets the next best cheque and so on. Such a great game…plus every card has a little animal hidden away on it (except the 30).
4. Puerto Rico
See both Bill and Jack’s lists! You must be a little intrigued now if you haven’t played this game!
3. No Thanks!
Do you live in Victoria and have played or own this? Chances are you have met Arlo at some point in your life who has either sold or taught you this. Each player gets 11 chips, randomly remove 9 cards from a deck of cards ranging from 3-36, then flip the to card of the deck. If you don’t want the card put a chip on it, else take that card and all the chips on it. Least points wins (a 24 card is 24 points), chips left in your hand reduce your score by 1 per. The dilemma is that you don’t want cards, but if you keep laying chips you’ll run out and have to take a card. Great camping or end of the night game.
2. Agricola
Build a farm and feed your family. Do it better than everyone else and you win…huzzah (this is also on Jack’s list).
1. Race For the Galaxy
I rememeber a Bill Hick’s show when he talked about the American press scaremongering in the run up to the first Iraq War. They said Iraq has the 4th biggest army in the world, but he pointed out that there was a biiiiig drip off between the 3rd and 4th armies. This is kind of like that but between 1st and well…the rest. We could have put most of 2-10 in any order I’m sure, but this one sits in the sky like are star in some far off galaxy looking down on all other games. His total plays in person and against AI is well into the several thousands. Heck he even has 2 RFTG tattoos (how many do you have of your fave game?).
The game has a very tough learning curve (I remember my first play melting my mind), but once you get past the game’s symbology the sheer variety of strategies available (especially with expansions) is absolutely astounding for a fixed card pile. If you like heavy card games, this ranks as one of the best.
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Natasha, one of our younger staff, famous for her job interview at the cafe (Orders something at the till and asks ‘Why haven’t you given me a job yet?’, excellent point! So we gave her a job) has a more modern take on games. However, she is surrounded by grumbly old men who drivel on about the good old days and as such has been exposed to a few of the older titles which have managed to worm their way into her list
10. Lost Cities
Reiner Knizia’s 2 player belter has been around for over 15 years now. At it’s heart its a colour and numbers, play a card, pick up a card game (CaNPaCPuaCG for short). You lay cards by colour in front of youself, always playing higher than the previous card in that colour (range 1-10). Once the draw pile runs out add the total value in each colour. Anything over 20 scores positive (i.e. 25 gets you 5 points), under 20 is negative. You can choose to not player anything in a colour suit though for 0 points. High risk and reward in this game that can be a cruel mistress with bad card draws, but its played over 3 rounds to balance out the luck.
9. Codenames
The best party game ever? Natasha thinks it’s only the second best…!
8. Blood Rage
One of CMON’s first Kickstarters and arguebly their best game to date. It’s a mix of Sushi Go drafting, with area control and lots of special powers…oh and it’s CMON, so over the top minis (that’s not a bad thing FYI) Planning your RAGE points and timing of card play are vital to doing well. It looks like a big old dice chucking mash and bash type game from the box art, but at it’s heart its very much a meaty Euro.
7. Isle Of Skye
See above
6. Dungeons and Dragons
Technically an RPG, but deserved of a mention because a) it’s dope b) it’s totally cool again (not sure if it actually was ever cool, but it certainly is now). 5th edition is a lot easier to play than previous ones, don’t be shy, watch a couple of YouTube playthroughs and see what all the fuss is about.
5. Concept
This is the #1 party game ever! We describe it as charades on a board, but it’s about linking together conceptual images to make other concepts e.g. man + movie + green + fantasy = ? (Shrek/Hulk/Green Goblin). It really strains the right side of the brain and creates a lot of light bulb moments when it all suddenly comes together in your brain with a flash of inspiration.
4. Magic Maze
Co-operative, real-time game played in silence (except the banging of a large red pawn). 17 scenarios of inceasing difficulty add challenge to this SDJ nominee from last year. More info here.
3. Sagrada
Those translucent dice take this game to another level. They got everything right about the production and when you throw in a devilish little puzzle of a dice-drafting game you have a winner. More info here.
2. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulu
Pandemic is really, really great. The balance is so perfect (who hasn’t played a game that came down to the flip of a card). Add Cthulu to the mix and, well…you have close to Natasha’s perfect game. It is quite a bit different from the original (the core is the same) so if you have Pandemic you WILL feel like you are playig a different game. I also prefer this one to the original as well!
1. Mysterium
Another co-op, this time one player takes the role of a ghost trying to communicate with mystics about a murder that happened. They do so by handing them Dixit style art cards (they are very weird, the designers are Russian if that explains anything) which (hopefully) will aid the mystics figure out which of the weapon/location/suspects is the actual guily party. The mystics can talk but the ghost must stay silent and rage internally as they listen to the incompetant mystics totally miss their amazing links. It’s also my 12 yr old daughters #1 too.
