It’s a quiet time of year on the game front, so here are some top 10’s of our staff. Everyone loves a good top 10 and its a great way to discover some games you may have never heard of. We are going to start with the Cafe’s big guns. The two owners, Jack (older guy with the beanie hat) and Bill (English guy who always wears baseball caps).
Let’s start with Mr. Jack. He’s been a gaming stalwart in Victoria for 20+ years now, running Interactivity Games and Stuff on Fort street since the mid 90’s. His gaming peak was in the early to mid 2000’s, so a lot of these titles are classics of that time, which he played into the 100’s of times (because back then you only got 30 or 40 new titles a year, not the 1000’s we get now):
(Hover over the titles to go to boardgamegeek.com for more info about them)
Mac Gerdts (Concordia) title, with alternate game end conditions. 2 hrs, heavy Euro with the lots of llamas.
Kramer and Ulrich classic from 2000. Used the tetrahedral pieces before Patchwork made it cool. Brutal auctions and a system where you pays for points. The earlier in the game you do it, the better the return, but the less you have to spend…the dilemma.
8. Village
Inka and Marcus Brand’s (Exit series) worker placement game, where your workers slowly die off during the game.
7. Lancaster
Mattias Cramer’s 2011 game, where you send Knights off to win areas for points and (kind of) resources, some of which you use to push through laws to benefit you.
6. Serenissima
2006 game of delivering goods by boat around the Mediterranean, but keep them well guarded so pirates don’t pinch it all.
5. El Grande
Another Kramer, and over 30 years old. The ultimate area control game with a clever card mechanic that chooses turn order and your turns special power.
Martin Wallace’s streamlined pick up and deliver train game, with a MASSIVE board.
3. Agricola
Make a farm with Uwe, you all know this one.
2. Puerto Rico
Andreas Seyfarth’s classic role selection game from 2002. Apparently it took 15 years to perfect.
Risk meets the stock market in another Mac Gerdts game. You don’t own the countries, they are just there to be milked for profit baby.
Next up, is Bill, he got into modern gaming around 2005, so his tastes are a bit more recent. He’s the head of game acquisition at the cafe and as a result has played a lot of games. He also has 2 kids, so if they like the game it also gets a bump.
Co-op with a strong theme about rescuing people from a burning building.
9. El Grande
Crossover with Jack, it’s criminally underplayed nowadays…TRY IT EVERYONE!
8. Santorini
15 minute abstract with 30 seconds of rules, but the 30 odd asymmetric powers you start with make it endlessly replayable.
So many choices and ways to play this game and I’m so bad at it, but I still love it so!
6. Dominion
The Grandaddy of deckbuilders, playing it is like eating spaghetti bolognaise, just warm and comforting.
More crossover! It’s also one of those stand-up games, where you hope a more vertical perspective will help you figure things out more…
4. Egizia
Impossible to buy, but there are rumours of a reprint. It uses that jump down the road mechanic like in Tokaido, but way more cut throat.
Flicking space ships in space, crossed with an engine building game.
The auction in this game is so awesome. However, its one that gets better with more plays, so don’t give up on it too soon. Knizia is a God among us mortals.
Build a ship in real time, then watch as bad space stuff destroys it! Then design Codenames and make millions.
Just missed the cut: RA, Codenames, Puerto Rico, Imperial 2030, Liar’s Dice, Tzolken.
