The Things I Like Are Still Objectively Good
By Marc Q
A few weeks ago, I wrote Part 1 of my Top 10 Games Ever. Back then I commented on the fact that lists are weird things to do, and it’s hard to be objective about something so intrinsically linked to tastes and preferences.
That stated, I do love the games on my list. And I think It’s worth knowing the kinds of games I gravitate towards because that will give you all a better idea about the kinds of games I might recommend. It will also explain why I might try to steer you away from games like Dark Souls or Ark Nova, even though my co-worker Ian might happily talk about those same games. And I’m not saying he’s wrong, (Ian: Yeah, you do.??) but I am saying that some of the games he likes represent our differences in taste. Knowing which games I like might help you decide which advice is better for your particular tastes!
With that out of the way, here are my Top 5 games!
5: Scythe
I usually recommend to customers that are starting out their board game collections to find a few genres they love and try to find the “best” example of that style of game. You want a really great adventure game? Try Descent or Lands of Galzyr. You want a fantastic economic game? Then Brass Birmingham or Ra are some of the best. Worker placement? Feast for Odin or maybe Viticulture… and so on. But what do you do once you’ve gotten a great example of those, and you want something different? Then it’s time for Scythe. It’s not a great example of any one style of game, but instead is a fascinating amalgamation of about six different genres in one box. To put it another way, it’s not a great adventure game, or a great war game, or a great economic game, or a great worker placement game, or a great area control game, but it is a great adventure-filled war-wrought economy driven worker-placement area control game. Vertical learning curve, and teaching it is a chore and a half, but once you’re past that hurdle? Gosh it’s good.
As mentioned above, I think Descent might be the best game in the genre of “Adventure Game.” It’s basically a roleplaying game with fantastic app integration, streamlined rules, and a tonne of character and story development. All of this is packaged along with some of the finest miniatures ever put into a board game. When I first bought the game, the price point was shocking, but since then it has dropped quite a bit, which means you can actually get a copy of the game for yourself for less than I paid for it! My partner and I have sunk countless hours into the campaign, and are both looking forward to doing the whole thing over again with a couple of our friends who also love big fantasy-themed cooperative games! Descent is simply one of the best games available if you like dungeon-delvers, and I can’t say enough good things about it… and I hope that by the time this post goes live I’ve had a chance to dive into the expansion!
Right on the heels of one of the deepest, most strategic, and nuanced games ever made, we go straight to one of the silliest, chaotic, and incessantly fun games I think has ever graced our shelves. Galaxy Trucker, by superstar designer Vlaada Chvatil, is a game broken into two parts. The real-time first half has you frantically assembling a starship out of scrap components to create lasers, shields, engines, storage, and crew compartments. Then comes the turn-based second half where you fly your scrapheap through a gauntlet of hilarious, ridiculous events that tests your ship’s ability to hold together just long enough to limp across the finish line… and then you can do it two more times with bigger ships and more ridiculous events! I will note that you have to have a particular sense of humour to love this game as much as I do, as Galaxy Trucker doesn’t care about things like “perfect play” or “high strategy.” It’s silly, it’s chaotic, and it’s great.
Okay, confession time. I’m not 100% sure that this game will still be on the list in a year. The rest of the games, almost no question that their position on the list is cemented, but this one? Here’s the thing… Dune: War for Arrakis is a new version of an older game that I absolutely adore called War for the Ring, which is one of the finest two-player fencing matches I have ever played. It’s fantastic, it’s deeply strategic, it’s mind-melting… and I think War for Arrakis might be better. It’s certainly faster. And it has a huge variety of different starting positions (unlike War of the Ring, which has only 2 starting states), and a frankly shocking variety of expansions which add new depth to the game. I’m enjoying the heck out of it… but does it have the legs to keep itself on the list long-term, or will it disappear as I decide I miss War for the Ring more? I don’t know! But either this version, or the original will maintain this position on my list. As for now, War for Arrakis is nudging its older sibling off the slide.
1: …
Oh would you look at that I’m out of space for this post. Oh well! I guess we’ll have to wait for the thrilling conclusion to talk about my favourite game of all time… one that I think might legitimately be the greatest, most ambitious, funnest games ever made…
See you all again for Part 3!