Top 100 Games: 90-81

Hey! You came back! I think you know the drill by now. I list my top 100 games and tell you about them. You read, scoff, and comment below about how there’s no way Candyland is a better game than Food Chain Magnate…or whatever.

If you’re curious about how I’ve ranked things, check out the first post of the series. And for good measure, look at Don’t Be Irate About How I Rate if you can’t figure out why a game I rated a 9.5 on BGG can rank higher on this list than a game I rated a 10.

Onward!

#90 Ragusa
BGG Rank: 1920
Plays: 1
My Rating: 6
BGG Rating: 6.176
User Avg Rating: 7

Alright.  Full disclosure time.  I’ve only played this game once, and it was a three-handed solo game.  AND I played it wrong.  So this entry is both an expression of how much I enjoyed the initial play and a mark of the potential the game has when played with actual opponents (and correctly).  

That said, I was initially drawn in by the little nesting wooden bits on the board that show ownership of various structures.  It’s just so cute and functional, and I couldn’t resist it.  I love the potential of triggering resource spaces you’ve previously placed bits on when others place bits near them.  I really think the game has a lot of potential, even after one flawed (my fault, not the game’s) play.

#89 Downforce
BGG Rank: 362
Plays: 8
My Rating: 7.5
BGG Rating: 7.062
User Avg Rating: 7.3

Downforce is a funny one in this list.  It sorta sits on a razor’s edge after every play.  I think it’s a lot of fun, and it’s so simple to teach and to play.  It’s colorful, quick, and uncomplicated no matter which track you’re playing on.  However, my Thursday night game night friends seem to have concluded that the person who goes first ends up winning every race.  

I’d like to believe that this isn’t the case for the majority of players and that we’re just bad at diversifying our interests instead of all betting on the first car that crosses the first betting line and leaning hard on that to win.  I haven’t seen this complaint elsewhere, which gives me hope that this game has the power to overcome what seems broken for our group and become a game we go to without an expected result breathing down our necks.  So it sits here on my list, and every play it seems to get closer to becoming a game that isn’t in my top 100 anymore.  I’m just not convinced that it’s a hopeless situation yet.  And even if it is, I’m not sure I’ll be able to part with it.  I just think it’s such a good game to welcome people to the table.

#88 Illusion
BGG Rank: 1383
Plays: 5
My Rating: 7.6
BGG Rating: 6.359
User Avg Rating: 6.8

On its surface, Illusion is a box of cards full of pretty revolting designs.  The premise is simple: draw a card and put it in a row where you think it goes, a la Timeline. Here, however, you’re trying to determine the percentage of each card that’s made up of a specific color.  Sounds incredibly simple.  So simple, in fact, that it’s hard to believe it’s a real game.  It’s also hard to believe that no one did it before this!

Din’t let the simplicity turn you off.  This game is GREAT!  You can play it with anyone who isn’t colorblind, which, in reality, is a pretty big flaw.  I’d imagine it’s relatively unplayable for folks who have trouble discerning between red, green, blue, and yellow.  But I don’t have firsthand experience with that, so maybe it’s not as bad as it seems.

That aside, lining up cards by percentage of a specific color and calling bullshit on each other makes for many laughs and some great upsets when you’re SO SURE there’s more yellow on that card with the flowers than the one with the random letters that you’d stake the game on it.  But that’s the illusion of it all, isn’t it?

#87 Sheriff of Nottingham
BGG Rank: 421
Plays: 4
My Rating: 7.2
BGG Rating: 6.986
User Avg Rating: 7.1

“Go ahead.  Open the bag.  Snap that li’l snap open and see what’s inside.  It’s just apples.  Three apples.  And you’re gonna owe me big if you look inside.  You’re behind, and this won’t help your standings.  Trust me.  Would I lie to you?”  

As it turns out, I would!  There was a crossbow and two barrels of mead in that bag, and now I have a buttload of money for smuggling contraband into Nottingham.  That, at its heart, is the joy of Sheriff of Nottingham.  Everyone gets to be the sheriff during the course of the game and choose whether to believe your lying liar friends or trust them, to your immediate chagrin.  God, it’s good.  Every interaction has the potential for laughter and groans.  You can play up being the sheriff, ask for payoffs, bargain, and make players sweat.  And as a regular citizen you’re just praying the sheriff opens that bag with four chickens in it, partially because you’re proud you managed to collect a set of four chickens, and partially because if they investigate you unfairly, you can get a huge windfall. 

Simple to teach.  Easy to get as into the roles as you’d like.  Remembering how fun this game is makes me want to move it up this list, if that’s saying anything.  And you don’t even have to lie to win!  You can win this game being completely honest the whole time, which is why this game works so well!

#86 Plums
BGG Rank: 2744
Plays: 3
My Rating: 8
BGG Rating: 5.975
User Avg Rating: 6.6

It took me an embarrassingly long time to get this game to the table (not as long as Castles of Mad King Ludwig which is still sitting unplayed years after I bought it), but I’m glad I did.  I think it sat so long because I couldn’t conceive of a way to explain this game where it didn’t sound convoluted and arbitrary.  And honestly, I wasn’t sure it wasn’t going to be convoluted and arbitrary.  But actually, it’s a fairly simple suitless trick taking game with a unique theme.  You’re trying to play cards with fruit and scoring opportunities on them in a way where you’ll win a hand and get to take one of the cards for your collection of scoring recipes.  Think poker hands, where pairs and trips and full houses make pies of varying point values.

Add to the mix some special powers like pi cards that add 3.14159 etc. to your played card, cards that let you employ the protection of a dog to keep people from stealing your hard earned fruits, and cards that let you steal, and there’s a lot here to like.  It might take a little bit to explain, which is why it’s not higher on this list, but once everyone at the table understands how it works, games are so smooth you’ll find yourself going in for another slice of that delicious pi.

#85 Burano
BGG Rank: 2740
Plays: 1
My Rating: 6.9
BGG Rating: 5.976
User Avg Rating: 6.8

You know what drew me to this one? Big fat wooden cubes. What can I say? I’m a slut for a nice wooden bit. Each round starts with players building a short pyramid with a handful of chunky colored cubes. That pyramid becomes the action selection mechanism for the round, with colored cubes letting you do certain actions in certain spots on the board.  It’s sort of a programming game, in that respect, although I wouldn’t blame you for arguing with me on that one.  While I’ve only ever given this a single play, it was a compelling collection of actions and structure building.  The game was tight, and each turn felt pretty crucial, given that you can only choose action cubes from your pyramid that are uncovered.  

I’d play this one again in a heartbeat, but the sorta boring theme and the somewhat rough teach keeps me from getting it out with just anyone.  It’s a shame, because FAT LI’L CUBES!  You can grab this one for a steal in some online sales.  I paid full price and endured some light harassment from my local game store when I asked them to order it for me (What, there’s nothing here you want to buy?”), so it’d be nice to have it hit the table more than the one time.

#84 Azul: Summer Pavilion
BGG Rank: 149
Plays: 3
My Rating: 8
BGG Rating: 7.398
User Avg Rating: 7.7

The third game in the Azul line is the first one to show up on this list.  Summer Pavilion has you drafting rhomboid tiles in a collection of gorgeous colors and arraying them around central hubs to score points and bonuses with the goal of building the best…eh…summer…pavilion…for…some European ruler or other.  Look, the theme isn’t really important. The gameplay is a good stretch in complexity from original Azul without being as much of a punishing puzzle as the fourth entry in the series, Queens Garden, or as unlike the Azul formula as Stained Glass of Sintra, which both don’t show up on this list.

The tiles are the same satisfyingly clacky bakelite that you get in the original.  The rules are easy enough that someone who understands original Azul could go to this without much trouble, I think, and it’s a little more complex and satisfying so that gamers at any level could be happy playing it repeatedly.  I think this was the perfect spot to end the Azul line, but if it’s still making money, they’ll most likely keep making them.  C’est la vie.

#83 Qwinto
BGG Rank: 1207
Plays: 12
My Rating: 8.3
BGG Rating: 6.449
User Avg Rating: 7

It may be hard to see why a pad of paper, some pencils, and three dice colored yellow, purple, and orange could be the most highly rated game on this list so far.  I can accept that.  But hunt down a copy of this roll and write game, give it a whirl, and tell me that it isn’t a fantastic little package with tons of replay value and a simplicity that makes you want to introduce it to everyone you know!  

Just roll one, two, or all three dice, record the result in one of the rows that matches one of the dice you rolled, and make sure the numbers all increase from left to right.  That’s it.  Score bonuses for filled columns and rows, and see who makes the best placements once the game ends.  You could basically play it yourself now without even looking at the rules.  It sounds simple.  Almost idiotically so.  But about halfway through the game you go, “Oh no. I fucked this up.”  And some day I’ll make a list of the best “Oh no. I fucked this up” games.  They’re some of my favorites.

#82 Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road
BGG Rank: 1402
Plays: 3
My Rating: 6.6
BGG Rating: 6.350
User Avg Rating: 7.1

Do you like deck builders?  Would you like to build three decks at once, choosing what deck you play a card from each turn?  How would you customize them to build an engine that would score you points in some kind of medieval trading merchant caravan thing?  Well, perhaps Kashgar can help you figure out the answers to that question and more!  

Maybe I went a little hard on the deck building thing, because really, this is three columns of cards that can get you resources, points, and more cards with when you play the top card of a column.  The card then cycles to the back of the column to await its turn again.  It’s a slow churn, and it feels much more deliberate and controllable than many deck builders.  

The theme is dry as the dirt paths they travel, and the artwork does nothing to help that.  But the mechanisms of this game, the tension of managing three caravans and being able to customize them to do different things is what keeps me coming back to this one.  If you can look past the theme, you might find some treasure worth exploring on the Silk Road.

#81 Ethnos
BGG Rank: 263
Plays: 1
My Rating: 6.8
BGG Rating: 7.191
User Avg Rating: 7.5

Argh!  Ethnos.  This game frustrates me so much.  The gameplay is great, but the theme and artwork don’t do anything for anyone I know.  No one picks the box off the shelf and wonders what’s inside.  No one is drawn in by the picture on the back of the box.  When I explain it, there’s not much more to say than it’s an area control game with a variety of cards featuring creatures that all do different things.  Like, I don’t know what to do to make this game appealing to people except force them to sit down and play it.

That’s basically what I did to get it played the one time it hit the table.  I just wish they’d print a new edition or make some expansions or something for this game.  I really enjoy the variable setup and the powers associated with each faction inside.  I actually don’t mind the artwork at all on the box, board, or cards.  I know they’re sort of different, and the markers don’t seem to fit the rest of the aesthetic, but nothing is bad on its own.  With more plays, this would be much higher on my list, I think.  Maybe I’ll force it on my Thursday night game night the next time no one can agree on what to play.

Alright.  That’s another set of 10 games done.  Anything here you think deserves to be higher?  Doesn’t deserve to be here?  Did I nail anything on the nose?  What have you played and liked out of this chunk of games?  Have you pinned down my gaming tastes yet? Do you know what lies at #1?

Let me know what you think, and stay tuned for the rest of the list, which is coming soon.  Thanks for your eyeballs, and I appreciate you sharing space with me.  

~Justin

More Top Games:
100-91 
80-71 
70-61 
60-51 
50-41 
40-31 
30-21 
20-11 
10-1