Top 50 Games: 40-31
Welcome to the second installment in my top 50 Games of All Time. In this post we are looking at games 40-31. If you have not seen the first set from this list it can be found here, Top 50 Games: 50-41. I hope you enjoy the list and comment below if you have played any of them before.
40. Skulk Hollow
Designer: Eduardo Baraf, Seth Johnson, Keith Matejka
Publisher: Pencil First Games
Player Count: 2
Skulk Hollow is a 2-player only game where one player controls a giant guardian and the other controls the villagers of the near by town. This is an asymmetrical game where each player wins differently. The player controlling the guardian wins by killing the villager player's leader. The villager player wins by taking down the monster. I love the way the combat works in this game. There is a secondary board which shows the guardian that is being played that game. The villager player must jump to different points on that board to attack certain locations of the guardian. This will disable some of the abilities the guardian can trigger for the rest of the game. The guardian player is trying to kill and thrown the villagers off his body to get to the leader and win the game. Such a unique game that brings a breath of fresh are to two player combat games.
39. Teotihuacan: City of Gods
Designer: Daniele Tascini
Publisher: NSKN Games
Player Count: 1-4
In Teotihuacan players use their dice as workers to move around the board locations to perform different actions. The value of the dice at each locations determines the outcome of the action you can take. This game seems more complex and heavier than it actually is once you start player a few rounds. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot going on in this game and that can be overwhelming. I really like that there are multiple paths to victory, but you do need to spread yourself out in order to do well. I don't think either Kristina or I are very good at the game, but that doesn't matter when it is just the two of us playing. This one could easily move up the list as I get to play it with more people.
38. Clank!
Designer: Paul Dennen
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Player Count: 2-4
Deck building is a favorite mechanic of mine, but I like it much better when it used in combination with other mechanics. Clank! does this fantastically. In Clank! players will build their own deck throughout the game to traverse through the dungeon and pick up valuable artifacts and get out before the dragon awakens. There is so much to love about Clank! other than the deck building. There is a race to get in and get out quickly, but do so too quickly and you risk leaving more time for your opponents to delve deeper and get better loot. However, travel too deep and risk getting stuck in the dungeon without even and opportunity to win. Even the way the game handles damage causes tension. A player has the chance to develop clank in the game which essentially translates to creating noise. This is tracked using cubes which get tossed in a bag. Each time the dragon attacks cubes are pulled from the bag and damage is dealt. The more clank you generate the more likely you are to take damage. Take enough damage and you will die in the depths.
37. Hanamikoji
Designer: Kota Nakayama
Publisher: EmperorS4
Player Count: 2
Hanamikoji is a 2-player card game where players are competing to earn the favor of seven Geishas. This game has some of the toughest decisions in any game I have played. Each player has 4 actions they must choose one each turn and will use all 4 each round. The players are placing cards on either side of the Geishas, but most of the time you are not the one choosing which card that is played on your side. Some of those decisions with be made by your opponent. The player with the most cards on each Geisha will win their favor. Once a player has either 4 Geishas or a total of 11 points the game is over and they will win. I love games with though decisions and Hanamikoji has that and more.
36. Whitehall Mystery
Designer: Gabriele Mari, Gianluca Santopietro
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Player Count: 2-4
This was the first 1 vs all game that I played and it is so well done. I think it is one of the easiest games of this type to teach, which makes it very easy to get to the table. Even with new players the game makes it very easy to learn as long as the experienced player is playing the Jack the Ripper type character. Hidden movement in games has been one of my favorites and it is especially unique for people who do not play many board games. This is one that I will continue to bring to the table when the opportunity presents itself.
35. Crokinole
Designer: Uncredited
Publisher: Various
Player Count: 2-4
Crokinole is an interesting game. It is a dexterity game using small wooden discs. It is mainly played with 2 players or 2 teams of 2. The goal is to get the disc into the small hole in the center of the round board or to knock your opponents discs off the board to prevent them from scoring. The game has a very large competitive scene and tournaments are held all across the world. Crokinole is not your traditional board game, but it deserves to be discussed with them along with other games in the same genre.
34. Downforce
Designer: Asger Harding Granerud
Publisher: Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, Wolfgang Kramer
Player Count: 2-6
Downforce is a racing and bidding game that uses cards to move the cars around the track. Each player will own a car in the race, but they do not necessarily win if their car wins the race. The game is won by strategically betting on the cars throughout the race to have the most money have the end of the game. I really like that Downforce presents this dilemma to the players of whether to bet on their own car and try to use their cards to win or do they bet strategically on another car and make sure to use the cards they have to prevent the other cars from winning. The game has more content releasing consistently that includes more tracks and car powers. One of the best bidding games in our collection.
33. Bärenpark
Designer: Phil Walker-Harding
Publisher: Lookout Games
Player Count: 2-4
Polyomino is a word that doesn't get used much outside of board games and math. In Barenpark the players are selecting polyomino tiles to place them in their bear park. These tiles represent the different bear enclosures in your park. These bear enclosures will score points and provide progress towards the scoring goals during the game. I like the puzzle that this game offers. It brings me back to play Tetris when I was younger and I love the feeling I get when you finally get that perfect piece that fits exactly where you need it.
32. The Shipwreck Arcana
Designer: Kevin Bishop
Publisher: Meromorph Games
Player Count: 2-5
This is a quirky little game that doesn't get talked about much. The art style really great and for a small card game it packs a lot into it. This is a cooperative game using numbered tiles, card powers, and bag pulling. Each player will pull two tiles from their bag and they will place one of those tiles on a card that gives some hint to what the other tile they have in their hand is. The other players must not guess what number they are holding. This is one that is hard to explain until you play it. I really like this game and think it will move up my list, especially if I get to play it with more than 2 players soon.
31. Fallout Shelter: The Board Game
Designer: Andrew Fischer
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Player Count: 2-4
Fallout Shelter is based on an app that I have not played. The board game is very, very good, however. It is a small worker placement game where players are trying to build their underground shelter, growing their worker base, gaining resources, and fighting off threats. This game uses something I have not seen before in worker placement games. It allows you to assign a value to a worker that, when used at a specific spot, provides a bonus to that action. This adds another level to the game that I really enjoy. The components in this one are also very well done. This might be my new entry level worker placement game.
