December 15th. The Ides of December. Et tu, Santa?! Today’s group of games includes an ancient theme, a western theme, an outer space theme, and….an abstract.
Links to prior posts:
#44 – Ganz schon clever (Stronghold Games, designed by Wolfgang Warsch) [#24 in 2019]
We are now getting to the top of the Roll-and-Write list. Ganz schon clever ranks as my #2 in this category, so only one other game I currently rank as better. Two specific things this game does so well: a) each color in the game has its own scoring system. I like that a lot and it creates a great puzzle of how to manage each one to make sure you keep them all doing well to increase your total score. And when you earn a fox, it is worth your worst color score…so balance is such a key; b) Combos! Mid-to-late game gets really fun when you can start triggering some combo abilities. This purple slot triggers a green, which triggers a blue. Those moments are always very satisfying.
#43 – 7 Wonders (Repos Productions, designed by Antoine Bauza) [#9 in 2019; #12 in 2018]
You can see that 7 Wonders has taken a bit of a slide this year from 9 and 12 the past two years. I still think 7 Wonders is an outstanding game, but I do think this is one title that took a hit from my BoardGameArena experience. I’ve really enjoyed getting to play some games on that site this year, but some game experiences don’t translate as well and I think 7 Wonders is an example [note: I think 7 Wonders Duel is a solid experience in comparison].
My brother-in-law has the Leaders expansion and I really like including that with session of this game as it opens up the strategy options a bit wider. This is still a top-notch option in the card-drafting genre and its flexibility in player counts is a nice benefit.
#42 – Terraforming Mars (Stronghold Games, designed by Jacob Fryxelius) [#26 in 2019]
There are tons of great things that have been said about Terraforming Mars from plenty of board game content creators. My experience with the game has been very good and I specifically enjoy the chance to build my own system / engine that can look and work very different from my opponents, even though we are playing from the same communal deck of cards.
#41 – Western Legends (Kolossal Games, designed by Herve Lemaitre) [new to the list]
Western Legends, a new play for me in 2020, starts out strong at the #41 position. I enjoy the sandbox play of Western Legends…each game, I get to show up with my provided character…put on my imaginary cowboy hat and get into my role…and decide what kind of Legend do I want to try and be this time. What activities do I want to focus on? One game I lived (and died) at the poker table — where the cards were not my friend.
Another time, I decided to be a cattle rustler and burn up the trail between the two ranches, trying to stay out of town and away from the sheriff. There are plenty of other options, though. But in the end, I love that its about the story you create and tell as you play.
That’s numbers 44 through 41. Let me know what your thoughts and/or feedback are for these titles. Furthermore, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @boardgamecrock1 and Retweet the Top 100 posts to earn entries into the Fantastic Factories giveaway.
See you tomorrow for the next 4.
Board Game CrockPot 