Almost two years ago, for episode 100, we featured our top 100 games. For episode 150, we decided to revisit the list and updated it to reflect the great games that have been released since and some of the games that don’t get as much play as they once did. Here it is – our top 100 for 2018:
100. Dominant Species
Unapologetic in its stark look and aggressive gameplay, Dominant Species challenges even the most hardcore eurogamers into managing the evolution of your species under the harshest of conditions. Pure gaming goodness.
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99. Navegador
Mac Gerdts’ game of exploration and commerce in the Renaissance is not just a beautiful game, but a clever take on the economics of the prototypical trading genre.
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98. Railroad Revolution
Great gaming comes down to the number of interesting decisions you can make and number of ways creative ways you can win. Railroad Revolution takes the most overused theme in gaming and brings to the table one of the most dynamic decision making paths I ever seen in a traditional train game.
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97. Orleans
Bag building is a fun and engaging mechanic that is still coming into its own, all thanks to Orleans. Providing just enough variability to force tactical adjustments every round, Orleans allows players to make a plan and build around it, with dozens of possible paths to win.
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96. Memoir ’44
It’s difficult to know exactly what to gush over more about this wondrous ‘starter’ war game. I could easily go on and on about the brilliant historical theming and scenarios or I could recount all the fun and that came from the simple but smart commands & colors card system. Either way, if you have any level of interest in WW2, Memoir ’44 is for you.
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95. Lords of Waterdeep
Lords of Waterdeep remains our worker placement gateway game of choice, with the expansion becoming a solid representation of the genre. A perfect midpoint of theme and mechanical simplicity, this is one to keep in your game night bag.
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94. Mare Nostrum: Empires
Academy Games knocked this reprint out of the park. Mare Nostrum: Empires is everything you could ever want in a massive mythical historical war game that allows for 4 different paths of victory with an innovative trading mechanic and numerous powers to make your civilization truly unique. Full player count needed to truly experience the depth of this game.
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93. Vikings
This accessible tableau builder uses a roundel as a drafting mechanic as players purchase island tiles and Vikings that trigger a range of different abilities – from money generation to fighting off invaders and scoring points.
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92. Last Will/The Prodigals Club
Last Will/The Prodigals Club turns the great victory point machine building mechanic on its head with players racing to be an penniless outcast by having the most fabulous time selling off their wonderful life. Great production coupled with an innovative way of incorporating both games together makes these games one of a kind.
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91. Council of 4
One of the more recent releases from Simone Luciani and Daniele Tascini, Council of 4 combines the simplicity of a game like Ticket to Ride with an ever evolving game board and requirements that can be changed and manipulated at will.
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90. Cyclades
The gods require you to pay homage in order to use one of their five powers to build up your civilization, employ mythical monsters, and wage wars against neighboring Greek island nations. Matagot’s beautiful production and the brilliant expansions makes these game Cyclades an evergreen at the table.
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89. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
What more can a Star Wars fan ask for? At this point, with dozens of expansions, you can enjoy dozens of battles across a range of locations, either in a larger group or in a one-on-one skirmish. With the new app integration, it’s even better.
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88. Citadels
Citadels is a brilliant hidden role game that plays well with all player counts and actually allows for strategic gameplay that will bring social gamers and eurogamers together at the table.
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87. Tzolk’in
Better known as “that game with the wheels”, Tzolk’in is more than just a clever mechanism. The worker placement requires careful planning of where and when to take actions, and how other players will place their own workers and prepare actions. With the expansion in particular, it is a sublime experience.
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86. Cuba
Cuba is all about making the long term strategic choices from your choice of titles, proper placement of them, roles, and finally voting that alters gameplay and scoring. An out of print gem that deserves to be in everyone’s collection.
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85. Russian Railroads
Helmet Ohley’s Russian Railroads is a glorious stew of point-generating madness. With scores regularly in the 300s and 400s, you’ll snowball your rail lines (whether the original Russian, German, or American), into bonuses, upgraded tracks, and much more. It’s worker placement at its most distilled and its so much fun to play.
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84. Hardback
I would have never considered myself a fan of word games till Tim Fowers came along and make word building fun. Hardback, his latest and greatest word games really brings home genre theme and tactical gameplay to a whole new level with his implementation of the Star Realms mechanic.
83. Civilization: The Board Game
Sid Meier’s Civilization was and still is one of my favorite PC games. I’ve lost hundreds of hours to it over the years, and the board game does a fantastic job of replicating much of what makes it such an engaging experience. From uncovering the map to building out your technologies and warring against your neighbors, this feels exactly like what you’d want from a game with the Civilization branding on it.
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82. The Oracle of Delphi
The Oracle of Delphi is Stefan Feld fun fantasy race game in which your are traveling about the mystical greek isles completing tasks and manipulating dice and the power of gods to get the most of your opponent.
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81. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
Energy Empire doesn’t feel much like Manhattan Project, but the familiar meeples and aesthetic still somehow work. Using dice for energy generation with a push your luck factor mixed in impacting your pollution levels, combined with a tight engine building mechanism makes for a sleek, engaging euro with lots of interesting ideas.
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80. Caylus
Caylus is the gripping classic eurogame in which you build up your path to victory by constructing buildings that you and your opponents will travel upon. Get ahead of the pack and your opponents will certainly send some trouble your way to shut you down. Build wisely and wait for your moment and victory is yours.
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79. London (second edition)
Martin Wallace’s games are often full of abstracted maps, negative points, and loans. The second edition of London has all of these things (minus the map), but it streamlines it all to create a gripping card-driven tableau builder.
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78. Aquasphere
Aquasphere is Stefan Feld brilliant and brightly colored programming eurogame that has everyone counting time and octopuses.
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77. King of Tokyo
Richard Garfield’s King of Tokyo is such a simple, but brilliant idea, turning the dice collecting concepts of Yahtzee and creating an epic family game of battling monsters, fighting it out for the right to destroy Tokyo. With tons of extra monsters, gameplay easy enough for a four year old to pick up and expansions adding new mechanics, it’s a blast to play.
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76. Amun-Re
My favorite Reiner Knizia game for so many reasons, but in particular for the fact that you are never left feeling safe and settle with your accomplishments as you have to uproot from your success in order to rebid for the future. A truly exciting game in which victory is always one bid away.
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75. Diamonds
Diamonds captures the essence of trick taking and repackages it in an accessible and always fun system, without the wasted turns or poor draws the make up most trick taking games. Every action is a good one, and the inclusion of the clever diamond and vault system makes it a blast to play, win or lose.
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74. Lorenzo il Magnifico
There really is nothing more fun in a eurogame than building up a tableau to churn out victory points, unless of course you add in manipulating dice a bit of luck to get the right card that turns your system into pure victory point gold. Lorenzo il Magnifico from CMON offers you numerous ways to victory, while making each step a whole lot of fun.
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73. Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! (second edition)
I’m not a war gamer (just look at this list), but Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear manages to capture the essence of war games and package them in such a way that the combat and mechanisms are accessible to even the most euro-centric gamers out there. Quick to learn but full of depth in systems, and massively expandable, the Conflict of Heroes system is a breath of fresh air for anyone interested in world war two gaming without the epic scope of the big ones.
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72. San Juan
San Juan is the classic multi use card game that allows you the brilliance of Puerto Rico in a simple deck of cards. A solid game for both new gamers and hardcore gamers alike.
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71. Arkwright
Stefan Risthaus’s expansive game about running factors in 18th century England is a beast of a game. It’s long (so long that the “short” version of the game is still almost 4 hours), it’s complex, and the scoring is incredibly tight as you rush to buy as much of your own stock as possible. It’s a symphony of interacting elements, though, building up to one of my favorite heavy-heavy euro out there.
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70. Dynasties: Heirate & Herrsche
Controlling Renaissance Europe will not only take long term strategic planning, but truly knowing your opponents intentions as you will be utilizing the ‘I split, you choose’ mechanic to marry your way to victory in this brilliant area control game.
69. Princes of Florence
Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich’s Princes of Florence pulls together a diverse set of engaging mechanics, from tile laying and set collection to hand management and bidding into a sleek, exciting package that almost always plays differently. Under the radar for years, this is well worth tracking down.
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68. Goa
Goa is the rare auction game in which what you choose to put up for auction is almost more important path to victory that what you actually win. This classic resource management has interesting decisions both in the short term and in your long term planning for victory.
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67. Hostage Negotiator
I’ve become something of a solo-gaming expert in recent years, but before I started breaking out euros on Sundays for myself, I was enamored with the risk-mitigation mechanics of Hostage Negotiator. Infinitely expandable, and at times brutally difficult, Hostage Negotiator remains one of my favorite solo dice games to date.
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66. Star Wars Rebellion
Star Wars Rebellion is simply the original trilogy in a box. Wonderful miniatures and a hidden move/location mechanic make you feel the desperation of the Rebel and the dominance of the Empire in each harrowing choice. Pick up the expansion for an upgrade to your battle system.
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65. Caverna: Cave vs Cave
Caverna is one of our favorite games, but it’s a beast – three or more hours and not nearly as good with only two players. That’s where Cave vs. Cave comes in, repackaging the quaint process of building a home for your family in the dwarf cave’s of Rosenberg’s fantasy world, into a quick, smart worker placement game for two.
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64. Kemet
Examining the endless number of options for war is a strategic pleasure as you try to guide your Egyptian tribe to victory. While there are many massive monsters that will lend you their power, the power of turtling is one that you will not be able to employ. The map is too small and to win you must battle your allies. Add in Cyclades monsters and Kemet’s own expansion for even more fun and diversity.
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63. Patchwork
For his mastery of the 3-hour worker placement euro, Uwe Rosenberg is equally adept at crafting short, two-player experiences, and Patchwork is the best of them. Polyomino bliss for puzzle-fans, Patchwork is a master-class in tight, accessible gameplay in a short package.
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62. Rococo
Rococo brings the opulence of that age to your table with an innovative deck building mechanic and area control by the placement of dresses and suit coats. This Eagle-Gryphon Game is often overlooked, but once played you’ll want to get this game to the table all the time.
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61. Spyrium
William Attia’s followup to Caylus is an oft-forgotten gem. The game’s integration of unique worker driven auction-style purchasing with tableau building and engine building leads to a tempo-driven experience that works spectacularly. My one wish is that this game had at least one expansion to add some variability to the end-game.
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60. Glory to Rome
With multi use cards and multiple paths to victory, Glory to Rome is the out of print classic that most deserves a reprint. I am still seeking a copy of the rare black box edition.
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59. Nations
Like its cousin, Through the Ages, Nations presents a streamlined, card-based civilization-building experience with enough depth and variety to rival some of the best out there. With hundreds of cards, a multi-age process, and limited space on your personal player board to build and manage your nation, it’s a long but rewarding entry in the genre.
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58. Dixit: Journey
Xavier Collette’s art work brings Dixit to a whole new level in Dixit: Journey. Finding that fine line between communication and outright announcing your card, makes this party game innovative enough even for gamers.
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57. Mage Knight
Mage Knight is one of those rare games that has several problems but manages to rise to the level of masterpiece despite them. Best with only 1 or 2 players and notoriously difficult to learn, Vlaada Chvatl’s mechanic-heavy adventure game is one of the finest puzzle’s I’ve ever experienced and a must for all solo gamers.
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56. Carson City
Carson City is the great old west shoot em-up eurogamer where no placement is ever final as long as your opponent is packing a few meeples. Excellent role selection adds to the variability and different game experience in each game. Tile placement is complex, but will make perfect sense after your first round.
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55. Le Havre
Le Havre is sometimes called Agricola with boats, but it’s more than that. This heavy harbor simulation tasks players with carefully managing resources, building key locations, and utilizing their actions as economically as possibly. Quite possibly the best euro for a 3-player count, Le Havre is one of Rosenberg’s best.
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54. Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is not just one of the great classic eurogames, but one of the best. Brilliantly simple but complex set collection and engine building makes this out of print game a must play for any gamer.
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53. Leaving Earth
Leaving Earth is more than just another space game – it is an intricate space race simulation, emulating the incredibly complex, high-stakes push by the US and USSR in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s to put satellites in orbit, reach the moon and more. Hard enough to feel impossible at times, this beautiful, self-published gem is a must for any fans of NASA and hard science in board games.
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52. Food Chain Magnate
When it comes to heavy board games Splotter is one of the best companies when it comes to gaming and Food Chain Magnate is one of the best games they ever made. Brilliant hand management coupled with area control makes this a fierce competitive game that is one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences one could ever have at the table.
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51. Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is fiddly, convoluted gameplay at its best. Ignacy Trzewiczek’s epic adventure and exploration co-op can be brutally difficult, but is always rewarding, and with new content constantly being released, this is one of the great co-op experiences.
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50. Shipyard
Typically when you see a pile of chits on a game table that means you’re going to be in for a long and boring night, but with Shipyard you’re going to find the most joyous use of chits possible. Utilizing multiple roundales and especially my favorite paring down of your own victory point condition lends itself to a eurogamer’s dream game come true.
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49. Fields of Arle
The sandbox of sandboxes, Fields of Arle has dozens of placement spots with a season-based system for 1 or 2 players. Even with limited variability, there are so many options here, every game will feel unique.
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48. Mombasa
There is an overwhelming joy to Mombasa when you realize that not only have you properly picked up, played, but then later retrieved your needed cards at the right time this unique rotating-display hand-mechanism is amazing. The game has multiple tracks to move up, areas to control, and worker placement spots to choose and yet, the game does it so elegantly that you never feel overwhelmed.
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47. A Feast for Odin
Uwe Rosenberg goes full Rosenberg with his biggest, most component-packed game yet. A Feast for Odin integrates the polyomino placement of his recent small games and sandbox worker placement of Fields of Arle and Caverna into a streamlined puzzle-focused experience that I cannot resist.
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46. Dominare
While the AEG’s Tempest universe is best known for Love Letter, Dominare is a worthy successor is many ways. Employing numerous character cards that activate on different turns allows for cutthroat area control that is more fun then it has any right to be. This is not a game to miss out on.
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45. Mechs vs. Minions
Cooperative programming? It shouldn’t work, but somehow Riot Games created their very first board game and managed to make it better than most other programming games on the market, and a spectacularly pretty production that few can compete with.
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44. Bruges
Bruges is Feld’s love letter to multi-use cards and the proper migration of an unlucky dice role. It isn’t easy dealing with all the tragedy that can befall you in Bruges, but utilizing the cards that are houses, character cards and a host of other options makes this a game that will return again and again to the table. The expansion completes this great game.
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43. Anachrony
Mindclash’s weird and wild take on worker placement has a strong narrative throughout and an aesthetic that is fully integrated into every component in the box. It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s a prime example of what Kickstarter can allow game designers to accomplish.
42. Kingsburg
Roll your dice, control the characters, and build your defenses against the coming darkness. This game is straight forward enough to get gateway gamers to the table, but complex enough with the expansion to bring heavy gamers to the table.
41. Arkham Horror: Card Game
Where Lord of the Rings LCG reinvented how to build a narrative experience in a card game, Arkham Horror: The Card Game has worked tirelessly to perfect it. This is a game full of new ideas, a clear narrative, and natural single-player support, making it a perennial at my table.[nextpage title=”40-31″]
40. Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game
Utilizing the brilliant flight path system and the high quality miniatures from Fantasy Flight, the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game is the quick playing miniature games that works well for all level of gamers.
39. Imperial Settlers
Ignacy Trzewiczek has a knack for intricate card-based systems with character and heart – Imperial Settlers is the pinnacle of that aesthetic. With 6 unique civilizations and decks and hundreds of cards to build with, this game can be at times cut throat, at times AP-inducing, but always a master class in tableau building and hand management.
38. Bora Bora
Feld is calling upon the gods of Bora Bora to help the tribes set up villages and gain the necessary resources for victory. Ideally you want to complete an end round condition to score the maximum victory points by the end of the game, thankfully you’ll have several offered to you. Amazing dice manipulating and beautiful design makes this game a modern classic.
37. Spirit Island
You’ll notice this list doesn’t have a huge number of cooperative games. The type of challenge they pose, while socially invigorating, isn’t my favorite type of gameplay. With Spirit Island that all goes out the window. The game tasks players with managing vastly different spirits to protect their land and their people from foreign invaders – inverting the classic tropes of most euro games in the process. It works on so many levels and it one of my favorite co ops of all time.
36. Viticulture Essential Edition
Viticulture and its many modules provides the most diverse options of any game. The beautiful presentation along with its crunchy game play makes this a game a joy to couple with any type of game night.
35. Legends of Andor
Michael Menzel is known as one of the best artists in the hobby, but his first and so far, only, game design remains one of the best adventure games I’ve played. Designed to get players immediately into the action with almost no rulebook and a streamlined startup process, Legends of Andor is puzzly-story-driven adventure at its finest.
34. Century: Spice Road/Golem
Century, and my favorite version The Golem Edition, does something that I haven’t seen in a more then an decade, be the next great universal gateway game. Manage a hand of cards in order to collect the needed resources for to fulfill contracts. Simple and elegant with a graphic design that will wow anyone at the table.
33. Twilight Imperium 4
Twilight Imperium 4 is more than a bucket list game – it is THE game. The big one that every gamer should play at least once in their life – perfectly integrating 4X chaos on a sprawling map and with 17 unique races. The game has politics, backstabbing and dice rolling right along side complicated manipulation of game mechanics and puzzle solving. Few games pull it all in and make it work – TI4 does it with aplomb.
32. Arcadia Quest
Arcadia Quest would seem to be on the surface just a little cute miniatures game, but the team building and tactical game play against the NPCs and other players over multiple games makes this one of the most dynamic games that you’ll ever own. Be aware of need to own all the characters and expansions!
31. The Gallerist
Vital Lacerda is a master of the thematic heavy euro, and The Gallerist is one of his best. Tasking players with cultivating artists, collecting art work, gathering visitors, and managing a gallery, this game looks beautiful and has some of the most intuitive gameplay elements in any of his games.[nextpage title=”30-21″]
30. Agricola
There has never been a game that better represents the wonder of thematic gameplay like Agricola. This classic worker placement game is a must play for every gamer. Employ your choice of cards, feed your family, and expand your family. Don’t forget to do a little of everything, because this game is over before you know it.
29. The Duke
These days there’s a new take on chess released every couple of months. One of the first modern hobby games I was introduced to, however, that attempted this was The Duke. With dozens of different variant options and a push-pull mechanic that works as well in 5 minute games as it does in 30 minute games, The Duke remains one of my favorites.
28. Small World
My favorite mechanic in gaming when I first started was area control. When I came across Small World, I knew I hit the mother load with this fantastic area control game that allows for multiple player power combinations throughout the game. Add in the numerous boards for proper player count and a fantastic production and you’ll never have a problem getting gamers to the table.
27. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Pandemic was by no means a perfect game, but at its core it had a brilliant, once in a decade design that has informed dozens of games since. Rob Daviau’s legacy formula does wonders to take gameplay that was starting to grow stale and turn it into a brilliant narrative experience over the course of 12 months. This remains one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time.
26. Love Letter Premium
Love Letter is simply the best filler game hands down. Add an outstanding production in its box, cards, sleeves, hearts, and a game that plays up to 8 and you’ll never want another filler in your collection.
25. Macao
One of his older games and out of print for years, Macao integrates a dice-driven approach to trading in the Mediterranean with programmed action planning and area control. There are so many mechanics jammed into this game that it doesn’t feel like it should work, but somehow it all comes together in a perfect package.
24. Amerigo
While the cube tower has been employed in many games, I love how it allows for the strength or weakness of an action, not to mention the surprise of a choice that you didn’t think you would get later in the game. With a large and epic production from Queen Games, I hold this Field name as one of my top favorites.
23. First Class
First Class takes the addictive nature of snowballing train route building in Russian Railroads and streamlines it into a quick, 60-90 minute card-based game with variable gameplay that works at all player counts and for most player experience levels.
22. Gloomhaven
I never thought I’d see a dungeon crawl so high on my lists. And yet Gloomhaven manages to do just that. One of my top games of 2017 and now one of our top games of all time, Gloomhaven creates an engaging, 200+ hour experience across multiple locations, dozens of enemies, and several new characters, all while integrating a strong puzzle and euro feel in the classic dungeon crawl formula.
21. Lisboa
Vital Lacerda has brought us one of the greatest and heavy eurogames to hit an open table. The elegant design allows the play of one card each round to open up a wide variety of interesting actions as you build Lisboa up from the rubble that lines it’s street. The decree cards add another variability as you choose what path of victory will be the most prosperous for you.[nextpage title=”20-11″]
20. Gaia Project/Terra Mystica
Terra Mystica was already one of my favorite games of all time, and then they made it better. Gaia Project takes all of the small issues I had with Terra Mystica (static board, imperfect balance among races, and a boring cult track), and rethemes it in deep space. Whether you prefer the fantasy-themed races of the original or the plastic miniatures and modular approach of it space cousin, the Terra Mystica formula is as good as ever.
19. 878: Vikings Invasions of England
Academy games always brings out the best in war games, especially for a broad gaming audience without ever sacrificing the history of the times or a moment of strategic game play. 878: Vikings Invasions of England, bring that same urgency to each and every round. The expansion adds in multiple modules to keep the game fresh and dynamic.
18. Empires: Age of Discovery
One of the original worker placement games in the modern age of hobby games, Age of Empires III was a cult classic that few could find until Eagle Gryphon brought it back as Empires: Age of Discovery. The new version is massive with hundreds of miniatures, a sprawling board, expansion options aplenty, and the same colonization-focused gameplay that combines worker placement, action programming, tableau building and area control into an exciting, streamlined experience.
17. Concordia
Trading in the Mediterranean has become a trope in tabletop gaming, but here Mac Gertz has brought the genre to a whole new level. Picking up and playing cards from your hand that later will be your multiplier for victory points ins an ingenious idea and perfect in its execution. Concordia has become the default game in my game groups and to that end, there is no higher compliment.
16. Runewars
When you think of 4X games, it’s usually either a civilization-style epic across the Mediterranean and New World, or its set in deep space. Runewars takes the obvious next step and thrusts us into the enthralling world of Terrinoth to battle it out for control of runes across the map. With four distinctly unique races, hero integration, and a huge number of miniatures, always doing something interesting on the map, Runewars is an expansive production like few other fantasy 4X games.
15. Suburbia
Ted Alspach has had a history of hits, but it is his game Suburbia and its tight tile placement that really stands above and beyond all his other games. Purchase the best tile from the market and then with it’s proper placement, you will achieve not just a growth in income and reputation, but the public and private goals that will tip the victory into your hands.
14. Terraforming Mars
I heard back Terraforming Mars a couple weeks before Gen Con in 2016 and was immediately hooked. Communal goals to trigger the end game. A deck of more than 300 unique cards that chain together to ensure a completely unique engine every time you play. 10 different corporations with asymmetrical powers and starting conditions. Terraforming Mars has it all, and already two expansions in the 16 months since release. This will be a strong contender for a long time to come.
13. Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is an epic card based tableau building game that takes us all the way up to the modern age in order to build the most culture possible. With all this epicness, you would expect a huge coffin box full of components and yet Vlaada Chvátil does it with a truly elegant design and minimal components.
12. The Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game
Stefan Feld’s The Castles of Burgundy is a watershed for accessible, dice-based euros, which makes the success of its card game variant that much more unexpected. At once sprawling and yet still incredibly easy to pick up and portable in transit, this game manages to capture everything that makes The Castles of Burgundy work, in a tight, low-player count friendly package.
11. Caverna: Cave Farmers
If for some reason Agricola didn’t work for you because of its card play or have to do everything end scoring, fear no more, Caverna fixes all those problems. Uwe Rosenberg opens up this worker placement gem with a market of tiles that replaces the cards and an opportunity to maximize any open resource to claim victory.[nextpage title=”10-1″]
10. Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
The Living Card Game model has revolutionized the hobby game market’s approach to card games. But Lord of the Rings goes a step further, creating a cooperative and fully solo-compatible, narrative-driven experience within the LCG model. With dozens of chapters, saga expansions that take you through the books, and incredibly challenging Nightmare modes, it’s a massive ecosystem of card game challenges.
9. Defenders of the Realm
Defenders of the Realm avoids the alpha player problem and at the same time pulls off one of the best co-op games that ever graced the table. In this classic throwback to D&D style theming, you will go on quests, explores new realms, and push back against the darkness. Each character you play feels unique and with its numerous expansions, you’ll never be without new gameplay options.
8. The Castles of Burgundy
Stefan Feld shows up on this list a lot, but his opus, and the reason his releases are exciting events for euro gamers the world over, is The Castles of Burgundy. Still the epitome of how to use dice in a euro for action selection, The Castles of Burgundy remains an all time favorite on our table.
7. Roll for the Galaxy
Roll for the Galaxy brings Race for the Galaxy to a whole new universe of options of gameplay, while streamlining the old system and providing one of the most elegant productions in gaming. Plan your actions, roll the dice and if you get lucky you’ll get your top choice or maybe able to follow one of the other players to victory.
6. 7 Wonders
7 Wonders hit the hobby game world like a ton of bricks, showing just how engaging a game built almost entirely on card drafting can be. Capturing the core of what makes civilization games entertaining without the bloat and length of the largest of them, 7 Wonders may not be the heaviest game on this list, but it’s one of the best.
5. Blood Rage
Despite all the Blood Rage I have played, I always want to get it back to the table again and again. Eric Lang’s ameritrash/eurogame allows for all the best in battling with your traditional mission completion cards. Add in the fact that even when your troops die, you score points, you’ll always feel free to take the offensive.
4. 7 Wonders Duel
There are few two player games that so perfectly distill the essence of a game with as much depth as 7 Wonders. Using the fundamental resources that form the basis of its big brother, 7 Wonders Duel creates, from the ground up, a sublime two player experience in a tight, near-perfect presentation.
3. The Voyages of Marco Polo
The individual player powers seem vastly overpowered until you realize everyone has one. Then, you can rejoice in the fun of rolling dice to explore, collect rare resources, and fulfill contracts. A wonderful production and with a new expansion on its way, The Voyages of Marco Polo will always see time at the table.
2. Scythe
One of the biggest success stories in Kickstarter gaming history and a landmark game in the approach to integration of design and euro mechanics with theme, Scythe has been atop the charts for nearly two years since it was released. With the addition of increasingly in-depth expansions and an upcoming campaign adding to the mythology of the Scythe world, the game will only grow with time.
1. War of the Ring (Second Edition)
The term epic doesn’t come close to defining the brilliance in depth and scope of this faithful LOTR theming. While war wages on both sides, the hidden movement really shines as sometimes even the smallest can win the greatest of victories. A fantastic production and easy to learn, difficult to master game system will keep LOTR fans or not coming back to the table.
