Today I’m going to post something controversial. I may enrage people, get angry comments, lose a lot of friends, but it’s something that weighs heavily on me, and so I have to speak out.
Yes, I’m going to post my 2nd annual Top 5 Games of the Year!
. For those who don’t know me, I have a pretty extensive background in gaming. I’ve written flavor and lore for AEG’s Doomtown: Reloaded as well as their upcoming game The Captain Is Dead. I’ve also done a micro-setting in Tiny Frontiers RPG. And do I need to tell you about Star Realms: Rescue Run, the first novel in the Star Realms universe again?
Last year, I picked these games for the games of the year: http://delarroz.com/?p=156 and I am happy in that I still play most of those as much as I can, though Tail Feathers and Ashes I haven’t been able to get to play as much as I would have liked. Still enjoy those games, but wish I had more people down to play them. I would say I’m happy with my choices.
But you want to talk about this year! So here’s my favorite games:
- Mystic Vale
This is a fairly light game which I enjoyed since it came out from AEG this summer. What makes it for me is that my 7 year old kid is in love with it. It hits the table about once a week because of that. It’s very similar to deck builders, but you craft your cards within sleeves, so the deck doesn’t grow in size or contract, you have the same amount of cards and just have to math out what’s on them as that changes over the course of the game. You use those to buy vales which give you special abilities and points, and most victory points wins. There’s a cool press your luck component, which isn’t used very often unless it has to be math wise, but when it is, that’s a lot of fun.
- Tides of Madness
I got this at Gencon, a reskin of Tides of Time with a Clthulu theme added to it. That theme usually does zero for me, and it’s light here other than some tentacles on some cards and naming conventions of a couple of them. A simple, 2 player drafting game (which you might note I like those if you saw my last year’s list). Really quick, about 10 minutes. Card quality is really nice and we play this a lot as well.
- Star Wars: Rebellion
This game is ridiculously good and I wish I could find more 3 hour blocks to play it. Super complicated, it’s got everything an epic Star Wars game spanning the galaxy should have. Strategy is very intense, always guessing what your opponent is doing next. Fun stuff. I painted all the little miniatures in mine as well, and it comes with TONS of tiny ships and troops.
- Exiles
This is a western miniatures game from Mindworm Games. But it’s not your momma’s western. The creator has a sick, sick mind and it comes through in the rules through many of the cards and the campaign plot points. The system is pretty simple, fast paced, allows for role playing and growth and everything from the box and the tokens down to the nice metal gunslingers themselves are sooooo thematic it’s beautiful. Pick up a set right now!
- Star Wars: Destiny
I love collectable games, as you may know. I love games where you build decks in advance. I love rolling dice. This game looked deceptively simple when I played it at Gencon, but it turns out it’s got a lot of strategy and a lot more of what I love. Games have all been very close, it’s been extremely well balanced through various decks I’ve tested so far. I can’t wait for more.
Whew! Now you might think I’m just overly obsessed with Star Wars, but this isn’t true! Just happens that these really great games have star wars skins on them. It’s a testament to Fantasy Flight and all the cool games they’ve developed, to be honest. Can’t go wrong with that company.
And that’s it for now! If you like these games, you might like my book, because you have similar tastes to me.
Honorable Mentions: AGES Deckbuilding Game, Star Trek: Frontiers, Hero Realms, Scythe, Quadropolis
I propose Tiny Frontiers as an honorable mention!