Like I wrote yesterday, some of us here on the OG have been playing games for a long time. Really – a very long time.

So, what follows is a historical list of the game I’ve spent the most time playing by their year of release. (The original version of this post is still on my personal blog if you’re interested.)

I’ve also included some commentary on each of the games… cuz that’s the way I roll. If a game was in the list yesterday (which many of them were), I simply reprinted the same commentary but put it in italics for those you who don’t want to read any extra words. There’s even some links to stuff I’ve written on some of the games.

Note: When a game has the notation “X hours+”, that means I played the game multiple times before I began tracking all of my game plays in 1998. If it has the notation “X hours + Y hours”, it means I’ve played different versions of the game that amount of time.

• 2022: Return to Dark Tower (22 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 50 minutes
  • While the technology for the original Dark Tower was “state of the art” for 1980, the gameplay was just so-so… which makes my love for Return to Dark Tower such a surprise. Yes, it’s a cooperative fantasy game (with an option for competitive play that we haven’t tried yet) and the tower/app do make a lot of noise… but that’s like saying Premier League soccer is just a bunch of guys kicking a ball around in the not-so-lovely English weather. The statements are both true – but that misses so much of what makes the things great. (Come on you Spurs!)
  • The team at Restoration Games used the extensive development/playtesting time to hone the game design to a fine edge. No design choice seems out of place or overly wonky – and the app facilitates large chunks of play without ever overwhelming your focus on the board. The artwork is splendid and the graphic design/UI of the physical pieces/cards as well as the app make sense.
  • Read my review of the game right here on the OG: I Was Victorious!

• 2021: Imperium Classics/Legends (27 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Imperium Classics/Legends packs in the game mechanics: deckbuilding, resource management, tableau building, asymmetric factions, multiple game timers, keywords to differentiate similar actions… whew, I’m exhausted just typing all of that. Let me try a different way to describe the game – using theme as the anchor. Each player is leading an ancient civilization from barbarian nation to sophisticated empire, working to achieve the most Progress (victory points) in a variety of ways, often dependent on the unique structure of their civilization’s multiple card decks as well as the cards they have drafted from the market.
  • I find the game absolutely fascinating both as a multi-player game and as a solo game.
  • Read my review of the game(s) right here on the OG: Imperium Classic and Imperium Legends: A Dual Review!

• 2020: Lost Ruins of Arnak (23 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yes, it’s another combination of worker placement and deck-building… but don’t let that fool you. The gameplay is well-thought-out, the artwork/graphic design is gorgeous, and there are meaningful timing and resource management choices throughout.
  • The game works like a charm with 2, 3, or 4 players… or solo! And the Expedition Leaders expansion is top-notch!

• 2019: Marvel Champions (50 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour
  • FFG took the Marvel universe of super-heroes and created a working LCG (Living Card Game) that isn’t impossible to teach and/or read across the table. Note: while I think the LotR LCG is quite good and the Android: Netrunner LCG is spectacular, both have a rather high barrier to entry in learning the game. Moreover, LotR LCG is incredibly difficult to read in low light and/or playing multi-player.
  • I think the game is strongest at 1-2 players, though 3 works well. Four is fine against weaker villains, but takes entirely too long against foes with multiple level schemes.

• 2018: Dungeon Alliance (49 hours)
  • Average time per game: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • A think-y, puzzle-y dungeon crawl that’s dripping with theme and story. The designer (Andrew Parks) mixes deck-building with tactical movement on the board to create a rich world for competitive, cooperative, and solo play.
  • Dungeon Alliance is not for the faint of heart – there’s a lot going on here – but it’s incredibly involving. In complexity, it is in the same range as the Mage Knight Board Game (which never got played after I got DA, so I sold it.)
  • The vast majority of playing time on this game is solo play with the Adventure Packs.

• 2017: Clank! In! Space! – A Deck-Building Adventure (33 hours)
  • Average time per game: 50 minutes
  • Clank! In! Space! has a few more rules than the original Clank! (see below)… but they add some nice depth to the game. In addition, the sci-fi references/easter eggs on the cards are a lot of fun
  • Read my review of the latest Clank! In! Space! expansion right here on the OG: Not Flynn’s Arcade: A First Look at Pulsarcade!

• 2016: Clank! – A Deck-Building Adventure (51 hours)
  • Average time per game: 45 minutes
  • Smoosh Dungeonquest and Ascension together and you’d get something close to this fantastic deck-building dungeon crawl… with the very clever “clank” mechanic binding the two together and acting a game timer and source of tension.
  • Those 69 plays don’t include 11 plays of Clank! Legacy and 37 plays of Clank! In! Space!.
  • Read my review of the game system right here on the OG: Welcome to the Clank-iverse!

• 2015: Runebound [3^rd edition] (43 hours)
  • Average time per game: 2 hours 10 minutes
  • I wasn’t particularly blown away by Runebound’s second edition… but 3rd edition (yes, the one with POG-ish combat resolution) captured my imagination, as well as both of my sons.
  • I love some of the innovations that the cooperative expansion (Unbreakable Bonds) added to the game… but I’m finding I prefer the competitive game more than the co-op.

• 2014: Roll for the Galaxy (35 hours)
  • Average time per game:40 minutes
  • An interesting take on the Race for the Galaxy universe… the dice manipulation combined with RftG phase activation makes for a very fluid tableau building game. Like RftG (and New Frontiers), different strategies are all possible depending on your mix of planets and technologies.
  • I have been surprised at the number of fellow gamers who dislike Race for the Galaxy (often complaining about the iconography) and yet seem to really enjoy Roll for the Galaxy. I think it may be – similar to New Frontiers – that you are not trying to make decisions on what planets/technologies to build secretly… if you have a question in Roll or New Frontiers about how something works, it’s already public knowledge.
  • Note: I play this primarily as a two-player game.

• 2013: Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends (21 hours)
  • Average time per game:40 minutes
  • An inventive pattern building mechanic helps create a fluid game of combat & positioning. The core mechanic is very abstract – and yet by the use of cards & subtle theming choices, Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends has more “story” involved than you realize at first glance.
  • Some find Tash-Kalar a boring tactical abstract slog while others love the combination of fantasy theme & pattern recognition mechanic. I count myself in the second group… the game is intriguing, quick-playing (once you learn how it works) and remarkably simple to explain. I like the tactical elements, the smart decisions on how to score the various forms, and the opportunity for clever plays setting up more clever plays. The flare cards offer a well-balanced “catch-up” mechanic that can keep wise players competitive even after their opponent takes over large chunks of the arena.

• 2012: DC Comics Deck-Building Game (132 hours)
  • Average time per game:1 hour
  • Mix the Ascension deck-building lineup with some fantastic “straight from the comics” DC superhero art… and add just enough thematic touches to the design (player heroes, super villain attacks, etc.) to give it the comic book feel. It’s not rocket science – but we’ve played it nearly 200 times in the various incarnations (Confrontations, Rivals, Teen Titans Go!, etc.)
  • I’m a huge fan of the Multiverse box/cards which allow you to play a massive game across all the sets you own… but not everybody enjoys that.

• 2011: Sentinels of the Multiverse (178 hours)
  • Average time per game:1 hour 35 minutes (note: average time is skewed by OblivAeon expansion)
  • A cooperative comic book game that uses multiple card decks (heroes, villain, environment) to tell the story of a “battle royale”. It’s enhanced by a well-developed mythos and a plethora of sly references to various “real” (read: DC/Marvel) superheroes.
  • OblivAeon was the final expansion for the original game… and it’s a table-eating 3.5-4 hour slugfest against multiple foes. It’s an attempt to recreate the full-on nuttiness of the original comic book Crisis on Infinite Earths… and it succeeds. It’s not for the faint of heart… but my eldest son and I love it. (Out of 10 plays, we’ve only twice once.)
  • This total does not count 6 plays of the Definitive Edition that was just released earlier this year… which is actually really good… and if you’re new to the game, I’d start with the Definitive Edition.
  • You can read about a variant my sons and I created called The Bloodsworn Arena over on my personal blog.

• 2010: 7 Wonders (68 hours)
  • Average time per game: 40 minutes
  • Card drafting meets civilization building… and it’s playable with 3-7 players in a pretty consistent 45 minutes. No “wonder” it got all those awards…
  • You don’t have to jump on the science train to score big points – but you do need to burn up science cards for cash or wonder building to prevent others from doing it.
  • Military still doesn’t make sense to me – the worst point loss you can take is -6… and it can be less than that if you can talk your neighbor(s) into a truce.
  • The new edition is nice – I’ve only had a chance to play it online but the symbols are easier to teach/use. (They are based on the system used for 7 Wonders: Duel.)

• 2009: Summoner Wars (163 hours)
  • Average time per game: 45 minutes
  • Summoner Wars was a “hey, I got an Amazon gift card & I don’t want to spend it on mp3 downloads” post-Christmas purchase back in the day… well, at least the first two boxes were. Then I went kinda nuts… and a year later, I own everything Plaid Hat Games had published for Summoner Wars.
  • Short game summary: Kill or be killed with cards & dice
  • Slightly less short game summary: a fantasy battle board game that involves positional board play, deck & hand management, and dice combat.
  • The newest edition makes some big changes but still keeps the charm/cleverness of the original game.
  • Read my review of the Summoner Wars Master Set (first edition) right here on the OG: Summoner Wars Master Set!

• 2008: Agricola (94 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • The theme – farming in medieval times – shouldn’t be terrifically compelling (why do I care about the travails of a farmer?)… and yet the game system makes you sweat every purchase, every family member you send out to collect wood or stone or to get a job…
  • This is a game where adding players to the mix adds substantially to the length of play – so, while the game works very well with five players (and even has cards that are specific to that number), I like it best with two or three players. 

• 2007: Race for the Galaxy (170 hours)
  • Average time per game: 20 minutes
  • After you climb the iconography mountain to figure out the game, Race for the Galaxy is an amazing adventure in hand management & reading your opponents’ mind – made even better by clever card design & interaction as well as great sci-fi art.
  • Between the iOS app powered by Keldon’s AI and the version of Keldon’s AI online, I’m comfortable estimating that I’ve played Race against an AI over 2k-3k times.

• 2006: Qwirkle (25 hours)
  • Average time per game: 45 minutes
  • Think of it as the tile placement part of Scrabble, but without all the need to do anagrams and memorize words people don’t actually use.
  • My mom really enjoyed the game – and I will always be grateful to the designer, Susan McKinley Ross, for the kind way she interacted with my mom on Facebook.

• 2005: Vegas Showdown (31 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • This is the best implementation of the climbing auction mechanic first seen in Evo, then in the (excruciating, IMHO) Amun-Re, and more recently in 20th Century. I also like the need to plan what rooms you’ll add to your Vegas resort… and in what order to build them.
  • There are a variety of winning building configurations/mixes – your mission is to choose the one that best dodges what other players are doing… and then make it expensive for other players to get their “key” rooms.

• 2004: Heroscape (219 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 55 minutes (time does NOT include building the battle maps)
  • Little did I know when Frank Branham emailed me & told me “get thee hence to thy local Wal-Mart and pick up this game” that I would end up 6 years later with three rolling crates of terrain and figures.
  • Heroscape is the ultimate blending of board game & miniatures game… and, in a slick move that allows them to make lots of cool figures, a great blending of genres, as all the characters are warriors sucked through time & space into the world of Heroscape. So, you’ve got Matrix guys & Braveheart & dragons & robots & kung fu monks & gorillas with guns… yep, it’s the ultimate boy game. (And while kids can start with this one at 7-8 years old, there’s enough going on that you keep playing it well into your adult years – in my case, age 58 & counting!
  • It’s important to note I’ve spend 201 hours playing Memoir ’44 and 149 hours playing Ticket to Ride – both released in 2004. 2004 was a very good gaming year for me.

• 2003: Smarty Party (50 hours)
  • Average time per game: 45 minutes
  • There are probably better party games (in gamer terms) but none that I’ve enjoyed as much as this one… and I have the rare honor of having played the original prototype. This is a classic example of development taking an interesting idea & turning it into a great game.

• 2002: Puerto Rico (92 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • I had the rare privilege of going to my first Gathering of Friends in 2002 just after this game had been released… there were multiple copies & they were in almost constant play the entire week. There’s nothing quite like discovering the intricacies of a game this good with other devoted gamers… all of you finding out for the first time that you’re playing a work of genius. (Trivia: I played Puerto Rico four times in my first 36 hours at the hotel.)
  • That said, I’m happy to see Ravensburger re-developing the game and dealing with the “colonist” issue.
  • 20 years later, though, I’m more likely to play New Frontiers than PR.

• 2001: Pig Pile (40 hours)
  • Average time per game: 40 minutes
  • This is probably my favorite “better than Uno” game. (Yes, as a matter of fact I have created my own moniker for card games that are relatively mindless & great with non-gamers that don’t make you want to have a frontal lobotomy 1/2 way through the game – see Phase 10 or Uno.)
  • Surprise! This is from the same designer (Richard Borg) who brought you all of the Command & Colors games (Battle Cry, Memoir ’44, C&C Ancients, etc.).

• 2000: Carcassonne (73 hours)
  • Average time per game: 40 minutes
  • With too many spin-off games & expansions, it’s easy to overlook how enjoyable this now classic tile-laying game can be.
  • I used to own the original and a bunch of the expansions… when I (sort of) purged my collection in 2013, I ditched most of them and hung onto Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune which works well as a one-box version of the game with some interesting twists.

• 1999: Ra (74 hours)
  • Average time per game: 45 minutes
  • I really disliked Ra the first time I played it – the scoring seemed convoluted & the game took FORever (almost 90 minutes). But thanks to a clearance sale, I picked up a copy to trade, broke it out again, and realized what a work of genius this auction game is… esp. when you play it in an appropriate 30-40 minutes!

• 1998: Filthy Rich (20 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour
  • There’s a creative idea behind this “game board” (a notebook with card sleeves to hold “signage” cards) that absolutely captivated some of my friends back in the late 90s. Hence, the amount of playing time.

• 1997: Canyon (31 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • A trick-taking game (like Spades or Hearts) based on the Wizard model of changing number of cards dealt out each hand – however, the twist in the game is the scoring. You’re actually raising canoes around the titular canyon, moving based on the number of tricks you take and the accuracy of your bid.
  • It’s just a few pieces of card stock, but I think that the Grand Canyon expansion is a wonderful addition to the game – it adds one-use powers that are drafted before each hand with the player in last place getting first pick. I never play without it.

• 1996: Showmanager (40 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour
  • A wonderful card-drafting game that whips along at a breakneck pace and offers a consistently enjoyable gaming experience as the players cast (and miscast) theater productions.
  • I like the ’96 version of this game the best.

• 1995: Catan (165 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • The game that launched the European “game” invasion… the first true “franchise” game for Kosmos & Mayfair… a game so simple & yet so innovative that it could inspire devoted play with almost any crowd. This infinitely variable game of trading & building is still a personal favorite, even when way too many gamers have left it behind.
  • While your first game may take 90+ minutes, it’s not unusual for experienced players to knock out a game in 60 minutes or less. A lot of that depends on how quickly trading goes and how “aware” the people you’re playing are – example: it doesn’t matter how many times you ask for “brick”, if we haven’t rolled it in two rounds, it isn’t there for trade. Sigh.
  • My most recent bit of writing about Catan is a review of Klaus Teuber’s memoir which you can read right here on the OG – Book Review: My Journey to Catan!

• 1994: RoboRally (30 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Before the umpteenth game of this with soul-deadening AP (analysis paralysis) burned out my love for it, this was a very popular game amongst myself & my friends. The reprint of the game by Avalon Hill solved a couple of major game problems (virtual status & the lack of help for setting up workable race layouts) but it came too late for me. Don’t let my ennui stop you, though – there’s a really neat programmed movement system here that’s a lot of chaotic fun.

• 1993: Ausgebremst (39 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • In the gaming world, most folks know the game this was based on (Ave Caesar) better than they know of this auto-racing themed follow up… and they mostly know of Ave Caesar because it was difficult to find & expensive to acquire for a long, long time.
  • I like the “gear” system & variable tracks of Ausgebremst – but you’ve got to be prepared to get hosed early & often in this game of choke point racing.

• 1992: Fast Food Franchise (116 hours)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour
  • Imagine if the designer of Race for the Galaxy decided to take making a roll’n’move that both gamers & non-gamers could love… that combined some very Monopoly-ish elements with tactical board play. And then you can wake up & play it, because this is actually Tom Lehmann’s first game design!
  • Long before Tom Lehman created the masterpiece of Race for the Galaxy, he produced some other very interesting games – Time Agent, for example, is not quite like anything else around. In that same time period, he created an homage/re-visioning of Monopoly that adds some tactical decisions, a nice helping of theme & loads of “drive each into bankruptcy” fun. This is way, way OOP… but I keep hoping that someone will pick it up & reprint this – it’s probably the most “non-gamer” friendly of the games on this list, due to the similarities with Monopoly.
  • This game appeared in the OG series 138 Games to Play Before You Die.

• 1991: History of the World (34 hours + 32 hours)
  • Average time per game: 2 hours 55 minutes (Brief History of the World); 4 hours 30 minutes (H/AH History of the World)
  • I first played the Ragnor Brothers’ History of the World in the mid-90s. The experience was a disaster – six new players coupled with the overly wargamer-tinged rules of the original Avalon Hill publication of the game meant it took us nearly four hours to complete two of the seven epochs… and then we abandoned the game.
  • It was nearly six years later when I received an early prize table pick at a gaming convention and thanks evidently to a whiff of the massive amounts of plastic figures in the box decided to pick up the Hasbro/Avalon Hill edition as my first pick. The game was substantially better than I had remembered – esp. with the revisions that had been made to streamline the design. It became one of those “once a year” games (because of the length… 4-6 hours) though I wanted to play more often.
  • Fast forward to late 2009 as the Ragnor Brothers announced that they had – nearly 20 years after the first edition was published – once again made some major revisions to their signature game. The early press was positive enough for me to plunk down some hard-earned cash on it – seeing as how I hadn’t played my beloved H/AH copy of HotW in nearly 3 years.
  • I didn’t waste a penny… though I miss the 7 different plastic minis (one type for each epoch) and the shiny capitol/city markers, everything else I love about the game system is still there – and less. It’s shorter, leaner & tighter (our six player game this year took 3 1/2 hours with 2 new players)… and there’s actually more room in the game for tactical & strategic decision-making while reducing the number of armies on the board. The refining of the empire deck (giving more thematically specific powers to some of the empires) and the costing of the event deck (many events now come with some kind of VP cost to activate) make for an even better game.

• 1990: Sindbad (20 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 60 minutes
  • This is a French game of the early 1990s, with all that implies: interesting artwork on the cards (you don’t want to have to explain some of the pictures to the younger members of your family), odd dice/card combat system, a stock market-like mechanic of investing in commodities… all in the same theme-drenched game. There are substantial amounts of chaos but also great fun to be had…

• 1989: Space Hulk (60 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Back when Games Workshop was actually attempting to produce games & not just gaming systems, they created this shoot-’em-up space opera of outnumbered marines vs. hordes of Genestealer aliens… and the relatively clean rule systems plus the gorgeous minis & boards made for a great experience.
  • Yes, I’m talking about the original edition of Space Hulk.

• 1988: Blood Bowl (30 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 2 hours
  • Another Games Workshop game (that soon spawned a miniatures gaming system – of course) that we had lots of fun with back in the day. You fielded fantasy squads to play a game that was more violent than rugby and had the same high-scoring tendencies as soccer. I think the system is out-dated now, but we played a lot of this early on.
  • I’ve recently played Blitz Bowl (my son grabbed a copy) and it was enjoyable and didn’t outstay its welcom.

• 1987: Fury of Dracula (20 hours+ + 27 hours)
  • Average time per game: 3 hours
  • My best friend from college (and best man at my wedding) and I played a good bit of the original Fury of Dracula back in the 80s… so it was with a mixture of trepidation and excitment that I approached the 2nd edition from FFG.
  • Wow. 3 hours later, as the hunters cornered Dracula in Leipzig at midnight, we managed to pull out a win with Drac only one point away from taking over Europe. We were all ecstatic… it was an incredible gaming experience. The changes Fantasy Flight made were all positives – the game works like a charm and doesn’t degenerate at the end like the old version. The color text on the cards is primo… as is the artwork.
  • 15 years later, I still own my copy of FFG’s version and it tends to come out once a year around Halloween.
  • You can read the whole story of my friend Tim and Fury of Dracula on my personal blog: I Love Me Some Good Color Text!

• 1986: Fortress America (30 hours+ + 8 hours)
  • Average time per game: 3 hours (Gamemaster); 1 hour 50 minutes (FFG)
  • Not the last of the MB big box wargames series, but the one I’ve probably played the most – it’s the U.S. vs. the rest of the world as they attack America. Cool plastic minis, partisan cards that read like someone O.D.’d on the movie “Red Dawn” & clean rule systems made this a great, great game to play.
  • Kevin Wilson did a great job re-developing it for FFG.

• 1985: Dungeonquest (48 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 30 minutes
  • I have always described this game as “similar to playing Dungeons & Dragons with a DM who hates your guts” – it’s a short (no more than an hour…and often shorter!), brutal & intensely fun experience game/dungeon crawl.
  • Queen Games has a new dungeon game coming from designer Dan Glimne that (according to the KS) “captures the same system [Drakborgen aka Dungeonquest] which is designed to kill players in a shorter, dice game format.” Yep, sounds like a spiritual heir to Dungeonquest.

• 1984: Conquest of the Empire (30 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 3 hours 30 minutes
  • The first Milton Bradley Gamemaster… I blame my love of plastic minis in wargames on this one right here.

• 1983: Talisman (70 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 4 hours
  • Talisman is well-loved enough to have 5 different editions (I think it’s five?). I owned most of 2nd edition & all of 3rd edition. It’s too long for what it is, but we had great times with it 30 years ago.

• 1982: Family Business (40 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 30 minutes
  • Another game that is still in print (new edition incoming!). I didn’t start playing it until the early 90s, but it became the “we need a game where we can beat up on each other to get out the frustration of losing yet another Euro game” staple at our game nights.

• 1981: The Broadway Game (140 hours+)
  • Average time per game: 2 hours
  • I bought a copy of this in a clearance bin at a Toys’R’Us… and it became the game that defined the early years of our marriage as Shari & I taught it to every couple we spent major time with.
  • Yes, it’s overly long; yes, it has some game mechanics that can go completely haywire; yes, the voting at the end is a screwy way to finish the game… and yet, we love it all the same. (Man, we need to play that again! It’s been too long.)

• 1980: Can’t Stop (56 hours)
  • Average time per game: 20 minutes
  • Sid Sackson’s dice masterpiece… there have been various editions over the years – no matter which one you use, it’s one of the best push-your-luck games ever designed.

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I’ll list the rest of these games without comments or timing information – it’s just too darn far in the past. You’ll note that all but two of them are Avalon Hill games – the exceptions are Tally Ho & Junta. (I moved from family games to war games sometime in the mid-1970s.)

• 1979: Circus Maximus
• 1978: Junta
• 1977: Squad Leader
• 1976: Starship Troopers
• 1975: Wooden Ships & Iron Men
• 1974: Rise & Decline of the Third Reich
• 1973: Tally Ho
• 1972: Paydirt
• 1971: Speed Circuit