Has it been another two years already?  Guess it has.  And it’s time for a new shortest-list-ever – my 148 favorite games, and thus the ones I choose to have in my collection.  Not including games I’ve designed, 148 games represents just 3.6% of the 4117 different games I’ve played (give or take; I don’t count expansions and – to give one example – I count all Ticket to Ride games as one total different game I’ve played; I suspect most folks would count more than 4117).  But I tend to play the games I enjoy a lot; plays of these 148 games represent 48.8% of my game plays since I started recording my plays.  I will also note that I took a snapshot of my play data when I started making this list; I’ve played many of these games at least once since then.

As always, I would recommend taking this list with many grains of salt; while I tend to have _some_ alignment with every gamer I know, I also have more misalignments than alignments with every gamer I know.

#148 – Just One, by Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter

44 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2021

My collection has, since 2016, shrunk by more than half.  And I have not really missed any of them – I still _like_ them, but I don’t miss them.  Except – I realized that I was missing Just One.  So I’ve re-acquired it.  Which, to be fair, was always the plan for any game I let go and decide I want to play more.

#147 – Take It Easy, by Peter Burley

62 plays

Change from 2023: Up 17

First appearance: 2021

Over time, more and more of the games I rate a 7 have left my collection.  At one point I got rid of all of the games I rate below a 7; I’m just 14 games away from getting rid of all of the games I rate below an 8.  But some hold on, for various reasons; for Take It Easy, the fact that it’s a short game for many players helps tremendously.

#146 – Die Schlacht der Dinosaurier, by Steve Baker

21 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2021

It’s odd to see a game so far down this list that didn’t move up, when 17 games have dropped off altogether.  If you want to play an anachronistic, luck-filled game, it’s hard to beat this.  Given all of the luck, there are a lot more opportunities for strategic play than one might expect, and for a game with player elimination, the time from the first player being eliminated through the end of the game is shorter than one might expect.

#145 – Black Vienna, by Gilbert Obermair

36 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

I am finding that, over time, my interest in deduction games slowly diminishes.  Black Vienna still stands out among them, and is still quite enjoyable, but – it’s not moving up this list.  I know many are bothered by the fragility of the system – if a player gives a wrong answer, it both messes up the game and usually isn’t detectable until much later.  But we remind folks to always _look_ at their cards when answering, and very rarely have any issues.

#144 – Hanabi, by Antoine Bauza

53 plays

Change from 2023: up 9

First appearance: 2021

Games in my collection all have a ratio of plays I initiate to total plays.  Some are nearly 100% plays I initiate.  Hanabi might have one of the lowest ratios, since a friend of mine in Ohio really enjoys it and suggests it frequently when we’re together, either online or in person.  This works well for me because this friend has never shown interest in creating conventions for playing the game, which is how I prefer to play it.  And – given how many games I need to initiate plays of, it’s nice to have some that I don’t.

The key, for me, to making Hanabi fun is to play without any conventions or the like.  I have nothing against conventions for communicating in complex games – but with a game such as Hanabi, I find they take away from the gaming experience.  I do worry that too many of my recent plays have been online – I’d like to play it in person again sometime soon.

#143 – Klunker, by Uwe Rosenberg

41 plays

Change from 2023: up 11

First appearance: 2021

Most of the games near the bottom of this list survive in my collection because they fill a particular hole.  Just One is a cooperative party game.  Take It Easy handles lots of players in a short playing time.  Die Schlacht der Dinosaurier is a silly, light king of the hill game.  But Klunker – doesn’t really fit.  It’s just a card game, and there are a lot of card games I like more.  But it’s never really been in danger of leaving my collection, in spite of this.

I’m rather amazed by how Rosenberg’s time as the most innovative card game designer around seems to have vanished from BoardGameGeek’s collective consciousness.  Bohnanza seems to have survived – if not while being considered anything like on a par with Rosenberg’s boardgames – but it seems like the rest of his card games are largely forgotten.  Which is too bad – Klunker isn’t my favorite of the lot, but is still a fresh and novel design – and a fun game.

#142 – Diamant, by Alan Moon and Bruno Faidutti

39 plays

Change from 2023: up 16

First appearance: 2021

Very recently I had something happen to me in a game of Diamant I had never experienced before.  I nearly always push my luck too hard at the game, fall behind, push my luck even harder, and finish at or near the bottom.  But in this game, when I pushed my luck even harder – it worked.  I can’t recall ever coming from significantly behind in the game, but this time I managed it.  Fortunately, the game is every bit as much fun even when such things don’t happen.

#141 – Topfrosch, by Hilko Drude & Reinhold Wittig

23 plays

Change from 2023: up 19

First appearance: 2021

I really appreciate games which, when you bring them out to play once, often get played twice or more.  Topfrosch, in particular, benefits from this because the time to put the game away is greater than the time to set the game up is greater than the time to score the game is significantly greater than the game itself.  It’s also far and away the messiest game I own – the coconut frogs are great, but then do have a tendency to shed.

#140 – Akropolis, by Jules Messaud

21 plays

Change from 2023: up 8

First appearance: 2023

Akropolis continues to be very enjoyable, but I’m afraid that it’s going to need to move up a step for me in order to make a third appearance.  I think it well might – I continue to enjoy the game each time I play it – but absent a step forward I’m not sure it will stick around in my ever-shrinking collection.

#139 – Doppelt und Dreifach, by Der Bruder von Christian Anders (a.k.a. Friedemann Friese)

27 plays

Change from 2023: Up 23

First appearance: 2021

This is essentially the same game as Fuji Flush – but for me, this is the superior version, because it’s best with 4-6 players (I find Fuji Flush most enjoyable with 5+) and the smaller range of cards (2-15 rather than 2-20) makes the game of more interest to me.  And there is something nice about owning a Friedemann game published by Friedemann that doesn’t start with an F (and that I enjoy more than Wucherer).  

Game titles I’d be interested in seeing from Friedemann:

Fractionalization

Foresightfulness

Fictionalization

Ferroelectricity

Flibbertigibbet

Fossilification

Flimflammeries (preferably _not_ just a reprint of Falsche FuFFziger)

Featherbrained

Foreknowledge

Frankincense

Fascination (preferably themed around the old amusement park game)

Fiddlesticks

Fundraising

Fenestrated

Flugelhorn

(Given infinite time, I would try to come up with German equivalents for these.  Well, except for Flibbertigibbet and Fascination.)

#138 – Industrial Waste, by Jurgen Strohm

35 plays

Change from 2023: up 9

First appearance: 2021

I wonder what exactly the designer of the game thinks is being manufactured in the game.  Does he view it as some generic product, or does it represent something more specific?  The waste is clearly the waste from the manufacture of the product; did the designer consider the waste of the post-lifetime product itself?  It took me gaining a little understanding of German labor laws to understand why you had to have the right card in order to let workers go…

#137 – Codenames, by Vladimír Chvátil

99 plays

Change from 2023: Up 26

First appearance: 2021

“Party Game” has an odd meaning for me, because I’d be happy to play any game on this list as a party game.  But Codenames and Just One are the only two games in my collection that might generally be thought of as party games – though I’m sure many would dispute that idea.  I like to think and be challenged when playing games; Codenames offers plenty of that.  I will say – I might not be a party game person, but I’m a lot more a party game person than a party person.

#136 – The Green Fivura, by Taiki Shinzawa

23 plays

Change from 2023: up 13

First appearance: 2023

This has recently been re-released in English as Fives, making it far more readily available.  And it’s a very nice production (so long as you don’t mind the color pink, which I don’t), with one small exception – the cards aren’t indexed on both ends.  I know many folks strongly prefer cards indexed on both the left and right side, but to be honest that doesn’t bother me.  Not having the cards indexed on both ends frustrates me each time I play the new edition.  Having said that, it’s tolerable, and a _whole_ lot better than really enjoying a game no one can get their hands on.

#135 – Winhard, by Reinhard Pichler & Erwin Pichler

39 plays

Change from 2023: down 39

First appearance: 2005

I am now imagining a retheming of this game to Spy Hard.  Not because of the movie, which I’ve never seen, but because of the Weird Al theme song.

#134 – Rapa Nui, by Reinhold Wittig & Ingo Althöfer

17 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2011

Abstract games really aren’t my thing, usually – but if, as with Rapa Nui, an abstract carries off a theme with the rules, those can work for me.  Rapa Nui is an excellent example of this.  The components are entirely consistent with an abstract title, with the mild exception of the shape of the board.  And the rules are entirely consistent with other abstracts, with the mild exception of the luck element of rolling a die (albeit not for movement or anything of that nature).  But – the theme is the overpopulation/deforestation of Easter Island, and the game carries this out extremely well.  It doesn’t take long before what started as a wide-open board begins to feel entirely locked up, and not much longer before the first player is eliminated.  Fortunately, from that point it never takes long before there is only one player remaining and the game concludes – typically no more than two turns before that last player would be eliminated as well.

#133 – Scoozie, by Rich Maiers

18 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2007

Just as Rapa Nui carries off its theme tremendously, Scoozie does the same.  It’s impossible for me to imagine playing this game and _not_ picture a single play in American Football.  As with all two player games, it’s hard for me to get this to the table as much as I would like; as a result, I have absolutely no idea if I’m any good at this game.  But I am certain I really enjoy the game.

#132 – Hare & Tortoise, by David Parlett

36 plays

Change from 2023: down 23

First appearance: 2005

OK, speaking of retheming – I’d love to see a Looney Tunes themed version of this game.  One of my recent plays involved something I’ve never seen before – I managed to eat all three lettuce before passing the first lettuce space.  First, I had the good fortune to get to eat a lettuce on a hare space.  Then I went to the first lettuce space.  Then I moved forward to a hare space, as one must do – and it moved me back a position, placing me behind the first lettuce space again.  I’m not at all convinced this was optimal luck, but it certainly was fun.

I will also note – while I doubt anyone except me pays attention to the specific number of plays in these – Diatribes?  Novellas?  Ramblings? – if you did, you would notice that for the first time ever every single one of the play counts is up by at least two.  This is because I played every game in my collection in 2024, and again in 2025, this time by the end of April.  I only list the play count so that folks who wish to dismiss my opinion based upon a low number of plays have all the data they need to do so.  Personally, I think it’s entirely reasonable to dismiss my opinion even without this information, but better safe than sorry.

#131 – Blöde Kuh, by Florian Racky

29 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2019

Once there was a very silly cow.  It lived at a farm with a slightly less silly horse, a much less silly pig, and a barely silly at all sheep.  Each day, they would either change their loyalties to a different member of the family that owned the farm, or take advantage of their special talent – the sheep would fall asleep, the pig would share their food with someone else, the horse would change the family’s chores around, and the cow would chow down on a particularly choice bit of grass.  At the end of the month each member of the family would have to take responsibility for the animals they were left with, and the family member with the most chores remaining would have to fess up.  As time moved on, all of the animals became bigger and sillier, and taking responsibility for them became a larger and larger burden.  Eventually the family toted up their responsibilities, but then celebrated with a farm-fresh dinner.  The family lived happily ever after.

#130 – Q.E., by Gavin Birnbaum

26 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2019

One of the things I like most about Q.E. is the open question each game as to whether there will be inflation, deflation, or steady prices.  If you knew going in which would occur, you could do much better at the game.  And each player can try to tip the scales in the direction they wish to see things go – but, in the end, no single player has control.  (Well, OK – one player _can_ have control if they just continuously bid much, much higher than the previous bids would suggest, and win everything.  They would then lose while everyone else won.  To me, the right choice would be not to play Q.E. with such a player, but to each their own.)

#129 – Spyrium, by William Attia

25 plays

Change from 2023: down 10

First appearance: 2013

The aspect of Spyrium I enjoy the most is the tension between taking pieces off the board for cash and taking pieces off the board to acquire buildings or technologies.  Which is odd; it bears some resemblance to a game of chicken, which I intensely dislike, but here it works for me – in part because you can avoid the high-interest cards entirely or place pieces next to them in a way that provides for a backup plan, or you can intentionally risk having a placed piece turn out to be useless.  So unlike, say, Taj Mahal, where you can’t just avoid the games of chicken and still meaningfully play the game, here there are options.

#128 – Abraca…What?, by Gun-Hee Kim

22 plays

Change from 2023: down 33

First appearance: 2015

Perhaps the thing I enjoy most about Abraca…What? is the ability to choose a plan based upon the information available to you.  If the player on your left and the player on your right have a lot of spells that damage you, you know that your odds are poor, and you can try bolder plans without having to worry about dying; it’s the likely result, and dying by blowing yourself up is better than having another player eliminate you.  On the other hand, if very few spells impact you, you can take a slower approach, watching for opportunities to eliminate another player for the reward.    And if you trust the other players, you can sometimes figure out the spells you hold through their actions, and non-actions.

#127 – Kardinal & König, by Michael Schacht

45 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2005

My personal weakness at this game is my overemphasis on diplomats.  I will regularly place diplomats in the first half of the game, in spite of knowing full well they won’t score until the end, and miss out on both good country scoring opportunities and road scoring opportunities as a result.  (And, usually, on some diplomat scoring opportunities too, as other players react to my diplomat placement.)  The sad thing is I’ve known about this tendency for a long time, and I almost never manage to successfully fight it.

#126 – Luz, by Taiki Shinzawa

17 plays

Change from 2023: down 28

First appearance: 2021

Since Luz I’ve played a number of additional games where the back of the card reveals some information about the card – most often suit, but sometimes the number.  And I now have a clear second choice for this type of game – Xylotar offers very interesting choices, and for me addresses the concern I had with Magic Trick (though I know a number of folks who disagree, preferring the original).  But Luz still stands out for me – in spite of the fact that the scoring is a bit wonky.  One miscue on one hand can easily make a fifty point difference, in a game where in my experience there’s often less than a fifty point difference from first to last.  But the challenge of the game – deciding how to bid the uncertainties of your hand to best work for all circumstances – makes the game a hit for me.

Last minute update: I heard that the iello rules (1) change the scoring, and (2) are online.  And – they’re _still_ a bit wonky, but perhaps a little less so; the biggest one-trick-difference gap is now 45 points (only on the final hand), but since scoring is decreased this is actually a bigger difference than fifty points in the original.  That said, there’s more possibility to catch up, which is a fine thing.

#125 – Havalandi, by Reiner Knizia

15 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2025

While I generally have a strong preference for games where the mechanisms match the theme, there are some very abstract games that sneak into my collection.  Havalandi is one of them; I’m not sure _any_ mechanism in the game is thematic, though to be fair I’ve never gone hot air ballooning so perhaps there’s something I’m missing.  But it’s a very solid and enjoyable game, even with the disconnected theme.

#124 – Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg, by Wolfgang Warsch

39 plays

Change from 2023: down 33

First appearance: 2019

One thing I do not understand – many people seem to put this game away with the potion tiles sorted by color.  This makes absolutely no sense to me; I can pick out the colors very easily, but have a hard time finding a 1, 2, or 4 specifically.  But I’ve seen games sorted this way often enough to understand that it is a preference for many.  I can almost picture doing this with players who are colorblind – I suspect it might still be difficult to tell which pile is which, but at least there’s no confusion between two colors in the same pile.  

#123 – Wildlife Adventure, by Wolfgang Kramer & Ursula Kramer

44 plays

Change from 2023: down 30

First appearance: 2005

One thing about the hobby that has changed over time is the push for those new to the hobby to play the classics.  This makes sense; when I got into the hobby, the number of classics I needed to play to “catch up” on was a _lot_ more manageable.  It’s hard for me to even picture the “you really should try…” list these days; it’s not hard to imagine it being a multi-decade quest for many.

But, back when I came across the hobby, Wildlife Adventure was one of those games that most everyone agreed on, and so I tried it, and liked it – and still do.  It is interesting how differently the game plays with more players; what seems a very doable task with 3 or 4 becomes really unwieldy with 6; I think it very fitting that I once observed a Wildlife Adventure tournament final end when all routes were blocked and no one had travel vouchers remaining.

#122 – Scratch House, by Kuro

17 plays

Change from 2023: up 13

First appearance: 2017

One of my personal flaws is that I have unrealistic expectations of other’s experiences.  Going back to Wildlife Adventure, I expect that folks will have played the game – not that they necessarily are fans of the game, but at least familiarity.  Such is the case with the Winchester Mystery House; I expect, when I sit down to teach Scratch House, that people will be familiar with its inspiration, and honestly I’m wrong far more often than I’m right.  (BTW, if you ever find yourself in San Jose CA, it’s well worth a visit in my opinion.  And, at least when I visited, they had a grapefruit tree where – if you could nab a grapefruit without climbing the tree you were welcome to take one.  It was far and away the best grapefruit I’ve ever had.)

#121 – Auf Fotosafari in Ombagassa, by Reinhold Wittig

19 plays

Change from 2023: down 7

First appearance: 2005

We have introduced two more house rules to this game – first, always dealing out extra pictures, and then requiring N out of M pictures being taken to win the game, and second, allowing a player to spend a turn to swap pictures.  Neither is strictly necessary, but they both lower frustrations and allow the fun part of the game to shine.  They also avoid the game stalling near the end, which helps with the flow.

#120 – Entenrallye, by Walter Müller

20 plays

Change from 2023: down 34

First appearance: 2005

The eternal question – the one that has dogged gamers for ages – is how many rallies one should aim to attend when playing Entenrallye.  Attend all four would require incredible luck; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done.  And going to just one likely isn’t sufficient.  But 2?  Or 3?  And regardless of the answer, which ones?  And furthermore, if only 2, how much do you hold out for really nice pieces to upgrade your car?  All I know for certain is that I nearly always get the answers wrong.

#119 – Perry Rhodan, by Heinrich Glumpler

22 plays

Change from 2023: up 26

First appearance: 2013

As my collection of two player games has shrunk – I might finally have sufficiently few of them – I do find it interesting to see which stick for me.  When Perry Rhodan came out, I was whelmed.  It was a perfectly fine game, but not one I would have expected to continue to seek out plays of a decade later.  But it’s grown on me; I see more and more interesting choices in the game play, and it is definitely helped by being in one of my favorite genres (pickup and deliver).  Though I will say – reading one of the books didn’t do anything to enhance my enjoyment of the game.

#118 – Auf Achse, by Wolfgang Kramer

25+ plays

Change from 2023: up 7

First appearance: 2005

I was more than a little surprised to find an Auf Achse iOS app within the past year.  It’s not bad, but like many apps not as much fun as the actual game – though it has introduced me to the more recent release, since I still have the 1987 edition.  

I do wonder – would Auf Achse be at all remembered by this point if it hadn’t won the Spiel des Jahres?  Lots of winning games clearly would still be well known, SdJ or no, and some SdJ winners are still effectively forgotten.  But Auf Achse is well enough remembered to get a brand new app, but at the same time has fewer plays recorded on BGG over all time than Ticket to Ride did in March (or February, or January…)

#117 – Food Chain Magnate, by Jeroen Doumen & Joris Wiesinga

28 plays

Change from 2023: up 20

First appearance: 2017

This has to be one of the most enjoyable games to see a plan come together in – and one of the most frustrating when you miss something critical, and plans fall apart.  It also seems to foster some of the wildest swings I see in any game – things will be moving along, fairly even, when suddenly they lurch in one player’s direction, then back in another player’s direction, until finally the game ends – often with everyone very dizzy.  I am always amused by the criticism this game receives of its artwork, in no small part because I find the artwork so delightful – it’s extremely evocative for me.

#116 – masKmen, by Jun Sasaki & Taiki Shinzawa

36 plays

Change from 2023: down 40

First appearance: 2015

The more recent editions of masKmen (as it’s styled in the original) have, instead of one copy of each wrestler’s mask, three or four – but I much prefer the original.  When played in a certain style, the connections of which wrestlers are better than which others can look like a messy family tree; I’m always a bit disappointed when it all dissolves down to a simple totem pole.

#115 – Astron (designer unknown)

17 plays

Change from 2023: up 25

First appearance: 2013

I’ve recently been thinking about the math behind this game, and it’s fascinating.  Each airport landing is 12.5 points on average; each hazard costs 7.5 points.  But even the relatively small number of cards normally collected during the game creates a rather wide range of possible scores; three airport and three hazards may be 15 points on average, but it can score zero – or 30.  Expecting the number of airports minus the number of hazards to be an approximation of the positions is not nearly so accurate as one might expect. 

#114 – Whacky Wit, by Norman Sommer

24 plays

Change from 2023: up 20

First appearance: 2015

One thing that it feels like we see less of these days is the pop-up designer – someone who has an idea or three, shows up at Essen (possibly with a booth, possibly with a backpack), and then disappears (either as a designer or as a publisher; sometimes both).  Whacky Wit was such a case; Jenseits von Theben was as well.  But it feels like the Essen hidden gems aren’t what they used to be – there are still games that are better or worse than expected, but there aren’t really many games that fly entirely under the radar until Spiel starts.  That’s likely better for nearly everyone – but I do miss the unknown gems of the past.

#113 – Mr. President, by Jack Carmichael

24+ plays

Change from 2023: down 8

First appearance: 2005

Is there an upper limit as to how long a game can provide joy?  I have seen a number of folks who have burned out on gaming altogether, and it seems like nearly everyone (myself included) loses interest in some games over time.  But I’ve been playing Mr. President for more than 40 years, and still find it fascinating, even as the election it represented has moved from one decade in the past to five.  I have changed the way I teach the game recently; I’ve stopped explaining the fund raising rules, since I can’t recall ever seeing them used.

#112 – Santa Fe, by Alan Moon

28+ plays

Change from 2023: up 21

First appearance: 2005

A + after the number of plays indicates that I played the game prior to 1996, when I started recording my plays.  The number of additional plays varies quite a bit, but one case where I actually know the number is Santa Fe, which I bought at Games People Play in late December 1995, and played it for the first time just before the end of the year.  We don’t really see anyone doing what Alan did with White Wind these days; I guess the closest modern equivalent is a designer creating a publisher and starting Kickstarter campaigns.  I’m having a hard time thinking of any notable designer in the last decade who self-financed the publication of their game(s).

#111 – Morgan’s A’Comin’!, by Paul Rohrbaugh

26 plays

Change from 2023: up 15

First appearance: 2013

I do wonder, sometimes, if I’m not playing this game optimally.  I nearly always end up playing the South, and bring my troops in from Indiana (other than the Outriders), raid each town, and try to get to Columbus to capture the governor.  However, I wonder if it’s better to head east quickly, sit by the Ohio, and be ready to bolt.  However – I’ve just discovered that there’s a definitive answer to my long held question about the game; it is allowed to raid the same city multiple times.  I didn’t expect that; we’ve always allowed a single raid per city.  But this changes the math; maybe my approach is fine given this.

#110 – Aeronautika, by Jean du Poël

12 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2015

Over time, I have changed the rules for what makes this list.  They started as all published games I rate an 8.  Then I decided that I could include games about to be published, then I decided that they had to be games actually in my collection, and finally I decided that I would include all games in my collection – but nothing else.

This is how Aeronautika made it onto my list in 2015, and then was dropped.  And, some time later, I gave up on ever finding a copy.  But after an interesting journey involving the help of three friends, I managed to get a copy in late 2023, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since – even if it isn’t the easiest game to lug around.  Perhaps my favorite play, though, came in April of 2024, when playing a six player game (allowing planes to stack four high around the Eiffel Tower), three of us spontaneously broke out in the first two verses of Snoopy vs. the Red Baron before we came to our senses.  Games that can inspire singing even from folks like me who know they can’t sing are rare and wonderful for it.

#109 – Don Q. und der Dreh mit den Windmühlen, by Matthias Schmitt

30 plays

Change from 2023: up 12

First appearance: 2011

Once upon a time there were many games I had played more than the total combined recorded plays on BGG.  As BGG grows, that time has passed; there are still likely a few games where I can make that claim, but not many.  But there are still many games where I can claim more plays than anyone else has recorded there; my friend Kevin Whitmore has the most recorded plays on BGG with six, which as you can see is fewer than I’ve racked up.

But it’s even funnier if you trace plays back; a number of the plays that have been recorded are with me, and I had picked up an extra copy which I passed on to Kevin.  Near as I can tell, eight of the fourteen people who have recorded plays trace back one way or another to me.  Which I think means that as an evangelist for the game, I’m doing a lousy job – only getting the word out to eight people?

#108 – Starship Catan, by Klaus Teuber

25 plays

Change from 2023: up 16

First appearance: 2005

The presence of a number of two player games in this part of my list is not coincidental.  I have long had a strong preference for multiplayer games; I have slowly whittled away the number of two player games in my collection so that they take up a smaller percentage, but even the ones that remain are among my least favorite favorites.  Part of this is finding the interactions of a multiplayer game to be of greater interest, but part is simply finding a multiplayer game the most comfortable place to get social interaction.  I still enjoy two player games – just not as much, on the whole.

#107 – Frank’s Zoo, by Doris Matthäus & Frank Nestel

61 plays

Change from 2023: up 16

First appearance: 2005

Of all the odd things, Frank’s Zoo – which I’ve been playing ever since it came out – seems to really be moving up for me.  I would note that we don’t play by the rules as written – no partnerships, no lion scoring, no hedgehog scoring, just pure shedding – but I’m enjoying the game more now than I ever have before.  Some of it is Doris’ wonderful artwork – I was somewhat spoiled for choices for her artwork when Frank’s Zoo came out, and miss that.  Some of it is the abundance of recent trick-taking and shedding games, which make me appreciate old favorites more.  And some of it has been recent memorable plays.

#106 – King of Tokyo, by Richard Garfield

52 plays

Change from 2023: up 11

First appearance: 2013

One of the great things about King of Tokyo is that – win or lose – there’s almost always a story to tell.  Some of the best comebacks I’ve seen in any game have been in King of Tokyo, where a player who has a very slow start ends up surviving and either rushing to a win on fame or, even better, taking out their last opponent just before they take the victory on fame.  Not every play is so dramatic, but they’re great when they are.

#105 – Spinball, by Aaron Weissblum

86 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2005

I am generally not a big fan of dexterity games; I’m usually happy to play them, but rarely am looking for repeated play.  I think Spinball avoids this fate for me because (1) it’s on a scale I can work with and (2) it doesn’t involve carefully balancing anything.  Even if I can’t score consistently, I can get close enough to feel I’m doing reasonably well.

#104 – Clash of the Gladiators, by Reiner Knizia

28 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

While I have fond memories of Circus Maximus, I think they’re far more fond memories of the possibilities of the game, rather than of the game proper.  My fond memories of Clash of the Gladiators, on the other hand, are of the game itself.  There is a real advantage, in a game about combat, to keeping a fast pace; Clash of the Gladiators (1) requires combat every turn, (2) resolves combat in, at most, three die roles, and (3) gladiators die on a regular basis.  This makes for a game that for me one plays for the fun of it, rather than the promise of it.

#103 – Mare Mediteranneum, by Jean du Poël

17 plays

Change from 2023: down 39

First appearance: 2021

One thing I always try to note in these lists is that changes – even large changes – are not necessarily the result of a change in opinion, but merely the result of creating the list from scratch each year.  We continue to tinker with the rules for Mare Mediterranuem, particularly the events – there are some events that are just devastating in practice, which can be tempered to make a better game, while still leaving a sting.  For instance, changing governments near the end of the game can simply eliminate a player; we’re now allowing a player to either (1) accept the new government or (2) require an extra item in one category for each change in governments declined.

#102 – Lost Valley, by Roland Goslar & Tobias Goslar

19 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

My most recent play of Lost Valley had something occur I’d never seen before – the river took a sharp turn and instead of running up and out from the trading post ran to one side and out.  This made for an odd game – the player with an early canoe had a large advantage, and made strong use of it.  But it’s nice to still see things I never had before this far into my journey with the game.

#101 – Sindbad, by Jean Vanaise, E. Duchatel & J.P. Postel

23 plays

Change from 2023: down 12

First appearance: 2005

Today was a very bad day.  At dawn, my boat sank.  I made it to shore with my treasure, but thieves accosted me and ran off with my amber and ivory.  Walking through the jungle, a monkey hit me in the head with a coconut.  Deciding that riding was better than walking, the elephant I found then threw me, knocking me out.  I finally made it back to civilization, but was distracted by a panther and someone stole my diamonds.  Then things were looking up; I found a ship looking for crew; while I was doing that my money was stolen.  Then the ship I hired on to sprung a leak and we had to abandon ship _again_.  I found some dancers, but still more thieves stole my pearls while I watched them dance, and then someone knocked me out.  Finally waking up after nightfall, I got in a fight and suffered a concussion.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

#100 – Old Town / Gads Hill 1874, by Stephan Riedel

30 plays

Change from 2023: up 18

First appearance: 2005

I am not generally a fan of expansions.  And I’m generally a fan of the original version of games; it’s rare that I consider a later version superior.  But somehow Gads Hill 1874 breaks both of these rules for me.  The first expansion – Railway Station – allows for more possibilities in creating proofs, making for a more interesting game.  (I should note that the second expansion – Jesse James – is, like most expansions are for me, not worth it.)  And as much as I like Old Town, Riedel improved the game significantly over time and Gads Hill is clearly my favorite take on the system.  It’s also another game I’ve played more – even not counting my plays of Old Town – than anyone has recorded on BGG.

#99 – Little Town Builders, by Shun & Aya

31 plays

Change from 2023: down 25

First appearance: 2019

I recently played the original version for the first time in a while – the iello reprint both retains the charm of the original and provides components in English, making it an easier sell, but for once only the original was available.  And it was a nice reminder of how much the original game charmed me and how good a job was done with the second edition.  For a game with so few turns – with four players, each player only gets 12 turns for the whole game – there’s a lot going on, and unlike some very short games Little Town Builders doesn’t suffer from feeling like it’s over too soon.

#98 –Traumfabrik, by Reiner Knizia

21 plays

Change from 2023: down 29

First appearance: 2011

For some time, it’s been my goal, when I add a game to my collection, to get it to ten plays as quickly as possible.  The reason I do this is that it’s very effective at weeding out games which don’t need to stay in my collection.  But as a result of this, most of the games in my collection I’ve played 10+ times in at least one year.  And, on the other end, there are only six which I’ve never played more than twice.  Of the six, the oddest of them is Traumfabrik – the other five are much more difficult to get to the table.  I’m not sure just why I’ve never played Traumfabrik more than twice in a year, but it hasn’t happened; in spite of this, it does continue to get played, and every now and again I actually do reasonably well at the game, just for variety’s sake.

#97 – Findorff, by Friedemann Friese

22 plays

Change from 2023: down 10

First appearance: 2023

In spite of my concerns about the long-term replayability of Findorff, we keep playing and enjoying the game.  I am reaching the conclusion, however, that the tokens that go on the board for each of the 25 buildings might be the most unnecessary component in any game; certainly in any game in my collection.  I should say – unnecessary but nice; if we’re not in a rush I’ll always choose to make sure they get placed.  My largest concern with the game at this point is that experience matters too much; the most lopsided games of Findorff I’ve seen involve an experienced player and new players.  Fortunately this doesn’t always happen, but – it’s not ideal when it does.

#96 – Nusfjord, by Uwe Rosenberg

24 plays

Change from 2023: down 15

First appearance: 2019

Nusfjord is a good example of how an expansion can be worthwhile just for the better components.  The gold included with the original is barely functional; it’s too small to easily use.  So the small coins of the expansion make me very happy to own it, even if I’m fairly certain I haven’t used the expansion cards more than twice.

I just looked up Nusfjord – to be sure there weren’t more expansions – and of course there are.  And a big box.  Personally, I find the original box to be entirely sufficient (supplemented by the coins that come with the Plaice deck expansion).  I’ve never quite understood the proliferation of “big box” editions; to me, they seem to be less convenient to take around and include more unnecessary expansions and cost more.  But perhaps that’s just me.

#95 – Sheep & Thief, by Yuichi Sakashita

27 plays

Change from 2023: down 27

First appearance: 2019

I love the sheep in the original Japanese edition of this game.  They could have been cubes or discs – but instead they are small cotton balls.  It’s hard to imagine a better fit to the game, and they definitely make it more fun to play even if you do have to worry about a player accidentally doing a big bad wolf impression and blowing the sheep everywhere.  This is another game which, while quite short, feels the right length for what it’s doing.

#94 – Löwenherz, by Klaus Teuber

29 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2005

I had the chance to play this in April with three experienced players – and it was fantastic.  One thing I love in games is exploring different aspects of a game, but with some games I have a hard time not going down a tried and true route, such as the traitors in Löwenherz.  So having other players both emphasizing the political deck where these cards lie and watching the traitors disappear almost immediately.  I think having other players force me into an alternate strategy might be one of my favorite gaming experiences.

#93 – Entdecker, by Klaus Teuber

39 plays

Change from 2023: up 6

First appearance: 2005

It’s always interesting to see how a game of Entdecker will develop – will there be any large islands?  This significantly impacts how scoring will play out.  If there are only smaller islands, then the bonus for having the greatest presence on those islands – and particularly the exploration chips – will be a big factor in determining who wins.  But if there’s a big island – or even a few big islands – then scoring first place on those islands will be a much larger factor.

#92 – Länder toppen!, by Matthias Jünemann

29 plays

Change from 2023: down 3

First appearance: 2017

One of the issues I have with the recent spate of trick taking (and related) games is the same one I’ve long had.  Most trick taking games are – for me – YATTCG (yet another tick taking card game).  This is not the fault of the games, particularly; the key identifier for this label for me is that a game is only worth a few plays.  But – nearly 80% of games don’t make it past three plays for me.  Trick taking games aren’t really any different; they just are prevalent and often more similar feeling in nature.  But – they’re still fun to try, and every now and again I’ll find a game like Länder toppen!

#91 – Numeri, by Rudi Hoffman

77 plays

Change from 2023: up 3

First appearance: 2011

One thing I appreciate in a game is the ability to teach it as you go.  Numeri is particularly well suited to this – initially, you only need to know one rule, and there’s plenty of time to get through the rest of the rules before you need them.  There is a lot of luck in Numeri – and at the same time, enough control as to meaningfully impact your chances.

#90 – Carcassonne, by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede

99 plays

Change from 2023: down 15

First appearance: 2005

Bulbous bouffant blubber galoshes mukluks macadamia gazebo bamboozle igloo plethora beluga ploy spatula hullabaloo gabardine tuberculosis foible.  Analytic and algebraic topology of locally Euclidean metrization of infinitely differentiable Riemannian manifold.  Aurora bungalow chatoyant denouement elixir felicity gossamer halcyon idyllic jocular kindred lullaby mellifluous nemesis opulence propinquity quintessence ripple sanguine tranquility umbrella vortex wistfulness xylophone yesteryear zenith.

#89 – Spacebeans, by Uwe Rosenberg

72 plays

Change from 2023: up 3

First appearance: 2005

How to make Spacebeans much more fun IMHO:

1. The goal is to finish the game in 10 minutes.
2. As soon as (1) you’ve been handed zero or more cards and (2) the person going before you has made a decision about drawing cards, you can make your decision.
   1. Let the person after you know if you’re not drawing cards.
3. There is nothing in Spacebeans worth agonizing over.  Make a choice, and act.
4. If you know whose turn it is, you’re not playing quickly enough.
5. Whenever you score, announce your score.
6. The correct order of actions is draw (if drawing; if not announce), place cards (if planting a new face-down field, just do so), pass cards, discard/score your face up pile (announcing your new score if relevant), flip your face down pile up.
   1. Unless, of course, you’re getting to 30+ points, in which case – just announce that.

#88 – Fine Sand, by Friedemann Friese

66 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2019

I finally managed to meet my goal of playing Fine Sand 10 times in a row and going through all of the non-starter cards.  I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the game; there’s a flow to playing a series of games like this that a single play just doesn’t match.  And honestly, some of the later cards are quite interesting, particularly some of the possible interactions between the cards.  I still don’t know how a deck-deconstruction game works so well for someone like me who just doesn’t care for deckbuilders, but it does.  I particularly like the clever possibilities the game allows, even if they come at the expense of greater player interaction.

#87 – Viva Pamplona!, by Wolfgang Kramer

35 plays

Change from 2023: down 21

First appearance: 2005

One thing I’ve experienced recently, drawing my attention to the phenomenon, is a perfect play of a game.  Not a game where you necessarily did everything correctly, or where every random element came out well for you – though those can be elements – but simply one where, afterwards, you cannot imagine things working out better.

One of the games that had me thinking about this was Viva Pamplona!.  I recently played a six player game in which I didn’t have perfect rolls – I had a couple of double-arrows, but not a huge number – but nearly every non-arrow roll was helpful, the bull chose exactly the right moments to charge, and I was able to push opponents far more often than I was pushed.  I finished the game with 70 courage, easily the highest I’ve ever seen.  Perhaps oddly, this makes me look forward to my next play, when things will undoubtedly return to normal.  (I say oddly, because one person in my game group will no longer play one game because he had his perfect game of it.  I honestly have no idea which reaction is more common…)

#86 – Guild, by Kenichi Tenabe

17 plays

Change from 2023: up 16

First appearance: 2013

While the structure of the game is set up for three wars, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen all three occur.  I’m fairly certain I’m in part to blame for this – my natural tendencies are always towards building up as much as possible before converting to victory points, which in Guild tends to push things towards one large war.  But on my most recent play I tried to push harder for multiple wars (we had two rather than one); I need to try going further in this direction, so that I can better see that aspect of the game.

#85 –Troia, by Thomas Fackler

21 plays

Change from 2023: down 3

First appearance: 2005

After my publish-on-the-first-turn plan failed, I started looking for similar options that might work better.  And – I’ve had good luck with publishing on the second turn.  The first turn I’ve just taken three tiles and researched two, so that I get some points from my first publication, and then have focused on following up with three good publications.  I’m not at all convinced it’s an ideal strategy, but it at least seems to be more workable than publishing on turn one.

#85 – Outpost, by James Hlavaty & Tim Moore

78+ plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2005

One common belief, among Outpost players, is that it’s difficult to beat a player who manages to build a water factory and a person on turn one.  I tend to agree with this, but my last two plays have me wondering.  (For context, the player leading the game in Outpost receives the number 1, and has to start all auctions they want to be sure occur before passing that responsibility on to player 2.  This has some negative effects for the leader, but not huge ones; it can be a great boon to the player in last place, though that player can fall so far behind as for it not to impact their result.)  In the first of these plays, one player managed the water/person first turn, and took the number 1.  I avoided being the fallaway trailer, but was never able to take the lead – until the very last turn.  The player with the fast start was the leader on and off throughout the game, but fell to third place in the end (of 6).  The second game – also with six players – didn’t involve the winner never being first until the final turn, but played out in much the same way otherwise; the player with the fast start remained competitive throughout, but honestly so did each of the other five players.  I believe the initial leader finished fourth in this game.

Which just goes to show once again – any commonly held belief about a game at a bare minimum has exceptions.  And, frankly, some of them don’t hold up at all.

#83 – Ursuppe, by Doris Matthäus & Frank Nestel

34 plays

Change from 2023: down 11

First appearance: 2005

All of the genes in Usruppe, from my favorite down through my least:

1. Ray Protection – because it lets you buy more genes safely
2. Streamlining – because it saves you BPs
3. Movement 2 – because it avoids rolling dice
4. Escape – because – particularly with the above – it saves your amoeba from being ingested
5. Parasitism – because you can take BPs from your opponents
6. Movement – because at least two dice is better than one
7. Intelligence – i.e. virtual Ray Protection
8. Life Expectancy – because it delays death
9. Speed – because it increases your range
10. Aggression – because who doesn’t like one more chance to kill of an amoeba
11. Struggle for Survival – because ingesting other player’s amoeba is fun
12. Spores – because it simplifies finding food
13. Frugality – because it simplifies finding food
14. Substitution – because it simplifies finding food
15. Armor – because it counts as two genes
16. Persistence – because it counts as two genes
17. Holding – because I undervalue it
18. Defense – because why would I want to convert an attack into a fight when I can just run away?

#82 – Foppen, by Friedemann Friese

74 plays

Change from 2023: down 20

First appearance: 2005

I enjoy playing prototypes.  I’m probably least fond of playing them when they’re ready for publication; not that that’s a bad time to play them, but I find it more enjoyable when there’s room to help the game get better.  So imagine my delight when, last year, Friedemann decided to bring between 25 and 30 prototypes along.  I didn’t get to play all of them – but did manage to get most of them in.  And, as a result, I’ve now played more than 100 of Friedemann’s designs.  

Including, of course, Foppen – even if I didn’t play it until after it was published.  I really appreciate the 2018 re-release of the game; before that, we’d relegated the game to only come out when we had exactly 5 players.  But with the new edition, it works fantastically with 5-8 players.  (And, technically, better with 4 – though I still don’t think it’s a good choice for four.  And having played the original once with 3, I was glad to see that number removed from the box.)

#81 – Domus Domini, by Heinz-Georg Thiemann

17 plays

Change from 2023: up 16

First appearance: 2017

One statement about a game that tells me very little about what I’ll think of it is “tight economy”.  Sometimes it’s a good thing; sometimes it’s a bad thing.  Domus Domini is a case where it works for me; if the economy were more open, players wouldn’t have to make difficult tradeoffs.  I’m not surprised by the mixed ratings the game receives – looking through BGG, most of the friends I’ve played the game with rate it a 6 or so – but I remain surprised that a game from the designer of Planet Steam (with nearly 3,000 ratings on BGG), which came out later, would have 1/20^th as many ratings.  When I find a game I enjoy, I seek out more games from that designer; I suppose the lesson is that people pay less attention to the designer’s name than I would hope.

#80 – Grachtenpand, by Zach Hoekstra

24 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2025

There are some who believe games are constantly improving.  And perhaps for them they are; I don’t find that to be the case.  I do think that the belief that the best games are those from when you started in the hobby is fair – perhaps not true for everyone, but I’ve found very few years that compare favorably with 1995-1997 when I first discovered German board games.  But unlike some who seem to despair of things ever being as good, I find that there is a cycle to the hobby.  For me, 2004 and 2013 compare favorably with 1995-1997; on the other hand, 2019-2021 is a real low point.  Unfortunately, 2024 was not a good year for new games for me, so this is one of only four games to join this list – though part of that is that fact that I’ve gotten better at playing new-to-me games enough to make a reasonable judgement and part of that is that the bar to stay in my collection keeps going up.  

However, there are still exceptions.  My approach to Spiel – whether on the few occasions when I’ve gone, or on the many more times when I haven’t – is simple; I look through the preview on BGG, identify a long (30-70) list of games that I can’t immediately eliminate, and then divide them into those I’m willing to buy blind to find out how they are, those I want to try to find an opportunity to play, and those that I can live without.  Usually the games I’m most interested in are those that I’ve played as prototypes and know I want – but about one title each year stands out as being of great interest.  My hit rate on these is only about 50% – but they do include a number of games on this list.  Including Grachtenpand, which really caught my eye on the first review, and stood out even more strongly when I looked more seriously into the game.  If the idea of a game focused on building canal houses in Amsterdam, incorporating simultaneous play, sounds interesting, this might also be a game for you.

#79 – Durch die Wüste, by Reiner Knizia

64 plays

Change from 2023: up 28

First appearance: 2005

Ah, good old Through the Sausage.  A classic game, always fun, always vibrant – it’s really hard to picture the game without pastel camels – and a game where I know pretty well what I’m good at (connecting to oases) and what I don’t pay enough attention to (roping off areas).  I’d be really curious if a starting position (after everyone has placed all of their riders) can be analyzed to determine a most likely winner.  This seems like a problem that AI could currently give a confident and yet incorrect answer to. 

#78 – Free Ride, by Friedemann Friese

21 plays

Change from 2023: up 44

First appearance: 2023

I recently played TransAmerica, and it made very clear to me why I prefer Free Ride.  They both share the need to build to particular cities, while connecting up with other player’s routes so as to reduce the number of actions required to do so.  But here, with track having ownership, and with multiple players having – over the course of the game – incentive to visit each city, the whole concept comes together in a way TransAmerica never did for me.  I’m not convinced I’m any better at Free Ride than at TransAmerica, but at least in Free Ride I feel a stronger connection to my mistakes.

I also should note – with the release of Free Ride USA (which I consider to be the same game – my play total includes plays of both versions), there seems to be a strong preference among American gamers for the USA edition, primarily because of greater familiarity with the geography but also because of the color-coding of cities and the change to how coins can be collected.  For me, though, the original is the superior game; the board being a little less regular actually makes the game more interesting for me, and I actually find the colors slightly distracting.  I also strongly dislike the way some people prefer to play the game (at least with the original), placing dice or some other markers on the board to show what the available routes are.  In addition to finding this horribly fiddly, I think it’s distracting and unnecessary.  I realize I’m in the minority, but – I much prefer the game without.

#77 – The Pillars of the Earth, by Michael Rieneck & Stefan Stadler

25 plays

Change from 2023: up 27

First appearance: 2007

I really don’t like forcing games on people – I may really want to play a game, but the experience isn’t the same if I feel I’ve twisted anyone’s arm to play it.  So I’m really pleased to have found another local enthusiast of Pillars of the Earth – getting it played more often suddenly seems more realistic.

While I’m thrilled at the prospect of “more”, I’m also really pleased to be playing with someone who makes choices that force me into exploring different paths.  While I’ve never had a real problem with getting stuck on a single strategy in Pillars, I do have a tendency to value certain actions quite strongly, and not having the chance to take them is refreshing.

#76 – Polterfass, by Andreas Schmidt

29 plays

Change from 2023: down 3

First appearance: 2021

Is Polterfass a dexterity game?  I’m really not sure; there seems to be some skill in getting the barrels to stand on end, even if it’s not the emphasis of the game.  I think it’s telling that at a recently gameday I hosted, I was OK with letting a game of Polterfass go on without me (allowing me to catch up on other things); I _missed_ playing, but I get to play it enough that I didn’t regret missing the opportunity; I know there will be another soon.  I almost wish the game handled seven players – but I’m not convinced it could do so without increasing the amount of beer on the dice, and going into double digits would have challenges.

#75 – Louis XIV, by Rüdiger Dorn

37 plays

Change from 2023: down 8

First appearance: 2005

Mark Johnson recently organized a Dornucopia at a local gaming event – but they skipped Louis XIV.  Were I local to the event, I certainly would have brought it – for me, the game strikes an excellent balance between allowing players to do the things they want, without making it too easy or letting players do so without challenge.  There is layer after layer of “but wait”! – until a tile is resolved, there’s little confidence (at least after the first round) that there won’t be late changes to the state.  I’m not sure just where or when I got into the habit of calling the pieces brought in by red cards “paratroopers”, but I must admit that I enjoy that anachronism.

#74 – Circus Grandioso, by Florian Racky

36 plays

Change from 2023: down 13

First appearance: 2013

I wonder what the phrase that will scare off the most gamers is.  I’m not sure, but I am certain that “it’s a memory game” is in the running.  Now, Circus Grandioso isn’t a pure memory game, but there is a real memory element to the game – and it makes it hard to convince people to play.  To be fair, even those who aren’t put off by a memory aspect might not be fans; it’s too simple a game for fans of the rules-complex games popular today.  But for me, it’s ideal – it may be simple in rules, but the challenge of timing things to go out as the circus master is difficult.

#73 – Kardinal & König: Das Kartenspiel, by Michael Schacht

30 plays

Change from 2023: up 37

First appearance: 2005

To the best of my memory, the only time I’ve ever used Artscow was to print up full-sized cards for Kardinal & König: Das Kartenspiel.  If I were smart about it, I’d print out English tiles – or at least a cheat sheet.  And maybe include discs to use as reservation markers.  I’m not really one of those who upgrades components – I don’t have anything against it; it’s just not my thing.  But in this case, doing so might help me to get the game played more often.

#72 – Mississippi Queen, by Walter Hodel

40 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

I remember the disappointment when Mississippi Queen was named Spiel des Jahres; coming after Die Siedler von Catan (which was still well loved at that point) and El Grande, Mississippi Queen was felt to be too simple.  To be fair, as compared to the other 1995-2000 winners (Elfenland, Tikal, and Torres in addition to the above), Mississippi Queen is the least complex.  But – it’s still one of my favorites among the winners.  I think the short duration helps me get past the fact that it’s a racing game – that and the ability to knock into other players.

#71 – Nauticus, by Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling

30 plays

Change from 2023: up 8

First appearance: 2017

I do wonder – how obscure has Nauticus become?  I remember its release – among other things, it came out one of the three times I’ve been to Spiel.  And the design team behind it is well known, at least among those who pay attention to game authors.  It’s still getting played, though I do wonder how much of that is due to the implementation on Yucata.  But I can’t recall the last time I saw someone else bring it to a convention, and it definitely doesn’t seem to show up on the “games everyone must have in their collection / play at least once” lists.  It seems to have made five top N games lists – but two of those are from 2015, and two are more than five years old, from folks who haven’t posted a geeklist since.  (The other one is mine.)  Nauticus might not be completely forgotten, but it seems to be on its way there.

#70 – Elfenroads, by Alan Moon

40 plays

Change from 2023: up 38

First appearance: 2005

This is, I believe, the first game I paid a premium to get.  I didn’t find out about it until 1995, by which point White Wind had sold out, but I managed to find someone on rec.games.board willing to sell it – and I’m glad I did; I’ve gotten good play from it since then.  I fear I play Elfenland (which I consider to be the same game) more often these days, simply because it’s on Board Game Arena, but – I still prefer the original.

#69 – Big Boss, by Wolfgang Kramer

37 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2005

While I typically prefer the original edition of a game – Elfenroads is not an outlier – on occasion I do find that a later edition, revision, or sequel actually does improve a game.  So I was happy to try the new rules for Big Boss.  But, after playing them a number of times, I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer the original.  Not by miles, but by enough that I doubt I’ll be using the new rules again by choice.

I will continue, however, to play the new edition.  Unlike essentially every other attempt to reprint the game, Funko made sure it was possible to play with the original rules, without any difficulty.  (I am familiar with this because when Alcazar came out, I wrote up a description of how to play something _close_ to the original game using the components of Alcazar; that file still lives on BoardGameGeek.)  Keeping compatibility with the original is, in my opinion, something publishers should aim for.

#68 – Machi Koro, but Masao Suganuma

47 plays

Change from 2023: up 45

First appearance: 2015

A friend of mine doesn’t at all care for Machi Koro because for him it compares unfavorably to Die Siedler von Catan – there is random collection of resources without the trading that makes that game work.  While I can see his point, for me Machi Koro succeeds in its speed of play and simplicity; you can do many things to take best advantage of both your rolls and other player’s rolls, but there is a limit; the advantage here is a far greater ability to shift plans based upon how your opponents are doing than one sees in Die Siedler.

#67 – Eggs of Ostrich, by Shimpei Sato

102 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2015

I recently had a remarkable play of Eggs of Ostrich, which resulted in a case I’d never seen before – all four of my bags broke.  However, I forgot about that rule – it hadn’t come up in ~100 plays, so why would I remember that? – and conveniently the fourth bag broke in round 9, and I still had my Skip card.

And, in fact, my opponents had _both_ played their skip cards in round 9.  And the three cards we hadn’t seen (two cards aren’t used each game) included two amber.  And if an amber card had shown up, ignoring the fact that the rules stated that I was officially eliminated, I would have finished with two amber and 8 points – and tied for the win.

Now – the rule is necessary (had I broken my final bag in round 8, I would have had no legal play in round 10), but it’s still interesting.  Even more interesting was the fact that in my very next play – immediately following the one previously described – I ran into the situation where I _had_ to let a bag break.  I’d already lost my 5 bag, and my 2, 3, and 7 bags were all full, and I’d just played my Skip card the previous turn.

To me, it’s impressive that a very simple game can – 100 plays in – still have surprises.

#66 – Can’t Stop, by Sid Sackson

175 plays

Change from 2023: up 4

First appearance: 2005

Now five years in since the start of Covid, my gaming _mostly_ is back to looking like it did in 2019.  But there are exceptions.  My 1846 plays – which weren’t particularly limited even before then – continue at an increased pace due to online play.  (An aside, but – I know nearly everyone has shifted over to 18xx.games, but for me it just doesn’t keep me in the game sufficiently for asynchronous play.  I’m happy to play there live, but for asynchronous play I do prefer Board18.)  There are about 10 games I play in rotation on Yucata with friends of mine from high school, plus a continuous series of one game with friends in The Netherlands and North Carolina.  Oh, and my Bridge game is almost exclusively online now, since it really loses the least by playing that way.  But every couple of months or so, I play games on Board Game Arena for an afternoon – and Can’t Stop almost inevitably is one of them, continuing to increase my play count.  Unlike Eggs of Ostrich, I’m not seeing new things in the game – but I’m still very much continuing to enjoy it.  It really is simply a fantastic dice game.

#65 – Nautilus, by Brigitte Ditt & Wolfgang Ditt

22 plays

Change from 2023: up 15

First appearance: 2005

In general, I’m a big fan of exploration games.  Not all of them, certainly, but when done well I find them particularly engaging.  And I definitely find Nautilus to be well done.  Focusing on underwater exploration allows for the introduction of some fun theming elements (particularly the Atlantis discoveries).  The mechanisms used then support this well; about the only part of the game that feels more mathematical than thematic is the scoring.  As I play the game more, I’ve come to appreciate all of the research elements in the game – for a long time I thought radar was a waste, but I’ve come to really appreciate it.

#64 – Tipperary, by Günter Burkhardt

21 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2025

As much as I enjoy this game, I’m not sure it has a lot of upside for me; I really prefer more interaction in a game than Tipperary provides.  But other than not providing a lot of interaction, I think Tipperary does everything very well.  It’s a very accessible game, with a good setting and mechanisms that support the setting.  There are many different paths to pursue in the game, but enough randomness that your ability to fully pursue a particular path is not guaranteed.

#63 – Inotaizu, by Kenichi Tanabe

22 plays

Change from 2023: up 53

First appearance: 2011

The winner of the biggest change from 2023 to 2025 for me.  I think that’s more because I underrated the game in 2023 than that it’s gotten better for me – but I think it has gotten at least somewhat better for me.  There are few games where the mix of setting/theme and mechanisms fit as well for me, and there’s something inherently interesting and involving about a game tied to the mapping of the Japanese coastline.  And, as I’ve mentioned before – having an early edition with imperfect English actually helps the game for me – both in the challenge originally of figuring out how to play and now in the interesting description of what players are doing.  There aren’t many games where I like to read the game description to players as part of the teach, but here I do.

#62 – Die Steven Seagal, by Stefan Dorra

79 plays

Change from 2023: down 6

First appearance: 2005

While some of my favorite games are trick-taking games, I find – particularly as I thin out my collection – that I really don’t need _that_ many trick taking games.  I have favorites for three, four, five, and six players – so those obviously stay.  And I have a near-favorite for three, which also stays.  But Die Steven Seagal, in spite of not being my favorite with any one particular number of players, _is_ a game I quite enjoy with 3, 4, or 5.  The need to state what tricks you’re going to win is a fun challenge, even when it’s impossible to say with any certainty.  And I find that choosing Steven Seagal is a well-balanced option; 

it’s usually a three-point play, which is typically only better than one other player, but it does help save an awful hand.  I’ve actually seen Steven not taken more in recent games, in recognition of this.

#61 – Fast Food Franchise, by Tom Lehmann

147+ plays

Change from 2023: down 6

First appearance: 2005

At one point, there were a small handful of games I’d played 100 or more times, and very little that was close.  (To be specific – at the end of 2015, there were 11 games I’d played 100 or more times.  Today there are 24.  Fast Food Franchise was the rare game at that point close to 100 plays but under, with 96 plays.)  But now – I’m beginning to look at 100 plays as a reasonable expectation for a game that sticks in my collection.  The percentage of games in my collection I’ve played 100+ times has more than quadrupled, and continues to rise more regularly.  Part of this is undoubtedly just perspective – as more time passes there are more games I’ve played more times – but I really think that an expectation of a game that it’s worth playing 100 or more times isn’t unreasonable.

#60 –Der Elefant im Porzellanladen, by Michael Schacht

37 plays

Change from 2023: up 23

First appearance: 2007

Even if the English idiom is “bull in a china shop”, there’s something that calls to me about an elephant in a porcelain shop.  The game really continues to draw me in – I tend to play it multiple times each year, and (re the 100 play discussion above) I can see it eventually getting there.  In particular, every time I think I’ve learned something about the game, a new counter-example comes up to make me rethink things. 

#59 – Unpublished Prototype

41 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2021

This is the same unpublished prototype I included in 2021 and 2023; it continues to be unpublished, and I continue to love the game.  And because – thanks to both the designer and another good friend – I have a copy, it qualifies for this list for me.  I know some people lump all unpublished games into the “unpublished prototype” bucket, and just track that – but from the start I’ve tracked my plays of each game (or things I combine to call one game) separately, which means I have a private record of unpublished games I played 20+ years ago which will likely never see the light of day and where I’ve lost touch with the designer.  This also leads, every now and again, to the discovery that a game I played long before as a prototype has been published.  Easily the most extreme case for me is Winter Court, which I played as a prototype in 2003 – and then not again until it was published, in 2024.  (The previous record holder for me was Cowtown, which I played as a prototype in 2002, and then in published form in 2012.)

#58 – Vikings, by Michael Kiesling

54 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2007

Is it better to start experienced gamers with the advanced game, or the basic game?  I was taught the advanced game of Vikings, and didn’t play the basic game until many years later – and came to realize that I much prefer the advanced game.  But there are many cases where the advanced game, for me, ruins an otherwise interesting experience.  If you know the game, it’s fairly easy to choose, but learning a game blind – it’s often hard to know.  I tend to default to the basic, but if we get through those rules and something seems to be missing, we look further.

Of course, it’s not that different from the question of teaching with or without an expansion.  Which is, in turn, one of the things I dislike about expansions – it can make this a question (or even a disagreement), when with the expansion there simply wouldn’t be a question.

#57 – Beyond the Sun, by Dennis Chan

54 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2021

I am honestly a bit amazed at how quickly Beyond the Sun has racked up plays for me.  Now, Board Game Arena adds to this – but nearly half of my plays have been in person, so it’s really only accelerating something already going pretty fast.  I’ve played enough now that I’m trying things for the sake of trying them – pursuing more colonization-focused and military strategies, trying for different balances between research and colonization, opting for different people/materials production balance, and so on.  It’s always a plus for me when a game affords the opportunity for such exploration, regardless of where it leads.

#56 – Zum Kuckuck, by Stefan Dorra

55 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2005

In a recent play of Zum Kuckuck, we had the most extreme hand I’ve ever seen.  It had no cards above a 42 (and no other card above a 36), and no cards below a 5.  Three of the five players scored five points with the hand, never taking a single nest.  One player was forced to take a 12 nest with the 5, and “escaped” with a score of zero.  The fifth player (me) was fortune enough to have a high nest I took followed by a number of even higher nests, managing a couple of points with the hand in the end.  I’ve often seen hands in Zum Kuckuck balanced on a cliff, but never one as precariously balanced as this one.

#55 – Wyatt Earp, by Mike Fitzgerald & Richard Borg

62 plays

Change from 2023: up 3

First appearance: 2005

While I’ve always had the opportunity to play Wyatt Earp a reasonable amount, for some reason I’ve been finding more chances of late, and I do appreciate it.  I’m not convinced I’m learning more about the game, and the results suggest I’m definitely not getting better, but I’m always enjoying the experience, and plays feel different enough as to keep drawing me back.  At the same time, when things do go horribly wrong, the game doesn’t last interminably long.

#54 – The Great Dalmuti, by Richard Garfield

65+ plays

Change from 2023: up 3

First appearance: 2005

This game might involve the most twisting of arms for me to get played.  I play with a number of folks who enjoy it – but it seems like in every crowd there’s someone who doesn’t wish to play it.  And while I’d be happy playing 10 hands or so, I can’t recall the last time I got more than 6 in.  And I don’t think I will ever understand why this game gets such a mixed reception while everyone seems to enjoy Tichu.  Not that Tichu is a bad game – but for me, Dalmuti does a far better job of extracting the fun from the system.

#53 – House of Cats, by William Attia & Kristian Østby

32 plays

Change from 2023: n/a

First appearance: 2025

This is the game with the highest debut on this list for me, a reflection in part of the opportunities I had to play the game during its development.  It’s somewhat ironic that by the time House of Cats came out – a game I’d been waiting for for years – I’d basically given up on roll-and-write games.  But I still love this one, and so it’s the one such game that I have in my collection; it’s hard for me to imagine another roll-and-write making its way in.

I also think the development path this game took – and the influence Østby had on the design – are interesting.  As a prototype it was very abstract; interesting, and very enjoyable, but abstract.  The introduction of the cat-and-mouse element to the game really helped to elevate the game and broaden its appeal.

#52 – Hawaii, by Greg Daigle

51 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2013

I reported two years ago that I was not very good at Hawaii, but playing it significantly more often.  This – seems to be helping; I think I may have unlocked the “mediocre” level.  (i.e., good enough to win when everything goes right for me and wrong for others; not good enough to really challenge skilled players under more balanced circumstances).  It’s nice to see that the game is continuing, post-pandemic, to see regular play, and not just online.

#51 – Breitseite, by Reinhold Wittig

33 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2017

I am not a naturally dexterous person.  I typically do not wing dexterity games against skilled opponents.  And I _never_ carry off impossible shots or flicks or the like.

Except in a recent game or Breitseite – which just goes to show that anyone can get lucky sometimes.

We were in the middle of a game, going along fairly normally; I was doing fairly well at managing to damage my opponent’s ship slightly more than my own.  I was trying to take out the (from my point of view) right hand support for my opponent’s middle deck, shot, and – discovered that my cannonball had knocked out that support _and_ in the same act replaced it.  I would never have thought this possible, and doubt I will ever manage it again, but it will likely forevermore be the best shot I’ll ever manage at Breitseite.

#50 – Wings for the Baron, by Dave Townsend

31 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2019

As with Viva Pamplona, I recently experienced my perfect play of Wings for the Baron; unfortunately, due to the nature of the game, it was a very imperfect experience as a result.

After a slow start, I managed to get every single upgrade for my fighter except for Better Engines IV.  But being fairly far along in the game, I just played a card that added two to my fighter effectiveness, and then drew another such card, getting my fighter effectiveness to 34, easily the highest I’ve seen.

But this then caused the game to fall apart.  Because the allied fighters usually improve based upon the best German fighters, pretty soon my mitspieleren were in danger of not selling planes any more – and on the final turn, none of them were in fact able to.  The Germans won the war – either the first or second time I’ve seen that – but what looked like a comeback turned into a rout, and – made things less fun.  Fortunately, I think this series of events is unlikely to repeat any time soon – I hadn’t seen anything like it in 30 plays, so why should it? – but it did take away something.

#49 – Timbuktu, by Dirk Henn

38 plays

Change from 2023: down 14

First appearance: 2005

I have played Timbuktu every single year since I first played it – in 1998 – through present, with the understandable exception of 2020.  (2020 was an exception in many ways, really.)

But – there are lots of games I play every year – and that number is increasing, because as my collection has shrunk I have played every game in my collection more frequently.  I will regularly set challenges for myself, and I first set the challenge of playing every game in my collection in 2012.  Then again in 2016.  Partway through 2019, I realized it was possible, so I set the challenge again.  After 2020, I wanted to make sure every game made it back to the table, so I set the challenge in 2021.  And by 2023, I thought it just made sense, so I tried again – and finished in early July.  In 2024, I finished on July 1st.  In 2025, I finished on April 23rd.

You see, while I’m good at completing the challenges I set for myself, I’m not very good at pacing myself at them.  I set the challenge – and then pursue it vigorously.  Which sometimes leads to more challenges; while I tried to resist the urge, having realized that it was possible to play every game in my collection at least twice in 2025, and with the number of titles I hadn’t played twice down to just 32 at the beginning of August, I signed up for a new (to me) challenge.  I _am_ trying to pace myself better, but – the idea of playing every game in my collection twice in a year is very appealing to me.

So what does this have to do with Timbuktu?  Well, Timbuktu was one of the last games I played for the first time in 2025, with one enthusiast of the game and three folks who wanted to join.  And – it did not go well.  None of the folks who wanted to join particularly enjoyed their experience, and as a result I didn’t enjoy the experience nearly as much as usual.  And – Timbuktu is one of the remaining games I’ve only played once this year.  If I didn’t think of the game as being a five player game only, maybe I’d have an easier time finding enough folks who really want to play – but IMHO the game really wants five players.  And while I find myself one of five at a table often enough, there usually someone who doesn’t care for Timbuktu among them.  I am confident I’ll find the right crowd to play the game with before the year is over, but I definitely want my second play in 2025 to work out better for _everyone_ than my first.

#48 – Too Many Cinderellas, by Nobutake Dogen & Nao Shimamura

74 plays

Change from 2023: down 7

First appearance: 2015

I think the thing that Too Many Cinderellas has taught me is that Prince Charming just isn’t all that discerning.  He’s willing to listen to way too many advisors – “Don’t choose someone who drinks wine!”, “Don’t choose someone who wears glasses!”, “Don’t choose someone with blond hair!”, “Don’t choose a boy!” – rather than going with his own instincts (assuming he has any).  While I may have thought shoe size an inadequate method, it does sound better than a series of popular votes…

#47 – Planet Steam, by Heinz-Georg Thiemann

33 plays

Change from 2023: down 10

First appearance: 2009

Some years back, I decided to find one song from my music library for every game in my collection.  For Planet Steam, there’s an obvious choice – it runs through my head when playing the game – The Theme for M.U.L.E., by Roy Glover.  Unfortunately, I can’t find any commercial release of the song, so I have to go with Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, instead.

(Postscript – I found the song available for download.  Spreadsheet updated to represent the new choice.)

#46 – Concordia, by Mac Gerdts

33 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2015

Once upon a time, my tastes and those of BoardGameGeek aligned reasonably well.  Not perfectly, by any stretch, but – I could count on the games near the top of the rankings _generally_ being ones that I enjoy, and at least some of the games I enjoy being highly ranked.  While that’s been less and less true for some time, we’ve reached the point where not only do I not own any games in the top 25 – I’ve only previously owned two of them, and I’ve only played five of them.  Concordia just misses the cut, being ranked #26 – though my preference for how to play the game (the original, no expansions) doesn’t line up well with many other’s preferences, making it trickier to get to the table sometimes.

#45 – Ricochet Robot, by Alex Randolph

76 plays

Change from 2023: up 4

First appearance: 2005

There are a number of categories of games I enjoy well enough – but generally don’t want to play, at least not more than once.  Cooperative games are like that; there are a handful of exceptions, but generally I don’t want to play cooperative games over and over, and so they don’t stick around in my collection.  Speed games are another such category.  Not because I’m poor at them – I can usually hold my own – but because I don’t generally find the process of playing them to be fun.  The one exception here is Ricochet Robot.  And I think a key factor in this is that the game is more laid back as speed games go; you don’t have until someone finds a solution, but a period of time after that, so that even those who don’t process as quickly can do well at the game.  I also really appreciate that the solutions are often non-obvious – and sometimes the solution that wins at the table _isn’t_ an optimal solution.  About the only thing that would improve Ricochet Robot for me would be if the percentage of really interesting puzzles was higher – but given the constraints of random puzzle generation, I’m pleased the percentage is as high as it is.

#44 – Samarkand, by Sid Sackson

49 plays

Change from 2023: down 2

First appearance: 2005

While I have a huge amount of respect for Sid Sackson as a game designer, as a player of his games the one thing that keeps them from being even better for me is their abstract nature.  Now, without Sackson’s exploration of these abstractions, I’m certain it takes longer to get to the German games of the 90s I know and love, so I can’t really complain about it.  But – I do wish that, for example, Samarkand felt less abstract to me.  There are designers whose games feel even more abstract – Leo Colovini being a good example, and some of Knizia’s games – but none of Sackson’s games completely avoid that feeling for me.

#43 – Autoscooter, by Günter Cornett

33 plays

Change from 2023: down 7

First appearance: 2005

Does a game need to have a winner to be fun?  I’ve been exploring this recently, and one idea put forth is that if the activity itself is sufficiently fun, then a game can get away with not having a winner.  While this is the idea behind a number of party games – I’m not convinced it’s a requirement.  Certainly games without a winner (or, rarely, a single loser) are uncommon, that ones that do exist – or which regularly get played that way – aren’t all party games.  (The Great Dalmuti being one counter-example.)

Autoscooter certainly has a victory condition – but I’m not convinced it needs one, any more than bumper cars themselves need one.  The goal is to manage some significant hits; if one succeeds at that, who really cares about the rest?  Or one might have a goal of never getting caught up / stopped.  Or one might have the goal of going full speed as many times as possible.  Sure, there _are_ rules for who wins at Autoscooter – but do they really matter?

#42 – King’s Breakfast, by Alan Moon & Aaron Weissblum

80 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2005

Can a filler game be a favorite?  I’m sure it can for some, but for me, I don’t think it’s possible.  Well, not possible to be a top-of-the-scale all-time favorite, at least.  This is nothing against fillers – I have a number of them, including King’s Breakfast, in my top 50.  And I’ve played them a _lot_ – among the games I would consider to be fillers in my top 50, I’ve played King’s Breakfast the least – and 80 plays is still quite a lot.  What makes a filler great for me tends to be a combination of (a) easy accessibility – I should be able to explain the rules in less than five minutes to someone who has never played before, and less than a minute to someone who has, (b) repeatability – there should nearly always be a temptation, on finishing a filler, to play it again [give or take folks who never want to play the same game twice in a row], and (c) mechanisms that fit the duration.  This last is perhaps the trickiest to explain – but there are games which feel like they’ve gone on too long for what they do, and games which feel like they’ve ended too abruptly.  A good filler shouldn’t be in either of these categories – but really is only in danger of the latter.  Usually this happens when there just aren’t enough turns to accomplish what you wish to accomplish.

#41 – Quacksalbe, by Volker Tietze

36 plays

Change from 2023: down 3

First appearance: 2005

How is it that so many good games start with the letter Q?  It’s the 3rd or 4th least common letter English words start with (though, to be fair, one of the titles is in German, not that Qs are any more frequent in that language).  And – I seem to be drawn to such games; my average rating for games that start with a Q is higher than for any other letter.  I’ve actually played fewer games starting with a Q than any other letter save for X and Y – I just seem to have really enjoyed some of the ones I have.  So what would be my fourth-favorite game beginning with the letter Q?  Depending upon my mood, either Quartermaster General or Quartier Latin.

#40 – Lift Off, by Jeroen Vandersteen

38 plays

Change from 2023: down 10

First appearance: 2019

While there are no publishers I can count on to always publish games that are right for me, among the publishers who aren’t closely tied to a single designer (or small design team), I can most often count on Hans im Glück to release games that interest me.  Many of them aren’t fits, still – I think the recently released Duel for Cardia is an extremely clever design, but I’ve only just managed to reduce the number of two player games in my collection to something manageable – but the games are always interesting.  And when they do work for me, I trust the company to have tested the design sufficiently that the game will work.  I have a friend who buys a lot of games on Kickstarter, and being a friend I do try to play some of them – but nearly every time my feeling is that, regardless of how well the game fits me, they haven’t been sufficiently developed.  Which makes me all the more willing to try out games from publishers like Hans im Glück.

#39 – Neos, by team SAIEN

90 plays

Change from 2023: up 6

First appearance: 2015

While I do feel that interaction is a key element in games, there are exceptions to every rule, and Neos is such an exception.  The game is truly multiplayer solitaire – what someone else does has no impact on you, and there’s not even a race element involved.  Everyone starts together; everyone finishes together.  But the game is short enough that while this lack of interaction limits how far up my favorites the game can climb, it doesn’t affect my appreciation of it.

#38 – Dice Realms, by Tom Lehmann

109 plays

Change from 2023: down 6

First appearance: 2019

I have reached the point, finally, that I’ve played the published game more than the prototype.  Well – maybe not if you include playtests of the recently released expansion.  Because of my enjoyment of playtesting, I will collect a lot of plays of some games prior to publication.  In the spreadsheet where I track my plays, though, I can only readily differentiate plays of not-yet-published game, as opposed to pre-publication (which, admittedly, can become really tricky even for those who record the days of their plays, due to the question of exactly when a game was first released; I played a published copy of Dice Realms before it was “published” in the US, for instance).  But – I’ve recorded over 1500 playtests of games which haven’t – to the best of my knowledge – been released yet.

Only a few such games, like Dice Realms, really rack up a significant number of plays though.  Among other things, there are very few games where I’ve had a playtest copy to test out, so playing it usually involves being with the designer.  And they’re often looking to get fresh input and/or show the game to publishers, so there are only so many opportunities.  But I took advantage of every chance I had to play Dice Realms – and enjoy it every bit as much now as I did when playtesting.

#37 – A Brief History of the World, by Steve Kendall & Gary Dicken

38+ plays

Change from 2023: down 12

First appearance: 2011

I’m thrilled to see this game continue to get republished – even if I think this edition is the pinnacle for the game.  For me, the six epochs in this edition feel the most logical historically; it doesn’t feel like very different societies are being crammed together into a single epoch to make things fit.  And the empires feel right both from a historical and from a gameplay sense – they aren’t _balanced_, but they aren’t really meant to be balanced, and it’s nearly always better to be ahead than to get a better choice of empire.  The restriction that only one event can be in play at a time also does a nice job of keeping the chaos manageable.

#36 – Rails of New England, by Walter Hunt and Gregory Pozerski

41 plays

From from 2021: down 12

First appearance: 2011

We have started to simply randomize the states entirely, so that Rhode Island (and to a lesser extent Maine) are in the game a more reasonable percentage of the time.  And, frankly – this works just fine.  And it’s a lot more fun having a 20% chance of playing Rhode Island in every game of Rails of New England rather than a 20% chance when playing with five, and a 0% chance otherwise.  I do think that it is fortunate for me, being a fan of this game, that I live in New England; the map (and the writing on the map) make it more of a challenge to get played elsewhere.

#35 – Indonesia, by Jeroen Doumen & Joris Wiersinga

47 plays

Change from 2023: down 6

First appearance: 2005

I am really looking forward to the new edition of Indonesia.  While it’s usually possible to get past the opaqueness of the game with new players, the map – is always a harder sell.  Which is unfortunate, because it really is a delightful game; for me, the fact that I can’t figure it out after nearly 50 plays is definitely a feature.  And a reason to keep trying new things – part of me really wants to try maxing out the bid turn order multiplier.  And I suspect I will…

#34 – Geschenkt, by Thorsten Gimmler

210 plays

Change from 2023: up 12

First appearance: 2005

While there are many things I’m open to, I’m not very open to rules changes in games.  I was recently at an event where someone had the new edition of Geschenkt, which includes a small expansion, and – after hearing the rules I immediately vetoed the expansion.  I’m rarely a fan of expansions anyway, but for me upsetting the brilliant simplicity of Geschenkt is just not right.  Nor, I fear, is the German edition having switched over to an English title – I was more than a little shocked to discover just now that Geschenkt hasn’t been used as the title since the 2011 printing.

#33 – La Città, by Gerd Fenchel

50 plays

Change from 2023: down 13

First appearance: 2005

La Città is one of the very few games I used to rate a 10, but no longer do.  Re-rating games is, in fact, one of the reasons I list out my favorite games each year – making comparisons helps me to realize when a game has slipped a notch for me.

Not a whole lot more than a notch, though.  I still like every game I’ve ever rated a 10, and would play them.  I just – am not driven to in the same way I am games that still have that rating.  Of the games that have slipped, La Città is the closest to still being a 10 rating for me, and is definitely a game I’m still very much enjoying playing regularly.

#32 – Factory Manager, by Friedemann Friese

51 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2009

I really wish I understood why this game isn’t more popular with my gaming groups.  We play a lot of economic games, and for me Factory Manager hits the sweet spot of being an economic game of some depth playable in under an hour.  I would think this would be ideal, and would result in it hitting the table every couple of months.  But instead, it gets vetoed the majority of the time when I suggest it.  Which is fine – I’m still getting the game to the table – but I just wish I could play it more.

#31 – Mamma Mia, by Uwe Rosenberg

87 plays

Change from 2023: up 9

First appearance: 2005

In a recent play, I got to see something I’d never seen before – a Minimale made exactly with the ingredients on the table.  I’ve seen one made without help before, but never using up everything on the table in the process.

There’s an increased interest in trick taking games these days, but what I haven’t seen is a corresponding increase in the demand for non-trick taking (or trick taking adjacent) card games.  This was, for me, what put Uwe Rosenberg on the map; his card games like Mamma Mia were innovative and engaging.  We still see some filler card games now and again, but it would be really nice to see a little bit more involved games such as Mamma Mia as well.

#30 – For Sale, by Stefan Dorra

284 plays

Change from 2023: up 9

First appearance: 2005

You know, I never thought about it before, but For Sale manages to turn one of the most unpleasant things I’ve ever done – buying and selling real estate – into one of the most enjoyable games around.  As important as theme and setting are to me, I should naturally dislike For Sale quite a bit.  But in practice, I love it.  Actually, it has a second strike against it – I don’t mind auctions in a game, but I generally don’t like a game to be all about auctions.  Or, for that matter, blind bidding.  But however much For Sale logically shouldn’t be a favorite of mine – it is.  Since the game was released in 1997, I’ve played it at least twice every year – even including 2020, which broke a lot of my play patterns.

#29 – Jambo, by Rüdiger Dorn

176 plays

Change from 2023: up 18

First appearance: 2005

I recently realized that my ongoing efforts to cut back the two player games in my collection to a reasonable number had finally succeeded.  I now own only 10 two player (only) games, about 1/15th of my collection.  I still don’t play two player games quite often enough to justify that percentage, but – it’s close.  And I’m not sure what I’d get rid of, if I wanted to.  You can see them all on this list, and if you go looking you’ll notice that it’s an eclectic mix.

I’ve previously ranked person card and utilities, so clearly a ranking of animals is in order (least favorite to most)…

8) Parrot – I’m not really sure why this in the game; it’s really hard for me to imagine a case where it’s worth playing a guard to stop it.

7) Elephant – again, mucking with wares is not often of great value in the game, but at least this is – usually – more bang for the buck than a parrot.

6) Hyena – while wares are the most valuable element in the game, the next most precious resource is cards.  At best this is a card upgrade, which doesn’t often make a big difference.

5) Snake – can be useful when your opponent has both more and better utilities, but still not of tremendous value.

4) Ape – unlike the hyena, this can not only _improve_ your hand, but increase the number of cards in it.  Handy card to have when you’re stuck with a small, weak hand.

3) Cheetah – I’m not sure, at any time other than near the end of the game, I’ve ever seen someone allow 2 cards to be drawn instead of 2 gold taken.  But 2 gold for one card is a pretty nice exchange.

2) Lion – given the importance of certain utilities, this can be a very powerful card; just as the ape is clearly better than the hyena, the lion is clearly superior to the snake.

1) Crocodile – there’s a reason there are far more of these in the deck than any other animal.  Both forcing your opponent to discard a utility they likely had plans for _and_ getting a final use out of that utility are powerful.  This card is the reason I value having a guard on hand if I have a utility of interest.

#28 – Battle Cry, by Richard Borg

46 plays

Change from 2023: up 15

First appearance: 2005

I think the jumps for Jambo and Battle Cry are a recognition that I somewhat underrated them both because they only handle two players.  I do think that’s a fair knock against a game – I find that multiplayer games have more use for me – and I do have a preference for playing a multiplayer game, but I think I was penalizing them too much.  Battle Cry remains, for me, the ideal implemention of Richard’s Command & Colors system; most of my friends have other preferences, but I think the US Civil War is ideally suited.  And, as an added bonus – a friend of mine passed away nearly four years ago now, and I now have his beautifully painted copy, so I get to remember my friend when I play.

#27 – Canal Mania, by Steve Kendall, Phil Kendall & Gary Dicken

40 plays

Change from 2023: down 4

First appearance: 2007

I’ve always been intrigued by the “play games in the places they represent” idea – but I don’t travel enough to make that a realistic possibility for most games.  And when I do travel, it’s most often with my wife, who isn’t a gamer; asking her to play Hawaii in Hawaii would not have improved the vacation.  But I have played Canal Mania in the UK.  Now, technically the town where I played it isn’t on the map, but the train I took to get there departed London and passed through Tonbridge, which seems close enough to me.  It definitely felt appropriate to play there, in any event.

#26 – Glass Road, by Uwe Rosenberg

53 plays

Change from 2023: up 5

First appearance: 2015

I know there are folks who seek out games that are similar to games they already enjoy; I can understand this, but – I’m too much of a fan of innovation and originality to often do so myself.  But I was intrigued by Black Forest, noted for reusing what I consider to be the best innovation of Glass Road, the resource wheel.  And I like Black Forest, and it isn’t by any stretch a Glass Road clone.  But – I just found myself wishing I was playing Glass Road instead.  The length was definitely part of this; I think one of the best features of Glass Road, compared to Rosenberg’s other “big” board games, is the modest length.  And Black Forest not only advertises itself as longer, but whereas Glass Road claims to be 20-80 minutes and usually takes 45, Black Forest claims to be 60-120 minutes and usually took around 100.  And – it doesn’t _feel_ like there’s much more going on.  If the game felt like it needed the extra time, I think I would have been fine, but as is I’ll play Glass Road twice instead.

#25 – Macao, by Stefan Feld

67 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2011

The fact that only one Feld game has survived for me is not a shock.  The fact that Macao is the one to make it continues to astound me.  I care deeply about theme and setting; Macao does not.  From the goods that teleport onto your ship to the Waterworld edition of Europe, there’s really nothing about the game that gives any impression of Macao.  And, in fact, I’d rather like to see a game about Macao that’s actually about Macao.  But – this game still works for me, enough so that unlike most of the games in my collection that support just two players, I’ve actually played it with two.  I really appreciate the implementation on Yucata, which has allowed me to explore the game more, and just added to my appreciation.

#24 – Showmanager, by Dirk Henn

69 plays

Change from 2023: up 4

First appearance: 2005

I mentioned, two years ago, the habit I’d fallen into of putting on a bad Wolf in Troisdorf early.  I don’t like to get into ruts in games, and I’m happy to say that in many of the games since I’ve avoided this trap.  Oddly, in one, I put on the Ballet in Troisdorf instead – that felt very odd, even to have the chance to do that.  But getting past that rut has heightened my appreciation of Showmanager, which remains an outstanding game.  And I still love the first Queen edition, particularly Frankenactor.

#23 – Flaschenteufel, by Günter Cornett

76 plays

Change from 2023: up 10

First appearance: 2005

I was amused to discover that after dropping Flaschenteufel 10 places last year I raised it 10 this year, putting it back to where it was in 2021.  Regardless of any changes in where I rank the game, it’s a fantastic three player trick taking game and solid four player trick taking game.  It’s the one trick taking game I think of as being on the same tier as my favorite three player trick taking game, my favorite for four, my favorite for five, and my favorite for six (all still to come).  Having players place one card under the bottle imp is a fantastic mechanism, because it breaks card counting.  I count cards; it’s not something I do voluntarily, but really just an automatic reflex.  And as a result, I find that any which foils card counters in an interesting way is a big plus – I don’t want to know precisely how things stand.

#22 – Africa, by Reiner Knizia

93 plays

Change from 2023: up 4

First appearance: 2005

How are you still reading this?  I’m over 18,000 words in, and exhausted just writing this much.  And I really don’t think I have anything useful to say about the game Africa that I haven’t already said.  For that matter, I’ve never been to Africa.  I do have a friend from Togo, whose passion for learning I find very inspiring.  I just looked – the closest I’ve ever been to Africa was still 300+ km away.  Which – isn’t all that far, really; one thing I’ve learned from growing up in the Midwest is that the distances I’m comfortable with driving to get somewhere are longer than for those who grew up on the coasts of the US – and much longer than for those who grew up in Europe.  The only other games in my collection which include any portion of Africa that I can think of are Mare Mediterraneum and one I haven’t got to yet on this list.  You know, for all of the mockery of games about trading in the Mediterranean, I think Mare Meditteraneum is the only one I have in my collection.  I’d like to see more games about trading in the Mediterranean, actually – would be a step up for me from the fantasy themes.  I really liked the spotlight BGG put on games from Africa a few years back; maybe they’ll do a follow-up sometime.  It seems to me that the base camps in Africa aren’t particularly well designed for camping.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been camping; I never really appreciated the activity.  I wonder if the last time was when I went with the Cub Scouts and we camped on the outfield in McCoy Stadium.  Was sad to hear that the stadium was torn down this year – if amused to hear about the time capsule from the 33 inning game.  OK, if that doesn’t stop people from reading this, nothing will.

#21 – The King of Frontier, by Shun

91 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2015

I’m really curious to see what Shun & Aya come up with next.  As is often the case, it’s their earliest designs which have most resonated with me, but – all of their games have offered something of interest.  Dangerous Mining is probably my least favorite, and it was still worth a second play.  And, for that matter, I’d still be willing to play it again.  But – The King of Frontier remains their magnum opus – while the mechanisms may feel borrowed, rather than original, the combination feels original, and the game offers a great combination of some depth and quick playing time.

#20 – Mü, by Doris Matthäus & Frank Nestel

326 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

In my opinion, this is the trick taking game to play with five players.  There are other trick taking games that are enjoyable with five – Die Steven Seagal leaps to mind – but this is the best.  I would note that we always play five hands, with each player dealing once, rather than playing to a particular score.  I recently discovered that I actually have more copies of Mü in my house than any other game – and I don’t have the latest edition.  I think we even tried playing three player once, soon after getting the game.  It was – well, better than Foppen with three, I’ll give it that.

#19 – Acquire, by Sid Sackson

109+ plays

Change from 2023: down 2

First appearance: 2005

I recently streamed a play of this for Heavy Cardboard, which was fun.  I should have lost the game – I probably should have finished 3rd – but I was fortunate that I had far more experience with the game.  During the stream probably wasn’t the time to do so, but I always wonder in such a situation if I should be offering more advice – or if I’m already offering too much.  I really don’t want to play anyone else’s position, but at the same time I’m happy to help others improve their play.  I fear sometimes that I err on the side of offering too many suggestions, and so I try to remember to ask first – but I fail to do so more often than I would like.

#18 – Grand Austria Hotel, by VIrginio Gigli & Simone Luciani

134 plays

Change from 2023: up 4

First appearance: 2017

The continuous series of online Grand Austria Hotel plays continues, and the game has held up admirably to this barrage.  I have found that I’m making small changes in my play, most notably placing more emphasis on endgame scoring staff in preference to in-game advantages.  I’m not sure it’s making a difference, but it feels like a better choice to me.  I haven’t reached the point of taking _any_ endgame scoring over _any_ in-game advantages, but I’m getting closer and closer to trying that.

#17 – Sextet, by Ralph Peterson

104 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2005

In my opinion, this is the trick taking game to play with six players.  I’m not sure how much it’s appreciated these days just how ubiquitous Bridge was in the United States in the middle of the twentieth century.  Charles Schulz used to have a second comic to go along with Peanuts, focused on Bridge, for example.  But while many folks – my parents included – got together with an even number of couples, what were you to do if you had three or five couples?  Sextet, of course!  There are Sextet tallys which include movements for 10 players, with one table of Bridge and one of Sextet.

Given this, I have no doubt that when the game was released in the 1960s, it was played, likely a reasonable amount.  But then the game disappeared; when I looked on BGG in 2010, the only person who had played who I didn’t introduce the game to was Eamon Bloomfield.  And there is, even today, I believe there’s only one person who has recorded a play who I haven’t played Sextet with.

#16 – Bohnanza, by Uwe Rosenberg

112 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2005

I’m not sure just why, but after being an easy game to get played for more than two decades, Bohnanza seems to be getting vetoed more of late.  I know I’m more fond of trading games than most, but still – the game seems to have lost some spark for many.  Not for me, however – I still love the game, and would be happy to play more.

#15 – Russian Railroads, by Helmut Ohley & Leonhard Orgler

83 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2013

It’s interesting – for me, the influence of 18xx on Russian Railroads is very clear.  It’s still a clearly different game, but – you’re building and improving routes, scoring based upon how well you’ve done just that.  Now, it avoids both the investment aspect of 18xx and the train rusting, and adds a worker placement element – but I still feel like I’m doing something very similar to in 18xx, even if the yellow/green/brown/grey colors have been replaced by black/grey/brown/neutral/white.

#14 – Thebes, by Peter Prinz

50 plays

Change from 2023: down 2

First appearance: 2005

One of the things I really like about Thebes is the difference between different cultures in the treasures they hide.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player intentionally choose knowledge in a particular culture so as to aim for the high (Palestine) or low (Mesopotamia) variance strategy; it would be an interesting choice.  I have seen – in my most recent game – a strategy of investing in knowledge for four different cultures win out over great knowledge and fantastic luck in just a couple.  Which was really reassuring – it felt, at the table, like the great luck made it a race for second, but it wasn’t.

#13 – Euphrat & Tigris, by Reiner Knizia

65 plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2005

I wonder why the order of these rivers is different in German and English.  In many ways, for western culture the German version makes more sense, since the Euphrates is to the west of the Tigris.

But regardless of the reason for the difference, I will as always use the name by which I learned to enjoy the game – which is nearly always also the name of the version in my collection.  Even when I have to take a German box and an English edition to do so – my copies of Foppen, Timbuktu, and Die Quacksalber von Quedlinberg are English copies in German boxes, so that they have the name I prefer.  Euphrat and Tigris has much more substantial differences between editions, so I simply have the German edition.

Well, two copies of the German edition.  I am in the habit of acquiring backup copies of games.  This has come in handy – I’ve worn out multiple copies of Race for the Galaxy and one copy of Merchant of Venus, and having another one ready to go was really helpful.  I overdo this, though – I have backup copies of about half of the games in my collection, and at this point have more backup copies in total than different games in my collection.  The only games I aim to have backup copies of are the games I rate a 10; I just end up collecting more.

#12 – Ticket to Ride, by Alan Moon

60 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2005

I’m very pleased that Ticket to Ride has managed to break into my h-index.  If you haven’t heard the term, it means the largest value “h” for which you’ve played “h” different games a minimum of “h” times each.  For me, h is currently 60 – you can find most of the 60 on this list, but not all of them.  I made a big push into getting my h-index to 50 before I turned 50 – which I succeeded in – and figured my age would soon pass my h-index, but a number of games (including Ticket to Ride) have managed to get played enough to catch up.  (I don’t turn 60 until 2027.)  The great thing is – each of those games has either been a new game I wanted to play a lot _or_, as here, an old favorite I was pleased to be playing more often.

#11 – Race for the Galaxy, by Tom Lehman 

1480 plays

Change from 2023: down 2

First appearance: 2005

I continue to really enjoy Race, and continue to play it a lot, if never nearly as much as I did in 2008.  It’s interesting – because I played Race so much in 2008, my data from that year is a major outlier, and I frequently will hit some milestone or another that is “a record for me except for the Year of Race”.  For example, I got in 1177 plays of games last year, which is easily the most plays I’ve completed in a year – except for the Year of Race, when I had 1683 plays, nearly 2/3 of them of Race.  It’s still racking up plays, though – just at more of a one per month rate.

#10 – Schnäppchen Jagd, by Uwe Rosenberg 

169 plays

Change from 2023: down 2

First appearance: 2005

In my opinion, this is the trick taking game to play with three players.  It claims to support four players – and it does.  The problem is that as a four player game, it’s fine; as a three player game, it’s excellent.  It is also my very favorite of Rosenberg’s many designs – I fear that being a trick-taking game it has never gotten the acclaim of even his other clever card games, but for me this is the best game he’s produced.  How well it handles three players is a big plus, as is the short play time (20 minutes, regardless of what it says on the box) and the great, silly artwork.  I’ve never done so, but I can imagine sitting around playing ten games in a row of Schnäppchen Jagd very happily.

#9 – Saint Petersburg, by Michael Tummelhofer 

221 plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2005

While I’ve mentioned before how undervalued I find buildings generally to be, I haven’t yet tried a fully building-focused strategy.  Now that I mention it, I’m going to have to try it.  What I mean specifically – I’ve gone with mixed strategies before, where I try to earn many more points from buildings than my opponents while staying reasonably close on aristocrats.  But I’ve never tried ignoring aristocrats completely (or nearly so), focusing on buildings while keeping enough money around to collect lots of workers, and seeing where things go from there.  It would require some luck – specifically, building upgrades, including some moderately priced ones.  But I think it could be competitive.

#8 – Frisch Fisch, by Friedemann Friese 

66 plays

Change from 2023: up 3

First appearance: 2005

I’m not sure there’s ever been a game rule so simple in the stating and yet so difficult for players to visualize as the appropriation rule in Frisch Fisch.  As much as I prefer the original, I sometimes need to play the more recent edition of the game to accommodate players who can’t visualize the rule.  Fortunately, the game is still a lot of fun with the more recent edition.

Oh, and for those who were wondering what happened to Eloise and Timmy, they managed to get, Firesign Theater-like, to the B-side of They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!.  A few seconds of !aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT, and they ran off, never to be seen again.

#7 – Res Publica, by Reiner Knizia 

102 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

I’m not sure I’ve got anything new to say about Res Publica – it’s still great, multiple more recent editions have added changes that harm the game even more than players who won’t trade, and that’s about it.

So, instead, I’ll use this opportunity to say that – after 20 years of consistently putting together these lists every two years, I’m going to retire from this.  Not necessarily forever, but – as I’ve done more and more of them with a list of games that just doesn’t change very much, I find I have less and less to say about the games themselves.  And I’m not lacking for other writing projects, so – I _may_ put together another top N list at some point in the future, but don’t count on one in 2027.  It will happen when (and only when) I have things I want to say.

#6 – Merchant of Venus

125 plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

It’s certainly limited data, and may simply be an outlier, but – the last few games where someone found the yellow drive relic they didn’t win.  I’ve always looked at it as an automatic pickup, but perhaps I’m overvaluing it.  (Or, more likely, correctly valuing my ability to roll poorly.)  I did have a great game recently in which any of the three players could have won; everyone was within $100 of the goal we’d set for at least one turn before one player finally made it over.

#5 – 1846, by Tom Lehmann 

526 plays

Change from 2023: up 2

First appearance: 2005

Another 100 plays, another set of new discoveries and insights.  I’m currently trying a path of running a bad company, paying out whatever I can, selling down to just the presidency, and investing.  And – it’s working often enough that I’m now getting into variations on this theme.  And, of course, mixing in plays with other strategies, so that I don’t become too predictable.  This did lead to a situation in a recent game where another player could have stolen a company from me or I could have dumped the company, but neither happened; the company was just mediocre enough for neither of us to act for a couple of times through in the stock round.

#4 – Advanced Civilization, by Francis Tresham

33+ plays

Change from 2023: down 1

First appearance: 2005

One of the classic arguments in gaming is the Civilization vs. Advanced Civilization debate.  I have friends who are clearly on one side or the other, and as for myself – I’m clearly on the Advanced Civilization side.  I can understand those who like the 11 Civilization card limit of the original, and limited numbers of each type of card, but – I’m nearly always on the side of less limited play.  (It’s the reason 1880 China isn’t anywhere near this list; I find being limited to building track in certain eras makes for an unpleasant game.)  I also find that there’s a greater opportunity to rein in the leader in Advanced Civilization due to the tradeable calamities and the secondary effects.  I would still play Civilization if a group really wanted to – I’m not going to pass up an opportunity to play in this case simply because it’s not my preferred version – but it’s games of Advanced Civilization that I’ll organize.

#3 – 2038, by Tom Lehmann & James Hlavaty 

89+ plays

Change from 2023: up 1

First appearance: 2005

One advantage of playing 2038 as much as I – and my local group – has is that we’ve whittled the play time down; with the right players, we can comfortably finish in under four hours.  This greatly increases the opportunities to play the game, which I appreciate.  I’ve also been experimenting with working to collect anywhere from zero to four independents (haven’t managed four yet), and that’s been quite fun to play around with.  We’ve also, due to some random chance, been having a lot of games of late where TSI finds loads of rare mines and ends up doing Venus’ job, just without the $10 bonus.  Random chance suggests this will happen sometimes, but I’m not sure why we’ve seen it so often in a small number of plays.

#2 – Bridge, by Harold Vanderbilt

3151+ plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2005

In my opinion, this is the trick taking game to play with four players.  Probably the element I most look for in games is the opportunity to learn; it’s not surprising, then, that Bridge – a game you can easily learn about for your whole life – is such a favorite of mine.  This got me thinking about who all I’ve learned the most about Bridge from.  Growing up, it was my parents and my grandmother; my grandmother would indulge me by playing “Bridge” where we each got to look at two hands.  The next person to teach me was Larry Kaplan, who developed the Bridge cartridge for the Atari 2600.  It still wasn’t real Bridge, but at least it gave me the opportunity to play solitaire back when that was a lot more difficult to manage.  When I discovered the Bridge game at work, I was even more reckless a player than I am today (I will never forget one player declaring “all doubles of Joe are for penalty”), and I learned from all of them but probably the most from Dave Gross and Steve Root.  Around this time I discovered interesting books on Bridge – not just quizzes, but Bridge fiction with characters.  Among the authors I learned the most from were David Bird, Ron Klinger, Victor Mollo, Terence Reese, Alfred Sheinwold, Frank Stewart (who taught me the value of occasionally confusing kings and jacks), and Ernst Theimer.

And – for all of this learning, I’m still not a particularly good Bridge player.  Hopefully a _better_ one, but nowhere near the level of many folks I know.  And, honestly, fine with this; I still haven’t played duplicate Bridge more than about 10 times, and I’ve never cared for it nearly as much as party Bridge.

#1 – Die Siedler von Catan, by Klaus Teuber

133+ plays

Change from 2023: none

First appearance: 2005

Yup.  No change.  Boring.  I’m aware.  And I’m fine with it.  I saw a thread on BGG recently that suggested someone who lists Settlers as their favorite game / most played game is an average gamer.  I’m not convinced of that, but I do think I have about as much overlap with an “average gamer” as I do with more serious gamers – as I do with anyone who enjoys games, really; there are games we’ll both enjoy.

And often that game will be Settlers.

THOUGHTS FROM OTHER OPINIONATED GAMERS

Mark Jackson: I actually read all the way through Joe’s extensive War-and-Peace-ish length rumination on his favorite games circa 2025. I do a top 100 games list most even numbered years (we’re out of sync on this, evidently)… and I found 33 of Joe’s games that have also appeared on my lists over the last 20 years or so:

• #146 – Die Schlacht der Dinosaurier
• #143 – Klunker
• #142 – Diamant
• #138 – Industrial Waste
• #137 – Codenames
• #127 – Kardinal & König
• #124 – Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg
• #120 – Entenrallye
• #108 – Starship Catan
• #104 – Clash of the Gladiators
• #102 – Lost Valley
• #101 – Sindbad
• #98 –Traumfabrik
• #93 – Entdecker
• #89 – Spacebeans
• #87 – Viva Pamplona!
• #72 – Mississippi Queen
• #66 – Can’t Stop
• #61 – Fast Food Franchise
• #55 – Wyatt Earp
• #38 – Dice Realms
• #37 – A Brief History of the World
• #31 – Mamma Mia
• #30 – For Sale
• #28 – Battle Cry
• #24 – Showmanager
• #22 – Africa
• #16 – Bohnanza
• #14 – Thebes
• #12 – Ticket to Ride
• #11 – Race for the Galaxy
• #10 – Schnäppchen Jagd
• #1 – Die Siedler von Catan

All but Battle Cry are still in my collection (I have a ridiculous amount of Memoir ‘44, which is a parallel move.)

I also listed the games that Joe himself taught me/encouraged me to find (which should include Entenrallye, Spacebeans, and Fast Food Franchise, btw.)

• #131 – Blöde Kuh
• #121 – Auf Fotosafari in Ombagassa (Joe actually gifted me with a copy of Topfgucker, the HABA version of this game)
• #39 – Neos
• #7 – Res Publica

Finally, no response to Joe’s favorites list would be complete if I didn’t mention some of my favorite experiences of playing board games with Joe:

• An epic game of Battle Cattle where Cowthulu appeared and turned us against each other.
• A game of Ricochet Robot where Joe was finding the shortest solution so quickly that he began calculating the longest solution while the rest of us tried to find ANY answer.
• A Gathering of Friends game of Fast Food Franchise with 4 players where we managed to almost completely fill the board with franchises… much to Dan Blum’s dismay.
• Joe & I playing Kapitan Wackelpudding and managing to get the majority of the pieces on the boat – and move it!
• Being schooled by Joe in Africa (the game, not the continent) – thus making me a much better Africa (again, game not continent) player.

Man, if you managed to read everything Joe wrote then waded your way through my footnotes, color me impressed. Or concerned. Or both. :-) 

Larry:  There are 135 games I currently classify as “Great” on the OG scale, a list which I am happy to report grows by several games every year.  26 of them are also in Joe’s list.  Here they are, with the games I most enjoy listed first:

Games in my top 10

• Lowenherz

Top 25

• Bridge
• Jambo
• Grand Austria Hotel
• Spyrium

Top 50

• Schnappchen Jagd
• Flaschenteufel/Bottle Imp
• Louis XVI
• Russian Railroads
• Hare & Tortoise
• Macao
• Hawaii
• Concordia

All the rest

• Traumfabrik
• Codenames
• Beyond the Sun
• Tigris & Euphrates
• Bohnanza
• Can’t Stop
• Ricochet Robot
• For Sale
• Planet Steam
• Geschenkt/No Thanks
• Fresh Fish
• Civilization
• The Green Fivura/Fives

One other note.  I wasn’t exposed to Bridge until my late 20’s, much later than Joe was.  But, like him, I used a Bridge cartridge on my Nintendo to help me learn how to play (or at least how to bid; I seem to recall the program was pretty awful when it came to playing out the hands).  For all I know, it was the same program.  Quite a weird coincidence!