2015 Community Board Game of the Year - Results Posted!

2015 Board Game of the Year Results
This year we had 21 participants and apart from the top 2, there were many votes spread fairly evenly over a large number of games.

One major trend this year is the presence of 2015 releases and late 2014 releases. The top spots are all late 2015 releases (for the US) and the rest of the list is mostly early 2015 or late 2014. Does this mean that this community and the board gaming community as a whole is shifting towards playing the heavy hitters when they come out and focusing on playing new games rather than older ones? Even looking through the larger list, most games are fairly knew. While the list is "New to you in 2015" it would be interesting to know if people spend as much or more time playing older releases.

Interesting to note as well is that we had a number of reprints this year, none of which showed up in our lists. Fury of Dracula, Mission Red Planet, and others.

The list is also split fairly evenly across theme-heavy games, mechanic focused games, and "party" games.

1 Pandemic Legacy
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Not surprising that the game that shot to the top of the Board Game Geek charts is also our #1. This game also had the highest number of #1 votes (5) and the highest average rank. People love Pandemic and people love Legacy.

2 Codenames
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Codenames got the most votes (10) and scored just under Pandemic Legacy. It's also the shortest game on the top 10. This may be the most likely game to reach a broad "mass market" audience as well. The cover could use some work such as some of the awesome portraits from the cards.

3 Blood Rage
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The first Kickstarter game on this list. Blood Rage came out at the end of 2015, is quite expensive, but is getting a lot of attention.

4 Mysterium
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Dixit is one of the best selling games out there and Mysterium takes a lot of those concepts and builds a more complex game around it.

5 Spyfall
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For a short time, Spyfall seemed to burst on the scene before Codenames stole the spotlight. They aren't very similar games, but I wonder if Spyfall would have done better had it been given the time to shine.

6 & 7 Sheriff of Nottingham & Castles of Mad King Ludwig
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Our first 2014 release with Sheriff of Nottingham. At this point in the list, we are seeing the staying power of 2 slightly older games. Sheriff of Nottingham takes the bluffing of popular games like Resistance and focuses this on individual goals that are easier to control. Was it re-released at the perfect time?

Castles of Mad King Ludwig is definitely one of the more interesting looking games out there and seems to keep building a following.

8 & 9 Roll for the Galaxy & Funemployed
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Roll for the Galaxy seems to have burst onto the scene and made the very popular, but somewhat obtuse Race for the Galaxy somewhat obsolete. Maybe the dice and somewhat simplified use of icons made it more widely appealing.

Funemployed is mechanics focused game with an interesting theme. As with Castles of Mad King Ludwig, is it this combination that pulls the mechanics focused games into the broader market?

10 & 11 Splendor & Gravwell
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Splendor and Gravwell are both slightly older games with simple mechanics yet complex strategy. Neither necessarily rely too heavily on their themes. Instead, quick turns and lots of exciting close calls in a short play time may be keeping these games on the table.

Original post

Spoiler:

Back for it's second year, it's December and that means CGOTY!

Here is a link to last year's thread, https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1295006.

I had fun last year and I hope others did as well. Here are the rules, pasted from last year's thread.

I'll be using the following tool I created last year to calculate the results, http://www.the-truth.exposed/goty/. While not required, putting a comment at the end of your post in JSON format, such as,

"PandaEskimo" : ["Coup", "Liar's Dice", "Bang! The Dice Game", "Om Nom Nom", "1775: Rebellion", "Jamaica", "Sushi Go", "Shadow Hunters", "One Night Ultimate Werewolf", "Corto"]

would be helpful.

Rules

Spoiler:

Since the CGOTY may not be appropriate for board games, we figured we'd start this thread.

Since Clocky did such a great job, I'm just going to run this the same way.

My only requirement is that the games are new to you in 2015, that you played them at least once, and that they are board, card, or party games and not pen and paper RPGs. War games count. If you have a question about it, just feel free to put it on the list!

Here are her rules below:

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Here are the Official Rules of the 2014 Community GOTY Voting Thread. We'll do this FAQ-style.

  • What games are eligible for voting? Anything you played for the first time in 2014. So, you Dark Souls nuts who have been salivating over that game for years now don't get to vote for it again. But if this was the first year you cracked open a classic like Chrono Trigger or Thief: The Dark Project, go ahead and stick it in your list if you loved it enough. Voting this year is open to any game on any platform from any year.
  • How do you know if I really played it for the first time this year? I don't. We're on the honor system. But what's the point of trying to rig a silly forum poll?
  • What if I didn't finish it yet? If you haven't finished a game but feel like you've played enough to know that you really love it no matter what happens in the end, go ahead and list it. Let's face it: some games are really stinking long, and you might not have been able to finish them yet but still know they're excellent.
  • Why are we doing it this way? Because we're old. This is a site packed to the brim with mature, adult gamers with jobs, family obligations, hobbies, and other things that take up our time. This is also a site packed to the brim with people who can't afford the new hotness as soon as it's released. We've all got piles, and we all play through them, but we don't often get a chance to say that we really love something even if it's old.
  • What if the top game ends up being from 2007 or something? It won't.
  • So how are votes counted? Games in the top spot on a list get ten votes, second place gets nine, et cetera, et cetera, with tenth place getting a single vote. Out of format lists (i.e., lists that aren't ranked and/or lists that go over ten) will get one vote for the first ten games mentioned.
  • Can I vote for an expansion pack? For the purposes of vote counting, votes for expansions are folded into votes for the base game. So for example, a vote for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is counted as a vote for Diablo III.
  • I played a game before, but this year I played the remastered Director's Cut with new content on a new platform. Can I vote for it? The spirit of this thread is to vote for things that were new to you this year, and replaying a game you love with spiffier graphics runs somewhat contrary to that. On the other hand, some remasters and re-releases significantly change the original game, and sometimes replaying something can feel more revelatory than playing something brand new. So, it's up to you.
  • Can I list a game multiple times so that it gets more votes? No. That's annoying cheating.
  • When does voting open? When does it close? Voting is open as of right now, so go post your list! Voting will close at midnight-ish on the 31st of December. That'll give people time to wrap up some of those late November games and also to sample whatever they might find under the Christmas tree.
  • Are you going to do anything really neat and special with the results? I'm so glad you asked, because yes! Aside from the community's top ten list and the traditional top games for each platform, the results will be sifted through for some other results like:
    • Best-Loved Game of the Year and Most Loved Game of the Year - These are given to the games with the most #1 votes and most unranked votes, respectively.
    • Classic Game of the Year - Given to the game with the most votes that wasn't released in 2014.
    • Darksiders of the Year - Given to the game that's maybe good. Better ask just to be on the safe side.
    • And more! If I think of something! Or if you think of something! Or something!
  • What if I change my mind after I posted my list? Then pretty please be sure to put up a new post that lets me know you changed your list. It'll seriously mess with my thread-tracking if you don't.

Here is a link to the games 'released' in 2014 / 2015 if that helps: http://boardgamegeek.com/search/boardgame?sort=rank&advsearch=1&q=&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmin%5D=2014&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmax%5D=2015&B1=Submitt

Please keep in mind that tons of games are 'released' in one year and are widely available the next. Also, a game doesn't have to be new for it to be new to you!

Current Data Set

Spoiler:

{
"PandaEskimo" : ["Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition","Abyss","Welcome to the Dungeon","Tales & Games: The Hare and the Tortoise","Shadow Throne","Blood Rage","Mission Red Planet","Thebes: The Tomb Raiders","Rattus: Mercatus","DC Dice Masters"],
"carrotpanic" : ["Chaos in the Old World", "Istanbul", "7 Wonders Duel", "Pandemic Legacy", "Keyflower", "Red 7", "Lords of Vegas", "Mysterium", "Five Tribes", "Codenames"],
"stingray" : ["Mice and Mystics", "Takenoko", "Spyfall", "Werewolf", "Lost Legacy", "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective", "Concept", "Loopin' Chewie", "Witness", "Volt Robot Battle Arena"],
"Bruce" : ["Codenames", "Auf Teuffel Komme Raus", "Splendor", "Mysterium", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "Lanterns", "Orleans", "Spyfall", "Elysium"],
"oilypenguin" : ["Codenames", "Tammany Hall", "Netrunner", "Gravwell", "X-Com", "Blood Rage"],
"CptDomano" : ["Shogun", "Codenames", "Gravwell", "Mysterium", "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective", "Chaos in the Old World", "Pandemic Legacy", "Arctic Scavengers", "Funemployed", "Arabian Nights"],
"Jolly Bill" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Blood Rage", "Bottom of the 9th", "Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan", "Tiny Epic Defenders", "Defenders of the Realm", "Star Trek: Five Year Mission", "The Big Book of Madness", "", ""],
"DrDoak" : ["Castles of Burgundy", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Forbidden Stars", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "Codenames", "Gravwell", "Funemployed", "Warhammer 40k: Conquest", "Jaipur", "Splendor"],
"Fredrik_S" : ["Pictomania", "Mysterium", "Codenames", "1775: Rebellion", "Splendor", "Above and Below", "Sushi Go", "Steam Torpedos", "Tash-Kalar", "Burgle Bros."],
"RanchLizard" : ["Nations", "Bruxelles 1893", "Russian Railroads", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Bora Bora", "Hawaii", "Istanbul", "Francis Drake", "Saint Petersburg", "Shadows over Camelot"],
"Prozac" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Spartacus", "Betrayal at House on the Hill", "Blood Rage", "Dead of Winter", "Good Cop Bad Cop", "Sheriff of Nottingham", "Batman Love Letter", "Dice Masters", "One Night Ultimate Werewolf"],
"Flintheart Glomgold" : ["The Voyages of Marco Polo", "Fire in the Lake", "Star Wars Armada", "La Granja", "Food Chain Magnate", "Mission Red Planet", "Deep Sea Adventure", "Hyperboria", "Warhammer 40k: Conquest", "Forbidden Stars"],
"MeatMan" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre", "Dungeon Fighter", "DC Deck Building Game", "Letters from Whitechapel", "Star Wars: Imperial Assault", "Maximum Throwdown", "Pandemic: The Cure"],
"Gravey" : ["Evolution", "En Garde", "Welcome to the Dungeon", "Race! Formula 90"],
"Minarchist" : ["Alchemists", "Twilight Struggle", "Keyflower", "Codenames", "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective", "The Great Zimbabwe", "Camel Up", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "The Gallerist", "Trains", "Paperback", "Arctic Scavengers"],
"Gunner" : ["Enemy Action: Ardennes", "Turning Point: Stalingrad", "Viticulture", "Combat Commander: Europe", "Where Eagles Dare", "Advanced Squad Leader: Starter Kit #1", "Baltic Gap", "Here I Stand", "Alien Frontiers", "7th Fleet"],
"Dysplastic" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Game of Thrones LCG 2E", "Merchants & Marauders", "Kemet", "Spyfall", "Codenames", "Cosmic Encounter", "Fury of Dracula", "Betrayal at House on the Hill", "Sheriff of Nottingham"],
"mr_n00b" : ["Sheriff of Nottingham", "Betrayal at House on the Hill", "Monopoly Deal", "Divorce! The Game", "Funemployed", "Splendor", "Galaxy Trucker", "Suburbia", "Tsuro", "Evolution"],
"Gremlin": ["Pandemic Legacy", "7 Wonders", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "Agricola", "Sushi Go", "Coup: Rebellion G54", "One Night Revolution", "Archipelago"],
"Aristophan":["Funemployed","One Night Ultimate Werewolf","Sheriff of Nottingham","Codenames"],
"Crockpot" : ["Blood Rage", "Pandemic Legacy", "Spyfall", "Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn", "X-Com", "Mysterium", "Codenames", "Specter Ops", "Champions of Midgard", "Welcome to the Dungeon"]
}

I'll start things off. I moved in 2015, so my game group changed quite a bit. I still got to play a ton of great games though.

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1. Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition
- Nerdook's Coop version
- Forgotten Souls Coop
I got really excited by the surge mechanic in Descent and then found out there were a few solo expansions and a fan-made solo version. Both the official and fan made ones are great. The monsters have a lot of variety and the game is always challenging. I never come close to winning, but I have fun along the way. There are online references that go over all the monsters that come with various expansions. The monsters are a few different sizes and I just used the base monsters as placeholder for the various expansion monsters. It was not only a fun game experience, but a fun mini-print-and-play craft project.

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2. Abyss
I love these designers. Abyss does a great job of presenting an auction system where everyone is always involved. The resource economy is interesting and the game feels very streamlined. I'm not very good at the game, but it's quite fun.

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3. Welcome to the Dungeon
This is a great short game around press your luck. There is a bit of memory, but most of the game is trying to figure out when to make the round more challenging for others or easier for yourself. There is a lot of bluffing and each round becomes very exciting. It's a hard game to explain.

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4. Tales & Games: The Hare and the Tortoise
Another fantastic short game. At different times, each animal seems poised for defeat, but can end up being the winner if enough people are betting on that animal. The mechanics are pretty simple, but the bluffing and card play works wonderfully at the short time length.

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5. Shadow Throne
I played a lot of drafting games in 2014 and 2015 and this was one of my favorite new ones. The game really only works at 4 or 5 players, but there is a good amount of strategy in what appears to be a very lucky game. The special powers don't always hit, but when they do, they hit strong. I also marathoned seasons 1-5 of Game of Thrones while playing this game and it has a very similar feel. I think if you like Lords of Scotland, you will probably like this as well.

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6. Blood Rage
Played only once, but loved it. I did not win, but did very well with the suicidal strategy. Each player had vastly different strategies and abilities by the end and they were all very interesting. Look forward to playing more in the future.

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7. Mission Red Planet
This was re-printed and I found an older copy to play a few times. Very quick game for an area majority game. I liked the timing aspects of it although it was very hit or miss with my group.

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8. Thebes: The Tomb Raiders
I've heard this smooths out the swinginess of Thebes. On its own, it's a fun press your luck game where you invest in a few paths and then try to win big by going on expeditions. It's difficult to tell if you should go for big expeditions or lots of small ones. It is a euro game, but one with lots of interaction and only a few related ways to score points. Played with a few groups and they all had a decent time.

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9. Rattus: Mercatus
Rattus is one of my favorite games and Mercatus does a great job of mixing things up. While the normal strategy is to spread your population out to keep them alive, Mercatus provides an incentive to keep them together so that you can sell goods at key points. While the game becomes more complex, I felt like it introduced enough that was interesting to justify it.

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10. DC Dice Masters
Played solo with only the DC set and had a lot of fun. I built a few decks and tried them against each other. I can see how the game could be interesting against lots of opponents, but I don't have that in me. Still a really fun system, taking some bits of Quarriors and adding in Magic.

"PandaEskimo" : ["Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition","Abyss","Welcome to the Dungeon","Tales & Games: The Hare and the Tortoise","Shadow Throne","Blood Rage","Mission Red Planet","Thebes: The Tomb Raiders","Rattus: Mercatus","DC Dice Masters"]

1. Chaos in the Old World
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Oldie, but I played this first this year. Every time I played I had fun, the game came down to the last turn, and the various scoring methods, game winning conditions, asymmetrical powers, and random events kept the game fresh and intellectually challenging with each play.

2. Istanbul
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Pretty light euro with a couple readily apparent strategies on the default layout, but the mancala mechanic was interesting without completely bogging the game down (see Five Tribes). I could see coming back to this for some guaranteed fun.

3. 7 Wonders Duel
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Only played once but it really impressed me. Had the intensity and interesting choices while being mostly accessible that Patchwork and Jaipur only occasionally deliver (my other main two player games lately).

4. Pandemic Legacy
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We only had one session on this, and it's been fun so far but in the end, it's still Pandemic and that's just a bit stale for me ultimately. The narrative is fun, seeing newcomers play the game is fun, but the strategy is just permutations on something I already know and think is just so-so. I guarantee this will win top game at GWJ.

5. Keyflower
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Might have been higher if I had a chance to play this a second time, but I see a load of promise. Bidding, tile placement, logistics...could be in the Euro pantheon.

6. Red 7
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A card game that rises above because of the different ways you can use the cards in your hand. Change the rules and possibly draw another card? Add to your own tableau to boost your standing for the rest of the game? Both, but risk running out of cards? Pretty quick and easy to pick up, but challenging to master and if luck screws you over on the draw, the next hand is coming up soon.

7. Lords of Vegas
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Boatload of fun in the right group, I had one great play of this and one awful play. It can be really frustrating if the dice don't go your way, unless you take it in stride (and let it ride one more time!). Pay the cost.

8. Mysterium
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Best co-op interpretive game I've played. It's like Dixit but fun. It's like Codenames but without as much down time. Only one play, or it could have risen higher on the list.

9. Five Tribes
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Very deep and interesting game and mancala mechanic taken to the nth degree...which can make it a slog with the wrong people. If I had a different group or played more often this would probably be a favorite.

10. Codenames
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It's great for non-gamers. It makes you feel incredibly smart when you're the clue giver and get a 4 banger out of your own sheer grey matter massaging. There's also a ton of down time, being a clue solver is often pretty easy and not as fun as being a clue giver (and by numbers, you're just a solver most of the time), and games are more or less the same despite the sheer volume of words and combinations thereof.

"carrotpanic" : ["Chaos in the Old World", "Istanbul", "7 Wonders Duel", "Pandemic Legacy", "Keyflower", "Red 7", "Lords of Vegas", "Mysterium", "Five Tribes", "Codenames"]

I didn't see this thread last year, but I probably would have put the COIN series as 1-4, with Fire in the Lake as number 1.

Whelp, time to go and review the Finished Any Games Lately? thread...

My reaction after checking the list:
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You may be in the wrong thread

First of all, hello GWJ. My first post here. Cheers to all!

1. Mice and Mystics
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This game tops my list simply because my wife, son and I can all get wrapped up into the game. We shout, yell and lean over the table during the dramatic dice rolls. Good times around the family table.

2. Takenoko
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Panda. Another game the three of us can dig into with a milder tone. Good for winding down right before bed. Also, panda.

3. Splyfall
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My experiences playing this game changed dramatically from group to group. The changes between the different groups add a lot to this game for me.

4. Werewolf
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Classic. It took me entirely too long to get into a game of Werewolf. I am not sure yet if the classic Werewolf game is better for me than One night. I might not be able to compare the two.

5. Lost Legacy
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Think Love Letter, but a bit less luck. This game is still luck heavy, but there is just enough control to keep me coming back to it. It also helps that it is a quick game; my favorite filler.

6. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
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This year the publisher released a new wave of reprints, granting me the opportunity to join in. I love the newspapers, phone book, and map. The components rock.

7. Concept
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This game requires the right group of people. If everyone is into the same things, it is too easy. My favorite experiences are with people distinctly different from me but yet the group has to be ok with dumbfounded stares of confusion.

8. Loopin' Chewie
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As a kid, I loved twitch games like foosball or Crossfire. I never played Loopin' Louie, but I dig the Star Wars theme anyway.

9. Witness
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It was a bit of a stretch for me to get a list of 10 for 2015. I go back to old favorites more often then try out new games. I played one game of Witness. I did well in the game; it made me feel a lot smarter then I actually am. Since playing, I have wondered what difficulty this game was at. I am guessing the game I played was the easiest level.

10. Volt
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Robots fighting each other. I play a lot of Roborally. With the right board setup, I think Roborally is the better game for me. However, I have not played enough Volt to know for sure.

I left off x-wing. It just does not seem fair to consider one new ship purchase as an expansion. The game I played in 2015 is the same game I played in 2014. I just have a few more ships and a few more cards.
Same goes for a number of other expansions I picked up... Ticket to Ride, Star Wars CCG, King of Tokyo, etc.

"stingray" : ["Mice and Mystics", "Takenoko", "Spyfall", "Werewolf", "Lost Legacy", "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective", "Concept", "Loopin' Chewie", "Witness", "Volt Robot Battle Arena"]

Great lists so far! And, thanks for adding JSON items to the end, it will make my life easier!

Carrotpanic,

Have you played Blood Rage? I liked the one game of Chaos I played a few years ago, but haven't gotten to play since. People compare the two and Blood Rage seems a bit simpler to teach.

Your thoughts on Pandemic, Red 7, and Jaipur mirror mine. I like a lot of stuff Bruno Cathala does, but Five Tribes gave me anxiety with all the options.

Welcome, Stingray!

Nice list. I've been wanting to try Lost Legacy for all the reasons you've mentioned. Was also thinking of getting Loopin Chewy for my nieces, but I think they may be too young at 2 and 3.

Budo, you can add even 1 game if you want, you don't have to fill out 10.

I haven't played Blood Rage, I'll have to put it on my radar.

How did I miss this thread last year? Thanks for doing this PE!

I probably need to wait until the end of the year to vote. Xmas might bring me some big contenders. (TIME Stories, Sherlock, Mysterium)

Not my official vote yet but ones that are guaranteed to stay is Pandemic Legacy, Blood Rage, Spyfall and Codenames. If you haven't played any those, do it now.

I'll wait until after Christmas to do a real list but right now, Firefly and Shadowrun: Crossfire are GOTY material.

With Meeplecon done for the year I doubt anything new is going to end up on my list.

1 - Code Names - I can play this with anyone almost any time. Jump in or out any time. Even non-gamers have enjoyed this. Easiest #1 vote ever.

2 - Auf Teuffel Komme Raus - Maybe I'm a hipster for having something obscure this high on my list. But this game is 4 times as much fun as Camel Up. The fun escalated as more players are added rather than being diminished like in Camel Up. Add a few beers and this game gets crazy and loud and hilarious.

3 - Splendor - Mostly based on the amount I have played this year. You all know it I'm sure.

4 - Mysterium - Throw away the stupid clairvoyance thing and enjoy the original Polish rules.

5 - Roll for the Galaxy - Bruce likes a dice game!? Inconceivable! The fact that you will never be screwed by a 'bad' roll tempers my anti-dice stance and being able to react to a changing situation is one of my better game abilities.

6 - Castles of Mad King Ludwig - Very satisfying tableau you will build by the end of the game. Not sure if the expansion adds enough to the game for me yet.

7 - Lanterns - Another always changing game where something happens to everyone every turn.

8 - Orleans - Bag builder. There may be 1000 different ways to win this game. Lots to try. The CPU cooling fan in your head will start spinning faster and faster as the game goes on.

9 - Spyfall - I think the print and play was better than the final release...

10 - Elysium - Would be higher if it didn't require so much reading every game. With different setups each game you are likely dealing with cards you have never seen before for the first few games and so you need to read them all. Slows the game down quite a lot. Otherwise it makes for some great competitive placement and choices.

"Bruce" : ["Code Names", "Auf Teuffel Komme Raus", "Splendor", "Mysterium", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "Lanterns, "Orleans", "Spyfall", "Elysium"]

Ok, work in progress.

1.) Code Names
2.) Tammany Hall
3.) Netrunner
4.) Gravwell
5.) X-Com
6.) Blood Rage

You know, at first I was having trouble coming up with games that I played for the first time this year, and then I realized I attended both TNGD *and* RepCon. I should be able to come up with at least ten games I haven't played before, right? Right. Let's get to it. Just listing for the time being, I may add in some details later, but for now we'll just have to live with a list!

1. Shogun
2. Code Names
3. Gravwell
4. Mysterium
5. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
6. Chaos In The Old World
7. Pandemic Legacy
8. Arctic Scavengers
9. Funemployed
10. Arabian Nights

"CptDomano" : ["Shogun", "Code Names", "Gravwell", "Mysterium", "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective", "Chaos In The Old World", "Pandemic Legacy", "Arctic Scavengers", "Funemployed", "Arabian Nights"]

work in progress for me, too.

1) Pandemic Legacy
-Best game ever. My wife and I couldn't stop playing and now we want more.

2) Blood Rage
-Love it, still want to play more despite our love of 2 player and cooperative games right now. Just doesn't see enough table time for that reason.

3) Bottom of the 9th
-Finally got our copy! We love the theme and mechanics (mostly) and can't wait to get more games in.

4) Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan
-One of the better / best hidden movement games I've played. Would like to play more but just too many other games to play (and we don't own a copy)

5) Tiny Epic Defenders
-Beautifully slimmed down and faster version of the next game on the list. Love the portability and simplicity.

6) Defenders of the Realm
-Played to get an idea of how the above game was inspired. It's good, a little too long and fiddly but definitely more terror inspiring. I really liked it, but I think I prefer the Tiny Epic Defenders version.

7) Star Trek: Five Year Mission
-Very fun Co-op game that I look forward to playing more! I like the mechanics well enough, but the theme is the real selling point here.

8) The Big Book of Madness
-Only got a chance to playtest this at GenCon, but really hit the spot. Progressively difficult cooperative deckbuilding with the option to spend some of your resources into a shared pool in case you don't have any good options on your turn or you think someone else can use them better. Looking forward to playing the actual game.

That's it for now, I'll have to look up some more games later.

"Jolly Bill" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Blood Rage", "Bottom of the 9th", "Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan", "Tiny Epic Defenders", "Defenders of the Realm", "Star Trek: Five Year Mission", "The Big Book of Madness", "", ""]

Love reading the lists and descriptions.

Jolly Bill, I'd be up for scheduling a Blood Rage night. Not sure if you still live on the North Side (I do now), but I'm getting my copy in about a week and am excited to play.

Alright, my top 10 new (to me) games of 2015...

1. Castles of Burgundy
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1176894.jpg)
I know it's an old game, but this is my favorite Euro now I think? I've played lots of point salad games, but I guess I needed the Feld Greens Salad for lunch. This is a great Hexagonal Tile-Laying game where the randomness of the dice lead to interesting decisions rather than frustration at dice rolls. Every roll leads you down the path of cost analysis with your resources instead of just being out of luck for a minute. A sub-optimal play here may be necessary to set up another play later on, but I find working through the puzzles of resources to be a fun challenge.

2. Roll for the Galaxy
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1473629_md.jpg)
I love Race for the Galaxy, it's one of my favorite two player games of all time. I held off on getting Roll for the Galaxy because it looked like candy-colored Race for the Galaxy. This game does a wonderful job of subverting that candy-colored exterior for a great game of building a machine that burns your candy-colored resources to slag, refining them into sweet, sweet victory points. Victory Points for the Galaxy. I particularly like the mechanisms of the little flow chart you form in your mind while you play this game, feeding money to people, then feeding those people to the gigantic constructions you undertake. It's very cyclic, and feels like it could be interrupted by a poor roll here or there, but really makes the whole thing feel under your control. It's a grand enterprise that occasionally requires more management and inefficiency to get it to do what you want, but still will ultimately do what you want.
Also the game is really fast. Like you can finish a game with 4 players in a half hour. That's wonderful, considering the depth of the play.

3. Forbidden Stars
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2471359_md.jpg)
Forbidden Stars' best feature is that it never lets up. The tiny mechanic of moving walls throughout the board and letting players shift it around means that from the first turn, you're locked inside a prison with another player and there can be only one. It's a refreshing change of pace from the other thematic grand strategy games I know and love that tend to have phases of exploration and peace followed by brewing hostility. Forbidden Stars starts everyone at each others' throats and makes sure you know that nothing is sacred when the last victory point you need is on an opponent's home world. It's just great fun.

4. Castles of Mad King Ludwig
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1961827_md.jpg)
This is a crazy person building a castle. No one would ever visit a place where your larder is attached to your guest house which has a staircase down into a dungeon. It's just not safe. I'm not crazy about Suburbia because I hate snake point tracks and I find the economy game tedious. I mostly got this game based on the reviews and a sale. It turns out, just putting 4 rooms together to form a coherent set of rooms is more satisfying than building out an elaborate self-sufficient city in Suburbia. I think the simplification on the form of Suburbia improves the game. The mechanism of handing money to one player and then manipulating the auction board for high or low prices based on what others are building is subtle and has the most player interaction I've seen in a tile placement game like this.

5. Codenames
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2582929_md.jpg)
What a marvelous and simple idea. Use your head, come up with one word and feel like a goddamn hero. The team versus team aspect of Code Names elevates every play, making players analyze the nuances of the words or arguing the point from a previous play. There are moments of bated breath and surprise. There are moments of tremendous pain when you realize your mistake as your team reaches their finger over to a card you didn't intend. Such drama from a simple game with simple rules. Well done, Vlaada.

6. Gravwell
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2237646_md.png)
The surprise hit of Replacement Con, this game does a great job of making a completely random thing feel very under control. It is random and probably not that skillful of a game, but it also leads to hilarity because of how easy it is to mess with the other players. In a world where most of the complaints about board games I play is there is not enough player interaction, Gravwell is simple, engaging and lets you dunk on your friends constantly.

7. Funemployed
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2311804_md.jpg)
This game made my mom say some of the silliest sh*t I've ever heard. My whole family was in tears. Easy to teach, lets even the people who hate board games get on board, and is simple enough that even my youngest family members come up with elaborate job applications with unrelated qualities.

8. Warhammer 40k: Conquest
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2079275_md.jpg)
I don't like this game as much as Netrunner, but I really fell in love with LCGs this year. I've spent many an evening sifting through cards, absorbing the text and the art in a way that I haven't done since I was in middle school and playing Magic the Gathering. In Conquest, I love the hero mechanics and the slow plodding pace of the game as you can see the win on the horizon. It sometimes feels it can go either way and sometimes feels hopeless. The different deck types for each faction feel different and themed. I like that the Space Marines feel like Space Marine and the Tau feel like Tau. Sadly I only played a handful of games, so I can't put it much higher on the list. Don't read too much into the fact that there are two Warhammer 40k games on my list.

9. Jaipur
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic725500_md.jpg)
I love head to head games and so few of them are economically focused. I love how every action in this game is so easy to explain and so easy to see its pay off. It's so simple and engaging, and so easy to read the other players' strategy that you can really thwart them ahead of time. The escalation of this game as it approaches its climax sweeps you up. Play accelerates and finally the last token is discarded and you eke out a victory by a point or two. Also, another really quick game. I love these quick brain teaser games!

10. Splendor
IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1904079_md.jpg)The decision to make the gems poker chip weight was an act of genius. I can ignore so much time spent on analysis paralysis when I can clack these heavy gems together and roll them over my fingers. It feels great tactile to pick up the last two of a gem color. It feels great to chunk down a stack of chips to buy an expensive piece. My primary complaint is its theme is dull and it's really just a numbers game. Other than that, I want poker chips in every game.

"DrDoak" :["Castles of Burgundy", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Forbidden Stars", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "Codenames", "Gravwell", "Funemployed", "Warhammer 40k: Conquest", "Jaipur", "Splendor"]

It's been a great year for boardgames, I think. Lots of really high quality games I've read about and not got to try yet, but eventually I'll get around to them (I hope). Here's my Top 10 list of games I played (at least once) this year. Some are new and some are old, but damn I was super impressed with these titles.

Edit: After going through my library again, I had to make some changes.

1. Pictomania
IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91q16M86sZL._SY355_.jpg)
The amount of laughs, panicked shouts of "what the f*** is that!!", and whooops from both the person drawing and the person guessing when you just click and instantly get what they are drawing, to the confused looks from the other players make this one of the best party games not just this year, but in a long time.

2. Mysterium
IMAGE(http://www.dicetowernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/mysterium.jpg)
It could be because I played it at gencon, at 1am at night with a group of french-canadian strangers, but as soon as that first dream hit the table, instantly we were not a group of strangers making small talk, but a group of dream interpreters, psychologists and close friends. An amazing game where the flow is as relaxed as gentle ride down the river, ending in a crescendo of cheers as you correctly reveal the murderer. One of my favorite gaming experiences ever.

3. Speaking of Vlaada: Code Names.
IMAGE(http://a3.res.cloudinary.com/csicdn/image/upload/c_pad,h_300,w_300/v1/Images/Products/Misc%20Art/Czech%20Games%20Edition/full/CGE00031.jpg)
This game can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone, gamer and non gamer alike. I pulled it out at thanksgiving and played it with my father and mother in law who NEVER plays board games and it went over like gang busters. Everybody was huddled over the cards, laughing and having fun. I don't think any other game would have managed that.

4. 1775: Rebellion
IMAGE(http://www.lautapelit.fi/images/wwwkuvat/lautapelit/1775-rebellion.jpg)
What a super pleasant surprise this was. I always figured that A few acres of snow would be the end all of war games for me, and then I tried this. Every time I play it, it's a surprise at how things work out and how the game ends as a small move ripple out over the turns. The fact that four players work in two teams make it even better than AFAOS to me. Oh, also; history! You learn history! Crazy.

5. Splendor
IMAGE(http://www.uplay.it/en/www.uplay.it_Splendor--400x400.png)
How satisfying are those tokens? Oh, goodness. More games need the heft of those poker chips. Helps that the game is really fun as well.

6. Above and Below
IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTjL1_6UYAAFbM2.jpg)
Euro game with a story! Oh yes! Sign me up. I've always felt that most worker placement games lack in theme and setting (lords of waterdeep coming closest so far), but the feeling of building your town by diving deep into the underworld for resources, coming back with surreal stories just makes this one of my favorites of the year.

7. Sushi Go!
IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91VDwHJ4EQL._SY355_.jpg)
Yeah, I'm late on this one. No matter. It gets a top spot solely on the fact that my daughter loves it and wants to play it all the time. Has seen more action on the table at home than any other game. We really, really, enjoy it.

8. Steam Torpedos
IMAGE(http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/madal/file/197313/large/Steam%20Torpedo.jpg?1421222349)
I was really surprised by this game. Only played it once at gencon, but it's been in the back of my mind since then. I had heard nothing about it, but once I tried it, my friend and I gushed about it in no uncertain terms. Great, light, tactical game play coupled with high replayability thanks to the modularity of the subs made it a winner in my book.

9. Tash-Kalar
IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514tO-XDP1L._AC_UL320_SR192,320_.jpg)
I admit it. I am an unabashedly lover of Vlaada Chvatil's games. There's always something incredibly satisfying about them to me. This one is no different as the number of plays my copy has got. Fantastic strategy game.

10. Burgle Bros.
IMAGE(http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0906/5390/products/in-the-box_1024x1024.png?v=1446144997)
This was a kickstarter that I am not quite sure if you can get anymore, but if you can, grab a copy of it. The tension of sneaking around the guards and working cooperatively to loot three saves on three floors in increasing difficulty is very high indeed. I have never actually beaten this game yet, but it's always come down to a single room or wall that stops us. If we had just waited to use the dynamite. If we had only not set off that alarm on the second floor. Excellent, super balanced game.

Barely didn't make it list: Escape the curse of the temple, Rampage (Terror in meeple city) and World championship of Russian roulette, Dead of Winter, Sheriff of Nottingham.

"Fredrik_S" : ["Mysterium", "Pictomania", "CodeNames", "1775: Rebellion", "Splendor", "Above and Below", "Sushi Go", "Steam Torpedos", "Tash-Kalar", "Burgle Bros"]

Fun! Honestly, about 75% of my board game time in 2015 was split between Android: Netrunner and Star Wars: X-Wing, and that's where I spent most of my money, too. I love those games and am happy to play repeatedly. I'm not a big "cult of the new" person and would rather dive deep into a game than always go for the new hotness...despite having a wish list 30 games long.

That being said, I did play a bunch of new games, though many were on the lighter end. I feel like party games are evolving really quickly and are worth keeping up with, while new strategic games aren't adding much to the table that I feel the need to jump in and get. (Blood Rage is definitely on my list, though).

I'll edit this post with my full list once I have some time to ponder and add some detail.

1. Nations
2. Bruxelles 1893
3. Russian Railroads
4. Roll for the Galaxy
5. Bora Bora
6. Hawaii
7. Istanbul
8. Francis Drake
9. Saint Petersburg
10. Shadows over Camelot

Favorite board game app: Le Havre: Inland Port

Biggest surprise (liked more than I thought I would): Madame Ching

Best gaming experience: When my 13-year-old son revealed to all of us that he was the traitor in Shadows over Camelot at the very end, thus defeating the rest of us.

"RanchLizard" : ["Nations", "Bruxelles 1893", "Russian Railroads", "Roll for the Galaxy", "Bora Bora", "Hawaii", "Istanbul", "Francis Drake", "Saint Petersburg", "Shadows over Camelot"]

Codenames is going to run away with this.

Pandemic Legacy
Spartacus
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Blood Rage
Dead of Winter
Good Cop Bad Cop
Sheriff of Nottingham
Batman Love Letter
Dice Masters
One Night Ultimate Werewolf

"Prozac" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Spartacus", "Betrayal at House on the Hill", "Blood Rage", "Dead of Winter", "Good Cop Bad Cop", "Sheriff of Nottingham", "Batman Love Letter", "Dice Masters", "One Night Ultimate Werewolf"]

Crockpot wrote:

Codenames is going to run away with this.

I got Codenames sight unseen based on reputation and after a few playthroughs it's alright. My group don't seem to be as enamored with it as the general boardgaming community.

Ported over from the "general" GoY thread (slightly edited):

1) The Voyages of Marco Polo: Rarely is there a non-wargame that captivates my interest as much as this has. I find it competitive and the different personas make it a different play each time.

2) Fire in the Lake: This may be my least favorite of the COIN games, but these are all excellent. I finally got to playing this (dragging me away from the others) and found it an excellent game (though a bad simulation). I fills a niche in these games that was missing (allowing "cubes" to fight each other and rangers.

3) Star Wars Armada) I have not played this too much but have enjoyed what I have played. The ship models are great. I was planning to repaint them but found that I didn't need to (except for fighters). I want to get more play time and should go to some of the local events.

4) La Granja: A game that is often compared to Agricola which is 100% incorrect (Agricola is the worst game ever made). Typical game where you buy, sell, and convert resources on a board, but unlike most games of this type there is an openness to it which results in your turn not feeling constrained towards a strategy you conceived before starting the game.

5) Food Chain Magnate: Only played a learning game of this, but like every other Splotter Spellen game it is a winner. I eagerly await my own copy coming at the end of this month to share the frustration and love.

6) Mission Red Planet: Alien Frontiers and Citadels had a bastard love child, even though it predates Alien Frontiers. This is a game that I feel play is fast and tight making gameplay faster to set up than to play.

7) Deep Sea Adventure: A great filler game, maybe the best filler game. A bluff game where you seek treasure and try no to run out of air. It is a little pricey (Its from Japan) but a group should get plenty of play out of it.

8) Hyperboria: A deck building game that uses cubes instead of cards attempting to simulate a civilization game? I really enjoyed playing this and it may of ranked higher if I played it more.

9) Warhammer 40K Conquest: I haven't built my own deck for it but I have a friend who is really into it. The old 40 CCG (by Sabertooth) was one of my favorites and this takes some concepts from that game and improves on them. The game moves fast and there is little fiddling. FFG may have dropped the ball on the GoT LCG, but they made up for it with this.

10) Forbidden Stars: Great potential, but in my plays Chaos is well overpowered (the ability to move warp "walls" has the potential to break the game) but overall I look forward to trying this with other factions added. It didn't "wow" me but it has the potential.

Note: I have not played Pandemic Legacy, Churchill, or Ships as of yet this year, all of which may have made the list.

What is going on!!

Oops. Pushed the wrong button.

Wtf.

Codenames is definitely in the lead currently by quite a bit, but the next couple are very close.

I'm still fairly new to the "good" board/card/dice game scene, and I don't have enough to fill a full list of 10, but here are the ones I played this year that I really like.

1. Pandemic Legacy
2. Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre
3. Dungeon Fighter
4. DC Deck Building Game
5. Letters from Whitechapel
6. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
7. Maximum Throwdown
8. Pandemic: The Cure

"MeatMan" : ["Pandemic Legacy", "Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre", "Dungeon Fighter", "DC Deck Building Game", "Letters from Whitechapel", "Star Wars: Imperial Assault", "Maximum Throwdown", "Pandemic: The Cure"]

  1. Evolution (2015)
    IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2558560_t.jpg)
    If it's good enough for the journal Nature, it's good enough for my GOTY. Looks beautiful, plays simply, and effortlessly evokes the shifting dynamics of natural selection. Not as scientifically crunchy as Bios: Megafauna, but the forthcoming Climate expansion will be very welcome.
  2. En Garde (2009)
    IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic719506_t.jpg)
    Speaking of plays simply and effortlessly evoking its theme (and looking nice—I have the comic style Gryphon Games edition), En Garde superlatively models the back and forth of a real fencing match (with which I have a little experience) with way more right than 25 cards has.
  3. Welcome to the Dungeon (2015)
    IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2436689_t.jpg)
    Great groan-inducing screw-your-neighbour-or-anyone-really-just-not-yourself-hopefully-oh-crap-I-should-have-passed-last-turn game. Looks great, check; easy to learn, check; fast and small, check. My board game playing is moving in a very clear direction.
  4. Race! Formula 90: Expansion #1 - RF90 Series Championship (2014)
    IMAGE(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2241982_t.jpg)
    Oh wait, three hour crunchy racing simulation! Spa and Monaco look even better than the base game circuits, and rules for teams and running a championship make the best non-digital racing sim even better.

I haven't played Neanderthal or Greenland yet, but if I can rope Mrs. Gravey into a game of Neanderthal, or play the solo rules, before this thread's deadline, I may come back to edit.

Only other games I played this year for the first time were Betrayal at House on the Hill, which was fine; and Countdown: Special Ops, which I'm still on the fence on whether it's really good, or just good but seems better than it is because it's the only way to get my counter-terrorism on in board game form—like if it didn't have the CT theme, would I rather just be playing Flash Point?

"Gravey" : ["Evolution", "En Garde", "Welcome to the Dungeon", "Race! Formula 90"]

1. Alchemists

It's, like, the perfect game for me. Classic logic problem setup? Check. Cool art and theme? Check. Nifty phone app that ushers in the new era of board games? Check. The great thing about this is how people sit down for the first time and think they can just "solve" the game themselves, but then after several plays they realize that if you are just using your own knowledge you will get last place. Gleaning all you can from the other players is the next step, and then...that's when the real fun begins. Test the same ingredient mix again to throw someone. Publish a theory you know is wrong just to throw others off and then later debunk it yourself! This sucker has layers upon layers, and there's definitely no one true path to success. I will play this anytime, anywhere.

2. Twilight Struggle

How am I only playing this in 2015? Dunno. But it's worthy of being #1 on BGG. I can't say anything that everyone else hasn't already said. Simply brilliant.

3. Keyflower

Oh wow does this ever break your brain, but there are a lot of awesome combinations happening. For anyone who loves worker placement and never having anywhere near as many dudes as you have things you need to do, it's worth a look. Really interesting take on the genre in that you don't have your workers.

4. Codenames

VLAADA I LOEV U TOTES 4 SRS

5. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective

I'm playing it through with my wife and she's loving it, which is not something she would normally say. We're only through the 3rd case (we took a hiatus in the warm months) but I can see why it's so beloved. Expansions, anyone?

6. The Great Zimbabwe

And so begins my love affair with Splotter Spellen. RIP, wallet. We hardly knew ye.

7. Camel Up

A phenomenal betting game that might have newly taken the title of Fun Entry Game for me. Easy enough to explain to a 6-year-old, yet something that 8 adults will still have a hoot playing. This sucker deserved the SdJ.

8. Castles of Mad King Ludwig

There are times I prefer Suburbia but it's easy to say that all my regular gaming friends much prefer this version. Easier to track and funnier, to boot. The Master Builder getting to organize the sale board is a master stroke that simply makes the game.

9. The Gallerist

Another super heavy worker placement, but great theme and great long-term strategy game. Stuff that you plan in round one pays off big 2.5 hours later, and there aren't too many of those out there that actually execute well.

10. Great new takes on deck building

I'll be honest, I'm over Dominion. However, cool games like Trains (I'm behind the curve, so sue me), Arctic Scavengers, and Paperback really helped revitalize the genre in my mind. I had a hard time picking just one! So I picked 3 instead.

"Minarchist" : ["Alchemists", "Twilight Struggle", "Keyflower", "Codenames", "Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective", "The Great Zimbabwe", "Camel Up", "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", "The Gallerist", "Trains", "Paperback", "Arctic Scavengers"]