So for something a little different the core group of the Meeple Guild have compiled a list of their personal top-five games from among those reviewed in 2018.
The lists are surprisingly similar given about 50-games have been reviewed this year, but it also indicates like in most things, cream rises to the top, and so it is with games. Truly fine games tend to be fun to play for everyone, although personal preferences do mean a few differences in the lists.
Adam Daniels
#5 - Pairs/Dark Mages
It’s really a tie. These are both fillers games. Pairs is great because its simplistic and addictive. It comes with over a 100 variants so it should never get stale. Dark mages is what would happen if Magic the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons had a baby. There is nothing bad about that statement.
#4 - New York 1901
It’s Ticket to Ride but with skyscrapers, yet I like it more. The board is nice to look at , and the pieces are well made. It might be the most surprisingly enjoyable game considering it came with no expectations.
#3 - This War of Mine
There is no winning; only sadness with this one. You are not meant to win this game. The theme is depressing and dark. And yet it’s a blast to play, though not for the weak of heart or sentimental.
#2 - Lockwood Asylum
A deck builder where the whole idea of the game all about aggravating the player next to you. You can never go wrong with a game where you get to annoy the player next to you with lots of nasty cards.
#1 - Helionox
It’s a deck builder, and I love deck builders. Players have the ability to get overwhelmed which only adds to the fun. Great game!
Jeff Chasse
# 5 - Dice Throne
Fun game, looks great.
#4 - Partido
Simple but fun, perfect filler game or a game to take a break from bigger games.
#3 - Element
You start the game with a plan but the player to your left changes everything about that. Element is a fun game that keeps changing as you play.
#2 - Pairs
Quick to learn, quicker to play. Pairs is a very fun card game for a social setting
#1 - Helionox
Is a solid deck builder that feels different from the standard deck builders out there.
Trevor Lyons
#5 - Dark Mages
This is a very nice fantasy featured card game. You play a mage and must defeat all of your competition to win. This is a good game to introduce people to RPG’s (role playing games). It is a fun concept of magic and fighting.
#4 - This War of Mine
This is a co-operative game that are very hard to win. It pits the players against the game. You place civilians trapped in a war-torn country. It is your job to fortify your home and to find supplies to help you survive.
#3 - Pairs
Great little game for being a single deck of cards. It flows great and is very exciting to play. Games last 2 to 5 minutes at best so is a good game to play with friends in a social setting.
#2 - New York 1901
A quick game that pits you against others to build the biggest buildings in New York. The game has different buildings that you use to accumulate points to win the game. A great game to cut your teeth on when starting out in board gaming.
#1 - Helionox
Great sci-fi deck builder. Loved the art, overcoming the events was challenging, but fun. The speed and fun of the game kept my attention from wandering.
Calvin Daniels
#5 - Xenofera
I have to say I struggled with this one, a half dozen games could deservedly be in this number five spot, tank chess, six making, Lockwood Asylum, Dikarya and New York 1901 among them.
But I have chosen Xenofera, which was one of those most pleasant surprises that sometimes happen when you break the seal on a board game.
The game has loads of charm.
Also, its smooth game play and easy to learn rules make it a nicely-times, at about an hour, four-player game.
#4 - Pichonette
In my world it’s hard to imagine a board game that would interest more than a finger-flicking hockey game.
So we have Pichenotte Hockey from designer Victor Rodrigue and publisher Reverso Games.
This one is a lot of fun to play, to the point I’d sit down for a game anytime, but I do love finger flicking games.
In terms of the genre this one impressed. It’s not crokinole, nor its cousin carrom, but it does rocket to number three among finger flicking games I have played.
# 3 - This War of Mine
In This War of Mine designers Michał Oracz and Jakub Wisniewski, both with Awaken Realms the original publisher put players into a war torn city. That is not unusual in the sense several games have players take on characters in elite military groups and head into similar settings. But with This War of Mine you are a very ordinary citizen, with very ordinary skills, trying to survive in a place with little food, little water, little to stay warm, and little hope of survival.
The mood is one of struggle and hopelessness in a generally realistic setting, a combination which sets this game apart and makes it one well worth exploring.
# 2 - Helionox
It didn’t take long once we got into our first game to realize Helionox was a cut above the average in terms of game experience as a deck-builder.
Helionox is not just a hand of cards either. There is a board game element with players hopping world-to-world overcoming problems on their way to earning points.
The elements of Helionox add up to an outstanding deck-builder-based game experience, one that rates this game in the top tier of the genre.
#1 - Tak
Every once in a while you find a game that absolutely has everything you want in a game. Tak is one of those games for me.
Everything with this game is wonderful from the simple rules, the in-game strategy, the joy of success. A true gem.
