#1: Race for the Galaxy (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Race for the Galaxy

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 94
• rating: 7.7
• published: 2007
• designer: Tom Lehmann

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• After you climb the iconography mountain to figure out the game, Race for the Galaxy is an amazing adventure in hand management & reading your opponents' mind - made even better by clever card design & interaction as well as great sci-fi art.

Tips & Tricks

• Learning Race for the Galaxy can be a bit of a chore - of course, since I've ranked it #1 on my list, you know I think it's worth it - but there are some things you can do to make it easier.
• First, don't add any of the expansions.
• Second, the first time you play, play two games in a row.
• The first game should be open-handed & use the preset hands from the base game.
• The second game can be "normal".
• Third, don't get obsessed about winning your first few games. Use them (they're short!) to explore the gamespace & see how cards can work together.
• There are five (almost 6!) expansion sets available for Race for the Galaxy, all of which add numerous cards to the deck:
• The Gathering Storm (which adds a fifth player, goals & a robust solitaire system)
• Rebel vs. Imperium (which builds on the previous expansion, adding a sixth player & rules for takeovers)
• The Brink of War (which builds on the previous two expansions, adding prestige & the prestige/search action)
• Alien Artifacts (Alien Artifacts does NOT build on the previous expansions but instead is meant to be combined solely with the base game. It adds a fifth player & a new mode of play in which you explore the Alien Orb.)
• Xeno Invasion (the newest expansion - again, a stand-alone addition to the base game that adds the potential for a non-player adversary attacking all players.)
• Xeno Counterstrike is releasing soon (this week?!) and I couldn't be more excited.
• Between the iOS app powered by Keldon's AI, the version of Keldon's AI online, and BoardGameArena, I'm comfortable estimating that I've played Race against an AI and live players over 5k-6k times.
• My favorite way to play is 2 player advanced with goals & prestige... and no takeovers.

Extras

• I'm surprised how little I've written about Race for the Galaxy - evidently, I've been too busy actually playing the game to blog about it!
• Long-time followers of my top 100 games list know that Race has been #2 for a quite a while - but this year it traded places with Memoir '44. (They are both amazing games.)
• This is the seventh of seven (7!) Tom Lehmann games on my top 100 countdown!

#2: Memoir '44 (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Memoir '44

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 222
• rating: 7.5
• published: 2004
• designer: Richard Borg

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• The best (and best supported!) of the Command & Colors games... it combines a wonderous toy factor (plastic army men & tanks!) along with remarkably evocative recreations of WW2 battles. This is the perfect collision of all the eras of my gaming life: it's got enough warfare &; tactics for the chit-pusher in me, the gorgeous plastic bits remind me of the day we cracked open Axis & Allies for the first time, and the speedy gameplay fits my current lifestyle. The plethora ("si, Jeffe") of scenarios is a definite point in favor of Memoir '44, as well as one of the cleverest 'fog of war' mechanisms ever - the command deck.

Tips & Tricks:

• Memoir '44 is splendid right out of the box... though the first couple of scenarios are probably the weakest and don't show off the game as well as they could. (They do a good job of getting players used to how the game works.) Don't give up on it until you've played some of the later scenarios.
• There are a LOT of expansions... and I personally own at least one or two of each of them. (Point of fact: my Memoir '44 collection weighs over 30 pounds now.) There are no duds in the set... though probably the least valuable to a casual player is the Terrain Pack.
• BoardGameArena has an excellent implementation of Memoir '44... which explains why I've played so many games of it in the few years. (I've been in an ongoing "war" with a good friend in Australia - hi, Fraser! - for nearly three years now.)
• My favorite way to play is 2 player Breakthrough (using the Breakthrough deck included in the Winter Wars expansion). Close behind that is playing in Overlord (multi-player team) mode or playing a campaign (using one of the Campaign Books).

Extras

• I've written a number of reviews (review copies provided) of Memoir '44 expansions over the years:
• Breakthrough
• Winter Wars
• Campaign Book Volume 2
• Equipment Pack
• Memoir '44: The Chattanooga Open
• Here's what I wrote about it for The One Hundred - both personally & for the group.
• This week was the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. We must not forget all of those who gave their lives to end Nazi tyranny and genocide.