Everything including the kitchen sink... but with special attention paid to board games, Jesus Christ, my family, being a "professional" (and I use that word loosely) Christian, and the random firing of the 10% of the synapses I'm currently using.
Despite not being a particularly big fan of Dune (the books or the movies), the game manages to combine deck-building & worker placement to evoke the feel of the Dune universe in an incredibly playable format.
Tips & Tricks:
One of the things I like best about the game is the ability to adapt your tactics/strategy to the character you are playing and the ever-changing board situation.
You don't have to win every conflict - in fact, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is let two other opponents duke it out and save your troops for a later battle.
The House Hagal mechanic (an AI deck) makes sure that 2 player games have enough filled board space without complicating the game unnecessarily.
I've played the game at all player counts (1-4 players) and enjoyed them all.
Extras
The Rise of Ix expansion has some great twists/additions to the game... highly recommended.
The Immortality expansion adds yet another layer of complication - but does add new ways to spend/use resources. Only for advanced players.
The solo design uses the House Hagal deck to create two feisty AI opponents... highly recommended as a solo game.
The app (available as part of the Dire Wolf games app) automates the House Hagal deck and helps walk you through set-up... as well as offering some alternate play modes.
I've played Dune: Imperium - Uprising a couple of times solo... it's working in the same basic space but adding some interesting changes to how the system works. (It also offers a 6 player team mode.)
The Bloodlines expansion mostly expands Uprising - in some intriguing ways.
I reviewed a 3D printed insert for Uprising & Bloodlines for the Opinionated Gamers site created by Play Mode.
This is the second of two Paul Dennen designs on my list.
designers: Dave Chalker, Brett Myers, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobsen, Brian Neff, Jim Keifer, and Noah Cohen
Print Status
in print
Why It's On The List
A classic 80s roll'n'shoot received a substantial and extremely-thoughtful re-imagining to turn it into a game worthy of the moniker "a tabletop version of Mad Max's Fury Road". Plus, it's loads of fun.
Tips & Tricks:
While randomizing the road boards is fine, it's not a bad idea to avoid some of the more vicious/difficult ones (I'm looking at you, Scenic Route... and you too, Bunker.)
You can play with five players - we certainly have! If you do, I'd recommend using The Parking Lot as your starting board. (The Carnival of Chaos expansion adds a fifth "normal" team of cars.)
The Big Rig is an absolute hoot to play - but we still haven't seen it win a game.
Save the crew leaders and Choppe Shoppe cards - use them once you & your friends have a couple of games under your belts. The ability to evaluate how useful a crew leader or car modification will be based on the terrain you're facing is much easier once you have a feel for the game.
Extras
This is decidedly NOT a Euro game – there are way too many die rolls, tile flips with potentially horrible consequences, chain reaction events that can hurt or help you in your quest to win, etc. Everyone I’ve taught the game to has – with that understanding – enjoyed it immensely… but if your gaming tastes run more in the “think-y/crunchy/puzzle-y” direction, this is probably not going to be a good fit for you. Thunder Road: Vendetta is a game filled with improbable events and great stories… and while there are tactical decisions to be made, the amount of random tiles and dice rolls definitely slide TR: Vendetta towards the “experience game” end of the scale.
Back in 2010, I actually had the original game as #96 on my top 100 games list for that year.
I like the Carnival of Chaos expansion a lot but given the choice, I'd rather play the road race version of the game.
There is a simplified version on the way (Ignition!) as well as a second expansion with campaign elements (Interstate of Decay).
If anybody wants to get me a decadent completely over-the-top stupidly expensive present, the 3D terrain pieces for Thunder Road: Vendetta from Adrena Creative are at the top of my wish list.
This is the third of five (5!) games on my top 100 list designed by Rob Daviau, the second of three by Justin Jacobsen, and the first of two by Noah Cohen and Brian Neff.
Normally, I’d balk at a game with a non-random combat system and heavy intertwined mechanisms – but the theme of defeating the Voidborn is so tightly woven into the design & flow of the game that I find myself lost in the world and the puzzle of trying to expand my civilization’s capabilities whilst fending off the encroachment of mind-altering evil.
Tips & Tricks:
You have to know two things about this game going in: first, there's a LOT going on and it's going to be overwhelming. Second, for as heavy as it is, it's not a tremendously long game - 2 hours as a solo game and 3 hours or so as a two player competitive game.
I don't care if you're the savviest gamer in town, you should NOT skip playing the tutorial. It's an actual game with an excellent guardrail system that gives you a pretty full tour of the complex game system without sending you down a railroaded pathway.
It takes a bit to get used to the combat system. Remember: the "battles" in this game are multi-year wars, not a single battle. (It's a highly abstracted and non-random system... but it works well in the context of the game.)
All but two of my plays of Voidfall have been solo - and that system (which is similar to the cooperative system) works like a charm.
Extras
The copy pictured is the Galactic edition - which has cool miniatures and lots of other bling. The underlying game engine is strong enough not to need the bells & whistles.
Yes, I've already backed the upcoming expansions (Resurgence and The Last Novarch) as well as the "sister" game in the Voidfall universe, Revenant.
This is the fourth of four games on this countdown with design work from Dávid Turczi and the second of two games from Nigel Buckle... not to mention the second of two games designed by this team!
A cooperative comic book game that uses multiple card decks (heroes, villain, environment) to tell the story of a "battle royale". It's enhanced by a well-developed mythos and a plethora of sly references to various "real" (read: DC/Marvel) superheroes.
Tips & Tricks:
Some games have the potential to divide gaming groups into "wow - love that! let's play again" and "I'm pretty much done with that one after one play" - Sentinels is definitely one of those. I get to play a lot because both of my boys and one of my best friends LOVE the game.
When teaching new players, you MUST let them get to know their hero decks on their own. Avoid the temptation to tell them which cards to play - it will kill their enjoyment of the game... and shortchange them of the joy of "discovering their superpowers".
Building a good superhero team is a little like building a good D&D party - you need a variety of skills to take on different situations.
One of the skills that is difficult to master is creating a challenging but not impossible game - the right combination of heroes, villain & environment.
Extras
There are a LOT of expansions for this game system - we own pretty much everything that has been published because part of the fun is getting to take on a new challenge each time. However, the game out of the box is quite enjoyable.
OblivAeon is the final expansion for the game... and it's a table-eating 3.5-4 hour slugfest against multiple foes. It's an attempt to recreate the full-on nuttiness of the original comic book Crisis on Infinite Earths... and it succeeds. It's not for the faint of heart... but my eldest son and I love it. (Out of 6-7 plays, we've only won once.)
My boys & I created a way to play that we really like - The Bloodsworn Arena. Basically, you send one team up against one weak villain after another and see how long you can last. My younger son managed to get ALL of Unity's mechanical golems in play - which is an impressive amount of firepower. (The picture here was taken during that game... and Collin is pictured with his plushy Mr. Chomps.)
I don't think the Sidekick app is necessary - I've found it to be as fiddly as using tokens. (I have added some more generic tokens to my set for marking Nemesis status and Setback's Unlucky pool, etc.)
OTOH, I think that the Sentinels app is a fantastic addition to my iPad gaming library... we have all the expansions in digital form as well.
As of writing this post, Sentinels of the Multiverse has been bought by Handelabra, the company that publishes the digital/iOS app version of Sentinels. This gives me some hope that the Definitive edition will continue to grow.
designers: Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich, and Jens Christopher Ulrich
Print Status
back in print
Why It's On The List
You have 21 moves - 7 auctions & 14 actions - in order to turn your estate into the perfect place for great artists & scientists to create their masterworks and bring prestige to your name... each action, each bit of coinage, each building, each recruitment is vital. What a perfectly formed & thematically rich (yes, I think it is!) Euro game...
...it's the perfect balance between game length (70 minutes) and an unforgiving system. Any longer, and it would be soul-deadening to play out the final rounds when you know you've lost all hope of winning. Any shorter, and there wouldn't be enough time to make meaningful decisions in this game's Spartan structure.
Tips & Tricks:
I first started playing The Princes of Florence with a German version and cheat sheets to translate the cards. The game was/is good enough that people were willing to get over themselves & learn to play this way. (I have since replaced all of the components in my set with English language equivalents except for the player boards... which is what you see in the picture above.)
This game is subject to groupthink - despite much debate online, jesters & recruitment cards (both of which are valuable) are worth what the market will bear, not some arbitrary number established by a bunch of game nerds (he sez with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek).
There are two expansions available with newer versions of the game that are nice but not necessary. (For those of us who've played it a lot, they offer some variety - but the original game is so good that even I, the Man Addicted to Expansions, don't feel like they are important.)
The building strategy (building LOTS of buildings) can work - but only if you commit to it and only if you're the lone person attempting it.
Extras
Here's what I wrote about The Princes of Florence for The One Hundred: both the list entry & my personal entry.
This is the fifth of five (5!) games designed by Wolfgang Kramer on my top 100 list.
This is my favorite of the Mystery Rummy series... mostly because it feels a bit like Canasta (possibly my favorite standard deck card game) in how difficult it is to hide key cards from your opponent(s).
Tips & Tricks:
In my opinion, this is the easiest of the Mystery Rummy games to teach to non-gamers.
While MR: Al Capone is a great 2-handed game and a wonderful partnership game, it drags on way too long with three players.
Don't give up... it is possible to fight your back into the game, even after a bad hand. (Just one of the reasons I love this game.)
Extras
Here's how I rank the Mystery Rummy games currently...
follower of Jesus, husband, father, "pastor", boardgamer, writer, Legomaniac, Disneyphile, voted most likely to have the same Christmas wish list at age 58 as he did at age 8
