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.
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...
Despite an off-putting box cover, this is a tremendous two-player game of building gardens that can be played "friendly" or "cutthroat"... and enjoyed both ways.
Tips & Tricks:
You must use the "community garden" area wisely - ignoring it will simply allow your opponent more space to plant with.
Wait to use your "weeds" (you only have three of them) until your opponent has filled up enough of his side of the board to make them painful.
Pay attention to how much space you'll need to get a flower bed to the next point level - there's no use making a bed of five flowers when they're worth the same as a bed of three flowers.
Extras
This is a game that begsfor a reprint... preferably using the GeekBits concept.
Here's what I wrote about Flowerpower for Game Central Station (my old website).
while it's not currently in print, you can find some of the versions in the secondary market pretty easily
Why It's On The List
The ultimate "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you" game... which plays up to 8 players and always provides a splendid time for all involved - even if Hugo the Ghost tags your players.
Tips & Tricks:
Don't put your folks close to each other - you need to spread them out a bit.
Starting next to an open door is always a good idea.
The game works well at all player counts... but is best with 5+ players.
I think the older versions of the game are better - while the newer versions feature some twists, the original Ravensburger game is hard to beat.
Extras
Here's what I wrote about it for my Kid Games 100 list back in the day.
This is the fourth of five (5!) Kramer designs on my list.
I'm as surprised as anyone that a game about distilling liquor is among my favorites - seeing as how I don't drink. But both the production and the design of the game are excellent and it's a lot of fun to play.
Tips & Tricks:
After multiple plays, I'm convinced that there is not a single path to victory... you can focus on aging spirits or putting out stuff that isn't aged or some kind of mixture. The trick is doing it efficiently.
It's easy to forget about bottle collections and objectives your first few games... but both are solid sources of points.
The trickiest thing to learn in the game is how to deal with aged spirits you don't sell prior to the endgame. (The excellent player aid card walks you through it - but it's not something that easily sticks in your brain.)
Extras
The Africa & Middle East expansion mostly just adds more variety to the game... while the Cask Strength expansion has four different modules that complicate game play.
Yes, I backed the Cocktails expansion... it's due later this year.
This is the tenth new-to-the-top-100 game on the countdown.
The drafting is similar to 7 Wonders and the tile-laying feels like Suburbia. But that misses some of the innovations that make NEOM more than just another chip off the old blocks.
Tips & Tricks:
The game uses a “bomb” draft item (Flood, Fire, Crime Wave) in each era that hurts others but denies you a turn... and the decision on whether to play or pass this can be really tricky.
The initial “seeding” draft of cornerstone tiles does more to set strategy than the similar Leaders expansion in 7 Wonders.
I know this gets said a lot in game descriptions - but there really are multiple pathways to victory.
Extras
The game is designed for 3-5 players... but the addition of a Fields of Green-like 2 player variant (that works well) and a solo packet variant (that I love) expands chances to get it to the table.
My initial rules read of NEOM (prior to seeing the game) made me think it would be an interesting but difficult to play 7 Wonders knock-off. I’m happy to say that the first day I taught/played (a few weeks after Essen 2018), I was proven wrong… and ended up playing it 3 times in one day. As soon as it became easily available in the U.S., I jumped on a copy… and it’s now in regular rotation here at Chez Jackson.
Solo play: I typically play 2-3 games of this at a shot… since once you’ve got it laid out, it’s easy to reset and try again. I’ve defaulted to play with all the tiles in, which offers more variety and some interesting decisions since you know that you can (sometimes) wait for the tile you need.
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
