Top 100 Songs: #50-#41

My musings are getting longer as we get into the top 50...

• #50: Graceland (Paul Simon - 1986)
• I've actually written an entire deeply theological post based on this song… which I fully admit is not what Paul Simon intended when he wrote and recorded it.
• #49: If the House Burns Down Tonight (Switchfoot - 2016)
• A great rocker of a song - with a lyric about what really matters.
• "And all those lies that mattered most to me / Were draining me dry making a ghost of me / And if the house burns down tonight / I got everything I need, everything I need / There’s a fire coming that we all will go through / You possess your possessions or they possess you / And if the house burns down tonight / I got everything I need when I got you by my side / And let the rest burn"
• #48: Hard to Get (Rich Mullins - 1998)
• I have always appreciated Rich's honesty and faith, his humor mixed with seriousness. This is the guy who walked into the Christian bookstore I worked at looking for Frederick Buechner books... and then told me that he "punished" bad audiences by refusing to play my favorite song of his, "Elijah".
• The week before he died in a car accident (in September of 1997), Rich Mullins sat down in an abandoned church with a cassette recorder to make a demo of the nine songs that would eventually become The Jesus Record. "Hard to Get" is a plaintive psalm both questioning God and leaning on faith in Him.
• "What I really need to know / Is if You who live in eternity / Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time / We can't see what's ahead / And we cannot get free from what we've left behind..."
• There are two versions of this song:
• the Rick Elias & the Ragamuffins cover recorded after Rich's death...
• And the demo version recorded by Rich... which I can't listen to without weeping like a baby...
• #47: I Will Be Here (Steven Curtis Chapman - 1989)
• Shari & I got married in 1990… and we had this very new song sung at our wedding. It was the first time we'd heard it used as part of a ceremony - it would not be the last. It still does an amazing job of saying what we feel and believe about our relationship.
• #46: Wasted Time (The Eagles - 1977)
• Probably my favorite Eagles song… possibly because it sounds like it could easily be on one of Don Henley's solo albums.
• #45: This Is The Way Love Is (The 77s - 1990)
• This should have been a hit single - of course, seeing as it centers around a weird metaphor for the love of God, maybe that was unlikely. But, man, what a song.
• #44: You Don't Belong Here (Tonio K - 1986)
• There are four songs from a single album on this list - this moody rocker has the best 2nd verse lyrics ever.
• "She said / It's like walking through fire / It's like shedding your skin / You throw your clothes out the window / You face the person within / It's like dying in public / It's like learning to fly / Leaving the world behind you / It's like being born twice"
• #43: I Will Not Go Quietly (Don Henley - 1989)
• This is "speak the truth even if your voice shakes" in pure late 80s rock form. It's been an anthem for me at different points in my life.
• #42: Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson - 2018)
• Andrew Peterson has recorded three thematic albums around the death & resurection of Christ - this worship song from "Resurrection Letters, Vol. 1" brings me to tears every time I sing it in church or hear it playing…
• #41: MT (The 77s - 1990)
• "More Than" (MT) is the opening salvo of The 77s "Sticks & Stones" album - they've recorded the song since then but I like this version the best.

#83: Clank! Catacombs (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Clank! Catacombs

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 52
• rating: 8.2
• published: 2022
• designer: Paul Dennen

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• Smoosh Dungeonquest and Ascension together and you'd get something close to this fantastic deck-building dungeon crawl... with the very clever “clank” mechanic binding the two together and acting a game timer and source of tension - that's the base game of Clank! Then add in a randomly generated map plus a variety of other smart decisions, and you've got Clank! Catacombs

Tips & Tricks:

• While there is a lot of witty color text, it’s small and doesn’t make the cards more difficult to read.
• The graphic design of the cards is really smart – they have used consistent iconography and clear text instructions to make it easy to understand what the card does for you, even when you add in the expansion cards.
• The procedurally generated map means that players have to adjust their preferred strategies for the reality of the dungeon they've entered. (Yes, I realize that it's not a real dungeon. That's what happens when you're trying to write about fantasy stuff.)

Extras

• Both expansions for Clank! Catacombs work well. While I don't think Underworld is strictly necessary, I'm glad I have in my set. Lairs & Lost Chambers, OTOH, really expands the game options and the variety of cards/tiles.
• You can read my Welcome to the Clank-iverse overview of most of the expansions available for the original Clank!... and includes Kulkmann's homebrewed rules for a Clank! campaign. (I say "most" because Adventuring Party appeared after I wrote the article.)
• Clank! In! Space! is excellent as well... with a slightly higher rules overhead.
• My boys and I loved Clank! Legacy. It is longer per game by about 50%, but we had a blast.
• I still love the original Clank! - it landed just outside the top 100 (well, #108). 
• The Clank! expansions have been packaged well in appropriately sized boxes... and have all been worth their cost as far as enjoyment and variety goes. (Better than you can say for some franchises - I'm looking at you, Adrenaline: Team Play DLC and Carcassonne: The Catapult.)
• There's actually a really nice free app from Renegade that has a solo mode for Clank! which works well.
• This is the first of two games on the countdown from designer Paul Dennen.

#84: Quantum (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Quantum

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 765
• rating: 7.2
• published: 2013
• designer: Eric Zimmerman

Print Status

• out of print

Why It's On The List

• A fast-moving game of space conquest with built-in variety and room for great tactical play. And I love the cover art.

Tips & Tricks:

• Thanks to the modular board format, the game works like a charm with 2, 3 or 4 players.
• The combat system is pro-attacking... wise players will take advantage of this to slow down opponents, even if it doesn't directly benefit your plans for placing quantum cubes.
• Learning how to use the "free" ship powers is the key to playing well. They are easy to overlook in your first play.
• The technology cards may seem out of balance at first - but each card can be very helpful when paired with the right strategic and tactical play. I'm constantly finding new ways to combine card powers and ship powers.
• When I say "fast", I'm not kidding. A long game of Quantum lasts an hour.

Extras

• I haven't written much about Quantum - which is really too bad. It's a great, great game.
• The Void expansion - which was available through the BGG shop - is a nifty addition to the game.
• Quantum is available to play on BGA!

Top 100 Songs: #60-#51

We're finally reaching the halfway point...

• #60: Desperado (The Eagles - 1973)
• I knew the song from listening to K-Earth "sounds of the 60s & 70s" growing up in L.A. - but I have a distinct memory of running into it a book of hymns & choruses for youth group. (I just can't figure out which book…)
• #59: Earth Has No Sorrow, Heaven Can't Heal (Vigilantes of Love - 1992)
• The first time I heard this was Bill Malonee performing solo at a gathering of GenX church planters in 1997… and I was blown away.
• #58: Satellite (The Hooters - 1987)
• The combination of cynicism and rock'n'roll hoedown just works.
• #57: Sliver (Hokus Pick - 1997)
• Not their most popular song… but one that speaks deeply to me. (I saw them live multiple times when they were still together - what a fun band.) 
• WARNING: the track of this song was combined with a really bad "comedy bit" that makes it nearly 30 minutes long - just listen to the 4 1/2 minutes song.
• #56: Into Your Arms (The Lemonheads - 1993)
• I was sad to hear about the mental health collapse of the lead singer (including criminal behavior)… that doesn't change my warm feelings for this song which expresses both the way I feel about my bride of 35+ years as well as the love of God. (Yes, we used it as a worship song in the church I planted back in the late 90s.)
• #55: Toxic (Chris Llewellyn - 2023)
• The rap part is just OK… but the chorus has been a refrain in my life as I attempt to disentangle my faith in Jesus from the cultural practices that try & choke it out.
• #54: Should I Stay or Should I Go? (The Clash - 1982)
• The Clash had such a huge influence on artists I love: Steve Taylor & Hokus Pick for starters. And this song shows why.
• #53: Girlfriend is Better (Talking Heads - 1983)
• The music library at Baylor had a growing collection of high-end CDs in the mid-1980s… so when I needed to study, I go to that floor and put on headphones to cut out all the noise. One evening, I checked out the Stop Making Sense soundtrack… and I was hooked.
• #52: The Word is Love (Rick Elias - 1990)
• Rick was probably better known as one of the artists behind "That Thing You Do" - but his debut album has a number of great songs on it.
• #51: You'll Find Your Way (Andrew Peterson - 2012)
• Andrew wrote this song for his son… but in the insanity of the end of my time in vocational ministry and leaving the church I'd pastored for nearly a decade, it was a lifeline for me.

#85: Northgard: Uncharted Lands (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Northgard: Uncharted Lands

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 1,272
• rating: 7.6
• published: 2022
• designer: Adrian Dinu

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• I know it's a "port" of a well-established computer game - but from my perspective Northgard combines "dudes on a map", area control, and deck-building into a really sweet mix.

Tips & Tricks:

• Exploration can be your friend - you can occasionally explore your way out of a bad tactical situation. 
• Gamers should feel comfortable adding the Leaders module to the game from the get-go... it's got a couple of twists but the asymmetric start is worth it.
• Don't add the monsters or alternate lands into your first game - they are both great modules but there's more than enough going on without throwing them in the mix as well.

Extras

• There is an expansion on the way - Northgard: Uncharted Horizons.
• I had the opportunity to be involved in some of the early playtests for the solo design that is coming with the expansion later this year. I'm looking forward to seeing/owning the finished product.
• I wrote a pretty extensive preview of the game when it first came to Kickstarter back in 2020... which includes an excellent (and appropriate) video from The Muppet Show.
• This is the second new-to-the-top-100 game on the countdown.

#86: Favor of the Pharaoh (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Favor of the Pharaoh

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 2,149
• rating: 6.8
• published: 2015
• designer: Tom Lehmann

Print Status

• out of print

Why It's On The List

• A re-imagined version of the classic dice game To Court the King - imagine Yahtzee crossed with Magic: The Gathering. You use dice to obtain card powers in order to manipulate dice to obtain more power (and dice) to finally win the favor of the Pharaoh.

Tips & Tricks:

• You need dice - and a few manipulation powers. Going the other way (dice manipulation powers and a few extra dice) will lose you the game.
• The game works well with 2-4 players.
• The variability introduced in this version is excellent - each game has its own feel.
• I do wish I'd sprung for a second set of dice... with 4 players, you have to do a lot of trading around of base dice.

Extras

• I had the privilege of Tom Lehmann (the designer) showing me the unpublished expansion for To Court the King some years back... many of those great ideas ended up in Favor of the Pharaoh.
• This is the first of seven (7!) Lehmann designs on my list.

#87: Claustrophobia (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Claustrophobia

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 562
• rating: 7.5
• published: 2009

Print Status

• out of print

Why It's On The List

• Imagine taking the asymmetrical structure of the classic game Space Hulk (hordes of bad guys vs. a small band of heroes) and cross-pollinating it with some very clever dice mechanics (one even borrowed from the much-loved Euro game, Kingsburg)... and then packing the box as full of high-quality components as possible. And there you have it.

Tips & Tricks:

• Both players (the good guys AND the bad guys) have to carefully manage all of their resources - each of them has some pretty nifty "powers" but almost all of those are limited in their use.
• Not unlike the original Space Hulk board game, sometimes winning is just taking out as many bad guys as possible before you go under.

Extras

• The playing time for Claustrophobia is almost always less than an hour... and, with a few exceptions, it's pretty easy to set up as the caverns will be explored and the game board laid out as you play.
• Warning: this is probably the "darkest" game I own (thematically)... this is not for everyone.
• The De Profundis expansion has a lot more scenarios, some new monsters & heroes, and a bunch of new tiles & cards... and, as per the designer's wishes, does NOT make this a multi-player game. (Croc - yes, that's his moniker - was very clear that he'd designed a two-player game and that putting more folks around the table would mess up the design.)
• The Furor Sanguinis expansion adds a new "faction" - well, to be accurate, giant lizard/demon bad guy. We've had a lot of fun with it.
• Yes, I know there's a (relatively) new edition [circa 2019]. But this is the one I own.

#88: Battle Beyond Space (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Battle Beyond Space

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 10,011
• rating: 6.3
• published: 2012
• designer: Frank Branham

Print Status

• out of print but not impossible to find

Why It's On The List

• Have a massive multiple armada space battle... in 60 minutes. With almost no luck.

Tips & Tricks:

• Important safety tip: I was a long-time playtester on this game... it's not my baby but it certainly feels like it.
• I do wish the colors of two of squadrons in the blue fleet weren't so dang close. I need to use a Sharpie to mark one of them.
• Like Catan, initial placement is important. You have to make wise choices based on your special power and your judgement about the relative aggressiveness of your closest foes.

Extras

• I wrote an ode to joy about the publication of Battle Beyond Space on my blog back in 2009.
• The inscription on my "thank you for playtesting" copy of the game...

#89: Entenrallye (Mark's Top 100 - 2026)

Entenrallye

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 20,473
• rating: 5.9
• published: 1988
• designer: Walter Müller

Print Status

• incredibly OOP

Why It's On The List

• A splendid road rally race that's fraught with luck... and some actual decision-making.

Tips & Tricks:

• You can't make it to every prize ceremony - so don't even try.
• Deciding when to cut & run - or at least leaving yourself that option - is one of the keys to winning the game.

Extras

• This is probably the lowest ranked game (BGG-wise) on my Top 100 - and frankly, I think that simply indicates that my list is superior to the opinions of a whole lot of other people.
• Here's what I wrote about Entenrallye for The One Hundred.