The Top 200 Games: #190 - #181

#190: Animal Upon Animal (2005)

I own 4 different versions of this game... and enjoy all of them. It's possibly the best balancing/dexterity game for non-gamer families out there. My review of Animal Upon Animal: Balancing Bridge is here; my review of Animal Upon Animal: The Duel is here.

#189: The Secret Door (1991)

Speaking of family games, this may have weak production but the memory/cooperative gameplay is very, very good. My entry for my Kid Games 100 is here.

 #188: Lotus (2016)

A stunningly beautiful card game that manages to subvert the "don't help the guy on your left" problem by giving you an incentive to help him when it helps you.

#187: Smash Up (2012)

Sometimes the "take that" nature of the game gets under my skin, but the splicing together of factions and the card combos that ensue can make it a lot of fun. I do not recommend playing with 4 players - the downtime is too much for the weight of the game.

#186: FITS (2009)

Tetris as a board game... and since I like Tetris, this works for me.

#185: Kayanak (1999)

I'm not sure it's a great game - but I have a great time playing it. The ice-fishing mechanic(ism) at the heart of the game is just cool. My entry for my Kid Games 100 is here.

#184: Zoff im Hühnerhof (2006)

Another great dexterity game from HABA... silly but fun. And there's nothing quite like it - thematically (flinging chicken feed) or structurally. My entry for my Kid Games 100 is here.

#183: Patchwork (2014)

It’s clever, it’s pretty to look at, and the subtle interaction between players is flat out delicious. I'm reminded of another shared favorite – Flowerpower… not so much because they are the same game mechanically but the feeling you get when playing it and building your tableau.

#182: Klunker (1999)

Uwe Rosenberg creates yet another "wacky use of cards" card game. It doesn't hit the table often, but it's still a brain-twister when it does. My Game Central Station article on the game is here; my 2010 Top 100 entry is here.

#181: Small World (2009)

This has fallen a long way - I still like it better than Vinci, but I'm not playing it very often. It remains an excellent bridge game to take non-gamers into gamer territory. My review of some expansions is here; my 2014 Top 100 entry is here.

A trio of editorial notes:

• The BoardGameGeek entry for the game is linked through the date of publication.
• When appropriate, I've linked to content I've written about the game. 
• For #200-#101, I'm only going to post pictures of the highest ranked game in each set.

The Top 200 Games: #200 - #191

#200: Impulse (2013)

One more weird (and enjoyable) Carl Chudyk game where the cards do multiple things - this time in space.

#199: Dastardly Dirigibles (2016)

A pleasant set-collecting game that's easy to introduce to non-gamers... with a nicely realized steampunk theme. My review is here.

 #198: Epic PVP: Fantasy (2015)

The boys & I enjoy this one enough that we've bought both the expansions to increase the variety of combinations. Balancing your hand size and ability to play cards is tricky.

#197: Olympia 2000 (v. Chr.) (1994)

A nearly 25 year old classic game from Stefan Dorra... it's a light simultaneous selection game with a cute theme.

#196: Tiny Epic Kingdoms (2014)

The first game of what has become a Kickstarter juggernaut... I like the small footprint of the game. I think it's a decent game with just the base game that is improved by the addition of the expansion. My preview of the KS is here.

#195: Machi Koro (2012)

It's bloated with both expansions in... but the base game is a good little city-building dice game with some nice twists.

#194: Batik (1997)

I'm not sure whether to call it a dexterity game or an abstract game - but it's the game I keep on my desk at work. (It was a gift from Stephen Glenn...)

#193: Mole in the Hole (1995)

A Ravensburger game that was marketed to kids but actually has some nifty tactical considerations and an innovative multiple level board.

#192: Blöder Sack (2014)

It's "use dice to claim cards" - but the way you place dice to win majorities and the ability to push out someone else's dice makes it fun. The drawstring bag makes it portable.

#191: Im Reich der Jadegöttin (2007)

The first of a planned trio of Entdecker-based games... sadly, only two of the three were published. This is the more family-friendly of the pair that saw the light of day.

A trio of editorial notes:

• The BoardGameGeek entry for the game is linked through the date of publication.
• When appropriate, I've linked to content I've written about the game. 
• For #200-#101, I'm only going to post pictures of the highest ranked game in each set.