Here we are at the end of the year, and here I am at the end of my BGG Top 100 Games checklist! I wrote a series of posts looking at the Board Game Geek (BGG) top 100 games, checking to see if I had the game in my collection and talking a little bit about each one. Today I finish that list, covering games 10 down to 1.
For all posts in this series check for the BGG Top 100 tag.
10: Great Western Trail
Released 2016
Earlier in this series I mentioned that I don’t really follow game designers. This purchase was an exception. I bought it specifically because of the game designer (and not because I live in Texas). The designer for this game produced Maracaibo also, and I bought this one based on the strength of that, even though it doesn’t appear in the BGG top 100. Status: Owned. Along with the Rails to the North expansion.
9: Twilight Struggle
Released 2005
I’m not a huge war-game fan, so the topic / theme of this game don’t attract me that much. Even if the game plays really well, if I am not able to get into the story or theme I tend to not enjoy it as much. Passed on this one.
8: Star Wars: Rebellion
Released 2016
This should be right up my alley, right? But after buying tons of X-Wing miniatures, along with Star Wars Outer Rim and a few other games, I decided to pass on this one. My experience with buying (and then selling) Imperial Assault probably had something to do with that as well.
7: Gaia Project
Released 2017
This one gets almost as much positive buzz as Mage Knight if that’s possible. Maybe even more. It certainly gets more love from the BGG rankings coming in at number seven. It’s not in my collection yet but given the reviews (and the fact that you can play solo) it’s definitely on my “to do” list.
6: Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Released 2015
I do not own this game, and really don’t know that much about it.
5: Twilight Imperium
Released 2017
This game has gone through a number of revisions (they are up to the fourth edition as I publish this). It gets great reviews, but runs long and requires a minimum of three players. I just don’t see it being the type of game I would get to play very often with my normal gaming group, so I have decided to pass.
4: Terraforming Mars
Released 2016
I have posted about this game plenty of times before. It’s one of the games I have expanded, upgraded, and purchased accessories for. It’s a game that my wife will actually play (and enjoy) so it earns bonus points for that. I would take this off the shelf and play it anytime, anywhere. Own it, love it, will enjoy it for years to come. One of my favorites on this list.
3: Brass: Birmingham
Released 2018
This is the second “Brass” game on the list, and I don’t currently own either of them. This is a game that I would like to play first (from someone else’s collection) before I buy it.
2: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Released 2015
I told you this was coming. 🙂 The base game was in the first bucket of ten games. One of the “survivor series” was later in the list, followed by the second season of the legacy version. This was one of the very first super popular legacy games. Not the first, I think Risk: Legacy takes that crown. But even if it wasn’t the first legacy game it certainly seemed like the first legacy game that really took the gaming community by storm. Everyone was talking about it, playing it, and trying to avoid spoilers as they worked there way through the game.
I have it, and we were going to (ironically) try to play it this year when the LARP version of Pandemic took over the world and made it impossible to get our gaming group together. Next year!
And finally <drum roll please> at number one we have
1: Gloomhaven
Released 2017
This game is sometimes described as “D&D in a box” or “D&D without a dungeon master.” I can see where both of those descriptions fit. This was one of the first games to attempt to do either of those things and figure out how to make it work. Combat and spells are by cards. Characters level up and even retire during the course of the game. The successor just became the most successful board game ever on Kickstarter, raising over $13MM for their Frosthaven game which will be coming out in 2021.
Will Frosthaven dethrone Gloomhaven at the top of the list? Will both games stick it out in the top ten? We’ll have to see how things unfold next year.
Games Mentioned: 100
Games Owned: 41 (41%)
Games Previously Owned: 4
So there you have it. Out of all of the games ranked in the top 100 by the Board Game Geek algorithms, I currently own 41, had previously owned 4 more, for a grand total of 45. I honestly started this series expecting to see those numbers much higher. As I went through the list, I could certainly see a few games that I might like to own some day, but even those might not take me up to 50%.
Does that mean I have bad taste in games? No, I don’t think so. It just means that I know what I like, and even if there is a really good highly-rated game, if it has a them or gaming style or some other aspect that I think would prevent it from getting to the table, I’m probably not going to buy it.
How about you? How many games from the BGG top 100 do you own? Do you wish you owned more? I think I’m quite happy with where I am, even if the results were a bit surprising.
Happy holidays, and best wishes for 2021. 😎