My Top 10 Favorite Games (as of August 2018)

Every 6 months I update my top 10 favorite tabletop games list. Those 6 months have flown by–I play a lot of games, and I’m always curious to look back at my tastes over that period to see if they’ve changed.

There are many, many games that won’t make this list, including all games that I’ve designed (Viticulture, Euphoria, Scythe, and Charterstone), published (Between Two Cities and My Little Scythe), or experienced as a one-time campaign (Risk Legacy, Near and Far, Pandemic Legacy, etc).

Rather, the deciding factor on this list is how much I would like to play these games right now. And not just in a “new hotness” kind of way. These are games that I’ve continued to play over and over, and I’m always excited when someone wants to play these games.

Moving off the previous list are several games I still adore, but they’re just not quite in the top 10 right now.

I actually revealed this list in a detailed video today, which I’ll display below, so I’ll keep the list itself succinct to the core details about each game:

10. Tzolk’in: 1-4 players (5 with expansion), heavy Euro, 2-3 hours

9. Yedo (first appearance): 2-5 players, mid/heavy-weight Euro, 2-3 hours

8. Dice Forge (first appearance): 2-4 players, dice-rolling Euro game, 45-60 minutes

7. Downforce: 2-6 players, racing game, 45-60 minutes

6. Scotland Yard: 2-6 players, hidden movement, 1-versus-many, 45 minutes

5. Hanamikoji: 2 players, light but great tension, 20 minutes

4. Fantasy Realms (first appearance): 2-6 players, light filler, 15 minutes

3. Castles of Mad King Ludwig: 1-4 players, mid-weight Euro, 75-90 minutes

2. A Feast for Odin (first appearance): 1-4 players, heavy Euro, 2-3 hours

1. TIME Stories: 1-4 players (though we’ve played it with more), cooperative, move-like experience

That’s it! For more details, please see the video below. Are any of these games on your current top 10 list? What are some games on your list that you think I should try?

7 thoughts on “My Top 10 Favorite Games (as of August 2018)”

  1. Just curious… you don’t put Time Stories in the same bucket as the other legacy/campaign games? Do you treat it more like, say, an LCG?

    The only one on your list that I’ve played and own is Fantasy Realms. I clearly have to try/play more games!

    That being said, my list would of course contain a couple of yours! 🙂

    Reply
    • I treat it separately because new content keeps coming out for TIME Stories. I love my legacy games, but when I finish their campaigns, I don’t return to them again.

      Reply
      • Except Charterstone?! 🙂 But that is ineligible for this list, as you mentioned.

        Sorry, I’m just halfway through your video for this, as it’s still in my work day (here in Australia), so you might have already answered my question there.

        Reply
      • This is a comment about your comments in the video re T.I.M.E. Stories (TS). It is also my favorite game, especially because it’s the only game I found to use as a starting point model for a game I’m designing. So I love that you love features such as: having players participate in the story narrations (“like in a movie”); stories told by a combination of images and text; and the requirement that players tell other players the card content in their own words rather than reading it aloud verbatim.

        It’s encouraging that you like the very features I’m trying to boost. And the helpful podcast link you provided elaborates on TS features even more.
        https://soundcloud.com/user-318456537/coop-cast-episode-31-time-stories-with-jamey-stegmaier

        Features you highlighted in other favorites are also relevant to my efforts—namely, in #2 Feast of Odin, filling in the shapes and seeing them appear on the game board; and in #9. Yedo, that players are involved in missions.

        Many Thanks 👏🏻

        Reply

Leave a Reply to iainsimmonsCancel reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading