How Fun Works (3rd edition, revised)
December 12, 2014 1:45 PM Subscribe
Noted boardgaming blog Shut Up & Sit Down (previously) has been publishing its "Top 25 Games Ever!" all week long. Now that the series is complete, let the arguing begin: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1.
I haven't read/watched many of their reviews, but friends whose boardgaming opinions I respect recommend them. That one about the colonizing RPG was quite good. But looking at this list, there is just very little overlap between their tastes and mine.
posted by X-Himy at 1:58 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by X-Himy at 1:58 PM on December 12, 2014
Which is fine! I like when reviewers put down lists like these, because it allows you to calibrate what you expect.
posted by X-Himy at 1:59 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by X-Himy at 1:59 PM on December 12, 2014
For those interested in other board game lists, I've always found Defective Yeti's Good Gift Game Guide pretty useful. It gets done every year and focuses specifically on games that are easy to learn and teach.
posted by BigYesh 2 at 2:06 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by BigYesh 2 at 2:06 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm struck by how different their tastes are from mine. I've played a bit over half of these, and most of those don't really do much for me. I do quite like Pictomania, Galaxy Trucker, Space Alert, Race for the Galaxy, & Suburbia though.
My current favorite, at least in terms of what I've played most in the past year, is Innovation.
posted by aubilenon at 2:14 PM on December 12, 2014
My current favorite, at least in terms of what I've played most in the past year, is Innovation.
posted by aubilenon at 2:14 PM on December 12, 2014
I will now save everyone who just wants to squabble five minutes of time (links go to the first review-like thing in each entry, not the top-25 list itself):
posted by Going To Maine at 2:14 PM on December 12, 2014 [4 favorites]
- Cosmic Encounter
- Memoir '44
- Android: Netrunner
- Two Rooms and a Boom
- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
- Skull
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
- Galaxy Trucker
- Twilight Imperium
- Race For The Galaxy
- Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf
- Suburbia
- Love Letter
- Space Alert
- Lords of Vegas
- Dead of Winter
- Mascarade
- Terra Mystica
- Pictomania
- Space Cadets
- Pandemic
- Hive
- Ladies & Gentlemen
- Dixit
posted by Going To Maine at 2:14 PM on December 12, 2014 [4 favorites]
My list would be very different. But since Race and TI3 are top ten, I'll allow it.
posted by Windopaene at 2:18 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by Windopaene at 2:18 PM on December 12, 2014
I think its best games ever going toain not just for the year as there's no way to is only a year old.
posted by Carillon at 2:19 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by Carillon at 2:19 PM on December 12, 2014
This is the top 25 games they've ever reviewed? It seems like a plausible list for a reasonably common set of preferences. If it was just this year, I'd have predicted Dead of Winter, Splendor, Istanbul, Five Tribes, King of New York, and maybe Legendary Encounters: Alien. If it was all-time ever, I'd have expected Crokinole. ;)
posted by Monsieur Caution at 2:26 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Monsieur Caution at 2:26 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Two Rooms and a Boom at #4? I've played this at Origins for the last two years, and I can tell you this about it: it is a great way to identify the biggest assholes in a group of strangers. As a game, though, meh.
posted by Etrigan at 2:30 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Etrigan at 2:30 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've been on the fence about getting Hive, so I guess I should put that on my wish list.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:31 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:31 PM on December 12, 2014
Chess? Poker?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:34 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:34 PM on December 12, 2014
There's definitely a nerd/obscurity factor in here, since they seem to be avoiding better known games, with no "classics" like Chess or Scrabble and only one or two Spiel des Jahres winners/nominees.
posted by justkevin at 2:35 PM on December 12, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by justkevin at 2:35 PM on December 12, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Why is this list full of games I haven't heard of? Why isn't it full of games I like?"
posted by Hogshead at 2:40 PM on December 12, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 2:40 PM on December 12, 2014 [5 favorites]
Hive is very popular at BoardSpace if you want to give it a try against other people.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:45 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 2:45 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
No one ever wants to play Mousetrap.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:46 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 2:46 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
COSMIC ENCOUNTER?! I still get nervous ticks when I think about the winter '95/'96. I roomed with a Danish-Canadian girl geek and she'd get her geek pals over. And it was cool because I was introduced to various RPGs, comics and board games.
Then one Sunday afternoon she pulled out Cosmic Encounter, her three male pals squeed, and two hours later we were still in the process of setting up whilst my roomie was having a HEAVY discussion about tactics. The game last all night, everybody got into a fight, and I still didn't understand the rules because every time I tried to do something, people screamed NO DON'T DO THAT at me, moved my pieces for me and then started fighting between themselves.
That was the first Sunday of many, many that winter. I never got the hang of it, but I still get nervous ticks at the sheer mention.
I really like Dixit, on the other hand.
posted by kariebookish at 2:51 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
Then one Sunday afternoon she pulled out Cosmic Encounter, her three male pals squeed, and two hours later we were still in the process of setting up whilst my roomie was having a HEAVY discussion about tactics. The game last all night, everybody got into a fight, and I still didn't understand the rules because every time I tried to do something, people screamed NO DON'T DO THAT at me, moved my pieces for me and then started fighting between themselves.
That was the first Sunday of many, many that winter. I never got the hang of it, but I still get nervous ticks at the sheer mention.
I really like Dixit, on the other hand.
posted by kariebookish at 2:51 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
Excited to give Cosmic Encounter and Space Alert a try next weekend - a friend of ours keeps buying board games and then never actually playing them, so I've started giving them a shot. I'd love to try out Sherlock, but it seems to be out of print everywhere, and unless I get another big contract, I think Dead of Winter is probably just too expensive for me to take a gamble on it.
I'm surprised 7 Wonders didn't make the list; I think that's one of the few games that supports a lot of people, has generally interesting decisions, very little downtime, and is one of the few we can pull out and teach without much prelude.
I will never again play Twilight Imperium (any game in which I can make a cheesecake between my turns is not one I will return to) and I was pretty meh on Netrunner and X-Wing, but X-Wing is pretty popular amongst my nerd cabal.
posted by tautological at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2014
I'm surprised 7 Wonders didn't make the list; I think that's one of the few games that supports a lot of people, has generally interesting decisions, very little downtime, and is one of the few we can pull out and teach without much prelude.
I will never again play Twilight Imperium (any game in which I can make a cheesecake between my turns is not one I will return to) and I was pretty meh on Netrunner and X-Wing, but X-Wing is pretty popular amongst my nerd cabal.
posted by tautological at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2014
This is probably not the best intro to SUSD, if you're not familiar with them. Their video reviews are, in my opinion, pretty much the best out there. Even when I don't necessarily agree with them, they do a really fantastic job of explaining what about a game is good or bad without just listing out the rules like many other places. My tastes differ from theirs in a lot of ways, but they're pretty awesome nonetheless.
This series, though, feels like it's really playing for the crowd that already knows them.
That said, in defense of the lack of Chess: is that really surprising?
I mean, look, nothing against Chess, but I would be shocked to find it near the top of nearly any modern boardgamer's list. It's got historical and cultural cachet, and certainly it's an impressive game (people who are really good at chess kinda amaze me). However, it's more or less exactly the opposite of the kind of game that's been driving the boardgame renaissance in the past 15-20 years -- abstract, enormous skill ceiling, huge learning curve, and only 2 player heads-up.
Chess, Go, and Checkers are all impressive, and I don't see them going anywhere. However, they're all more or less evolutionary dead ends; practically no games have really sprung from them that have any staying power (in all three, people stick pretty rigidly to the standard version, with variants being minor novelties). Meanwhile, modern games are trying out all sorts of things that people never imagined previously. That's not to say that all new games are inherently better, but there's all sorts of new experiences being explored that are bringing in a lot of people who have little interest in those classics.
posted by tocts at 3:17 PM on December 12, 2014
This series, though, feels like it's really playing for the crowd that already knows them.
That said, in defense of the lack of Chess: is that really surprising?
I mean, look, nothing against Chess, but I would be shocked to find it near the top of nearly any modern boardgamer's list. It's got historical and cultural cachet, and certainly it's an impressive game (people who are really good at chess kinda amaze me). However, it's more or less exactly the opposite of the kind of game that's been driving the boardgame renaissance in the past 15-20 years -- abstract, enormous skill ceiling, huge learning curve, and only 2 player heads-up.
Chess, Go, and Checkers are all impressive, and I don't see them going anywhere. However, they're all more or less evolutionary dead ends; practically no games have really sprung from them that have any staying power (in all three, people stick pretty rigidly to the standard version, with variants being minor novelties). Meanwhile, modern games are trying out all sorts of things that people never imagined previously. That's not to say that all new games are inherently better, but there's all sorts of new experiences being explored that are bringing in a lot of people who have little interest in those classics.
posted by tocts at 3:17 PM on December 12, 2014
The omission of Chess and Go isn't too surprising for a list of modern nerdy board games (although they do claim these are the top 25 games ever, I'll assume that's tongue-in-cheek).
I am surprised as the absence of games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dominion and other modern games that have introduced German-style gaming to a wider audience.
posted by justkevin at 3:40 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
I am surprised as the absence of games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dominion and other modern games that have introduced German-style gaming to a wider audience.
posted by justkevin at 3:40 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
Dead Of Winter is notable as a game that's amazing fun the first time and then you gradually come to realize that the game's traitor mechanic utterly breaks it: the co-op gameplay is so rugged and difficult that whenever you have a traitor (about one game in three, assuming you don't assign a traitor automatically), you basically have to be an idiot to not win as the traitor.
It doesn't do anything Battlestar Galactica didn't already do, and BSG does it all ten times better. All Dead of Winter has going for it is zombies, and seriously: fuck zombies already, that theme is so overdone.
posted by mightygodking at 4:10 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
It doesn't do anything Battlestar Galactica didn't already do, and BSG does it all ten times better. All Dead of Winter has going for it is zombies, and seriously: fuck zombies already, that theme is so overdone.
posted by mightygodking at 4:10 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
They've clearly moved past those onto some "better" games. Pretty "cult of the new" for a lot of that, but what should you expect. Not everyone came to board gaming in the 70s, late90s, 2005, etc..
posted by Windopaene at 4:13 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by Windopaene at 4:13 PM on December 12, 2014
Huh. I guess BSG is just better balanced, then? Thus far BSG seems to be about 50/50 for who wins, although it does have its issues. (Every time someone plays as Baltar, we all just go, "He's definitely a Cylon, so we're never giving any power to him." This has never been wrong. It's also a little slower than I'd like.)
posted by tautological at 4:25 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by tautological at 4:25 PM on December 12, 2014
Rule check: if you're playing BSG, and you're a cylon, and you're flying a viper, can you announce your betrayal by shooting up some civilian vessels? If not, why not? It's not as though they can throw you in the brig.
(well, it's potentially game breaking, that's why not, but it's a lot of fun, especially because the human players, not noticing that I was aiming at other vipers, kept feeding me red cards until it was far too late)
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:56 PM on December 12, 2014
(well, it's potentially game breaking, that's why not, but it's a lot of fun, especially because the human players, not noticing that I was aiming at other vipers, kept feeding me red cards until it was far too late)
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:56 PM on December 12, 2014
Excited to give Cosmic Encounter and Space Alert a try next weekend - a friend of ours keeps buying board games and then never actually playing them, so I've started giving them a shot. I'd love to try out Sherlock, but it seems to be out of print everywhere, and unless I get another big contract, I think Dead of Winter is probably just too expensive for me to take a gamble on it.
I can't find the link now, but a week or two ago it was announced that a reprint is in the works of Sherlock.
posted by ridogi at 6:39 PM on December 12, 2014
I can't find the link now, but a week or two ago it was announced that a reprint is in the works of Sherlock.
posted by ridogi at 6:39 PM on December 12, 2014
Hmmm, I think I might know some Dixit people.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:13 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by benito.strauss at 7:13 PM on December 12, 2014
The lack of Twilight Struggle here is curious.
posted by cthuljew at 7:20 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by cthuljew at 7:20 PM on December 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
I love GMT as much as the next guy but twilight struggle isn't even one of their best games honestly. That said I line how open they've been on embracing the online aspects with vassal and cyber board.
posted by Carillon at 7:53 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by Carillon at 7:53 PM on December 12, 2014
X-Wing looks like a great deal of fun but I was looking at the pieces in the game shop this afternoon and some of them are like fifty dollars, and there are dozens and dozens and dozens of pieces you can buy. It's basically Warhammer and I don't think it really counts as a boardgame. I'm a little irked in general by all the games that essentially require multiple investments of ridiculous amounts of money.
King of New York, though? Fun as hell. Fifty bucks. Sorted.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:45 PM on December 12, 2014
King of New York, though? Fun as hell. Fifty bucks. Sorted.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:45 PM on December 12, 2014
Also that Twilight Imperium layout literally looks like a joke gone wrong.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:46 PM on December 12, 2014
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:46 PM on December 12, 2014
kariebookish: "I never got the hang of it"
I've been playing Cosmic Encounter, on and off, since the 1980s. It's still baffling at times, and infuriating at others, but it never ceases to please me.
posted by meehawl at 8:57 PM on December 12, 2014
I've been playing Cosmic Encounter, on and off, since the 1980s. It's still baffling at times, and infuriating at others, but it never ceases to please me.
posted by meehawl at 8:57 PM on December 12, 2014
A strange list. These guys sure like their party filler games.
posted by salmacis at 12:21 AM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by salmacis at 12:21 AM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
Settlers of Catan is another omission that's not shocking to me.
Settlers is absolutely an important game, and should rightfully be respected for its place in the history of gaming and how we got to where we are. However, in my own opinion, it's a good game, but not a great one. It was leagues better than anything else out there when it hit the market, but has been surpassed by quite a few games since.
Dominion ... that's harder to say. Hugely influential, but in a weird way, Dominion may suffer the most over time. It's as pure a deckbuilder as there is (given that it basically invented it), but I think in the long run, it's going to be supplanted by deckbuilders that marry that core mechanic with other ones. I also wonder if maybe expansion fatigue hurts its rankings (I love the game, but good god are there too many cards; I wish they'd reset it back to a single box of the best of the best).
As for Ticket to Ride, maybe it's just personal preference. It ranks pretty highly for me, both because it's a lot of fun, and also because it's more or less the perfect gateway game. But, the SUSD guys do tend towards the nerdier (though not the nerdiest) games.
posted by tocts at 5:34 AM on December 13, 2014
Settlers is absolutely an important game, and should rightfully be respected for its place in the history of gaming and how we got to where we are. However, in my own opinion, it's a good game, but not a great one. It was leagues better than anything else out there when it hit the market, but has been surpassed by quite a few games since.
Dominion ... that's harder to say. Hugely influential, but in a weird way, Dominion may suffer the most over time. It's as pure a deckbuilder as there is (given that it basically invented it), but I think in the long run, it's going to be supplanted by deckbuilders that marry that core mechanic with other ones. I also wonder if maybe expansion fatigue hurts its rankings (I love the game, but good god are there too many cards; I wish they'd reset it back to a single box of the best of the best).
As for Ticket to Ride, maybe it's just personal preference. It ranks pretty highly for me, both because it's a lot of fun, and also because it's more or less the perfect gateway game. But, the SUSD guys do tend towards the nerdier (though not the nerdiest) games.
posted by tocts at 5:34 AM on December 13, 2014
Love letter is a cute game, but I really question it getting placed on a list of this type. I agree with them that it's perfect for what it is. There's no way to improve it without radically changing it into something else entirely, but I don't know that that means it should go on this list without a clearer statement of what the criteria are.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:54 AM on December 14, 2014
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:54 AM on December 14, 2014
I can't find the link now, but a week or two ago it was announced that a reprint is in the works of Sherlock.
You had me excited, but it looks like the reprint has already happened, and completely sold out again :(
posted by netd at 3:25 AM on December 14, 2014
You had me excited, but it looks like the reprint has already happened, and completely sold out again :(
posted by netd at 3:25 AM on December 14, 2014
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