BGG Top Games – 1401 Through 1500

I really like how successful these posts have been!

There has been some true engagement as people have gone through the lists and talked about their own experiences with them.

I know the last post was Sunday, but let’s get back onto that weekly track by doing a Thursday post.

Here’s the link to the 1401-1500 ranked list of games on Boardgame Geek, though keep in mind that the list can change over time, especially if you are looking at this in the far future!

Like the year 2500 or something.

A couple of them changed between me writing part of the draft of this post and when I finished it!

This sequence of games will have a lot of “I want to” or “I have no intention to” mentions, because I’ve only played 9 games!

Also, I only own 5 of them, some of those of which I haven’t played yet.

The inspiration for this list came from the This Game is Broken podcast, where they did a “Higher & Lower” segment based on games ranked from 1000-2000.

I took it from there, and will probably carry this on until people stop caring!

Please don’t stop caring…

The last post was heavy (well, 3, but still) in COIN games, but this set only has one (Liberty of Death: the American Insurrection #1487), which I happen to own.

There also don’t appear to be that many wargames in general.

That’s a switch!

You know what else is a switch?

Moving on without some kind of witty (ha!) segue…

This set of games doesn’t really have much to crow about, unfortunately.

Of the games I’ve played, one noteworthy one is Foundations of Metropolis (#1465).

This is the “basic” version of the massively over-produced Foundations of Rome and I find it a really fascinating game.

This is a game where the city of Metropolis (NOT Rome) is divided into a bunch of lots, and each lot will come up for sale on a card track.

On your turn, you will either be buying a lot or you will be building one of your buildings on a series of connected lots on the board that you own.

You’re trying to score points, but new buildings will either add to your population or your income.

Income will, of course, make it easier to buy things in the next rounds, but population is how you score points.

I don’t normally like these types of “Tetris” games, where you have differently-shaped pieces that you are trying to place out on a board, but this one actually really engaged me.

It helps that it’s fast and interesting, that you’re never really just sitting there wanting to grab your phone.

It also helps that those lower on the Population scale will score points based on the person in front of them, which is kind of a catch-up mechanism, or at least a “don’t fall too far behind” one).

I enjoyed this one and am sad we’ve only played it the one time.

There are also two games on this list that are just on the cusp of being review-worthy, but I haven’t played them in ages now (and don’t even have access to one of them).

Strasbourg (#1483) is a game I haven’t played since 2014, where I played it two times at V-Con.

I barely even remember it, though I do remember liking it.

It came out in 2011, so it was almost brand new back then!

But now it’s ancient, in game terms, anyway.

Let’s blurb this one since I have no memory of how it works (and sadly, no pictures before 2015).

“In this time, players take on the lead of ascending families of the city. It is your goal to place your family members in the different guilds. Only the clever usage of influence points makes it possible to be accommodated as apprentice, assistant or even master craftsman – provided you can pay the admission fee. But don’t underestimate the power of the church or the nobility.”

Doesn’t sound like much, does it?

But I’d play it again!

The other game that’s close to review but just needs one more play (or more, considering it’s been 8 years since I’ve played it) is Royals (#1482).

This is a game of area control and card playing very similar to Ticket to Ride.

Players represent nobles European houses who are vying for control of the various European countries

You’re going to be playing cards of the same nationality type in order to gain influence with high rank in their government.

What’s interesting is that you can use Intrigue cards to actually contest already-occupied positions.

So not like Ticket to Ride!

I have fond memories of this game, but it didn’t go over as well with my game group as I would like.

I should bring it out again and see if that’s changed at all.

Another game that I’ve played and really enjoyed was Seas of Strife (#1493), a trick-taking game with some unique characteristics.

I like this one because of how the suit dynamics work.

What colour you lead isn’t necessarily the colour that will win the trick!

If somebody can’t follow suit, they play any other colour.

Subsequent players can play either of those colours. Or a third suit if they don’t have either one.

Then the “winning” suit ends up being whichever suit was played the most.

The game comes with a nice player aid that tells you which cards are in which colour and which one is the highest in that colour.

It’s been a while since I’ve played it, but I do remember that you get points for tricks taken and you do actually want points, so taking tricks is good!

I’d like to play this one again.

It’s another “2 plays, so one more play and I can review it” game.

Maybe it will come out again, if Abi hasn’t traded it away yet.

One other noteworthy game that I’ve played isn’t quite as good, though my one play of it may be colouring that rating a bit.

Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate (#1416) is basically a reskin of Betrayal at House on the Hill but set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons universe.

It has the same mechanisms as the original game, where you are exploring the city (house in the original) finding what’s where, and also increasing the level that will eventually result in the “Haunt” (though I don’t remember what it was called in this game) coming into being.

This usually will be one of the players turning into a bad guy and everybody else trying to eliminate them.

Each side will get their own rules and instructions, so you’d better hope the person who got the “haunt” is gamer enough to be able to understand their instructions because there won’t be any asking for help or opinions.

Occasionally, though, you’ll get a “haunt” that will pit everybody against everybody else, like what happened in my play of it.

The change that we got was basically “everybody has to kill everybody else; last one standing is the winner.”

I hadn’t equipped my character very well during the prelude, so I died pretty quickly.

And the game went on for another hour…

I really did not enjoy this game that much, though the concept itself does intrigue me.

Are the “haunts” (sorry, I really don’t remember what they’re called in this one) well-balanced and not broken, unlike the original game?

I don’t know!

I wouldn’t mind trying this one again, just to see if that was a one-off result and the next mission would actually be kind of fun.

But I’m not chomping at the bit for it.

Other noteworthy games in this list are Dale of Merchants 2 (#1491), which I own because I bought all of the first three Dale of Merchants games along with the collector’s box, but haven’t really played with them much.

I do want to try this one more, but we have some newbies in our lunchtime group at work and I’m not sure how well this one will work until we indoctrinate them more into gaming.

Tag Team (#1456) is a 2-player auto-battler which I have played once on Boardgame Arena but my own copy is still sitting in pre-order Hell with one of my GMT games that will hopefully ship soon!

It doesn’t work as well on BGA, but it looks amazing on the table from the playthroughs I’ve watched.

This one is probably on its way up and may not be in this list come next year, if not sooner.

Hell, it moved up 25 spaces between the time I started this post and now!

Pavlov’s House (#1443) is a really great solo wargame by David Thompson about defending a strongpoint in Stalingrad against the onrushing German forces.

This one I’ve played on the app, unfortunately.

It worked well there as the app is great, but I’d love to try it on the table sometime.

Whistle Stop (#1433) is a game I own and have actually played once with my wife.

Though I’ve never gotten it out to a game day so I don’t know how it plays with more players.

It’s kind of a basic pick up and deliver game and also track-laying, but you’re laying down track tiles rather than actual track.

You’re trying to get your trains from the right side of the board to the left.

I bought the expansion to this one but have barely even played the base game yet.

What is wrong with me?

I’d like to try this one out again, though.

Time to read the rules!

It doesn’t take up that much space and our 2-player game was done in under an hour.

Probably longer than that for more players.

But I remember it being fun!

How about we move into games I haven’t played but might want to?

First, I have to laugh that Poker is #1405 and has a published date of 1810.

Anyway, how about Star Trek: Captain’s Chair (#1402 when I started this post but now at #1391), which has always sounded intriguing.

Since I’ve never seen it played (though there may be at least one Heavy Cardboard playthrough out there which I should check out), let’s blurb this.

“In Star Trek: Captain’s Chair, you will go head-to-head with an opponent, each stepping into the shoes of an iconic captain from across Star Trek’s galaxy and history. Command ships, crew, and away teams while you manage resources and alliances!”

What does that mean?

I don’t know!

But I’m intrigued.

The fact that the pictures on Boardgame Geek show miniatures and stuff makes me balk a little bit, but overall I’d love to try it.

That being said, I’ve heard that it’s a reimplementation of Imperium, which I kind of liked, so maybe this is one to try?

But it’s only 2-player!

I’m so confused!

Vanuatu (#1421) looks really interesting, but I played the second edition of that and it was fabulous, so I don’t think I really need to try the first edition.

Ancient Knowledge (#1422) is a really cool-seeming game that I actually have played asynchronously on Boardgame Arena and completely bounced off of how I was supposed to do things.

But the concept of drafting cards, putting them on your tableau, and having them age off of it, is just is so intriguing.

Since I don’t have any real experience with the game, let’s blurb it.

“Ancient Knowledge is a strategic card game in which you erect monuments and build artefacts to pass on your knowledge. Time will make your constructions ephemeral,so make the right decision and combine the many cards at your disposal, because all knowledge is doomed to disappear…

It’s up to you to find the best synergy so that you can pass down knowledge before the decline of the emblematic monuments you have constructed, monuments we still find nowadays in the four corners of the globe. From Mexican pyramids to the Sphinx of Giza, passing through the famous cities of Tiwanaku and Babylon, only the cleverest builder will shine through the ages and seize victory. In this game, your only enemy is time.”

I must try this game!

Or maybe I’ll just break down and play it on BGA.

It’s a Wonderful Kingdom (#1448) is a 2-player version of the very good It’s a Wonderful World.

Which is kind of 7 Wonders like in the sense that you are drafting cards to then build into your tableau, or perhaps discard for their resources to build other cards.

This one does add some stuff on top of the original that makes it even better for 2 players.

Let’s blurb!

“It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is a standalone solo or 2-player game in a Low-Fantasy universe. Inspired by the core mechanics of its predecessor “It’s a Wonderful World”, this new game offers more interaction, a bluff mechanism and new challenges.”

Sounds interesting. I haven’t bothered to pick it up yet but one day I might.

There’s really nothing on this list that I would outright refuse to play, though there are plenty that I doubt I would ever get a chance to.

Street Masters (#1427) is a 1-4 player cooperative game that harkens back to those old video games where players were martial arts fighters going through the streets mowing down enemies.

Let’s blurb this one!

“Street Masters is a 1-4 player cooperative miniatures board game inspired by classic fighting video games. Featuring over 65 highly detailed miniatures, unique decks for fighters & enemies, custom dice, and lightning-fast gameplay, Street Masters lets players match up powerful fighters against villainous organizations in a wide array of exciting scenarios. Designed by Adam Sadler and Brady Sadler, the game offers modular and elegant gameplay set in a unique and exciting world of brutal combat.”

Ok!

Not my cup of tea, but if somebody really wanted to play it, I wouldn’t say no.

But nobody I know will ever want to play it.

Since this is getting kind of long, let’s stop there.

What games in this list have you played?

Or do you want to play?

Let me know in the comments.