My Current Top 10 Board Games of All Time
Started at the Bottom, Now We're Here
Wow, this has been a lot of fun to write. I always really enjoy doing this. It’s fun to see how things change with experience, as new games come out and what really has a hold on me. I can’t wait to see what the next game to move into the top 10 will be, we have one new arrival this year.
I suppose I should have put the disclaimer that the information on players, time and weight all come from the BGG community. My opinions are in the comments. Also, I expect to finally play Brass: Birmingham while I’m on this cruise.
10. Hansa Teutonica
Players: 3-5 (best 5)
Time: 45-90 mins
BGG Weight: 3.09
I demoed Hansa at Gen Con and knew I had to have it. I only played a couple of rounds and I was in love. If you’ve read the other nine lists, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I love area majority, route building and economic games. I love games where I can upgrade myself in different ways and take different paths to victory.
Basically, I love Hansa Teutonica. I love that the name is nonsensical to English speakers. I love that the box tells you nothing about the game. I love it. I love this game. This is a game that gives the players total freedom. And that freedom is a trap, because you can go anywhere on the board and do anything as long as you have the resources, but other players can kick you out if they have the resources.
My favorite euros tend to have high player interaction, this game is outright economic warfare. Smartphone, Inc. where you can kick other players out of markets entirely. It requires you to pay attention to what everyone is doing at all times, because two turns could swing the game in an entirely new direction if you’re not careful. If you focus too much on other players though, your own strategy will suffer.
I’m ready to play right now.
9. Gloomhaven
Players: 1-4 (best 3)
Time: 1-2 hrs
BGG Weight: 3.9
Gloomhaven is the only game on this list that I won’t play at the drop of a hat. In part, because I have beaten the campaign digitally and analog. In part because it is a massive campaign that requires a huge commitment. In part because I am currently playing Frosthaven with some friends and I have another on deck and I still need to get through Crimson Scales.
Is Gloomhaven the single greatest experience I’ve ever had boardgaming? Yes. Is it the best tactical roleplaying game in board game form? Yes. Is it something you should play? Whew…maybe? I would recommend starting with the top tier digital adaptation and then moving to Jaw of the Lion. If you can get people to complete the much more compact prequel, then dive in.
The game sees players taking the role of a mercenary band. Each mercenary has their own deck of cards that serve as their movements, their attacks and their lifeforce. You’ll play two cards, one dictating your initiative for the round and then decide how to use them. As the game progresses, players will unlock new cards to modify their deck and their attack modifier deck. Eventually, you’ll retire characters to unlock new ones and carry on with the overarching mission.
Gloomhaven is difficult. This isn’t Dungeons & Dragons or even Baldur’s Gate 3. Strategy and teamwork are very important. You’ll need to coordinate attacks and actions. You’ll fail missions until you figure that puzzle out for that specific combination of characters. And you’ll carry on. It took me years to beat the campaign, it will take me years to beat the others as well. But I’ll do it, because for me, this is the pinnacle of co-op board gaming.
8. Concordia
Players: 2-5 (best 4)
Time: 100 mins
BGG Weight: 2.99
Spice trading in the Mediterranean. Not really, that’s later on this list. And really, at this point, most of the games are interchangeable as far as ranking. I love them all and will play any of them if you ask. I will also ask you to play them.
Concordia does see you as a merchant in the lands around Mediterranean Sea. You’re a member of the Roman Empire and you’re looking to expand your trading operations. You’ll play cards to increase your presence on the board, to generate goods for trading and to increase the size of your operations.
There are eras of cards that dictate the length of the game. Those cards can be added to your hand by paying the appropriate cost and give you new abilities and new end of game scoring modifiers. If you want or have to pick up your hand, there’s a card for that too. Once the deck runs out, the game is over.
My favorite part of this game is that you can make your fortune in any good, as long as your strategy is sound. The variable set up means that every game plays different and one of the cards allows players to generate resources from one area of the map, but it also means your opponents might get some resources too if they have presence there.
There are expansions that add new player boards and new mechanisms. Venus is a standalone reimplementation that is supposed to be fantastic as well. I can’t tell you how great this game is. Turns are snappy, actions make sense and I’ve never had a bad time with it.
7. Tyrants of the Underdark
Players: 2-4 (best 4)
Time: 1 hr
BGG Weight: 2.55
Area control? Check. Deckbuilding? Check. This is the best dudes on a map deck builder and possibly the game I am best at. Tyrants of the Underdark casts you and your opponents as Drow lords seeking to rule the Underdark of D&D fame through any means necessary. Military might? That’s an option. Treachery? That works too. Politicking is a viable path to victory as well.
I am sure someone has found a best path forward in this game, but for me any one of them is valid. I love that banishing cards from your hand scores you victory points. I love that no place on the board is safe because people can move in and kill your troops by dropping a spy to give them presence there. I love that controlling areas gives you influence to buy new cards and victory points every round. I love that the hardest places to capture give the best rewards.
I love that if everyone on the board teams up to minimize my area control, I can focus on deckbuilding and use that to promote cards and win through pure deckbuilding. I love that if I build enough military might I can wipe my foes out. I love that all the different decks give a different flavor and I love that I can give people advice and still come out on top.
On the Dice Tower Cruise last year, I was on a four day losing streak. I don’t normally mind losing, the joy is in playing and socializing. But I needed a win, so Tyrants came out. The expansion is a must buy. I have played this game so many times and I still haven’t come close to wearing it out.
6. Terra Mystica
Players: 2-5 (best 4)
Time: 1hr - 150 mins
BGG Weight: 3.97
My first true heavy gaming love. I own and have played Gaia Project. I will buy Age of Innovation. I have Terra Mystica on my phone. I have all the expansions. I love it. There are 14 races, each one vastly different. They play different, they have different paths to points. You build buildings to expand your territory while terraforming the land around you to favorable land.
Each round has different scoring objectives and bonus cards will give you extra resources or other ways to score points. There’s a cult track with different elements that you have to balance along with vying for the biggest connected area. You can upgrade shipping to connect over water spaces or make terraforming cheaper by upgrading your shovels.
You also have a power pool that allows you special abilities or resources. Priests that can advance you on the cult track or upgrade your skills. Listen, I can break this game down for you to the finest details. I read strategies for it. Played it competitively online. And if we play in person, you’re gonna smoke me. Why? Well, I love playing it so much that I will help EVERYONE at the table make the best decision possible. Even at my own expense. I don’t care.
I’ve played every race, yes the Fakirs suck and the Darklings are a little overpowered. Point balancing can fix that. I can’t stress to you enough how great this game is. I play it digitally at least once a week.
5. Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Players: 2-6 (best 4,6)
Time: 1hr - 200 mins
BGG Weight: 3.67
Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate. The Four Exes. My king of board gaming 4x. The game features a massive tech tree and excellent exploration. The action selection allows you to take as many actions as you want, so long as you can pay the cost. Every species plays different and you must be mindful of what your opponents are doing.
Battles can be costly, but what good is that arsenal if you don’t use it? Do you want to race to the center and control the galactic hub or venture into deep space? I’ve yet to find a game that simulates civilization building better. This is appointment gaming at its finest.
As much as I enjoy Twilight Imperium, this plays quicker, sets up faster and is easier to explain. If you want to spend three hours building your own space civilization, this is the game for you. And I do, I want to right now.
4. Century: Spice Road
Players: 2-5
Time: 30-45 mins (20 mins)
BGG Weight: 1.8
Take the hand management of Concordia and turn it into an engine for making cubes to claim point cards. On your turn you can play a card to give you cubes, trade cubes, claim a point card by spending cubes, add a card to your hand or pick up your hand. Once a set number of point cards have been claimed the game is over.
That’s the game. Adrianne and I have played five games in a row before. You can combine it with the other Century games, which I haven’t done fully yet, to make up to 7 different games. There’s a Golem Edition that is prettier, but the exact same gameplay.
There’s something about this game that just sparks joy for me. We play so fast it is almost simultaneous play. The race for point cards is epic and knowing you need to pivot before you get surprised is key to success. There’s nothing worse than realizing someone has what you need for that huge point card and can get it a turn before you.
Knowing when to switch from building your engine to letting it roar is important too. If you wait too long, the game will be over. Very few games are this rules light and this excellent, that’s a hard combination.
3. It’s A Wonderful World
Players: 1-5 (best 4)
Time: 30 mins - 1 hr
BGG Weight: 2.32
Let me get this out of the way, buy the expansion that gets you to seven players and there’s literally no reason to ever play 7 Wonders again. At least in my opinion. This fixes almost every issue I have with the aforementioned game in a magical way.
You draft cards and then attempt to build them or discard them for resources. Unbuilt buildings can be discarded at any point for resources. After the drafting phase, you’ll go to resource phases that are carried out one at a time. Resources generated on each step can be used to complete buildings that will generate for any phase that has not yet started. Four rounds and the game is over, whoever has the best dystopia wins.
The theme is pasted on, I understand. That’s a knock, for sure. But the card art is fantastic and if you allow yourself to get into character the cards do tell a story of a truly terrible nation. Military might that allows you to capture great wonders. Dubious science and industry that generates insane wealth. This is my favorite card drafting game. I own every expansion. I’ve yet to do the campaign, but I’m excited to dig in. Anything to give me more.
2. Furnace
Players: 2-4 (best 3-4)
Time: 30 mins - 1 hr
BGG Weight: 2.3
I love quick games with strategic depth. Furnace is capitalism the game and it just works. It is a pure engine builder. You are a captain of industry making coal, iron and oil and selling those goods via card actions. Each round players will bid on cards to add to their tableau. If you win, the card is yours. If you lose, you get compensation indicated on the top of the card. And you multiply it by how much you bid.
In the next phase, you’ll activate all your buildings to generate resources, sell resources for money or upgrade cards to have another action when they are activated. Cards can be activated in any order, you can upgrade a card and then use that upgraded card on the same turn. There is a little bit of asymmetry, but nothing drastic.
Antebellum, the expansion, adds a bidding dial that works to great effect as well. Furnace is a game that clicked the first time I demoed it and I have only gotten better at. In fact, every play makes me more efficient. Allows me to see the benefit of compensation vs ownership. Forms a better strategy on which cards to upgrade.
Whoever makes the most money at the end of four rounds is the winner. The theme and gameplay are so straightforward, but it just works. I adore this game, I love the expansion and I will play it at the drop of a hat. There are other games I have a deeper connection with, but right now I find myself reaching for Furnace whenever the opportunity presents itself.
1. Ark Nova
Players: 1-4 (best 2)
Time: 90-150 mins
BGG Weight: 3.74
So, I actually had to stop playing Ark Nova last year because I was playing it so much that it wasn’t fun for the other players. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to play it. I want to play it all the time. I want a digital version on my phone so I can play it constantly online and in my downtime vs the AI.
Ark Nova has no business being as good as it is. It is a mashup of multiple games and it is better than all of them. The card action is taken from Civilization: A New Dawn. The end of game trigger and scoring is taken from Raja of the Ganges. It borrows the tags from Terraforming Mars. It has massive a massive deck of cards like so many tableau builders. And you get to build your own zoo.
The zoo building is ridiculously fun. It should not be this fun. It is thematic, every zoo gets built a little different. In the early game you’ll want to attract visitors, but a little before the halfway point you’ll want to switch to conservation to claim crucial points. The game will take you an hour per player your first play. By your fifth? 20 minutes per player. I’ve had a 2 player game end in just over a half hour.
The game requires intense tactical prowess. You must react to what you’re seeing, what you can draft or draw. You can mine the deck, sure, but if you take too long someone will rush the scoring objectives and add their own to end the game before you get started. That’s the rub, this is a race. There are no set rounds, no set end time, it’s all dynamic. You can play with take that to introduce a measure of player interaction, but honestly, this is multiplayer solitaire done right.
Turns consist of you picking an action card and moving it to the front of the queue. The longer you wait to take an action, the stronger it gets. Once the conservation track of a player crosses their attraction track, the end game is triggered. Whoever has the biggest positive gap between the two wins the game.
I thought this game was going to be all hype. Most super hyped games don’t land for me. I don’t really like Everdell unless it is at 4 players. Terraforming Mars? I HATED IT. Earth feels like a pointless point salad. I’ve never even dipped my toes into Quacks or Flamecraft. But Ark Nova? It not only lives up to the hype it surpasses it.
I really hope you enjoyed reading this. It was a bit of work, but work I enjoy. I am looking into doing reviews regularly this upcoming year, if my readers would be interested. Books, TV, Movies, Music and more. I’ll still be doing social commentary as well.
I’d be curious if you prefer 2, 3 or 5 times a week. Should a review wrap up come on Friday with essays on Mondays? What do you think? What do you want more of or less of?
I’ll be back Monday, and ready to write some more. Thanks again y’all. This year has been one of the best of my life and I really needed it.
Oh yeah and uh…in case you missed it:
I find myself thinking about playing Tyrants of the Underdark more often than you'd expect for only having played it the one time! Ark Nova as well. I am very interested in It's a Wonderful World, as a big 7 Wonders fan.