Since I try dozens of new boardgames each and every year, I thought it
might be fun, enlightening, perhaps even life-altering (...) to share my personal Top 10 as the year comes to a close.
So here are my picks for the ten best games published in 2016.
This little gem came as a total surprise at the end of year. The cover caught
my eye and I couldn't help but buy a copy and give it a shot. You see, I'm a
long-time fan of Alex Randolph's Ricochet
Robot, where players compete to solve a puzzle that involves moving one of
four robots to a specific spot on the board according to simple movement rules.
The covers of both games are visually similar—intentionally so—and Micro Robots seemed to promise an
experience akin to that of its predecessor in a fraction of the time. So does
it? Absolutely.
Just one robot, simpler (but oh so clever) movement rules, and a game
that plays to completion in under 10 minutes. And eminently portable, on top of
everything.
While Eclipse had turned out
to be the space exploration game of my dreams, my shelves were still lacking
when it came to a great space combat title. I had tried many of them but still
felt I hadn’t found what I was looking for (cue U2). Then came along Talon, with gameplay that’s best
described as Star Fleet Battles with
much less (and much more organic) bookkeeping. The action moves fast, fleets
are absolutely manageable, and the game can be played in teams as well as
head-to-head. Plus, who doesn’t like actually writing on game components?
I have been playing the classic Twilight
Struggle for more than a decade (already!), re-enacting the Cold War with
friends and loved ones. Enter 13 Days,
which zooms in on a specific episode of that sprawling conflict of influence
and brinkmanship. The game ratchets up the same kind of edge-of-your-seat
tension that Twilight Struggle
generates, albeit in a fraction of the time—and table space.
A game about appointing liverymen to various guilds in a London on its
last medieval legs? Sign me up. (Right?)
It’s all about managing your hand, where each card can be used to do multiple
things—oh, but you have to pick just one. That sweet agony is compounded by an
ever-expanding board where players vie for control of London’s most prestigious
guilds (as well as some of the lesser ones, if they happen to fit into your
plans…)
When I heard that Daniel Berger had taken A Few Acres of Snow (one of my favorite games by my favorite
designer, Martin Wallace), replaced the French and Indian War setting with the First
Punic War, and added a bunch of wargamey chrome, I knew the end result would be
quite something. And it is.
Think deck-builder with territorial conquest, coupled with naval
control, together with an economic engine, and with a little siege action sprinkled
on top. Tasty.
A twist on the deck-building genre, Automobiles
proposes a bag-building experience, where players add cubes of various colors
to their pouches, only to randomly draw them afterwards and try to make the
best of the results. Some cubes represent gears that move your race car
forward—speed and trajectory depending on the color of said cubes—whereas
others enable coveted special abilities. It’s racing at its geekiest and it’s a
lot of fun. I’m surprised it has been flying so low under the radar.
I was already enthralled by Toppen’s Navajo Wars, so I expected big things from volume 2 in the series. And big things
I got.
A solo game about the rise and fall of the Comanche empire, Comancheria pits one fearless player
against hordes of Spanish, Mexican and American invaders—not to mention a bevy
of hostile tribes to the North. The AI that drives the show is lifted straight
from Navajo Wars, albeit with a few
twists here and there that turn clever into sublime. My favorite solo game, from
2016 or any other year.
You can read my full review here.
You can read my full review here.
Another iteration of a previously published system, Grand Prix reprises the thrilling engine that made Thunder Alley a favorite of mine (with
41 recorded plays at the time of this writing). This time, the action moves
from NASCAR to F1, but with a game that feels more like a Formula One-themed
game than an actual simulation. Nevertheless, I rate it a notch above its
predecessor.
I know, everything and anything is labeled Star Wars these days, but this is one instance that rises above the
crowd. By a mile.
It’s a game of cat & mouse between the Rebel Alliance and the
Empire, with the bad guys trying to locate and destroy the pesky Rebels’ base
before time runs out. The game’s got everything: epic space and ground battles,
resource management, bluffing, great use of beloved characters, and components
like you wouldn’t believe. Rebellion
is the opposite of a quick cash grab: it sets the bar for what games based on a
popular franchise ought to aim for.
If you have three or four hours to spare and don’t mind gripping
armrests until your knuckles turn white, treat yourself to a game of Rebellion. It won’t be your last.
Last year, I was blown away by Pfister’s Mombasa, a brilliant design whose only flaw lied in a daunting learning
curve. So it was with excitement but also some nervousness that I approached
the man’s 2016 offering. Turns out I needn’t have been so cautious: Great Western Trail is the best new game
I’ve played in 2016—and a totally intuitive experience to boot!
Each player is a rancher intent on reaching Kansas City to unload
valuable cattle. This is achieved through clever use of buildings on the way
there—some of them yours, some of them belonging to your opponents. Will you
rush to Kansas City to deliver your cargo as many times as possible, or would
you rather benefit from everything the intervening buildings have to offer so
that your herd is the absolute best it can be once your reach your destination?
You’re just going to have to play it to find out. Again and again.
So there you have it, ten great games in a year that was very generous
as far as new games went. (I don’t remember 2015 thrilling me as much.)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a game waiting.
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