My Top 10 Boardgames Published in 2020

 

Here's a look at my 10 favorite games published in 2020.

(Or else made available in North America so late in 2019 that there was no way to really play them before the calendar flipped.)

#10

THE PRINCESS BRIDE ADVENTURE BOOK GAME (designed by Ryan Miller, published by Ravensburger)

There are MANY games on The Princess Bride out there, and they pretty much all suck.

But not this one.

The Adventure Book Game has players cooperate to make their way through chapter after chapter in an actual book that doubles as a collection of gaming boards. It's clever, it's funny, it's exciting—but it's also way too easy. So houserule the number of cards each player gets at the beginning, and have fun storming the castle!

#9

THE CASTLES OF TUSCANY (designed by Stefan Feld, published by alea)
When I first played this simple tile-laying game by Feld (usually known for sprawling designs where each piece is linked to three others), I wasn't sure I liked it at all; I thought it might end up on the trade pile after a couple more plays. But the more I experience it, the more hidden gems I manage to mine from its surpristing depths.

It's too bad the game requires such a big box (are you kidding me with that humongous scoring track?) and I was hoping for more cleverness in the interplay between red and green victory points, but The Castles of Tuscany has earned a place in my collection. And that's a difficult badge to earn.

#8

THE CREW (designed by Thomas Sing, published by Kosmos)

A cooperative trick-taking game.

When you first hear about it, it sounds absurd. After you've played a couple of hands of it, it feels so natural—so obvious— that you wonder why nobody thought of it before.

The pasted-on theme has players as crew members of a space mission, but suffice it to say that the tasks required of the players at every step are increasingly creative and challenging. 

I would have worn out my copy already if the pandemic didn't make it difficult for groups of gamers to get together.

#7

APOCALYPSE ROAD (designed by Carla & Jeff Horger, published by GMT Games)

As entry number three in the ever-growing Thunderverse, Apocalypse Road provides a violent and exciting answer to the question, "What would happen if you played Thunder Alley with guns?"

It's a post-apocalyptic racing game where you score points for completing laps and for taking out opposing cars. Although some pugnacious gamers will lament its simple combat system, Apocalypse Road delivers plenty of action in what turns out to be, surprisingly, the easiest entry point into the series (after Thunder Alley and Grand Prix).

You can read my full review here.

#6

BACK TO THE FUTURE: BACK IN TIME (designed by Prospero Hall, published by Funko Games)
This one looked like a shameless cash grab (ab)using one of the most beloved intellectual properties of the '80s—and a movie very close to my heart.

Turns out it's one of the best coop games I've every played, with strong mechanics that nevertheless espouse the themes and plotlines built into the movie like you wouldn't believe. And tough, too!

Add to that a rulebook designed to look like the Tales From Space comic book, and I can't imagine any fan not being in boardgame heaven.

#5

CLINIC: DELUXE EDITION (designed by Alban Viard, published by AVStudio Games and Mercury Games)
I was already a fan of Viard's Tramways but had never had a chance to try Clinic. The new edition afforded me that opportunity, and the game's a hoot!

Expand your clinic, hire doctors and staff, admit a steady stream of patients—but make sure you have enough parking spaces for all of their cars (neither one of those bastards takes the bus). Untreated patients worsen, doctors get exhausted, but hey, at least the orderlies keep the place clean.

A nice brain-burner that looks a lot more complicated than it actually is.

#4

MARACAIBO (designed by Alexander Pfister, published by Game's Up and Capstone Games)

Pfister completely mesmerized me with Great Western Trails, which ended up as my top pick for 2016. In 2020 we got the not-quite-as-good-but-still-excellent Maracaibo, in which players sail around the Caribbean in the 17th century, and stop in various locations to execute one out of many possible actions. The distance travelled is up to you, but your mileage will affect your gameplay options. Trade, settle, fulfill quests, fight for Spain! (or France, if you're so inclined—hell, even England has something to offer), all the while exploring the untamed jungle.

Maracaibo can also be played in campaign mode, where a story unfolds and each game affects what happens in the next. Lots of fun.

(Unlike one of my disappointments of the year—see below.)

#3

VERSAILLES 1919 (designed by Mark Herman & Geoff Engelstein, published by GMT Games)

As leader of one of the four major nations tasked with writing the Treaty of Versailles, your job is to clean up the mess that was WWI and try to tilt the balance in your favor, without upsetting the whole damn thing.

Versailles 1919 presents a much lighter diplomatic system than the one used in Churchill, and yet it retains much of that game's tension and historical flavor. Use your influence to leave your mark on world-spanning issues, learn to yield when the battle would be too costly, and manage local uprisings the best you can—unless, of course, they create more serious problems for your opponents than for you.

You can read my full review here.

#2

COOPER ISLAND (designed by Andreas "ode." Odendahl, published by Frosted Games and Capstone Games)

On a shared island, players do their best to develop their home area through judicious worker placement and the lost art of timing things just right. Since production is determined by height (when you stack a forest three tiles high, that hex produces a wood cube worth 3), building literally on top of your previous actions will yield the most profitable results. But things are tight! Only two basic workers to start with, and you must find a way to unlock new and potentially better ones. 

Cooper Island pretty much flew under the radar and that's a real shame.

#1

ON MARS (designed by Vital Lacerda, published by Eagle-Gryphon Games)

It's the near future and humans are building a colony on the red planet. Can you make the most out of this competitive-but-you-still-have-to-work-together endeavor? It won't be easy, but it's also going to be hard.

Vital Lacerda is known for heavy designs, and On Mars certainly fits the bill. Multiple systems interlock into a waltz of moves and counter-moves, both on the planet's surface and in orbit. The brilliant shuttle mechanic introduces an unusual timer: when it travels from one area of activity to the other, do you stay put and bet on your having sufficient things to do until it returns, or does it make sense to hop aboard to access the other side's actions?

I love it to pieces.

DISAPPOINTMENTS
I define "disappointments" as games I expected a lot from, and which failed to deliver.

While 2019 had not produced any such letdowns, 2020 sure made up for it.

A Pfister design that feels way too constrained and limited in what players can do, Expedition to Newdale makes you wonder how it could come from the same guy who thought up Maracaibo, my #4 pick for this year. The production system is clever, but frankly, the actions are terribly boring.

Where the first Undaunted (Normandy) was a happy surprise, North Africa came along and tried to "improve" on the system by taking four steps backwards. (Namely, Bolstering is now ruined as a decision point because you must do it or else start permanently losing units.) I'll stick to the original, thank you very much. 

This one sounded promising enough that I backed it on Kickstarter. Turns out the design is okay but nothing to write home about, while the minis included in the "deluxe edition" arrived deformed and serve no purpose in the game; worse, they actually get in the way.

STRAGGLERS
Let's end on a high note with three games that would have made the list had I encountered them back when they were published.

A brilliant "push your luck" game that doubles as a bag-builder, with a cool theme—witches brewing potions—on top. I mean, what's not to like here?

When this first came out, I thought I wouldn't enjoy it. I was dead wrong.

You had me at "the trial of Louis Riel," but the game is also clever and highly replayable. The mechanics—somewhat reminiscent of Twilight Struggle—weave a convincing and captivating simulation of a court of law. Hell, Jason Matthews (the very designer of TS) loved it so much that he's tweaking the system to fit a game on the trial of Aaron Burr.

It's not perfect, but the system used here is fast, fun, and makes brigade-level ACW battles playable within an acceptable time frame. I'm looking forward to playing the other games in the series (currently Shiloh 1862 and Cedar Mountain 1862). 

And it's by far the best Worthington Games title I've played.

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Flash Review — Flamme Rouge

Player count: 2-4
Age: 8+
Playtime: 30-45 min
Works well with just 2: Yes, but the more players, the better (solo and 6 players possible with the 1st expansion)
Solo quality: Pretty good!

A quick & easy cycling game set in 1930’s France.

Carefully manage card decks for you team of two riders, take advantage of the evolving terrain, and make sure you slipstream as often as possible!

Flamme Rouge offers a variety of circuits, with ups and downs (literally!) that force you to manage the fatigue of your riders. The more time you spend at the front of the pack, the more fatigue cards you’ll shuffle into your rider’s deck and end up having to play. But hide within the pack for too long, and you won’t be able to break away from the peloton before it’s too late…

The game is so simple that whenever I explain the rules, new players go, “That’s it?” And then, when the game is over, they immediately want to play another race.

Most easily forgotten rule: You can move “over” other riders! No lane is ever blocked. You just can’t stop your movement on an occupied space.

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Flash Review — Patchwork

Player count: 2
Age: 8+
Playtime: 15-30 min

A game about putting together a quilt.
(I’m not kidding, and it’s brilliant.)

Move the shared worker around the play area, grab a piece within his range that matches what you need in terms of size and shape, pay the cost (in buttons!) and incorporate that piece into your quilt.

After years of giving us heavy titles such as Agricola, Fields of Arle or A Feast for Odin (all great games, by the way), designer Uwe Rosenberg went back to his roots and came up with a simple, clever and fun game that’s amazingly deep for a 15-to-30-minute experience.

Patchwork was originally published in 2014, and has since then spawned a whole series of variations. Some differ in look only (such as the Christmas Edition) while others feature altered gameplay (like Patchwork Express, if 15 minutes really is too long for you, or Patchwork Doodle, where you write on the board).

I say stick to the original gem of a design, and you’ll find yourself jonesing for buttons again and again.

Most easily forgotten rule: The first player to build a 7x7 square on his board gets the 7-button bonus tile.

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Flash Review — Memoir '44

Player count: 2
Age: 8+
Playtime: 30-60 min

A fun, fast and simple WWII tactical game where units are activated with cards and combat resolved with special dice.
Play the Americans and recreate the D-Day invasion, or hold your ground in Berlin as the Germans—and no matter what you do, guard those objectives!

Originally published in 2004 (for the 60th anniversary of D-Day), Memoir ‘44 keeps getting reprinted, and for good reason. It’s a scenario-based system that’s both light on rules and high on fun. Play a card, move the relevant units on the board, and open fire! The components are gorgeous, the rulebook is organized like a dream, and the base game comes with 16 scenarios (with more online, free of charge). Endless expansions provide new soldiers, tanks and artillery pieces, along with a wide variety of terrains and obstacles, with new adventures and skirmishes on top.
Tons of fun, all playable in under 60 minutes.

Most easily forgotten rule: If a unit is engaged (adjacent to an enemy unit), it cannot shoot at a unit further away.


And if you like that game, you can try other titles in the ever-growing Commands & Colors series:

• Ancients (antiquity battles—with chariots!)
• Napoleonics (early 19th century European warfare)
• Medieval (conquests in the Middle Ages)
• Battle Cry (American Civil War engagements)
• Tricorne (battles of the American revolution)
• The Great War (WWI action)
• Samurai Battles (Japanese feudal warfare)
• Red Alert (space fleet combat)
• Battlelore (fantasy armies—bring out the Dwarves!)

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Flash Review — The Crew

 

Player count: 2 to 5

Works well with just 2: No (it involes a dummy hand, not fun)

Age: 10+ 

Playtime: 20 min (but not really—see below)

Everyone's played trick-taking games before: first player lays a card on the table, and each opponent must follow suit if at all possible. Highest card of the suit led takes the trick and starts the next one.

But have you ever tried a cooperative trick-taking game?

In The Crew, each space mission takes the form of a task (or a series of tasks) to be accomplished within a round lf play. One player must win the trick containing the blue 6; the tricks containing the yellow 2 and the red 7 must be won in that order; one player can't win tricks at all; or one trick must be won with the play of a 1 (the lowest card in the deck); and so on.

Players can only share information through the placement of a communications token, which indicates whether the card they're showing is their highest, lowest, or only card in that color.

The Crew is pure genius, and it feels so natural once you start playing it that it boggles the mind that nobody thought of it before. No wonder it won a whole slew of awards.

Be careful with that 20-minute playtime, though. Each mission will take a few minutes and you can stop whenever you feel like it. But if you want to go the distance, The Crew offers a list of 50 missions, or enough to keep you busy for two to three hours.

Most easily forgotten rule: A communicated card is still part of your hand; you can (and sometimes must!) play it.




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