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.
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
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.
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!
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
When this first came out, I thought I wouldn't enjoy it. I was dead wrong.
And it's by far the best Worthington Games title I've played.
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