No filler text, let's just get right to the list!
Honorable Mention: Star Realms
This is the second list in a row where Star Realms doesn’t crack the Top 10. It’s unfortunate, but don’t get me wrong I will play Star Realms anytime, anywhere. The reason I love this game is its variability and focus on tactics. You can’t go into Star Realms with the idea of: “I’m going to get all the green ships because they help me destroy my opponent”, because with the limited amount of cards available each round, there’s no guarantee that any will come up for you. It’s a game that keeps you on your toes and forces you to adopt new strategies that you didn’t consider before.
#5 Sheriff of Nottingham
There is a reason that bluffing games have been popular for so long; one only has to take a look at the most played card game in the world (and its variants), Poker. The simple truth is there is something about a game in which friends can sit around a table, drink a beer, and lie to each other in order to win. Sheriff of Nottingham exemplifies this type of game as it lends itself to an evolving metagame between players who play this regularly with one another. There are viable strategies to try for this game, but it really comes down to how well you can play the other players.
#4 Coup
Take everything I just said about Sheriff of Nottingham and it is absolutely true for Coup. The beauty of Coup is that it’s a very short game, maybe 15 minutes, yet has a surprising amount of depth. In Coup, you have roles that perform certain powers, but you don’t have to have those roles in order to take those actions. There is the perfect blend of risk/reward in lying and calling other players out to win the game. If you add in the expansion, Reformation, it adds the strategic element of teams that forces players to plan ahead and also brings in some additional negotiation.
#3 Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Remember when I said I like building things? How about a game that lets you build your own castle. Seriously. In Castles of Mad King Ludwig, there are several different sizes of rooms with different bonuses that let you build a sprawling castle to impress the mad king. The interplay between maximizing your bonuses by putting rooms next to each other while leaving yourself room to expand if necessary is just such a fun mechanic. In addition, there is a little auction at the beginning of each round where one player sets the prices on all the rooms available that turn. This adds a wonderful strategic element to the game as you try to extort as much money from the other players as possible for that room that they are dying to have.
#2 Keyflower
This is the 3rd worker placement game of 4 on my list, but Keyflower is really so much more than that. Rarely does a game blend so many major mechanics together and have it come out as a streamlined, top-notch game. Keyflower manages to mix auctioning, worker placement, tile placement, and “pick-up and deliver” mechanics into one brain-burning game. It uses different seasons to allow players time to build up toward the end of game scoring, with each season offering distinctly different ways to build your engine. It’s a rare game where the rules aren’t complicated, but the gameplay is incredibly deep.
#1 Euphoria
Euphoria was the game I had to have for the longest time, just hearing about it made it shoot it to the top of my wishlist while it was out of print. A game set in a dystopian future where you are trying to control your workers and keep them happy and dumb, or else they might leave and you are suddenly down an asset. That’s one hell of a hook, and the game doesn’t disappoint. It hits everything that really makes me want to play a game: Interesting theme, high component quality, minimal player attacking, and interesting/innovative mechanics.
The game integrates the theme tremendously, especially in the naming of the buildings, like the “Registry of Personal Secrets”. Theme is important, as are components, but Euphoria really boils down to a solid, fun, and tense game. Every time I’ve played it has come down to wire between my opponent and I. One turn can easily make or break the entire game, and that tension, combined with the risk management (don’t want to lose those workers!) and the multiple paths to victory is what keeps me coming back to this game.
The game integrates the theme tremendously, especially in the naming of the buildings, like the “Registry of Personal Secrets”. Theme is important, as are components, but Euphoria really boils down to a solid, fun, and tense game. Every time I’ve played it has come down to wire between my opponent and I. One turn can easily make or break the entire game, and that tension, combined with the risk management (don’t want to lose those workers!) and the multiple paths to victory is what keeps me coming back to this game.