Contents
1) My top 10 games of all time
2) My most played game of 2013
3) My favourite game new to me in 2013
4) Biggest surprise of 2013
5) Biggest let down of 2013
6) Worst game that I have played in 2013
7) Thrift of the year 2013
8) Kickstarter of the year
9) Games that I will be buying in 2014
10) Some 2013 Statistics
1) My Top 10 Games of All Time
10 - The Castles of Burgundy
I have managed to play a few games of this with every number of players, and the game scales really well; I personally think that the game works best with four players, as it creates more competition in being first, and every yellow science tile will be available at some point in the game. I have really quite enjoyed playing this game this year, and I may pick up an expansion or two this year.
9 - King of Tokyo
I received this game for my birthday this year from a few of my friends, great game. I think that it works best with 5 or 6 players, to get the extra space in Tokyo, but the game works well with 4 also. I like the theme, King is my favourite character; as I am looking forward to picking up the King of Tokyo: Power Up! expansion. I think that Iello did a great job with the components and the artwork, which appears to keep consistency between the different cards.
8 - Agricola
Although I have played a fair few games of Agricola, I feel that I still have much to learn about the game. I like the scalability of this game, and the way that at the end of the game, you can see exactly what you have done in your farm. I have the Agricola: Farmers of the Moor expansion, but I am yet to play it; that's one that I'll probably try in early 2014. I'm also planning on looking at the sequel, Caverna: The Cave Farmers next year, as it seems to have addressed some of the negatives in Agricola, like the scarcity of food, or the inability to specialise.
7 - Ascension Deck Building Game
Ascension was one of the first games that I bought when I first started to collect board games, and it remains one of my favourite games. I personally like to play Storm of Souls with Immortal Heroes the best, as there are not too many card drawing heroes, and the constructs are not too powerful; I also like the randomness of the soul gem deck. I am planning on buying Ascension: Rise of Vigil in 2014.
6 - Pandemic
My favourite cooperative game this year. I love the theme in this game, and I love the planning and teamwork that goes in to solving the game. Pandemic has definitely been a favourite of my gaming group over the last year; though over time the game has become a little to easy to beat. I am yet to try the Pandemic: On the Brink expansion, though I hear nothing but good things about it; I'll probably pick that up early 2014.
5 - TZAAR
Tzaar is the only game that I own from the Project GIPF series of games, and is most certainly my favourite abstract game. I would love to own other games from this series, but they are just so expensive. Tzaar is easy to teach, but has a level of depth beyond any other game if it's style that I have played. I like the fact that the game is so aggressive from the first tun, and I am yet to work out many of the strategies to this game. I'm really looking forward to getting better at this game.
4 - Alhambra
This year, I got the Alhambra Big Box as a gift for my birthday, containing the first five expansions, each expansion contains four modules; meaning that the Big Box contains a great game with 20 modules. I've had great fun playing this game, and mixing the modules up. It's nice to get a game that accommodates six players too. I'm yet to try all of the modules, but I am hoping to make some Dominion style themed combinations of modules in 2014.
3 - The Resistance / The Resistance: Avalon
I've included both of these games as my number three game as the games are very similar, and cross over very well. I have really enjoyed playing the Resistance this year; I think that it is easy to teach, and with the right group, it is the best game to play with large numbers. I'm fairly new to Avalon and am yet to try all of the roles, but I can almost guarantee that the Resistance will see my table a lot in 2014; I just need to somehow get the kickstarter promos for the game.
2 - Magic: The Gathering
Although I have placed M:TG in the number two spot, I do not play the game in the traditional 1v1 format. I'm a big fan of the Commander releases, which were preconstructed 100 card decks, designed with the EDH format in mind. There were five decks released in 2011 and a further five this year. My gaming group and I try to get this on the table at least once a week, and aim for 5-7 players. I have played a lot of different M:TG formats over the years, this one has to be my favourite.
1 - Android: Netrunner
It was a close call between this and M:TG for the number one spot. The reason that Netrunner edged ahead is largely due to the distribution method. It is fairly inexpensive to have three copies of every card, and to have the ability to create any deck that you come across.
Netrunner is a great game, I love the asymmetry, and the fact that they have managed to keep balance between runners and corporations so well. The theme is excellent, the quality of the components is superb, and the game is new enough for me to be able to buy everything. I can see myself playing this a lot in 2014.
2) My Most Played Game of 2013
- Love Letter
Somehow, my gaming group and I managed to play 50 games of love letter this year; really fun game. I feel that the game works best with four, as there is more room for combinations of cards to occur. I feel like I have played this game almost everywhere that I went this year, and I am looking forwards to picking up the sequel: Lost Legacy this year, which accommodates 6 players.
3) My Favourite Game, New to me in 2013
- Netrunner
Again, Netrunner was a new game to me in 2013, and was a real surprise. This will definitely play a big part in my gaming group in 2014.
4) Biggest Surprise of 2013
- The Difference Between Women & Men
I picked up what I thought was going to be a basic couples game for £2 at a local charity shop. What I actually got was a very clever party game that could be play either in a group of couples, or in a single sex group. The game was designed by Uwe Rosenberg, who some of you may know from Agricola fame; and it remains one of my favourite party games to bring out in a large group.
5) Biggest Let Down of 2013
- The Red Dragon Inn
I was told good things about this game and tried it, probably with high expectations. Upon looking at the game, I thought that it looked like a drinking game, I don't drink. I was told that it can be a drinking game, but that primarily it was a gambling game. We played a three player game, and I was bored shitless. The characters that you play have different decks, which are incredibly unbalanced, the components are cheap, and the game lacks any excitement whatsoever. I never want to play that game again.
6) Worst Game that I Played in 2013
- CSI: The Board Game - Encore Edition
I don't know how I ended up thriving this game, but it was absolutely terrible. I played a four player game, which consisted of rolling dice, moving pawns, reading a bit of story on a card. It transpired that the game has a misprint on the first case, making it impossible to solve within the parameters of the game. We played for nearly three hours without even getting to the stage where the misprinted card would have become available. This was probably the worst game that I have ever played.
7) Thrift of the Year 2013
- TZAAR
I managed to find a copy of TZAAR in a local British Red Cross charity shop for £2, at the time of writing, the game is unavailable through Amazon.co.uk, and is £47 on Ebay. It is not just the price that made this game my thrift of the year, but the amount that I have enjoyed playing the game over the last year.
8) Kickstarter of the year
- Berserk: War of the Realms
I Kickstarted this back in June and have really enjoyed watching the development and manufacturing process. The game itself is very strong, playing like a tactical RPG. The artwork looks superb, and the designers have been answering questions on the geek for the last six months. The game was originally released as a collectible cards game in Russia under the name Berserk: Trading Card Game, the Kickstarter campaign was centered around bringing this game to an English speaking market.
9) Games That I will be Buying in 2013
- Cosmic Encounter
This is a game that has interested me a lot over the last year, and has been recommended to me by a lot of people. Tom Vasel named this as his favourite game ever for the third year running. It looks like it has some really interesting group mechanics.
- Lost Legacy
The follow up to Love Letter. I'm really looking forward to picking this up. I am going to wait for an English language version to be released first.
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers
I love Agricola, but I feel that the game forces player to play in a certain way, and I feel the supply of food can be a little bit scarce. From what I have read about Caverna, these issues have been addressed, and the game accommodates six players.
10) Some 2013 Statistics
Games owned: 187
Previously owned: 23
Ratings: 157
Average rating:6.04
Total games played in 2013: 1069