End of Year & Top 100 (2024)

2023 #21

This is a lighter RPG focused on investigation. I ran a short campaign of it a few years ago and loved it. There are psychic powers rules we didn’t use, so I’d love to get back to it. But RPGs are a tough one, even when trying to play them solo. And obscure games like this never have available GMs. I took it on myself because no one else would! I’d definitely need to run it again to play it again.

2022 #7
2023 #53

Such a cool setting, fun stories, and clean mechanics. If only it didn’t need the app. I get it, the app does some neat stuff, but it’d be great to play without it. I really wanted to play some more solo this past week, but time was not on my side. It’s certainly better solo than multiplayer (unless you’re into people messing with you in adventure games?).

2022 #9
2023 #7

While this drop might look drastic, it’s really just because there are some new 2-player games entering the list very high. Hanamikoji is still great and packs a lot of punch for having just a handful of cards and a few tokens. The new action tiles have also been really fun.

2022 #51
2023 #33

A Martin Wallace economic card game? I love all those things! And the Osprey production is very sleek. This might be a good one to play during a gameday where I want to get two or three games in instead of one big one.

2022 #33
2023 #30

Another Martin Wallace economic game? Though, this one is much crunchier. It’s a game that I feel like I only figure out again halfway through. And I’m always so focused on money, I pass up on too many points! And while the number-crunching economics is usually the highlight for most people, I also just love the card system of it. It’s so straightforward but gives you tons of really tough decisions.

2022 #22
2023 #16

All the best Rosenberg mechanics packed into an amazingly streamlined and smooth game. Worker placement, tile-laying, resource management, negative points, feeding people. And a great solo game, too. I don’t have the new big box, though. Probably not worth upgrading from what I have?

2022 #46
2023 #98

It’s hard to say what it is, but the things that bugged me before just aren’t the things that stick out in my mind. I love the exploration, and the story, and I appreciate that it’s a very streamlined game compared to most of the big box FFG games they use to make.

2023 #67

This year, I finally got a physical copy with a couple of expansions. The changes to adventures that started in Gates of Arkham especially improved the game. It really becomes a surprisingly immersive game for what is otherwise a complicated version of Yahtzee.

2022 #8
2023 #12

Still haven’t gotten to the expansion, but that’s okay. I don’t think it needs it. I still can’t fathom why my brother thinks the game is boring. Every turn is just so engaging to me. Every part of the turn has just the right amount of decisions and tension. I wish I could get it played more.

2022 #15
2023 #14

A bit of a drop here too, but I still really enjoy it. It’s the best Jurassic Park simulation, and the expansion is great. Collect dinosaurs, build up your park, and customize it, and the specialists add some cool bonuses. Just don’t get your visitors eaten.