Seventeen games I played in 2017
By: Dan Brown
Tags: Year In Review, 2017, Board Games

PLAYED MULTIPLE TIMES

Champions of Midgard

A friend recommended this game after I told her we were fans of Lords of Waterdeep. A solid worker placement game with a rich Viking theme, Champions of Midgard takes things one step beyond Waterdeep such that players have to resolve combat with all kinds of creatures. Like all great worker placement games, there are ample choices to for strategy.

HB: I like the system of fighting trolls because if you don’t fight the trolls, you all get blame, and if someone does defeat the troll they can shunt blame to another person.

EE: I like the way you can get ships, but then you have to give them back.

Dungeon World

A looming threat faces the quiet valley communities of Mt. Tsereve; A hidden city beneath Carston Shire holds the key to defeating an invading army; And what is killing all the trees? This is the world our kids RPG group built and will explore over the next several months. Though our kids RPG group spent most of the year finishing their Star Wars adventure, they unanimously decided to switch to Dungeon World. We’ve had a few sessions, and the kids really like the emphasis on storytelling and the drive to create the campaign setting collaboratively. Dungeon World is based on the Apocalypse World ruleset, and is an elegant amalgamation of D&D with strong narrative play.

HB: We started playing this in my role playing group, I’m enjoying it because it’s so open ended and you get to create your own map. I like the system of character creation in all Apocalypse World systems, not just Dungeon World.

EE: I haven’t played this game. I don’t really like role-playing games.

Founding Fathers

Our family’s Hamilton obsession translated to seeking out board games about America’s founding. In Founding Fathers, you put together state delegations that tilt the emerging constitution in one direction or another. There are four factions: Federalist, Antifederalist, Big States, and Small States. You score points at the end based on which factions are most represented in the final constitution. I love the mechanics of this game, which fall outside well-worn tropes; and the game teaches you something about the constitution along the way.

HB: That’s the system where you vote. I like the way that you can play delegates and engage in debates. So there are multiple ways to get points.

EE: Just think–if we didn’t have this game, we wouldn’t even be here.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

Every spell and magic item from the Harry Potter series gets its own card. Like most deck builders, each card in Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle lets you–playing Harry, Hermione, Ron, or Neville–buy additional cards or defeat villains. Like most cooperative games, players are racing against a “clock,” in this case, of looming evil. The game is divided into seven chapters, each one adding more cards to the deck, upgrading your heroes, and expanding the evil. My younger son loves this game, but for me it’s got the worst elements of deck builders (a bunch of random cards) and coop games (no rising pressure).

HB: I’m not a fan of this game because it feels too repetitive.

EE: I like the way its cooperative, but it’s not cooperative.

Honshu

Every year, there’s a game on my list that’s been recommended by Karl Fast, and in this case it’s Honshu. We tried Honshu when Karl and his family came to visit us in the fall of 2016. It’s an adorable card game, where players build landscapes using cards that have six terrain squares. There are strict rules about how you can place the cards, and points at the end depend on the elements of your landscape. It includes a bidding component which is just the right touch of player interaction.

HB: I like the gambling systems where you can place resource chips on the different cards and increase their value by 60, but someone else might have a higher card and also place a resource chip on it. So, I like this game.

EE: I like it because you’re building your own city.

Islebound

I really admire Ryan Laukat’s efforts. He designs the games from top to bottom, doing game design, graphic design, and illustrations. The artwork is distinctive, and Islebound shares a certain mechanical similarity with Above and Below. Players travel an archipelago, taking over islands which offer different resources. Unlike Above and Below, Islebound lacks a narrative to hold the moves together. It feels long and unnecessarily complex.

HB: I like the way that you can complete stories and get diplomacy points, which you can take over islands peacefully which is easier than taking them over by attacking them.

EE: I like it because you’re taking over islands and controlling your own ship.

Mystic Vale

Instead of acquiring new cards in this deck-builder, you get transparent inserts that go on top of existing cards. As Mystic Vale progresses, your cards get more and more powerful, with additional abilities. The mechanic is clever, and there’s something tactile-ly satisfying about sliding the transparencies into the card sleeves. Most deck-builders require players to draw a hand of five cards, but in Mystic Vale there’s a “push your luck” mechanic, which is the most interesting part of the game. The artwork is nice, and the theme holds the game together reasonably well.

My wife and I once played this game with another couple, one of whom figured out how to “break” the game. He acquired inserts that rendered most of his hands immune to the “push your luck” aspect. Frankly, I’ve had a sour view of this game ever since.

HB:

EE:

Planetarium

Move planets around a solar system to pick up different elements, then combine elements to add new characteristics to a planet. In Planetarium, you score points by how much you’ve contributed to a planet’s evolution, and whether you achieve any specific objectives. This game nearly tips into the “abstract” category, and feels almost chess-like, as you plan out moves to capture just the right elements. It has a strong educational component, offering insights about how planets evolve different characteristics. Like most successful games, you can read a story into its progress by the end, explaining how your planet went from desolate rock to habitable ecosystem.

HB: You add the cards to the planets, right? I like the way you make the planets go into different orbits, depending the orbit and resources you can put a card down, which might make it hospitable to life or inhospitable to life.

EE: I forget this game.

Rock, Paper, Wizard

Instead of throwing the usual rock, paper, or scissors, you gesture a spell at one of the other players–hence, “Rock, Paper, Wizard”. These spells influence their avatar’s position in the cavern, closer or further from the golden hoard. The closer you are, the more gold you get. The hand gesture spells are printed on large cards, which rotate each turn, and include things like Imprisonment and Pass Wall. Fans of D&D will recognize all the spells. This game is quick and a lot of fun.

HB: Oh, I love this game. And the way you make the hand gestures is so cool.

EE: I like that you can use fireball and knock your opponent back five spaces.

Scythe (HB’s game of the year)

While a near-perfect combination of engine-building and area control, Scythe’s most notable feature is the artwork. Set in an alternate past, where World War I was dominated by steampunk mechs, all the components lend to this atmosphere with beautifully painted illustrations. A serious strategy game that still has a sense of humor, the kids and I haven’t tired of Scythe even after half a dozen games.

HB: I love this game because you can take off upgrades and deploy the mechs, and produce a bunch of resources. It all fits together. You can see your plan developing in your mind before you complete it. Oh, next turn I need to go there, and then there, and then there. It’s like worker placement without the added stress of not doing what you want to do.

EE: This game is so fun. I like it because you can find encounters which um ha ha ha I can see that. Which give you stuff.

Star Wars Destiny

Destiny is a two-player card-and-dice game. Cards represent people, vehicles, and equipment. Each turn you play cards that either add to your dice pool or give you ways to change the outcomes of the dice. After you roll your dice pool, you use the results to inflict damage on your opponent, or get further upgrades. It’s simple and fun and fast, and the Star Wars theme comes through nicely. Like most customizable deck games, this one requires ample time up front to assemble a deck.

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EE:

Star Wars Rebellion (EE’s game of the year)

Star Wars Rebellion lets players take on the role of either the Empire or the Rebellion, moving ships and troops around the galaxy. The Empire, whose goal is to find and destroy the rebel base, has the advantage of massive weapons and excellent ship-building capabilities. The Rebellion’s goal is to achieve missions that increase their popularity throughout the galaxy. While lavish and intricate, the actual mechanics if this game are pretty straightforward (place a hero like Princess Leia or Governor Tarkin to activate a planet’s resources or to perform a mission). Though the story stays pretty close to home, these Star Wars fanatics love immersing themselves in the universe.

HB: Oh my goodness, Rebellion is so good. It’s so fun because of the combat system and the unit production system. I also really like the mission cards and how you place leaders onto them. I really want to get the expansion, which also looks awesome.

EE: The best game in the world. I like that you can easily crush the empire if you’re the rebellion. By having mon calamari as your rebel base, and put so many units on it, then put units on the rebel base space. There we go.

Tyrants of the Underdark

In the D&D universe, the Underdark is a vast network of underground cities, populated by the Drow, dark elves. The Tyrants are the ambitious leaders who want to dominate it. Drow, you should know, have no qualms about assassinating each other. Another D&D-themed board game from the same designer who did Lords of Waterdeep, Tyrants of the Underdark is a deck-builder with area control. As you build your deck with different creatures from the Underdark, you use those creatures to expand your territory on the board, removing other players’ pawns and placing your own. While this game is brutally competitive, I find it a welcome change to deck-builders.

HB: This amazing deck builder, you can combine two decks–demons, Drow, dragons, elementals. I love the system of moving around the board because you might have control of an area, but only influence in another area. Then you can move your units. You can’t directly clash with an opponent, you can only assassinate their troops. Heh heh heh.

EE: I like Tyrants because I like the water elemental cards.

Viticulture (Dan’s game of the year)

You run a vineyard. You plant vines, harvest grapes, and turn them into different wines (white, red, blush, and sparkling). You fulfill orders to earn points. Everything else about Viticulture is geared toward improving these activities, like building an expanded wine cellar or adding an irrigation system. In this worker placement game, designed by the same person who did Scythe, turns are divided into seasons, so you can only make certain moves in summer (e.g. planting) vs. winter (e.g. harvesting). Many worker placement games let you expand the available moves by building additional buildings. In Viticulture, your vineyard gets visitors who can help speed up the process or give you more resources. Viticulture is my favorite game of the year, despite strong contenders Scythe and Rebellion.

HB: The aging system is really amazing and how you get to play visitors.

EE: I like because you can make a wine but you age it and you can only age it a specific number before the person will want it. But you can age it over the number.