Obligatory Favorite Games 2017 Edition Post Part IV: My Favorite Games: Top 30 List (Games 1-5)

Woot!  Here we go, we’ve finally reach my very favorite games!  This post will take a look at my top 30 favorite games list and will specifically look at my top 5 games!  These games are so amazing and in my mind is just the epitome of the type of games that I love.  I was surprised to see that there are also two former Kickstarter projects in my top 5 which just goes to show that many different games are being released after being funded on these crowd funding platforms.  It is nice to see that Kickstarter is actually helping some really good projects see the light of day that may never have done so it they’d have gone through traditional means.  That being said, feel free to check out my previous three posts in the series before we move on to my top 5 games! 

My Favorite Games: Top 30 List: Games 21-30 (2017)

My Favorite Games: Top 30 List: Games 11-20 (2017)

My Favorite Games: Top 30 List: Games 1-5 (2017)

Alright, now that we’ve taken a look at the past few posts let’s move on to the next.  Now we’ll begin looking at games 1-5 of my top 30 favorite games.  Enjoy!

#5 – Great Western Trail (Stronghold Games/eggertspiele)

Great Western Trail is a deck-building, hand-management and tile-laying game that is designed by Alexander Pfister and published by Stronghold Games and eggertspiele.  This game puts the players in the role of a rancher who has to repeatedly herd their cattle from Texas to Kansas in order to drop them off and pick up money.  The game uses a bunch of different mechanisms to create a game that is absolutely amazing!  The players will be buying cows out of a market and building up their deck in order to have higher cost cows which they will sell at Kansas City and ship off to different cities.  There are several different tracks on the board that the players will manipulate and help them score a bunch of points with what they are doing.  Oh man do I ever love this game.  The more I play this game the more I think it is an absolutely incredible design and just want to play more.  I’d highly recommend this game for anyone who likes a meaty boardgame with a bunch of different mechanisms put together into a beautifully cohesive experience.

#4 – Gloomhaven (Cephalofair Games)

Gloomhaven is a hand management, co-operative campaign game that is designed by Isaac Childres and published by Cephalofair Games.  This game puts players in the role of a mercenary with a different race and class from the other players.  They come together and are approached by a character in the game who wants them to go on their first mission.  From here the game begins and creates this absolutely amazing experience that could continue for some 90 different scenarios if you go through all of the content.  This game takes some of the ideas of dungeon crawlers but really creates an almost Euro-like experience as there is heavy hand-management instead of dice rolling.  The players will choose two cards and use the top portion of one and the bottom portion of the other and then discard them until they “rest” and get them back.  This deck of cards is also the character’s life points which make the game an amazing puzzle and a fantastic co-op.  I would highly recommend this for any group who likes their dungeon crawls with a bite and more Euro-style.

#3 – Too Many Bones (Chip Theory Games)

Too Many Bones is a dice-rolling, dice-building and storytelling game that is designed by Josh and Adam Carlson and published by Chip Theory Games.  This game puts players in the role of a gearlok which is a fantastical creature somewhat like a mix of an elf, and gnome and a dwarf.  These creatures are going out from their home to adventure.  Along the way they’ll meet a whole bunch of enemies and will have a chance to level up their character in between each game.  This gives each of the gearlocks a greater chance to have more skill dice and to roll more during their turn.  Besides the absolutely awesome gameplay, this game also has incredible production.  I love the mixture of the awesome custom dice for each gearlock along with the great poker chips with the enemies on them.  This game has just captured us and has become one of my favorite games in such a short time!  I’d recommend this game to anyone who loves rolling dice and loves a great co-operative experience.

#2 – Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (Plaid Hat Games)

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn is a dice-rolling, two-player, head-to-head card game designed by Isaac Vega and published by Plaid Hat Games.  This game puts the players in the role of a Phoenixborn which is a powerful character who knows different spells and has control of different units during the battle.  I like to say that this is my Magic: The Gathering.  I love how the game uses dice for the character’s mana and has three different icons spread along the six sides.  These different icons stand for the basic symbol, the class symbol and the power symbol and they are used to pay for cards and units to put on the battlefield.  This game also has a clever way of using certain units where they have conjurations.  These are placed onto the player’s spellboard and then can be activated to conjure up a specific unit depending on which book they are using.  This is an awesome way of getting different units onto the battlefield without having them in your hand.  This is an amazing game and I would play it anytime I was asked!

#1 – Seasons (Libellud)

Seasons is a dice-drafting, card-drafting and hand-management game designed by Régis Bonnessée and published by Libellud.  This game puts players in the role of a wizard competing in three-year tournament.  The players start by drafting cards from their hands in order to create what will hopefully be strong combinations.  The players then take turns rolling and drafting the season dice in order to gain different elements which they will spend on the cards in their hand.  There are four seasons that take place over the three years of the tournament after which the players will score and the most points wins.  This continues to be my favorite game.  I may not play this one for a while but every time I play It I remember how great it is and how much I love the combos one can create.  This will always remain as a favorite of mine.  I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a combo heavy card and dice game.

Woot!  We’ve made it to the end!  These five games are absolutely wonderful and I would recommend anyone at least try them out!  I hope you all enjoyed these four posts of my top 30 list.  Keep an eye out as I will be posting my wife’s top 10 list in the next couple of days as well as my buddy Josh’s and possibly my cousin Jon’s.  Until next time, game on!