I’ve been nerding out lately by trying to design a board game (which I’ll eventually reveal on this blog). As with all my hobbies, I turn to podcasts for inspiration, and I’ve really been enjoying the Game Design Round Table. They got me thinking about what makes a good board game, so I thought I’d turn a critical eye to my ten current favorites.

10. Wits and Wagers

Let me start by mentioning that I’m terrible at trivia games, and I usually don’t find them that fun. That’s why Wits and Wagers was a nice surprise. It uses all numbers-based trivia that most people can only guess about (“How many elephants lived at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch?”). Each person reveals their answer, and then everyone bets on whose answer is closest to the real answer.

Best feature? In a normal trivia game, you’re either right or wrong, but in Wits and Wagers you get to make an educated guess and can change your mind once you see what everyone else has guessed.

What could be improved? When I’ve played, the betting chips end up being not that meaningful (everyone tended to go all-in with their chips on the last round), but the trivia and betting are fun no matter how many chips you end up with.

9. Shadow Hunters

If you like hidden role games like Mafia or BANG!, you’ll probably enjoy Shadow Hunters. The entire game, you’re trying to figure out who’s on the shadow team, who’s on the hunter team, and who’s a neutral character with his or her own agenda.

Best feature? I like that everyone has to choose when to reveal their character to use their special power.

What could be improved? At the beginning, it feels like there’s no incentive to do anything until you know more information.

8. Galaxy Trucker

I can’t think of a single game that resembles Galaxy Trucker, aside from the creator’s co-op game Space Alert. In Galaxy Trucker, you first have to build a spaceworthy ship in a limited amount of time, kind of like a puzzle. Then in the second phase, everyone’s ship has to survive asteroid fields, space pirates, smugglers, etc. while still being able to limp home with a few pieces of valuable cargo.

Best feature? The game is fun even when your ship is getting blown apart (because everyone else’s probably is, too). It’s nice having three rounds to try and improve your shipbuilding.

What could be improved? Technically the game works with two players, but it’s not quite as exciting as a 3+ player game.

7. One Night Ultimate Werewolf

One Night Ultimate Werewolf is another hidden role game along the lines of Mafia, where everyone closes their eyes, some mischief happens during the “night,” and the villagers have to figure out who the werewolves are. I think it’s an improvement over mafia in two ways: 1) the majority of players get an active role other than just plain-vanilla “villager,” and 2) there’s only one night phase, so you need to do a lot more logical sleuthing (if you’re a villager) and tricking (if you’re a werewolf).

Best feature? There are plenty of interesting roles, especially with the expansions.

What could be improved? There’s always the potential of physically giving away your role by rustling around when you’re “awake.” Most of that can be solved by sitting in chairs rather than on a couch, and by turning the instructions/music up in the app.

6. Splendor

My friend JP described Splendor as the quietest game ever, because everyone’s constantly plotting what to do next. At first glance, the game seems really simple; you’re using gem tokens to get cards with victory points and “built-in” gems (so you don’t have to keep using tokens). The basic strategy is in deciding whether to buy a ton of cheap cards or a few expensive ones. After a bunch of games though, I still haven’t figured out what the best way to play is. Should I stay focused on a single goal, or morph my plan based on the cards that turn up?

Best feature? I like that these super simple game mechanics can make for such a strategic game.

What could be improved? The game always seems to end quicker than I expect, but that usually just makes me want to play another round and figure out why I lost again!

5. Castle Panic

Given the choice, I’ll usually choose a competitive game over a cooperative one (to my girlfriend’s dismay), since co-op games don’t usually give me the same sense of urgency as competitive ones. Castle Panic has urgency at its core. You and your friends are defending a tower in the center of the board from the crazy amount of monsters that emerge from the woods. You have to use your archer, knight, and swordsman cards wisely to defeat them before they knock down your walls and enter your keep. The variety in the monsters and cards make every turn tricky and fun, especially with the Wizard’s Tower expansion.

Best feature? I love the exclamations of terror and exasperation whenever more monsters are revealed. Every turn feels dire, and it’s fun having to constantly readjust your strategy.

What could be improved? It’s really disappointing when the Wizard Tower is destroyed, because you can’t grab any more wizard cards. But I guess that’s the point – you need to defend it almost as much as the keep.

4. Hanabi

Hanabi is another co-op game towards the top of my list. Everyone’s working together to create a beautiful fireworks display that people will be “talking about for weeks!” Gameplay is based on the clever concept that everyone gets to see the cards in your hand except you. They give you limited hints on the colors and numbers you have in your hand, and you need to deduce which cards to add to the communal fireworks display.

Best feature? The limited hint system leads to interesting dilemmas and hilarious moments when people misinterpret hints.

What could be improved? It looks like there have been multiple editions of the card art, but none of the designs seem fireworks-level spectacular. That’s just me being picky though.

3. Bohnanza

Who knew trading beans could be so much fun? Although many of the games lower on my list have more depth to them, Bohnanza is one of the most fun party games I’ve played. The intensity with which people yell out “I need a green bean!” can rival that of the stock exchange trading floor.

Best feature? The endless hilarity of bean-trading battles.

What could be improved? It never seems worth it to get a third bean field, but maybe that’s because I’ve always played it with a large group.

2. Dixit

Dixit is one of the most creative games I’ve ever played. You have a handful of beautiful paintings (cards), and when it’s your turn, you lay one of these face down and say a word or phrase that hints at your card. If you had this card…

…you might say “puppet” or “scary” or “Little Red Riding Hood.” Everyone else lays one of their cards that matches your word or phrase. When all the cards are mixed up and revealed, everyone tries to guess which card you played. The goal is to get most, but not all of the players to guess your card. When I was playing with a group of music nerds, we limited ourselves to humming melodies as the clues.

Best feature? This is the only game I can think of where the art itself plays a huge role in the gameplay.

What could be improved? The cards with more abstract art and lots of detail seem to work better than the concrete, simpler images. I haven’t played the newest expansions, but it looks like they’ve gone with more complex art, which is cool.

1. Dominion

My number one slot can go to none other than Dominion. I grew up playing the Star Wars card game and Magic the Gathering, and I was always drawn to these games where you could create your own deck full of interesting combos. Dominion takes that idea and lets you build a deck during the game, by buying cards from a common pool. The main strategic element is deciding when to start buying victory cards, which help you win the game but bog down your deck in the process. Unlike most games on my list, it’s equally fun with two players. My roommate Pat and I have duked it out in countless games over the past few years. He has yet to beat me with his Rats strategy though…

Best feature? The common pool of cards changes with each game, making each time you play feel like a totally different game. The expansions add great cards to the mix.

What could be improved? That terrible logo design turned me off from trying the game a full TWO YEARS before I finally saw the light.

Summary

I realized after writing these reviews that every game on my top ten list involves cards in some way. I suppose a vast majority of games tend to have cards, but it still seems telling. Also, almost none of these games involve dice-rolling. I guess in terms of randomization, cards are generally more up my alley. It’s kind of ironic that the board game I’m working on now is centered around rolling dice.

Games that Almost Made the Cut

• Takenoko: fun and unique game with super cute panda art.
• Chess: haven’t played it enough in the past year to call it a favorite.
• Survive: simultaneously saving your people from a sinking island while using sharks and Nessies to gobble up everyone else.
• Sequence: a classic card strategy game that I play with my mom. Sometimes better when you remove jacks.
• Settlers of Catan: good game that I played way too much and never want to play again.
• Acquire: seems like a monopoly sort of game, but very different and cool.
• No Thanks: simple but interesting bidding game.
• Sheepshead: fun old card game.
• Saboteur: hidden role game about dwarf miners.

Got any game suggestions or want to dispute my list? Comment away.