Top 10 Games of 2019

My top 10 games of 2019

I have put together my top 10 games for 2019. Note that these are games that I have played for the first time in 2019, not necessarily games that were released in 2019. With all the games that I already have, I got another 25 games plus expansions last year. Some were gifts, some were purchased at the thrift stores, and some were new.

The new games were: Big Trouble In Little China, Button Men: Beat People Up, Combat Arena, Disney Villainous, Disney Villainous: Evil Plans Ahead, Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core, Dracula’s America: Shadow of the West: Forbidden Powers, Dune, Jurassic Park Danger, Justice League Strategy Game, Outremer: Faith and Blood, Saurai Jack: Back to the Past.

The ones I picked up not new were: Anomia, Conspiracy, Crash Tackle, Euchre, Gangs of Commorragh, Lexigo Rush, Loopin’ Chewie, Ninja Burger, Shogun (Lakeside), Snake Oil, The Collectors, Trespass.

A lot of these did not hit the table this year. Some games from previous years were finally played.

Games that I played for the first time that did not make my list were:
Get the MacGuffin, Han Solo Card Game, Jaipur, Yahtzee Texas Hold ‘em.

12 – Sagrada – Looks very pretty. You have to choose from the dice rolled and place one into your scoring grid. But, like Catan, if not explained fully, you can be messed up right from the start. The play is okay.

11 – Snake Oil – another game where one player has to choose from among other player’s submissions. In this one, the first player draws a consumer, and the other players have to use two of the cards in their hands to come up with a product that person would like. Unlike most of this category, your submissions are not secret, you actually get to pitch them to the judge.

10 – Splendor – Another classic resource building game. You collect gems in order to buy cards with gems on them. This allows to buy more cards so that you can buy more expensive cards with points on them in order to get enough points to win.

9 – Anomia – One of the Mensa select games. You flip over cards and if you match symbols with someone, you have to give an example from the topic on their card before they give an example of the topic on yours.

8 – Perpetual Commotion – Plays like G’Nertz or Dutch Blitz except the Aces and Kings are replaced by Starts and Stops, both of which are wild. It comes with cards for up to 6 players, but you can get extra decks for up to 10 – which would be insane. There are slight scoring variations but it tends to last a bit long if played to 150.

7 – Take the Train – a quick card game for up to 6 players. You try to play all your cards first by building on routes. The simple rules could be a bit more clear about some of the odd situations, but the game plays quick enough to try any questions both ways until you can agree on any questions. A lot of the game depends on your original deal but it still fun and simple enough for mixed groups.

6 – Unspeakable Words – A word game where playing too many larger point words may end up losing you the game. Letters are scored by the number of angles on them. You have to roll your score or higher on a d20 or you lose one of your adorable Cthulhu statues. If you lose all of them you are out of the game but, while you are down to your last one, you are considered insane and can spell gibberish words. Seems a bit short but keeps everyone feeling like they have a chance.

5 – Trespass – an old Lakeside game. One player has to move one of their 9 red pieces to the top of a column. The other player can move their 4 black pieces to block while their sole yellow piece can actually remove the red pieces. It’s quick, simple to learn, and feels like it needs just the right amount of strategy for such an easy game.

4 – Domination – An older control game (also known as Focus). You move your pieces and the top piece on a stack controls it. The setup is a bit precise but it plays pretty well. Definitely looking forward to trying a few more times.

3 – Zooloretto – A set collection game where you are populating a zoo. It’s pretty simple to explain and quick to play.

2 – Disney Villainous – A lovely looking game where you play as the villains trying to achieve your goal first. Each villain has their own decks so the theme stays very true. It starts with 6 villains and already has two expansions of three each so the combinations are quite high.

1 – Cathedral – A two player area control game. It has a very GO-like feel to it that I like. It’s fast but makes you want to play again and again.

Figure Painting Total - December

I ended up popping into GameKnight and picking up another basket of figures. While I did not get any more painted in December, I did assemble the Suicide Squad set, as well as started to assemble a bunch of the Marvel Universe figures. I started painting the dumpsters, but did not get them finished before the end of the month. It won’t take much to finish them – which would double my painting output from this year.
I am also working on getting my storage together for the finished figures so impediments are being overcome.

Blood Bowl – Champions of Death – 14
Blackstone Fortress – 44
Chronoscope – Deadeye Slim – 1
Chronoscope – Patent Scientist – 1
Chronoscope – Pulp Era Professor – 1
Chronoscope – Femme Fatale – 1
Chronoscope – Occult Detective – 1
Chronoscope – Hellstromme – 1
Reaper – Dumpster – 1
Reaper – Jade Tiger, Monk – 1
Reaper – Xiao Liu, Female Monk - 2
Reaper – Townsfolk Strumpet – 1
Reaper – Zombies! – 5
Savage Worlds – Stone – 1
Savage Worlds – Texas Ranger Female – 1
Savage Worlds – Texas Ranger Male – 1
Savage Worlds – Dita, Steampunk Witch – 1
Wild West Wizard of Oz – Scarecrow – 1
Wild West Wizard of Oz – Winged Monkeys – 3


Dec total - figures bought 82, figures painted 0
Running total 2019 – figures bought 231, figures painted 1

Books Read - September to December 2019

Sept
The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World by Dan Ackerman
Milestones of Space: Eleven Iconic Objects from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by Michael J. Neufeld
400 Great R/C Modeling Tips by Jim Newman
Everydaycook by Alton Brown
Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastery by Robin D. Laws
Star Trek Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann
Warhammer 40,000: Index: Xenos 2 (8th Edition) by Games Workshop Nottingham
Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist by Christopher Hart

Oct
Music Boxes by Gilbert Bahl
Stage Costumes Step by Step by Mary T. Kidd
Leatherwork – A Manual of Techniques by Geoffrey West
The Lego Neighborhood Book: Build Your Own Town! by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles
The Lego Neighborhood Book: Build Your Own City! by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles

Nov
Memories of the Moonlight Special and Grand Beach Train Era by Barbara Lange
Build Your Own City – The Big Unofficial Lego Builder’s Book by Joachim Klang / Oliver Albrecht
The Art of Star Trek by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Fashion Sketchbook (second edition) by Bina Abling

Dec
Warhammer 40K – Shield of Baal: Deathstorm by The Games Workshop Design Studios
Warhammer 40K – Sentinels of Terra supplement (6th edition) by The Games Workshop Design Studios
Firefly: Echoes of War: Thrilling Heroics by Margaret Weis, Andrew Peregrine, Monica Valentinelli, and Nicole Wakelin
Warhammer 40K – Militarium Tempestus supplement (6th edition) by The Games Workshop Design Studio
Warhammer 40K – Black Legion supplement (6th edition) by Games Workshop Nottingham
Warhammer 40K – Codex Dark Angels (6th edition) by Games Workshop in Nottingham
Butch Patrick’s Munster Memories – a mini coffin table book be Richard Maurizio and Derek Shimoda
Warhammer 40K – Index: Chaos (8th edition) by Games Workshop in Nottingham

Car Wars - sixth time the charm?

I'm really torn. I've played Car Wars from the pocket edition in the eighties, through the 5th edition. Playing both with friends and at conventions. Playing the highways, arenas, and races, Convoy, and The Car Wars Card Game.

I like the saving of investing almost $200 (Canadian) instead of $500 to get most of it. But the game seems so radically different from the versions I remember. I'm not sure if anyone I used to play with would play this version. I'm not sure if I need to be the one to buy everything from this version in order to play.

Based on the videos, I don't like the car design compared to what I remember. I don't like the control panel compared to the old record sheets. I don't like the forced upsizing and do not like the look of the cars (too much Battlecars compared to the old artwork). The game play in the videos with the special dice compared to the old modifiers seems a bit cold to me.

Still, it is a really good price.