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.