GMB - My Gaming Blog: 2018

December Top Board Games and List of best of 2018

Revised my post on games, this being December... I have new favorites

I do a lot of demos so for me to get excited about a game and add it to my "I will always love to play this at game night" list, the game has to be FUN and under 90 Minutes in play time.

I am not a long game player, at game nights I like to play several games with some quick filler games. I also prefer more than 4 players since I can do those games at home....

Here is my list of the best games I have played that were released in 2018. This is in Order from what I like to play and carry to more game nights

1 - Space Base

2 - Star Trek Flux

3 - Tower of Madness

4 - Rise of Tribes

5 - Gizmos

(Not owned, but I really loved this game)

6 - Fist of Dragonstones

(does not make it to the table enough, people don't appreciated the auctions games )

December Top Board Games

I am going to break these into Small sided games, Medium and Party Games, 5 Each

Small Sided,
Less than 5 Players

1 - Compounded

This is a game where you use elements to create compounds and score points.. it has a real good feel to the game and they got everything right and the details are fantastic

2 - Space Base
This game has you paying attention all the time due to the passive turns on which you have to decide how to play the dice and earn rewards. it is a fine engine building game and goes faster then it seems

3 - Rise of Tribes

Dice and Meeples, people !!! Seriously, this is a fun game that can be played in an hour or 90 minutes if people think too hard... I spent 4 days at GenCon demoing this and finally got to play the day I got home.

4 - Any Fluxx versions

Either you play for 15 minutes or the game gets very frustrating after a long play.. I love this when it goes about 30-45 minutes at the longest.. set a timer and start over. I have Firefly, Batman, Star Trek, Star Fluxx, Fluxx, Chemistry, Monty Python and Drinking

5 - Head of Mousehold

It is quirky and fun, the strategy you need is more than would be expected in this game...

----------------------------------------------------------
Medium size Games
(6-8 Players, Not Party Games)

1 - Tsuro / Tsuro of the Seas

Tile placement, follow the path games, the Seas offer a bit more in the play by adding monsters

2 - The Thing, Infection at Outpost 31

Everyone who plays this seems to be impressed, based on the John Carpenter movie, this is a a game where you try to identify the Imitations and stop them from leaving the base..

3 - Roswell 51
All against the Director in this whimsical game of Surviving an Alien invasion while being in a Retro SciFi film... The Theme is amazing, and it takes a strong personality to keep the film going and going... until the 4th and final reel

4 - Not Alone

All against one in this game of choosing placement cards... I do enjoy this

5 - Slide Blast

Tile placement to make the longest slide, points for helping other players

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party Games,
more than 6

1 - Donner Dinner Party

Probably the best Social deduction game on the market, quick and easy to play (7 rounds) feed everyone or vote one of the party to (well, you know)

2 - Sparkle*Kitty / Sparkle*Kitty Nights

Don't let the name fool you, this is a great game for adults...Teens and kids.. Can be quite cutthroat and lots of fun

3 - Sushi Go Party

This is simple a quick play game with 3 rounds of Pass and Play... there is a bit of strategy involved but nothing too complex.

4 - Fuji Flush

This card game is the perfect party filler game... simple and fast play to get several replays.

5 - Telestrations, all versions

Here is a Draw and Guess game where you do not have to know how to draw and the more wild the guess, the funnier the game is.. It comes in a 12 Party Pack, An 8 player pack and 8 Player After Dark (Adult) version

Everyone draw and passes to the next person who guesses, then you pass to the next person who draws from the guess The best is when all is revealed at the end of the game...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some other games to Consider

1 - Monty Python Fluxx and Star trek Fluxx (Original Series)

2 - Nefarious

3 - Tower Of Madness

4 - Dastardly Dirigibles

A seemingly simple game that cause frustration when you are forced to change your airship plan.. but lots of fun to play, again a fairly quick game

5 - Brew Dice

6 - Fist of Dragonstones

I have to admit I do not have much to say about these days... I did demos, attempted to go hangout with Bree and failed and ended up just exploring the con and walking about Indy

Met up with Tim in the morning.. and had some coffee while waiting on events to start

Margaret Weis's booth

After doing demos I went to go play a prototype game with the crew from Breaking Games, Shari, Peter, Astrid, Bree and (cannot remember her name) it was a cool word game, and I lost badly

Then I attempted to go with Bree to a meetup for the Heavy Cardboard gamer group, but my voice was so bad that I had to bail. I went back to my room and grabbed my bourbon... then went on walk about