So!  When a challenge is issued, it must be met with passion and fury!  When Devon completed his top 50 games of all time, I immediately went to look at it to pick it apart for the waste of time that it was. But then I was surprised! Sure, there were some things I disagreed with (Dwellings of Eldervale? Yuck!), some things that were just bizarre (D&D is an RPG Devon; this is a BOARD GAME blog… DUHHHHH), but also many, many things that I found I agreed with either in whole or in part. This inspired me to take a look at my own collection, and I thought it would be fun to follow his lead and let you all know about my top 50 games of all time!  And while I opted for a more traditional countdown Devon’s format, I hope you appreciate this look into my gaming mind, and maybe even re-discover an old favorite or something completely new!

Honorable Mentions (In No Particular Order)

Munchkin

My first real designer game. Not loved by many, but definitely holds a special place in my heart.

Point Salad

Make a delicious salad with your family and friends! Fun AND healthy!

Betrayal at House on the Hill

The classic B-movie recreation! My first ‘grail game’ (A game I really REALLY wanted but was hard to find or out of print). I understand its flaws, but boy did it make for some really fun times at the start of my Board Game journey.

Sunset Over Water

A beautiful and relaxing game about painting beautiful pictures. Also has a great solo mode!

Tiny Epic Galaxies

The first and, so far, best (in my opinion) Tiny Epic game. It really makes you feel like you are colonizing other planets while you raise your empire from the backwater to universal glory!

The Top 50

50. Carcassonne

One of the 'four pillars of German board gaming' and my personal favorite! It's a really great game to get people interested in tile-laying.

49. Tussie Mussie

A wonderful game about Victorian flower arranging by Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave. A great portable wallet-sized card game from the folks at Button Shy Games.

48. Fire Tower

The most fun you'll ever have burning down a forest. (NOTE: DO NOT BURN DOWN REAL FORESTS.) The main thing about this game is its fun ‘take that’ card play that never really feels mean. A great quick game to play between heavier fare.

47. Agricola

The granddaddy of farming simulators, Uwe Rosenburg’s classic will keep you wanting to feed your people and mate your sheep for years to come. 

46. Kingdom Builder

The elegant simplicity of Donald Vaccarino’s design belies its interesting strategic complexity. Placing little houses in flower fields has never had such meaning!

45. Star Realms

My first foray into deck-building games. It’s always fun to try to beat your opponent in a head-to-head tactical battle. The Star Realms app is really good too!

44. Bunny Kingdom

What do you do when you are a rabbit? Spread like rabbits of course! Bunny Kingdom is a delightful mix of deck building and area control, and is a great medium weight game to take on your next step into board gaming.

43. Star Wars: Outer Rim

I am a huge Star Wars fan.  However, I’m not a big fan of skirmish or CCG games. Unfortunately, the world of Star Wars hobby board games is pretty small outside of those restrictions. I was delighted when I got to play Star Wars: Outer Rim. This pick-up and deliver game gets you into the ships of some of the best-known ruffians in the Star Wars galaxy, and it’s great fun. 

42. Small World

Another one of my very first board game acquisitions, Small World is an amazingly tight area control game with just a dash of push-your-luck. The many different fantasy races and power combinations make sure that no two games of Small World ever feel quite the same.

41. Ex Libris

Running your own library is hard. Competing with other librarians to be the best library in town is even harder! Ex Libris is a combination of worker placement (the first of many in my Top 50 😊) and set collection, and it has a fun fantasy theme. Like Bunny Kingdom, it’s a great next-step game.

40. Dixit

One of the few party games on my list, Dixit is an amazingly beautiful game with an amazingly simple mechanic; each round one person is the dreamer, and the other players try to guess their card using the clue that the dreamer has given. Dixit is great to play with family and can help foster a sense of empathy and communication among those who play it.

39. Coatl

South American snakes, oh my! Coatl has you making colorful feathered snakes, and it has more than a few shades of Azul. It has a wonderful Aztec theme, and it is great for people of all ages to play together.

38. Azul

One of the new modern classics, Azul swept the world in 2017 with its addictive tile placement puzzle and easily accessible gameplay. Azul is another great game to get out when the family is around, but also a great game to play with gamer friends too! Make sure you give the other side of the player board a chance!

37. Crown of Emara

When Crown of Emara first came out, I didn’t give it much thought; it looked kind of generic.  Upon a second glance, however, its unique rondel and scoring system brought it way WAY up for me. In an interesting twist, the theme of this game is making the kingdom a good place for citizens and immigrants. If you like unique mechanics and an interesting theme, give this game a look!

36. It’s a Wonderful World

One of the few videos I’m in on the main YouTube channel, It’s a Wonderful World is a unique card-drafting resource-management game that sees you building your own wonderful world from the ashes of the old one.  It’s a Wonderful World allows for complex combos and strategies that will stretch your tactical brain!

35. Formula D

The one and only true racing game in my top 50, Formula D does roll and move correctly. The excitement of an F1 or street race comes alive through the variable player powers and the possibility of destruction. Formula D is easy enough to play with kids, but also scalable enough to play with more advanced gamers.

34. KLASK

The cheapest version of air hockey you are ever going to see. KLASK was developed by a Danish man in his garage with some woodworking tools. Its simple but action-packed dexterity-based gameplay can make for hours of fun for everyone. You can even have a KLASK tournament!

33. Takenoko

Yup, it’s that panda game. Yet another game that was an early part of my collection and has stood the test of time. Use the Panda and the Gardner to eat, grow, and expand the bamboo garden of the Japanese Emperor.  Takenoko is very elegant in its design and that little Panda is just so cute!

32. Steam Park

Have you ever wanted to run your own robot theme park?  Well now is your chance! Steam Park is a delightfully whimsical theme park simulator, where you are building a park for the robots of Roboburg. The combination of dice rolling and action selection to build your park is great, and the fun pastel art really ups the quality of this game.

31. Sagrada

In Barcelona, Spain, there is a beautiful Catholic cathedral that is renowned for its stained-glass windows; the Sagrada Familia. In the game Sagrada, you use dice to build some of the most beautiful of those windows.  The simple dice-drafting and placement mechanics make this a great family option, and the choice of more complicated windows can make for a challenge for more experienced players.

30. High Rise

Corruption in the city. It’s a dirty thing but someone has to do it. In a twist on the typical city building theme, you play as development moguls who are trying to reshape the city in glorious steel, concrete, and glass. High Rise allows you to get your hands dirty without tarnishing your soul. Also, the 3D buildings add great visual appeal to an already appealing game.

29. Bargain Quest

Don’t you wish that the brave merchants and suppliers of weapons and potions in fantasy stories got their due? Well in Bargain Quest, you can seek that glory for yourself! Bargain Quest is so much fun with the right group of people. The drafting mechanic is really strong, and the art is top-notch. 

28. Unmatched: Cobble and Fog

I was not interested in the Unmatched system at first. It just didn’t seem like something I would enjoy. But boy, get the right group of characters together and it can come alive. Cobble and Fog features some of the most iconic heroes and villains from Victorian literature, and they really make the game interesting. 

27. Rococo

I never had the chance to play the original edition of this game, but I am super glad that Jan got a copy of the deluxe edition. Making beautiful articles of clothing for French aristocrats during the reign of Louis XV may not seem like the most interesting theme, but the theme complements the gameplay so well that it cannot and should not be ignored. 

26. L.L.A.M.A

L.L.A.M.A. probably won’t be featured on many top games lists, but the amount of fun I’ve had with this simple card game by Reiner Knizia (yes THAT Reiner Knizia) merits its place on this list.  This game will make you laugh, make you cry, make you curse randomness, and make you cheer for that same randomness. 

25. Lords of Waterdeep

My original worker placement crush, Lords of Waterdeep is the perfect marriage of theme and game. You really feel like you are one of the shadowy Lords, sending your minions out to do your bidding and completing quests either for the good of the city… or your own nefarious ends. Lords of Waterdeep is a must if you want to introduce people to the worker placement genre, especially if they have EVER enjoyed a game of D&D.

24. Obsession

While Obsession has been called Downtown Abbey in a box (I know it’s spelled wrong. Looking at you, Mr. Goose 😉), it’s much closer to Jane Eyre in a box! Whatever era of British History you think it’s from, Obsession will leave you… well, obsessed with its interesting take on worker placement. Rather than having mutual spaces on a board where everyone goes to gain resources, you use your workers (the household staff) to activate different rooms in your manor house. Obsession is a great game to try with folks who have an interest in Victorian England and interesting board games!

23. Root

You knew this had to show up somewhere in a Quackalope top games list. Before I met Jesse, I hadn’t given Root much thought.  I’m not big into wargames or skirmish games, so I didn’t think Root was going to be for me. Little did I know that underneath its woodland critter aesthetic beat the heart of a game that has so many different asymmetric mechanics that meld so well, that you really don’t feel like you are playing a wargame. Root has a high learning curve, but once you learn to play it, the re-playability is nearly endless.  And with a new expansion coming soon, that replayability will only continue to grow.

22. Brass: Birmingham

Another game that at first glance I wasn’t completely sure I would enjoy. When I first played Brass: Birmingham, I hadn’t really played any economic games or even route-building games besides Ticket to Ride. Brass definitely made me open my eyes to the world of economic games. Brass has such a depth of play that you will find yourself lost in the decision space very quickly. The thinky crunchiness of needing to get the utmost out of every turn is immensely pleasurable, even if you are falling behind your industrialist competitors. 

21. Viticulture

The first of a few Stonemaier games to appear on this list, and the first Stonemaier game period, Viticulture is a refinement of the worker placement genre. Normally, when you send your worker to a location to take the action printed there, no one else can go there. Viticulture innovates on that premise by introducing a ‘grande worker’, one that can utilize those spots. Each player only gets one, but the addition of this simple mechanic, and the blending of card play with the worker placement, makes Viticulture an amazing game.

20. Dinosaur Island

For those of you who saw Jurassic Park as kids and always wanted to run your own dinosaur theme park, this is the game for you. A classic take on worker placement and resource management, Dinosaur Island lets you build the dino park of your dreams. With so many great diverse attractions, dinosaurs, and employees to hire, Dinosaur Island is a great way to live out your dino park dreams. This game is a bit of a table hog, so if you’re looking for something a little more compact, Duelosaur Island, also by Pandasauras Games, offers a very similar experience in a small two-player package!

19. The Networks

Similar to owning your own dinosaur theme park, I’m sure there were kids out there who wanted to run their own TV station, right? In The Networks, you are the head honchos of your own TV networks, striving to bring your bandwidth from public access to primetime. The Networks features some great drafting mechanics and wonderful parody shows and artwork of some of the best shows on TV (my personal favorite is ‘Doctor What’).  If you’ve ever had a dream of being on TV, give this game a shot!

18. Hadara

Another game that features drafting, in Hadara you are the leaders of various civilizations trying to raise your civilization above all others through the drafting of different cards that advance you along different track levels.  The manipulation of the tracks and the innovative drafting mechanics in this game really make it stand above others.  If you like civ-building, but don’t have 6+ hours to play a civ-building game, give Hadara a try.

17. Spirit Island

I was not initially on the Spirit Island train. I wasn’t really looking for a super-hard co-op game, and mostly ignored it, despite playing a different game with its creator! Boy was I wrong. Now, don’t misunderstand, Spirit Island is most definitely challenging, but it’s the kind of challenge that keeps you wanting to try again. The extremely unique theme, wonderful visuals, and intriguing mechanics will keep you wanting to come back for more.

16. Glen More II: Chronicles

As a person of Scottish descent, Glen More II could have had me on theme alone. (My ancestral family is even in the game! Hi all you MacLachlans out there!) Fortunately, in addition to its well-realized theme, Glen More II has the mechanics to back it up as well. Featuring a unique take on a rondel mechanic, you and your competitors will take turns claiming different tiles and adding them to your lands. Glen More II also features several different modules you can add (the titular Chronicles) that add a ton of replayability. With a new expansion on the horizon as well, Glen More II is certainly here to stay on my list.

15. Dune: Imperium

One of the newest games on this list, Dune: Imperium, for me at least, wins the Dune v. Arnak debate hands down. I am partial to both deck building and worker placement, but if the game has a stronger worker placement feeling to it, that’s the one I want. Dune does a good job of getting the theme into the game, and is one of the few IP products that does it right. Using stylized drawings of the characters from the movie is so much better than movie stills, and it really elevates the game because of it. Even if you don’t like Dune or have never heard of it, Dune: Imperium is a great game to have on your shelf.

14. Sleeping Gods

I don’t use the words ‘magnum opus’ lightly, especially when the artist is still producing works, but this game is Ryan Laukat’s magnum opus. Even though I’ve only had this game for a few weeks, it has SKYROCKETED to the top of my list because of the sheer magnitude of its brilliance. An expansive co-op campaign game, in Sleeping Gods you are the crew of the Manticore, a ship lost in a strange sea. Using the crew’s abilities to the best of your ability, you need to find a way to lead them home. Sleeping Gods is for anyone who likes exploration and storytelling, and is sure to climb this list as I investigate it more.

13. Coimbra

Coimbra is a dice drafting game where you are nobles in the Portuguese city of Coimbra, a center of learning and culture in the early renaissance. The dice drafting in this game is unique because you not only choose it for its number, but also for its color. The interconnectedness of the drafting and the going up on the different influence tracks really makes this game sing. There are so many different ways to win that no two games of Coimbra are going to be the same, which makes the replay value skyrocket. 

12. Terraforming Mars

The undisputed king of the BGG hotness since 2016 (along with Gloomhaven, with which it shares this crown), Terraforming Mars is engine building on a celestial scale. For anyone who has even had the inkling that they want to be able to travel to another planet, Terraforming Mars can deliver on that wish. The way that you build your corporation, leading to the bloom of life on the board of Mars is absolutely stunning, and with the copious amounts of project cards and multiple expansions, you will never find yourself running out of things to do. If the time or table presence worries you, keep a look out for Terraforming Mars: The Ares Expedition, which promises a faster terraforming experience in a great package!

11. Isle of Skye

Going in once again for the Scottish theming, Isle of Skye (full title: Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King) is an amazingly fun tile-laying game that has flavors of Carcassonne and Glen More II. The reason that this beats out Glen More II is that it is simply easier to get to the table, and it has a few other surprises in store. The main driving force behind this game is the tile auction, which players perform at the start of each round. It’s super exciting to set your prices for your tiles, reveal them to your friends around the table, and then realize the one you really wanted is either priced too high or has been discarded! Also, the randomized scoring of each game and the way the scoring changes from round to round will always keep you on your toes. Isle of Skye is a great mid-weight game for folks looking to take the next step from Carcassonne or just anyone who likes the idea of producing whisky!

10. Everdell

Well, we made it to the top ten. And what a way to start it! Everdell is another one of those games that I was not really drawn to at first.  One late-night play with Jesse and Jan, however, was all it took to get me hooked.  Everdell is a beautiful tableau-building worker placement game, where you are trying to develop new towns for the creatures of the forest to inhabit. Everdell has a wonderful flow because there are no traditional rounds in the game. You either play a card, place a worker, or prepare for the next season (in which you collect your played workers from the board). All players do this until they pass, and points are counted. Add to that the beautiful whimsical art and a variety of expansions (with more on the way soon!) to enhance your game, and Everdell will be a game you keep returning to season after season!

9. Orleans

I’m a sucker for a game that has a lot of bits in it. Orleans is one such game. There is so much in this base box that even after everything is punched and sorted, the box top almost doesn’t close. Sometimes, that is a problem. Not with Orleans. Orleans is one of the first bag-building games, a game where much like building a deck, you build a bag of tokens.  Each round, you draw a number of workers from your bag, and, depending on what you draw, you activate certain action spots.  The thrill of drawing just the right worker at just the right moment, or the feeling of devastation when all of your traders stay at home that day, is just exquisite. Orleans plays differently every time you play, and there are multiple paths to victory. It’s this wonderful combination that keeps me coming back to it again and again.

8. Nidavellir

I blame Jan for this one. It’s also the reason I’m so glad Jan pays attention to the international board game scene. Nidavellir is a bidding game at its heart. Taking its name from the realm of the dwarves in Norse Mythology, in Nidavellir you are a newly minted general, and it is your task to recruit an army of the bravest, and possibly craziest, dwarves to fight the dragon Fafnir who has invaded your realm. The art style is spare but thematic, as all of your dwarf recruits are in black and white, as the dwarf realm in some readings of Norse Mythology is a realm of darkness. Nidavellir is having a release here in the US in March, so you can have a chance to add it to your library soon!

7. Five Tribes

Five Tribes was another of my first loves in board gaming. Unlike Betrayal At House on the Hill, Five Tribes has stayed high on my list due to its tight mechanics and interesting gameplay. Based on a mancala mechanic, in Five Tribes you are trying to become the sultan of the kingdom of Naquala by wooing the titular five tribes of the land. Using the powers of these tribes you can build sets of market goods for points, summon powerful djinn for points and new powers, attract loyal viziers to your new court, use builders to build magnificent new palaces, or even assassinate your rivals! Five Tribes has so many paths to victory that it sometimes gets knocked for being prone to analysis paralysis. While I understand that (and am certainly a little guilty of it myself), it is really only the smallest knock on a stellar game. 

6. The West Kingdom Trilogy

Ok, so this next entry is a bit of a cheat. The West Kingdom Trilogy—Architects, Paladins, and Viscounts of the West Kingdom—is a trio of mostly worker placement games, with the exception of Viscounts, which is more action selection and deck building. Because the trio of games share so much iconography and can be linked together using the West Kingdom Tomesaga, and because my personal rating of them is so close (each is only separated by a tenth of a point), it’s ok to list them here as a single entry. (No, seriously folks, I looked up the rules and everything, we’re all cool here.) Semantics aside, The West Kingdom Trilogy is simply excellent. Once you learn one, it’s easy to learn the others, due to the shared iconography through the series. Add to that great art from The Mico, and you have the complete package. If you’re a Euro player, you owe it to yourself to get these games into your collection.

5. Smartphone Inc.

The most recent game in the top 10 (at least for the second edition, the one I played and fell in love with), Smartphone Inc. is an economic game of global proportions. Players act as cellphone company CEOs trying to gain market share and debut the latest tech advances before any of their rivals! Smartphone Inc. is primarily an economic game, with a little bit of puzzling to be done, as well. Each round, you are going to set your actions for the round by using different tiles on your datapad, overlapping and settling in the most useful tiles for your current strategy. Smartphone is nowhere near as complicated as some economic games (*Ahem* Food Chain Magnate *AHEM*) and can really help people start down the path of economic games.  Throw in a good solo mode, too, and you have yourself a winner on all fronts.

4. Clank! Series

Oops! How did this get here??!!?! Another little cheat entry, the Clank! games are so similar, and have so many overlapping mechanics and iconography, that like the West Kingdom Trilogy it felt weird to try and break them up. Clank! should be everyone’s next-step deck builder. Yeah, I said it. It’s that good! In most versions of Clank! players are trying to extricate treasure from the big bad of that particular game (dragons, evil warlords, that sort of thing). As you go through each setting, you and your opponents gain items from the adventure row to add your deck, which hopefully you can use to escape! The varied themes, the mix of dungeon exploration and card play, and the legacy elements of Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated make sure that there is something in the Clank! line for everyone. 

3. Wingspan

Ah yes, the old Everdell vs. Wingspan debate…. Clearly you see where I fall! For me, Wingspan is one of my best games. It works on so many levels. It’s a simple engine-building game that many people can enjoy. I can play a game of Wingspan with my heavy game friends, it’s a game that I can play with my family, it’s a game that I can play with young kids or older folks, and always have a good time. Add to that the wonderful art, the really neat Wingsong app (which you can use to hear the bird calls of the various birds!), and the great bird facts (fowl facts?), and it’s a complete package. 

2. Above and Below/Near and Far

Ok ok! One more cheat! (I mean, it’s number two, right? How could there be any more????) Above and Below and Near and Far are the two other main storytelling games by Ryan Laukat and Red Raven Games. These, along with the upcoming Now or Never, form the backbone of the story of the word of Arzium, the setting for several of the games in Red Raven Games’ catalog. These are the storytelling games that all storytelling games aspire to be. I first fell in love with Above and Below at a Labyrinth Games and Puzzles Boozy Bard Game Night in the Before Times. I had known about it for a bit, but I hadn’t been able to get my hands on it to give it a try. It was love at first play. Each story had you doing something interesting, and even if you failed you had a good story to tell. Near and Far built on that foundation, adding campaign elements and the map book that you can now find in Sleeping Gods. These stories, married with the elegant euro-style mechanics of each game, allow players to not only get lost in the story but also play a really great game. 

1. Scythe

Did you see this one coming? No? Well, that’s not a huge surprise. Scythe, the Stonemaier Games juggernaut, might not be at this spot on the list if not for one of its expansions. Scythe was a game that I overlooked at first. Maybe because of the hype, maybe because it had minis, which I am generally dismissive of, maybe because I was still getting to know who I was in the hobby. But boy was it worth the wait. Scythe is an amazing combination of asymmetric player abilities, territory control, and light battling. The combat in Scythe is simple but tense, where you have an idea of what your opponent’s strength is, but you can never be one hundred percent sure.

The world-building for this game is also spectacular, with the alternate 1920s steampunk feel of the mechs and other units, and the amazing art by Jakub Rozalski really can transport you into the story if you let it. This brings me to the single biggest reason this game is a 10 for me, The Rise of Fenris. The Rise of Fenris is mainly a campaign expansion, where you can play through an eight-game campaign that follows the search for the inventor Nicola Tesla, and the rise of the titular evil faction, Fenris. In the Before Times, I played through a campaign with the Quack Master and a few other friends. Even though I lost every single game (of course, Jesse won), I still had fun doing it. Scythe is a game that can be accessible to all kinds of gamers, and I’m happy to have it as my favorite game of all time.

And there you have it! 50 games! Did your favorites make it on my list? Which ones should be on there that are not?  Make sure to check out the other content here and check the YouTube channel for more great gaming fun!