This is the day you don’t skip at the tabletop gym because you don’t want your lists to look all scrawny and weak. It’s so unattractive when lists are neglected while everything else is robust and muscular…

That’s why we’re going to pump our lists full of Kickstarter convos, board game paraphernalia, and all of the other tabletop-adjacent talk that gets the Internet into a tizzy. Enjoy.

Alrighty.

After going back through my physical collection, perusing my BoardGameGeek collection history, and scrolling through the top 1000 games on the site, it looks like I’m sitting around 175 games owned, previously owned, or played from friends’ copies. There are likely games that I missed and I also didn’t count any upcoming games that I’ve already played digitally, but that’s about all of them.

It sounds like a lot to me, but it’s not even the size of many people’s personal collections. This is why I’m glad that I decided to do a Top 50 list rather than a Top 100 list. That would be a bit silly as it’s not far off just ranking all of the games I’ve ever played.

And I’m also going to be doing things a little bit differently. I’ve separated my Top 50 into groups of five and, while my ranking does matter as it goes from 50 to 1, each group of five is not individually ranked. So, it’s kind of like ten different rankings, with five games in each category. It’s different I know, but I didn’t want to spend hours in an anxious debate over which ones nosed past the others in each grouping.

But let’s not waste any more time. To the list! Hopefully, it will give you a better idea of who I am as a player and a person.

Honorable Mentions

Light and fun

Starting off with some honorable mentions!

Super Motherload from Gavan Brown and Matt Tolman is my personal preference for a game like Splendor.

Coup is one of the first social deduction games I ever played and I still love it.

Sheriff of Nottingham is a bluffing delight that’s even better when you roleplay the characters and voices.

Archer is my favorite version of Love Letter. The show is hilarious and it’s a joy to play in that world.

And Munchkin goes back a long way for me but I won’t ever forget the ways it ruined my friendships.

50-46

For non-gamers

The first five! These are ones that definitely still engage me but are good to help bring nervous people to the table.

7 Wonders Duel is my preferred version of 7 Wonders. I don’t love the main game but this iteration rocks.

Captain Sonar is the only game I know of in which I can yell, “Torpedo at F7!” at full volume.

Pandemic Legacy is the best way to play Pandemic and there is no argument about it.

Secret Hitler is one of the best social deduction games I’ve played… and you can bring down fascism.

The Dark Edition of King of Tokyo matches my aesthetic and proves it’s still fun to roll dice and smash things.

45-41

Never a dull moment

Ten down already. Moving fast!

Set a Watch was the first game I ever reviewed. It also happens to be a tight, small-box adventure that thrills.

Crimson Company is a clever two-player card game that takes a MOBA and flattens it onto a table.

The Few and Cursed is a fun deck-builder that lets you live out your outlaw fantasies… and kill monsters.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Vendetta is why asymmetric games can be so fun. Everyone feels powerful!

Escape the Dark Sector is a roleplaying narrative separated into chapter cards. Choose your own path.

40-36

Thinky puzzles

Getting into some deeper waters…

Terraforming Mars proves that what Elon Musk is thinking might be cool after all (if you’re a big corporation).

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective makes reading interesting. You hear that, kids?! Read the newspapers!

Sorcerer City makes tile-laying into a frenzied pattern search as you try to be a wizard… architect?

I’m so bad at Pipeline. But I want to get better. And it’s just an intriguing maze of pipes. There might be oil, too.

Watergate makes history interesting. You hear that, kids?! Investigate corruption!

35-31

World-building

The world is not enough…

A War of Whispers manages to create a game about armies fighting where players aren’t hurting each other.

A Game of Thrones is great (at the right player count). Loving the grim fantasy world definitely helps, though.

Cloudspire has fascinating factions to explore and they’re all fighting over one coveted resource.

Spirit Island is the anti-invader narrative. Columbus would not have fared well against these spirits!

Tapestry lets the players build their own world and people. Write the story of your culture as they grow.

30-26

Pull in the unbeliever

Your friends and family have played the non-gamer games. Now finish them off with these!

Clank! lets you relive the tale of The Hobbit as noisy thieves going after the dragon’s hoard. Watch your step.

Raiders of the North Sea is delightful worker-placement enlivened by the art of The Mico.

Bloodborne is an amazing game. Why wouldn’t you want to play a card game about it?

Unmatched lets you answer the important questions in life: Would Sinbad have killed King Arthur in a fight?

Letters from Whitechapel gives players either unrivaled freedom of movement or tense hunting experiences.

25-21

Crunchy and Tasty

Things get a little more messy but equally more special.

In the Hall of the Mountain King lets you say the word “trollsmoot” and it’s not a joke. Drop the mic already.

Black Orchestra is taut with tension. Like knife-edge tension. Make sure that plot doesn’t fail.

Architects of the West Kingdom reminds us all why Shem Phillips and The Mico work well together.

Anachrony is like if Inception and the worker-placement genre had a terrifying tabletop baby. In a good way.

Paladins is like Architects but different enough that you just really appreciate all the juicy morsels you can eat.

20-16

Tense and memorable

Fall Out Boy’s "Thnks fr th Mmrs" is playing right now…

Dead of Winter made me wish for snowshoes. And watch the zombies at the barricade. No, seriously. Watch.

Dwellings of Eldervale makes me giggle when I take out the setup trays. And it makes me smile when I win.

Too Many Bones is waterproof. Does it even need to be a good game now? Oh wait, it still is.

Gloomhaven is one that most people haven’t heard of. Super indie. And I’m super trendy for naming it.

Imperial Assault lets you roll dice and try to take down the Empire. What’s not to love?

15-11

Best at what they do

Some games just knock it out of the park with what they’re doing!

Root figures out asymmetry and you’re left with the most conflict-oriented woodland creatures ever.

Everdell makes tableau-building and resource management such a beauty to behold.

Brass: Birmingham makes me care about beer. I don’t even like beer. But, maybe I do now…

Dune: Imperium scratches the worker-placement itch but the victory point track is like TI4. I love it!

PARKS is beautiful and it makes me want to visit parks. It’s also a great game, but holy moly it’s pretty.

10-6

Pure fun

Bring them to the table. I will never say no.

Scythe is a smorgasbord of fun. I like the world. I like the objectives. I like the player interaction.

Lords of Waterdeep was my first worker-placement love. And it’s not going away anytime soon.

I like words, okay? Lay off me. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you have to get all condescending.

The ALIEN RPG is superlative. It’s like playing the movies. It’s one of the best roleplaying experiences out there.

Gimme some of that Canadian circle flicking. Crokinole is new to me, but it’s already got a place on the wall.

5-1

Mark my calendar. I’m there.

The best games in the world? Maybe not to you. But they are to me.

Forbidden Stars. chef’s kiss

Star Wars: Rebellion happy tears

Twilight Imperium: 4th Edition i’d buy all four

Dice Throne drool on all the boxes

Dungeons & Dragons let me talk dirty barbarian in your ear

Well, everyone, it doesn’t get more comprehensive than that…

Hope you enjoyed the list. There are plenty of games out there that may make their way onto it eventually but for now I feel good about it. And I’ve realized that I really like worker-placement games. Like a lot, apparently.

Have a good one!

What games do you disagree with? What games do you agree with? Which ones do you think are missing? Let me know in the comments!