Top 10 Games in 2019
/Each year we re-evaluate our favorite games. 2019 was a great year for us, however, we did not really play a ton of new games. What we did get to do, however, was play a lot of games that we had missed out on before or get to replay a lot of games that we were not giving enough love. Below are our Top 10 Games in 2019. Some games earned their spot on this list from specifically amazing game sessions we played last year but some make it just from how much we love the game itself. While this list can change a lot based on what we actually got to the table and who we played with, all of these games are fantastic.
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10. Dead of Winter
This is a semi-cooperative game set in the zombie apocalypse that really channels what’s best about most zombie movies, the zombies are around but its really about the people and how they interact. Dead of Winter oozes intrigue as everyone works together towards the group goal while working to complete their personal goals without seeming too suspicious. I love never knowing who to trust especially when it could be that there is no traitor at all. Dead of Winter tells a wonderful story and creates an unforgettable gaming experience.
9. Wits & Wagers
The quintessential trivia game, Wits & Wagers is so simple to teach and so much fun to play. It solves the problem with almost all trivia games where you do not need to know the answer, you just need to know who you think might know the answer. Each question has an answer that is a number, everyone writes their guess and then all guesses are placed in a number line. Then you all bet on which answer is closest without going over. If you want a game that you can play with any group of people and still have a great time, it is hard to find a better option. We have played several different versions, they are all great, but our favorite is Wits & Wagers: Vegas. It has more focus on betting that spices things up for us a bit but really any version is great!
8. Mysterium
A game that mixes funky abstract art with a murder mystery party, Mysterium is such a great game. One player is a ghost who cannot speak and keeps giving players visions in the form of these cards with beautiful illustrations to try and get each player to retrace the events of the night of their murder. Mysterium is great because of its flexibility. Being able to play up to 7 gives it a reason to keep hitting the table, and with how easy it is to teach and fun to play it always seems to be a hit. It is both frustrating and rememberable when you are listening to people analyze why you gave them a specific card when all you can do is sit there and watch, but once the game is over you will have so much fun just talking through the game and what decisions you made. This game is almost always played more than once in a row, and I think that is really the biggest indication of a great game you can find.
7. Celestia
If there are two things I love its bluffing, gambling, and airships. Celestia puts it all in one box. Each turn a different player is the captain of an airship. They roll some dice and have to tell everyone if they have the cards to successfully make it to the next location. Each person then decides if they want to get out of the ship and take some treasure or continue with the captain to the next location and potentially get a better treasure. It all works so well and it feels great when you successfully convince someone that you can make it to the next town only to crash the ship minutes later. Deciding where to get off and keep going is key but even when you know better you kind of want to stay along for the ride, or maybe that is just me. That might be why I never win….
6. Secret Hitler
A rather divisive game, Secret Hitler has players taking control of pre-World War 2 Germany parliament. A fantastic social deduction game, each player is either a liberal or a fascist trying to enact different political policies. One of the fascist players is also Hitler, but shh that is a secret. Each round you elect a president and a chancellor who then decide on the policies that go into place. What makes this game so great is all the little nuances that occur. You never know if the Chancellor or President enacted a fascist policy because they didn’t have a choice or because one or both of them are fascist themselves. As the government becomes more fascist as well the President and Chancellor have more power and might start assassinating other players. Careful though, if you assassinate Hitler then the liberals automatically win. Secret Hitler takes great games like The Resistance and adds this depth to them that just take it to the next level. If the theme does put you off, check out Patriots & Redcoats, which is pretty much this exact game but set during the American Revolutionary War.
5. Cosmic Encounter
By far the oldest game on this list, Cosmic Encounter is an amazing mess of the game that is always crazy, unique, and memorable. This is a negotiation game where you are all different aliens trying to take over planets by either battling or through negotiation. What makes this game so crazy is the different alien powers, which all are crazy and drastically change the rules of the game for that race. Even ignoring all of the expansions that add more, there are 50 different aliens you can be in the base game. The different combos of aliens and powers that show up will make each game feel so different in such a good way.
4. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
The highest social deduction game on this list, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a game that even people who typically don’t like this style of game adore. One player, the forensic scientist, is giving the rest of the players’ clues to a murder. However one of the other players is the one who committed the crime. Each player has different clues that could tie them to the murder, so the forensic scientist has to give clues to try and point them to the right person. This game plays so well, it feels like a nice logic puzzle and its a game where the traitor doesn’t have to straight-up lie to people, you can just keep pointing out other clues that fit what the scientist is telling people. The rounds are fast and satisfying, but this game will always leave you wanting to play just one more round.
Find Deception: Murder in Hong Kong on Amazon by just clicking here
3. Clank! A Deckbuilding Adventure
Push your luck, deckbuilding, and dragons? You have me sold right there. In Clank! you each are adventures exploring a dragon’s lair trying to get the most loot and get out, however, the more noise you make the more likely the dragon will come after you! You might try to grab the first thing you can and get out, which will escalate the dragon attacks for the rest but if they manage to get out with a better treasure you are out of luck. Clank! has these really interesting decisions you have to make that could get ruined at any moment by the other players. You want to go deeper and get some better treasure, but if you go too deep you are never making it out. Do you sacrifice stealth for speed to get around quicker but anger the dragon? It could be worth it, but again if you go too hard you are dragon meat. That is what always happens to me… I think I am starting to sense a theme here…
Find Clank! A Deckbuilding Adventure on Amazon by just clicking here
2. Blood Rage
A Viking fueled game of glory and honor, Blood Rage is a very strategic game where you take control of a different Viking clan fighting for glory during Ragnarok. Blood Rage does this really great game where it takes aspects of this typical war type game that usually drives some people away and makes it the core of the game. Always feel like people gang up on you in games? You can get cards that give you points every time someone kills your guys. Feel like someone has control of the whole map and you can’t do anything? You can get monsters that destroy every opponent on space when they come into play. Feel like you always know who is going to win a battle? Get cards that allow you to suddenly change the tides to your favor. Blood Rage is an amazing game with so many different paths to victory than just having the bigger army. Plus it does not hurt that it has the big elaborate and intricately crafted miniatures that CMON games are known for!
1. Specter Ops
I cannot state enough how much I love Specter Ops. A hidden movement game where one player is an agent trying to sneak around a compound, complete objectives, and escape while the other players are hunting him down and neutralize him. The different special powers that both sides get to use feel so great and powerful, the game at its heart is this big deduction game that feels so satisfying when things go your way, and it is just such a good looking game. I love sneaking around as the agent and the sheer amount of tension as you have to listen to people guess where you are, trying to not look nervous when they are pointing exactly where you are standing or too happy when they are way off. I love how this game looks, plays, feels and I cannot get enough. I like to try to be very sneaky as the agent, which can be really risky but so rewarding when it works, even though it has yet to work for me yet as…. I still have never won this game…
I am starting to think I just need to get better at games.
Think there are great games that we are missing out on? Think these games are amazing too? Let us know! We always like suggestings for more games to play, and we just generally love talking about board games!