7/24 Game Night!

Hi everyone!

I hope this finds you having a delightful summer and that you've enjoyed the past couple of sessions!  I have been absent for a little while due to my summer travel schedule (I'm a teacher and take full advantage) however that time has now passed and will be at game night for the foreseeable future, including this upcoming session!  As such, we will be having a theme and showcasing some featured games!

Now, this theme is going to seem a bit self-serving and that's fair - it absolutely is.  However, if you're married you understand that you take every opportunity to add some brownie points to the bank.  This upcoming session just happens to be on me and my wife, Beth's, anniversary - our fifth year!  Don't worry, we plan on finding a different day to celebrate so I'm not blowing her off to play games (otherwise I'd have to live at the church).  However, since that is the day, our theme for this upcoming Friday will be my wife's favorite games (they're mostly good).

So, without further adieu, here are Beth's Top 10 Favorite Games:

10.  Dutch Blitz

I'm not going to lie to you, I do not like this game.  It's kind of a weird, cultural thing from my wife's PA Dutch-ish heritage.  It's kind of like solitaire, but with more people, and really fast.  You are trying to clear your stack of cards out before anyone else does.  You then get points for the different cards you've played and (the people who don't finish point lose points for cards still in their stack).  After several rounds whoever has the most points wins (or you play to a set limit).  It's fast and if you're into light card games (I'm not) you'll probably enjoy it.


9.  Defenders of the Realm

This is the only cooperative game on Beth's list of her favorite games, probably due to her tendency to be ridiculously competitive.  This game gets some flak for being 'too similar' to Pandemic, but I don't think that's fair.  This game has players taking control of typical fantasy-esque classes (mage, paladin, knight) to defend the realm (go figure) from baddies.  Orcs, demons, zombies, and dragons are all besieging Monarch City (at the same time, no less!) and their leaders must be killed.  This game can be challenging, especially when using the Dragons expansion, and it is quite fun.  It also plays up to 6 which is pretty high for a cooperative game.

8.  War of the Ring

This game is so high because my wife and I are big Tolkien fans.  It'd probably be higher if we actually played it more often.  Nonetheless, it is a great game and one we both love.  This game technically plays 2-4, though it's really a two-player game that they allow you to break into teams.  One side plays the Shadow, the other the Free Peoples.  The Shadow wins by either conquering the world or corrupting the Ring-bearer, the Free Peoples win by either defeating the Shadow in military victory or destroying the Ring (more likely).  It's a beautiful game that genuinely captures the spirit of Tolkien - an impressive feat!

7.  The Resistance: Avalon

The Resistance: Avalon is a fast social-deduction game in which players are attempting to complete missions for King Arthur.  Unfortunately, some of the players are secretly evil and are working to thwart the missions.  This game is pretty quick and does not involve player-elimination (unlike its counterpart, Ultimate Werewolf).    There are also some interesting roles that come with the game, including that of Merlin - who knows everyone's allegiance but has to remain hidden himself from the evil players.

6.  Carcassonne

This is a light tile-placing game.  It has been a fixture in the gaming community for over a decade.  There are dozens of expansions and variants and rightfully so - it is very fun.  Each turn you lay a piece down, try to complete 'features' on a map, and score points.  It sounds kind of boring but it's really very fun.

5.  Splendor

Splendor is one of the most popular games of 2014!  Many people thought it should have won the Spiel des Jahres in 2014, however Camel Up took the prize instead.  This is an incredibly basic card game in which players are buying cards with cool jewels.  The cards make buying further cards easier, wit the goal of buying more expensive cards asnd collecting sets.  Easy, fun, and fast.

4.  Trajan

After a series of shorter, more simple game, we get Trajan - a heavy Euro!  Trajan is a game that is supposedly about the Roman empire, but honestly the theme is pretty pasted-on.  By Stefan Feld, this game involves a very interesting mechanic that is similar to the classic game mancala.  Players manipulate beads to determine what actions they take by moving them around a wheel.  It's very interesting and thinky!    This isn't her favorite Feld game, nor is it mine, but it is a very good one.

3.  Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary Edition

And here we have Beth's favorite gateway game!  You probably know what Ticket to Ride is.  There are trains.  There are cards.  We have the 10th Anniversary
Edition.  Good times.

2.  The Castles of Burgundy

The Castles of Burgundy is Beth's favorite Stefan Feld game (who is her favorite designer).  This game, like his others, is a bit light in the theme department, but makes up for it with extremely strong mechanics.  In this game, you are developing a 15th century estate in France.  You're building farms, buildings, developing science, and shipping goods.  It might sound a bit boring, but this is a great game.  There is dice-rolling, tension, and some very interesting scoring mechanics.


1.  Five Tribes

And finally we have Beth's favorite game - Five Tribes!  This won many 'strategy game of the year' awards this past year and rightfully so.  It was my personal favorite game of the year as well.  This is a fantastic and beautiful game by Bruno Cthala in which players manipulate meeples in (another) mancala-esque way to earn the most points.  The strategies are varied, there are unique powers that can be bought, and the components are gorgeous.  Its hard to describe this game in a way that actually communicates how much fun it is!   If you haven't tried it, you absolutely should!

Well there you have them!  Beth's top 10 favorite games!  She has pretty good tastes.  As always, you are more than welcome to bring and play your own stuff - especially since she might not even make it!  Nonetheless, if you seem some games here you've been hankering to learn or play, we'll definitely have them available for you.

Invite your friends and family and hopefully we'll see you on Friday!

-Lee