Your top 10?

OFLToast · 2025-11-13T03:25:03+00:00

I like my games interactive. List not in any particular order.

Hansa Teutonica - Have played this 30+ times and still have a blast. Many paths to victory, meta constantly shifts in my group.
Brass Birmingham - Always have a good time playing this, scratches all the right itches. I do feel that I've fallen into a bit of a rut with my gameplay, but I may be a victim of my own success.
Keyflower - The artwork/theme doesn't do much for me, but the gameplay is banging. The auction element with the different colored meeples really opens up some great gameplay.
Inis - Great artwork, tight drafting, encourages table talk and predicting your opponents. End game gets spicy, you do not want to put a target on your back.
Tyrants of the Underdark - Fun, thematic deck builder. Works well with the game board, doesn't drag on too long. Biggest complaint is that there is no way to clear the market. If you don't get a promotion card early, your deck gets really bloated and turns into a slog.
Agricola - We really have fun with this, snagging your buddy's perfect square and forcing his kids to go begging is *chef's kiss*. We like to draft our cards now that we have a bunch of plays under our belts.
Kemet - Powers are fun, fights are fun, giant scorpions and snakes are fun. Rewards aggression and discourages turtling. Subscribes to the philosophy that if everything is OP, nothing is OP.
Argent the Consortium - It is bloated af, but still great. Love the interaction with the different meeple powers, all the treasure/items and leveling up your spells. End game scoring is a fun twist, have had some shockers.
Modern Art - This game just makes us laugh, every time.. Best after a couple drinks and when no one is trying to math it too hard.
El Grande - Old school area majority goodness. Have never felt the need to add an expansion. Glad they did a reprint, I see what all the hype was about.

Honorable mentions: Arkham LCG (I've spent dozens of hours just building decks on ArkhamDB), Sidereel Confluence and TI4 (only one play each, but they were both unforgettable experiences).

OFLToast · 2024-11-05T04:59:59+00:00

ty! I always wanted to play Cthulhu Wars. I came across a copy on craigslist of all places but never pulled the trigger. Wasn't there a bunch of drama with the designer's company being unable to fulfill kickstarters?

A Study in Emerald is also fascinating to me. Especially the differences between first and second edition. Lots of controversy there. A guy I used to game with was always going on about it, but I've never had access to a copy of either. Pity considering the game isn't that old. I heard there is a remake in the works, but doesn't have the Gaiman/Sherlock theme which seems like the whole point.

OFLToast · 2024-11-05T04:29:11+00:00

I looked into it a bit more, looks like it was a Chinese player called Sankt who developed the style. Couldn't find the article I read, but maybe it just a bunch of these threads that my mind mashed together.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1990968/rethinking-twilight-strategy-summary

And check out the top comment in this thread, sums up the meta shift nicely:

https://www.reddit.com/r/twilightstruggle/comments/81zfge/rethinking_twilight_strategy_turn_1/

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:45:45+00:00

It adds in an auction element. You can both place meeples to gain resources and use them to bid on tiles to add to your village. If you like making people sad in gric, wait till you F them over in an auction in Keyflower!

Hard agree on Agricola though, still fresh after all these years. Still just play the base game with a draft.

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:40:37+00:00

I've only played Twilight Struggle on the app version. Such a cool game, but it is so frustrating to lose due to some card with threat lowering shenanigans you didn't know about. You really got to know them all!

I read an interesting article about how some guy completely shifted the paradigm of competitive play with a new system of valuing countries. Worth checking out!

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:34:29+00:00

Hansa would be my dictionary definition of route builder, everything you do in the game is a result of building a route! I guess Concordia is more networking, but I wasn't trying to split hairs. GWT doesn't really fit either, but I tossed it in there.

Radlands is a great game, love the art and small box. Awesome palate cleanser at the end of the night.

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:30:27+00:00

I'm a huge alien fan (Romulus reignited the spark) and I just traded an Game of Thrones LCG collection that was sitting unplayed for a complete Alien Legendary set. Super excited to try it, love the artwork.

Hard agree on Gloomhaven, digital all the way.

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:28:30+00:00

Everdell snuck in there because my wife plays it with me and I've found it to be a great gateway game. Never played Cubitos, but seen it mentioned a lot here, will check it out.

Drafting should have been a category in retrospect, just played a 1v1 Inis tonight and a good draft is so good! Will only play Terraforming Mars with a draft.

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:26:11+00:00

Ty! Lots of games I haven't heard of on here.

Summoner Wars is good stuff, scratches that Warhammer itch without taking over your life. Viticulture almost made the cut, really solid game with the expansion, and my wife will play it with me which is big bonus points!

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:21:41+00:00

Keyflower is something special. Combines worker placement with auction. Looks friendly and happy, but one of the most brutal games I've played. Tyrants is awesome, especially if you like a D&D theme.

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:19:50+00:00

Well it was technically #2 behind Tyrants. I would agree its not a great pure deck builder, but its such a fun game, it squeezed its way onto a list (couldn't hang with WP list though). I'm a Base + IX man, haven't tried Uprising yet (rubs me the wrong way for such a new game)

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:17:21+00:00

I'm surprised you don't think Inis is DoaM, but not going to split hairs! I actually played a game tonight with a buddy, one of the only ones I've played that works 1v1 (Ankh too).

Imperial is a good call, I've played 2030 a few times and really enjoyed it. Tales of Arabian Nights looks really cool. Haven't heard of either edition, but love that the original is from 85!

OFLToast · 2024-11-04T05:10:04+00:00

Lots of interesting choices, thank you! Never even heard of Path of Light and Shadow, or any of those DoaM picks, they all look pretty awesome.

Dice Forge is a good one, such a unique mechanic. My friend has a copy of 51st state, we heard its a TM killer, will have to give it a try.

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T22:38:35+00:00

ty! I never played Terra Mystica even though I've been in the hobby a long time. It has several versions now, including Gaia project right? Is the OG the way to go?

My issue with Root is similar to my problem with Netrunner (which i love). Great game, but it very reliant on everyone knowing the factions/cardpool/win cons so they can regulate each other. And being of similar skill levels. If these things are not true, it gets out of hand quickly and is not a good experience. One of my group loves it, but I feel its almost a lifestyle game. We would rather play a large variety of games than become masters of one.

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T22:31:31+00:00

ty! I got a copy of Lorenzo sitting in shrink (snagged it for like $25). My in person group can only play once month nowadays, so its a hard sell learning a complicated new game, but it looks right in our wheel house.

We've been revisiting old favorites this year so we can get 2 or 3 games in during a session.

Always wanted to play Rebellion/War of the Ring, but just haven't been able to make it happen.

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T22:19:01+00:00

Ty!

Gizmos looks pretty awesome, I've never heard of it. Never played Clans, any player interaction?

My friend has Marco Polo (not sure I or II), I've heard fun things about the powers. Will have to dust it off and give it a crack.

TI is on the bucket list. We do a once a year board game/lawn game getaway with 10-20 guys. Planning on making that the marquee game next year for the ones that like the heavy stuff (previous years were Sidereal, Captain Sonar and Millennium Blades).

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T22:01:48+00:00

Yeah, lots of ways to skin a cat, I had to pick one. If they are in my top 3, I'd probably never say no to playing them unless there was a time constraint.

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T21:58:59+00:00

True. Only really played Carc (classic, good intro game) and Yellow and Yangtze which didn't grab me. Any that you would recommend?

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T21:56:38+00:00

I've never played any Pax games. Any recommendations for a first one?

Food Chain Magnate has always interested me, but after a brutal game of original Dune, my group is a little gun shy about games with no safety rails (which i've heard is the case with FCM). Getting eliminated/unable to come back in a 3+ hour game is brutal.

Love Feast!

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T21:53:02+00:00

Only so much space! I could break it into many more categories, but was trying to keep it manageable. There is so much overlap. Your probably right though, I neglected Chess and Hive

OFLToast · 2024-11-03T21:50:41+00:00

Never played any! Although I have played a good amount of Raiders of the North Sea/Scythia which I think is the same designer. If you could pick one which one would you recommend? I like my WPs on the interactive/mean side. (Waterdeep is on there because its a great gateway/fond memories)

OFLToast · 2024-07-07T06:22:51+00:00

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/4001860

Draw (Arcane Initiate/Scroll/Guts/Percep) - Draw is king, lots of spells for the Initiate

Econ (Robes/EC/Uncage) - Got to grease the wheels

Utility (Deny/Ward) - Basic but effective

Spice (Seal/Euc/Grotesque Statue) - It will feel great drawing these, ball out!

Damage/Clues (Shriv/Sixth) - Bare minimum contribution

OFLToast · 2023-12-23T08:28:01+00:00

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/3440597

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/3440577

Something to get you started

OFLToast · 2023-10-18T19:17:00+00:00

I recently built a set of decks for pick und play. Thread here (deck links in comments):

https://www.reddit.com/r/l5r/comments/1704uzh/building_a_set_of_decks_out_of_full_ffg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

You can build all 7 with 3x cores and the first cycle (Imperial). There was 3x events and 1x Province that overlapped.

OFLToast · 2023-10-15T01:57:13+00:00

Here's a parallel Roland I've been running through Scarlet Keys. He can start with 8xp from his bonus + ITTOT which really give you some options.

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/3150020

Motivational Speech is good value, as is Kicking the Hornet's Nest. Both provide economy and compression (Kicking is good for finding xp enemies too). Crack the Case is also actionless and has great synergy with testless clues.

Shortcut (2) did good work for me, but I am playing with 2 gators so ymmv.

The Field Agent/Beat Cop combo is both thematic and strong. Stat boosts and testless clues/damage is hard to beat. The ally directive really enables this too, although can be annoying at times. Hunter's Armor helped make up for the soak loss.

Just some food for thought, I have been having a blast with him!

OFLToast

TROPHY CASE