Author Topic: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!  (Read 3804 times)

Offline franks

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‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« on: December 15, 2017, 09:26:40 PM »
Top 10 lists are a-plenty at this time of year so here’s a chance to share your all time - top ... or most played ... or ‘new to you’ games for 2017, (or beyond). 

This is an open list so don’t feel you need to have played the newest hotness, (and there plenty of those on 2017). Don’t have 10? The count can be as many or few as you wish. You can even go past games if you prefer, maybe contribute your best gaming experiences of the year. Either way, feel free to join in.

I’ll start things off with our favourite played games of 2017.
My list isn’t really in a particular order but the remarks kind of speak for themselves. I submitted a few reviews here on CC so that might spoil the list a bit  ;)

Grand Austria Hotel – 31 plays (in 2017). 38 plays total.
Most played game in 2017, for good reason, my wife and I love this game. Though it partially a dice based game, a big draw is the satisfaction of chaining card combinations that gives a good feeling of progression and fulfillment in the game. 

Vikings – 30 plays. (New to us in 2017)
This saw much more play earlier in the year. It was our go-to for many, many weeks. For variety we’ve played a little less often lately. A nearly perfect game for my wife and I. It plays great with two and relatively quickly. The Roundel is a nice novelty and implemented well into the game. There is great variety that lends to binge plays. Add a little bit of tile laying to make any Carc addict happy.

Quest for El Dorado – 4 plays (New to us in 2017)
This is new to the rotation but just love it so far. I have a review coming on this just need to polish it off. I’m not the biggest fan of just card based games and don’t haven’t a lot of experience with deck builders. This one seems to be a near perfect fit of deck building and board game. It’s been a hoot to race along the variable board, balancing turns between moving and slowing to build your deck.

The Voyages of Marco Polo - 7 plays (New to us in 2017)
Look for my recent review around these parts. This is a challenging game in the vein of Agricola, not in any of the mechanisms between the two but the stress to get all that you want to get done. May not be for everyone but a highly rated, brilliant game design nonetheless. The more I play the more I like it.

Flamme Rouge – 5 plays (New to us in 2017)
A deck management race game. Though not a deck builder this scratches a similar itch to Quest for El Dorado. It’s a great, light, quick fun game. Most requested game with the lads at work lunch group, (unfortunate not so much with the girls at home).

Century: Spice Road - 19 plays (in the last 4 months) (New to us in 2017)
Another hit at home and work. It fits in the similar game space as Splendor and as I’ve said before, in no way is this a Splendor killer for us. It’s just nice to have this in the rotation for variety. I think part of the allure for me is the balance of building nice card combos with the right amount of hand management to keep things interesting.

Alhambra – 5 plays. (New to us in 2017)
Another title that has gone over well at home and at work, easy to get to the table and a very good game for 3-4 players. It is a nice blend of simple set collection and the spatial aspect of tile laying.

Fresco – 4 plays (New to us in 2017)
These plays have been very enjoyable. There is just enough going on in the game, with interesting mechanics to keep it interesting until the end. A great mid weight Euro, worthy of its accolades!

Cinque Terre – 6 plays in 2017 (17 total plays)
Another perennial favourite, especially for my wife, this and Grand Austria are her absolute favourites.

Agricola (full revised edition) – 4 plays (New to us in 2017)
Agricola Family edition – 2 plays in 2017 (10 total plays)
Agricola All creatures great and small - 2 plays in 2017 (13 total plays)
I’m lumping these all together. My wife and I finally graduated to grown up Agricola in 2017. We started with ‘All Creatures’ and it’s still my wife’s preferred way to play. She doesn’t mind the family edition but hasn’t been overly fond of the big game. I consciously introduced the game over time in this manner in hopes she would warm up to the full version but sadly that hasn’t totally happened. I have a work pal that wants to get plays in but it’s been a challenge to get together outside of work. Here’s hoping to more plays in 2018.

Honourable mentions:
Lords of Waterdeep – (12 plays in 2017) we’ve dusted this off lately only to remember why we’ve played this game so many times in the past. Still a great, great game.
Carcassonne – A shocking (only) 7 table plays in 2017. These have all been mega games that play for almost 3 hours! Regardless, we still love this game and I expect it to always remain in my all-time top tier. (I get much more play on IOS. it is my most played game in that format.)

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3704.0
Franks

Wanna play Carc? Can we add just one more expansion?

Offline Decar

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2017, 04:40:42 AM »
Great write up Franks, so a merit from me!   We didn't get too many games to the table this year, but holidays are coming (holidays are coming....holidays are coming)  :(y)

Offline dirk2112

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2017, 06:01:43 AM »
For us:


1. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 - Finally finished!
2. Love Letter -  Replaces Splendor as my son's favorite game.  I have no idea why he enjoys it so much.
3. KingDomino - My wife's go to game.
4. Carcassonne South Seas - we played this more than any other Carcassonne flavor this year
5. Mysterium - great with a few people over drinks
6. Pandemic Legacy Season 2 - So far we won January and March.  We lost both games in February  :'(
7. Castle Panic - new to us, gets played more than I thought it would.
8. Potion Explosion - whenever one of my son's friends comes over and wants to try a game, we get this out.
9. Whitehall Mystery - I think we have played it 3 times since acquiring it
10. Isle Of Skye

Honorable Mentions:
We still play Saloon Tycoon, Takenoko, King of NY, and NY 1901 sporadically.  We really need to get out Imhotep and Santorini more. 

Offline jungleboy

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2017, 09:51:44 AM »
Cool thread, merit for starting it franks!

This was a weird board game year for me, because I moved countries and then spent 5-6 months travelling, so I lost my usual playing partners and wasn't at home that much anyway. When I'm in Lisbon I go to the weekly board game meetup on Wednesday nights, and that's where I play most of my games. Hopefully I'll be able to have some more sessions with Chooselife in the future, and I'll also do a better job of trying to convince another friend here that he needs to get into it.

All that said, I played about half of Pandemic Legacy Season 1, which we had to put on hold because one of the players had to go home to Argentina and has been there for the past six months or so. I finally got into the 7 Wonders universe and played 7 Wonders and 7 Wonders: Duel a few times each. Kingdomino, Herbaceous, Sagrada, Medici: the Card Game and Santorini also saw a few plays each. I must admit that apart from a teaching game at the meetup once, I didn't play a physical game of Carcassonne all year. Solo-wise, I got the app for Onirim and went nuts on that for about a week mid-year, and I continued to play Limes at a pretty solid rate, though it's been a while since my last play now.

Offline franks

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2017, 11:32:38 AM »
Thank you Gents!!!

Nice contribution dirk! Great choices!
I’ve played and enjoyed half of your list. I own but haven’t played, Pandemic Legacy 1&2 (jealous!), Love Letter and Potion Explosion. Whitehall Mystery is the only one I don’t own but would like to play!

jungleboy! You did well despite a busy life, well done!
The only title I don’t own on your list is Onirim. I’ve played and enjoyed, Kingdomino, Herbaceous, Santorini and Limes.
Sagrada, Medici: the Card Game and both 7 Wonders sit on the wall of shame  :(

Offline dirk2112

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2017, 12:11:55 PM »
I forgot about 7 Wonders Duel.  A few weeks ago, I had store credit at the FLGS and picked it up on a lark.  My wife likes it a lot, but my son thinks it is incredibly boring.  I enjoy playing it, but not as much as she does.  Santa maybe bringing the expansion for her  ;)

Alhambra and Marco Polo are on my list of games I want to try.  I found someone close by on BGG with a copy of Limes for trade.  I hopefully can make a deal.


Franks,
Love Letter takes 15 minutes to play.  Make the time my friend!
« Last Edit: December 16, 2017, 12:14:32 PM by dirk2112 »

Offline Hounk

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2017, 03:34:11 PM »
Not sure, how this list is meant, but here are the games new to me in 2017, which impressed me the most:

10) Mysterium
Kind of a coop version of Dixit. Only played it twice to date, and am not sure, if it won't be too easy on the long run. (We won both games, though the other two had been more experienced. But I'm still OK, putting it on the tenth spot at least, as it was very enjoyable.

9) Pandemic
Yes, I played it this year for the first time, and it is considered a "gateway classic" well deserved, in my opinion more deserved then TtR.

8) London (Second Edition)
Surprisingly light and easy to learn for a Martin Wallace game. It has his trade marks, loans and wonky exceptions to the rule. Though the later only feature four so called "Action Cards", which have to be treated slightly different then all the other cards in a deck of 101. Still the game can be taught in about 10 to 15 minutes, and it is a very fun tableau and engine builder in the vein of games like St. Petersburg.

7) Unlock (Series)
6) Exit (Series)

I put the Exit games above the Unlock, but only slightly. I think the puzzles are more creative, and while Unlock has a more "thematic" feel, it also bothers a bit more, if a puzzle is designed oddly unthematic, like the "broken record" one from the last game. (I solved this one in our group, but it took me some time to overcome the doubt, expressing my idea, because it just felt so awkward.) Kudos for the design however, which initially splits up the group in that one. This was very well done.

5) Antiquity
One of my "heaviest" game, quite a time investment, at least in the first games. Not because the rules are so complicated, that you have to refere to them all the times. (They are not!) But you have to achieve a special win condition, rather then play a certain amount of turns or until a VP threshold. And this will require more turns the inexperienced player then one with a few games into. But it is a delicious civilisation building game, with several interesting twists. Though it is rightfully called "multiplayer solitaire", I found it astonishingly entertaining. Got it only this autumn, and already played it several times. Might have been even higher on my list, if it would have been reprinted earlier, but I doubt, as high as my Nr. 1, which is from the same designers.

4) KLASK
Very fun and fast 2 player dexterity game.

3) Codenames
Another game, I'm late to the party. Awesome, "Spiel des Jahres 2016".

2) Great Western Trail
Another heavy game, and this one has arguably a steep learning curve, with a rule book, you have to invest some time into. Once you are used to the iconography though, then game is quite easy to understand and offers plenty of fun. It combines deck building with "action rondel building" and plenty of other stuff to the side.

1) The Great Zimbabwe
I already introduced the forum to this game in another thread, and am still amazed by this beautiful design. Such a simple structure of rules, which offer so many options to the player. I doubt, I will ever get tiered of it.

Offline jungleboy

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2017, 03:51:14 PM »
1) The Great Zimbabwe
I already introduced the forum to this game in another thread, and am still amazed by this beautiful design. Such a simple structure of rules, which offer so many options to the player. I doubt, I will ever get tiered of it.

I visited Great Zimbabwe a couple of months ago (photo attached), so I'm down with the theme and I'm off to watch the Rahdo Runthrough of the game. Thanks for the reminder!  :(y)

Offline franks

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2017, 06:10:22 PM »
Hounk, your list is spot on with intriguing choices, it’s nice to see a balance of light and heavier titles.

I look forward to getting my copy of Great Western Trail on the table, sounds great!

I’ve only played two games on your list, the first is Pandemic. I’ve also played Mysterium a total of 2 times, while I ‘ve played Dixit much more. Our first game of Mysterium was with 5 and it felt impossible to see and participate with what everyone was working on and we tending to focus on our own goals much like a competitive game. Though Dixit is a competitive game and the other a coop, from my limited experience there wasn’t as much interaction between players. I was the ghost in the second game and I felt pressure to help the other players and not to let them down with lame clues. It was still fun being behind the screen. Regardless, it was all good fun and will get played more.

Offline MrNumbers

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2017, 04:40:41 AM »
Great topic!
These are my new games in 2017.

Pandemic
Yes, first time player. I like it, but my son likes it even more! He likes all cooperative games, because he doesn't like to lose.

Ticket to Ride: Old West
I thought that France will be better, but after playing on both boards I understood that Old West is much more enjoyable. All TtR fans needs to try it :)

Iquazú
New game from Haba, nice family game with much strategic element involved. I didn't win a single game yet, but still enjoy it :D

Sign
I am not much into party games, but this game hit our table for last two months. You play in teams and try to collect a set of cards. But you can't tell that you have collected a set, instead you show a secret, earlier discussed sign to your partner and he must say that you have a set. Sign must be visible to all players, must not be audio signal, must not be body-contact signal and must not be digital (SMS, e-mail etc.). If opponents recognize your sign, they can also claim your set and receive a point instead of you. We have so much fun with this game! ;D
"I never lose. Either I win or I learn." (Nelson Mandela)

Offline Hounk

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2017, 05:16:25 AM »
@ Jungleboy: I envy you for your trip to the real monument, nice picture!

@ franks: GWT is really a great game, though a bit hard to learn. Don't be discouraged by this and be prepared with the rules, before you introduce them to the other player(s). I'd also suggest playing first only a two player game, as it will be slower and longer as once you're familiar with it, anyway. Mysterium I've only played with a couple, him being the ghost. So only 3 players, and at that count it seemed rather easy to us. We also took our time in the final round to discuss the clues, until we were both confident, that they should be right. Because the hourglass restriction is only in the first part of the game, there seemed to be no pressure in the second part to not do so.

Offline franks

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Re: ‘Best’ games of 2017 – join in!
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2017, 06:59:57 AM »
Mr. Numbers,

Thanks for joining in. Good to see Pandemic still getting love and attention!

I really look forward to this newest TTR set, (not available here yet)!

I'll also keep my eye out for your other two titles!


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