Top 100 Games: 90-81
Here’s the next 10 of my Top 100. This list is numbers 90-81. If you missed the last 10 you can see them here, Top 100: 100-91.
90. Fliptown
2025 Rank: 134
Designer: Steven Aramini
Publisher: Write Stuff Games
Player Count: 1-4
Flip Town is a “flip and write” game set in the Old West. It uses a deck of playing cards and includes a Poker mechanic as well as many actions you can take on your board. This is one of the harder roll/flip and writes to teach because there are a number of different options you can take on your turn. The player board can look a bit intimidating because of all the icons as well. The actual gameplay is very simple. Three cards get flipped over, you choose one to be your Suit for the turn, one to be your number, and the third to be one card in your Poker hand for the round. Each round is 5 turns, so you will repeat this process 5 times and end up with a 5-card Poker hand that will gain you points along with everything else you did along the way with the Suit and Number you chose. I think this game could be up much higher because it’s probably one of the favorites in this style of game, but I usually will grab a simple game like it instead. Perhaps I just need to play it more to get better at teaching it so I can introduce it to more people.
89. Wonderland’s War
2025 Rank: 123
Designer: Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, Ian Moss
Publisher: Druid City games
Player Count: 2-5
This game is so good. It should be way higher up on my list. It has so many great elements that I love in games. Bag building, area control, battling, upgrade tracks, great art, amazing theme, excellent production, and the list goes on. So, why is a top 10 game my number 89? This game must be played at 3 or more, and to go along with that, it is extremely long. Long games are fine, but this is long in all the wrong ways. Turns can sometimes take too long, and during the battle phase, if you aren’t involved, you just kind of sit there and wait it out. Of course, you are bidding on who you think you can win, but watching 2-4 other players pull chips from their bag isn’t as fun as doing it yourself. And there are 5 different battles to go through each round. The fact that this is even on the list is a testament to how much I want to like this game. If you are okay with a few-hour game and don’t mind the downtime, the game is amazing, so please give it a try for yourself. Or just wait until the two-player version comes out later this year.
88. Hive
2025 Rank: 54
Designer: John Yianni
Publisher: Gen42 Games
Player Count: 2
When I was traveling a lot for work, there was one game that I brought with me everywhere I went. It was Hive, specifically the pocket version just because it was easier to carry around. I don’t generally like super abstract strategy games. I am not a fan of chess or checkers, but this takes that feeling and adds some spice to it. I always describe it as chess without a board. Each piece moves in a specific way, and there are only a few rules. Win by completely surrounding your opponent’s bee while following the movement rules of the pieces and making sure not to break the “hive”. On your turn, you either move a piece already on the board or introduce a new piece to the table from your supply; that’s it. The strategy and depth of this game are crazy. Matches usually only last 10-15 minutes, and then you clear the table and play again. I have taught co-workers this game while traveling and held tournaments in the makeshift offices of hotels in Las Vegas. I have played it at airports and restaurants and so many more places. If you have any interest in abstract games or love chess or checkers, check out Hive. It’s a modern classic.
87. Welcome To…
2025 Rank: 103
Designer: John Yianni
Publisher: Blue Cocker Games
Player Count: 1-100
My highest rank in the roll/flip and write category. I really enjoy that it can be taught pretty quickly and can be played with an unlimited number of players. As long as you have enough player sheets and pencils. Each game, you will be building a 3-street neighborhood by assigning numbers to the houses, building fences to create estates, and adding parks and pools to score more points. There are public objectives that give more points to the first players to achieve them and punish players who don’t plan ahead to be able to fill out their streets before the game ends. Even though the decisions on your turn only involve 3 cards, the difference in player neighborhoods at the end of the game is vast. There are expansions for different holidays that add small scoring rule changes and others that just add a new thematic flair. It also has a pretty good online implementation on Board Game Arena that makes playing asynchronously or solo very easy.
86. Don’t Mess with Cthulhu
2025 Rank: New to list
Designer: Yusuke Sato
Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards
Player Count: 4-6
Don’t Mess With Cthulhu is a quick party-style deduction game. Where I think this stands out is that it doesn’t put as much pressure on those who are on the “evil” side. It is also very simple to play. The good side is just trying to locate the cards with the Elder Signs, and the bad side is trying to keep them hidden or reveal Cthulhu. Each turn, a player must choose another player and one of the cards in front of them; that card is revealed. Then the player whose card was revealed will choose another player and do the same. This will keep going until a number of cards have been revealed, depending on the round and the number of players in the game. Of course, the evil team will be trying to lie about the cards they have in front of them in order to keep those Elder Signs hidden. It’s a game that I should bring out more at our events.
85. Shadows over Camelot
2025 Rank: 59
Designer: Bruno Cathala, Serge Laget
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Player Count: 3-7
Shadows Over Camelot is one of the first hidden traitor games we played. The game makes each player make decisions that could be considered detrimental to the team, thus making them seem like the traitor. To add even more tension, during the game setup, it is very possible that there is not a traitor in the game at all. This makes every player judge every move or suggestion as if it could be the traitor trying to sabotage the game. The game itself is pretty simple. Just like other co-operative games, the players do some good stuff while the game hits back with the bad stuff. The good stuff in this game is mostly card-related and revolves around normal playing card game mechanics. Each section of the board has a little mini-game that the players must complete in order to win the game. If they fail, the game ends, and the traitor wins. This game has so much to offer and led the way for most of the hidden traitor games that came after it.
94. Ticket to Ride
2025 Rank: 143
Designer: Alan R. Moon
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Player Count: 2-5
Ticket to Ride is a modern classic at this point. There isn’t anything bad you can say about it. It is simple to teach, looks great on the table, and has plenty of variety in versions and expansions to keep the game fresh. Simply collect cards, play trains, and complete routes to earn the most victory points. The legacy version of this game is extremely good. While it doesn’t have the best story, it constantly evolves, and you get to open so many different surprises throughout the game. This is one game everyone should own at least one version of.
83. Champions of Midgard
2025 Rank: New to List
Designer: Ole Steiness
Publisher: Grey Fox Games
Player Count: 2-4
We don’t play many expansions for games; however, Champions of Midgard is one game I will not play unless at least one expansion is included. The expansions turn a good game into a great game in this case. Champions of Midgard is a worker placement game with a Viking theme. You are collecting resources to fight monsters, go on journeys with your long ship, and die for glory to earn points. The game uses dice as your warriors. Each one has different custom colors and values and will provide special abilities based on how they are rolled. This game is getting a big deluxe reprint this year and will probably hit the table more often.
82. Botswana
2025 Rank: New to List
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Publisher: 25th Century Games
Player Count: 2-5
Botswana is a game from 1994 that got reprinted this year, and it instantly became a hot-selling game. It’s often considered a good step up from Uno, which makes it super easy to get non-gamers to try it out. The rules are simple: play a card and pick up an animal. No restrictions: play any card and pick up any animal. The cards you play will determine how many points each of the animals will score from 0-5, but only the most recently played card will be the score for that animal at the end of the game. The goal is to collect the most points by collecting animals that score the highest. This new addition looks great and brings an out-of-print classic back to life. This one will be on the game night shelf for a while.
81. Kinfire Delve: Callous’ Lab
2025 Rank: 91
Designer: Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Incredible Dream Studios
Player Count: 1-2
Kinfire Delve is a solo or cooperative card game where players will work together to get through the deck of cards and eventually defeat the boss. The biggest draw for me is that this game can be set up and played in less than a minute. Choose your characters, choose a boss, shuffle the deck, and you are ready to go. The players all share the same life pool and can help each other by playing boost cards on other players’ turns. Players will use their characters’ abilities to defeat cards from the deck until the deck runs out and then attempt to defeat the boss, which will have its own set of parameters in order to win. This game comes from the universe created by the Kinfire Chronicles game and uses the same characters and artwork. The production is also a huge plus for this one. If you are interested in solo gaming, definitely check this one out.
