Top 100 Games: 20-11
Here’s the next 10 of my Top 100. This list is numbers 20-11. If you missed the last 10 you can see them here, Top 100: 30-21.
20: Etherstone
2025 Rank: New to the list
Designer: Virginio Gigli, Simone Luciani
Publisher: ThunderGryph Games
Player Count: 2-4 (Best with 2)
I knew this game would be high on my list as it basically replaced a game that had been up there for the past few years. Res Arcana, which was at one point in my top 10, is no longer in the top 100 and it's because of Etherstone. This is a minimalistic engine building game. You only get 7 cards and a leader for the entire game. You have to find some way to use those cards to score points or defeat threats in order to win. The cards you play give you additional abilities or ways to defeat the threats on the board. They make some actions stronger and allow you to more easily score points, but you really do have to find synergy between the cards in your hand in order to come out on top. It also helps that this has some of my favorite art in any game. I hope this game gets a wider release because it is definitely worth it.
19: Menara
2025 Rank: 25
Designer: Oliver Richtberg
Publisher: Zoch Verlag
Player Count: 1-4
Menara is a cooperative tower building game. You work together as a team to build a tower consisting of oddly shaped floors and wooden pillars. The pillars are specific colors and must be placed in designated areas on the floor tiles. The odd shaped floors make it precarious to stack them on top of the pillars and to keep a steady foundation. At the start of the game you have a goal height you must reach in order to have a chance to win. This goal could become higher if you are unable to complete the tasks during the game. Once you reach the appropriate height you must then exhaust the challenge cards, floor stack, or pillar bag. If you can manage to stay high enough and accomplish one of those other requirements you will win. If at any point the tower falls you have lost and must start over again. One of my favorite cooperative and dexterity games.
18: The Bloody Inn
2025 Rank: 35
Designer: Nicolas Robert
Publisher: Pearl Games
Player Count: 1-4
One of the most unique themes in any game I have played. In the Bloody Inn you are playing as one of the innkeepers from a murderous family. Each round, cards will be placed to fill the inn with guests. These guests will have a cost associated with them as well as a special action they excel at and some special abilities. You will need to pay for these guests with cards from your hand. You can purchase them using several different actions. You can bribe them to put them in your hand. You can use them to build an annex once they are in your hand. You can kill them. You can bury them once you have killed them and you can launder money. You need to kill the guests eventually so you can steal their money. That is how you win the game. However, there will be police that stay at the inn that don't like finding dead bodies laying around. If you are ever unable to bury a guest when police are in a room they will confiscate the money and charge you a fine. Laundered money can never be taken away so it's always good to keep some cash stashed for the end of the game.
17: Cosmic Encounter
2025 Rank: 45
Designer: Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka, Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Player Count: 3-5 (Up to 8 with expansions)
For a game that came out in 1977, Cosmic Encounter holds its own against the modern board games of today. It works great in larger groups, though I think it's best at around 6 players. Each player plays as an alien race trying to spread to foreign worlds. The alien races all have special abilities that break the rules of the game. There is always a point in games of Cosmic Encounter when someone says "Wait you can do that?!" That's what makes this game fun. Everyone knows that the other players are holding some special power that no one knows about until it is revealed. So what seems like a simple negotiation game becomes much more than that. I usually don't like games when multiple people can win, but in this I don't mind it. It provides a tension towards the end of the game when you and an ally are just one planet away from winning. Do you stab them in the back and try to win on your own risking losing, or do you keep your alliance and share the victory? This one is probably going to drop down the list unless I get it played again soon.
16: Jungo
2025 Rank: New to the list
Designer: Toshiki Arao
Publisher: Happy Camper
Player Count: 2-5
Jungo surprised the hell out of me. I had seen it posted online and videos mentioning it, but didn't have any desire to try it. It seemed like another version of Scout which I don't particularly care for. Then I saw it on sale and decided to pick it up. I taught it at one of our game nights and I was hooked. It's so simple and easy to teach. It plays quickly and you can have a conversation while playing a few rounds. It reminds me of classic card games I used to play with my family when I was younger. Sit around and talk while playing a simple game. No need to keep score, just play. It feels great when you are able to empty your hand, but if you lose you just say "Oh well, next time" and shuffle up again. I don't know how long this one will stay in the top 20, but for now I am still enjoying it.
15: Hot Streak
2025 Rank: New to the list
Designer: Jon Perry
Publisher: CMYK
Player Count: 2-8
Another game that came out of nowhere this past year. I knew as soon as I saw a review that I was going to like it and so were so many other people. Hot Streak is a betting game about mascots racing. It's dumb, but it is such a good time. I will admit this is very group dependent. If you don't have a fun group of people who are ready to start screaming as plastic mascots move on the board, this is not going to be a good time. There's barely a game, but you know what, I am still going to yell as the hotdog crawls across the finish line.
14: Concordia
2025 Rank: 6
Designer: Mac Gerdts
Publisher: PD-Verlag
Player Count: 2-5
Concordia was as high up as number 1 on my list at one point. This is the first year it is not in the top 10. I still think it is a fantastic game, but I think I am gravitating towards shorter games recently. Although there is a new fancy version coming out this year so maybe that will bump it back up again. Concordia does a lot of things I like and has inspired many of the games I have already talked about. It has the card-play of Century and Aquatica and the map movement and building like Orleans. One of my favorite things about Concordia is you have zero clue who is winning until you add up the final scores at the end. I love that tension. There's nothing worse than playing a 2 hour game knowing you are down 50 points. In Concordia, that might be the case, but you have no idea and for some reason that makes the game more fun. There are a bunch of different maps that make the game play better at different player counts, but the base setup is a pretty good starting point.
13: Mystic Vale
2025 Rank: 42
Designer: John D. Clair
Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group
Player Count: 2-4
Mystic Vale is push-your-luck magic. John D. Clair built upon his "Card Crafting System" with this game about Druids healing the land. The card crafting is neat and it's not just a gimmick. It works so well in this type of game. Card crafting means instead of purchasing entirely new cards from a display, you purchase part of a card. Then you combine that newly purchased part with a card in your deck improving it. You never gain more cards in this game. You just improve the cards you already have. The push-your-luck part is the main part of the game. Each round you will prep your field to have 2 decay symbols in your field and one on the top of your deck. Then when it becomes your turn you may choose to push or pass. If you push, you place the top card of your deck into your field and reveal the new card below it. You may continue to push until you pass or you spoil. You spoil when you have revealed 4 decay symbols in your field and on top of your deck. If this happens your turn is over. If you decide to pass before spoiling you will then count up the number of spirit symbols on the cards in your field and use them to purchase upgrades to your cards. You will also take victory point chips for each symbol on the cards in your field. After your turn is over you will prepare your field for the next turn. This continues until the victory point chips are gone and the game is over.
12: Foundations of Rome
2025 Rank: 5
Designer: Emerson Matsuuchi
Publisher: Arcane Wonders
Player Count: 1-5
I don't know if there is a game in our collection that has a better table presence than Foundations of Rome. It will catch people's attention from across the room. The miniature buildings are completely unnecessary, but they add to the charm of building a city. The game behind the massive box is simple. You choose one of 3 actions on your turn. Buy a lot, build a building, or take income. Most of the time you will be buying lots. You need lots to build the buildings. If you have the correct number of lots next to each other in the correct shape you can build a building on them. The buildings raise your population and commerce which allows you to score points and make more money to buy more lots. There is some tension with the lot buying. Everyone can see who has purchased which lots on the board and which lots they may want to purchase in the future so competition over these spaces can get fierce. Even if you lose, at the end of the game there is a pretty cool looking city built on the table.
11: Cthulhu: Death May Die
2025 Rank: 19
Designer: Rob Daviau, Eric M. Lang
Publisher: CMON Global Limited
Player Count: 1-5
I'll just start out by saying this game will be in my top 5 next time I do this list. It is easily my favorite cooperative game. Easily my favorite dungeon crawler style game. I love the direction that CMON took when they made this. It has a plug and play feel to it. Choose a scenario, choose an Elder One, choose some characters and be on your way. Next time choose the same ones or something completely different. The core game plays exactly the same either way. You play as investigators trying to summon an Elder One to kill it once and for all. The game basically has two halves. In the first half you must complete some objective to summon the Elder One. Then once it is summoned you must complete some other objective along with killing the Elder One to win. There is so much content available for this game and I am ready to sink my teeth into all of it. The minis and the theme might be a turn off for some people, but this game is just great.
