DICE TOWER AWARDS 2015 Part One

DICE TOWER AWARDS 2015

Part One

The Dice Tower Awards are upon us, and I have heard quite a buzz from the many pod casts I listen to as people discuss the nominations and the general excitement on waiting for the results to be announced. Now, usually I don't really care all too much who wins in these awards, but I thought it might be fun to explore this topic this year. I thought it would be fun to go through the categories and give my opinion on the nominations as well as cast my vote for who I think should win. I will be casting my vote for the chosen nominations even though in several categories I would have picked a different game, but I am going to follow the guidelines of the awards. Later in the year I plan to give my own awards just for fun and will name the best games of the year closer to the holiday season. But enough of the general chatter, let's get on with the first part of my look at the awards.

Best Board Game Components

Nominees are:

Blood Rage

Forbidden Stars

Star Wars: Armada

Flick'Em Up!

Cthulhu Wars

            This is an interesting category with some strong games. I'm going to discount Star Wars: Armada as that is a miniature game and shouldn't be in a category with board games in my opinion. I also have to consider that for a miniature game, Star Wars: Armada is really not that impressive for its components. I haven't played Flick'EmUp! so I really can't say anything about it and I feel that Blood Rage is pretty standard for Cool Mini or Not so I really don't think it deserves special attention in this category. Forbidden Stars was an amazing game and it's components are really impressive as well but I feel that one other game outshines it. Cthulhu Wars is the very definition of deluxe for a boards game with very impressive miniatures and some overall gorgeous artwork throughout the game. Hands down the winner of this category is:

Cthulhu Wars

 

Best Cooperative Game

Nominees are:

Pandemic: Legacy

Time Stories

XCOM

The Grizzled

Mysterium

            I don't really care for Pandemic: Legacy so don't expect any love for this game which rules it out of the category. To be truthful Pandemic came out years ago and adding a few ripping of cards to a game doesn’t mean it gets to come out of the closet and compete again. Time Stories and Mysterium are really not Cooperative games in my opinion. Yeah everyone is on the same time but I don't really feel that you are working together or even cooperating to solve a problem. Everyone is just experiencing the game together and there really isn't all that much you can do to interact with one another. XCOM was an terrible game that rode on the popularity of the video game and really had nothing to do with the game it was trying to emulate. It was just mechanics in a box and just down right boring. It would probably win the worse of the year for me in this category. That leave The Grizzled which is actually an pretty good game although I don't think it should win this category as it is extremely light. But it is the best of what is offered so the winner is:

The Grizzled

 

Best Family Game

Nominees are:

Codenames

Mysterium

Flick'Em Up!

Lanterns the Harvest Festival

New York 1901

            This a category I really don't care about as I feel that the majority of games are family games, and usually this category glorifies simplicity in games. For me, I don't really see a difference between a family game and a gateway game. I treat them the same. I haven't played Flick'Em Up! so I will have to ignore that one for consideration as I know nothing of it's game play. Lanterns the Harvest Festival was forgettable and not worth the price point for the game play you receive. New York 1901 is too similar to Ticket to Ride and is also not really worth consideration as it does nothing new for the board game scene. Codenames is a good game but I not nearly as fun as Mysterium. Mysterium has been a big hit for my game group and I was even able to get my father to play the game multiple times which is rare for him. The winner is:

Mysterium

 

Best Game Artwork

Nominees are:

Mysterium

 Above and Below

The Grizzled

Time Stories

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn 

            There are only two choices for me in this category but we will get there in a moment. First I will have to say that while the Grizzled has some nice artwork, it is really not on the same category as the others. This is better than Ashes, which I think has some terrible art, and the style really just puts me off from the game. Time Stories has some nice artwork on the cards, but the art is not consistent with the board or the box. For that, I would have to say it loses points to the other two in the category. Both Above and Below and Mysterium have amazing artwork that is seen throughout the whole package. For me, I tend to enjoy the gothic style more so I will have to give it to Mysterium. The winner is:

Mysterium 

 

Best Game Expansion

Nominees are:

Colt Express: Horses and Stagecoach

Roll for the Galaxy: Ambition

Russian Railroads: German Railroads

Five Tribes: The Artisans of Naqala

Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania

            I don't tend to buy expansions. I would usually spend a couple more dollars and get a full game than spend an ridiculous price for a new part to add to a game. It has to be something really special to get me to buy an expansion. None of the nominees have anything special enough to have peaked my interest. The winner is:

No One

 

Best Game From A New Designer

Nominees are:

Time Stories

New York 1901

Tides of Time

Stockpile

Between Two Cities

            To start this one off I will have to remove Tides of Time from the pool as I haven't played the game yet. New York 1901 really didn't impress me all that much and was too similar to Ticket to Ride to have earned a spot in this category. I really did like Between Two Cities as it was a really interesting draft game but it was missing some depth to really keep a hold of my attention. I don't card for Time Stories and saw nothing new in that game to deserve the recognition it has gotten. Now Stockpile is a excellent design and is really cool stock game that can be played with just about anyone. I have really found myself enjoying this game so it is the only choice for me. The winner is:

Stockpile 

So that’s the first half of my look at the 2015 Dice Tower Awards. Be sure to continue on to the next entry as I continue my exploration of the awards and continue to give my opinions on the remaining categories.

Board Game Ripper