Top Ten Games Of All Time (2015 edition)

Top Ten Games Of All Time 

2015 edition 

Well here we are, the top ten games of all time for the Board Game Ripper. This was a good year for me as my top ten went through a lot of changes with a lot of movement. Some new games have made their way onto the list and we see a few favorite drop off. Overall I am pretty happy with the entire top 100 in general and I am excited to remake this list at the end of the year as I have played some amazing games this year that I am positive have earned a place on the list. But now lets move on to the top ten starting with: 

10. Darkness Comes Rattling

 

 

            The game I Am Vlad was one of the worst decisions I have every made when it comes to buying board games. I blindly purchased the game knowing nothing about it only except that the theme seemed interesting and it had some amazing artwork. It was the worse game I have ever played and the amount of money I spent still gives me nightmares to this day. You would think I would have shied away from blind purchases after that encounter, but when I saw my number ten I broke down and bought it. I had never heard of Darkness Comes Rattling, I only saw an amazing looking box and the theme I read on the back sounded new and refreshing. I was quite surprised when I read the rulebook and even more surprised when I got the game to the table that weekend. It was an amazing game and quickly I knew it would my top ten list. Darkness Comes Rattling is a cooperative game where Darkness (personified as a snake) has grown jealous of it's brother the sun and has swallowed the sun casting the world into darkness. it is up to the players who represent heroes chosen from the different tribes of man to find and enter the serpent to chase down the sun and bring it back to the world. This is an amazing game that plays like no other game I have where the goal is to gather enough equipment in order to send one of the players into the snake where they will have to face challenges while chasing the sun. Darkness is represented by a giant snake that surround the board and players will have to catch the sun before it moves on the rattle ending the game in defeat. The other players will have to battle the shadows spreading across the land and stop the spread of corruption while keeping the wind spirits happy as the champion among them tries to catch the sun. This is a beautiful game that goes above and beyond in components and artwork and I sometimes set it up just to look at it in all it's glory. The game play is unlike anything I have yet seen and this is truly one of the best cooperative games every made despite it's difficulty.

9. Captains of Industry 

            I got a game called City Hall in a trade at Icon and I was really impressed with the game once I got it to my table. So when I saw Captains of Industry was by the same designer I was more than happy to give it a try. It also helped that the game was an economic game which I tend to enjoy quite a bit. I was blown away by how much fun the game was and my group responded extremely positive as well. In Captains of Industry, players take on the roles of industrial giants trying to build production facilities in order to sell resources to other players or to the different markets on the board. The economy is completely determined by the players and has no outside influences. The amount of resources in the supply and the price for every item is completely determined by your fellow players and this adds a element of negotiating to the game. You are also able to spend research which is also determined by the players in order to buy advances to steer your empire in a direction of your choosing. During the game you will also buy real estate in order to influence what the districts on the board will purchase at the end of the round. Another interesting concept is the Captain of Industry cards which will grant special end of game victory point conditions for the players. You start the game with a hand of them but must discard one card at the end of each age. This means that normally you will only have one such card at the end of the game to help you score more points unless you take actions during the game to draw extra cards. This game has some really interesting mechanics and overall is a really great economic game. I highly recommend this game to everyone.

8. City of Iron 

 

            Steampunk is one of my favorite genres of all time and I have been quite pleased with the recent surge of board games in this theme. I also am a fan of Red Raven games and find the art style of Ryan Laukat to be simply breath taking. Now add a deck building element to an resource driven hand management game and I think you have an very interesting combination. City of Iron is a fantastical steampunk civilization theme game where you are using the cards of your deck to help you build buildings from the main board which will increase your resource tracks or using the same cards to conquer other territories in order to increase your empire. The game is all about scoring the majority in the different resources in the game and the resources themselves are not your typical Euro game resources. I don't know of another game where you might lead in bottled demons or where you might represent a race of frog inspired civilization. This really is my favorite design from Ryan Laukat and everything here combines to form a awesome game.

7. Euphoria

 

            The dystopian theme is not widely used in today's board gaming world except for the brief use in some apocalypse themed games. But a straight up dystopian themed game is really hard to find today and this is one of the aspects that makes Euphoria such a good game. Euphoria is a game set in a dystopian future where you represent someone who has woken up to see the truth of the world only to realize that you can control this world manipulating it to your advantage. The game uses dice which act as workers and the level of the dice represents how smart that worker is. Now the smarter the worker the better they are at collecting what you need from the board but if your workers become too smart they will see the world for what it is and abandon you. The core concept of the game is to help in building markets on the board which will allow you to place your star token on said market if you helped build it. Getting your star tokens out are the key to winning the game and there are usually penalties if you didn't contribute to building a market. Euphoria also has the concept of either placing dice out on your turn or pulling them back to reform your supply which is one of my favorite mechanics. The theme in this game is extremely strong and I love how the theme is felt in nearly every aspect of the game.

6.Furry of Dracula

 

            Now I haven't played the new reprint of this game that came out this year to be truthful I don't think I need too as the second edition was all I needed for this game. I love this game and Furry of Dracula was one of the first board games to be added to my collection. I am a huge fan of the gothic Victorian theme and the artwork for this game is just amazing. In Furry of Dracula, one player plays Dracula who  has return from the grave to wreck his vengeance upon the other players who represent the survivors from the novel. The other players are hunters who are trying once more to spoil the plans of the count and will have to chase him across Europe to finish the job this time. This is the best hidden movement game on the market as it adds so much chrome to the style of the game and has theme in almost every aspect of the mechanics. I love how Dracula is weak during the day but the tables turn during the night hours as he gains new powers. The combat system is really engaging and quite unique adding more flavor to the game. Some of my best gaming memories are from this game and even though my cope looks like it has been through hell I will never let it leave my collection.

5. Chaos in the Old World 

            Chaos in the Old World, like Furry of Dracula, was one of the first games I purchased for my collection and is probably one of the most played games in my collection. This game was designed by Eric Lang far before his recent fan boy status of toady and is the predecessor to Blood Rage which uses a lot of the same mechanics. In Chaos in the Old World, players represent the gods of chaos found within the Warhammer fantasy universe and each player is trying to enslave the world and spread their corruption through out the lands. Each of the gods plays in a entirely different style with different upgrade cards that are unique only to that god. This adds so much variety to the game as you can play a totally different game bases not only on your chosen god but also on what upgrades you picked for your god during that game. There is also an advancement wheel on the main board for each god and one of the ways to win the game is to advance the wheel for your god to the victory space. This wheels also grants special rewards such as upgrades  with each tick of the wheel and to each god has a special condition to earn a tick. This is an amazing concept as you will have to watch the other players during the round in order to stop them from getting ticks and this leads to a lot of interaction among players as well as shifting alliances. The game also has multiple ways to win the game either through advancement on each god's wheel to victory points spread through corrupting the land. This is by far the best 'dudes on a map' game and is a treasured game within my collection.

4. Yedo 

            Now my number four game Yedo gets compared to Lords of Waterdeep by quite a lot of people even though I tend to disagree with them. The only similarities between the two is that you are trying to accomplish mission cards by gathering the appropriate resources to earn points. Besides that basic goal there really is nothing that is similar between the two as Yedo has an heavy auction mechanic at the begging of each turn and you only have one worker during the placement phase. In Yedo, you represent a powerful family in Edo trying to win favor with the new Shogun. You will earn this favor by completing missions which will require you to have the right tools/weapons as well as have the right buildings build on your player board. You will acquire the items that you need by auctions done during an auction phase at the beginning of each turn and by place your single worker at the right location within the city. Now the worker placement can be challenging as you only have the one worker and have to worry about what spaces your opponents will take as well as the threat of the city guard roaming the board who might block an area off for the round. The missions you can choose come in three different difficulty levels and you get to choose what deck you want to draw from when you need to get a new mission. I love the concept of this game and it really does an good job to draw you into the theme. This is also quite a challenging game and it can deal out some heavy punishment if you play on the Samurai difficulty as the event cards of the game can deal out some serious punishment. This can be quite a rewarding game that delivers an good experience if you can handle the beating it can give you.

3. Battlestar Galatica 

            One of my best gaming experiences comes from my first play of Battlestar Galatica at Icon a few years ago where the entire military was thrown in the brig and remained there most of the game while the treacherous Cylons in charge of the political system keep the wool over everyone's eyes. It was such a good game that I had to buy this game right after playing it. Since than, this game hits the table at least every other month and I have yet to have a experience that I have not enjoyed. In Battlestar Galatica you represent the survivors of humanity who are fleeing from the destruction of their home by a robotic race known as the Cylons who man created. Unfortunately for humanity, Cylons now look like humans in appearance and are hiding among the survivors on the fleet. Some of the players in the game will be humans trying to keep the fleet afloat and make enough jumps to reach safety. Other players will be Cylons acting as hidden traitors trying to destroy the fleet from the inside. The core of the game resolves around a crises deck requiring players to play cards in secret to a main pile where certain types of cards will negative or positive depending on the crisis for that turn. When you end up with is an every intense game where suspicions run high and players negotiate with one another to form alliances at every turn. Every gamer needs to play this game.

2. Through the Ages 

            I have not played the new reprint of this game but I am really looking forward to getting it since I have heard that it improves the few flaws the older edition has. Through the Ages is the perfect civilization game and plays like the Civilization computer game better than the board game that shares it's name. This game represents everything you could do with a civilization game ranging from control of government systems, military conquest, colonization, technology, and even economic management. I love the abstracted system of management as you move your workers around your board increasing cost and forcing you to manage the growing corruption of your civilization as it grows almost to large to handle. The game is a extremely heavy game but I love all the options it gives you allowing you to play a different game every time it hits the table. If you have to spend a day playing a game than you spend it playing the entire history of the human race perfecting represented in this game. This game is not for every one as it demands a lot of respect as well as learning a very complex rule system that has a lot of interactions to consider. But if you managed to take the time to tackle this beast, you will be awarded with an amazing experience and will discover why this is the best civilization game in the genre.

1. Mecanisburgo 

            Now my favorite game of all time is a rarely heard of game from a small Spanish publisher that really is under the radar. Now Mecanisburgo is not as streamlined as the other games on my list, has some artwork that could be improved upon, and has a complex rulebook that doesn’t do the game any favors. But this game provides an experience that I have yet to see in another game along with a cyberpunk theme which happens to be my favorite theme for a board game. When asked about it I simply tell people it's like the movie Blade Runner, only you are playing as one of the corporations. In Mecanisburgo you play as a corporation in the future managing characters who will take up a slot on your executive player board. Each spot on the board has a number assigned to it reflecting the rank in the corporation and you have a pawn with the same number on the bottom of it for each position. You also have a dummy pawn that is used to bluff the other players and on your turn you will send your characters to locations on the board to compete for new cards, the actions of the locations and the right to use your special talents. When you place you workers you first gather all of your workers for your filled executive positions and place them on the board. Since the numbers for your pawns are located on the bottom, only you know who you are sending to each location. Now each location can only be rewarded to one player so if multiple people got to a location there will be a battle and this is where the special stats of the characters matter. In Mecanisburgo, each character card has a ton of stats ranging from different combat values to special talents such as seduction, gambling, assassination, racing, hacking, and so on. There is a lot of options in the game and the game all comes down to managing your characters and knowing how to use their abilities to your advantage. The game only last four turns where victory points will be awarded at the end with the majority of them coming form building special projects at the end of each turn. At the end of the third and fourth turn however, a card is drawn from a special deck that will bring in an alterative way to win the game before the end of the final turn. In addition, there are around six characters in the main deck that will also bring an alternative victory condition once they enter the game. This means that Mecanisburgo will never play the same way twice and you can never be too sure of how or when the game will end. This game is an awesome hybrid between a Euro and Ameritrash game mixing the mechanics of both perfectly. Mecanisburgo is a beast of a game with a lot of rules and long play time, but it can tell such a wonderful story and brings a level of management that I truly enjoy.

            Well that is it for my top 100 games of all time, 2015 edition. I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read this list and I can't wait to start my new list at the end of this year for 2016. Now go out there and play some board games. Remember, have fun.

Board Game Ripper

 

 

Rank	Game	Years on List (Started 2014)	Position Change
1	Mecanisburgo	2	0
2	Through the Ages	2	0
3	Battlestar Galatica	2	0
4	Yedo	2	+ 2 (# 6)
5	Chaos in the Old World	2	- 1 (# 4)
6	Fury of Dracula	2	+ 5 (# 11)
7	Euphoria	2	- 2 (# 5)
8	City of Iron	2	- 1 ( # 7)
9	Captains of Industry	1
10	Darkness comes Rattling	1