Revisiting the Games of 2018
While everyone is churning out their best of 2019 lists (and I’ll follow the lemmings soon on this, don’t worry), we decided on the Two Wood for a Wheat podcast to go back and look at how our top games of 2018 held up for us a year later.
Rather than simply talk about what I think of these games now, let’s talk about something that can’t lie – how much I’ve played each of them the following year. Here’s my top 10 from 2018, followed by how many 2019 plays I’ve gotten in with each of them.
1. Rising Sun – 2
2. Underwater Cities – 17
3. Architects of the West Kingdom – 2
4. Carpe Diem – 4
5. Empires of the Void II – 1
6. Newton – 4
7. Teotihuacan – 0
8. Reef – 14
9. Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done – 1
10. Walking in Burano – 1
The list makes clear my predilection for eurogames, with 6 of the top 10 falling in this category. The timing of Essen Spiel may also play a part, in that these euros were released just in time for them to be in regular rotation just before we did our top 10 list at the end of the year.
It appears from the data above that Underwater Cities and Reef held up the best for me, and while they did, it’s worth noting that when I made this list I’d only played Underwater Cities 3 times, and I hadn’t even been able to get my own copy of the game at that point – it probably would have been my #1, but I wanted to be conservative with such a small number of plays under my belt. So when I got the game in the spring, it was natural I would get a ton of plays in.
Here are my updated thoughts on each game:
Rising Sun – I ranked this number one because it’s a dudes on a map game with an original action selection mechanism, gorgeous production, a tense combat system that does blind bidding right (the loser getting money spent is an excellent rubber band mechanism), and a card system that’s more accessible than Blood Rage because it’s all open information. The special powers of the monsters and the combat system created a lot of memorable moments – I remember specific games of this more than any game of this on the list.
The main reason it didn’t get to the table more in 2019 is that my group’s tastes changed, and dudes on a map games just didn’t get to the table to much. I’d still play it any time.
Underwater Cities – This is a glorious example of how a eurogame can create wonderfully excruciating decisions. As I’ve written in this blog before, this game multiplies the tension of worker placement decisions by combining them with playing a card with each worker, which has a color which may or may not match the color of the action space – if it doesn’t match, you only get the worker placement action, but not the card action. You get tough choices between playing the placement spot you need and wanting to make the most of your card actions.
It’s a long game where the time stands still and the hours go by in a flash. I want to play it as much today as at the beginning of the year.
Architects of the West Kingdom – A fun and clever game, and at the same time I’d be okay if I never played it again. This sounds harsh, but I don’t mean it that way – I’d play it any time, but the game is straightforward enough where it doesn’t obsess me – I don’t find myself thinking about it when I’m not playing it.
The system of accelerating rewards from workers put on the same spot, and the ensuing capture of these workers, is clever and fun, and the rest of the game is simple and solid. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it if and when I play it.
Carpe Diem – this game fits a rarely filled niched, the game with a simple rules set which plays in under an hour, and yet has enough interesting decisions to hold up over repeated plays. This and Trey Chamber’s Harvest are my games of choice in this category.
It would have gotten more plays if a key player in my group wasn’t colorblind – like many Feld games, it’s excruciating for people with this condition. Despite this flaw, and the ugly graphic design, I still feel the game’s pull. When I arrived at my FLGS earlier this month and a few players had just started a game of this, I found myself jealous and disappointed that I hadn’t arrived in time to partake.
Empires of the Void II – Ryan Laukat’s beautiful venture into the 4x genre is one of the overlooked games of the last two years, a unique, underplayed delight.
And yet I understand why it doesn’t get more play, both on my table and those of others. Personally, the rather long rules teach and set up time are a barrier for what is only a two hour game. And it fits my brain as the kind of game I like to play every month or so, rather than a few times in a week, but these barriers make these repeated occasional plays difficult to implement, hence my having only played this once in 2019.
For other people, fans of the 4x genre usually aren’t looking for a shortened eurogame experience, and fans of two hour eurogames usually aren’t looking for a 4x experience, so it suffers to some extent the obscurity of a game that brushes on two genres without really fitting in either. It’s also a tactical game, and planning pedants like my co-host Pat disapprove of having to make seat of your pants decisions rather than executing a grand plan.
Still, it’s Puerto Rico style action selection, multi-use combat cards, stunningly colorful production, two layers of area control,and variable player powers via recruitable races give a unique and rich experience that deserves a wider audience.
Newton – Calling this brownish midweight euro my 4th favorite game from designer Simone Luciani is higher praise than it sounds like. The highlight of the game is a wonderful card tucking system wherein you give up one of your action cards at the end of each round, which both enhances that particular action while making it harder to execute by taking the card which performs it away from you permanently. I love game that give with one hand and take away with the other, and this is that.
The game is ugly and the theme is almost non-existent, but it’s always a tense race combined with point grinding fun, and the complaint that the book path is overpowered is not accurate, in my experience. I would love to play it again any time (I haven’t touched it since the spring), but we are inundated with great games, so it will happen when it happens.
Teotihuacan – my brief love affair with this game is over. While the supposedly logical reasons for this ending may be rooted into what I see as some overpowered technologies which can put the game into predictable patterns, or my general dislike of climbing lots of tracks as a mechanism, there is sometime something irrational in one’s like or dislike of a game, a piece of art, or even a person – there sometimes comes a time when you are suddenly sick of, done with, something you once liked and you can’t quite explain why.
Reef – I love puzzly polyomino games, and this one works in many ways. It’s simple enough to play with non-gamers, and yet has enough going on to stay interesting after a lot of plays. There’s a lot to think about for a game which only lasts 20 minutes or so. The elevation aspect both heightens the puzzle and gives an excuse for the wonderful, chunky, tactile pieces – I would have played with these as a child even without the game.
Most of my plays of Reef were earlier in the year, as in the spring I discovered a quick polyomino game I like even more – Tiny Towns. It goes to show there’s no game that can’t be replaced by an even better game, though I would still play Reef any time, any where.
Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done – despite the title, this isn’t about fighting, it’s about manipulating a mancala, since however many pieces you have in a spot before you drop them along indicates the strength of your action.
This mechanism is very clever and makes for a nice puzzle – however, this is pretty much the entire game. Some actions let you take territories, other build buildings, while others give you straight up points, but it’s all bone simple. I gave the game away to someone who likes it, and while I’d play it if asked, I probably won’t seek it out.
Walking in Burano – I think I was enamored by a fun play of this at the 2018 Dice Tower Con when I put this on the list. It’s a fun little set collection game with some cleverness in adding cards to different buildings and levels, and it has a charming look to it. Ultimately, there are a lot of good little set collection games, and this is one of them – I don’t feel the need to own it at this point.
The Rest
Beyond my top 10, what about other great games from 2018? What else has come on that wasn’t on my list?
At the time I made the list I hadn’t yet played Brass: Birmingham. This deep and difficult game is one I haven’t played enough yet to fairly evaluate and discuss, and because my interest in it always seems to coincide with when it’s been out of print, I don’t own a copy. I would enjoy diving deeper with others who love it.
The game which was only an honorable mention on this list which was a star in 2019 is Just One. Perhaps my snobbery prevented me from putting an ultra-simple party game on my top 10 list, but whatever my reasoning, I was wrong.
This game has been an absolute delight with every group I’ve ever played it with. When someone says ‘everyone will love this game’, they’re basically lying. Everyone has different tastes. But I’ve introduced this game to 40 or 50 people, and not one of them has said they didn’t like it, which is as close to universal praise of any game I’ve ever played.
And because you can teach it in 20 seconds and people can drop in and out, it can be played under any circumstance. My plays only increased in 2019 and I’m packing it up to play with my family over Christmas.
With that, I’ll present my top 10 of 2018, as I see them now. By the way, if you are wondering why Root isn’t on this list, games that encourage and celebrate kingmaking and bashing the leader are always a hard pass for me – I hated my one play of it, which wasn’t a surprise. To each their own.
Without further ado, here’s my revised top 10 for 2018:
1. Underwater Cities
2. Just One
3. Rising Sun
4. Reef
5. Carpe Diem
6. Newton
7. Empires of the Void II
8. Brass: Birmingham
9. Welcome To
10. Architects of the West Kingdom