Many years ago, I posted what was then my Top 10 Favourite Board Games. But as I do play board games a lot; tastes change, and as it has been about five years since I last listed my Top 10; I thought it was time to update my list! Many things have happened over the last five years, things that are not all board game related, but have had an effect on board gaming (at least for me). Since the pandemic it has been a struggle to play games with more than 2 or 3 people in them, and so some of the more party based games on my shelves, have not been played since 2020 at the latest.
More and more now, when purchasing a game, I buy things that can be either played solo, or play at least 2 players. Any games I have fancied purchasing in recent years, that require three or more people to play, I have decided not to buy, as it feels like an almost complete impossibility that it will ever get played. During the pandemic, I did play quite a few games with my Mam, but I also discovered the joy of roll and write games, many of which could be played solo.
But since then, it has been nice to get back into a regular gaming routine with some new tabletop friends, with my weekly board gaming session being my favourite part of the week. As a result of this though, I have played a lot of new things, and think it’s about time to re-evaluate my Top 10. But before we begin, I thought I would re-visit an additional list, where I used a colour coded system, which I used to highlight the comparison between the old and new lists. So, next to each title below, there will a number in brackets, highlighting (if at all), where the entry placed on the previous list, and it will be highlighted in colour as to whether or not it has gone up, or down since last time. The colour code is as follows:
- Higher than previous position – Green
- Lower than previous position – Red
- Exactly the same position – Blue
- New addition/Debut – Orange
But as is always the case, there are many other games I like, that are just shy of the top 10. But just so they can have a minute in the sun, here are some other board games I also really like:
Croque, Small World, Ticket to Ride, Sleeping Queens, Ca$h ‘n Guns, The Vale of Eternity, Wyrmspan, Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia, The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Iberian Gauge, Welcome To, Munchkin, After Us, Straw, Tinderblox, London, Sagrada, The Red Dragon Inn, Modern Art, Just One, Parade, Mancala, Dice Forge, Taluva, and DiscWorld: Ankh Morpork.
And so, without further ado, here are My Top 10 Favourite Board Games; Enjoy!
10. (Debut) – That’s Pretty Clever – I have played this more than any other game (at least since 2018). The reason for that, was that the single player variant is very accessible, and during the pandemic, when I couldn’t play games with my friends, it was easy enough just to get this game out, and play a few rounds. That’s Pretty Clever is a roll and write game, where you roll some colourful dice, and apply their results to a sheet of paper, in an attempt to get as high a score as possible. I like to think of it as a cross between Yahtzee and Bingo, but with more focus on trying to chain combinations together!
9. Yedo (10th) – Yedo is a game I can’t seem to get rid of, as I think I would miss it if I didn’t have it. Set in ancient Edo (Tokyo), the game plays a lot like Lords of Waterdeep, as you assign agents to complete objectives, gain resources, and trade. There is more to this game though than Lords of Waterdeep, as there’s events to watch out for, the presence of a guard to be wary of, not to mention how easy it is to slip up your opponents, or even watch your hard thought plans crumble into dust!
8. Tiny Epic Dinosaurs (Debut) – The first of many Tiny Epic Games I now own. Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is a game about running a dinosaur ranch. You acquire new species, put them into habitats, breed and feed them, in the hope of then selling them to a dinosaur theme park. It’s a bit like a puzzle game in a sense, as you need to prevent dinosaurs from running away, having enough space to breed, whilst also generating enough food. Plus you need to have some forward thinking, as you try to determine which contracts are coming up, and what the future demand is for a specific species!
7. Architects of the West Kingdom (Debut) – Architects of the West Kingdom is a really interesting experience. It’s a worker placement game, where you send minions out to gain resources, and hire specialist workers to construct buildings, or help build a cathedral. It features interesting mechanics, such as the ability to increase what resources you gain, the more times you visit a certain area. Also it has the rather fun mechanic, where you can capture other players units, and send them to prison for money!
6. At The Gates of Loyang (7th) – At The Gates of Loyang is a farming game, where you need to grow and harvest vegetables, to then sell to customers. Theres a range of beutifully constructed wooden tokens representing each type of vegetable, and there’s also a variety of cards, to help you along the way, from specialist locals, to markets, and of course customers. But what’s really clever, is how it chooses to decide a winner. Each player has a board, with a stone path running through the middle. This is the path of prosperity, and whoever is furthest along at the end of the game, wins; which is a nice change from whoever made the most money!
5. Dojo Kun (6th) – This may look like a fighting or combat game, but that’s really only half the story. In Dojo Kun, players run Dojo‘s. The game is played over a series of rounds, with the fourth and eighth round playing different to the other six. During the other six, players recruit fighters to represnt their dojos, buy training equipment, train fighters, and also do the odd job around town. Then comes the tournament rounds, as players select fighters to represent them. The game changes in this round, as it becomes more about rolling dice, to harness fighters abilities, whilst also negating those of other fighters, which can all lead to an epic conclusion. Fighters who progress through/win the tournament, gain prestige points for their dojos; and whoever gains the most prestige points wins!
4. Quarriors (2nd) – Quarriors has been one of my favourite games, since the first time I played it over a decade ago. It’s a dice pool/deck building game, as you roll dice, to summon monsters, gain glory, cast spells, and acquire spending money, to get bigger and better monsters. So each turn you draw six dice from a bag, roll them, and apply their effects. The first player to reach the required scoring total wins!
3. Dinosaur Island (1st) – I like Dinosaur Island a lot, as it’s basically just Jurassic Park the board game. You have a relatively empty dinosaur theme park, and over the course of the game, you acquire dna and dino recipes, create dinosaurs, put them in your theme park, earn money, and try not to get any guests eaten. The game has several possible combinations in gameplay, as there’s plenty of different objectives, and ‘plot twists’ to switch up gameplay each time you play it. Plus if you get the deluxe version, there’s lots of different little dinosaur figures to populate your park with, and even some aquatic species in the expansion!
2. Apiary (Debut) – Apiary was nearly number 1 on this list. It was my game of the year last year (2024) and I have enjoyed it every time I have played it. Apiary is a game about Bees, but in Space. You run a colony of space Bees, and each turn you place spaceship Bees on the main board to gain benefits, resources, extra workers, buildings, all sorts to increase the size of your colony, and gain points. There’s a lot to choose from each turn, and the spaceship Bees that you place, are upgraded throughout the game, improving what you can when you place them. Eventually they’ll go into hibernation, and help end the game, but provide you with a bonus when they do so. There’s also a secondary scoring track, which provides end game bonus points too!
1. Dice Throne (Debut) – Dice Throne wasn’t featured in my last Top 10, as I hadn’t played it enough. I have now though, and I absolutely love it. Dice throne is a more dice focussed game, but plays like collectable trading card games like Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering. In this game, you select a hero, take their personal dice and deck, and then battle other players. You have a player board showing off your special abilities, and when you roll the dice, you are trying to match symbols and numbers to perform those attacks. These attacks can then be upgraded to do even more damage, or worse. It’s a really cool game, with beautiful artwork, lots of variety, and the dice mechanic allows more chances than you may get with other games of this kind!
Things I Like 
Leave a comment