A couple times a year I rank my board game collection using PubMeeple.com, a site that lets you import your BGG collection and rank your games using a very specific process of comparing two games at a time until there’s a definitive list. This is not that list.
In this instance, I filtered my collection down to only games I own that haven’t been played. I compared them by how much I’d like to play them, whether that meant that I was excited to try them because I thought they’d be good or excited to try them because I wanted to find out if they were crap so I could get rid of them. Either way, this is the top 10 out of my [HUGELY EMBARRASSING NUMBER REDACTED] unplayed games. Shut up. No, I’m not telling you how many.
*AHEM*
Let’s look at a few runners-up an special mentions.
Game that’s spent the most time on the shelf: Castles of Mad King Ludwig
I don’t know why. I really don’t. I just can’t seem to get this played. This was, like, the third game I ever bought. I’ve had it since 2015! I brought it to game night and we started to set it up and then had an extra person show up, and that’s as close as I’ve gotten.
Game I’m most ashamed of having on the shelf: Terminus
I wanted this one so, so much. I backed the crowdfunding campaign. I waited, I watched, and I talked about it. Now that it has shown up, I’m not even sure I’ve opened the box. It’s a feelbad space on my shelf.
And finally, the game that’s least likely to leave the shelf: The Colonists.
It’s a 10 hour euro game, y’all. That feels daunting, even for me, who loves a dry euro. I’m not sure who I could even convince to try it, let alone play through all the eras in one sitting. But it’s such a great concept that I’m not likely to get rid of it any time soon. So, on the shelf it remains.
Enough pregame. Let’s get to the list.
10. Formaggio
I backed this one after having played and loved Fromage. I’ve taught Fromage to people who don’t play anything like it, and everyone I know who has played it has enjoyed it. So, of course I’m excited about the sequel, expansion, stand alone…whatever.
The system of placing out workers that come back to you when they’re facing you is, as far as I understand, unchanged. It’s just more action wedges and spaces to compete for points. I’m happy to dip my toes in that. Unlike in actual cheese. Much like cheese, though, more of a thing you love is always good. Let’s hope Formaggio doesn’t stop me up.
9. Chicago and NorthWestern
There are a lot of train games I have that I have not played, a result of collecting cube rails games that are each very similar with small tweaks. Chicago & NorthWestern, though, is at the top of that subset. The last line of the description on BGG is this: This is not a friendly game.
Shared incentive stock manipulation and track building is my jam. And a mean game that fits that bill? Curious! It also covers the Midwest USA, where I live, so it gets a few points for that. Now if only I could get someone to play cube rails with me regularly. Won’t anyone “choo-choo motherfucker” with me?
8. Witchstone
I first saw Witchstone on Season 90 Episode 39 of Game Night on BGG. The dual hex tiles as an action selection mechanism intrigued me. Chaining similar tiles together in your cauldron makes those actions better. And each different ingredient you add interacts with something on the board, whether it’s a network on a map, a shelf full of potions, or some other little mini game. It just looked cool.
I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten this one played, other than my public game night isn’t drawn in by the theme and my private game night always has too many people and doesn’t want to split. I’m determined to keep this one until I get it played, because I think it will be a really good time. Will it stay on my shelf after that? Depends on how that brew bubbles.
7. Enemy Anemone
Daniel Newman makes good games. Or so I’ve heard. I first learned of him because of Enemy Anemone. I have since gotten Watch, Woodlanders, and I think one other that escapes me. They’re all on the extended list of unplayed games, with the next highest being Watch at rank 29. I watched Heavy Cardboard play that one and decided it was up my alley.
So why haven’t I played this one? It’s not often my friends are into trick-taking games. I love them. My public game night love them, too, but often chooses to play something meatier over this. So it’s a hard sell. But out of Daniel’s games I own, this must-not-follow trick taker is the one I most want to try, heavily influenced by how much I enjoy another must-not-follow trick taker, Potato Man.
6. Villa Paletti
What the hell is a 25 year old dexterity game doing on this list? Because sometimes it’s fun to play with blocks. Okay? Get off my back. No, but seriously, it does seem odd that such an old game is this high up on a list of [REDACTED] games. But this one is special. This had been a grail game for me—one that I had wanted to play since I heard of it but could never find a copy. I happened across one at Noble Knight Games near Madison, Wisconsin, and the noise I made, y’all.
I immediately snapped it up, and for a decent price, too. So now I’ve had Villa Paletti in my possession for close to a year. What gives? Why haven’t I played this one? I think it probably has something to do with playing so much Menara a few years ago, another pillar-and-platform stacking game that we loved. Or it could be because I got Misfits so close to the time I got this, and we’re in a stacking lull. Not sure, exactly, but now at least I have it for when the time is right. And unlike the wobbly pillars and misshapen platforms teetering on the brink of ruin, my desire to play this game is unshakable.
5. The Druids of Edora
This game seemed to hit with little fanfare. It’s a new Feld! That should be cause for celebration! I was wary about it until I heard it compared favorably to Castles of Burgundy, then I had to give it a go. Well, I was shocked at how hard this game has been to get a copy of. I finally was alerted by my back-in-stock reminder at Noble Knight (yes, I shop there a lot because of their amazing selection of used games), and I wasted no time in securing it.
The theme of Druids of Edora doesn’t really do much for me, but it’s a Stefan Feld dice placement game, so I’m in. It could be about, I dunno, shipping containers to overseas ports and I’d still want to play it. So why haven’t I, you ask again. Look, I don’t know how you got in here, but I’m getting tired of you asking all these questions. Honestly, I haven’t played this one because I haven’t made time to read the rules and give it a practice go. That’s it. My game group would probably be thrilled to get to try this, so this one’s on me. Hopefully soon.
4. Marrakesh
Hold on. Didn’t we just do a Feld game? Good eye, reader! We did! What can I say? Feld is a favorite of mine—to buy, apparently. Bruges (rereleased as Hamburg) is a great game. Castles of Burgundy is amazing. He’s just a good designer. It’s too bad he’s in the habit of wearing other people’s cultures as costumes in his promo materials. Hope he stops doing that sometime real soon.
In the meantime, I’m feeling a lot of shame about Marrakesh, since it was pretty pricey. But it’s a beast of a game. Seems pretty simple to get the hang of, but with 10+ things going on on the board, I think teaching it will be a bit of a nightmare. I’ve read the rules and brought it to game night, but no one has bitten. We even all love worker placement games. I need to revisit the rules, play a practice few rounds, and push harder for it in my public group, I guess. This is one I’m going to try hard to play before the end of the year.
3. Taiwan Night Market
In a market less clogged with games, I think more people would be talking about Taiwan Night Market. It’s a cute auction game with a great theme and some really crunchy decisions to make. I watched a couple playthroughs of this back when it was in crowdfunding, but since then I haven’t heard a single person talk about it.
I’m a huge fan of strategic auctions (see train game love above), and the mechanisms of this one seem really novel and cutthroat. Is that customer coming to your booth? Well, I’ll advertise to them and fill their belly with ramen before you can sell them your boba. What do you mean you lowered your prices? How will you make any money?! I can’t make a living selling ramen for a dollar a bowl. Are you crazy? And so forth. Dang it. Now I’m hungry for more than just a slick looking auction game.
2. Tidal Blades: Banner Festival
You might know Tidal Blades from its stellar popularity, whether the first game or the sequel. I haven’t played either of those (I guess I haven’t played this one either.) But this little game set in the same world has you playing tricks to move your jet ski around a circular race track in order to gain fruits, place disks on a few tracks, and try to score the most points. Yeah, it sounds wacky and convoluted. I’m in.
The thing that really drew me in is that the lower the card you win the trick with, the better the power you get to fire off. It’s easy to win with a high card, but the real rewards come when you snipe a win with something weak. Tidal Blades: Banner Festival sounds like a great time, to me, even when I don’t have much interest in the main games. And stop scolding me for putting more than one trick taker on this list. There are many more on the extended list. Sticking to two was a task.
1. The Quiet Year
Finally, in a twist that surprised even me, the game I am most looking forward to getting off my shelf of opportunity is an independent, small-group, map-drawing rpg called The Quiet Year. Designed by Avery Alder, this game presents a single year in the lives of a fictional, post-apocalyptic group. It does this through random flips from a deck of cards (different suits represent seasons), the exchange of some small tokens, and a lot of imagination from its players. I’ve been obsessed with it since I first stumbled upon it and bookmarked the website in 2013. I finally got a copy ten years later.
When I was young, my friend Brian and I used to create stuff collaboratively. We wrote Final Fantasy sequels, developed stages and movesets for a rosters of fighting game characters, staged elaborate scenes from movies never made, and drew catalogues of ridiculous products we thought would make us famous. This collaborative map drawing and storytelling games seems to promise a similar experience to those great days spent in the country, his barns, the basement, and the corn fields of our youth. I’m not sure any of my game groups would be up for this, but if I was going to run a small rpg, which I’d love to do, as I have a ton of games like this, The Quiet Year would be my first choice.
And that’s The List: 10 Games to Get Off the Shelf of Opportunity. Have you played any of these? What would you recommend I start with? I don’t generally make myself a board game challenge anymore, as I usually fail them, but I’m tempted to try to get these played by the end of the year. Even if I don’t get to all of them, it would incentivize me to try harder!
