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Welcome to the final entry in my Top 50 Board Games of 2023. Today, we look at the best of the best, the Top 10!
If you missed the previous entries, here are the quick links:
#10: Tiny Epic Dinosaurs: Deluxe Edition
The Tiny Epic series of games have been quite hit or miss with me. I enjoyed Galaxies and Dinosaurs is a Top 10 game for me, on the other hand, I mostly hated Tactics and Dungeons wasn't much better. I haven't tried most of the others in the series but I can at least say that Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is worth trying out. In Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, players play as dino ranchers in a nifty worker placement game. Each player has their own game board representing their dinosaur farm. On your mat, you'll need to add in fencing and various dinosaurs. Of course, dinosaurs need to be fed so you'll have to watch your food supply...wouldn't want a bunch of angry, rampaging dinosaurs, now would you?!
#9: Unmatched: Jurassic Park – InGen vs Raptors
Keeping with the dinosaur theme, we have yet another Unmatched box set to discuss. There are actually two Jurassic Park themed box sets and while the T-Rex one is cool I think that InGen vs. Raptors is a much more interesting pairing of characters overall and thus this is the game that cracks my Top 10. The Unmatched game system is essentially a card battler. Turns are super straightforward (basically take 2 actions) and attacking/defending is all done via card play. What's amazing is that each box of Unmatched tweaks a rule or a system in a slightly different way to keep gameplay fresh. Even better, characters from one Unmatched set can be played against characters from any other set making for a ton of variety!
#8: Unmatched: Cobble & Fog
Yep, another Unmatched box. However, unlike many of the other Unmatched boxes, Cobble & Fogg contains four characters rather than only two (meaning this box offers much more gameplay value)! Even better, all four characters are fun to play (though Sherlock Holmes might be a bit too strong in the hands of an experienced player). If I were to suggest someone buy only one box of Unmatched to try out, this would be the box I'd suggest.
#7: Arboretum
Arboretum is a simple card game full of agonizing decisions. The rules are quite simple but there is a lot of meat on the bones so to speak. I actually wrote a full review of this game already on my blog (back in March) so I invite you to check that out here.
#6: The Grand Carnival
In the Grand Carnival, you build out a carnival (shocker, I know) with the goal of scoring the most points. The catch is that your actions are dictated by your available workers (numbered 1 though 5). A number 5 worker is the most powerful while a number 1 worker is the least powerful and won't have as many options available to do on a given turn. Thus, each turn is a fun puzzle not only in terms of what to do but also when and with which worker to do said action. There's also a spatial puzzle in that you need to have a viable walkway for visitors to reach your big top at the top of your player board. All told, it's a wonderful game with an art style that I also dig.
#5: Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze
My one "cheat" game on my list in that I actually played this two or three days after my self-imposed play deadline. However, it was a Kickstarter release that I finally received and I couldn't wait...and after a couple of plays, I knew it deserved a spot in my Top 10. By now, you should know that I love Unmatched but Unmatched Adventures takes the fun of Unmatched and turns it into a cooperative game instead of a competitive game. As such, this one will be much easier to get to the table with many of the people I play with - and the best part is you can use any existing characters within this game...and you can use the characters that come in this game in competitive modes! Couple all of that with the fact that this comes with two bosses and a variety of minions and you've got the ultimate Unmatched box set!
#4: Sagrada
Roll some dice, take turns selecting dice, place dice on card, make pretty stained glass window. That's the essence of this game but it's a delightful puzzle every time you play (and always gorgeous to look at). With simple rules come many tough decisions and while you are at the whim of the dice roll, it rarely feels like the dice "screwed" you (there are tools available to help somewhat mitigate bad dice rolls or placement).
#3: Keep the Heroes Out!
Another cooperative game, however, in Keep the Heroes Out! you play as the "bad guys" in the dungeon and you want to essential expel all of the invading heroes trying to steal your chests full of gold. Essentially, this is a tower defense game with many asymmetric factions - but when you consider that the game comes with 20 scenarios (plus a few more published for free online by the game's creator) and you've got a game that has a lot of shelf life. Even better, the entire game is text free so my five-year-old and I can play this game and have a good time. Also, it's hard. Like, really hard, especially on anything other than family mode (which is awesome - when you finally win you feel like you deserved that victory)!
#2: Lost Ruins of Arnak
I love a good deck builder and Lost Ruins of Arnak seems to be right in my wheelhouse. With elements of worker placement, resource management, and only one action per turn, Lost Ruins of Arnak is a tight, fun game! I've only been able to play this game a couple of times (it's pretty big and has lots of text on cards) so that limits who will play it with me. I also have the expansion for this which most people seem to say makes the game even better but I haven't cracked that open yet. Even without the expansion, my limited time with this game has been nothing but positive and I definitely hope to get this to the table again soon!
#1: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Finally, we made it to my #1 game of 2023! Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is the little brother to Gloomhaven (and now Frosthaven, too). I've been playing through the campaign of Jaws of the Lion with a coworker (well, now ex-coworker as he took a new job outside academia). Unfortunately, with his new job we don't get together nearly as much anymore but I am still hopeful that we'll complete the full campaign together. If I'm not mistaken, I think we are only two scenarios away from being done with it. All that said, it has to be a great game if I'm willing to go to that length to play through it with the same person! Gloomhaven in all of its forms is a game of incredible card play - but Jaws of the Lion might be the superior game in how much it is streamlined compared to the bigger, badder versions out there. I do own Frosthaven for myself and while I'd love to play that, I think I have to wait about seven more years or so until my son is able to play...I can't expect to do a campaign with 70+ scenarios with a friend who lives over an hour away! All that being said, I'm not sure if I'll want to return to Jaws of the Lion after I finally beat it...but man, the process of playing through the game has been a blast and as such, the game definitely deserves the crown of Best Game of 2023 according to me!
And there you have it, my Top 50 games of 2023! As a reminder, my rule was that I had to have played the game sometime between November 2022 and November 2023 for the game to be eligible for this list. Although a lot of work, I did enjoy putting the list together and I hope that many of you enjoyed reading about the various games (and who knows, maybe you've even found a game or two try for yourself). If I do this again next year, it'll be neat to see what rises and falls (especially since so much of my gaming is spent with my five-year-old son)!
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