Now it’s my turn to do my top 10 list! I’m going to be upfront that I will be unrestrained in my praise for the games in my top ten. I greatly enjoy these games. Some things you may notice about my overall list, I love tile laying, rondels, city building, and games with a puzzly nature. With that out of the way, here we go with my numbers 6 to 10!

10. Kingdomino – What isn’t to love about Kingdomino? The quick tile laying goodness, the ease of learning/teaching because of the domino concept, and the whimsical, detailed art all come together to make a fantastic game.  Another standout quality is the overall variety of gameplay with the regular 5 x 5 grid, the 2 player 7 x 7 grid, Queendomino, and the Age of Giants expansion (which we haven’t tried yet). When things aren’t too busy, we can still play one standard game of Kingdomino in 15 minutes flat. Bruno Cathala hit this out of the park, netting himself and publisher Blue Orange games a well-deserved Spiel des Jahres win.

9. NMBR 9 – I adore this unique tile laying puzzle where you must build up your levels to score points. It has a super easy set up; you can play right out of the box/insert. It’s a super quick game and it has the ability to increase the player limit if you have multiple sets.

I really like that it utilizes the “bingo calling” mechanism for choosing which number you play. Everyone is at the mercy of the shuffle and card draw. There’s no player interaction (which is always a plus for me); you are building levels the way you see is best and no one can mess with that. Great quick game that is fun for all levels of gamers. I feel that this is a vastly underrated game – it was designed by Peter Wichmann and published by Z-Man.

8. Glen More – This is the only game on all our top ten lists that is not currently owned by any of the meeples here at Open Seat Gaming; but that will change when the Glen More II: Chronicles Kickstarter fulfills later this year. This tile laying, territory building, and rondel-based action selection game has lots of decision making depth and a fairly straight forward rules set.

Each player sets out to build the best territory for their Scottish clan but must be very careful of which tiles they select using the rondel. Because while what you choose may be what is best for you now, you may be opening up great opportunities for your opponents. How you build your territory can also help you create really neat combos, which will help you as the game goes on. Cleverly designed by Mattias Cramer and originally published by Alea and Ravensburger. I highly recommend Glen More and checking out the upcoming reprint – Glen More II: Chronicles from FunTails (with later North America distribution by Renegade) on Kickstarter now.

7. Aeon’s End – Even though I greatly enjoy both deckbuilders and cooperative games, Aeon’s End is the only game with either of those mechanics on my top ten list. Aeon’s End is an amazingly innovative game where you are building your deck without shuffling. In this game, you’re controlling your own powerful mage, fighting bosses and their minions with the help of your team. Every mage has unique abilities that can work together to help you succeed.

Another aspect of the game that is excellent is the diversity in the characters that are available. The amount of content for Aeon’s End cranks the variability up to eleven.  Aeon’s End is actually the only game that is on all three of our top ten lists. Check out this ingenious game designed by Kevin Riley and published by Action Phase and Indie Boards and Cards.

6. Mystery of the Temples – Pattern building, set collection, a double rondel, and a twist on area control. All of these elements make Mystery of the Temples a dynamic and elegant game that I love. The art and component quality make this game very aesthetically pleasing.

The quick gameplay and intelligent pattern making with tense decision making about where you should move along the rondels are what makes Mystery of the Temples a top game for me. When I initially heard about it, I thought it sounded like an interesting game. Then, we played our review copy and I was sold. Intelligently designed by Wei-Min Ling and published by Emperor S4 with North American distribution by Deep Water Games.

Later this week, I will have the rest of my top ten list posted. Hope that these games have piqued your interest! Which of these games do you enjoy playing?

Game On!
Sarah