my favorite games by year (last decade)
Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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I thought this would be a fun exercise. If your tastes are like mine, if you are a fan of Euros, cube pushing, worker placement, or area control, if you automatically think "buy" when Rosenberg, Feld, Wallace, or Kiesling/Kramer put out a new design -- perhaps you will discover a game here!
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 from Games Published in 2002:
1. Puerto Rico
2. Age of Steam
3. WildLife
4. Pueblo
5. Mexica
6. Pirate's Cove
7. Goldland
Puerto Rico was my Gateway-Gateway game -- i.e. the game I upgraded to after Catan, which further developed my love of strategy and Euros and bridged my path to dozens of other games.
Age of Steam has to be one of the most unforgiving games I've ever played. One mistake against a good player and it's game over. It's an intellectual challenge, a brain burner, and an exhausting but very satisfying experience.
My love of Kiesling and Kramer games is also well-represented in this year, although their 3 best designs IMHO (Torres, Java, and Tikal) were released earlier.
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published in 2003:
1. Message to the Czar
2. Amun-Re
3. Alhambra
4. Mammoth Hunters
5. Carcassonne: The Castle
6. Santiago
7. Mermaid Rain
Message to the Czar is a very good game for two players. Amun Re, although I didn't play it until recently, is also great and has withstood the test of time.
Alhambra became an addiction when we first began playing it. A good balance of luck and planning, as well as the fact that each tile selected by another player potentially impacts your planning/scoring, means players were invested in the action throughout the game. You must be nimble in this game, knowing when to shift gears and abandon a failed strategy is key.
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published in 2004
1. Saint Petersburg
2. Power Grid
3. Ticket to Ride
4. Around the World in 80 Days
5. Memoir '44
6. Ys
7. Niagara
Around the World in 80 Days is a light game that doesn't get as much love on BGG as other, similar games. It's a fast paced, fun romp with a push-your-luck element that scales well and can be taught in under 10 minutes.
St. Petersburg is a classic for me -- before there was London or 7 Wonders, there was St. Petersburg. If you love those games, you owe it to yourself to try it out.
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4.
Board Game: Caylus
[Average Rating:7.97 Overall Rank:11]
Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published in 2005:
1. Caylus
2. Indonesia
3. Kreta
4. Twilight Struggle
5. Hacienda
6. Shadows over Camelot
7. Vegas Showdown
Medium to Heavy-weight Worker Placement and Area Control games are some of my absolute favorite -- and some great ones were published in 2005.
Caylus took WP to the next level and, in my opinion, this release represents the pinnacle of the Ystari line to this day (although I think it's very, very close with Yspahan -- which I sometimes enjoy more).
Indonesia is a mind-blowing experience, and Kreta -- although not widely available, is an oustanding example of area control done right: countless similar games exist, but few are as fun for me as this one.
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6.
Board Game: Agricola
[Average Rating:8.25 Overall Rank:2]
Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 from Games Published in 2007:
1. Agricola
2. Notre Dame
3. In the Year of the Dragon
4. Kingsburg
5. Colosseum
6. El Capitán
7. Hamburgum
What a great year for games. Agricola proved to me worthy of all the hype and despite a learning curve hurdle has provided hours upon hours of enjoyment. Rosenberg is now a favorite designer, and his harvest trilogy ranks amongst my favorite game.
Stefan Feld is a designer competing for that position -- and two of his designs in 2007 (Notre Dame and ITYOTD) showcase his abilities.
Not to be forgotten, "Big Mac" Gerdts' Hamburgum is a very enjoyable introduction to his rondel system, which would reach it's pinnacle for me a few years later, with the release of Navegador.
With all the great games released in 2007, some of my favorites couldn't even make the arbitrary cut -- e.g. games like Cuba, König von Siam, Brass, Galaxy Trucker, Container, and Thebes (which introduced a brilliant time-turn order mechanic, which has since been leveraged in other great games -- like Wallace's in Tinner's Trail).
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7.
Board Game: Le Havre
[Average Rating:8.09 Overall Rank:6]
Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published in 2008:
1. Le Havre
2. Stone Age
3. Chicago Express
4. Tinners' Trail
5. Dominion
6. Steel Driver
7. Dixit
2008 might be my favorite year so far -- it offered Le Havre (my all-time favorite game and the pinnacle of the Harvest Trology), Stone Age (which is just plain "fun" and has allowed me to introduce countless people to gaming), Chicago Express (a brilliant, zero-luck game that serves as a great introduction to auction-based train games), and Tinner's Trail (one of my favorite designs from the great Martin Wallace).
Other good games that didn't make the Top 7: Hab & Gut, The Princes of Machu Picchu, 2 de Mayo, Metropolys, and Cavum.
Games published in this year which I own, have yet to get to the table, and could compete for the list: Confucius & Space Alert.
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published in 2009:
1. At the Gates of Loyang
2. Hansa Teutonica
3. Macao
4. Havana
5. Vasco da Gama
6. Endeavor
7. Kaigan
In a somewhat down year, there were a few bright spots:
Uwe completes the hat-trick and proves he can do no wrong by putting out the third consecutive game of the year in my house (note: this title would soon after be lost with the release of Merkator).
Feld's Macao continues his string of unique, engaging designs with fresh mechanics.
Kaigan is the sleeper hit of the year, with a programming mechanic executed brilliantly.
Games published in this year which I own, have yet to get to the table, and could compete for the list: Automobile & Opera.
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published In 2010:
1. Inca Empire
2. Dominant Species
3. Grand Cru
4. 7 Wonders
5. The Speicherstadt
6. Navegador
7. Troyes
Another good year -- Inca Empire was a huge hit from the first game, with high tension and balance, it's a typical game where your timing must be perfect to win: get aggressive early, and you will lose on the home stretch; invest too much, and you'll never catch up.
Dominant Species re-set the bar for excellence in area control and was a epic experience all around.
And after avoiding it for long enough, I ended up buying 7 Wonders and finding it's a fantastic filler that's easy to teach and scales incredibly well.
The Speicherstadt is a smaller-box game with the simple, unique bidding mechanism where the earliest claim on a resource allows first preference to purchase it, but also requires the highest purchase price (vs. later claims on the same resource). It plays fast and will see the table often.
Games which just barely missed the cut: Poseidon, Glen More, Luna, Mystery Express, and Merkator.
Games published in this year which I own, have yet to get to the table, and could compete for the list: Pret-a-Porter, Chocolatle, De Vulgari Eloquentia.
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Riz Kar
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
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My Personal Top 7 Games Published In 2011:
I'm still playing through 2011 releases, some of which I know I will love. Having said that, here are the top 7 as they stand today:
1. The Castles of Burgundy
2. Trajan
3. Vanuatu
4. Singapore
5. Ninjato
6. Walnut Grove
7. Urban Sprawl
To be played: A Few Acres of Snow, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Ora et Labora, Hawaii, and a few others!
Feld is on a tear for me right now -- I loved both Die Burgen von Burgund and Trajan. Vanuatu, with a few more plays, may best them both -- the action selection via majority control with programming and turn order implications works brilliantly.
Singapore was fresh and fun, Ninjato felt like a re-fresh of Stone Age (but in a good way), Walnut Grove reminds me of an "Agricola/Loyang-Lite," and Urban Sprawl was only a disappointment to the extent that I expected another game as good as Dominant Species (it's still a good game).
Better get the remaining 2011 releases played before the Essen 2012 Canonical goes up!
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