Category Archives: Best of List

Best of List

Gaming Theory: Yes, I’m A Bit Of A Hipster – Here Is My Hipster List

In the last year, I realized something about my gaming habits and preferences that perhaps I should have, but never did notice. I seem to be a bit of a gaming hipster!? I think…

When I think about the sorts of games I like, regardless of category or genre, I find my tastes are a bit unusual compared to pretty much anyone I know around me. In fact, it’s kind of a problem because I very rarely get to actually play the games I would play if it were exclusively just up to me. Part of this I think, has to do with my age, I have been playing games for nearly 4 decades at this point, at least 2-3 decades more than most of my peers, which might explain my tastes to some degree; nostalgia and all that.

Regardless, in the spirit of Hipsterism, I thought I would talk about my preferences a bit, which, by default, has produced a kind of Hipster list!

What I will do is choose a genre of gaming, and for each genre, I will assume that I have a gaming group raring to play this weekend. Which game would I choose!?

Role-Playing Game

I’m going to split Role-Playing into three sub-genres because I do see RPG’s as something of a quirk of mine and picking just one game just won’t do.

Fantasy – 1st Edition AD&D
The classics in their original form can still be enjoyed thanks to the Wizards of the Coast reprints.

Here’s the thing: I love fantasy RPG’s—truly. I could spend hours agonizing over a top 10 list, shuffling titles around, and second-guessing myself. But one thing is certain: Classic 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most robust and compelling RPG traditions ever created for fantasy storytelling. Hands down.

Note, I did not call 1st edition AD&D a game, because to me, it’s always been more than just that, nor would I exactly escribe it as an RPG by today’s standards. AD&D is unique, a game with a very special approach and essence which did not exist before it in any game and has not been replicated in any games since. Every version of D&D that followed lost sight of this hidden essence, that magic that exists between the game as a rule set and the tradition that was born in Gygax’s definitive work. AD&D as a gaming tradition, an activity, and a collaborative storytelling tool, far exceeded the presumed simplicity of being a rule system and a game. I don’t know that Gygax intended for this to be true about his game, quite to the contrary, I think he was trying to create just that, a definitive rule set with AD&D, but like any art form, happy accidents happen. That happy little accident would never again be repeated, and every edition of the game has tried but failed to recapture the magic of the original.

Mind you, this is not for the lack of trying; in fact, I think most editions of the game have tried very hard to mirror the magic of AD&D, but the truth is that most designers even today can’t fully explain why this original version is different. I don’t think I could fully explain it either; it just is. An intangible quality exists in AD&D that is simply ineffable. As ineffable as it may be, I feel obligated to at least try to explain it, but I say this here and now, this is NOT about nostalgia.

Why do I gravitate toward this strange and inexplicable classic? Because I’ve always believed (as did Gygax) and still do that the most powerful, memorable role-playing happens when players don’t know the rules inside and out of how it’s done behind the screen. In the case of AD&D, it’s mostly because the rules are unknowable, thanks to the cryptic way in which they are described in what I consider the most important book in the RPG hobby ever written, the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide.

The 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide is one of the most unique books ever written. It doesn’t just guide you through the process of creating worlds for players to live in, but it teaches you how to present that world in a way that will inspire players to believe in it.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a critique of AD&D. Every player, given the chance, will lean into what they know; it’s only natural that when you know the rules of a game, you start using those rules to your advantage as a game. True magic happens when players don’t know how the game works. The less they know, the more they have to trust their natural instincts at the table. Not knowing the rules activates your imagination, and players start acting like people living in a story rather than characters moving through a system. They make choices that feel right, because they don’t have the option to make sure their choices are mechanically sound. This is the magic of AD&D, it refuses you the foundation of rules upon which to make decisions, leaving you to your collaborative imaginations. Some (in fact, most) would argue this is bad game design, but I would argue that it’s perfect game design. It makes the act of role-playing the only avenue for all participants. There is no game here upon which to hang your hat.

And that’s where the magic happens.

Especially in fantasy, where gods walk the earth, monsters lurk in the dark, and magic bends the very fabric of reality. Not knowing how everything works is a feature, not a bug. It creates a sense of wonder, of discovery, of trying things to see what they do. Players aren’t just learning about the world, they’re learning how its very physics of the world operates.

There were many versions of Dungeons and Dragons, both official and unofficial, but every book that followed 1st edition AD&D strived to be a rulebook first, presenting the game as a mechanical architecture for creating a game at the table that everyone, especially players, could understand. Only 1st edition AD&D saw itself as a creative toolkit for collaborative storytelling, targeting the DM as its master.

For me, 1st Edition AD&D will always be my first love and for that it can be easy to write it off as nostalgia and often with old school games this is the case with me, but not so with AD&D. If I had the chance, I’d run a classic game exactly as I believe it was always meant to be played: with a little mystery, a lot of imagination, and just enough chaos to keep everyone guessing.

Science-Fiction – Alternity

I was this close to picking The Aliens RPG by Free League Games. It’s a fantastic system for intense, edge-of-your-seat one-shots. But let’s be honest: once the xenomorphs are out in the open, the mystery that is the Alien movies vanishes, and with it, a lot of the drama. It’s hard to stretch that tension into a long-term campaign without it wearing thin, despite the fantastic game design that went into the Aliens RPG. I love it, but a good foundation for a long term RPG campaign – it’s not. It is a one-shot, nothing more, nothing less.

If Gygax is the pioneer of fantasy RPG’s, there is no question that Bill Slaviscek and Richard Baker were the pioneers of science-fiction RPG’s. Alternity is a master class in how science fiction should be approached as a storytelling game.

So in the end, it came down to a real heavyweight match: Star Wars RPG by West End Games versus Alternity by TSR/Wizards of the Coast. And while both hold their own with style and substance, I give the edge to Alternity for one reason only: The Stardrive campaign setting.

The setting designed by Richard Baker, one of the sharpest minds in the business, pushed Alternity over the top for me. It’s original, ambitious, and packed with the kind of rich lore that inspires long-term storytelling.

The Stardrive campaign setting is an epic tale of humanity’s rise to the stars, and despite being written in the late 90’s, the history of this setting rings more true today than it did back then. It’s a fascinating read, almost as if it’s a prediction.

But Alternity as a system is more than just a great way to bring a setting to life. It’s the unsung pioneer of the d20 era. Before 3rd Edition D&D made the mechanic mainstream, Alternity was already out there, blending class-based progression with skill-based freedom in a way that felt sleek and forward-thinking. It wasn’t just a set of rules, it was a toolkit for building any kind of science fiction world you could dream up. It’s the tragedy of the 21st century that Wizards of the Coast would take the d20 system invented with such perfection and completely botch it over the course of 3rd, 4th, and 5th edition D&D. They had the perfect model for a perfect system and decided to foolishly ignore it, but I digress.

Need spacefaring starships, cybernetic upgrades, rogue AIs, mutant powers, alien civilizations..the list goes on and on! It’s all there. Not just as a flavor, but with clean, well-designed mechanics that make it all sing at the table. There is no science-fiction setting that has ever been or ever will be created that you can’t replicate with perfection with the Alternity RPG.

I still believe that West End Games take on Star Wars is the best version of a Star Wars RPG to date. In effect, it makes Star Wars feel more hard science fiction, unlike the movies that pushed the setting into science fantasy.

Alternity gave us a framework where science fiction didn’t just feel possible, it felt limitless. That’s why, for me, it’s the gold standard for sci-fi roleplaying.

If I was going to run a science-fiction game today, there is no question it would be Alternity. The only exception I would make is for Star Wars, in that case, it would be the West End version of the game.

Other – Mage The Ascension

Over the past thirty years, I’ve run World of Darkness chronicles more times than I can count, and every single one stands out in my memory. There’s something about this universe that sticks with you. It comes in many shades: vampires brooding in neon-lit alleys, werewolves howling at the edge of the apocalypse, and wraiths lost in their own sorrow. But the default flavor has always been Vampire: The Masquerade.

And don’t get me wrong, Vampire deserves its fame. It’s probably the most iconic and approachable entry in the World of Darkness line, and for good reason. But if you came to me right now and said, “Run a World of Darkness game,” I know exactly what I’d pick: Mage: The Ascension.

Like Vampire, Mage puts players in the shoes of powerful supernatural beings. But where Vampire centers on politics, survival, and control over the mortal underworld, something players can more easily connect with, Mage reaches for something far more abstract and far more profound.

One of the big burdens of Mage The Ascension is that it’s focused on a wide range of unique takes on belief systems. It’s one of those RPG’s where everyone needs to read it cover to cover to really understand it, it’s difficult to present it as a GM. White Wolf games require a lot of self-reading because so much of the games storytelling is buried in the details of the setting and aesthetic backdrops, but nowhere is this more true than Mage.

In Mage, your faction isn’t just a club or a bloodline, it’s a belief system. A worldview. And the war isn’t over turf or influence, it’s over control of reality itself.

The Technocracy reigns in the modern age, shaping the world through science, reason, and the rigid laws of physics. But the twist is that, this version of reality is just another kind of magic, one that’s been accepted by consensus. Other mages, the ones who Awaken to alternate truths (the players), fight back not with bullets or blades but with paradigm-shattering ideas. The conflict is philosophical, spiritual, and metaphysical; the journey I can only describe as a mind-bending acid trip.

When you run Mage, you’re telling a story about characters who don’t just cast magic, they reshape the fabric of existence. And the more they push, the more the world pushes back. It’s a game where players don’t just feel powerful, they begin to believe in the power of belief itself.

To this day, I’ve never had the chance to run a full Mage chronicle—and I’ve been itching to do so for years. I love this setting. I ache for the chance to guide a group through its mysteries. If the opportunity ever came up? Let’s just say I’d be all in.

Boardgames

When it comes to board games, the number of categories is ridiculous, and I could make a solid argument for any of them. If, however, you forced me to pick three, forsaking all others, I think this would be the list.

Lifestyle Games – Twilight Imperium
Without question, the single best boardgame ever designed…period.

If I could conjure up a dedicated group of Twilight Imperium fans with the snap of my fingers, I’d be running a weekly game in a heartbeat, and I doubt I’d ever get tired of it. I know because I once had that, and it was and still is to this day, the best boardgaming experience I have ever had. It’s an irreplaceable memory that I will always chase because, in my view, Twilight Imperium is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

Twilight Imperium isn’t just a board game. It’s a commitment, a journey, and for those willing to invest the time, it becomes something greater: a lifestyle. This is a game with layers on top of layers. What looks at first like a complex 4X space opera transforms into an ever-evolving, deeply human drama of ambition, alliances, betrayals, and vision.

Yes, it’s long. But that time investment isn’t a drawback it’s what allows the story to breathe. The game unfolds like an epic saga, each session an emergent narrative shaped by the choices, fears, and aspirations of the players around the table. It’s a game that brings out raw human drama, both imagined and real at the table. I have seen how passionate players can get about this game and I thirst for those experiences.

On the surface, Twilight Imperium is a combination of a civilization builder and war game, filled with rich lore, factions with asymmetric powers, and galactic conquest. But dig deeper, and you’ll find a game of psychology, political maneuvering, negotiation, and strategic bluffing. As I like to call it, the real game behind the mechanical one. Every move is loaded with meaning. Every word spoken a ploy. Every silence held can shift the balance of power.

You don’t just play Twilight Imperium, you live it for the duration of the game. You embody your faction’s ethos. You forge uneasy alliances, backstab former friends, and navigate the ever-turbulent currents of the Galactic Council. You calculate every vote, every trade, every fleet deployment with a mix of tactical precision and raw gut instinct.

With two dozen unique factions, dynamic objectives, modular galaxy maps, and endless human variables, Twilight Imperium offers infinite replayability. It’s a true modern masterpiece, an epic that’s far too often overlooked because of its scale and length. But for those who make the leap, the rewards are unmatched.

This used to be a game I played all the time and I can’t think of any gaming experience I miss more, it’s right up there with 1st edition AD&D and Battletech!

Tactical Games – Battletech
Its a cross between boardgaming, miniature gaming and role-playing.

Some might call BattleTech a miniatures game and sure, technically it is. But to me? It’s always been a dice-chucker board game disguised as a tactical miniature game, dressed up in pewter and plastic, pretending to be part of the miniatures crowd while doing its own brilliant thing as a role-playing game. It’s a strange mixture but it works.

BattleTech is incredible for three big reasons.

First, the lore. It’s a sprawling, obsessively detailed tapestry of interstellar warfare, dynasties, betrayals, and battle mechs the size of small buildings. You can trace the fictional design history of a single ‘Mech model, who built it, where it was deployed, how it evolved with more depth and nuance than many real-world war machines. We’re talking more lore than Warhammer 40k, and I don’t say that lightly. If you’re a story-driven gamer like me, this universe is an absolute goldmine of narrative potential. It’s a robust setting that rivals most role-playing games.

Second, the game itself. The core mechanics of BattleTech have remained remarkably intact for over 40 years. In a world where games are constantly rebooted, patched, streamlined, or gutted for new editions and marketing cycles, BattleTech is a white elephant. Buy a rulebook or a miniature in the ‘80s, and your game is still valid today. Still playable. Still awesome. That kind of long-term commitment to players and collectors is practically unheard of in the tabletop world. And here’s the kicker: as of 2025, BattleTech is the third-highest-grossing miniatures game in the world. Proof positive that you don’t need to screw over your fanbase with constant reinvention for a cash grab to make a living in the industry.

But honestly, those first two reasons are just icing on the cake. The real reason you should play BattleTech is this:

It’s a glorious, chaotic, beer-and-pretzels dice chucking tactical slugfest. A crunchy, customizable, story-driven war game where everything that can go wrong probably will — and that’s the fun of it. Yes, there’s tactical play, but this isn’t chess. This is a cinematic, slow-motion trainwreck of overheating engines, ammo explosions, critical hits, and desperate Hail Mary maneuvers. It’s a game where you feel the damage, as your mech gets carved apart limb by limb in a ballet of ballistic fire and reactor meltdowns.

Only one other game I’ve played, Warmachine, gets anywhere near the same granular feel of mechanized combat. Unfortunately, like most miniature games, the constant rule changes, reboots, and updates completely ruined Warmachine. Battletech has stayed the course and remains all about managing your loadout, balancing your heat, and watching as your prized war machine limps across the battlefield, missing an arm and trailing smoke. That’s peak drama. That’s BattleTech.

I love this game. Always have. It’s one of the few on my shelf where pieces I bought in the ‘80s can legitimately still hit the table, no updates needed, no strings attached.

Sadly, like many of my hipster gaming passions, BattleTech isn’t exactly mainstream in my circles. I rarely get to play these days. But if someone asked me to drop everything for a match?

Hell yes. I’d be there in a heartbeat.

Event Games – Western Empire (Advanced Civilization)
The original Avalon Hill version of this game was quite ugly, like many games back then, they lived in your imagination which was kind of the point of table top gaming in general.

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you already know War Room is one of my favorite event games. It doesn’t make the hipster list, though, mostly because I actually get to play it and I believe it to be a well-designed modern game, there is nothing hipster about it. My friends are kind enough to indulge me once a year (usually around my birthday), and while it’s big, bold, and unique, at the end of the day, it’s still an Axis & Allies descendant.

Now Western Empires, or as I still instinctively call it, Advanced Civilization, is hipster gaming royalty.

Shut up and sit down, I think did the best and most honest review of this game I have ever seen, flaws and all, but they their is one observation that they sort of failed to make which is that what they saw as flaws in the game from a gamers perspective are very intentionally designed features. It’s sort of like accusing Star Wars of having too many lightsabers.

I’ve talked about this game plenty before, and for good reason. It’s a sprawling, epic beast of a board game. Designed for a minimum of five players, though let’s be honest, it really wants nine (yeah you heard that right). Clocking in at a cool 12 to 15 hours, it’s less a game and more a full-day historical event. It is, without exaggeration, one of the hardest games to actually get to the table.

To put it in perspective, I haven’t played a live game of Advanced Civilization in over 20 years. Two decades. And yet, I’ve always kept a copy on my shelf. Just in case. Always hopeful that one day this one will get its moment in the sun.

At its core, Western Empires is a game of historical empire-building and economic maneuvering. There’s trading. There’s a touch of area control. Sometimes, it even pretends to be a war game. But really, it’s about managing the wild, unpredictable chaos of history. You stretch your reach, you push your luck, and you try to outmaneuver your rivals not with brute force, but with sharp wits and sharper tongues.

One of the biggest reasons this game rarely hits the table, aside from the sheer time investment and player count requirements, is that modern gamers often expect strategy games to reward clever, clean moves. Western Empires doesn’t care about your strategic brilliance. This is not a game of perfectly calculated efficiency. It’s a game of negotiation, adaptability, and psychological warfare. The best players aren’t the ones with the most optimal city placement, unit movement or strategic planning. They’re the ones who can read a room, spin a trade, and deliver a betrayal with a smile while staying the course of the inevitable and uncontrollable ups and downs of the game’s natural ebb and flow.

You don’t play the game, you play the players. That’s where the real magic is.

There’s really nothing else quite like it. The closest modern comparison might be Small World, and that’s a real stretch for a comparison, as it matches only some of the subtle nuances of mechanics. Western Empires occupies a weird, wonderful niche all on its own.

And that’s why it’s here, on the hipster list. I know full well this kind of game isn’t for everyone. Hell, it’s barely for anyone. Finding eight other souls who are all willing to commit an entire day to a relic of the 80s is an impossible task in most gaming circles. But if I ever found the right group, you better believe I’d make this a yearly tradition, right up there with War Room.

Quirky, chaotic, and criminally underplayed. That’s what the hipster list is all about.

Euro Games –

Miniature Games

When it comes to miniature games I would argue there are also quite a few different ways these games can be categorized, but I think a simple way to do it would be to split it between casual games and competitive games. It’s a broad, but it’s easy to distinguish way to do it. I would only add one third category, which I would call semi-miniature games, in which I would place miniature games that don’t have a miniature painting hobby component at all.

Casual – Warhammer 40k
40k is an all-encompassing hobby, stretching far beyond simply playing the game, and that is kind of the point of it. It’s a bit like loving Star Wars.

Ironically, in 2025, playing the most popular miniature game in the world might be the most hipster thing you can do.

Why? Because the moment Warhammer 40k comes up in conversation, it’s almost guaranteed someone will start rattling off a list of games that are “better in every way” and listing all the things that are wrong with 40k. And they’re not wrong, there are more balanced, more strategic, more thoughtfully designed games out there, lots of them. But sticking with something you know could be objectively replaced by a dozen superior alternatives? That’s peak hipster energy!

But let’s talk about the most fascinating part of the 40k experience: the community.

Across the globe, the Warhammer 40k community treats the game like a competitive titan, and to be fair, it is the largest and most active competitive tournament scene in all of tabletop gaming, by a long shot. The sheer scale of organized play is staggering.

And yet… Games Workshop, the company behind 40k, doesn’t seem to agree. At all.

To GW, Warhammer 40k is primarily a miniature line, secondarily a source of lore and novels, and somewhere far down the list, it’s technically a game. Their support for competitive play feels more like a reluctant nod to what the community chooses to do with their game, than a purposeful commitment or intent for it. The rules are often unbalanced, the game systems are regularly reworked or mismanaged, and it’s clear that game design is not what drives the brand. What we have here is a competitive community built on a system that was never meant to bear the weight of serious play. And somehow… it thrives on that very thing.

In a word, I would argue that Warhammer 40k is not a great competitive game, and when people trash-talk it, that’s really what they are talking about. But it’s a fantastic hobby and a super fun, casual experience, aka, exactly what it’s designed to be.

It’s a beer-and-pretzels dice-chucker in a gothic sci-fi shell, where the real joy comes from painting your army, crafting your own narrative, and then putting it all on the table to roll some dice and blow stuff up. The rules are often clunky, the strategy is there only to a point, but largely buried under layers of “smoke and mirrors.” Winning isn’t about mastering a perfect system, it usually comes down to how well you roll the dice.

And despite all that? I love it.

The mission system is genuinely dynamic, with flavorful objectives and varied scenarios that keep the game feeling fresh. The list-building is wide open, full of creative options and wild combos. But at its core, this is a casual game through and through, one that thrives on the atmosphere around the table and the lore on which it’s based, not in the pursuit of perfection of its gameplay.

Warhammer 40k is about collecting and painting miniatures, swapping war stories, and diving into the endless supply of pulpy, over-the-top lore of a universe where everything is grim, dark, and somehow still gloriously silly.

It’s a hobby. A vibe. A lifestyle, even. Flaws and all, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Competative – Songs of Ice and Fire
I would argue that Songs of Ice and Fire the miniature game is the only rank and file miniature game ever made that actually works well as a game rather than a terrible history lesson about how boring war on the battlefield actually is.

I’ll be the first to admit: I don’t play A Song of Ice & Fire much these days. It’s had a rough road, marred by some truly questionable management decisions over the years and plagued with availability problems. But even with all that baggage, I still consider it one of the most compelling competitive miniature games out there.

This is very much a game that lives in the “I wish” category. I wish it had been better supported, wish it had stuck the landing in balance and they did it all much faster, and wish it still had a place at my table. There’s a part of me that’s still hopeful it’ll stabilize and find its footing again, maybe even make a comeback in my group.

I went in deep on this one. Despite its flaws, I found A Song of Ice & Fire to be one of the most engaging strategy games to hit the miniature scene since Star Wars: Armada. At its core is a genuinely smart design, layered list-building, unique unit interactions, and some fascinating sub-war game mechanics like the NCU board and tactical card play. When it clicked, it really clicked.

Except when it didn’t.

To be fair, most of the problems I ran into weren’t with the design itself — they were with the balance. And yes, you could argue that design and balance go hand in hand (and you wouldn’t be wrong), but I still think there’s a meaningful distinction. A game can be brilliantly designed but hampered by poor balancing decisions, one can be fine-tuned, the other is just a flaw. That’s A Song of Ice & Fire in a nutshell: great foundation, uneven execution.

Now, I haven’t kept up with the latest updates, so maybe things are better these days. But in my local scene, the damage was done, people moved on, and getting a game back into circulation after a group loses faith in it is no small feat.

And then, there’s the personal hurdle: painting.

This one’s tough for me. Being a mass army game, ASOIAF demands batch painting. Lots of similar models, unit after unit, rank after rank. And repetitive painting is my kryptonite. I just can’t stay motivated painting the same miniature ten times in a row. It sucks the joy out of the hobby for me, and ASOIAF is particularly brutal in that regard with no list building avoidance some games offer.

All that said? I still think this is a fantastic game. It deserves recognition. It’s competitive, it’s clever, and when it’s running smoothly, it offers a rich tactical experience that not many miniature games can match. That’s why it earns a spot on the hipster list, a flawed gem that still shines when the light hits just right.

That said… its time may be running out. Modern miniature design is evolving fast, and with games like Warcrow on the horizon, strong contenders are lining up to take this slot permanently.

The Most Fun – Star Wars: X-Wing
In my mind, Star Wars X-Wing is still one of the best miniature games ever made. PERIOD.

When talking about the miniature game hobby, there’s always one title that sparks debate, some say it barely qualifies as a miniatures game at all. I’m talking about X-Wing. And frankly, I don’t buy the skepticism. Slap those sleek ships onto a sprue and suddenly there’d be no doubt where it belongs.

Yes, it’s pre-painted. Yes, it’s more accessible than most. But that doesn’t disqualify it, it redefines the space. X-Wing was designed to walk the tightrope between a serious competitive game and a relaxed casual experience, and it succeeded. Brilliantly. This game brought three key advantages to the table that most miniature games either ignore or fail to execute well. And those three factors are why X-Wing stood tall in the market for years, even managing to shake Games Workshop out of its golden-era complacency.

First, the pacing. X-Wing matches are quick, typically 45 minutes. That’s practically warp speed in miniature gaming terms. It made the game ideal for tournaments and casual nights. You could run multiple matches in an evening, try out a bunch of new lists, and still have time to argue about who really shot first. There’s no hour-long rules refresh or setup slog—just “Hey, want to play?” and you’re in. That kind of approachability is rare in the hobby.

Second, it’s Star Wars. That’s not just thematic dressing—it’s a gateway. The brand brings in people who’ve never even looked twice at a miniature game. You don’t have to explain the appeal of piloting an X-Wing. You show someone the TIE Fighters screaming across the table, and they’re already halfway sold. I’ve never seen a non-gamer pick up Warhammer 40K on a whim. But X-Wing? That’s the one that brings in the curious, the casual, the movie fans, the dads and uncles and kids who just want to fly the Falcon.

Third, and maybe most importantly, X-Wing made high-level tactical play accessible. The rules were simple on the surface, but the depth was staggering. Movement planning, arc dodging, list synergies, action economy, there was real meat on those bones. You didn’t have to learn 200 pages of codex lore to be competitive. But if you wanted to go deep, the game rewarded you. It hit that perfect balance: easy to learn, hard to master.

X-Wing wasn’t just another miniatures game. It was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment in the hobby. It opened the door to a new audience, streamlined what was possible in design, and reminded the rest of the industry that a game could be both fast and deep, fun and tactical, cinematic and competitive.

Whether you play it today or remember it from its heyday, X-Wing deserves its place in the conversation, not just as a miniature game, but as one of the best games to ever grace a tabletop. In my personal opinion, its the single best miniature game that we have gotten in the 4 decades of I’ve been around.

Best Design – Star Wars Armada

When first announced, everyone thought that this would be X-Wing but with capital ships. It certainly looks the part, but Star Wars Armada is an entirely different and far heavier game that demanded a lot more from its audiance.

One final entry I’d like to sneak onto the hipster list—and I say this with as much objectivity as a subjective opinion can carry—is my pick for the best-designed miniature game out there.

To take this crown, a game has to meet a singular, uncompromising criterion: skill must reign supreme. Like chess, where grandmasters fall only to their peers, this kind of game leaves no room for chance to decide the victor. It must be a pure contest of mastery, where the dice are just accessories, not arbiters of fate. And in the world of miniatures, that game is Star Wars: Armada.

Sure, there are dice. But make no mistake, those little cubes only matter when two evenly matched minds clash. In Armada, outcomes are forged not by luck, but by foresight, precision, and relentless practice. It’s a game that rewards not just play, but study. The kind of study that turns casual fans into hardened tacticians.

But here’s where it gets really compelling: Armada doesn’t just test you on the battlefield. It demands mastery before the first ship even hits the table. The list-building is deep, nuanced, and packed with options that will make your head spin if you’re not ready for it. Understanding the shifting meta, anticipating counter-play, these are not fringe skills, they’re the bedrock of victory. The game is highly deterministic, which means your preparation matters as much, if not more, than your moment-to-moment decision-making at the table.

That it’s set in the Star Wars universe, with massive capital ships slugging it out in glorious slow-motion ballet? That’s just the sweet, sweet icing on a very dense, very intimidating cake. But fair warning: Armada is not a casual fling. It’s a demanding, often unforgiving beast that can feel downright brutal if you approach it half-heartedly. You don’t play Armada, you train for it, like a chess grandmaster gearing up for the championship board.

Best of List, Hidden Gems

D&D Theory: How The OSR is Re-Writing D&D History

I count myself lucky to have lived through the golden age of tabletop role-playing—the glorious trifecta of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s. It was a time of wild imagination and fearless design. From the old-school grit of 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons to the brooding elegance of White Wolf’s World of Darkness, from the sleek reinvention of the d20 system to the rebellious birth of the OSR—those years were, in a word, glorious.

But I was there for the hard times, too. The day TSR gasped its final breath. The strange, gamey detour of 4th Edition. And the day we lost Gary Gygax, the original Dungeon Master, the man who kicked off this beautiful madness in the first place.

It’s been a hell of a ride—but today isn’t about D&D’s past.

Today, we’re talking about the future. Specifically, the way this community—scrappy, brilliant, and unrelenting—is seizing the reins and dragging Dungeons & Dragons forward, not with bloated corporate rulebooks, but with raw creativity. Today we are talking OSR games!

Because while Wizards of the Coast seems hellbent on tarnishing the game’s legacy with one corporate faceplant after another, the real torchbearers are out here in the trenches, putting out some of the most exciting, innovative, and downright fun material the hobby’s seen in years.

So yes, we’ll throw a little well-earned shade at Wizards of the Coast. That’s dessert. But the real feast? It’s the creators. The OSR authors, artists, and designers who are resurrecting the heart of D&D with zines, hacks, modules, and games that feel like they’re alive. This is a love letter to them—and a look at the bold, weird, and wonderful future they’re building for all of us.

Let’s get into it!

What Is The OSR Really?

Let’s get some discourse out of the way for those less informed. Once upon a time, this was a pretty straightforward question. The OSR—Old School Renaissance (or Revival, depending on who you ask)—was a movement of grognards and die-hards who loved the old-school D&D systems so much, they used the Open Game License (spawned in the 3rd Edition era) to breathe new life into them. They published retro-clones, retooled classics, and sprinkled in house rules like spice on a well-worn stew.

But that was just the beginning.

Today, the OSR has evolved into something bigger, weirder, and far more powerful. It’s still about preserving the spirit of the old ways—sure. But more than that, it’s become a sandbox for unfiltered creativity. It’s where designers and dungeon masters throw off the shackles of corporate oversight, social media discourse, and sanitized storytelling. No HR departments, no focus groups, no trend-chasing. Just pure, undiluted game design.

Think of it like the indie film scene: raw, passionate, and often a little rough around the edges—but in the best possible way. The OSR is where the Tarantinos and Lynches of tabletop design hang their weird little hats, crafting games that are as bold and bloody as they are beautiful.

In a word? It’s a movement.

But more than that—it’s the movement that’s shaping the future of tabletop gaming. And, oddly enough, because of Wizards of the Coast’s seemingly inescapable inability to get out of their own way, it’s also very much the future of Dungeons & Dragons itself.

The True Catalyst – Relevance

You might look at the endless headlines—Wizards of the Coast tripping over its own feet, again and again—and think, “Ah, there it is. That’s why the community is turning away”. Sure, their shameless blunders haven’t exactly earned them any goodwill, but that’s not really the whole story.

The truth is, fans are oddly loyal. Painfully loyal. People love Dungeons & Dragons—even when they don’t love the people making it. Even when they can’t stand the current edition. There’s this almost irrational tolerance in the community. As long as Wizards of the Coasts keeps evolving their game, their first love, people are willing to grit their teeth and smile through the nonsense.

So no, the shift we’re seeing isn’t just a reaction to Wizards screwing up—though they’ve done plenty of that.

Dungeons and Dragons 2024 edition is now fully released. To quote Padme, “so this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause”. Yes, I’m being a bit dramatic!

The real problem…. the one that haunts Hasbro boardrooms like a slow, creeping death… is relevance.

You see, for all its drama and divisiveness, every edition of D&D up until now brought something new. Something big. Each version was both an evolution and a revolution. First and Second Edition laid the foundation for the OSR and that gritty old-school feel. Third Edition gave us tactical depth and rules mastery not to mention the OGL, spawning entire empires like Pathfinder and Castle & Crusades. Even Fourth Edition, the black sheep, gave rise to bold designs like 13th Age and, more recently, MCDM’s Draw Steel. Fifth Edition opened the floodgates to mainstream success and spin-offs as well, but it also gave birth to Critical Role, which opened up millions of creative minds to the world of storytelling possibilities.

Love them or hate them, every edition mattered.

Until now.

Enter the 2024 Edition. D&D’s big 50-year celebration. A chance to show the world that the game still has teeth and that Wizards of the Coast still leads the most prolific franchise in gaming.

And what do we get? A rebrand. A soft reboot. A product that feels neither evolutionary nor revolutionary—just… there. Polished, sure. But also sanitized, safe, and stifled by corporate oversight and performative politics. It’s a game trying to be all things to all people, and in doing so, has managed to feel like nothing at all.

It landed with a whimper. A shrug. A yawn and we are all left holding this hefty, overpriced book wondering… is this it?

Unlike during the Fourth Edition era, when choices were limited and OSR was still in its scrappy youth, the landscape has changed. The OSR has exploded into a kaleidoscope of systems, zines, hacks, and heart-pounding one-shots. What was once a trickle is now a flood. If anything, we’ve gone from too few options to so many that you’ll need a torchbearer just to navigate the shelves.

But, enough prelude. You’re caught up. That’s what’s happening in D&D, a whole lot of nothing and the OSR is here to save the day.

I have made a list like the following before. see this article back in 2021, but here are five more awesome OSR games paving the way for the future of tabletop RPG’s.

Shadowdark

I knew, without a flicker of doubt, that when I reached this point in the article, Shadowdark had to take the lead. From the wildly imaginative mind of Kelsey Dionne, founder of The Arcane Library, Shadowdark isn’t just an OSR game, it’s the answer to the question: What if classic Dungeons & Dragons were designed today, with modern sensibilities but old-school soul?

This game doesn’t merely pay homage to the golden age of RPGs; it resurrects it, reforged in the fires of streamlined design and accessible play. It’s a masterclass in how to respect the past without being shackled by it. Everything about Shadowdark screams purpose- it’s a true dungeon crawler, built from the torchlight up to emphasize danger, tension, and immersive play.

And yet, it’s more than that.

It’s intuitive to run, brilliantly supported by Kelsey and her team, and evolving fast. The game’s Kickstarter success is the stuff of legends, raising over a million dollars in a single day for its upcoming expansion. That’s not just popularity; that’s momentum. And with that momentum comes growth. The system that began as a love letter to torchlit corridors and lurking horrors is now expanding into a full-fledged, grimdark world rich with lore, cultures, monsters, and mystery.

I’m super psyched for this one, it’s very high on my must play list, and I’m certain I’m not the only one if that Kickstarter is any indication.

Mörk Borg

Designed by Pelle Nilsson & Johan Nohr, two guys from my neck of the woods (Sweden), this one falls into the category of a little bit creepy, a little bit gonzo style RPG. While the game is rules light, it has a considerable amount of crunch to it’s combat with a rather viceral doom metal approach to its world design.

In essence, you’re playing in a world that is ending, living out your last days in a brutal and nihilistic setting that forgives your sins but shows you no quarter. It’s full of amazing art and takes a very direct, pick-up-and-play approach that doesn’t feel “one-shotty” thanks to having meat on the bones where it counts and an awesome, addictive grimdark world. Read all about it HERE.

Castles and Crusades

Imagine what would happen if Gary Gygax made a 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons using modern game design techniques, that in a word is Castles & Crusades. A game that takes all of the modern mechanics and streamlining of 3rd edition but with 1st and 2nd edition AD&D sensibilities. That is what the work of Stephen Chenault and his brother Davis Chenault from Troll Lord Games gave us. A true and pure gift.

Castles & Crusades is a reasonably crunchy, yet distinctively Dungeons and Dragons in what I think is probably one of the truest and most honest attempts to re-write Dungeons and Dragons edition history. In so many ways, this is the real 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Everything you think D&D is, is in here but without all the nonsense Wizards of the Coast put us through in the last few editions of the game. Pure, unfiltered Dungeons and Dragons!

The amazing thing is that it’s a free game, you can get it here and check it out yourself.

Dolmenwood

I have talked a lot in the past about Old School Essentials, having run the game for the better part of 3 years in a single campaign. It is an awesome system that is essentially a Dungeons and Dragons construction kit, but also, when you get right down to it, it is effectively classic B/X 1st edition D&D.

Dolmenwood takes that base and builds upon it an entire setting with a very focused playstyle geared towards exploration of the world but also of an underlining history and story of the setting. Gavin Norman, the creator of both Old School Essentials and Dolmenwood, is probably one of my favorite OSR designers because he has an uncanny sense of order and organization, understanding the base principle of creating content and systems for the practical exercise that is playing a tabletop game.

Bringing that same approach that made Old School Essentials such a pure joy to run and applying it to a setting is exactly what I hoped to find when my Kickstarter PDF’s arrived. This is an excessively easy game to prepare, a vast setting with tremendous attention to detail that is easy to access thanks to this amazing organization and, most of all, absolutely inspiring writing.

I can’t wait to run this game for my friends because I know that this sort of attention to story and detail is exactly what my players crave. They love stories that break expectations, that are based on the characterization of a unique world, and most of all, they love long campaigns that they can lose themselves to.

Hyperborea

Of all the games on this list, Hyperborea is perhaps the most likely to have had an affair with old school 1st edition Dungeons and Dragons. There is clear Dungeons and Dragons DNA burned deeply into this game, and perhaps not surprising given it comes from the creative mind of Jeff Talanian, a known Gygax collaborator.

This game is heavily influenced by Appendix N, the famed list of pulp fiction upon which Dungeons and Dragons was based, but it’s clear from the setting design that Robert E. Howard’s Conan was among the author’s favorite.

You live in a decaying civilization where magic has gone terribly wrong in what I can only describe as a savage mix between Mad Max and High Fantasy. Grim, moody, and overflowing with danger, in Hyperborea, life is cheap, and your characters are less heroes and more survivors as you navigate your way through the primeval denizens that populate this setting. It’s a fantastic game with a big focus on the creation of unique fantasy characters that will undoubtedly break the expectations of even the most veteran tabletop groups.

Conclusion

Ok that’s it for today, hopefully, you found something on this list to explore. There is no question that there are far more games that deserve mention here; trimming this list down to five took considerable restraint. Perhaps I will do another one of these in the near future.

Best of List, Gaming Articles, On The Table, What Makes It Tick

Miniature Game Theory: Picking The Right Game For You

It happened by accident—at least, that’s what I tell myself—but the truth is, I own a lot of miniature games. I’ve painted and played so many that it’s a little scary! I don’t even want to think about how much time and money I’ve sunk into this hobby, especially not around my wife! In today’s article, I’ll take all that hard-earned experience and try to put it to good use by offering some advice on finding the perfect miniature game for you, with a few recommendations sprinkled in.

Let’s dive right in!

The Three Categories Of Miniature Gaming

Most miniature games can be sorted into three broad categories—though many games blur the lines between them. These categories are: hobby-focused games (sometimes called lore-heavy games), mechanics-focused games (often competitive in nature), and narratively focused games (driven by storytelling and immersion).

Now, every game publisher will tell you their game does everything, and technically, they’re not wrong—but the reality is, most games lean heavily into one category more than the others, often to an extreme. Knowing what kind of game you’re getting into and understanding how the community that plays that game sees it is a big part of the key to picking the right game for yourself.

Categorization is key because all miniature games are marketed in a visually exciting way because they ARE visually exciting. If you pick a game like Star Wars: Shatterpoint, you likely have certain expectations and imagery about what the experience might be like (player expectations), but Shatterpoint is a highly mechanized game designed for competitive play, about playing King of the Hill on generic objectives. It’s closer to being a board game than being a miniature game, falling heavily into the Mechanic-Focused category.

Let’s break down these categories for clarity.

Hobby-focused games

Hobby-focused games are all about the experience—stunning miniatures, immersive lore, and endless collection opportunities. Here, the gameplay often takes a backseat to the joy of building, painting, and diving deep into the game’s rich world.

These games are usually supported by expansive novels, army books, special terrain, and a constant stream of new releases. They demand a serious investment—not just in time, but in cold hard cash. Hobby-focused games are easily the most expensive, often costing two to four times more than other types.

A prime example? Warhammer 40k by Games Workshop. To even get started, you’ll need at least a 1,000-point army (2,000 points being standard), translating to anywhere from 50 to 100 models. Before you can even think about playing, you’re looking at hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars spent on miniatures, terrain, rulebooks, and accessories.

While most miniature games can be classified as a hobby to some degree as you will often be assembling and painting miniatures, there is a distinct difference between miniature games being a hobby and a game being hobby-focused. Warhammer: Underworld for example aims to get you playing the game right away with easy-to-assemble miniatures that have colored plastic with a game that is played on a hex board with all the accessories (cards, tokens etc..) included in the box. You can play a full game like Underworld a few hours after you open the box, it is not a hobby-focused game even though you will get the opportunity to paint some miniatures and experience the miniature gaming hobby element inherent in all miniature games.

When all is said and done, you’ll likely spend over $500 and 100+ hours before experiencing the full game of Warhammer 40k as it is intended to be played. No ad will tell you this, and hardcore fans might argue otherwise, but trust me—after 35+ years in the hobby, I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s done it for less.

Warhammer 40k is a hobby-focused game, you will spend just shy of 100 dollars to get into the starter set and after assembling and painting these miniatures you will discover that what you have purchased is not even close to the full game. You are still hundreds of dollars and hours away from experiencing Warhammer 40k from this point. In fact, the starter set doesn’t even teach you the real game, it gives you a sort of “sub-game” of the real thing. Warhammer 40k assumes a lot about what you will spend in terms of dollars and hours preparing to play a full game.

The trick is that this is exactly what Hobby-Focused games are designed to be and it’s what fans of such games want. If it was easy and fast, it would not have the same appeal. To hobby-focused gamers, this long road is seen as an opportunity, not a drawback.

But here’s the thing—fans of hobby games love this level of commitment. The journey of collecting and painting is the whole point. You’re never done, and that’s exactly the appeal. To fans of these hobby-focused games, the journey is the juice.

Mechanics-Focused Games

If hobby games are about immersion, mechanics-focused games are about playing—and playing now. These games prioritize tight, balanced rules over deep lore or hobby elements, often designed for competitive tournament play.

Many of these games require little to no hobby work at all. most come with pre-painted miniatures, easy-to-assemble miniatures and/or low model counts, making them much more accessible for casual or competitive players.

Examples? Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: Armada, with streamlined mechanics and pre-painted minis that let you jump straight into the action. Even hybrid games like Star Wars: Shatterpoint leans into this category, focusing on accessible, tactical gameplay with minimal prep.

Most mechanic-focused games are going to try very hard to make the hobby parts of miniature gaming as painless as possible, even going so far as offering pre-constructed, pre-painted miniatures. The goal of a mechanic-focused game is not only to get you playing right away but more specifically to get you competing right away. Star Wars: X-Wing is a prime example of a game that took this to the furthest extreme. You need roughly 3-6 models, everything is pre-painted and assembled, and essentially you are ready to sign up for tournaments after the unboxing.

Side Note: Star Wars X-Wing has been discontinued by the publisher, but don’t fret, miniature games never truly die and X-Wing is no exception. Communities keep these games alive and there were so many products produced for X-Wing that there are more miniatures available for purchase today than there ever was when the game was still being published.

Mechanics-focused games often feel closer to board games than traditional miniature games, with precise, clearly defined rules that leave no room for “eyeballing it.” These games are generally much cheaper to get to the table while getting the intended full gaming experience.

Narratively Focused Games

Narratively focused games sit on the opposite end of the spectrum from mechanics-driven ones. These games aim to capture a feeling—bringing iconic franchises, historical moments, or unique settings to life in a cinematic way.

Balance and precision take a back seat to storytelling and thematic immersion. Instead of symmetrical matchups, expect scenario-driven play that tries to replicate key moments—whether they’re historical battles or epic fantasy showdowns.

Bolt Action is a fantastic example of a narratively driven game that hybrids a bit into the hobby-focused element. The point of Bolt Action is to create (or use) scenarios that depict historical battles, but the game is not about simulation or exacting rules, it’s about creating the atmosphere of a great action-war movie. It’s about the sensation at the table, the atmosphere of the setting, and quick execution. The extra effort to put together a nicely painted army and building nice terrain is to quench that creative appetite, though I would still argue it leans far more into the narratively driven games rather than the hobby-focused games.

Two great examples of Narrative-focused games are The Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game and Bolt Action. MESBG tries to replicate the lord of the Rings movies, while Bolt Action tries to replicate a movie version of historical World War II battles. In both cases, the games exaggerate the cinematic fantasy to bring the feel and style of their chosen setting to the table.

Understanding Your Interest In Miniature Games

Now that we’ve established a way to categorize games, the next step is figuring out how to use this information to guide your decision and ultimately select the right game for you.

You might already have a gut feeling based on the categories we’ve outlined, leaning more towards one over the others. Preferences are often instinctive and valid, but it’s important to remember that while most games lean toward a particular focus, they usually incorporate elements from all three categories. Even games with a clear identity—like Warhammer 40k being hobby-focused—venture into narrative and mechanics to some extent.

Choosing the right game is about balancing your interests with realistic expectations. To help narrow down your options, consider these three key factors:

Time & Money?

It’s easy to be drawn to what excites you most, but miniature games require a significant investment of both time and money.

Games generally fall into three price categories:

  • Cheap: Around $60-$100, comparable to the cost of a typical board game.
  • Standard: Ranging from $150-$250 for a full experience.
  • Expensive (a.k.a. “Go F* Yourself”)**: $500+ for the complete experience.
The BattleTech Alpha Strike box set is an outstanding value for a game, coming in on the “cheap” category, this box set costs about 90 dollars US and quite literally comes with more than what you need to play a full game. You can buy this box set, never buy any more stuff for Battletech, and play the game forever. This kind of value is rare in the miniature market, but if you love giant robot battles, you can’t do better than this.

Price is not the only consideration however, Battletech can take upwards of 6+ hours to play a single game, so you have to ask yourself that question too. Will you ever have time to play a 6+ hour game?

It’s worth noting that you can spend more or less on any game. For example, you could grab an intro set for Warhammer 40k at $50, but that won’t give you the full experience Games Workshop intends. On the flip side, a core set for Battletech at $90 can offer a well-rounded experience, though diving deeper could cost thousands.

Time commitment follows a similar pattern. You might grab an X-Wing starter set and be playing within minutes, while something like Warhammer Old World could demand 60+ hours of assembly and painting before your first match.

Infinity is a fantastic example of a game that respects your wallet and your time but still offers a very robust gaming experience with extreme collection and expansion opportunities. They do this through masterful design, ensuring that the game is every bit as exciting and fun on a smaller scale with simplified rules as it is with large scale and nearly bottomless rules expansion. A small game from a basic starter kit can cost less than 50 bucks to get into and offer a game session as short as 45 minutes, to larger scale and elaborate battles with deep rules that can cost hundreds of dollars to collect and create play times exceeding 5+ hours.

Some gamers (this one included) love games that have varying scales like this, it makes collection (acquisition) easier and you get to play as you collect, build, and expand. In my eyes, Infinity is one of the best miniature games out there, especially when it comes to respecting your time and money!

Many games market “quick start” options, but the reality is that each game has a clear overhead. Take the time to research what’s truly required to enjoy the full experience and compare it with your available resources.

Miniature Games are a group activity

No matter what game you choose, remember that miniature games are fundamentally social. While they can be enjoyed as a solo hobby (through collecting and painting), the core experience revolves around playing with others. Most games require at least two players, but the best experiences often come from being part of an active community.

Don’t have any friends to play miniature games with but you still want to get into it? Don’t worry, Warcrow Adventures has your back! Ok, I’m going to say this up front, games like Warcrow Adventures (just like any game) are always more fun when you have friends to share them with. But if you want to get into miniature games and you are living in isolation or simply don’t have anyone around to play with, Warcrow Adventures offers a fantastic game that can be played completely solo. It offers fantastic miniatures for you to paint and enjoy the hobby part of miniature gaming with expansion opportunity and because the game’s miniatures are directly connected to Warcrow the miniatures game, you could potentially in the future expand your collection to that game as well.

That said, I still think the best option is to find some friends to play games with, community is just a huge part of this hobby and often it almost doesn’t matter what miniature game you play, as long as you have people to play it with.

Before diving in, make sure your chosen game has a local presence. There’s nothing worse than investing time and money into a game you never get to play because no one else in your area is into it. Online communities can help bridge gaps, but nothing beats in-person matches and events. After all, if you’re going to invest time and money into building an army for a game, playing some digitized version of it is going to be very anticlimactic, don’t expect that sort of thing to fill any voids.

Competative or Casual

Some games are designed with competition in mind, while others lean into a more relaxed, narrative-driven approach. While this often aligns with a game’s core category, community culture can shift things in unexpected ways.

Take Warhammer 40k, for example—designed as a hobby-focused game, yet many local communities treat it as a highly competitive experience. Conversely, Star Wars: X-Wing, built for competition, has embraced the mantra “Fly Casual,” encouraging players to focus on enjoying the thematic experience rather than strict competitive play despite its clear design goals.

These community-driven shifts can be confusing for new players, so it’s crucial to research how a game is actually played in your area rather than relying solely on its marketing or official design.

The concept of the current state of the game as seen through the eyes of the community should be an important consideration when selecting your game. Marketing is one thing, game state is an altogether different thing. Take Warmachine for example. A few years back I would have recommended this game without hesitation, it was once, a fantastic game. Today I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Privateer Press has done a very poor job taking care of this game and it’s in terrible shape right now, unlikely to survive going forward. It’s a real mess!

It’s also worth noting that any game has a “current state” defined by the opinions of the community which defines the mood of the community. This is an important pulse to have your finger on, because the rules and governance of a game by it’s publisher can have a tremendous amount of impact on the game and the gaming community. It’s important to know that being negative gets more clicks, so look for positive feedback on any game you’re considering, but beware that every game has a “this game sucks” anti-fan club on social media.

The Miniature Games – Overviews!

I have already offered a bit of insight on a few games in the article, but I will do a few more here just to give you some ideas and inspiration for your own research, that said, here comes the golden advice.

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!
This is so critical to the process, before you whip out that credit card you should know everything there is to know about a game. Don’t go into miniature games likely, even the most basic game is going to demand a lot more from you than a typical board game, so miniature games should never be an impulse buy!

Star Wars Legion

It’s truly a rare gamer that I run into that doesn’t love Star Wars on some level and it’s natural for gamers to gravitate towards familiar franchises. As such, Star Wars Legion always comes up in conversations about miniature games because it is, in a nutshell, Star Wars on a grand scale.

In Star Wars Legion you are going to have mass battles on large battlefields with Jedi’s, AT-AT walkers and the countless troops each with their own personality from the Star Wars universe. Visually, it’s every kid’s dream to play Star Wars on this scale.

That said you have to be weary here. This hybrid game, has a heavy hobby element requirement, it’s quite expensive to get a full game on the table and the game state right now is a bit confusing.

It’s a great game, but be sure to check on the status of this game thoroughly and do some calculations. Once it’s all said and done you will spend a solid 300-400 dollars to get a complete army with many hours of hobby time to pull it all together. It requires a commitment!

Marvel Crisis Protocal

Like Star Wars Legion, the Marvel Universe has been popularized in recent years by the never-ending influx of Marvel movies, so gravitating towards a miniature game with all of your favorite superheroes is perfectly natural.

What you have to know about Marvel Crisis Protocol is that it’s a very structured mechanic-focused game with a very stern competitive style and objective-oriented game. This is not a narrative-focused game at all, it plays more like a board game than a miniature game. The scenarios in the game are just “adjective” driven excuses for what amounts to a game about holding objectives (positions) on the board.

It’s a fun and fantastic game, but be sure you match your expectations with the actual gameplay.

Wings of Glory

Speaking of managing expectations, let’s talk about Wings of Glory. As an avid historical war gamer, I love a good heavy war simulation, so one look at Wings of Glory and it is easy to get excited.

The important thing to know about Wings of Glory is that it’s not a simulation at all, in fact, this is the UNO of miniature games, one that can be taught to children. It does not take itself seriously, there is no hobby element (everything is pre-painted) and it’s not designed for narrative-focused play.

This is a very simple dog-fighting game, with board game-like mechanics. It’s light, fast and super fun, but this is not the historical simulator you might hope it would be.

Ok that’s it for today guys, I hope you found the article useful, good luck out there!

Best of List, Board Game Reviews

Highlights and Let Downs of 2024

When I put 2024 down on digital paper, I feel like I live in the future. It’s hard to believe it’s 2024 and even harder to believe the year is almost over.

I would make the argument that it’s been a great year for gaming but frankly, my gaming life has been full of ups and downs this year, and tons of really surprising results. While there has been some great gaming this year, had you shown me this highlight reel at the start of the year, I would not have believed it.

There is a lot of games to talk about so sit back and enjoy, it’s going to be a serious wall of text today!

Hegemony: Lead Your Class To Victory

It’s a tough learning curve, but unquestionably one of the most unique games I have played in a long time.

This was among my favorite discoveries in 2024, even though it was technically released in 2023. It’s a robust and very crunchy Euro with a lot of psychology built into it and a fair amount of cut-throat competition. It’s not something I would recommend for everyone, but for groups like mine who love to argue and play “take that” games, it’s right up our alley. The interesting part about this game is how all of these asymmetrical mechanics come together. Testing this game must have been a real hell because there is so much interaction, and so many game states possible, it’s kind of crazy.

This one came out for the first time at our big board gaming weekend in the summer, and it was a smash hit with everyone, we talked about it endlessly afterward and everyone agreed it needed to be played repeatedly! That was the first and last time we played this game.

This is not a reflection on the quality of the game but more of a reflection of its length and its harsh learning curve. It took us a solid 7 hours for our first game. Like Through The Ages which I will talk about a little later, it’s just a long, complex game and it’s a bit of a pain in the ass to teach. It also has one of those rule sets where every single micro rule and the order it’s executed in, is a gaming-breakingly important thing, meaning, play one tiny rule wrong and the entire face of the game changes. So playing the EXACT rules to the letter in this hyper-crunchy game is critical to a fair gaming experience, but because of its complexity, it’s easy to get them wrong. This creates this unusual quandary where you need to put together a dedicated, crack-squad willing to invest in learning the game on their own so that everyone at the table is efficient and knows how everything works. Without that, you end up with a 3-hour game that takes 7 hours to play.

It’s a great game but man, it’s tough to build up the will to play it.

Part engine builder, part thought experiment, Hegemony is an exceptionally unique game design that I think if you and your gaming group are hardcore, veteran board gamers that love that Euro crunch, this is a must-own. Easily a candidate for the best game I played all year. That said, it’s not very approachable and I think most tables will find that it’s a bit too much.

Warhammer 40k got a 10th edition

Way back in the 6th edition days, I was a huge Warhammer 40k player. We played a lot, I had two armies (Tyranids and Necrons) and I did the entire hobby thing from A to Z. I honestly never in a million years would have guessed that in 2024 we would be going back to it, I thought I was done with 40k forever. It’s return to our gaming groups consciousness is one of the wildest events of the year.

The game fell out of favor in my group over a decade ago, replaced by modern miniature games that focused on stronger gameplay and in many cases like Star Wars X-Wing and Star Wars Armada, cut the entire hobby part out of the game with pre-constructed and pre-painted miniatures. This became the norm in my group and even when we did buy into more hobby-centric games, we usually played those with unpainted miniatures like Songs of Ice and Fire for example or they were isolated to small parts of our group as the case was with Bolt Action for example. In either case, the choice of miniature game was always heavily influenced by gameplay quality over “hobby focus”.

Warhammer 40k and the entire hobby part of the miniature gaming hobby made a big comeback when the 10th edition dropped last year. In 2024, shockingly, there was a lot of both, gaming and hobby in the 40k universe in my group. I rebuilt my Tyranid army and several members of our group who had never experienced 40k bought into the game for the first time. It became a thing.

I’m pretty proud of my Tyranids, this towering giant took over 20 hours to complete. When people say Warhammer 40k is a hobby, this is no joke and it’s good to keep in mind that it’s a pretty expensive hobby at that.

What I can say about Warhammer 40k is that it’s still a pretty shitty game from a mechanics perspective. Especially compared to modern-designed miniature games that focus on strong gameplay. I think anyone who plays 40k knows that the mechanics of the game are there to facilitate the hobby part of the game and playing it is just something fun you do when you and your friends get together to show off your miniatures. As a game, it leaves a lot to desire.

Warhammer 40k is almost a role-playing sort of experience. You work on your army, read the manuals and codexes, do your list building, and absorb other content like the animated series and the novels. It’s sort of a story-driven, hobby where the game is just a thing you “participate” in to complete the circle. If you’re looking for a good competitive miniature game, pretty much anything else is better, but so far as the hobby goes, GW makes the miniatures; no question about it.

It’s a lot of fun but in more ways than one, 40k is more of a robust activity than a game and I think as long as you can accept that and not get frustrated by the crazy imbalances and mechanical weirdness, it really is a fun activity.

I will say however that 10th edition is probably the best version of the game mechanically in all the years I have played 40k. Still not good by any stretch of the imagination but a vast improvement over previous editions and GamesWorkshop has gone to great lengths to try to keep the game as balanced as they can. A+ for effort even if the final grade, is a C- and I’m being very generous here.

If you’re thinking about Warhammer 40k, I think it’s important to know that you do not get into 40k for the game. You get into it for the fantasy storytelling, the art, the books, the animated series and most importantly the hobby of building and painting miniatures. That is what 40k is first and foremost and it does a fantastic job of it. The game is an afterthought. It’s fun too, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not what I would call “mechanically good” fun, more like we get to play with the toys we made kind of fun.

Empire Of The Sun

Empire of the Sun is a grid-based, card-driven historical war game that covers the entire Pacific War. A more complete game has never existed.

I play Empire of the Sun as a matter of habit every year, not to suggest I don’t enjoy it, I do, in fact, it’s an addiction that must be fed but this year, it exploded. I played a ton of games, probably more this year alone than the previous 4-5 years combined thanks to a fantastic online community.

I do not generally recommend Empire Of The Sun to most people. This is a highly complex historical war game with an extreme level of simulation and deep strategic interactions. It is not for the faint of heart and all I can say is that as a gamer you should know if a historical chit-game is for you or not. This is a very specific, very niche style of game that is or is not in your wheelhouse.

That said, I can’t think of a game on my yearly playlist that I look forward to more than Empire of the Sun. Each year when it comes out, I know I’m about to experience a masterpiece, and this game never disappointments. I typically play it with online opponents as it can be very difficult to play this one in a single sitting with a live opponent. In fact, even online, a typical game of Empire of the Sun can take the better part of a month to finish even if you do live sessions of 3-4 hours at a time on a weekly basis. It is a 12+ hour game for most partners and can take considerably more than that if you suffer from analysis paralysis, which is something this game infects you with if you don’t already suffer from the condition.

Mark Herman is one of my favorite game designers because he makes games that he loves to play and it shows in his designs. A true master of his craft, but like all masters, it takes some soul searching to understand the how and why of his designs. There is a personal connection you build with his games that will have you digging far beyond just the mechanics and design of the game, you will find yourself watching Pacific War documentaries, reading history books and imagining what the world must have been for people in the Pacific War. This is not just a game, it’s an exercise for the brain and it’s good for you!

If that doesn’t appeal to you, avoid this one, it’s for the historical buffs and no one else.

Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization

Through The Ages has been near the top of my all-time favorite games for a long time, but I’m very careful and picky about who I pull it out with. Pick the wrong people and you are looking at a 6-12 hour game that will suck the soul right out of your body.

This long-time favorite and staple of my collection usually collects a lot of dust because it’s just a very long and robust game, that can be dreadfully slow when playing with new or inexperienced gamers.

Fortunately this year I managed to get it to the table a couple of times with some veterans and not only was it a pleasant experience, but with some great competition it was lightning fast which proves two things. First, it doesn’t have to be a long game, this game can be played in under 3 hours with experienced players who know what they’re doing and two, it’s still one of the most competitive games on my shelf, with brutally tight end games.

I will warn you that this game normally takes 3-4 people the better part of 6 to 8 hours to play and can take upwards of 12+ hours to complete. Yeah, I’m not joking here, so be prepared for some long games when learning this one. People who suffer from analysis paralysis will be in hell and drag this game out endlessly, if that sounds like you, this is one to avoid. You need to be thinking ahead and making key decisions so that you’re your turn is nice and fast, executed with precision, that is the only way to get this game’s excessive length down.

I will say that so far as Civilization builders go, meaning games that give you that Sid Meier Civ feel, this is one of the best around.

For those out there looking for a similar gaming experience but want a larger group and shorter game, Nations is a pretty decent substitute and fits the same niche playstyle. It’s a great game in its own right, but some argue it’s a very “ugly” looking game.

This is a classic civilization builder, its tight competitive nature, unique dynamic card-driven gameplay, and diverse interactions make this one of the best of its kind. There is a reason this game has been at the top of BBG lists for decades! But yeah, you need to find the right people to play with, this is not a “let’s just play with anyone” kind of game, not unless you’re ready to spend an entire day playing it.


Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan

Stratego was one of the earliest gaming experiences I had as a kid and this game definitely reminds me of those days.

I was very late to the party with this 2011 release, but Sekigahara is a well-established war game in the community, sitting pretty in the number 6 spot among war games on BBG and 207 overall. That is pretty impressive for a dry block-based historical war game based on medieval Japanese warfare. I bought into this one and managed to get it to the table a few times this year and color me impressed.

There is a solid and obvious reason for this popularity. This is an extraordinary game combining tactical and strategic dudes on a map war game that is card-driven. The core feature of the game is the hidden unit concept built into blocks that make up game units similar to classic games like Stratego which gives this game a great “feel” at the table. I think the bulk of the games fun factor has to be this idea of setting up your units and board positions, with a strategic plan based on the minimal information you have about enemy positions and strengths.

It’s a very clean, yet tense competitive war game that is easy to understand but difficult to master. I’m not at all surprised about its status among war gamers but I do think that even at 207 on the overall list which is quite high for a historical war game, this one is grossly underrated. This is one of the most unique titles I have seen in quite a while, I can’t believe I’m only just now discovering it. This is one of those games you can introduce to anyone, there is nothing complicated about it at all. It’s a kind of chess-like atmosphere with a fun theme.

Very highly recommended for pretty much anyone interested in competitive two-player war games.

Underwater Cities

Very streamlined game with a fantastic theme, dynamic mechanics, and that easy to learn – impossible to master core that elevates it above the competition.

I’m a big fan of Terraforming Mars, I play it a lot and there are a few games that I can point to and say “If you like Terraforming Mars, you should try…..”. Well, Underwater Cities is that game.

It’s not exactly a duplication or replication of the mechanics, but it scratches a similar itch with its dynamic engine-building – card-driven gameplay. Also, like Terraforming Mars, you can’t just play this game once and feel satisfied, you will find yourself obsessing about how to play it more efficiently, how to make each card play more effectively and above all else trying to find that “killer” strategy in a game that is far too dynamic to ever definitely resolve.

This is not a puzzle that can be solved as is the case with so many Euro-style games, the sand is constantly shifting under your feet and you have to adapt and overcome using a unique approach in each game, with a surprising amount of game states. It’s what I love about Terraforming Mars and it’s what I love about Underwater Cities.

Fantastic game that looks amazing on the table, it’s easy to teach but impossible to master. It’s what Euro gamers crave, a fresh take on a familiar engine building formula. If you haven’t tried it yet, this 2018 release should be at the top of your list.

Everdell

This cute game about animals living in the forest has some teeth. Lots of potential!

I only played it once for the first time this year and still, it made a very strong impression on me. This rather simple resource management, worker placement and card management game is exceedingly thinky. There are clear strategies driven by a wide range of dynamics in the game that create a great sense of competitiveness while being very straightforward from a mechanics perspective. Very tight scoring and a bit of a race between engine building and scoring. The entire game runs like a well-oiled machine, clearly the result of thorough playtesting. I see a lot of potential for replayability here, but at this stage, given that I have only played it once, that is hard to say.

What I can say is that despite a single play, this is on my “stuff to keep an eye on” as I see a lot of potential in this one. The accolades and popularity of this game are warranted.

Eclipse: The Second Dawn For The Galaxy

It’s a hit-or-miss experience, for such an expensive game I would not recommend it over far better games like Twilight Imperium. It’s not a bad game, it’s just not good enough for the price tag

This is a game I keep going back and forth on and I think a big part of the reason for it is that the gaming experience itself can be hit or miss from session to session. Sometimes it plays like a tight, 4x strategy game with battles, technology and lots of sneaky and tricky moves (exactly what you hope for). All the stuff you hope to get out of a 4x civ builder. Other times it’s just this horrifically boring and predictable Euro where essentially nothing interesting happens and someone wins by default in about the most anticlimatic way a board game can end.

I hold to it to account for its supposed claim that it’s “a better” or “lighter” Twilight Imperium, it’s not, it’s not even in the same league. In the infamous words of Will Smith, “Keep my Twilight Imperium’s name out of your mouth!”, a Twilight Imperium anything, this game is not.

That said I do love the aesthetic and the game is well-designed even if the experience can land flat. I would argue it’s way too expensive to recommend just to see for yourself if you can live with this unpredictable result, in fact, I would go further and say, don’t buy this game if you’re looking for a 4x experience because it does a poor job of it. This is more for Euro gamers who want a space theme and even there, be ready for some disappointing end games.

Imperial Struggle

Easily one of the best games in my collection, I just wish it hit the table more often!

I managed to squeeze in only three games of Imperial Struggle this year to my sad disappointment and frankly, I just wish someone made a digital version of this game already like they did for Twilight Struggle because I so desperately want to make this a nightly thing for me. I love this game but it’s kind of a pain to get to the table. This might end up being the game that I decided to digitalize myself just for my own purposes, but I’m just not sure my programming skills are up to the challenge. This game has a lot of moving parts.

It’s a fairly robust game in terms of complexity and strategic thinking and while the well is super deep, it’s sometimes a bit anti-climatic as the game can and often feels like it ends prematurely. Now I know that this is because of skill level differences, this is one of those games like Dune (Rex) where quite literally what you do in round 1 might end the game right then and there. Normally with some experience that is never going to happen but, yeah, this game has some very subtle nuances that can create exciting, long and tight games, or just these horrific early crushing defeats.

It ranks as one of my favorite games of all time, I think it is a worthy contender for the lifestyle game list but I just feel like I don’t play it often enough to be certain of that.

If you like Twilight Struggle, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to love this game even if these two games have a lot in common and are from the same creator. Twilight Struggle is more of a card game while Imperial Struggle is more of an action economy game. They are both from the influence area control genre, but not quite the same experience.

That said I still hold that Imperial Struggle is the better game… there I said it.

Great Western Trail

This is my modern-day Monopoly, I’m happy to play it anytime and with anyone. It’s just a fun, laid-back time, win or lose it’s always entertaining.

Great Western Trail continues to hit my “must play it” list periodically and I think I ended up playing it 5 or 6 times in person and a whole bunch more on BoardGameArena (online). In fact, I have 113 lifetime plays so far in this game and honestly, I’m not even remotely done with it yet. I crave it with regularity.

Why? Well, I think the biggest boon of this game is that it’s just a very clever mechanic and it’s kind of unique compared to most Euros. The unique engine building and heavier interaction between players, make this a Euro you don’t feel like you’re playing solo. It just works and it’s fun. Sometimes a good game is difficult to explain but I put this game in the same sort of ranking world as I would put Monopoly. To me, this is a family game. Sure it’s a bit more complex and has a few moving parts, but it has those types of rules that you just kind of remember after a few plays and they stick with you.

I have not gotten a chance yet to try some of the new versions of the game, there are two in total now, Argentina and New Zealand. They look interesting and are on my 2025 list of stuff to play.

Raiders Of The North Sea

Very fast worker placement game, great for a quickie, yet it has that robust, satisfying worker placement Euro feel. Great art too, I love looking at this game.

My daughter likes this one a lot, not to say I don’t but because of her we ended up playing it many-many times this year and it sort of became a thing.

As a whole, this game is a pretty straightforward worker placement game and one of the simpler ones from the Shem Philips line of games which includes stuff like Paladins of the West Kingdom, Viscounts of the West Kingdom, Architects of the West Kingdom and a bunch more. Good games all, I have tried most of them at this point but I still find Raiders of the North Sea, the first of the series I ever tried to be the most approachable and fun.

It’s a kind of combination of resource management, worker placement, and quasi-race. The race part is mostly because it is a pretty fast game that ends a lot quicker than you think. My daughter and I go like 30-45 minutes tops, so whatever your strategy is, there isn’t time to refocus or adapt, you have to ride it out and see what happens.

Most games are quite tight, generally, you’re going win this one by a hair unless you drop the ball so it’s always fun. Every move counts.

Great game, like Great Western Trail, it is a simple family game, very streamlined, and easy to understand the strategies behind it.

Star Wars Unlimited

One of the best CCG’s to come out in a very long time. Not quite a replacement for Star Wars Destiny in my opinion, but I’m kind of biased, I loved that dice mechanic. Still, so far as CCG’s go, this one is so tight, so clever, I’m not at all surprised at its success so far.

There is no question that Star Wars Unlimited stole the show this year. It’s been one of the biggest rises and most played games of the year in my group. I have so far collected all three expansions for the game and I don’t see any slowdown in my group. We love this one.

I would say it’s probably the first collectible card game since Lord of the Rings the Living Card game that I have felt comfortable just buying into it Blind. Star Wars Destiny turned out to be a big disappointment, more on that in a minute. Legend of the Five Rings was discontinued and Game Of Thrones the card game just never took off in my group. This is the first in a long time I think has some hope for becoming a Magic: The Gathering-type game where it becomes a filler for all occasions and a lifestyle choice in our group.

Very well balanced so far, with clever dueling mechanics and they are very wisely making each expansion a kind of mechanically isolated thing so that there is a kind of deck reset every time one comes out. This is great for our group as we all love deck building and it’s nice to have to sort of “re-think” strategy each time a new expansion comes out. It revitalizes the game each time a new expansion comes out and get’s us excited about getting together to play.

Love it so far, really hoping this one sticks the landing long term.

Now I want to say a thing or two about Star Wars Destiny, Star Wars Unlimited ugly stepbrother. I recently made a Top 10 Collectable Card game list where Star Wars Destiny landed in the number 5 spot, but its position on this list is mainly because the game is discontinued and because it was a CCG and it should not have been. Star Wars Destiny should have been using the Living Card Game format FFG is kind of famous for and had they done that, I think it would be Destiny not Unlimited we are talking about today. I personally think that Destiny is a much better game, but it was so poorly managed that it sort of self-destructed. It was a real bummer. Thank god that Unlimited came along and filled this gap.

Other Worthy Mentions

The above is a very inconclusive list, I played a lot more than what is here, but this article is about highlights and I think that covers the bulk of the standouts for me. There were several other games I will quickly mention here for posterity that received table time this year.

Terraforming Mars is always on my agenda each year, we played it several times this year and it continues to be the masterpiece from 2016 that just keeps on giving. It’s as good as it always has been and the expansions for this one do improve the game in so many ways, really refreshing the entire experience. I put this one on my lifestyle games list, it’s a staple of my gaming life these days and it’s one of my default recommendations to all board game fans.

War Room got played as it always does on my birthday (and hopefully always will). Love this one, but it’s 12+ hour monster that I find once a year is plenty. I never recommend it, it’s a niche game, but from my perspective, it’s one of the best games ever made. So a bit of a quandary. Let’s just say you have to be a “type” to appreciate a game like this. I suggest checking out my full review on this one.

Lord of the Rings the living card game naturally hit the table repeatedly as it always does for me each year, another lifestyle game I play regularly, mostly solo. I put this one into kind of a niche category as well because I find it’s sort of an all-or-nothing game. Either you collect everything and go full-on crazy, or skip it entirely. The same way I feel about most collectible card games. For a Lord of the Rings fan however, this is one of the best games ever made. I wrote a revised article in 2023 that surprisingly has become one of the most visited articles on the blog.

Lord of the Rings The Living Card game is 10 years old, but if the hits on this site are any indication it’s currently more popular than it has ever been in the past. This may be the result of 2nd edition being released in 2023.

Things on the agenda for 2025

2025 is looking very exciting already, there is a lineup on my shelf of games that are going to get played come hell or high water, and a few I still need to pick up (or am waiting to show up).

Dolmen Wood

I kick-started this old-school adventure RPG based on 1st edition B/X (Old School Essentials) rules. I’m a big fan of the designer Gavin Norman, he does a lot of great writing and design that speaks to me in a rather unique way.

Dolmen Wood is essentially a self-contained RPG and campaign, based largely on fairy tale lore and old myths. As a kick-starter I already have the game in PDF form in my possession and the books will arrive later this year.

If you love Dungeons and Dragons from the 80, this is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, except that it’s designed to be extremely approachable, and episodic all wrapped up in a fleshed-out open world. It’s easily among the best RPG content I have ever read and I’m eagerly anticipating its arrival.

Arcs

Arcs is a 2024 release designed by Cole Wehrle who is quickly becoming one of the big stand-outs in the board gaming world. He is responsible for instant classics like Root, John Company, Oath and Pax Pamir.

He has a unique eye for Asymmetrical game design which is definitely in my wheelhouse, but more than that, I think he knows how to bring a theme to life.

This one combines trick-taking and the 4x genre, which I will admit is a strange combo, but it’s another thing that I love about Wehrle designs. They are always a bit off, but always in a good way. I’m hoping it is going to live up to the hype but given the reputation of this designer, I go into it with confidence.

The Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

The Battle of Osgiliath is a really cool set that comes with lots of mini’s and terrain. While there are some more modern miniatures here for certain hero characters, most of the sculpts are really old and kind of crappy. They are not the GW quality you are probably used to if you are a modern miniature game fan.

I talked about this one briefly in a recent Hidden Gems article, but my hope is that this year, MESBG becomes something that I can expand on and sink my teeth into.

The claim to fame for MESBG is that it’s one the best rule sets GW has ever put out. I don’t know if that is really true or not, and honestly I don’t really care that much. It does seem to be the most common mantra among miniature-gaming fans which is great and all but as a Lord of the Rings fan, I just want to paint and play with some Middle Earth mini’s.

My issue with this game is that I came into it too late and right now as I paint up some of the miniatures of this game based on the Osgiliath box set, while I’m excited to get it to the table, I’m not really that impressed with the quality of the mini’s. This is an age thing, some of these sculpts are the better part of 10+ years old, but this is why now is a great time to get excited about this game.

In 2025 we can expect GW to be putting out new sculpts for this game and the obvious hope is that they go back and “refresh” the lines most key armies. I’m hoping we get new sculpts for the entire Fellowship and other key heroes/villains and I really hope we see new Orcs, Goblins, Rohan and Gondor troops. A lot of these old sculpts are really crappy by today’s standard and while I’m really excited, I don’t want to paint shitty miniatures. So here is hoping GW throttles up and gives us some new mini’s!

Best of List

Top 10 Lifestyle Boardgames Worth The Effort and Top 5 That Didn’t Make It

There are board games, and then there are BOARD GAMES!—epic, brain-bending experiences that redefine what it means to gather around a table for game night. Once you delve a bit deeper into this hobby with an appetite for depth and challenge, you’ll find yourself discovering games where gameplay often demands much more than the average player might be ready to give.

These aren’t your casual diversions. We’re talking about games that push the boundaries with intricate strategies, meticulously designed simulations, and often marathon-length play sessions. They’re the kind of games that give back as much as they demand.

But let’s face it: not every complex game is worth the time and effort. Many fall short, bogged down by poor design, unnecessary complexity, or a lack of payoff. In this article, we’re diving into the fascinating realm of “lifestyle” games—those games that go beyond entertainment to become a full-blown hobby. These are games so rich, so challenging, and so immersive that simply learning to play them well feels like an achievement in itself.

Let’s explore the best (and maybe a few of the worst) of this exclusive club. Buckle up; it’s going to be a long one!

War Of The Ring

This classic Lord of the Rings boardgame that is part adventure game, part strategic war game is without question one of the most endearing games on this list. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan looking for a two-player experience, this is the one that immediately pops into my head, but even as it does so, I can’t help but immediately point out the cautionary elements of this game.

It’s a long game and it’s a relatively complex game but this is not why I define it as a lifestyle game. The reality is that in order to get the most out of this game you need to have repeated plays of it, many…. so many repeated plays.

It takes many sessions to understand and come to terms with the subtle strategies of this game, the eben-flow of the asymmetric decks, the unique architecture of the map and the subtle way the gameplay is defined by the unique dice mechanic that may at first feel like a strange randomization in another why’s very thinky game, giving this one a kind of reactionary playstyle.

In short, this is not a game you play to try to win, rather you play the game to see what happens. In almost an RPG-like way, this board game is as much about telling the emergent tale of the entire trilogy of the Middle Earth story as it is a strategic war game. A concept that, for a Lord of the Rings fans, should hopefully spark excitement and anticipation. It’s a game where you get to explore what-if scenarios.

The game has a steep learning curve and the rules are not always intuitive, focused more on trying to bring out the story of the game and the realities of the Middle-earth world than being streamlined. Just explaining the game to a new player and having them come to terms with the nuances is going to take several plays and when you finally have that aha moment, you will find yourself in a permanent loop of “theory-crafting” different approaches, each demanding another session to try out your latest theory.

By the time you have played this game a dozen or so times, you will find yourself no closer to a definitive answer on how to play this game well or how to win at it and so you are drawn to it like a moth to a flame in the never-ending pursuit to figure it out. That is if it sticks the landing for you and I find that with many gamers, it doesn’t and this is why, finding like-minded opponents with a desire to explore the depths of this game becomes an important part of bringing the true nature and experience of this game to the forefront.

If you can find a good partner who loves Lord of the Rings as much as you do, what you have is an almost chess-like experience, a dual with eternal replayability that will have you creating and re-telling stories of “that one time” or describing past theories and gambits and its in this combination of attributes of the game, War of the Rings forms into a forever lifestyle game.

Western Empires

I have a love-hate relationship with this game mainly because it has this intangible quality, born part out of nostalgia for the classic game on which it is based (Advanced Civilization) but also because of its unusual mechanics that you will never see in any other game, creating this sort of abstracted, yet very story driven and personal experience. Simultaneously it’s frustratingly difficult to get to the table simply because of its scope and length of play.

It’s a massive game, playable by 5 to 9 players, but, quite clearly designed for 9 players specifically. A game that takes 12-24 hours to play, this is a massive epic-event game that can be made even bigger, up to 18 players by combining its sister game, Eastern Empires. To say this game is HUGE is an understatement. I say this without hesitation or exaggeration, this IS the single biggest boardgame ever made and I doubt we will ever see anything top it.

I don’t think it’s difficult to understand why I would proclaim this a lifestyle game, it takes enormous effort to get to the table, demanding a lot from its players, but why is it on the list? Especially given that this game also appears on my TOP 5 BOARDGAMES THAT WERE ALMOST GREAT, BUT HAD A FLAW THAT RUINED THEM list?

The answer is quite simple which is that the hard part of this game, unlike so many games on this list is simply getting X amount of players to sit down and play a game for Y amount of hours, in this case, the preferred X is 9 and the likely Y is 12-24 hours. It’s a bit much even for the most dedicated of gaming groups.

Despite its massive size, scope, and length, the mechanics of this game are surprisingly simple, at least in terms of understanding the “how” of playing the game. The beauty of this game is that it’s mostly a game about social interactions and player psychology. At the core of gameplay is trading resources and making high-level decisions, then living with some of the often impossible-to-predict outcomes. Much like real history, the story of the game is viewed in this sort of history concept where the culture you’re playing isn’t “you” or “your culture”, but this abstract engine you’re running in a grand historical concept of the world. You feel that personal ownership of the culture you’re running, as you would with any other civilization-building game, but there is this distance there because there really is only so much you can control strategically. This is a game you can win or lose simply because of bad luck, and that is a hard pill to swallow when you consider its length of play.

This is not a game you will win because you made the best strategic decisions, the best movement or tactical plan to overcome your opponent, or some clever leverage of mechanics. If there is any contributing factor to a victory it will be being the slickest salesman, the best negotiator, the most clever politician. It’s a game of subtle psychology, nuanced gambits, and social illusions, and these efforts make a huge difference but in the end, you might still get stuck with devastating calamities that will decimate all of your effort. As such the game is as much an activity as it is a game.

Yet despite that, a grandiose board it is. Massive and illustrious on the table, this game looks and feels like an event game, which makes this entry a unique lifestyle game to the list because it doesn’t have to be one. This is a game you can plan a big event around once a year and leave it at that, it works great for this purpose.

If however you can muster up the strength and the player count to get together more often, to dig deep into this games strategic layout, you will discover that in fact, while the game is played in the minds of the players, there is a lot to know about the motion and subtle tactics to this game. There is so much to learn and try out and while the game may not appear asymmetric as the only thing that differentiates one player from the other is the starting position on the map, this very small difference has a massive impact and each nation in this game has its own approach to be discovered.

Of all the games on this list, if I had my desires fulfilled this is the one lifestyle game I would choose for myself. A monthly game with a dedicated group to play this massive epic would be my definition of pure joy! As demanding as it is to get to the table, there is no doubt in my mind it’s one of the most timeless and unique gaming experience you can ever hope for.

Twilight Imperium

Over the years I have talked a lot about Twilight Imperium on this blog and it’s not a secret that I’m a fan, but when I talk to members of my group they often speak about this game in a negative light and I think that is because, contrary to what I used to believe about this game, it doesn’t make for a good event game. It is a lifestyle game, arguably almost exclusively so and that perhaps explains why my group maybe doesn’t love it the way I do, as I have, in the past, played this game as a lifestyle game and I know how that experience differs to simply running this as a once in a while event game which is the experience all the members of my group have with this game.

What is the subtle difference? The answer is that the game has an endlessly complex well of depth, not just in the way the rules execute, but in the subtle way the game is balanced between the sociology of the game and the impact of mechanics.

This is not a game you can win by outplaying everyone using mechanics alone, it’s a game where, like chess, you have to get your opponents to make a mistake and when that mistake is made and you leverage it, you make your move. Other (less experienced) players might look on this as a game they lost because someone did something stupid. In an event game, this can feel like king-making as players are unfamiliar with the subtle art of forcing a mistake in this game.

See the game is deep, very deep strategically with tons of unique interactions and hard-to-extrapolate balances hidden within the game’s uniquely asymmetrical elements with so much nuance, I could write a 12-book volume set on the strategies related to the different races in the game alone. This high-level understanding of the game however is not transferable, it’s not something you can teach, it’s the result of having played it countless times over two decades. This is not something I can explain to players even on a high level when teaching them to play so in an event scenario where the game is played as a one-off, players know the rules, but they are dozens of plays away from even realizing that such subtlety exists, let alone knowing what to do with that knowledge.

I don’t think I’m overselling it, I think a Twilight Imperium player will understand how this nuanced realization completely changes your outlook on this game, it’s why there is a such a difference of opinion on this game. You can really see the difference between a Twilight Imperium player that explored the depths of the game reviews this game, versus someone who casually dips their toes in. There is a massive difference in the two experiences.

Twilight Imperium definitely falls into the lifestyle or nothing category and I can always tell when I’m talking to someone who has “tried it once or twice” and someone who has “played it for years like me”. It’s almost like a secret language, a kind of understanding that can’t be learned from reading about the game or studying the rules of the game, watching or theorizing about it, this secret understanding comes only from countless repeated plays.

For science-fiction fans who love civilization-building games (4x games), Twilight Imperium is a revelation, and don’t let any other game marketing convince you otherwise. There are no games that do the same thing or even anything approaching Twilight Imperium. There are no games that come within a million light years of this one, in fact, many games make the claim that they are “lighter” versions of Twilight Imperium or are “shorter” versions of Twilight Imperium. This simply is a false advertisement and what’s egregious about these advertisements is that it’s clear the people making that claim don’t have the faintest clue what Twilight Imperium is or how stupid they sound when they make such claims. There are no alternatives to Twilight Imperium, it is a unique, white-elephant, one-of-a-kind lifestyle game that has no competition in this genre. It’s the ultimate Science-Fiction Civilization Builder in a class of its own.

Empire Of The Sun

Empire of the Sun, much like War of the Rings is an in-depth strategy game with a primary goal of telling (or perhaps better to say re-telling) a story, in this case, the entirety of the war in the Pacific.

The caveat is unlike War of the Rings, Empire of the Sun is a simulation and complex mechanics weigh heavily on the game, in a word, this is the most complex game I have ever played and by a considerable margin. In fact, it took the better part of a year of constant attempts to play it, pouring over rules, watching videos, studying the game and even direct interaction with its designer, Mark Herman before I was certain I was playing the game “mostly” correctly.

That in itself requires a level of commitment to the game that goes far beyond a typical board game night, placing it squarely in the lifestyle game arena.

It is a fantastic game, but it’s made by and for historical war gamers who care about the most finite of details the most accurate of representation and the most researched of content. Every inch of this game is as historically accurate as a historian could make it and the decisions you make in this game are very much the same decisions the generals of the actual war had to make, with outcomes that simulate this war with precision only the most informed historian could fully appreciate.

It is an amazing game with tremendous detail, it takes two very dedicated players, ready to spend hundreds of hours studying the nuances of this game and its many rules and rules exceptions, but it is also hands down one of the most rewarding games I have ever played. This game tells a story like nothing I have ever played before, and it does it with a hex map, some cards, and tokens.

From where I’m standing this is one of the best game designs in all of board gaming, it’s a masterpiece. If you are going to choose something as a lifestyle game, this one will not disappoint, with the caveat of course being that you have to get through a very tough learning curve first and you have an insatiable hunger for historical war gaming.

Paths Of Glory

While we are on the subject of historical war games, like Empire of the Sun, Paths of Glory essentially fits the same niche and in the same way. While arguably the learning curve is a bit simpler on the rules side, it’s no less robust, deep, and dynamic than Empire of the Sun.

There are a couple of things that segregate Empire of the Sun and Paths of Glory. The first is the historical period. World War I and World War II have a completely different set of political and geo-centric problems to solve, most notably World War I isn’t as cut and dry as good guys and bad guys and the war tends to escalate over time with more countries entering the war at different points in Paths of Glory which creates an entirely unique set of circumstances in each game. There are two distinct sides in this two-player game, but the game states can vary wildly from game to game, so it feels like a chess game where you are not even certain what pieces you will have in the course of the game to work with. In a way, it’s less tactical and more strategic with a lot of attrition.

The card play is quite similar between Empire of the Sun and Paths of Glory, there is no question that these games influenced each other, but I think Paths of Glory has a more dynamic system. In part because in Paths of Glory the recruitment of soldiers is part of the resource management, whereas in Emprie of the Sun you have a fixed schedule. This doesn’t make one better than the other, but you do tend to end up with a more dynamic outcome in Paths of Glory, as the flow of the game can be wildly unpredictable at times. Aside from the opening moves, there is very little pre-ordained strategy in the game. Empire of the Sun tends to, regardless of player decision, have certain historical points you will hit, but with Paths of Glory, things can become wildly different depending on player decisions and you will rarely have a historical outcome when the game finishes. You do a lot more historical re-writing in Paths of Glory and some players prefer that.

This debate is neither here nor there, in my eyes, these are both amazing games, and frankly, if you play one, it makes learning the other easier, so for me personally, if you choose a game like Empire of the Sun as a lifestyle game, it’s not a big stretch to include something like Paths of Glory as part of your repriotore just to shake things up now and again.

Terraforming Mars

This might be a rather odd entry into this genre because Terraforming Mars is actually a relatively simple game to understand, it really doesn’t take that long to play, at least compared to other games on this list and it does just fine as a pickup and play game for a board game night.

So, how does this one make it onto the list of a lifestyle game? There are three unique reasons that allow this game to rise from your typical euro game pick-up game and into the realm of lifestyle games.

The first is the unique game states that this game creates, driving a truly dynamic and highly competitive atmosphere at the table with a tremendous amount of nuance and interaction between players that require both short term and long-term planning and execution. Much like a collectible-competitive card game draft, players create their tableau from a combination of card draw (random cards) and spending resources on cards that become available, meaning the game is both pro-active and re-active. This creates a unique set of circumstances each game that never repeats, resulting in a fascinating puzzle for you to solve and requiring new strategic direction each game.

The second thing is that the game, on a competitive level, is incredibly tight. The more you play this game, and the closer you get to that most optimum play level, the more critical of a role each action you take has on the outcome of the game. It’s a very interesting effect in the game that you can really see, but when you first start playing the games victory point difference can be as much as 50+ points, but after a while people start winning this game by 2-3 points. You come to a sort of strategic mastery level of playing this game, but to get to that, you have to go really deep into this games amazing and diverse gameplay. You really have to outthink your opponents on an incredibly high level and build engines based on the unique combination of resources (namely cards) that become available to you. The replayability here is infinite and you are never truly done assessing the games finer details.

Finally and perhaps most importantly the game has a plethora of expansions that completely re-define established elements and this drives the game to ever-increasing complexity and sophistication. The game becomes almost overwhelming robust and this is a good thing for a lifestyle game because one of the key requirements of a good lifestyle game is that there is no end or repetition in what you are doing, each game is a new challenge and just when you think you have it figured out, you add one of the expansions that completely unravels all the theories and forces you to re-think and re-imagine your victory.

To me, Terraforming Mars is a highly competitive and very intelligent game that really deserves to be on this list, its nuanced and it takes time to really fully grasp its high-level strategies and even when you get there, each card draw, each card draft, and each play on the board forces you to redefine your route to victory.

War Room

This Larry Harris-designed masterpiece is my favorite game of all time and while I believe it to be far better suited as an Event Game, I do believe it has the mustard and stamina to also be a lifestyle game.

This World War II monster, designed by the same guy that brought you Axis and Allies, is a simulation of the entire war, designed for up to 6 players. It takes about 10-12 hours to complete a game of War Room so this is definitely not a casual game by definition, but the reality is that the rules are quite simple and it is a team game so personally, I think it works great with both experienced and amateur players.

As a lifestyle game however there is one caveat because while the rules are simple there is considerable depth, especially in the math of the game and the way the asymmetrical and hidden movement works. It’s a game that is part psychology and prediction and part mechanical execution, making it a much more human experience. This is not a game experience an AI will ever replicate because a huge chunk of the experience is trying to outguess and out-think your opponent in a more general rather than mechanical way. What I mean by that is if you could see the movement of your opponent, you would win 100% of the time regardless of which side you’re on. This is not a game that comes down to dice or position, it comes down to predicting what your opponents will do and responding to those actions. Do it right and you WILL win.

As such it’s then also a game about trying to get your opponent to guess wrong and cleverly trapping them into believing you’re going to do one thing, while you do something completely different. Like real war, its all about intelligence and counter-intelligence, the more you know the more successful you will be.

I love this game above all others, it’s not only a fantastic game, but its actually an amazing interactive experience. It’s one of those games where you will spend as much time looking at the board as you will looking into the eyes of your opponent to try to guess what they are thinking.

Love, definitely deserves to be on this list!

Warhammer 40k

I have to admit, it pains me to put this one on this list because frankly, I don’t think it’s that good of a game mechanically. I say that while in the same breath, having to admit that I love playing it, I love building models and painting them and it’s one of the few games in my collection that sit in a display case with pride.

Warhammer 40k is not just a lifestyle game, it is a self-contained lifestyle hobby and while it’s stupidly expensive and there are far better miniature games out there, not to mention far better ways to spend your money, my life would simply feel incomplete without Warhammer 40k on the agenda at certain intervals.

I don’t play it nearly enough, it sort of comes in spurts of enthusiasm, but I do spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it, planning for games, painting, and fiddling with it. It’s just something that you are drawn to as a gamer and it’s perfect for people who enjoy a solo hobby that is also occasionally a game you can play with someone. A game that is mostly a creative endeavor that doubles as a social activity and to some extent is also an actual game.

This list would be incomplete without Warhammer 40k on it and while there are many other miniature games out there, I find I don’t obsess over them in quite the same way. It is worth saying as well that 10th edition of Warhammer 40k is a much better game than previous editions were and there is a clear move towards a more streamlined and accessible experience with each new edition.

What else can one say, 40k is an addiction for many gamers, myself included and there has to be a reason for it. Tyranids for life!

Star Wars Unlimited

It’s not the only collectible card game that I’m going to put on this list but it certainly is the latest and greatest and to some extent at least, this game is shaping up to be the first real contender to face off against Magic The Gathering. Now, I will say that it’s a long way off before it reaches that goal, after all, Magic: The Gathering is a game that has been in constant development for decades, so the library of cards and, as a result, deck building possibilities is nearly limitless. That said, I think Magic: The Gathering has a lot of core mechanical legacy issues that will never be fixed that Star Wars Unlimited addressed on day one, so in a sense, it’s a CCG that has been greatly influenced and learned from the grandaddy (MTG) of CCG’s, yet maintains that robust, high level addictive replayability that MTG is famous for.

To understand why this game is shaping up to be a lifestyle game and not just another soon-to-be-extinct CCG you have to understand the three core design elements that make this a true competitor to MTG.

The first is mana management (aka card playing resource). Star Wars Unlimited uses a fixed rather than random “mana” for the lack of a better word system, unlike MTG’s “land” system. This means that there is a real competitive consistency to the game, you are going to get mana always and at certain intervals and while there is ramping up cards, there is a kind of control here. You are not going to lose X amount of games simply because you got unlucky and drew too much land or not enough, a problem that has always existed in MTG and essentially makes both deck building and competitive play an often frustrating experience.

The second is set mechanic control. One of the big issues with MTG is that there are countless broken combos that are born from set mechanics that all interact with each other, creating this crazy situation where you can do unlimited damage on round one, or spawn unlimited creatures and all other manner of game-breaking combos.

In Star Wars Unlimited each set introduces two new, self-contained mechanics that don’t really interact with mechanics from other sets so there is this fixed stability in the game and this effectively eliminates game-breaking combos. Not to be confused with cards and effects on a single card that can be too much, this still happens, but at least there aren’t these accidental introductions of broken game mechanics that can and often do ruin CCG fun time.

Finally it is the Star Wars universe, and say what you will about Disney’s trouble with managing the franchise, people still do and probably always will love the Star Wars universe. It’s a franchise that is older and far more known than the MTG universe, and there is a certain attachment and fundamental connection players have to the game. This is a game where each card you draw is clearly tied to some person, thing or moment in the Star Wars universe and there is this “feel good” story element in cards rolling out on the table. It’s also notable that FFG has gone to great lengths to make sure card combos are related narratively, with classics like Han shooting first and power levels like the Emperor and Darth Vader fitting to the thematic cores of the story upon which the game is based.

This is a fabulous game with tremendous replayability, it very quickly became a “standard thing” in my gaming life, and I foresee it having tremendous longevity where my collection will just grow infinitely. Thanks to the game’s great stability and FFG’s attention to detail, at least right now, the game is on a fantastic path with a bright future ahead of it.

Lord of the Rings The Card Game

I’m almost tired of hearing myself talk about this game so I’m going to make it short and sweet. This solo/cooperative living card game by FFG is the single, best card game I have ever played.

It’s very challenging, easy to learn, impossible to master, diverse and dynamic and has been supported by FFG for over a decade, now in its second edition which is exactly the same as 1st edition just repacked. It was so good the first time around, they saw no reason to change it, that, is the sign of a brilliant design, when no one can think of a way to improve it.

This is my favorite lifestyle game. I have been playing it since it was released, and I simply never tire of it.

Games That Don’t Make it but tried

There are a few games that really desperately want to make it into the lifestyle category but there is some flaw/reason that prevents it from succeeding. I mention them here only because they are great games, but this tragic flaw of simultaneously trying to be a lifestyle game, but failing to be one puts them in this odd limbo that results in them missing the table more often than hitting it.

Game Of Thrones: The Board Game

My gaming group and I play this game typically once a year at our big board gaming weekend getaway in the summer ,and frankly, I love this game. It captures the Game of Thrones theme with perfection, its deeply strategic and always tense. It’s got everything you want out of a game fit for a lifestyle spot, but unfortunately, it has one tragic flaw.

When you replay this game a couple of times in a row, clear patterns start to emerge, key plays, strategies and round executions start to repeat. This is a solvable puzzle and while I would argue it has sufficient dynamics to keep a yearly game exciting as everyone essentially forgets everything over that time period, on repeated plays this game really falls apart and you really start to see the design warts. Lord knows there are plenty of them.

I discovered this kind of by accident by playing the digital version on Steam for a couple of weeks back to back. After a few games, it all started to look like the same game over and over again.

Game of Thrones The Board game just lacks the stamina and the diversity and dynamics needed to qualify it as a lifestyle game, there just isn’t so much to discover and unravel here. Once you get the core nuances there are just so many “moves” you must make and reactions just become kind of predictable.

It’s a very long game, however, so it’s not really a good fit for a typical board game night, relegating this one to a once-in-a-long-while event game. I love it,4 but it just doesn’t stick to the landing as a lifestyle game.

Star Wars Armada

I’m a huge fan of Star Wars Armada, I think the concept of capital ship combat in the Star Wars universe is brilliant, and I love the unique movement mechanics and the amazing diversity of ships and upgrades, perfect for those of us who love list building.

Unfortunately, it falters in two main categories that knock it out of contention as a lifestyle game.

First and this one is kind of obvious, a miniature war game that has no hobby element, means that the only thing to do with your minis is keep them on a shelf until you are ready to play. There is no hobby here outside of the game which in general is kind of the main thing about miniature gaming, that personal touch and obsession of building and painting “your” army. Sure you can do some repaints, but there are only so many interesting takes on “grey spaceships”. I will say that there are benefits to this drawback for those of you out there who want to play a miniature game but don’t want to deal with the hobby.

The second issue and far more important is what I call the “default winner” effect. Basically most games of Star Wars Armada assuming a reasonably equal level of understanding and skill level in the game can be called with near-perfect precision based on list building and initial deployment.

This is a very decisive game and the battle outcomes really don’t surprise you, in fact, most of my friends got so good at this that we can look at two lists and tell you who is going to win with 99% accuracy. There just isn’t enough in the mechanics of the game to wildly alter the outcomes and while two players with wildly different skill sets can certainly create surprise outcomes, in our group, everyone was pretty expert at the game so it just became far too predictable.

This one hung out for quite a while until we all made this discovery and we all enjoyed it but these days it doesn’t take more than a match to remind all of us while we no longer play this game with any regularity.

It just lacks sufficient dynamics to be a lifestyle game.

Eclipse: The Second Dawn For the Galaxy

I was really excited for the second edition of this game, it really promised a lot and at first it seemed like it would deliver, but even as it sits near the top of my list, I can tell you hear and now that it’s rise on the list will be as rapid as its climb. In fact, right now, I would say it doesn’t even make the top 20 anymore.

The reason for this sudden shift is the stark realization that the mechanics are just too static and there is virtually no dynamics in the game at all. Initially, you might think with a mixed galaxy, asymmetrical races and dice for resolving combat that there would be plenty of ways games diverge into unique experiences, but the reality is that the mechanics are so tightly wound that in effect, every game of Eclipse is essentially a parallel version of every other game of it played.

Worse yet is most of the activity of the players is mostly irrelevant, the only thing that matters is scoring points and the board state really has minimal impact on that. It’s just like any other standard Euro fair, figure out how to build a good engine and then just let it spin.

This is a fine way to play a game and I love engine-building games, but Eclipse was not supposed to be that. It was supposed to be a faster, more streamlined 4x game that could compete with Twilight Imperium and it was definitely my hope that it could be the next big lifestyle game.

The aesthetic is there, all the pieces are there but the game just doesn’t come together to create a repeatable experience. It’s a bit like playing checkers, after a while you can’t remember one game from the other, sure outcomes differ, its not like the game is unbalanced or anything but its just a very bland game full of routine and default (many choices but one obviously good one) kind of a game.

After 3-4 plays of this gam,e I’m fairly sure it’s going to collect dust on my shelf for a very long time, in fact, I may even cull it from my collection, it was that much of a disappointment in the end.

Mage Knight The Board Game

There are many adventure games out there and over the years, I have found plenty of them I don’t like, but Mage Knight is a unique exception for me and there is very good reason for it. It, unlike most adventure games, doesn’t try to replicate the role-playing experience and actually focuses on bringing quality game mechanics with excellent card management and card play, clever and difficult scenarios designed to actually defeat you and outstanding expansions that lean on the games existing strength, rather then just giving you more of the same. In a word, its a “real” game, rather than what you get with most adventure games, which is a sort of quasi role-playing activity.

This is a massive game, Mage Knight doesn’t really hold your hand and as such is had a considerable learning curve, a long play time and is in a word infinitely replayable; all qualities that fit well with a lifestyle game, there is plenty to explore.

With everything going for it, it still manages to fall short of a lifestyle game. Mainly I think because it’s one of those games that once you learn the nuances of each of the characters, that mastery leads you down a road of automatic moves that are sort of preordained. It’s a bit like figuring out the patterns in Pac Man, once you know them you end up playing the game the exact same way each time you pick it up.

The different scenarios while interesting and fun in their own right, really do not alter the approach you will take. There are just some clear builds you discover and after that the game becomes quite repetitive despite its generally very dynamic game state.

This means there is a kind of cap on the game as a lifestyle game, play it enough times and it runs out of fuel.

Its a fantastic game and I would never suggest that its not, but life style games need this sort of infinitate discovery element where no matter how many times you play it, there is always more to discover, new strategies, approaches and puzzles to solve. This game is just limited in that department, once you discover its patterns and secrets, it goes stale quite quickly.

Through The Ages

This is a bit of a heart breaker for me personally as Through The Ages is without question one of my favorite games of all time, sitting pretty in the number 9 spot on my top 20 list and having been on my best of list since the first time I played it almost years ago.

This is one of the best civilization building games I know, its highly competative, deeply strategic and overwhelming diverse. In many ways it is a great lifestyle game but it has one key caveat that really sort of disqualifies it.

The main issue is that if you play it enough, patterns emerge and those patterns lead you down very specific highly effective playstyles that essentially disqualify all others, really answering the question “What is the best strategy” with a definitive answer.

A good lifestyle game is an unsolvable puzzle, or at least one that you must solve in a unique way each time you play and unfortunately, Through The Ages for all its depth and meaningful gameplay, has tricks and “must do’s” that really kill its lifestyle game potential.

It’s a fantastic game, I play it every chance I get, but the only way your going to beat me is if I explain the core “answers” to you, at which point the game becomes a tight and interesting “lets see what happens” sort of thing, but there is absolutely no way you can beat me at the game otherwise. I’m not going to bore anyone with the answer here, in fact, its kind of a spoiler as it will take you many plays to figure it out, but eventually, if you play it long enough you will unravel the mystery of Through The Ages. At which point it’s a bit like watching Harry Potter, knowing full well how it will end. Still fun, but there aren’t going to be any twist endings.