2010 Gaming Review: The Five & Dime List
Gaming has been a bit slow this last year. I logged nearly 150 plays amongst 50 or so unique titles. This is a significant drop from the previous 3 years of averaging 225 plays a year. My gaming group hasn’t been meeting regularly and we haven’t played as often at home either, accounting for much of the reduction.
Still, I have managed high frequency plays of a few titles in the past year.
Dominion (and Dominion: Intrigue)
The progenitor of the current craze of deck-building games still hits the table on a regular basis. Everyone in the family enjoys playing Dominion and since it plays well with 2, 3 or 4 players, it’s an easy suggestion. We haven’t played with any expansion beyond Intrigue and I don’t think it would be really necessary. We do have Seaside and need to add it to the mix. I expect Dominion will continue to see a moderate amount of action in the coming years. [22 Plays]
Fluxx
I’m not a big fan of Fluxx but it fills a very specific niche in our family. It’s a game that doesn’t require much space and is good for passing time while waiting at a restaurant. I expect this will hang around in this list for a couple more years until the boys are on their own. [12 Plays]
Euchre
Tristan and Logan have become interested in Euchre of late and we’ve played more often to give them the experience and coaching on how to be a good Euchre player. Learning to play Euchre is considered a Hoosier tradition after all! [9 Plays]
Keltis: Das Orakel
This is one of the first board game implementations I purchased for the iPhone/iPad. It recycles the core mechanics of Lost Cities, as does each entry in the Lost Cities/Keltis family of games. We don’t have a physical copy of the game. But, who needs one? It’s perfect in 2 player form on the iPad at a restaurant or coffee shop. And, there is nothing to put away when you’re done! This and Small World on the iPad are a great way to travel light and still have a F2F table top experience. [8 Plays]
Thunderstone
If anything could threaten the frequency we play Dominion, it would be Thunderstone. I first played this at BGGcon in November and ordered a copy immediately. We’ve been playing it regularly since. The fantasy theme is certainly a draw for the teenagers. I predict Thunderstone will continue to see regular play in our household. [8 Plays]
Agricola
I have always enjoyed Agricola but I rarely played more than once or twice a year since it was released. During the holiday break, I taught Jill and Tristan how to play and we played several days in a row. They like the game a lot but are also in the frustrating period of the learning curve with this game. Now that I have fans in the house, I should see 2 or 3 player games more frequently. [6 Plays]
Almost But Not Quite…
Several games almost made the list including:
Carson City was the only new to me game in this list. I played once at BGGcon and a couple of times during the holidays. Carson City and Pillars of the Earth are my current favorite worker placement games. I’ve since sold my copies of Caylus (the original worker placement game) and its card based follow-up, Caylus Magna Carta. The time required for Caylus was too much for me. Carson City and Pillars scratch the same itch more quickly.