2020 has been weird. I started it with half of a con and then the flu for a month. Then Covid hit, and so that has put a big kabosh on some real quality gaming that I might have done with my group. I played some of these games virtually, and definitely with a smaller sampling size than I normally have. I played a number of official prototypes of on Tabletop Simulator, while I wait for Kickstarters to be released (look for Bullet Heart, Lawyer Up, and Lunar Base next year! I’m really excited about them!) Here are a list of officially released games that I played this year, either in person, over skype (that was rough), or online. For funzies, I have listed my own rating of the game as well as where it sits on Board Game Geek’s list of rated games.

Blood Rage

Lots of people like this game. I don’t. It’s better than Rising Sun, in my opinion, but it’s just not my cup of tea. Just ok.
My Rating: 3/10
BGG: 35 (Good Lord, really?!)

Roll for the Galaxy

One of my favorite games of all time is Race for the Galaxy, a tableau building card game that I think is about as smooth as a good whiskey. Roll for the Galaxy is a similar game, but instead of using cards uses dice. Instead of just choosing your action and using your hand of cards to pay for what you do, the action you can take on your turn is determined by the dice you rolled, so it’s entirely possible (and by this I mean, this absolutely happens most of the time) that you’re just entirely screwed out of doing the thing you want to do. Which I think is un-fun.
My Rating 4/10
BGG: 91 (I really don’t get how this is in the top 100)

Micro City

I saw this solo game about constructing buildings on Kickstarter and thought it looked interesting, and for $18 I thought it would be worth the try. It’s not bad, I just think if I’m going to occupy my time with a solo game that I’ll probably stick with Deep Space D-6. This one is a little too dry.
My Rating: 4/10
BGG: 4,599 (That there are this many game on BGG is astounding)

Jaipur

Remember way back in February (approximately 657 years ago) when you could still go places? Those were some good times eh? When you could walk into the board game lounge at your local anime con with your teenage daughter, pick out a game, sit down, play it a couple times, and decide it was meh?
My Rating: 5/10
BGG: 133

Marrakesh

I saw this one on After School Dice Club and got it for the holidays last year, but didn’t get to play it until after the new year started. They made it look more exciting on the show, but it’s still a cute game. It’s an area control game about selling rugs at the market. The rugs are nice pieces, and the game itself is fine, but it just didn’t wholly excite me.
My Rating: 5/10
BGG: not even there…

Barenpark

That sitting down in the tabletop hall at a con thing happened in January as well (approximately 893 years ago). My buddy and I pulled out Barenpark, a polymino placing game with bears, as I’d been wanting to check it out. I have to wonder if it plays better at a larger player count than 2. As it was, at two players, I think I’d probably reach for Patchwork, or some other quilt making or cat themed polymino placing games (Calico/The Isle of Cats). Still, if someone took it off the shelf and asked to play it, I’d probably say yes.
My Rating: 6/10
BGG: 286

Rap Godz

A fun family style game about trying to make it in the world of music. Each card you play helps you tell the story of how you became a hit rap artist. My favorite part is the points being little records. This definitely needs more plays for me but *gestures wildly at 2020*
My rating 6/10
BGG: 7309 (you’ll get there one day)

Too Many Poops

Too Many Poops is a set collection game in which you collect cats to attain 10 points. However, if you collect 10 poops in your litter box, you lose. This is a fairly simple game with a fantastic name and a theme I enjoy.
My Rating: 6/10
BGG: 7440

Ice Cool

This game is tag with penguin Weebles in a box. I’ve been waiting for the right time to give it to my father, and this was the year. He loved it. It’s easy to see why it won numerous awards. It’s good, lighthearted fun for your family game night.
My rating: 6.5/10 (I went there, what?!)
BGG: 851

Jurassic Parts

Cute. Fun. Good theme (I might be biased). I especially like how diverse the game’s characters are, and I think that needs to be a thing in more board games.
My Rating: 6.5/10
BGG: 6699

Innovation

I’ll admit to not having given this game a fair chance in the past. Some games take a few plays to really understand them and see their real beauty. Terra Mystica was like that for me, and so was Innovation. Now that I understand it better, I’d like to get a few more plays under my belt, and I think that’s why it’s so low on my list this year.
My Rating: 7/10
BGG: 328

Anomia

This word association game involves a deck of cards. Players take turns flipping a random card in front of them, and if the symbols on the cards match the symbols on another player’s card, those players have to race to say a word in the category of the other player’s card. This is a fun party game, though I don’t know that I need to own it.
My Rating 7/10
BGG: 1737

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

I think this is one of the better Tiny Epic games. It’s a worker placement game in which you compete to raise dinosaurs on your dinosaur ranch in order to sell them to Dinosaur Island type parks. I don’t know that this game is better than Dinosaur Island, but it’s sure as hell way easier to set up and transport, which means it might hit the table more often. As far as traveling games go, I’d recommend this over Mint Works as your worker placement game of choice.
My Rating: 7/10
BGG: 1441

Moonrakers

Moonrakers is an enjoyable deck building game with a couple of twists. In it you take your spaceship on different missions, sometimes along with your friends, all in the name of money; victory points; and sweet, sweet upgrades to your spaceship. I like the semi-cooperative bit where other players are potentially active and involved, even when it’s not their turn, and I think this helps Moonrakers to stand out.
My Rating: 7/10
BGG: 3000

Spire’s End

Spire’s End is a choose-your-own-adventure style game for 1-2 players. You play a card, read it, decide what to do, and move on. Sometimes you roll dice, and sometimes you manage your action points, which are also your health. Though I haven’t played it solo, I can’t imagine I would enjoy it more than I did at two players. Either way, the story and game play are fun, and the art work is just fantastic. I look forward to sitting down with it again at some point.
My Rating: 8/10
BGG: 4160

Kittin

In Kittin you race other players to stack wooden cat pieces in a pattern as depicted on the card that gets flipped. The first person to finish correctly shouts “meow!” and wins the card. The first to 3 cards wins. I enjoy this game, partially because it’s about cats, and partially because stacking board game bits to make some sort of pattern is a thing I do anyway. I think the racing element is a little bit stressful, but on the whole, this is a cute game. It’s small foot print, quick playing time, and ease of travel are to its credit, and I don’t have a lot of dexterity games in my collection.
My Rating: 8/10
BGG: 12871

In the Hall of the Mountain King

As a music teacher, I like it when classical music makes its way into other areas of my life. Though, not in any way about Edvard Grieg or the story of Peer Gynt, In the Hall of the Mountain King does have a charming troll theme. The resource management and visual puzzle work nicely and is complex without being brain busting, and the “cascading” mechanic is super satisfying. I was able to pick up a second hand kickstarter copy, and having those little plastic statues is nice.
My Rating: 8/10
BGG: 723

Betrayal at House on the Hill

You know what? This game surprised me. When I heard the description to this game, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. I’ve been burned to many times by asymmetric games to get really excited about one. BUT, I really enjoyed this game every time I played it. Going around and finding items and power ups is fun. So is seeing the House come together. The game shifts at exactly the right moment, and figuring out what you have to do adds an interesting twist without adding too much complexity. Best of all, Kairi really liked it and was interested in playing again.
My Rating: 8/10
BGG: 511

Tinderblox

Like Kittin, Tinderblox is a game about stacking small pieces. This came in the same kickstarter as Kittin, but I think I like it just a bit better. The stress of racing isn’t there. Instead you have to pick up pieces using tweezers (sometimes with your off hand). You get a long time to watch your friends and/or family get hilariously frustrated with the task given to them. Again, the small foot print, fast playing time, and ease of travel add to my liking of this game. Campfire theme is not as good as cat theme though.
My Rating: 8/10
BGG: 10000 (IT’S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!)

Calico

I like games about cat. This game is sort of a mix between Sagrada and Patchwork, in which you draft tiles and put them on your quilt in specific patterns to attract cats. It’s the sort of game where you have to pick what points your going for, because it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to play a perfect game, achieving the maximum amount of points. Featuring real life cats, this game is cute as a button. (Literally, because there are buttons.)
My Rating 8/10
BGG: 508

Terraforming Mars: Turmoil

A lot of people said this was the weakest of the Terraforming Mars expansions, but my friends and I enjoyed it (for that little of 2020 we got to play it). I think TM plays better at higher player counts. Be warned, I think this makes an already obscenely long game even longer. You may wish to pick and choose which expansions you play with.
My Rating: 8/10 (But TM is a 9)
BGG: 4

Star Wars: Outer Rim

This. Feels. Like. Star Wars. This game is just downright fun, especially if you like Star Wars as much as I do. It’s deceiving in that it starts kinda slow, but picks up at about the halfway point until you’re screaming into the finish line for those last points like the Millennium Falcon making the Kessle Run in less than 12 parsecs. (This is ABSOLUTELY featured in game.)
My Rating: 9/10
BGG: 277

Air, Land, & Sea

Honestly, this game was a huge surprise for me. It came highly recommended, and though WWII is not a theme I would normally enjoy, I asked for it for the holidays, thinking, it was cheap and if I didn’t like it, no big sweat. When I asked for it my mother gave me a very surprised look, but it came and it deserved the praise it got. Fun, easy to understand, quick but with deep strategical decisions, this was a big hit with almost whoever I brought it to. I feel like at some point I should do a list of “what game should I throw in my suitcase?”
My Rating: 9/10
BGG: 855

Ra

From the good doctor, Reiner Knizia, this auction/set collection game is a classic. The rules are really easy to understand, even if for some reason, you order your copy in French like some sort of idiot. (Not that I, like, did that or anything.) On your turn you either draw a tile or start an auction for the tiles available. At the end of each of the three rounds, you score based on the tiles you collected. My father and daughter are both very good at this. I very much enjoy having games that I know, not only will I enjoy, but that the other players in my group will both enjoy and be successful at.
My rating: 10/10
BGG: 177

The Isle of Cats

In the Isle of Cats you take turns rescuing colorful cats off an exotic island and arranging them on your boat for points before the Evil Lord Vesh (whom Kairi is quite convinced is a dog, and now that’s my head canon) arrives to destroy all that’s good and pure (so probably not the cats). So, aside from being about cats and tile laying, what’s great about this game is it has three modes. A family mode, in case drafting is a little too complicated for your play group; regular mode, which invovles drafting cards which help you both place cats and score points; and virtual mode, developed by the game designers when the pandemic hit. This game quickly vaulted up into my top 10, and it will definitely stay in heavy rotation.
My Rating 10/10
BGG: 132