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I’ve managed to make two quite distinct hobbies out of board games, playing them and acquiring them. I’m so-so at the former, but excellent at the latter. I do think it’s one of the many things that makes the hobby great, building a collection is a lot of fun. However, the available space in my house does not equal my prodigious talent for buying games. Now that I’ve been collecting for a few years, I’ve had to become more discerning about what I add, as well as periodically pruning my collection. Rehoming games is always a bit of a wrench, and it always makes me think about the games that I’d pick if I was only allowed to keep just one of each type of game. What would I choose?
Just one worker placement game
Worker placement games allow players to select actions by placing meeples on board spaces (and sometimes on cards). In most games players will have a limited number of workers available to them, although these may increase over the course of the game or temporary workers might be available. In most cases, there are a finite number of spaces available, so placing a worker there may block other players from selecting the action for that round. Some games also have workers with slightly varied powers.
It's probably my favourite game mechanism, so selecting just one is particularly agonising. They were some of the first games that I played once I moved on from my gateway games and I find that I return to some of the older ones again and again; Agricola, Le Havre, Dungeon Petz, Bruxelles 1897, A Feast for Odin and The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire (one of the first I played). As well as discovering some fantastic newer games, Obsession, Dune Imperium and Dinosaur World. Perhaps unsurprisingly there’s a few Uwe Rosenberg games in the list, I’m also very keen to try Oranienburger Kanal.
Still if I’m picking just one, then it has to be Viticulture: Essential Edition, it’s probably my favourite game ever so I don’t think I can choose anything else. To me it’s the quintessential worker placement game. It balances the fine line between tension/frustration of worker placement perfectly with the addition of a ‘Grande worker’ which can be placed on an action space that is already full. Like all Stonemaier products the components are beautifully produced and a pleasure to play with, but that is not to take away from absolutely solid game play. The fact that the game is all about wine doesn’t hurt either.
Just one tile placement game
In tile placement games players collect tiles, sometimes at random, and place them according to specified criteria to trigger different actions and benefits as well as score victory points. It’s another of my favourite mechanisms, but choosing just one, I have a clear favourite, Glen More. It’s another of my all-time favourite games and one of my earlier discoveries in the hobby after watching Rahdo talk about it. At the time it was out of print, so I originally managed to track it down on eBay. I love the theme, I love the gameplay, it’s so slick and elegant and it provides a big thinky game experience without hours of your time. I love it so much that I backed Glen More II on Kickstarter when it was reprinted, and I’ve still not played with all the Chronicles content which I’m really looking forward to.
I know for many people; tile placement means Carcassonne. I’ve not actually played the original, I’ve only played Carcassonne: The Castle (sorry, it’s out of print). I think the game is great, but it’s a lighter game which I enjoy whenever I play it, but don’t yearn for like Glen More. I think that might be why this feels like such an obvious choice for me as many of the tile placement games I really enjoy; Cascadia, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig and Subdivision are shorter and lighter. There are some heavier games which are amongst my favourites which have tile laying elements, The Castles of Burgundy, Ark Nova, and Tapestry. I also played Apiary for the first time recently, which brilliantly combines worker and tile placement, so perhaps I’d be allowed this in a ‘just-one-worker-and-tile-placement’ category?
Just one bag builder game
I picked bag builder games over deck builder games because I’m not crazy about deck building. I know, I’m sorry, I don’t know why they just don’t seem to click with me that much. I’m playing through Clank: Acquisitions Incorporated with friends at the moment and having a great time with it, but it’s the friends, the game night, and the legacy elements that are real highlights. And yes, I’ve played Dominion, it’s good, it’s just not mega exciting to me. Anyhow. Bag builders. Bag builders I like. A lot.
In bag building games each player begins with an individual bag of tokens. Throughout the game, players will pull from the bag to execute certain actions or determine what happens on their turn. Usually there is an opportunity to acquire new and more powerful tokens throughout the game as well as discarding tokens to get rid of less powerful tokens.
I find this a really tough choice but have plumped for Orléans over Wonderland’s War, although both are in my top ten games overall. Orléans is one of the very few games that I usually win, although that’s got nothing to do with it, I promise! It’s ten years old now, another older game that for me has stood the test of time. It’s set in medieval France and players recruit famers, knights, and monks to fill their bag. I like the theme and the art, although they’re not integral to the game play. Although it’s a longer game and it can be a bit of a time drain on set up, the iconography is so clear that it makes it intuitive to learn and it easy to crack on with if you’ve not played for a while.
I’m going to cheat a little bit and still talk about Wonderland’s War, because it’s just SO good. Where Orléans feels like a pure bag builder, Wonderland’s War has loads going on, and for my tastes perfectly balances mechanisms and theme. Area majority and push your luck are both key elements of the game, so this is what I’d pick if I could have just one area majority game. However, for the bag building, I would highly recommend getting the deluxe chips if you can get hold of them. I’m not massively into upgrading games, and they are a splurge, but they really enhance the game for me. They’re so lovely and tactile, I say how much I love them approximately twenty times during the course of a game.
Just one cooperative game
Cooperative games are exactly what they sound like, players coordinate their actions and win or lose together. I’m not a hugely competitive person (largely because I rarely win things!) so I really enjoy cooperative games. However, more than any other type of game, I find the people you’re playing with really affect the experience. I have occasionally had cooperative games ruined by an alpha gamer.
If I were to select just one cooperative game, I would go for Spirit Island. It’s such a crunchy and thinky game in which players have asymmetric powers. It feels really unique to me. I love the theme, which is brilliantly done, perfectly integrating with the mechanisms. The asymmetry in the player powers is so radically different that the game seems impervious to alpha gaming, which for me is a great bonus.
Just one engine builder
In engine building games players create combinations with cards (usually) that they play. These are triggered by actions throughout the game. There may be one-off benefits as cards are played, but successful gameplay depends on enhancing and repeating the combinations to produce actions, resources, and victory points.
A good example of engine building is Wingspan which I have talked about in a couple of other blogs, I think it’s as brilliant as it is beautiful. However, as I’m picking just one for my collection, it’s got to be Earth. It does so many things that I love. The art and components are lovely, it has great table presence without being impractical. The play is simultaneous which keeps things moving and makes it easy to scale up the player count without making it too long. It tricks me into learning with short facts printed on the 364 unique cards. I can’t wait for the Abundance expansion.
Just one roll and write game
Roll and write games are (most often small) games where players roll a set of dice and mark results to determine their progress on pads or dry wipe boards. This does describe games like Yahtzee, but most modern roll and write games involve some player interaction.
If I were to pick just one, it would be The Fox Experiment. I think that it’s a roll and write game and that is a hill I will die on. It meets all the criteria, apart from being small, it is admittedly pretty sprawling. It’s so good though. It’s another game where the theme and mechanisms are perfectly integrated. I also think it’s a very practical choice if I’m only going to have a few games to choose from as it’s such a creative roll and write. It’s a great puzzle and has a lot of bang for its buck, being on the heavier side for a roll and write.
Just one dungeon crawler
In dungeon crawler games players take on the role of a character, to fight enemies and complete objectives in different rooms or scenarios. They’re often campaign based, and this may influence the character abilities and resources available as well as allowing characters to ‘level’ up in between games.
This is not my go to style of game, so I’ve not played that many. It’s pretty unimaginative but if I could keep just one dungeon crawler it would be Gloomhaven, which I’ve had an absolutely brilliant time with. In terms of hours, this is probably one of the games I’ve played the most and I have been really surprised how much I’ve loved it, it’s such an immersive world.
With that being said, Frosthaven would probably be a better choice so that I can enjoy some new content. I could also be convinced to swap this out for Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion which uses a scenario book to simplify the board set up.
Just one party game
Party games encompass such a large range of games, but are usually more casual, sometimes more of an activity than a game where players are closely monitoring point totals.
Again, not necessarily my favourite style of game, but I find they’re often an ideal palate cleanser. We often play them at the end of a game night, or perhaps with friends who aren’t particularly gamey folk. If I were choosing just one, I’d have to go with Just One and not just because it fits with the theme of the blog, but because I think it’s a fantastic game. It’s a cooperative game where each player takes turns to guess a word. Each round players aim to come up with a unique clue, if there are any duplicates, they’re removed. I’ve played this with so many different people, over a broad age range with a wide range of game experience. It’s simple but clever and I love seeing how people think, and I’ve had some great laughs with it too!
In summary
Thankfully I do have space for more than just these picks in my collection, but if I had to drastically reduce my games to fit on one shelf, I’d always be very happy playing any one of just these games.