There’s a new book out from Green Ronin that lists the 100 “best” Hobby Games, with essays by various designers and industry people. A popular obsession that has sprung up is to post the list, with bold games being those you own, italic games being those you have played, and bold italic being those you both own and play. Thanks to Jeff Grubb for that idea…
Here’s my list of the games.
Acquire
Amber Diceless
Amun-Re
Ars Magica
Axis & Allies
Battle Cry
BattleTech
Blood Bowl
Bohnanza
Britannia
Button Men
Call of Cthulhu
Carcassonne
Car Wars
Champions
Circus Maximus
Citadels
Civilization
Cosmic Encounter
Cosmic Wimpout
Dawn Patrol
Descent
Diplomacy
Dungeons & Dragons
Dynasty League Baseball
El Grande
Empires in Arms
Empires of the Middle Ages
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Fire and Fury
Flames of War
Fluxx
Formula Dé
The Fury of Dracula
A Game of Thrones
Gettysburg
Ghostbusters
The Great Khan Game
Hammer of the Scots
Here I Stand
A House Divided
Illuminati
Johnny Reb
Junta
Kingmaker
Kremlin
Legend of the Five Rings
Lensman
London’s Burning
Lord of the Rings
Machiavelli
Magic: The Gathering
Marvel Super Heroes
Metamorphosis Alpha
My Life with Master
Mythos
Napoleon’s Last Battles
Naval War
Ogre
Once Upon a Time
PanzerBlitz
Paranoia
Pendragon
Pirate’s Cove
Plague!
Power Grid
Puerto Rico
Renaissance of Infantry
RoboRally
RuneQuest
The Settlers of Catan
Shadowfist
Shadowrun
Shadows over Camelot
Silent Death: The Next Millennium
Space Hulk
Squad Leader
Stalingrad
Star Fleet Battles
The Sword and the Flame
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Talisman
Terrible Swift Sword
Thurn and Taxis
Ticket to Ride
Tigris & Euphrates
Tikal
Toon
Traveller
Twilight Struggle
Unknown Armies
Up Front
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vinci
War and Peace
Warhammer 40,000
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
The Warlord
Wiz-War
45 played, 19 owned. Assuming I counted correctly. 🙂
If you’re reading this on my multiply site, you might want to post your list on your blog…
Impressive list. You’ve certainly gotten around.
A side effect of the list is reminding me of games I want to try out at some point- Shadows over Camelot for one. If nothing else, next Gen Con I should be able to register for events ahead of time, so might get in on a few to try things out.
Shadows over Camelot can be really, really fun. My friend Sarah has it, and the fact that there may or may not be a traitor in the game (who wins if everyone else loses) really adds something to it.
Citadels (in German ‘Ohne Furcht und Adel’) is a Winner, you have to own and play that one. Play it with 6-7 people, at least 5.
Formula De is the best racing game i know.
Interesting. I’ve known of both of them, but they haven’t really come onto my radar. I’ll try to find copies. 🙂
I’ve been slowly working my way down the top 100 list of boardgames at boardgamegeek, trying to add them to my collection. Haven’t got far beyond #10 so far…
I’ve been really interested in checking out the Game of Thrones… I really enjoyed the novels, and I love political intrigue. I assume it plays a heavy role in the game.
I do miss Champions, sometimes… It’s been years. Although I rather hope they’d streamlined the rules a bit in the last decade or so.
I wonder why Arkham Horror (and Runebound, the better Talisman) did not make this list.
Hmm. Not sure about AH, but Runebound doesn’t deserve to be on the list.