2015 could be one of the best

This is the type of thread this place will loathe and you can certainly call me cult of the new, but I think there's something here.

We don't have the benefit of hindsight yet, so this is far from cemented in stone, but I think 2015 may be one of the strongest year for board games, ever.

Previously I probably would have picked 2012. That year you have the re-release of Netrunner, X-Wing, Robinson Crusoe, War of the Ring 2nd Edition, Lords of Waterdeep, Resistance: Avalon, Mage Wars, Descent 2E, Kemet, Legendary, etc.

I'm having a hard time finding data on what came out what year prior to 2000, but I can't recall a specific year in the 90's where a particularly large number of classics all came out in the same 12 months.

2015 though is fucking crazy and blows 2012 out of the water in my opinion. 2014 was largely forgettable and I only had about 3-5 games I would call very good.

Check out 2015 though:

Blood Rage - could be one of my top games of all time
Champions of Midgard
Clockwork Wars
Cthulhu Wars
DRCongo
Fief re-release
Flick 'Em Up
Forbidden Stars
The Grizzled
Homeland
Kingdom Death: Monster
Mafia de Cuba
Mottainai
Risk: Star Wars
SC:AM
Specter Ops
Fury of Dracula 3e
Warhammer Quest Card Game (verdict pending)
TIME Stories
Waste Knights
WWE Superstar Showdown
504
One Night Ultimate Werewolf: Daybreak
Myth
Camel Up
Star Realms
Codenames
Mysterium
Ashes: Rise of the Pheonix Born
Pandemic Legacy
Food Chain Magnate
The Gallerist
Fireteam Zero
Shadows of Brimstone
Journey: Wrath of Demons
Rum and Bones
Moongha re-release
XCOM
Star Wars Armada
Battlelore 2E
Lanterns
Xenoshyft

Really, I'd be surprised if most anyone couldn't find 5 games they'd think were very strong. Every single sub-genre had multiple quality titles released. It's just crazy. You could fill a whole collection with 2015 releases and have great games of every weight and category.

I'm with you brother. The two of those I've played were killer good.

1998 was definitely a great year.

But yeah man, I think this was a really strong year...there were really only a couple of things I played that I didn't like. And there were quite a few games that I loved. You didn't even list Xia, Undercity, the great T&E and Samurai reprints, Survive! Space Attack, Shadows of Malice, RESISTOR_, Arena of the Planeswalkers.

2014 seemed like a rocky year in general for the industry...largely due to Kickstarter upsetting things so much for the traditional publishers. Things seemed to stabilize this year, and the quality of the Kickstarter conga line improved really quite dramatically, I have to admit. It seems like the higher profile, higher dollar productions are distancing themselves from the days of Gunship and stuff like that.

My GOTY list is pretty much already set. Blood Rage is still a wildcard, and I haven't tried WHQ card game yet. Or 504. I am interested in looking at The Gallerist, because it has a fine art setting and I love that.

Good call on Survive and the others. Can't believe I forgot about SOM or Xia. That just shows how great this year has been that I can't even recall all of the games I've given very positive reviews to.

I haven't played the vast majority of those and have never heard of many on your list but, of those I have tried, I wasn't as enthusiastic about them.

* LOVE Codenames. It's the only party game I'd ever want to play. This will surely be my GOTY.
* I really liked Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn the one time I tried it. Might pick myself up a copy if the wife shows any interest.
* Cthulhu Wars didn't do much for me, whether it's $60 or $200.
* Camel Up is fun but doesn't really stand out from the numerous family titles that get released every year.
* Risk: Star Wars is more of a disappointment the more the shine of having a Return of the Jedi game wears off.
* The Fief re-release fucking sucks.

I also noticed that you stuck Myth in the middle of your list too. Where no one would notice it.

Mistfall was another really good one this year, even if it was a little janky.

Did you really play and assess all those games this year? Jesu Christos that is a hell of a lot of work... eh, I mean play.

I honestly thought Flick 'em Up was one of the best new titles I've played in years. Incredibly immersive, beautifully packaged and still original enough to be worth owning with all the other flicking titles.

I have not played any of the others (although admittedly many of the games on this list don't appeal to me at all) but I did love the new Survive and the two Knizia reprints.

Anyone play Porta Nigra? I was looking at it the other day and it kind of appeals to me.

It's the life of a games writer, dude. It isn't glamorous. Sometimes, it is NOT very much fun to be quite honest. Like right now, I have three games sitting here that I just DO NOT feel like playing...either solo or with any of the folks I play games with. And sometimes it is a HUGE pain in the ass to get people to play something for a review when they don't want to or want to play something else. Any gaming this week I want to play Clash of Cultures with the expansion or Cthulhu Wars. Or Merchants and Marauders with the expansion. But not any of the review stuff I have on hand.

Charlie, I noticed you did not mention Fistful of Dinero. Surely you should list your first published game amongst the best of 2015?

It's also on MM's Black Friday sale. It's only $10, so y'all go support Charlie.

I haven't played/reviewed all of those. I kind of picked a few I hadn't played that were well regarded or had good buzz. Ashes for instance I haven't played and probably won't.

I have written like 60+ reviews this year though, which is a bit crazy. Lots of good stuff thankfully.

I almost left Myth off but I still like it. I've sold more Kickstarter games than I've kept and never been stuck with a bad apple, so I don't think I'm inherently biased here. I think it's very good, but very sloppy. It's getting cleaned up. Still nothing like it at all and still requested by my group.

Eh, I think A Fistful Of Dinero is ok. I enjoy playing it still after a couple hundred plays over the past two years, but it's just a filler with a couple of unique mechanics. Not afraid to admit I wouldn't rate my own game a 10 or whatever most designers do. I've grown a lot since then and would of course change a few things, one of which was not accepting the offer on the first publisher that tries it.

Cult of the New, no bullshit.

charlest wrote: This is the type of thread this place will loathe and you can certainly call me cult of the new, but I think there's something here.

We don't have the benefit of hindsight yet, so this is far from cemented in stone, but I think 2015 may be one of the strongest year for board games, ever. Check out 2015 though:

Blood Rage - could be one of my top games of all time
Champions of Midgard
Clockwork Wars
Cthulhu Wars
DRCongo
Fief re-release
Flick 'Em Up
Forbidden Stars
The Grizzled
Homeland
Kingdom Death: Monster
Mafia de Cuba
Mottainai
Risk: Star Wars
SC:AM
Specter Ops
Fury of Dracula 3e
Warhammer Quest Card Game (verdict pending)
TIME Stories
Waste Knights
WWE Superstar Showdown
504
One Night Ultimate Werewolf: Daybreak
Myth
Camel Up
Star Realms
Codenames
Mysterium
Ashes: Rise of the Pheonix Born
Pandemic Legacy
Food Chain Magnate
The Gallerist
Fireteam Zero
Shadows of Brimstone
Journey: Wrath of Demons
Rum and Bones
Moongha re-release
XCOM
Star Wars Armada
Battlelore 2E
Lanterns
Xenoshyft

32 games.
You'd have to play every day, one game a day, to play each of those games 10 times, and no other games. I don't know that you can, with a straight face, say a game is "THE BEST" unless you've played it 10 times. And based on the discussion we had on the podcast, I don't think you play them 10 times each. Shit, as a reviewer, you'd be hard pressed to do that.

Just sayin'.

I feel like an outlier as I am still waiting for a single game released after my "comeback" to the hobby year of 2010 to make the cut and stay on my shelves as a favourite game. I don't count reprints but if I did the new Through the Ages is the only game I'm going to try and get some time with, along with the newer edition of Conflict of Heroes. I'm not particularly bothered about it either, I don't feel like I am missing out on anything, the stuff I have will last a lifetime. For me 2007 and 2010 were the titanic years of modern games, but the big hitters of the 90s (Tigris!) still reign supreme.

I think whatever year Monopoly came out was a particularly strong year

Pete, I mentioned above I haven't played all of them.

I haven't played:

504 (yet, should get it today)
Camel Up
Ashes
Pandemic Legacy
Food Chain Magnate
The Gallerist
Fireteam Zero
Journey
Battlelore
Xenoshyft

Several I've only played once or a couple times.

Everything I've reviewed I've played minimum 3 times, typically 5 times. Blood Rage I've played 7 times, Myth 8 times, WWE Superstar Showdown 8, etc.

The point of this thread was to discuss the quality new releases this year and for some people to share their experiences. I'm not telling you to buy all of those games or pretending to be an authoritative voice on them. I'm saying, this year has been crazy for me, here's a list of games people have been raving about.

I even state we don't have hindsight yet and this could be wrong.

I don't get the angst brother or why you're taking a jab at me. The thread title even has "could" in it FFS.

It's been a fucking nutty good year, yeah...especially considering I found 2014 bored the living shit out of me and sapped a portion of my board gaming strength.

This year has been fantastic.

I MISS YOU DAMMIT