2015 could be one of the best

Black Barney wrote: I MISS YOU DAMMIT

"I know."

Loopin' Chewie

This year I've tried to focus more on playing the things I have and like instead of a million new flavors of the same old shit. Last year my "new-to-me" list was 100 games long, and full of a bunch of Kickstarter and BGG Hotness garbage. This year things have settled down some . I usually pick ten new-to-me games for the year, including a GOTY, but I'm having a tough time this year. I haven't played most of what Charles listed (and honestly, I'm not terribly interested in most of them). My short list might be:

Castles of MKL
Roll for the Galaxy
Omen: A Reign of War
Tammany Hall
Mysterium
Codenames
SC:AM

and even some of those I'm not THAT hyped on.

I haven't written the review yet but SC:AM kind of surprised me. I knew it would be a solid dudes in a hall game, but there are a lot of those. But it really has a sense of heart that others are lacking, the setting along with Al and Dan's fondness for it makes a big difference. But they also managed to sneak in a couple of really cool, original concepts. One was of course Overkill, which is brilliant. The other is the crafting element. I thought that was a unique twist on handling loot in these games. Not sure it'll make my top three but it would definitely be listed in an aggregate "best of the year" list.

I try to keep my collection to about 40 games, so things have to truly justify their place in the collection and this year has seen the most releases bought (Loopin Chewie, Cthulhu Wars, SC:AM, Moongha, Pandemic Legacy), since the other recent great period in 2012 (Eclipse, Mage Knight, King of Tokyo, Spartacus), and for me it is interesting that I gave my first 10 rating for a very long time to Pandemic Legacy (joining the very select list of Arkham, Cosmic, Blood Bowl and MoV).

it's probably the best year since 2012, but I don't think this year's crop is anywhere near 2012's.

charlest wrote: I don't get the angst brother or why you're taking a jab at me.

No jab at all, and no angst. As I said, JUST SAYIN', without playing these games enough to know if they really have longevity or if there ends up being a break (A Few Acres of Broken), I think it's premature to call this a landmark year. Generally speaking, until 2018 or so when a lot of people have had a lot of time to play a lot of 2015 releases (to see what ends up as Tanga Trash or crazy priced), it's hard to look objectively at shit that was produced a month or two ago and start proclaiming it great.

Quality means a lot of things to a lot of people; cool bits are nice, but there has to be a solid game behind it (Looking at you, Sedition Wars) or it's really just an overpriced box of bits. Sadly, only time will tell if you were right.

Not a jab, though, just a reality check. Your opinion is just as valid as anyone's....I just happen to think it premature a bit, which in the grand scheme of things, amounts to dick

SuperflyTNT wrote: it's hard to look objectively at shit that was produced a month or two ago

This thread is pure speculation. If that's not what the internet is for then my life's been a lie.

No more or less than any top games of the year list or you playing that Cthulhu Coop Dice game and then saying it kills King of Tokyo or Ultimate Warriorz.

2015 is already way better than 2014. Just many more exciting releases. I don't know if it will go down as one of the best, but I can't remember a year where I wanted to buy so many games. Still I'm not sure how many of the games will have legs and still be talked about 4-5 years from now.

Blood Rage - Lots of hype around this one. It's a crowded genre and I don't see it dethroning Chaos in the Old World as a superior design.
Cthulhu Wars - I have more faith this will stick around rather than "Hemoglobin Anger". It's got the more popular theme and I have no doubt it will be heavily supported.
Forbidden Stars - This game will be a classic. For folks that enjoy stuff like Rune Wars, Game of Thrones etc...this should go into their forever rotation.
The Grizzled - Cool game with actual amazing art. I think it's a bit overblown and won't have legs to survive the cult of new.
Flick em Up - Best dexterity game to come out since Catacombs? No reason this shouldn't be a hit years from now.
Risk: Star Wars - Best mass market game produced in ages. If/when it goes out of print it will fetch stupid prices.
Homeland - Great game that is already flying under the radar. It will have a hard time standing out against Dead of Winter, BSG and others.
SC:AM - Kick ass game that I expect will only get more fans as the positive press continues to spread.
Spector Ops - Already overshadowed by Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition.
TIME Stories - If this gets proper support it could be something special...it all depends on the modules that come out.
504 - More art than game and I highly doubt people will still care about it 5-6 years from now.
Pandemic Legacy - Proof positive that all Eurogamers are secretly Trash loving slobs deep down inside. Already being overrated to the moon.

Time will tell, but yeah it's been a good year for games.

I trust that Charlie is right. I haven't played that many games but I know that when the year started I was absolutely convinced that I wouldn't buy anything this year at all. Yet somehow I ended up buying eight games and an expansions. Some seriously good games had to come around for this to happen, or some incredibly pathetic weaknesses on my part and if I get to choose which I'm going with Charlie being right. It's easier to accept.

I do not envy you reviewers though and what Michael said about it sometimes being a slog is not surprising to me at all. It's exactly what I would have thought.

Egg Shen wrote: Blood Rage - Lots of hype around this one. It's a crowded genre and I don't see it dethroning Chaos in the Old World as a superior design.

I don't know if it's really competing with Chaos in the Old World. They're both area control with power point type systems, but they feel very different. Chaos is more open and a bit more cat 'n mouse with Khorne.

Blood Rage is much more immediate and in your face. You can't hide, you can only greet Valhalla with a warm Viking hug.

While I believe Chaos is probably the better game, I'm not 100% positive. I do know, despite this, I've had more fun with my first half dozen plays of Blood Rage than my first half doze with Chaos in the Old World.

I do believe it may not have the replayability of Chaos though as the combos will become repetitive I think, I'd love to see another deck of cards for each age.

Forbidden Stars - This game will be a classic. For folks that enjoy stuff like Rune Wars, Game of Thrones etc...this should go into their forever rotation.

I think this will be a quiet classic that does have legs, but is not talked about much. Its popularity will ebb and flow as expansions are released, in between it fading into obscurity. My ONLY beef with the game is it takes too damn long. I want to play it more often than it wants me to.

The Grizzled - Cool game with actual amazing art. I think it's a bit overblown and won't have legs to survive the cult of new.

I think you're right. Mechanically it's too simple but it's also not mainstream enough. It will be celebrated and mentioned but it's not something that everyone will own or that we'll see being played often. Absolutely think it should be a classic though.

Flick em Up - Best dexterity game to come out since Catacombs? No reason this shouldn't be a hit years from now.

I don't see this fading. It has all the goods - beauty, style, and substance.

Homeland - Great game that is already flying under the radar. It will have a hard time standing out against Dead of Winter, BSG and others.

It will fade (already is), but it's a great game and shouldn't.

Spector Ops - Already overshadowed by Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition.

They really shouldn't compete but I guess they do. Fury is 3ish hours and a heavy, thematic experience with great atmosphere.

Specter Ops is more quick and immediate, getting to the tension right away. Two player games of this can last 45-60 minutes. It's setting is strong but it doesn't have quite the atmosphere of Fury. I think the tension is sustained throughout the entire playtime though and its very economical in its tempo. Extremely easy to get to the table too with only like 4 pages of actual rules. This should be more popular around here but it's not for some reason.

TIME Stories - If this gets proper support it could be something special...it all depends on the modules that come out.

I think it is something special. I will be buying every single expansion they release if I can't get review copies of them. It's a game that probably should be game of the year material for many people, and it would have been my game of the year if released in almost any other year.

504 - More art than game and I highly doubt people will still care about it 5-6 years from now.

Haven't played but I think you're right. It's all about the metagame of building the worlds and seeing how they work, not about actually delivering an amazing game. I personally think this is a fine goal and a bit avant-garde, but it's not the type of design that will get played often which means it won't retain the hype and it will fade.

Am I crazy for saying that Blood Rage and Chaos basically only share the power expenditure mechanism and that's it? I still don't understand why someone would say they even occupy the same tactical space. Sure, you spend power to put out dudes and take actions. But damn, we just sort of have to accept the fact that this idea was so solid, it's now an officially accepted game mechanism, no different than paying money to put out units, or rolling to hit, or flipping a card and throwing dice at it.

I've only had the barest of experience with it, but I think WWE Superstar Showdown has loads of potential for year-end lists (which is why Charlie listed it). I got a copy last week, and I'm taking it with me to Thanksgiving to play with my brother-in-law. After I've spent some more time with it I'll know better.

WWE is pretty f'ing awesome.

Let's look back....to 2013
Caverna (The Agricola Killer, and #3 ranked BGG game)
Eldritch Horror (The Arkham Killer)
Battlelore 2nd Ed
Pathfinder card game
Forbidden Desert
Firefly
Zombicide S2: Prison Outbreak (some people really love this game, but I am not among them)
The Duke (A truly remarkable game that nobody talks about)
Legacy: De Crecy
Spyrium
A Study in Emerald
Rampage/Terror In Terribly Named Games
8ME: Legends
Star Trek: Attack Wing (Still of the mind that this is a better game than X-Wing)
Duel of Ages II
Space Cadets: Dice Duel
Warhammer: Diskwars
Theseus
A Distant Plain
Cocounuts
Relic
Sails of Glory
City of Remnants
Boss Monster (which I recall people going nuts over)
Archon: Glory and Machination (Which Chuck and Mike have been touting as the best worker placement game ever)
Dungeon Command
Bioshock Infinite (which Dan Thurot has said is the cat's meow, and many others have said the same)
Triassic Terror (Which I believe is the third best area control game of all time, after El Grande and either Cave Troll or Tikal)
Hegemonic
Dark Darker Darkest (Yes, this is polarizing; it's an Ausloosian design which means you love it or hate it)
Malifaux 2nd ed (which is actually a really good skirmisher)
Disc Duelers (an incredibly fun and hard-to-find dexterity game)
Zpocalypse (of Zombicide and ZPoc, Zpoc is the better game, despite what the masses would have you believe)
THE MUSHROOM EATERS
I could go on with Lincoln's War and other wargames, but you get the point.

Let's look at 2012.....
Terra Mystica (inexplicably, the #2 BGG rated game)
Android: NETRUNNER
War of the Ring
Robinson Crusoe
X-WING
Lords of Waterdeep
The Resistance: Avalon
Mage Wars Arena
DESCENT 2ED
Suburbia
Kemet
....I'm stopping there, because we all know how this is going to go

My point is that I think a shitload of truly remarkable games are released every year, and the real test of time will be "what is on your shelf in 2 years, still being played?" I think 2015 is a decent year, but of all the games on the original list, the only ones that I have any interest in are:

Cthulhu Wars
Flick 'Em Up
Forbidden Stars
SC:AM
Fury of Dracula 3e
TIME Stories
Waste Knights
WWE Superstar Showdown
Codenames
Pandemic Legacy
Food Chain Magnate
Shadows of Brimstone
Star Wars Armada
Battlelore 2E (This didn't come out in 2015, according to BGG, but rather 2013)
XIA
..and something else:
- Strange Aeons 2nd Ed.
- Martians Attack Mini Game

Still, a lot of great games. I don't think there's any more quality titles this year than any other recent years, which just means that we're in an amazing time to be in the hobby. I mean, what other 10 year period can you really say that if you had 10,000$ to spend, you couldn't get everything you thought was great?

Good times.

Imperial Assault (2014) > Everything (2015)