My top 100 Boardgames 2022 -
James Land - 02 Jan 2023
Board Game List 2022
Last year I created a top 100 list of board games and it was a lot of fun, so I decided to do it again this year. I used the same method as last year and this year and I even tracked the movement of games between this year and last year.
The Results
Color Scale:
- Dark Red <= -25 spots
- Red <= -12 spots
- Yellow > -12 spots $$ < 12
- Green >= 12 spots
- Dark Green >= 25 spots
Rank
- Betrayal at House on the Hill (0)
- Skull (+1)
- Dune: Imperium (+6)
- Secret Hitler (+11)
- Just One (+25)
- King of Tokyo: Dark Edition (-1)
- Monikers (+7)
- Letters from Whitechapel (-4)
- Lost Cities (+68)
- Mansions of Madness: Second Edition (-8)
- Kingdomino (-3)
- Splendor (+7)
- Viticulture Essential Edition (-7)
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg (+12)
- Nidavellir (+1)
- Downforce (+55)
- The Isle of Cats (+8)
- Scythe (-8)
- Dogs of War (-6)
- The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (0)
- Incan Gold (+16)
- Ultimate Werewolf: Ultimate Edition (-5)
- Startups (NEW!)
- Blood Rage (-17)
- Sheriff of Nottingham (-3)
- Gloomhaven (-15)
- Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar (-4)
- Unicorn Fever (+60)
- Decrypto (+10)
- Mage Knight Board Game (-18)
- Lords of Waterdeep (+5)
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong (-1)
- Forgotten Waters (-9)
- Viticulture World: Cooperative Expansion (NEW!)
- Century: Spice Road (+11)
- Two Rooms and a Boom (-15)
- Sleeping Gods (-1)
- Love Letter (+7)
- Ticket to Ride (+22)
- Arkham Horror: The Card Game (+2)
- Nemesis (0)
- Betrayal Legacy (-14)
- PARKS (+11)
- For Sale (+14)
- Telestrations (+27)
- Dominion (-12)
- Kingsburg (+1)
- Dwellings of Eldervale (+30)
- Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition (NEW!)
- Pandemic (-7)
- Cthulhu Wars (+13)
- Twilight Imperium: Third Edition (-5)
- Dungeon Fighter (-26)
- Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate (-22)
- Dominion (Second Edition) (-21)
- CATAN (NEW!)
- Eldritch Horror (-13)
- Terra Mystica (+1)
- Codenames (NEW!)
- Unlock!: Mystery Adventures (-25)
- Concordia (+8)
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers (+6)
- Forbidden Island (+10)
- Illusion (+1)
- Dominant Species (-25)
- Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (NEW!)
- Letter Jam (NEW!)
- The Resistance: Avalon (-35)
- Small World (NEW!)
- Patchwork (+10)
- Thunderstone Quest (-53)
- Spirit Island (-23)
- Cosmic Encounter (-22)
- Condottiere (NEW!)
- Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger (0)
- Targi (NEW!)
- Wingspan (-24)
- Race for the Galaxy (NEW!)
- Blood on the Clocktower (NEW!)
- The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth (-51)
- Brass: Birmingham (+17)
- Citadels (-15)
- The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 (NEW!)
- The Mind (-27)
- Chronicles of Crime (-6)
- Rising Sun (-24)
- Libertalia (NEW!)
- Vast: The Crystal Caverns (-5)
- Root (NEW!)
- Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game (-30)
- Stardew Valley: The Board Game (+9)
- Horrified (NEW!)
- Terraforming Mars (-2)
- Seasons (-38)
- Shadows over Camelot (-29)
- 7 Wonders (NEW!)
- Onitama (-15)
- Arkham Horror (NEW!)
- Tiny Epic Dungeons (NEW!)
- Zombicide (NEW!)
Final Thoughts
Looking at the list I wanted to break down some thoughts on why things changed and general trends for me this year.
Items that went Up (Green)
Looking at the green items on the list I am noticing three themes.
The first and most prominent one is an increase in games that are easy to get to the table with my non-gamer friends. While I love a complex games more and more of the people I play with do not have the patiences to spend time learning rules so games like Just One and Downforce are games I can get to the table, set up quickly, and teach quickly (especially Just One)
The second theme of games taking major jumps are games my wife enjoys playing. While we don’t play every weekend she has become my major gaming partner, so anything I can trick her into playing with me is a major plus on my list, and Lost Cities got a huge bump for that. She is also obsessed with Unicorn Fever which is why that one is so high as well.
And the final theme where is less pronounced I think are a couple heavier games that have grown on my over time. I think Dune (I know only +6 but I made it green since it was already so high), Cthulhu Wars, and Dwellings of Eldervale are games that I initially enjoyed but the more I think back on my playtime with them, the more fond my memories are. Cthulhu Wars in particular is one I want to get back too and try out again.
Biggest Riser
I am going to mention three games for my biggest risers that increased over 50 spots, all of which have been mentioned before
Unicorn Fever + 60 Spots: This is just a game that my wife is obsessed with. Honestly I think the part where you are grabbing your bid chips drags a little bit, and setup is not quite as fast as I would like for a game that is this light. But while I think there are better games out there where you can bet on races this is the only that makes her the happiest, which is why I enjoy it so much.
Lost Cities + 68 Spots: Super quick setup, plays pretty fast, lots of very interesting decisions, and most importantly my wife loves it. I can fit it in my backpack or pocket for when we visit breweries which is addition plus, but this game is so much fun!
Down Force + 55 I really enjoy both the bidding and racing stages in this game. It is a big hit with most of my friends, and fairly easy to explain/setup which is a major plus. I think the thing about this game that really made it rise through the ranks is that it is non-party game that I can bring out with people who do not play a lot of boardgames without having them fall asleep or zone out during the rules.
Items that went Down (Red)
The only major Theme I see in a lot of the games that have had major drops on my list is play time, and especially setup time. Things like Gloomhaven/Mage Knight/Thunderstone Quest just take so long to setup that I don’t ever see myself bringing them out. Honestly at this point in my life there are just too many really great games with shorter setup times. I am not even sure many of these games would hit the table even if I was with my more “gamer” friends
That being said I have started doing some solo gaming and enjoyed my first playthrough of Mage Knight solo, so I will be interested to see where it lands next year.
Biggest Faller
Thunderstone Quest - 53 I just recently received this game when I made this list last year so I think the super high ranking was based on a handful of plays. I still think this is one of my favorite deck building games I just wish it was more geared toward the “ultimate” variant. Having to find and pick out a set of cards to use can make setup a lot longer than I would like
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth -51 I want to like this game so much… but I can not find a group that will stay with me past the first game in the campaign. Maybe this is another one I will play solo and it will shoot back up the list but I am so sick of that first scenario that I can not rank it higher than this.