My Brother’s Top 5 Games of All Time

Intro

To switch things up this week, I thought it would be fun to get my brother on the blog.  We grew up playing board games together and both got into modern board gaming around the same time. While we share some similarities in tastes, there are also quite a few differences when it comes to what we like and don’t like in a board game. So I thought it would be fun to get a different perspective on board games – and what better way to do so than through a family member! So without further ado, here is a brief intro from my brother, as well as his Top 5 Games of All Time.

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How I Got Into Board Gaming

I first started playing board games like most kids by playing Monopoly and The Game of Life with my parents, grandparents, and brother. The first more serious board game that we got was Settlers of Catan which we played for many years. My adventure into heavy board games started when my mom got my brother, dad, and me Agricola one year for Christmas. This was the first of many euro-style worker placement games that now fill my collection.

Things I Like In Board Games

My brother and I have very different tastes in board games. I particularly like games that have a multitude of options and different paths to victory. I prefer games that are on the very heavy side, but not necessarily ones that have a lot of rules overhead. Games that have tight resource and action management are my favorite.

Things I Don’t Like In Board Games

I don’t enjoy games that have wide swings in luck or unpredictability. I also don’t like deck building games for this same reason. I would rather win or lose a game because of strategy and individual choices versus the luck of the draw. Finally, I don’t enjoy games that feel overly restrictive or have limited paths to victory.

My Top 5 Games of All Time

Gloomhaven is one of the most unique games in my collection of mostly euros. I have played this mostly through the online version as it handles the setup overhead and pilots the opposition. For me, this game checks all the boxes of providing complex puzzles to solve in the form of different dungeons, card choices, and characters. I have also played through the Jaws of the Lion campaign which is great if you want a more streamlined experience that is easier to get to the table.

Agricola will always hold a special place in my heart being one of the first euro games I played. Agricola gives a multitude of options for victory and tons of replayability with giant stacks of occupation and minor improvement cards. Agricola perfectly combines tight immediate resource needs while also requiring long term planning. I also want to mention Caverna, which is another of my favorite games, but I ultimately feel like Agricola is a better game as the minor improvements and occupations give more replayability than Caverna’s room system. Caverna also removes a lot of the core resource management conflict which is a defining feature of Agricola.

Terra Mystica is one of the heavier games in my collection and has absolutely no luck after the initial game setup. Terra Mystica is a very tight resource management game that gives a great push-and-pull of player interaction. It requires meticulous planning to ensure that you have enough resources, and you must plan out what round you are going to build things to maximize points. Gaia Project is another of my favorite games with slightly more unique factions and more variety, but to me, Terra Mystica has a better theme and tighter feel which earned it the nod for this spot.

Probably the heaviest game in my collection, I have mostly played Voidfall solo on the great online web app as getting this game to the table can be a bit of a challenge. Voidfall quickly shot up my ranking after getting it around the holidays in 2023. It has minimal luck and combines tight action and resource management. The different maps, houses, and technologies also provide a unique experience with each play. My only caveat is that if you are prone to analysis paralysis it can be difficult to feel like you’re making the right decision when first playing since each action taken and the order is so important. However, the tutorial does a great job of limiting choices and providing players with digestible bits of information to learn the ropes.

I debated quite a bit on what my favorite game was. I think that any of these games in my top five have a solid argument for being number one, but ultimately I decided on A Feast for Odin (AFFO). AFFO is similar to Agricola and Caverna, but is a much more open sandbox game. AFFO provides so many different options (some may say too many) to choose from each time while the starting occupation provides some direction. The Norwegians expansion adds more islands, enhances the animal strategies and significantly improves the two player experience by increasing the competition for certain action spaces.

Closing

That concludes my top five favorite board games. I really enjoy games that I can dig into exploring multiple strategies and ones that provide unique challenges rather than ones that rely on novelty. Let me know your thoughts on any games I’ve mentioned or different opinions.

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With that, those are my brother’s top 5 games of all time! As you can see, we share a few overlaps in games, but there are also games on his list that wouldn’t make it anywhere near my top 40. I hope you all enjoyed learning more about my brother’s tastes in games, as well as his favorites. Happy gaming!

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