Variant: And the Board Game of the Year Goes to….
Tons of great games came out this year. And I had the wonderful opportunity to play a healthy chunk of them. After the final five nominees came out, I had several discussions over Twitter and in person—as well as reading all of the comments—to talk about why those games made the list and why some others didn’t. Even though every game in the top five is super fantastic (and some games not in the top five) there can be only one winner.
I replayed all of the listed games recently. I compared the sheer enjoyment I receive from each game, and my eagerness to play them—especially after repeated plays. And, based on fun and fun alone, the winner is…
Via icanhazcheezburger.com
Sentinels of the Multiverse! Sentinels combines fantastic co-op play with a near elimination of the “dominant player” problem that can plague the genre. Sentinels brings into the gaming world a functional and engaging comic book theme—something that was largely absent. It has captivated everyone I’ve ever played with, whether they are serious, casual, or a nongamer. It not only plays solidly, but it captivates the players as they identify with the super heroes and heroines that they have chosen to play.
Sentinels isn’t perfect. Crafted as it was by a very new publisher, it is lacking some of the bells and whistles that you might find in a more established production company (for example, health tokens). There are also definite scaling issues with five players. But, besides these relatively minor points, Sentinels is an outstanding game with tremendous replay value. And the replay comes not from a modular board or a random starting tile, but from a truly unique experience in every game.
Because every game weaves its own epic narrative, and my group still laughs and remembers critical moments from our games, it is the GeekInsight Game of the Year!
No surprise here. I still haven’t had the chance to play it, but you’ve already made me enough of a believer that I backed Rook City on Kickstarter. Now I just need my wife to come through with a copy of the base game for Christmas…
Whooop! How exciting – Pail Bender (one of the SotM dudes) is my nephew-in-law! Let the celebrations begin.
@Chris. My only worry is that I’ve over hyped it. Maybe I should tell you the game totally sucks so that you’ll be surprised how awesome it is.
@Liz Give him a high five from me next time you see him.
The artist helped me learn how to draw. I met him at Gen Con and we played a pile of sessions with all of them. Great game, great people. I played it over thanksgiving, had a great time.
I finally got to play this game a few weeks ago, and it awesome! Learning to play while hanging out with the designers was the best. Damn that hydra!