Board Games
Year in Review - 2023
My collection of games is also a collection of memories.
I’ve been so fortunate to make so many close friends through the hobby of board gaming. Though time and distance have separated me from many of these great people, the games stick around, providing tangible memory of the connections forged and the game nights that went late into the evening.
I’ve always said that friendships are a vital part of the board gaming experience for me. Yes I love the esoteric themes and complex strategies, but I’ve played great games with sour companions, and it is never a good experience. Games are fun just as much for the people you play them with as the content inside them.
Which is why I was overjoyed when my girlfriend Mara really took to playing games with me this year. There was certainly no expectation or pressure for her to enjoy the hobby, though no doubt a sense of hope inside me. As she’s explored new games with me, she’s found her own favorites and even enjoyed wandering through board game stores with me (or maybe she’s just keeping me in check…). It is an even greater joy to share my favorite hobby with my favorite person.
2023 was filled with great games and great companions!
The List
(new to me in 2023)
Lost Ruins of Arnak:
The Missing Expedition
Designed by:
Min & Elwen
Art by:
Roman Bednar
Ondrej Hrdina
Jiri Kus
Jakub Politzer
Milan Vavron
3 Ring Circus
Designed by:
Remo Canzadori
Fabio Lopiano
Art by:
Edu Valls
The Red Cathedral
Designed by:
Isra C
Shei S
Art by:
Chema Roman
Pedro Soto
Cubitos
Designed by:
John D. Clair
Art by:
Jacqui Davis
Philip Glofcheskie
Ryan Iler
Pax Pamir: Second Edition
Designed by:
Cole Wehrle
Art by:
Cole Wehrle
Votes for Women
Designed by:
Tory Brown
Art by:
Brigette Indelicato
Marc Rodrigue
(Pictured Above)
Paris: La Cite de la Lumiere
Designed by:
Jose Antonio Abascal Acebo
Art by:
Oriol Hernandez
Weather Machine
Designed by:
Vital Lacerda
Art by:
Ian O’Toole
Lacrimosa
Designed by:
Gerard Ascensi
Ferran Renalias
Art by:
Jared Blando
Enrique Corominas
Undaunted: Stalingrad
Designed by:
David Thompson
Trevor Benjamin
Art by:
Roland MacDonald
Great Western Trail:
New Zealand
Designed by:
Alexander Pfister
Art by:
Chris Quilliams
Ahoy
Designed by:
Greg Loring-Albright
Art by:
Kevin Ferrin
7 Wonders Duel: Agora
Designed by:
Antoin Bauza
Bruno Cathala
Art by:
Miguel Coimbra
Ticket to Ride: Germany
Designed by:
Alan R. Moon
Art by:
Cyrille Daujean
Julien Delval
And my 2023 Game of the Year is…
Great Western Trail: New Zealand
The original Great Western Trail has long held the mantle as my favorite board game, so when I heard they were trading cows for adorable sheep and heading to New Zealand, I was all in!
I am very happy to report that this game not only did not disappoint, but it very likely has supplanted the original as my favorite game in the Great Western Trail series. For me it largely starts and ends with the improvements to the deck building system. I really love how this game has made the acquisition and play of cards far more central to the game than the past versions.
It also implements some of the mechanics from the Rails to the North expansion released previously, which I think strengthens the gameplay further. This version of GWT feels expansive, with the addition of a fourth type of worker, there now seem to be more strategies to win than ever before, making every game quite unique.
The art and production value are fantastic, so many varieties of sheep that I’ll be playing this game for a long long time to come.
I wrote my first board game review in 2023!
What I’m Most Excited For in 2024…
If you haven’t already noticed by reading my other Year in Review pieces, backlogs are always on my mind. I bought Arkwright years ago with good intentions, but it has languished on the shelf.
You’ll forgive me after learning that there are 3 separate rulebooks, each clocking in at around 30 pages, and that it’s a dry game about managing a factory during the industrial revolution. Of course that what makes me love it!
Still, it has been hard to find time to sit down and learn the rules, let alone find a committed group of friends to join me on this economically arduous journey. I’m honestly not sure that 2024 will be the year, either, but here’s to hoping…
I have more copies of Ticket to Ride than any other game series in my library; partly due to how many expansions they’ve released and in part due to my love for the series. When I learned they were doing a Legacy campaign version of the game, I was excited! But at $120, it was hard to justify picking up.
Knowing this, Mara made it a special Christmas gift this year, and absolutely something to look forward to together (and hopefully with two other friends in 2024)! Beyond the campaign, which sees the slow westward expansion of each player’s railroad line, when the story is over, there will be a complete map that is apparently replayable forever. Looking forward to it!
I’ll admit I was initially attracted to this game through the Lacerda-style box and design, something the publishers were surely aware of. It helped further that artist Ian O’Toole is also associated with the project; my word does this man every sleep??
I’ll admit further that I derive a strange, potentially misplaced, but weirdly satisfying pleasure from telling people that I own a game about building wind energy in Uruguay. It speaks to the incredible diversity of board games as experiences!
In all seriousness, though, this is a game that seems strategically “crunch” as they say. Well maybe it’s just me, but I’ll be crunching this one once it too finally arrives from Kickstarter.
Inventions is the next game from prolific board game designer-illustrator duo Vital Lacerda & Ian O’Toole. I own every game they’ve produced together, and they are my absolute favorites, so it was a no-brainer subscribing to their Kickstarter. This was the first time I went for “First Wave” shipping, however, eager to get my hands on it early in 2024.
Lacerda’s games tend to be a clever fusion of mechanics and theme, and cover such ground as historical events in Lisbon, managing an electric vehicle factory, and running an art gallery. I think he is one of the best designers making games today, and his games both challenge and delight me. Very excited to get this to the table soon, and perhaps even write my next review on it!