Board Games
Year in Review - 2024
I’m extremely lucky to have a great group of board game friends.
Having been obsessed with the hobby of board gaming for the past 8 years, the one constant has been being able to share great games with great friends. Board games are an inherently social activity, but I’ve found that different people get infatuated with board gaming for different reasons. For myself, though I harbor a deep love for the mechanics and themes of the games I play, it’s all for naught if it’s not shared with good friends. I’ve been fortunate to find those people again and again across multiple states and periods of my life.
Last year I set out a new goal, organize a “board game cabin weekend” with my game group, and I’m happy to report it was a fantastic success! Over 4 days and 3 nights, we shared meals, stories, laughter, and yes of course games! I’ve been feeling the void of the SHUX board game convention, so I decided to make my own convention! I’m hoping this is a tradition that will carry on for many years, I’ve no doubt that we’ll all try to make it happen if we can.
The List
(new to me in 2024)
Scout
Designed by:
Kei Kajino
Art by:
Kei Kajino
Rie Komatsuzaki
Jun Sasaki
Shohei Asaoka
Barcelona
Designed by:
Dani Garcia
Art by:
Zuzanna Kołakowska, Aleksander Zawada
Flatiron
Designed by:
Isra C
Shei S
Art by:
Weberson Santiago
Daybreak
Designed by:
Matt Leacock
Mateo Menapace
Art by:
Mads Berg
Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West
Designed by:
Alan R. Moon
Rob Daviau
Matt Leacock
Art by:
Cyrille Daujean
Julien Delval
Lord of the Rings: Duel
Designed by:
Antoine Bauza, Bruno Cathala
Art by:
Vincent Dutrait
Space Base
Designed by:
John D. Clair
Art by:
Chris Walton
Inventions
Designed by:
Vital Lacerda
Art by:
Ian O’Toole
Pampero
Designed by:
Julian Pombo
Art by:
Ian O’Toole
Undaunted: Stalingrad
Designed by:
David Thompson
Trevor Benjamin
Art by:
Roland MacDonald
Dune Imperium
Designed by:
Paul Dennen
Art by:
Clay Brooks
Brett Nienburg
Raul Ramos
Nate Storm
Salton Sea
Designed by:
David Bernal
Art by:
Amelia Sales
Long Shot: The Dice Game
Designed by:
Chris Handy
Art by:
Clau Souza
Darwin’s Journey
Designed by:
Simone Luciani
Nestore Mangone
Art by:
Paolo Voto
And my 2024 Game of the Year is…
Dune Imperium
I was initially resistant to Dune Imperium, worried that such a direct tie-in to a major entertainment property was a play for popularity rather than great game design. As Dune Imperium continued to climb the BGG rankings, however, the effusive praise became hard to ignore. Though I’m not particularly fond of the Dune IP, Science Fiction is my favorite genre, so it didn’t take much for me to give this one a chance.
Once I did, it immediately clicked. Dune is not a particularly hard game to learn, but there are a lot of things going on. The game contains resource management, deck building, and mutually exclusive worker placement. Balancing these mechanics in tandem is no easy feat, so the fact that Dune makes each action feel so important and satisfying is a huge part of its lasting appeal. It does this primarily by combining the three aforementioned mechanics into every turn; you move your worker to an unoccupied space by playing a card, you typically pay a resource to do so, and you end your round by drawing new cards. On and on it goes in a spicy mix of possibilities!
It’s also a game that has very well implemented expansions. The core game is fantastic in its own right, but for me its two expansions - Rise of Ix & Immortality - have become essential. The game continues to overlay new ideas upon the original solid framework without ever becoming overly burdensome. There’s even a standard and a “longer game” variant to really allow players to sink into the meat of the game.
With another expansion, Bloodlines, expected this year and Dune Imperium: Uprising still to try, I am confident that I will be playing Dune well into the future. And I haven’t even mentioned the great digital implementation on Steam!
A Golden Age of Board Game Influencers
For those that know me well, there was a time when I had merely a shelf of games as opposed to my current glut of shelves. The resulting expansion in cardboard was in part driven by Shut Up & Sit Down, a small team of board game enthusiasts from Britain who have been running a board game review channel since 2011. Their brand of humor, thoughtfulness on the larger themes surrounding games, and excellent taste has been the source of numerous hours of entertainment and more than a few game purchases.
As the hobby has grown larger, it’s not surprise that many other reviewers and enthusiasts have come out of the woodwork to add their voices the inudstry. I’m so thankful for these individuals; they help me to understand new games coming out and see through the hype. They work hard to stay current with the insane gamut of games being released nowadays. In the case of reviewers, they help to make sense of complicated rule books in short order with great explainer videos.
Given how invested I am in this hobby, I thought it was worth giving praise to the people and teams that are doing great work in the Board Game Industry today:
Shut Up & Sit Down - Quinns, Matt, Tom, & Team
No Pun Included - Efka & Elaine
Actualol - Jon Purkis
Space-Biff! - Dan Thurot
Watch It Played - Rodney Smith
Gaming Rules! - Paul Grogan
Thinker Themer - Amy & Maggie
Rahdo
Before You Play - Monique & Naveen
Senet Magazine
What I’m Most Excited For in 2024…
Having already started a Pandemic Legacy campaign in the months before COVID-19, I’ve been wanting to return to this game for a long time, as I don’t know how it ends! Sadly that original game group has disbanded (though we all survived COVID!), but I’ve got an eager crew of companions who are adamant on eradicating this game’s tricky diseases.
SETI, the next big strategy game out of Czech Games Edition, follows in the footsteps of one of my all-time favorite games - Lost Ruins of Arnak. While there is no direct connection between the two games - besides the publisher and some of the art team - SETI is clearly channeling the same vibes as Arnak, with its focus on resource management, clever card usage, and ability to chain actions in surprising ways. Based on what I’ve already seen from some of the above influencers, I’d be surprised if this wasn’t near the top of my list in next year’s review.
If you read the above Game of the Year tidbit, then this needs little expansion. The next expansion in the Dune Imperium series, I’m particularly intrigued that this expansion is built for both Imperium and Uprising. Can’t wait to play plenty more Dune this year!
Skymines has been sitting on my shelf for at least a year now. A re-implementation of Mombasa, this game comes courtesy of Alexander Pfister, who developed the genius Great Western Trail. Mombasa was also lauded, but had a theme that was too antiquated, involving exploitation of African colonies. I’m all for a historical game, and I can separate the nuance of playing a game vs supporting a historical wrong, but still think it was a smart move for the publisher to re-theme this one. Now we’re on the moon with vying corporations, which is the new popular theme in so many board games hahaha… I’m certain the game will be stellar, less certain about the fate of late stage capitalism.
Galactic Cruise is finally arriving to me in February 2025 after what must be commended as one of the most well-organized kickstarters I’ve ever backed. I hope Ian O’Toole is earning a great commission on these Kickstarters, because similar to last year’s Pampero, his work on this one was a huge draw for me. Also similar to Pampero, this one will be a risk, from a new publisher with a big box form factor clearly trying to attract to those of us addicted to Lacerda games. Fingers crossed!