Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: The Top 10 Board/Card Games for 2010
by Stacy Conradt - November 24, 2009 - 5:18 PM

q10

Food isn’t the only reason I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I think I told you last week that when the weather turns cold and it’s dark out at 4:30 p.m., I love nothing more than game night. However, since it’s just my husband and me, the board games we can play are kind of limited. With so many people gathered for Thanksgiving (and in a small town with not so much as a Walmart), I have all kinds of opportunity to inflict board games on people. I can’t wait. If you’re the same way and looking for something new to throw in to the mix this year, check out the 10 top games for 2010 according to Games Magazine (they do the top 100 every year, conveniently right before Christmas!).

smallworld1. Small World wins Game of the Year. D&D lovers, this might be for you. Dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs and humans are all battling to expand their land and defeat everyone else trying to expand their own and encroach on personal territory. It kind of sounds like a cross between Lord of the Rings and Ages of Empires, doesn’t it? And there are expansion packs – Small World Cursed! gives you goblins and kobolds to worry about; Grand Dames of Small World introduces the females with Priestesses, Gypsies and White Ladies. Each race of people comes with pros and cons, of course, so choose wisely at the beginning of the game.

blox2. Blox takes the Abstract Strategy division. This is a game where you build towers, but don’t think Jenga. Instead of sharing one tower, each player has to compete to build their own, deciding when the opportune time to raze someone else’s structure is while protecting your own at the same time.
3. Le Havre is the game to play if you’re into Advanced Strategy. Like a little Sim City, you’re working on developing the town of Le Havre. There’s a lot going on here – you have to worry about goods, harvest, food, buildings, ships and cash reserves. The person with the most successful town at the end of the game wins.

4. Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age is what you should invest in for family game night, since it was voted the Best Family Board Game. Educational and fun – what more could you ask for in a game? Here you have to build more than just a town – you have to build an entire civilization. And you only have an hour. Good luck with that.

Amerigo_f_23395. Amerigo is the Best Family Card game (probably a little bit easier to throw in the car when you’re headed for grandma’s house for the holidays). And, bonus: it’s another educational game! Ready to travel the world in search of goods and riches? You can set sail with nothing but a deck of cards. The more you venture out, the cooler stuff you’ll find – but you also have to spend time coming back to market to sell your goods, so you have to decide just how far it’s worth going.

6. Dominion takes the title for Best Family Strategy game. It’s also a card game – you’re trying to gather the most of a certain type of card. There are Treasure cards, Victory cards, Kingdom cards and Curses. You buy these cards, fending off your competitors who are trying to do the same to expand their dominions as well. And if you get bored with it, there are four expansion packs to keep play interesting.

dixit cards7. Dixit wins Best Party game, which is typically the type of game I’m after. It’s really unique and unlike any game I’ve ever heard of. Everyone gets six cards with a single picture per card except for the “storyteller,” who gets one card. The storyteller looks at the card and decides on a word that describes the picture. Then everyone throws one card into the pile (like Apples to Apples), including the storyteller’s single card, and everyone has to guess which one was the storyteller’s card based on the word he or she gave. If everyone guesses or if no one guesses, that’s zero points for the storyteller – so the key is to be a little abstract in your description, but not ridiculously so. Otherwise, the storyteller and the people who guessed the correct card each get three points. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins. Bonus: the cards are gorgeous!

orastelo8. La Ora Stelo will satisfy your need for a brainteaser, as this is the Best Puzzle game. If 10,000 piece puzzles are a joke to you, perhaps you’ll find this challenging. Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain this one, so I’m just going to borrow the description from Games:

La Ora Stelo is a remarkably novel polyform puzzle, with pieces based on two types of isosceles triangles whose side lengths are related by the golden ratio. The golden ratio is an irrational number known as phi (approximately equal to 1.61803…), and has more interesting properties than you could shake a slide rule at (anyone remember those?). When up to three of these triangles are combined edge-to-edge in all possible ways, they form a set of 32 tiles called polyores. Phi is very common in formulas relating to pentagons, so it is no surprise that this set rests in a pentagonal tray. It also has five small black tiles to fill the center. At least nine other sizes of pentagons can be constructed with a subset of all the tiles.

9. Fields of Fire is 2010’s best Historical Simulation game. It’s yet another card game (they must be popular this year) that has you waging war. The settings range from WWII to present day, and you get appropriate terrains for each, so between that and the cards that dictate your weapons and style of combat, no two games are ever the same.

jumb10. Jumbulaya is actually the winner of the Best Word Game for 2009, but since Games didn’t appear to declare a Best Word Game for 2010, we’ll go with last year’s. You know this is smart game because it gets the Mensa seal of approval, winning the Mensa Select Award in 2008. It’s like Scrabble with more twists and turns. You can scramble words already on the board, you get letter-combo tiles, you can trade tiles, and if you can spot a way to make a Jumbulaya (a seven, eight, or nine letter word) by using any of the above strategies, you get bonus points.

Of course, there are the always-fabulous games in stock in the mental_floss store, including our own brand of quirky trivia. Strange that it seems to be left off of Games’ top 10 list… hmm. An oversight, I’m sure.

I will be toting Loaded Questions, The Game of Things, Scattergories and perhaps Scene It to my in-laws’ house. Those in addition to the usual cut-throat game of Monopoly, of course (I’m serious. They’re vicious). Is there any game in particular your family gathers around the table for without fail? And have you tried any of these?

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Comments (28)

  1. My family and friends can’t stop playing Monty Python Fluxx these days.

    posted by Karen on 11-24-2009 at 5:43 pm

  2. Scrabble – it’s a classic!

    My mom’s favorite game is Careers, but, considering I’m having enough trouble managing my real-life career these days, I think we’ll pass.

    posted by Abby on 11-24-2009 at 5:47 pm

  3. This is a great post! Games are a huge part of my family’s holiday experience, but we tend to stick to the classics–it’s hard to introduce a new game into the fold, though it’s been known to happen occasionally. Dixit sounds great.

    Taboo and Scattergories are must-plays, and Trivial Pursuit is right up there (between everyone, we own every edition of this, except some of the really specialized ones–though we do have Book Lovers’). In the past few years, Encore has risen to the top of the pack as well, replacing Hearts (the basic card game), to the joy of some and the dismay of others. (I’m firmly in the Joy camp there, I adore that game.)

    Teams are made and broken. Alliances are formed. Cheating isn’t cheating unless you get caught. Sibling is pitted against sibling (for otherwise the team with both would have too great an advantage).

    Awesome.

    posted by AJ on 11-24-2009 at 5:49 pm

  4. Scrabble is the crown jewel of all boardgames for me. Recently our commune split up and we all moved to different states and we had such a challenge deciding who got to keep Chez Geek, we had a huge tool box filled with the core deck and several variations and of course our slack counters. We always maintained perfect peace in our house by working out house mate squabbles via the game.

    posted by Cynthia on 11-24-2009 at 6:41 pm

  5. Trivial pursuit is always a winner in our house.

    posted by kate on 11-24-2009 at 7:20 pm

  6. My wife and I love to play Carcassonne, which is a boardgame with no board. Instead you build a map of cities, roads and countryside using small tiles. It’s a great game because it’s completely different every time you play!

    posted by Robert S. Digby on 11-24-2009 at 7:26 pm

  7. Phase 10. The only thing that will keep my in-laws awake until 2:30am.

    Bought Scrabble Slam for my 7-year-old nephew for Christmas. Has anyone else played it?

    posted by Lynley on 11-24-2009 at 7:56 pm

  8. Great post Stacy! Board games are a huge part of our family gatherings, holiday and otherwise. Our favorites are Settlers of Catan and Rail Baron. Robert, your Carcassonne looks interesting!
    From this list Blox looks like one I would like to try.

    posted by Stan on 11-24-2009 at 8:06 pm

  9. Thanks, Stacy! I think I will have to get Dixit for my sister for Christmas. It sounds a lot like this game we played at a friend’s house years ago . . . crap, I can’t remember what it was called. Horrible story, I know, but the point is, I bet she’d love Dixit. So thanks!

    posted by Lindseydl on 11-24-2009 at 8:25 pm

  10. We will be playing some Killer Bunnies at my house this weekend. A fun game with only 2 players, but a wild stratagy war with 8. :)

    posted by TheZed on 11-24-2009 at 9:12 pm

  11. monty python fluxx??? i’ve gotta have it. Zombie fluxx is big between us younger generation, but when the family gets together, its pictionary on a big whiteboard with dryerase markers. mad gab, too especially when the drinks start pouring. phase 10 and uno. and the dice game Zilch. our family doesnt like to introduce many new games, unless the instructions are exceedingly simple.

    posted by penny on 11-24-2009 at 9:52 pm

  12. phase 10. we never get tired of it

    posted by alex on 11-24-2009 at 11:44 pm

  13. Our family (teenagers) loves Apples to Apples and Cranium! For a fun and shorter diversion, we play Guillotine.

    posted by lynn on 11-25-2009 at 12:35 am

  14. Uno is a bloodsport in our house. People have left the Uno table in tears and/or vowing revenge.

    We also like Apples to Apples, and Scrabble got a lot easier after my dad had a stroke. ;-P

    posted by Rachel on 11-25-2009 at 6:20 am

  15. Munchkin!!!

    posted by Erik on 11-25-2009 at 7:09 am

  16. All the Fluxx games are awesome. We play Racko often, but my favorite will always be Lunch Money.

    posted by Christina on 11-25-2009 at 7:37 am

  17. Dominion has become the latest must-play game in our house and with our friends. Settlers of Catan is an old favorite — and these suggestions look great! Thanks Stacy.

    posted by Tracie on 11-25-2009 at 8:53 am

  18. we play Phase 10 and poker and rummy like it going out of style! also, we have discovered ‘catch phrase’. it is a hand held electronic game that keeps up laughing for hous!

    posted by megan on 11-25-2009 at 9:13 am

  19. Ah, Uno also gets nuts when all of the Conradts are together! There’s no mercy.

    And for the Fluxx players – the zombie expansion pack is totally on my Christmas list. :)

    posted by Stacy on 11-25-2009 at 10:18 am

  20. Scrabble is the hands down all time favorite in my extended family, too. It can become very cut throat at times, but we have taken pictures of words (or tile selections) when there is something particularly great. In my own immediate family though, Apples to Apples is probably the favorite. We can get so noisy!!!!

    posted by hyacinth on 11-25-2009 at 10:26 am

  21. We play Nameburst. It’s challenging because you have to think of people or character names, the first thing you forget when time is on the line. The good thing for family dynamics is that you are partners with each other in gaining points and partners always change. You can give clues about a name if you or your partner would not be familiar with it. We play for hours.

    posted by booksmart on 11-25-2009 at 10:59 am

  22. Small World – this is a great game, and actually you get to play 3 or 4 different races throughout the game (each race has a kind of “rise and fall” of its own civilization). More information on this game : http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692

    Blox is an interesting little abstract game. Quite challenging – more info: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34227

    Le Havre is a great strategy game with lots to think about. It has a bit of a steep learning curve, but it’s well worth it. More info : http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35677

    Roll Through the Ages : The Bronze Age is a pretty light game. Yes, you’re building a civilization, in an hour, but it’s fun and easy, and not to taxing on the brain. More info: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37380

    Amerigo is a great little card game with some Push-you-luck elements. Judging risk vs reward makes this game a lot of fun. More info : http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38924

    Dominion is, quite frankly, an astounding game. It’s really easy to learn and a ton of fun! It’s one of my favourite games and I play it a lot! You can play it two or three times inside an hour, once you’re familiar with game play, and you’ll probably want to, too, it’s that fun. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218

    Dixit is another wonderful game, can create lots of laughter, and the artwork really is stunning. More information : http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39856

    Fields of Fire is an interesting game, but won’t be for everyone. Note that it’s one player only – you against the game, as it were. More information: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22877

    Jumbalaya – I’ve not yet had a chance to pay this, but here’s more info: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35548

    Readers may also be interested in the the Board Game Gift Guide 2009 from BoardGameGeek. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_2009

    (Note, I have no official affiliation with BoardGameGeek, I just love boardgames, and it’s a great resource)

    posted by Timothy on 11-25-2009 at 12:05 pm

  23. I liked Guess Who? when I was eight and nine. Now I stick to computer games. And I mean the original non-talking Guess Who? with only talking contestants.

    posted by Sara in AL on 11-25-2009 at 12:30 pm

  24. Apples to Apples is another great card game for groups larger than 4 or 5 people.

    It consists of 250 green adjective cards, and 750 red noun cards. Each turn the judge plays 1 (or 2 for a more interesting game) green cards face up, and each of the other players passes them (face down) a red card that they think best suits the green card. The judge picks the card that they like best, and the winner of the round keeps the green card(s). A the end of the game, the person with the most green cards wins.

    It’s great fun and can be played for hours (the first time my family played, we played for 5 hours without realizing it).

    posted by Brad on 11-25-2009 at 1:29 pm

  25. What? Munchkin isn’t on there??

    posted by Erica on 11-25-2009 at 5:55 pm

  26. Dominion is AWESOME – pricey (the basic Dominion or the Intrigue version will run you about $50) but a great game. It’s one of my favorites.

    Also a huge fan of Settlers of Catan – although there are free Internet versions out there so you can play that way too.

    And Apples to Apples is a classic that my friends and I love – it’s great, really funny.

    posted by Kate H on 11-28-2009 at 1:05 pm

  27. Ever since my brother married his wife last year, our family’s favorite card game is Bang. You get to be a cowboy, shoot people, and beer gives you more life. It’s a good game for my family too because a lot of people can play, and we have a fairly large family. We also like BuzzWord. There are cards which have 10 different sayings on them, with one word in common. It’s your team’s job to figure out all the phases.

    posted by Janel on 11-28-2009 at 6:01 pm

  28. Star Wars Monopoly is our game. You choose your character and the dice are red (for the dark side) and blue (for the jedi). Depending on what character you are there are different rules on what you can do when you roll doubles. So fun!

    We also love LIFE, I have been playing that for 30+ years.

    posted by gckittehmom on 12-28-2009 at 10:32 am

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