Top 5 Games Of 2013
...gaming has been a large focus of my hobbies for essentially my entire life. In recent years, my personal shift has been to competitive and cooperative games of the tabletop variety (which is my annoying way of saying board games). In addition to the themes of various games and the challenge, I enjoy the mental workout gained through trying to solve problems, overcome obstacles and advance a story or agenda. Then again, this can be said of anyone who participates in gaming beyond the standard family affair. As games once again took much of my focus, here are the titles that wowed me in 2013.
* Village (Tasty Minstrel)
The one and only reason Village is not higher on this list is that I only played through one time since getting it back in March. Initial playthrough is usually fun, but the real nuts and bolts of a game show their wares in 2nd and 3rd games. Like many European resource management games, the concept of a turn is used more loosely than in other games. Essentially, the game consists of a round. What Village attempts to recreate (and quite successfully, I might add) is the generational lifespan. Within a tight framework, each player seeks to gain the most success by partaking in various tasks within the village while also maintaining a family of reproduction, work and the end of life. The challenges are somewhat vague and left to the player to create and conquer which gives the game a choose-your-own-adventure flavor. More playthroughs in the future should wield even more interesting results.
5. DC Universe Deck Building Game (Cryptozoic)
Interesting enough, I have played this one countless times now and overall, this is a fairly bland game by itself. The basic structure consists of building a deck of Heroes, Villains, Equipment and Superpowers that will enable you to defeat Supervillains. When stacked against other deck builders with greater play variety, DC Universe is a basic game that just happens to be built on the solid Cerebus engine. So, what makes this game so attractive? The DCU theme. When you use a company with 75 years of rich action/adventure fiction as your game's basis, there are no limits as to where this game can potentially go in the future. Still, as it stands, it is a solid card game with enough strategy contained within to invite multiple games.
4. Batman Gotham City Strategy Game (WizKids)
The box art is on the more animated side of the Batman universe which, for some, is a nice change from the darker, brooding persona of the Frank Miller or Scott Snyder Dark Knight. Personally, I am there no matter what version you present (sans maybe the 1960's live action series, depending on the veneer). As for the game, each player selects a villain with which to attempt to rule as much of Gotham City as possible all while trying to avoid any direct confrontation with Batman himself, controlled by a combination of the board and the other players. As such, there are times when the game calls upon Batman and other times where one player can unleash Batman on another player. Amidst all of this chaos, each player uses cunning and backstabbing to acquire money, henchmen and power. The overall framework is a combination of straight-forward action and Euro-style strategy which works well as both a game to bring in less experienced players as well as to satisfy those who crave a challenge at all turns. Plus, it's Batman.
3. Magic The Gathering: Dragon's Maze (Wizards Of The Coast)
Magic The Gathering has a strange distinction of being the game that many of us always mention wanting to play and yet, we can seem to go months without actually playing. My guess is that part of this is the constant desire to rebuild a stronger and more well-rounded deck. Having two themed expansions per year does little to help. With Dragon's Maze, increased focus has been placed on creatures, sorcery, instants and lands with multiple mana requirements. Depending on one's preference, this can both frustrate a player trying to retrieve the cards necessary while giving your deck potential to do some incredible damage. Both the beauty and the curse of Magic The Gathering are the constant updates and additions. But for a player looking for a consistent challenge that is thought-provoking and a bottomless well of fun, Dragon's Maze will deliver.
2. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
Since Grand Theft Auto 3, I have owned and played every single sequel. And with that in mind, I can say that I have never completed any of them. With every new installment, I find myself marveling at the storytelling, level of detail, vibrant world and more. I also get frustrated by some of the most ridiculous challenges ever placed in front of me. There is also the constant temptation to let loose on the public at large and create a scene of endless chaos. Grand Theft Auto V has all of this in a larger quantity than ever before. It also features some glaring omissions that seem obvious. All said, what exactly makes Grand Theft Auto V standout? First, the character management is unique. The opening cut scene is a work of cinema art. It pulls you into the game with a fervor that I feel is unmatched. From there, the game play is fairly standard, but you are woven between three separate characters that are slowly being pulled together through seemingly circumstantial events. As the player, you advance each character's own individual story as they slowly converge together. It is a different way of completion than I have ever experienced. However, if this were not enough, the world is ever so massive, detailed and incredible fun to just wander in. The cities are teeming with all sorts of interesting lives and activities. But where it gets really awe-inspiring are the ranges of mountains and rivers that intertwine with one another. Every path feels new even when you have seen it before. Every mountain feels so high in the sky and realistic until you see a mountain twice the size off in the distance. Dive into any body of water and be stunned by the level of detail where nothing in game is likely to take place. Now, take a sports car and make your way through this landscape and watch the mesmerizing detail come to grips with utter hilarious insanity. Yes...best Grand Theft Auto ever.
1. Legendary & Fantastic Four expansion (Upper Deck)
Better than Grand Theft Auto V? Without a single shred of doubt. Earlier, I had mentioned how the DCU deck builder's main strength was it's theme. By very sharp contrast, Legendary stands as the pinnacle of a deck builder. The mechanics of the game are without flaw. With a starting hand of 12, you use low level S.H.I.E.L.D agents to both recruit the Marvel heroes and fight the random villains on your way to challenging the supervillain chosen at the game's outset. Adding a thick layer of challenge is the city in game. While you scramble to recruit heroes such as Captain America and Iron Man to your deck, henchmen are making their way through the 5 levels of the city with each turn. To make the challenge even steeper, a Scheme is chosen that gives the Supervillain and his henchmen another advantage to use against the players. Going another step further, the villain deck is shuffled with two cards that increase the challenge yet again: Master Strike and Scheme Twist. Each card operates to either attack the players, allow villains to escape, clear the HQ and more. Each Supervillain, Scheme, Twist and Master Strike works in concert to unleash a constant wave of hardship on the players. Simply writing this all out reminds me of how incredibly difficult Legendary has a tendency to be more often than one would think. Of the endless games we have all played, we have collectively lost as often as we have actually won. And no victory ever comes easy. When you factor in the Marvel Comics theme that is perhaps younger but every bit the treasure trove of the DCU, Legendary is impossible not to love.
The one and only reason Village is not higher on this list is that I only played through one time since getting it back in March. Initial playthrough is usually fun, but the real nuts and bolts of a game show their wares in 2nd and 3rd games. Like many European resource management games, the concept of a turn is used more loosely than in other games. Essentially, the game consists of a round. What Village attempts to recreate (and quite successfully, I might add) is the generational lifespan. Within a tight framework, each player seeks to gain the most success by partaking in various tasks within the village while also maintaining a family of reproduction, work and the end of life. The challenges are somewhat vague and left to the player to create and conquer which gives the game a choose-your-own-adventure flavor. More playthroughs in the future should wield even more interesting results.
Interesting enough, I have played this one countless times now and overall, this is a fairly bland game by itself. The basic structure consists of building a deck of Heroes, Villains, Equipment and Superpowers that will enable you to defeat Supervillains. When stacked against other deck builders with greater play variety, DC Universe is a basic game that just happens to be built on the solid Cerebus engine. So, what makes this game so attractive? The DCU theme. When you use a company with 75 years of rich action/adventure fiction as your game's basis, there are no limits as to where this game can potentially go in the future. Still, as it stands, it is a solid card game with enough strategy contained within to invite multiple games.
The box art is on the more animated side of the Batman universe which, for some, is a nice change from the darker, brooding persona of the Frank Miller or Scott Snyder Dark Knight. Personally, I am there no matter what version you present (sans maybe the 1960's live action series, depending on the veneer). As for the game, each player selects a villain with which to attempt to rule as much of Gotham City as possible all while trying to avoid any direct confrontation with Batman himself, controlled by a combination of the board and the other players. As such, there are times when the game calls upon Batman and other times where one player can unleash Batman on another player. Amidst all of this chaos, each player uses cunning and backstabbing to acquire money, henchmen and power. The overall framework is a combination of straight-forward action and Euro-style strategy which works well as both a game to bring in less experienced players as well as to satisfy those who crave a challenge at all turns. Plus, it's Batman.
Magic The Gathering has a strange distinction of being the game that many of us always mention wanting to play and yet, we can seem to go months without actually playing. My guess is that part of this is the constant desire to rebuild a stronger and more well-rounded deck. Having two themed expansions per year does little to help. With Dragon's Maze, increased focus has been placed on creatures, sorcery, instants and lands with multiple mana requirements. Depending on one's preference, this can both frustrate a player trying to retrieve the cards necessary while giving your deck potential to do some incredible damage. Both the beauty and the curse of Magic The Gathering are the constant updates and additions. But for a player looking for a consistent challenge that is thought-provoking and a bottomless well of fun, Dragon's Maze will deliver.
Since Grand Theft Auto 3, I have owned and played every single sequel. And with that in mind, I can say that I have never completed any of them. With every new installment, I find myself marveling at the storytelling, level of detail, vibrant world and more. I also get frustrated by some of the most ridiculous challenges ever placed in front of me. There is also the constant temptation to let loose on the public at large and create a scene of endless chaos. Grand Theft Auto V has all of this in a larger quantity than ever before. It also features some glaring omissions that seem obvious. All said, what exactly makes Grand Theft Auto V standout? First, the character management is unique. The opening cut scene is a work of cinema art. It pulls you into the game with a fervor that I feel is unmatched. From there, the game play is fairly standard, but you are woven between three separate characters that are slowly being pulled together through seemingly circumstantial events. As the player, you advance each character's own individual story as they slowly converge together. It is a different way of completion than I have ever experienced. However, if this were not enough, the world is ever so massive, detailed and incredible fun to just wander in. The cities are teeming with all sorts of interesting lives and activities. But where it gets really awe-inspiring are the ranges of mountains and rivers that intertwine with one another. Every path feels new even when you have seen it before. Every mountain feels so high in the sky and realistic until you see a mountain twice the size off in the distance. Dive into any body of water and be stunned by the level of detail where nothing in game is likely to take place. Now, take a sports car and make your way through this landscape and watch the mesmerizing detail come to grips with utter hilarious insanity. Yes...best Grand Theft Auto ever.
Better than Grand Theft Auto V? Without a single shred of doubt. Earlier, I had mentioned how the DCU deck builder's main strength was it's theme. By very sharp contrast, Legendary stands as the pinnacle of a deck builder. The mechanics of the game are without flaw. With a starting hand of 12, you use low level S.H.I.E.L.D agents to both recruit the Marvel heroes and fight the random villains on your way to challenging the supervillain chosen at the game's outset. Adding a thick layer of challenge is the city in game. While you scramble to recruit heroes such as Captain America and Iron Man to your deck, henchmen are making their way through the 5 levels of the city with each turn. To make the challenge even steeper, a Scheme is chosen that gives the Supervillain and his henchmen another advantage to use against the players. Going another step further, the villain deck is shuffled with two cards that increase the challenge yet again: Master Strike and Scheme Twist. Each card operates to either attack the players, allow villains to escape, clear the HQ and more. Each Supervillain, Scheme, Twist and Master Strike works in concert to unleash a constant wave of hardship on the players. Simply writing this all out reminds me of how incredibly difficult Legendary has a tendency to be more often than one would think. Of the endless games we have all played, we have collectively lost as often as we have actually won. And no victory ever comes easy. When you factor in the Marvel Comics theme that is perhaps younger but every bit the treasure trove of the DCU, Legendary is impossible not to love.
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