Top 6 Games of 2016

It’s time to take a look at 2016, more specifically at the Top 6 Games of 2016. It has been yet an other good year for boardgames, and while not as many smash hits hit the shelves this year, a lot of great games did. I wish I had time to play all of them, but that’s impossible (would be very nice though). But enough about regrets, here are my Top 6 Games of 2016 (in no particular order):

Via Nebula

In a nutshell Via Nebula is a very attractive and clean “pick-up and deliver” game, where you race to be the first to construct 5 buildings and score the most points. It does have some very interesting twists, while retaining a very simple rule set. Not only is the game very attractive to look at, it’s also easy to teach, while deep enough to keep experienced players interested. It also plays in under an hour. Check out the full review of it here: Review: Via Nebula

Star Wars: Destiny

Even though this was released in December, it’s the game I played most in 2016. And what a great game it is. It combines a collectable card game with dice rolling, all set in the Star Wars universe. While card drawing and dice rolling might sound like too much randomness, the game is cleverly designed and offers various ways to mitigate and control the dice. The game oozes theme, and the mechanisms are tied so well into it. The Star Wars theme adds a lot to the it, but even without it is still an excellent game.

Imhotep

Designed by Phil Walker-Harding who you might know from the very popular game Sushi Go! (that I still really enjoy). I love Imhotep and everything about it. It’s a clean simple design but it has so many interesting choices to make each turn. The game is all about timing and choosing the right action at the right time. It’s highly interactive and you can really affect other people in a very real (and mean) way. Read the full review of it here: Review: Imhotep

The Networks

When a game manges to merge theme and mechanisms together seamlessly I’m interested. When you add a theme that has not been overused and a lot of great and whimsical art I already love the game. Designed by Gil Hova this games puts you at the head of a T.V. Network. You start of with basically nothing and then you spend your turns grabbing new shows, stars and advertisements to try to come out ahead of the other players. One of my favourite games from UK Games Expo.

Valeria: Card Kingdoms

The only game to make it from my Top 6 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 list I wrote almost a year ago. It really is fantastic and completely replaced Machi Koro for me. It’s so easy to get into and has a very streamlined gameplay. While it is similar to Machi Koro in many ways it just does everything better. It plays in around 30 minutes and has art from one of my favourite artists know as The Mico. It is the first game in a series of games set in the Valeria universe. The next 2 games will released in 2017.

Papà Paolo

Building a pizza empire has never been more fun and colourful before. It’s a great eurogame that combines worker placement, bidding, engine-building and city-building. All things I’m a big fan of. It wraps all these nice mechanisms in the very underutilized theme of pizza delivery, and then it tops it with very nice art. The only downside of the game is that you get an urge to order a pizza when playing it.