In Valley of the Kings players compete to have the most lavish tomb. Cards are bought from a central pyramid, and all cards can be used to give gold, effects, or when entombed points (entombing effectively removes cards from the game). Deciding how to use your cards, what to go after, and when to entomb makes this an interesting deck-builder that challenges me to innovate.
Kingsburg is a reduced-luck dice rolling game. There is significant strategic variety in this game, and dice rolls help to narrow your options; high rolls are not, however, an auto-win. While luck comes into play in other aspects, this game implements dice rolling in an interesting and unique way.
The Duke is a tactical 1v1 chess-like game with flipping tiles and randomly acquired pieces. Using a tile flips it and changes what it does. Instead of using a tile, a player may draw a random new tile and add it to the board. Since the board rapidly changes, foresight is great, but adaptation is critical.
Firefly is a faithful adaptation of the cult TV series of the same name. In this 2+ hour game, you hire crew, do jobs, and compete to finish preset goals. Bad luck can be brutal, but I get engrossed in both the game and the Firefly universe while playing, success.
In Splendor, players collect temporary gems to buy permanent gems. Since permanent gems help in future purchases, get you points, and are initially available to everyone, each player must compete to buy the best combination. Play is quick and rewarding whether you chase a lot of small cards or save for big ones.
Jaipur is a surprisingly deep, quick two-player trading game. Either take cards or sell cards; there are camels and 6 different types of goods. The more goods you sell at once, the bigger the reward. The more camels you have, the greater your options. A very simple, easily-accessible premise, but after 25 rounds I am still discovering more strategy.
Jamaica is a pirate-racing, doubloon-hoarding game with cannons. While racing around the island, ships fight over treasure, doubloons, and food in a quick-paced light-hearted competition. A solid blend of luck, strategy, and pirates make this an excellent family game.
While exploring the jungle in Tikal, players compete to control temples and collect matching artifacts. Players get 10 “action points” per turn to maneuver their archaeologists, uncover/guard temples, and acquire artifacts. Tikal looks great, has high variability, fits its theme perfectly, and is completely engaging.
Paperback is a word game where the words you make let you buy more valuable letters to make better words. Available letters are constantly changing causing highly variable games, but adequate wild cards smooth gameplay. This can be a long game, but acquiring new letters and then optimally utilizing them is surprisingly satisfying.
In this game each player competes to be the best knight. Each turn you pick 1 card with a knightly category and degree of success; do you want a small success in chivalry or a large success in loyalty? Taking one leaves the next player the opportunity to take the other, and these cards are how all players compete in each category. This “game mechanism” is called “drafting” (one of my favorites), and this is the best game to teach it.
