Number Four on the Meeple Like Us Ten Top Best Board Games 2018 Edition!
You didn’t make the podium, fours. That’s because you weren’t hungry enough to really be the best board game. Or at least, not the best of the best board games. You lost today. That doesn’t mean you have to like it. Never mind that though – I know this is a huge disappointment after all your hard work but we like you. That’s all that matters since we’re the ones that write the list. I guess what I’m saying is if we liked you more you might have done better in the rankings. Just something to think about. Just a wee thought to chew over in the dark of some cold night.
Michael Picks: Hanamikoji (In with a bullet)
| Game Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hanamikoji (2013) |
| Accessibility Report | Meeple Like Us |
| Complexity | Medium Light [1.68] |
| BGG Rank | 251 [7.48] |
| Player Count | 2 |
| Buy it! | Amazon Link |
Hanamikoji is a game I love so much that merely being set in the same world is enough for me to buy a game sight unseen. It’s the most immaculate game I own – not a milimetre of waste is to be found in its slim, svelte box. It contains exactly the right number of cards. It contains exactly the right number of options you have in a round. It also contains exactly the right number of actions you get to take until the round is over. Just four actions. You only make four decisions in a round of Hanamikoji but you’ll be amazed at the difficulty of those decisions. Hanamikoji is a game where both players feel at the end like you somehow managed to gang up on each other and it’s glorious. It’s basically so good as a two player game that I almost never even think about Ol’ Favourite Jaipur any more.
Pauline: The art in Hanamikoji is undeniably beautiful, but I sometimes find it a frustrating game because there’s often no good choice to be had. I like my games to be fun, and Hanamikoji feels a bit more like a collaborative exercise in psychic screaming.
Michael: There’s no denying at the end of every game of this I feel like I’ve just been through a bout of extreme and non-consensual rage therapy. It’s amazing how few decisions you make and how much you’ll come to regret each and every one.
Pauline: I do like this but I’m not sure I’ve really sussed out how to win it. I think you like it because it’s one of the few games that you actually know how to beat me at.
Michael: Feeling bad about myself for picking badly from a set of impossible choices is pretty much the only real life-skill I have. It’s nice to find a game that rewards it.
Pauline Picks: Concordia (Stable at #4)
| Game Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Concordia (2013) |
| Accessibility Report | Meeple Like Us |
| Complexity | Medium [2.99] |
| BGG Rank | 23 [8.10] |
| Player Count | 2-5 |
| Buy it! | Amazon Link |
Concordia is just beautiful. I love how you don’t necessarily know who is in the lead. I love the quality of the components and the different shape for the wheats and the wines and the silks. It’s such an immersive and tactile approach to the physical elements of the game. I really like the way that multiple people at the board benefit when you take your game actions – it’s really collegiate for a game that isn’t a cooperative title. There are lots of different strategies, lots of different ways to win. It’s a Goldilocks game – not too simple, not too complex, not too short, not too long – it’s just right. Practically perfect in every way.
Michael: Ah, Concordia. I’m glad one of us kept it in the upper echelons of our top ten list. It deserves all the affection it gets.
Pauline: It’s pretty sad you’re more concerned about the affection I have for Concordia than you are for the affection you give me.
Michael: That’s not true. You’re in the upper echelons on any number of my top ten lists.
Pauline: What lists? What echelons? I better be number one, buddy.
Michael: I like to keep you at #2, because I figure that way you’ll just try harder.