Great Unranked Games (updated August 4th, with 9 new entries)
Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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It is a sad state for an otherwise well-rated game go unranked. Look at an unranked game's page... over on the right, in place of a big blue rank number is a big black "N/A". Without a rank, they often go ignored; that N/A hides the fact that there's a good game there. It won't appear on lists of ranked games, and is thrown into the obscure depths of Geeklists sorted by rank. These games deserve better! It's time to give them more ratings, get them ranked, and show the people that there are good games to take notice of!
Please feel free to add to this list. All games and expansions are welcome. I prefer entries to have at least 15-20 user ratings, and an average rating of 6.5 or more. As a public service, I aim on maintaining this list, deleting games that achieve a ranking and adding more promising rising stars.
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1.
Board Game: Unlur
[Average Rating:7.68 Unranked]
ronaldinho @boardspace.net
Taiwan
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Great game. Can play at ludoteka.com
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2.
Board Game: Zarcana
[Average Rating:6.80 Unranked]
Jeff Wolfe
United States
Columbus
Ohio
Zendo fan, Columbus Blue Jackets fan, Dominion Fan. These are 'permanent microbadges' to free up space on my microbadge row
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In his post of Gnostica, Ryan says he's a Zarcana person. Of the two, I've only played Gnostica, but Zarcana qualifies for this list, too.
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Luis Paulino Mora Lizano
Costa Rica
Asunción de Belén
Heredia
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Nice abstract game. The objective is to push a scoring token ("ball") into the start line of the opponet. Each team has its own "ball" and other tokens ("the players") to do so. Some "players" can push others and all of them and even the "ball" have movement restrictions, some of them according to the field. The game has many strategic options, some of them defensive, some others to figure out ways to attack. Somebody has said that the rugby "theme" fits better in the game than the soccer one, and I agree.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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"A war game set in Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha, wherein players move armies composed of the five tribes of Prax--the Bison, the Morokanth, the Sable, the Impala, and the Independents."
Wulf Corbett wrote: After searching for this for years, I was talking about it in my local game shop, and another regular said "Oh, I've got that, you can have it for a fiver"...
I'd never sell it, along with White Bear Red Moon it's the most evocative and full-flavour fantasy game I ever owned. The second edition rules are more up to date and less random, but the original is faster to play.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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Chris Reuber wrote: Well, I thought I would like Yankees & Rebels much better, but I like this one too. I usually like Civil War games more than World War II games and the battle wasn't specifically historic, but this one had event cards and probably a greater variety of units. This would be a good game for those who like me weren't impressed with Combat Commander: Europe, as this game has tanks and artillery and less random event cards. It would also be a good game to introduce to a Memoir 44' fan.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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David Kuznick wrote: Arghh! How could my mom have thrown this away when I was a kid? I LOVED this game! Best roll-and-move ever.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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Kenneth Valentine wrote: Moderately complex game involving light ships during WWI and WWII. Some setup involved marking up the damage sheet for each ship. Ships' speeds are stated as a 3-number set--use the first number on the first turn, second on the second turn, third on the third turn, then repeat. This allows finer distinctions in ship speed than are normally available in hex-based games, and can yield some interesting stern chases.
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The same Schroeder WW1 system. The 'triangles-in-hex' terrain seems very helpful to represent the mountainous, fragmented terrain in these parts of the world.
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Dave Terhune
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
This is a blatant example of frivolous spending.
I spent 100 geek gold and all I got was this lousy overtext.
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A generic 4X game that you can use to create your own universe (or emulate somebody else's, as the case may be) full of space empires vying for dominance over the galaxy.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Ken Feldman"]This game includes six small scenarios involving high-morale Americans versus low-morale Germans in the bocage in Normandy. These scenarios play fast and are fun.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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Nice box cover.
Dan Cicero wrote: A terrific, fun naval game. The smaller scenarios -- like Cape Esperance -- can be completed in an afternoon without any trouble. Larger battles, or those played with larger teams, will take longer. I found the gunnery combat table a little counter-intuitive, but it works. The game could benefit from some additional tracking of who fired on whom in previous turns. (There are benefits to the attacker for firing on a ship fired on in a previous turn; in actual play, it's tough to remember what exactly happened in previous turns.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Mark Delano"]Forerunner of many great racing games that use the same system.
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13.
Board Game: Gutshot
[Average Rating:7.88 Unranked]
Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Joel Carlson"]A western-themed tactical shooter, emphasising squad level tactics. Good stuff.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="UnluckyNumber"]As a big Star Wars fan who loves Silent Death's starfighter combat, this game was a natural fit. Who doesn't want to fight it out with X-Wings, Tie-Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon? And if you can acquire some good Star Wars miniatures to use with this, like maybe from WotC's Starship Battles game, go for it.
For SW purists however, be aware that there is a distinct lack of capital ships. Silent Death has always focused on starfighter combat where ships rarely get bigger than shuttles and small gunboats, and SW:SD continues in this vein. Ships like Star Destroyers are treated more like vast obstacles and space terrain to dogfight over rather than as combatants your fighters really have any hope of affecting.
The main complaint I have with this game is the carryover of warheads from Silent Death (where they fit much better) to Star Wars dogfights (where they really don't).
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Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
United States
Ohio
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21 rankings with an average of 7.21. Great, strategic word game with lots of tile rearranging that allows players to choose which line to work on each turn. The element of searching for a vertical "Jumbulaya" is also fascinating. Word games definitely don't get enough love around here.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Ian Bohne"]VERY GOOD implementation/adaptation of the Admiralty Trilogy to pre-dreadnought battles. I often use in conjunction with Avalanche Press GREAT WAR AT SEA 1905.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Paydirt"]One of the better WWI war games out there. Nice components with concise rules. Heat is on the Germans to hit hard and fast early while the Allies try to hold and then counter-attack.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="Yoki Erdtman"]What a cool game. I got to watch one game being played and then play it myself the following night. Just great quick fun and very tactical. I can't wait to build my own Lego mechs and terrain and unleash it on my regular game group. Top notch fun.
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Avri Klemer
United States
NYC
New York
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Another AbStrat that I've given a second look (after failing to grok my first play). Just noticed that it well and truly deserves to be on Ryan's list:
At time of posting, 26 ratings for a 7.25 average.
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20.
Board Game: Ordo
[Average Rating:7.35 Overall Rank:3890]
Avri Klemer
United States
NYC
New York
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One of my favorite games. Check out my review to see why you should play and rate it too . . .
Currently 24 ratings averaging 7.68.
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21.
Board Game: Limit
[Average Rating:6.95 Unranked]
Avri Klemer
United States
NYC
New York
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Feels like a game of the GIPF project . . .
24 ratings averaging 7.10.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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[q="David (MinatureGeek')"]So I've loved giant monster movies for years and I love miniature gaming. I pretty much just grew into an adult that wanted a rules system that made playing with my toys and bit more indepth than just Pew Pew, this one wins.
Giant Monster Rampage allows me to play with Giant Monster Miniatures (thats kinda fun to say) and maintain a touch of dignity. Of course my victory dance dashes that all away.
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23.
Board Game: Quincunx
[Average Rating:7.27 Unranked]
P.D. Magnus
United States
Albany
New York
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Just got to 15 ratings today; the total hasn't even percolated up to the game's page.
It's an early Decktet game, designed by Chris DeLeo. The scoring rules seem like too much on a first play but have a logic to them that becomes apparent after a couple of plays. I can imagine it being a traditional game in the world where the Decktet is a traditional deck. Every play has to be balanced between the upside (how many points it will get for you) and the possible downside (what it will set up for your opponent).
S. Deniz Bucak wrote: When I first taught the rules to my group the complicated scoring system was compared to the Star Trek game FizzBin. However after a few turns, most of us got them down. It's a fun game...
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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This game has graduated from this list before, but lost that critical 30th rating.
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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Paydirt wrote: KORSUN POCKET was probably PWG's best effort. This detailed simulation gives players depth and options other games on this topic lack. A classic that is worth both the investment of time and money (very rare). I have the flat box version as I understand there is a folio version available too.
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