A chess-like brainburner in the trappings of D&D. This is one of those that I will happily devote myself to, improving my skill the way I would Chess and Go... it's that deep of a game. I think it will also appeal to those who like tactical skirmish games, so it has an interesting intersection of potential players, united by a love of fantasy theme and details.

It is a deep game with high replay variability. The amount of thought they've put into the solo AI is awesome. Each opponent character has its own name and personality; basically you are fighting dangerous little "automatons". They've also built a flexible difficulty scale.

Production value is great. Beautiful miniatures. Neat little details on the dungeon tiles. Nicely though-out insert.

Unique in its ability to both be a strategic brain burner, but also to "tell a story" along with the best of Ameritrash. Like for example my Mechan-Orc who courageously carried a wounded Colossus through 4 rooms, jumping 3 times over pit traps, only to finally be felled by a bow-wielding Cleric and a Backstabber.

This is definitely a hidden gem, in my opinion one of the most under-rated games of 2010. Must-try for any Faidutti fan, I would say it ranks up there with his best. It doesn't try to be anything other than what it is, which is best described by Mr. Faidutti himself: "It’s not a sophisticated management or development game, it’s just a dynamic, fun, varied and highly interactive movement game." (For anyone interested, on Faidutti.com there is a lot of nice background info - this game has been 10-years-in-the-making!). The most fun and fresh aspect to me was the "group" movement: we all bid on where the explorers as a group go next.

This is a FunForge/FFG game, but the production quality is on par with a typical Days of Wonder game (high praise indeed), same kind of "light family game" feel to it too. Gorgeous art, which has a kind of European-style cartoony quality to it. If the gaming gods are at all just, this one should get at least an SdJ nomination this year...

Although a game themed around the constitutional convention might sound dry, this is actually one of the more exciting games I've played all year. Wonderful theme/mechanism integration. Also one of the best "educational" games I've played, as not only is it historically accurate and delves lovingly into the details of the founding, but it's got a meaty, interesting game design as well. The historical angle is interesting and fascinating, for example, you get to see the "alternative" to each article of the constitution.

This was awesome. 90% theme and 10% strategy, it's all about the journey in this one. And gorgeous, detailed production; even the back of the board is beautiful. One thing I would caution: do not approach this like D&D, where your character specializations will help you every time in the appropriate context. Rather, approach it as a crazy fable that you get to help create, and where SOMETIMES a specialization will help, but not always. Also, I wasn't expecting it to have the Arkham Horror "bad things happen. over. and over. and over" feel to it that it did. While I enjoy that aspect, I would probably house rule that people can only have 2 or 3 bad cards at at time, otherwise it can get too frustrating for some.

Got 2 plays of this in: mixes of area control and worker placement, but put together in a creative and engaging way with all kinds of spatial dynamics going on. VERY original theme (how many games can you "meditate" in?). The timing mechanism is brilliant, as it is controlled by the players: 4 cumulative meditations and the round's over. This leads to a lot of games of chicken and bluffing. Be prepared for the first play to be somewhat overwhelming w/the number of possible actions; believe me, it will all "click" in the 2nd play!

This game deserves to be much more well-known than it is; I'm guessing that has a lot to do with it coming from a smaller publisher. While it does have many euro elements such as action selection, area control, and hand management, don't expect something in the "elegant" streamlined vein of games typically out of Germany. Rather, this has come from the fevered imagination of a Brit inspired by the complex social mores, political intrigues and foreign endeavors of medieval China. The result is a beautiful and thought-provoking game design that turns your brain to mush if you try for too long to analyze its intricate webs of social obligations.

Learned this after Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, can you get a much better Thanksgiving day than that?
Ahhh, I just can't stop thinking about this game. Absolutely worthy of the #1 ranking crown. The mechanics are perfectly in sync with the geopolitical bipolar super-power influence-struggle theme. I love the tug of war VP track. Love the space race both in theme and concept as a card sink (even though it totally hated me and it took me until mid-war I think to even launch a satellite into orbit). Very balanced design that forces you to consider all fronts in the "cold war". Neglect the military ops at your own peril, for example. Counting down the days until I can play this again...

Got one play of this in, and fell in love with it. Echoes of chess and the C&C system, with wonderful replayability: tons of terrain and 8 different armies. I dug up some old posts by the designer describing his historical research in creating the armies, which is pretty cool and enhances the gameplay. This game strikes a perfect balance between abstraction and theme, and also strategy and tactics, that just clicked with me.

The Black Plague has always held a morbid fascination for me so I lapped this theme right up. Short, simple role selection/area influence euro, just the right game length for the game complexity. Interesting twist of getting "stuck" with a character unless someone steals it from you, and being able to take anyone's character you want. Very nicely balanced and designed, with a dynamic game arc of increasing plague danger as the population slowly increases throughout the game. And, I like the simplicity of simply scoring survivors at the end.

Brand new 2011 game from Gryphon and Alf Seegert, and it hits the ball out of the park on all fronts. Refreshingly original theme, love the sense of humor and the way the theme plays right into the mechanics with the pilgrim's "sin of choice" etc. Awesome gameboard based on medieval art by Hieronymous Bosch. Game-play is a medium-weight mix of area influence (implemented in an unusual way), hand management and set collection (also implemented in an unusual way) with some push-your-luck aspects and a good dose of chaos & luck. A lot of interwoven parts to keep things interesting. Components and production are top-notch, beautiful, sturdy, great box insert (one of my favorites ever), and the "coin purses" are the best bags I've seen included with a game. In fact this might just be the best quality components out of the 100+ games I own.

I got in 3 plays of this over the month, 1 2-player and 2 3-player, and it played great in both configurations. I'm enjoying this one so much, I will now have to seek out Alf's troll games and give them a try...

This is not an expansion, but, rather, a "reboot" (although as a 2-player game it is mix-and-matchable to a certain extent with the original). This was a tough call and only lost out to Isla Dorada by a hair. Ironically, though, I think DT Prison has more potential for ratings growth, as it is a deep game with high replay variability. I've only gotten a single session so far, but am loving it. Beautiful miniatures. The amount of thought they've put into the solo AI is awesome. One warning about the rules, they are missing/ambiguous on a few points so download a copy of the base game rules as well. But, I like the tutorial method of easing people into the game with scenarios of increasing complexity, nice idea.