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BGTG 159 - 100 Great Games, Epilogue (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

04 May 2015

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

(Stephen Glenn)

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us the breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down a bunch of titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

...

As you may recall, Stephen, Mark, and I already finished our countdown of 100 Great Games in an earlier episode. However, for a long while we'd planned to do one more episode together--this one--where we talk about our own picks, surprises, disappointments, trends, and so on. I foolishly thought this would be posted before Christmas! Will I never learn?!

Our Picks

We started by going over our own individual picks, listed below. I've highlighted the ones on our lists that never made it into the 100 Great Games list, and we each get a little time to trumpet our appreciation for these favorites.

Mark Johnson's picks
1. Entdecker
2. A Few Acres of Snow
3. Pandemic
4. Brass
5. Settlers of Catan
6. Vinci
7. Bohnanza
8. Crokinole
9. For Sale
10. Thebes
11. Africa
12. Magic: The Gathering
13. Dominion
14. Medici
15. Harry's Grand Slam Baseball

Mark Jackson's picks
1. Memoir '44
2. Race for the Galaxy
3. A Brief History of the World
4. Summoner Wars
5. Settlers of Catan
6. Fast Food Franchise
7. Heroscape
8. Dungeonquest
9. Risk Legacy
10. Puerto Rico
11. Princes of Florence
12. Um Reifenbreite
13. Zooloretto
14. Lord of the Rings
15. The Rivals for Catan

Stephen Glenn's picks
1. Acquire
2. Euphrat & Tigris
3. Dominion
4. Navia Dratp
5. Werewolf
6. Settlers of Catan
7. Montage
8. TZAAR
9. Ticket to Ride
10. GIPF
11. Through the Desert
12. 6 Nimmt!
13. Midnight Party
14. Ra
15. Verflixxt

==================================================

Gold, Silver, Bronze

With all of this data, it's only natural to look at them and count up which designer featured most prominently in the 100 Great Games. We can also look at the most popular years of publication, and the publishers. In this case I simply counted up the number of mentions for each. One could make a good argument that there should be more consideration for appearances near the top of the list instead of the bottom. Nonetheless, I think the "awards" look right, and am pleased by the outcomes.9

(If anyone wants to crunch the data and provide alternate results, it's here on Google Docs.)

==================================================

Then & Now

We also compared this list (compiled in 2012) to the earlier edition Mark & Stephen did (in 2005). Which games appeared on both lists and made the biggest jumps forward? Which went the other direction? Again, the position on the list should really be factored in here (but wasn't). It takes a lot more oomph to climb from #12 into the Top Ten than it does to climb from #92 into the 80s. Nonetheless, more interesting topics for your second cup of coffee, and slice of pie.

Big gainers: Vinci/Small World, 6 Nimmt!, War of the Ring, Ave Caesar, Can't Stop, Mystery Rummy, Wallenstein, Carcassonne, Lost Cities

Big drops: Too many! So many good games are published every year that many other good ones get pushed off a list like this. The guys did the first list seven years before this new one we discussed on the podcast. A full 44 new games entered the list, pushing out an equal number of old favorites. That's what happened to some classics like Union Pacific, I'm The Boss, Smarty Party, San Marco, Taboo, Chinatown, and many more.

==================================================

What might have been

In the Top Ten episode I posted a poll that asked my listeners for the recent (post 2012) games that might have joined the 100 Great Games list if we'd conducted the survey a short time ago. Are there any instant classics to make their way onto the list? No doubt there are. I was surprised to find the listeners only settling on a couple, however (and no one suggested a write-in I might have missed in the poll). Those two newcomers would be Android Netunner & Terra Mystica.

One a related note, the guys & I considered what recent games we might have been tempted to put on our individual lists, above. We spared ourselves the difficult choice of deciding which personal favorites would've been pushed out. (It's not always the bottom of our lists, since some of these games "take the place" of established ones. Or, at least, they could.)

Mark Jackson thought he might have to make room for Clash of Cultures. Stephen suggested Tash-Kalar and Machi Koro. I think I would have to make room for Hanabi and possibly Pergamon.

==================================================

The End

And that, finally, brings the 100 Great Games project to a close. I felt honored to be asked my favorites as part of the first time Stephen & Mark did this a decade ago, and again in 2012. The chance to discuss it all on my podcast was a big endeavor, one that probably took too long for everyone involved, but was also great fun. I can tell from the download stats & comments that it was a favorite for my listeners, too. For all of these things, I'm grateful to Stephen & Mark, to those listeners, and to our wonderful hobby. The list project on the podcast has really been a kind of celebration for all of us. Thanks for listening.

(It's also my second-to-last episode before my big break. One more to go, and that's scheduled to be recorded tonight...)

-Mark (Johnson)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Mon May 4, 2015 6:51 am

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BGTG 153 - 100 Great Games, the Top Ten! (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

13 Nov 2014

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us the breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down a bunch of titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

...

At long last, here are the Top Ten! As we count them down in reverse order, we stay true to form--having a few personal grumbles about these amazing titles. At the same time, we're honestly respectful and enthusiastic for all of these games. Several of them are in our personal top ten lists, too.

Though this is the end of the list of 100 Great Games, it's not quite the end of this podcast series. We promise to come back one more time for an epilogue episode, one that shares some analysis of the overall list, considers what games only missed the list because they were released post-2012, and what our own votes were. Remember, this list is a compilation of many experienced gamers' input. By now it's pretty obvious that we each have our own personal tastes that differ somewhat. If you have topics you'd like us to cover in the epilogue, let us know.

In my poll associated with the last installment of 100 Great Games, I asked for your favorite Knizia auction game. Of the many options available Ra came out as the clear favorite. As you may have heard last time, Stephen preferred Ra, I went with Medici, and Jackson picked Traumfabrik.

Now that we've reached the top of the list of 100 Great Games, are there ones you thought we missed? Of course that will be true--everyone has different tastes. However, any game released after 2012 didn't even get a chance to be on this list because that's when the project started. Below I've put together a poll of notable titles less than two years old that might have made it onto the 100 Great Games list. It's a tough choice, but which one do you think would've made it on the list? As always, if you've got a good suggestion that's not included in the poll, write it in the comments below. Thanks.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!, Spike, Rattlebones)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

Poll

Which of these games (which were too new to be included) would push their way onto the 100 Great Games list (displacing others) if we did it again? Vote for as many as you want.

	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
1960: Making of the President	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Android Netrunner	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Dominant Species	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Dungeon Lords	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Hansa Teutonica	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Keyflower	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Sentinels of the Multiverse	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Terra Mystica	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Trajan	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Tzolkin	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Village	Probably	Maybe	Probably not
Other (comment below)	Probably	Maybe	Probably not

66 answers

Poll created by MarkEJohnson

#10 - 7 Wonders
Designer: Antoine Bauza
Artist: Miguel Coimbra
Publisher: Repos Production
Year: 2010

#9 - Acquire
Designer: Sid Sackson
Artist: various
Publisher: 3M, Avalon Hill, Hasbro
Year: 1964

#8 - Magic: The Gathering
Designer: Richard Garfield
Artists: various
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Year: 1993

#7 - Race for the Galaxy
Designer: Tom Lehmann
Artists: Martin Hoffmann, Claus Stephan, Mirko Suzuki
Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Year: 2007

#6 - Power Grid
Designer: Friedemann Friese
Artist: Antonio Dessi, Lars-Arne "Maura" Kalusky, Harald Lieske
Publisher: 2F-Spiele, Rio Grande Games
Year: 2004

#5 - Ticket to Ride
Designer: Alan R. Moon
Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Year: 2004

#4 - Tichu
Designer: Urs Hostettler
Artists: various
Publisher: Fata Morgana Spiele, ABACUSSPIELE, Rio Grande Games
Year: 2004

#3 - CATAN
Designer: Klaus Teuber
Artists: various
Publisher: KOSMOS, Mayfair
Year: 1995

#2 - Puerto Rico
Designer: Andreas Seyfarth
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Alea, Rio Grande Games
Year: 2002

#1 - Dominion
Designer: Donald X. Vaccarino
Artists: various
Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Year: 2008

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:40 pm

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BGTG 150 - 100 Great Games, part 7 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

03 Sep 2014

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us the breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down a bunch of titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #11-20 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast. I thought we'd have nothing but praise for all of these highly-ranked games...but perhaps I should've known that that the three of us would take turns expressing reservations about even these amazing games. (It's going to make my upcoming "Mark Hates Games" episode all the more relevant.)

In my poll associated with the last installment of 100 Great Games, I asked about the theming--or lack thereof--in Knizia's landmark cooperative game, The Lord of the Rings. The smallest portion felt this was a mechanical, pasted-on theme kind of game. Instead, most felt that the theme does come through from the cooperative gameplay (mechanisms), while several more credited the amazing artwork for evoking the theme.

This time I'm returning to Knizia for the poll. It just worked out that way. We discussed Medici in a previous episode (and I recently played the unfortunately-ugly latest edition), and now Ra has come up. We used to ask ourselves which of Knizia's "auction trilogy" was our favorite (these plus Modern Art). That's what I'm asking here, only Mark Jackson suggested I widen it to include several more of Knizia's excellent auction-based games (including Mark's favorite, as you can hear in the episode). Did I forget to include your favorite? Tell me so in a comment, below.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

Poll

1. Which Knizia auction game is your favorite?

	Modern Art
	Medici
	High Society
	Ra
	Traumfabrik (Dream Factory)
	Amun-Re
	Taj Mahal
	Merchants of Amsterdam
	Money!
	Something else (tell us below)
	I don't like any of these
	Haven't played enough to pick one

2. How many of the games below (100 Great Games, #11-20) have you played?

	0
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10

256 answers

Poll created by MarkEJohnson

#20 - Cosmic Encounter
Designers: Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka
Artists: many…
Publisher: Eon/Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 1977, 2008

#19 - Brass: Lancashire
Designer: Martin Wallace
Artist: Peter Dennis
Publisher: Warfrog Games
Year: 2007

#18 - Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
Designer: Vlaada Chvátil
Artist: Richard Cortes & Paul Niemeyer
Publisher: Czech Board Games/Eagle Games
Year: 2006

#17 - Carcassonne
Designer: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
Artist: Doris Matthäus
Publisher: Hans im Glück/Z-Man Games
Year: 2000

#16 - Tigris & Euphrates
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artists: Doris Mathäus, et al
Publisher: Hans im Glück/Mayfair Games
Year: 1997

#15 - Agricola
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Klemens Franz
Publisher: Lookout Games/Z-Man Games
Year: 2007

#14 - Lost Cities
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: Claus Stephan
Publisher: Kosmos/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#13 - Ra
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Alea/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#12 - Steam
Designer: Martin Wallace
Publisher: Warfrog/Mayfair Games
Year: 2002/2009

#11 - The Princes of Florence
Designer: Wolfgang Kramer & Richard Ulrich
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Alea/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2000

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Wed Sep 3, 2014 10:54 pm

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BGTG 148 - 100 Great Games, part 6 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

15 Aug 2014

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us the breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down a bunch of titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #21-30 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast.

After the previous episode of 100 Great Games, we received some (ahem) feedback regarding the games we didn’t like (I’m looking at you, Taj Majal), or didn’t know much about (such as War of the Ring). I’m pleased to say we don’t have that issue this time. I get to look over the still-secret list going all the way to Number One, and I can safely say that we’re familiar with all of the remaining games. Which is as you’d expect, right? As we get near the top we’re getting into even more of the modern classics that every self-respecting gamer should seek out & play. But, since you’re only hearing three voices from a survey of many more people, we may not all LOVE the remaining games. But we certainly respect them. (And as you’ll hear, in many cases we do love them!)

We’re nearing the end, only two shows left after this one to finish the countdown! We’ve already had suggestion for a supplemental episode, and it’s under consideration. Other ideas are welcome.

Finally, taking a page from Geek Weekly, I’m going to try adding a poll to each of my podcast episodes. I’d like folks to check out the blog (perhaps comment below), and there’s always a good question to pose after a podcast. Be sure to listen to the episode first, to get the context for the question. In this case, it’s about the theming (or not) in Knizia’s Lord of the Rings.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

Poll

1. Do you find Knizia's The Lord of the Rings to be thematic?

	Yes, the cooperative mechanics invoke the feeling of the fellowship
	Yes, but primarily through the artwork
	Not really, it's mostly about Knizia's clever mechanisms
	I haven't played it

2. How many of these games have you played?

	0
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10

99 answers

Poll created by MarkEJohnson

#30 - Tales of the Arabian Nights
Designers: Eric Goldberg, et al
Artists: Peter Gifford, Dan Harding
Publisher: Z-Man Games/West End Games
Year: 1985, 2009

#29 - The Lord of the Rings
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: John Howe
Publisher: Sophisticated Games/Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2000

#28 - Web of Power
Designer: Michael Schacht
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Goldseiber/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2000

#27 - Twilight Struggle
Designers: Ananda Gupta, Jason Matthews
Artists: Rodger B. MacGowan, Mark Simonitch, Viktor Csete, Guillaume Ries
Publisher: GMT Games
Year: 2005

#26 - El Grande
Designer: Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich
Artist: Doris Mathäus
Publisher: Hans im Glück/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1995

#25 - Medici
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artists: Dominique Ehrhard, Franz Vohwinkel, David Cherry
Publisher: Amigo/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1995

#24 - Memoir '44
Designer: Richard Borg
Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval, Don Perrin, Claude Rica
Publisher: Days of Wonder
Year: 2004

#23 - Can't Stop
Designer: Sid Sackson
Publisher: Parker Bros/Gryphon Games
Year: 1980

#22 - Time's Up!
Designers: Peter Sarrett
Publisher: R&R Games
Year: 1999

#21 - Crokinole
Year: 19th Century (traditional)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:30 pm

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BGTG 145 - 100 Great Games, part 5 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

30 Jan 2014

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us the breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down a bunch of titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #31-40 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast.

This show was especially fun because BGG had gone down for maintenance when we did our recording! That meant that we had to go on our own knowledge and memories of the games' designers, publishers, and years, in addition to usual opinions about how they play. Fortunately, we're getting so high up in the list now that the games are very notable. I think we did pretty well without our normal reference material...but you tell me!

Note: we had a little audio problem with Mark Jackson halfway through the podcast, but stick with us! I edited around it as best I could, and it gets better after the Ave Caesar/Ausgebremst/Q-Jet discussion.

-Mark

#40 - Vinci / Small World
Designers: Philippe Keyaerts
Artists: Cyril Saint Blancat, Miguel Coimbra
Publisher: Descartes/Days of Wonder
Year: 1999, 2009

#39 - Merchant of Venus (Second Edition)
Designer: Richard Hamblen
Artist: Henning Ludvigsen
Publisher: Avalon Hill/Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 1988, 2012

#38 - Werewolf
Designer: (public domain)
Publisher: (public domain)
Year: ??

#37 - Pandemic
Designer: Matt Leacock
Artist: Josh Cappel, Chris Quilliam, et al.
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Year: 2008

#36 - Taj Mahal
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: alea/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2000

#35 - Ave Caesar
Designer: Wolfgang Riedesser
Artists: Thomas Thiemeyer
Publisher: Ravensburger, Asmodee
Year: 1989

#34 - 6 Nimmt!
Designer: Wolfgang Kramer
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Amigo
Year: 1994

#33 - Bohnanza
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Björn Pertoft
Publisher: Amigo/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1997

#32 - War of the Ring: Second Edition
Designers: Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello
Artists: John Howe, Fabio Maiorana
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2004, 2012

#31 - Wallenstein
Designer: Dirk Henn
Artist: Jörg Asselborn, Christof Tisch
Publisher: Queen Games
Year: 2002

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:47 am

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BGTG 141 - 100 Great Games, part 4 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

28 Oct 2013

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, these two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated their answers, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us more breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down 15 titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #41-55 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast.

Now we're really getting into some notable titles with firm reputations of being great games. And yet, one or more of us keep finding games that we take issue with. There's nothing wrong with that, of course--these are the compiled results of many gamers, not just us. You should understand that we can respect a game, and its place on this list, even if we don't like it personally. In fact, I hope that sort of different opinion makes for a good listen, and will spark some feedback in the blog comments, below.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

#55 - Arkham Horror
Designers: Richard Launius & Kevin Wilson
Artists: Finér, Hrynkiewicz, Ludvigsen, Miller, Nicely, Schomburg
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2005

#54 - Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
Designer: Mark Simonitch
Artists: Amoral, Doyle, Gondeck, Miller, Simonitch
Publisher: Avalon Hill/Valley Games
Year: 1996

#53 - The Castles of Burgundy
Designer: Stefan Feld
Artists: Julien Delval & Harald Lieske
Publisher: alea
Year: 2011

#52 - Saint Petersburg
Designer: Bernd Brunnhofer
Artist: Doris Matthäus
Publisher: Rio Grande/Hans im Glück
Year: 2004

#51 - Galaxy Trucker
Designer: Vlaada Chvátil
Artist: Radim Pech
Publisher: Czech Games Edition
Year: 2007

#50 - Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper
Designer: Mike Fitzgerald
Artists: Conrad, Poshkus, Boginski-Barbessi, Van Duyn, Hoffmann, Stephan
Publisher: U.S. Games Systems
Year: 1998-2009

#49 - Blokus
Designer: Bernard Tavitian
Artist: Alan D. Hoch
Publisher: Educational Insights
Year: 2000

#48 - Combat Commander: Europe
Designer: Chad Jensen
Artists: Brimmicombe-Wood, Jensen, MacGowan, Myrick, Simonitch
Publisher: GMT Games
Year: 2006

#47 - Show Manager
Designer: Dirk Henn
Artists: Hartwig, Horst, Schlemmer
Publisher: db Spiele, Queen Games
Year: 1996

#45 - TransAmerica
Designer: Franz-Benno Delonge
Artist: Marcel-André Casasola Merkle
Publisher: Winning Moves
Year: 2001

#45 - Civilization
Designers: Francis Tresham & Mick (Mike) Uhl
Artists: Dovey, Kibler, MacGowan, Rohmer, Sheaffer
Publisher: Avalon Hill
Year: 1980

#44 - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
Designer: Francis Tresham
Artists: Atkinson, Blando, Kibler, Talbot, Zug
Publisher: Avalon Hill
Year: 1986

#43 - Le Havre
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artists: Klemens Franz & Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher: Lookout Games
Year: 2008

#42 - Risk Legacy
Designers: Rob Daviau & Chris Dupuis
Artist: uncredited
Publisher: Hasbro
Year: 2011

#41 - Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)
Designer: Kevin Wilson (plus Clark, Konieczka & Sadler for 2nd ed)
Artists: Ejsing, Goodenough, Walls (1st ed) / Henning Ludvigsen (2nd ed)
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2005, 2012

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:17 pm

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BGTG #136 - 100 Great Games, part 3 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

24 May 2013

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, the two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated the results, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us more breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down 15 titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #56-60 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

Tao of Gaming's "8 Layers of Crap"

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

#70 - Notre Dame
Designer: Stefan Feld
Artist: Harald Lieske
Publisher: Alea/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2007

#69 - Goa: A New Expedition
Designer: Rüdiger Dorn
Artist: Oliver Freudenreich
Publisher: Hans im Glück/Rio Grande/Zman
Year: 2004

#68 - Take it Easy!
Designers: Peter Burley
Publisher: FX Schmid/Ravensburger
Year: 1983

#67 - Dixit
Designer: Jean-Louis Roubira
Artist: Marie Cardouat
Publisher: Asmodee
Year: 2008

#66 - Caylus
Designer: William Attia
Artist: Cyril Demaegd
Publisher: Ystari
Year: 2005

#65 - Tikal
Designers: Michael Kiesling & Wolfgang Kramer
Publisher: Ravensburger/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#64 - Entdecker
Designers: Klaus Teuber
Artists: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Goldseiber
Year: 1996

#63 - Mare Nostrum
Designer: Serge Laget
Artist: Franck Dion
Publisher: Eurogames
Year: 2003

#62 - RoboRally
Designers: Richard Garfield
Artist: Phil Foglio
Publisher: Avalon Hill (Hasbro)
Year: 1994

#61 - Outpost
Designer: James Hlavaty & Timothy Moore
Publisher: TimJim Games/Stronghold Games
Year: 1991

#60 - Eclipse
Designer: Touko Tahkokallio
Artists: Ossi Hiekkala & Sampo Sikiö
Publisher: Lautapelit.fi
Year: 2011

#59 - Die Macher
Designer: Karl-Heinz Schmiel
Publisher: Hans im Gluck/Valley Games
Year: 1986

#58 - Thebes
Designers: Peter Prinz
Artist: Michael Menzel
Publisher: Queen
Year: 2007

#57 - Summoner Wars
Designer: Colby Dauch
Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
Year: 2008

#56 - Schotten Totten/Battle Line
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Publisher: ASS/GMT Games
Year: 1999

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Fri May 24, 2013 8:44 am

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BGTG #133 - 100 Great Games, part 2 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

06 Feb 2013

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson rejoin me (Mark JOHNson) to continue this series. In 2012, the two guys polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games, consolidated the results, and asked to come on my podcast to count down the results. I was pleased to be part of the poll, and doubly pleased to have them on Boardgames To Go. I really like how Stephen describes this:

"a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie."

The poll was for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us more breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding favorites. On each podcast we're counting down 15 titles until we get to a final show with the Top Ten. I'll be interspersing 100 Great Games countdown episodes with my other podcast episodes.

Here are #71-85 on the list, counted down in reverse order as we discuss them on the podcast.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

#85 - Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (First Edition)
Designers: Dave Arneson & Gary Gygax
Artist: David Sutherland III
Publisher: TSR
Year: 1977

#84 - Commands & Colors: Ancients
Designer: Richard Borg
Artist: Rodger MacGowan
Publisher: GMT Games
Year: 2006

#83 - Apples to Apples
Designers: Matthew Kirby & Mark Alan Osterhaus
Artist: John Kovalic
Publisher: Out of the Box Publishing
Year: 1999

#82 - Empire Builder
Designers: Darwin Bromley & Bill Fawcett
Publisher: Mayfair Games
Year: 1980

#81 - Cockroach Poker
Designer: Jacques Zeimet
Artist: Rolf Vogt
Publisher: Drei Magier Spiele
Year: 2004

#80 - Montage
Designer: Joli Quentin Kansil
Publisher: Gamut of Games/Gryphon Games
Year: 1973

#79 - Railways of the World
Designers: Glenn Drover & Martin Wallace
Artists: Kurt Miller, Paul Niemeyer & David Oram
Publisher: Eagle Games/Winsome Games
Year: 2005

#78 - Navegador
Designer: Mac Gerdts
Artist: Marina Fehrenbach
Publisher: PD-Verlag/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2010

#77 - Incan Gold/Incan Gold
Designers: Bruno Faidutti & Alan R. Moon
Artist: Claus Stephan/Matthias Catrein
Publisher: Schmidt/Sunriver Games
Year: 2005

#76 - Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
Designer: Corey Koneiczka
Artists: Kevin Childress, Andrew Navaro, Brian Schomburg, WiL Springer
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2008

#75 - Mamma Mia!
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: AbacusSpiele/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#74 - Ricochet Robots
Designer: Alex Randolph
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: AbacusSpiele/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#73 - Wildlife Adventure/Expedition
Designers: Wolfgang & Ursula Kramer
Artist: Gerhard Schmid/Jo Hartwig
Publisher: Ravensburger/Queen
Year: 1985

#72 - Ghost Stories
Designer: Antoine Bauza
Artist: Pierô
Publisher: Repos/Asmodee
Year: 2008

#71 - Stone Age
Designer: Bernd Brunnhofer
Artist: Michael Menzel
Publisher: Hans im Glück/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2008

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Thu Feb 7, 2013 4:27 am

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BGTG #131 - 100 Great Games, part 1 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

Posted by Mark Johnson

100 Great Games

20 Dec 2012

Mark Johnson

(MarkEJohnson)

United States
Santa Clarita
California

That's a Palm Pilot on the left, and a pink iPod mini on the right. Yes, I've been doing BGTG that long!

http://www.WargamesToGo.com

Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames
________________________________________________________________________________
Blog

Stephen Glenn

United States
Virginia Beach
Virginia

Mark Jackson

(akapastorguy)

United States
Goodlettsville
Tennessee

Am I a man or am I a muppet? If I'm a muppet then I'm a very manly muppet!

Several years ago, Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson polled a number of experienced gamers (a few designers, many reviewers, all enthusiasts) for their top games. I was pleased to be part of it. They consolidated the results, and published them with commentary in a blog called "The One Hundred." It carried the tongue-in-cheek subtitle "The Official & Completely Authoritative 100 Best Games of All Time Ever Without Question...So There!" Not everyone got the irony of that title, but if you knew these guys you'd know they never take themselves too seriously.

Now in 2012 they felt it was time to do the survey again, adding some new people to the mix to get a broader range of input. I was happy to be asked for my input again, and then pleasantly surprised that they asked for my help with Boardgames To Go to get the survey results out via podcast. Hurray! This time around, I really like how Stephen describes it: "a fun list to discuss over coffee & pie." We were asked for our favorite games, not necessarily the best games. We even got to submit a top fifteen, which took the usual tough request for a top ten and gave us more breathing room for five more titles. I know in my case, it made it easier to add some very recent games to my longstanding faves.

It's going to take a little while to talk about 100 titles, so this will be a podcast series for BGTG. In this first part, the three of us talk about the survey itself, then launch into descriptions of the first fifteen games, #100 to #86. In future episodes, we may add another voice to the mix as we work our way up the rest of the list. At fifteen games apiece, then a last show for the top ten, this will be seven episodes in the entire series. I'll be sprinkling them in between other episodes in my podcast feed throughout the early part of 2013.

Stephen Glenn's designer page at BGG (Balloon Cup/Piñata, 1st & Goal, You Must Be an Idiot!)

Mark Jackson's personal blog

-Mark

P.S. If you want to see the original version of the list these guys made it in 2005, it's still available at 100 Great Games, 2005 Edition (THE ONE HUNDRED).

And now, starting our countdown with the first fifteen titles, from #100 to #86...

#100 - Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: John Howe
Publisher: Kosmos/Fantasy Flight
Year: 2002

#99 - Torres
Designers: Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling
Artist: Alessandra Cimatoribus/Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Ravensburger/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1999

#98 - Fairy Tale
Designer: Satoshi Nakamura
Artists: Satoshi Nakamura/Yoko Nachigami
Publisher: Yuhodo/What's Your Game?
Year: 1999

#97 - Thunderstone
Designer: Mike Elliott
Artist: Jason Engle
Publisher: AEG
Year: 2009

#96 - Hoity Toity
Designer: Klaus Teuber
Artist: Cornelia von Seidlein/Michaela Keinle
Publisher: FX Schmid/Avalon Hill/alea/Uberplay
Year: 1990

#95 - Paths of Glory
Designer: Ted Racier
Artists: Rodger B. MacGowan, Mark Simonitch
Publisher: GMT Games
Year: 1999

#94 - Space Alert
Designers: Vlaada Chvátil
Artists: Radim Pech & Milan Vavroň
Publisher: Czech Games Edition/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2008

#93 - Mü & More
Designers: Frank Nestel & Doris Matthäus
Artist: Doris Matthäus
Publisher: Amigo/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1995

#92 - Diplomacy
Designer: Allan B. Calhamer
Publisher: Games Research Inc/Avalon Hill
Year: 1959

#91 - A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)
Designers: Christian Petersen & Kevin Wilson
Artists: Tomasz Marek Jedruszek & Henning Ludvigsen
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Year: 2003

#90 - A Few Acres of Snow
Designer: Martin Wallace
Artist: Peter Dennis
Publisher: Treefrog
Year: 2011

#89 - Titan
Designera: Jason McAllister & David Trampier
Artista: Ken Nishiuye & David Trampier/Mike Doyle
Publisher: Avalon Hill/Valley Games
Year: 1980

#88 - Cartagena
Designer: Leo Colovini
Artist: Studio Tapiro/Christoph Clasen
Publisher: Winning Moves/Rio Grande Games
Year: 2000

#87 - Elfenland
Designer: Allen R. Moon
Artist: Doris Matthäus
Publisher: Amigo/Rio Grande Games
Year: 1998

#86 - Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie
Designers: Rob Daviau, Craig Van Ness, and Stephen Baker
Publisher: Hasbro
Year: 2004

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark Johnson's occasional & opinionated podcast about family strategy boardgames

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Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:05 pm

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Archive for 100 Great Games

BGTG 159 - 100 Great Games, Epilogue (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

BGTG 153 - 100 Great Games, the Top Ten! (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

BGTG 150 - 100 Great Games, part 7 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

BGTG 148 - 100 Great Games, part 6 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

BGTG 145 - 100 Great Games, part 5 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

BGTG 141 - 100 Great Games, part 4 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

BGTG #136 - 100 Great Games, part 3 (with Stephen Glenn and Mark Jackson)

BGTG #133 - 100 Great Games, part 2 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

BGTG #131 - 100 Great Games, part 1 (with Stephen Glenn & Mark Jackson)

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