Take the time to look at your own BGG profile, click on the lowest existing ranking category, and pull out that game from that bottom slice that really, really deserves the lowest ranking. One per customer. No fair re-rating games after you see this list. Break ties among your rankings as you will. Tell us why that game made the cut. Still own it? Why?
I have 17 games in the "3" ranking category, and two of them rank at 2.5, the lowest rating I've been capable of bestowing on a game. (I think if I played something rated lower, I wouldn't even bother to spend the minute to rate it.) Overpower was such a big disappointment to me, back when I'd had a series of not-really-bad experiences trying new CCGs, and thought "Hey, a comic-book CCG, how could I go wrong?" I've garage-saled all the cards I ever had, with the exception of a few random strays used as bookmarks and coasters.
I still own it as I collect STar Trek stuff but it's the worst game I ever played so far, It's a little but like Trasamerica (you get the cards of the planets to go), but after that it's a dice fest and the theme is nonexistent. It even took almost 1.5 hours to play!
Played it once. HORRIBLE. I like some trivia games, but this one plain stank. Even worse, we went through just about the whole deck that came with the game (in one game).
This one is easy: Risk. Although Monopoly is possibly less of a game, at least it doesn't purport to be better than it really is. Risk is a war-themed game of the worst caliber; no underlying theme, no tactical decisions, overpowered battle cards, and battles based entirely on dice rolling with no way to manipulate the odds.
Risk does, however, make a good system for a better developed game, such as Risk 2210 or the furious Risk Godstorm. While neither of these can be classified as truly "good" games, I'll at least play them.
As the summary says "not recommended for chess purists". I own as many chess books as I do board games, hence I suspect I am a chess purist.
I have this rated a 2. Objectively this may be a better game than those I have rated 3 (I can see that some people may like it), but those are light, fluffy games that I would never suggest but my girlfrind might, and at least they would be over quickly.
Knightmare Chess takes a game I love and turns it into a nightmare!
I used to play this on my job with adults with a chronic mental illness. I really loved my clients, and they loved this game, so I would play it. Frequently. It was the most tedious exercise imaginable. Every turn involved me reminding them that it was their turn and then repeating the rules. Still gives me shivers. I will never play it again.
I own it because my kids bought a copy at a garage sale with their own money. Just yesterday they asked me to play this, I told them no---I just can't!
The traditional paper&pencil version, in which players vote for the categories to play with, works decisely better. And it is cheaper too. By the way, the Italian edition has a die with 4 out of 20 letters that are not in the Italian alphabet... With those print runs, they could afford to make a special die for the Italian edition.
Rated 2 (Ok, I rated one game lower, but it's just tic tac toe). It was on clearance at KB Toys. $2.00 for the starter pack, $.50 for boosters. Looney Tunes...James Ernest design... how could I go wrong? Ugh. I didn't have any experience with CCGs, but I just didn't get it. it was just boring. I thought it was just me, and I emailed Mr. Ernest to ask what I was doing wrong. He wrote back, and basically said Wizards changed the rules on him and he was washing his hands of the whole thing. I would love to see his version of the rules. I still have a whole bunch of cards (I don't know why I kept buying them...). Any Looney Tunes fan interested?
I picked this up from a charity shop recently; I leave obviously bad games well alone but this looked like a labour of love. As indeed it turned out to be, but sadly it is very, very broken. To the extent that we got halfway through the first turn and stopped because there was no sensible way of continuing. See my review for further details if you're really interested. I still reckon it is an interesting idea though; using playing cards to pick different routes through a golf course.
This isn't even really a game. It gets a 1 from me. I guess I might be a little harsh, it seems like a lot of people have no 1 ratings at all, and I have 5. Oh well.
Well, this is tied with Monopoly on 1 in my lists, but this has to win for giving the most miserable gaming experience ever. (Apart from the actual humourous nature of the game being that awful!)
It's still the only Session report I have entered (Bad Mike!), have a read of it here:
It's like Trivial Pursuit with only geography and history questions left, and with all the easy/medium/slightly tricky questions removed.
ARGH, never play it!
(Monopoly gets a 1 for being forced on every family at xmas, and single handedly driving many people from boardgames until they hit 30 and give them another go)
According to the Geek, a "1" is "Defies description as a game". Well, that's Bingo. It is basically a lottery. A slow moving lottery. Painfully slow, boring. I got dragged into one while on cruising the Carribian. Having this happen is basically stepping in manure while in paradise. Good thing it "only" took an hour.
No contest on this. The worst game ever invented. But don't take my word for it, read these excerpts from the comment section of this travesty: "The absolute worst game I have ever played" - Corey Hymes
"The monetary system of this game, alone, is enough to justify using it for kindling" - Charles Bahl
"The first thing we noticed was its striking similarity to Monopoly. The second thing was that just about every difference between Monopoly and Global Survival made Monopoly look good by comparison" - Andrew Petrarca
"Little to no point, as there is no way to actually 'end' the game" - John Elbl
There are only four 1's on my list, but this is the most deserving.
While some bad games may have one disabling flaw or characteristic, this one manages to fail or disappoint in just about every area of the game. From poor production quality to missing rules to flat out wrong "history", this game just sucks!
This is the definition of a 1. Clearly Broken. I have been a fan of drinking games, so I figured I could get some mileage out of this one, even if it was bad. However, even sober, this game is completely unplayable. The cards are pretty enough to make your own drinking game, however.