The Best & Worst of 2008 - Board Game Edition

January is the time of the year to make lists, so here is the first of mine. I present to you the best and worst board games that I played for the first time in 2008. I am not bothered when a game actually comes out, all that matters is when I first play it. So, you may find some older games in my list. There may be some games that were officially released in 2008 that I actually played in 2007. Those would be on my 2007 list. I played fifty-four games for the first time in 2008. Not too bad considering the fact that I missed BGG.Con 2008. I played twenty-seven new-to-me games at BGG.Con 2007 and I am sure I would have done the something similar at the 2008 convention. Here is my top 5 best games of 2008:

1. Agicola (2007) by Uwe Rosenberg was my favorite new-to-me game of the year. It was also my second most played game of the year. I have barely scratched the surface of Agricola. There are so many cards in the game that I am sure I will be playing it often for several years to come. It is currently 5th in my all-time Top Ten games. Any rumors that it made it into my top ten just because of the animeeples are misleading.

2. The second game on my list is Tinners' Trail (2008) by Martin Wallace. Mr. Wallace is probably my favorite game designer (and I have the microbadge to prove it). Tinners' Trail is a wonderful game that I need to play more often. Only two plays so far, but I can see it moving into my Top Ten someday. Next time I play, I think I will cook up some pasties.

3. Palastegeflüster (2007) by Michael Rieneck sh

ows up as my third favorite new-to-me game of the year. It is unlike the others on this list because it is a small card game, but it packs tons of fun into a little package. 

4. Michael Schacht's Web of Power (2000) comes in at number four. Currently out of print, there are dark whisperings of a new version to be released in Europe this year. I will be picking that up when it is released. Mr. Schacht has made some games I really love and some I love not so much. For example, Coloretto sucks. All the other 'etto' games suck too. I can't wait to get some more plays of this fine game.

5. There were a few games that could have made it to number five on my list, so I went with the one that I am most anxious to get played again. Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage (1996) by Mark Simonitch came out recently in a beautiful new edition and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I have only gotten to play it once, but I really, really want to play it more. This was the first card-driven war game I purchased and it led me to buy a few more. I haven't really played any of them, but I keep buying them.

Honorable Mentions: Balloon Cup, Flascheteufel, Arkham Horror, Lord of the Rings, The Princes of Florence, Cold War: CIA vs. KGB, The Downfall of Pompeii, Louis XIV, Manoeuvre, and the 7th Sea collectible-card-game.

Worst New-To-Me Game Of The Year: Titan (1980) gets the prize and it wasn't really close. This game is just awful. I wanted to like it, really I did. I played it three times and had very little fun. I don't see why so many people love it. I don't need to play it again.