#10x10in2014

In addition to my obsessions with beads and paper, I also love playing board games. I grew up playing games all day with my Aunt LaVonne and my friends. It’s so exciting that it’s becoming popular again. For a fun show and to learn a few games, check out Will Wheaton’s show TableTop on YouTube.

A friend told me about the lists people were making under the hashtag #10x10in2014. This entails making a list of 10 games that you want to play 10 times each in 2014. There are SO many new games coming out all the time and it’s often hard to really dig into one game and play it again and again when you have so many new games sitting there waiting to be played. This challenge will help me focus on some of the games I really enjoy and give me an excuse to play them more often. Here’s a good hub to learn more at BoardGameGeek.

Here’s my list.

1.    Innovation has 2 great expansions that I’ve had for awhile and never gotten around to really delving into. This game makes me feel like I could play it a lot better if I knew the cards better.

2.  Trajan has a really interesting Mancala type mechanism for deciding what actions you will be taking. There are a lot of different avenues to win so it’s easy to replay and try out different options.

3.  Blueprints is a simple game that involves building structures out of dice behind a blind. It’s new to me and seems like it will be a fun game to play often and quickly.

4.   I have several expansions for 7 Wonders that I haven’t gotten to play with. This is a great game for a larger group as it plays up to 8 people with expansions. It’s fairly easy to learn and teach, but it becomes more complex with expansions and understanding the card chaining options.

5.  I know. A lot of people are sick of Dominion, but I’m not. And I like Comic Sans too. So there. I said it. 🙂 Dominion is a deck building game that plays fairly quickly and there are currently 8 expansions that allow for lots of varied play.

6. Quarriors! is similar to a deck building game and is quite a bit like Dominion. Instead of building a deck, you are buying dice to add to your pool that you then equip and use to fight the other players. For someone like me that likes beads and baubles, all of the amazing dice that are in this game just beg to be played with again and again.

7.  King Of Tokyo is a fun dice game that plays up to 6 with the necessary Panda Power Up expansion. Easy to teach and easy to play, it’s a great game for a larger group. And I get to be a Panda. I can’t stress how important that is. 🙂

8.  Speaking of pandas…Takenoko is a whole game about Pandas eating bamboo. I’m in. ‘Nuff said.

9.  Village won awards in 2012 for being a great family game. Like Trajan, there are multiple avenues to achieving the end game and by playing it often, I get to explore them all.

10.   Lords of Waterdeep and the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion is a favorite of several of my gaming groups. Don’t let the Dungeon & Dragons tag on this stop you from playing if you aren’t into D&D. It’s really just the theme.

So that’s my 10. There were MANY that I wanted to add, (Luna, Smash Up, Eminent Domain, Monolith…) that just didn’t make the cut. Maybe if I get 10 of something done early, I can substitute one in. My birthday was Jan. 1st and my boyfriend said he’d play the first game with me–Innovation. Unfortunately, he didn’t give me a win for my birthday. 😦 Our next Game Day is in the middle of January so I hope to make a small dent in this list.

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