Category Archives: GoTY

My GOTY for 2023 is…

annual awards, by the numbers, gaming stats, GoTY, stats

Happy New Year.

I hope 2024 is a better year than 2023 for everyone. Hopefully that will be the case when the Tories get obliterated at the ballot box.

After much deliberation I have finally decided which of the 43 new to me games that I played in 2023 is my game of the year.

It wasn’t an easy decision.

But before I reveal the results of that deliberation, last year I did a couple of “minor” awards. So this year I thought I’d repeat those two categories before doing the big reveal.

Roll & Write of 2023

I played 4 new roll and writes this year. A drop from last year. However these four new games were pretty good.

Here are the four contenders. They are a great demonstration of how varied this genre of board games can be.

The winner is Motor City.

Motor City is the follow up to last years winner Three Sisters. It’s definitely the most complex of the four games.

Like it’s two predecessors it can seem a bit overwhelming with its two pads. I felt it wasn’t as combotastic as Three Sisters. But it’s still a very nice ‘on the heavier side’ roll and write. It feels totally different to the previous two in the series.

Expansion of 2023

I didn’t buy many expansions this year. There were the promo packs for Rolling Realms. But I’ve not got them to the table. So ineligible for this award.

I think there can only be one winner for this award this year, and it feels a bit of a cheat. It is touted as a stand alone expansion. The winner is Dune Imperium Uprising.

I love Dune Imperium and I love the changes introduced in Uprising.

And now for the big decision, and the one you are really interested in.

GOTY of 2023

My game of 2023 is…

Lord of the Rings the living card game revised edition.

I think what swayed it for LoTR is Nathan. When I played it with him Nathan was keen to play the game and take on the next scenario. He asked to play it again.

And even though I’ve played one or two of the other contenders with Nathan also. It was that reaction and the fond memories of playing with him that contributed to the decision.

Plus as I’ve written in previous posts I’m a Tolkien fanboy. So I love the theme.

Even with just the revised core set FFG included a fun to play campaign with some nice variety in the scenarios. It was interesting to see FFG play with different mechanics.

What’s your game of 2023?

My 2023 GOTY Contenders

annual awards, by the numbers, gaming stats, GoTY, stats

Each year (usually a bit later than this post) I choose my game of the year (GOTY) from the new to me games that I have played throughout the year.

I’ve decided to shake things up a little this year by dedicating two posts to it.

There is this post giving you the contenders for this year. Which will be followed by a post announcing my GOTY.

Let’s start by using the cool 3×3 image the bgstats can generate of the top 9 played new to me games of 2023.

I should point out that being in this 3×3 is no guarantee that the winner will be one of these games.

My 3×3 of top 9 played new to me games of 2023

What surprised my with this 3×3 is Stonemaier Games account for a third of the games in this top 9 played.

Ok it’s time for the raw data showing all the new to me games played in 2023.

Technically I have only played 43 new to me games in 2023. Bgstats records Dice Masters as a new to me game. Which we all know it isn’t. But my plays of Dice Masters was before I had started using the bgstats app to record all my game plays.

I also shouldn’t include 51st State Ultimate Edition as a new to me game. It’s just a new edition (no changes to the game, it’s just a fancy version) of a game I’ve already played.

So excluding these two games narrows the field only slightly. It doesn’t make the decision any easier.

The 2023 stats for the new to me games I played

Which of these would be your GOTY?

My GOTY 2022

bgstat, by the numbers, gaming stats, GoTY, stats, Year In Review

It’s that time of year once again when content creators of all types throw top 10 lists of this and that at you.

I’m not one to avoid jumping on a bandwagon.

This post is all about me choosing my game of the year for 2022 from the 54 new to me games that I played.

Now the caveat is that this is new to me. Which means that the games may or may not have been published in 2022. In fact one of them is approximately 40 years old! But until this year I had not played them.

But first here are some stats from that really great app, bgstats.

First my top 9 new to me games based on the number of game plays.

My 2022 top 9 new to me games based on number times played

Next up the bgstats insights for those 54 new to me games.

The 54 new to me games I played in 2022

Roll & Writes

I’ve played a few roll and writes this year. That side of the collection has grown considerably also. So I think it’s safe to say it’s a genre I enjoy playing.

There is one shown above, it’s not only my least favourite roll and write, but probably my turkey of the year also. That game is Super-skill Pinball: 4 Cade. The least said about this game the better.

Out of the remaining 8 roll and writes if I had to choose one to be the roll and write for 2022 it’d have to be…

the combotastic Three Sisters.

I really like all the others. They are great, fun roll and writes. But wow Three Sisters just blows the mind, especially when the combos kick off. The use of the rondel and die selection introduce a bit of decision making whether to take a die to deny an opponent that die and action, or go for one you really need.

A great roll and write that really does stand out.

Expansion of 2022

My expansion of the year is the Rise of Fenris expansion for Scythe.

I had a blast playing the 8 game campaign. Which can be reset and played again. However you can also add it as modules to the main game. Adding more options, variability, replay ability to the game.

But that first play through. The twists and turns. The big reveals. Epic.

Also this was the last game I played with my friend Ben before he left us. Ben will be missed. But it’s the fond gaming memories that remain behind. Rise of Fenris will be one of those memories.

Honourable mentions: Dune Imperium: Rise of Ix (I won’t play without this expansion), Tapestry: Arts and Architecture

Ok onto the main event.

54 games to choose from.

Some incredible games played.

A very very hard choice. However I did come to a decision.

My GOTY 2022 is…

Drawn to the game by comparisons to Scythe, but apart from a mechanic or two it’s not really like Scythe.

I loved this game. From the variable board setup, to the era cards, power ups via paintings, variable leader powers and player boards, being able to tailor the maps to encourage or discourage combat.

It’s a really great game.

Honourable Mentions: Survive Escape from Atlantis, Libertalia Winds of Galecrest, Portal: the uncooperative cake acquisition game, The Thing boardgame.

Obviously I’ll be returning at the start of 2023 with the monthly round up plus the stats for for 2022.