My final bandwagon post. It’s time to look at my game of the decade.

Honourable mentions:

Twilight Imperium 4 – an updated classic. The game that basically built FFG got updated, stream lined a little and included some stuff from the expansions. It’s a long game to play, but the time just flies by. You are constantly engaged, making alliances, breaking them. A great game to play.

Star Realms – such an amazing deck builder. The base game is cheap, replayable and portable. There are numerous expansions out for it now, that add more of the same and new mechanics (depending on the expansion). These are also cheap, and just shuffle in to the deck. It’s a fun, quick (around 30 minutes) game for two players. But can play more as well.

EDH/Commander – ok I know this is technically MtG but it’s the format for me that makes it here. Easily WotC most popular format, and in the last few years it has really taken off. A casual format that is multiplayer, has that whole social political element to it. My favourite way to play MtG.

D&D 5th Edition – another updated classic. WotC really did knock it out of the park with this update. They made it accessible, and free to play with free digital downloads of the basic core rules. Which was a fantastic decision. Plus the update and any planned rule changes get shared with the community for play testing and feedback. This involving the community is probably the best decision WotC made, building that brand loyalty. Tie in the meteoric rise in popularity online of D&D and other RPGs it was like the perfect storm.

Love Letter – 16 frickin cards! 16! That’s all it takes to create such a fun game. This game created the micro game movement. It’s fun, quick. My personal favourite version is the Batman themed one. I love the slight tweak to the rules, that when you guess another players card you get a point.

And my game of the decade is…

My favourite game of all time. Could it be any other game?

Variable player powers, action selection, resource management, area control. Scythe has it all. Great replay ability. Expansions that add to that, introduce new mechanics. Then add in the Rise of Fenris expansion you get a campaign, which can be replayed or used as modules to add in during a regular game.

The production quality is the usual Stonemaier high quality. There are some official component upgrades that really pimp out the game. Plus there are also third party component upgrades.

The art by Jakub Rozalski that inspired the game is just stunning. And really helps bring this alternative history to life.

The game definitely has table presence. The commanders and mechs look awesome on the game board. Throw on the airships from the wind gambit expansion that goes to another level.

For me this game has just the perfect mix of gameplay and mechanics that I enjoy a lot.