13 games I’ve played in my 2023 alphabet challenge
I’ve got 14 more to go, but this challenge is looking pretty achievable.
At the beginning of every year, I set out to complete some board game challenges.
I wrote about doing that this year, and while some of the challenges could prove difficult over the course of the next eight months, I’m making good progress on one I’m pretty excited about: the alphabet challenge. It’s a simple challenge, in that the rules don’t make it particularly difficult. You just need to play a game starting with every letter of the alphabet over the course of the year.
I’m halfway there now, so I thought it would be fun to check in and talk about my progress. I’m sure I’ll check back in once I finish the challenge, so, you know, click that subscribe button I’ve placed below. If you want. I mean, I’m not going to force you. Or guilt you, even.
#: 5-Minute Dungeon — This is a frenetic real-time cooperative game where you’re throwing down cards to defeat enemies by matching symbols. I played this one with family, and it was a fun time, but it’s perhaps a little too chaotic for me.
A: Acquire — I also played this one with family, and it’s sort of the opposite of 5-Minute Dungeon — it’s slow, purposeful, and strategic. I wrote about playing Acquire in early March.
C: Crash Octopus — I love games that make me laugh, and Crash Octopus had me doubled over. It’s a flicking game, but it also involves dropping a die off the head of an octopus. It’s so good. Read more in Five great dexterity games.
D: Dog Tag Trick — This Japanese trick-taking game has players playing tricks to either a main competition (composed of two cards of runs, pairs or sum-multiples of 5) or a side competition (one card). It’s not overly complicated, but it has just enough of a twist to be really entertaining.
F: Flamme Rouge — Competitive cycling makes for a great game, it turns out. Flamme Rouge is one of my absolute favorites, and I wrote more about that here: Why I love Flamme Rouge.
H: Happy City — What a nice little city building game! You’re basically building a tableau of buildings, which provide you income, population and happiness. Population and happiness comprise the end-game scoring, but income doesn’t — so how will you balance being able to buy better buildings and aiming for points in a space-constrained city.
K: Kingdom Builder — This is one of those “modern classics” — it’s a really approachable area control game, and it’s absolutely one of my favorites. I wrote about it earlier this year: Kingdom Builder: The other classic Vaccarino game
M: Mental Blocks — There are times that board games feel more like edutainment than pure entertainment, and Mental Blocks falls firmly on the side of the former. I don’t particularly mind that in this real-time cooperative game, in which each player, with partial information, constructs a three-dimensional apparatus with foam blocks. That said, this needs a group that you know will enjoy it.
N: No Thanks! — I’ve played No Thanks! a lot this year, and it’s such a great game. It’s a simple push-your-luck game, but it changes every time you play with a new group. I wrote about it here: Push your luck with this great little card game: No Thanks!
P: Play Nine — I enjoyed this casual card game that has players flipping and swapping cards from an eight-card tableau to form pairs in order to get the lowest score.
Q: Qwixx — I’ve played a lot of Qwixx over the last year. It’s such a successful roll-and-write game. It comes in a perfect box for travel, is easy to teach, and has just enough strategy to stay interesting. I wrote about Qwixx in Six great games you can teach in five minutes or less.
S: Spirit Island — We’ve played a few games of Spirit Island this year with some friends, and it’s been a great, strategic cooperative game to play together. I love that there’s often something that somebody else can do to solve a problem that you just haven’t thought about — the individual player roles really make this game.
U: Unlock!: Game Adventures — We played the Pandemic-themed Unlock game in this trilogy box set. I thought they nailed the theme, and the game was one of the better Unlock games I’ve played. That said, there’s a feature with the camera and the game app that just didn’t quite work as expected, so that was a little frustrating — so just be aware that there may be a little frustration here.
So, there you have it. But why end there? Here are some candidates for the remaining letters.
B: Bravo — I love a casual little roll-and-write game, and the sequel to Encore is calling my name. Or maybe a solo run of Burgle Bros is in order — or not a solo run? Who knows!
E: Eight Minute Empire — This game from Red Raven has been on my list for a long time, but it’s not quite made it to the table yet. I’m not sure why.
G: Getaway Driver — Player-versus-player games are not the biggest hit here, but this Jeff Beck-designed
I: The Isle of Cats — I really enjoy this tile placement game, and it’s just been a bit since I played. Alternately, I still need to play the roll-and-write iteration of the game — so maybe that’s the one for me next.
J: Junk Art — Wow, I don’t own many games starting with J. Junk Art is a dexterity game all about stacking pieces, and I can always get behind that.
L: Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game — It’s been so long since I played this cooperative deck-builder, and I think I’d enjoy getting it back out to the table.
O: Obsession — I’ve only played this Victorian worker placement game once. The theme’s good, the mechanics are good, and the whole thing? It’s just good.
R: Railroad Ink — I’ll pull back the curtain for you a little bit: Writing about Railroad Ink is on the docket. So I suspect I’ll play this one soon. That said, there are a ton of great games starting with R: Race for the Galaxy, Raiders of the North Sea, Ride the Rails — the list goes on.
T: Thurn and Taxis — It’s been a decade since I played this game about delivering mail. I remember loving it. Did I love it? (I gave it an 8 on BGG. I think I loved it.)
V: Verdant — This is one of the hit games of 2022, and it’s just waiting for me to pull it off the shelf. I really should.
W: Welcome to the Moon — This spin-off from Welcome To… features a campaign. And the moon.
X: X-Com: The Board Game — I don’t know if I own too many other games starting with an X, so I guess this is it. It’s a good thing I like it!
Y: Yeti in the House — This is one of two games with Y that are currently in my collection. It’s a neat game, and I bet it would be a hit with kids. (I wrote about this in November.)
Z: Zombie 15’ — This game has loads of zombie miniatures. It’s been a bit since I played it, but it’s fast-paced, cooperative and generally a good time, if memory serves. It’s also — you guessed it — the only Z game currently in my collection.