15 games from 2024 on my to-play list
It turns out, there's still a lot from 2024 that I haven't played.
I wrote last week about 2024, focusing closely on some of the games I really enjoyed. This week, I’m turning toward the games on my to-play list, which I haven’t played for one reason or another. I’ll get to them, I hope. We’ll see!
Not on this list are a load of weird little Japanese trick-taking games — not because I don’t want to play them, of course, but because it’s going to take some time to get them played and thought about. I’m looking forward to play those, too, but they’re not going to appear in huge numbers here.
Right then — let’s get on with this. I’ve been under the weather since the weekend, so this one’s a bit shorter than usual. Still, I really enjoyed reflecting on these games that have been on my shelf (well, most of them — a few aren’t there, and that’s fine. Maybe I’ll get to play them. Maybe I won’t. It’s OK either way.)
Seven games I’m looking forward to playing
Creature Caravan — the latest Ryan Laukat worker placement game, but this one’s on the slightly lighter side of the equation. There are dice workers! I’m excited to play this one, not least because of the great illustrations. Designed and illustrated by Ryan Laukat, published by Red Raven Games.
Let’s Go! To Japan — a card drafting game about crafting your dream trip to Japan. After 13 rounds of drawing and placing cards on different days, you’ll go on your trip and score points. Designed by Josh Wood; illustrated by Chaykov, Kailene Falls, Toshiyuki Hara, Magdalena Pruckner and Erica Ward; published by AEG.
The Lord of the Rings: The Duel for Middle-Earth is a retheming of the excellent two-player game 7 Wonders Duel, and I know some things differ — but I’d like to see how much differs. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, illustrated by Vincent Dutrait, published by Repos Production.
Rebirth — Knizia does tile placement so well, and Rebirth is a bright, colorful take on the genre. I love tile placement games with combined maps, too. Designed by Reiner Knizia, illustrated by Anna "Mikado" Przybylska and Kate "vesner" Redesiuk, and published by Mighty Boards.
Slay the Spire: The Board Game — It took me a long time to get to this point, but all the praise for the board game has me coming around to the idea that this actually works. I love the video game, and I was among those skeptical. Designed hby Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti and Casey Yano; illustrated by Bruce Benneise, Jose David Lanza Cebrian and Anailis Dorta; published by Contention Games.
Typewriter — spell words with your tiles, but after every word, flip the tiles over — there are different letters, and those become your pool for spelling a word. Designed by Tim Fowers, illustrated by Ryan Goldsberry, published by Fowers Games.
Weirdwood Manor — a cooperative game with asymmetric characters and win conditions that has players battling against some sort of monster. Sounds interesting! Designed by Mike Cassie; illusrated by Anna Earley, Steve Palmer and Sean Richardson; published by Greyridge Games.
Seven climbers and trick-takers, plus one more card game, I’m looking forward to playing
Arcs is a trick-taking game, but it’s also so much more — it’s a deeply strategic game of interstellar conflict. It’s high on my list, but it just hasn’t quite happened yet. Designed by Cole Wehrle, illustrated by Kyle Ferrin, published by Leder Games.
Fishing is a new Friedemann Friese-designed trick-taking game — and he’s designed a few interesting ones. This one has you gaining better cards in later rounds if you do worse in earlier rounds. Hmm! Designed by Friedemann Friese, illustrated by Maren Rache, published by 2F-Spiele in Germany, Rio Grande Games in the U.S.
Flip 7 is ‘just a card game’ on here, but I love push-your-luck games (and have nothing against card games that aren’t trick-taking or climbing. I promise.) I honestly don’t know why I haven’t played this yet, but I will. And I’ll be so bad at it. (I’ve just remembered why I haven’t played it: It’s not in stock anywhere. Sigh.) Designed by Eric Olsen, illustrated by O’Neil Mabile, and published by The Op Games.
Gnaughty Gnomes isn’t just on the list for the leading G, but who can say it didn’t have an impact? This is a fixed-partnership trick-taking game with a board of mushrooms growing in the forest. Designed by Daniel Kenel, published by New Mill Industries.
Prey is a reimplimentation of a Japanese trick-taking game from 2023 I really enjoyed, Double Side Play. Maybe there are small differences. I’m excited to find out. The basic idea is that the cards have two values, one on top and one on bottom. You start by using the value on the top half, then halfway through the round, you flip your hand over and use the values on the bottom.
Rainbow is a bit of a climbing game with an interesting twist on points — basically, you’re playing singles, sets and runs, but you don’t have to beat the cards played before, you just have to follow whether it’s a set or a run being played. Then, after each player has played to the trick, players select point cards in order of their played card strength. Huh! Designed by Mito Sazuki, illustrated by Sai Beppu, published by Allplay.
The Six of VIII is a team-based trick-taking game about the six wives of King Henry VIII — what a concept for a game. There’s an advanced variant, but I’ll start with the base game. Designed by Carol LaGrow, published by New Mill Industries.
Tango is a two-player trick-taker based on the signature dance. Each player has a face-up display of cards they can play from. Interesting, no? Designed by Matt Sims and David Harding, illustrated by Heiko Günther, published by Grail Games.
There are, of course, plenty of other games on my to-play list from 2024. I’ve got a list of obscure trick-takers that I’d love to play, and there are a few games that I just didn’t write about but that I’m still thinking I’d like to play. I’ll probably revisit that list over the coming weeks and months.
I’ve got a bit more to reflect on from 2024 in the next few weeks — naming my favorite games of the year, for one — but I’d like to give myself a chance to get some of these to the table, and to play some of the ones I’ve already enjoyed a few more times. We’ll take next week to look at some goals I’m setting for myself and my play, and we’ll talk about goals more broadly, too. See you then!
Next week: Setting goals for 2025.
That's a good list of games. Fishing is probably my favorite new game of last year - it's just fun every time. Let's Go to Japan is also a favorite but that's not too much of a surprise since we love Josh Wood's previous games (Cat Lady and Santa Monica). I prefer Slay the Spire to the video game because of the co-op aspect of it which makes it better - the only downside is the playtime is kind of long if you try to ascend all the way and actually survive long enough to do that. I like to break it up to keep it from going too long. Six of VIII is great - I'd say go ahead and start with the advanced rules, it makes the game better and isn't much more complex.
ARCS should be at or near your #1 priority to play. I have found that the experience can be divisive, but I think that Cole Wehrle is an absolute genius, and this design is no exception.