2023 in review

It's been a year of change in my gaming habits — and it's been truly great.

2023 has been a year that hasn’t been as full of gaming as maybe some years past. My playing habits have shifted somewhat, first owing to the birth of our first child, then because we’ve moved to a new town. Those factors have combined to lead to playing more games we can teach quickly rather than games that are more involved.

In that way, it’s been a really fantastic year for gaming. I’ve introduced people to games they’ve enjoyed, and I’ve learned plenty of games, too. I’ve even played more on Board Game Arena, which has been a particular treat.

A year of trick-taking

If 2020 was the year I felt the resurgence of trick-taking games hit me like a wave (thank you, The Crew!), and 2021 and 2022 were the years where I was introduced to the world of trick-takers from around the world, 2023 was the year of diving head-first into the joy. I don’t think it’s quite the case that half the games through the year I played were trick-takers, but a very healthy number of them were.

You’ve almost certainly picked up that vibe from this newsletter if you’ve been around. I’ve tried to keep things varied, but I simply can’t help it. Like so many others, I’ve fallen for trick-taking games, and they fit really well with my life right now. We’re playing more games with family than ever, and the repetition of patterns and mechanics makes teaching a new game fairly easy. It’s easy (or somewhat easy, at least) to play a trick-taking game with a baby in arms, too — although we’re rapidly entering the card-grabbing phase, so it’s not as if there won’t be bumps along the way.

I even interviewed one of the hosts of my favorite podcast about trick-taking games. It’s been a great year for me in regard trick-taking games, and I anticipate 2024 being even bigger.

The rise of imported trick-taking games

Schadenfreude is a surprising trick-taking game worth the pain

Five of the more notable trick-taking games I played this year:

• Schadenfreude (see the link above), a must-follow trick-taking about not coming in first (sort of) and delighting in the pain of others. The winner of this one is the player who comes closest to 40 points without going over, and the end triggers when somebody goes over. Designed by ctr.

• Trick of the Rails is a train game that’s also a trick-taking game. You’ll invest in stocks, expand rails, and play a lovely little trick-taking game. All at once! Designed by Hisashi Hayashi

• Seas of Strife is a quick-to-learn, quick-to-play trick-taking game with a cool must-follow twist — if somebody ever plays off-suit, that new suit becomes part of the must-follow options. Neat! Designed by Mark Major.

• Sail is a two-player cooperative trick-taker in which you’re navigating a map, avoiding a kraken, and trying to get around rocks and shoals. Designed by Akiyama Koryo and Korzu Yusei.

• Inside Job is a trick-taking game with a social deduction element. It’s wrapped in that familiar mission-completion structure, but at least one person around the table is trying to sabotage the operation. Designed by Tanner Simmons.

The game I played the most: No Thanks!

One of my first newsletters during 2023 was this one about No Thanks!, a push-your-luck game. Unlike most push-your-luck games, you’re not testing a random operation, like rolling a die: You’re instead pushing your luck against your opponents, who might interrupt your plans. It’s one of my absolute favorites, and this is the year that it truly became a favorite of mine this year. Designed by Thorsten Gimmler.

Push your luck with this great little card game: No Thanks!

The game that captured hearts: Viking See-Saw

I love a dexterity game, and I especially love a dexterity game that makes me feel a bit silly. I rang in the new year playing Crash Octopus, and I think there’s a non-zero chance I ring in the next one playing Viking See-Saw. Designed by Reiner Knizia, this is a game that delights in the swaying chaos of a Viking ship. You’re tasked with placing cargo on the ship, and you win if you place all of your cargo before any other player. If the ship ever tilts to its other side, you’ll have to take extra cargo to place. If you knock things over, those are now your things to place, too.

Ginny’s favorite game this year: Fit to Print

I’ve made no secret that I’ve been a fan of everything published by Flatout Games, and Fit to Print is no exception. I asked my wife, Ginny, what her favorite game was this year, and it’s this one: A real-time newspaper-building tile-placement game with the absolute cutest anthropomorphized animal denizens. I’m not sure what my favorite game of the year will be, but I really liked this one, too. It’s up there.

I interviewed the game’s designer, Peter McPherson, upon its release.

Theme, mechanics and Fit to Print: An interview with designer Peter McPherson

Five great cooperative games I played this year

I’m a big fan of cooperative games, and I played some truly excellent ones in 2023, some of which were published this very year.

• Mists over Carcassonne is a spooky little spin on the classic tile-laying game. It retains the classic elements of the game, and the cooperative elements feel like they slot in nicely. Designed by Klaus Jurgen-Wrede.

• Daybreak is the latest from cooperative expert Matt Leacock (of Pandemic fame.) It combines elements of tableau building with a difficulty curve that grows as you face down the dangers of climate change. Designed by Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace.

• Spirit Island remains the gold standard for medium-to-heavy weight cooperative games. It’s gained a devoted following for its variability, and it’s a joy to play every time. It’s forces clever, collaborative thinking, and despite some strong asymmetry, it requires players to work together. *Designed by R. Eric Reuss.

• Forbidden Jungle just made the table after I landed a copy, so it’s still pretty under-explored. It’s another Matt Leacock gem in the Forbidden series, and it fits with the rest of the entries quite nicely. In this one, you’re chased around the map by some terrifying spider-like aliens as you try to rearrange the map to connect power crystals to an escape portal. Designed by Matt Leacock.

• Burgle Bros is still one of the greatest cooperative games in my collection. Every time it makes the table (or we play on Board Game Arena), I’ve enjoyed the puzzle on offer. Avoiding the guards, splitting up across multiple floors, and deciding when to let yourself get caught to allow somebody else to escape: Decisions in Burgle Bros are plentiful.

Looking ahead

There are so many games from 2023 I still want to play, and rather than name them all — that’ll come early next year, probably — I thought I’d just point out some games I’m looking forward to getting to the table.

• Point City, the sequel to Point Salad — a quick-playing drafting card game? I might even get that played this week.

• Zoo Vadis, a negotiation game that reimplements Reiner Knizia’s Quo Vadis — and it’s filled with animals now. Neat!

• Scholars of the South Tigris, a worker placement from Garphill Games. I’ve loved the other worker placement games they’ve published, and I suspect this one won’t be much different.

• Lunar, Mori, Bacon and Pies — four trick-taking games from AllPlay — just arrived at our home in the last two weeks, and I’m excited to get each of them to the table.

And there’s so, so much more.

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Thank you for a fantastic year at Don’t Eat the Meeples. I’ve enjoyed more than ever sharing games with you every week, and I’m excited for the coming year, too. I hope the next year brings you opportunities to game with friends and family, and I hope every game you want to get to the table finds the right group. As always, thank you for sharing your time with me, and I’ll see you in 2023!

Next week: Setting goals for 2024!