Top Board Games for 2024

Here are the Board Game Geek ratings for the top 10 games as of April 2015.

Brass: Birmingham

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Ark Nova

Gloomhaven

Twilight Imperium: 4th Edition

Dune: Imperium

Terraforming Mars

War of the Ring: 2nd Edition

Star Wars: Rebellion

Spirit Island

Alien: Fate of the Nostromo

An interesting RPG based of the Alien series of movies. This cooperative or solo game pits the crew of the Nostromo against the Mother alien. Gather scrap to acquire the tools that will defend against the alien and fulfill tasks needed to conquer the alien, and do this all before crew morale is decimated.

See a video on How To Play by Rodney Smith.

Mystery Detectives Vol.1

An interesting game that is basically a version of twenty questions. This is a collection of mystery puzzles that you try to solve by asking questions to which you can get a yes or no answer. Recommended on the Watch It Played Youtube channel.

Village Rails

Village Rails is a British inspired railway game from Osprey Games.

From BoardGameGeeks: "In Village Rails, you will be criss-crossing the fields of England with railway lines, connecting villages together, and navigating the complex and ever-changing demands of rural communities. Connect stations and farmsteads to your local network while placing your railway signals and sidings ever so carefully. Meet the exacting standards of cantankerous locals planning strangely specific trips, and weigh their demands against your limited funding."

Pass the Ace (Chase the Ace)

How to play Pass the Ace

Pass the Ace is an easy-to-learn bluffing card game for four or more players.

Goal
Avoid holding the lowest card each round to win the game.

Equipment
52 card deck, three tokens per player.

Card Rank
Highest to lowest - King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Setup

• Each player is given three tokens to represent each player’s three "lives."
• Each player draws one card, the player with the highest card is the first dealer. The ace is always low in Pass the Ace.

Deal
Each player is dealt one card.

Objective
The object of the game is to avoid having the lowest ranking card at the end of each round, otherwise, you will lose one token.

Optional Setup
Remove all but one ace from the deck.

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Game Play

• The player to the left of the dealer is first to play. During a turn, players can decide to keep their current card or exchange cards with the player on their left.
• If a player decides to exchange, the player on the left must exchange unless he/she is holding a king. If that happens, the player holding the king turns it face up, and play continues to the next player. 
• Play continues until the dealer is the last person to play. If the dealer wants to exchange his/her card, he/she will draw the top card of the deck, and must keep that card.
• After every player has had a turn, the cards are flipped up. The player with the lowest ranking card loses a token.

Optional Game Play

• If the player is blocked from swapping because the next player has a king, then they move onto the next player and exchange cards with that person. Found here.
• If the dealer decides to draw a card rather than hold the dealt card, they cannot take the card if it is a king; they must stay with the original card dealt to them.

Winning
The last player with one or more tokens wins the game.

Rules

• If two (or more) players tie for the lowest ranking card in a round, they both lose a token. A variation can be played where tying players are safe, and the lowest unique ranking card (i.e., only one person holds that value card) loses a token.
• Once a player is out of tokens, he/she is out of the game.
• If two players are left in the game and tie, neither player loses a token. The final deal is re-dealt.

Find a video tutorial and written explanation on how to play Chase the Ace here.

Source: https://gathertogethergames.com/chase-the-ace

Online Games

A few new and old games available online.

Original Minesweeper

2/47 Games has a number of online games:

• 2/47 Backgammon
• 2/47 Blackjack
• 2/47 Bridge
• 2/47 Chess
• 2/47 Crossword
• 2/47 Hearts
• 2/47 Mahjong
• 2/47 Minesweeper
• 2/47 Roulette
• 2/47 Solitaire
• 2/47 Word Search

8-ball pool

PokerTH - download & install

Video Reviews

There are lots of game review video channels on Youtube and I have watched many to see if I'd like a game and to get a detailed explanation of how a game is played. This can give more information than you can get from reading the rules provided with the game. Some sites are just reviews but others have a full play through of a complete game.

Of videos that explain how a game is played, my favourite is Rodney Smith of Watch It Played.

For video reviews I go to Dice Tower with Tom Vassel, and Foster the Meeple. I also look at Shut Up & Sit Down, Before You Play, and Becca Scott on the Geek & Sundry site.

To watch a full play through I go to Will Weaton's Table Top or Becca Scott (both on the Geek & Sundry site), Before You Play, and Dad vs. Daughter. Also on the Watch It Played channel, Paula Demming does solo game play throughs. Board Game Geek, the most popular game review website, also has a video channel called Game Night that does a full play through of many games.