The Tao of Gaming

More thoughts ...

Would it help if I couch my carefully thought out and totally rational criticisms in a more blatantly provocative manner? I was just thinking that gaming could use a gonzo journalist. Besides Grognads, I mean. We've all seen R.T. strung out on more drugs than a Walgreens, but it doesn't really affect his writing.

Snoop and Mark spoil my fun by posting a quality jump sooner than expected. (That's not entirely true. Again about half of the games don't belong in the top 100 by my judgement, but they're more '6s' than '5s'. And easy to see a case for.)

6 Nimmt (#80) — Not bad. Fluffy. In the 250-300 game rank range (depending on if you use game rank or overall rank. I'm not sure which to use). I've had good results against people who play randomly; there's definitely skill involved. Don't know how much, though. A six.

Mystery Rummy (#79) — Again in the 200s. I hadn't actually ranked this game, but it's a five or six.

Was Sticht? (#78) This was the bee's knees, but remember that those little bastards sting. A five that I quit playing quickly. Still, The Hundred could do much worse. It's been out of favor for a while and is a damn sight better than most trick taking games that get churned out like cheap butter.

I like War of the Ring (#77), and can't really complain on it's inclusion in the list. Given the list is based on "Fun" and "playing the game", it fits. (I've been telling people that it's a fun game, not a good one). I'm even happy with the placement — BGG is out of whack making this a near Top 10 game.

Hare & Tortoise (#76/75) — Classic game that holds up well. The geek only his this in the 300-400s, but I agree with the voters that this belongs. As Snoop says, "You're right, and I hate it when that happens."

Quandry (#76/75) — That's ok, I was a Knizia Groupie for a long time too. A fine game that will struggle mightily to uphold the noble tradition of The Hundred, a task it is wholly unprepared to fulfill.

Taboo (#74) — I'm more of a Celebrities type of guy, personally. But if you are going to have a party game or two, I can respect this.

Even though I only rate Twilight (#73) a five, it could be higher. Haven't played enough to tell. This falls into the Was Sticht category — A new trick taking game with something going for it. A rare bird out of the hundreds to flood the market.

I liked Basari (#72) enough to buy it twice. Moving along...

Wow. Breaking Away (#71). I had completely forgotten about this. I haven't played it in a decade (and haven't actually seen a copy since then, I think). It may be nostalgia talking, but I concur. [And just rated the game a 7 and added it to my want list. Not going to pay 75€ + shipping to buy the copy for sale...

So I'll humbly admit that the quality has shot up, and a few sleeper selections make me pause and reflect. The 'rank 15' mechanic let a bunch of shaky games, but it gave an opening to some spry elders, too.