The Tao of Gaming

The Hundred (11-15)


The Hundred steps up with another quintet...

I agree with Mark that Saint Petersburg will fall down from #15 next year. It's an addictive little game ... for a while.

Not surprising to see Cosmic Encounter at #14. A classic, but one that shows some age with a highly variable playing time. Truthfully, if it weren't one of the first games I encountered (and therefore played to death), I'd probably still be playing it.

Bohnanza strikes at #13. Moderately surprising (although I suppose by now I should be tracking what hasn't shown up to figure out the Top 10). I still play one and off. And it's had consistent sales. But Bohnanza always struck me as one of those games that burst onto the scene, burned brightly for a year or two, and then flamed out. Then again, many games follow that pattern for me, but only burn for a few weeks or months...

Somewhat surprised to see Lord of the Rings [#12], although I guess I shouldn't be. A very dedicated following, and (practically) unique on the list means a high rating. Despite rating it an '8', I never thought of putting it in my Top 15.

Acquire just misses the Top 10. Ok.

All fine games, of course.

So, what haven't we seen? Here are the ones I can think of that may be contenders for the final ten.

  • Puerto Rico
  • Euphrat und Tigris
  • Power Gird
  • Prince of Florence
  • Tichu
  • El Grande
  • Age of Steam
  • Paths of Glory (admittedly a long shot, given the voters)
  • Settlers of Catan
  • Chess
  • Magic
  • San Juan (Ok, I hope it's there).

There are a few dark horses that could sneak in (Up Front, Game of Thrones, etc), but unless I've just missed them in my quick glance, I think we've got the final ten covered. Although I could be wrong about Age of Steam. Was it widely available 12 months ago? I seem to recall that it just hit the stores again in February...

Update: Ticket to Ride hasn't shown up yet either, has it? Simple. Spiel des Jahres. It could easily bump a game.

ReiXou (www):
I am all in on age of Steam but I would not bet on Chess. Which leave us with what . spades ?
11.13.2005 4:09pm
Brian (www):
Spades was in the 80s, I think. Anyway, Ticket to Ride hasn't shown up, has it. Lots of us came to gaming via Chess, so I'm not sure if it's in or out. Given that Go (very highly respected among the gamers I've hung out with) only made 51, having Chess miss the cut seems reasonable.
11.13.2005 5:00pm
Doug Orleans (mail) (www):
Did I miss Ra? I don't like it, myself, but I can't imagine it not being on the top 100. High Society seems like a big hole, too, but maybe it was bumped out of its niche by For Sale.
11.13.2005 6:05pm
Brian (www):
I thought Ra went by. But I went to the Geeklists and didn't see it and I think you're right. Wow. At least one highly respected game will get bumped. (I by no means consider Ra a Top10 game, but it's a long lasting game that should probably be on this list). High society is a nice filler that I like, but I don't mourn it's exclusion.
11.13.2005 7:34pm
ReiXou (www):
Ok so let's put Ra and Ticket to Ride, remove chess and (Tichu or Magic) and you have your list.
11.14.2005 2:41am