MIKE’S TOP TEN ANTICIPATED BOARDGAMES OF 2017

Bojack wrote: Thanks for the heads up on the DC game, I hope it will be something I can play with my 6 year old

Hoping the same for my 8 year old.

I've been thinking about this old thread lately. Which of these games got published in 2017, and how did folks here like them?

The only one that I picked up was Escape from One Million B.C. I liked it, but most of my friends just thought that it was okay. Like a BGG 7. I still think that there are some neat ideas in the game, like the map exploration mechanic and the animal packs. But aside from the semi-random map, the game offers modest replay value. Kevin Wilson's design is so tight that each games tends to play out with the same overall story arc. Phase one: explore. Phase two: cope with wandering dinosaurs. Phase three: race to finish before paradox defeats you.

Assault of the Giants looked like a boring and over-priced DOAM game, so I passed on it.

Did any of the other games on this list even come out yet? I heard some mildly positive buzz about Doctor Who from folks who went to GenCon, but nothing since.

Big Trouble had printing delays and is supposed to be out in February. I feel certain I've seen a copy of Shark Island at one of the local stores. I'm pretty sure Rising Sun hasn't made it. Don't know about the rest.

Doctor Who is supposedly finally shipping- usually I get early stuff from GF9 but not this time. It looks very iffy, not at all the big GF9 adventure game that I think was originally planned.

Here are my thoughts on the stuff that came out and I've managed to actually play from this list:

Big Trouble in Little China - This was supposed to come out in November. It was delayed until 2018. It's competing in a genre that with each passing month feels more and more like a crowd of people jam packed into an elevator. It's facing an uphill battle if it's gonna stand out , but I'm still excited to try it out.

Alien Artifacts - I played this at Trashfest NE this year with Legomancer and SJN. I really enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of card based games where the cards are used for multiple things. This has that in spades. I've waffled on getting it because I don't know if it's actually better than 51st State or Imperial Settlers. The ol' gut tells me that it's not.

Justice League The Board Game - I think this ended up getting delayed to 2018. Haven't heard jack shit about it.

Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea - Another game that was delayed until 2018. Gamelyn Games botched the initial Kickstarter which pissed off a bunch of people for Kickstarter-y reasons (read: angry nerdy man rage). It still looks like an interesting design that is trying to faithfully export the experience of Warcraft II/III into boardgame form.

Escape from 100 Million B.C. - This game defied all odds and actually turned out to be pretty fucking great. It's a well designed co-op that is actually about time travel. I don't particularly gravitate towards co-op games, but this one manages to excite me. Maybe I'm a just a sucker for dinosaurs.

Shark Island - This game was lambasted by some of the "big" reviewers. They're all full of shit. This game is helluva lot of fun. It's Jaws in a box. Is it going to win any awards for thought provoking innovated design? No of course not. It is however a rock solid 1 vs All game that is jam packed with shark stuff. This is big dumb fun...one of my favorites from this year.

First Martians - Easily the most disappointing game on this list. It's not even close. The rulebook is complete and utter shit and the game evokes the dreadfulness of doing chores. After the initial glow of my first couple plays wore off, I settled into the reality that this is the exact type of co-op that I despise. The app enhanced gameplay doesn't really add much and I'd rather play Robinson Crusoe instead.

Rising Sun - I believe it's shipping in December/January, but yeah I haven't played it yet. Looks amazing though.

Assault of the Giants - I picked up a copy of this one, but I still haven't gotten it to the table. It has some really interesting elements and I'm curious to see how much staying power it has. This is another game that is kung fu flipping into an arena FILLED with excellent games.

Doctor Who - I haven't played it and this one has undergone so many changes since I wrote this article that I'm not even sure it would still make the list. By all accounts it's a very simplistic dice rolling game with a Doctor Who veneer. I'll give Gale Force 9 the benefit of the doubt, but my hopes aren't that high that this one turns out great.

The Doctor Who game came out in the UK about a month ago. I picked it up and have played one game. I wasn't expecting too much to be honest but I was pleasantly surprised. It's not amazing or anything but it's a fun semi-cooperative romp. Maybe a little long for what it is and in a way it feels a little incomplete - did they strip out some of the content to keep costs down or something? But we all had a good time. The miniatures are pretty good too - they actually look like the Doctors they are supposed to represent.

The best dudes on a map designer isn’t Eric Lang. That would be Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc

I could have told you First Martians would suck; I hated Robinson Crusoe and its the same engine.

I succumbed to FOMO and pre ordered the deluxe Big Trouble game.

Rising Sun looks really good.

Michael Barnes wrote: Doctor Who is supposedly finally shipping- usually I get early stuff from GF9 but not this time. It looks very iffy, not at all the big GF9 adventure game that I think was originally planned.

One thing that's interesting is that this, along with the Firefly Brigands and Browncoats skirmish game, are coming from a different designer than their previous releases.

charlest wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: Doctor Who is supposedly finally shipping- usually I get early stuff from GF9 but not this time. It looks very iffy, not at all the big GF9 adventure game that I think was originally planned.

One thing that's interesting is that this, along with the Firefly Brigands and Browncoats skirmish game, are coming from a different designer than their previous releases.

Sean Sweigart died last January, and he was co-designer of all GF9 games up to that point. I am hopeful that they found somebody equally creative and talented to take his place, but I doubt it.