| Top 10 Board Games of 2010 Sep 10th 2011, 10:01 2010's crop of new board games included themes for just about everyone: We were treated to games about painting a cathedral ceiling, exploring monster-filled dungeons, running a busy Chinese restaurant, drafting the U.S. constitution, solving a murder, and much more. It was another great year for gamers. Here are my picks for the 10 best board games published in 2010. What do you think were the best new board games of 2010? Please share your thoughts here! You might also be interested in my picks for the best card games of 2010 and the best easy-to-find games of 2010. 
Image courtesy of Queen GamesFor 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Wolfgang Panning, Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Süsselbeck, published by Queen Games.
In this excellent family strategy game, players are artisans who work to restore the fresco in a Renaissance church. With the help of five workers, players plan each day by choosing from such tasks as buying paints in the market, mixing paints to create additional colors, restoring part of the fresco, and painting portraits. The first decision you make each day is when to start work -- an earlier time has benefits but also causes workers to be less productive due to lack of sleep. Fresco is a beautiful, engaging board game. 
Image courtesy of Sands of Time GamesFor 2 to 5 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Ryan Amos, Marc Kelsey, and Aron West, published by Sands of Time Games.
This is a brilliant mix of dexterity, strategy, and a great dungeon theme. One of the players is the Overseer, controlling a group of monsters that protect the catacombs. The other players control heroes, each with one or more special powers, who try to kill the monsters. Most of the action takes place by flicking wooden discs across the game board. As the heroes kill monsters and clear the board, they earn money, which can be used to buy better weapons and equipment. If they progress deep enough into the catacombs, they will meet the powerful Catacomb Lord and must defeat it to win the game. 
Image courtesy of Z-Man GamesFor 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Andreas Steding, published by Z-Man Games and 999 Games. Players develop networks of offices in cities across the country and use them in order to trade goods. When an opponent accesses a route you have developed, you earn bonus points. It's also key to control cities, because doing so provides an opportunity to improve skills, which in turn allows you to, for example, earn more victory points from offices, accumulate more action points, or obtain more pawns. This superb middleweight strategy game, and it deservedly won two 2010 Golden Geek Awards, for overall Game of the Year and Best Strategy Game. (Although it was released in late 2009, I didn't get to play Hansa Teutonica until 2010.) 
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast / HasbroFor 1 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Mike Mearls and Bill Slavicsek, published by Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro. Castle Ravenloft is a fully cooperative game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. (The full name of the game is Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game.) Players each take on the role of a character and enter a dungeon in search of riches and glory -- trying to win one of the game's numerous scenarios. Everyone is working together against the monsters in the dungeon; the adventure party wins or loses as a group. 
Image courtesy of Jolly Roger GamesFor 3 to 5 players, ages 13 and up. Designed by Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews, published by Jolly Roger Games. I'll admit my bias up front: I'm a big fan of good political games, having worked for the Pennsylvania state Senate since 1996. But this is another excellent strategy game from this design team. Here, players choose one of five Founding Fathers of the United States (Madison, Paterson, Sherman, Pinckney and Hamilton) and compete to win the most renown while creating the U.S. constitution. This is a card-driven game, and it features everything you would expect in a constitutional convention: committee meetings, debates, close votes, and more. If you like the theme at all, I highly recommend playing Founding Fathers. 
Image courtesy of Fantasy Flight GamesFor 2 to 4 players (best with 4), ages 12 and up. Designed by Kevin Wilson, published by Fantasy Flight Games and Edge Entertainment. Players each try to guide a civilization through the ages, developing the technology, economy, culture, and military of their people. There are four possible types of victory: tech (reaching level five technology: space flight), economic (accumulating 15 coins), culture (devoting cities to the arts), and military (conquering another player's capital city). As players develop their civilizations, they will face minor civilizations (some peaceful, some warlike) and may absorb them. The more difficult challenges come when you confront your opponents' civilizations. 
Image courtesy of Mayfair GamesFor 3 to 4 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Klaus Teuber, published by Mayfair Games. The hex-based map familiar to fans of The Settlers of Catan is now in America with Settlers of America (full title: Catan Histories - Settlers of America: Trails to Rails). Players begin on the East Coast, constructing depots and railroad tracks as they move westward. As players build, they create goods that then must be delivered to depots owned by other players. Catan fans will recognize many of the elements -- resources used to build rail, trains, etc., and an outlaw who steals resources -- but there is plenty new here to recommend Settlers of America on its own merits. This is an excellent family strategy game. 
Image courtesy of Z-Man Games / Czech Games EditionFor 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Vlaada Chvátil, published by Z-Man Games and Czech Games Edition. I love this fast-paced game centered on cards representing the U.S. and Europe. Players try to save money by making a trip as short as possible... well, almost. In each round, seven state (or country, for Europe) cards are revealed, followed by an eighth card which is the starting state. Players then race to put their token on the state card that can be reached from the starting state by crossing the fewest borders -- but not a state that actually borders the starting state (that mistake results in a penalty). There's no limit to the number of players who can choose a state, but there is a cost for not being first. 
Image courtesy of Days of WonderFor 3 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Serge Laget, published by Days of Wonder. There's a murder aboard the famous Orient Express trainm and players spend the rest of the journey uncovering the killer's identity, motive and modus operandi, along with the location and time of death, in this delightful deduction game. Each train car provides an opportunity to gather information. There are two copies of each of the four types of cards (time is handled differently). Before the last round, players may guess some or all of the solution; this serves as a tiebreaker. When the game ends, final accusations are made. The player with the most correct final accusations (out of five) is the winner. 
Image courtesy of GabobFor 1 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Tim Fowers, published by Gabob.
Players are cooks working together to make their Chinese restaurant a smashing success. Cash is earned by filling orders; orders that are not completed cause customers to get upset and generate bad publicity for the restaurant. The customers each want one dish, and each cook is in charge of making sure certain ingredients are available. At the start of a round, all players roll some dice that they allocate to ingredient cards, essentially buying more supplies. Customers come into the restaurant one at a time and must be fed within 30 seconds (literally -- there's a timer) or else they will leave angry.   | |
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