Dad’s Christmas Board Game Wishlist

With Christmas fast approaching, like others, I’m asked what I’d like for Christmas. And as you can see from my recent post on my Top 14 Best Board Games, we have a number of great board games that I could enjoy playing continuously.

Yet, board games still make their way onto my wishlist. We frequently hear from readers about board games they love and suggest we play. And being a board game reviewer keeps me alerted to new board games being released. That also means that many games pique my interest on a regular basis.

When they do, I add them to my wish list on www.BoardGameGeek.com (BGG) where I can rank and sort them by level of interest. The BGG wishlist levels are:

1. Must have
2. Love to have
3. Like to have
4. Thinking about it
5. Don’t buy this (Personally I don’t know why this last one is on a “wishlist”, but it’s an option.)

Periodically I’ll review my wishlist and drop games that no longer hold interest for me. Maybe it’s from things I’ve heard about the game or because I add a similar game later or simply because I’m being judicious and have taken more time to consider the game purchase. (Don’t want buyer’s remorse.)

Regardless of why I’ll drop a game from the list, the important thing is that the games that make it to the “Must Have” and “Love to Have” rank and stay there for a while are games I think I would really, really enjoy playing. After playing so many board games, I know my tastes. And I have a pretty good feel for what my family and friends might enjoy playing as well.

Of course, I haven’t played every type of game and some games make the list because I’m also open to trying new types of games to see if I’d enjoy them. Take Memoir ’44 for instance. Prior to playing my first “war game” I had no idea that I’d enjoy it so much. So some games are for branching out to new experiences.

With that in mind, what games are on my Christmas wishlist?

Dad’s Christmas Wishlist

My “Must Have” list:

• Memoir ’44 Expansions – Not a surprise here with how much I love the game. The top of the expansions list are the Eastern Front and the Winter/Desert Board map.
• Dominion Expansions – Another non-surprise. The latest expansion, Dark Ages, sounds like a great addition.
• Risk Legacy – I wrote about Risk Legacy this summer and how the game evolves based on what happens each time you play the game and think this would be awesome to do with my boys.
• Battle Cry 150th Anniversary Edition – This game incorporates the same play mechanics as Memoir ’44 but the setting is the U.S. Civil War.
• Wrath of Ashardalon: A D&D Board Game – This would be a new type of game for me. But as my boys have asked about D&D, I think this sounds like a great way to get the D&D feel in format that we enjoy – cooperative board game.



• New World: A Carcassonne Game – This game has been on my list for a long time. It’s still our loved Carcassonne at the based but with a New World, Westward expansion feel.
• RoboRally – We’ve rented this board game before and I’d love to play it more. It’s a game about pre-planning (programming) your moves and then watching them play out as they interact (crash) with opponent robots on the board.
• 7 Wonders: Cities – This latest expansion also sounds like a great addition. And since it’s a game that my wife really enjoys as well, it’s a great one to add to.
• Escape: The Curse of the Temple – The is the newest addition to my “Must Have” board games list since it was just released. With what I hear about the game, I don’t see it dropping off the list either (unless it moves to my “Own” category).

 

My “Love to Have” list:

• Decent: Journeys in the Dark (second edition) – I’ve never played a dungeon crawl type game and Descent, with a player being the overlord, sounds like the best of the bunch. Would love to give it a shot.
• Dungeons & Dragons: Conquest of Nerath – A Risk style game with a D&D setting and theme. Sounds cool.
• Mice & Mystics – This is also a very recently released game that has a lot of industry buzz circling around. And from what I hear it sounds like a great family game that we can enjoy adventuring on together.
• DVONN – Part of the GIPF series that includes YINSH. I love YINSH and DVONN is the most appealing to me of the remaining games in this series.
• Catan: Cities & Knights – Of all the Settlers of Catan expansions and options, Cities & Knights sounds the most appealing with additional elements that mix it up just enough.
• Ticket to Ride: Europa 1912 – An expansion for our Ticket to Ride: Europe game that provides more tickets/routes for the game.
• King of Tokyo: Power Up! – This is almost in the “Must Have” section because it comes out almost every time with my game buddies.
• Kingdom Builder Nomads – Another game that I’d love to have an expansion for. I can still love the Kingdom Builder base game for a long time, but the Nomads sounds great to add as well.

A number of other games that have been on my wishlist for years and have bounced around in rank over the years. Here’s a little love for these longest lasting wishlist games.

• Alhambra
• Lifeboats
• The Thief of Baghdad
• Galaxy Trucker
• Caylus

As I often hear on a favorite podcast of mine (The Spiel) – “Life would be awfully boring without new games to play.”

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Merry Christmas!