A board gamer for longer than he'd care to admit, at one stage John played wargames with the occasional non-wargame for variety. As he got older, he gradually lost patience for learning very complex games. John still dabbles in wargames, but tends to prefer European-style games.

He doesn't like so-called 'Ameritrash' games, adding that they usually combine Euro with wargame mechanics, and he'd usually rather just play a Euro or a wargame.

That said, he'll play just about anything except abstracts, though some of his favourites are lightly themed.

These are John's ten favourites, each with a note from him on why.

1 Stone Age

Gorgeous board - you could frame it and hang it on the wall. 

There are multiple routes to victory; you can go for huts, cards or a mixture.

 Scales well from 2 to 4, with a good play length that's right for the depth of game.

 Good replay value. The huts and cards come up in different order every game so you need to be adaptable.



2 Starfarers of Catan

The board has a kind of neon look to it that I think enhances the whole space theme. The little plastic minis do a good job. And what about the big spaceships, do they look great or what? The design might be imperfect, and you risk breaking bits off, but I can live with that.



3 Power Grid

Great components, maybe not as good as some games but they fit the theme perfectly, with little houses, different fuel types and the various power station depicted on the cards. Here, the auction fits perfectly. 

I'm not always keen on a catch-up mechanic, but once again, it fits so well in this game, and good players often are not in first place until the end.

 Best of all, there are lots of expansions, both official and unofficial, so there are lots of places to place your power stations.

4 Cosmic Encounter

It's easy to understand the basic, with great components, especially the flying saucers. The Alien cards have really nice artwork and are far easier to use than the Eon ones that were supposed to stand up, but didn't. There are so many different combinations you will never try them all.


5 Railways of the World

Components are the first thing you notice in a game, and here, the boards are gorgeous (though rather large), the trains and the plastic minis make it look really good while you play.

 I like the 18XX games but they can be a bit long. Here, you still build tracks, but it's simpler and quicker.
 While it's not really all that much like the PC game, the cards do give it good flavour and add variety.

6. Brass

The board does not look like any other game I have. There are lots of different industries to build and develop, but the game is richer than that - you don't get points for just playing tiles to the board.

 The Canal and Rail eras are different with different route building opportunities. 

Your opponents can get you points if you look out for opportunities.

7 Turfmaster

A gorgeous game: the horses look great, the boards are well designed and a custom set of cards and dice for each player.

 The handicap system means it's not always good to be in front. Supports up to eight players, with or without fences. 
Limited lane changing adds to the challenge.

8 Legend of the 5 Rings

Lots of cards with custom deck-building, a CCG staple. The setting, with Oriental myths and legends, is unfamiliar to me and exotic. Unlike Magic (back then anyway), there aren't any timing issues or indeed any rules contradicting each other, so it plays more smoothly. There are m
ultiple paths to victory, and 

each faction very different.

9 Commands & Colors: Ancients

I love the setting - who doesn't want to command Rome's mighty legions?

 Memoir 44’s miniatures are good, but it always feels like I am playing with toy soldiers. In this game, the blocks not only look good, but you feel more like you are playing an adult game.
 With 5 expansions already, it's becoming a hobby all by itself. Much less deadly units make combat much trickier to master.
 And who can resist a game with war elephants in it?

10 Ra

Quick, and easy to teach, but with depths that people don't get their first time. Scales quite well. 

Very clever auction mechanic. It's a push-your-luck game: should you call Ra now, or wait till another tile is pulled? Typical Knizia in that you can't specialise; you need to collect at least some of all the different tile types.