Here is a countdown featuring the top five games from 2015. We’ll be spanning quite a range from heavy Euros to party games. Read on to find out why each game has clinched its place in the history books.
5. The Gallerist
Some of the most popular pastimes people have is going to visit a gallery or museum. Whether this is your jam or not, there is no denying the impact of some fine art or even abstract and surreal art that you get nowadays.
Well, welcome to The Gallerist. Where you step into the role of art director, combine the jobs of art dealer, connoisseur who knows the next big thing for the market, to curator. Creating spaces and flows and rooms for people to enjoy the tranquil and energetic nature of art. And finally, you’re the artist manager hiring new artists to create masterpieces for your gallery. The Gallerist is a medium to heavy worker placement game created by Vital Lacerda, who is a very popular game designer with titles such as Kanban EV and On Mars.
In the game, we commission artists, you buy their artwork and exhibit it and promote the artists, increase their fame and fortune, as well as your own. And you attract visitors. Manage contractors and use your influence to score bonus actions too. There’s a kick out mechanic in this one where it rewards players when their worker is displaced, making for a less aggressive worker placement game than other types. In this genre.
4. Mysterium
This is a spiritual quality about this next game. A tried and tested party game with a ghosty twist. One player takes the role of the ghost of a murder victim, and the others are the psychics trying to figure out the truth. It is an intriguing and interesting party game that has stood the test of time since 2015. Similar titles that you might think of with Mysticism are Dixit, Cluedo, or Clue, if you’re in America.
Mysterium features beautifully illustrated vision cards that look a bit like dream sequences, so something that you might see in a surrealist movie to represent people, locations, and objects. The ghosts can only communicate using this card. So, lace up your descriptive skills! Psychics must correctly interpret the clues to match each player’s subject, location, and the murder weapon. Like other deduction games, it is highly engaging.
Mysterious’ theme leaves players thinking and pondering for quite some time? For those that like a bit of mystery around their dinner table, this is definitely one to get to your table soon.
3. Codenames
The Secret Service needs your help! Can you make sweeping clues without your agents getting assassinated? Codenames is a game for two teams pitted against each other. Using word-based clues, this party game is one of the most popular since 2015. Your clues must be broad to cover different words on a central grid. But hold on! Not so broad that your opponent wins the game. The first team to identify all their own spies is the winner.
The simple design with a welcoming theme and understandable rules has made this a mainstay for families and friends alike. The choice of going for glory with clues covering 2, 3 or even 4 cards is tempting. But some players can be more cautious and yet still be misunderstood by their team. Upon discussing clues, the ‘spymaster’ must remain silent, trying not to indicate in any way which cards they meant.
The games are always filled with variety, with a good range of cards and arrangements to guess. The tension is real as you get closer to victory, and mistakes are felt by everyone. With a quick reset, players can be repeating plays long into the night.
2. Food Chain Magnet
Build your own favourite fast-food restaurant. Whether a Big Mac fan or a Whopper, Food Chain Magnet offers the cutthroat side of business. With a modular set-up and economy-driven strategy. You must build the best deck of staff cards to run your franchise. Everyone starts with the same cards an interesting reduction in randomness, with only the map is different each game.
What do you need for a great profit? Well-trained staff. Diverse roles. Advertisements. And of course, food. Employees, for example, are recruited as cooks to managers. Prices for the products you make must be set too. This leads to an all-out war with opponents to have the hungriest foodies eating at the store.
The most interesting mechanic is the Milestone ability. This allows you to have a sense of direction and strategy. As an economic puzzle, Food Chain hits all the right ingredients: fast-paced, meaty. Fast paced. Meaty. Will your billboards and radio campaigns win out? Or will you undercut others to drive the demand for burgers? The choices are endless. A spreadsheet on your table – yes please!
1. 7 Wonders Duel
The king of 2-player games! A debut to remember forever in the board gaming world. 7 Wonders has crossed into the competitive sphere too. With a large online player base pushing the boundaries of what is possible in such a small game. But by small, the choices in this engine builder are not. The interesting card layout means that at its core, 7 Wonders Duel is a card drafting game. However, multiple paths to victory are available. Plus, the powerful wonders to consider.
Through the card drafting pyramid, players choose resources from science to stone and wood to glass. Either have the most points by the end of the game. Or win through supremacy of education or warring soldier might. Whatever path you choose, the two-player constraints allow this one to flow and ebb endlessly.
The tense, back-and-forth drafting from the card structure forces players to constantly weigh whether revealing a card for themselves is worth exposing a valuable card to their opponent. With excellent replayability and enough intrigue for seasoned players, 7 Wonders Duel deserves its crown as the game of 2015. Just look at the accolades on the box…
Conclusion
There you have it: five games of greatness. All of these continue to drive popularity and, importantly, play on the table. So, whether a lover of deduction or ancient history, all these games have been tried and tested and proved their worth. What a year it was!
