This is a summary of the board games that saw my most interest, investment, hobby time, playing and enjoyment in 2022. It is not necessarily a direct reflection of my all time favourite games. This was a bumper game devlivery year when many delayed kickstarters arrived.
New Games Received : This War of Mine , Bardsung , Machina Arcana , Oathsworn , Call to Adventure , Trudvang Legends, Frostpunk , Heat
Games Sold : Sleeping Gods , Battlelore 2nd Edition , Jaws of the Lion
1. Oathsworn – a campaign adventure mixing storytelling within city locations, with large board tactical boss encounters. This became my painting project over the summer and winter, and has been the game i played the most this year. I really enjoy its chapter reveals and the components and miniatures in particular are just amazing.
2. Bardsung – a dungeon crawl which contains excellent models and a well implemented combat and levelling system. This became my painting project over the spring and summer and is a great middle complexity crawler. I enjoy its quicker play time, and the model variety and sandbox nature make it a great box set to own.
3. Cursed City – official expansions called Nightwars and Nemesis were finally released, re-kindling the game interest alongside custom made adventures and rule variants. The official game content is now considered completed, ending a rocky journey that sadly never quite fulfilled its amazing potential, but it remains my favourite in the series, and i am really enjoying developing the set further.
4. Marvel Champions – came into the year on a high with some expansion packs purchased (Thor, Scarlet Witch, Red Skull, Green Goblin) and a lot of solo play during the first quarter. Has seen some great new retail content releases too this year with Sinister Six and then X-Men campaigns, the latter i purchased along with new heroes (Cyclops, Wolverine).
5. Jaws of the Lion – our two heroes completed the campaign this year. This game distils the best parts of Gloomhaven into a much more coherent storyline, with a quicker access and set up time and a map book for playing, but it retains the great card play. This was an enjoyable co-operative campaign during the first half of the year, but once completed the box was then sold on.
6. Hexplore It – a return to the gaming table this year plus new kickstarter content arriving and a huge story campaign book. This game continues to grow and improve and remains high on my desire to play list. The different combination of heroes skills, the levelling up system and the adventure story it creates is all really enjoyable.
7. Machina Arcana – another story led campaign game, this one within the Cthulhu horror setting. What makes this game stand out is the artwork, components and the the way you interact with items shown on the board tiles, by pulling levers, setting off traps, closing doors. It just makes for a neat tactical dungeon style game.
8. Thunderstone Quest – one of my long term favourite deck building games, and two more quests being released via kickstarter kept it high on the profile list this year. Extremely fun to play, both solo and co-operatively with another player. Each quest scenario carries different build options of how to attempt to beat the final guardian which are fun to explore.
Here is a look at the previous years > 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015