Category Archives: General

The Best Cooperative Tabletop Games

Original Article

Wirecutter recently put out an article on the best Cooperative Games.

LibraryGameBuy
YesDaybreakBuy on Amazon
YesSpirit IslandBuy on Amazon
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
YesCastle PanicBuy on Amazon
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Source: Unplugged RVA

Mark’s Pick:

Game Details
NameTake Time (2025)
ComplexityMedium Light [1.79]
BGG Rank760 [0.00]
DescriptionTake Time is a cooperative game where players either win or lose together. To succeed, you must strategically play 12 cards facedown around a Clock, following specific rules for each Test. You can work together through a series of games to pass all 40 Tests available in the game. —description from the publisher
Mechanism(s)

This is my current favorite cooperative game.

Top Push Your Luck Games

Original Article

This list of push your luck games was published a year ago by The Dice Tower. Games in our library are marked with our logo. We have you pretty well covered.

Affiliate links are provided for purchasing through Amazon.

Three people provided their list. These are the games that appeared on at least one person’s top 10 list.

LibraryGameBuy On Amazon
Atlantis Rising
YesCan’t Stop
Captain Flip
YesCelestiaBuy On Amazon
Circus FlohcatiBuy On Amazon
Dead Man’s Draw
YesIncan GoldBuy On Amazon
Dive
Don’t L.L.A.M.A. Dice
Excape
First in FlightBuy On Amazon
YesFlip 7Buy On Amazon
Gardlings
Matterhorn
Moonrollers
Mystic ValeBuy On Amazon
YesNemo’s War (Second Edition)Buy On Amazon
Ninjato
Oh My Goods!
Port RoyalBuy On Amazon
YesPUSH
YesSkate SummerBuy On Amazon
YesThe GrizzledBuy On Amazon
YesWelcome to the DungeonBuy On Amazon
Wonderland’s War

Mark’s Pick:

Game Details
NameQuacks (2018)
ComplexityMedium Light [1.94]
BGG Rank78 [0.00]
DescriptionIn Quacks, which was first released as The Quacks of Quedlinburg, players are charlatans — or quack doctors — each making their own secret brew by adding ingredients one at a time. Take care with what you add, though, for a pinch too much of this or that will spoil the whole mixture! Each player has their own bag of ingredient chips. During each round, they simultaneously draw chips from their bags and add them to their pots. The higher the face value of the drawn chip, the further it is placed in the pot's swirling pattern, increasing how much the potion will be worth. Push your luck as far as you can, but if you add too many cherry bombs, your pot will explode! At the end of each round, players gain victory points and coins to spend on new ingredients, depending on how well they managed to fill up their pots. But players whose pots have exploded must choose points or coins — not both! The player with the most victory points at the end of nine rounds wins the game.
Mechanism(s)

This is a great press your luck game. You draw chips out of a bag that are numbered 1 to 3. If the sum of the white chips you have drawn exceeds 7, your potion explodes. Other colored chips have special rules about how they score, what advantage they give, or how far along the potion progress track you move. Even if it explodes, the penalty is not so harsh that you can not overcome it. I have still only played with the first set of ingredients, but always have a fun time playing.

Most games have that moment where you have a total of 5 on your white chips, you have 10 chips in your bag and you know only one of them is a white 3. With those odds, how can you bust? Go ahead and press your luck … you draw a chip … and you get ….. unbelievable.

Revisit Games to play before you die

Original Article

This list of games everyone should play was published back in 2017. Games in our library are marked with our logo. We have you pretty well covered.

Now is a good time to revisit the list and and add games that may have either come out in the last 5 years or were overlooked at the time.

LibraryGameYear
Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game2014
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)2011
Forbidden Island2010
Terra Mystica2012
Puerto Rico2002
The Castles of Burgundy2011
Ticket to Ride2004
7 Wonders2010
Hive2000
Race for the Galaxy2007
Twilight Struggle2005
Pandemic2008
Agricola2007
Balderdash1984
Betrayal at House on the Hill2004
Carcassonne2000
Dominion2008
Power Grid2004
Quelf2005
Android: Netrunner2012
Tokaido2012
Catan1995
1313 Dead End Drive2002
Shadows over Camelot2005
Anomia2010
Paperback2014

Mark’s Pick:

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This is a great press your luck game. You draw chips out of a bag that are numbered 1 to 4. If the sum of the white chips you have drawn exceeds 7, your potion explodes. Other colored chips have special rules about how they score, what advantage they give, or how far along the potion progress track you move. Even if it explodes, the penalty is not so harsh that you can not overcome it. I have still only played with the first set of ingredients, but always have a fun time playing.

Most games have that moment where you have a total of 5 on your white chips, you have 10 chips in your bag and you know only one of them is a white 3. With those odds, how can you bust? Go ahead and press your luck … you draw a chip … and you get ….. unbelievable.

Honorable Mention: Wingspan

Katey’s Pick:

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Sean’s Pick:

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