Here’s the setup: You’re stranded on a deserted island, and you can only have five (or ten or whatever) of something with you. What (or who) do you take? So let’s play that game with…games! 😆 I expect this page will be updated over time as games come in and out of favor in our household. I have added a game history at the bottom of this page, and here are my current top five games that I would want to be stranded with.
Takenoko Takenoko aka The Panda Game A beautifully made game that always gets requested at our family gatherings. There are three goals: expand the garden by playing land tiles, grow bamboo with the gardener, and eat the bamboo with the panda. No single player owns any one of these elements; it’s a shared garden with multiple (potentially conflicting) goals to reach. It’s a very low-stress slow-paced game which makes it great for having a conversation while you play, or introducing to new players, or a nice relaxing game session. Plus, it simply looks fantastic. This was on my original list, and remains at the top. I am always ready to play this. Who can resist the panda?
Dead of Winter Dead of Winter This is a cooperative game with a twist: someone is (probably) working against you! The personal objectives make it seem like everyone is just a little bit paranoid, but what do you expect when you’re trying to survive a zombie apocalypse in the middle (dead) of winter?
Defenders of the Realm Defenders of the Realm This game has replaced Pandemic in my top five. Pandemic is a fantastic game, and the ranking in the top 10 on Board Game Geek is well deserved. But I love the fantasy theme and there are a number of expansions for this game that provide additional challenges. I think this deserves a trip to my desert island.
Terraforming Mars Terraforming Mars This is a fantastic game! It has provided me hours of fun. I can play solo, or it supports up to five players in a group setting. There are detractors (yes, the components could have been better, the game-play has been described as “multi-player solo”) but for me it hits the spot.
Calico Calico This is one of the newest games in my collection, having just come out in 2020. But it set the record for most games played within the first few weeks of joining my collection. I like it, my wife likes it, everyone I show this game to likes it. You can play it solo. You can play it in “simple” mode where you are working only on cats and patches. You can ramp up the brain burn factor by adding in goals (objective) tiles. It sets up in minutes, can be explained really fast, and plays quickly. It’s currently sold out just about everywhere (so the Amazon link on the product box is probably not going to be available) but it will definitely be reprinted. Buy a copy if you can find one!
Didn’t quite make the cut but really good…
Scythe Scythe This was a tough choice between Terraforming Mars or this one as to which made the Top Five and which made the Honorable Mention list. Scythe gets bumped simply because I have not been able to play it as much this past year (2020).
Shadows Over Camelot Shadows Over Camelot Another semi-cooperative game with a potential traitor, much like Dead of Winter. I put it down here because although I love the theme (what’s not to like about King Arthur) I just like Dead of Winter better. Plus, in the “for what it’s worth” department, this game is long out of print and hard to find (aka expensive). If you’re looking at this page to get ideas on games to buy, Dead of Winter is a better choice since it’s readily available. But if you can find this (along with the even harder to find expansion) go for it! I don’t think you will be disappointed.
