2018, and this year I started recording some stats again for NoBoG - amongst them, what games were being played.
This list is a non exhaustive list of the games played, filler, party and or shorter type games being heavily under represented. This is not a conscious bias but rather an artifact of when I've recorded what games are playing - half way through the evening before a lot of shorter games hit the table.
The list therefore probably represents anywhere between half and two thirds of the total games played at NoBoG, albeit a lot of those are going to be repeat plays - things like Deep Sea Adventure that have popped up in many NoBoGgers game collections and hit the table to finish off an evening.
For longer playing games the list is within a fairly reasonable error margin accurate.
The top game played this year was Lords of Waterdeep - but this is probably boosted into that spot because of the Lords of Waterdeep competition that was kicked off towards the end of the year. If you remove that, then I think you get a no brainer most played game of Azul, which has proven very popular and as an easier to get on table, not too expensive game, managed to wiggle it's way into many gamers collections. Azul is also pretty much the only truly new game in the top 10 list for this year - NoBoGers clutching onto past favourites instead of the new ! ( Everdell is in there too, but arguably probably lands outside the top 10 ).
It is said that in times of unrest people cling to the familiar to give them a sense of stability. I wonder if that holds true for board games ?!
NB for the record I'm skipping the ad-hoc plays of D & D - and haven't counted any of the regular RPG group plays)
The Top 10 ( ish )
#1Lords of Waterdeep
Lords of Waterdeep - 20 plays
Propelled to number one by a Lords of Waterdeep competition, but regardless of this, Waterdeep has a very strong year in 2018 and has seen off the pretender to the throne of Champions of Midgard. It's uncomplicated worker placement reigns supreme.
#2Azul
Azul - 17 plays
The 2018 Spiel des Jahres winner, this quick to learn, quick to play game that doesn't break the bank has proved very popular with NoBoGlins. I'd love to see a blinged up set of this using fancy ceramic tiles with felt backing !
#3Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars - 15 plays
Another popular game with the NoBoG masses, easy on the eye and simple enough to be picked up quickly. I'll confess I'm not a fan of this implausible science game, long winded and bettered by.. well.. just about anything. It takes the art of card drafting to a 2+ hour epic of painful non interactivity and a deal of downtime until the last 20 minutes of the game when suddenly there is - oooh - minimal player interactivity. Excitement abounds. But the cubes are pretty. Better than Lords of Waterdeep in my opinion however. *cough*. Nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2017 which it totally failed to win. Bah ha.
#47 Wonders
7 Wonders - 11 plays
Another solid older game that is proving to be popular for bigger groups of more newbie orientated folk. Great for new and old hands and with very adaptable table requirements 7 wonders is still a cool game to play, albeit the railroading can be very real in bigger games. At #4 this just reinforces the lighter game capture of the NoBoG top 10.
#5Dominion
Dominion - 10 plays
Dominion, the granddaddy of card grabbing deck builders rises up the NoBoG charts, some people discovering it for the first time this year and running with limited sets. The game still holds up and is fun to play a decade after it's initial release. It also increasingly sets the tone of the top 10 for the NoBoG charts this year of easier to grasp simpler style games. But damn do I hate the Dominion hot mess of a font on the box. It's artistic ! Uh huh. Awful.
#6,7,8,9Concordia, Dinosaur Island, Stone Age, Ticket to Ride
Concordia, Dinosaur Island, Stone Agea, Ticket to Ride - 7 plays
Into the depths of common plays at NoBoG, and the start of individuals being able to sway the number of plays a game gets. Ticket to Ride is the big loser this year, plummeting from its no.1 spot in 2015 of 15 plays down to half a dozen. This could entirely be down to the Elliot effect who played this regularly during 2015 but has been largely absent in 2018. Concordia pops up here kind of surprisingly a 2015 Kennerspiel nominee that was beaten out by Istanbul ( iirc ! ), but again, I suspect this comes up at this level largely down to Cat at one time bringing this game semi regularly. Same can be said with Dinosaur Island - largely Phil's doing. Stone Age, another older title, 10 years old this year, appears from nowhere for a more regular play at NoBoG.
#10,11,12,13,14,15,16Brass, Carcassonne, Champions of Midgard, Everdell, Isle of Skye, Istanbul
Brass, Carcassonne, Champions of Midgard, Everdell, Istanbul, Isle of Skye - 6 plays
The venerable old Martin Wallace classic of Brass got a reprint this year courtesy of Kickstarter and a new Brass variant was created at the same time. This game still kicks ass and the reprint shakes off the old Euro classic shades of tan drab in favour of kickstarter sexiness - although it has to be said, as great as the art is, it does the game zero comprehension favours. Poor Sam who kickstarted this is still yet to play Brass despite efforts to get it to table. Everdell the new and very pretty Euro just about makes it to the top 10 ish, courtesy of Matt. Isle of Skye with its new-ish expansion also shows up, the expansion turning this fab lighter euro game into a much more crunchy mid weight euro and a very different beast of a game. Istanbul makes a good showing, only one play behind Concordia its 2015 spiel bedmate. Champions of Midgard brings up the rear proving that Lords of Waterdeep hasn't triumphed completely.And for the full list :
| Lords of Waterdeep | 20 |
| Azul | 17 |
| Terraforming Mars | 15 |
| seven wonders | 11 |
| dominion | 10 |
| d & d 5e | 9 |
| Concordia | 7 |
| Dinosaur Island | 7 |
| Stone Age | 7 |
| ticket to ride | 7 |
| Brass | 6 |
| Carcassonne | 6 |
| Champions of Midgard | 6 |
| Everdell | 6 |
| Isle of Skye | 6 |
| Istanbul | 6 |
| Citadels | 5 |
| clans of Caledonia | 5 |
| Coloretto | 5 |
| Majesty | 5 |
| Munchkin | 5 |
| Mysterium | 5 |
| photosynthesis | 5 |
| Rising Sun | 5 |
| Roll for the Galaxy | 5 |
| Root | 5 |
| Santa Maria | 5 |
| Viticulture | 5 |
| Agra | 4 |
| Colt Express | 4 |
| Deep Sea Adventure | 4 |
| Ethnos | 4 |
| Glory to Rome | 4 |
| Great Western Trail | 4 |
| Honshu | 4 |
| king domino | 4 |
| nusfjord | 4 |
| Pandemic | 4 |
| Pandemic Legacy | 4 |
| Splendor | 4 |
| The Expanse | 4 |
| architects of the West kingdom | 4 |
| Epic spell wars of the battle Wizards | 4 |
| Secrets | 4 |
| Bottle Imp | 3 |
| Captain Sonar | 3 |
| Cosmic Encounter | 3 |
| Cryptid | 3 |
| Finca | 3 |
| Get Off My Land | 3 |
| junk art | 3 |
| King of Tokyo | 3 |
| Lords of Vegas | 3 |
| One Night Ultimate Werewolf | 3 |
| Onward to Venus | 3 |
| Puerto Rico | 3 |
| Red 7 | 3 |
| Rise to Nobility | 3 |
| Sechs Nimmt | 3 |
| Sherriff of Nottingham | 3 |
| Small World | 3 |
| Sons of Anarchy | 3 |
| Spirit Island | 3 |
| Tokaido | 3 |
| Tsuro | 3 |
| Tyrants of the Underdark | 3 |
| Valeria | 3 |
| Vikings Gone wild | 3 |
| Adrenaline | 2 |
| Alhambra | 2 |
| Aquasphere | 2 |
| Barenpark | 2 |
| Betrayal at house on the hill | 2 |
| Cash n guns | 2 |
| Castles of Mad King Ludwig | 2 |
| Cauldron | 2 |
| Chaos in the Old World | 2 |
| Chickwood Forest | 2 |
| clank | 2 |
| cursed Court | 2 |
| Dead of Winter | 2 |
| Euphoria | 2 |
| Feast for Odin | 2 |
| Forbidden Desert | 2 |
| Founders of Gloomhaven | 2 |
| Fury of Dracula | 2 |
| Game of Thrones : Hand of the King | 2 |
| Glass Road | 2 |
| Homeland | 2 |
| Hunt for the Ring | 2 |
| Kodama | 2 |
| Lisboa | 2 |
| magic maze | 2 |
| Manhattan project | 2 |
| meeple circus | 2 |
| Mini Rails | 2 |
| Mission Red Planet | 2 |
| Mythotopia | 2 |
| Not Alone | 2 |
| Oh My goods | 2 |
| Orleans | 2 |
| Pillars of the earth | 2 |
| Plague Inc | 2 |
| pokemon master trainer | 2 |
| pulsar 2849 | 2 |
| Queen Domino | 2 |
| Race for the Galaxy | 2 |
| Rajas of the Ganges | 2 |
| Reef | 2 |
| Secret Hitler | 2 |
| stellar leap | 2 |
| Study in Emerald | 2 |
| Summoners Isle | 2 |
| T.I.M.E stories | 2 |
| Trickerion | 2 |
| Tzolkin | 2 |
| Unearth | 2 |
| Waggle Dance | 2 |
| whistle stop | 2 |
| zooloretto | 2 |
| 1775 Rebellion | 1 |
| 50-50 | 1 |
| 51st State | 1 |
| Above and Below | 1 |
| Abyss | 1 |
| All Creatures Big and Small | 1 |
| among the stars | 1 |
| Amyitis | 1 |
| anatomy park | 1 |
| Ankh Morpork | 1 |
| Antidote | 1 |
| Arena For the Gods | 1 |
| Arraial | 1 |
| Bang | 1 |
| Big book of madness | 1 |
| Blood Rage | 1 |
| Blue Moon City | 1 |
| Bohnanza | 1 |
| Boss Monster | 1 |
| Braggard | 1 |
| Briefcase | 1 |
| Broom Service | 1 |
| Can't Stop | 1 |
| Catch the moon | 1 |
| Celestia | 1 |
| Century Spice Road | 1 |
| Chicago Express | 1 |
| City of Spies | 1 |
| CO2 | 1 |
| Cockroach poker | 1 |
| Colosseum | 1 |
| Container | 1 |
| Cornish Smuggler | 1 |
| Council of four | 1 |
| Cyclades | 1 |
| Deception Hong Kong | 1 |
| Dice forge | 1 |
| dice hospital | 1 |
| Dominant Species the card game | 1 |
| Dragonfire | 1 |
| Dungeon Lords | 1 |
| Escape ! | 1 |
| escape from the Dark castle | 1 |
| exploding kittens | 1 |
| Factory Manager | 1 |
| Fallout | 1 |
| game of thrones | 1 |
| Get Bit | 1 |
| Ghostbusters | 1 |
| Ghostel | 1 |
| Gloom | 1 |
| gugong | 1 |
| Hamsterolle | 1 |
| Hanabi | 1 |
| Hansa Teutonica | 1 |
| Happy Pigs | 1 |
| Hardback | 1 |
| Haspelknecht | 1 |
| hey that's my fish | 1 |
| Hospital Rush | 1 |
| Imhotep | 1 |
| Innis | 1 |
| Jamaica | 1 |
| Judge Dredd RPG | 1 |
| Kemet | 1 |
| Keyflower | 1 |
| Khemet | 1 |
| Kingdom Builder | 1 |
| Kingsburg | 1 |
| kittens in a blender | 1 |
| Lords of Hellas | 1 |
| Macao | 1 |
| Mamma Mia | 1 |
| Marvel Legendary | 1 |
| Memoir 44 | 1 |
| Merlin | 1 |
| Metro | 1 |
| Millennium Blades | 1 |
| Mint Works | 1 |
| Monty Python Fluxx | 1 |
| Motherload | 1 |
| Navegador | 1 |
| Neom | 1 |
| Neuland | 1 |
| ominoes | 1 |
| Operation Flashpoint | 1 |
| Otys | 1 |
| pandemic Cthulu | 1 |
| Pax Porfiriana | 1 |
| Pikoko | 1 |
| pioneer days | 1 |
| Pitch-car Mini | 1 |
| Port Royal | 1 |
| Potion Explosion | 1 |
| power grid | 1 |
| Powergrid the card game | 1 |
| Privateer | 1 |
| professor evil and the citadel of time | 1 |
| Pulsar | 1 |
| Quartermaster General | 1 |
| Qwixx | 1 |
| Ra | 1 |
| red Dragon inn | 1 |
| regenwormen | 1 |
| Reykholt | 1 |
| rhino hero | 1 |
| Roads and Boats | 1 |
| Robin Hood | 1 |
| Robinson Crusoe | 1 |
| San Juan | 1 |
| Santorini | 1 |
| Scythe | 1 |
| Seasons | 1 |
| Secret Hilter | 1 |
| Shindig Machine | 1 |
| Sleuth | 1 |
| Solomon Kane | 1 |
| Spectre Ops | 1 |
| Speicherstadt | 1 |
| Spyfall | 1 |
| Star Realms | 1 |
| Star Wars RPG | 1 |
| Starchiefs | 1 |
| Steam Time | 1 |
| Sub Terra | 1 |
| Super Motherload | 1 |
| The Brigade | 1 |
| The Gallerist | 1 |
| Tigris and Euphrates | 1 |
| Tiny epic Galaxies | 1 |
| Tiny epic zombies | 1 |
| Tribune | 1 |
| Twelve Nights | 1 |
| Twilight Struggle | 1 |
| Unnamed Prototype | 1 |
| Unusual Suspects | 1 |
| Upstream | 1 |
| Vanatu | 1 |
| Western Legends | 1 |
| Yokohama | 1 |
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