TDG: Cody's Top 100 Games 2026 (#100-91)

0:04 Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the discriminating gamer. You know, I just found out that my pet goat can't get pregnant. No kidding. Ladies and gentlemen, today we're going to take a look at my top 100 games of all time. Today, we're going to be taking a look at my numbers 100 through 91.

0:35 All right, ladies and gentlemen, it has been about five years since I did my last top 100 list. It was in COVID times. It's been a while since I did my top 100. And every year I think I'm going to do a top 100 list and and I start working on it and then life happens. I get distracted and then I think, well, I want to wait until I play this game or I want to wait till I play this game or this game's coming up. So, I've always found excuses to keep putting it off. And I thought, you know what? Screw it. I'm going to do my top 100 games of all time because I haven't done it in such a long time and the people are screaming for it. So, anyway, I'm going to do that. Um, let me go ahead. I'll just say this has been a this is a tough list to make because there's a lot of games that I fully expected to be on this list that didn't make it. And there were some pretty dramatic changes to the list that we'll see uh in a few episodes to come.

1:35 Uh but let's go ahead and take a look now here at my 100 through 91. Jump right into it. Uh my number Well, let me say this before I do it. Um, every game on this this section of 10 here at 191, every game on it with one exception is a game that was not on my uh two was it 2021? I think it was the last one I did. Every game but one was not on that list. So, they're either games that I played since 2021 or they're games that that maybe I did play back then, but for whatever reason, um, I've played more and now I I put it on the list. So, we're going to go ahead and jump into it. My number 100. This is a game that I actually hadn't played until just a few years ago. About two years ago, two or yeah, about two years ago or so. But, this is Access and Allies Pacific 1940. Access and Allies Pacific 1940, of course, is a great Access and Allies game. You've got the uh Americans, the the the British, the ANZAC forces, and the Japanese, the Chinese, and they are all battling in in the Pacific and in Asia. And I always enjoyed the naval aspect of Axis and Allies quite a bit. Um I remember the the first edition of of Access and Allies Pacific was always a lot of fun.

2:51 When we when we would play the original Access and Allies, that was always the best part of the game is when you would have the big Japanese American naval battle and sometimes the game would would end before we did that. We say, "Well, let's just let's just do the battle anyway and we we we'd roll that." So, that was always a very very fun um uh aspect of any access and knowledge game. And this one does it very well. It's fun to see America just just start building resources and then making that decision about when to strike because the Japanese um of course they're trying to expand and trying to hold their perimeter and trying to keep those gains from the Americans. But it's always fun. I love Access and Allies games in general and this one was fantastic. I'll tell you right now, Access and Allies Europe just barely didn't make the list, but I love that one too. But Pacific, the Naval War, I love a lot. That is my number 100, Axis and Allies Pacific 1940. My number nine is another AA game.

3:49 This is Axis and Allies D-Day. Axis and Allies D-Day was a game that I had played back in the day and I enjoyed it, but I I remember I ended up giving it away or something and then I just played it again recently because Renegade just a few months ago reprinted it, played it again and I love it. It's a fun game. I love the and part of it too is, you know, it was about two years ago this summer. Uh I I I went to Normandy and it was such a cool thing to to play the game on the map like, oh, I've been there. I've been there. You know, that's kind of a fun thing to do. But it's a [clears throat] fun game of, you know, how do you effectively use what resources you have in order to to capture these objectives? And, you know, this game is probably weighted a little bit toward the Germans. Uh, I think it kind of needs to be for various reasons, but still, it's a lot of fun. And when you got those cards, they give you kind of the special abilities and the special cards that you can play that that give you kind of the one-off abilities and and and different I I I I'm a sucker for those kinds of things. So, that is Access and Allies D-Day. Uh, both the Access and Allies titles are currently printed by Renegade Game Studios. Uh, again, this was not on my list when I did it last time, but that is my number 99.

5:00 My number 98. This is a game that is um in a family of games that that came out in I think 2014. And this version of it I like a lot. But I will say the reason it is on this list is as much for the game with its expansion as the game by itself. I am talking about Star Trek Star Realms. Now, Star Trek Star Realms is essentially just a reskin of Star Realms from Wise Wizard Games, which is a great game. I love Star Realms. In fact, I've said this before. Star Realms is probably the most game I have ever I've probably played this game more than any other single game I have if you count the the the digital version because I play it on my phone a lot. It's my go-to bathroom game. Uh I really love Star Realms, but the Star Trek Star Realms of course takes it and puts it in the Star Trek universe. But what puts it on the list is the Borg expansion. When you play with the Borg expansion, you uh can play it as kind of a one versus all game or you can play it as a cooperative game where you know the Borg is AI or one player is playing the Borg.

6:07 I played it both ways. It's fun. It's just such a fun and interesting new way to play Star Realms and I really really enjoy it. My family enjoyed this one quite a bit as well. Great Star Trek theme and uh just really really a fun game. So that is Star Trek Star Realms with the Borg expansion. That is my number 98 from Wise Wizard Games. My number 97. This is again another game that uh wasn't on my list before because it just came out last year. This is a game that surprised me how much fun it was. It is crazy. It is goofy. This is a game that you and your friends will be laughing throughout at the difficult choices you have to make. It's a silly game, but it is a good thinking and decision-making game. This is from Rio Grandandy Games. Moon Colony Bloodbath.

6:58 Moon Colony Bloodbath is this great game where you are building up an engine with cards. You're building up a moon colony and things are going great. You're building this engine, things are humming. It is fantastic. But as the game progresses, things start to go wrong. You may have killer robots. You may have food shortages. You may have all sorts of other problems. And guess what? Your colony is failing. Your population is going down steadily through accidents or riots or all sorts of things. And what's happening as your population dwindles, you have to destroy your engine. You have to decide which card you're going to lose. And the game becomes who's the last man standing after everybody else loses their engines. It is great. It is so much fun. I played this with friends.

7:43 I've played it with family. and everybody I've played this game with has had an absolute ball. So that is Moon Colony Bloodbath. That is number seven. That is from Rio Grande Games. My number six is from GMT Games. This is a two-player coin adjacent game. And this is a guest of Robin Hood or a jest of Robin Hood. One of the other I still don't know how it's pronounced. But a guest of Robin Hood is, as I say, it's a it's a coin adjacent game where one of you is Robin Hood, one of you is the sheriff of Nodingham, and you both are fighting to uh move a track to either order or justice, and you know, the sheriff is trying to bring in convoys of gold and other uh you know, items into the into the uh city of Nottingham. And uh Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest is trying to hijack these things, but it's it's irregular warfare and you kind of have the action menus that you can choose from. It is really a fun game.

8:41 It's really a smart thinking game. I love the theme here and I love the incorporation of the coin mechanisms. So that is from GMT Games that is a guest of Robin Hood. My number 96. Now my number 95. This is a game that um it had a an earlier incarnation that I really enjoy quite a bit, but this new edition of it is is quite a bit better. It's quite a bit bigger. There's there's more to it. And this is Imperial Stars 2 Legacy. This is from um Pugo Games, which is part of Worthington. But this was origin Imperial Stars 2 that I played was Victory Point games back in the day. And that was just kind of a little puzzle box and little laser cut um you know counters. This is just this version is beautiful. It's a big beautiful version and really fun counters and boards and and and cards.

9:34 But Imperial Stars 2 is a space war game. It is a hex encounter war game in space. And it's just so well done. You know, you're drawing these chits to determine how many actions uh you get per per round, per turn. and the the way you're playing cards, you can get technologies that that can help you out and the the way you engage in combat where you have, you know, fighters that can fight, but then you also have beam weapons that can fight against each other. It's just a fantastic science fiction war game. I really, really love Imperial Stars 2. And then I was so excited when I found out they were coming out with this legacy edition. And of course, the good people at uh Worthington sent me this copy. And I love it. It is so much fun. Man, I'm thinking about it. I want to play it again. If you like Hex Encounter War games and you like science fiction games, you're going to get a big kick out of uh Imperial Stars Legacy 2. That is Imperial Stars 2 Legacy. That is from Pungo Games. That is my number 95.

10:33 My number 94 is actually a game I played fairly recently. It's a game that uh is kind of a riff on El Grande. Um, but it's a game we played and it just I love area control games and I love take that games and mean games and this has got all of that in abundance. This is Enemies of Gotham City from Upper Deck. Enemies of Gotham City is a great, like I say, it's a riff on El Grande. You've got a cube tower, but you're the you're the enemies. You are the Joker. You're the Penguin. You're Poison Ivy. And you're moving around the the board around Gotham City. You're burning down buildings. You're burning bridges. and you are trying to get the most uh of your of your goons in a location to score it when it happens. But Batman's coming out. He's causing all sorts of problems. The game is really fun and interesting and and present some great puzzles, some great artwork, some great uh cards and card play in this game.

11:29 Really enjoy that quite a bit. So that is my number 94, Enemies of Gotham City. That is from Upper Deck. My number 93. This is the only game on the list that was on my top 100 back in was it 21? And this my number 93 is Betrayal at House on the Hill. And back then it was number 44. So it's climbed quite a bit. That's not to say this is not a game I no longer enjoy or enjoy as much. Rather, this is simply a game that more games have come out that I like better. I still think this is a great game, but there's other games out there I like a lot better than this. This is actually one of Zach's favorite game. My buddy Zack, he absolutely loves Betrayal. It's one of his favorite games of all time.

12:16 Like top five games of all time. He loves it. It's this great horror game of of kind of be movie tropes. You're in a haunted house. You're exploring the house. And and at one point as you're building the house, you got to roll for the haunt. And when the haunt finally happens, one of you becomes a traitor and it becomes an all-in-one game and you don't know who it's going to be. And they made like the the Scooby-Doo version which is said, "Oh, anybody can be the traitor." And to me it was, you know, it was made for kids. I was kind of disappointed in that one. But betraying House of the Hill is just always always always a good time and I really really enjoyed it. So that is my number 93. Petrell and House of the Hill that is uh from Avalon Hill Wizards of the Coast was my 44 now my 93. My number 92 is also a horror board game. This is a solitary horror board game and it's a game that I played for the first time not that long ago. It was just about maybe six months ago or something like that. And it's quickly become one of my favorite solitary games. In fact, I'll tell you right now, you probably won't see a lot of solitire games on this list. You'll see a few here and there, but you're not going to see a lot of solitire games. Now, I do enjoy solitire games generally, but all things considered, I'd rather play games with other people. I would prefer to play games with other people. I love the social aspect of gaming. Having said all that, my number 92 is Plague of Dracula from Blue Panther. Plague of Dracula is a great solitary game where you are playing the various characters from the Brahm Stoker novel. You know, you are Lucy and Mina and uh Lord God and Dr.

13:49 Seard, Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker. You're all these characters. Quincy Morris. You're all of these characters and you're moving around London as Dracula's plague is spreading and you're trying to kind of overcome this this plague, but at the same time too, new vampires are starting to mature and you're trying to fight them back. Uh the thing of it is you can gain just regular weapons which are helpful, but you're looking for these arcane and occult weapons like crosses, crucifixes, and uh wooden stakes and garlic that can help you seal up all of the um spreading of the plague, but also help you take out the vampires. And what's cool here is you can if you want use a use a d6 to play this game and just roll a dieice. But the game has got a card system and at the bottom of each card is like results for die rolls depending on what you're looking at. If you're doing combat, you look at the combat role and you see, oh, that's what my role is and that kind of informs then what happens and how combat plays out or events play out and it's really a fun system and I really like that. There is a lot of shuffling in it, but I really like it. But this is a grand epic game.

14:54 It's a long game. It's for a salt game. You could be at it three or four hours, but it is tremendous fun. I really, really enjoy Plague of Dracula. Great theme, great gameplay, scary, chilling game. So that is my number two, Plague of Dracula from Blue Panther. All right, ladies and gentlemen, my number 91. This is a game that again I just played for the first time last year. And I'll tell you right now, it's a coin game. And these coin games I kind of avoided for a long time because I was kind of scared of them. But I decided, you know, I needed to jump into them. I started playing some of them. This is one of my favorites. This is liberty or death. Uh this is American Revolution. Uh you are either the the the French, the Native Americans, the British or the Americans. And it's coin.

15:43 So again, it's a regular operations. And you've got these action selection menus. And you've got resources you've got to spend. And in this one, you've got battles and you've got casualties. And that kind of affects other aspects of the game. The French are trying to to to really get in on the action here. Great fun. I really love coin and this one is such a fun and interesting way to play a game about the American Revolution. Uh really really enjoyed Liberty Liberty or Death quite a bit. That is why it is my number one from GMT Games. All right, ladies and gentlemen. So that is my inaugural top 100 games list. Let me know what do you think. Do you like these games? Are they games you're interested in, not interested in? Are they going to be higher or lower on your list? I'm always very uh excited to read what you think of the games I choose and what you think of the games themselves. So, please leave a comment here in YouTube, on Facebook, on X at Board Gamegeeek. Love to hear from you. Now, if you do uh like this channel, please like this video, subscribe to the channel. Means a lot to us. And please check out my other channel that is Cody Carlson PhD where we talk about history, military history, books on history. I even post some of my lectures on that channel. It would mean the world to me if you would subscribe to that channel as well. And if you do like what you see here on TDG, I would humbly ask you to click on the super thanks button and leave a tip. You know, I went to my therapist the other day and I told him that my life kind of feels like a TV show.

17:12 He told me I should call him if I have any more episodes. Please somebody help me on my feet again. And I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING. And I don't know where I've been. Please somebody help me on this ground. IT'S A LONG TIME AND I'LL BE DYING. Once a year I wind up in the I love to fight, but I don't ever win. It's my life. Let me

17:53 I get

17:55 Yeah. So I'm at