Top 10 Games Of 2026 (so far)
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Transcript
Welcome to Allies Arene Enemies. I'm Jess.
And I am Sean. And today we are counting down our top 10 games of the year so far. So every year Essence Spiel happens. Thousands of new games come out and they kind of take over the conversation. So, we wanted to before Essen look at what are our top 10 games of everything that we've played before that while they're still fresh in our minds and they don't get drowned out by all the new shiny games. And these were originally provided for review, but the thoughts are all our own
and we both did our top 10s and then we smooshed the list together and we were pretty much in agreement and this is our combined list. Let's get right to it.
What I like about Insurrection is that you're trying to make all of these different card synergies and create the best hand of cards. And there's lots of like different combos and things that you can do. But the very interesting part is that the game can end in two ways. Either you play through all of the rounds as normal and then everything scores as expected or if too much corruption happens, it can end early and then a lot of the cards have two different types of scoring where they may score a lot if it's the corruption win condition but like nothing if it's normal or vice versa. So having to like manage and keep an eye on the corruption is really interesting, especially because like all of the players are really monitoring and changing it.
Yeah. And and you don't know if someone really wants to be a corruption player or maybe they just had to because of the cards that are in their hand because every turn you're choosing one card from your hand. You're trading that with a card in the market. And so part of that is what cards don't I want? What cards do I want? But part of that is also what number is that card? Because if you play a higher number, you're going to get an earlier choice. And part of that is maybe just I really like those. This is just also in my hand, so I'm going to get rid of it. So you don't know what you're reading into. But there is really an interesting kind of almost push your luck thing in this game that takes a bit of what you've seen maybe in Fantasy Realms or Red Rising, but puts this interesting little twist on it.
Yeah. Because throughout the game that level of corruption changes because we've had some games where there's been quite a lot at the start and everyone has thought that's going to be the trigger. I really want to make sure I have cards that trigger that but then they take those cards and it goes way down. So it is an interesting balance of trying to create the best deck with this potential of the game ending early. Bomb Five is probably the game that we have played the most of any game on this list and that is largely because of me. I just I became enamored with this game early in the year because it's a really easy game to teach. You've got just this bomb. You got numbers around the bomb. You're adding numbers from your hand. You're trying to make them add up to five, thus bomb five. And then you're putting out new bombs. You're flipping those bombs back and forth which are flipping all of your flags that you're also putting out. You just want or trophies. and you want five of your trophies to be up at the same time and then you win the game. So, this is kind of this abstract game that's very easy to teach. Looks kind of pretty. You can play with a lot of different people and yeah, I I played the heck out of this.
Yeah. And the bombs are interesting because they activate in different ways. So, some of them will cause everything in its row and column to flip. Other times you'll get to choose to flip any other bomb anywhere or flip a trophy. And so you're also trying to pay attention where all of those bombs are and how you're being able to put out your trophies, but it's tricky because it's constantly changing.
Yeah. And it and it reminds me a lot of Bomberman and I just love Bomberman or Mind Sweeper. People have compared it to that, too. So there's just a lot of stuff that I that I've loved and it reminds me of that. So it this is a bit of like kind of a comfort food game and I find it very comfortable.
Drillers is a game I like despite the theme because it's a game about mining, but the theme actually really works mechanically and it's necessary because you have these drills and you need to go down deep into the mine to get more gems and break things which will get you more points, but throughout that you eventually have to come back to the surface to do stuff. So, it's interesting because you're pushing your luck a little bit for how long you can stay down whilst trying to make sure you get the most out of it every time you come back to the surface.
Yeah, I I I agree with you. When I saw the theme, I thought, I don't know if I'm going to be into it. But then I saw those minis and I thought, I'm kind of into this. And then I saw the art and I thought this I I I like this now. And yeah, it I do like that kind of push or luck thing where how much can I get and get away with it or can I get stuff and stay down here? How long can I stay down here before I have to go back up? And that is it's a really interesting fun balance. And I like games where you're doing stuff that is going to open you accomplishing something is going to open up opportunities for other people. And that happens a lot here.
Yeah. You're often putting really great gems out for others where you've run out of stuff and you've got to go back and you're just leaving that good stuff. And I really like the deck building, which is the main part of the game, because there are a whole bunch of cards that do different things. For the most parts, the cards will focus on like drilling or movement or energy. And so, you're trying to find the balance of building your deck, so you can do a bit of all of it. But there's also just some like weird different cards which do something unique, and that can make it feel different each game. Yeah, it it really can when you get some of those like especially weird cards. And I also really like that component that you put your cards in. You just have this weird little kind of deck box that show you your front card. And that's actually it it makes more of a difference than you might think. And it's just kind of a a cool little touch.
Realm of Reckoning is maybe my biggest surprise of the year. I think I kind of judged this box by its cover and it's got a cool cover, but I just wasn't sure that it was going to be for me. And largely that is because this is a bidding game. It's usually not something I'm that into. But this one really surprised me. And I think part of that is I enjoy the drafting. I really like that everything that you've got is currency in this game. So the people, the bigger people, the cards, the currency, even where you are on tracks. I love that you're bidding with everything. And I really like how dynamic the actual bidding is in this game.
Yeah. And that the winner of the bid gets to choose a scoring condition. So the scoring evolves throughout the game. And so in the first round, there'll be like three scoring conditions that are picked by the winners. And that gives something for everyone to target. And it's impressive how different each game feels depending on which scoring conditions are selected.
Yeah. Everything in this game kind of feels emergent, kind of like you're making the game as you play the game. You're not making the game, but it really can follow down different paths because you're only going to use half of those different scoring things and it makes a huge difference if they're in the first round or the third round and just sometimes you're doing that bidding right away and that really makes a difference what stuff you're going to spend. Do I care about this bidding? Am I going to wait for a later on bidding? And how am I putting this stuff? And the components in this, oh my goodness, they're so pretty.
Yeah, it looks really lovely. Cozy Stickerville is a game where I don't think you'll be surprised with what you end up playing. It is a cozy game where you use stickers to build your village. But what I really like is it feels a bit like a choose your own adventure as a board game because as you're building your village, you're choosing what buildings to put out, what people to put out, and you're making these like branching choices. And there's like little little stories about everything in your village.
Yeah, there is. And it's kind of an interesting story. Like no one would read this book. This would be a terrible book. But the thing that kind of emerges and as you build that village and as things happen to your buildings and you have to make choices, those choices like I feel some of those choices and really the star of the show here though is the stickers. I haven't seen a game use stickers really at all, but certainly not like this. And it's such an interesting thing for a legacy game. It feels like an obvious thing for a legacy game because it makes it legacy, but now instead of destroying stuff and ripping stuff, you're adding stuff to something. I love that.
Yeah. And I like that you can play through a second time as well, where you can then make the other choices and see how your town ends up. And it's just really surprising that this comes from the same designer as the person who did games like Star Wars Rebellion.
Yeah, it it really is cuz this is it's it's not going to tax your brain a lot, but it might tax your heart.
Bella Vista is a gorgeous game. The main component are these great like three-dimensional buildings that all have this unique art. And so, first of all, that's one of the things that like catch your eye.
It really there. Some of them have like little graffiti on them and stuff, too. I really like that.
Yeah. And the buildings are what you're putting on the board, but how you put them out is interesting because it's a bidding mechanic where you're choosing like how much you want to spend for how early you get to place your building. But coins are points. So if you choose to go first, that's going to be really expensive. But by going first, you might be most likely to be able to achieve an objective which is going to get you points.
So if you can get away with just spending that one coin or better yet spending zero coins by going definitely last, you really want to do that. But you can see what the other person has. you know where you can go because there's this restriction card each time too. You know what those goals are and so there is a lot of competition and that's an interesting decision.
Yeah, because you're obviously going to want to play a card in and in a building where you want to go, but if possible, it's great if you can also block out your opponent. So if you can see that they have a lot of like the square buildings that are harder to put and you're like, "Well, doesn't matter to me whether I go here or here. I'm going to go here and then you won't be able to place that building anywhere helpful.
Yeah. Yeah, that is a big part. And then also the the height of the buildings, too, because if you're taller than everything, you're going to get more coins. So, you also want to bo you want to box out people in a lot of ways. It's a really pretty really nice looking game that is secretly quite mean, but it's a lot of fun and it works okay at two. It's really good at three or four. And this is a fairly easy game to teach, but there's a lot to consider.
Gunsen: The Battle for Tashi Rambo is maybe my least favorite name for a game this year, but I do really like this game. And I think a big reason I like it is this just gets right down to it. You're just right into the battle right away on your first turn. Every turn, you're doing lots of stuff. It feels like it's got this cool mechanic where you're just taking a card, you're adding that card to the row, you're doing all the stuff in that row, and you've got a whole bunch of different objectives that you're trying to finish. So, in a lot of ways, it feels a little bit like scythe, but like super speed side with a lot more fighting.
Yeah. And it's interesting because it plays very quickly, but you're still able to build your engine because those card actions get more powerful the more cards you have. And the race to all of those different types of achievements is interesting because you can go in slightly different directions, but you're only going to have like seven or eight turns to do that. So, you really have to focus and be efficient with your turns.
Yeah. And it's got all these different factions as well. And they don't play wildly different, but they all play differently enough. And it just it looks super pretty, which I'm always sold on. especially those little boxes that it comes in for every faction. I really like just a clever storage solution like this. But this was a really surprising game. And if you like a fighting area control game and if you want that just to get right to it, just to get right to business, this does that. Braided Skies is the newest game from Stonem. We do tend to like their games and it has art from Andrew Bosley and we've really enjoyed his art. He did stuff like Everdell and it not only has stuff by Andrew Bosley, but it started from art by Andrew Bosley. That art really brings out a lot of it. That brought me in actually. I really like this theme. And then the actual game that's designed by Dan Germaine does some interesting new stuff. And I think the big interesting new thing here is those clouds.
Yeah. The clouds are are neat because when you go to a space, you like unlock the clouds which give you a bonus, but then reveal more spaces. So, as the game goes on, the action spaces become more powerful. And you are able to do a lot in a very short period of time. But it's an interesting balance because throughout the game, you're getting resources that you're putting onto your board. And then when you bring your ships back, for every card that is full of resources, you get an action. But the balance is you have to spend those resources for the wonder cards, which is your scoring, but you're dismantling the engine that you've built to be able to do so.
Yeah, I really like that decision point of when am I going to get rid of that stuff, but also I need to get rid of that stuff in order to bring in new stuff because I only have so much space. And so all of that resource management is really interesting. And I also like the progression of your ships too as you add these little people and harvesters to the ships and they just fit in really nice. And I just I really enjoy the kind of toyification part of this game as well. Entropy is a game where you're building solar systems, planets, biomes, and you're adding like bacteria, plants, and animals. And in the end, you have this cool little tableau of everything that you've built that looks pretty neat. But I also like how you do your actions because it's a rondelle and you're motivated to move far in the rondelle because in order to do stronger actions, you have to leave a token behind that you have to make a whole like loop around to pick up. But if you move a shorter distance, you get a better bonus. So, you're balancing how far you want to go and what actions you want to take.
Yeah, you are. And you also you don't want to land where other people land because then that counts as though you moved further than you moved. So, it's it's cool because that rondelle is pretty simple. And everyone on that too has two spaces, which is also cool. And the thing that you're building is kind of simple. But I really I I I'm with you. I love that tableau. I'm just That tableau looks so cool. It's maybe a little little bit bigger than it needs to be, especially those biomes. But also, it just it looks beautiful. And I love having the suns and then how those connect with the planets and then how those connect with the cards that you're trying to put on those, how those connect with the biomes. And it's a thing that on paper does what a lot of different Euro games do do, but the thing that you've actually made just looks so different.
So, I'm not going to include my games on this list. it just felt too weird to do that. But these are the games that I have played most this year. So, I do want to talk about them. So, I had two games come out this year. One is Last Week of Summers 1986. You just finished high school. You're trying to have as much fun as you can. It's been interesting to actually see people play that out in the wild. And I really enjoy that people are following my advice with those cassettes and playing them out one by one at the end of the game for scoring. Thank you so much for doing that. But I'm really proud of that game. And then my other game is Shakespeare the card game. And this is just a two-player card game that you can win by history, comedy, or tragedy. That has given me so much opportunity to talk to folks about Shakespeare, which is one of my favorite things to talk about. And for both of those games, it's it's so different this year with us talking about board games, actually having board games out in the world, and seeing it from that other side. But let's get back now to our regularly scheduled top 10 list.
I think Wingspan Pocket had big expectations because just that promise that you're going to take this game that's wildly popular and boil it down into a game that is going to be also very interesting. That's a big promise. But I think if anything this overd delivered Wingspan Pocket is kind of Wingspan. It's got the DNA of Wingspan. But this is totally its own thing. And I kind of think that this is my favorite wingspan experience because every turn you're just doing so much. You're almost always making a bird. You are sometimes drawing birds or laying down those eggs, but then you are always running that engine. Your engine's all the birds that you've played so far. And it's really fun to find ways that that engine is going to connect up and it gets you this, but then you spend this to get this and then you do this. It just it does what Wingspan does kind of sort of but different enough but boy does it ever boil that down.
Yeah, it's a really smooth streamlined game. And part of how it's streamlined are the double-sided cards because every card on one side it's the food, the other side it's the birds. And that works really well. And I like all of the different birds and that there are some bird powers that seem like almost too strong that they break the game, but it makes it interesting. Yeah, there's a ton of a ton of birds that you're like, that can't be in this game. And I like that they aired on the side of fun. They aired on the side of big swings and things feeling broken instead of things being kind of perfectly balanced. And I think it works in this game because it moves so fast. And because everything kind of feels broken, nothing feels broken. I also like those those cards that everybody shares stuff as well.
That is such a double-edged sword. and we've had some really fun games of that as well. But just overall, I think this has been the most fun I've had playing Wingspan and I'm I'm really impressed by this version. And that is it. That is our top 10 games of the year so far. And we obviously have not played even close to everything that came out this year. So, there's going to be oodles of stuff that we have missed. So, please let us know what that stuff is. Let us know what the stuff is we should look for at S. and let us know what you like and don't like on this list. Anything, just let us know in the comments.
Thank you so much for watching and as usual, please like, subscribe, and hopefully we'll see you next time for another game.