Top 5 Games of September 2026

0:00 Ooh, that looks tasty. Welcome folks to the Hungry Gamer is back with another episode of the monthly menu and today we are talking about the top five games from September 2026. And so, as always, this is your first time watching one of these. The way I do my top games is what games got played the most in the previous month. And that's what I look at. That's what I'm counting. And I count sessions that I sit down at the table to play, not actual games because sometimes a quick game you might play two or three times, while a big or longer game you only play once. And so it mostly balances out. And I only count digital plays if it was done in real time. So if I sat down and we played straight through, that'll count. So with that being said, jumping right in with the picks for September.

0:55 First off, we had the list. And yes, we did knock one off the list. We played Lands of Galzier, which was great for me because it's on my 5x5 and I actually haven't quite finished. I thought that was going to be a gimme because myself and Canadian Kev and Jerry Hawthorne, we've been playing some digital games, maybe once a month, twice a month or so, and then things happened and we just haven't been able to play for a very, very long time. So, I'm coming up to the end of the year and I haven't quite finished that yet. But also, I got to play with Mrs. Hungry Gamer, obviously, because of the list, and she was really curious about it because when the expansion was sitting on my table, I hadn't unpacked it yet. She just thought the two new critters were so cute. So, this lizard and a poison frog that just hangs out on the lizard shoulder, and she thought it was so cute. And so, we actually took a trip up to Sacramento. I took it and we played in the hotel room and just had a really good time. The expansion just folds right on in. It was really cool to play with some of the new characters. It was really cool for me to switch out of the character I have been playing with Kevin and Jerry, which is the lizard, the frilled lizard. And this time I went and was playing Isalo the bird. Really cool, really good expansion. It just kind of pops up here and there. It just integrates seamlessly. really nice expansion.

2:19 Really enjoyed it. Hopefully get to play some more. Next was Aia. And yes, played it quite a bit. And unfortunately, I had recorded a playthrough and a review which should already be but I made a mistake with one of the rules. And honestly, in my opinion, while it does change the game and why I was fine with not putting the videos out yet, it doesn't change my opinion on the game. It just changes the way some of the things work and that you get something here instead of here. and eh it's close enough for me. But in any event, I made a mistake. Played it a lot. Did get it out there. So, anyhow, I did play it. I played it quite a bit. I don't have a video out yet. Hopefully in the next few weeks, maybe I'll be able to get back around to getting it out.

3:09 Really trying to. It's a really good game. Very cool Monala system. It's a riff on Trajan and for my money is better than Trajan. Next was Mountain Goats Legacy. And yes, not only did we play it, we finished the campaign. And I actually have a video that is not quite out yet that actually talks about that after the campaign is over. And then next, we had SETI with the expansion. And yes, we did get that played down at Voncon at the very, very beginning of the month. What a delightful game that is. I love the expansion. I love the new aliens. I love that it makes the game faster and it had the courage to just chop off the first turn. Just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. And the last one was All's Well That Ends. This is an upcoming adventure game that's going to be on Kickstarter or Game Found, one of those two. And I was really glad to get it back to the table to play it again, to check it out, and kind of remind myself what it is that I liked about that game.

4:09 And I really enjoyed it. I'm excited for it to arrive back on my table in a year and a half or whatever it's going to be. So, moving into the top five games of the month, coming at number five was Entropy. And this was only played twice, only two times sat down, but longer game, and this was the hottest hot hot hot hot at Gen Con. It was sold out on day one. And this is a Rondell game. You're kind of just going around and around, but you can only do the basic actions once per time around the board for the most part. And so you're picking those actions or you're popping up and taking the secondary actions and you're trying not to be at the same place with other players because you get bonuses and you're creating stars and upgrading stars and getting planets and you're getting life on the planets and biomes and it's a crunchy crunchy crunchy Euro has the theme that I hate the most and that is you're like gods taking an exam.

5:16 I hate that. But clever game, fun game. Looking forward to playing it again, and I'm sure I will because I know original Don really likes it and wants to play it again. Number four is Mountain Goats Legacy, which I just mentioned. It is Mountain Goats, which is basically a riff on Can't Stop. You're chucking dice, adding them up, and going sending your goats up the mountains to get points. The Legacy makes it to where in between every single game, you get to make a choice of which direction you're going, and it changes the mechanics a little bit. get some story. Beautiful, beautiful art by Sundara. It's a game that should not be a legacy game. It should not work as a legacy game, but I had such a great great time with it and I will probably go back at some point and play it again and do all the ones I didn't do before. Really clever game. Really enjoyed it. Number three is Camito. And this is a game that I It's not a preview, but they gave me at Gen Con an advanced copy. And I believe this is going to be coming out in January.

6:15 And this is a rolling color game. You're rolling the pencils. And on the sides of the pencils, there are different symbols and that tells you what you can color. And you're coloring all crazy different colors, the walls and the windows and the roofs of your this, I don't know, apartment complex, whatever. And depending on the color combinations, you're going to be scoring points. took it up with me to Ashland, Oregon, where some friends are, and we played it several times up there, three or four times, and really had a good time with that, and just a it's a clever little game, and I think it's going to be available at the beginning of the year, the end of this year. Number two was the aforementioned AIA. Played it a lot. got to play it three-player, played it a lot solo, played it two-player, and I really, really like this game. It just is quick.

7:09 It uses the basic Monala mechanics to make to determine what it is that you're going to do. And the video you're seeing up there is actually the playthrough that I recorded that has some rules wrong. So, but it's tiny, so whatever. You can't see exactly what I'm doing wrong. But it is a clever game that looks like it's going to be heavier than it is. It looks like it's going to be a longer game than it is. It's quick. It's fast. And it does Monala right. Just the first time I've played a game that's using that mechanic to do more than just that. Fistful of meals is a great little manala game. That's pretty much all you're doing. But in this, you're using the manala to do other stuff. And it really, really works well in a way that I have not seen before. Which brings me to number one. And number one is Cozy Stickerville.

7:59 This is one that has been on the shelf for a little bit because Mrs. Hungry Gamer wanted to play it, but we had to finish Mountain Ghost Legacy first. We finished that and we rocketed through. We played the whole thing in three or four weeks. And in this game, what's happening is, and I'm not going to share much. I'm going to show our final little village there. But what happens is it's basically like a choose your own adventure. You flip up a card and it says, "This is the event for the day. Do you have this in your town?" And if you do, one thing happens. If you don't, another thing happens. Then you take an action. And that action is going to be spending resources to build something or spending a resource to get some other kind of resource. But for the most part, you're just making choices and you're building this town. And as you build the town, you put stickers out. But the fun thing about the stickers are sometimes you have stickers that overlay on top of others. So suddenly you added another person or you've added an animal or you've put clothes on somebody or something or a tree gets chopped down so you cover that up and it's just a gosh darn delight. I have not posted my review of that having finished that campaign, but just had a great time with it and we actually were able to give that to our friends Armando and Jessica who were also just visiting up in Ashland and just let them experience that next. You can't quite do a full replay. There's 16 cards that suddenly you only get one choice that you can make. But just a delightful game.

9:29 Really, really fun. Really enjoyed it and so happy that I played that game. just a delight. Now, that brings me into the picks for October. And these are going to be the last picks of the year because in November, I am not going to be making any picks because in November is when I replay my top five games of the year over and over and over again to determine which one is the winner. So, that's going to be the focus. That's going to be the five. And other than the list, hopefully we'll get one. That's it. That's what we're going to be focusing on. So, this is actually the last full monthly menu in November. We'll do a recap of how I did and what got played the most in October. And then we won't have another monthly menu again until January, which will be kind of the recap of the whole year. What was the most played games of the year? Now, with that being said, obviously starting with the list. Hoping to get one off there. I said last month I was confident. I'm super confident it is scheduled on Halloween. Original Don's gonna come down and we're gonna play Cauldron with Mrs. Hungry Gamer. So, going to get one off the list for sure. I'm hoping to get one or two more, but we shall see. Next is Peacemakers: Horrors of War. And this is a game also by the designer of Lands of Galier. And it is a reboot of this game Peacemakers from a few years back, which I had heard was fine. And this game you are animals trying to stop wars

10:59 between different animal kingdoms. And to do that, you are moving around the board and just messing with the armies trying to make them realize that there's no point to keep fighting. And sometimes it means you help one side defeat some of the other's troops or whatever it is. Very, very, very challenging game. I've played once and very excited to play it again cuz I think there's something magic there. It's so weird, but weird in the best way. It's so hard to kind of figure out how to make things work, and I'm really, really digging into it, and I'm excited to get another game or two in this month. Next is one that's right up here, and that is Galaxy Hunters. This is one of those games that I have that I love that is a flawed, flawed game. It needs some house rules. I made the house rules. I'm very excited about my house rules. It is expansive. It is sprawling. It is way, way, way too big. It has way too many resources. But you're the big old stompy mech flying around the galaxy fighting mutants, taking their DNA, buying stuff.

12:06 I love it. It's a just a delight. It is such It's a guilty pleasure game for me. It's not one I would ever put out there as being one of the best games I've ever played, but man, I enjoy it so so much. So, I'm hoping we get that played. I think Mr. Steve's going to come hang out and I think we're going to get that done. Next one is ironically, I just realized this by the same designer, Rolling in Wonderland. And this is one that I did a first impressions preview for for Bellow's Intent. And I remember he even put the comment on the page when we went into it. I was thinking I was in a terrible mood and I was like, I don't want to do this. It's TTS [snorts] and I had such a good time. It turned my whole day around and so I have it. is right here. I've almost played it like three times. I haven't gotten to play it yet.

12:54 They were kind enough to after I did that preview, send me a deluxe edition. So, I'm really excited to get it to the table. I'm hoping I can get that to the table this month. And then the last one is another one that I'm hopeful for, and that is Space Core 2025 to 2300. And I covered the app version of this. I think it's a really good app that you can get on Steam. Really, really like it. and I play it a lot. I have not gotten to play it a lot in Meat Space, but I'm hoping that same time Mr. Steve comes down, we're going to make a space day of it. I'm hoping we can get a game of that as well in because it's a wonderful game. I'm actually going to do a little upgrading some ships and stuff in there. It's a great game that I think doesn't get the love it deserves. And part of that is it's kind of a long game because you play three games in a You can skip a f a session, a era if you want, but why? No, no, you want to do the whole thing. So hopefully I'll get that played. Now, with that being said, as always, thank you to Noble Night Games for continuing to sponsor the channel. If you're not sure what that means, they don't give me any money.

14:03 They do give me some store credit every month. And down in the description of all of my videos, there is a link to Noble Knight, which if you buy something from them, through that link, I get a little bit more store credit. It doesn't cost you anything at all. I've used Noble Knight since before they were a sponsor of mine. I send them games all the time that I can't move. I have too many. I just send them to them. You don't get top dollar for them, but they are out of the house. They take care of shipping. Fantastic. You can get good deals on new games. You can get good deals on used games that are already out there. And sometimes you can find really, really rare, hard to get stuff. You won't pay a premium for those, but you can find them. I really enjoy Noble Knight. I like them. They're wonderful people. They're very kind, even when there's small mistakes. Great, great, great people. I love Noble Knight. But more importantly, I love my channel members. Thank you all so very much for being here, for supporting me. As little as 99 cents a month. It really, really helps. I'm going to get to go cover packs this year and channel memberships really help me get there. It really helps with that and I just well I really appreciate it. So, thank you to all the channel members. I can do so much more of this because of you. So, thank you all very much. Please consider becoming a member. As I said, as little as 99 cents a month. And if you can't, just being here, subscribing, sharing videos, that helps so much as well. So there you

15:33 have it folks. As always, if you found this video useful, please like, subscribe, share, maybe become a channel member. As always, thank you so much for watching. Have a wonderful, wonderful day.