This time of year I see so many videos and blogs filled with best of lists and favorites of all time, and I have been debating on how, or if, I should put mine together. Top 10. Top 50. Top 100? But whereas I can clearly see some of my favorite games it becomes tough to arbitrarily pick one game over another.
Is Great Western Trail a mechanically better game than The Gallerist?
Do I have more fun playing 7 Wonders or Clank! In! Space!?
How good you think a game is can be directly linked back to the experiences you had playing it. Perhaps even who you played it with would have bearing on such an evaluation. I have been trying to create a list, but in process I stumble across a forgotten title or one that has that something I can't define that makes it stand out. So instead of pummeling you with a barrage of titles, I have instead chosen to go a different route. I'm just going to take my time and pick out games that have stood out to me. Be it due to unique experiences or an interesting mechanic that makes them special.
So let's roll straight into my first one...
LORDS OF XIDIT
Set against a fantasy world backdrop, Xidit is a kingdom under siege. Creatures across the land have come under a mysterious sickness that is causing them to attack the cities. The players take on the roles of the Idrakys, heirs to the Kingdom and the last hope to save it. Travelling the roads on the backs of their faithful beasts, going from city to city recruiting brave soldiers from the population and taking them onto fight the creatures. The goal is become the most legendary by building up your sorcerer's towers, leaving your bards behind to sing your praises and lining your pockets with coin.
Enough with the theme fluff, but I have to because even before delving into mechanics of this I have to lavish praise on the art and components and how that evokes the world it is set in. The board is colorful and includes spots to place coins and the forces you are recruiting in supplies to the side. The recruits themselves are nicely moldy representations of fighters, archers and mages, of which there is an abundant supply. This is certainly a game that stands out on the table.
Now, what of the experience at the table itself. Lords of Xidit at it's core is a pick up and deliver game run by a programming mechanic. Taking place over 12 years, or game rounds. Each player has chunky programming dials, at the start of a year six moves get selected, the dials are revealed and in turn order the moves are acted out on the board.
The selections are simple - moving on roads, recruiting fighters, attacking creatures or doing nothing. Yes you can stand wistfully by and watch the world around you if you so wish. Yet even that choice can be huge.
As you'd expect in a game where all your moves a pre-chosen each round there will be the occasional frustration. The creature you were aiming to defeat was killed a second before you arrived on the scene, the mage you had your eye on recruiting gets grabbed by another player. But seeing your well laid plans go down flames isn't game ending and is more forgiving than other games with a similar mechanic.
What you find is that the programming becomes about timing. You begin to be very aware of what your opponents are doing, and what they aren't. Personally I had moments where a well timed wait has gotten me that mage I needed to complete a battle in the same round.
There is another layer to this onion and that is in the final scoring itself. The three categories (coins, bard regions & Sorcerer's towers) are laid out variably at the start of the game, and when scoring happens the lowest scoring in the first is eliminated from winning regardless if they are killing it in the other two areas. So the scoring becomes about making sure you are just not the worst. There is hidden information about how well you may be doing which adds an air of tension to the end game. Never rule yourself out of the chance of winning until the last round.
I had discovered this game back in 2015 when I was just rolling into the hobby, played it a few times and moved onto newer games. We picked it up recently on sale, remembering that we had quite liked it. After a couple of renewed plays this game has shot up in my estimation. In a sea of games this one has juice to keep you on board. The puzzle of action selection as well as getting in opponent's heads to see what they may be planning as well can take this medium weight game that one notch up.
Would love to revisit Xidit with the heavier gamers in my group and see how there minds receive it.
A final thing that is worth noting is that this game is re-theme of a game called Himalaya from 2002. Essentially a 16 year old game that can sit happily among the other newer heavyweights on my list - more on those later...
