2019 in Review -- Games

2019 was another year that for me was filled with fun and games. I was up a little bit from 2018, playing 261 games throughout the year. (As always, that's a total that doesn't include the games I played as part of testing our own new designs at work.)

It was a year of variety, with 94 different games played. Like 2018, it was a year in which Legacy and campaign games contributed a lot to final total. Four of the five games I played the most fit that description. In fact, they alone comprised nearly a quarter of the games I played. The game I played most, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, I went through with more than one group. (So while yes, we did lose a bunch trying to complete the game's seven "years," we didn't lose that much.)

Among the games I played for the first time in 2019, my personal favorites include Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Cartographers, Coloma, Merlin, Point Salad, Secret Hitler, and Twice As Clever. (Hmm... I need to get reviews written and posted for quite a few of those!) Also, I'm a few games into Pandemic Legacy: Season Two, and liking it so far even more than Season One. We'll see if I actually complete it in 2020, though -- my Pandemic friends and I definitely make our Legacy experience last.

Here's the full breakdown of what I played:

26  Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle
15  Secret Hitler
14  Betrayal Legacy
11  Machi Koro Legacy
10  Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
9    Las Vegas
7    Just One
7    Point Salad
7    Twice As Clever
6    Merlin
6    Poker
5    Illusion
5    Tiny Towns
4    Coloma
4    The Mind
4    One Key
4    Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
4    The Quacks of Quedlinburg
3    Azul
3    Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig
3    Cartographers
3    The Taverns of Tiefenthal
3    Telestrations After Dark
3    Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
3    Wingspan
3    World Without End
2    5-Minute Dungeon
2    Arboretum
2    Architects of the West Kingdom
2    Biblios
2    Century: Golem Edition
2    Chronicles of Crime
2    Coimbra
2    Decrypto
2    Everdell
2    Ex Libris
2    Exit: The Game – The Catacombs of Horror
2    Letter Jam
2    Majesty for the Realm
2    Medium
2    New Frontiers
2    Sagrada
2    The Speicherstadt
2    Teotihuacan: City of Gods
2    Too Many Bones
2    Viticulture
2    Witch's Brew
1    7 Wonders
1    Alea Iacta Est
1    Apples to Apples
1    Camel Up
1    The Captain Is Dead
1    Carpe Diem
1    Cerebria: The Inside World
1    Codenames
1    Codenames Deep Undercover
1    Concept
1    Concordia
1    Dominion
1    Dragon Castle
1    Eleminis
1    Era: Medieval Age
1    Escape Tales: The Awakening
1    Exit: The Game – The Haunted Roller Coaster
1    The Faceless
1    Forum Trajanum
1    High Society
1    The Isle of Cats
1    Istanbul
1    Kami-Sama
1    Kaosmos (Cosmic Factory)
1    La Isla
1    Maracaibo
1    Nyctophobia
1    Perudo
1    Planet
1    Puerto Rico
1    Race for the Galaxy
1    Reykholt
1    Root
1    Scythe
1    Sentient
1    Spell Smashers
1    Splendor
1    A Tale of Pirates
1    Tapestry
1    Telestrations
1    Throw Throw Burrito
1    Time's Up
1    Trapwords
1    Treasure Island
1    Vikings
1    Welcome To…
1    When I Dream

Looking back at the list, there are a lot of games I hope to play more in 2020. But of course, there are always great new games being released all the time. I'm sure that a favorite of the new year will be something I haven't even heard of yet. I look forward to discovering it.