GAMES Magazine's Top 100 Games for 2013

Since 1980, the editors of GAMES Magazine have been publishing a list of the top 100 traditional (non-electronic) games for each year. The games are divided into many different categories, with a winner, runner up, and honorable mentions chosen from each one. The 2013 list was recently announced, and it contains casual games in several different categories. Here is a list of those that have caught our attention.

Abstract Strategy Category

• Mine Shift (runner up) - An abstract mining game in which you rotate tiles to make a pathway for your own gemstones while blocking your opponents.
• Repello (honorable mention) - You control stacks of tokens that repel each other. Score points by pushing tokens of various colors off of the board.
• Mirror, Mirror (honorable mention) - A chess-like game where mirrors on the game pieces allow you to discover hidden information on your opponents pieces that must be guessed correctly in order to overtake them.

Family Category

• Takenoko (best in category) - Cultivate and irrigate plots of land to grow the best bamboo and feed the delicate appetite of the panda bear.
• Eruption (runner up) - Defend your village from an erupting volcano by diverting the lava away from your village and building walls to slow its progress.
• Take It or Leave It (honorable mention) - Roll handfuls of dice, then select a single die or play an action card on each turn to try to score specific combos.
• King of Tokyo (honorable mention) - Use dice and action cards to battle giant monsters, robots, and aliens and become the King of Toyko.
• Martian Dice (honorable mention) - Take on the role of a martian and roll dice to abduct cows, chickens, and humans to score points.
• Caveman Curling (honorable mention) - Launch stones across the ice to get them as close to the target as possible.

Party Category

• Pluckin' Pairs (best in category) - Pair off images by whatever criteria you choose and score points if other players (but not all players) made the same pair.
• Snake Oil (runner up) - Pitch funny product ideas to many types of customers in hopes that they will like your product the best.
• Toc Toc Woodman (honorable mention) - Chop at the tree with your axe to try to dislodge the bark without knocking down the trunk.

The full list of winners for 2013 can be found in the November issue of GAMES Magazine. It is also available on BoardGameGeek.com.

Did we overlook some good casual games? Let us know in the comments!

Full disclosure: the author of this post is the designer of Eruption, the 2013 Family Game Runner Up.