A new episode has been added to the database: Victory Road - Ep. 16 - Look to the Skies

by olo17jr

Related Item: Cosmere Roleplaying Game

Hi! Two slots for Rowan and Orlando, please!

by Daniel Holding

On the 17th of September, [user=bapter23][/user] posted about The 9 Games he'd played 50+ Times.
Then on the 21st, [user=LinkToDarkness][/user] said:

LinkToDarkness wrote:

I'm stealing ideas from others, such as this one which I am shamelessly lifting from Bapter

and posted about the 12 games he'd played 50+ times.

So I'm going to follow the trend and post my games I've played 50+ times.
I couldn't quite increase the number of games as Josiah did, but instead I've gone down xD

I'm a big fan of playing games multiple times, some people enjoy constantly playing new games, but I much prefer really learning a game and playing it over and over.
So here are my Top played games:
Skara Brae by Garphill Games: 92 Plays.
I've been playing Skara Brae long before it was released, and from the first play I knew it was something special.
As the game developed and I got to try it more, in turned into a genius piece of game design that is both incredibly clever and incredibly fun.
I already racked quite a few plays of this when the Kickstarter delivered, but then Garphill went and dropped it on BGA, and wanted people to test it for solo.

Ohhhh Boy... They dropped it right as my daughter was born, which meant there were a lot of late nights holding my girl as she sleeps and playing games on my phone to try stay awake.
A big chunk of my plays for this were (66%) were across the first quarter of the year on BGA, I just smashed a bunch of Solo plays.

Playing it solo on BGA though did get me pulling it out to play Solo on the table too.
It's so smooth and addictive.

I can't imagine ever turning down a game of this, and my wife and I always play at least two games back to back if we set up.
If you want to read my review of it you can find that here: “That is one big pile of Midden” - Dr Ian Malcom

7 Wonders by Repos Production: 76 Plays.
7 Wonders is such a fantastic classic, it was just recently featured in a New York Times Article as a top game for new players and I 100% agree.

I bought this one at a fan convention, brought it home and taught it to my family, we played it tons.
After I moved I taught it to my in laws and they just fell in love with it, while I lived with them it got played multiple times a night, 2-3 times a week.

Our plays slowed down a bit, but then I managed to acquire the Expansions, particularly the Leaders expansion, and that just fully rejeuvinated our experience and it got played a bunch again.
My plays were boosted a bit by BGA, but about 2/3 were physical plays.

7 Wonders is actually one I hesitate to teach to just anyone as it's not overly "exciting" for new gamers and the scoring can be a bit confusing (mostly when it comes to science).
However it is a fantastic game and the rest of the series are great too. (You can see my comparison between all the games here: The 4 Wonders of 7 Wonders - a Series Overview.)


Unmatched: Cobble & Fog by Restoration Games: 72 plays.
This is the one of two entries on this list that is made up exclusively of physical plays.
Unmatched is such a smooth, easy to learn combat game, I log all my Unmatched plays under Cobble & Fog as that was the first set I purchased, but I currently own 8 different sets for a total of 23 Characters.

This game has so many plays purely because we just kept pulling it out, I bought it, when it first released for Pre-Order, and taught it to my family & at the time girlfriend (now wife).
Enjoyed it a lot, played it the next day 1v1 against my Dad, took it the next day to my best mates place & played a 4p game there...

I just kept wanting to introduce it to new people, I was enamored by the simplicity of the design & the attraction of the theme (I mean come on, you can play Sherlock vs Bigfoot) and it made a great game to teach to those who aren't super into games.
I've never had a bad experience teaching this to someone, people get excited seeing the characters they can play as and it's fantastic when someone goes "Wait I can be that character?!?"

This one has stayed strong for many years, it slowed down a bit 2024 but that was a busy year (got married) and has since come back into rotation.
Recently got to try out the co-op version...and lets just say this game would just get more and more plays if we owned that!

Regicide by Badgers from Mars: 64 Plays

Similarly to Skara Brae, my plays for Regicide were boosted by the late nights with my daughter, it's such a quick smooth game that I could get dozens of games in very quickly.
I talked about it in my post and then Paul Abrahams Reached out & wanted to send me a copy (not as a review copy, just as a gift).
It was an extremely thoughtful gesture and we received the package wit ha lovely hand written note as well as a book for my wife to read.

As a Kiwi, I love to support Kiwi made games, as a Christian, I love to support games made by Christians.
When they overlap it's obviously a no brainer!

Regicide is my go to card game to teach people now, I carry it with me everywhere, being made of just a deck of cards makes it very easy to pocket and also makes it quite easy to teach.
There are plenty of "Silent Co-Ops" out there, so it's hard to stand out among them, but I think Regicide is quite unique in the genre as it's not a trick taker, but more of a boss fighter.

I would LOVE to try Regicide Legacy if I ever get the chance, as we love Regicide so much, why would I not want Regicide+!
We recently received Regicide: Crown Duels which turns Regicide into a 2p Dueling game (also just using a classic deck of cards), we've only played 2 games so far but it's so good!
If you want to read my review of Regicide, that can be found here: Simplicity in the face of Adversity

Wingspan by Stonemaier Games: 52 Plays
Wingspan is the second game (following Unmatched) that has ALL it's plays as physical Plays.
I actually wasn't going to buy Wingspan when it came out, it was getting so much buzz and recognition, I just wasn't particularly interested in it.
But then they announced the Oceania expansion, and that's when I bought the game.

Wingspan is such a fantastic Engine builder, it's right on the verge of being a Beginners game, it's got a lot of depth and crafty mechanics, but the game makes it as easy as possible to dive in, all your actions are laid out on the board, every bird describes what it does etc etc.

Wingspan is probably collectively my wife & I's favourite game, it's such an easy game to get to the table, takes minimal set up, and it's so calming to play.
Playing it against Gabbie is almost second nature, we both know the rules off by heart and can just get straight into it.
We have seen every bird in Wingspan dozens of times but the game never gets boring.

I love the thematic nature of wingspan, and by that I mean I will sometimes play purely thematically, if my starting hand has a bunch of predator birds, I go "cool, I'm going to collect those this game", not because it mechanically is going to win me the game, but because it's fun.

Wingspan is another one I've yet to see fail when introducing it to people.
We have played Wyrmspan before, and it was fun, but I'm glad Wingspan is the one we have.

Paladins of the West Kingdom by Garphill Games: 51 Plays
This game is a bout 50/50 for Physical and Digital plays.
it is Garphill's highest ranked game at 83, and it deserves that spot for a reason, I've always said that Paladins is one of their best designed games.?
Paladins has a LOT going on, but it all works, every part is like a cog in a big machine spinning at just the right speed to keep everything running.

I remember the Expansion being announced and thinking "there's no room for any more content in this game!?!" but I was wrong.
I will happily play Paladins without the expansion, I Don't believe in necessary expansions in general, but the Paladins one particularly is one you can miss, I'd only reccomend it if you're a hardcore Paladins fan.

This one dropped in regular plays after I moved, my girlfriend (now wife) hadn't really played any games of this level of complexity at that point, so it took a bit of warming up to it, but after she played it we got it to the table semi regularly.
This is currently in Beta on BGA, and as I've mentioned before, I had an ongoing game going since it was on private alpha.

The implementation is so smooth, it works so well and makes the game so easy to play.
I'm not a fan of playing games Async, but Paladins is one I really don't mind as you don't take that many turns in the game.

Honorable Mentions:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) by Wizards of the Coast: 77+ Plays
I didn't include this in the main section as a session of DnD is a bit different to a game on the table, but I still track every time we sit down for a game.
The 77 plays I have recorded are just from the current campaign I'm in, so there's probably another 5-10 more plays from other smaller campaigns we tried before this one.
We used to all play it around the table with snacks etc, but since all moving around, it's done over discord now, not as fun but still a great time!

BANG! The Dice Game by DV Games: 43+ Plays
I have 43 Plays recorded of Bang TDG starting from 2019, but I know I had the game in 2017 (got it on my 18th Birthday) and I also know that I took it to family overseas and we played quite a few games in a row that I probably only counted as 1 back then.
So this game is very likely at 50+.
Bang! is such a great game, and the Dice game takes the same concepts and turns it into a fast paced lighter version, and does a really great job at it!

What Games have you played over 50+ times? Or what are your most played games? Comment Below
Go check out Board Gaming with Bapter & Journey Into the Unknown and subscribe if you like their blog!

by HiveGod

PandoraCaitiff wrote:

As I often see online "if you couldn't be bothered to write it, why should I be bothered to read it?"

My favorite way to put this is: "If you didn't take the time to write it, I'm not going to waste my time reading it."

by HiveGod

by VolcanoLotus

jjwhite103 wrote:

I wouldn't ignore it on principle any more than I'd refuse to watch a movie with CGI. Tools are tools. The product is what I'm concerned with.

For what it’s worth, I also generally avoid music released after 1997 because I can hear auto tune and don’t like it. I don’t feel that way about CGI in movies (inherently), but I do find it to be a tool that’s rarely used well in the foreground and I do tend to watch fewer big “spectacle” films than I once did.

jjwhite103 wrote:

I know there are lots of folks here who are anti-AI without caring about any specifics. Many of them are extremely vocal.

I don’t know if I’m one of those people, but happy to be more specific if that would be helpful.

by Carpenoctem

An item Board Game Publisher: Origames has been added to the geeklist Essen 2026 - Preorder and shopping list

by Moonlight_Fox

An item RPG Item: Briar & Bramble has been added to the geeklist 2026 RPGG Challenge: Play Five RPGs You Have Never Played Before (Each At Least Once)

by NonaKnowsGames

Agreed, that will hopefully not mess anything up. I'd still be slightly concerned about people missing the notification, but I know last year there was a 2nd notification halfway through or something so I'm sure that'll sort itself out!

by Mulligans

My NPI game finished a couple weeks ago. I forgot to post here. It went well and 3 of 4 players finished out with a great pace. Also a PbF veteran filled in the missing spot which was great.

I'm considering doing Paranoia for the next NPI.

by Carpenoctem

An item Board Game Publisher: Pegasus Spiele has been added to the geeklist Essen 2026 - Preorder and shopping list

by Mulligans

gnbenson wrote:

Mulligans wrote:

It's the 3rd of a series. Book 1 was awesome. Never read the 2nd.

Wait, you are reading this new one (3rd in series) without reading the second. Is that OK?

It is.

I read the entire Dark Tower series except for Wizard in Glass. I was so mad that the story was jumping back in time that I just ignored that one. Friends told me it was the best one so far at the time. Oh well.