My top 5 games(+ highly recommended) part 1

As this year draws to a close and all you people are scrambling around searching for christmas presents I feel like the time is right to do a list of my all time favourite games this year. This blog I will award highly recommended, 5th place and 4th place to three lucky winners with the next following up with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. So without further ado, let the prize giving commence.

The award for highly recommended goes to… Celestia

Celestia is a really fun game that I reviewed here. In it you are travellers trying to get the most exotic

gifts by travelling to different islands, the further the island the better the reward. However to do so you have to guess at whether the captain has the right equipment to confront the challenges in the journeys from one island to the other, and if you believe not, then abandon ship and collect your prize. I really enjoy the looks of this game and I have always wanted to get to the fifteen point island in this game       (although I never have). Also the way you have to read the captains face to see if they have the right equipment is really fun and secures this game highly recommended.

                                 5th place goes to…Takenoko

Takenoko is a game where you have to make a giant bamboo garden for a panda (called Tony in our house). I reviewed this game a while ago in the history of this blog and so my writing is a little bit rusty but if you aren't put off by that fact the you can find that review here. Takenoko tactical enough for you to think about strategies, but it isn't to much to take in. It is a really pretty game, with the stackable bamboo that will grow through out your game under the loving care of the gardener (who we call Frank). All of this combines together to make a really nice easy going game that definitely deserves the 5th spot.

4th place goes to… Tokiado

Tokiado is another orientally themed game where you are travellers, walking down the Tokaido road that connects Edo and Kyoto in Japan. It has some amazing artwork and a tranquil feeling that makes it a really nice game to play. Along with that it has some really innovative mechanics, like the person who is at the behind everyone else on the road gets to take their turn, and if their still behind everyone they get another one, meaning that if you leap to far ahead in the game, your points score will be highly impinged. I reviewed this game here if you want to look at it in a bit more detail.   

So thats it for now, but remember to come back next week to see what games are at the top of the pile.