It’s been a long old year of lockdown. Who’d’ve thought a year ago that we’d still be in this situation a year on?
But let’s not dwell on that. We still have more weeks, months, or even longer, of social distancing to deal with, so let’s instead look at some of the ways we can escape from the monotony – with games!
I’ve played a LOT of games over the past year – both ones I’ve played before and ones that are new to me. Here are just a few of my favourites.
*Note – this blog post does contain a few affiliate links, which means I may earn money if you click through and make a purchase, but all opinions are my own.
Best board game – Pandemic Legacy Season One
This was probably the hardest category for me – I’ve played lots of top notch games over lockdown, mostly thanks to Tabletop Simulator! However the winner was one I played the old-fashioned way… and by old-fashioned way, I mean over video call with me moving everything around the board!
I started playing Pandemic Legacy* back in March 2020, actually the week before the country went into official lockdown but back when we knew it was on the cards. We spent the year fighting the terrible COdA as well as the three viruses we named – COVID-19 (natch), FOADI-20 (Fuck Off And Die Istanbul) and SAOF (South America On Fire). I won’t go into further details as that risks excessive spoilers, but it was a fantastic year-long adventure with three friends where we got to curse an imaginary disease rather than focusing on the real one.
Honourable mention – Arkham Horror Living Card Game
This was without a doubt my most played game over the past year, with up to three different campaigns going on at the same time with three different groups. It’s a cooperative scenario-based card game where you play investigators discovering clues and killing monsters in order to save the world from certain doom.
We played two new campaigns: The Forgotten Age*, which I hated on the first play but loved on the second and third; and The Circle Undone*, which we are still playing through for the first time with our friends Ellie and Callum who live in Japan over Tabletop Simulator. We also got The Dream Eaters*, but we haven’t started that yet.
Best virtual escape room – Airlock by Russ Builds
I’ll be honest – I have not done as many escape rooms during lockdown as I thought I would! They’ve definitely been available, but it’s a combination of a) my partner not being into the virtual experiences as much and b) having so many other things that I wanted to play! So this is the best escape room I’ve done, with recognition that there are an awful lot out there that I haven’t had a chance to try yet!
Having said that, Russ Builds is pretty fantastic. He makes the games himself as an entirely hobby endeavour, but with a creativity and effectiveness that puts many established companies to shame. I reviewed the first game of his that we played, Endgame, back in October. Airlock was the second we played, and a significant improvement on the already very good concept. He has his fourth game out now, Citizen, and we are booked into play that next month. Want to have a go? Check out his Instagram page.
Honourable mention – The Insiders by Deadlocked Escape Rooms
I played this three-part print-and-play escape room last summer, and was very impressed by the creativity of inputs and puzzles. Plus I ended up with this cute little construction, so what’s not to like.
Best immersive experience – The Lucky Ones by Riptide
Okay, there’s no surprise here. I continue to be a massive lover of The Lucky Ones, and I’m so glad that they put on another run during lockdown. It didn’t quite match up to the live experience in terms of immersion, but they did a fantastic job with the limitations they had, and they also improved on various elements of their previous experiences in terms of character and plot development and communicating the impact of the final choice.
Riptide are running The Lucky Ones again in May, for those who missed out earlier in the year.
Honourable mention – Madok’s Lost Treasure by Society of Curiosities
I haven’t completed Madok’s Lost Treasure yet, which is a big reason why it’s only an honourable mention – because I can’t say with 100% certainty that the entire thing is amazing. But let’s be honest, I have no doubts that it will be. The quality of this mystery-through-the-mail box is outstanding, right down to the golden coin which is more than just a trinket!
The only downside is that it has to come all the way from Hawaii, so you can’t order it and play it the next day! You can find out more through my affiliate link*.
Best party game – Quiplash by Jackbox
There are a ton of excellent Jackbox games, and over the past year I’ve bought Party Packs 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. I’m a fan of things like Monster Seeking Monster, Role Models, Push The Button and Patently Stupid. But the one that is my go to for the first game of the evening, and to go back to later on as well, is Quiplash (and Quiplash 3 from Party Pack 7 is without a doubt the best one).
You answer prompts with witty answers, that nearly always end up being in-session in-jokes by the end of the evening. It’s wordy, it’s clever, and it’s a huge laugh. My big tip is to turn off the Safety Quips – don’t let your players have an out!
Honourable mention – Blood on the Clocktower
I only got to play this once during lockdown, but it was an instant hit for me. It’s based on the classic social deduction game Werewolf, but redeveloped by the Pandemonium Institute into a fully-rounded game that doesn’t end when you die.
I played it at OMG Con, the Megagaming Con by the Megagame Coalition. I also stayed up til 2am to play it, so that’s got to tell you something.
Best video game – Return of the Obra Dinn
I think I technically played this just before lockdown started, but it’s still a fantastic game and it was only just before lockdown so let’s pretend it counts. Return of the Obra Dinn is how mystery video games should be – clever, captivating and well-structured. You are an investigator sent to figure out what happened to the missing crew of merchant ship Obra Dinn, using your magic time watch.
The controls are a little clunky and hard to get used to, but the incredibly detailed plot is enough to draw your attention away completely. The biggest negative is that you can only play it once! I was first tipped onto this by my brother’s YouTube channel, so go take a look there for his First Impressions video.
Honourable mention – Cities: Skylines
I got MAJORLY obsessed with Cities: Skylines last year. As in, would not let Tim on the big PC, constantly watching YouTube videos (both the ones where they made pretty looking realistic cities, and the ones where they fix major traffic problems). It’s a city-building game which lets you have complete control over your urban planning, and the possibilities with mods are pretty endless.
The sad thing is, I don’t think I’m very good at those sorts of games. I’ve picked it up again a few times in the months since, but I think I may have overdosed on it a little.
Best megagame – Red Planet Rising
This is the trickiest category for me. I’ve played in a few online megagames during lockdown, and I don’t enjoy online games as much as physical ones. However, I have played a few good games and the top one for me was Red Planet Rising. I’m not sure I played it well, but I think that RPR struck the right balance for depth of complexity of the plot while still being approachable and engaging.
I understand there were some issues with the map game at the run I went to, but I was on the purely political side and really enjoyed politicking with the other factions.
Honourable mention – Under Pressure
Is it a megagame? Is it a LARP? Who knows, who cares – I was really excited to playtest Under Pressure, set on a submarine during a fictional war.
It was really great to see another game run through Gather.Town, and they did lots of cool things with it. It came on a long way between their first playtest that I attended and the second one at MegaCon, so I’m excited to see where they take it.
Other great games
There are so many other great games I haven’t found space for here – Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Fog of Love, Among Us, Codenames, Running Hot, The Witness, Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, Cosy Killer, Game of Thrones Telltale Game, Spirit Island, Concept… there’s too many to list. But hopefully there’ll be a game or two on here that you fancy the look of.
What cool games have you played over the past year?
Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase through them. You can see my full disclaimer here.