I'm doing a bit of reorganizing over the Thanksgiving break, and had the idea to put all of my favorite board games (and the ones I most want to play soon) on a single shelf. Feast your eyes on this tower of gaming!

I've included a few words where possible why a game is on the Shelf of Honor.

Headers link to the BGG profile for that game.

From top left to bottom left:

Eminent Domain with Escalation & Exotica Expansions

Eminent Domain is a neat deckbuilder, I recently played it at the weekly Google BGNYC meetup and was able to win with a zero-military, all prestige worlds strat. It's on this shelf not because it's a huge favorite, but because I'm very interested in trying out the Escalation and Exotica. I backed Exotica on KS and they really did a beautiful job with the packaging.

The Gallerist

I saw Victor demoing this game at Essen, and was blown away by the aesthetics. Really a beautiful looking game, I love the theme and the mechanics. I missed the chance to buy it at Essen but snapped it up as soon as it was available in the states.

Melee

I have not played this one yet, though it looks fun. I backed it on Kickstarter because I'm a big fan of fellow brooklynite Rikki Tahta, who demoed his new game COUP for me many Essens ago. I still have my signed copy of the original edition.

Minerva

I'm a sucker for Japon Brand \ Okzau releases, always stop by their booth when I'm at essen. Haven't tried this one yet, but the reviews look great. Tile laying, mythology, and city building are all categories I love.

CHAOS IN THE OLD WORLD with Horned Rat

Probably my favorite game of all time. I'll never turn down a chance to play it. A sublime Eric Lang game, absolutely vicious. It's a shame the future of this title is in jeopardy with the FFG\GW split, I see copies of the expansion going for hundreds on amazon. I wouldn't part with my battered, bloodied first edition for any price.

Archipelago - With War & Peace

The Fury of Dracula (Third edition)

I haven't tried the third edition yet! I enjoyed the second edition immensely, a great thematic deduction game, perfect for a dark and stormy night. Very interested to see how the mechanic changes work out.

Abyss with Kraken

A fast, pretty Bruno Cathala game that was one of my favorites of last year. Have not yet had a chance to play the Kraken expansion and eagerly anticipating it.

Cry Havoc

One of the three games I'm very exicted to try. Deckbuilding, asymmetrical factions, area control and a SF theme? Sign me up. Eager to compare and contrast with City of Remnants, another favorite on this list.

1775 Rebellion

Freedom: The Underground Railroad

A couple of award winning games from Academy Games I'm looking forward to. Haven't played anything in their catalog yet, though I've heard good things about Mare Nostrum and Conflict of Heroes

Clash of Cultures

I'm a huge fan of Marcussen's other game Merchants & Marauders. This is a good light civ game. Sadly the expansion for Clash of Cultures is out of print and currently going for $450 on amazon!

Tyrants of the Underdark

Really looking forward to this one. Have heard good things!

Village of Familiar

Forbidden Stars

This is the one REALLY long game that I want to get played in the near future. Huge fan of the premise.

Blood Rage with Mystics of Midgard & Gods of Asgard

Another Eric Lang I love. Really enjoyed this one, a very different feel than Chaos but still great in its own way.

Exoplanets

I ran into these guys at the big combined Polish publishing table at the 2015 Essen and they ran a great demo of this. Really like the art direction.

CITY OF REMNANTS

One of my favorite games, and one that reminds me of the Classic CHAOS OVERLORDS, this is a combative asymmetrical deckbuilder about gangers struggling to be top of the top of the rat pile after being rudely dumped on a barren slumworld. I really enjoy this one, flaws and all and I'm sad it didn't sell well so there will never be an expansion.

Ascending Empires

This is similar to Catacombs, but I like it more. The starship flicking mechanic is super fun. I might someday make a more permanent board for this.

Fortress America

Love this theme, South America, Europe, and Asia all create coalitions to attack and wipe out the United States. A 3v1 game. Hope to bring this ameritrash classic out soon.

Tash Kalar with Everfrost & Nethervoid

I really like the base mechanic to this game, the abstract formation creation and the potential for 2v2 teamplay is awesome.

Through The Ages - New Edition

Haven't had a chance to try the new edition yet!

War of the Ring

Surprised to see this one is already up to $150 on Amazon, seems like the reprint wasn't too long ago!

And Now from the Bottom right to the top Right

THE GMT BLOCK

Dominant Species

Labyrinth

1989

Space Empires

Manoeuvre

Twilight Struggle

Love these games, but they are hard to get to the table!

Castaways

This is similar to Robinson Crusoe but I actually like the rules to Castaways a little bit better. Would like to do a video comparing two playthroughs

Wiz War

It's the eighth edition... for a good reason! A classic wizard brawler with some amazing interactions. Never fails to get a good laugh.

Warrior Knights

Another out of print FFG. This one is a little complicated to get going, but the payoff is big.

Merchants & Marauders with Seas of Glory

In my top 10, not for mechanics, but for theme. I spent countless hours as a kid playing Sid Meier's Pirates! In glorious 4 color CGA. This game is as close as you can come to recapturing that feeling in a board game.

Confusion

A tense 2p hidden information game with some awesome bakelite hidden info tiles.

Spartacus with Serpents and the Wolf and The Shadow of Death

Despite the hokey license, Spartacus is actually a great gladiator themed game. The combat imo is the dragging point, I'd love to see a system that was simplified.

The Bloody Inn

Picked this one up last essen, still haven't tried it! It's an engine builder about murdering hotel guests for fun and profit.

1960: The Making of the President

This is a great evening-long 2p game, the theme is really well done.

Attika

I have no clue why this one is out of print. About the same complexity as Settlers, but far, far more satisfying and interesting.

Hansa Teutonica

One of the first route builders that really clicked for me. Love this game.

Patchistory

For a while Patchistory was SUPER HOT, then they apparently reprinted way too many and now it's super not. I still haven't had a chance to play it!

Pax Porifiana

Unobtainable for the longest time, I finally picked this up at essen 2015 in the collector's edition

Cyclades with Hades and Titans

I really enjoy Cyclades, have not had a chance to try Titans yet. A perfect auction\area control mashup.

Cornish Smuggler

Love the antiquated look and theme of this one

Inis

Extremely excited to try this one on. I had worried that the tiles would look hokey, but in person it works.

Kemet with Tau Seti

Love Kemet. The use of giant D4s for the pyramids was genius. It does a great job of incentivizing combat.

Giants

Hegemonic

The End of the Triumvirate

I swear I've read the rules to End of The Triumvirate at least twice and a 4th person has shown up each time. It's cursed!

Clank!

On my top 5 want-to-plays, very interested to see how they do a deckbuilding dungeon delver. I'm still playing DREAM QUEST just about every day.

If you enjoyed this rundown, you might also enjoy Xan & Ink, my weird, yet awesome new fantasy novel. There's a scene in it where the hapless adventurers play a tile laying game as they wait for their doom!

Buy it here on Amazong, or you can buy a signed copy from me in my Store!