Hey there and welcome to 2016, here's to looking forward to another awesome year of games! Can we top 2015? We will find out. I enjoyed many of the games released last year, as well as getting into a couple from recent years.

Here's my top 5 from 2015:

5. Traders of Osaka

This game has a surprising amount of strategy and interesting scoring mechanics that can keep you entertained for just over 30 minutes. I would also recommend this as an excellent 2 player game. A highlight for me was playing this on the plane encounter to PaxAus in Melbourne.

4. Takenoko

With the release of the Chibis expansion this year, Takenoko really added some depth with the cute little baby pandas to enhance your bamboo growing experience. There are a ton of new rules featuring the female panda and her little chibis running around!

3. Roll for the Galaxy

The sequel to the popular Race for the Galaxy, adds (you guessed it), a ton of pretty and fancy dice to the space collecting game. As someone who is a fan of luck-based games, I really enjoy what the dice bring to this game (even if they don't actually roll what I want them to, most of the time). I've only played a couple with it, but I am also really enjoying the extra dice and mechanics the Ambition expansion adds as well.

2. Concept

This game acts as an excellent filler or party game, and is very inclusive getting every type of gamer involved. It is similar to pictionary, however the pictures are already laid out for you on a board. There have been many games this year which are memorable for some of the crazy connections people have made to make guess their clue.

1. Castles of the Mad King Ludwig

My favourite game this year has been Castles of the Mad King Ludwig. I enjoy building my own crazy little castle, complete with bedrooms, activity rooms, gardens, and maybe even a buttery! There is a bidding mechanic, which mixes it up for players, and plenty of strategy to keep everyone on their toes. For more, you can also check out the Secrets expansion, which adds some swans running around the castle, and a moat!


Some other honorable mention for games that where high on my play list this year were:
- Hanabi Deluxe
- Love Letter Batman
- Tokaido (with Crossroads expansion)
- Splendor
- Settlers of Catan