Design 100 recently asked other game designers what their "hidden gem" games were, but since no one ever asks me anything, I thought I'd create my own list of games you* haven't played:
1. Barbarian Prince by Arnold Hendrick. One of the first "storybook" style games, Barbarian Prince was a sword and sorcery adventure that you could play by yourself. The prince travels a large map encountering monsters and beasts, while looting tombs and wizard towers. Long out of print, Barbarian Prince is available via Print and Play.
2. Vampyre by Phillip Shreffler is the pre-cursor to games like Fury of Dracula and Chill: Blackmoor Manor. A part of TSR's (awesome) micro-game line, this hunt and seek game is very faithful to Bram Stoker's Dracula and features great map and chit art by none other than comic artist/writer Bill Willingham.
3. Bottlecap Vikings by Andy Van Zandt. I don't really care for Vikings as a theme (other than Raiders of the North Seas) but this little rondel based game is very charming and packs a lot of gameplay into a small package.
4. Camp Grizzly by Jason Topolski is one of the most thematic horror games I've ever played. From the fantastic card art by Austin Madison to the multiple endings, if you like 80's slasher movies, you'll find a lot to like in this game.
5. While City of Horror by Nicholas Normandon ends up getting lost among other zombie games like Dead of Winter and Zombicide, I believe it captures the genre better than those other games by focusing on that trope of the living dead genre: humans who act badly when faced with adversity. This unusual mix of area control and voting brings out the worst in humans, making the zombies end up looking downright civilized in comparison.
6. Overshadowed by its big brother Qwirkle, Color Stix, also by Susan McKinley-Ross, is a colorful, fast and simple game with surprising depth. Line up the colored stix to form as many matching sets as possible within a limited time. Sounds easy, but it is addictive and great fun.
7. Fearsome Floors by Friedemann Friese is a wacky semi-cooperative game where players play a deadly game of hide and seek against a monster. The AI that drives the monster is quite robust despite its simplicity and the graphics by Lars-Arne Kalusky are delightfully daffy. Watch out for the blood slick!
8. In God Dice by Rick Maxey, players are fantasy warriors in mortal combat. Roll dice to make combinations and unleash powerful attacks. A simple game with surprisingly deep strategy is worth tracking down.
9. Qwixx by Stephen Bennedorf is the classic roll and write. Everyone gets to participate, even when it's not their turn. The dice selection mechanic is simple but filled with great choices.
10. Kung Pao Chicken by Ta-Te Wu is a great alternative to Werewolf. Players guess to whether a player is a chicken or a fox but the hilarity this game generates is a testament to its deceptively simple design.
* probably
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