Ranking My Favourite Stonemaier Games Titles
We’ve had the the privilege of working with many board game publishers over the years on reviews; for many of these publishers, I was playing their games for the first time when review copies arrived at our office, but one specific publisher was in our homes long before we had a review relationship with them. To that end, I thought it would be fitting to rank my favourite Stonemaier Games titles – I have had the privilege of playing them all!
Number 5: Viticulture
I’ve never been a big fan of drinking wine, but games about making wine? Sign me up! I love the flow of this game, placing out workers in one season but making sure you have some leftover for the next. I like upgrading my personal vineyard board with buildings, planting grapes, making the wine, and fulfilling the contracts. The game does a great job of blending worker placement with resource management, card playing and more to create an experience that, despite it’s age, is still one of the best worker placement games of all time, and consistently high on people’s top lists each year.
Number 4: Finspan
When I got Wingspan, I loved Wingspan. When I got Wrymspan, I loved Wrymspan, and liked Wingspan less. When I got Finspan, I knew instantly that it was going to be my favourite of the “span” games. I absolutely love games where cards in your hand are used as resources to play other cards. What I like even more about Finspan is that when you spend those cards and they go into your discard pile, there are various ways to get those cards OUT of your discard pile and back into your hand. This is such a clever mechanism that makes every card you draw valuable in some way. Some you will resource and never use again, but others might be great cards at the end of the game, but not right now. So they have a dual purpose – I’m surprised this type of mechanism isn’t more popular, but it is why Finspan is my favourite in this lineup of games from Stonemaier!
Number 3: Vantage
Vantage wasn’t a game I was expecting to like. I do love an adventure game, but I also love when games have a purpose; Vantage didn’t seem to have that. And it really doesn’t, in fact all you’re doing is exploring and checking out this awesome planet that has been created. I suppose that is the purpose! I think that the game works really well, especially when you play with one or two other people. I feel that if you are looking for something where you can do almost whatever you want and explore this massive planet with so much to do, Vantage is a game you should definitely check out. This one is all about exploration and imagination, and I love it!
Number 2: Rolling Realms
I’m not sure if I’m more impressed with how Rolling Realms plays or how many different games Stonemaier has partnered with to add content into the base game. In Rolling Realms, a set of dice will be rolled that all players will use, and those numbers will be assigned to different “realms” based on board games. It began as cards based on Stonemaier Games, but has expanded considerably over the year. And can almost guarantee that at least one or two of your favourite games is somewhere in the Rolling Realms library. I don’t have all the realms, but I do have a lot. This game is like a really big puzzle where everyone is working with the same information each round. It is how you use that information, however, that sets apart the winners from the losers! It is a simple game with a ton of depth, and one I highly recommend!
Number 1: Charterstone
I have almost completed two complete games of Charterstone – I’ve done 23 plays of this game, and am just one short of finishing the campaign for the second time. Charterstone is a worker placement, expandable region board game where you will send workers, build buildings, open crates, and so much more, all to earn points. This is done over 12 sessions, with each session adding in new concepts, game pieces, and more. Worker placement legacy games aren’t very common, and I think that is what sets Charterstone apart. I’ve played it with two players and with 5 players, and both were great experiences. If you love the allure of opening new things game after game, and love a worker placement experience, than Charterstone is an easy recommendation! It is available digitally as well (see the image)!
Article By Adam
