My Top 10 Tabletop Games

Every serious gamer has a list of favourites, those games he can play over and over again and never grow tired of them. Well, almost never.

Here's my list of the best of the best, not in any particular order; it's tough enough to narrow it down to just 10 without worrying about who comes in first. If you're looking to get into gaming, or just need something new to add to your already-robust collection, these are my suggestions.

Note: I use the term "tabletop" because I'm including board games, card games, and party games, but not video games.

Dragonmaster is out of print and highly sought after. The trick-taking and not-taking mechanism resembles Hearts but is infinitely more satisfying, due to the strategical necessity of choosing the right time to play Staff of Power. And when you're through playing, you can just gaze at the artwork on the cards. Or try some of these Game Variants.

Time's Up is a long party game, but the progressively harder rounds make it well worth it. Start out by describing a famous, or not-so-famous person, progress to giving only a one-word clue, and end up with sounds and body language only. There is also a version where you have to guess titles instead of names, and I enjoy it, but the original is still my favourite. Take a look at the elusive Fourth Round of this game.

No one can beat my brother-in-law at Quacks of Quedlinburg. It's a testimony to the fun of drawing ingredient tokens out of a bag without (you hope) making your cauldron explode that I keep on playing, even when I know I'll lose.

The movement system in Fearsome Floors is great fun, especially when it's the monster that's moving. Try to position your terrified investigators so the creature goes for the other guy and not you.

The goal and gameplay in Villainous is different for each player, so some characters are more fun to use than others. But I can't resist the Disney vibe. Every expansion comes with new villains to try out. Help the Wicked Queen create her potion, or Hades free the Titans, or Ratigan become King of England -- it all depends on which villain you choose. Plus the snippets of dialogue and phrases from my favourite movies printed on the cards give me a Disney thrill.

Tags is probably the best 'see-how-many-you-can-name' party game I've tried. The changing letter tiles ensure the game is different every time, while the ability to pick up unguessed words after your friend has failed makes for lots of bragging rights. And unlike some games, this one is not dumbed down enough to exclude the tough letters. Can't think of a villain who starts with Q? Too bad, I can!

Now here's a game I can win, and often do. Stone Age requires worker placement to get the raw materials to buy cards, tools, farms, and huts that all score victory points. Don't run out of food, or you'll be forced to spend those precious resources to feed your people. There are plenty of different strategies to try. I won't reveal mine, but only say that I'm always up for this game.

I couldn't leave out the Totally Insane Card Game. Think Uno on steroids. Alongside the familiar Reverse and Skip cards you'll find the Totally Useless Card, the This Hand Is Dead card, and everybody's favourite, the This Is Not My Card card. Fun, frenzied, and frustrating, play can take hours or, and this really happened, about a minute and a half. And it's only sold on their official website.

When you first try Puns of Anarchy, you may find it impossible. But don't give up; you'll soon get the hang of it. Alter your cards by writing over parts of the song title, movie, celebrity, or whatever is written there to create phrases that fit the categories. This is easily the best of the "choose-the-funniest-answer" genre, probably because actual creativity is required.

Dixit is a very popular game, and deserves to be. The bizarre but beautiful cards are open to limitless descriptive phrases, but you have to pick the one that only some of your friends will guess. Make it too hard, and you score zero. Make it too easy and you score, you guessed it, zero. Bluff other players with a great card on your opponent's turn and you steal his points. And when the game is over, you can spend a long time just looking through the cards. One caveat: this game has a load of expansions, but some of them have better cards than others. You might want to search the internet for a preview before choosing your expansion.

Making a list of only 10 is exceptionally difficult. I regret having to leave off Fit To Print, Inklings, Last Will, Carcasonne, Wise and Other Wise, Istanbul, Museum Pictura, Galaxy Trucker, and so many others. But too many great games to name just 10 is a plus. So get out there and try these games. You'lll soon have your own list of faves to play again and again.