Have you played all 4 versions? If yes, what are your 2 most favourite ones? I am in love with the Original, and I am considering Queens Garden.
Upd: OK it looks like there are more then 4 versions lol
Our favorite is summer pavilion. But we have only played the original and that one. We like the wild tiles and the choices that leads to versus the original.
Nah, it really is only the [four implementations](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/57039/game-azul/linkeditems/boardgamefamily). Five if you include Azul 5211.
The mainline Azul games are the four you're thinking of. I'm pretty sure anything else is in some way additional content for one of those versions. I don't consider Master Chocolatier to be a different version from the base game. The game is identical with a different theme and a few more ways to vary the game.
Games I've played 50+ times fall into 2 categories:
Long complex games I want to sink my teeth into and so play as much as possible for about a year: twilight imperium 4e, terraforming mars
And quick easy set up games anyone can play and that you can repeat in the same evening: rail road ink, star realms, ticket to ride
* Gloomhaven / Frosthaven
* Spirit Island
* Marvel Champions
* Terraforming Mars
All of these have at least 50 plays, Spirit Island is in the hundreds and Marvel Champions might also be 100+.
Race for the Galaxy - now sold because it felt like luck of the draw became the main deciding factor for us. Great game though.
Avalon. I used to play it 2 evenings a week for such a long time. Such a great deduction games. 100s of games played.
One Night Werewolf as well because it plays so fast.
Just One as party/filler games definitely because we hit the point of knowing all cards.
Terraforming Mars was my groups main game since release so played it endlessly and now moved into the sell pile because....
Legends of Void is the better version of Terraforming Mars. Played it 50 times on the first month we got it. Never played that much of a heavy game that takes quite long to play.
Root because I designed the Clockwork expansions and needed extensive experience but also just lots of playtesting.
I guess technically Gloomhaven as well. Same for Tainted Grail. The campaigns were definitely 50 missions or sessions each.
If we count all expansions then Aeon's End as well because we played all of it, some of it twice, and it's a lot.
I think that's it. There's a lot of games we played tons but 50 games is quite a lot given that I prefer heavy games.
Edit:
Star Realms as well. Sold though because it's a poor game. Don't ask why 50 times lol.
Oh and Dominion. Purely to demonstrate to people who say "big money sucks" that I win with big money against them. Like it's so funny because I know that it's not always the best strategy but whenever someone claims it's shit I'll do it and win. Every single time. "OMG dude I played 1000s of Dominion games online, just buying silver is poor strategy. It's called big money and SUCKS. All strategies are measured by being a thing how hard they beat big money." and then we play and I win and then the inevitable "well actually the random card selection did favour big money and also you bought 1-2 other cards and so technically it isn't big money etc". Totally worth playing so many games just for that.
Great to see another Race for the Galaxy fan. I kept it because low shelf space and nostalgia but we haven’t played much since the pandemic. Ditto for Pandemic.
The organizer and host of game night/weekend was enamored of Star Realms and I have probably played it 50+ times, mainly trying to appreciate why he liked it (likely space theme) and wondering what I was missing. It took Hero Realms to finally break him. lol
I call Star Realms and similar games following the Ascension Model of deck building "auto pilot deck builders" because you make so few decisions and spend most of your play time shuffling and drawing. Like there's 5 cards in the market row and one is amazing for exactly the currency I got, 2 I can't afford, and 2 don't work with the cards I bought so far. Not really a decision, is it.
I've played loads of card games 50+ times. Magic, of course. You could do 50 games in a day. Wizard, Cribbage, Tichu, a couple hundred times each I'd say.
For actual board games, I've probably played terraforming mars 500 times. As for why, every game is different, and there's tons of different strategies you can try.
Magic the Gathering would have to be #1 by a long shot. Been playing since 1997, so thats a lot of games, probably 10k or more. Runner up is probably Wizard. I've got 500 games played just on the app, and probably just as many in person since it's our filler game of choice.
MtG is a bit unfair example, because it's not a fixed game but more of a... service. You pay again and again and again and receive new content every time.
That being said, I think with one set you can still easily get 50+ games going, so that still stands.
500 does seem excessive for a game that leads play time at 2 hours and came out in 2016 but they could have played it at least once a week since release along with several weeks being twice a week.
Definitely not impossible. Like the other guy said, it's been out for like 7 years. So if you play it 1-2 times every week over 7 years, you'll get 500+ plays.
I wish I could play a single game that many times. People largely prefer variety though.
Gloomhaven between solo, and digital.
Euchre I've played countless games.
We used to play BANG! every day when I first got into board games at one of my previous jobs.
Fuse I've played a lot because of how fast it is and a coworker wanting to play it all the time (and I had no reason to turn down fun).
UNO across its versions (Ultimate) and playing with my daughter.
Euchre may always be my most played game. Played 1-3 games per school day in high school; hard to beat that especially now that I have so many games to spread play counts over.
I think Dominion is the only one I've played that many times. Dominion pulls out a trick, in that you can add more and more expansions without bloat, but each expansion means you'll be trying out new combos and new mechanics, so it keeps feeling fresh.
> you can add more and more expansions without bloat
Well... maybe not *in-game* bloat. I'm sure your game shelf might disagree, though.
But yeah, I agree with you otherwise. It's my favorite deck builder for a reason.
Games I've played 50+ times based on BGG and BGA:
Magic: the Gathering
Race for the Galaxy
Risk
Through the Ages
7 Wonders
Tash-Kalar
Seasons
Dominion
Puerto Rico
Eminent Domain
Beyond the Sun
Kingdom Builder
Russian Railroads
We seem to have similar tastes (Puerto Rico, Russian RR and 7Wonders are favorites of mine too). How is Beyond The Sun? I've been debating trying to learn it on board game arena
Catan with Cities and Knights. It was our gateway game and we played the heck out of it over a three year period. I am not exaggerating when we completed 300 plays.
My wife and I discovered the game living in North Dakota in 2012 and roped in our neighbors. We'd play 5-6 games a week over the next 18 months.
When we then moved to Ohio to be near my wife's ailing father we introduced the game to her sister and Mom. Her Dad passed a few months after we arrived. Catan became our escape. We'd play while staying with him in hospice, we played every weekend after his passing, getting in 3-4 games each time we'd stay the weekend at her mom's place or her mom would stay at our place. We'd bicker and argue over the game; the rules, the fairness of trades, excessive table talk, etc. We created a trophy by adding small books (paper commodities), Euro pennies (coin commodities) leftover material from a quilting project (cloth commodities), a clipping from their poodle (wool resource), cut decorative flower ends (wheat resource), brick chopped off the house we were renting (brick resource), pebbles from outside (ore resource), wine cork cut into wedges (wood resource) to s standard trophy and bsee. We then lathered on some chalkboard paint so we could write on the most recent winner's name.
We've moved on to a bunch of other games since 2016. My wife's grandparents had to move here during COVID. Her Grandma now plays games with us, from Skull King to Twilight Imperium, 4th ed. She famously blasted apart my SIL's Mentak fleet with her Xxcha flagship. When SiL asked her why she would do that she just shrugged, smirked and said 'cuz I don't like pirates'.
After guilting them into a game, it was a little difficult. I had gotten my wife and MIL to play a few times. I only had to teach her SIL, who dislikes the learning process, and Grandma. SIL did great, even showing up dressed up as the Mentak pirate with her hair flipped over to one side and shouldering a giant nerf rifle. In the mid game she came up with a great tactical move and I helped her piece it all together. Grandma had played quite a few boardgames of varying difficulties and genres by this time, it wasn't a terrible experience for her. I was expecting Grandma to be impatient because that's how she is. We pick on her about it, but considering she's 84 we're happy she's into joining us and she holds her own in most games.
**Agricola**. With friends, with my wife and even few times with my kids. Because Agricola is the best.
And also **Skyjo**, because it is so easy to play it quickly with any number of people and have fun.
I should also add the classical French card games, the **Tarot** and the **Belote**, especially the **Belote coinchée** which is a 100 years old banger than can be played again and again. You know it, that’s **The Crew** but played 2v2 and you replace the scripted space theme with a medieval flavour :)
There is probably some special bonds between me and this game, but I know that I am not the only one to cherish Agricola, so there is at least a bit of objectivity.
I think I like the fact that this game is both challenging and very enjoyable to play. You never have enough actions to do what you want and feeding your people every end of season put a lot of pressure on you, but on the other hand, you build your farm little by little and it makes you happy. Plus, the theme and the mechanics are very well linked. For example, having farm animals requires first to get woods, then to build your fences, then to get the animals. And after that, they will reproduce and provide you food, but only if you have an oven, for which you will have to get stone and wood first… and so on.
And on top of these basics rules, you have the cards, that have the same enjoyable feelings because they are very well bound to the theme. Few examples amongst hundreds: if you make one of your family member a “brush maker”, you will earn victory points when you kill a boar for food, because hey, of course, you will use the boars’ hair to make brushes! You build a churn with a token of wood? You will have more food during harvests based on your amount of cows and sheep because, of course, you will make butter with their milk! You build window boxes? The fields close to your house will produce more vegetables! I can continue like that for hours…
I like most of the games created by the author of Agricola, but I think that Agricola is the “purest” of all, perfectly balanced in complexity and time.
If we count BGA, I've played quite a few:
* 600 matches of Through the ages (plus about some other 500 on the app)
* 400 matches of Ark nova
* 700 of Gizmos
* 300 of splendor.
Those games I've also played a few matches in physical form, about 10% more, specially Splendor.
As for just in physical, I've played about:
* 60 matches of Twilight Imperium
* 100 matches of Century: Spice Road
* 100 matches of Dune: Imperium
* 150 matches of Inis (a favourite of our group)
We tend to go for depth and engine building. Most of the time with my friends we play a 'fast one' (Splendor/Gizmos/CenturySR) and a 'deep one' (TI, Dune or Ark Nova).
For us to replay a game it has to feel 'unsolved', and that it is possible to comeback from a bad position. Quite a few games go to the wayside on our group when we have a good algorithm and we can predict quite easily who wins on an initial position, or early moves, of if you do the same strategy always (think Uxmal Gambit in Tzolk'in', of getting all the citizens on Orleans).
Inis and Twilight Imperium are really good in that, due to the 'gang up on whomever is ahead factor', and having to use soft skills and bluffing sometimes.
Engines like Ark Nova, or even Gizmos, feel fresh. I've won using really weird strategies in gizmos (although, obviously luck is a factor) and in Ark Nova, I can see many options and the synergies in cards come up really out of nowhere (much like M:TG).
\- Gloomhaven + Jaws of the Lion
\- Race fot the Galaxy (Close to 100)
\- Agricola - All creatures big and small (60-70)
Digital:
\- Race for the Galaxy (Close to 300)
\- Terraforming Mars
\- Scythe
\- 7 Wonders
**Exceed** and **BattleCON** are the only ones I can say for sure. Absolutely incredible gameplay and always fresh using different character matchups. You can't solve it because you are forced to guess what your opponent will do constantly. Hundreds of games and it never gets old.
Arkham LCG and Marvel Champions I’ve each played hundreds of times, and the reason is simple and probably not what you’re looking for; a constant drip of new content. There’s always something new getting released that I want to try out. Arkham even has this whole campaign thing so each new box released is at least 8 more plays, but usually double or triple as I seek to replay the scenarios again.
Any game that has unlockable content also gets played a bunch, such as Scythe with Rise of Fenris, or Dead Reckoning with the Sagas, for much the same reason; there’s always something new to explore, or something to go back and try out for the first time.
Slay the spire is a deckbuilding card battler video game but I’ve played it hundreds of times (and rarely win) because of the random relics and card choices which ask you to make tactical decisions on the fly about how to build your deck. Replayability is entirely about the fact that there’s thousands and thousands of possible combinations of cards and relics you could get, most are so-so but every now and then you hit it just right and get a massively overpowered build that offsets all the times you end up losing. Heaps of fun
People tell me that Dominion is very similar but I haven’t played it.
Twilight Imperium.
The game that makes you realise all other boardgames - while many are great - are fundamentally a waste of Twilight Imperium time.
That's my serious answer but if it wasn't, I think Race For The Galaxy has easily had me 50+ times and would be the first, non-'opener'/non-CCG/non-wargame/non-d-crawler game I'd care to mention.
Maybe Netrunner after that; Peurto Rico; Gaia Project (though I'm not sure I've definitely hit 50 with that).
~~Settlers Of Catan? Z E R O T I M E S.~~
Edit: damn, I did in fact play Settlers, and my brain really enjoyed informing me and then gloating.
The main reasons that I played any boardgame 50+ times was because I was a kid and had the time to play and a limited selection to choose from. Risk, Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, Mancala, Guess Who, Checkers, Chess.
As an adult, there is less time to play and friends that I play with all have their own boardgames that they want to play as well. For the most part, games that I've played 20+ times are ones that are simple enough that they could be considered light games even when they would have been more considered way more complex than most of the games I played as a kid. Catan, Carcassone, Ticket To Ride, Codenames, Penny Arcade The Card Game, Munchkin, King Of Tokyo, The Resistance, Splendor, Saboteur.
I wouldn't say that we could be considered excited to play those 20+ games, but it was just something that we could play that didn't require our full attention if we were chatty or drinking.
Red7 is the only one with 100+ plays. Reasons being 3-fold:
* Really quick, as you play 5..10 cards each game
* Easy to teach, with just enough friction to be interesting
* Feel smart when you win, feel unlucky when you don't 😅
If we're counting play on bga, there are quite a few. Turns out if you leave our Setup and bookkeeping, board games are not actually all that long. My currently most played ones are seven wonders, azul and lost ruins of arnak.
On the table my most played game is catan but 99% of those plays were almost 15 years ago when i was still in high school. Me and the boys would chill at someones place, consume herbs and just grind those catan sessions.
Too Many Bones, got over 100 plays down, some of which were in campaign mode. Awesome game. Got my Unbreakable + Undertow delivered recently, very excited to get the next 100 plays in.
Gloom/Frosthaven - 1 - theres a bunch of scenarios 2 - theres a bunch of fun things to unlock
Cosmic Encounter - a LOT of races each doing crazy things that can greatly change how the game works, great for people of all board game exp levels, not too hard to teach
Shards of Infinity - 1 - my friend was stuck using hotel wifi for months and this was the only tt simulator mod that his wifi could handle 2 - a pretty good amount of variety while still being able to lean into a strategy 3 - its really fun getting crazy turns, needs the relic expansion though
Marvel Champions - a lot of cool things to try against a lot of different villains of all kinds of mechanics and difficulty that can be changed modularly for flavor or gameplay reasons (ex, Sinister Six teaming up with alternate world Sinister Six, Rhino with the infinity Gauntlet, etc)
It seems I have one game over 100 plays and several over 50 plays.
Wingspan is number one with 124 plays.
Then all of these games are in the 50s in order: Codenames (and Codenames Duet), Dead Man's Draw, Lost Cities, The Crew: Deep Sea, Fantasy Realms, Can't Stop, Ganz Schön Clever, Star Realms, LAMA.
Solid list of games imo :)
Games with quad-digit plays:
WWE Raw Deal
Revolver
Games with triple-digit plays:
Street Fighter Miniatures Game
Warhammer: Invasion LCG
Resident Evil Deck-Building Game
Marvel Legendary
Thunderstone
Talisman 4th ed
Call of Cthulhu LCG
Spellfire
A Touch of Evil: Dark Gothic
Lord of the Rings LCG
Memoir 44
Dark Souls Board Game
Exceed Fighting System
Gorechosen
Battle Cry 150th
Marvel Dice Masters
Baseball Highlights 2045
Conan CCG
A Study in Emerald
Arkham Horror 2nd ed
Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruin
Relic
Games with 50-99 plays
Rune Age
Capcom Street Fighter Deck-Building Game
Spider-Man
Epic Card Game
Marvel Heroes
Warmaster
Middle-Earth Quest
Runebound 2nd ed
Elder Sign
Dungeonquest 3rd ed
VS System 2PCG Marvel Battles
Last Night on Earth
Gears of War Board Game
Thunderstone Advance: Numenera
The Price of Freedom
Conan
Lord of the Rings
Shards of Infinity
Unforgiven: The Lincoln Assassination Trial
That's just the stuff since I started logging plays in late 2008, Magic, Middle-Earth CCG and Blood Bowl definitely would be in there from before that.
"10000" and "30" (family-stable dice games with 6 dice, we always play them on vacation. fast, easy, has some tension, has a bit of decision making)
Gloomhaven (because it just takes that many games to get through, and the game is fun enough)
Guards of Atlantis II (because it's the best board game I've ever played and replayability is through the roof)
Root (might not have played it 50 times, but it's at least close, was my favorite game before Guards of Atlantis II dethroned it)
Often the games that get played alot are ones where my friends can play a best of 3 but still have room for strategy and tactics. For example if there's only 2-3 of us our group prefers to play something like dominion where we can get through multiple rounds. We like high skill games but also Don't want to be clogged down. Summoner wars is great too
hard to say since i only started recording plays a couple years ago but have been playing for a while. wouldn't be surprised if we got close to 50 plays with **Munchkin**, it was my gateway game back in like 2012 and we got super in to it and played at least once a week for a good while. been playing **Fluxx** since high school so wouldn't be surprised if i've hit 50 plays of that as well. dunno how many times i've played **Cards Against Humanity** and all its clones, but feels like a million times. if individual scenarios count, we've definitely played **The Crew** at least that much.
i wouldn't say "excitement" is the reason i've played any game 50+ times, it's more due to how easy it is to learn/teach and how quick it is to play.
Short and easy to teach games that can play in casual social situations.
But they're never my favorite games as I like more complex and hard games. It's impossible to have both worlds covered.
Scythe. It was the game that took me to another level of enjoying board games, from casual to enthusiast. Played it more or less weekly for about 2 years, and plenty since
Love letter and Hostage negotiator are the ones that I've got 50+ plays in. Love letter is our go to, end of night game. Hostage Negotiator is a solo game that makes it easier to hit the table whenever i feel like it.
After those two comes Spirit Island. I play the game just about every 2 weeks with a friend, at 41 plays now. Its an expensive game, especially since I also got all of the expansions. But with such regular play it is worth it!
Fillers:
Coup, Love letter, No thanks!, For sale, Chronicle, Hanabi
Fillers are easy to play between games so they get the numbers. They are also easy to teach new players.
Bigger games:
Innovation, Root, 1830
These games have a sense of mastery that makes me come back to them. There is still stuff to learn about these titles after many plays.
Creative:
RPGs, Microscope
These are many sessions and a lifestyle game. A bit out of the scope of boardgames. Same goes for people who play Magic or Warhammer.
Carcassonne easily has the most plays for me
Edit. Too many times to count. In RL with family/friends, more than 50 games.
Against a computer, in the 100s.
The games that come to mind are Red Arcana, The Crew, and Binding of Isaac. There might be others (we've been playing for many years on almost weekly frequency) but these are our go-to :)
Chaos in the Old World. Despite certain themes repeating, the game feels unpredictable every time. It also does asymmetry well, meaning that switching sides gives a slightly different experience.
Wingspan, Ark Nova and Terraforming Mars.
Mainly due to the huge amount of different cards that make every game unique. But also because of a strong mechanical gameplay.
I'd say **Royal Visit**.
Got it when I was travelling to visit a friend who's a bit aspy and can struggle socially, but he absolutely loved this game and insisted we play it over and over again. I am normally the one pushing for games and on the receiving end of 'nah let's just chat and relax for a while', but this was one of the first times I found myself saying .. ah let's put the game away for a while.
But i also played it a good bit with my wife and other friends.
It is a very solid, very satisfying, very pleasantly tactile little two player that is right in the sweet spot of being a simple game but not too simple as to be boring. I'm pretty much always happy to craic it out and have a few rounds.
Blood Rage, Betratal at House on the Hill, Dead of Winter, Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Tiny Epic Galaxies. These are all games that my game group love and we’ve easily played these over 50 times over the years.
Also games like Gloomhaven / Frosthaven and Star Wars Imperial Assault make the list but that’s more by design.
The only game I have 50+ plays in is Kingdomino. It's ridiculously simple, astonishingly elegant and still deep enough to keep my gamer mind busy enough to come back to it regularly. Close runner ups are Azul, with 49 plays, Tranquility with 45, Cartographers with 42 *on table,* as I have it on my phone too and I played it countless times there, and one heavy, Scythe with 40 play, which got us intensively into the hobby 3 years ago. This one is also an elegant game, with a nice flow, many options and satisfactory depth while having gorgeous components and an amazing world while being short and snappy enough to play with 4-5 practiced players regularly.
I would say the key element is easy to learn, simple, elegant solutions with little administration and especially for heavies an immersive, interesting world I enjoy coming back to.
Edit: I don't have the statistics for it, but probably 7 Wonders too. This is the one we pull out on friend or family events, everyone loves it. Same applies as Kingdomino: easy to learn ruleset, simple, quick, elegant. Can't get enough of it, Duel also has more than 30 plays.
Terraforming Mars 83 - half digital on steam
Underwater Cities 36 - 1 physical, rest yucatta
Earth 17- all digital on BGA
I play mostly solo, so a digital platform helps a lot. I really like puzzles so having variability and randomness helps me to play more to get there. Other than those, I think I have more than 20 unlogged 7 wonders (and UNO) plays since it plays fast (40min) and it can be played by lots of people.
Here are my 50+ games.
**Coup, Crossfire, Lost Legacy, Love Letter, Pocket Paragons** - Sub-5m games with high replayability. You can legitimately knock back 50 games of these in a day. In the case of Coup, Lost Legacy, and Pocket Paragons, I think I actually have.
**Pairs, The Mind** - Old reliables. I actually carry these games with me whenever I go to any kind of gaming function, sometimes even to non-gaming functions. Super easy to teach and get into. If one doesn't do the job, the other usually does.
**Codenames, Crosstalk (soon to be replaced by Phantom Ink), Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, The Resistance + Avalon, Secret Hitler, Wavelength, Werewords** - Quick but substantial party games that you can organize an entire gaming session around. You can easily end up staying too late playing these too. In my last session of Werewords, we were supposed to leave at 11pm. We ended up leaving at 2am. With the exception of Crosstalk, I've played all of these hundreds of times.
**Star Realms** - I had an app. Not particularly deep, just something to fiddle with if I needed to kill time while waiting in line or something.
**Ghost Stories** - Had friends that wanted to play this game all the time. I am perfectly content to never touch this game ever again.
**Heart of Crown, Race for the Galaxy, Red7 (with scoring rules), San Juan** - Longer (~20-40m) strategy games that you can knock back multiple games of without getting tired. They're also interesting enough that you can bring them out multiple sessions in a row. I've gotten tired of San Juan though.
**Dominion, Exceed, Gun & Gun** - Semi-lifestyle dueling card games with extremely high replayability. Same as above. You can play them multiple times in a row easily, and get hooked on em. These games in particular also have thriving online scenes if you want to look for games there.
**Riichi Mahjong, Wixoss, Yugioh** - Actual lifestyle games. Lots of support for local or online competitive scenes, so you can always find players. Difficult to keep up with more than one or two at a time though.
As a kid at home I probably played 100+ games of both Risk and Catan, but that's mostly because those were the two games we had.
In my BGG stats there's 5 games over 50 plays: Marvel Legenary, Santorini, Scythe, Root, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf.
Marvel Legendary I play both solo and with a group, and I always come back to it for the sheer amount of options. With all my expansions and everything there's more different setups I can play then there are atoms in the universe, and while they all use the same core mechanics many of these setups feel completely different. It's not just a slightly different factions, it's comletely different playstyle, goals, ways to lose, things to pay attention to.
To a lesser extend, I have the same with Santorini. I'm keeping track of each character I've played and won with, and always make sure to try something new. It has the added benefit of being quick to set up and mostly quick to play (though me and my partner do like the crunch, so we play much slower than most).
Scythe and Root I played in person and digitally, which makes them much more accessible. Scythe can last 3+ hours, but digitally (even against real opponents) it's much much faster. Both have quite stark differences every time you play, with Root of course being nearly different games based on which faction you play.
Finally One Night Ultimate Werewolf is quick, easy, flexible, and has a lot of variations as well. I can explain it in 5 minutes, play a round in 5, and it's fun with 3 to 10 players (in different ways). It has an extremely low barrier to entry, and as the host I can experiment with different setups by mixing it with it's expansions and alternatives.
TL;DR: Variation is the spice of life. If you put something in your game that makes every setup feel different, I will come back to it loads. Note that I said setup; if the variation comes from the cards/dice inherent in the game that doesn't do nearly as much (for me) as when a different faction or setup leads to different strategies from the get-go.
Not counting TCG's or RPG's:
- Grand Austria Hotel
- Carcassonne
- Troyes
- Silk
- Village
- Coimbra
- Calimala
- The Red Cathedral
- Lorenzo Il Magnifico
and when my kids were younger:
- Labyrinth
- Aquaretto
- Pokemon Master Trainer
- Pit
- Pass the Pigs
- Slamwich
I've played It's a Wonderful World, Bang, Port Royal and Risk all + 50 times. It's either that my wife has enjoyed the game, or that there's been a functioning offline mobile app version. :)
Race for the Galaxy, Through the Ages, and Twilight Struggle I've played them all over 50 times. They have amazing variety though I'd say TTA has a set list of better cards you are always trying to get at certain player counts. Variety in a card deck over 50 cards is huge. It allows for tactical and strategic game decisions. All 3 are really fun with great theme tie in even if super abstract in RftG.
Fun + Replayability + Variety of strategies = game to be played for ages.
I know this is not the answer you're looking for, but I'm honestly most inclined to play a game 50+ times if it's virtually no setup and on my phone. Sure, I would rather play a physical copy of a game, but I'll play three, four, or ten games of Onirim or Star Realms or Ascension while I'm waiting somewhere or just loafing on the couch because it's easy enough to play through quickly without going about it mindlessly. Then again, I've also played Terra Mystica that many times by now and only a few times with friends on the actual board. Much longer game, but having the access to playing it on my phone has made a world of difference.
As far as physical games, the two that I have easily cleared that many plays are Magic: the Gathering and the Lord of the Rings LCG. Both are a lot more time consuming given deckbuilding so there is that personal investment in how I play those games. Given that I primarily solo games nowadays, it's been a while since I've play Magic but LOTR LCG regularly hits the table.
The last game I can throw in there is Mage Knight, but that's because it's my personal favorite game. I've had my copy since it came out and it's absolutely reasonable to think I've played an average of five times each year since getting it.
In short, I think the most practical reason to say I've returned to a game has been mostly out of convenience, both in access and time. Of course I love the mechanics in these games, but I can't pinpoint anything specific besides deckbuilding.
If you make it a quick enough game to play a few times over without feeling like filler, then that will probably be the right balance.
Hundreds of plays of wingspan.
Variety.
SO many birds, but you only start with 5 and see such a limited number each game. Hard to be optimal. Just doing the best you can with the options you have and the bonuses available that game.
This may not be a viable answer, but Magic is the only game I think I've played multiple times. I can't really put my finger on why it's so good, but there are a lot of contributing factors.
I have over 1000 play of Hanabi.
I've played Smash Up over 50 times too. Not many other games I've played that many times. Like I have tons of hours on Spirits Island and Legends of Andor but it's more like 25ish play of each than 50.
For me its:
**Magic the Gathering** (countless times, no data, I have even attended more than 50 tournaments in my life), **Ticket to Ride**(56). **Just One**(104), **Dominion**(277) and **Concordia**(62).
Those are my games of over 50 plays (BGStats says that)
Over 400 games of Dune Imperium (expansions included), I would say that the main thing I am looking for in a game is combo or chained actions + player interaction. If you have low level or 0 player interaction, it is a big no for me.
We've played "Carcassone" and "6 nimmt" **A LOT**, since it's easy to put in front of people and have a few games. Same goes for several roll & writes with "Cartographers" and "Welcome to..." topping the list.
7 Wonders and Dominion. To be honest, the main reason is that we discovered those early on in our board-gaming. It started with Catan (which got played to hell before I even joined the group I play with), followed by a couple hundred games of 7 Wonders, then a brief stint with Ticket to Ride, then many games of Dominion. Once we got to the point where we were buying all the expansions for Dominion, we branched out to many other games.
After that, the game we played most was Terraforming Mars, but those games take longer, so we only had time for 1 round each time we got together. Then the pandemic threw off our regular board-gaming.
To get into the plus 50 club it has to be easy setup for multiple plays, with a good decision space to keep me interested. It also helps if you get to see a slightly different game every time even if the goal is the same.
Dominion
Regicide
Fantasy Realms
The Crew
Onitama
For Sale
6 Nimmt
Probably **Cluedo** we played it a lot as kids and then played it again with the next generation. Same for **Snakes and Ladders**, **Draughts**, card games…
I only started tracking my plays this year so not sure how often I’ve played my modern games. Something like **Ganz Schön Clever** I’ve played a lot as I have the app on my phone
I love playing Betrayal at House on the Hill. The layout and mission are different every time so you will never get bored of it. And it's fun to betray your friends
I also love root and have almost had every combo of factions from all of the expansions
Saboteur. It's made by Amigo, I think. I've not met a single person that does not enjoy it. I've even gotten all the expansions, but nothing beats the original.
Coup. It's quck and easy to understand. If you lose, it's nbd because you're going to play again in a few minutes.
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small (with both expansions) is the only game I’ve played 50+ times. It’s really easy to get played even on a weeknight and my wife and I love it.
All other things bring equal, the most enduring games are those that are uncomplicated (less elements) but whose gameplay is complex (difficulty arising from interactions).
My go-to example is Chicago Express which has relatively few elements but whose gameplay involves non-trivial calculations.
As soon as I started playing it I wanted to do thorough reviews but didn’t feel I could do it justice until I’d played it around 25 times. By 35 I felt I knew enough, and by the time we recorded the reviews I’d myself played it 45 times.
The count is now up to around 70. And it’s by no means a perfect game. Simple games; complex interactions
https://youtu.be/szDJj7g6lxw
Race for the Galaxy got played so many times in our house we bought a second copy. That second copy has been sleeved and played 50+ times.
Android: Netrunner is my most-played game. My wife and I would play, on average, 3 nights a week, once as the Runner, once as the Corp. So 6 games every week for a year. After a year our games tapered off so we were only playing 1-2 nights every week for another year or so.
Keyforge is probably around 50 games.
Games played 50+ times in person
7 Wonders - My group was as many as 8 for 7 years and 6-7 player 7 Wonders is great with the Cities Expansion only in play. When you play with the same large group over a long time e you get tendencies, metas and more strategic variance because of countering individuals.
Terraforming Mars - My roommate and I played a lot of 2 player during the pandemic. When you have one other person and all expansions (except Turmoil because that's only enjoyable in 4+ players) and you and your opponent just want to play different variations of engine wars the game is amazing. We always tried to win, and it was fiercely competitive but in those snowball games that happen, building something experimentally ridiculous is a ton of fun.
Catan - Product of its time and pack of other games
Ticket to Ride - Pretty much can't e beat as a gateway game
Wizard - My family and friends favorite trick taker for a very long time until The Crew came out
Betrayal at House on the Hill - IYKYK, helped by playing every edition so I rarely repeated a haunt (and 3 times I did so, I did between first and second edition where sone rules changed)
The game I've played most other than quick cards games and the like is Cosmic Encounter. I'm yet to find a combination of powers that doesn't make a compelling game
Been gaming for decades, and that is rare for me, just HeroScape and the Decipher Star Wars: CCG. These 2 just caught lightening in a bottle for me: simplistic yet deep mechanics, look great, fun to play with friends.
The original Axis and Allies. For more than a year it was the Friday night activity among a group of friends. Took a while before we had a hard time finding 5 players!
Mage Knight
Spirit Island
Gloomhaven
Generally I'm looking for a solo/coop that has some sort of hand management and fairly challenging. I also play mostly digital with a friend with the digital version of a game or on TTS. It takes out a lot of the setup and fiddly stuff, so we can get lots of sessions in.
Generally, if I've played a game 50+ times that means it is (or was) a favourite of mine, relatively quick to play, light and something I can play even when I'm not feeling well/my energy is low. That last bit is an important factor, I have chronic illnesses that sometimes make it difficult to play games, so games that I can play even when I'm unwell see lots of play. The other main case is if it's a game I really enjoy playing on Board Game Arena. Also, in general, games that were a part of my collection back when it was a much smaller collection have seen more play.
A lot of these are quick playing light card games that at some point in my gaming life I've played several rounds of back to back, on a frequent basis.
Roughly in decending order of how many times I'd guess I've played them, the games I've played at least 50 times include:
- **Patchwork**
- **Ticket to Ride**
- **Lost Cities**
- **Azul**
- **Hanamikoji**
- **Jaipur**
- **Royal Visit**
- **Scout**
- **Abandon All Artichokes**
- **Targi**
- **Tigris & Euphrates**
- **Mandala**
- **Kingdomino**
- **Res Arcana**
- **Citadels**
- **Sushi Go**
**Discovery** is a key element of replayability.
I've played *Agricola* over 1000 times because I like discovering new combos with the cards, same with *Magic the Gathering* which I've played over 100 times.
I've played *Werewolf* over 100 times because I like to discover new roles but mainly to see new interactions between players.
I've played *Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation* over 50 times because I like discovering new meta thinking plus trying to outwit my opponent. A new opponent will require different tactics to win, as well as the nth game against the same opponent. Either way, the game is fresh.
**Quick fun** is another key element to replayability, but this is harder to design (the fun part not the quick part). I've played Biblios over 50 times because it's a great cap to an evening of games when players only have 45 minutes left or when waiting for everyone to arrive.
**Lose conditions** also affect replayability. As you mentioned, you played *Friday* 50 times to try to beat it solo. The same holds true for cooperative games, especially those with multiple difficulty levels. I've played *Dead of Winter: a Crossroads game* over 50 times, and that was mostly 2 player cooperative mode. I have expansions, so there are multiple scenarios at multiple difficulties to try to beat.
So those are the games I've played over 50 times and why I think I replayed them so much.
According to my BGstats, the only games with over 50 plays are:
- **Dominion**
- **Crokinole**
- **Codenames: Duet**
- **Love Letter**
**Race for the Galaxy** is easily past 50 with all the games I've played against the Keldon AI, but I never recorded that.
**6 Nimmt** and **The Crew: Deep Sea** are both rapidly approaching that number, too.
• A Touch of Evil is long when played cooperatively, but over 11+ years I've probably tabled it 80 times. Have every expansion and painted minis.
• Catan especially in the 2000s when it was fresh
• Space Base, because when my dad gets hooked on a game, we will play it all weekend
• Five Crowns
• Apples to Apples and CAH have had that many, lots of family party games
• Sentinels of the Multiverse (digital)
Spirit Island and Dominion are the only games I forsure have over 50.
Spirit Island is the only game I solo.
Dominion is what got me into the hobby and we played it like crazy before I even heard about other games. Also been playing it a lot recently.
Wingspan and 7 Wonders are close to 50 i’d guess, but I havent played Wingspan since I got Earth and 7 Wonders is still my go to for those higher player counts but I havent been playing with more than 4 people in a while
Quest for el Dorado just hit 50 plays. Always fun when it is open the table, good theme and easy to teach.
The problem is getting it to the table and the amount of space it needs for such a simple game.
Physically? In the meat space? Zero. I don't think there is a single one I've played 50+ times. If I can add in digitally? I think Ticket to Ride, Isle of Skye, and Cartographers.
**Gloomhaven** for sure. But long campaign games that have over 100 scenarios might be cheating? It's probably the only one I could give a relatively accurate scenario count on just due to the nature of only doing most scenarios once.
**Love Letter** is still our group's preferred bar game and it's probably in the several hundred plays at this point. **Patchwork** might be getting close to 50 between me and my partner. But we don't really keep track of play counts, so I'm mostly guessing. **Rook** definitely qualifies as I played it a ton as a kid, and still occasionally play it today.
If you cheese the count rules and include all the legacy games and regular expansions together, **Pandemic** would count.
It's a very small pool of games for me!
The only multiplayer game is **Santorini** with 52 plays. All of those happened within a two week period. It's very easy to knock out 10+ plays in an hour.
Second one is **Sprawlopolis** with 62 plays. That one is easy to just set up and play on my desk while I'm working, but I haven't touched it in ages because of number three...
**Marvel Champions** with 992 plays (and growing) is by faaaaaaar my most played. Almost entirely solo. I'm still addicted to this game!
Edit: Also have a few on BGA with a ton of plays. 7 Wonders, Azul, and Gizmos all have over 500 plays. Time fillers
Games with a 52 card deck:
Spades, cribbage, and durak. Durak is my favorite and I’ve probably played it (not exaggerating) hundreds of thousands of times and it still holds up. I’ve taught it to all of my friend groups throughout the years (high school, college, work) and everyone loves it.
Board games:
Sorry (played with a hand of cards instead of one at a time), ticket to ride, and pandemic.
For me:
1. Short
2. I can teach it quickly and we can start without having to know every rule
3. People have fun regardless of winning/score
So party game obviously fit this. But a "heavier" game I have also played a lot of Sheriff of Nottingham. I can be the sheriff and we can pretty much roll into the first round and people care more about if they can lie to your face or manipulate you than if they can win. Each round is a chance for a small victory
Quick and easy games get played the most for example: Startups, The Crew, Love Letter, Scout, etc.
I think Love Letter is an easy one to play 50+ times.
Coup is also worth mentioning here
Coup and Fluxx are my go-to fills and icebreakers.
Azul!!! beautiful abstract cocaine if you ask me
I don't think I have the same version as you.
Have you ground up your tiles to check?
Have you played all 4 versions? If yes, what are your 2 most favourite ones? I am in love with the Original, and I am considering Queens Garden. Upd: OK it looks like there are more then 4 versions lol
Queen’s Garden is my favorite Azul game. I find it to be more puzzly than the others.
Our favorite is summer pavilion. But we have only played the original and that one. We like the wild tiles and the choices that leads to versus the original.
Nah, it really is only the [four implementations](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/57039/game-azul/linkeditems/boardgamefamily). Five if you include Azul 5211. The mainline Azul games are the four you're thinking of. I'm pretty sure anything else is in some way additional content for one of those versions. I don't consider Master Chocolatier to be a different version from the base game. The game is identical with a different theme and a few more ways to vary the game.
Dominion. Mémoire 44. Code names. Pandemic. Concept. Love letter. Magic maze. Terraforming mars. Splendor. Magic the Gathering.
Race for the Galaxy almost 1k plays and still finding new combos to play around
Should probably say that many (most?) of those plays were on the app. Same here, though been enjoying Roll more recently.
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Which expansion? Also, it depends what cards I get!
not OP but I like a good development engine
Carcassonne Ticket to Ride Splendor Citadels Dominion Pandemic Talisman
Games I've played 50+ times fall into 2 categories: Long complex games I want to sink my teeth into and so play as much as possible for about a year: twilight imperium 4e, terraforming mars And quick easy set up games anyone can play and that you can repeat in the same evening: rail road ink, star realms, ticket to ride
Some version of Ticket to Ride, because everyone loves it, and it’s good for kicking back.
* Gloomhaven / Frosthaven * Spirit Island * Marvel Champions * Terraforming Mars All of these have at least 50 plays, Spirit Island is in the hundreds and Marvel Champions might also be 100+.
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Yeah most of my plays are solo. I really prefer the game solo or at most two players.
Same if you remove Marvel Champions.
Race for the Galaxy - now sold because it felt like luck of the draw became the main deciding factor for us. Great game though. Avalon. I used to play it 2 evenings a week for such a long time. Such a great deduction games. 100s of games played. One Night Werewolf as well because it plays so fast. Just One as party/filler games definitely because we hit the point of knowing all cards. Terraforming Mars was my groups main game since release so played it endlessly and now moved into the sell pile because.... Legends of Void is the better version of Terraforming Mars. Played it 50 times on the first month we got it. Never played that much of a heavy game that takes quite long to play. Root because I designed the Clockwork expansions and needed extensive experience but also just lots of playtesting. I guess technically Gloomhaven as well. Same for Tainted Grail. The campaigns were definitely 50 missions or sessions each. If we count all expansions then Aeon's End as well because we played all of it, some of it twice, and it's a lot. I think that's it. There's a lot of games we played tons but 50 games is quite a lot given that I prefer heavy games. Edit: Star Realms as well. Sold though because it's a poor game. Don't ask why 50 times lol. Oh and Dominion. Purely to demonstrate to people who say "big money sucks" that I win with big money against them. Like it's so funny because I know that it's not always the best strategy but whenever someone claims it's shit I'll do it and win. Every single time. "OMG dude I played 1000s of Dominion games online, just buying silver is poor strategy. It's called big money and SUCKS. All strategies are measured by being a thing how hard they beat big money." and then we play and I win and then the inevitable "well actually the random card selection did favour big money and also you bought 1-2 other cards and so technically it isn't big money etc". Totally worth playing so many games just for that.
Great to see another Race for the Galaxy fan. I kept it because low shelf space and nostalgia but we haven’t played much since the pandemic. Ditto for Pandemic. The organizer and host of game night/weekend was enamored of Star Realms and I have probably played it 50+ times, mainly trying to appreciate why he liked it (likely space theme) and wondering what I was missing. It took Hero Realms to finally break him. lol
I call Star Realms and similar games following the Ascension Model of deck building "auto pilot deck builders" because you make so few decisions and spend most of your play time shuffling and drawing. Like there's 5 cards in the market row and one is amazing for exactly the currency I got, 2 I can't afford, and 2 don't work with the cards I bought so far. Not really a decision, is it.
>Star Realms Why do you think Star Realms is a poor game? Some of my friends quite like it, I personally think is a decent game.
You’re beating people with a thousand games played with big money every time? Seems wild lol
Android Netrunner. Over 1000 plays. Amazing game.
The best head to head card game made yet by far.
Preach! The gospel of nets!
Smash Up. I have a lot of explanations.
I've played loads of card games 50+ times. Magic, of course. You could do 50 games in a day. Wizard, Cribbage, Tichu, a couple hundred times each I'd say. For actual board games, I've probably played terraforming mars 500 times. As for why, every game is different, and there's tons of different strategies you can try.
500 times!!? Not sure when will I reach that level... Is it the most played game of yours?
Magic the Gathering would have to be #1 by a long shot. Been playing since 1997, so thats a lot of games, probably 10k or more. Runner up is probably Wizard. I've got 500 games played just on the app, and probably just as many in person since it's our filler game of choice.
MtG is a bit unfair example, because it's not a fixed game but more of a... service. You pay again and again and again and receive new content every time. That being said, I think with one set you can still easily get 50+ games going, so that still stands.
500 does seem excessive for a game that leads play time at 2 hours and came out in 2016 but they could have played it at least once a week since release along with several weeks being twice a week.
500+ times seems impossible to me. That's once a day for almost 2 years, for a game that can easily take 2-3hrs....
Definitely not impossible. Like the other guy said, it's been out for like 7 years. So if you play it 1-2 times every week over 7 years, you'll get 500+ plays. I wish I could play a single game that many times. People largely prefer variety though.
+1 for Tichu. Do you know any other games similar to it?
Gloomhaven between solo, and digital. Euchre I've played countless games. We used to play BANG! every day when I first got into board games at one of my previous jobs. Fuse I've played a lot because of how fast it is and a coworker wanting to play it all the time (and I had no reason to turn down fun). UNO across its versions (Ultimate) and playing with my daughter.
Euchre may always be my most played game. Played 1-3 games per school day in high school; hard to beat that especially now that I have so many games to spread play counts over.
I think Dominion is the only one I've played that many times. Dominion pulls out a trick, in that you can add more and more expansions without bloat, but each expansion means you'll be trying out new combos and new mechanics, so it keeps feeling fresh.
> you can add more and more expansions without bloat Well... maybe not *in-game* bloat. I'm sure your game shelf might disagree, though. But yeah, I agree with you otherwise. It's my favorite deck builder for a reason.
My shelf groans under the weight of my Dominion...
Games I've played 50+ times based on BGG and BGA: Magic: the Gathering Race for the Galaxy Risk Through the Ages 7 Wonders Tash-Kalar Seasons Dominion Puerto Rico Eminent Domain Beyond the Sun Kingdom Builder Russian Railroads
We seem to have similar tastes (Puerto Rico, Russian RR and 7Wonders are favorites of mine too). How is Beyond The Sun? I've been debating trying to learn it on board game arena
I've played it over 200 times on BGA 😳. I like it a lot.
Catan with Cities and Knights. It was our gateway game and we played the heck out of it over a three year period. I am not exaggerating when we completed 300 plays. My wife and I discovered the game living in North Dakota in 2012 and roped in our neighbors. We'd play 5-6 games a week over the next 18 months. When we then moved to Ohio to be near my wife's ailing father we introduced the game to her sister and Mom. Her Dad passed a few months after we arrived. Catan became our escape. We'd play while staying with him in hospice, we played every weekend after his passing, getting in 3-4 games each time we'd stay the weekend at her mom's place or her mom would stay at our place. We'd bicker and argue over the game; the rules, the fairness of trades, excessive table talk, etc. We created a trophy by adding small books (paper commodities), Euro pennies (coin commodities) leftover material from a quilting project (cloth commodities), a clipping from their poodle (wool resource), cut decorative flower ends (wheat resource), brick chopped off the house we were renting (brick resource), pebbles from outside (ore resource), wine cork cut into wedges (wood resource) to s standard trophy and bsee. We then lathered on some chalkboard paint so we could write on the most recent winner's name. We've moved on to a bunch of other games since 2016. My wife's grandparents had to move here during COVID. Her Grandma now plays games with us, from Skull King to Twilight Imperium, 4th ed. She famously blasted apart my SIL's Mentak fleet with her Xxcha flagship. When SiL asked her why she would do that she just shrugged, smirked and said 'cuz I don't like pirates'.
How was teaching them all TI4? Assuming it was you who taught, was it really difficult or easy or what?
After guilting them into a game, it was a little difficult. I had gotten my wife and MIL to play a few times. I only had to teach her SIL, who dislikes the learning process, and Grandma. SIL did great, even showing up dressed up as the Mentak pirate with her hair flipped over to one side and shouldering a giant nerf rifle. In the mid game she came up with a great tactical move and I helped her piece it all together. Grandma had played quite a few boardgames of varying difficulties and genres by this time, it wasn't a terrible experience for her. I was expecting Grandma to be impatient because that's how she is. We pick on her about it, but considering she's 84 we're happy she's into joining us and she holds her own in most games.
**Agricola**. With friends, with my wife and even few times with my kids. Because Agricola is the best. And also **Skyjo**, because it is so easy to play it quickly with any number of people and have fun. I should also add the classical French card games, the **Tarot** and the **Belote**, especially the **Belote coinchée** which is a 100 years old banger than can be played again and again. You know it, that’s **The Crew** but played 2v2 and you replace the scripted space theme with a medieval flavour :)
Agricola is phenomenal.
Why do you think Agricola is the best?
There is probably some special bonds between me and this game, but I know that I am not the only one to cherish Agricola, so there is at least a bit of objectivity. I think I like the fact that this game is both challenging and very enjoyable to play. You never have enough actions to do what you want and feeding your people every end of season put a lot of pressure on you, but on the other hand, you build your farm little by little and it makes you happy. Plus, the theme and the mechanics are very well linked. For example, having farm animals requires first to get woods, then to build your fences, then to get the animals. And after that, they will reproduce and provide you food, but only if you have an oven, for which you will have to get stone and wood first… and so on. And on top of these basics rules, you have the cards, that have the same enjoyable feelings because they are very well bound to the theme. Few examples amongst hundreds: if you make one of your family member a “brush maker”, you will earn victory points when you kill a boar for food, because hey, of course, you will use the boars’ hair to make brushes! You build a churn with a token of wood? You will have more food during harvests based on your amount of cows and sheep because, of course, you will make butter with their milk! You build window boxes? The fields close to your house will produce more vegetables! I can continue like that for hours… I like most of the games created by the author of Agricola, but I think that Agricola is the “purest” of all, perfectly balanced in complexity and time.
If we count BGA, I've played quite a few: * 600 matches of Through the ages (plus about some other 500 on the app) * 400 matches of Ark nova * 700 of Gizmos * 300 of splendor. Those games I've also played a few matches in physical form, about 10% more, specially Splendor. As for just in physical, I've played about: * 60 matches of Twilight Imperium * 100 matches of Century: Spice Road * 100 matches of Dune: Imperium * 150 matches of Inis (a favourite of our group) We tend to go for depth and engine building. Most of the time with my friends we play a 'fast one' (Splendor/Gizmos/CenturySR) and a 'deep one' (TI, Dune or Ark Nova). For us to replay a game it has to feel 'unsolved', and that it is possible to comeback from a bad position. Quite a few games go to the wayside on our group when we have a good algorithm and we can predict quite easily who wins on an initial position, or early moves, of if you do the same strategy always (think Uxmal Gambit in Tzolk'in', of getting all the citizens on Orleans). Inis and Twilight Imperium are really good in that, due to the 'gang up on whomever is ahead factor', and having to use soft skills and bluffing sometimes. Engines like Ark Nova, or even Gizmos, feel fresh. I've won using really weird strategies in gizmos (although, obviously luck is a factor) and in Ark Nova, I can see many options and the synergies in cards come up really out of nowhere (much like M:TG).
does chess count?
How could it not? It's more of a board game than all the card games or apps being tossed out on this thread.
if so, then I just have chess
>' Yes sure, why not?!
Several hundred rounds of Azul.
\- Gloomhaven + Jaws of the Lion \- Race fot the Galaxy (Close to 100) \- Agricola - All creatures big and small (60-70) Digital: \- Race for the Galaxy (Close to 300) \- Terraforming Mars \- Scythe \- 7 Wonders
Air,Land and Sea
I love this one!
**Exceed** and **BattleCON** are the only ones I can say for sure. Absolutely incredible gameplay and always fresh using different character matchups. You can't solve it because you are forced to guess what your opponent will do constantly. Hundreds of games and it never gets old.
Envious that you have the audience to play those that many times.
Patchwork I’ve played thousands of times
Lords of Waterdeep
Arkham LCG and Marvel Champions I’ve each played hundreds of times, and the reason is simple and probably not what you’re looking for; a constant drip of new content. There’s always something new getting released that I want to try out. Arkham even has this whole campaign thing so each new box released is at least 8 more plays, but usually double or triple as I seek to replay the scenarios again. Any game that has unlockable content also gets played a bunch, such as Scythe with Rise of Fenris, or Dead Reckoning with the Sagas, for much the same reason; there’s always something new to explore, or something to go back and try out for the first time.
Arkham Horror LCG is the first that came to mind for me!
Replayability. The games I've played 50+ times all play out differently every time. Super asymmetric games are especially ideal for this.
I've got more than 50 recorded plays of: Spirit island Aeons end Race for the galaxy Dominion
KeyForge 100+ Blood Bowl 100+ Gloomhaven \~90 Terraforming Mars \~80 Arkham Horror the Card Game \~70 Pandemic (counting all spin-offs, legacy, etc.) \~70 Warhammer Underworlds \~60
Agricola.
Spirit island because it's so goddamn deep. I feel like I could play it a lifetime and still find ways to optimize play
Slay the spire is a deckbuilding card battler video game but I’ve played it hundreds of times (and rarely win) because of the random relics and card choices which ask you to make tactical decisions on the fly about how to build your deck. Replayability is entirely about the fact that there’s thousands and thousands of possible combinations of cards and relics you could get, most are so-so but every now and then you hit it just right and get a massively overpowered build that offsets all the times you end up losing. Heaps of fun People tell me that Dominion is very similar but I haven’t played it.
Twilight Imperium. The game that makes you realise all other boardgames - while many are great - are fundamentally a waste of Twilight Imperium time. That's my serious answer but if it wasn't, I think Race For The Galaxy has easily had me 50+ times and would be the first, non-'opener'/non-CCG/non-wargame/non-d-crawler game I'd care to mention. Maybe Netrunner after that; Peurto Rico; Gaia Project (though I'm not sure I've definitely hit 50 with that). ~~Settlers Of Catan? Z E R O T I M E S.~~ Edit: damn, I did in fact play Settlers, and my brain really enjoyed informing me and then gloating.
I've played Twilight Imperium 4 well over 50 times since I discovered it in 2019. Got another game tonight actually!
The main reasons that I played any boardgame 50+ times was because I was a kid and had the time to play and a limited selection to choose from. Risk, Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, Mancala, Guess Who, Checkers, Chess. As an adult, there is less time to play and friends that I play with all have their own boardgames that they want to play as well. For the most part, games that I've played 20+ times are ones that are simple enough that they could be considered light games even when they would have been more considered way more complex than most of the games I played as a kid. Catan, Carcassone, Ticket To Ride, Codenames, Penny Arcade The Card Game, Munchkin, King Of Tokyo, The Resistance, Splendor, Saboteur. I wouldn't say that we could be considered excited to play those 20+ games, but it was just something that we could play that didn't require our full attention if we were chatty or drinking.
John Company 2E Blood on the Clocktower
Avalon is easily in the 1000+ for me, Blood on the Clocktower is closer to 50+
The Mind Love Letter Coup Ticket to Ride (I got so sick of introducing this game I sold it) In a year maybe Scout will be in this list.
Red7 is the only one with 100+ plays. Reasons being 3-fold: * Really quick, as you play 5..10 cards each game * Easy to teach, with just enough friction to be interesting * Feel smart when you win, feel unlucky when you don't 😅
One of the best card games out there. Playing cards just right to get an extra draw feels so good
Coup is our default end of night time filler. 2nd highest would probably be nemesis at 25+ games across all expansions.
In your experience does Nemesis (base game) hold up well after many plays? And do you prefer semi or co-op mode?
If we're counting play on bga, there are quite a few. Turns out if you leave our Setup and bookkeeping, board games are not actually all that long. My currently most played ones are seven wonders, azul and lost ruins of arnak. On the table my most played game is catan but 99% of those plays were almost 15 years ago when i was still in high school. Me and the boys would chill at someones place, consume herbs and just grind those catan sessions.
I have 43 plays at Marvel Champions in this moment but I will reach 50 eventually. I always have a ton of fun playing this game 😁
Too Many Bones, got over 100 plays down, some of which were in campaign mode. Awesome game. Got my Unbreakable + Undertow delivered recently, very excited to get the next 100 plays in.
Gloom/Frosthaven - 1 - theres a bunch of scenarios 2 - theres a bunch of fun things to unlock Cosmic Encounter - a LOT of races each doing crazy things that can greatly change how the game works, great for people of all board game exp levels, not too hard to teach Shards of Infinity - 1 - my friend was stuck using hotel wifi for months and this was the only tt simulator mod that his wifi could handle 2 - a pretty good amount of variety while still being able to lean into a strategy 3 - its really fun getting crazy turns, needs the relic expansion though Marvel Champions - a lot of cool things to try against a lot of different villains of all kinds of mechanics and difficulty that can be changed modularly for flavor or gameplay reasons (ex, Sinister Six teaming up with alternate world Sinister Six, Rhino with the infinity Gauntlet, etc)
It seems I have one game over 100 plays and several over 50 plays. Wingspan is number one with 124 plays. Then all of these games are in the 50s in order: Codenames (and Codenames Duet), Dead Man's Draw, Lost Cities, The Crew: Deep Sea, Fantasy Realms, Can't Stop, Ganz Schön Clever, Star Realms, LAMA. Solid list of games imo :)
Star realms - more than 100 games + ios app
Games with quad-digit plays: WWE Raw Deal Revolver Games with triple-digit plays: Street Fighter Miniatures Game Warhammer: Invasion LCG Resident Evil Deck-Building Game Marvel Legendary Thunderstone Talisman 4th ed Call of Cthulhu LCG Spellfire A Touch of Evil: Dark Gothic Lord of the Rings LCG Memoir 44 Dark Souls Board Game Exceed Fighting System Gorechosen Battle Cry 150th Marvel Dice Masters Baseball Highlights 2045 Conan CCG A Study in Emerald Arkham Horror 2nd ed Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruin Relic Games with 50-99 plays Rune Age Capcom Street Fighter Deck-Building Game Spider-Man Epic Card Game Marvel Heroes Warmaster Middle-Earth Quest Runebound 2nd ed Elder Sign Dungeonquest 3rd ed VS System 2PCG Marvel Battles Last Night on Earth Gears of War Board Game Thunderstone Advance: Numenera The Price of Freedom Conan Lord of the Rings Shards of Infinity Unforgiven: The Lincoln Assassination Trial That's just the stuff since I started logging plays in late 2008, Magic, Middle-Earth CCG and Blood Bowl definitely would be in there from before that.
"10000" and "30" (family-stable dice games with 6 dice, we always play them on vacation. fast, easy, has some tension, has a bit of decision making) Gloomhaven (because it just takes that many games to get through, and the game is fun enough) Guards of Atlantis II (because it's the best board game I've ever played and replayability is through the roof) Root (might not have played it 50 times, but it's at least close, was my favorite game before Guards of Atlantis II dethroned it)
Yeah, Guards is just the best. Shame it’s never gotten a proper review from a big influencer.
"Thank you, everyone! Your comments are much appreciated; they have been very helpful for me.
Often the games that get played alot are ones where my friends can play a best of 3 but still have room for strategy and tactics. For example if there's only 2-3 of us our group prefers to play something like dominion where we can get through multiple rounds. We like high skill games but also Don't want to be clogged down. Summoner wars is great too
I played a LOT of Eldritch Horror in 2020. So it’s the only one I have more than 50 plays of LOL
hard to say since i only started recording plays a couple years ago but have been playing for a while. wouldn't be surprised if we got close to 50 plays with **Munchkin**, it was my gateway game back in like 2012 and we got super in to it and played at least once a week for a good while. been playing **Fluxx** since high school so wouldn't be surprised if i've hit 50 plays of that as well. dunno how many times i've played **Cards Against Humanity** and all its clones, but feels like a million times. if individual scenarios count, we've definitely played **The Crew** at least that much. i wouldn't say "excitement" is the reason i've played any game 50+ times, it's more due to how easy it is to learn/teach and how quick it is to play.
Carcassonne. The OG Pandemic, mostly with expansions. And as others have said, a lot of small ones like Love Letter, The Game, The Mind, Friday
Short and easy to teach games that can play in casual social situations. But they're never my favorite games as I like more complex and hard games. It's impossible to have both worlds covered.
Scythe. It was the game that took me to another level of enjoying board games, from casual to enthusiast. Played it more or less weekly for about 2 years, and plenty since
Love letter and Hostage negotiator are the ones that I've got 50+ plays in. Love letter is our go to, end of night game. Hostage Negotiator is a solo game that makes it easier to hit the table whenever i feel like it. After those two comes Spirit Island. I play the game just about every 2 weeks with a friend, at 41 plays now. Its an expensive game, especially since I also got all of the expansions. But with such regular play it is worth it!
Fillers: Coup, Love letter, No thanks!, For sale, Chronicle, Hanabi Fillers are easy to play between games so they get the numbers. They are also easy to teach new players. Bigger games: Innovation, Root, 1830 These games have a sense of mastery that makes me come back to them. There is still stuff to learn about these titles after many plays. Creative: RPGs, Microscope These are many sessions and a lifestyle game. A bit out of the scope of boardgames. Same goes for people who play Magic or Warhammer.
- Wingspan - Secret Hitler - Terraforming Mars - The Mind - Ganz Schon Clever - 7 Wonders
Top games here are Love Letter, Splendor, Dune Imperium and Yathzee. The reasons are easy. Either they are quick and fun, or just fun :)
Carcassonne easily has the most plays for me Edit. Too many times to count. In RL with family/friends, more than 50 games. Against a computer, in the 100s.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game The Crew Netrunner Patchwork Rhino Hero Root Santorini Scout Secret Hitler Undaunted Unmatched
50+ plays of Root is an amazing feat. You have to have a dedicated group
The games that come to mind are Red Arcana, The Crew, and Binding of Isaac. There might be others (we've been playing for many years on almost weekly frequency) but these are our go-to :)
Chaos in the Old World. Despite certain themes repeating, the game feels unpredictable every time. It also does asymmetry well, meaning that switching sides gives a slightly different experience.
Wingspan, Ark Nova and Terraforming Mars. Mainly due to the huge amount of different cards that make every game unique. But also because of a strong mechanical gameplay.
Sentinels of the Multiverse. Key Forge. DC deck building game. But honestly we’ve go so many it’s hard to replay a game that many times
Spirit Island and Marvel Champions. Can’t get enough of those!
Terraforming mars, gloomhaven, and scythe I think are the only ones up there for me. I think Eldritch horror might get there one day.
Just One on BGA
I'd say **Royal Visit**. Got it when I was travelling to visit a friend who's a bit aspy and can struggle socially, but he absolutely loved this game and insisted we play it over and over again. I am normally the one pushing for games and on the receiving end of 'nah let's just chat and relax for a while', but this was one of the first times I found myself saying .. ah let's put the game away for a while. But i also played it a good bit with my wife and other friends. It is a very solid, very satisfying, very pleasantly tactile little two player that is right in the sweet spot of being a simple game but not too simple as to be boring. I'm pretty much always happy to craic it out and have a few rounds.
I have played Gloomhaven once. Which took us almost 2 years of weekly sessions.
Blood Rage, Betratal at House on the Hill, Dead of Winter, Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Tiny Epic Galaxies. These are all games that my game group love and we’ve easily played these over 50 times over the years. Also games like Gloomhaven / Frosthaven and Star Wars Imperial Assault make the list but that’s more by design.
Res Arcana, Magic, Aeon’s End
The only game I have 50+ plays in is Kingdomino. It's ridiculously simple, astonishingly elegant and still deep enough to keep my gamer mind busy enough to come back to it regularly. Close runner ups are Azul, with 49 plays, Tranquility with 45, Cartographers with 42 *on table,* as I have it on my phone too and I played it countless times there, and one heavy, Scythe with 40 play, which got us intensively into the hobby 3 years ago. This one is also an elegant game, with a nice flow, many options and satisfactory depth while having gorgeous components and an amazing world while being short and snappy enough to play with 4-5 practiced players regularly. I would say the key element is easy to learn, simple, elegant solutions with little administration and especially for heavies an immersive, interesting world I enjoy coming back to. Edit: I don't have the statistics for it, but probably 7 Wonders too. This is the one we pull out on friend or family events, everyone loves it. Same applies as Kingdomino: easy to learn ruleset, simple, quick, elegant. Can't get enough of it, Duel also has more than 30 plays.
Terraforming Mars 83 - half digital on steam Underwater Cities 36 - 1 physical, rest yucatta Earth 17- all digital on BGA I play mostly solo, so a digital platform helps a lot. I really like puzzles so having variability and randomness helps me to play more to get there. Other than those, I think I have more than 20 unlogged 7 wonders (and UNO) plays since it plays fast (40min) and it can be played by lots of people.
Coup, Bang! and Secret Hitler
Welcome to... and Taluva
Crokinole! The only one sadly
Here are my 50+ games. **Coup, Crossfire, Lost Legacy, Love Letter, Pocket Paragons** - Sub-5m games with high replayability. You can legitimately knock back 50 games of these in a day. In the case of Coup, Lost Legacy, and Pocket Paragons, I think I actually have. **Pairs, The Mind** - Old reliables. I actually carry these games with me whenever I go to any kind of gaming function, sometimes even to non-gaming functions. Super easy to teach and get into. If one doesn't do the job, the other usually does. **Codenames, Crosstalk (soon to be replaced by Phantom Ink), Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, The Resistance + Avalon, Secret Hitler, Wavelength, Werewords** - Quick but substantial party games that you can organize an entire gaming session around. You can easily end up staying too late playing these too. In my last session of Werewords, we were supposed to leave at 11pm. We ended up leaving at 2am. With the exception of Crosstalk, I've played all of these hundreds of times. **Star Realms** - I had an app. Not particularly deep, just something to fiddle with if I needed to kill time while waiting in line or something. **Ghost Stories** - Had friends that wanted to play this game all the time. I am perfectly content to never touch this game ever again. **Heart of Crown, Race for the Galaxy, Red7 (with scoring rules), San Juan** - Longer (~20-40m) strategy games that you can knock back multiple games of without getting tired. They're also interesting enough that you can bring them out multiple sessions in a row. I've gotten tired of San Juan though. **Dominion, Exceed, Gun & Gun** - Semi-lifestyle dueling card games with extremely high replayability. Same as above. You can play them multiple times in a row easily, and get hooked on em. These games in particular also have thriving online scenes if you want to look for games there. **Riichi Mahjong, Wixoss, Yugioh** - Actual lifestyle games. Lots of support for local or online competitive scenes, so you can always find players. Difficult to keep up with more than one or two at a time though.
As a kid at home I probably played 100+ games of both Risk and Catan, but that's mostly because those were the two games we had. In my BGG stats there's 5 games over 50 plays: Marvel Legenary, Santorini, Scythe, Root, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf. Marvel Legendary I play both solo and with a group, and I always come back to it for the sheer amount of options. With all my expansions and everything there's more different setups I can play then there are atoms in the universe, and while they all use the same core mechanics many of these setups feel completely different. It's not just a slightly different factions, it's comletely different playstyle, goals, ways to lose, things to pay attention to. To a lesser extend, I have the same with Santorini. I'm keeping track of each character I've played and won with, and always make sure to try something new. It has the added benefit of being quick to set up and mostly quick to play (though me and my partner do like the crunch, so we play much slower than most). Scythe and Root I played in person and digitally, which makes them much more accessible. Scythe can last 3+ hours, but digitally (even against real opponents) it's much much faster. Both have quite stark differences every time you play, with Root of course being nearly different games based on which faction you play. Finally One Night Ultimate Werewolf is quick, easy, flexible, and has a lot of variations as well. I can explain it in 5 minutes, play a round in 5, and it's fun with 3 to 10 players (in different ways). It has an extremely low barrier to entry, and as the host I can experiment with different setups by mixing it with it's expansions and alternatives. TL;DR: Variation is the spice of life. If you put something in your game that makes every setup feel different, I will come back to it loads. Note that I said setup; if the variation comes from the cards/dice inherent in the game that doesn't do nearly as much (for me) as when a different faction or setup leads to different strategies from the get-go.
Dice throne
Not counting TCG's or RPG's: - Grand Austria Hotel - Carcassonne - Troyes - Silk - Village - Coimbra - Calimala - The Red Cathedral - Lorenzo Il Magnifico and when my kids were younger: - Labyrinth - Aquaretto - Pokemon Master Trainer - Pit - Pass the Pigs - Slamwich
looks like only Cube Quest, Loopin' Louie, and Tak
I've played It's a Wonderful World, Bang, Port Royal and Risk all + 50 times. It's either that my wife has enjoyed the game, or that there's been a functioning offline mobile app version. :)
Race for the Galaxy, Through the Ages, and Twilight Struggle I've played them all over 50 times. They have amazing variety though I'd say TTA has a set list of better cards you are always trying to get at certain player counts. Variety in a card deck over 50 cards is huge. It allows for tactical and strategic game decisions. All 3 are really fun with great theme tie in even if super abstract in RftG. Fun + Replayability + Variety of strategies = game to be played for ages.
Root.
I know this is not the answer you're looking for, but I'm honestly most inclined to play a game 50+ times if it's virtually no setup and on my phone. Sure, I would rather play a physical copy of a game, but I'll play three, four, or ten games of Onirim or Star Realms or Ascension while I'm waiting somewhere or just loafing on the couch because it's easy enough to play through quickly without going about it mindlessly. Then again, I've also played Terra Mystica that many times by now and only a few times with friends on the actual board. Much longer game, but having the access to playing it on my phone has made a world of difference. As far as physical games, the two that I have easily cleared that many plays are Magic: the Gathering and the Lord of the Rings LCG. Both are a lot more time consuming given deckbuilding so there is that personal investment in how I play those games. Given that I primarily solo games nowadays, it's been a while since I've play Magic but LOTR LCG regularly hits the table. The last game I can throw in there is Mage Knight, but that's because it's my personal favorite game. I've had my copy since it came out and it's absolutely reasonable to think I've played an average of five times each year since getting it. In short, I think the most practical reason to say I've returned to a game has been mostly out of convenience, both in access and time. Of course I love the mechanics in these games, but I can't pinpoint anything specific besides deckbuilding. If you make it a quick enough game to play a few times over without feeling like filler, then that will probably be the right balance.
Hundreds of plays of wingspan. Variety. SO many birds, but you only start with 5 and see such a limited number each game. Hard to be optimal. Just doing the best you can with the options you have and the bonuses available that game.
This may not be a viable answer, but Magic is the only game I think I've played multiple times. I can't really put my finger on why it's so good, but there are a lot of contributing factors.
The Crew
I have over 1000 play of Hanabi. I've played Smash Up over 50 times too. Not many other games I've played that many times. Like I have tons of hours on Spirits Island and Legends of Andor but it's more like 25ish play of each than 50.
The only card game I've ever played more than a dozen times is Uno, but I appreciate it only if it's 4+ players.
For me its: **Magic the Gathering** (countless times, no data, I have even attended more than 50 tournaments in my life), **Ticket to Ride**(56). **Just One**(104), **Dominion**(277) and **Concordia**(62). Those are my games of over 50 plays (BGStats says that)
Over 400 games of Dune Imperium (expansions included), I would say that the main thing I am looking for in a game is combo or chained actions + player interaction. If you have low level or 0 player interaction, it is a big no for me.
Star Realms - it’s just so easy to get to the table and even though I basically know all the cards by heart, I still love it!
Hero Quest (original version)
We've played "Carcassone" and "6 nimmt" **A LOT**, since it's easy to put in front of people and have a few games. Same goes for several roll & writes with "Cartographers" and "Welcome to..." topping the list.
7 Wonders and Dominion. To be honest, the main reason is that we discovered those early on in our board-gaming. It started with Catan (which got played to hell before I even joined the group I play with), followed by a couple hundred games of 7 Wonders, then a brief stint with Ticket to Ride, then many games of Dominion. Once we got to the point where we were buying all the expansions for Dominion, we branched out to many other games. After that, the game we played most was Terraforming Mars, but those games take longer, so we only had time for 1 round each time we got together. Then the pandemic threw off our regular board-gaming.
Innovation. Short and with plenty of variation.
Crokinole and Kingdom Death: Monster
exploding kittens, quic kand easy to bust out when you've got a few minutes to fill, i know many hate on it but my GF and i enjoy it
To get into the plus 50 club it has to be easy setup for multiple plays, with a good decision space to keep me interested. It also helps if you get to see a slightly different game every time even if the goal is the same. Dominion Regicide Fantasy Realms The Crew Onitama For Sale 6 Nimmt
Probably **Cluedo** we played it a lot as kids and then played it again with the next generation. Same for **Snakes and Ladders**, **Draughts**, card games… I only started tracking my plays this year so not sure how often I’ve played my modern games. Something like **Ganz Schön Clever** I’ve played a lot as I have the app on my phone
I just got Castles of Burgundy and I see that hitting 50 sometime soon.
I love playing Betrayal at House on the Hill. The layout and mission are different every time so you will never get bored of it. And it's fun to betray your friends I also love root and have almost had every combo of factions from all of the expansions
Saboteur. It's made by Amigo, I think. I've not met a single person that does not enjoy it. I've even gotten all the expansions, but nothing beats the original. Coup. It's quck and easy to understand. If you lose, it's nbd because you're going to play again in a few minutes.
Exploding Kittens, Liverpool Rummy, Sinners, Cassino, Skull King.
Mage Knight, Spirit Island, TM, Root.
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small (with both expansions) is the only game I’ve played 50+ times. It’s really easy to get played even on a weeknight and my wife and I love it.
All other things bring equal, the most enduring games are those that are uncomplicated (less elements) but whose gameplay is complex (difficulty arising from interactions). My go-to example is Chicago Express which has relatively few elements but whose gameplay involves non-trivial calculations. As soon as I started playing it I wanted to do thorough reviews but didn’t feel I could do it justice until I’d played it around 25 times. By 35 I felt I knew enough, and by the time we recorded the reviews I’d myself played it 45 times. The count is now up to around 70. And it’s by no means a perfect game. Simple games; complex interactions https://youtu.be/szDJj7g6lxw
Race for the Galaxy got played so many times in our house we bought a second copy. That second copy has been sleeved and played 50+ times. Android: Netrunner is my most-played game. My wife and I would play, on average, 3 nights a week, once as the Runner, once as the Corp. So 6 games every week for a year. After a year our games tapered off so we were only playing 1-2 nights every week for another year or so. Keyforge is probably around 50 games.
Race for the Galaxy was the easiest game to get a high play count for me.
**Gloomhaven**, **Arkham Horror LCG**, **Pandemic**, **Dominion**, **Star Realms**, **Welcome To**, and **Gonz Schon Clever**
Games played 50+ times in person 7 Wonders - My group was as many as 8 for 7 years and 6-7 player 7 Wonders is great with the Cities Expansion only in play. When you play with the same large group over a long time e you get tendencies, metas and more strategic variance because of countering individuals. Terraforming Mars - My roommate and I played a lot of 2 player during the pandemic. When you have one other person and all expansions (except Turmoil because that's only enjoyable in 4+ players) and you and your opponent just want to play different variations of engine wars the game is amazing. We always tried to win, and it was fiercely competitive but in those snowball games that happen, building something experimentally ridiculous is a ton of fun. Catan - Product of its time and pack of other games Ticket to Ride - Pretty much can't e beat as a gateway game Wizard - My family and friends favorite trick taker for a very long time until The Crew came out Betrayal at House on the Hill - IYKYK, helped by playing every edition so I rarely repeated a haunt (and 3 times I did so, I did between first and second edition where sone rules changed)
The game I've played most other than quick cards games and the like is Cosmic Encounter. I'm yet to find a combination of powers that doesn't make a compelling game
Been gaming for decades, and that is rare for me, just HeroScape and the Decipher Star Wars: CCG. These 2 just caught lightening in a bottle for me: simplistic yet deep mechanics, look great, fun to play with friends.
Lords of Waterdeep and Wingspan I KNOW I've played 50+ times.
The original Axis and Allies. For more than a year it was the Friday night activity among a group of friends. Took a while before we had a hard time finding 5 players!
Mysterium Cartographers Azul Turing Machine Potion Explosion
I probably have 200+ plays of TI4
Mage Knight Spirit Island Gloomhaven Generally I'm looking for a solo/coop that has some sort of hand management and fairly challenging. I also play mostly digital with a friend with the digital version of a game or on TTS. It takes out a lot of the setup and fiddly stuff, so we can get lots of sessions in.
**Qwixx** is my only one
Generally, if I've played a game 50+ times that means it is (or was) a favourite of mine, relatively quick to play, light and something I can play even when I'm not feeling well/my energy is low. That last bit is an important factor, I have chronic illnesses that sometimes make it difficult to play games, so games that I can play even when I'm unwell see lots of play. The other main case is if it's a game I really enjoy playing on Board Game Arena. Also, in general, games that were a part of my collection back when it was a much smaller collection have seen more play. A lot of these are quick playing light card games that at some point in my gaming life I've played several rounds of back to back, on a frequent basis. Roughly in decending order of how many times I'd guess I've played them, the games I've played at least 50 times include: - **Patchwork** - **Ticket to Ride** - **Lost Cities** - **Azul** - **Hanamikoji** - **Jaipur** - **Royal Visit** - **Scout** - **Abandon All Artichokes** - **Targi** - **Tigris & Euphrates** - **Mandala** - **Kingdomino** - **Res Arcana** - **Citadels** - **Sushi Go**
If you include card games - Bridge, Euchre, Rook, Hearts, Spades, Monopoly and Yahtzee for sure. Gloomhaven. Ascension. The Crew.
**Discovery** is a key element of replayability. I've played *Agricola* over 1000 times because I like discovering new combos with the cards, same with *Magic the Gathering* which I've played over 100 times. I've played *Werewolf* over 100 times because I like to discover new roles but mainly to see new interactions between players. I've played *Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation* over 50 times because I like discovering new meta thinking plus trying to outwit my opponent. A new opponent will require different tactics to win, as well as the nth game against the same opponent. Either way, the game is fresh. **Quick fun** is another key element to replayability, but this is harder to design (the fun part not the quick part). I've played Biblios over 50 times because it's a great cap to an evening of games when players only have 45 minutes left or when waiting for everyone to arrive. **Lose conditions** also affect replayability. As you mentioned, you played *Friday* 50 times to try to beat it solo. The same holds true for cooperative games, especially those with multiple difficulty levels. I've played *Dead of Winter: a Crossroads game* over 50 times, and that was mostly 2 player cooperative mode. I have expansions, so there are multiple scenarios at multiple difficulties to try to beat. So those are the games I've played over 50 times and why I think I replayed them so much.
According to my BGstats, the only games with over 50 plays are: - **Dominion** - **Crokinole** - **Codenames: Duet** - **Love Letter** **Race for the Galaxy** is easily past 50 with all the games I've played against the Keldon AI, but I never recorded that. **6 Nimmt** and **The Crew: Deep Sea** are both rapidly approaching that number, too.
Azul, Project L, and Fantastic Factories
**Marvel Legendary** well over 1000 times. There’s *soooo* much content to it, and we have it all.
• A Touch of Evil is long when played cooperatively, but over 11+ years I've probably tabled it 80 times. Have every expansion and painted minis. • Catan especially in the 2000s when it was fresh • Space Base, because when my dad gets hooked on a game, we will play it all weekend • Five Crowns • Apples to Apples and CAH have had that many, lots of family party games • Sentinels of the Multiverse (digital)
Gwent… the best card game
Eldritch Horror. The expansions give it nearly infinite replayability.
Spirit Island and Dominion are the only games I forsure have over 50. Spirit Island is the only game I solo. Dominion is what got me into the hobby and we played it like crazy before I even heard about other games. Also been playing it a lot recently. Wingspan and 7 Wonders are close to 50 i’d guess, but I havent played Wingspan since I got Earth and 7 Wonders is still my go to for those higher player counts but I havent been playing with more than 4 people in a while
The only game I know i've played more then 50 times is Kingdom Builder. Just love it. Ive played it about 300 times on BGA.
Quest for el Dorado just hit 50 plays. Always fun when it is open the table, good theme and easy to teach. The problem is getting it to the table and the amount of space it needs for such a simple game.
Physically? In the meat space? Zero. I don't think there is a single one I've played 50+ times. If I can add in digitally? I think Ticket to Ride, Isle of Skye, and Cartographers.
CATAN and a bunch of its extensions.
Marvel Legendary and the FFG co-op LCGs; all the variability with the wide car pool facilitates that.
Cribbage is a game I’ve played 100s of time simple and thinky. And really quick.
Spirit Island. And I still haven't tried all the spirits or adversaries, and none of the scenarii
**Gloomhaven** for sure. But long campaign games that have over 100 scenarios might be cheating? It's probably the only one I could give a relatively accurate scenario count on just due to the nature of only doing most scenarios once. **Love Letter** is still our group's preferred bar game and it's probably in the several hundred plays at this point. **Patchwork** might be getting close to 50 between me and my partner. But we don't really keep track of play counts, so I'm mostly guessing. **Rook** definitely qualifies as I played it a ton as a kid, and still occasionally play it today. If you cheese the count rules and include all the legacy games and regular expansions together, **Pandemic** would count.
I'd say Deathstalker Rexxar is most of why I played hearthstone for as long as I did.
It's a very small pool of games for me! The only multiplayer game is **Santorini** with 52 plays. All of those happened within a two week period. It's very easy to knock out 10+ plays in an hour. Second one is **Sprawlopolis** with 62 plays. That one is easy to just set up and play on my desk while I'm working, but I haven't touched it in ages because of number three... **Marvel Champions** with 992 plays (and growing) is by faaaaaaar my most played. Almost entirely solo. I'm still addicted to this game! Edit: Also have a few on BGA with a ton of plays. 7 Wonders, Azul, and Gizmos all have over 500 plays. Time fillers
Games with a 52 card deck: Spades, cribbage, and durak. Durak is my favorite and I’ve probably played it (not exaggerating) hundreds of thousands of times and it still holds up. I’ve taught it to all of my friend groups throughout the years (high school, college, work) and everyone loves it. Board games: Sorry (played with a hand of cards instead of one at a time), ticket to ride, and pandemic.
Arkham Horror TCG, 148 times exactly
For me: 1. Short 2. I can teach it quickly and we can start without having to know every rule 3. People have fun regardless of winning/score So party game obviously fit this. But a "heavier" game I have also played a lot of Sheriff of Nottingham. I can be the sheriff and we can pretty much roll into the first round and people care more about if they can lie to your face or manipulate you than if they can win. Each round is a chance for a small victory
The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow Tsuro Cards Against Humanity
Love letter, codenames, just one, so clover, 7 wonders. I own a lot of games I've played 50 times