My Favorite Thematic Thrillers

[Titus]

A good theme that ties in well with the mechanics is something that can really enhance my enjoyment of a game. It’s not necessary for me to like a game but for an abstract game to really impress me the gameplay has to be great. For example, most of Reiner Knizia’s designs are largely abstract but they almost always require you to think. On the other hand, some games only have their themes going for them and really don’t have much in terms of gameplay.

There are also some themes that are already common in games such that I already consider them to be subgenres. Examples of these are dungeoncrawls (e.g., Descent, Doom), zombie games (Last Night on Earth), space empires (Twilight Imperium, Starcraft, Galactic Emperor), and roleplaying adventures (Runebound, Prophecy, Talisman, World of Warcraft). I will not include such games in my list as they all generally have strong themes tied to their mechanics.

A definition of thematic thrillers
A thematic thriller is a game whose theme is unique and adds a lot of enjoyment to the gameplay. The mechanics should also tie in well with the theme. The overall experience is such that you feel almost immersed in the universe of the game.


My Favorites:



Arena Maximus
This fantasy chariot racing game for 2-5 players has you control a unique chariot competing with other charioteers around a randomly placed track. Your hand of cards controls your speed and helps you avoid hazards in your path. You also get to cast spells to screw with the competition. Very chaotic and with a strong kingmaker element, but that’s part of the fun.




Battleball
If you like American football (and I do), you’ll get a kick out of this futuristic football game for 2. The goal is to score touchdowns by taking the ball and bringing it to your opponent’s endzone. You can injure opposing players by tackling them, which results in carnage on the field. Movement, tackling, and passing are determined through an elegant dice mechanic, and the big board and painted plastic miniature players add a lot to the theme and the fun.




Evo
In this quirky game for 3-5 players, you control a species of dinosaur on an island and your goal is to be the most evolved species. You can evolve your dinos in different ways, such as increasing their number of legs (increases movement), horns (increases combat ability), and eggs (increases reproductive rate). You fight other dinos to occupy specific terrain as the general climate changes. The game ends when a meteor hits the planet and all dinos become extinct.




Galaxy Trucker
This is one of the recent hits on BGG, deservedly so. In this space adventure for 2-4 players, you race to build spaceships in real time, then fly them to their destinations, hopefully in one piece and making money along the way. See your opponent’s ship break in half after getting hit by a large meteor and hilarity ensues.




Survive!
This out-of-print classic from the ‘80s for 2-4 players has you trying to get most of your people off an island that’s slowly sinking into the sea. Your people have to jump into the water and swim, or jump into boats and fight for control of them. However, the sea isn’t safe. Whales can sink boats and sharks can eat swimmers, and sea serpents can do both! It’s every man for himself as you seek to get the most people to the safer land at the edges of the board.




Valley of the Mammoths
This is the humorous, somewhat ameritrashy counterpart to Stone Age. You control a stone age tribe trying to survive and conquer other tribes in this 3-6 player game by Bruno Faidutti. You gotta feed them by farming or hunting animals and fight other tribes for territory or their women. And you gotta survive the harsh winters. And you gotta love the humorous cartoon art on the cards and rulebook (warning: the art has nudity – it’s French after all).




War of the Ring
Yes, there are several titles based on the Lord of the Rings. But none, in my opinion, captures the grand backdrop of the books as much as this excellent game for 2-4 players. An interesting dice system lies at the heart of this asymmetrical wargame, where the Shadow seeks to conquer the strongholds of the Free Peoples while the latter tries to buy enough time for the Fellowship to sneak into Mordor and destroy the One Ring.


Special mention

Duel in the Dark
Fury of Dracula
I recently acquired both these games but haven’t played them yet. They look to have what it takes to make this list and maybe I’ll add them later once I’ve tried them out.

Another game I expect to add to this list is Battlestar Galactica. I plan to get my own copy in the near future.

Conclusion
A good theme is something I look for in games. There was a time when I burned out on euros because they all seemed the same: abstract and mechanical. Conversely, I’ve played many games which have nothing going for them except their theme. So it’s rare to find a fun game that combines a good theme and mechanics and gameplay that match the theme well. I tend to hang on to games like these, even if they don’t rank among my favorites.

So, what are your favorite thematic thrillers?

---------------
Other articles in this series:

My Favorite…
- Gateway Games
- Brain Burners
- Meaty Middleweights
- Fun Fillers

[ChineezPnoy]

Battleball
If you like American football (and I do), you’ll get a kick out of this futuristic football game for 2. The goal is to score touchdowns by taking the ball and bringing it to your opponent’s endzone. You can injure opposing players by tackling them, which results in carnage on the field.
Movement, tackling, and passing are determined through an elegant dice mechanic, and the big board and painted plastic miniature players add a lot to the theme and the fun.

Here's d link for any1 looking to get their own Battle Ball
http://www.tabletopwars.com/bb/index.php/topic,3997.0.html

Shameless plug I know, but Titus & I known each other naman sinz '05.
Or was it '06? 

[Brel]

Another very nice and informative article!    Do you have all these games?  I'm interested in most of the games but Valley of the Mammoths caught my attention first.  When do you plan to bring that game in one of the gaming meets?

[Titus]

Another very nice and informative article!    Do you have all these games?  I'm interested in most of the games but Valley of the Mammoths caught my attention first.  When do you plan to bring that game in one of the gaming meets?

Yes, I have them all. All the games on my favorites lists are titles I own. I can bring Valley of the Mammoths to GameCrab on the 24th.

[maskmanjoe]

Unlike Titus I don't think I have much yet that could fall under this category, so I will include some games I don't own but have played a lot of and I believe have very strong theme packed into the box.

Here are my fave Thematic Thrillers:

Arkham Horror
FFG has been churning out these theme-heavy titles that may be considered classics of this boardgaming genre. Among their most recognized is this monster mash based on the H.P. Lovecraft cult classic. This game ranks highly in my list because of the two things it introduced to me: cooperative play and theme. The art, card text and actions players do in the game all build upon the theme of battling monsters and ancient ones and trying to keep yourself sane in the process. In several occasions we feel the terror of having to face the Hound of Tindalos or being on the streets while Ithaqua slumbers. This game was all about the experience.

War of the Ring
The one game I own in this list is my favorite. War of the Ring called me from the display stand like the Precious called on Gollum. Although the setup of this game can be tedious, once all the pieces are in place it is definitely a sight. Like what I have said in my reviews of WoTR, this game never fails to give me that sense of ominous power of the Shadow, or that desperation and feeling of impending doom of the Free Peoples. WoTR really brings out the epic feel of the book onto the table and I have never had a session where I didnt feel like bravely charging into battle More often than not, WoTR to me feels more like a diorama representing different points in time of the Lord of the Rings storyline that you get to influence and change than a game.

Space Alert
The moment I read that this game had its own computer voice I could immediately imagine myself sitting at the bridge of a ship, listening to the computer inform the crew of some impending danger. That single component established this game's theme unlike anything I've come across. Suddenly, in the utter chaos, you do feel disoriented, helpless and lost, just like a crew overwhelmed by alien invaders The theme of Space Alert is not as heavy as Arkham or War of the Ring but I wanted to highlight this game nonetheless because it provided me with an experience similar to the two previous titles.

[John]

Fury of Dracula
I recently acquired both these games but haven’t played them yet. They look to have what it takes to make this list and maybe I’ll add them later once I’ve tried them out.

If you read the novel by Bram Stoker you'll find that the game is an amazing "sequel" to the book One of my favorite thematic thrillers out there.