quick ranking of the 30 tabletop games i played in-person in 2023

16. Celestia
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175117/celestia

2 plays in 2023 with 6 players

Celestia is a push-your-luck game where everyone is sailing on an airship through the mystical titular land. Each stage of the airship, a different player becomes the pilot and must overcome an increasing number of obstacles (hazards on dice faces) using their cards in hand. But other players can choose whether or not to stay in the airship. Eventually the airship will likely crash, and those on board get no compensation, but the deeper you wait before jumping ship the more points you get.

This game is a mainstay in my group. It's freaking adorable with the little airship and nice dice. You can pop your little pawn out of the ship and make a parachuting sound when you leave. And it's super-fun when the table goes "IN" "IN" "IN" rapidly during the early stages.

I've cooled on Celestia quite a bit since I first played it, like I have with Azul. It remains extremely accessible and cute, but somehow the game just doesn't feel as exciting when I really suck at it - I think I've probably played 20+ games in my life and never won, and it's not just because of bad luck - someone just usually has better luck than I do! I also find that with a high player count, where nominally it should be the best, it feels like it takes a bit too long. Or maybe it's that my group often asks for a second game after the first (which is what happened for my two plays this year), and that really hits the limit for me.

That said - the principle of the whole thing remains fantastic, and it's very good for an ultra-light push-your-luck. I've long since realized that that's not exactly my genre but I still appreciate both the design and the novelty of moving a little airship along a magical land.