LogFAQs > #977631317

27. Photosynthesis
Expansions Played: None

The forest is a mean, ruthless, dangerous place, and this game gives you the chance to take part in that cruel ecosystem and spread your influence as wide as you can while probably angering every other player at the table.

No, you read that headline right - this isn't the Root ranking. Photosynthesis is a hell of a deceptive package, a pretty little plant game you can find at your local Target and explain in less than 5 minutes that's hiding some of the most cutthroat passive-aggression of anything I've come across in the hobby.

Each player starts off with a board full of lovely (albeit flimsy) cardboard trees and a few seeds. The main board gets set up with a couple other trees and the sun, and you're off and running on what's essentially an area control game, plopping down your own trees to try and soak up as much light as possible while denying it to everyone else as the sun moves around the board. Bigger trees block more sun, but the only way to score points is to completely remove them.

The mark of elegance in a board game is wringing a large number of interesting turns and decisions out of a limited number of options, and Photosynthesis is a great example of that. Balancing the need to expand your territory with the option to mess with your opponents, all while having to plan ahead for the rotating sun, makes for an experience that turns out to be a surprising brain burner, especially when you can get through it in just a half hour or so.

This game's problem is its staying power, or lack thereof. After the first few plays, especially if they're with the same group, Photosynthesis kind of runs out of things to show you. There's no luck and no chance whatsoever, no difference between games, and the group meta will become apparent very quickly. The decisions you make aren't changing, but they feel less interesting with each repeat play unless people are making a concerted effort to do different things.

And look, for the price tag that this game comes with, that's perfectly fine. You get your money's worth and I think it's very good. But it's hard to place this any higher when I just feel like I've seen all it has to offer.

Collection Status and Future Outlook: Currently unowned in the group, but there's a very good chance I pick this back up in the future and also grab the expansion that came out a few years ago. It seems like it addresses some of my problems with the game and adds some incredibly adorable animal meeples to improve the already nice table presence. This is the first game on the ranking that could conceivably make a big leap eventually.

26. Codenames
Expansions Played: None, but multiple versions

I don't think I even really need to bother giving an overview here, right? Don't think there's many people out there with even a cursory interest in the hobby that hasn't played Codenames. You can damn near learn the rules just by reading the box anyway.

From what I've seen, this is one of the most universally liked games out there, and there's good reasons for that. It's easy to teach and play for all ages and experience levels. It can support basically any player count of 4 or more. It's got a cute theme for unnecessary but fun flavor. It's endlessly replayable. It's quick. You can be as risky as you want from turn to turn, setting the stage for entertaining desperation plays where the spymaster gives a comically unhelpful prompt of "Cool, 6." You get the dizzying highs of successfully completing a five-card clue that make you feel like you and your friends have connected on a truly psychic level. You get the despondent lows as the spymaster painfully endeavors to maintain their poker face as their teammates discuss choosing the assassin card (which is itself hilarious if you're an observer on the other team and can see them slowly dying inside as they plot the "How could you think that was the right guess?!" rant they're about to explode with).

It's just a reliably good time. My favorite moments come when I'm teamed up with my best friend and we connect on a hint word that draws from inside jokes from 15+ years ago to the absolute befuddlement of everyone else around us. "Guys, if Brian says 'Contest, 2', he wants us to guess 'Choke' and 'Finger' and you're just gonna have to trust me on that." I struggle to think of an occasion where this game wouldn't work - even heavy gamers can get enjoyment out of the cleverness and puzzle inherent in Codenames in small doses.

With all that said, though, I'm never EXCITED to play it. I've never suggested it unprompted as something to pull off the shelf, and the only reason I ever would is in a family environment - even for something like a 6- or 8-person party among friends, I'll get more laughs and/or satisfaction out of the party versions of something like Sushi Go! or Anomia. Codenames will never blow me away. But there's something to be said for its impressive consistency, which is why it's still this high.

Collection Status and Future Outlook: Owned by multiple friends, and I'll probably grab a copy one day for the aforementioned family dimension. Actually hasn't come out in a while, but I'm sure it will again before too long. My opinion of it is never going to shift at this point, though.