BoardGameGeek has been releasing collections of games in different categories leading into the holiday gift-giving season. They have come upon their list of “Heavy Games” – ones that hard-core gamers enjoy. There were five on their list, and I touched each of them.

Three of the five are reimplementations of prior games. I think that’s a little sad, but also indicative of the source of the list: polling gamers. But a good meaty game is not that easy to spin out.

• Nemesis (2018) – As mentioned, this is a veiled implementation of the movie Aliens (1986). I’ve played it twice, and it does a good job of what it sets out to do. You will likely die. In the second play of this I managed to survive on luck and guts and earn a co-win, blowing up the ship with one of the players in hibernation at the end.
• Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy (2020) – This game reimplements Eclipse (2011), which I have played five times. It’s a massive ships n bits, explore and destroy, epic-length game. I don’t know the details of the update, but I’m sure it delivers a similar experience.
• Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition (2021) – This game reimplements Clash of Cultures (2012) and includes several expansions and the base game together. I played the original once in 2014 and don’t much remember it. It’s similar to Eclipse in that it’s hex tiles creating a map, development of controlled areas, and exploration and battling of uncontrolled areas.
• Dominant Species: Marine (2021) – I’ve played the precursor, Dominant Species (2010), to this one three times. I enjoy the theme and the execution, but it’s a quite lengthy game and I have to be in that mood. This game as well as theming it to the underwater realm changes up several of the mechanisms from the original. I haven’t heard from anyone who’s played both (but i’m sure some of the reviewers make the comparison).
• Hallertau (2020) – I briefly picked this one up at the recent BGG.Con 2021 in the library, but set it back on the shelves. It was hefty and after a quick look, I didn’t think I had time to read and play this new one. I enjoy other Uve Rosenberg designed games, and would prob’ly like this one. Though many of his are so hefty, I don’t care to revisit them often. It’s a hefty worker placement, with enough added on that it should seem a little fresh.