29) Hanging Gardens

This is a fun and light game that really makes you think spatially. The trick is trying to create, score, isolate, and recreate groups of adjacent colored gardens. It always takes me a couple turns before I remember how to optimize these cards.

Just getting started

board 1

board 2

board 3

End of a 3-player game

I recommend this game as a fun change of pace from the euro-style games.

28) Yggdrasil

This is one of my two favorite co-op games. It has a good theme, a good balance between taking actions for immediate bonus and planning for future rounds, and a good sense of working together to reach victory. At the same time this game, unlike many other co-ops, doesn't suffer from the problem of one person telling everyone else what to do. It is also great because you can ramp up the difficulty as you become better to continually challenge your group.

Mid-way through the game

I played Freyja

We win!

Collecting sets is key

And if everything above didn't sell it just look at that board again. It's so beautiful. This is a great game that comes highly recommended.

27) Coloretto

This is a fun game that plays quite quickly and is really easy to teach. Very simply, you're collecting sets of the same color. You get increasingly more points the higher the amount of each color you get, however you are only allowed two score three colors at the end of the game, the rest count against you.

4-player game

Keeping my options open

So much negative

Great filler game that everyone I've played with has enjoyed.

26) Gauntlet of Fools

The game so nice we played it....four times. The replay value of this game is awesome. Each game you have four characters paired with a different weapon. Players are boasting (bidding) on which character they get. Initially you can take a character at no cost, but if you want to take someone else's character you add a penalty to that character and then its yours....until someone else takes it with further penalties. In the games we played there was little if any boasting. We also had difficulty valuing the character/weapon pairings, exemplified by the last game where the least desired character ended up winning.

You'd be a fool not to play this

Game 1 character and weapon

Most of a 4-player game

bits

Monsters

Thought I was safe....I wasn't.

All and all this is a fun game with simple mechanics that still allow for fun choices. And as I said before the replay value is great.

25) Unexploded Cow

This is a fun little game that really sells itself with its flavor - you can't go wrong with exploding mad cows. I'm really glad I got to play this, but it really didn't leave me wanting to play again. There is an element of gambling, which allows for some strategy, but largely what you do is based on the luck of the draw.

flavor = fun

byo dice and money

Even black and white art is fun

3 player game

24) Hey, thats my fish!

Quick, fun, easy to learn...what more do you need. This is a light filler game and everyone I've played with has enjoyed it. I ended up playing a two player game, which I felt was a bit more strategic then with more players, although the chaos of a 4-player game is equally enjoyable.

Travel size 

Fish are ready

Penguins are ready

Islands are imminent

Not happy on an island of one

23) Hera and Zeus

This is a quick paced game that has good strategic value for a two player game. There are enough cards and different interactions between the cards to keep things interesting. It took a while to fully understand what all the cards did and how best to play them, but by the second game I felt like I didn't have to constantly check the reference sheet anymore.

Who will strike first 

Graveyard.

A few cards

Things are heating up

Some two player games tend to have one player who starts dominating and the game is over a few turns before it actually ends. This game, in contrast, could have a player who appears to be losing come back and win. So much of this game is playing to the current board situation and thus if you have the right cards you can make smart plays that allow you to win even if you feel like you're behind.