I am leaning more and more towards CO-OP games (cooperative games) where everyone is on the same team. There are some really good co-op games available too! Here are just some that I have:

1. Rogue Angels
   • 2, 3, or 4 players (or solo playing 2 heroes) are a team of heroes (each with special abilities) in this sci-fi co-op Legacy campaign game. Phenomenal amount of story goes with all the MANY missions. Even though it is a Legacy game you can replay it multiple times. The game is played on MANY different large maps (typically an 8×13 square grid).
2. Labyrinth Chronicles (Special Edition)
   • You can play the game as a co-op Legacy campaign game or as a one shot co-op game. There are REAL walls that you slide back and forth, shifting the maze! Yes, the game is actually a 7×7 grid that acts as a maze with shifting walls.
3. Endangered (with many expansions)
   • Technically, as a team of 1-5 players (each player has special abilities and cards) you are trying to save an endangered species (which varies based on the scenario). However, saving the animals doesn’t actually mean you win! To win, you must get 4 out of 6 randomly selected countries ambassadors at the United Nations to VOTE FOR YOUR PROJECT! Yes, you will need to save the animals … however, don’t lose sight of the goal to influence 4 ambassadors to vote for you! The game is typically played on a single board of a 6×6 grid of squares.
4. Endeavor: Deep Sea (with an expansion end of 2026)
   • This game is interesting in that you build your “map” as you play using medium sized rectangle “ocean boards”. You expand your crew each round (they each have special abilities). The co-op version of the game is interesting in that it uses mostly the same rules as the competitive version, but you try to successfully achieve several of the scenario goals (that are gradually revealed as you play).
5. The War of Mine (1st Edition now … soon with the 2nd Edition)
   • I originally got this game because I wanted to try to get a feel for what it might be like trying to live (ie, survive) in a war torn city. Not as soldiers fighting … but as civilians left in a bombed out city! They realistically crafted the game based on real people’s journals who lived through just that! It is purposely hard to win (just like it is hard to survive in a war torn city).
6. Pandemic & Pandemic Legacy (many versions)
   • There are a wide variety of editions of Pandemic … where you are a team of specialists (each with special abilities) trying to cure diseases before they wipe out the population! My favorite version is the dice based edition: Pandemic: The Cure. There is an interesting video about the=> Many Versions of Pandemic
7. Vantage (solo or co-op)
   • So … you (and your fellow crew mates if playing with more than one) crash land on a new unmapped (as of yet) planet. The game is different in that as you draw “map cards” on your turn, you are NOT creating a map of the world … instead you are simply exploring and heading in one of the main compass directions (unless you are taking an action at your current location).
8. Flashpoint: Fire Rescue (with many expansions and even a campaign edition)
   • Here you are a team of firefighters (each with special abilities) trying to put out a blaze and rescue the people (and pets) in the building (some expansion scenarios are NOT building but submarines, etc). Each scenario has it’s own map that is a grid of squares.