On the 6th day before Christmas, we want to share our top 5 Push Your Luck games. Players must decide between settling for existing gains, or risking them all for further rewards, in a game with some amount output randomness or luck. We like to use these games to test risk-reward tradeoffs and experiment with probability and statistics.
5. Lost Cities: It is a card game where you are trying to gain points by mounting profitable archaeological expeditions to the different sites represented by the colored suits of cards. Cards played to expeditions must be in ascending order, but they need not be consecutive.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities
4. Deep Sea Adventure: A group of explorers hoping to get rich quickly heads out to recover treasures from some undersea ruins. They're all rivals, but their budgets force them all to share a single rented submarine. In the rented submarine, they all have to share a single tank of air, as well. If they don't get back to the sub before they run out of air, they'll drop all their treasure.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169654/deep-sea-adventure
3. King of Tokyo: You play mutant monsters, gigantic robots, and strange aliens—all of whom are destroying Tokyo and whacking each other in order to become the one and only King of Tokyo. At the start of each turn, you roll dice, which could be Victory Points, Energy, Heal, and Attack. The fiercest player will occupy Tokyo, and earn extra victory points, but that player can't heal and must face all the other monsters alone!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-tokyo
2. BANG! The Dice Game: Players take a role card that secretly places them on a team: the Sheriff and deputies, outlaws, and renegades. The Sheriff and deputies need to kill the outlaws, the outlaws win by killing the Sheriff, and the renegades want to be the last players alive in the game. On a turn, each player can roll the five dice up to three times, using the results of the dice to shoot neighboring players, increase the range of his shots, heal his (or anyone else's) life points, or put him in range of the Indians. Play continues until one team meets its winning condition!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143741/bang-dice-game
1. Archaeology: The New Expedition You are an archaeologist working the dig sites of the Egyptian desert. Search for the right pieces to complete torn parchments, broken pots, and other priceless artifacts. Explore an ancient pyramid in the hope of uncovering a huge stash of treasure! Sell your treasures to the museum at just the right time for maximum profit. But beware, the desert also has its dangers! A devastating sandstorm can throw your expedition into disarray, and cunning thieves lurk around the dig site ready to steal your prize discovery!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191300/archaeology-new-expedition
