[1123581321]

I was inclined to disagree with the OP, but if a third of the top board games could reasonably be described as having an occult flavor, they seem connected with reality. That’s high enough that it seems okay to ask for help choosing a game.

Gloomhaven is full of demons and Lovecraftian monsters to fight, by the way, and the player characters use summons and dark magic. Great game; we’re on roughly our 40th play session tomorrow!

[thaumasiotes]

> if a third of the top board games

I don't think it makes sense to consider Gloomhaven and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion independently. There are other issues with this count -- for example, Lost Ruins of Arnak doesn't appear to, technically, exist yet -- but that would be the main one.

If, instead of the "the hotness" sidebar, I look at the top 20 games by rating, then those with more than zero potential occult flavor are:

1. Gloomhaven

13. Spirit Island

19. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

(with potential honorable mentions going to Star Wars: Rebellion and War of the Ring: Second Edition, depending on your opinion of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.) This is 15%, not 33%.

You have to know what it is you're trying to count. A Feast for Odin (#23) might be objectionable on the grounds that you are thematically honoring a pagan god. But it involves no supernatural phenomena whatsoever. Mage Knight (#24) is a war game in which you use magic.

I would mentally classify Mage Knight in the same genre as superheroes rather than occultism, but somebody else might differ. But my larger point is, it's a mistake to look at those two games, acknowledge that they both meet (very different) definitions of occultism, and then conclude that occultism is extremely prevalent. First define what occultism is, and then you'll notice that the number of games actually meeting that definition is much smaller than the number of games potentially meeting any definition.

[1123581321]

I’m fine with your revised criteria but still think it shows the OP was somewhat reasonable to ask for help. You insulted them pretty badly. They’ve gotten good recommendations from other users, though.

[2muchcoffeeman]

It’s not a third of the top board games. It’s 5 out of 15 games.

I’ve played enough games to realise anything in the top 200 is probably quite good. Probably anything from 201 to 500 is is also good.

Erring on the side of caution, maybe 20% of the top 200 may have magic or occult elements. I have far too many board games. I maybe have 5 that are occultish, have magic or pagan religions. I’m actually really surprised. I thought it would be more. I have more games about farming.