Cosmic Encounters and Nemesis. I think cosmic is my favorite for sure and I feel like it’s got a lot of replay ability. Nemesis is a great game and it has great story building I think.
Cosmic encounter is such an awesome game. I wish it was easier to introduce people to it; everytime I try people always get put off by the initial complexity/learning-curve.
Actual answer, first game would be Dominion (assuming I can bring my xpacs): tons of variety, is just fun, and in extremis it's a lot of kindling if it comes to it 🔥
For my second answer, I'm going to say Mage Knight. It's long and in-depth, has several game modes including both co-op and competitive, and if my islandmates are too concerned with stuff like "finding food" the solo is fantastic. This is a true island game, as I never play it usually, but with nothing to do and infinite time it seems perfect
I always love a round of dominion. Something that I am missing from other deckbuilders is this focus on a particular strategy (like when Remodel is there or Vassal+Sentry and so many more combos). Most other deckbuilders I play have a lot more random shop and thus do not allow to plan ahead that much.
Right?? I'm so mad the "trade row" style of Ascension is what took off instead of the "market" style of Dominion. It makes sense from a developer side as it's much easier to just make a stack of cards and let the variance balance the powerful stuff for you, but the ability and satisfaction to make long-term strategies makes market superior to me IMO.
If you haven't heard of it Aeons End is another fun deckbuilder that uses market-type randomization. It's cooperative and features enemies so it's not too similar to Dominion, but it's a fun time!
I think I would take Terraforming Mars and Castles of Burgundy.
Both of the games are rather distinct from each other.
Burgundy has many different player mats and each time I played, it was a new exciting scenario.
Terraforming Mars is very satisfying and offers a lot of different strategies to go for.
Plus if we get to include all the xpacs, Arkham can serve as a second island to give you more space! ;D
For real though love that game! But I would miss Arkhamdb and all the online community to talk with. (Speaking of, anyone know of a good Arkham LCG Lemmy comm?)
Mottainai and maybe War Chest. Or if I have some basic tools I could make my own War Chest set.
A bunch of dice preferably in multiple colors and a standard deck of cards (or one of those fancy decks with extra suits and symbols) would be a great treasure too.
Spirit Island and Trailblazers. Spirit Island's my favorite game and even nicely thematic to the situation.
Trailblazers I haven't even played yet, but I have a feeling waterproof cards and a travel case are pretty killer features for the desert island scenario.