I've recently been very curious about asymmetric gameplay, and figured I should just ask the community at large. I love board game ideas like Betrayal at House on the Hill, the base concept of Evolve (even if the game is kinda a failure), and things like Archenemy for Magic: the Gathering, or the raid decks of the World of Warcraft TCG.

What games can you guys recommend, tabletop or video, that have awesome asymmetric gameplay?

~SE++

How asymmetric does it have to be? Magic: the Gathering is by nature asymmetric, because of different decks.

Chaos in the Old World is often heralded for how different the various characters play.
Letters from Whitechapel does the whole 1vX type deal in a deception package.

But I could name a whole bunch of games where players have slightly different powers at the start of the game.

I'd say it needs to be virtually different modes of gameplay. Two Magic decks function within the same set of parameters and power levels, while something like Evolve has several weaker units against one larger and more powerful unit. Things like that.

~SE++

I've heard of a few games (mostly through TotalBiscuit, I admit) because like you I find the concept intriguing even if I find the concept of multiplayer a turnoff.

The two biggest ones I can think of are Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Depth.

Citzen Kabuto (available here from GOG) has three separate factions: a team of five miniature human-like people with technology and weapons, a team of three tall Na'Vi merfolk people with native abilities like a dash, and a single giant creature that just brute-forces everything and grows... by destroying things I think? It grows somehow, I know.

Depth (available here from Steam) places you in either the position a shark or one of a team of divers. I know the number of players on each side can be changed, but what I've seen is that the divers always outnumber the sharks. Apparently it's had a number of updates over time, according to the game's website. From what I've seen of it, the diver team needs to really work together in order to take out the shark(s), but I also know there's a mode where the diver that kills the shark then becomes the shark, so that's negotiable.

Tag is a great asymmetric game of many versus one. The twist here is that the player that's the one is constantly changing, providing a fluid, some times hectic game experience. I must have racked up hundreds of hours of play time on this game.
The Netrunner card game is played with two different decks of cards with different backs. It was very highly regarded. It's been relaunched now, but I don't now if it's really the same games as before or not.

Is Tag the paint game?

As for Netrunner, I've never played it, but a quick Google says it's from Fantasy Flight, which immediately gives it a bonus in my mind. Those guys are awesome, if not a bit insane.

~SE++

Tag is tag. The one where you run around and slap each other.

*facepalm*



~SE++

I like kick the box better, personally.

I like kick the can better than kick the box, especially if the end result is ice cream out of said can.

~SE++

I can confirm that the reboot of Netrunner is a great asymmetric game. They regularly come out with expansions like Magic*, but you can have a lot of fun with just the seven prebuilt decks in the basic set.

Basically, one side (the corporation) plays a defensive role, trying to put counters on their own "agenda" victory cards, while the other player (the hacker) tries to break through the corp's defenses and steal their agendas. It's a really cool design (originally by Richard Garfield), and really fun, once you get used to all the weird rules terminology.

*The key difference being that you buy an entire expansion instead of random booster packs.

Evolve is an assymetric game in which 4 players as hunters go against 1 as a monster.

Many online co-op games have assymetric modes, for example the zombies vs survivors mode in Left4Dead2.

You could argue that games like Starcraft are also asymmetric because of how vastly different the 3 factions are on so many levels.

If you're a big fan of FFG, there's Mansions of Madness.

That game is a standalone in the same Lovecraftian Horror world as Elder Signs and Arkham Horror, right?

~SE++

Indeed it is.

Awesome, I really enjoy the games set there and the overall atmosphere that goes into the art and design.

~SE++

I like Civilization games where everyone goes for a different win condition.