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Have you tried Herd Mentality ? It's basically the same game as Green Team Wins. I think it came out a year or two before Green Team Wins did. If you've played both, do you like Green Teams Wins better ? If so, why ? Just curious. I have Herd Mentality, but thinking of picking up Green Team Wins as well.

Beuhark

I take it you were never in a bar shaking dice for a free drink. It's common here and the guys drive me nuts how hard they beat those leather dice shakers on the bar. The dice don't go all over the place because they turn the cup upside down for the shake.

Plastic will break down before metal. That being said, those metal ones are nice.

I enjoy deck builders, and I find The Hunger to be a super enjoyable game. I agree with your critique of Clank. However, I've found that Clank Catacombs solves most of those issues. I would definitely suggest giving CC a try when you have the opportunity.

Its the same

I like the "new to me" format. As I don't get many games played that come out in the same year. Im always discovering games from years past. I played over 60 new to me games this year and only 2 of them are from 2024. My favorite discovery this year is GI Joe the Deck Building game. It was a pleasant surprise considering I'm typically skeptical of those IP games that play on the nostalgia of 80's and 90's pop culture.

Wow Big Boss looks amazing, have never heard of that

The expansion to The Hunger is really fun too. It adds a couple mechanics so maybe not for people who want the simplicity of the base game, but definitely worth trying

My suggestion for your next purchase is a nice box for your accessories. It keeps all of your accessories in one olace, and it is easy to just grab the box along with any game, and you will have plenty of options to make your game a little nicer.

Expressive hands. Subbed

My daughter bought Trivial Pursuit Family Edition because it has kids questions which would be great for her 9yo son. But a large number of the questions, both adult & kid, are very UK-centric. For example, they assume a knowledge of UK football teams, or UK politicians. Since we’re in Australia, most of these questions leave us scratching our heads. And yes, this was bought from an Australian source. I’ve tried Googling for Family Edition questions (ie kid & adult questions) with a more Australian flavour, but haven’t found anything. Does anyone here have any suggestions?

I have those octagon dice trays and one really cool thing I learned after having them for a while is you can stack them while they're set up to shake roll or just to pass dice around the table with no chance of dropping

Is this one easier with the hooks sticking out more?

I like the Mint Tin idea for storage for tokens. One accessory I've enjoyed for a lot of games are some clear tuckboxes for playing cards. Specifically the sets I had bought were by Burger Tokens, their "37S" size intended to store up to 37 standard-sized cards with sleeves. I had bought them for use with Keyforge decks but the size has been great to use in a lot of other games that include cards. Being able to store the cards into a nice clear tuckbox rather than a ziplock baggy feels very nice. For some games I'm able to fit cards and tokens for each player into a single tuckbox in a game like Clank!. The starting 10 cards, the meeple, and the clank cubes fit very nicely into one of these tuckboxes.

Nice list, collapsible trays are something I've been planning to get. The tins look great, but I doubt they are any more eco friendly than small plastic containers. I'm assuming that the total lifetime usage of both would be about the same since they'd get minimal wear. Plastic is worse when it keeps getting used for a very small amount of time. So for better or worse both are going to last forever, unless those tins are easily recycled (mixed metals can be tricky).

No Board Game Butler?

The mint tins are a pretty solid idea. Definitely going to give that a try

Wow, those tin boxes are perfect for flamecraft.. please share the link. We bought a card shuffler this year, so our 9yo can shuffle his cards by himself

Yes, so good for each player to have their own dice trays. The trays help quite a bit with preventing the dice from flying everywhere - but maybe I need to invest in some roller cups, lol. The muffled sound of dice inside is pretty satisfying, you captured it really well in the video. Since I'm doing mostly solo and minimal footprint stuff, one of mine this year was waterproof playing cards. Lots of in-hand style solo games that I was able to play on the beach or floating on the lake. As cool as they are, they DO NOT float, and the sun will warp them, lol. Still, if used the right way a nice idea.

I got myself a collapsible dice *tower* a few months ago. Its awesome for all the reasons you listed for the trays AND the shaker cups! I dont get to play at home very often, so being able to fold flat for transport is huge. My entire gaming group has gotten lots of mileage out of it already.

Love the idea to have auction with winnings to bid for prizes

Another great video, picked up a set of the mint tins for myself! Some accessories I purchased this year are an LCD writing table (basically an adult etch sketch) for keeping score and 2 metal d10s to replace dials.

Very good video. I saw Scythe and Dice Forge in your collection. Love those games.

Now available in four sizes, up to 3.5' x 5.5'.

Can't go wrong with fabric pouches, lots of different styles to choose from. Decorative fuax book boxes could be a good ideas to store more items out of sight.

Is there a particular software tool you recommend for designing cards?

wow, this is REALLY different and the artwork is beautiful! I do photography and videography for work so i love this as a board game! the production quality looks so good too!

This is a bit random, but as soon as the video started and I saw just the hands, I had an immediate flashback to a tv show from the late 60s or early 70s. It was a guy doing magic tricks and then showing how they were done. Does anyone else remember it? I'd forgotten it even existed until I saw the start of this video, and now I think it’s going to haunt me LOL

I feel like a lot of these ideas are the same and run into the issue you presented at the first. Cant buy inserts, specific pieces for a game without already knowing the player, what they already own and what they need. I like some of these ideas still though.

Wow! My mind is blown - that is a unique and fitting mechanism for a game about taking photos.. Dexterity for the mental-eye. Really cool to see this, thanks!

I just got this on sale last month but have not played it yet, but thought the photography aspect was interesting. It was cheap enough I thought I could resell if we didn't like it. We only have a handful of games with minis in them but no others with neoprene bottoms.

I'm a photographer and this sounds fun

Love Catapult Feud!! Great list of games!

Regarding the plastic topic... I think it's great that you're considering environmental aspects! However, unless have to purchase multiple plastic components during the lifetime of one metal component, my gut tells me that plastic is still more environmentally friendly than metal. Much like tote bags only make sense once you would have used a couple dozen or hundred plastic bags instead. Some great ideas regardless, thanks!

Great list! A premium subscription to BGA would be my suggestion!

It‘s amazing to whatch the whole video without sound. Nice moves.

No! No! No! More zip lock baggies. I have an over full gallon sized ziplock bag filled with bags that I have gotten with every game I've ever purchased! We don't need more zip lock bags.😭

The takeaway: "I don't want Gloomhaven" is code for "I want both Gloomhaven and Frosthaven" Also the takeaway: Buy them a game you want them to invite you over to play a game that you want to play when you go over. Also the takeaway: Get them a game you got for cheap, just in case they don't like it, like something on a daily deal or something. Also the takeaway: Clank. Also the takeaway: Hands.

Man, I wish I had seen this sooner before buying a Christmas gift for my board game loving brother. Oh well, maybe I'll save this for his birthday! Lol

Is there a link for where to get the really small footprint table lamps?

Some tips: Please don't buy zip bags unless you are certain the gamers wants them. I know that I have several hundred on them as they tend to multiple. Also, always roll casino dice on a surface that you don't mind getting little dents from the corners on. My wood table looks like it has been through a war. But deluxe dice bags that stand up are great. You can get them personalized and they are useful for any game that call for a bag! And I love my set of 3 card trays that are marked "Draw", "Discard" and "Vote." They were originally for my social deductions but have made their way into some other games, too. Both these items can be crafted! Sew the bags and add some custom embroidery. The trays can be made from Dollar Store small wood trays, painted any way you want.

Last advice is the most important.

I make this question soooooo easy for my partners. I literally have a simple public "virtual kallax" spreadsheet where categories/mechanisms are the rows, and the degree of complexity is the columns (Gateway+, Advanced, Expert, Weirdo), and every game I own is in its own slot. If a slot is blank (or marked as black text meaning I'm trying to cull it), that means I'm actively looking for a game to fill that slot! I even comment on the empty slots, listing games I'm currently considering, or have already rejected for the slot. If I find one which I'm on the fence about but which is also under $70 MSRP, I put it on a public Amazon wishlist for birthdays/christmas.

Really good advice. All of this makes sense, but I hadn't ever put all of these together into such a practical process. "The thought" really is a big part of the gift. I'm a really big fan of seeing the game played in a video - always a good idea to get the feel of the game but also to get opinions from the reviewer.

Your last advice is actually a great one ! What about expansions for a game you know the gamer likes ?

I noticed lots of stonemaier games, very nice. I really.like topshelfgamer for components!!

Thats sounds more like a fanboy-review. If you definitely dont like "Take That" and it is a part of the game, how you can prefer this over King Domino (expansions, new scoring etc.)? I have no problem with Take That games, but "Moon River" seems more like a familiy game (even if it is more complex). And as you mentioned, if you destroy points from someone and another person can play peacefully, so that is not true a winner then. (P.S. we had a session with Raiders of the North Sea, and i took from one person resources and she couldnt win, the winner was the one, who was completly ignored)

I keep a set of chunky casino dice from the Flamingo as our first player dice. I gave a set to all my gaming friends as presents one year. These are all great ideas! Gaming themed or related artwork is a plus too.

How long did it take for them to ship? I noticed my order doesn’t have a tracking number