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I backed this as an X-mas gift for my dad! This vid should get him started! Thanks!

I enjoyed your ranking the solo modes of the Awaken Realms games. I own Tamamshi and really like it. Where do you think this would rank in relation to the other Awaken Realms game syou reviewed for solo? Thanks again

This is just a poorly crafted ad for your local store under false pretenses. How such a video gets views is beyond me. At least TRY to address the question. Meaningless assumption bought=played, meaningless sample size=one store, calling out BGG rankings for no reason while ignoring well known sources such as BGG logged plays and BGA play records (which partly overlap and are both skewed towards invested hobby gamers, but are RIGHT THERE to discuss) Edit: on the positive side. That store should be happy for the successful marketing

I want to mention Gaia Project is a great game. It's kind of like Catan, but in space, no trading, and really heavy (quite complex). It takes some time to learn the game but it's really enjoyable to play.

Omg iv been thinking of getting this!

Huh. I'm actually surprised there's a solo variant of Carcassone now.

I had no Idea Castles of Burgundy had a Solo mode. Thank you so very much!

Great video and recommendations! Two I would add are Space Base and Concordia. Space Base gives the roll and get stuff feeling. You can modify your odds based on what cards you buy from the middle. Concordia is get lots of stuff, travel across a map and build stuff and make money to get more stuff and cards.

Very good 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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😊😊😊😊

Looks very sweet. Crowd funded?

In the Sushi Go section the term Hate Drafting is used when referencing a bad hand and letting the next player get the worse card. That’s just kind of how games are played. “Hate Drafting” as a game mechanic is where you take a card you don’t normally want or maybe can’t even use just to keep another player from getting it. It happens. 🤷‍♂️🤣 Great video, good pacing. Great explanations without lingering too long. I’ll pass on Uno, but will admit that there’s a version called Duo in which essentially “Fixes” the never ending problem that Uno can run into sometimes. Onitama is a beautiful and elegant game. Once I played it, I never wanted to play Chess again. I have put off Final Girl but I really like that the Season 2 shown here is more action horror. That seems to be a more appealing theme to me. I might just have to check it out. Thanks again!! ✌️😎

🎉😂😂😂

wyrmspan is derivative trash. Great video though. I demand more neon and a larger chain necklace in the future. Merry Christmas!

Interesting approach. Uno is a luck activity to me. There is almost no game and that is why everyone can take part. The only one I play of those would be Catan. The Classic that still just works for what it is. Final Girl starts to peek my interest. So many are talking about it.

I sell games through the marketplace and isell a lot are wrymspan wingspan

My brother, 5 mins before you got to number 1. I'm out.

Truly odd results you achieved there.

I still don't really know what to make of this game. I really enjoyed many of the individual subsystems but this is a game that would have benefitted so much from persistent enhancements and a proper campaign / story arc. I actually pledged the game, then sold it after playing a few games and then re-aquired it at a lower price. It's in my collection for the time being.

Thanks for the play through. I have been interested in this game and curious to hear your detailed thoughts.

I do like games that evoke a great story

Very interesting to hear what people are actually buying and playing. In my city (Wichita), I frequent the stores that carry board games, which includes (in many places as well) Barnes and Noble. I can say with confidence that this is a very Barnes and Noble list. I was in my local one yesterday, and all of these games are usually at Barnes and Noble. All of which tells me that they are a huge part of what games people see on shelves, and are a crucial resource for people to find games. The increasing size and variety at my Barnes and Noble tells me that they understand this, and have a lot of influence in the board game hobby, both for causal players and hobbyists.

Very cool video.

Thanks!

Love that song. Ha

Great video and very well edited! I also fall for that buying habbit but nowdays trying to keep it in a level were i play any games i own.

There is a thread posted every month on BGG that indicates the top games played that month, see the Sept 2024 one below. I have watched probably three of your videos before and really like your style and the topics that you discuss (your minimalism video was great). I know I may not be your target audience but I just wanted to let you know some feelings that come up when I watch your videos, cause hey maybe other people feel this way too and maybe it will propel you to getting more subscribers. I understand you made this video because you were sponsored by your local game store. So the content makes sense. But as a board gamer, I would have liked to know more well rounded information (thread on BGG about most played games). Since it was only about one local store it makes me question the content/value. I know you get better youtube following if more people comment, so you want us to comment. In this video (and others I have watched of yours), you mentioned not knowing a game and how we should comment about said unknown to you game. I know I may not be your target audience (ie I know a crazy amount about games), but it makes me feel like you are not informed when you are asking about how a game plays/what a game is when you could just find that info on BGG in 1 minute. I think your question about a game is to drive engagement on comments, but the statement makes me unengaged on your content. boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/344723/bgg-top-50-most-played-september-2024

One Night Ultimate Werewolf is great. Short and sweet, even easier if you get the narrator app.!

What a great video and thoughtful discussion. For some of us, collecting and curating can be part of the hobby and the enjoyment we get from it. I enjoy curating and trying new games. I did the same when I curated my CD collection, my book collection, and currently creating my miniature painting collection. I get satisfaction from learning more about board game mechanisms, themes, and from organising and putting things in order. I started my collection with the intention of having the 'perfect' 80 game coop collection (different themes, sizes, complexity levels, mechanisms). So, I would aim to have the best (or most representative) real time coop, dexterity, deckbuilder etc. At some point: A)my daughters grew up and they asked for competitive games. B)My wife engaged more with word games, party, and detective/mystery games. C) we started travelling more and having activities, D I moved to a new place and I don't have a regular playing buddy anymore. All these resulted to me getting more into solo games (because I enjoy punishing complex games), and curating sub categories within the collection.. I now have 180 board games that fit the solo, coop, family competitive, words, mysteries, and party sub categories (160 played at least 10 times). I have sold 115 through the years and I am looking to reduce my collection to 100 (selling 80 more) because I now feel that I have played a lot of games and I don't get the same satisfaction from trying new things, and I get so much more from going deeper with certain games I think the point you make about mental space, and whether it becomes a stressor is important. A lot of the games I haven't played are either mystery games, or campaigns and they don't take mental space, some others are campaigns we played that I might play again. I make sure I play all my games a few times, as unplayed games piling up was weighing on me. The more years we are in the hobby, things change, and we add games to fit these new needs of our lives, developing tastes, and priorities. As long as your approach is no impacting you negatively financially or mentally, then it's the right approach for you. My collection (and the games that left it) is a reflection of my journey, and all the games past a present have been part of this.

Final Girl is FAN-TAS-TIC. I got the core box + a couple of feature films about 2 months ago. It's so addictive that now I have 8 films and the miniatures for both seasons 😅

Love your honesty/sincerity. Root is my favorite board game ❤ but I'd never play it solo as Root is one of the most interactive games out there. Great video!

I love this!!! Thank you so much for doing this. I think these types of videos are really important because it really helps the hobby as a whole. Specifically, I feel the greatest issue with the tabletop board game hobby is awareness. People just don't know about it. When I was a kid, there were tons of games in the hobby that I would have absolutely loved (and eventually did) but I didn't know about them. I only knew about Americana games like Monopoly and Sorry and Uno and Clue, etc. etc. The most unique games that I knew of (back in the 90s) were Risk and Axis & Allies. But why is that? Outside of the latter two, all of the games I knew of came from mass retailers like Walmart and Target, because that's where we shopped. That's all we knew. I think that is most obvious by this list. Even going up through the top 20, most if not all of the games mentioned are available at Walmart or Target specifically. I strongly believe that is why they are being played more than other games. I remember when games like Ticket to Ride and Cards Against Humanity became popular. They had both been in the industry for about a decade, but then the moment they hit Walmart and Target, their popularity went through the roof! I think that as a community, we need to continue to work on the awareness obstacle. Introduce new games to more and more people, even those that may come off as "non-gamers." I have surprised myself as to whom I have helped get into the hobby not thinking they would really be into it. I have seen some schools start having board game clubs. I think this is where it really starts! Get more games into schools, show kids how fun games can be of all sorts of different genres. Then they go home and tell their family. The next thing you know, they are looking it up on Google, finding it and other fun games in the industry. Eventually we will see more and more games in mass retailers. The more games that are mass produced, the more successful the hobby will be!

I’m in two different groups of about 20 people (friends and family), that get together (about 4-6 of us play regularly - at least- once a week) and we get about 10/20 people together once a month with party games. And the other group is primarily a neighborhood social party group. The social party group just played the Neaderthals game which a free people liked, but most didn’t, so I’d be surprised if it got played again. On the months we’ve hosted (therefore we get to choose the games), we’ve played Dixit (12 player version), guillotine, herd mentality and code names. The last 2 were rated most favorably. I really don’t like party games 😂, except for Dixit and codenames. (So far) My other group- thank goodness! Is usually smaller and we play more tactical games… My son is usually the one setting up these, so he’s chosen many of the games- and we’ve played Villianous about 50 times this year. Codenames, Citadels, trekking thru history, llama land, Salem, Bezziwizzer, green team wins, Dominion, 7 wonders are all often played when he’s around. When he’s not, Wingspan, Flamecraft, Catan, Planted, Parks, Canvas, Bonsai are the ones played- 😏

I respectfully disagree with the first assumption. I have a full backlog of games that I have purchased (well most are crowdfunded). Like anxiously waiting a year for Heroes of Might and Magic III to launch on Kickstarter. Than waiting another year to recieve it. Than I have only played it once a year so far. I have placed Nightmare Cathedral 3 times since I backed it also. I just don't keep up at home when I'm juggling Lego building and MMO video games on top of board games. But I do agree with you on the BGG top rated. Take it with a grain of salt. And weight is highly subjective also. Like Arkham Horror the LCG I did not get to the table until 2 years after I purchased it. However I dived into Marvel Champions the core box pretty quick, and than Dwellings of Eldervale once it arrived. With regards to Root, I have heard the Riverfolk has a crash dummy rough draft basically of their first attempt at solo. Clockwork is much improved, but out of print. I did not care for Sushi Go myself. But my sister likes it. So I will play it over the holidays.

disclaimer: game pledge does not come with the robe.

With the right people root is a ton of fun. Learning all the factions including the expansion factions takes some time. But worth it!

Come to the Triangle and we can play Root

I gave up all support for BGG/ Just a cess pool of political nonsense. An alternative website is being built, I can't wait! Ratings are emotionally driven as well.

Wavelength is an ok game. It is for groups. Two side teams. One guy chooses a card that says stiff like spicy food. With a round tracker you put if agree or disagree around that track. Then you close that round track and say to your team an example ( chili) the team must guess if you thing thats spicy or not and put their estimate on where did you put the track.

Top played games are all going to be classics, mostly card games, or other games you can bet on. Poker, craps, blackjack, dominoes, mahjong, bridge, cribbage, spades, hearts, chess, checkers, Chinese Checkers and the like. For more modern games party card games would probably be up there a bit more than sales would suggest but I doubt they see tons of play in most houses. Narrowing down to gamers then the whole premise breaks because of deep shelves of shame. There really isn’t a good way to connect sales to plays. Even most gamers in the hobby aren’t logging plays on BGG, or rating games. It also matters a lot if you are basing it off games played or hours played. Twilight Imperium can easily take 8 hours for a game. Thats 1 play vs 16 on a game that takes under a half hour. If I had to guess I would say some of the most played games are going to be the most funded/sold plus continued hype with a slight bias for the best campaign games or rules light games that play in under 2.5 hours. Cmon and Awaken Realms would probably have the most. Marvel United, Nemesis, Cthulhu DMD. Gloomhaven would likely be up there. Pandemic Legacy would have been a few years ago.

Cool premise for your video. Interesting to see what different areas are playing. If it helps with Root, it's not as complex as it sounds. Yes every faction is asymetric but... there is one main victory condition for everyone and potentially one alt victory condition. I've taught the game a few times and the nice thing is that although everyone plays differently, everyone goes through the same phases and many actions work the same way no matter who you're playing. If we ever end up at a table together, I'd be happy to teach it to ya

Love your videos! Your content has led me to so many different solo games. Thank you! Always enjoy your channel and videos!

I appreciate the video but I own none of these games and I would never play any of these games and I do own 110 games. 😊

Pro tip: when describing sushi go I’d say it’s a pure card game with a closed draft and that points are scored via set collection, where each card you draft is a potential member of a point scoring set.

The designer of Sushi-Go! Is Phil Walker-Harding

Where on earth are you getting three cards from Sushi Go? The smallest starting hand is 7.

Fantastic work. I’m fairly new to the hobby and have found that a lot of the top rated BGG games are impossible for me to get out, teach and play, as much as I’d love to play them. The reason I fell in love with board games is because of the fun social interaction they create with friends and family + plus that bit of brain burn, and the reality is that Catan is the greatest game of all time for that. You just can’t beat the way it keeps everyone engaged at all times. I’ve also noticed that a lot of people in the scene hate luck, but luck means my wife wins, and if my wife wins then I get to play games more often. How good is a game really if it’s never getting played and no one is having fun?

No way Onitamanis n6. Onitama is broken. Someone can just never advance and wait for the other to move and kill it and then, wait again until the other player realised that and do the same. And the game stays in a forever loop. What a bummer. Unexplainable how this game is popular