Thank you for everything you do, your passion and commitment to board gaming is amazing. Always interested in seeing your take on games, thanks for another amazing year of videos!
wow, this list feels very authentic, meaning you really stayed true to your likes and what you truly felt were the best games... impressive once again !
Richard, I hope 2017 is a phenomenal year for you and Jen. Thanks for the list; I think the top ten lists are the strongest offerings you have on your channel.
BIOS Genesis and Pax Renaissance are two of my favorites this year. Haven't been able to manage Terraforming Mars yet, but I think it would certainly work for me. Thanks for a great 2016, Richard!
Does Mechs vs Minions have a basic gameplay option? I know it has a campaign, but can I open the box and just set up and play somehow with friends? Also, is it like a legacy game (can't really start from the beginning (after playing at least once) or play after the campaign)?
Roll Player is getting a second printing now and is supposed to come available early in 2017 (the designer said he hopes January). There is also an expansion up on BGG but no retail/KS info on it yet that I know of. It is probably my group's favorite of what I picked up last year.
Thanks for the list! I'm pretty shocked to not see Villages of Valeria on the list after your unbelievably glowing review of it. Glad that Aeon's End made it, as I think that one's pretty cool.
Fair enough, but I would have thought it was based on your Final Thoughts. I guess I just don't think that more than 10 "phenomenal" games come out every year.
Thanks for another great top 10, Richard. I kinda expected 4 Gods at least to be mentioned, because I know there is not yet your runthrough for it and it was in your top 10 anticipated Essenspiel games. Anyway, I'm sure it will come sooner or later so I'm looking forward to it :) P.S. Happy holidays, rahdo, to both of you and Jen :) And the beagles of course :)
Rahdo, Did you play Feast Of Odin? Everyone is talking about it! And I cannot find a video of you playing it! (I might overlooked over your channel too many vids) I haven't played it yet, but I would like to know what all the fuss is about with Feast of Odin on your channel
I was trying to figure out how much your top 10 lists have cost me in the last 2 years...i had to stop counting...such great recommendations, the wife and I played Manhattan Project: Energy Empire a couple days ago...really great game
Dream Home is an awesome little game! The components are really nice, the theme is adorable, very sim-ish. A surprising amount of strategy required. Likewise I play almost exclusively 2 players with hubby, and I think you and Jen will really enjoy it.
So glad I managed to pick up Project: Elite through EBay. As soon as Atripia emailed me that they didn't have a distributor, I jumped on it. I agree that the miniatures are not great and that doesn't effect gameplay, but I am going to paint the heroes and probably 2/3 grey aliens just to help identify them quickly on the board.
Cool list! :-) I was just listening to your podcast where you talk about how we are preconditioned to follow certain expectations from our societies. So how come you do a top 10 and not a top 11, top 13, top 17, top 19? (I like prime numbers.) Go against the grain, Rahdo! Dare to be different! ;-)
I think you might really enjoy Inis. I've been pleasantly surprised how well it works for 2 players - the tweak to the drafting is pretty slick. (Think Citadels rather than the hot mess of 2-player 7 Wonders.) It feels like fencing, where you're constantly angling for an opening or combo while trying to keep one step ahead of what the other guy seems like he wants to do.
Hi, on Legends Of Andor, I can not figure out what the archers special abillitie means. Does it mean you can roll your die 1 at a time? If so that would not be usefull...
yes, the archer is less powerful because it's much better to roll your dice all at once and take the top value, rather than push your luck with rolling the dice one at a time. but otoh, the archer can attack adjacent, so she doesn't have to spend as much time moving as a melee character, which makes up for the weaker attack style
yup, if vinhos was a completley new game that hadn't had a previous release, it would have made the top10 definitely. this is sort of the same reason that pandemic iberia didn't make the list...
where would you have put Covert on your list for this year? I just watched the final thoughts on it and it seemed like you liked it a lot, but the mean aspect might have knocked it down. my wife is interested in Coverrt, but I haven't seen it listed on many peoples lists so is it really that good? thanks!
i guess this level of game with sort of the same type of mechanics? we haven't played almost any euro style games, mostly just time stories, eldritch horror, and netrunner, but this is one f the few games the wife actually was interested in that was say... mansions of madness 2nd edition. hope that makes sense, thank you for the reply sir.
wow that's a pretty wide and deep recommendation request. probably too far reaching for this forum. i'd suggest heading over to www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/8/boardgamegeek/recommendations (need to make an account, but it only takes a second) and ask there, and you'll get a lot of good suggestions and discussion :)
Did Santorini get close to making this list? I thought it would be here... Or does it count as a 2017 game since retail version is only out now? Thanks a lot for the videos!!
rahdo I see! Thanks for the response! And thanks for all the effort you put into this! You've quickly become my go-to reviewer for a detailed overview and opinion!
Any chance you guys will do a run through of Machi Koro bright lights? You're my favorite game guy and this game looks great but very overwhelming with all the cards and game play 😊 thanks for all that you do!
Great List! Yeah it seems every top ten I've seen give a nod to Mech vs Minions. I bought Aeon's End on a whim and really like it, can't wait till expansions come out for it. I also picked up Energy Empire, and really love it as well I feel real bummed that Project Elite may not hit retail, cause I really like Escape, and want something similar, but meatier.
I figured that might have been what you meant! And yes, I watch your videos exclusively on my phone so no annotations for me... I usually just check for Paolo's notes in the video description. Thank you for responding so quickly!
It is a shame P:E won't see any more love, but I think a lot of us were rightfully annoyed by the lack of communication that Drawlab showed us. I'm sure there was a vocal few that lashed out at the designer and that's not acceptable at all, if we had received regular updates on their progress it could have gone a lot different, not to mention that Canadians got hit with extra brokerage fee's because they didn't do their research when choosing shipping methods. Konstantinos has been very active on the comments page and he's seen a lot of support so I hope he finds the will to pick it up again in the future because the game is awesome.
yeah, i think being upset or disappointed and expressing that is perfectly understandable - there were certainly plenty of things that went wrong on the project. but it's not like they weren't in good faith trying to fix those things (and are still trying to, as I understand it), and to be met with non-stop torrents of white hot rage for month after month after month would send anyone into despair :(
Being upset is one thing, I get that. What I don't sympathize with is the echo chamber where conversation devolves into cruelty as people compete to be the most outraged. I understand a demand for responsibility, but with sympathy. Failure to be sympathetic is failure to be human, internet anonymity obfuscates this.
I can't believe it 4 out of 5 of Radho's top 5 is in my collection ! and I'm an Ameritrash head ! (ok admittedly Aeon's End is in the post right now from a very speedy Euro supplier who can get these products early in the region so it's not in my hands quite yet).
it's like my #13 of the year... it could have easily cracked the top10 if it weren't for a couple of minor (and fixable IMO) things that bug me about it. overall I'm really impressed... it's his best game in years!
Do you plan to do a video on Feast of Odin? I'm sure you do, but I'm really interested in your thoughts on it. I played it once, and I just can't stop thinking about it! I know you and Jen aren't crazy about Caverna/sandbox style games, but this one just felt like so much more fun than all of Uwe's other games to me. I wonder if you plan to keep your copy.
I was surprised to see that Rahdo's #2 was Tom Vassel's #1 as they both don't usually like the same style of games. Great video, informative & even made me laugh. Sorry to hear about the demoralizing hate on the game designer about production issues of the #2. Whatever happened to developing character and virtue? If the company said they would fix it--patience and grace would be called for.
Boardgame Fan Girl Yeah, but the internet, Kickstarter in particular, doesn't work that way. I backed it, and it was completely worth the wait, but board gaming isn't immune to the toxic, short sighted, cult of the new twerps that usually plague other dark corners of the internet.
Well Tom Vasel mentioned in his Top 10 of the year that he'd try to do whatever he could to make sure the game got reprinted so we'll see if anything comes of that. Maybe in a year or two, Project Elite will be a Dice Tower Essentials game.
Take a look at the P:E KS page and the updates -- it was largely muffins and marshmallows up until Artipia AND Drawlab presented the blobs of plastic and exclaimed, "Aren't these AWESOME??? We're amazed, you have to be amazed as well!" People were not amazed. And whether or not the minis "need" to be highly detailed, the KS proclaimed the minis as highly detailed and showed them off as such -- the preview models that Richard show cased had everyone excited. From then on out, it was pretty much lies (or shall we say, relaying of false information) and finger pointing between Artipia and Drawlabs. Oh, there was patience a'plenty, but when a company says, "Updates and communication is our priority, update on the way!" and then the update shows up months later with nothing in between, people are going to get pissy. Take a look at the whole shipping of the game and the extra costs incurred with regards to "free shipping". Richard doesn't get into the mud of stuff, because why would anyone want to, he has no bone in that fight, so his overview of the story glosses over the dirt that is there for anyone willing to take a glance at what went down. P:E is great fun. Artipia/Konstantinos admitted the fault as their own since he was the one who chose Drawlabs as his partner AND he went along with the *wave hands - these blobs are the awesome minis you were told about* from the infamous update XYZ... up until things got super hairy with the shipping debacle - at which point Artipia shoved Drawlabs out in front in an almost comical fashion, now that I think about it all again. I honestly believe Artipia as a whole lay in bed at night wondering, "If we only went with CMoN, Soda Pop Miniatures, etc. for P:E... what could have been..." Yeah, it would be amazing. AMAZING.
I don't know if I'd get a response 6 years later, but what are exactly the problem with Terraforming Mars? It's our favorite game, and we always play just 2 players. Anyway, thanks for your awesome videos!
basically two things: 1) we weren't fans of the attack cards. i know there aren't many, but there are enough that they will pop up in every game, and we just don't like 'em (and the designer has gone on record saying he does not recommend removing them because the game is balanced with them being used as a part of the game). and 2) the lack of player scaling... 2p end up having to do the development of 4p to get the game over, and for us, it feels like it's a bit too much :)
@@rahdo Wow, thanks a lot for answering so fast. I love your videos, I watch them almost every day. I agree with the attack cards. We use them, but we try not to be very mean. It feels bad... About the scaling, we use some of the official variants for faster games: +1 income in each resource /1 automatic terraforming at the end of each generation (I think they recommend this when playing with the expansions). Or both variants for even faster games. For us It works very well. Thanks again for your time, and for delivering such amazing videos, I think you are the best content creator about board games ever. Have a nice day!
@@rahdo if I recall correctly the +1 income is the one recommended for beginners, so it's easier and faster, especially when learning the game. But everyone can use It for easier/faster games. The auto terraforming I think is called the Solar Phase, It is recommended for Venus and strongly recommended for Turmoil (with both is almost mandatory). Each turn after production, the first player increases one of the terraforming parameters for free, but with no bonuses. Thematically is the Earth helping the corporations because of the extra work (Venus/ Turmoil). Probably you don't know this because the Solar Phase was introduced with Venus Next, I don't remember if you have tried the expansions. The game is way faster with the Solar Phase, and more tactical with 2 players. Maybe you can give It a try someday.
living in malta it's very difficult to get games here. i only make one or two big orders a year, and roll player is not available from the only decent mail order option i have
Million blades, Isle Bound, and roleplayer were the ones I heard, and missed Scythe and did not hear about Scythe but my ears may have played trick on me.
oops, you're right! :) when i said "player conflict, not interested" i had intended to add "so games like scythe or terraforming mars, no dice", but obviously i totally forgot to! :)
Great to see Project Elite in there at number 2. I hope that Artipia have a change of heart and revisit it at some point. It was not the internet's finest hour when all the vile comments were posted. It is a great, great game.
yeah, the whole thing is heartbreaking, espeically if you know how passionate konstantinos (head of artipia and co-designer) was about the game. he was telling me about this game almost a year before the ks launched, he was so excited about it. to see what happened with the wave of hate that rolled over them... i can't imagine how devastating it must have been. internet rage sucks!
Yes, yes, yes! I was so afraid Manhattan Project: EE will miss the list. Didn't peak for spoilers, but tensely watched from 10-1... thinking more and more "come on man, you were so positive about it, said that it is 'easily' one of the best games of the year and so forth and now it's going to fall of the list". To my absolute delight that didn't happen - I agree completely, definitely the game of the year. Pity it came so late in the year, from a relatively small publisher and with relatively high price. It's not that you were purposely avoiding hyped games like Mars, Scythe and so forth (you did it based on your well known taste), but your list turned out to be much more balanced in my opinion than those of DT or Man vs. Meeple.
i agree Richard me and my wife both enjoy Lorenzo il Magnifico but the 2 player rule is a major issue, i never do changes on any rules but in this game maybe a house rule (pay something to use the production or the harvest space) solve the problem!
the house rule we use is pretty simple: don't shut down the "anyone can harvest spaces", and the game works great (and would have been a potential top10 choice), but with the official rules as written, well, we woulnd't keep the game as is.
Ilya Rubinchik He said it was near perfection, what exactly does he need to get? He and his wife don't play games where you (potentially) aggressively attack one another.
oh, i forgot to talk about that. i had meant to. basically, i consider it to be an expansion more than a new game, and i don't put expansions on the list at all :)
oh, i forgot to talk about that. i had meant to. basically, i consider it to be an expansion more than a new game, and i don't put expansions on the list at all :)
yeah, if pandemic legacy simply added all the new stuff all at once, like iberia does, or in the lab does, etc., i'd consider it purely an expansion too. it's the legacy campaign that turns p:l into a standalone game (to my mind) :)
+Drake Depew Yes, I can see why. Our family enjoys Escape Zombie City, which is also a realtime game. Although, we eventually agreed that we don't like the realtime mechanics, so we modified the rules by eliminating the time limit and requiring players to take tuns and deciding cooperatively what action to take. This way it feels like a fusion of a Panic Castle and a Relic Expedition. Really fun to play.
We are pretty lucky 🍀 compared to humanity throughout history. Think of 1348-1349, bubonic plague anyone? Humanity would have loved to have our problems.
2016 being one of the worst years for humanity is something I keep hearing repeated ad naseum. This is a terrible short-sighted and ignorant comment if I've ever heard one. Yes, it may have sucked, but statements like these hit such hyperbole that diminish truly awfully peroids in the past.
I specifically and purposely said "one of the worst years in my life time", not all time. Feel free to disagree, but I stand by it. But maybe we should just stick to talking about games?
Thank you for everything you do, your passion and commitment to board gaming is amazing. Always interested in seeing your take on games, thanks for another amazing year of videos!
Thanks for your support! Congrats to Luke and Tom on winning #1 with Energy Empire!
A top 10 that isn't just a rehash of what everybody else is saying? Love it!
wow, this list feels very authentic, meaning you really stayed true to your likes and what you truly felt were the best games... impressive once again !
Happy Christmas and happy holidays Richard and Jen! Thanks for a great year of videos!
Frohe Weihnachten, Rahdo!
Richard, I hope 2017 is a phenomenal year for you and Jen. Thanks for the list; I think the top ten lists are the strongest offerings you have on your channel.
Rahdo thank you for another year of not buying bad games.
BIOS Genesis and Pax Renaissance are two of my favorites this year. Haven't been able to manage Terraforming Mars yet, but I think it would certainly work for me. Thanks for a great 2016, Richard!
Thanks, Rahdo! Appreciate your perspective on games AND humanity.
Frohe Weihnachten, Jen + Rahdo
Merry Christmas and now its time for post Christmas Board Game Shopping after seeing your list Rahdo. :)
Does Mechs vs Minions have a basic gameplay option? I know it has a campaign, but can I open the box and just set up and play somehow with friends? Also, is it like a legacy game (can't really start from the beginning (after playing at least once) or play after the campaign)?
Roll Player is getting a second printing now and is supposed to come available early in 2017 (the designer said he hopes January). There is also an expansion up on BGG but no retail/KS info on it yet that I know of. It is probably my group's favorite of what I picked up last year.
Thanks for the list! I'm pretty shocked to not see Villages of Valeria on the list after your unbelievably glowing review of it. Glad that Aeon's End made it, as I think that one's pretty cool.
VoV is very cool, but it's certainly not top10 :)
Fair enough, but I would have thought it was based on your Final Thoughts. I guess I just don't think that more than 10 "phenomenal" games come out every year.
thanks for your continued efforts old bean. have a corker of a christmas and looking forward to more vids in 2017.
Thanks for another great top 10, Richard. I kinda expected 4 Gods at least to be mentioned, because I know there is not yet your runthrough for it and it was in your top 10 anticipated Essenspiel games. Anyway, I'm sure it will come sooner or later so I'm looking forward to it :)
P.S. Happy holidays, rahdo, to both of you and Jen :) And the beagles of course :)
we enjoyed it, but i need to play it some more, and tbh i'm not sure if it's a keeper for us. time will tell...
Rahdo, Did you play Feast Of Odin?
Everyone is talking about it! And I cannot find a video of you playing it! (I might overlooked over your channel too many vids)
I haven't played it yet, but I would like to know what all the fuss is about with Feast of Odin on your channel
He mentioned in the very beginning that he's still waiting for his copy of that.
that's right! thanks! waiting for it!
to be fair, i didnt understand wtf he said. I thought he said "Easter Road". But Feast of Odin makes sense...
I was trying to figure out how much your top 10 lists have cost me in the last 2 years...i had to stop counting...such great recommendations, the wife and I played Manhattan Project: Energy Empire a couple days ago...really great game
I had hella fun watching your reviews this year. Look forward to more in 2017, Richard!
Dream Home is an awesome little game! The components are really nice, the theme is adorable, very sim-ish. A surprising amount of strategy required. Likewise I play almost exclusively 2 players with hubby, and I think you and Jen will really enjoy it.
I have been waiting the entire week for you top 10. I will start watching it in 3,2,1...Now. :)
Thank you so much for helping us find great board games. Me and my wife sync up pretty well with you and Jen's preferences.
So glad I managed to pick up Project: Elite through EBay. As soon as Atripia emailed me that they didn't have a distributor, I jumped on it. I agree that the miniatures are not great and that doesn't effect gameplay, but I am going to paint the heroes and probably 2/3 grey aliens just to help identify them quickly on the board.
Cool list! :-)
I was just listening to your podcast where you talk about how we are preconditioned to follow certain expectations from our societies. So how come you do a top 10 and not a top 11, top 13, top 17, top 19? (I like prime numbers.)
Go against the grain, Rahdo! Dare to be different! ;-)
i guess its an homage to all the hours i spent watching dave letterman in the early 80's :)
I think you might really enjoy Inis. I've been pleasantly surprised how well it works for 2 players - the tweak to the drafting is pretty slick. (Think Citadels rather than the hot mess of 2-player 7 Wonders.) It feels like fencing, where you're constantly angling for an opening or combo while trying to keep one step ahead of what the other guy seems like he wants to do.
Hi, on Legends Of Andor, I can not figure out what the archers special abillitie means. Does it mean you can roll your die 1 at a time? If so that would not be usefull...
yes, the archer is less powerful because it's much better to roll your dice all at once and take the top value, rather than push your luck with rolling the dice one at a time. but otoh, the archer can attack adjacent, so she doesn't have to spend as much time moving as a melee character, which makes up for the weaker attack style
Most other youtubers do not reply to their fans so thank you.
Glad to know your best favorite Top 10 game in this year.. I'm also love boardgames that can be played by 2 player and not too much conflict!
Hi Richard, are you excluding Vinhos Deluxe because it isn't a new entry per se or because you didn't like it as much as these 11 ones? Thanks!
yup, if vinhos was a completley new game that hadn't had a previous release, it would have made the top10 definitely. this is sort of the same reason that pandemic iberia didn't make the list...
Thxs to you I discovered Robinson Crusoe the boardgame.
where would you have put Covert on your list for this year? I just watched the final thoughts on it and it seemed like you liked it a lot, but the mean aspect might have knocked it down. my wife is interested in Coverrt, but I haven't seen it listed on many peoples lists so is it really that good? thanks!
and @rahdo if not this game are there a couple of games that would fit this "type" she might like as a replacement? thanks!
it is definitely good, it's a solid 8 for me (other than it was slightly too conflict-ey for us). what "type" do you mean?
i guess this level of game with sort of the same type of mechanics? we haven't played almost any euro style games, mostly just time stories, eldritch horror, and netrunner, but this is one f the few games the wife actually was interested in that was say... mansions of madness 2nd edition. hope that makes sense, thank you for the reply sir.
wow that's a pretty wide and deep recommendation request. probably too far reaching for this forum. i'd suggest heading over to www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/8/boardgamegeek/recommendations (need to make an account, but it only takes a second) and ask there, and you'll get a lot of good suggestions and discussion :)
thanks Sir, I am a member I just don't go there often, appreciate you :)
hey Richard, given your love of city builders,do you like Urbania?
I found it a surprise hit.
Thank you so much for another awesome year, hopefully you can take it easy and enjoy 2017 even more!
Also, 圣诞节快乐！
Thanks so much! Excited we made the list! Woot!
Hello. Great games. PLease which game did you mentiond at the begging that you are waitingfor? Thanks
Matej Roder just watch the video
Rahdo, you are such an awesome guy. I absolutely love your vids!
Did Santorini get close to making this list? I thought it would be here... Or does it count as a 2017 game since retail version is only out now? Thanks a lot for the videos!!
they never sent me a retail copy, so i can't say as i sent the prototype on to another reviewer
rahdo I see! Thanks for the response! And thanks for all the effort you put into this! You've quickly become my go-to reviewer for a detailed overview and opinion!
Thank you and have a Merry Christmas!
Cooperative fantasy adventure card games are my favorite genre. Please do a top 10!
I see Trickerion behind you. Did you ever get the retail copy and would it have been ranked highly for you in 2015?
that is a retail copy, and i'm horribly embarrassed to say that i haven't played it yet! too many new games always needing coverage...
what would be the best team vs team of 2016? not like 1 vs the rest, but equal teams vs each other?
no idea... since i only play 2p, i don't really know anything about team vs team games out there...
expected Key to the City: London to be on your list given how enthusiastic you were in the review. on the other hand: so many great games this year!
i'm pretty sure i mentioned in the original video why keyflower was still hte game for us over key to the city?
I'll have to check out the run through but from this Capitals sounds like a deeper Between Two Cities. Is this accurate?
yes, that's a fair assessment. trading the shared build space interaction for deeper personal building decisions
rahdo Thanks! Sounds like a good one to me. All the best in 2017!
Any chance you guys will do a run through of Machi Koro bright lights? You're my favorite game guy and this game looks great but very overwhelming with all the cards and game play 😊 thanks for all that you do!
nope, we weren't big fans of machi koro i'm afraid :(
rahdo ok, bummer. I'll keep searching for a good run thru. thanks for the quick reply! Big fans of yours here 👍🏼
Great List! Yeah it seems every top ten I've seen give a nod to Mech vs Minions. I bought Aeon's End on a whim and really like it, can't wait till expansions come out for it. I also picked up Energy Empire, and really love it as well
I feel real bummed that Project Elite may not hit retail, cause I really like Escape, and want something similar, but meatier.
No Perditions Mouth? Man, I love that game so much.
jen didn't like the horror setting of that one
Rahdo, I'm shocked to not hear Great Western Trail mentioned. Is that one of the games you haven't played yet?
And also, you say that Russian Railroads is your #11.... I'm assuming that you misspoke. Which game did you mean to say?
Just came to ask the same 2 questions.
GWT. i guess you don't have annotations turned on? :)
In my case, watched it on phone, no annotations there.
I figured that might have been what you meant!
And yes, I watch your videos exclusively on my phone so no annotations for me... I usually just check for Paolo's notes in the video description. Thank you for responding so quickly!
Any plans for the #6 of the year, Capital run through?
already went up a few days ago :)
Thank you kindly.
Happy holidays Richard. Lorenzo ill magnifico is the one im wondering about?
would have made my top10 but for the less than ideal (IMO) 2p variant that comes in the rules
Please show back/base of the boxes as well in the future.
Thanks, Richard! Surprised to not see Colony and Favor of the Pharaoh.
Favor of the Pharaoh was 2015.
It is a shame P:E won't see any more love, but I think a lot of us were rightfully annoyed by the lack of communication that Drawlab showed us. I'm sure there was a vocal few that lashed out at the designer and that's not acceptable at all, if we had received regular updates on their progress it could have gone a lot different, not to mention that Canadians got hit with extra brokerage fee's because they didn't do their research when choosing shipping methods. Konstantinos has been very active on the comments page and he's seen a lot of support so I hope he finds the will to pick it up again in the future because the game is awesome.
yeah, i think being upset or disappointed and expressing that is perfectly understandable - there were certainly plenty of things that went wrong on the project. but it's not like they weren't in good faith trying to fix those things (and are still trying to, as I understand it), and to be met with non-stop torrents of white hot rage for month after month after month would send anyone into despair :(
Being upset is one thing, I get that. What I don't sympathize with is the echo chamber where conversation devolves into cruelty as people compete to be the most outraged. I understand a demand for responsibility, but with sympathy. Failure to be sympathetic is failure to be human, internet anonymity obfuscates this.
I can't believe it 4 out of 5 of Radho's top 5 is in my collection ! and I'm an Ameritrash head ! (ok admittedly Aeon's End is in the post right now from a very speedy Euro supplier who can get these products early in the region so it's not in my hands quite yet).
Rahdo...I feel stupid for just now watching this video, but how would Feast for Odin have faired in this list, now that you've played it??
it's like my #13 of the year... it could have easily cracked the top10 if it weren't for a couple of minor (and fixable IMO) things that bug me about it. overall I'm really impressed... it's his best game in years!
Do you plan to do a video on Feast of Odin? I'm sure you do, but I'm really interested in your thoughts on it. I played it once, and I just can't stop thinking about it! I know you and Jen aren't crazy about Caverna/sandbox style games, but this one just felt like so much more fun than all of Uwe's other games to me. I wonder if you plan to keep your copy.
You really look like Negan here. Do Lucille and Jen get along well? ;)
Thanks for all the runthroughs.
It's a brand new day, Daan!
Have you had a chance to play Via Nebula ??
yeah, a few times. really enjoy it :)
Haha,I spotted the space in the what's your game shelf.
railroad revolution is my favourite game of the year.
Roll Player is the best unknown game out there imho. Really thinky for a a dice chucking game and fantastic integration of theme with mechanics.
what about scythe and cry havoc and agricola family ed?? and merry Christmas! !!!!!
not played any of them (too mean, too mean and too light)
This camera angle so beautifully sums up how insane 2016 has been. Rahdo your house looks sideways! fuck it 2016.
that was actually a conscious choice i made when framing...
rahdo this is why my husband and I love you lol! by the way I finally found a copy of At the Gates of Loyang and I'm so HAPPY!!
I was surprised to see that Rahdo's #2 was Tom Vassel's #1 as they both don't usually like the same style of games. Great video, informative & even made me laugh. Sorry to hear about the demoralizing hate on the game designer about production issues of the #2. Whatever happened to developing character and virtue? If the company said they would fix it--patience and grace would be called for.
Boardgame Fan Girl Yeah, but the internet, Kickstarter in particular, doesn't work that way. I backed it, and it was completely worth the wait, but board gaming isn't immune to the toxic, short sighted, cult of the new twerps that usually plague other dark corners of the internet.
Well Tom Vasel mentioned in his Top 10 of the year that he'd try to do whatever he could to make sure the game got reprinted so we'll see if anything comes of that. Maybe in a year or two, Project Elite will be a Dice Tower Essentials game.
Well then perhaps Vassel's law will apply to this game...eventually.
Take a look at the P:E KS page and the updates -- it was largely muffins and marshmallows up until Artipia AND Drawlab presented the blobs of plastic and exclaimed, "Aren't these AWESOME??? We're amazed, you have to be amazed as well!" People were not amazed. And whether or not the minis "need" to be highly detailed, the KS proclaimed the minis as highly detailed and showed them off as such -- the preview models that Richard show cased had everyone excited. From then on out, it was pretty much lies (or shall we say, relaying of false information) and finger pointing between Artipia and Drawlabs. Oh, there was patience a'plenty, but when a company says, "Updates and communication is our priority, update on the way!" and then the update shows up months later with nothing in between, people are going to get pissy. Take a look at the whole shipping of the game and the extra costs incurred with regards to "free shipping". Richard doesn't get into the mud of stuff, because why would anyone want to, he has no bone in that fight, so his overview of the story glosses over the dirt that is there for anyone willing to take a glance at what went down.
P:E is great fun. Artipia/Konstantinos admitted the fault as their own since he was the one who chose Drawlabs as his partner AND he went along with the *wave hands - these blobs are the awesome minis you were told about* from the infamous update XYZ... up until things got super hairy with the shipping debacle - at which point Artipia shoved Drawlabs out in front in an almost comical fashion, now that I think about it all again.
I honestly believe Artipia as a whole lay in bed at night wondering, "If we only went with CMoN, Soda Pop Miniatures, etc. for P:E... what could have been..."
Yeah, it would be amazing. AMAZING.
I don't know if I'd get a response 6 years later, but what are exactly the problem with Terraforming Mars? It's our favorite game, and we always play just 2 players. Anyway, thanks for your awesome videos!
basically two things: 1) we weren't fans of the attack cards. i know there aren't many, but there are enough that they will pop up in every game, and we just don't like 'em (and the designer has gone on record saying he does not recommend removing them because the game is balanced with them being used as a part of the game). and 2) the lack of player scaling... 2p end up having to do the development of 4p to get the game over, and for us, it feels like it's a bit too much :)
@@rahdo Wow, thanks a lot for answering so fast. I love your videos, I watch them almost every day. I agree with the attack cards. We use them, but we try not to be very mean. It feels bad... About the scaling, we use some of the official variants for faster games: +1 income in each resource /1 automatic terraforming at the end of each generation (I think they recommend this when playing with the expansions). Or both variants for even faster games. For us It works very well. Thanks again for your time, and for delivering such amazing videos, I think you are the best content creator about board games ever. Have a nice day!
@@carlosgsl82 oh that's interesting, i hadn't heard there were official variants. probably didn't exist back when i covered this 6 years ago! :)
@@rahdo if I recall correctly the +1 income is the one recommended for beginners, so it's easier and faster, especially when learning the game. But everyone can use It for easier/faster games. The auto terraforming I think is called the Solar Phase, It is recommended for Venus and strongly recommended for Turmoil (with both is almost mandatory). Each turn after production, the first player increases one of the terraforming parameters for free, but with no bonuses. Thematically is the Earth helping the corporations because of the extra work (Venus/ Turmoil). Probably you don't know this because the Solar Phase was introduced with Venus Next, I don't remember if you have tried the expansions. The game is way faster with the Solar Phase, and more tactical with 2 players. Maybe you can give It a try someday.
I just regret they named "Manhattan Project: Energy Empire" this way... It looks like an expansion and I think a lot of people is missing it...
Feliz Natal desde Portugal :)
Speaking to roll player, why can't you purchase it?
living in malta it's very difficult to get games here. i only make one or two big orders a year, and roll player is not available from the only decent mail order option i have
Wondering about Scythe, or is it to much conflict?
i literally mentioned that one in the first 2 or 3 minutes of the vid :)
Million blades, Isle Bound, and roleplayer were the ones I heard, and missed Scythe and did not hear about Scythe but my ears may have played trick on me.
oops, you're right! :) when i said "player conflict, not interested" i had intended to add "so games like scythe or terraforming mars, no dice", but obviously i totally forgot to! :)
So do you prefer Energy Empire or CO2 when it comes to global pollution games?
probably EE, though CO2 is getting a 2nd edition this year which includes pure co-op play!
Great to see Project Elite in there at number 2. I hope that Artipia have a change of heart and revisit it at some point. It was not the internet's finest hour when all the vile comments were posted. It is a great, great game.
yeah, the whole thing is heartbreaking, espeically if you know how passionate konstantinos (head of artipia and co-designer) was about the game. he was telling me about this game almost a year before the ks launched, he was so excited about it. to see what happened with the wave of hate that rolled over them... i can't imagine how devastating it must have been.
internet rage sucks!
Yes, yes, yes! I was so afraid Manhattan Project: EE will miss the list. Didn't peak for spoilers, but tensely watched from 10-1... thinking more and more "come on man, you were so positive about it, said that it is 'easily' one of the best games of the year and so forth and now it's going to fall of the list". To my absolute delight that didn't happen - I agree completely, definitely the game of the year. Pity it came so late in the year, from a relatively small publisher and with relatively high price.
It's not that you were purposely avoiding hyped games like Mars, Scythe and so forth (you did it based on your well known taste), but your list turned out to be much more balanced in my opinion than those of DT or Man vs. Meeple.
What about Pandemic Iberia?
So what about Gloomhaven? I backed it based on your statement it would make your top ten of 2016.
Alithia451 copies won't be arriving till the New Year so I imagine it'll show up in 2017's top ten
Alithia451 it's not out yet dumbass
I'm glad youtube suggested this video, I was subscribed to your channel and I noticed I was unsubscribed! WTH! I need my rahdo fix
Super excited for you to get your copy of Odin! 😉
i am cautiously optimistic :)
I definitly miss "Glüx" (which is my favourite game of 2016)
Great Western Trail?
#11
Rahdo, thanks a lot for your videos. Appreciate your work. As I only play games with my boyfriends so games for two players are my only interest.
just noticed everything is at an angle and it's giving me anxiety
the original manht project did not drive me crazy..i wonder if the new one that good it is the 1st here
what about Lorenzo il Magnifico Richard?
it would have made the top10 if it weren't for the 2p rules
i agree Richard me and my wife both enjoy Lorenzo il Magnifico but the 2 player rule is a major issue, i never do changes on any rules but in this game maybe a house rule (pay something to use the production or the harvest space) solve the problem!
the house rule we use is pretty simple: don't shut down the "anyone can harvest spaces", and the game works great (and would have been a potential top10 choice), but with the official rules as written, well, we woulnd't keep the game as is.
Lol Railroad Revolution missing from the back shelf next to all the what's your game titles. Spoilered.
wow,I really didn't peg you for being a project elite fan.
You've surprised me.
i guess you didn't see our original runthrough in 2015 then. we LOVED the game even in prototype form :)
And again I'm very disappointed about you not getting the feel of Terraforming Mars...
Ilya Rubinchik He said it was near perfection, what exactly does he need to get? He and his wife don't play games where you (potentially) aggressively attack one another.
But what about Pandemic Iberia?
oh, i forgot to talk about that. i had meant to. basically, i consider it to be an expansion more than a new game, and i don't put expansions on the list at all :)
Hello ! Where do you live ? On Mars ? In France we haven't got all of this games !
malta. i get most of my games at Essen Spiel in october, or ordered from philibertnet (in france) :)
Malta ! My name is Debono come from Malta :)
small world! :)
scythe?
i'm pretty sure i mentioned it in the first 2 minutes :)
I was sure Pandemic Iberia will be on this list. I was wrong.
oh, i forgot to talk about that. i had meant to. basically, i consider it to be an expansion more than a new game, and i don't put expansions on the list at all :)
rahdo I'm surprised too. I'd call it a variant rather than an expansion.
And I would call it an incarnation ;-)
It is something new, because last year's "considered to be expansion" Pandemic game was in 1st place.
p.s. nice list as always
yeah, if pandemic legacy simply added all the new stuff all at once, like iberia does, or in the lab does, etc., i'd consider it purely an expansion too. it's the legacy campaign that turns p:l into a standalone game (to my mind) :)
Too bad no family games on your list. I mean those that a fun to play with both adults and kids.
Project Elite is my kids favorite game of the year. When their friends come over it's always the first game they ask to play.
+Drake Depew Yes, I can see why. Our family enjoys Escape Zombie City, which is also a realtime game. Although, we eventually agreed that we don't like the realtime mechanics, so we modified the rules by eliminating the time limit and requiring players to take tuns and deciding cooperatively what action to take. This way it feels like a fusion of a Panic Castle and a Relic Expedition. Really fun to play.
i think its just board game media proclaiming this to be a good year but looking back over the past 5 (in my opionion) it might be arguably the worst.
Have you been paid by all the companies?
faq.rahdo.com
Hm... no A Feast for Odin nor Great Western Trail, lots of miniature games... weird choices.
you clearly haven't watched the update that went up last week :)
Gonna check it out!
Agreed on worst years for humanity - Bernie 2020
We are pretty lucky 🍀 compared to humanity throughout history. Think of 1348-1349, bubonic plague anyone? Humanity would have loved to have our problems.
yup, never a better time to be alive, but doesn't mean we can't do better... much much much better
Not a very mainstream-focused list.
maintream for euro fans (like my wife and I)
speaking of Euros (I see you also added GWT at the end of the list), did you play Scythe? if so, thoughts?
For Humanity as a whole....LOL!
😀
internet is mean
2016 being one of the worst years for humanity is something I keep hearing repeated ad naseum. This is a terrible short-sighted and ignorant comment if I've ever heard one. Yes, it may have sucked, but statements like these hit such hyperbole that diminish truly awfully peroids in the past.
I specifically and purposely said "one of the worst years in my life time", not all time. Feel free to disagree, but I stand by it. But maybe we should just stick to talking about games?
right there with ya, buddy!
Yeah, I mean clearly 2017 is gearing up to be even worse.
hehe, i tend to stick to game topics, and i haven't been in the boardgame hobby for 10 years yet :)