This was a great video! Totally loved you showing us pics of games for us to figure out first. I thought there would be a lot more crossovers, but was glad to see variety. I definitely translate my real life interests into board game themes I like: everything nature, magic, and Halloween just to name a few.
The Lincoln - Caesar joke may last for a long time. This is now the third time it has been referenced since the crowdsurfing episode where it started. Keep it going guys!
In a crowdsurfing episode, Mike said the image of Caesar on a box cover looked like Lincoln (the image was artistically blended in with the background causing the chin to look like a Lincoln chin).
@@davidboeger6766 The video is "Top 10 anticipated games of 2022" with Tom, Mike and Zee. Zee's #8 pick was "Age of Rome" @ 22:40. Mike makes the comment that the person on the cover looked like Lincoln when it is actually Caesar. After this point they bring it back up a few times, especially when one of Tom's games is also about Caesar.
My list 1. Fantasy 2. Racing 3. Super heroes 4. Sports 5. Historical War/Combat 6. Theme Parks 7. Old West 8. Pirates 9. Space 10. Nature/Animals These were quickly written and if I thought longer may change some but that was a fun topic to think about.
You joke, but a farming game with a steam punk or cyber punk twist would be my number 1 theme! I didn't know I wanted a game with that theme so much until you mentioned it!
Imagine a sleeping gods like game but with Pokémon like your a trainer going through the regions getting wild Pokémon and there are all the gyms. Just a cool solo campaign. To give you nostalgia for Pokémon red but so colorful with a book map.
This was a good idea. It’s how I would know the next time which of dice tower’s staff would have similar taste to me so that I keep more attention to their lists.
At the end, Roy: Two thumbs up as always, Wendy: Happy end of video smile, Chris: Humorous unexpected ending, Camilla: (Looking at Chris, thinking) How do I respond to that?? You are guys are a hoot!!
A Batman game where you have a set amount of time (rounds) to build your gear before battling the villain. One needing more detective gadgets and a different villain needing more combat focused gear.
Just gave it a shot myself (feel free to reply with your lists! :D) 10. Creative fantasy (Spirit Island, Bitoku) 9. Tradition/culture (Iki, Castell) 8. Making something (Viticulture, Ark Nova) 7. Made-up civilization building (Empires of the North, Terraforming Mars) 6. Animals doing human things (Honey Buzz, Root) 5. Mythology/ancient civs. (Blood Rage, Kemet, Teotihuacan) 4. Survival (Paleo, Atlantis Rising, Sub Terra) 3. Preservation (Rescue Polar Bears, Endangered, Pandemic) 2. Nature (Meadow, Oceans, Wingspan) 1. Fictious human (crazy) endeavors (Mission red planet, Galaxy trucker, Dinogenics)
Ahhh, Felinia. I feel like there was a conversation about the game art that went something like this: "This looks boring." "What if I just paint over the human hands and faces and make them cats?" "Brilliant! That won't make this game both disturbing and an object of ridicule!"
I think you identified exactly why it doesn't appeal to me. For example, the artwork for Dale of Merchants is comparable in quality (neither are professional) but that one exudes charm and whimsy, and you can tell these were meant to be animals from the start. Whereas the artwork for Felinia has the same drabness as classic trading in the mediterranean games, except now it's cats.
I love how Roy explained Post-Apocolyptic: not zombies, some cool sci-fi tech, and mutants. That sounds cool to me. Zombies are a no. Usually the other descriptor is "Mad Max-style" which doesn't intrigue, but how Roy just explained it here actually makes me want to find more games of that genre.
Weird that all the mic-noice was not mentioned by the people watching it live so it could be fixed. Maybe the one sitting behind the camera should have headphones and listen to the sound quality throughtout the live videos.
Roy!! You da man! Love the anime theme, just wish there were some good games with that art style and or IP connection. Any game recommendations for anime themed games?
Here’s my top 10. 1. Marvel 2. Game shows 3. Star Wars 4. Bible 5. Auctions 6. History 7. Racing 8. Theft 9. Food 10. Farming. The problem I had with the list is the crossover between mechanisms and theme. For example, I wouldn’t say that Came Up has any racing mechanics, it’s a betting game. But, it does have a racing theme.
A lot of interesting thematic picks. I'm sure Chris and Wendy are really excited for Tennpenny park! That one looks super fun. I wonder if Camilla would like the night cage or deep madness? I also wonder if Roy would like epic seven, which is an anime style dungeon crawler I think. It came out the kickstarter not that long ago.
@@Torbin78 "Blood Rage", "Oracle of Delphi", "Kemet", "Elysium", "Ankh", ... But I admit Mythology as a theme usually overlaps with other themes especially Vikings, Greek, Egyptian, ...
Roy, while the style is a little ecchi anime, Midarra is a great story game. The storyline is decent and not like the art style would make you believe. You are playing through an anime, so it is a bit railroad-ish, but our group is having fun with it.
I'm very surprised that "train games" wasn't a category. Or "games with maps". Seems like things that a lot of people have an immediate attraction for. (I know Chris picked "travel", but not sure if that's quite the same idea as those I was thinking of.)
@@DTChrisYi Maybe I should have called it "route-building" then? I was thinking specifically of Hansa Teutonica and Thurn und Taxis, two games I've recently discovered and am playing on-line. Ticket to Ride would certainly fit in there as well, as would On Tour.
I really wanted to watch this one live. Missed everything live today and instead spent the day waiting for the world to stop spinning. Vertigo and Migraines suck. I have to say though, many of my own top 10 themes would be shared by what you 4 mentioned today.
As someone in the chat mentioned, Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade is a really good anime-themed game. However, there seems to be so much snobbery in board gaming against anime that I couldn't see any anime-themed game ever hitting the Top 100 on BGG, no matter how good it is.
Vikings _are_ ancient, but Vikings have their own category in the gaming world. The same goes with Roman-themed games. Again, it's ancient, but the Roman theme has earned its own category.
Haha, I don't exactly remember how that came up, but in reality I enjoy the look of beards. Unfortunately I cannot grow one though, which is why you don't see me donning one.
Same. Argent and Millenium Blades are both great games but really the art style is the only thing about them that is kind of anime. Argent you could make a case for though I think
So I love dinosaurs, but don't have a dinosaur-themed game yet. Would you recommend Dinogenics, Dinosaur Island, Dinosaur World or something different?
@@howl8681 - I recommend Dinogenics with the Controlled Chaos expansion. It's the most Dinosaur Thematic of all. Play it without the expansion first, though.
This was one of the Top 10s I would rather rate on the lower end due to the wanky interpretation of the topic but hey I still had a fun time. I just love this hobby and the Dice Tower is one of the sources of my resparked enjoyment of board gaming many years back.
Roy: there's not much good anime-themed games. Me: whaaaaaat L99 games, Tragedy Looper, Sakura Arms, Ravens of Tri Sahashri.. Already more then in most of the settings
Yea but for every 1 good one there are like 10 more bad ones. Most don't get a lot of publicity and fly under the radar, but there are a ton of bad ones out there.
So, horror stories to check out. Without knowing your (Camilla) taste in books, I’ll try to include info about what type of story and content. The Terror by Dan Simmons. Historical Horror. The 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage but with a monster. A lot of adult content; language, sex, violence. Revenge by Yoko Ogawa. Modern Horror. A series of short stories set in modern (c.1998) Japan. Dark, creepy stories that weave together in a really interesting way. Violence, descriptions of nudity, allusions to sex. I don’t remember any R-rated language. Out by Natsuo Kirino. Modern Horror/Thriller. More of a thriller, but is often included in Japanese horror lists. Disgruntled women working at a factory help cover up a murder and suffer the consequences. Very dark. Language, sex, violence. Ringu (Rings in its current English edition) by Koji Suzuki. Paranormal Horror. The novel the film was based on. A lot more backstory and intrigue in the novel. It’s otherwise very similar in content to the movie (the original Japanese) but also includes sex. Dark Water by Suzuki is also really good; it’s a collection of short stories. The October Country by Ray Bradbury. Fantasy/Paranormal Horror. A collection of short stories, most of which are horror but a few aren’t really. Top-notch, poetic writing. Most of them are also fairly family-friendly (though perhaps a product of its time in a few places). Some violence. The Shining by Stephen King. Supernatural Horror. He’s pretty divisive, but I enjoyed this one. I think it’s a good one to try if you’ve not read King before (it was my first one of his). Lots of swearing, violence, sex; all seem to be staples of King's novels. Anything H. P. Lovecraft for something old school. I recommend The Shadow Over Innsmouth (short story) or At the Mountains of Madness (novella). Those are two of my favorite. The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. Supernatural Horror. This was one of the works that inspired Lovecraft. Only the first few short stories in the book are horror, but they’re really good. Especially The Yellow Sign. I read it every Halloween. I’ve reviewed almost all of these on my website if you want a more in-depth look. I don’t know if it’s okay to include a link, but a search for Thomas P. King should do it. I’m also a writer and have an interactive horror story on there (and a fantasy story). I have other short stories not yet published always looking for feedback as well.
Camilla, have you ever tried Cuthroat Caverns? This is a bit of survival combined with baddies to take out, but it is competitive. You cannot win by yourself, so you have to slowly bleed out your fellow players so that they will be there long enough to help you survive the line up, but there is only one winner. It's an oldie but a goodie!
As someone who works in fashion Prêt-à-PortER hurts my ears (completely cringe-worthy) way more than Tom's very minor mispronunciation of 'architect.' So happy that much of the industry has finally learned to pronounce 'Viscounts'.
You guys refer to nerds in a disparaging way quite a lot for people who can talk about steampunk, superheroes, etc for >hour, who work for a boardgame channel, etc.
So it's more like top 10 settings or genres, not themes. Theme would be e.g. hunting monsters and you can do it as a Viking, a fantasy dwarf or a pirate. Running a business is a Theme. And you can do it in historical setting or sci-fi, etc.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say at the start of the video: we're using the term theme instead of trying to differentiate theme and setting. People tend to use "theme" for both, so it just makes sense to say it this way.
This was a great video! Totally loved you showing us pics of games for us to figure out first. I thought there would be a lot more crossovers, but was glad to see variety. I definitely translate my real life interests into board game themes I like: everything nature, magic, and Halloween just to name a few.
The Lincoln - Caesar joke may last for a long time. This is now the third time it has been referenced since the crowdsurfing episode where it started. Keep it going guys!
Would you mind explaining the joke or providing a link to the episode? I've heard multiple references to it now and still have no clue.
In a crowdsurfing episode, Mike said the image of Caesar on a box cover looked like Lincoln (the image was artistically blended in with the background causing the chin to look like a Lincoln chin).
@@davidboeger6766 The video is "Top 10 anticipated games of 2022" with Tom, Mike and Zee. Zee's #8 pick was "Age of Rome" @ 22:40. Mike makes the comment that the person on the cover looked like Lincoln when it is actually Caesar. After this point they bring it back up a few times, especially when one of Tom's games is also about Caesar.
This was a fantastic video. I loved every moment of it. The A team is certainly finding their groove lately, keep it up!
I enjoyed the covers guessing game quite a bit
I love these A-Team lists. Please keep them coming.
Wow I can’t believe Chris Yi picked “spreadsheets” as his number 1 favorite theme
"Where I lived, farming wasn't real!" made me laugh pretty hard, thank you
Awesome video !!✌️ Lovely with the added guessing game
Great list, so many under represented themes still around.
Okay we need a top 10 games in each theme now
My list
1. Fantasy
2. Racing
3. Super heroes
4. Sports
5. Historical War/Combat
6. Theme Parks
7. Old West
8. Pirates
9. Space
10. Nature/Animals
These were quickly written and if I thought longer may change some but that was a fun topic to think about.
I watch for the intro alone. Thanks for bringing back all the A team goodness.
I wanna play Wendy's "reducing waiting time in theme park lines" game!! 100% :D
You joke, but a farming game with a steam punk or cyber punk twist would be my number 1 theme! I didn't know I wanted a game with that theme so much until you mentioned it!
Isn't that what Scythe is? I've never played it but I thought it has to do with peasant farming under the threat or mech-warrior robots.
1:08:02 Wendy might be on to something there -- Check out the game "In Front of Elevators" from Sashi and Sashi
Imagine a sleeping gods like game but with Pokémon like your a trainer going through the regions getting wild Pokémon and there are all the gyms. Just a cool solo campaign. To give you nostalgia for Pokémon red but so colorful with a book map.
This was a good idea. It’s how I would know the next time which of dice tower’s staff would have similar taste to me so that I keep more attention to their lists.
At the end, Roy: Two thumbs up as always, Wendy: Happy end of video smile, Chris: Humorous unexpected ending, Camilla: (Looking at Chris, thinking) How do I respond to that?? You are guys are a hoot!!
A Batman game where you have a set amount of time (rounds) to build your gear before battling the villain. One needing more detective gadgets and a different villain needing more combat focused gear.
Just gave it a shot myself (feel free to reply with your lists! :D)
10. Creative fantasy (Spirit Island, Bitoku)
9. Tradition/culture (Iki, Castell)
8. Making something (Viticulture, Ark Nova)
7. Made-up civilization building (Empires of the North, Terraforming Mars)
6. Animals doing human things (Honey Buzz, Root)
5. Mythology/ancient civs. (Blood Rage, Kemet, Teotihuacan)
4. Survival (Paleo, Atlantis Rising, Sub Terra)
3. Preservation (Rescue Polar Bears, Endangered, Pandemic)
2. Nature (Meadow, Oceans, Wingspan)
1. Fictious human (crazy) endeavors (Mission red planet, Galaxy trucker, Dinogenics)
Gamma World! I love that Roy has a history with that game! :-D A true classic and maybe wasn't popular enough!
Ahhh, Felinia. I feel like there was a conversation about the game art that went something like this: "This looks boring." "What if I just paint over the human hands and faces and make them cats?" "Brilliant! That won't make this game both disturbing and an object of ridicule!"
I think you identified exactly why it doesn't appeal to me. For example, the artwork for Dale of Merchants is comparable in quality (neither are professional) but that one exudes charm and whimsy, and you can tell these were meant to be animals from the start. Whereas the artwork for Felinia has the same drabness as classic trading in the mediterranean games, except now it's cats.
Is Tom always in the intro? That was fantastic as usual
"This is a safe place to be a nerd"... Thank you, Roy! That's why I'm here. 😁
“ In the Year of the Dragon” is another good survival theme game.
Great, fun list A-Team!
This made me realize that I only like one theme: terrain movement.
I love how Roy explained Post-Apocolyptic: not zombies, some cool sci-fi tech, and mutants. That sounds cool to me. Zombies are a no. Usually the other descriptor is "Mad Max-style" which doesn't intrigue, but how Roy just explained it here actually makes me want to find more games of that genre.
Weird that all the mic-noice was not mentioned by the people watching it live so it could be fixed. Maybe the one sitting behind the camera should have headphones and listen to the sound quality throughtout the live videos.
I'd totally play the game where you fix the line problem at theme parks.
Roy!! You da man! Love the anime theme, just wish there were some good games with that art style and or IP connection. Any game recommendations for anime themed games?
Here’s my top 10.
1. Marvel
2. Game shows
3. Star Wars
4. Bible
5. Auctions
6. History
7. Racing
8. Theft
9. Food
10. Farming.
The problem I had with the list is the crossover between mechanisms and theme. For example, I wouldn’t say that Came Up has any racing mechanics, it’s a betting game. But, it does have a racing theme.
A lot of interesting thematic picks. I'm sure Chris and Wendy are really excited for Tennpenny park! That one looks super fun. I wonder if Camilla would like the night cage or deep madness? I also wonder if Roy would like epic seven, which is an anime style dungeon crawler I think. It came out the kickstarter not that long ago.
some themes I prefer:
- Stone Age / Prehistoric
- Mesoamerican / Andes / Maya / Inca / Aztec
- (Pseudo-)Historical
- Science-Fiction
- Fantasy
- Aliens
- South Sea / Tropical
- Vikings
- Mythology
What games do you play with the mythology theme?
@@Torbin78 "Blood Rage", "Oracle of Delphi", "Kemet", "Elysium", "Ankh", ...
But I admit Mythology as a theme usually overlaps with other themes especially Vikings, Greek, Egyptian, ...
@@joeferreti9442 Thanks! I've been really interested in the theme but struggled to find board games related to it
Best intro ever.
As a lover of economic games, I am tired of people making fun of how boring they are and am willing to pay between $1 -$3 to get them to stop.
I want to see this from the old guys / b team or whatever we call them :) this was so interesting
Roy, while the style is a little ecchi anime, Midarra is a great story game. The storyline is decent and not like the art style would make you believe. You are playing through an anime, so it is a bit railroad-ish, but our group is having fun with it.
Thanks!
I'm very surprised that "train games" wasn't a category. Or "games with maps". Seems like things that a lot of people have an immediate attraction for. (I know Chris picked "travel", but not sure if that's quite the same idea as those I was thinking of.)
Ahh, interesting. I do really enjoy games with maps, but I'm not sure I would out that under a "theme." I do like the idea though.
@@DTChrisYi Maybe I should have called it "route-building" then? I was thinking specifically of Hansa Teutonica and Thurn und Taxis, two games I've recently discovered and am playing on-line. Ticket to Ride would certainly fit in there as well, as would On Tour.
Love Viticulture. Looking forward to Distilled!
Roy! Check out Sankokushin! A BEAUTIFUL Anime-themed board game coming out on Kickstarter next year, if not this year.
Gamma World! There is an oldie but a goodie!
Here I am punching out X-Men United and getting ready to play my first game and Roy is telling me there are no good X-Men games. 👍
My number one theme is Egyptian. Tekhenu, Ra, Imhotep, Luxor
I really wanted to watch this one live. Missed everything live today and instead spent the day waiting for the world to stop spinning. Vertigo and Migraines suck. I have to say though, many of my own top 10 themes would be shared by what you 4 mentioned today.
As someone in the chat mentioned, Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade is a really good anime-themed game. However, there seems to be so much snobbery in board gaming against anime that I couldn't see any anime-themed game ever hitting the Top 100 on BGG, no matter how good it is.
Cool top 10 idea
Vikings _are_ ancient, but Vikings have their own category in the gaming world. The same goes with Roman-themed games. Again, it's ancient, but the Roman theme has earned its own category.
Chris, don’t hate on beards… as long as they are well cared for they can look very nice.
Your pal,
Steve.
Haha, I don't exactly remember how that came up, but in reality I enjoy the look of beards. Unfortunately I cannot grow one though, which is why you don't see me donning one.
Camille, I haven't played it, but you may want to check out Sentinels of the Multiverse if you want a good non-IP superhero game
@1:08:18 😂😂😂Roy with the zinger!! Good one!
Really disappointed with Chris - was sure "bonfire lighting" would be on his top 10 theme list.
Closest to my taste: Chris then Wendy. Farthest from my taste: Roy.
Totally agree with Roy on anime I have yet to find a good one. But really want one.
I've tried several anime-themed games so far, and only Cowboy Bebop managed to fascinate me. Great deck-building game and the theme is wonderful
@@lena1234567890 yes! Good deck builder - with you on this one
Same. Argent and Millenium Blades are both great games but really the art style is the only thing about them that is kind of anime. Argent you could make a case for though I think
You should check out Tokyo Sidekick
That opening....still love it
The car landing in the ocean and exploding!!! Oh my god!!!
I absolutely _love_ Dinosaur-themed games. Dinogenics with Controlled Chaos is on my Top 10 List.
So I love dinosaurs, but don't have a dinosaur-themed game yet. Would you recommend Dinogenics, Dinosaur Island, Dinosaur World or something different?
@@howl8681 - I recommend Dinogenics with the Controlled Chaos expansion. It's the most Dinosaur Thematic of all. Play it without the expansion first, though.
Roy hates space now. It's official.
Hi this was a great list. Interested as Wendy does not like generic fantasy have you ever read China Melville great non generic fantasy.
Hellapagos is competitive survival
I love the alcohol production theme.
This was one of the Top 10s I would rather rate on the lower end due to the wanky interpretation of the topic but hey I still had a fun time. I just love this hobby and the Dice Tower is one of the sources of my resparked enjoyment of board gaming many years back.
I own a copy of Felenia! Look at the hands of the cats! They are the creepiest things ever!
Roman/Mythology would be my #1.
Nah, #2 on Roy's list - the theme is actually "Fantasy Flight" games.
Horror - Nyctophobia, The Night Cage.
Roy: there's not much good anime-themed games.
Me: whaaaaaat
L99 games, Tragedy Looper, Sakura Arms, Ravens of Tri Sahashri.. Already more then in most of the settings
Yea but for every 1 good one there are like 10 more bad ones. Most don't get a lot of publicity and fly under the radar, but there are a ton of bad ones out there.
Tragedy Looper is also a great time travel theme game (which was another theme on his list)!! But it's definitely not for everyone.
I meant what I said!
Hi to Chris Yi, from a fellow "boring person"
#RepresentationMatters =P
Kamilla: Read A God in the Shed by JF Dubeau for a horror book.
So, horror stories to check out. Without knowing your (Camilla) taste in books, I’ll try to include info about what type of story and content.
The Terror by Dan Simmons. Historical Horror. The 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage but with a monster. A lot of adult content; language, sex, violence.
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa. Modern Horror. A series of short stories set in modern (c.1998) Japan. Dark, creepy stories that weave together in a really interesting way. Violence, descriptions of nudity, allusions to sex. I don’t remember any R-rated language.
Out by Natsuo Kirino. Modern Horror/Thriller. More of a thriller, but is often included in Japanese horror lists. Disgruntled women working at a factory help cover up a murder and suffer the consequences. Very dark. Language, sex, violence.
Ringu (Rings in its current English edition) by Koji Suzuki. Paranormal Horror. The novel the film was based on. A lot more backstory and intrigue in the novel. It’s otherwise very similar in content to the movie (the original Japanese) but also includes sex. Dark Water by Suzuki is also really good; it’s a collection of short stories.
The October Country by Ray Bradbury. Fantasy/Paranormal Horror. A collection of short stories, most of which are horror but a few aren’t really. Top-notch, poetic writing. Most of them are also fairly family-friendly (though perhaps a product of its time in a few places). Some violence.
The Shining by Stephen King. Supernatural Horror. He’s pretty divisive, but I enjoyed this one. I think it’s a good one to try if you’ve not read King before (it was my first one of his). Lots of swearing, violence, sex; all seem to be staples of King's novels.
Anything H. P. Lovecraft for something old school. I recommend The Shadow Over Innsmouth (short story) or At the Mountains of Madness (novella). Those are two of my favorite.
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. Supernatural Horror. This was one of the works that inspired Lovecraft. Only the first few short stories in the book are horror, but they’re really good. Especially The Yellow Sign. I read it every Halloween.
I’ve reviewed almost all of these on my website if you want a more in-depth look. I don’t know if it’s okay to include a link, but a search for Thomas P. King should do it. I’m also a writer and have an interactive horror story on there (and a fantasy story). I have other short stories not yet published always looking for feedback as well.
Batman is my favorite Superhero.
Camilla, have you ever tried Cuthroat Caverns? This is a bit of survival combined with baddies to take out, but it is competitive. You cannot win by yourself, so you have to slowly bleed out your fellow players so that they will be there long enough to help you survive the line up, but there is only one winner. It's an oldie but a goodie!
As someone who works in fashion Prêt-à-PortER hurts my ears (completely cringe-worthy) way more than Tom's very minor mispronunciation of 'architect.'
So happy that much of the industry has finally learned to pronounce 'Viscounts'.
If Wendy could design an ‘aware’ cotton mill monster game - I would buy and play it!!
Middle Age Fantasy.
So like, fantasy for people in their 40s?
Competitive survival games? How about Survive: Escape from Atlantis! Or Hellapagos
You guys refer to nerds in a disparaging way quite a lot for people who can talk about steampunk, superheroes, etc for >hour, who work for a boardgame channel, etc.
That's because we're VERY self-aware that we are nerds. We're definitely joking and don't want it to appear disparaging.
Marvel movies ruined Marvel for me.
I love cute critters, but really dislike the anthropomorphic themes. That darkest doom game? Way out before I even see any gameplay.
So it's more like top 10 settings or genres, not themes.
Theme would be e.g. hunting monsters and you can do it as a Viking, a fantasy dwarf or a pirate.
Running a business is a Theme. And you can do it in historical setting or sci-fi, etc.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say at the start of the video: we're using the term theme instead of trying to differentiate theme and setting. People tend to use "theme" for both, so it just makes sense to say it this way.