Tom, your enthusiasm in this year's Top 100 all the way through is infectious and a tremendous asset to the boardgaming community. Thanks for a great list. And thanks for The Dice Tower.
Having Eldritch Horror as you number 1 is no surprise to me. with all the great expansions and awesome theme. However, Cosmic Encounter not breaking the top 200 is unbelievable. Thanks for all the hard work!
That made me smile! Eldritch is long and can be punishing. It's a game that can really make you work and is constantly asking players how bad they want the win so to speak. I think tom likes the games that will most likely produce a great experience even if your just out for a lark. I love Eldritch too but I've been holding off on the expansions as forget about making lists, they don't even get reviewed, and it *is* possible that they could actually make the game harder. I also don't think he enjoys games with timers very much.
Still miss Sam and Zee's commentary for every number on the list but as always great to hear your top 100 games, and what a fantastic list it was. Thanks Tom!
I love Cosmic encounter, a new expansion Cosmic Eons is coming out soon although i can see no pre-order options for it in Europe yet. I think some bloke in South America built a giant sized version of this game I remember seeing on a Dice Tower video. I took a risk the Game of Thrones Iron Throne game pre-ordering it which is meant to be a little like CE.
when are those last Second Summoner cards reaching europe ? I am not importing from PlaidHat as the import fees make it double the price including the mailing cost.
Bought Cosmic Encounters 2 years ago after watching your top 100. Never had played a game of it before. I rarely have enough people wanting to or willing to play it. However in my opinion the games of it I have played have been among my best experiences playing games. Everyone is always either super pissed or laughing and sometimes wild swings of both mid game. I love it!
I can't believe how much everyone loves Time Stories. My group loves it. I think it's okay. Easily less fun than virtually any other game in my collection!
i saw the review on Shut up and Sit down (great site for boardgaming with funny brits doing review) and they didnt much like the game. THey say it had great components but, while it had unique and innovative aspects really became repetitive, and it ends quickly and has little replayability . I havent played, but I can see what they're saying. it looks really dull. or rather it looks lke it starts well, but quickly becomes boring. I'll try it at some point, but I think i'd probably agree with them more than Tom.
at each higher/lower entree, I got more paranoid for summoner wars to not be in your top 100 anymore.... So glad to see my number one at two. Awesome game, awesome factions and the app rocks as well. Thank you for your top 100 2016 list. Enjoy them every time!
No, he was making a joke about how much work it is to edit the videos. That's why he said "and we're done! Wait... we have to EDIT these? But I just..." I thought it was pretty obvious.
I would agree. It also blows pretty much *anything*, *anyone* and *anywhere* out of the water, air, fire, off the earth and shatters alternate dimensions. It is a game that takes stomping players to all new "highs." I feel like it is the world of gaming's revenge on me for all the stupid jokes I've cracked about people who willingly follow game characters who say stuff like: "Hey everybody, let's hole up in that big scary house!" Me an' my big mouth....
Tom, if you read this, I know you have some influence on the game designers and your opinions and ideas matter to them. If you could just use that power for the good of humanity and jedi-mind trick Uwe Rosenberg into making an expansion for Caverna, I would owe you a lot. I love the game but it's slowly falling off of my top games because of the lack of diversity. I know there are rumors about new cards coming out but I'd rather have an actual expansion than mere rumors. I'm sure you agree with me on this. Thanks in advance.
@thedicetower I have Cosmic Encounter + Incursion. I like the game, but many games just end after 2,5 rounds, when someone just gets all his attacks right at once with some luck. Those games I do not like (even if im the one in that scenario). I also feel that it is never usefull to attack a colony on your own home-system when you draw your own color from the destiny deck and no one in my group has ever (in 2 years!) once chosen to take a second tech instead of a second turn. My point is, a lot of the options you have seem useless making the game actually a little bit too straightforward for me and some of my friends. Do you have any tips (maybe some houserules or an expansion which really helps these problems) for playing Cosmic Encounter?
Just bought Heroscapes Rise of the Valkyrie Master Set off ebay. Thanks for the video. The game seems exciting after watching some other review videos and runthroughs. I can see why you like the game. I'll be working on a lot of custom terrain I'm sure. Thanks again, can't wait to try it out.
Thanks Tom! Showing us the ones that almost made it is a great idea! I'm not disappointed but honestly curious how a game that I bought (and love) on your and Rob's recommendation, a game that you said you went to sleep dreaming about after you first played it, had failed to make the list and how close it got. I'm also curious if you still enjoy Abyss. : )
Yeah! Sweet! I'm so happy to see Caverna in your top 10. It's probably my favorite game, and one of the other two board game reviewers I enjoy watching - Sit Down and Shut Up, don't like it very much. The other group hasn't reviewed it. :)
I have such different tastes for the most part. Of your top 10 only 2 are on my top 50 - Dice Masters (my 16) and Caverna (my 44). Cosmic Encounters isn't even in my top 500...and I've only played about 250 games.
Hey Tom, I was wondering: did you play the Game of Thrones version of Cosmic Encounter? If yes, is the difference strictly thematic, or are there any other major differences from the base game?
mon top ten : 1. les châteaux de bourgogne 2. la havane 3. lords of xidit 4. l'âge de pierre 5. dungeon twister 6. abyss 7. les aventuriers du rail 8. hive 9. mr jack pocket 10. 7 wonders duel
Tom loves Cosmic Encounter, and it's the number one by a huge margin, then why does he hate Munchkin so much? CE is basically just Munchkin in space. Both are random in a sense who has which cards, both end up all players having 4 colonies / last level, both evolve around ganging up against the leader, both last too long for the simplicity of the game, and it the end the winning player / players just won because no one else had a card to prevent it.
@McBehrer I didn't say it's a surprise that it's his number one, it has been number one for ever. But what I can't really wrap my head around is how he dislikes Munchkin so much, while loves CE so much.
I never really got the hype for Summoner Wars. It's not BAD by any means, but I just never felt like getting it to the table. Unimpressive table presence, mediocre components and art (subjective as that is), all around a system that, while serviceable, never seemed to do anything special for me. Love the price-point but just never won me over. Completely replaced by Dungeon Command in my collection. Only 5 armies ever came out for it but it looks and feels so much more premium and the game the bling is grafted on to is a lot more fun to me. Less luck, more strategic, deeper. But I know Summoner Wars sells well and Dungeon Command crashed and burned so obviously I'm in the minority in that opinion.
Descent: It's probably a crime that I haven't played Descent. Fantasy games are my favorite board games to play. In fact, like some people, board games have replaced RPG's as life has gotten busier and fuller. You can have just as much fun in a great board game in a few hours compared to an RPG that will last all weekend! I considered getting Descent at the same time I considered getting Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System Board Games. But I decided to go with the D&D board games instead. They are cheaper, they take a shorter time to play, and they do not require a DM. I have gotten tired of being the DM and want to play more often. I was glad to see Tom does like the D&D games too. Although he considers them more of a co-op, which they are. And it is more like a tactical miniatures game. Anyways, maybe someday I will get to play Descent, I just don't want to own it or run it. TIME Stories: This game sounds amazing! Sadly due to personal reasons, they people who I used to game with and would enjoy this kind of game with, are no longer available to game with. And don't think my meetup group would enjoy this as much. But maybe I will play this some day. Arcadia Quest: Another dungeon crawl game that I really wanna play. Just hasn't happened. But I did watch a live play through, and it cooled me down, wasn't impressed with the live play through, and while it has cooled me somewhat, I know playing a game and watching it can be completely different experiences, so I still want to try this one out. Caverna: It's an ok game, probably around 160 on my list of favorite games. I would never request it. And will avoid it often. But I may play it again some time. Dice Masters: The idea sounds promising. But I tried Quarriorz and disliked that very much. I really like Super Heroes, but almost every SuperHero game I look at does not interest me. The one I like is called Heroes Incorporated. I will try Dice Masters some day, but I don't have much hope. Cosmic Encounter: Having started watching the Dice Tower in 2013 of coarse I heard of Cosmic Encounter, and perhaps, it may have been mentioned around me in years prior, but without notice or understood by me. So even after hearing Tom mention it in a few videos in 2013, it did not interest me. But then about 2 years ago now, I was at a game store meetup and someone asked if I would be interested in playing it. I am almost always willing to play anything once so I joined in. I loved it! A little over a year ago I found the base game real cheap and bought it. I have since bought about 3 expansions when I found them on sale, but haven't gotten it to the table yet. There is some interest at my meetup, so I hope to play it soon.
You could just buy the base game and you would have a great time. It is one of my favourite game of all time, and it is not a hard game to "run". You just have to play through the quests. it takes betwedn 1 to 3 hours (at most) to complete a quest. Don't miss this one out!
In this list I've got every single game and expansion for it apart from La Havre, Dice Masters and Heroscape (I was late to the game for that last one and had to take Arena Magic The Gathering Planeswalkers instead - yes I had to import the 3rd expansion for it to Europe because they are being slow with EU distribution). Would anyone recommend d&d dice masters or is that not worth it ? is the superhero themed game better?
Honestly, I have always liked Quarriors way better than the super hero sets. I don't understand why Quarriors never gets mentioned. It was the first and from the same company, and it oozes with flavor. It was the game that made me rediscover board games as an adult. You should try it.
I really don't understand the claim that Dicemasters has theme. I have watched many games of it (in an attempt to get what people see in it) and during the game no one ever talks about the heroes or what the actions mean or would look like. They barely talk at all, a casual observer would have no idea that a superhero battle was happening.
Surprised Scythe is not anywhere on the list. Guess I should go see if it made his top 200. He seemed to really like it, but I guess with his love of Cry Havoc and Blood Rage, that style of game may be well represented. I like the engine building emphasis with Scythe over battle, I also really like Blood Rage but some card combos are crazy overpowered and in games with new players, experienced players can get them pretty easily. Every blood rage game I have played has been a crazy runaway leader scenario due to that. I like introducing people to new games too much to ever have a group that is really good at any given game, if they have all played blood rage I will pull out another game, heh, so my own fault, I know.
I wonder if the fact that Caverna hasn't gotten any expansions is that the base game doesn't sell enough due to its high price. Agricola is so much cheaper.
Tom, you faked us out when you said Pandemic Legacy was your favorite "legacy game". I was so confused at how TIME Stories could miss the top 100 entirely!
Indeed, while the nature of Asylum, at least, is such that I wouldn't want to play it again... At least for a while... It's also not a game where I'm making permanent changes to the game, so I could on paper, and I might be willing to be a group's fourth (or third), though I wouldn't contribute to things until I forget enough about what's where, what's what, what should be done, and what the solution to the central puzzle is to not give spoilers :) ...Which is an inevitable problem of a campaign game so revolving around a Mystery, really.
Starting point for Summoner Wars for a Dad and 14 year old (who is rank 2 in Hearthstone .. so will kick my butt); Summoner Wars Alliances, track down an original Summoner Wars Master Set, Summoner Wars: Alliances Master Set Big Box Limited Edition?!?!
Just get the Master Set if you can. It comes with pre-built decks that are ready to go for each faction and provides a ton of variety. The later sets added a need to construct your deck before you start playing and that adds to the learning curve.
None of these games would make my top 25. Axis & Allies, Shogun, Monopoly (think I've played 1000+ games and I still love it) and Settlers of Catan is good. The only newer game that I really liked was Grand Austria Hotel, love that game. Heroscape is OK but why not play D&D with miniatures as it's 1,000x better?
hey Tom can sam do a top 100 please I do like your games of course but I seem to side with Sam more on his picks when you guys do top 10s please and thank you
It is not fun, it highly depends on the group, and the Aliens you are going to draw. Because there are 3 types of monsters, easy, normal, and hard to play. And if you can pull out the hard one and you are good with it. Then you have higher chances to win, than the easy ones. Also 1 bad player can ruin the game for you very easily with his stupid decisions. There are a ton of IFs , but if everything is in place, then it is very good, which is rare.
"List of games you play in less than 5 minutes"; "List of favourite sandwiches"; "List of people you would like to play cymbals with". Also, watch the other positions in his top-10 list. ;) For a guy who plays THAT MUCH games, it is pretty high.
This is my cross-over with Tom's Top 200 (1-200) with my top 110: 1 - Cosmic Encounter: 10 16 - Beyond Balderdash: 20 28 - Sheriff of Nottingham: 19 39 - Carson City: 36 41 - Spyfall: 106 52 - Empires: Age of Discovery: 101 54 - King of Tokyo/New York: 79 Tokyo 80 NY 56 - Ultimate Werewolf: 27 57 - Power Grid: 40 59 - Ca$h 'N Guns: 54 64 - Puerto Rico: 78 72 - Alien Frontiers: 6 73 - Automania: 47 75 - Memoir ’44: 91 76 - Exodus: Proxima Centauri: 22 78 - Xia: 17 83 - Stockpile: 102 85 - Robo Rally: 9 93 - Pillars of the Earth: 50 -------------- Tom's 101-200 113 - Dead of Winter: 23 119 - Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System Board Games: 26 123 - Castles of Mad King Ludwig: 62 126 - Mission: Red Planet: 15 136 - 7 Wonders: 104 140 - Incan Relic: 99 144 - Cutthroat Caverns: 28 149 - Tales of Arabian Nights: 86 155 - Good Cop Bad Cop: 85 171 - Telestrations: 21 173 - Lord of Vegas: 30 179 - Say Anything: 43 180 - No Thanks!: 103 185 - For Sale: 105 I only keep about 110 games on my list. But there are probably around 5-10 games Tom listed in his 1-200 that are between my my 111-200 I don't have a specific rank for.
As you can see I have a lot of similar tastes as Tom, thus why I enjoy the Dice Tower so much. But in some ways I lean towards Sam's choices, as I enjoy strong theme. I don't like Deck Builders and not a fan of war games, but I do like Memoir 44 a bit. I love these lists Tom. Thanks!
Tom and anyone for that matter.... You dance anytime you want and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.... The only crime against dancing is not dancing at all. :D
Tom, your enthusiasm in this year's Top 100 all the way through is infectious and a tremendous asset to the boardgaming community. Thanks for a great list. And thanks for The Dice Tower.
i know I'm kinda off topic but do anyone know of a good place to watch new movies online?
@Thatcher Kane Lately I have been using Flixzone. You can find it on google :)
1: Cosmic Encounter
2: Summoner Wars
3: Dice Masters
4: Heroscape
5: Le Havre
6: Caverna
7: Arcadia Quest
8: T.I.M.E. Stories
9: Descent (2ed)
10: Kemet
Anyone have a list to all 100? I think Tom honestly accidentally omitted a game, but maybe I just missed it.
1 - Cosmic Encounter
2 - Summoner Wars
3 - Dice Masters
4 - Heroscape
5 - Le Harve
6 - Caverna
7 - Arcadia Quest
8 - Time Stories *
9 - Descent
10 - Kemet
11 - Viticulture
12 - Battlelore 2nd edition
13 - Bloodrage
14 - Pitchcar
15 - Times Up: Title Recall
16 - Beyond Balderdash
17 - Airlines: Europe
18 - Ticket To Ride
19 - Cry Havoc *
20 - Through the Ages
21 - Project: Elite
22 - Codex *
23 - Mage Wars Academy
24 - Battleground Fantasy Warfare
25 - Roll for the Galaxy
26 - Duel of Ages II
27 - Twilight Struggle
28 - Sheriff of Nottingham
29 - Flick ‘Em Up
30 - Ghost Stories
31 - Terraforming Mars *
32 - Race for the Galaxy
33 - El Grande
34 - Thunderstone Advance
35 - Dominion
36 - Orleans
37 - Wallenstein
38 - Mechs vs Minions *
39 - Carson City
40 - Robinson Crusoe
41 - Spyfall
42 - Cyclades
43 - Suburbia
44 - Mansions of Madness
45 - Legendary
46 - Star Wars: Armada
47 - Star Wars: Imperial Assault
48 - Star Wars: Rebellion
49 - Command & Colors: Ancients
50 - Rum & Bones
51 - Traumfabrik
52 - Empires: Age of Discovery
53 - Seasons
54 - King of Tokyo/New York
55 - Twilight Imperium 3
56 - Ultimate Werewolf
57 - Power Grid
58 - Battlecon: War of Indines
59 - Ca$h 'N Guns
60 - Shadows Over Camelot
61 - Domaine
62 - Dixit
63 - Thunder & Lightning *
64 - Puerto Rico
65 - Libertalia
66 - Catacombs
67 - The Voyages of Marco Polo
68 - Pandemic Legacy
69 - Battle Line
70 - 7 Wonders: Duel *
71 - Level 7 Omega Protocol
72 - Alien Frontiers
73 - Automania
74 - Lords of Waterdeep
75 - Memoir ’44
76 - Exodus: Proxima Centauri
77 - Smash Up
78 - Xia
79 - Dungeon Twister
80 - Colosseum
81 - Faces
82 - Kingsburg
83 - Stockpile
84 - Francis Drake
85 - Robo Rally
86 - David & Goliath
87 - Eldritch Horror
88 - Ave Caesar
89 - Adventure Land *
90 - Targi *
91 - Onitama *
92 - Yinsh *
93 - Pillars of the Earth
94 - A Feast for Odin *
95 - Xenoshyft
96 - Firenze *
97 - Innovation
98 - Ultimate Warriorz
99 - Small World
100 - Welcome to the Dungeon
*new to the list
source: www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/56ndgq/tom_vasels_top_100_games_101/d8kp6yl
Very surprised at how high Ticket to Ride is and how low Twilight Imperium 3 is. I wonder if TI4 will bump up a couple of spots for him?
Having Eldritch Horror as you number 1 is no surprise to me. with all the great expansions and awesome theme. However, Cosmic Encounter not breaking the top 200 is unbelievable. Thanks for all the hard work!
:D
LOL
+William Mcguinness That's a huge drop. He probably got sick of playing it.
That made me smile! Eldritch is long and can be punishing. It's a game that can really make you work and is constantly asking players how bad they want the win so to speak. I think tom likes the games that will most likely produce a great experience even if your just out for a lark. I love Eldritch too but I've been holding off on the expansions as forget about making lists, they don't even get reviewed, and it *is* possible that they could actually make the game harder. I also don't think he enjoys games with timers very much.
Spoiled
Still miss Sam and Zee's commentary for every number on the list but as always great to hear your top 100 games, and what a fantastic list it was. Thanks Tom!
Cosmic encounter is my favorite game of all time, and its all thanks to one of these top 100 lists!
I love Cosmic encounter, a new expansion Cosmic Eons is coming out soon although i can see no pre-order options for it in Europe yet. I think some bloke in South America built a giant sized version of this game I remember seeing on a Dice Tower video. I took a risk the Game of Thrones Iron Throne game pre-ordering it which is meant to be a little like CE.
I think it was giant TI3
Doh that was it a Giant Twighlight Imperium board.
Nice quick descriptive top 10 list. Loved the scenery changes too. Well done!
Summoner Wars is my number one! So good
Also 101-200 thank you Tom! I'm excited to see what barely missed the top 100.
when are those last Second Summoner cards reaching europe ? I am not importing from PlaidHat as the import fees make it double the price including the mailing cost.
I think it's mine 2-3, and i only have 3 factions :)
My #1 also! I'm glad it jumped back to the place where it belongs. The best of all of the games (not including Cosmic Encounter)! That a category now.
Cosmic Encounter. The greatest game ever designed.
It is not even close.
you're not even close
ahhh :D , it is a random game, in which you depend on luck and on the others to win or lose
Another great top 100! I'm primarily a war gamer but I love the Dice Tower and all the great folks there!
I think your theme song is stuck in my head forever. Haha. Thanks for sharing your Top 100 Games! Loved it.
Nice upswing on Summoner Wars, deserving since the cycle is complete for them.
Bought Cosmic Encounters 2 years ago after watching your top 100. Never had played a game of it before. I rarely have enough people wanting to or willing to play it. However in my opinion the games of it I have played have been among my best experiences playing games. Everyone is always either super pissed or laughing and sometimes wild swings of both mid game. I love it!
I can't believe how much everyone loves Time Stories. My group loves it. I think it's okay. Easily less fun than virtually any other game in my collection!
i saw the review on Shut up and Sit down (great site for boardgaming with funny brits doing review) and they didnt much like the game. THey say it had great components but, while it had unique and innovative aspects really became repetitive, and it ends quickly and has little replayability . I havent played, but I can see what they're saying. it looks really dull. or rather it looks lke it starts well, but quickly becomes boring.
I'll try it at some point, but I think i'd probably agree with them more than Tom.
Hi Tom, I think I like the energy you put in front of the camera on this top 100 list, plus, nice backgrounds!
at each higher/lower entree, I got more paranoid for summoner wars to not be in your top 100 anymore.... So glad to see my number one at two. Awesome game, awesome factions and the app rocks as well.
Thank you for your top 100 2016 list. Enjoy them every time!
I laughed out loud at the end, hilarious
What did he say near the end? I couldn't make it out and what is he running from?
he said "what, we have to EDIT these? no, but I... " *runs off*
No, he was making a joke about how much work it is to edit the videos. That's why he said "and we're done! Wait... we have to EDIT these? But I just..."
I thought it was pretty obvious.
Good thing he has Derek now for the editing lol. I'm sure he does a bunch himself too. Thank you based Derek.
Derek needs to meet Barry.
The world needs a top ten Tom Vasel's hats.
I may not have played as many games as Tom but of the couple hundred I've played, Cosmic Encounter is by far the best.
In my opinion, Mansions of Madness 2nd edition blows Descent out of the water.
I would agree. It also blows pretty much *anything*, *anyone* and *anywhere* out of the water, air, fire, off the earth and shatters alternate dimensions. It is a game that takes stomping players to all new "highs." I feel like it is the world of gaming's revenge on me for all the stupid jokes I've cracked about people who willingly follow game characters who say stuff like: "Hey everybody, let's hole up in that big scary house!" Me an' my big mouth....
It's not even comparable. Just because MoM has minis and an app. Apples and Oranges.
Nice. No surprise on Cosmic Encounter being Tom's numero uno. He just l-o-v-e-s that game !
Killing it with the weight loss, Tom!
Tom, if you read this, I know you have some influence on the game designers and your opinions and ideas matter to them. If you could just use that power for the good of humanity and jedi-mind trick Uwe Rosenberg into making an expansion for Caverna, I would owe you a lot. I love the game but it's slowly falling off of my top games because of the lack of diversity. I know there are rumors about new cards coming out but I'd rather have an actual expansion than mere rumors. I'm sure you agree with me on this. Thanks in advance.
@thedicetower I have Cosmic Encounter + Incursion. I like the game, but many games just end after 2,5 rounds, when someone just gets all his attacks right at once with some luck. Those games I do not like (even if im the one in that scenario). I also feel that it is never usefull to attack a colony on your own home-system when you draw your own color from the destiny deck and no one in my group has ever (in 2 years!) once chosen to take a second tech instead of a second turn. My point is, a lot of the options you have seem useless making the game actually a little bit too straightforward for me and some of my friends. Do you have any tips (maybe some houserules or an expansion which really helps these problems) for playing Cosmic Encounter?
Great list as alwayd, thank you so much for doing it! My favorite game is Five Tribes, cosmic encounter falls in my number 6 of all time!
Just bought Heroscapes Rise of the Valkyrie Master Set off ebay. Thanks for the video. The game seems exciting after watching some other review videos and runthroughs. I can see why you like the game. I'll be working on a lot of custom terrain I'm sure. Thanks again, can't wait to try it out.
Thanks Tom! Showing us the ones that almost made it is a great idea! I'm not disappointed but honestly curious how a game that I bought (and love) on your and Rob's recommendation, a game that you said you went to sleep dreaming about after you first played it, had failed to make the list and how close it got. I'm also curious if you still enjoy Abyss. : )
YASSSS!!! Cosmic Encounter for number 1 again, sooooooooooo happy!!!
Together with "we all born" and "we all die", this is one of the three certainties in life.
ooooh, its almost time for the 2020 list!
Yay for Cosmic!! It's one of my favorite three games hands down!!
Love the ending. With Chaz's 100 you would expect something like that, the unexpected nature made it funnier.
Fun to watch these countdowns and love seeing Heroscape still up in there.
Is the video slightly sped up? Tom's voice sounds a bit high and fast.
I NEED to know where to buy/how to make those chits trays for Le Havre!! Someone tell me please!!!
Hi, just a heads up that the 20-11 segment is missing from the "playlist".
Yeah! Sweet! I'm so happy to see Caverna in your top 10. It's probably my favorite game, and one of the other two board game reviewers I enjoy watching - Sit Down and Shut Up, don't like it very much. The other group hasn't reviewed it. :)
good choice on your # 2
I have such different tastes for the most part. Of your top 10 only 2 are on my top 50 - Dice Masters (my 16) and Caverna (my 44). Cosmic Encounters isn't even in my top 500...and I've only played about 250 games.
Looks like someone fixed it; 20-11 is now up. Thanks.
Hey Tom, I was wondering: did you play the Game of Thrones version of Cosmic Encounter? If yes, is the difference strictly thematic, or are there any other major differences from the base game?
And the link at the end of #30-21 is broken, as it just repeats that video. Just wondering. Love your reviews/lists.
Cant wait for the next set for Arcadia Quest
mon top ten :
1. les châteaux de bourgogne
2. la havane
3. lords of xidit
4. l'âge de pierre
5. dungeon twister
6. abyss
7. les aventuriers du rail
8. hive
9. mr jack pocket
10. 7 wonders duel
Tom loves Cosmic Encounter, and it's the number one by a huge margin, then why does he hate Munchkin so much?
CE is basically just Munchkin in space. Both are random in a sense who has which cards, both end up all players having 4 colonies / last level, both evolve around ganging up against the leader, both last too long for the simplicity of the game, and it the end the winning player / players just won because no one else had a card to prevent it.
C r s revolve**
seriously? it's ALWAYS his number 1. It's not a surprise.
I almost thought you were serious for a second. GJ troll.
@McBehrer I didn't say it's a surprise that it's his number one, it has been number one for ever. But what I can't really wrap my head around is how he dislikes Munchkin so much, while loves CE so much.
I wasn't reacting to you.
I was responding to Jumi Rock, who said "put a spoiler alert on your comment next time."
Cosmic Encounter is my number 5 game of all time
Where is the video for #'s 20-11? Seems to be missing from the collection.
I never really got the hype for Summoner Wars. It's not BAD by any means, but I just never felt like getting it to the table. Unimpressive table presence, mediocre components and art (subjective as that is), all around a system that, while serviceable, never seemed to do anything special for me.
Love the price-point but just never won me over.
Completely replaced by Dungeon Command in my collection. Only 5 armies ever came out for it but it looks and feels so much more premium and the game the bling is grafted on to is a lot more fun to me. Less luck, more strategic, deeper.
But I know Summoner Wars sells well and Dungeon Command crashed and burned so obviously I'm in the minority in that opinion.
How would call to adventure rank in all of these games?
Love your exit!
Descent: It's probably a crime that I haven't played Descent. Fantasy games are my favorite board games to play. In fact, like some people, board games have replaced RPG's as life has gotten busier and fuller. You can have just as much fun in a great board game in a few hours compared to an RPG that will last all weekend!
I considered getting Descent at the same time I considered getting Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System Board Games. But I decided to go with the D&D board games instead. They are cheaper, they take a shorter time to play, and they do not require a DM. I have gotten tired of being the DM and want to play more often. I was glad to see Tom does like the D&D games too. Although he considers them more of a co-op, which they are. And it is more like a tactical miniatures game.
Anyways, maybe someday I will get to play Descent, I just don't want to own it or run it.
TIME Stories: This game sounds amazing! Sadly due to personal reasons, they people who I used to game with and would enjoy this kind of game with, are no longer available to game with. And don't think my meetup group would enjoy this as much. But maybe I will play this some day.
Arcadia Quest: Another dungeon crawl game that I really wanna play. Just hasn't happened. But I did watch a live play through, and it cooled me down, wasn't impressed with the live play through, and while it has cooled me somewhat, I know playing a game and watching it can be completely different experiences, so I still want to try this one out.
Caverna: It's an ok game, probably around 160 on my list of favorite games. I would never request it. And will avoid it often. But I may play it again some time.
Dice Masters: The idea sounds promising. But I tried Quarriorz and disliked that very much. I really like Super Heroes, but almost every SuperHero game I look at does not interest me. The one I like is called Heroes Incorporated. I will try Dice Masters some day, but I don't have much hope.
Cosmic Encounter: Having started watching the Dice Tower in 2013 of coarse I heard of Cosmic Encounter, and perhaps, it may have been mentioned around me in years prior, but without notice or understood by me. So even after hearing Tom mention it in a few videos in 2013, it did not interest me. But then about 2 years ago now, I was at a game store meetup and someone asked if I would be interested in playing it. I am almost always willing to play anything once so I joined in. I loved it!
A little over a year ago I found the base game real cheap and bought it. I have since bought about 3 expansions when I found them on sale, but haven't gotten it to the table yet. There is some interest at my meetup, so I hope to play it soon.
You could just buy the base game and you would have a great time. It is one of my favourite game of all time, and it is not a hard game to "run". You just have to play through the quests. it takes betwedn 1 to 3 hours (at most) to complete a quest. Don't miss this one out!
Tired of running games. I wanna be a player.
That poor camel woke up wondering who was making all that racket
Well we have some overlap with our lists Tom: Commands and Colors Ancients, Memoir 44, Flick'em Up, and Twilight Struggle. 4/100 ain't bad!
Yeah TIME stories, playing Under the Mask on Saturday, gutted that it'll be 4/5 months until the next one is available.
Is there somewhere I can see a complete list online?
Tom doesn't like to make lists, as people won't watch the videos, but someone usually makes one afterwards, and posts it online somewhere.
www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/56ndgq/tom_vasels_top_100_games_101/
Doma Agape That's understandable. Although personally I watched every episode and just want to see the list to reflect on them all at once.
Oh good, an official link. Thanks Eric!
I WANT THIS INTRO AGAIN!!!!
Those Ibex are amazing.
well done
He might not dance, but he sure can run very fast :D oh well, the earth stays still, cosmic is number one again :) thanks for the list, Tom.
you should do a 100 worst games. I want to see the tears!
Many are forgettable. But I would guess he could scrounge up 10.
They need to reference oneupsmanship more often
Realy nice: outdoors :)
When are you going to do another live play through of Heroscape?
In this list I've got every single game and expansion for it apart from La Havre, Dice Masters and Heroscape (I was late to the game for that last one and had to take Arena Magic The Gathering Planeswalkers instead - yes I had to import the 3rd expansion for it to Europe because they are being slow with EU distribution). Would anyone recommend d&d dice masters or is that not worth it ? is the superhero themed game better?
Honestly, I have always liked Quarriors way better than the super hero sets. I don't understand why Quarriors never gets mentioned. It was the first and from the same company, and it oozes with flavor. It was the game that made me rediscover board games as an adult. You should try it.
Quarriors has dropped for Tom considerably, but it's still in his 200.
ShiftyShifts I've got all the Quarriors sets, a nice dice chucking game.
Is the Top 10 theme song an homage to Frank Zappa? It certainly is reminiscent of Zappa.
Who's singing along during the intro?
Just don't like the "combat selection' mechanism of Cosmic Encounter. Was Fury of Dracula?
I found it Tom...YEAH
I really don't understand the claim that Dicemasters has theme. I have watched many games of it (in an attempt to get what people see in it) and during the game no one ever talks about the heroes or what the actions mean or would look like. They barely talk at all, a casual observer would have no idea that a superhero battle was happening.
I don't think Tom and I could be friends in real life...
Surprised Scythe is not anywhere on the list. Guess I should go see if it made his top 200. He seemed to really like it, but I guess with his love of Cry Havoc and Blood Rage, that style of game may be well represented. I like the engine building emphasis with Scythe over battle, I also really like Blood Rage but some card combos are crazy overpowered and in games with new players, experienced players can get them pretty easily. Every blood rage game I have played has been a crazy runaway leader scenario due to that. I like introducing people to new games too much to ever have a group that is really good at any given game, if they have all played blood rage I will pull out another game, heh, so my own fault, I know.
Where did Duel of Ages II end up?
I wonder if the fact that Caverna hasn't gotten any expansions is that the base game doesn't sell enough due to its high price. Agricola is so much cheaper.
Tom, are you saying that Caverna is casual? :)
Tom, you faked us out when you said Pandemic Legacy was your favorite "legacy game". I was so confused at how TIME Stories could miss the top 100 entirely!
It's not really a fake out when TIME Stories isn't a legacy game.
Indeed, while the nature of Asylum, at least, is such that I wouldn't want to play it again... At least for a while... It's also not a game where I'm making permanent changes to the game, so I could on paper, and I might be willing to be a group's fourth (or third), though I wouldn't contribute to things until I forget enough about what's where, what's what, what should be done, and what the solution to the central puzzle is to not give spoilers :)
...Which is an inevitable problem of a campaign game so revolving around a Mystery, really.
Starting point for Summoner Wars for a Dad and 14 year old (who is rank 2 in Hearthstone .. so will kick my butt); Summoner Wars Alliances, track down an original Summoner Wars Master Set, Summoner Wars: Alliances Master Set Big Box Limited Edition?!?!
Just get the Master Set if you can. It comes with pre-built decks that are ready to go for each faction and provides a ton of variety. The later sets added a need to construct your deck before you start playing and that adds to the learning curve.
I agree with you Tom about Carverna is far, far, FAR better than Agricola. Not even close.
None of these games would make my top 25. Axis & Allies, Shogun, Monopoly (think I've played 1000+ games and I still love it) and Settlers of Catan is good. The only newer game that I really liked was Grand Austria Hotel, love that game. Heroscape is OK but why not play D&D with miniatures as it's 1,000x better?
Where did Star Trek Fleet Captains land? Don't remember seeing it on your list.
It's in 101-200 now. Wait for the list or watch last 30 minutes of his Q&A on October 3.
YEAH !!!
Kemet is my favorite game.. the combat system is GREAT and the artwork and mini's are amazing !
Good choice
Kemet... camel... I get it... ;)
i'm really surprised that captain sonar is not on the list.
In his 101-200, i think around 124 (just above Dice Duels).
i would be really really surprised if it was not in his top 200.
Thumb up.
I feel like the blue powers in Kemet are broken. HAving +2 guys just seems impossible to beat
#9 is quite a decent game
hey Tom can sam do a top 100 please I do like your games of course but I seem to side with Sam more on his picks when you guys do top 10s please and thank you
I liked the camel the best :p
Whaaaat where's Nothing Personal?
Five years later, La Havre is #1.
cosmic encounter is ok, but i think dune is much better
Haven't played Cosmic Encounter, have only watched The Dice Tower play it, and it looked very simple and not that fun to me.
It is not fun, it highly depends on the group, and the Aliens you are going to draw. Because there are 3 types of monsters, easy, normal, and hard to play. And if you can pull out the hard one and you are good with it. Then you have higher chances to win, than the easy ones. Also 1 bad player can ruin the game for you very easily with his stupid decisions. There are a ton of IFs , but if everything is in place, then it is very good, which is rare.
Just deal out 3 easy aliens to each player to choose one. Tom recommends that way, and I agree.
Doma Agape You overrule the best game ever ?? LOL !
Number 10 really should have been camel up...
Ooops. No codenames No one night ultimate No scythe
I think all 3 of these made the top 100.
They aren't in the top 10, but they shouldn't be (especially Codenames)
I don't think they are. I was hoping for Caverna too. Oh well
This video has reminded me why I never trust Tom and never rely on what he recommends :D Le Havre, Caverna and Summoner Wars were sooo bad. Terribad..
Uh, sorry, Tom, but I've got a handful of Zap cards, so I'm just gonna make your #1 not count.
Summoner Wars wins!!! :-D
Check out kingdom death monster
so many fantasy ones, isnt better and cheaper just to get into D&D and be done with it?
Duel of Ages out?
Number 26
Any list without Blood Rage in it is automatically discredited.
"List of games you play in less than 5 minutes"; "List of favourite sandwiches"; "List of people you would like to play cymbals with". Also, watch the other positions in his top-10 list. ;) For a guy who plays THAT MUCH games, it is pretty high.
You forgot "List of actually good games" 0:)
Some spoilers below...
This is my cross-over with Tom's Top 200 (1-200) with my top 110:
1 - Cosmic Encounter: 10
16 - Beyond Balderdash: 20
28 - Sheriff of Nottingham: 19
39 - Carson City: 36
41 - Spyfall: 106
52 - Empires: Age of Discovery: 101
54 - King of Tokyo/New York: 79 Tokyo 80 NY
56 - Ultimate Werewolf: 27
57 - Power Grid: 40
59 - Ca$h 'N Guns: 54
64 - Puerto Rico: 78
72 - Alien Frontiers: 6
73 - Automania: 47
75 - Memoir ’44: 91
76 - Exodus: Proxima Centauri: 22
78 - Xia: 17
83 - Stockpile: 102
85 - Robo Rally: 9
93 - Pillars of the Earth: 50
--------------
Tom's 101-200
113 - Dead of Winter: 23
119 - Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System Board Games: 26
123 - Castles of Mad King Ludwig: 62
126 - Mission: Red Planet: 15
136 - 7 Wonders: 104
140 - Incan Relic: 99
144 - Cutthroat Caverns: 28
149 - Tales of Arabian Nights: 86
155 - Good Cop Bad Cop: 85
171 - Telestrations: 21
173 - Lord of Vegas: 30
179 - Say Anything: 43
180 - No Thanks!: 103
185 - For Sale: 105
I only keep about 110 games on my list. But there are probably around 5-10 games Tom listed in his 1-200 that are between my my 111-200 I don't have a specific rank for.
As you can see I have a lot of similar tastes as Tom, thus why I enjoy the Dice Tower so much. But in some ways I lean towards Sam's choices, as I enjoy strong theme. I don't like Deck Builders and not a fan of war games, but I do like Memoir 44 a bit.
I love these lists Tom. Thanks!
😊
Tom and anyone for that matter.... You dance anytime you want and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.... The only crime against dancing is not dancing at all. :D
Mage Wars > Summoner Wars
Rowan Mayer seriously. Amen. The only drawback of Arena is it's length, but theme/strategy/customization, ectt...the best
I find the length of Arena a strength, because that makes you have to think about what your plan is for the entire game
I've never liked that theme song.