For Spirit Island, on top of the complex asymmetry you mentioned, my favorite thing is how the highly thematic personalities of the spirits tie directly into the mechanisms and style of play. Because there are so many options for spirits, the latest expansion doubled it, players can choose their spirit based on personal play style, team need, or to learn something new.
Great video Mr. Stegmaier! I can only share thoughts on the ones that I've played which are Wingspan - My most played game of 2020. Three of my friends and I have gotten back into having a weekly game night about two months ago and Wingspan has been played once or twice every time. I love games that have some scoring that's visible, and some that is hidden. We played a game not too long ago where I had over 20 eggs on cards and everyone at the table was already saying "Good game Rick" "How badly did you beat us?" And I lost by two points to someone who had higher scoring bird cards played. There's so many different engines to build and ways to play/win that it creates interesting stories that I usually only find in more combat heavy games. I think my favorite thing about it might be that it's just a relaxing game overall. I can't imagine an argument breaking out over Wingspan, there's a lot to love even if it doesn't have Mandarin ducks ;) The Castles of Burgundy - I really love this game, any game where at the end you get to look at your player board and see everything you've built, it's really satisfying. 7 Wonders Duel - It's one of my favorite two-player games as well, I really like how they changed science in this game. I think it works better here than in standard 7 Wonders. Terra Mystica - This game was replaced for me by Clans of Caledonia. I feel they both scratch the same itch, but Clans is easier to teach thanks to things like "you turn milk into cheese" "you turn wheat into bread" etc. As in Terra Mystica the theme doesn't help new players with remembering what goes into what, and I don't care for Terra Mystica's magic track. Concordia - I know that my least favorite thing about Concordia is that all the scoring is revealed at the end. My favorite scoring is when you have scoring revealed, and hidden things that will score at the end. It gives a nice feeling of progression during the game, and really makes those big turns feel satisfying, but hidden scoring creates this exciting tension come game end. I only played this once though, I'd need to play a few more times to really know how I feel about it. Scythe - One of my favorites, even though Wingspan has been played more this year Scythe is my most played Stonemaier game and one of my most played games overall. My favorite thing about Scythe is I never play the same way twice in a night, even nights where we play 4 or 5 times. Even if I end up getting the same faction twice in a night, I'll try to play a different way. The replayability is endless I think. I don't know if you would have any information or if you'd be allowed to share even if you did but thought I'd ask, any word on why Nintendo keeps pushing back the release date for Wingspan on Switch? I check the shop every week or so and still no Wingspan
My favorite mechanism is Scythe is absolutely the dual action board, and trying to be efficient in making sure you have the resources to perform the lower action. But I also love the way the decisions you make on the player board, drive the game on the main board. I love the dependency.
I highly recommend playing "The Dunwich Legacy" expansion for Arkham Horror! Super creative in its storytelling. Make sure to buy the base expansion and all of the mythos packs that go with it if you decide to play it to get the full experience!
I would say that Murder at the Excelsior Hotel is a fun standalone scenario for Arkham Horror The Card Game. Like the title says you're at the hotel to solve a murder but with some twists and turns in the story. There's random elements during the scenario setup, which will have an effect on the outcome of the story. There's multiple endings so you're never quite sure what will happen if you replay the scenario. Or if you like the Saw movies you could try out Labyrinths of Lunacy which involves getting yourself out of trap rooms and facing the person responsible for creating them.
I will second this nomination. Murder at the Excelsior Hotel is my favorite of the standalones. Lots of variety, even in the various successful endings. Definite non-combat options for most of the challenges (perhaps all). A suggestion for you and others who might not have a large collection or who may not be all that interested in or don't want to take the time for deck building - FFG has recently released 5 new pre built investigator decks that are well put together and ready to go with minimal work. Great for a duo co-op night with low hassle.
The aspect of Spirit Island where you talk only general strategy with other players is really cool. To put quarterbacking in a different context, some co-op games are a simple enough task that its like two people trying to cook in the kitchen at the same time. Simple might not be quite the right word.. maybe the tasks don't require intellectuallizing decisions in a way that is productive to discuss? When talking about Spirit Island, people usually focus on the game mechanics and the nitty gritty details of piloting different spirits. People usually talk less about the more difficult to master skill that is understanding how to take the complex situation you are facing in your neck of the woods and communicate only what is necessary with your allies to make what needs to happen, happen. Spirit Island is a masterful study on group problem solving. What the crew and the mind do for nonverbal cues and very close reading of other's mental states, spirit island does for the capacity to tackle complex problems as a group. It is always a thing of joy to look up from the mess of my side of the island and say "hey can I get defense here? I can offer some energy if needed" to which someone looks up from their mess and starts hashing out a plan of action with me where I have NO IDEA how they are executing their side of the plan and they NO IDEA how I am doing mine. We only know what is absolutely necessary about one anothers parts of the plan (distance restrictions, certain prerequisites that need to be met for their plan to work etc). When seen from the perspective of war games Spirit Island could be considered two games, the solo tactical game and the co-operative strategic game. Of course what makes it compelling is the boundary between these two games is messy and fluid.
@@hainealves5900 *collects the sweet backdeal payments from Spirit Island Corporate Central for advertising* Muahahahaha Nah have fun! Its a wonderful thing to dive into
My favorite mechanism from Scythe is the usage of Victory Points as a resource. I love it when games force you to spend the very thing you need to win because it's up to the player to figure out the return on their "investment" so to speak. It's easy for me to get caught up in achieving stars that I mismanage my money.
What's great about War of the Ring is that it is really 2 asymmetric games being played in parallel - there's the journey to Mordor/hunt for the ring, and there is the actual war itself. There is a limited pool of resources (actions and cards) shared between them - for the most part, focusing on one objective is at the expense of the other, but winning either one of the objectives wins the game. This results in the flow and story of the overall game varying greatly based on how and when both players choose to either split or concentrate their efforts.
I miss face to face gaming here in Lake Geneva! The game store I manage has been shut own for just over six months now but we're still planing to reopen when it is safe to game face to face again. I've enjoyed Brass and love Concordia, though I haven't played it a lot. Terra Mystica seems like it should be more fun than what I experienced though I hear Gaia Project addresses some flaws or concerns. I do not know Spirit Island but should check it out. Duel has a nifty design, the way it unfolds. War of the Ring is classically wonderful! I've played and liked Scythe and Arkham Horror and Castles of Burgundy. Wingspan might be one of the most fun games I've played in the last year (pre-C19, of course).
I've played 6 of these 10 and there are no duds among them. Scythe and Concordia are both in my personal top 5, and Castles of Burgundy is very high as well. An element of COB that you didn't mention but which is interesting from a mechanism perspective is how your player board is scored. You get more points the earlier in the 5 round game that you complete a zone, but you also score for how large the zone is. So you have a strategic spatial decision - do you go for large zones, knowing it may be awhile before you complete it, or do you rush to do the small zones to bank points right away? This decision is further complicated by what kind of zone it is and therefore what kind of tiles you'll be accumulating. And there's even a small amount of asymmetry there, as players can choose boards with different layouts.
So my wife absolutely adores Wingspan. It's one of her favorite games. For her not being a big gamer, that's big for us. The sense of progression of powers from right to left are my favorite aspect. I do enjoy the tug of war of 7 wonders duel as well. I also used to play a game called Tut's Tomb when I was younger. It puts standard playing cards in a pyramid form much like 7 wonders duel. I always loved that mechanism and I'm so glad Duel utilizes it. Scythe is currently my favorite game. I find it interesting that you felt about the Castles of Burgundy kind of like how I first felt about Scythe. I honestly had to play it several times to start really liking it. Funny how that worked out. I absolutely love the top and bottom row actions. The way I explain this game to new players is it's kind of like a cold war. You might see some skirmishes but this isn't an all out war game. It helps them to understand it better. Great video Jamey.
Arkham Horror LCG’s Excelsior Hotel standalone scenario is a great puzzle with diverging paths to play, Jamey. Another fun one is The Blob That Ate Everyone, which is a little more confrontation and action heavy; a challengingly good time! If you make the dip into a campaign I’d recommend the Path to Carcosa cycle. It has some great mechanisms using “Doubt” on your investigators from game to game, among other stellar thematic approaches to keep you on your toes. Thanks again for another great video 😁 also Scythe is in my top 5 games of all time!
Another game that uses that card selection mechanism used on Concordia is Mission: Red Planet 2nd edition by Bruno Cathala. Great and light game which scales very well even on a full table (6 players).
Some great games here. 20) Wingspan: One of my daughter’s favorites. My favorite mechanism is being able to re-roll the food dice when only one type of option is left. Gives some strategy as to when and how you look for food, but also allows you to roll those nice wooden dice through the birdfeeder :) 19) Arkham Horror: TCG. I’ve not played this one. I collected all of the Star Wars: LCG (designed by Eric Lang) and am a big fan of it. I have also enjoyed the LoTR: LCG. Maybe I’ll check this one out someday. 18) Brass: Lancashire. Not played this one. But I have played Brass: Birmingham. I share Jamey’s thoughts on the mechanism where you can “help” others, and they you, by using up resources on the board and flipping tiles. 17) Concordia. I’ve not played this, but I’d like to. Seems like the kind of game I’d enjoy. 16) 7 Wonders Duel. Also like the tug-of-war. But to be honest, I actually prefer regular multiplayer 7 wonders (with Leaders) to Duel. I may be an outlier. 15) Terra Mystica. A personal top-20 game for me as well. I really like the power system too, good call there. 14) Castles of Burgundy. I can see why people would like this game, but it hasn’t really hit home for me. I suppose my favorite mechanism is playing a castle tile and getting another action. If I’m going to go off “theme” I much prefer to play Orleans. 13) Spirit Island. Ooph. Tried playing this a couple times, after borrowing it from our local library, but all of us were noobs. Couldn’t get into it. I know it is so well loved by the community so I’d be willing to try again. 12) War of the Ring (second edition). One of my all time favorites. We only play this about twice a year, because of it’s epic scope. I have the two (soon to be three) expansions, but I think the base game alone is the superior gameplay. My favorite mechanism involves the movement of the fellowship. The Free People’s player must decide on the risk of moving, but when they do, and are not revealed, they can make a pathway that’s not always predictable. 11) Scythe. A popular choice at game nights with my friends. My favorite mechanism is moving your hero to get an encounter, and then reading the sometimes crazy options you have for that encounter. Great video, Jamey.
I think you should find some way to try War of the ring 2. The similarity with SW Rebellion consists in the fact it is asymetric, 2 player, great surprises for the enemy, and and long, but that's it. On the play style I see WOTR has something more in common with Castles of burgundy. Picture this - on your turn you roll like 7 special dice. Every one of their facets lets you do something different. Now you have to choose what action do you pick and alternate them with your enemy until the dices are over, and that will be an entire turn. You unlock or lose more hereoes as you play, and win more special dices or lose them.
There are so many things to love about War of the Ring, but one of my favourite concepts is the fact that when free peoples units die, they are gone from the game for good while Sauron's forces always regenerate. This creates a powerful tension that can often build to desperation in many plays. Magic.
Having played both SW: Rebellion and War of the Ring, I'm not sure how they're similar other than the both do a FANTASTIC job with the theme. In WotR I really like the dice roll as your action pool, particularly the way Sauron can allocate additional dice to search for the ring at the expense of other actions in the game. If you're a fan of the IP, I can't recommend it highly enough. Does take a time commitment, but 100% worth it.
Spirit Island keeps lounging around on my “on the fence” list... thanks for sharing your take on the mechanisms here. 🙂 the qb prevention seems nice. As for scythe, my favorite part is exactly something u mentioned and that’s the allowable actions are printed on all player boards... sure the costs vary by faction , but one doesn’t have to refer to rule book for the actions. Just finished an Arkham Horror campaign. My fave mechanism there is Evade.. not all investigators are well suited to fight monsters so you can evade, effectively delaying the monster for a turn so you can make an escape!
don't buy Spirit Island unless you realy like coops, but again, who does? It is true, it is not plagued by alpha player sindrome like Pandemic is, but it is dry as a fossil. It s like "yey we found a way to beat the puzzle and the invisible player in front of us. We got him good, take that you invisible player, we are way smarter than you." it is a smart puzzle but it does not feel good
I fully disagree with the first comment here. Spirit Island is, to me, the best designed game of all time. The balance between the EXTREMELY asymmetric spirits is phenomenal. The ability to change the difficulty level of the game so easily allows you to give yourself just the challenge you need, or you can go nuts and try to beat the highest level difficulty knowing you will most likely lose, but you may also achieve unbeknownst glory! Yes, it is a puzzle, but it is the most satisfying puzzle I’ve ever played. No game is even remotely similar to any other I’ve played (and I’ve logged over 60 so far). The rush you you get when playing a high level adversary in the game is unmatched by any other game I’ve played. And yes, quarterbacking is all but removed. Also, I hate co-ops and especially pandemic. I only played this because my friends love them and force me to play pandemic. But I’ll say, in the months since I got spirit island, we have never played Pandemic again haha. It’s just so much better in every way.
Brass LancaSURE (I lived in England for three years). Never played any of the Brass, but they are definitely on my wish list. I haven’t played Condordia, but it sounds interesting, I like the fact that it is all right there. We love the card set up in Duel, it gives a lot decision trees that make it even ore fun to play. I have not yet gotten Terra Mystica to the table yet, I bought it a while ago, but we have been doing so many other things, and I am still not getting straight on the rules. Not quite ready to play... Soon, I hope. I have been seeing Castles of Burgundy more lately and it is definitely looking like something that we should look at, especially since we play two play two player a lot. Scythe is our single most favorite game, still.... We love it. Love the two row actions, trying to get to the point to get both, love the player mat variations. We still need to do Rise of Ferris, but we were thinking it would be better with more than two players. What are your thoughts? We could do it with just my wife and I but getting a group together is hard right now anyway. But I was just thinking even just my daughter.
@@jameystegmaier Thanks, Jamey. I have had it for over a year, and really want to play it. But we were hesitant. We will start it this weekend! I just can't count on my daughter to show up on a routine basis, so getting started with her could take months to finish.... She works different shifts and is a typical 27 year old...LOL.
I would highly recommend War of the Ring. My two favourite things are the action dice and cards. The board has so much going on and you really need to concentrate on everything. You will never win if you just work on one area at a time. The action dice take this massive potential for AP and completely eradicates it. These custom dice show you exactly what you can do, without making you feel forced into these actions. Each side of the dice has multiple uses so you are never forced to do just one thing. The cards in the game are what brings the lord of the rings theme to life. The cards have a variety of abilities that are very crucial to gameplay. The titles of the cards are all from the books, and they inject the theme into the game.
My favorite mechanism in War of the Ring is Surprise. Both players make plans and sometimes the plans are destroyed because the adversary had some card in the hand. I like to hand the card and let him read it and understand what is it for. Watching his expression change from cautious curiosity into horror. That is the main common point between this and sw rebellion, otherwise the games are 90% different. You should not avoid one because you played the other, it is not a reskin, it is not a retheme. If the designers of SW rebellion played LOTR, they changed every way they resemble, there is almost none left other than 2 player+asymetric+big surprises. On the other hand, did you tried 7 wonders duel expansion?
I'm not sure I'd describe Scythe as a *highly* asymmetric game. A *highly* asymmetric game, in my mind, is one in which until you've played a particular position you can't even figure out what they're doing :). In Scythe, all factions are clearly playing the same game, and indeed by roughly the same rules; they just have different synergies-and *that* is an interesting conceit.
For Spirit Island, on top of the complex asymmetry you mentioned, my favorite thing is how the highly thematic personalities of the spirits tie directly into the mechanisms and style of play. Because there are so many options for spirits, the latest expansion doubled it, players can choose their spirit based on personal play style, team need, or to learn something new.
I have all the expansions and all the promo spirits and its absurd how many spirits there are
Great video Mr. Stegmaier! I can only share thoughts on the ones that I've played which are
Wingspan - My most played game of 2020. Three of my friends and I have gotten back into having a weekly game night about two months ago and Wingspan has been played once or twice every time. I love games that have some scoring that's visible, and some that is hidden. We played a game not too long ago where I had over 20 eggs on cards and everyone at the table was already saying "Good game Rick" "How badly did you beat us?" And I lost by two points to someone who had higher scoring bird cards played. There's so many different engines to build and ways to play/win that it creates interesting stories that I usually only find in more combat heavy games. I think my favorite thing about it might be that it's just a relaxing game overall. I can't imagine an argument breaking out over Wingspan, there's a lot to love even if it doesn't have Mandarin ducks ;)
The Castles of Burgundy - I really love this game, any game where at the end you get to look at your player board and see everything you've built, it's really satisfying.
7 Wonders Duel - It's one of my favorite two-player games as well, I really like how they changed science in this game. I think it works better here than in standard 7 Wonders.
Terra Mystica - This game was replaced for me by Clans of Caledonia. I feel they both scratch the same itch, but Clans is easier to teach thanks to things like "you turn milk into cheese" "you turn wheat into bread" etc. As in Terra Mystica the theme doesn't help new players with remembering what goes into what, and I don't care for Terra Mystica's magic track.
Concordia - I know that my least favorite thing about Concordia is that all the scoring is revealed at the end. My favorite scoring is when you have scoring revealed, and hidden things that will score at the end. It gives a nice feeling of progression during the game, and really makes those big turns feel satisfying, but hidden scoring creates this exciting tension come game end. I only played this once though, I'd need to play a few more times to really know how I feel about it.
Scythe - One of my favorites, even though Wingspan has been played more this year Scythe is my most played Stonemaier game and one of my most played games overall. My favorite thing about Scythe is I never play the same way twice in a night, even nights where we play 4 or 5 times. Even if I end up getting the same faction twice in a night, I'll try to play a different way. The replayability is endless I think.
I don't know if you would have any information or if you'd be allowed to share even if you did but thought I'd ask, any word on why Nintendo keeps pushing back the release date for Wingspan on Switch? I check the shop every week or so and still no Wingspan
My favorite mechanism is Scythe is absolutely the dual action board, and trying to be efficient in making sure you have the resources to perform the lower action. But I also love the way the decisions you make on the player board, drive the game on the main board. I love the dependency.
I highly recommend playing "The Dunwich Legacy" expansion for Arkham Horror! Super creative in its storytelling. Make sure to buy the base expansion and all of the mythos packs that go with it if you decide to play it to get the full experience!
I would say that Murder at the Excelsior Hotel is a fun standalone scenario for Arkham Horror The Card Game. Like the title says you're at the hotel to solve a murder but with some twists and turns in the story. There's random elements during the scenario setup, which will have an effect on the outcome of the story. There's multiple endings so you're never quite sure what will happen if you replay the scenario.
Or if you like the Saw movies you could try out Labyrinths of Lunacy which involves getting yourself out of trap rooms and facing the person responsible for creating them.
Thank you for the scenario recommendation!
I will second this nomination. Murder at the Excelsior Hotel is my favorite of the standalones. Lots of variety, even in the various successful endings. Definite non-combat options for most of the challenges (perhaps all).
A suggestion for you and others who might not have a large collection or who may not be all that interested in or don't want to take the time for deck building - FFG has recently released 5 new pre built investigator decks that are well put together and ready to go with minimal work. Great for a duo co-op night with low hassle.
@@greyhawke115 Thanks Wil! Do I need those decks to play Excelsior Hotel?
@@jameystegmaier No, you do not need them. I just feel they are great for casual Arkham LCG play, similar to the hero decks for Marvel Champions.
The aspect of Spirit Island where you talk only general strategy with other players is really cool. To put quarterbacking in a different context, some co-op games are a simple enough task that its like two people trying to cook in the kitchen at the same time. Simple might not be quite the right word.. maybe the tasks don't require intellectuallizing decisions in a way that is productive to discuss?
When talking about Spirit Island, people usually focus on the game mechanics and the nitty gritty details of piloting different spirits. People usually talk less about the more difficult to master skill that is understanding how to take the complex situation you are facing in your neck of the woods and communicate only what is necessary with your allies to make what needs to happen, happen.
Spirit Island is a masterful study on group problem solving. What the crew and the mind do for nonverbal cues and very close reading of other's mental states, spirit island does for the capacity to tackle complex problems as a group. It is always a thing of joy to look up from the mess of my side of the island and say "hey can I get defense here? I can offer some energy if needed" to which someone looks up from their mess and starts hashing out a plan of action with me where I have NO IDEA how they are executing their side of the plan and they NO IDEA how I am doing mine. We only know what is absolutely necessary about one anothers parts of the plan (distance restrictions, certain prerequisites that need to be met for their plan to work etc).
When seen from the perspective of war games Spirit Island could be considered two games, the solo tactical game and the co-operative strategic game. Of course what makes it compelling is the boundary between these two games is messy and fluid.
You just sold me the game hahah
@@hainealves5900 *collects the sweet backdeal payments from Spirit Island Corporate Central for advertising*
Muahahahaha
Nah have fun! Its a wonderful thing to dive into
My favorite mechanism from Scythe is the usage of Victory Points as a resource. I love it when games force you to spend the very thing you need to win because it's up to the player to figure out the return on their "investment" so to speak. It's easy for me to get caught up in achieving stars that I mismanage my money.
What's great about War of the Ring is that it is really 2 asymmetric games being played in parallel - there's the journey to Mordor/hunt for the ring, and there is the actual war itself. There is a limited pool of resources (actions and cards) shared between them - for the most part, focusing on one objective is at the expense of the other, but winning either one of the objectives wins the game. This results in the flow and story of the overall game varying greatly based on how and when both players choose to either split or concentrate their efforts.
I miss face to face gaming here in Lake Geneva! The game store I manage has been shut own for just over six months now but we're still planing to reopen when it is safe to game face to face again. I've enjoyed Brass and love Concordia, though I haven't played it a lot. Terra Mystica seems like it should be more fun than what I experienced though I hear Gaia Project addresses some flaws or concerns. I do not know Spirit Island but should check it out. Duel has a nifty design, the way it unfolds. War of the Ring is classically wonderful! I've played and liked Scythe and Arkham Horror and Castles of Burgundy. Wingspan might be one of the most fun games I've played in the last year (pre-C19, of course).
I've played 6 of these 10 and there are no duds among them. Scythe and Concordia are both in my personal top 5, and Castles of Burgundy is very high as well. An element of COB that you didn't mention but which is interesting from a mechanism perspective is how your player board is scored. You get more points the earlier in the 5 round game that you complete a zone, but you also score for how large the zone is. So you have a strategic spatial decision - do you go for large zones, knowing it may be awhile before you complete it, or do you rush to do the small zones to bank points right away? This decision is further complicated by what kind of zone it is and therefore what kind of tiles you'll be accumulating. And there's even a small amount of asymmetry there, as players can choose boards with different layouts.
So my wife absolutely adores Wingspan. It's one of her favorite games. For her not being a big gamer, that's big for us. The sense of progression of powers from right to left are my favorite aspect.
I do enjoy the tug of war of 7 wonders duel as well. I also used to play a game called Tut's Tomb when I was younger. It puts standard playing cards in a pyramid form much like 7 wonders duel. I always loved that mechanism and I'm so glad Duel utilizes it.
Scythe is currently my favorite game. I find it interesting that you felt about the Castles of Burgundy kind of like how I first felt about Scythe. I honestly had to play it several times to start really liking it. Funny how that worked out. I absolutely love the top and bottom row actions. The way I explain this game to new players is it's kind of like a cold war. You might see some skirmishes but this isn't an all out war game. It helps them to understand it better.
Great video Jamey.
Arkham Horror LCG’s Excelsior Hotel standalone scenario is a great puzzle with diverging paths to play, Jamey. Another fun one is The Blob That Ate Everyone, which is a little more confrontation and action heavy; a challengingly good time!
If you make the dip into a campaign I’d recommend the Path to Carcosa cycle. It has some great mechanisms using “Doubt” on your investigators from game to game, among other stellar thematic approaches to keep you on your toes.
Thanks again for another great video 😁 also Scythe is in my top 5 games of all time!
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm going to go buy it now (and I'm glad you enjoy Scythe!)
Jamey Stegmaier No worries! Hope you enjoy it
My wife and I love War of the Ring. My favorite mechanism is the card play. It gives the game its momentum and its immersive nature.
Another game that uses that card selection mechanism used on Concordia is Mission: Red Planet 2nd edition by Bruno Cathala. Great and light game which scales very well even on a full table (6 players).
Some great games here.
20) Wingspan: One of my daughter’s favorites. My favorite mechanism is being able to re-roll the food dice when only one type of option is left. Gives some strategy as to when and how you look for food, but also allows you to roll those nice wooden dice through the birdfeeder :)
19) Arkham Horror: TCG. I’ve not played this one. I collected all of the Star Wars: LCG (designed by Eric Lang) and am a big fan of it. I have also enjoyed the LoTR: LCG. Maybe I’ll check this one out someday.
18) Brass: Lancashire. Not played this one. But I have played Brass: Birmingham. I share Jamey’s thoughts on the mechanism where you can “help” others, and they you, by using up resources on the board and flipping tiles.
17) Concordia. I’ve not played this, but I’d like to. Seems like the kind of game I’d enjoy.
16) 7 Wonders Duel. Also like the tug-of-war. But to be honest, I actually prefer regular multiplayer 7 wonders (with Leaders) to Duel. I may be an outlier.
15) Terra Mystica. A personal top-20 game for me as well. I really like the power system too, good call there.
14) Castles of Burgundy. I can see why people would like this game, but it hasn’t really hit home for me. I suppose my favorite mechanism is playing a castle tile and getting another action. If I’m going to go off “theme” I much prefer to play Orleans.
13) Spirit Island. Ooph. Tried playing this a couple times, after borrowing it from our local library, but all of us were noobs. Couldn’t get into it. I know it is so well loved by the community so I’d be willing to try again.
12) War of the Ring (second edition). One of my all time favorites. We only play this about twice a year, because of it’s epic scope. I have the two (soon to be three) expansions, but I think the base game alone is the superior gameplay. My favorite mechanism involves the movement of the fellowship. The Free People’s player must decide on the risk of moving, but when they do, and are not revealed, they can make a pathway that’s not always predictable.
11) Scythe. A popular choice at game nights with my friends. My favorite mechanism is moving your hero to get an encounter, and then reading the sometimes crazy options you have for that encounter.
Great video, Jamey.
There is a Castles of Burgundy app, and it's great! You mentioning the game just motivated me to start a game on the app with my husband😆
Thanks! I need to try that.
I think you should find some way to try War of the ring 2. The similarity with SW Rebellion consists in the fact it is asymetric, 2 player, great surprises for the enemy, and and long, but that's it. On the play style I see WOTR has something more in common with Castles of burgundy. Picture this - on your turn you roll like 7 special dice. Every one of their facets lets you do something different. Now you have to choose what action do you pick and alternate them with your enemy until the dices are over, and that will be an entire turn. You unlock or lose more hereoes as you play, and win more special dices or lose them.
There are so many things to love about War of the Ring, but one of my favourite concepts is the fact that when free peoples units die, they are gone from the game for good while Sauron's forces always regenerate. This creates a powerful tension that can often build to desperation in many plays. Magic.
That's a really clever asymmetric touch--thanks for sharing!
Having played both SW: Rebellion and War of the Ring, I'm not sure how they're similar other than the both do a FANTASTIC job with the theme. In WotR I really like the dice roll as your action pool, particularly the way Sauron can allocate additional dice to search for the ring at the expense of other actions in the game. If you're a fan of the IP, I can't recommend it highly enough. Does take a time commitment, but 100% worth it.
There is a digital version of Castles of Burgundy on steam
And also a mobile version you can play on a tablet or phone
And it's available on board game arena as well.
@@williamanderson8789 i think they dont have cob in bga
I highly, highly recommend the digital version (I use the iOS one) of Castles of Burgundy.
Yes i love how to teach concordia too, read the card and just do it, so easy to go in this game.
Was your cat fighting the curtain in the background suggesting its disagreement to your comment about fighting in games?
I was wondering that myself haha
Love the cat in the back
Spirit Island keeps lounging around on my “on the fence” list... thanks for sharing your take on the mechanisms here. 🙂 the qb prevention seems nice. As for scythe, my favorite part is exactly something u mentioned and that’s the allowable actions are printed on all player boards... sure the costs vary by faction , but one doesn’t have to refer to rule book for the actions.
Just finished an Arkham Horror campaign. My fave mechanism there is Evade.. not all investigators are well suited to fight monsters so you can evade, effectively delaying the monster for a turn so you can make an escape!
don't buy Spirit Island unless you realy like coops, but again, who does? It is true, it is not plagued by alpha player sindrome like Pandemic is, but it is dry as a fossil. It s like "yey we found a way to beat the puzzle and the invisible player in front of us. We got him good, take that you invisible player, we are way smarter than you." it is a smart puzzle but it does not feel good
I fully disagree with the first comment here. Spirit Island is, to me, the best designed game of all time. The balance between the EXTREMELY asymmetric spirits is phenomenal. The ability to change the difficulty level of the game so easily allows you to give yourself just the challenge you need, or you can go nuts and try to beat the highest level difficulty knowing you will most likely lose, but you may also achieve unbeknownst glory!
Yes, it is a puzzle, but it is the most satisfying puzzle I’ve ever played. No game is even remotely similar to any other I’ve played (and I’ve logged over 60 so far). The rush you you get when playing a high level adversary in the game is unmatched by any other game I’ve played. And yes, quarterbacking is all but removed.
Also, I hate co-ops and especially pandemic. I only played this because my friends love them and force me to play pandemic. But I’ll say, in the months since I got spirit island, we have never played Pandemic again haha. It’s just so much better in every way.
@@Iamwrongbut you mean the first reply to my comment?
BoardRoom Gamer yes, sorry for the confusion!
Brass LancaSURE (I lived in England for three years). Never played any of the Brass, but they are definitely on my wish list. I haven’t played Condordia, but it sounds interesting, I like the fact that it is all right there. We love the card set up in Duel, it gives a lot decision trees that make it even ore fun to play. I have not yet gotten Terra Mystica to the table yet, I bought it a while ago, but we have been doing so many other things, and I am still not getting straight on the rules. Not quite ready to play... Soon, I hope. I have been seeing Castles of Burgundy more lately and it is definitely looking like something that we should look at, especially since we play two play two player a lot. Scythe is our single most favorite game, still.... We love it. Love the two row actions, trying to get to the point to get both, love the player mat variations. We still need to do Rise of Ferris, but we were thinking it would be better with more than two players. What are your thoughts? We could do it with just my wife and I but getting a group together is hard right now anyway. But I was just thinking even just my daughter.
I definitely think you can have fun with The Rise of Fenris with just 2 players. :)
@@jameystegmaier Thanks, Jamey. I have had it for over a year, and really want to play it. But we were hesitant. We will start it this weekend! I just can't count on my daughter to show up on a routine basis, so getting started with her could take months to finish.... She works different shifts and is a typical 27 year old...LOL.
I would highly recommend War of the Ring. My two favourite things are the action dice and cards. The board has so much going on and you really need to concentrate on everything. You will never win if you just work on one area at a time. The action dice take this massive potential for AP and completely eradicates it. These custom dice show you exactly what you can do, without making you feel forced into these actions. Each side of the dice has multiple uses so you are never forced to do just one thing. The cards in the game are what brings the lord of the rings theme to life. The cards have a variety of abilities that are very crucial to gameplay. The titles of the cards are all from the books, and they inject the theme into the game.
My favorite mechanism in War of the Ring is Surprise. Both players make plans and sometimes the plans are destroyed because the adversary had some card in the hand. I like to hand the card and let him read it and understand what is it for. Watching his expression change from cautious curiosity into horror. That is the main common point between this and sw rebellion, otherwise the games are 90% different. You should not avoid one because you played the other, it is not a reskin, it is not a retheme. If the designers of SW rebellion played LOTR, they changed every way they resemble, there is almost none left other than 2 player+asymetric+big surprises. On the other hand, did you tried 7 wonders duel expansion?
I'm not sure I'd describe Scythe as a *highly* asymmetric game. A *highly* asymmetric game, in my mind, is one in which until you've played a particular position you can't even figure out what they're doing :). In Scythe, all factions are clearly playing the same game, and indeed by roughly the same rules; they just have different synergies-and *that* is an interesting conceit.
A great top 11-20 that could be a top 10.
One small correction, Castles of Burgundy is not a dice drafting game.
You're right! I was confusing the dice drafting (incorrect) with tile selection/drafting (correct).
What’s the difference between dice drafting and dice selection?
Very little-the only difference is is you’re selecting dice from a shared pool or if the dice you choose from are yours alone.