I love how these videos just really illustrate how much they enjoy, not only playing games, but playing games - and just generally hanging out - with each other. Thank you, guys at +"The Dice Tower" , for a great year of reviews, live plays, and everything else gaming-related. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
With 2015 being such a great year for games, maybe you guys should do something special and have Top 20, or at this point, a "Top 10, the sequel", and give us your 11-20.
Just came from your essential games list from a few years ago. Wow! Well done guys, you have really refined these videos. I love the game title text while you guys talk about it. I love the new and improved countdown animations. I love how you didn't hold back when your lists crossed over and just went straight through (definitely flows better!) I still feel like there is a little more distilling to do. These videos are just a bit too long! Cutting them back to half hour at most. I also think the most images and diagrams the better! Especially helpful for people who don't know all the games too well. I would love to see images that are more than just complimentary, but are actually showing us some of the specific components you are referring to in the reviews. All in all though, great work you guys. Keep it up, and keep improving!
I too played Tom's game of trying to guess everyone's top 10s. I got 6/10 for Sam (thought he'd have Steampunk Rally, Mage Wars Academy, Forbidden Stars, and XCOM), 7/10 for Zee (thought he'd have Gold West, The Bloody Inn, and Nyet) and 8/10 for Tom (I put down Mage Wars Academy and Specter Ops). I love this little mini-game!
hey guys, just want to say that dice Tower is reference for me. I just started at the modern board game activity and i use this reviews and top ten videos to guide me. I had great games expiriences this year, playing power grid, King of Tokyo, takenoko, and Pandemic legacy. It's not easy to find friends that are willing to try havier and harder games, especially if there is no one that know how to play some of the games. So I'm that person now, gratfully because of all your help, I can teach to everybody. I'm also playing Robinson Crusoé, solo. What a game! super fun! Thats it, thanks again! Greetings from Brazil!
Raptor is probably going to seem like a 2016 release for most people but GOOD LORD is that game great. What a fantastically themed game. 2-player, assymetrical, cool theme, dinosaur babies, under 30 minute game time, unique action mechanism? Yes please!
Hey guys, you should have those games boxes with you. i simply loved the way you did with 2010, 2011, 2012 , etc, showing the boxes, etc. i enjoyed a lot that format. Have a great time!
I wonder if you should have done a top twenty rather than a top ten? Since, as you have all said, it was such a good year for board games. I'd like to know your eleven through twenty.
+Ann Pohl first runthrough going. second box ordered for a different group, AND I think I'll order one in my native language to play with a got-child in a few years.
John Byrne Yeah, the same, 90 minutes was like maybe our first game, but I can't imagine games consistently being 30-45 minutes. As you say, this is a 60 minute game, give or take.
Zee's 1 and 2 I agree so much...I could interchange them any given day for 1 and 2. Blood Rage for some reason fell very flat for me. I can't even put my finger on it as to why it didn't fair well. It seems like I am the only one in the world though.
Sam - given that you love Vikings, and you're pretty hot on Worker Placement (Stone Age, Champions of Midgard), will we see you review Raiders of the North Sea, assuming that you ever get a copy? I do know it doesn't have wide distribution, but I quite enjoy it, and the worker placement mechanism is quite a different twist on the standard...
Was surprised that Codenames didn't make it onto this list or the 2015 surprises list. Actually, a strong, popular game from CGE is not a surprise. But it has been such a big hit with so many different players that I was expecting to see it mentioned here at least once. Just one more indicator of a strong year.
+Jason Grubiak I think you mean Imperial Assault. Although my copy didn't arrive until Feb 2015 it is listed as being a 2014 release on BGG. I was thinking really?, at first as well.
+Sam Healey Well, I am not too much of a Dice Chucker,… thus for me I’d probably also play BSG but just the bare game, to get the game towards Dark Moons length/complexity.
So was Potion Explosion released after this list was made? not even a mention. tom said it wasnt on his best of 2016 because it was technically released in 2015, but not a word here. what happened?
+The Dice Tower Thank you for playing through so many, reviewing them for us, and sharing your love of gaming - particularly with each other - with the rest of us.
I don't get much opportunity to try new games, and so some of these rate fairly low on my Top 100 games of all time (and one is not even on my Top 100), but these are the best of 2015 I have played. Not counting expansions, but counting redesigned games. Also I am not counting 2016 games I have beta tested: 1. Mission: Red Planet (Second Edition) 2. Isle of Skye 3. Hoax (second edition) 4. Star Trek: Five-Year Mission 5. Artifacts, Inc. 6. Dead Men Tell No Tales 7. Love Letter: Batman 8. Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game 1. I never played Mission: Red Planet previously, so it's brand new to me (and beta tested) 3. Hoax: Another Beta test I quite liked, and have not played the previous edition 4. I have a feeling further playings of Star Trek will lower it's position, and by quite a bit, but we will see 5. Artifacts, Inc: This game needs more replays, but not sure if it will go up or down, I did just buy the game, haven't played my copy yet 6. Dead men Tell No Tales: I knew this would be on Zee's list, not sure why Tom didn't know this. Zee loved on this game several times on videos in the year. As for myself I thought it ok. It's #68 on my Top 100. I expected more. 7. Batman: I got this for $5 very recently on a sale, mostly due to Tom's review. I find it ok, a nice quick game. 8. Warhammer Quest: another beta test for me, I thought it rather uninspiring. I love fantasy games and if this had come out 15-20 years ago it would have been a favorite. Too many other fantasy games that are awesome to make it higher. It may do better with solo players, those who wish to level characters between adventures, and those who like LoR card game or the like.
I love dice and I like Champions of Midgard but it is so much easier than Lords of Waterdeep and has less options. I like it but I don't think it has the legs that Waterdeep has.
+Eric Finley The issue for me is the player count. CoM only supports 4, so I've shied away from it for that reason. In comparison, LoW is 5 players, or 6 with the expansion.
+Patrick Flanagan definitely. CoM is not a bad game but it is the most simplistic worker placement I've ever seen. Unless you have played Lords or Stone Age to death and are bored with it....they are both entry level but both solid. I kept CoM to play with my now 4 year old son as his first wp game.
+Kalleu Castro Forbidden Stars was better than most of the other games they mentioned. Rum and Bones, for example, was fun, but it's very, very shallow. It doesn't have any legs on it. Forbidden Stars will go the distance; I was disappointed it wasn't mentioned.
Zee said he played Pandemic Legacy through two separate times. . . Did he use the same game, or did he have to purchase another box in order to play through it again? If it is possible to play the campaign through completely, and still use the legacy game to play with, that's awesome. Honestly, that's the biggest reason I haven't purchased Pandemic Legacy - I don't like the idea of not being able to continue to play the game after we do the legacy campaign once. Anyone is welcome to give me their opinion if they have any experience with this. . .
Davis Thompson No you cant use the set a second time, he would have had to have bought a second set. Nor can you play a non-campaign game with the board afterwards. It's done. If you don't think it's price is worth paying for 18 - 25 hours of play then don't pay it. Some think it is, some don't. Personally I loved it but I cannot offer a solid gold guarantee that you will. 😁
Darn it Dice Tower. Watched the xmas videos and ordered Jamaica and Welcome to the Dungeon to play with the family. And now I have to have flick 'em up as Dad and I love Spaghetti westerns.
I hear you, Sam, I hate painting in bulk, feels like work. Whe that happens I usually just put a wash on the minis, maybe dry brush them and just coat them in mat varnish. Quick and dirty.
Great lists guys! glad to see sam and zee pick raptor, looks like a great game. sadly not released in UK yet, but when it does its one I will be looking to pick up! btw I was not suprised at the amount of crossover you guys had on your lists.
Tom, have you not played the newer additions of axis and allies? I think 1942 second addition is a great game and much better than the original. Plus 1941 is good for a under 2 hour game. Watered down yes, but still feels like axis and allies. My number one was Yahtzee, my family played that all the time as kids.
Great to hear your thoughts on the year, as always! I was kind of hoping to see The Bloody Inn on Zee's list. For me, it is definitely top 3 material, though I haven't played TIME Stories yet (is it worth to do so if English isn't my first language??). Blood Rage is my number 1 game for this year as well! I agree entirely that it combines what's best about Euros and Amerit(h)rash. :-)
Blood Rage... only played it once and was pretty disappointed. The most succinct way I can explain why is simply to ask how a player wins? Well, score the most VP. How do you score victory points? Well, you can win battles, complete quests, advance a stat far enough, die in Ragnarok, or use any number of card with special conditions for awarding VPs. My goodness, this isn't a wargame, its a point salad with more in common with Trajan than Chaos in the Old World. My other complaints would be the abundance of take-that mechanics, such as the Troll which simply kills all warriors where deployed. If you're the player who happens to be where the owner wants to be, well, there isn't anything you can do to stop it. Your troops, and perhaps your careful plans to fulfil a quest are done with. Finally, this game just seems to put to high a price on failure. Fail to win a battle? All units wiped out. Fail to fulfill a quest? It is discarded. This game may not be random in the typical usage of the word, but it simulates the whims of fate.
Firstly it's never claimed to be a war game. Secondly of course there's something you can do against a monster, fill all the villages so it has no place to come in. 😀
And failing to win a battle is often part of your plan. For example your battle card could steal Rage from the winner, or you gain points from every figure that dies there. Also losing your forces never seems too big a deal as they are cheap enough to bring back, leaders, shamans and some monsters are even free. Yes Quests are discarded but that's fair enough, you took a gamble that you could complete it and you lost.
+TabithaBear Gaming finally (sorry) killing all warriors means all Warriors, not Leaders or Ships or other monsters or Shamans. Yes the monsters are powerful but they are not the be all and end all...and besides in almost every game I've played every player has a monster. You just ay to your builds particular strength.
+TabithaBear Gaming ... I guess the cover doesn't say, "Blood Rage: a War Game," but the back of the box does say "VIkings will do what they do best: invade and pillage; kill and die in epic battles." This game is definitely masquerading as a war game. It isn't.
+TabithaBear Gaming Also, I want to be clear, I do not have a problem with monsters, nor with the power level of monsters. One of my favorite games of all time has powerful monsters (Kemet). I have a problem with "take-that" mechanics, which the Troll in particular is an example of. Look, I suspect some of the reasons I dislike the game are reasons you like it. You appear to like the fact that a player can set themselves up to win by intentionally losing battles. The thrill of messing up someone's carefully thought out plans is more fun than watching your own careful plans get thrown to the wind by someone's cheap tactic. Me, to much of this game is point salad and take-that.
Interesting to see the absence of 3 very well received Euros. Signorie, Nippon, and The Gallerist were all great games in the Euro category, top 10 for me at least.
When I get to play Time Stories this Friday it had better blow me away the hype it gets. Same goes for Pandemic Legacy though I'm not a big Pandemic fan anyway. I look forward to doing my Top Ten soon but it's going to be a little different in places from this. I don't think BloodRAge will make it though , I liked it but it didn't have the variety in the upgrades other than the monsters. I didn't like how Age 2 and Age 3 cards were mostly rehashes of the first ones.
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+Luke Hector (Broken Meeple) I think when some good fan-made stories start hitting the web it will increase the value of Time Stories.
Hi fellas, I don't have a lot of friends who like board games, just about 1 or two. Is there any single player card or board game that you recommend? Or at least with a maximum of 3 players. I prefer something with combat if it has aliens it also would be a plus. PS - Subscribed.
Legendary Encounters: Alien is a great game for 1 to 3 players. Most co-op games translate well to single player. Dead Men Tell No Tales, Pandemic, Forbidden Island work well, but don't all have combat.
+Rogerio Smallworld seems to be a go-to with my circle of friends if they want combat, and what's great about it is that the board scales with the number of players. So a 3-player game will be as involved as a 5-player game.
40:40 this was my point in making my copy of the game re-playable. The events you "Know" just become a mechanics of the game. Knowing what ya know does not == a win and depending where you decide to start the game (can be easily randomize to give a mid played game feel with some old school d&d type random tables, but that's getting a bit deeper than point) is still a great play. This game is not like T.I.M.E. stories knowing what ya know there i can see being a thing that "breaks" multi plays but i think it is pretty darn good system for home brew how they have the board set up. I can see making your own adventures being pretty fun and easy to do for that system. Anyway glad to see one of you admit to and not just poo poo the idea of legacy being a great game to not destroy even if you maybe did not say it in so many words its what i heard lol.
+jwsjourney I'm curious what Tom & Sam would think if they had the opportunity to play KDM, as they like other games in the genre. It is my game of the year and perhaps now my #1 game.
+Wonderful emir I've only seen their review of the core game and they said it was an incomplete review and only part 1 since there were only three capital ships in the base game.
As much as I enjoy these videos is it at all possible to put the finalized lists in the description section? A lot of times I don't have 47 minutes to just sit and watch these all the way through and trying to scan through to find the lists is kind of a PITA..
my top ten would be: 10. cacao 9. lanterns 8. potion explosion 7.isles of skye 6. food chain magnate 5. mombasa 4. voyages of marco polo 3. pandemic season 1 2. Concordia : Salsa 1. Orleans: Invasion
champs of midgard is far to expensive for euro distribution at the minute which I think is half the problem. It's the same price as blood rage. It might improve later
Ok, who ordered Blood Rage after listening to this ? (one thing to note the kickstarter has some very exclusive stuff that you can't get hold of easily / cheaply).
+Sean Thompson I'm going to go out on a limb and say due to theme and art they will not be reviewing it, let alone playing it. Definitely not a game for everyone.
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ComplacentBadger Yeah, I mentioned that in another comment in this video. Didn't feel like repeating myself =)
+ComplacentBadger What's wrong with the theme and art? Why would not give a game a try, isn't this board gaming? Why would they totally write off a game, the game is incredible and not giving anything that is board gaming a chance is a huge disservice. This game deserves recognition.
If you're not joking, its because the majority of Dice Tower contributors tend to lean towards a christian outlook. This makes darker themes and anything that can be seen as sexualized, taboo. Mind you, I see these as perfectly valid reasons to not play a game. I judge many games by their theme and end up not purchasing them. KD:M is not for everyone, but I do adore it.
+ComplacentBadger Tom has mentioned the game but the only opinion he really gave was a negative opinion of how the game represents females. It's not like they are scared of touching games with darker themes... they still review them, but it can play a factor in their opinions which is reasonable IMO
17:00 Tom's epiphany that Sam indeed fails to invite him over :(
+Mr Sebasculin haha yea that was amazing
+Mr Sebasculin yup for some reason Toms reaction had me in fits
+Mr Sebasculin i lol'd
+Mr Sebasculin LOL I saw your comment and was waiting.. So funny
I love how these videos just really illustrate how much they enjoy, not only playing games, but playing games - and just generally hanging out - with each other.
Thank you, guys at +"The Dice Tower" , for a great year of reviews, live plays, and everything else gaming-related. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
With 2015 being such a great year for games, maybe you guys should do something special and have Top 20, or at this point, a "Top 10, the sequel", and give us your 11-20.
Just came from your essential games list from a few years ago. Wow! Well done guys, you have really refined these videos. I love the game title text while you guys talk about it. I love the new and improved countdown animations. I love how you didn't hold back when your lists crossed over and just went straight through (definitely flows better!) I still feel like there is a little more distilling to do. These videos are just a bit too long! Cutting them back to half hour at most. I also think the most images and diagrams the better! Especially helpful for people who don't know all the games too well. I would love to see images that are more than just complimentary, but are actually showing us some of the specific components you are referring to in the reviews. All in all though, great work you guys. Keep it up, and keep improving!
Hahaha, I haven't watch you guys in about a year. You didn't change at al. Which is great. Awesome channel for al my board game info! Keep it up.
This was such a fun top 10 video to watch. Full of great interaction and surprises. Well done guys.
Thanx guys. Only just started to get into serious board gaming and you have certainly given me some food for thought.
I too played Tom's game of trying to guess everyone's top 10s. I got 6/10 for Sam (thought he'd have Steampunk Rally, Mage Wars Academy, Forbidden Stars, and XCOM), 7/10 for Zee (thought he'd have Gold West, The Bloody Inn, and Nyet) and 8/10 for Tom (I put down Mage Wars Academy and Specter Ops). I love this little mini-game!
hey guys, just want to say that dice Tower is reference for me. I just started at the modern board game activity and i use this reviews and top ten videos to guide me. I had great games expiriences this year, playing power grid, King of Tokyo, takenoko, and Pandemic legacy. It's not easy to find friends that are willing to try havier and harder games, especially if there is no one that know how to play some of the games. So I'm that person now, gratfully because of all your help, I can teach to everybody.
I'm also playing Robinson Crusoé, solo. What a game! super fun!
Thats it, thanks again!
Greetings from Brazil!
Raptor is probably going to seem like a 2016 release for most people but GOOD LORD is that game great. What a fantastically themed game. 2-player, assymetrical, cool theme, dinosaur babies, under 30 minute game time, unique action mechanism? Yes please!
Hey guys, you should have those games boxes with you. i simply loved the way you did with 2010, 2011, 2012 , etc, showing the boxes, etc. i enjoyed a lot that format.
Have a great time!
@36:28 Zee (on T.I.M.E. Stories) "It makes this amazing mixture, that could have gone horribly wrong..." And that is what we call FORESHADOWING.
I wonder if you should have done a top twenty rather than a top ten? Since, as you have all said, it was such a good year for board games. I'd like to know your eleven through twenty.
no 'the grizzled' ? I assume that's one of many very good ones that didn't make the list?
+Bob Gabriels I did think Zee might pick The Grizzled. Great game!
I'm in the midst of my second play through of Legacy too, so you're not alone Zee :)
+Ann Pohl first runthrough going. second box ordered for a different group, AND I think I'll order one in my native language to play with a got-child in a few years.
guys, why not to do yearly's top-10 expansions ?
Quick lists at 46:53...don't forget to thank me ok...
Specter Ops, 30-40 minutes? how are you managing that? are you just killing the agent right away? I've barely had any games go shorter than 90!
+McBehrer Yeah, there's no way.
+TheGreatHamEl Our games usually take an hour or so. Had a few shorter where we killed the agent quite early. But that seems atypical.
John Byrne Yeah, the same, 90 minutes was like maybe our first game, but I can't imagine games consistently being 30-45 minutes. As you say, this is a 60 minute game, give or take.
Maybe it's just because I'm a damn good agent, but it always lasts a REALLY long time for us, and we don't hem and haw around our decision making.
Yeah, that must be it.
Please show a picture of the box when you naming your game.
Wow, surprised at all the love 7 Wonders: Duel gets here.
Zee's 1 and 2 I agree so much...I could interchange them any given day for 1 and 2.
Blood Rage for some reason fell very flat for me. I can't even put my finger on it as to why it didn't fair well. It seems like I am the only one in the world though.
what was the original theme for Raptor? since you said the raptors vs scientists theme was pasted on
No Forbidden Stars? Sam, Tom? :(
+Tomáš Daniel # 11
why not put out a 11-20 this year as well? I would love to know
Are any of you guys going to pax east?
Can you guys consider making a another video of your top 20-11 since this was such a good year?
Sam - given that you love Vikings, and you're pretty hot on Worker Placement (Stone Age, Champions of Midgard), will we see you review Raiders of the North Sea, assuming that you ever get a copy? I do know it doesn't have wide distribution, but I quite enjoy it, and the worker placement mechanism is quite a different twist on the standard...
Is there a spot in the video that has the complete list on screen?
What kind of watch is Zee wearing?
I missed Shakespeare when it came out, but it sounds like a game I would really love. Thanks Zee for brining it to my attention!
Time Stories does have similarities with Sherlock Holmes though, doesn't it?
CMON + Eric Lang for the second time in a row for Tom. Nice job!
where is Sheriff of Nottingham?
Damn you all for saying Raptor... because it still isn't available anywhere i can find :/
just got Blood Rage cant wait to try it thanks for the review guys
Was surprised that Codenames didn't make it onto this list or the 2015 surprises list. Actually, a strong, popular game from CGE is not a surprise. But it has been such a big hit with so many different players that I was expecting to see it mentioned here at least once. Just one more indicator of a strong year.
Didn't Star Wars Rebel Assault come out in 2015? I'm shocked it wasn't mentioned at all.
+Jason Grubiak I think you mean Imperial Assault. Although my copy didn't arrive until Feb 2015 it is listed as being a 2014 release on BGG. I was thinking really?, at first as well.
@Sam Haley: If you are into dice rolling (and BSG, as far as I know you are), what do you think about Dark Moon (BSG Express)?
+ionas82 Dark Moon is fine, but when I've played it, I've always thought, "I could be playing BSG instead!"
+Sam Healey Well, I am not too much of a Dice Chucker,… thus for me I’d probably also play BSG but just the bare game, to get the game towards Dark Moons length/complexity.
So was Potion Explosion released after this list was made? not even a mention. tom said it wasnt on his best of 2016 because it was technically released in 2015, but not a word here. what happened?
Ketchup is for kids? Wow Tom, wow...
Totally get what Sam is saying, ketchup lover and not ashamed...
+Jens Buhler You're a monster
he is being a damn kid xD. always being against Sam for no reason whatsoever
what about honorable mentions? Chaosmos, Among The Stars: Revival, Ashes: Fires of the Phoenixborn, etc.
+McBehrer It would take all day, honestly. That many great games came out last year.
+The Dice Tower Thank you for playing through so many, reviewing them for us, and sharing your love of gaming - particularly with each other - with the rest of us.
Great video guys, next year can you do it at the start of December to help with the Christmas list.
I don't get much opportunity to try new games, and so some of these rate fairly low on my Top 100 games of all time (and one is not even on my Top 100), but these are the best of 2015 I have played. Not counting expansions, but counting redesigned games. Also I am not counting 2016 games I have beta tested:
1. Mission: Red Planet (Second Edition)
2. Isle of Skye
3. Hoax (second edition)
4. Star Trek: Five-Year Mission
5. Artifacts, Inc.
6. Dead Men Tell No Tales
7. Love Letter: Batman
8. Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game
1. I never played Mission: Red Planet previously, so it's brand new to me (and beta tested)
3. Hoax: Another Beta test I quite liked, and have not played the previous edition
4. I have a feeling further playings of Star Trek will lower it's position, and by quite a bit, but we will see
5. Artifacts, Inc: This game needs more replays, but not sure if it will go up or down, I did just buy the game, haven't played my copy yet
6. Dead men Tell No Tales: I knew this would be on Zee's list, not sure why Tom didn't know this. Zee loved on this game several times on videos in the year. As for myself I thought it ok. It's #68 on my Top 100. I expected more.
7. Batman: I got this for $5 very recently on a sale, mostly due to Tom's review. I find it ok, a nice quick game.
8. Warhammer Quest: another beta test for me, I thought it rather uninspiring. I love fantasy games and if this had come out 15-20 years ago it would have been a favorite. Too many other fantasy games that are awesome to make it higher. It may do better with solo players, those who wish to level characters between adventures, and those who like LoR card game or the like.
Sam, would you buy from PSC again?
I love dice and I like Champions of Midgard but it is so much easier than Lords of Waterdeep and has less options. I like it but I don't think it has the legs that Waterdeep has.
I agree 110%. CoM is a good game but LoW with the expansion is a better game.
+Eric Finley The issue for me is the player count. CoM only supports 4, so I've shied away from it for that reason. In comparison, LoW is 5 players, or 6 with the expansion.
+Patrick Flanagan definitely. CoM is not a bad game but it is the most simplistic worker placement I've ever seen. Unless you have played Lords or Stone Age to death and are bored with it....they are both entry level but both solid. I kept CoM to play with my now 4 year old son as his first wp game.
Thanks for the lists guys. Helps making my christmas list!
I'm really surprised that Fordidden Stars didn't make Tom's or Sam's top 10.
+Kalleu Castro It was # 11 for me.
+The Dice Tower Cool. Probably next year if lives up to the hype Star Wars: Rebellion will show up.
+Kalleu Castro Forbidden Stars was better than most of the other games they mentioned. Rum and Bones, for example, was fun, but it's very, very shallow. It doesn't have any legs on it. Forbidden Stars will go the distance; I was disappointed it wasn't mentioned.
+Kalleu Castro
and it was after all!
Tom really should have guessed Dead Men Tell No Tales for Zee, he's mentioned it a million times in the videos alone.
where are the games?
Tom, if I never played Race for the Galaxy, should I get it or skip it and go straight for Roll of the Galaxy?
I've only played Roll for the Galaxy and it's a really solid game. The dice rolling and dual-sided tiles appealed to me more than cards.
Zee said he played Pandemic Legacy through two separate times. . . Did he use the same game, or did he have to purchase another box in order to play through it again? If it is possible to play the campaign through completely, and still use the legacy game to play with, that's awesome. Honestly, that's the biggest reason I haven't purchased Pandemic Legacy - I don't like the idea of not being able to continue to play the game after we do the legacy campaign once. Anyone is welcome to give me their opinion if they have any experience with this. . .
Davis Thompson No you cant use the set a second time, he would have had to have bought a second set. Nor can you play a non-campaign game with the board afterwards. It's done.
If you don't think it's price is worth paying for 18 - 25 hours of play then don't pay it. Some think it is, some don't. Personally I loved it but I cannot offer a solid gold guarantee that you will. 😁
16:50 poor Tom :( It's actually true... LOL
Darn it Dice Tower. Watched the xmas videos and ordered Jamaica and Welcome to the Dungeon to play with the family. And now I have to have flick 'em up as Dad and I love Spaghetti westerns.
I hear you, Sam, I hate painting in bulk, feels like work. Whe that happens I usually just put a wash on the minis, maybe dry brush them and just coat them in mat varnish. Quick and dirty.
Blood rage, been temped in the past but no.1 for 2 dice tower meeples it's now moved to must have
Great lists guys! glad to see sam and zee pick raptor, looks like a great game. sadly not released in UK yet, but when it does its one I will be looking to pick up! btw I was not suprised at the amount of crossover you guys had on your lists.
Specter Ops takes 30 minutes!? My first two times it took 2 hours each time!
Sam's introduction earns the like!
Why not show a launch that happened in 2015?
What's that in 40:44 LOL
Tom, have you not played the newer additions of axis and allies? I think 1942 second addition is a great game and much better than the original. Plus 1941 is good for a under 2 hour game. Watered down yes, but still feels like axis and allies. My number one was Yahtzee, my family played that all the time as kids.
Great to hear your thoughts on the year, as always! I was kind of hoping to see The Bloody Inn on Zee's list. For me, it is definitely top 3 material, though I haven't played TIME Stories yet (is it worth to do so if English isn't my first language??). Blood Rage is my number 1 game for this year as well! I agree entirely that it combines what's best about Euros and Amerit(h)rash. :-)
Blood Rage... only played it once and was pretty disappointed. The most succinct way I can explain why is simply to ask how a player wins? Well, score the most VP. How do you score victory points? Well, you can win battles, complete quests, advance a stat far enough, die in Ragnarok, or use any number of card with special conditions for awarding VPs. My goodness, this isn't a wargame, its a point salad with more in common with Trajan than Chaos in the Old World.
My other complaints would be the abundance of take-that mechanics, such as the Troll which simply kills all warriors where deployed. If you're the player who happens to be where the owner wants to be, well, there isn't anything you can do to stop it. Your troops, and perhaps your careful plans to fulfil a quest are done with.
Finally, this game just seems to put to high a price on failure. Fail to win a battle? All units wiped out. Fail to fulfill a quest? It is discarded. This game may not be random in the typical usage of the word, but it simulates the whims of fate.
Firstly it's never claimed to be a war game.
Secondly of course there's something you can do against a monster, fill all the villages so it has no place to come in. 😀
And failing to win a battle is often part of your plan. For example your battle card could steal Rage from the winner, or you gain points from every figure that dies there. Also losing your forces never seems too big a deal as they are cheap enough to bring back, leaders, shamans and some monsters are even free. Yes Quests are discarded but that's fair enough, you took a gamble that you could complete it and you lost.
+TabithaBear Gaming finally (sorry) killing all warriors means all Warriors, not Leaders or Ships or other monsters or Shamans. Yes the monsters are powerful but they are not the be all and end all...and besides in almost every game I've played every player has a monster. You just ay to your builds particular strength.
+TabithaBear Gaming
... I guess the cover doesn't say, "Blood Rage: a War Game," but the back of the box does say "VIkings will do what they do best: invade and pillage; kill and die in epic battles." This game is definitely masquerading as a war game. It isn't.
+TabithaBear Gaming
Also, I want to be clear, I do not have a problem with monsters, nor with the power level of monsters. One of my favorite games of all time has powerful monsters (Kemet). I have a problem with "take-that" mechanics, which the Troll in particular is an example of.
Look, I suspect some of the reasons I dislike the game are reasons you like it. You appear to like the fact that a player can set themselves up to win by intentionally losing battles. The thrill of messing up someone's carefully thought out plans is more fun than watching your own careful plans get thrown to the wind by someone's cheap tactic.
Me, to much of this game is point salad and take-that.
Interesting to see the absence of 3 very well received Euros. Signorie, Nippon, and The Gallerist were all great games in the Euro category, top 10 for me at least.
I wonder if anyone's game of the year is one of the games in 504
Highly doubt it lol
No Codenames? That's the one missing that surprises me the most.
Matt Anderson codename is only modern version of dixit. There is nothing new, maybe even less options of description
When I get to play Time Stories this Friday it had better blow me away the hype it gets. Same goes for Pandemic Legacy though I'm not a big Pandemic fan anyway. I look forward to doing my Top Ten soon but it's going to be a little different in places from this. I don't think BloodRAge will make it though , I liked it but it didn't have the variety in the upgrades other than the monsters. I didn't like how Age 2 and Age 3 cards were mostly rehashes of the first ones.
+Luke Hector (Broken Meeple) I think when some good fan-made stories start hitting the web it will increase the value of Time Stories.
That could be cool. It's open to creativity. Friday will be the day I tackle it myself.
+Luke Hector (Broken Meeple)
Playing Pandemic legacy while not being a fan of Pandemic ?
Very strange ...
so. how was it? T.I.M.E Stories? Keep it short and sweet. no spoilers.
+Lugo428 it actually was excellent but very short lived! A sudden burst of excellence and then a long wait.
Hi fellas, I don't have a lot of friends who like board games, just about 1 or two. Is there any single player card or board game that you recommend? Or at least with a maximum of 3 players. I prefer something with combat if it has aliens it also would be a plus.
PS - Subscribed.
Legendary Encounters: Alien is a great game for 1 to 3 players. Most co-op games translate well to single player.
Dead Men Tell No Tales, Pandemic, Forbidden Island work well, but don't all have combat.
+Rogerio Smallworld seems to be a go-to with my circle of friends if they want combat, and what's great about it is that the board scales with the number of players. So a 3-player game will be as involved as a 5-player game.
Thank you fellas. I'll check them out.
If Tom likes flicking games he could try Subbuteo! (after learning rules of European Football :P )
40:40 this was my point in making my copy of the game re-playable. The events you "Know" just become a mechanics of the game. Knowing what ya know does not == a win and depending where you decide to start the game (can be easily randomize to give a mid played game feel with some old school d&d type random tables, but that's getting a bit deeper than point) is still a great play.
This game is not like T.I.M.E. stories knowing what ya know there i can see being a thing that "breaks" multi plays but i think it is pretty darn good system for home brew how they have the board set up. I can see making your own adventures being pretty fun and easy to do for that system.
Anyway glad to see one of you admit to and not just poo poo the idea of legacy being a great game to not destroy even if you maybe did not say it in so many words its what i heard lol.
What did you guys think of Kingdom Death: Monster?
+jwsjourney I'm curious what Tom & Sam would think if they had the opportunity to play KDM, as they like other games in the genre. It is my game of the year and perhaps now my #1 game.
I will be listening to this while I work, awesome!
Glad to see Dead Men get some love! I feel like that game is still a bit under the radar, hopefully this will get some more people to pick it up!
Tom, when will you and Sam do a follow-up review of Star Wars: Armada?
They did, no?
+Wonderful emir I've only seen their review of the core game and they said it was an incomplete review and only part 1 since there were only three capital ships in the base game.
What are the odds of rolling two 1's on three D20's?
+wolflarson71 57 in 8000 (or 58 if 3 1's is allowed)
Finally the wait is over!
As much as I enjoy these videos is it at all possible to put the finalized lists in the description section? A lot of times I don't have 47 minutes to just sit and watch these all the way through and trying to scan through to find the lists is kind of a PITA..
my top ten would be: 10. cacao 9. lanterns 8. potion explosion 7.isles of skye 6. food chain magnate 5. mombasa 4. voyages of marco polo 3. pandemic season 1 2. Concordia : Salsa 1. Orleans: Invasion
Tom, Zee, Sam... In 2016 it's now time for a TopTen Best Pirate Games!! YES!!!!!!
+Glen Just May as well add a "Top 10 Best Viking Games", since Sam seems to be the authority on them. :-)
champs of midgard is far to expensive for euro distribution at the minute which I think is half the problem. It's the same price as blood rage. It might improve later
I know it's pretty light, but no Codenames?
Nathaniel Mosher sam and zee hate codenames.
Thanks guys. Love the list!
Whoa, this is early. Awesome!
Surprised about no Fury of Dracula for Sam.
+Xenothon Stelnicki AH! Literally 5 seconds after I typed this, he mentioned it. :-P
WHAT! Ok we need Jason to get in here and fix this list by the addition of Food Chain Magnate. That is my game of 2015.
Darn it. I love top tens but 50 minute long ones are hard to get around to.
No love for Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers... I really think this one will shine when expansions come out!
Thought this would have made toms list
Ketchup is for kids, Tom? What??
for 2016 you should all try to guess each others list.
Well... THAT didn't happen. : (
Ok, who ordered Blood Rage after listening to this ? (one thing to note the kickstarter has some very exclusive stuff that you can't get hold of easily / cheaply).
Love TIME Stories! Thanks for the recommend!
No Kingdom Death: Monster?
Thought that was a shoe-in with you guys. ;)
+Sean Thompson I'm going to go out on a limb and say due to theme and art they will not be reviewing it, let alone playing it. Definitely not a game for everyone.
ComplacentBadger Yeah, I mentioned that in another comment in this video. Didn't feel like repeating myself =)
+ComplacentBadger What's wrong with the theme and art? Why would not give a game a try, isn't this board gaming? Why would they totally write off a game, the game is incredible and not giving anything that is board gaming a chance is a huge disservice. This game deserves recognition.
If you're not joking, its because the majority of Dice Tower contributors tend to lean towards a christian outlook. This makes darker themes and anything that can be seen as sexualized, taboo. Mind you, I see these as perfectly valid reasons to not play a game.
I judge many games by their theme and end up not purchasing them. KD:M is not for everyone, but I do adore it.
+ComplacentBadger Tom has mentioned the game but the only opinion he really gave was a negative opinion of how the game represents females. It's not like they are scared of touching games with darker themes... they still review them, but it can play a factor in their opinions which is reasonable IMO
No Forbidden Stars?! No The Grizzled?
I love me some Blood Rage....fantastic game! I'm thinking about getting TIME Stories but I also want to get Specter Ops.
Ketchup?! Gotta agree with Vasel on this one. BBQ sauce FTW!
Probably my top games for the year have to be:
Roll For The Galaxy
Elysium
7 Wonders Duel
Mysterium
Champions fo Midgard has been very difficult to find. but yes tom....great game!
Wasn't that in A League Of Their Own? There are no cyborgs in baseball!
Tom you're right about my list :) Coming in the next couple days (shot and in the middle of editing)
where mkx