I recently acquired Yokohama Duel (deluxified) and I love it! It doesn’t play exactly like original Yokohama, more like inspired by it. But it gives me all the feels I want from a worker placement game that plays in 45-60 mins.
Chimera Stations isn't mentioned a lot. It's a great worker placement game. I love Worker placement games that give you benefits by placing different workers on specific spots. Anachrony comes to mind
woohoo, you're updating publisher's best!! Can't wait for the updated 'Red Raven' games and CMON lists, and hope to see additional great publishers from the past few years. Bet we know which games that weren't there last time will show up on the Huch, Rio Grande games and KOSMOS lists...
So happy you are doing these again! I remember when you did these last time (five years ago?) and thought they were excellent. At the Gates of Loyang and Orleans are my favorites from TMG.
Tasty Minstrel had so many cool things coming from all quarters, as well as the whole deluxified thing. Clearly the margins for making money in board games is tighter than most folks realize.
Some of my top TMG games not ordered: Citrus, Crusaders They Will Be Done, Oracle of Delphi, Gold West, Chimera Station, Pioneer Days, and Gentes. I never Played Orleans but expect I would love it.
Some people here are mentioning “Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done”, which is another overlooked gem of a game. Even feels like a mini-Scythe, at times. Love it.
You spoke about their closure with great respect and care. My picks are Pioneer Days (so underrated) and Gold West (so streamlined). Pioneer Days has so many great choices of what you want, what you can chain for bonus actions, and what you don't want to leave behind and add to a certain disaster. Top 10 all time for me.
Gúgong, Gentes, Gold West, Ground Floor (the 1st edition was their first kickstarter if memory serves, unless that was This Town Ain't Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us), Rialto - in addition to those others have mentioned like Eminent Domain and Harbour.
Although my first TMG was before kickstarter, they sold Terra Prime and Homesteaders through a kind of pre-order system. Can't even remember how I found out about it. Then had major problems with mold. But eventually the games arrived.
@@jongreisz8340 you are right: It was started October 2010, Ground Floor in April 2012. Heck, "This Town..." wasn't even started until 2014. Time flies.
Yokohama: Deluxified is definitely my number one. Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, Gentes: Deluxified, Harbour and Flip City all great games from TMG. Thanks for your list can't wait for more.
Bounced hard off Orleans and Yokohama. But Pioneer Days and Old West are solid games. I have a copy of Trade on the Tigris actually unplayed - need to go and learn that soon.
Yes. I like Flip City fine, but I would definitely put Belfort ahead of it. I was wanting to ask Tom if there is some reason Belfort didn't make his list. But it could just be a matter of personal taste, I guess.
I am a bit surprised that Gentes and Gugong are not on the list, I believe these were TMG games as well, and probably better known/received than some of those listed here...
Cant argue with the top two. I have an Orleans with all expansions and promos but not deluxe. I picked up the deluxe yokohama from their clear it all out sale a few months back. Really glad I got that one before they disappeared.
Crusaders: thy Will be done, would be on top of my list. So sad that the expansion has a hard time to be released. Chimera station is a realy fun game and Gugong is so beautyfull and nice game. We get most of them through Game Brewer here.
Nice to see Flip City get some love. It's a quirky little game from the early days of the great Asian game invasion that deserved to get more attention than it did. Also good to see Scoville mentioned as it seems to have been largely forgotten despite being quite different from other games out there. The designer is trying to find another publisher, so we might see it again one day. I have a soft spot for Eminent Domain as it was my first deck builder. These days I find games that incorporate the mechanism into a larger game more interesting than pure deck builders, but I'll always be up for a game of Eminent Domain. Another game not on the list worth a look is Harvest. It's a kind of Agricola Lite with a fun fantasy theme. But my favorite TMG game by far is Gold West. It manages to provide a satisfyingly thinky and strategic experience in under 1 hour, which is an underserved niche.
Thanks for the list, even if I brought even more sadness to my day. Orleans is perhaps my favorite game but they did so many that I backed it’s just silly. Gentes, Exodus Fleet, Eminent Domain, Crusaders, The Flow of History, Belfort… so many games I still love and play. If they can’t make a comeback, hopefully someone will acquire these so others can continue to play and enjoy them.
I just bought Orleans but it was by a different publisher. I think it was Capstone Games. Anyone know if it’s the same game? I also like At the Gates of Loyang by TMG. It’s also an older game but I still really like it.
Crusaders: thy will be done is my easy number one! It’s fantastic, it moves wasy faster then you expect and usually I can’t just play it once without wanting to play again with a different crusader power
Yeah, Orleans is the easy top spot. The biggest misstep TMG made was doing a "one and done" printing of Orleans Deluxe and promising to never print it again. I can only wonder how many more copies they could have sold of that.
This! They should have just gave a free promo to backers and brought Orleans and Yokohama back sooner. Sadly by the time they redid Yokohama, they were already circling the drain.
#1 Orleans, absolutely. None of the other of Tom’s top 10 caught my attention, I might check some out. Some unmentioned favs of mine would be Gugong and Gentes. We’ll bring Guilds of London to the table a couple times of year also. We traded Belfort, may get it back. We’ve got Steamworks but it’s not hitting the table often. I think that’s all the TMG games we’ve tried…….so far.
Guilds of London is great. If it wasn't for all of the iconography and them not doing a good job explaining all the cards, I think it would be higher for many people.
Yokohama, then Orleans, followed by a distant third of Scoville. I think I could go either way with Yokohama and Orleans depending on the day, really like both games.
One of the first hobby games I ever bought was the TMG localization of Lemuria/Seikoku no Lemuria, at the local flea market. I have yet to play any other TMG games but I have very fond feelings on Lemuria even if I'd consider it just OK now that I've become more involved in the hobby.
I only own (and have played) 2 Tasty Minstrel games--Chimera Station and Dairyman (a tiny dice-rolling, push your luck game). I guess Chimera Station would be my favorite.
The 2 I own are Orleans and Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done. Like them both. Have played Yokohama on line and I adore it. I'd rank them Yokohama, Orleans, Crusaders, but like all 3.
Funny that you mention spicy stuff as for me it's exactly the same, I'm 50 now and my heat limit went way down in the last 10 years, max I still can eat in small quantities are Habaneros, and I mean sauces with Habaneros and not the raw pepper itself.
I love TMG games. I own 7 of them and am so sad that they will not be around. I completely agree with your top 3 Tom. All in my top 5 as well. But I think that one missed and in my top 5 TMG games is Village. I love Village!
Great list, but I am missing 3 that would’ve made my list: Gates of Loyang, Luna and Aquasphere (I know 3 Feld might have been too much for a top 10 list, but that’s it)
If I count Orleans it would be me #1, but I got my copy from DLP :P Other than that, I've owned a bunch but the only one I've kept is Gold West - It feels really unique and I don't want to lose that core mechanisms from my collection, albeit it rarely sees play now (Though I have one friend that really likes it, they're still staying sheltered due to..y'know).
I just acquired Scoville and have only played at 2 player, it seems a bit samey every turn and the beginning of the game is a little slow and the bidding doesn’t seem interesting. I’m going to try with more players, as that should help, but I think the game will outstay its welcome with more players.
I have a game from them (that I've hoarded without playing), can't remember what game it was, it wasn't on this list I'm sure. Oh well, I guess I find it here at home someday.
Absolutely Belfort is my Favorite Game they ever did. Can’t believe you didn’t even mention this area control, worker placement classic.
Checked the comments to make sure someone was championing for Belfort
@@Leron... Same :P
@@Leron... Same
So glad to see Chimera Station getting some love. Really wish they'd expand on it and release the upgrade bits again.
I recently acquired Yokohama Duel (deluxified) and I love it! It doesn’t play exactly like original Yokohama, more like inspired by it. But it gives me all the feels I want from a worker placement game that plays in 45-60 mins.
Chimera Stations isn't mentioned a lot. It's a great worker placement game. I love Worker placement games that give you benefits by placing different workers on specific spots. Anachrony comes to mind
Just played Oracle of Delphi for the first time last weekend and I absolutely loved it!!
Pioneer Days is such an amazing game. It even has a phenomenal fan made solo variant. I bring this to the table every chance I get
That is a very nice idea Tom !! Thank you for this video !! Can't wait for the Hasbro one..... 😜😂
Fun list, Tom! Crusaders Thy Will Be Done would be my number 1. Orleans (base game and the co-op versions) are great, too!
I absolutely love these lists
I always appreciate your top 10 of specific game publishers
woohoo, you're updating publisher's best!!
Can't wait for the updated 'Red Raven' games and CMON lists, and hope to see additional great publishers from the past few years.
Bet we know which games that weren't there last time will show up on the Huch, Rio Grande games and KOSMOS lists...
So happy you are doing these again! I remember when you did these last time (five years ago?) and thought they were excellent. At the Gates of Loyang and Orleans are my favorites from TMG.
Tasty Minstrel had so many cool things coming from all quarters, as well as the whole deluxified thing. Clearly the margins for making money in board games is tighter than most folks realize.
At the Gates of Loyang.
Such an awesome game
Some of my top TMG games not ordered: Citrus, Crusaders They Will Be Done, Oracle of Delphi, Gold West, Chimera Station, Pioneer Days, and Gentes.
I never Played Orleans but expect I would love it.
Some people here are mentioning “Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done”, which is another overlooked gem of a game. Even feels like a mini-Scythe, at times. Love it.
I am surprised Gugong didn't make your list. It's a great game!
Really surprised not to see Gugong here
You spoke about their closure with great respect and care. My picks are Pioneer Days (so underrated) and Gold West (so streamlined). Pioneer Days has so many great choices of what you want, what you can chain for bonus actions, and what you don't want to leave behind and add to a certain disaster. Top 10 all time for me.
Gúgong, Gentes, Gold West, Ground Floor (the 1st edition was their first kickstarter if memory serves, unless that was This Town Ain't Big Enough for the 2-4 of Us), Rialto - in addition to those others have mentioned like Eminent Domain and Harbour.
Pretty sure Eminent Domain was their first kickstarter. I went in for 2 copies, think I even have one still in shrink.
Although my first TMG was before kickstarter, they sold Terra Prime and Homesteaders through a kind of pre-order system. Can't even remember how I found out about it. Then had major problems with mold. But eventually the games arrived.
@@jongreisz8340 you are right: It was started October 2010, Ground Floor in April 2012. Heck, "This Town..." wasn't even started until 2014. Time flies.
@@TorIverWilhelmsen Eminent Domain was my 2nd kickstarter, with Alien Frontiers being 1st. Much simpler times. And cheaper.
Yokohama: Deluxified is definitely my number one. Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, Gentes: Deluxified, Harbour and Flip City all great games from TMG. Thanks for your list can't wait for more.
Bounced hard off Orleans and Yokohama. But Pioneer Days and Old West are solid games. I have a copy of Trade on the Tigris actually unplayed - need to go and learn that soon.
I'd personally put Eminent Domain, Homesteaders, and Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done on the list. And Stefan Feld's Deluxified Luna.
I have a top 9: Orleans, Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, Old West Espresario, Pioneer Days, Thief's Market, Scoville, Rialto, Yokohama, Emminent Domain
I didn't play many of the games from the list, but the game I did played and love a lot is Belfort
Yes. I like Flip City fine, but I would definitely put Belfort ahead of it. I was wanting to ask Tom if there is some reason Belfort didn't make his list. But it could just be a matter of personal taste, I guess.
No Village on this list? I really like it, especially with the Port expansion.
Pioneer Days is an unsung gem!!
Man I've heard of so few of these! They look really cool!
I am a bit surprised that Gentes and Gugong are not on the list, I believe these were TMG games as well, and probably better known/received than some of those listed here...
I've not played many of these, but love Orleans. Need to play it again.
Cant argue with the top two. I have an Orleans with all expansions and promos but not deluxe. I picked up the deluxe yokohama from their clear it all out sale a few months back. Really glad I got that one before they disappeared.
@dicetower could you please put items on the rack?
Whenever they are blank it creates a 'flickering' / strobe-like affect
Maaaaaaan I love TMG. I own all of these except for old west empresario and scoville (both I want). Will miss their presence in the hobby.
I still gotta try Orleans!! I do like Belfort - fun one - need to try more of their games!
Crusaders: thy Will be done, would be on top of my list. So sad that the expansion has a hard time to be released. Chimera station is a realy fun game and Gugong is so beautyfull and nice game. We get most of them through Game Brewer here.
Crusaders is great, for sure.
Nice to see Flip City get some love. It's a quirky little game from the early days of the great Asian game invasion that deserved to get more attention than it did. Also good to see Scoville mentioned as it seems to have been largely forgotten despite being quite different from other games out there. The designer is trying to find another publisher, so we might see it again one day.
I have a soft spot for Eminent Domain as it was my first deck builder. These days I find games that incorporate the mechanism into a larger game more interesting than pure deck builders, but I'll always be up for a game of Eminent Domain.
Another game not on the list worth a look is Harvest. It's a kind of Agricola Lite with a fun fantasy theme.
But my favorite TMG game by far is Gold West. It manages to provide a satisfyingly thinky and strategic experience in under 1 hour, which is an underserved niche.
Thanks for the list, even if I brought even more sadness to my day. Orleans is perhaps my favorite game but they did so many that I backed it’s just silly. Gentes, Exodus Fleet, Eminent Domain, Crusaders, The Flow of History, Belfort… so many games I still love and play. If they can’t make a comeback, hopefully someone will acquire these so others can continue to play and enjoy them.
I just bought Orleans but it was by a different publisher. I think it was Capstone Games. Anyone know if it’s the same game? I also like At the Gates of Loyang by TMG. It’s also an older game but I still really like it.
Crusaders: thy will be done is my easy number one! It’s fantastic, it moves wasy faster then you expect and usually I can’t just play it once without wanting to play again with a different crusader power
Formosa Tea always seems to be overlooked
Yeah, Orleans is the easy top spot. The biggest misstep TMG made was doing a "one and done" printing of Orleans Deluxe and promising to never print it again. I can only wonder how many more copies they could have sold of that.
Agree. I’m just happy I got the deluxe version. Worth any penny.
Orleans and Yokohama deluxe editions could have made some serious for the company
This! They should have just gave a free promo to backers and brought Orleans and Yokohama back sooner. Sadly by the time they redid Yokohama, they were already circling the drain.
@@hl9807 A good substitute are the GeekUp bits for Orleans... they sell them in the BGG Store. Worth it.
@@KabukiKid I went this route and very happy
#1 Orleans, absolutely. None of the other of Tom’s top 10 caught my attention, I might check some out. Some unmentioned favs of mine would be Gugong and Gentes. We’ll bring Guilds of London to the table a couple times of year also. We traded Belfort, may get it back. We’ve got Steamworks but it’s not hitting the table often. I think that’s all the TMG games we’ve tried…….so far.
Guilds of London is great. If it wasn't for all of the iconography and them not doing a good job explaining all the cards, I think it would be higher for many people.
Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done would be my number one
My guess is that Colosseum was the beginning of the end for them. That art turned off so many people. It could have been a huge hit.
I cannot believe you didn’t mention Martian Dice. It’s my favorite pure Dice game.
Always enjoyed Dungeon Roll
Yokohama, then Orleans, followed by a distant third of Scoville. I think I could go either way with Yokohama and Orleans depending on the day, really like both games.
No Gugong?
One of the first hobby games I ever bought was the TMG localization of Lemuria/Seikoku no Lemuria, at the local flea market. I have yet to play any other TMG games but I have very fond feelings on Lemuria even if I'd consider it just OK now that I've become more involved in the hobby.
Thanks
Yokohama is #1 for me. It's in my top 10 favorite games, love it.
Cthulhu Realms is my favorite TMG game. It's a full realms game in a box. The app is great too.
Yokohama is a great game, and probably my #1 TMG game.
I've not played Orleans, but I like Altiplano, so I bet I would enjoy Orleans too.
I only own (and have played) 2 Tasty Minstrel games--Chimera Station and Dairyman (a tiny dice-rolling, push your luck game). I guess Chimera Station would be my favorite.
Flavor always trumps heat.
Eminent Domain and Crusaders definitely would have been on my list.
Yay for Oracle of Delphi, best stefan feld and a beast to get ahold of!
Gold West is an absolute hidden gem!
The 2 I own are Orleans and Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done. Like them both. Have played Yokohama on line and I adore it. I'd rank them Yokohama, Orleans, Crusaders, but like all 3.
💚 Formosa Tea 🍵
Funny that you mention spicy stuff as for me it's exactly the same, I'm 50 now and my heat limit went way down in the last 10 years, max I still can eat in small quantities are Habaneros, and I mean sauces with Habaneros and not the raw pepper itself.
I didn’t realize so many good games were from this company. I would like to try Pioneer Days.
I love TMG games. I own 7 of them and am so sad that they will not be around. I completely agree with your top 3 Tom. All in my top 5 as well. But I think that one missed and in my top 5 TMG games is Village. I love Village!
Great list, but I am missing 3 that would’ve made my list: Gates of Loyang, Luna and Aquasphere (I know 3 Feld might have been too much for a top 10 list, but that’s it)
I've played Dairyman the most and eaten the most ice cream while playing it.
Surprised Crusaders didn't make it, but TMG had a lot of good games. Gotta agree with Orleans. It's my #1 game of all time.
If I count Orleans it would be me #1, but I got my copy from DLP :P
Other than that, I've owned a bunch but the only one I've kept is Gold West - It feels really unique and I don't want to lose that core mechanisms from my collection, albeit it rarely sees play now (Though I have one friend that really likes it, they're still staying sheltered due to..y'know).
Eminent Domain would have made my top 3 for sure
I just acquired Scoville and have only played at 2 player, it seems a bit samey every turn and the beginning of the game is a little slow and the bidding doesn’t seem interesting. I’m going to try with more players, as that should help, but I think the game will outstay its welcome with more players.
Yokohama certainly gets my vote as #1 on this list, especially the deluxified edition.
I prefer Altiplano and Hyperborea to Orleans.
Wow, none of my top 3 made this list. EmDo, Belfort and crusaders.
The only TMG I own is Orleans. :)
I have a game from them (that I've hoarded without playing), can't remember what game it was, it wasn't on this list I'm sure. Oh well, I guess I find it here at home someday.
Would scoville make it in a top 10 food related game ?
Top 2 are far and away their best in my opinion as well but yeah they had some good stuff
I’m surprised he didn’t mention crusaders
RIP TMG
Belfort and Orleans for me
Harbour
Yeah I love this one but tom doesn't if i remember correctly.
I was expecting *Harvest* from that series though ...
It’s crazy to me that Crusaders is missing from this list. It’s not their best, but it’s way better than many on this list.
isnt Orleans from dlp games? TMG did just the localisation of it
Crusaders: Thy Will be Done is in my Top 3 from TMG.
#8 Old West woohoo!
Pioneer Days over Old West, interesting. I’m the opposite.
Gugong?
I have a soft spot for Guilds of London, even though the rule book/card reference is, well, not great.
absolutely amazing game
My top 8 would be:
Orleans
Gold West
Crusaders
Village
Yokohama
Aquasphere
Ponzi Scheme
Gugong
At the Gates of Loyang should be at least number 3 on this list.
Kings of Air and Steam
Honourable Mentions:
Luna
Gentes
Belfort
At the Gates of Loyang
Village
Colosseum
Harbour
Harvest
Embark
Citrus
Gold West
Crusaders: Thy will be done should be on the list
Many good games on the list, but (aside from Trade on the Tigris) Homesteaders, Harvest and Eminent Domain are better than all if them 🙃
Where is homesteaders!? That is my wife and I best TMG game for two.
They should have kept the name “Trading in the Mediterranean”
Where is Formosa Tea and Crusaders?
If a company that put out so many great, high quality games can't make it, what hope is there for the rest of them? Is Rio Grande the last bastion?
Crusaders Thy Will Be Done. If there is a board game god, Seth will find a way to get the expansion up for sale.
Belfort, KoAaS, Harbor
Did you not like Citrus?
Belfort and Crusaders! Lol
LUNA????