I'm only 2 minutes into the video so I don't know if this gets mentioned, but the comparison of shirts is hilarious to me. Tom's "Keep Calm..." and Sam's "I will Flip..." haha
about Yomi's having playing card symbols, I actually think they're amazing! All of the regular numbers (2-10) deal damage equal to their rank and their speed is equal to that rank + their character's modifier (e.g. Geiger's modifier is 0.6, so his 3 is speed 3.6) which makes talking about and analysing the game much easier since if you don't know what a card does you can deduce it relatively easily. Plus using traditional suits lets people immediately know the exact makeup of the deck, which is one less question to ask and answer.
+1 for Yomi :) With my group, people either don't want to play Yomi because of the RPS mechanic, or they don't want to take the time to learn the characters. I play on my iPad and on Steam, but I would love to get this game to the table and play it in person. I also disagree with the deck of cards thing. The 52(54) card deck makes it easy to figure out combos and keep track of cards that your opponent has played. Yeah you can just look through their discard pile, but the suits and ranks make it easy to take a quick glance and then continue on with the game.
Dogmantra Also it has the one special that lets you make a poker hand (And I think the Panda in general uses the cards' number and suit if memory serves).
Dogmantra Pretty much the same problem here with Yomi, especially when comparing it to BattleCon. BattleCon is messier, so it feels more complex, but Yomi has more depth that comes out as you learn the characters and figure out small bits of timing. But anyone I meet who likes that sort of game tends to dismiss it as simple before they get to the deeper parts.
Great job on the top 10 saga guys. This question pop on my mind once in a while "this game is so good yet it seems like i'm the only one around here that seems to like it?" And finally i see you guys bring it to the spotlight Games that i would play from the ones you mentioned: Ticket to Ride: Märklin SOS Titanic On the underground Sleuth Yomi Horse Fever Havana Hooyah Vabanque Asteroyds Dungeon Twister Factory Fun Toledo Ultimate Werewolf Artifacts Duel of Ages And my top ten list: Merchant & Marauders Dominant Species Urban Sprawl Asgard Doomtown reloaded Duel of Ages Dread Curse Witch's Brew Wizard Brew Chaos in the Old World keep up the good work :)
I agree with Zee! DC Comics DBG! For me, I never get Small World, Suburbia and Smash Up to be played often. When they do play it, they all have the same "it's okay" reaction.. :P
Tom, I love Duel of Ages 2 and have actually made an additional 168 characters for it. Mostly because I'm nuts, but I just love the fact that all characters from all eras and sources are included and I just wanted more. I'd play with you anytime!
Zee - DC Deck Builder is our "favorite" deck builder to bring to the table as a group with adults. You are NOT alone. My son even just introduced a new player to it and he loved it too. Don't let Tom and Sam beat you up on it. :P
Yes to Havana. I absolutely love the intrigue of the double-role selection combos and push your luck to time triggering your roles. Awesome, but hard to find players who feel the same.
Zee, DC deck building game has been a huge hit in my circles. There's just enough theme to get light gamers interested and enough strategy to inspire repeat plays.
Munchkin, I had a group of friends that I used to play it with, we were so quick and smooth at the game that it was one of the most fun things I had ever done.I CANNOT play this game with anyone else now because everyone I try to play with sit around thinking about their turn for 3-5 minutes and hold all of their cards until the end. its just no fun anymore :/
I feel the same way about Duel of Ages as Tom, it is a fantastic game. I am lucky enough to have one person in my game group that likes the game as much as I do but I still don't get it to the table as often as I would like.
I saw a big stack of Battue at a store in Chattanooga about 4 years ago. They were marked down to what I would assume would have been cost, just to move.
Duel of ages is my favorite game, I completely agree that it is just to steep for too many people and its so hard to teach. But luckily my friend really likes it too, however we have been trying to get more players for so long, and it just seems impossible.
Dead of Winter is mine. I play with non-gamers and I can NOT get Dead of Winter to the table. They find the theme too creepy, the number of components overwhelming and the game length too long. They won't even give it a chance. (Walks away shaking his head).
Atlas Films That's how I am with "Republic of Rome". I'd love to play it again, but it really intimidates my family and friends, so it still has not been played since I was in college.
Atlas Films Tried Shadows over Camelot? Also a big game, but with simple mechanics. Even more easy to begin with? Try Forbidden Island. It will be a hit, I promiss...
That's to bad, if you can't get them to play Dead of Winter, then there is no chance you could get them to play my favorite game, Battlestar Galactica, I'm lucky I do have a group that will play it, but I also have a group of people who won't.
One of the problems with Hooyah is that, if somebody is bringing this to the table, I'm going to assume that they're a Navy SEAL. So, instead of focusing on the game, itself, I'm going to be focusing on the question, "Is this person going to kick my butt in real life if I don't like this game? Because, if they're a Navy SEAL, they almost certainly would be able to."
I have the same thing with 7 Card Slugfest and Nuns on the Run and Duel of Ages II. I love those games, but I cannot find anyone to play them. I play Nuns with my daughter and her boyfriend and friends, but that is all. 7 Card Slugfest is a no go, because of real time portion, and chaos on the table. And DoAII is too complex for many of my friends.
I can't get anyone to play any board games with me, everyone I know thinks Board games are boring, they only play video games, or stare at walls, I find it sad. They;re really missing out (I've seriously had people WHILE we were playing a board game just lose all focus on it and play a video game, he quit the game to finish his zombie mission)
Dr Timothy Hear, hear! Some of my friends are super great about it, while others go straight to their tablet. There is a serious lack of being able to focus on non electronics these days. I find it increases my focus and stretches my brain in a good way. I hope you can find some friends to play with.
I am awaiting your Top 10 Family Games list, I am surprised you haven't done this yet. It would be games you would play, that anyone in your family would enjoy. Great examples; Tobago, Eruption, Going Going Gone!, Formula D, Key Largo, Ave Caesar, Forbidden Island, etc.
One reason some of the games you mentioned in the video are not talked about as much nowadays is because (especially for people like me who have only been collecting board games for 6months - a year or so) they are not available any more.. I was lucky that TransAmerica was brought to a group I was at earlier in the month else I would have been none the wiser it even existed at one time..
@Tom- next time you just happen to be passing through western Colorado you will be able to get in on a game of Sleuth and Nuns on the Run with our game group. One game I'm finding tough to get to the table is Rattus Cartus.
I'm with Zee on DC Deck Builder.I really enjoy it. I get the thematic problems but Marvel: Legendary is just as bad. The theme is there in both games but in different places and odd in others. As a game DC Deck Builder actually plays really well and the co-op version can be tense.
Yeah I won't deny that it was long and at some point I really was tired of things. I played at a mate's place when I was unable to get home once so being 4am after a long work day may have influenced that. I actually like a number of deckbuilders a lot but it isn't like my number one genre of games so I'm not exactly grilling them for which is the best. I like DC Deckbuilder, Marvel Legendary, Legendary Encounters, XenoShyft, Shadowrun Crossfire, Warmachine High Command. Can't say which I like the most though. Legendary is the only one I've played more than twice.
MorphManDude I agree with you on DC. Good game. I think the DC deckbulding and Marvel deckbuilding games are way better than Dice Masters. The games do have theme issues but not as bad as just chucking dice with little symbols on them. I find it ironic Tom doesn’t like the DC game, but really likes Dice Masters. :p
MorphManDude DC Deck Builder suffers from taking villains into your hand to add to your deck even though you're playing as heroes. Legendary suffers from "who exactly am I playing as?" issues. That being said DC deck builder is the one people always grab to play on our game night. Legendary doesn't make it to the table sadly.
Phantomzeroneo Same, I'm lucky my group enjoys this game too. We have the problem of liking that game or something else that it is all we play for the month and it's difficult to bring something different each week or some more strategic longer games to the table. Kanban will never be played :( Although sometimes we break out of the obsession and then goes back into the cycle of: DOW, DC Deckbuilder, Ghost Stories, Tigris & Euphrates, Trains, samurai, 7 wonders (with leaders), and Smallworld
+Phantomzeroneo Wow. We had that happening for a while (and with The Resistance), but eventually stopped playing at the guy's house who insisted on playing it over and over. Ok game, but ultimately, I'm not a fan.
Android for me. I LOVE the theme, LOVE the personal story elements, LOVE the building conspiracy. The components are amazing. The art is fantastic. And...I put up with the competition mechanics because of how much I love everything else. But EVERY time I try to explain it to someone they always get caught up on the placing evidence and trauma cards. It FEELS like you are planting evidence and throwing others under the bus rather than trying to solve a crime. And while I am able to work around that in my head and separate myself (as the competitive force) from the character trying to solve the mystery, it ALWAYS tanks the game for those I teach it to. Really wish I could find a good variant...
The Dice Tower You have a mistake in Zee's 4th pick - Kryptos is from year 2014 and the author is Piotr Siłka (Peter Gymmy - from a small gym :) ). And I also think Kryptos is underestimated!
As soon as I read the topic, I knew Kobayakawa was going to be on Zee list. Oh man, only you seem to like that game in the live session, it was so funny xD
I played Eruption a few times online on BGA. I found it interesting at first, and wondered why it was so unpopular. Until one game, the guy I was playing against kept putting lava tiles towards his own village, essentially helping me beat him, to the point that I was thinking he must have been confused about what village was mine and which was his. But, when the temperature of his village reached the last zone, he used at once all the special eruption tiles that he had received from being behind in score, and all the special cards he had accumulated since the beginning of the game, and managed to survive and beat me in like 3 turns. It totally ruined the game for me, as I learned that playing against yourself is actually a better strategy than playing the normal way. Really broken IMO.
My hard to get games out (that usually people say they actually liked playing, but I can't seem to get them out again) are Tanto Cuore, and Dungeon Twister. And a lot of 2 player games that include a decent amount of strategy like Summoner Wars, Lords of War, Pixel Tactics, etc.
The game I have the most trouble getting people to play is Shanghai Trader. They don't get the setting (1930's Shanghai China) and they have trouble with the area control and worker placement.
Tom - I did take your daughter's suggestion about Nuns on the Run, and my kids and wife do enjoy it... it just doesn't get to the table too often. (and Zee is right - the rules are a little complex, especially the line-of-sight thing with the dark pillars that you don't realize are blocking the LOS). My daughters (8 and 10) and wife tend to play co-op against me, which I think makes it more fun for them all.
Good to see some love for Havana and hooyah. Both games are in my collection. The one I have a hard time getting to the table is star trek fleet captains.
Just a pretty face would be closer. She's got a great personality is more befitting a game that looks repulsive, but plays really well. Terraforming Mars, Dominion, and Ascension are great examples of this.
My pick: Das Motorsportspiel. *By far* the best racing game, but it never caught on. It's really good only if you play against the clock, and you can't really do that with beginners, so they don't really see how fun it is and are not eager to come back.
I wholeheartedly agree with the "Scarlet D" concept - the "dungeon theme." I will accept other people's opinion that Lords of Waterdeep is an excellent worker placement game - but I have absolutely no desire to play it, or even watch it being played (I can not even force myself to sit through Wil Wheaton's run-through) - simply because it ties itself to the D&D genre/universe.
Sam I'm with you on your number two, however I've played two games of it in particular where one player didn't even get in their gate until they had only three units left due to combat rolls. I still enjoy playing it when someone offers but I can see how it can run players off.
Betrayal is a pain in my gaming group. Some people don't like it so they won't play it, and the ones who do like it have already played most of the haunts. And people who don't know about it find it intimidating.
+cyanmanta Wow, that's weird. I've had it for years, and it's a big hit in pretty much any group I try it on, and a pretty consistent visitor at game nights with my regular groups. In fact, the only reason I don't play it more is because I avoid bringing it because there are so many other games I want to see come to the table that I know wouldn't if Betrayal was available at every game night.
Great list! I have several games that are really highly rated (Puerto Rico, Terra Mystica, and Twilight Struggle) that I can't get anyone in my group of players to touch. But the game that would be on this list for me would be Beowulf the legend that I believe Sam had on his list of most disappointing games, it was one of my first designer boardgames so maybe it just holds a special place for me.
@7:35"If you don't like it, what's wrong with you. If you do like it, what's wrong with you?" ... seems to be a common sentiment among board gamers. You should put it on a t-shirt for Dice Tower Con or maybe make it a Kickstarter stretch goal.
The Marklin map is really harsh for 3p, due to tripple routes with 2p and 3p counting as singles, as we discovered last time I played it. With 2, there's a way you can get round with maybe just one or two locations you'll be blocked out of by someone. With 3... It's very easy to accidentally get blocked into a very small corner of the map without any collusion or deliberate 'going to block them in' actions from the other two players - Last time I played Marklin, which was quite recently, one of my opponants - Experienced Ticket to Ride player, never gotten blocked in on any map, including harsh maps, wound up with a score of -2 on it due to how easy it is to get blocked in without the ability to get from one part of the board to another. The other bit that bothers me about Marklin is that it's unique deck means it doesn't work as a base set - You can't play any other map with the Marklin set with it due to that. Saying that, the colour choices are - I think - better for colour blindness issues (White instead of either red or green, I forget, and purple instead of blue, avoiding red/green and blue/yellow colour blindness), and instead of wooden disks you've got stackable score markers, so I do tend to use the Trains from Marklin whichever version I'm playing. I like On The Underground. Not one of my favourites, but very worth playing every now and then. Kept that over Through the Desert when I last culled my collection. The rest I haven't played (Aside Dungeon Twister which I've only played the Prison second edition of it, no expansions), but I don't think any of them I wouldn't be willing to give a try (I enjoy Dungeon Twister, just... Don't have any expansions to it so you'd still need to teach me the characters I'm unfamiliar with) Sam - What sort of Petting Zoo has Gorillas, Giraffes and Pandas?
I would love playing Gemblo, Dungeon Twister, and Yomi more often than I get to. My playing of Dungeon Twister stopped, once my daughter went away to college. My playing of Yomi, stopped when my son went to college. Gemblo, I could not get my family to play for some reason. Sam, if I ever attend one of the conventions, I will make sure I bring my Gemblo game, so we can play a few. :)
Tom and Zee, look on your phines for a little game called Town of Salem. It is somewhat similar to werewolf but you dont get artifact cards, but rather a role with a power that cn be used once per night. It has a very active playerbase. It is also free.
Totally agree with sleuth. I love it but when it comes to deduction games people just seen to lean towards the 1-vs-many hidden movement games over sleuth itself. I mean... I love those too but I miss sleuth. Haven't played it in months.
Kanzume Godess. I've only gotten to play one game, but I really like the mechanics of it, it has asymmetric roles which is always a plus, an interesting twist on deckbuilders where you can either get enough points to win, or attack everyone else and bring them to 0 instead. Plus I thought it was cool how you could play one card a turn, but then if certain other cards had a matching symbol you could chain them together. However it's a colossal pain in the ass to get people to play because the art is pure cheesecake.
48:52 Where did you buy these D20s from please? I just received one from the states in the mail and it's LARGE!!! The one's you have I would say are medium in comparison. WHERE CAN I GET ONE???
Dungeon Twister was Designed by Christophe Boelinger, and the latest "edition" was Dungeon Twister the Card Game in 2013. Not sure what game the information you have up on the screen is for, but it ain't Dungeon Twister. :)
Of the 30, the only one I really know and like is Battue. I agree it is a very fun game, and it's dirt cheap. Sadly, the tiles can often be warped as the company was junk.
Mine is Robo Rally... not that people in my group wouldn't like it, they're just competitive and I'm not, I just enjoy playing the game with all those moments when someone pushes me into a laser and I die horribly... for me it's more like a party game, I can just have lots of fun playing it. For me this game was "love on first sight".
Interesting topic this time! I like that you got more mics this time, but it only sounded like Sam's mic picked him up closely. Tom & Zee sounded a little distant as if the sound were picked up from a different mic (like maybe Sam's). Did the mix not work so you just had to pull from one source?
I'm with Zee regarding S.O.S. Titanic. Fun little game. I know it is solo or cooperative, but it is really a solo game, if you ask me. It definitely is going to have a small audience, though. All I know is that I never want to play Klondike Solitaire again after playing S.O.S. Titanic... the theme and the special powers really spice up the game. This is also prime for being made into a phone app.
My game is Battlelore. I love the game and several of my friends own a copy but I can never get it to the table. I think it's because it is only 2 players. When I hang out with my gamer friends we are usually in a small group so a 2 player game doesn't cut it. New players are intimidated by the theme and the fact that it is a war game, even though the Command and Colors systems is simple and awesome!
Can't seem to find a review on HAVANA.. but based on what Zee says, and the one or two videos I HAVE seen, I'd say thanks Zee, I'm gonna look into this one. :D
Dungeon Twister is an awesome, 'thinky' game, but like you Tom I just can't get it to the table. It's good that someone else really likes it, sadly Lancashire to Florida is a bit of a trek for a game even on as cool as this.
Mine would be Age of Conan, love that game and can't wait for the expansion. I also have a hard time getting people to play Smallworld until they actually play it, then they love it.
It's hard for me to get Yedo to the table. It's a great worker placement game, but it's just so long compared to say Lords of Waterdeep. AquaSphere is another one that's hard to get to the table, just because so many people don't like it, and I'll admit, it's a little too long for what it offers.
In no particular order, my 10 games and the reasons they don't get out much: Nightfall--One friend loves it, but it doesn't play well with two, and the only other friend who loves it ruins it. Ares Project--I LOVE THIS GAME. But the learning curve seems to put others off. And the randomness. And the small hand size. Through the Ages--Fantastic, but again with the learning curve for the full game. I guess I don't know enough dedicated gamers. Age of Gods--Hard to get people to play this when I own Smallworld and Chaos in the Old World as well. City of Thieves--Fun, good tactics, good theme, but nothing really whiz-bang about it. But I like it. . . Cutthroat Caverns--I don't get why people don't like getting stabbed in the back. Android--Ok, I really can't blame them. Great game, but the failure to deliver on the theme REALLY gets in the way of enjoying it. Oltre Mare--"We'd rather play Bohnanza." WHY??? Myth: Pantheons--Ok, so there was that one game where the first Round lasted 2 1/2 hours because we found a near-infinite loop in the "Draw extra cards" mechanic, but still. Lawless--It's hard to get a game out a lot when you have to use extensive errata for the game to be fair. But I still love all of these games!
I actually enjoyed Aquaretto more than Zooloretto. I played it first so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. It's the exact same game, although I liked the more modular board.
Zee is is a freaking funny guy. I love his sarcastic humor and quick thinking for humor.
Please redo this list! Love to see a new version of this one, let's us hear about lots of little known games.
At home sick from work - no better way to cheer my blue day than bingeing on the top ten lists! Love you guys.
I'm only 2 minutes into the video so I don't know if this gets mentioned, but the comparison of shirts is hilarious to me. Tom's "Keep Calm..." and Sam's "I will Flip..." haha
This top 10 was one of the best you've done in a while!
about Yomi's having playing card symbols, I actually think they're amazing! All of the regular numbers (2-10) deal damage equal to their rank and their speed is equal to that rank + their character's modifier (e.g. Geiger's modifier is 0.6, so his 3 is speed 3.6) which makes talking about and analysing the game much easier since if you don't know what a card does you can deduce it relatively easily.
Plus using traditional suits lets people immediately know the exact makeup of the deck, which is one less question to ask and answer.
+1 for Yomi :) With my group, people either don't want to play Yomi because of the RPS mechanic, or they don't want to take the time to learn the characters. I play on my iPad and on Steam, but I would love to get this game to the table and play it in person.
I also disagree with the deck of cards thing. The 52(54) card deck makes it easy to figure out combos and keep track of cards that your opponent has played. Yeah you can just look through their discard pile, but the suits and ranks make it easy to take a quick glance and then continue on with the game.
Dogmantra Also it has the one special that lets you make a poker hand (And I think the Panda in general uses the cards' number and suit if memory serves).
Dogmantra Pretty much the same problem here with Yomi, especially when comparing it to BattleCon. BattleCon is messier, so it feels more complex, but Yomi has more depth that comes out as you learn the characters and figure out small bits of timing. But anyone I meet who likes that sort of game tends to dismiss it as simple before they get to the deeper parts.
OK now a companion video: Top 10 games that everyone else wants to play BUT you (popular, but you can't stand it!) :)
***** send that in an email to the dice tower, they may look into it then. I would love to see that top 10 also
***** I second this! Its a great idea.
+MrNoelJMIS also known as overated games, which they've done
Exploding Kittens :-/ Getting so sick of that one, and everyone wants me to bring it.
I think that's the overrated list
I really want a yearly update for new people showing the 10 games that should be in their collections.
A newb's top 10 to try or buy
Great job on the top 10 saga guys.
This question pop on my mind once in a while "this game is so good yet it seems like i'm the only one around here that seems to like it?"
And finally i see you guys bring it to the spotlight
Games that i would play from the ones you mentioned:
Ticket to Ride: Märklin
SOS Titanic
On the underground
Sleuth
Yomi
Horse Fever
Havana
Hooyah
Vabanque
Asteroyds
Dungeon Twister
Factory Fun
Toledo
Ultimate Werewolf Artifacts
Duel of Ages
And my top ten list:
Merchant & Marauders
Dominant Species
Urban Sprawl
Asgard
Doomtown reloaded
Duel of Ages
Dread Curse
Witch's Brew
Wizard Brew
Chaos in the Old World
keep up the good work :)
"Repetition is the soul of repetition." ~Zee Garcia, 2015
Great topic for a Top 10! Really enjoyed the lists and the reactions around the table.
I agree with Zee! DC Comics DBG! For me, I never get Small World, Suburbia and Smash Up to be played often. When they do play it, they all have the same "it's okay" reaction.. :P
Tom, I love Duel of Ages 2 and have actually made an additional 168 characters for it. Mostly because I'm nuts, but I just love the fact that all characters from all eras and sources are included and I just wanted more. I'd play with you anytime!
Tom... that vitamin water is tempting me to run to the store to get one, I love that one!
With Sam on this played eruption at the UK games expo last month and have to say I really enjoyed it. Quick, fun and easy to learn.
Zee - DC Deck Builder is our "favorite" deck builder to bring to the table as a group with adults. You are NOT alone. My son even just introduced a new player to it and he loved it too. Don't let Tom and Sam beat you up on it. :P
Tom was VASEL-ating.
+ExBruinsFan I scrolled down only to look for / post this !
Yes to Havana. I absolutely love the intrigue of the double-role selection combos and push your luck to time triggering your roles. Awesome, but hard to find players who feel the same.
Zee, DC deck building game has been a huge hit in my circles. There's just enough theme to get light gamers interested and enough strategy to inspire repeat plays.
Sam - I love TransAmerica, and my family and I often alternate between TA and TTR.
Thank you for mentioning this much-loved (at least, by me!) game.
"repetition is the soul of repetition". genius.
lol I loved the sad intro music.
Munchkin, I had a group of friends that I used to play it with, we were so quick and smooth at the game that it was one of the most fun things I had ever done.I CANNOT play this game with anyone else now because everyone I try to play with sit around thinking about their turn for 3-5 minutes and hold all of their cards until the end. its just no fun anymore :/
I feel the same way about Duel of Ages as Tom, it is a fantastic game. I am lucky enough to have one person in my game group that likes the game as much as I do but I still don't get it to the table as often as I would like.
Was fun to watch this list again. Nice to see multiple of toms picks get reprinted.
Yes finally mics for everyone!
I saw a big stack of Battue at a store in Chattanooga about 4 years ago. They were marked down to what I would assume would have been cost, just to move.
Duel of ages is my favorite game, I completely agree that it is just to steep for too many people and its so hard to teach. But luckily my friend really likes it too, however we have been trying to get more players for so long, and it just seems impossible.
Intro music here was amazingly on theme. :)
@ 7:15 LOL you guys are so awesome! I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Dead of Winter is mine. I play with non-gamers and I can NOT get Dead of Winter to the table. They find the theme too creepy, the number of components overwhelming and the game length too long. They won't even give it a chance. (Walks away shaking his head).
Atlas Films Thats too bad. DOW is one of the best board games ive ever played!
Juno Synth Agreed!
Atlas Films That's how I am with "Republic of Rome". I'd love to play it again, but it really intimidates my family and friends, so it still has not been played since I was in college.
Atlas Films Tried Shadows over Camelot? Also a big game, but with simple mechanics. Even more easy to begin with? Try Forbidden Island. It will be a hit, I promiss...
That's to bad, if you can't get them to play Dead of Winter, then there is no chance you could get them to play my favorite game, Battlestar Galactica, I'm lucky I do have a group that will play it, but I also have a group of people who won't.
One of the problems with Hooyah is that, if somebody is bringing this to the table, I'm going to assume that they're a Navy SEAL. So, instead of focusing on the game, itself, I'm going to be focusing on the question, "Is this person going to kick my butt in real life if I don't like this game? Because, if they're a Navy SEAL, they almost certainly would be able to."
I have the same thing with 7 Card Slugfest and Nuns on the Run and Duel of Ages II. I love those games, but I cannot find anyone to play them. I play Nuns with my daughter and her boyfriend and friends, but that is all. 7 Card Slugfest is a no go, because of real time portion, and chaos on the table. And DoAII is too complex for many of my friends.
I can't get anyone to play any board games with me, everyone I know thinks Board games are boring, they only play video games, or stare at walls, I find it sad. They;re really missing out (I've seriously had people WHILE we were playing a board game just lose all focus on it and play a video game, he quit the game to finish his zombie mission)
Dr Timothy Hear, hear! Some of my friends are super great about it, while others go straight to their tablet. There is a serious lack of being able to focus on non electronics these days. I find it increases my focus and stretches my brain in a good way. I hope you can find some friends to play with.
I am awaiting your Top 10 Family Games list, I am surprised you haven't done this yet. It would be games you would play, that anyone in your family would enjoy. Great examples; Tobago, Eruption, Going Going Gone!, Formula D, Key Largo, Ave Caesar, Forbidden Island, etc.
One reason some of the games you mentioned in the video are not talked about as much nowadays is because (especially for people like me who have only been collecting board games for 6months - a year or so) they are not available any more..
I was lucky that TransAmerica was brought to a group I was at earlier in the month else I would have been none the wiser it even existed at one time..
This list would pretty much include 95% of my games when I'm with my wife and her family :-(
Jedrek Roscoe hahaha, that's my in-laws, boots, cowboy hats and guns, but I'm in Texas, north of Dallas.
@Tom- next time you just happen to be passing through western Colorado you will be able to get in on a game of Sleuth and Nuns on the Run with our game group.
One game I'm finding tough to get to the table is Rattus Cartus.
I'm with Zee on DC Deck Builder.I really enjoy it. I get the thematic problems but Marvel: Legendary is just as bad. The theme is there in both games but in different places and odd in others. As a game DC Deck Builder actually plays really well and the co-op version can be tense.
MorphManDude DC deckbuilder is the best deckbuilding game on the market, but the co-op version is really bad. Long and boring
Yeah I won't deny that it was long and at some point I really was tired of things. I played at a mate's place when I was unable to get home once so being 4am after a long work day may have influenced that.
I actually like a number of deckbuilders a lot but it isn't like my number one genre of games so I'm not exactly grilling them for which is the best.
I like DC Deckbuilder, Marvel Legendary, Legendary Encounters, XenoShyft, Shadowrun Crossfire, Warmachine High Command. Can't say which I like the most though. Legendary is the only one I've played more than twice.
MorphManDude
I agree with you on DC. Good game. I think the DC deckbulding and Marvel deckbuilding games are way better than Dice Masters. The
games do have theme issues but not as bad as just chucking dice with little
symbols on them. I find it ironic Tom doesn’t like the DC game, but really likes Dice Masters. :p
MorphManDude DC Deck Builder suffers from taking villains into your hand to add to your deck even though you're playing as heroes. Legendary suffers from "who exactly am I playing as?" issues. That being said DC deck builder is the one people always grab to play on our game night. Legendary doesn't make it to the table sadly.
MorphManDude My wife and I love DC, and we're planning on getting the new Teen Titans expansion as soon as it comes out. We play DCDB all the time.
DC deck building game always hits the table in my play group. So much so that I have had to restrict the amount we play to 5 game.
Phantomzeroneo Same, I'm lucky my group enjoys this game too. We have the problem of liking that game or something else that it is all we play for the month and it's difficult to bring something different each week or some more strategic longer games to the table. Kanban will never be played :( Although sometimes we break out of the obsession and then goes back into the cycle of: DOW, DC Deckbuilder, Ghost Stories, Tigris & Euphrates, Trains, samurai, 7 wonders (with leaders), and Smallworld
+Phantomzeroneo Wow. We had that happening for a while (and with The Resistance), but eventually stopped playing at the guy's house who insisted on playing it over and over.
Ok game, but ultimately, I'm not a fan.
Android for me.
I LOVE the theme, LOVE the personal story elements, LOVE the building conspiracy. The components are amazing. The art is fantastic. And...I put up with the competition mechanics because of how much I love everything else.
But EVERY time I try to explain it to someone they always get caught up on the placing evidence and trauma cards. It FEELS like you are planting evidence and throwing others under the bus rather than trying to solve a crime. And while I am able to work around that in my head and separate myself (as the competitive force) from the character trying to solve the mystery, it ALWAYS tanks the game for those I teach it to.
Really wish I could find a good variant...
The Dice Tower You have a mistake in Zee's 4th pick - Kryptos is from year 2014 and the author is Piotr Siłka (Peter Gymmy - from a small gym :) ). And I also think Kryptos is underestimated!
Sam! I love Gemblo! In fact, I bought it based on your recommendation. So if I'm ever visiting 'across the pond' I'll give you a game Sir!
As soon as I read the topic, I knew Kobayakawa was going to be on Zee list. Oh man, only you seem to like that game in the live session, it was so funny xD
I played Eruption a few times online on BGA. I found it interesting at first, and wondered why it was so unpopular. Until one game, the guy I was playing against kept putting lava tiles towards his own village, essentially helping me beat him, to the point that I was thinking he must have been confused about what village was mine and which was his. But, when the temperature of his village reached the last zone, he used at once all the special eruption tiles that he had received from being behind in score, and all the special cards he had accumulated since the beginning of the game, and managed to survive and beat me in like 3 turns. It totally ruined the game for me, as I learned that playing against yourself is actually a better strategy than playing the normal way. Really broken IMO.
My hard to get games out (that usually people say they actually liked playing, but I can't seem to get them out again) are Tanto Cuore, and Dungeon Twister. And a lot of 2 player games that include a decent amount of strategy like Summoner Wars, Lords of War, Pixel Tactics, etc.
You guys are great😊
Nuns in the Run is awesome. Yes it has some fiddly rules/mechanisms, but everything makes thematic sense. Zee is crazy.
The game I have the most trouble getting people to play is Shanghai Trader. They don't get the setting (1930's Shanghai China) and they have trouble with the area control and worker placement.
got your back on nuns on the run, Tom. I really like the atmosphere that game brings.
Tom - I did take your daughter's suggestion about Nuns on the Run, and my kids and wife do enjoy it... it just doesn't get to the table too often. (and Zee is right - the rules are a little complex, especially the line-of-sight thing with the dark pillars that you don't realize are blocking the LOS). My daughters (8 and 10) and wife tend to play co-op against me, which I think makes it more fun for them all.
Good to see some love for Havana and hooyah. Both games are in my collection. The one I have a hard time getting to the table is star trek fleet captains.
'It has a great theme' is the 'She's got a great personality' of the boardgame world.
Just a pretty face would be closer.
She's got a great personality is more befitting a game that looks repulsive, but plays really well. Terraforming Mars, Dominion, and Ascension are great examples of this.
My pick: Das Motorsportspiel. *By far* the best racing game, but it never caught on. It's really good only if you play against the clock, and you can't really do that with beginners, so they don't really see how fun it is and are not eager to come back.
I wholeheartedly agree with the "Scarlet D" concept - the "dungeon theme." I will accept other people's opinion that Lords of Waterdeep is an excellent worker placement game - but I have absolutely no desire to play it, or even watch it being played (I can not even force myself to sit through Wil Wheaton's run-through) - simply because it ties itself to the D&D genre/universe.
Sam I'm with you on your number two, however I've played two games of it in particular where one player didn't even get in their gate until they had only three units left due to combat rolls. I still enjoy playing it when someone offers but I can see how it can run players off.
Zee... you are so right. D.C. Deck building is in my families favorite top 5. We play this and Arcadia Quest (Tom) more than any other games.
Betrayal is a pain in my gaming group. Some people don't like it so they won't play it, and the ones who do like it have already played most of the haunts. And people who don't know about it find it intimidating.
cyanmanta Even if you do play the same haunt again, it usually plays out at least somewhat differently, so that's fun.
cyanmanta Wow, someone in our group is ALWAYS asking for Betrayal. For me its worn out its luster and the haunts start to feel samey.
+cyanmanta Wow, that's weird. I've had it for years, and it's a big hit in pretty much any group I try it on, and a pretty consistent visitor at game nights with my regular groups.
In fact, the only reason I don't play it more is because I avoid bringing it because there are so many other games I want to see come to the table that I know wouldn't if Betrayal was available at every game night.
Great list! I have several games that are really highly rated (Puerto Rico, Terra Mystica, and Twilight Struggle) that I can't get anyone in my group of players to touch. But the game that would be on this list for me would be Beowulf the legend that I believe Sam had on his list of most disappointing games, it was one of my first designer boardgames so maybe it just holds a special place for me.
@7:35"If you don't like it, what's wrong with you. If you do like it, what's wrong with you?" ... seems to be a common sentiment among board gamers. You should put it on a t-shirt for Dice Tower Con or maybe make it a Kickstarter stretch goal.
The Marklin map is really harsh for 3p, due to tripple routes with 2p and 3p counting as singles, as we discovered last time I played it. With 2, there's a way you can get round with maybe just one or two locations you'll be blocked out of by someone. With 3... It's very easy to accidentally get blocked into a very small corner of the map without any collusion or deliberate 'going to block them in' actions from the other two players - Last time I played Marklin, which was quite recently, one of my opponants - Experienced Ticket to Ride player, never gotten blocked in on any map, including harsh maps, wound up with a score of -2 on it due to how easy it is to get blocked in without the ability to get from one part of the board to another.
The other bit that bothers me about Marklin is that it's unique deck means it doesn't work as a base set - You can't play any other map with the Marklin set with it due to that. Saying that, the colour choices are - I think - better for colour blindness issues (White instead of either red or green, I forget, and purple instead of blue, avoiding red/green and blue/yellow colour blindness), and instead of wooden disks you've got stackable score markers, so I do tend to use the Trains from Marklin whichever version I'm playing.
I like On The Underground. Not one of my favourites, but very worth playing every now and then. Kept that over Through the Desert when I last culled my collection.
The rest I haven't played (Aside Dungeon Twister which I've only played the Prison second edition of it, no expansions), but I don't think any of them I wouldn't be willing to give a try (I enjoy Dungeon Twister, just... Don't have any expansions to it so you'd still need to teach me the characters I'm unfamiliar with)
Sam - What sort of Petting Zoo has Gorillas, Giraffes and Pandas?
I would love playing Gemblo, Dungeon Twister, and Yomi more often than I get to. My playing of Dungeon Twister stopped, once my daughter went away to college. My playing of Yomi, stopped when my son went to college. Gemblo, I could not get my family to play for some reason. Sam, if I ever attend one of the conventions, I will make sure I bring my Gemblo game, so we can play a few. :)
Tom and Zee, look on your phines for a little game called Town of Salem. It is somewhat similar to werewolf but you dont get artifact cards, but rather a role with a power that cn be used once per night. It has a very active playerbase. It is also free.
Totally agree with sleuth. I love it but when it comes to deduction games people just seen to lean towards the 1-vs-many hidden movement games over sleuth itself. I mean... I love those too but I miss sleuth. Haven't played it in months.
I agree with regards to the DC Deck Building. Everyone in my group likes the game, but it will rarely make it to the table anymore.
Libertalia is quickly becoming the only game like this on my list.
Through so many DT videos of old, Sam won the majority of dice rolls!
Galaxy Trucker and Qwirkle. I can't figure out why they don't go over well, considering so many worse games are better received by the same groups.
Kanzume Godess. I've only gotten to play one game, but I really like the mechanics of it, it has asymmetric roles which is always a plus, an interesting twist on deckbuilders where you can either get enough points to win, or attack everyone else and bring them to 0 instead. Plus I thought it was cool how you could play one card a turn, but then if certain other cards had a matching symbol you could chain them together. However it's a colossal pain in the ass to get people to play because the art is pure cheesecake.
I played Havana with my brother and dad, they both really liked it. I enjoyed it too.
48:52 Where did you buy these D20s from please? I just received one from the states in the mail and it's LARGE!!! The one's you have I would say are medium in comparison. WHERE CAN I GET ONE???
Dungeon Twister was Designed by Christophe Boelinger, and the latest "edition" was Dungeon Twister the Card Game in 2013. Not sure what game the information you have up on the screen is for, but it ain't Dungeon Twister. :)
Are those Carcassonne coasters? Damn that's a good idea.
Of the 30, the only one I really know and like is Battue. I agree it is a very fun game, and it's dirt cheap. Sadly, the tiles can often be warped as the company was junk.
Mine is Robo Rally... not that people in my group wouldn't like it, they're just competitive and I'm not, I just enjoy playing the game with all those moments when someone pushes me into a laser and I die horribly... for me it's more like a party game, I can just have lots of fun playing it. For me this game was "love on first sight".
Please, please, can someone enlighten me on the title of the intro piece?!
I'm always down for some 3 Dragon Ante. On the other side of things, I can't find anyone to play Euphoria, and I absolutely love it.
I've wanted to try Euphoria.
Interesting topic this time!
I like that you got more mics this time, but it only sounded like Sam's mic picked him up closely. Tom & Zee sounded a little distant as if the sound were picked up from a different mic (like maybe Sam's). Did the mix not work so you just had to pull from one source?
I'm with Zee regarding S.O.S. Titanic. Fun little game. I know it is solo or cooperative, but it is really a solo game, if you ask me. It definitely is going to have a small audience, though. All I know is that I never want to play Klondike Solitaire again after playing S.O.S. Titanic... the theme and the special powers really spice up the game. This is also prime for being made into a phone app.
I'm right with you Tom, love me some Duel of Ages!!
My problem with 3 Dragon Ante is that the game is not complete within the box.
Anyone else think the new thumbnail pics of Sam and Zee, for the Top Tens, make them look like they have Kid'n'Play haircuts?
Factory Fun. My favorite game. Hands down. 10/10. And I have had great success with it when I introduce it to friends.
My game is Battlelore. I love the game and several of my friends own a copy but I can never get it to the table. I think it's because it is only 2 players. When I hang out with my gamer friends we are usually in a small group so a 2 player game doesn't cut it. New players are intimidated by the theme and the fact that it is a war game, even though the Command and Colors systems is simple and awesome!
I agree with Dungeon Twister! It looks really interesting. I have it and have not managed to find anyone who wants to play it.
I always seem to have problems getting a game of Mage wars started, something about the deck building seems to daunting for my play group I guess.
Can't seem to find a review on HAVANA.. but based on what Zee says, and the one or two videos I HAVE seen, I'd say thanks Zee, I'm gonna look into this one. :D
the second I read the title I knew Tom would pick DoA for #1 :D
Pockets rockets... "insert Beavis laughter"
Dungeon Twister is an awesome, 'thinky' game, but like you Tom I just can't get it to the table. It's good that someone else really likes it, sadly Lancashire to Florida is a bit of a trek for a game even on as cool as this.
Today on Dice Tower, Sam Healey rolls a dice.
Dungeon Twister was designed by the great Christophe Boelinger, not Lehman & Huang :)
One of my fav top tens
Mine would be Age of Conan, love that game and can't wait for the expansion. I also have a hard time getting people to play Smallworld until they actually play it, then they love it.
It's hard for me to get Yedo to the table. It's a great worker placement game, but it's just so long compared to say Lords of Waterdeep. AquaSphere is another one that's hard to get to the table, just because so many people don't like it, and I'll admit, it's a little too long for what it offers.
Marklin is my favorite TTR; love the passenger *mechanic*, but the actual component setup involved is a bit fiddly.
In no particular order, my 10 games and the reasons they don't get out much:
Nightfall--One friend loves it, but it doesn't play well with two, and the only other friend who loves it ruins it.
Ares Project--I LOVE THIS GAME. But the learning curve seems to put others off. And the randomness. And the small hand size.
Through the Ages--Fantastic, but again with the learning curve for the full game. I guess I don't know enough dedicated gamers.
Age of Gods--Hard to get people to play this when I own Smallworld and Chaos in the Old World as well.
City of Thieves--Fun, good tactics, good theme, but nothing really whiz-bang about it. But I like it. . .
Cutthroat Caverns--I don't get why people don't like getting stabbed in the back.
Android--Ok, I really can't blame them. Great game, but the failure to deliver on the theme REALLY gets in the way of enjoying it.
Oltre Mare--"We'd rather play Bohnanza." WHY???
Myth: Pantheons--Ok, so there was that one game where the first Round lasted 2 1/2 hours because we found a near-infinite loop in the "Draw extra cards" mechanic, but still.
Lawless--It's hard to get a game out a lot when you have to use extensive errata for the game to be fair.
But I still love all of these games!
I actually enjoyed Aquaretto more than Zooloretto. I played it first so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. It's the exact same game, although I liked the more modular board.
I would LOVE to play Dungeon Twister Tom!
Dungeon Twister sounds fun but I doubt I'll hunt it down.