Quick background for context: I work as an extra in Film and TV sometimes. The days can be long, sporadic, and filled with a lot of downtime. I have learned to always have a travel sized game on me, partly for breaking the ice with strangers/catching up with others I’ve not seen in a while, and partly so I don’t just sit there on my phone! Some favourites from on set: Monopoly Deal - takes the hell of classic Monopoly and turns it into a slick, fast-paced free-for-all, whilst retaining a familiar theme that eases people into the game. Zombie Dice - Ten seconds to learn, almost infinitely scalable as everyone uses the same dice anyway, and always a good laugh as you find out who you should and shouldn’t go to Vegas with. Peruke: Elegant, abstract but easy to learn, nice wooden pieces and packs away neatly into a tobacco tin. Schotten Totten: Fiendishly brain-boggling, fun & stylisticly eye catching art, perfect for when you’ve really got some time to kill.
Watching Sky Team at #6 was already an honour but having Turing Machine at #1 makes it WOW! Thanks! We'll keep watching your videos for infinity too! Haha.
Jaws of the Lion 100%. We love this game so much: It its good value, its relatively compact and its a lot of fun! We even took this with us to vacations 2 times.
I'm gonna continue on the Button Shy hype train as I always am. Great little inexpensive games that have so much to offer. They also make fantastic gifts, so even if you have one you don't like you can pass it along to someone who might end up loving it!
Really enjoyed the video, but couldn't help but get distracted by how Mike channelled his inner anime protagonist in how he puts his cap back on around 22:50
the minute i saw the title i thought quest for el dorado. insane replayability for a great price, especially in this modern age of 80-150 dollar KS games
I guess it depends where you are in the world and where games are in the print run cycle. But games that seem to be regularly at a bargain price to me include High Society - great, classic game and the Osprey edition has really high quality art and production. Sushi Go Party - lots of variety for a simple card game Pan Am - clever route building + economic game with some great mid-century style travel art.
Great lists or top 10 you are doing thanks. For that list i absolutely agree with the quest for el dorado, great value for board game, great for kids and adults together. Thanks
Super agree with Turing Machine! So many combos of cards, but also really great value in ways to play, whether competitive, solo, or co-op. Great video!!
A great list. Kinfire is new to me, and I picked up Turing Machine last year after watching your playthrough :) El Dorado, Santorini, Sky Team are all games I've played so much.
Also im surprised you guys didnt add Dice miners in there. Based on your recommendation we got it and its by far our most played game last year and for the cost, we certainly got a good deal there.
My City is a great cheap legacy game! It is so easy to table that you can get through the full 24 plays and it works out to like $1.50 Canadian per play) (likely about $1 per play in USD)!
#1 another great game that would work in this is cryptid I absolutely love that one a little harder because someone can mess up so you have to be on top of it but love the deduction in that one
Saw Santorini New York at an Ollie's store recently for $12.99, I think? Worth a look if you live near an Ollie's and the game sounds interesting to you! Love these picks, guys!
War of the Ring should have been somewhere up there in the top 10s. Name me another $90 game that comes with 200+ miniatures for that price tag. And this one comes with an established IP to top it all off.
Haha! I sooooo misread the title. I thought y’all were doing, “top ten: video games”. I was thinking y’all were doing a one-off. Still great- and a potential future idea.
Interesting list. The White Castle is a really fun game, but it does kind of want to explode out of that little box after the first play. It's got a muffin top. First on my list would be the base version of Star Realms. Massive replayability, lots of expansions that aren't even necessary. Tiny package. And cheap. Next would be Targi. Small package, big two-player experience. Third would be the original Castles of Burgundy. Maybe the greatest game ever made, and can be found lightly used for the price of a cheap dinner, in exchange for years if not decades of continuous enjoyment.
For party games, sometimes they aren’t as replayable if they don’t have enough cards. For that reason, I think games like Blank Slate and Just One are the better value as you could play it with the same people all the time and they won’t get stale.
So white castle...we tried it after seeing so much praise. When we played it, we really felt like we were not doing anything. I.E. so many turns of just doing something simple and then off turns of doing something good but not that great. The game ended leaving us with a feeling of not really accomplishing much and frustrated we were sort of struggling so hard all game to accomplish anything. So question, its quite possible we just suck at it...have others felt this way? Are we just bad at it and need to play it more? Or is this sort of the feeling some people crave and love about the game and we just happen to not like the pace of the game?
That is at the beginning, as you play you start to see and pursue big combos and are able to gain resources in an optimal way rather than using whole turns just for resources
Where is Santorini inexpensive and available? Murphs need to do a shopping tour where people can get games cheap. It is going to go through a print run. IF it were normal available, it would be a great value, but... Hey Murphs, correct me here.
Santorini's cooperative expansion is getting printed, so a restock is incoming. Agreed that it is currently OoP, but fear not it's about to be restocked when the Kickstarter fulfills. It wouldn't surprise me if they're coming over with Skyrise either.
I did a late pledge for the Santorini deluxe plus the expansion. It is still a decent price considering the deluxe plus expansion was like $150 when most games offering that are $150 base game deluxe
It does seem as though the base game of Santorini is out of print, but historically it has been incredibly cheap. We probably should have swapped that one out for something else, but we wanted to include it because it's usually SUCH a good value, and it's a very popular game so we assumed it will be coming back into print soon. But we can't say that for sure.
@TheBrothersMurph the reprint looks like they are going no longer a bargain. Historically your video is on target but sustained bargains will stop being bargains. Santorini is the Cosmic Encounter of abstract games. I think Mythic Mischief is its rival for that title.
Santorini is such a good bang for your buck. I agree with your assessment in that it's good in its base level but there's a ton of god cards you could add to spice it.
My top 10 in no order would probably be... Jaws of the Lion Forbidden Desert Devir Games in general Planted Codenames So Clover Patchwork Castles of Burgundy The Crew Targi
I’m definitely going to buy Paint the Roses, just debating on spending double the price for the deluxe version (includes expansion), or sticking to the retail If anyone has tried both I’d love some info!
I have the deluxe version and it is worth every penny, the tiles are Azul quality comparing to cardboard in the retail version. I haven’t tried the expansions yet, but it is always good to have some more options.
Great video, BUT it's missing THE BEST "bang for buck" game I ever played: Under falling Skies Sooo much replay ability for 30 euro and such a great game imho 😊
Would you recommend Jaws of the Lion purely for solo play, I guess it must be played two handed, I’d prefer true solo, or is it realistically a two player game and is it in two player where it shines?
Race for the Galaxy is always on this list for me. Particularly as the 2 player advanced version. My wife and I have spent more hours playing that game over probably everything except Magic the gathering.
Good value I have seen for 35 dollars or less: Forest Shuffle (nature theme, lots of different strategies), Horrified (any version, cooperative fun), El Grande (reprint, best area control game ever) Cat in the Box (Card game with a twist)
Yeah at this point it is expensive but historically it’s cheap. We’re assuming it’ll come back into print as it’s a very popular game. But at this very moment it’s not cheap
Is it still available? We thought they weren’t selling it anymore. Because that is the ultimate value for what you’re getting if it is still available.
My list: Ohanimi: cost £10, over 125 playes 😂 Mandala: cost £20, 80 plays Azul: cost £30, over 75 plays Grand Austria Hotel: over 20 plays and probably comparable to Ohanimi in terms of total play time.
Such a Great Channel - You guys mention games that don't even hit my radar most the time (and i own over 1000+ boardgames) - So looking at White Castle now :) - Havent seen a play or review yet, from the sound of it i'm wondering if it's like Euphoria which was my favorite Euro game in 2013 . Cheerz
Quick background for context: I work as an extra in Film and TV sometimes. The days can be long, sporadic, and filled with a lot of downtime. I have learned to always have a travel sized game on me, partly for breaking the ice with strangers/catching up with others I’ve not seen in a while, and partly so I don’t just sit there on my phone!
Some favourites from on set:
Monopoly Deal - takes the hell of classic Monopoly and turns it into a slick, fast-paced free-for-all, whilst retaining a familiar theme that eases people into the game.
Zombie Dice - Ten seconds to learn, almost infinitely scalable as everyone uses the same dice anyway, and always a good laugh as you find out who you should and shouldn’t go to Vegas with.
Peruke: Elegant, abstract but easy to learn, nice wooden pieces and packs away neatly into a tobacco tin.
Schotten Totten: Fiendishly brain-boggling, fun & stylisticly eye catching art, perfect for when you’ve really got some time to kill.
Watching Sky Team at #6 was already an honour but having Turing Machine at #1 makes it WOW! Thanks! We'll keep watching your videos for infinity too! Haha.
Jaws of the Lion 100%. We love this game so much: It its good value, its relatively compact and its a lot of fun! We even took this with us to vacations 2 times.
I'm gonna continue on the Button Shy hype train as I always am. Great little inexpensive games that have so much to offer. They also make fantastic gifts, so even if you have one you don't like you can pass it along to someone who might end up loving it!
You mentioned a standard deck of cards at the outset...I wonder if you could do a top 10 games to play with a standard deck. Norwegian Whist ftw!
Really enjoyed the video, but couldn't help but get distracted by how Mike channelled his inner anime protagonist in how he puts his cap back on around 22:50
the minute i saw the title i thought quest for el dorado. insane replayability for a great price, especially in this modern age of 80-150 dollar KS games
Such a great game. And very underrated
I guess it depends where you are in the world and where games are in the print run cycle. But games that seem to be regularly at a bargain price to me include
High Society - great, classic game and the Osprey edition has really high quality art and production.
Sushi Go Party - lots of variety for a simple card game
Pan Am - clever route building + economic game with some great mid-century style travel art.
Great lists or top 10 you are doing thanks. For that list i absolutely agree with the quest for el dorado, great value for board game, great for kids and adults together. Thanks
Super agree with Turing Machine! So many combos of cards, but also really great value in ways to play, whether competitive, solo, or co-op. Great video!!
Surprised Beer & Bread didn't make the list. Cheap and awesome and perfect size too.
I have been looking for Santorini for like a year and I cant find it anywhere unless I want to pay $60 and up on Noble Knights or ebay!
Yeah it seems like it’s out of print, but I would assume it’s coming back
There's a new pantheon edition, but it's $200 australian dollars... so yeh.@@TheBrothersMurph
A great list. Kinfire is new to me, and I picked up Turing Machine last year after watching your playthrough :) El Dorado, Santorini, Sky Team are all games I've played so much.
Great list. Our extended family enjoys The Crew, Long Shot: The Dice Game and That's Not a Hat.
Fantastic Factories comes to mind, especially with the Manufactions expansion.
Dice Forge would be on my list. The production of that game is AMAZING for a game that can regularly be found on sale for under $30.
Every single video with the “please subscribe” segments make me mad that I cannot subscribe a second time.
Can you talk to Google about that next?
😂
Also im surprised you guys didnt add Dice miners in there. Based on your recommendation we got it and its by far our most played game last year and for the cost, we certainly got a good deal there.
My City is a great cheap legacy game! It is so easy to table that you can get through the full 24 plays and it works out to like $1.50 Canadian per play) (likely about $1 per play in USD)!
#1 another great game that would work in this is cryptid I absolutely love that one a little harder because someone can mess up so you have to be on top of it but love the deduction in that one
Great video idea! Excited to watch it
Saw Santorini New York at an Ollie's store recently for $12.99, I think? Worth a look if you live near an Ollie's and the game sounds interesting to you!
Love these picks, guys!
Heck yeah I’ve gotten tons of games from Ollie’s! It can be hit or miss but worth checking out!
I saw the Stefan Feld game: Revolution of 1828 at Ollie's!
@@JJ_TheGreat no way! What a good find.
War of the Ring should have been somewhere up there in the top 10s. Name me another $90 game that comes with 200+ miniatures for that price tag. And this one comes with an established IP to top it all off.
That’s a great call!
Haha! I sooooo misread the title. I thought y’all were doing, “top ten: video games”. I was thinking y’all were doing a one-off. Still great- and a potential future idea.
Lol! We have thought about occasionally do a completely different list like that
Interesting list. The White Castle is a really fun game, but it does kind of want to explode out of that little box after the first play. It's got a muffin top. First on my list would be the base version of Star Realms. Massive replayability, lots of expansions that aren't even necessary. Tiny package. And cheap. Next would be Targi. Small package, big two-player experience. Third would be the original Castles of Burgundy. Maybe the greatest game ever made, and can be found lightly used for the price of a cheap dinner, in exchange for years if not decades of continuous enjoyment.
Boys, It's about time Google put some respect on your name. Thanks for another banger!
For party games, sometimes they aren’t as replayable if they don’t have enough cards. For that reason, I think games like Blank Slate and Just One are the better value as you could play it with the same people all the time and they won’t get stale.
I love Just One! It's so fun to see how other people's minds work [or don't work, in some cases]
So white castle...we tried it after seeing so much praise. When we played it, we really felt like we were not doing anything. I.E. so many turns of just doing something simple and then off turns of doing something good but not that great. The game ended leaving us with a feeling of not really accomplishing much and frustrated we were sort of struggling so hard all game to accomplish anything.
So question, its quite possible we just suck at it...have others felt this way? Are we just bad at it and need to play it more? Or is this sort of the feeling some people crave and love about the game and we just happen to not like the pace of the game?
That is at the beginning, as you play you start to see and pursue big combos and are able to gain resources in an optimal way rather than using whole turns just for resources
Really love Trekking through history , great gameplay and the production can make most of the kickstarters shy
I liked this video for its value.
Nice
havent seen it sense i started watching you all but have you ever played Smash Up!?
Where is Santorini inexpensive and available? Murphs need to do a shopping tour where people can get games cheap. It is going to go through a print run. IF it were normal available, it would be a great value, but...
Hey Murphs, correct me here.
The retail version of Santorini isn't expensive. Wheter or not it's available is a different question.
Santorini's cooperative expansion is getting printed, so a restock is incoming. Agreed that it is currently OoP, but fear not it's about to be restocked when the Kickstarter fulfills.
It wouldn't surprise me if they're coming over with Skyrise either.
I did a late pledge for the Santorini deluxe plus the expansion. It is still a decent price considering the deluxe plus expansion was like $150 when most games offering that are $150 base game deluxe
It does seem as though the base game of Santorini is out of print, but historically it has been incredibly cheap. We probably should have swapped that one out for something else, but we wanted to include it because it's usually SUCH a good value, and it's a very popular game so we assumed it will be coming back into print soon. But we can't say that for sure.
@TheBrothersMurph the reprint looks like they are going no longer a bargain. Historically your video is on target but sustained bargains will stop being bargains. Santorini is the Cosmic Encounter of abstract games. I think Mythic Mischief is its rival for that title.
Santorini is such a good bang for your buck. I agree with your assessment in that it's good in its base level but there's a ton of god cards you could add to spice it.
Where is it available? I can’t find it.
@meloniepurcell9248 they are doing a kickstarter due Fall 2024. You can pre-order on the page.
My top 10 in no order would probably be...
Jaws of the Lion
Forbidden Desert
Devir Games in general
Planted
Codenames
So Clover
Patchwork
Castles of Burgundy
The Crew
Targi
Shout out to White Castle . . .for it's price is half the single expansion for Dune Imperium ( ....... shaaaaaaaaaame !!! .... )
Alice's Garden
I’m definitely going to buy Paint the Roses, just debating on spending double the price for the deluxe version (includes expansion), or sticking to the retail
If anyone has tried both I’d love some info!
I have the deluxe version and it is worth every penny, the tiles are Azul quality comparing to cardboard in the retail version. I haven’t tried the expansions yet, but it is always good to have some more options.
Great video, BUT it's missing THE BEST "bang for buck" game I ever played: Under falling Skies
Sooo much replay ability for 30 euro and such a great game imho 😊
Would you recommend Jaws of the Lion purely for solo play, I guess it must be played two handed, I’d prefer true solo, or is it realistically a two player game and is it in two player where it shines?
Yah best Value! 🎉
My personal list:
Radlands
Dinosaur island rawr n write
Azul mini
Fantasy realms
Terraforming mars AE
Blue lagoon
Skull king
Great picks!
Race for the Galaxy is always on this list for me. Particularly as the 2 player advanced version. My wife and I have spent more hours playing that game over probably everything except Magic the gathering.
uh....being colorblind, how do I eat meat if I have to avoid gray meat? :D
Gotta taste the gray
Watching 🎉
"A" great value? This must be an American turn of phrase. In the UK it's just "great value"!
Interesting! So how would you say “that car is a great value!” Would it be “that car is great value?”
@@TheBrothersMurph Spot on!
Interesting!
A lot of the Tiny Epic Games are great values. I have Galaxies and Dinosaurs myself.
Have y'all ever played fast sloths?
Funny you should ask, Nick just played it for the first time last week and we are literally setting it up to play as i write this
@@TheBrothersMurph awesome guys.
Good value I have seen for 35 dollars or less:
Forest Shuffle (nature theme, lots of different strategies),
Horrified (any version, cooperative fun),
El Grande (reprint, best area control game ever)
Cat in the Box (Card game with a twist)
Stupid Question: is Jaws of the lion replay able?
Sure! I don't think you tear anything up. You'll know the story but the game should play just fine
Santorini is not cheap at all. Currently out of print with only the Pantheon edition coming out, it is NOT cheap.
Yeah at this point it is expensive but historically it’s cheap. We’re assuming it’ll come back into print as it’s a very popular game. But at this very moment it’s not cheap
Santorini 2nd edition Kickstarter is going through at the moment. Latest ETA is summer 2024.
Subscribed for free, great value!! How much is it to like a video?
Kinfire delve looks fun....but in top 10 "best value" games of all time?? I'm really not convinced.
Wait, I'm already subscribed. Can I get a refund of what I paid?
great value ames and Mechs vs minions is not on the list???????
Is it still available? We thought they weren’t selling it anymore. Because that is the ultimate value for what you’re getting if it is still available.
It's not being sold by Riot anymore on there website, not sure if they have any plans for a reprint
Used prices have really crept up too :(
My list:
Ohanimi: cost £10, over 125 playes 😂
Mandala: cost £20, 80 plays
Azul: cost £30, over 75 plays
Grand Austria Hotel: over 20 plays and probably comparable to Ohanimi in terms of total play time.
10 starts at 2:01
My like got you to 666 🤘
Such a Great Channel - You guys mention games that don't even hit my radar most the time (and i own over 1000+ boardgames) - So looking at White Castle now :) - Havent seen a play or review yet, from the sound of it i'm wondering if it's like Euphoria which was my favorite Euro game in 2013 . Cheerz