Great list! Ark Nova is another game that certainly fits the mould; over here in the UK, there was an absolute frenzy over it (likely due to limited stock). On Board Game social media groups, sales posts selling the game for three times the price would go in a matter of minutes, and stock would get rapidly depleted within an hour of retailers receiving reesupplies. Now, a year or so on, there are regular sales post selling it at half the price.
I wouldn't say spiraling, but I would say there simply no longer the bastion of innovation and theme of it used to be. I feel like they become the Disney of board game designers... Instead of really being innovative anymore, now they just make what they think will appeal broadly and sell well, planning unlimited expansions as long as they continue to sell.
@@chauveet Are they even that now? They have a few cooperative LCGs that have consistent releases. Outside of that you have a few board games like Outer Rim and not much else. All their miniature and roleplay games have been gutted and moved elsewhere.
Netrunner is having a resurgence. NISEI is a group that has taken the game and made new cards for the game. There is an all new starter set. SU&SD just did a video on why you should get into the game now.
I wouldn't bother with NISEI. They're making terrible decisions like removing brain damage from the game for no reason. They're also changing their name because somebody whined to them that it was offensive. Not exactly the most stable group of fans.
Yeah Netrunner is a baffling choice from Alex. It’s like the polar opposite of what this list is meant to be; people are still talking and raving about it years after it died.
Watch the vids from Team Covenant. They play it periodically and you can see how tense a game it can be. They always look like they're having fun playing it.
"Top 10 Games That Used To Be a Big Deal." I was thinking: * Monopoly * Risk * Clue * Connect-4 * Battleship * Pick-Up-Sticks * Life * Uno * Yahtzee * Checkers; ... But one from "that" era, that has had a hidden influence, I think, would be: * Acquire
Android Netrunner seems to be having a resurgence. Nisei created a not for profit version of the game and SuSD did a good vid recently on why you should get into it in 2022. I might be biased though cause a friend taught me the game on Monday and I was fairly hooked in.
In my opinion, AN crumbled under the weight of too many cards that players exploited in ways unforeseen to the designers. This accelerated in 2016, by which time some who championed and promoted the game declared it was no longer fun. There still is a high interest in the game as Nisei and play groups indicate, and I hope someone will bring the game back closer to its original format of running, advancing and flatlining.
@@AdamJorgensen Yeah it's definitely not off-brand Netrunner by any stretch. Much more another evolution. NISEI have 100% proven themselves as being better caretakers of Netrunner than even FFG (and to be clear I love FFG so much for reviving it and really having a good run for a few years there), and they even do things like hire original Netrunner artists for their new cards. Also have much better design and approach to the game (learning from mistakes of original A:NR, which had so many unplayable cards and no viable path to avoiding a bloated cardpool). It has very much gotten back to the core of early A:NR that the game got away from with too big a pool and janky decks starting especially with Mumbad Cycle. I could get why the initial take is any such project is just "fake" and not worth your time, but there's a reason it's been around for years now and has been only getting better and still getting coverage from places like Covenant and SUSD which most corporate-run games could only dream of.
The Star Wars/Trek meme is saw was... a Storm Trooper shoots at a "red shirt", misses, but the red shirt still dies. Does Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble count?
Dark Moon is criminally underrated. I have talked to people who completely hate it, so it seems to be polarizing. I love it, but it isn't easy to get to the table because it feels like there is ALWAYS at least one person who vetoes it.
It's one of my favorites. It's the perfect hidden traitor for me. There's enough meat to the game to build up tension and suspicion. But, the game actually had a reasonable length.
I completely agree with Dead of Winter, it's an amazing story engine. And I find it to be surprisingly modular with the rules, we usually play without the 'traitor' as there's already so much going on in the game, awesome game, one of my favorites.
I liked the game and enjoyed the Atmosphere that reminded me of fallout ... but my group hated the game and kept saying it would have worked better as a competitive game with each player running his own colony ,,, the game has been collecting dust on my shelf since
Small World Deluxe Chest was one of my favourite purchases. My local shop held a board game tournament for Small World and I lent the chest for the event. Every participant got at least one chance to play on it and we did a final game with the top players for first prize. Unfortunately, I don't get it out very often because it weighs about 40 lbs.
Oddly enough, my first foray into the gaming space were also in Meg's list: both Arkham Horror 2nd Edition and Talisman. I remember walking into my local FLGS and seeing the cover boxes. I was intrigued how different they looked compared to mainstream games like Clue or Monopoly. At that time, I hadn't ever even heard of Lovecraft or Cthulhu and had no idea what I was in for. But, I'll never forget it - I took Arkham home first. I tried for hours to decipher the rules and couldn't hack it - had to take it to my RPG group to ask for help. With a little bit of patience, we were able crack the enigma and play through the maddening adventure time and again. Later, I sold it to come to Japan - I instantly regretted it. However, I now have 70% of the game collected again - just need to finish finding the remaining big-boxes. The comradery, fun, and memories will always be a vast majority of why this game is special to me.
Super Dungeon Explore was originally a collaboration between Soda Pop Miniatures and CMON and the game was fantastic. They released a few expansions that added more heroes and monsters and updated the rules to a 1.5 rule set. Many of us wanted more and especially new boards. Then Soda Pop Miniatures separated from CMON and started Ninja Division and launched a Kickstarter for Forgotten King with a new “simpler” rule set. For me this was the downfall. The new version was horrible and they never really made the game anywhere as good as the original game with the 1.5 rule set. It was quite bad. Then they released another Kickstarter and a promise of yet another new rule set and went bankrupt. A lot of people just flat out lost the money they put towards the second Kickstarter. I’m not really sure what remains of the company and the game.
I tried to like the game, and I really liked the Gauntlet video game feel of the game. They even had turtles that could go in their shells and other monsters could kick them to damage the players, it was coolio. But the full game with the big monster at the end was a real slog. I kept hoping that they'd slim down the ruleset and they did go through a couple of iterations but they mismanaged the whole thing and the company went out of business.
29:37 I agree! I feel that Sagrada is more similar to Calico than it is to Azul. In both Calico and Sagrada, you are completing a very restrictive puzzle, to fill in your board: In Calico - your quilt; In Sagrada - your window. Also, in Calico, you are using the color and pattern of the tiles; whereas, in Sagrada, you are using the color and number of the dice.
A really fun game experience but it is also way too long. This is a game that would benefit immensely from having a companion app that helped with administration tasks and management of all the event/monster decks. That would help shorten the play time too.
Originally played Talisman back in 1986, and had a complete 2nd edition set, and currently have a complete 4th edition set. Brought me into the hobby. Prior, I was just an RPG player.
Arkham Horror was my first board game to get me into the hobby as well so it will forever have a special place in my heart. I was just at a store and couldn't believe what I was seeing and had to get it. Was my favorite for a long time, but playing it at 8 players (when I didn't know any better) broke me on wanting to play it ever again, but it was always the game that made me love this hobby and expand my collection like crazy.
Arkham Horror was also my very first game at my very first gaming convention, I ended up at the table of a super controlling freak ( who also happens to be the owner of that game) He kept telling everyone what to do, and throwing a strop if we chose differently. making us feel uncomfortable.. So I ended up literally just being a servant to move my character as he wishes... I was so bored out of my wits... and could not wait for this very long game to end ... almost put me off gaming forever ... thank god my next game was 7 wonders and Puerto Rico which I enjoyed a lot and got me into board games ... yet I could never bring myself to play Arkham Horror ever again even though I really loved Elder Sign I played afterward...
I wanted to add the following 1980-90's games (Nightmare 1991 (with a VHS tape), Twilight Imperium 1997, El Grande & Settlers of Catan 1995, Tigris & Euphrates 1997 and of course the grossly expensive for it day 1981's Dark Tower). Most of these games flew off the shelves as soon as we were able to stock them all the while I couldn't sell one copy of Triopoly... lol.
I have the original Sentinels and you mentioned a token pack provided by Greaterthangames if you have the original at 23:44. How exactly do I reach out for these?
Smallworld has aged very well though. It looks great still and I don't think its spot is going to be replaced by another game due to the unique theme+mechanics.
30:36 Again, I just don’t even see the point in comparing them! But which do you like better between Calico and Sagrada? That, to me, is a more relevant question!
Something to keep in mind about Eldritch horror. The game can actually last longer than a regular game of Arkham horror. If you happen to draw a certain card during the game. Dead of winter did not suffer from pop culture. It's suffered because it's a just a bad game with broken mechanics.
It really shows for me that I joined the hobby in force in 2016. For most of these games, by the time I was aware of them there were usually already newer games that were at least attempting to replace them.
I used to love mice and mystics, completed it and the glorm expansion, super fun. My pick would be Zombicide, huge back in the day, especially on kickstarter but even with the re-dos it's just never regained its original glory imo.
Games that I personally have experience with that were a big deal, but not so much anymore: -RISK 2210 -Heroscape -Resistance Avalon -Dead of Winter -Star Wars CCG -Eldritch Horror -Descent 2.0 -Escape: The Curse of the Temple -Sushi Go -Zombie Dice
Good lists. I started the hobby in 2011. These are the ones ive seen go from searing hot to luke-warm or cold. No particular order. 1. Glory to Rome. 2. Dominion 3. Smash Up 4. LOTR LCG 5. Agricola 6. Suburbia 7. Nations 8. Quarriors 9. Summoner Wars 10. Race for the Galaxy
Love Meg and Alex collaborations! I wonder how many of these games were artificially hot during their time due to low supply and their hotness decreased once supply met demand. Rather than games that were objectively good from the start and their hotness decreased over time because they were replaced by another game.
I love Arkham Horror 2e, we have everything but it's so hard to table and we don't table it as much anymore. Played it for years before I really got into board games.
I really enjoy these videos with you and Meg. I just picked up Merchants & Marauders and have had some epic plays with it, including a house-ruled co-op variant.
Tzolk’in (2012) is sort of the spiritual predecessor of the “T-series” because it was co-designed by Daniele Tascini, who designed Teotihuacan: The City of Gods (2018), the “real” first game in the “T-series.”
I was surprised that this year, running the numbers, that I've played 34 new games. 25 of them just in the past four months. All due to joining a new game group that meets (faithfully) weekly. So sad that the Professor is finally moving away from Talisman. Her justifications for why it is a game worth playing always reassured me about the world.
Talisman started as a GW game. FFG published it (and a Warhammer 40,000 themed version) while they had their business relationship with GW. There are now several versions of Talisman including Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars.
Boss Monster is still a lot of fun, still play it. There have not been any expansions in about a year though, so it is naturally going to fade into the background.
Only recent discovered Talisman. The expansions still seem to be out there. Which ones would you recommend? (I figured the opportunity to build up your character quicker would stop the game dragging on so long.)
The city for big expansions and the reaper one for small expansions. In my experience the game goes longer, especially with the bug expansions as everyone ends up exploring.
Great video, I have a question Alex, have you played Deception: Murder in Hong Kong? To me its my favourite in that genre of Deduction/Hidden role games. But for some reason it rarely get brought up when people talk about Resistance, One Night werewolf ect
Resistance: Avalon has been consistently beloved by my gaming group. I got hold of Quest, but I think the removal of the voting system to see whether a quest goes ahead removes too much information and lessens the player interaction. Also if you had issues with any version of One Night Werewolf, check out One Night Revolution. It's great because the discussion about what happened during the one night gets really involved. And if you haven't done so yet, check out Scape Goat. It's brilliant.
Arkham horror 2e was one of my first big/complex board game experiences and intro to Cthulhu. I thoroughly enjoyed playing at the time but cant really see myself going back to play it again with so many other games to get to the table.
I just picked up Arkham Horror 2e this year. I’ve only gone through it once and it was great fun even though I lost. I am on the lookout for the expansions even though I don’t *need* them yet. Mostly because they are out of stock and out of print so who knows if and when I will find any.
I think that Talisman is forever. I've played for 3 decades now, with several different points in which it has come into my life. It comes in and out of vogue, but I can't imagine it'll ever, ever go away. There's a Talisman RPG now, that I'd like to try. I think it's had an enormous impact on board gaming and even computer board games, like Armello. It's extremely homebrew friendly, and there are hundreds of expansions people have homebrewed.
And The Resistance replaced One Night Ultimate Werewolves, which itself replaced Werewolves of Miller's Hollow, which I found out about because the actor who played Hurley on LOST talked about it on a podcast and my entire college dorm played it every night for weeks. We got so good that we could eliminate werewolves without even discussing it.
Okay, this makes no sense, as The Resistance was out for five years before One Night was published. Ultimate Werewolf replaced Miller’s Hollow, Resistance replaced that, Avalon replaced that, and One Night isn’t good enough to replace any of them.
Be interesting doing a crystal ball version of this and trying to predict which of the really hot games of the moment will fade over the course of a couple of years or so. (And then coming back to it two or three years later to see how it panned out.)
Arkham Horror 2nd ed. Also got me into the modern board game hobby. I still love it and play it every Halloween as a minimum. 2nd is the definitive edition. 3rd was a failure. Eldritch Horror was ok. Thanks for shouting it out Prof. I hope Alex plays it again someday!
Good video and my first time watching one from this channel. And it forced me to keep stopping the video to go find out what terms being used to describe games meant. Thanks for the work out. hehe.
nobody talks about SDE because the company made a kickstarter that robbed well over a million dollars from backers and never produced anything. Pretty crazy story
@@BoardGameCo Yeah all the GW/FFG properties except Forbidden Stars started life as GW board games. Even the card game was based on a very limited edition game from the GW magazine.
Much of the (second) hype was nostalgia. Before the new version it was unavailable for a long time and fetched a really high price on the second hand market. A bit like hero quest
Talisman is the sweetest game. Don't give up on it Meg. Make your own custom decks and enjoy the fantastic framework that is Talisman! But yeah, I know, there are other games in the world. Besides, Talisman is not really a 1v1 game. Don't let Alex influence you.
My first experience with Arkham Horror involved playing the game with a group of experienced gamers who proceeded to take my turn for me every. single. time. It was hands down the worst gaming experience i've ever had, and it completely turned me off playing coop games with large groups from that point on.
You should give Dead of Winter a real chance. It's soo much fun. I absolutely love to play this with 4 players. So much is happening. It really feels like a survival adventure, with a lot of strategical choices.
Oddly enough my group hated the game and kept saying it would have worked better as a competitive game with each player running his own colony! the game has been collecting dust on my shelf since :( but I kinda liked it
Dark Moon is the game that sealed the fact that I don't enjoy hidden traitor games... So many things have to align to make sure everyone has a good time and I would rather play anything else...
@@buddhawasright umm what the heck does this comment have to do with anything at all related to my comment or the video ? Go fourth and be angry elsewhere please
I was informed that the card game was better than Eldritch Horror was better than Arkham Horror. So I've never played Arkham Horror. My favourite of these games is definitely Elder Sign. There's something about dice in a Lovecraft game that really fits. Speaking of which, I hope you have been able to try out Towers of Madness, which is Lovecraftian kerplunk combined with Yahtzee.
We still play Sagrada quite a bit. It’s a favorite of my family. I also like Azul and play it on BGA, but don’t see the need to own it. And I’ll only play 3-4 player. I hate 2 player Azul. Sagrada scales better imo, it feels different at different player count but still fun at all counts 1-4 (I haven’t tried the expansion for 5-6).
Yup. It's a little limited at the moment since it's just the core set which mostly has the simplest characters. But my guess is that Sentinels will become a big thing again after the first expansion drops early next year. EDIT: To be clear, I completely second Ogreman - the core set of Definitive Edition is great, and a significant improvement on Enhanced Edition (which I already loved) in almost every possible way. It just doesn't yet have the huge roster of characters that Enhanced edition had, and it (understandably) led with the more introductory ones. It's great now but I expect it to really pop once an expansion or two are out.
@@irrevenant3 They improved every aspect of the game with the new edition, I was truly impressed. It’s faster, the combos are bigger and more satisfying, the villains were reworked to remove many of the more irritating aspects. Cannot wait for the first expansion. (I backed the kickstarter and have followed the updates closely.)
Smallworld is indeed a nice spot on game. I recently played it again and had a lot of fun with it. I didn't realize it was so on demand when it got out. I only got into the hobby some years later (late 2013). I think Trains is indeed out of print Alex, which is a bit a shame for me. Lately its forum have been a bit more active with people asking about it and if they have found a great deal to get the game. I still love Trains though, and would live to play it daily (well maybe that's a bit too much, maybe weekly xD). I need to get my copy back from Portugal and show it to my friends. I am sure I would be getting it more into the table.
There is just too much resentment re Super Dungeon Explore. The company went awol on the big Legends Kickstarter (then also had issues with subsequent Kickstarters for other games) and the way they carried on for years just boiled the backers and late pledgers to a burning mob of flaming pitchforks. I am a late late pledger, lost all that money for not doing proper research, big lesson learned...they will still gladly take your money if you contact them even though the project is loong looong dead.
I believe I got you two beat in which I worked at 'The Game Keeper' until they were bought out (at least the Florida ones) in the late 90's. Afterwards it was all about pushing Magic the Gathering and Pokemon card games.
For me, Arkham Horror 2e is preferable to Eldritch Horror... but I will happily play either one. I like that the monsters move around in AH and aren't stationary like in EH... and I feel the game exudes a tone of dread and stress that you don't get from Eldritch Horror. Eldritch is fun if you want more of a globetrotting "Indiana Jones-ish" adventure game... very different tone from AH. I haven't played AH 3e yet, but I hear it changed the game so radically that most fans of 2e dislike it; it sounds like it tried to add in elements from the LCG.
Now this makes me wonder what happened to games like Car Wars or even something like Gammarauders. Having completely lost my original copy of Sentinels of the Multiverse, I love the new version, though I understand people who already have the older version being lukewarm about it.
@@BoardGameCo appreciate it greatly. I got into board gaming in the past year and have figured out there’s so much more out there than the top 10’s regurgitated by all too many. This list was full of multiple interesting games i’ll be checking out with friends who I’m sure already own them anyways :)
@@BoardGameCo appreciate it greatly. I got into board gaming in the past year and have figured out there’s so much more out there than the top 10’s regurgitated by all too many. This list was full of multiple interesting games i’ll be checking out with friends who I’m sure already own them anyways :)
Just got into board gaming and got sentinels of the multiverse, and my kids love it, especially my younger son 8yo. I also got Sagrada. Seems some of these games still get tractions.
I still love Merchants and Marauders and have yet to find a replacement that hits on all cylinders like it does. Empires of the Void II comes relatively close, but M&M is still the king for me.
Interesting that Ascension itself got overshadowed, considering how many games out there copy its random market style with barely any change at all, especially in terms of clogginess
Dead of winter did not work for my group ... we would have preferred it if that was a competitive game where each player was running his own colony, rather than all of us being part of the same one!
Still play Android Netrunner every week with the community built content (Project NISEI). The game is probably in one of the best places it's ever been.
Great list! Ark Nova is another game that certainly fits the mould; over here in the UK, there was an absolute frenzy over it (likely due to limited stock). On Board Game social media groups, sales posts selling the game for three times the price would go in a matter of minutes, and stock would get rapidly depleted within an hour of retailers receiving reesupplies. Now, a year or so on, there are regular sales post selling it at half the price.
You could just give Fantasy Flight their own entry on this list. The entire company went spiraling down after being bought out.
I wouldn't say spiraling, but I would say there simply no longer the bastion of innovation and theme of it used to be. I feel like they become the Disney of board game designers... Instead of really being innovative anymore, now they just make what they think will appeal broadly and sell well, planning unlimited expansions as long as they continue to sell.
@@chauveet Are they even that now? They have a few cooperative LCGs that have consistent releases. Outside of that you have a few board games like Outer Rim and not much else. All their miniature and roleplay games have been gutted and moved elsewhere.
Is FFG dead? Yes.
One game that was super popular but no one talks about anymore is Shadows over Camelot.
Oh man that's OOP.
I grabbed a copy when my wife said it was her favorite game, so yes, someone does talk about it. :)
I actually held "Merlin's Company" in my hands once at my local game shop, and then went, "Eh... maybe I'll get it later." Oh what a fool I am. :'D
Netrunner is having a resurgence. NISEI is a group that has taken the game and made new cards for the game. There is an all new starter set. SU&SD just did a video on why you should get into the game now.
I wouldn't bother with NISEI. They're making terrible decisions like removing brain damage from the game for no reason. They're also changing their name because somebody whined to them that it was offensive. Not exactly the most stable group of fans.
Yeah Netrunner is a baffling choice from Alex. It’s like the polar opposite of what this list is meant to be; people are still talking and raving about it years after it died.
If you don't like NISEI check out the Netrunner Reboot Project
Watch the vids from Team Covenant. They play it periodically and you can see how tense a game it can be. They always look like they're having fun playing it.
@@Mr_J1984 Brain damage is still in the game. They just renamed it to core damage. The newest cards still have it
"Top 10 Games That Used To Be a Big Deal." I was thinking:
* Monopoly
* Risk
* Clue
* Connect-4
* Battleship
* Pick-Up-Sticks
* Life
* Uno
* Yahtzee
* Checkers; ...
But one from "that" era, that has had a hidden influence, I think, would be:
* Acquire
Android Netrunner seems to be having a resurgence. Nisei created a not for profit version of the game and SuSD did a good vid recently on why you should get into it in 2022. I might be biased though cause a friend taught me the game on Monday and I was fairly hooked in.
Nisei seems sorta bootlegged though.
In my opinion, AN crumbled under the weight of too many cards that players exploited in ways unforeseen to the designers. This accelerated in 2016, by which time some who championed and promoted the game declared it was no longer fun. There still is a high interest in the game as Nisei and play groups indicate, and I hope someone will bring the game back closer to its original format of running, advancing and flatlining.
@@prototypep4 It's not
@@AdamJorgensen Yeah it's definitely not off-brand Netrunner by any stretch. Much more another evolution. NISEI have 100% proven themselves as being better caretakers of Netrunner than even FFG (and to be clear I love FFG so much for reviving it and really having a good run for a few years there), and they even do things like hire original Netrunner artists for their new cards. Also have much better design and approach to the game (learning from mistakes of original A:NR, which had so many unplayable cards and no viable path to avoiding a bloated cardpool). It has very much gotten back to the core of early A:NR that the game got away from with too big a pool and janky decks starting especially with Mumbad Cycle. I could get why the initial take is any such project is just "fake" and not worth your time, but there's a reason it's been around for years now and has been only getting better and still getting coverage from places like Covenant and SUSD which most corporate-run games could only dream of.
@@prototypep4 it's bootleg in the fact that it's fanmade, but that doesn't mean lack of quality in this case.
The Star Wars/Trek meme is saw was... a Storm Trooper shoots at a "red shirt", misses, but the red shirt still dies.
Does Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble count?
Dark Moon is criminally underrated. I have talked to people who completely hate it, so it seems to be polarizing. I love it, but it isn't easy to get to the table because it feels like there is ALWAYS at least one person who vetoes it.
It's one of my favorites. It's the perfect hidden traitor for me. There's enough meat to the game to build up tension and suspicion. But, the game actually had a reasonable length.
38:00 What about Elder Sign (speaking of games which no one mentions anymore!)?
Another good choice :)
I completely agree with Dead of Winter, it's an amazing story engine. And I find it to be surprisingly modular with the rules, we usually play without the 'traitor' as there's already so much going on in the game, awesome game, one of my favorites.
I need to play it :)
I liked the game and enjoyed the Atmosphere that reminded me of fallout ... but my group hated the game and kept saying it would have worked better as a competitive game with each player running his own colony ,,, the game has been collecting dust on my shelf since
My top pick for this category would be Love Letter. #2 would be Catan. Lots of solid picks on your lists too, though.
Good call on Love Letter for sure.
Small World Deluxe Chest was one of my favourite purchases. My local shop held a board game tournament for Small World and I lent the chest for the event. Every participant got at least one chance to play on it and we did a final game with the top players for first prize. Unfortunately, I don't get it out very often because it weighs about 40 lbs.
Oddly enough, my first foray into the gaming space were also in Meg's list: both Arkham Horror 2nd Edition and Talisman. I remember walking into my local FLGS and seeing the cover boxes. I was intrigued how different they looked compared to mainstream games like Clue or Monopoly. At that time, I hadn't ever even heard of Lovecraft or Cthulhu and had no idea what I was in for. But, I'll never forget it - I took Arkham home first. I tried for hours to decipher the rules and couldn't hack it - had to take it to my RPG group to ask for help. With a little bit of patience, we were able crack the enigma and play through the maddening adventure time and again. Later, I sold it to come to Japan - I instantly regretted it. However, I now have 70% of the game collected again - just need to finish finding the remaining big-boxes. The comradery, fun, and memories will always be a vast majority of why this game is special to me.
Super Dungeon Explore was originally a collaboration between Soda Pop Miniatures and CMON and the game was fantastic. They released a few expansions that added more heroes and monsters and updated the rules to a 1.5 rule set. Many of us wanted more and especially new boards. Then Soda Pop Miniatures separated from CMON and started Ninja Division and launched a Kickstarter for Forgotten King with a new “simpler” rule set. For me this was the downfall. The new version was horrible and they never really made the game anywhere as good as the original game with the 1.5 rule set. It was quite bad. Then they released another Kickstarter and a promise of yet another new rule set and went bankrupt. A lot of people just flat out lost the money they put towards the second Kickstarter. I’m not really sure what remains of the company and the game.
Yep, $200 down the drain and tons of broken promises. First KS I’ve backed where they just took the money and said bye!!
I tried to like the game, and I really liked the Gauntlet video game feel of the game. They even had turtles that could go in their shells and other monsters could kick them to damage the players, it was coolio. But the full game with the big monster at the end was a real slog. I kept hoping that they'd slim down the ruleset and they did go through a couple of iterations but they mismanaged the whole thing and the company went out of business.
Meg, which expansions are you looking for?
For Arkham the only one that still eludes me is Kingsport Horror :)
29:37 I agree! I feel that Sagrada is more similar to Calico than it is to Azul. In both Calico and Sagrada, you are completing a very restrictive puzzle, to fill in your board: In Calico - your quilt; In Sagrada - your window. Also, in Calico, you are using the color and pattern of the tiles; whereas, in Sagrada, you are using the color and number of the dice.
Arkham Horror 2nd Edition is such a great game even today. So sad that we won't see a reprint at all. :/
I haven't played it in 10 years :)
A really fun game experience but it is also way too long. This is a game that would benefit immensely from having a companion app that helped with administration tasks and management of all the event/monster decks. That would help shorten the play time too.
If you love Azul 2 player, make sure you try out Mandala which is a 2 player only card game with a similar feel but its own unique mechanics.
Originally played Talisman back in 1986, and had a complete 2nd edition set, and currently have a complete 4th edition set. Brought me into the hobby. Prior, I was just an RPG player.
Glad it brought you in
Arkham Horror was my first board game to get me into the hobby as well so it will forever have a special place in my heart. I was just at a store and couldn't believe what I was seeing and had to get it. Was my favorite for a long time, but playing it at 8 players (when I didn't know any better) broke me on wanting to play it ever again, but it was always the game that made me love this hobby and expand my collection like crazy.
Arkham Horror was also my very first game at my very first gaming convention, I ended up at the table of a super controlling freak ( who also happens to be the owner of that game) He kept telling everyone what to do, and throwing a strop if we chose differently. making us feel uncomfortable.. So I ended up literally just being a servant to move my character as he wishes... I was so bored out of my wits... and could not wait for this very long game to end ... almost put me off gaming forever ... thank god my next game was 7 wonders and Puerto Rico which I enjoyed a lot and got me into board games ... yet I could never bring myself to play Arkham Horror ever again even though I really loved Elder Sign I played afterward...
Alchemists was released before X-Com and that's the one that I recalled really started the app with games conversation.
Talisman was a Games Workshop game originally. I have 1st Edition that I got as a kid. So it left them and sounds like it might have returned?
I'll likely never get rid of my Mice and Mystics as it was the first board game where I painted the minis.
28:40 Yes, similar to Ignite. I wonder what its reception is like, compared to Ignite?
Missed a timestamp in the description:
28:51 - Sagrada / Azul
Fixed thanks!
I wanted to add the following 1980-90's games (Nightmare 1991 (with a VHS tape), Twilight Imperium 1997, El Grande & Settlers of Catan 1995, Tigris & Euphrates 1997 and of course the grossly expensive for it day 1981's Dark Tower). Most of these games flew off the shelves as soon as we were able to stock them all the while I couldn't sell one copy of Triopoly... lol.
I have the original Sentinels and you mentioned a token pack provided by Greaterthangames if you have the original at 23:44. How exactly do I reach out for these?
Smallworld has aged very well though.
It looks great still and I don't think its spot is going to be replaced by another game due to the unique theme+mechanics.
I know several families who still play it. Edit: regularly.
My copy got replaced with Small World of Warcraft
30:36 Again, I just don’t even see the point in comparing them! But which do you like better between Calico and Sagrada? That, to me, is a more relevant question!
Something to keep in mind about Eldritch horror. The game can actually last longer than a regular game of Arkham horror. If you happen to draw a certain card during the game.
Dead of winter did not suffer from pop culture. It's suffered because it's a just a bad game with broken mechanics.
I own practically everything Trains. Yes, even some of the Con maps. It's still my #2 multi-row market deck-builder behind Thunderstone Quest.
It's a great game I happen to not play
It really shows for me that I joined the hobby in force in 2016. For most of these games, by the time I was aware of them there were usually already newer games that were at least attempting to replace them.
28:23 And Ascension also came out with Ascension Tactics.
Yes!
I used to love mice and mystics, completed it and the glorm expansion, super fun. My pick would be Zombicide, huge back in the day, especially on kickstarter but even with the re-dos it's just never regained its original glory imo.
Anything Will Weaton did on table top... So influential at the time
100% agreed.
Games that I personally have experience with that were a big deal, but not so much anymore:
-RISK 2210
-Heroscape
-Resistance Avalon
-Dead of Winter
-Star Wars CCG
-Eldritch Horror
-Descent 2.0
-Escape: The Curse of the Temple
-Sushi Go
-Zombie Dice
Oh man risk 2210 was so good
Good lists. I started the hobby in 2011. These are the ones ive seen go from searing hot to luke-warm or cold. No particular order.
1. Glory to Rome.
2. Dominion
3. Smash Up
4. LOTR LCG
5. Agricola
6. Suburbia
7. Nations
8. Quarriors
9. Summoner Wars
10. Race for the Galaxy
Love Meg and Alex collaborations!
I wonder how many of these games were artificially hot during their time due to low supply and their hotness decreased once supply met demand. Rather than games that were objectively good from the start and their hotness decreased over time because they were replaced by another game.
Does that make them Megalex then?
I love Arkham Horror 2e, we have everything but it's so hard to table and we don't table it as much anymore. Played it for years before I really got into board games.
I really enjoy these videos with you and Meg. I just picked up Merchants & Marauders and have had some epic plays with it, including a house-ruled co-op variant.
Forgotten Waters is also a crossroads game
Oh is it, I didn't realize...thanks!
Pegasus spiele is the company who had the rights to print Talisman after FF.
Oh nice :)
Tzolk’in (2012) is sort of the spiritual predecessor of the “T-series” because it was co-designed by Daniele Tascini, who designed Teotihuacan: The City of Gods (2018), the “real” first game in the “T-series.”
So I'm not completely off base :) Good :)
I was surprised that this year, running the numbers, that I've played 34 new games. 25 of them just in the past four months. All due to joining a new game group that meets (faithfully) weekly.
So sad that the Professor is finally moving away from Talisman. Her justifications for why it is a game worth playing always reassured me about the world.
What we loved about Talisman was the 2nd edition with all the odd and quirky expansions. The reprint was... meh.
Talisman started as a GW game. FFG published it (and a Warhammer 40,000 themed version) while they had their business relationship with GW. There are now several versions of Talisman including Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars.
Off topic but I’m loving Meg’s hair
It's a lot :)
Boss Monster is still a lot of fun, still play it. There have not been any expansions in about a year though, so it is naturally going to fade into the background.
Only recent discovered Talisman. The expansions still seem to be out there. Which ones would you recommend? (I figured the opportunity to build up your character quicker would stop the game dragging on so long.)
The city for big expansions and the reaper one for small expansions.
In my experience the game goes longer, especially with the bug expansions as everyone ends up exploring.
Great video, I have a question Alex, have you played Deception: Murder in Hong Kong?
To me its my favourite in that genre of Deduction/Hidden role games.
But for some reason it rarely get brought up when people talk about Resistance, One Night werewolf ect
For while there deception was mentioned a lot but you’re right rarely mentioned these days. Deception replaced resistance in my collection
Small World is still my favorite game, I just love everything about it.
It's solid :)
It's still one of my go to games. It's a great game. Simple, engaging, troops-on-a-map.
You should break out Tzolkin again! Still one of my favorites and a different mechanism
Resistance: Avalon has been consistently beloved by my gaming group. I got hold of Quest, but I think the removal of the voting system to see whether a quest goes ahead removes too much information and lessens the player interaction. Also if you had issues with any version of One Night Werewolf, check out One Night Revolution. It's great because the discussion about what happened during the one night gets really involved.
And if you haven't done so yet, check out Scape Goat. It's brilliant.
Arkham horror 2e was one of my first big/complex board game experiences and intro to Cthulhu. I thoroughly enjoyed playing at the time but cant really see myself going back to play it again with so many other games to get to the table.
Aftermath from Plaid Hat Games, is basically the new replacement for Mice and Mystics. It a 2nd stab at what the M&M creator wanted to do.
Also, stuffed fable's too
I just picked up Arkham Horror 2e this year. I’ve only gone through it once and it was great fun even though I lost. I am on the lookout for the expansions even though I don’t *need* them yet. Mostly because they are out of stock and out of print so who knows if and when I will find any.
I think that Talisman is forever. I've played for 3 decades now, with several different points in which it has come into my life. It comes in and out of vogue, but I can't imagine it'll ever, ever go away. There's a Talisman RPG now, that I'd like to try. I think it's had an enormous impact on board gaming and even computer board games, like Armello. It's extremely homebrew friendly, and there are hundreds of expansions people have homebrewed.
And The Resistance replaced One Night Ultimate Werewolves, which itself replaced Werewolves of Miller's Hollow, which I found out about because the actor who played Hurley on LOST talked about it on a podcast and my entire college dorm played it every night for weeks. We got so good that we could eliminate werewolves without even discussing it.
Okay, this makes no sense, as The Resistance was out for five years before One Night was published. Ultimate Werewolf replaced Miller’s Hollow, Resistance replaced that, Avalon replaced that, and One Night isn’t good enough to replace any of them.
Be interesting doing a crystal ball version of this and trying to predict which of the really hot games of the moment will fade over the course of a couple of years or so. (And then coming back to it two or three years later to see how it panned out.)
I'd put Time Stories on this list.
Oh man that's a great choice, absolutely agree.
Arkham Horror 2nd ed. Also got me into the modern board game hobby. I still love it and play it every Halloween as a minimum. 2nd is the definitive edition. 3rd was a failure. Eldritch Horror was ok. Thanks for shouting it out Prof. I hope Alex plays it again someday!
Other games you missed . Last night on Earth/Touch of Evil. I was hooked on Android Netrunner. Went to tournaments/nationals, etc
Good video and my first time watching one from this channel. And it forced me to keep stopping the video to go find out what terms being used to describe games meant. Thanks for the work out. hehe.
Lol glad you enjoyed :)
nobody talks about SDE because the company made a kickstarter that robbed well over a million dollars from backers and never produced anything. Pretty crazy story
Sadly fantasy flight games have the worst inserts of all time. You might as well just throw them away because they are so useless
Talisman started its life at GW.
Oh wow, didn't even realize.
@@BoardGameCo Yeah all the GW/FFG properties except Forbidden Stars started life as GW board games. Even the card game was based on a very limited edition game from the GW magazine.
Much of the (second) hype was nostalgia. Before the new version it was unavailable for a long time and fetched a really high price on the second hand market. A bit like hero quest
It was mentioned in passing, but I'm surprised Battlestar Galactica wasn't on either list.
Nothing has replaced it
10:59 If that’s your #8, what is your #9??
Talisman is the sweetest game. Don't give up on it Meg. Make your own custom decks and enjoy the fantastic framework that is Talisman! But yeah, I know, there are other games in the world. Besides, Talisman is not really a 1v1 game. Don't let Alex influence you.
Meg’s hair flip was perfectly placed and executed!
Lol thanks :)
I like how Meg has enough unplayed games in her collection that she had to specify both that they're in her collection, and that she's played them =D
I feel that. My collection is probably 50% unplayed and the number is growing.
My first experience with Arkham Horror involved playing the game with a group of experienced gamers who proceeded to take my turn for me every. single. time.
It was hands down the worst gaming experience i've ever had, and it completely turned me off playing coop games with large groups from that point on.
Oh man that sucks sorry
You should give Dead of Winter a real chance. It's soo much fun. I absolutely love to play this with 4 players. So much is happening. It really feels like a survival adventure, with a lot of strategical choices.
I love Dead of Winter as well. I never understood the dislike that a lot of people seem to have for the game.
@@BadAndy3 honestly don’t think people “hate” the game rather they played it so much (I’m one of those) it’s no gives that same great feeling.
Oddly enough my group hated the game and kept saying it would have worked better as a competitive game with each player running his own colony! the game has been collecting dust on my shelf since :( but I kinda liked it
Dark Moon is the game that sealed the fact that I don't enjoy hidden traitor games... So many things have to align to make sure everyone has a good time and I would rather play anything else...
29:11 I don’t agree with Sagrada… Especially now that Sagrada: Artisans (the legacy version is out).
Did Tzolkin fall out of favor? It’s one of those evegreen games for our group. Such a good game!
I think First Martians would be a really good fit for this list. Enjoyed the lists.
Loved this video, Megs passion for some of her "first loves" was fun to watch.
@@buddhawasright umm what the heck does this comment have to do with anything at all related to my comment or the video ? Go fourth and be angry elsewhere please
I was informed that the card game was better than Eldritch Horror was better than Arkham Horror. So I've never played Arkham Horror. My favourite of these games is definitely Elder Sign. There's something about dice in a Lovecraft game that really fits. Speaking of which, I hope you have been able to try out Towers of Madness, which is Lovecraftian kerplunk combined with Yahtzee.
We still play Sagrada quite a bit. It’s a favorite of my family. I also like Azul and play it on BGA, but don’t see the need to own it. And I’ll only play 3-4 player. I hate 2 player Azul. Sagrada scales better imo, it feels different at different player count but still fun at all counts 1-4 (I haven’t tried the expansion for 5-6).
Sentinels released the new Definitive Edition last year and it is absolutely incredible.
Yup. It's a little limited at the moment since it's just the core set which mostly has the simplest characters. But my guess is that Sentinels will become a big thing again after the first expansion drops early next year.
EDIT: To be clear, I completely second Ogreman - the core set of Definitive Edition is great, and a significant improvement on Enhanced Edition (which I already loved) in almost every possible way. It just doesn't yet have the huge roster of characters that Enhanced edition had, and it (understandably) led with the more introductory ones. It's great now but I expect it to really pop once an expansion or two are out.
@@irrevenant3 They improved every aspect of the game with the new edition, I was truly impressed. It’s faster, the combos are bigger and more satisfying, the villains were reworked to remove many of the more irritating aspects. Cannot wait for the first expansion. (I backed the kickstarter and have followed the updates closely.)
Smallworld is indeed a nice spot on game. I recently played it again and had a lot of fun with it. I didn't realize it was so on demand when it got out. I only got into the hobby some years later (late 2013).
I think Trains is indeed out of print Alex, which is a bit a shame for me. Lately its forum have been a bit more active with people asking about it and if they have found a great deal to get the game.
I still love Trains though, and would live to play it daily (well maybe that's a bit too much, maybe weekly xD). I need to get my copy back from Portugal and show it to my friends. I am sure I would be getting it more into the table.
You talked about dark moon , did u know they made an expansion for it ?
There is just too much resentment re Super Dungeon Explore. The company went awol on the big Legends Kickstarter (then also had issues with subsequent Kickstarters for other games) and the way they carried on for years just boiled the backers and late pledgers to a burning mob of flaming pitchforks. I am a late late pledger, lost all that money for not doing proper research, big lesson learned...they will still gladly take your money if you contact them even though the project is loong looong dead.
I believe I got you two beat in which I worked at 'The Game Keeper' until they were bought out (at least the Florida ones) in the late 90's. Afterwards it was all about pushing Magic the Gathering and Pokemon card games.
Y'all can come over and play Dark Moon with me and the Codenames Crew. We love that game!
For me, Arkham Horror 2e is preferable to Eldritch Horror... but I will happily play either one. I like that the monsters move around in AH and aren't stationary like in EH... and I feel the game exudes a tone of dread and stress that you don't get from Eldritch Horror. Eldritch is fun if you want more of a globetrotting "Indiana Jones-ish" adventure game... very different tone from AH. I haven't played AH 3e yet, but I hear it changed the game so radically that most fans of 2e dislike it; it sounds like it tried to add in elements from the LCG.
Now this makes me wonder what happened to games like Car Wars or even something like Gammarauders. Having completely lost my original copy of Sentinels of the Multiverse, I love the new version, though I understand people who already have the older version being lukewarm about it.
Car Wars 6th edition was just released, but it has changed pretty significantly.
Talisman is still a big deal in my house. My 9 year old girls LOVES playing it with me. I have everything for it and it's still great.
Good to hear :)
such a great idea for a video! Can you do more of these?
Absolutely :)
@@BoardGameCo appreciate it greatly. I got into board gaming in the past year and have figured out there’s so much more out there than the top 10’s regurgitated by all too many. This list was full of multiple interesting games i’ll be checking out with friends who I’m sure already own them anyways :)
@@BoardGameCo appreciate it greatly. I got into board gaming in the past year and have figured out there’s so much more out there than the top 10’s regurgitated by all too many. This list was full of multiple interesting games i’ll be checking out with friends who I’m sure already own them anyways :)
Just got into board gaming and got sentinels of the multiverse, and my kids love it, especially my younger son 8yo. I also got Sagrada. Seems some of these games still get tractions.
I still love Merchants and Marauders and have yet to find a replacement that hits on all cylinders like it does. Empires of the Void II comes relatively close, but M&M is still the king for me.
Plaid Hat Games implemented the Crossroads system (from Dead of Winter) into their pirate-themed game Forgotten Waters, which is excellent!!
Interesting that Ascension itself got overshadowed, considering how many games out there copy its random market style with barely any change at all, especially in terms of clogginess
Dead of winter did not work for my group ... we would have preferred it if that was a competitive game where each player was running his own colony, rather than all of us being part of the same one!
Still play Android Netrunner every week with the community built content (Project NISEI). The game is probably in one of the best places it's ever been.
I may have said NISEI out loud a couple times listening to this. :) Really interesting list!!
Glad you enjoyed :)
Let me be the first to say: the downnfall of Android Netrunner was that they simply lost the licence for the background universe.
Makes sense.
Ascension is to this day the only game in my entire collection that my mother liked.
I once made the mistake of playing 8 players in Arkham Horror 2E XD
That sounds like a mistake :)
@@BoardGameCo Yeah, it was a terrible idea. The game went on for 6 hours and no one had any fun.
@@AdamJorgensen Only 6 hours? You must have been overrun early! 😂
Cosmic encounter, twilight imperium, and one night werewolf