Top 10 Essential Games for Gamers

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] was that every holiday Christmas and New Year's the same shopping right yes people shopping for them it's sensual boring games oh hey everybody I'm Tom bass sometimes ikura see ya hi Sam Healy welcome back folks before we start today we wanna do a shout out to some of our Kickstarter backers we want to say thank you to Josh and Kristy Bach thank you very much just like the composer Tom Strickland fantastic first name and Matt then fante what say it again Linden font a little in behint a I like and all the names on these three support from cool names thank you all cool support cool games anyhow today folks we are talking about top 10 essential games for gamers games that if you don't have you're not a real gamer which just to clarify at this point in a video is a joke we don't mean that to me it's not that's that's what I meant actually no actually I this is one of the hardest top 10 lists I've ever had to put together we've done similar lists before and it's always been hard and I think I finally realized this time why that is cuz you only have 10 slots no not at all it was really hard to find 10 it's because every other list I make is about meat I am picking 10 games that you like that I like exactly 10 10 10 best worker placement games in my opinion mm-hmm for me right right and if you a degree if that lines up with you great and if it doesn't sorry my list is less useful this is not that this is 10 games for you and and I it's too wide every game i double guest and triple guest I'm like well I didn't maybe this might be this might be a game that is essential for you what if you don't like this type of game I the reason I did is in securing this get my game for you I am 100% insecure on the list here's the thing what I did with mine is that I I did not I could have just picked my top ten and said you need to own all of these games but that's not really exactly true that's true if you are exactly like me then yes my top ten games of all time should be in your collection because it should be but that's not what this list is this is the way I went at it I picked a single mechanism and I picked a game that I think falls somewhere in the middle of not too hard not too easy it's right there in the middle to where it's gonna be it's going to engage both gamers and new new people alike so that they can meet in the middle okay so that's what I did all right what I did is I picked ten games that if you came to me and said I only have room for ten games in my shelf these are the ten games I would tell you to get I tried to pick various things like hey you want to do this you're gonna do this sort of thing here's a game that fits that category okay I would prefered frankly 20 spots because there's a few things no there's a few categories that are missing from this list as usual or that reason lean towards heavier games though nobody put at least one on here because I think your collection should have a heavier game if that's what you like which item not gonna say the whole list but yes I think whatever this game on my list is not is not gonna be considered heavy but you - almost - mines I feel like a super nervous I am nervous listen we're not going to criticize you welcoming save space for you to talk about your games with no unkind words no yes if you watch a cop Ted's money you know I tell the truth better hit the door that jazz that ain't happening we'll see what happens folks I I'm gonna clay bet there will be very I don't know I'm assuming to be very little crossover though we might have very little yeah we might have one or two games at most but maybe I'm wrong but I I really don't think you guys picked almost any of the games in my list I would be surprised if you did well I will tell you this I don't think I have most of the games on my list are still available I would say all of them are I think I didn't actually check on every store I tried to assume it that way but I don't think any of them are new I mean they're not new new like coming out this year left I have won two games that are new new one of them super new I actually like it might not be out technically new if that's what they got your shelf you should have just a little slip of paper it says coming soon from Kickstarter what are your ten games haha that's right aughter says lies of course wise man it's a top ten list wait what you guys don't lie on your top tens we better start okay number gen all right hit it Sam number 10 mr. t know my number 10 is my area control mechanism game that's holding the plate place for that genre and this is small world small world is an area control game that has a lot of other things that are going on it's not just about area control it's also about using your races ability along with its extra special ability in the most effective way possible gaining points knowing when one of the things that's going to one of the reasons I picked this with that whole idea of trying to stay somewhere in the middle is that you can just play this game as that area of control and just focus really upon that but you really do have to pay attention to when to go into decline and that's one of the more advanced I guess you could say things that you have to think about in the game you're not going to be very good at it at the beginning but as you play it more it's going to become one of the things that you employ in your tactic your strategy is I'm going to take this because I know I'm going to go into decline in two turns because that's the best thing to do with that combination and those are the kind of advanced thoughts that come in so it's going to engage gamers but it's also a very simple game to play for somebody coming into the hobby so an experienced gamers should have this game in their collection because they can bring it to the table and use it in a gateway type situation with new gamers they will be engaged the purse the people the new people will be engaged in it'll be a great time so that's why I think it should be I actually consider this one because also the scales really well yeah yeah the words the five you know six if you just two to five yeah not six and also pretty soon next you can get small world of warcraft that's correct yeah so that's my number two that I wouldn't get because then you're a small world I'll call you a geek this is not geeky it's definitely geek all right mr. nervous all right my number 10 pink is a talk I knew my number 10 pick is a tile laying game normally I would have put Carcassonne in the spa but I decided to go with carcass on the city because it feels more complete out of the box that's another thing I kind of considered putting this list together I don't want to recommend the game that is just a gateway to buying a bunch of stuff you need to make Arkham Horror the card game doesn't belong on this list for me carcass owns a complete game that's a cool thing you know what I think I probably use that as a criteria without even thinking about it yeah you want something that feels like again it got sweet yeah you've got ten spots in your shelf for games I don't want to give you something that will after a while feeling complete like oh man I really want this expansion you know what I mean so this one feels more complete it's a little thinker than the base game feels more tactically rich in my opinion and scales well too this is one of those games that also if you can go down to two players it's just as tight just as interesting and the the main you know sort of twist here from Carcassonne the idea that the wall is gonna build around the city and enclose it has a nice ratcheting of tension to it I really like that part of it so Carcassonne the city you did good so far so good yeah alright I'm pulling back my wrong oh I thought you were like save it for later but you're reeling me in it was I saved the wrong for later washing it off oh man so the order of this list is kind of a hard thing to do right I put mine is a not in any particular order period I put my order at a few down to one game get number one if you were gonna get to get this just pick any ten my number ten is if I figured everyone should have one small game you carry around in your pocket and pull out easy little small game and bigger cards you carry around a game in your pocket all the time you know why should anybody else who's almost always a game on my backpack never even ever carry your backpack what are you talking about I'm talking about I said you never carry your backpack well I use I do where where everywhere I go or it's a novice you're never doing anyway my small game pick right now and of course this could change in any given time but the one that I would bring out especially with new people and gamers would be illusion so this is a pick I bet you wouldn't have expected me to put on the list oh gosh no no I thought about he's gonna be all cheeky about and say that was a joke and actually what I almost put on the West Ham was the mind just because I thought it's always good to have that one game that one but well I always want to have what game that kind of blows people's minds you know hey you'll play game right what game is that and you bring it out and show to them I think illusion means that criterion so it's full of all these cards with these weird things on and you are you up you put out an arrow of red green blue or yellow and then you draw a card and you have to put it in order by what percentage of the card is that color there's no way you can know this stuff I mean you can look at it you're trying to guess but it is just a really fun game time wine is another game in this category that might work well but I think this one works better because you don't have to know anything to play or appeal to this like mass appeal to illusion and then timeline I would say right and so this might be it seemed like an odd picot and there's a reason it's number 10 but I just like having those little games and so I've always had a game like that around so my number 10 illusion all right [Music] all right my number nine is the worker placement holder for my list and that is a family game that I've talked about a lot at length and that is called Stone Age I've not heard of this one before so yeah right Stone Age has the definite worker placement thing going for it where you have a cache of workers that you're going to be able to use to send out to different things they are then going to represent how many dice you roll at these different you know the rock quarry or the forest to go get wood or the goldmine to go get gold and then you're going to use the resources that are generated from that to then either purchase more huts or purchase some upgrade cards development cards that will give you points later on at the end of the game and and it's it's really a in its core box it's a very streamlined system you buy the expansion it gets a little wonky and I don't that's why I say you don't need the expansion for this you just buy the core box and you're good to go I like the expansion don't get me wrong but I don't think I've ever even played the expansion no it's it's good that's not what that's like there is expansion hmm what's the the expansion for those of you that don't know it's called style is the goal initially now it's now just called the expansion 31 Stone Age we made a mistake now if you buy the the picture up on the on the screen here is the original version of the game there is a anniversary edition of the game that's available that actually comes with expansion type stuff in it yeah and those are allowing that that's a better although it's more pricey it's a better core version because the things that they add into it aren't as convoluted as the expansion so but Stone Age is a great pick and it's it spans well over a lot of different kinds of situations and circumstances we be telling you if you my number I know I know I did I'm confident I'm not like this guy I'm stone age my number 9 all right my number 9 is I was debating on putting a worker placement on there I also wanted something that's scaled well to 2 people I wanted something that felt distinct and interesting intense so my pick is Targhee Targhee as a two-player work replacement game a puzzle ii game a thinkI game is a game I absolutely adore it's a game that feels complete though it is still simple it's a game that feels thinkI and challenging though the rules are straightforward and it just has that sweet spot for me where I never play this and don't feel a buildup of tension good tension like game tension right and one point at least one time someone's going to take the spot you're hoping to go to the mechanisms are neat you know what you're trying to do and then the middle of every turn you're putting up some workers that's pretty sort of you know progressional but in the middle of every turn is a little free forum where you have a few actions you know four or five things you can do and you choose to do them in whatever order you want to I like that feeling too of going hmm I'm gonna collect two resources from here and here I'm gonna see what I get by top decking a cart from there okay now I'm gonna use these things to do this I like that I like being able to sort of you feel like you're being clever I like games that manage to make you feel wise I'm not clever I just want to feel though it's not you're not being like you haven't do you not doing anything in the game that someone hasn't done right but the game is helping you feel like you are and that's a neat concept I like that so Targhee great two-player game on my number nine ticket yeah I thought about that you know I wanted to have like a two-player game so that's actually kind of where my number nine has headed but I found that uh people were generally knowledgeable about abstract strategy game so I put one of my list even if one of the persons at the table does has a really wonky definition to match direct strategy games and does not include this one but they're wrong my number nine is Santorini which is an abstract strategy game time to present and a discussion so except that's this is not I agree we use it there was some random and stuff and like if you because the cars is special with the yeah well that's real God's cards yeah the reason I would put Santorini in is because it looks really good it does it doesn't even look like an abstract strategy game when you first look at it - it has a lot of variety in it yes last time I made this list I put only Tom on it was a strong I was like I'm tired of putting the same game on the list all the time so put Santorini but also you could play with three I like it best with two but I just like the vast amount this game feels like a slightly different game every time you play once you start playing with the guy power sure sure hon I get that that is a that's a solid that's solid reasoning over my own abstract which is coming up soon good I'm gonna sleep tonight the last day I think a bit like Z said something and he said whatever it was good then I'll be outside your window like oh man I like so wake him up earlier than he said well that's awful don't tell my kids this yes [Music] alright okay my number 8 is the I think that heaviest game is on the list on my list at least all those 7.3 pounds it well actually it is also kind of physically heavy as well it's going to take responding set collection game and that is Coliseum Coliseum what heaviest thing yeah that's the heaviest one that I have on my list yeah call this game that light frame move huh to roll and move gets one minor mechanism in roll and move game no it's nothing like monopoly if we do put calcium on your list well yeah because it has that mechanism in it one I think four phases that you have to go through and in the game it's so minor but Coliseum is a great game the the TMG reprint that is up here it was originally a Days of Wonder game and that is the one that I really liked the most but the good thing about the rules are the exact same yes no well there's one slight difference and you can simply not play that way god the TMG is a great version of the game and that's one of the kudos about it they didn't really change it at all they just reprinted it with new pieces new artwork and that type of stuff and the Tigers scratching the inside of the guy's shield yes that I don't know how that happened but it did but it is a great classic game that everybody should own because it has a very cool theme to it the Colosseum in Rome it's not bloody or nasty or anything like that you're simply it's more like should be like you know the theater in Rome or something right you're just you're just amassing different elements that you're going to use in the show that you're putting on in the Coliseum so it's a really neat game I've really enjoyed it a lot over the years and I think you should own it that's my number eight Colosseum alright my number eight is my abstract game and this is I realize I had to look back on the previous little times we've done this and my Peck used to be czar there it's at least it's been once I went back to the inch for this one inch is again a classic elegant I know sometimes people hate that word but whatever I say this game looks elegant and it's very stark elegant today thank you it's a very stark looking game and it is that you know black pieces versus white pieces standard abstract game of the X things in a row variety right you got to get five of your pieces in a row you score a victory point for that you do it three times you win the whole thing and it also has that Othello thing where when you go over a piece it flips from white to black everything flips so you're trying to manage where you attack how you where you are weak where the opponent is trying to set you up by distracting you over there all of those things typical abstract things yeah but this game looks good it's got a nice tactile feel to it the whole thing is just feels regal but I mean it feels elegant yeah it was a tough tough call I considered you in all things Santorini is has a lot of those feelings in it though I just pick Santorini because of the law yeah I mean don't get me wrong this looks elegant as we've been saying okay but the city looks like a city you're building and as a game of people combined like what is that yeah yeah yeah this this looks like chess or whatever like it looks abstract but anyway I like it a lot give it a try my number eight my number eight is that hook line and sinker type game I don't know how to call it today no I mean like you're in it examples in it it gets you in yeah it's the kind of game where someone cuz my house and are like and you're like I'm a board gamer and their first thought is dungeons and dragons and monsters and space and all that nice stuff nice stuff this is not a girl I would argue that football is just big nerds and their fantasy leagues and all that but anyway what non nerd pick is this this is wingspan nerd I'm a bird nerd bird nerd if it rhymes whatever you're a nerd about nerd is the word anywho wingspan is a game I think that works really well it gives you a bit of that meat and the game feels overall light as a feather but it gives you some meat with you I had to walk down this hallway you know that that kind of dark hallway back to his money and there was these two chickens just sitting on the railing just staring at everyone and walked by right I was like each it later me how like what do you don't get me this thing guy any have you've had chicken while we're on chicken now wingspan is a game about birds about seeing birds bird watching yeah there's not chickens in the game they'll actually cuz you eat them while you're playing it would be weird because they're flightless wingspans oh sorry complaint honey when we interrupt him doesn't get you back he hasn't gone past Birds yet I know mentioning eggs real quick alright yes someone said this is essential game anyway yeah that's shut you up so wakes matters get him out collecting Birds but is this engine building game it's one of those games I think that it could act as a gateway game maybe just theme-wise to get people in but it also offers a lot of depth there's a lot of replayability it's one of those games on my shelf that when people come over and like you know many times someone comes over and like okay what am I gonna play and it's like alright appalled the fantasy and all the space because I know not everyone's into that sort of thing yes and I have noticed with wingspan in particular that hey I said the internet all the time oh don't look the bird team they should have picked a different theme it sold a hundred and ten thousand copies people like birds also like chicken so my number eight wingspan thunder than ten that's a lot of eggs in the nest seven Charing get it anyway for my number seven this is the network building aspects of a mechanism and that router mania router mania our grid network building forget it Ticket to Ride specifically Marklin now this one my okay kind of hard to get rid of it get hold of there's no mic this is extremely hard to get all them but it's really hold it's my favorite Ticket to Ride that's why I picked it really you can choose any ticket to write game to fill this spot but märklin is my favorite version of Ticket to Ride which is why it's in there it's really just kind of being a placeholder for any ticket to write game that you run across it's probably a pretty good pick for you some of them are a little bit more cutthroat than others so you might want to do a little bit of research on that in but I'll be doing a list on that soon actually take it to write is a a classic game that that should really be in anyone's collection at this point whether you're a gamer a hardcore gamer or just coming in new to the Hobby this is one of those things that should probably be in your collection period number seven Ticket to Ride märklin but you can mark it really I don't have more I mean you have you have like four or five Maps maybe I got most of them yeah yeah they're easy to throw in and out I just played actually the other day I played from the first pack the very first set without the Indian side but the what's open Switzerland yeah that's way too packed to read sure the opposite of the Indian map I thought was one no one is Asia okay greater than 2 whatever I don't know sorry alright number 7 pig is where we're at yes my number 7 pig is my social Pig feeling for a game to play with different you know with with a large group you want to be social this used to be Dixit for me but Dixit I realize there's actually not a lot of conversation necessarily because part of it is you say a single sentence or a word and everybody quietly picks things this one I wanted to instill more discussion so I went with obscure EO which is a much newer pic hey Sam's pick it's a very pretty game but it's put on my list did you put it on this list I thought this might be a crossover because I may even you know believe me though my social party pick it was Dixit you've switched it's either this one or that I was like going between the two and the reason I picked this one is because obscure EO is newer and this is a little bit more of a classic feel to sure sure I feels like it feels like it creates a conversation piece yes that's what I like about it the gameplay is very simple but it's going to get everyone involved everyone looking very closely at the board discussing not just what they're seeing but loyalties at the table there is a traitor among all the players this is a a breezy but engaging game I really like the way this plays out and I think Sam likes it even more than I do I just thought it was a really good pick for this list cause I think I can bring gonna be able to bring kind of just about anybody to this game right and there will be some laps to be had some I'm all mine's all that good stuff so you've been he lead no it's cool that's good that's a great pick thank you very much my number seven peg Uriel my number seven pick is also my what we call gateway games I've mentioned the last one cuz it a theme this one's cuz of the mechanisms it's an easy one I think everyone should have one of these because you never know who's gonna come over and I got a game to play with you this is the game I'll teach you and it almost was Ticket to Ride but I decided to go with century spice road I'm really torn between those two if someone new says I've never played these games before and they you know if I talk about hey like you mean like monopoly these are the two that I'm always considering this is the one I'm gonna show them as a gateway game yeah but also I want one that I want to play a lot too sure so this one works really well for me now yes there's a second one and a third one but that doesn't have anything to do with this true you know you can get those or not but the the century spice road just works really well there's another thing called century golem addition which is a the exact same game with just a different theme honestly I think I'd put this one on my shelf cuz I think the golem thing again might chase some people off it's a prettier game it's kooky shade to being a geek but if the if the objective is to allow anybody no matter whether they're into science fiction or not to play board games then ultimately this is a better pick I'm not necessarily sure it's a good pick I think this is dry has a if the intent is to again show someone who's not really into gaming I have never had this go poorly every time i teaches the people they like it yeah I mean this is just this is consistent I probably taught well no it's not true go ahead no and lay it on me like your life I was gonna say I'd talk more people this is a ticket to ride but ticket to rides been out for like who cares I'm like you say whatever you want I designed this game since we're not fact-checking scales really well and I think this one goes to six maybe or is it five I don't remember now but don't know but no matter what the player count is so led to a lot it is really good at to the introductory game that I would put in my collection if I can om one where I would be century spice road cool all right my number-6 probably I would I guess I guess it could be debatable but one of the most well known newer games is Catan you're number six is Catan negative its Catan geographies Germany is this what it is I don't know is it available anymore yes and that is to say I don't know you might yeah I don't know if it's still available but if you find a copy of it get it this is holding the if you must have Catan in your collection if you shouldn't they don't have to I don't pick it out of my list I know I understand that but Catan is one of those well-known games that's the reasoning behind me putting this on the list if you're going to get a Catan this is the best one for your buck as far as I'm concerned now I have some nostalgia factor because I used to live in Germany for a few years when my dad was in the Air Force and there's a lot of nostalgia built up I went to a lot of the different places that are monuments that you can build on the map and there's a lot of really cool fact checking that they put into the Almanac that actually went into how they built the board and all of that kind of stuff so there's a lot of really cool things about this one it's my favorite kind of Catan favorite version of Catan that's out there now if you don't like this and if you can't find this they just reprinted the new star fares of Catan now that one it has the star you know the sci-fi theme that's wrapped around it but that's my second favorite drinks of geeks also much pricier yes it's much more expensive as well but you are getting a lot of bang for your play weeks of geeks you know it was like 30 seconds there yeah right but anyway this one if you can get it get it but if you can't find this one you have to shell out a few extra shells to get the shell out a few extra shells that's right we are all forgetting how's his speech here is this cuz we're down there - it's my number set keys this is the geographies Germany those clams have you been the shell world they make everything on the shells down there I have not been there have you been there yeah man this is your go-to it's all of the day yeah you're a kid he's geek he's geek oh that's hard to say all right my number six pick is that super crazy insanely new what am I thinking I'm thinking this game you'll be able to get from this list will still be relevant I'm you might be able to get this I don't know it's a co-op game there's another co-op game coming up on my list but this feels different among co-op games Atlantis rising second edition is my pick here just touching this game an hour ago yeah but I'll make the list while ago and get a room by the way I do what I want is that free there's a light outside don't come in there is a light in our space where we record yeah what is the same that says recording or whatever yeah it doesn't say nothing else it means don't walk in here right now you're gonna ruin some things just go alright anyway this game is luck cooperative game and that part of it feels really different from most cooperative games everybody is working together yes but the the main feeling in the game that that central point of contention is all driven from pushing your luck how much risk do you want to take in order to do something better do you go safer and do something that is slower or you know less profitable or forget that I'm gonna risk the waves sinking uplands is going right to the tip of the island and get something great but I get I might get washed away and get nothing at all that's the main thing the replayability on this thing is through the roof well there is a lot of gorgeous artwork all over the place it's are very nice the whole thing looks like a luxury item like an heirloom desk board game and that's partly why I also tried in fact I bumped one game from my list because I didn't find it to be attractive enough but I also tried to get 10 games that look good games that if your own if you own 10 games and that's it they should be pretty to look at Union still made it inch I think is very beautiful yeah anyway find this rising 2nd edition it's coming out now ish so you can you'll be able to get my number 7th century spice road was the gateway the introductory game so then I'm gonna move up in number 6 to the mid weight game because you don't always want to play these new games you want to play something more involved also this also checks my box because I really want to put a drafting game in the list I think last time I did this list I put sushi go party which is a great game yes an introductory style game it's not on sorry but my mid weight game here will be bunny kingdoms bunny kingdoms is a game I think singular by the way King money Kingdom not when I play bunny Kingdom they do reproduce why is it called bunny it should be bunny kingdoms anyway you are doing you were building your own bunny Kingdom there are literally multiple kingdoms in this game it's your kingdom you started this it's not correcting my grammar anyhow bunny Kingdom is a fantastic drafting game from Richard Garfield the guy who designed Magic the Gathering in this game you had some cards you draft those to place bunnies around the board and/or score points there's it feels like a more complex game than it is when you're playing it's pretty simple you take some cards put them on the board grow your bunny kingdoms and score I really like this one it's it's one that when it first came out I was kind of know this is pretty good but it's consistently gone up for me in the past several years and I found that it's a really nice what I call next step game after you play the gateways this is what I would introduce people to and also one that I'd be glad to play myself so I really enjoy this one bunny kingdom good right all right well my number five is my placeholder for the two-player game category and that is either Hana me Koji or Jie Jie Academy both of these are the same game they just have different artwork different themes wrapped around them but I kind of like very much the same game I like the bottom one better Hana me Koji is is the original and then you have GC Academy is the new one so it's some wonder why they changed the same on it I have no idea maybe there's like a male/female that one is one sure I have no idea why they changed it but they did but one is you are you're trying to gain the favor of geishas and animal Koji and GC Academy are trying to gain the favor of different scholars that are at the academy so whatever you want to do it is literally the same game with the same mechanisms the same point of winning everything like that but this is a really good two-player game that has very simple mechanisms you can teach them how to play this game in very much less than ten minutes but the choices that you have to make and what is going to be the right choice to make there is a ice but you choose mechanism and there where you're going to have to choose from your hand a number of cards and then your opponent gets to pick which cards he takes first and then you get to take whatever he leaves and you're trying to collect these different sets it's really a tense game a lot of hard decisions that you have to make but it's very simple to play so it's really great I think this is a staple this should be a staple for any collection that's my number 5 Hanako G or GC Academy my collection Brook Sam's I think the first one Sam said their game card revoked card you've said you're not a real gamer if you don't have that's right I'm at number five pick is a racing game to have one in there I like racing games I think it's a cool Jean right one of the categories I didn't get in well you can't do everything like you said you start with you wanted 20 so huh start with a J mine no J so with no makeup you know what you were thinking you were gonna put it on I gotta go with deep thought about it and I went with downforce yeah yeah similar kind of concepts down forces less sort of in-your-face confrontation there's a little bit of jockeying for position and kind of you know putting people in spots they can't get out of very well yeah but I think the PIO is a little broader maybe then for Jamaica though I think should make his appeal is pretty much across the board most people like fires don't like what's going on in the game a lot of people like racing as evidenced by this upcoming weekend yeah oh that's happening here we live in we live in Homestead Florida I know I feel so our racing Beach I feel a whole lot like sorry anyway oh you're good yeah downforce just a racing game it's about cars also which is a little more traditional than like pirate ships or camels right could have been a pick it felt like the right one to put on this list so you know interesting enough this I would have originally had we made his list ten years ago or whatever I would have said Formula D for this pic yeah now that's a game it's so easy to play and such this I'd I'd always bring this out a it's faster and B it's not so crushingly soul wrenching if you can fall way behind and this one if the car starts losing you can bet on other people's come true you have the cards also you can see all your cards at the beginning so you're not hoping to roll what you need or you know you overshoot it just feels more controllable while still being quick just another thing I think racing games sometimes mismanages they need to feel quick you're racing this one matters to do both not be completely a bit luck driven but keep it you know speedy you're up oh there's my number five start with a C he gave that look okay that's fine I meant okay it doesn't matter all right one of the coolest things in gaming is deck-building and I also like theme a lot and that's one I'm embracing my full geek on and that is Clank that's your geek on no I mean Clank just works really well in so many different ways we just actually dis so this this year we played Clank legacy which was a lot of fun but just the base game of Clank and I mean I like Clank in space a lot I liked the expansions for Clank like that you know all that but take all that away the base game of Clank just works really well III have a lot of fun with it I also like having Clank because I'm like Z I'm okay having a drug style game in my collection that can let me get more oh I like that idea like oh thanks sounds like a drum you said crank a lot right well don't do it now but it does sound like you're walking down a matter like anybody got some clay you know what I'm thinking but that's what I like but but the fact is I like having that game like I think my pick my pick for this last time was Dominion which I still like a lot but but I also like the expansions for Dominion I like at me a game that has that variety to pick from I don't mind having that couple expansions we did say top 10 games that you can never buy an expansion for know we didn't house it's my own thing I just like wanted it to feel complete and this does I don't think this feels incomplete sure no I feel that but I don't mind having the option I think there's four different maps you can get whether that I mean forces expansions you yeah there's max am feels but now I'm gonna write some meaningless thing I'm Rui mine was not meaningless mindset I definitely wrote something I starts with Clank my stars with a K okay blank is my number five Bank number all right my number four is the tile laying placeholder in my list and that is Carcassonne South Seas boy shared by a drag City there's out Carcassonne [Music] South Seas this one is prettier I think then the city it is oh yeah there's no why exactly no I kind of agree with Sam I think it's prettier it's more colorful it's pretty more like a little artwork no color doesn't always mean pretty sometimes elegant that's pretty that's kind of how I feel about the city but again I'm gonna be quiet about the word elegant cuz you were already picking on me about that Oh Clank anyway this is not my favorite version of Carcassonne actually Amazonas is my favorite version because it has the racing down the river mechanism that I really enjoy but it's kind of on top of everything else that you're doing in Carcassonne so that's why I didn't I picked South Seas because it's closer to base game what Carcassonne really is but it looks better than Carcassonne in my opinion and it feels complete because it is in there around the world and around the world series I think is what it's called or something like that around the world and I know it's point out they never finished going around the world no they didn't they went they got they got stuck in Africa and that was the end of it they what the safari I think was the last one in the bar a lion that ate by Wainwright but this one is really pretty it still employs basically the same mechanisms with a few minor changes and additions so it really does still feel like Carcassonne but it looks a lot better and it just pops on the table a lot more so that's why I have Carcassonne South Seas really any Carcassonne would be would be good but there's a million in one expansions for that game and you might experience some of that fear of missing out if you decide to go with bass game South Seas is a contained game there's no expansions for it it's everything you need to play the game is in that box so that's why I went ahead and with that one we had accused Sam of exact operation but I believe now under under selling how many expansions are occur there's a whole lot yes all right number four pick is we've been joking about the geeky thing this leans into that but it also feels minimalistic and it feels classically fantasy would you say it's elegant love letter no it's not that minimalistic but you're managing resources and doing sort of you know again traditionally fantastical things this is res Arcana Wow you really love in this game this this is a great game and you are doing a lot in it with very little it's all about the combinations of powers that you put at your disposal there's a little card drafting at the beginning if you want if you choose to play that way anyway you're gonna be drafting characters and well items dragons all sorts of things you will be playing those cards out and then managing resources you know this card gives me this combination which I will spend to build this other thing and then that one plus this one get me something all you're trying to do is get to 10 victory points a very manageable game but those little combos those little moments of decisions what do I do with my limited amount of actions is very thinking very tricky and it it did impress me very much with that feeling of managing to do a lot with very little that's I think why it's on the list for me it isn't this way this might make if I did 20 I need that game that's gonna suck in the magic players that's what I would have no that's a weird category to have but there's a lot of people play magic Dominion would be my game for that but this might work - yeah it's so clean it is very clean yeah yeah yeah alright so my number four pick res Arcana know I know this game is clean is that there's no expansion been made for it or announced for it and I don't care it's been an expansion announced oh but I don't care I'll gladly go feels full good there's an answer to everything in there all right I want that expansion I talked about my gateway the medium weight I think you should have a heavy weight game your clutch now this one was a heart saw war game knockout this was a hard call because there's so many in fact it's interesting how few of my top 10 or top 20 are in this list for me but I want a one happy euro style game that people would play that you could conceivably play not having played games before but also offers some pretty good strategic choices what do you think it is caverna yeah that's a good choice I thought about it but it's also a kazillion pieces this one has a lot of pieces but not as many as caverna this one is terraforming Mars really like terraforming Mars yes again this one also falls prey deters I think six expansions for but again you would not miss out on an and yet it's up with the base game the base game has almost like this own extra set of cards that you could not use anyway I just do anyway right I've yet to see a game of this play the same it is an engine building game you have these guards you build this cool thing that you can do but the big way the cards come up it's different every time this is certainly a game that has offered me I think of all the heavier euro games other than maybe vidi culture which I considered yeah for the same category I really like viticulture but I picked every Mars because I think the space theme it's pretty hot right now people tended Mars is on people's brains we're gonna go there at some point we're supposed to go there in 2009 next week is when they finally land right yeah actually go I was like wait why'd I not land by thought is their launch I missed but I think the Mars again this is also does the Mars thing and Nevada is straightforward it was the way you can write it's not this is not Mars with Fremont doobly gap and it's not like it's actually it feels like serious Mars right I mean that's kind of what mostly there's a bit of alternate history ish stuff but it's mostly taking it seriously you are terraforming Mars right so that's my number four pick alright number all right my number three is my racing game placeholder and it is Jamaica and as I thought Fozzie we put it out on his list but now this is a game that racing this is more choices now for people yeah it has that racing theme that's the core mechanism you're trying to race around the island of Jamaica and your pirate ship and you're trying to get there first to have the best chance at winning a person who beats around gets gets to start counting their points with the number 15 and then it goes back how far back you are if you are too far back you're actually going to start the game with negative start the end points with negative points but getting there is is the cool thing you can you're playing cards and the the look of this game is really what kind of brings it to the forefront here and that's what usually makes it pop for people walking by as it's being played as well but the gameplay is really fun you're choosing cards you get to do a morning and an evening action on your turn and that's determined by the dice that are rolled each turn you can you can attack other people which is probably where one of the things that took it off your list is because it's a little bit more confrontational a little bit more in-your-face yeah but it's really light hearted in such haha that it's goofy piratey cartoony piratey feel to it know what I think it is actually at the end of the day I think down force no matter where you are on the scale of like core game or it's a casual gamer I feel like it the spread there is pleases more people than Jamaica okay you know what I mean I think Jamaica excuse this way towards the casual gamers and I think at some point it becomes like come on I don't want to roll dice against you and I literally steal all your victory points from your board because I roll better and one died which could happen you know what I mean whereas down force feels light you can totally steal from one from one person but like if you have a bunch of gold those are points yeah that could be like a bunch of points wing right which will probably swing back but yes I don't know it just feels I guess it might please more people I really enjoy this game I would I would play this game hands down before a lot of other games especially in a newer if there's somebody new her at the table yes um so I really enjoy it my number 3 job hmm hmm hi my number 3 pig is my other cooperative game what is it well I mean you're like leaning on the horrified train these days but I'm gonna have to say you're gonna go back with the classic pandemic didn't even cool I think that is one of the pandemics so it isn't that classic pandemic I'm going pandemic Iberia my period oh good news I'm like Sam's list this one's easy to find this is cheap don't like this one no one is my favorite oh it is your favorite my favorite one yeah pandemic Iberia that's not legacy sure right yeah I would I wouldn't put that on the list cuz as a limited lifetime if you have just ten games you soon you'll have just nothing game ten legacy games like I'm out I'm at zero sorry it's a 10 Olli you're done yeah the thing about this one is it feels like a period piece and it is it's set in that you know it's a different era and it uh charming there's a certain charm I know the theme is about diseases and so forth but it transports you to a different world the original pandemic you're American anyway well I guess not that's all over the place but you start at the CDC it just feels less like this game is transporting me to another world I think if you have just ten games that's nice feeling to cultivate in your collection sure there's also a couple of sort of many expansions right in the box that you can choose to play with or without and that's all there is to it so again this felt a bit more complete nowadays you know it's a pretty it's engaging really like this so pandemic guy beer yeah number three pick for me well done hi my number three my firt my top three would be games that if I was giving someone gifts to put in your collection that would probably give you these three games to anybody almost yeah sure I won't say to anybody because there's always people don't like Kings and if you don't like you don't like kings no I just agree with those people that don't like games actually I've definitely met a couple what people who don't like any games by blood I may be related to some I don't know if I don't think there's anybody a wife who does not like any game ever but if there's no way to prove my theory so I'm pretty much safe you know there's a way to disprove you just gotta find one person I guess it depends on how narrow there's no way you cannot teach one person every game possible I don't like games you are gonna play until we finally like what games generate that feeling of of yeah I like competing and and you know boasting maybe a little bit and just like all the possible shades of gaming someone likes a game out there like everyone likes a game out there yeah I mean it depends on how narrow your your definite okay what a game is but sure without getting into such nonsense I feel like getting philosophical debates thank you go ahead nonsense so I feel like there's something anyway it doesn't matter this game great game not good wasn't my list last time loved it share for Nottingham fantastic game this is a negotiation game this is that I struggled with I want to put a social negotiation game on the list I thought about werewolf but there's a lot of people don't like werewolf and there's some people who don't like Sheriff of Nottingham - I get that but it's I found more people like it than not because about Sheriff of Nottingham is you can lie to other people than some people really like that you can also straight-up tell the truth all the time so if you're like I don't really want to lie you could pull it off in this game and then you could lie later on after telling her when you don't like lying and really really trick everybody I love this game it's very successful all the time when I've taught it it's a lot of fun I will say that when this game came out and up until June it was a diced our essential game so there's you know that's self-serving in there but it's been sold to come on and so it's not a dice Tyra central game anymore and I still put it on the list because I think it's that good at the game yeah yeah if you watch our live playthroughs the Sheriff of Nottingham ones are some of the most fun to watch I'm seriously thing about bringing out of mothballs Britain's upcoming 24 hour marathon because it's that funny cool [Music] all right my number two is the dexterity placeholder from my list and that is a dexterity Jenga you don't like flick them up I think you know I don't well I do but it's not that physical all right see I didn't put pitch card because it's really expensive and I would have a hard time telling I didn't put pitch card because it's sprawling and it's expensive all dexterity okay there's many many many six-car you played on the palm of your hand this easily fits on any table any table yeah well I mean any regular-sized the table holy war no what's that game called that no what's that one we just got that one with the catacombs flick of faith Flicka faith no not that one holy war flick of faith Wow what is a sim it's called AI school oh of course it is it's called light school big dummy oh here's a in the combat that the guys sorry people watching no sorry that's really dark I apologize for that it's in the ice I got it at school so the light didn't come on yeah that's that's what it is but anyway high school is a great little dexterity game where where each player is going to be taking on either the role of high school penguins that are trying to cut class go get a snack and get back to class before the the hall monitor thing yeah sure of course I mean it's it's cute yeah it's anthropomorphic penguins so that's totally legit but the cool thing about this is that you can get good at flicking those little penguins around and making them do what you need them to do is sandwich but a fish sandwich you can also make these absolutely alter all random shots that nobody could have ever planned for in in any way that's why it's a great family game because the kid that doesn't have the best motor skills yet can still pull out the win with those random shots and that's why I like this game a lot and I think you should be part of anybody's collection that's my number two I school alright but number two Pig is a big game there's a lot of it's very thinkI it is still manages to be colorful though and in my opinion captivating I know you don't like it very much but five tribes is my number two pick one that has stayed in that in the general sort of you know awareness of games which tapers off very quickly I think this one still gets a decent amount of love I'm just not good at it I do like the game it's a little slowly good also was in you know I could see part of it is a little you you there's a lot of possibilities for move so it could slow down everybody as everybody is thinking and processing what they want to do but there's a little bit of bidding for place order at the beginning that was one of the things that helps put it on the list because it feels like an extra interesting choice that thing you are bidding with is victory points at the end of the game so you pay a bunch you're hurting yourself you're cutting into your profits and then the action on the board feels distinct from a lot of games out there it has a Mancala esque feeling to it grab all the things drop them off one at a time but you set the direction in which you're going and if you want to turn you can do so it's not as straightforward as the main it's not a circle right it's not even going yeah you can snag you can double back from italia began you cannot do that and then each of the different sort of characters has interesting abilities a tie to them i always have a good time with this game I've taught at a bunch I've enjoyed expansions for it but really I enjoyed the game plenty before they ever came out he liked the game thought it was cool was always cool but they did add a lot to it and that stuff works but it really stands on its own very well I think if you remove the expansion's you don't suddenly find yourself thinking missing something right and some games once you had an expansion you have a hard time going back so yeah I just really like it an interesting game engaging five tries number two pick two my number two I think every collection should have a party game period but my last one it's ridiculous now it's really weird we talk about this all the time in board gaming circles there's foursome a lot of board games there seems to be this disdain and against party games that I never understand that it's like true except for a couple of games that feel a little elitist sure right like these games are okay yes but usual party games get out of here but at the end of the day that's the kind of game it's easy to get people to play sure you know anyway so for me it's a classic it's the one that's made me laugh more than any other game and you could play times up title I used to say title recall was way better than times up and I'm kind of swinging back on that a little I still like the categories better cuz there's games and things like that but the people one I think has made me laugh more especially when the person has no idea who the person is and they're just making stuff up or they try to make something about their name who would not know people this is one that almost is guaranteed to be in our live marathon is happening times up is coming okay that's actually with brothers Murphy you're gonna see you're gonna see smooth blade [Laughter] I better better be wearing a diaper for that one it's gonna be fun stuff man yeah yeah yeah Wow they need to work come back for that if you're watching this live now you better make sure you come back for that much Tom that's a weird like I'm just glossing right over that please let that go all right and yeah a fantastic game I think everybody should play it it's just fantastic game times up jerk why you weren't going to do it that was filter what are we doing here there we go are we watch out please don't do that near the computer you're scaring me the computer was happening know what I meant here turn the screen towards us all right high roll if you get natural 20 highest you get to do another top 10 next week if you hit the ceiling its disqualified Oh close there's a camera up there closest without going over amaura you're fired I turn on the overhead camera no oh it's not no okay no I'm Ivy adult today what is going on all right here we go cuz you're no fun 16 is pretty good 16 but bumped his die to a 17 that's on phone to down unfortunate okay get out of here six the peasant of numbers okay alright Tom so I guess you're I guess I technically I broke the tie but in your favor actually we're gonna do normal I know that I'm always against that but I think I'm gonna try to guess everybody's and so I have no idea what yours is Sam's is not like one of his top games but there's one more you've been doing mechanism so what do you got give us that okay I don't want to hear the mechanism I mean deductions flash part game this game he puts on every single list ever oh it's not yes is it a dice game no is it called bang the card game no is it about Patriots or possibly redcoats No then that means it's about murder possible that's the one I bumped out for not being so pretty like ready enough no okay that's fine I agree it's an ugly game that's boy is it fun it's real good it is very very fun it is an ugly game and stop looking at me like that Roy because it is an ugly game on I know but he gave me this look like how could you say you such a thing well because it's true it's it's probably telling what it is deception murder in Hong Kong oh no no now the picture I think I have set with this is actually a picture that I pulled from one of our videos for the expansion what that's called undercover allies but it basically still gives you the idea but this actually looks a little bit better than the base game generally speaking it's it's just a great great game and this is one of the games where the more the merrier because you you the more people you have playing the game the more roles different kinds of roles especially with the expansion undercover allies you can have you can have more roles with each person and there's more specialization I guess you could say between each person at that point with fewer number of players you've just simply gotten okay you've got a murderer and you got to accomplish you got a couple agents and then you have the one dude with like I've played a 12 player game of this and there was like a insider the weight 12 players huh oh yeah yeah that's probably my most favorite game of this has been that full count of 12 players it was four funny really for one murder or two accomplices one peeping tom two victims foreigner no I can't remember all the different roles Julian coroner's actions such as I died nope that guy's wrong while the core dose is actually working with the murderer it's right greater corner this is a team game where you're trying to deduce who the murderer and the accomplice are at the same time there's one person who is the eyewitness who knows who the murderer in the compas are but don't know the exact things that were employed to carry out the homicide and so they're trying to say as hidden as possible while trying to help the the agents as much as they can because if you do actually pick who the murder and accomplices they have the opportunity to then try to say okay I think this person is the eyewitness and if they do that success eyewitness is what Zico's peeping tom yes there you go and if they do that successfully they've won even though they've been caught so it's it's a great game and it really fits well into that party social deduction atmosphere game this is the one that I was battling with obscure EO over but at that exact same fight material one yeah there you go they got both on the list yep that's good so my neighbor wine deception murder in Hong Kong cool my number one pig huh you said no more no more cooperatives it's not cooperative no weird and you did five tribes already I did the order mine of one wasn't as a party game it's not a party game it's a card game plays quite a one player oh there's a large range of players six nint no it's not as light as that a card game it plays a lot of players but not light well not as light as six names which is about float away light yeah is it what's what how new is it time years old perfect wait oh seven years old ten years old the slight difference there three years I love how I used to do this and you guys would get get angry at me for doing it me to get angry was almost as it was the almost as a number one I'm trying to guess his number one give me a clue card drafting get it's a board game sushi go no it's not that light I have no idea seven wonders oh good pick he's not seven wonders this feels like a classic yeah what we had two thousand viewers nice fantastic thank you and it was all thanks to seven wonders done out of it sushi go weird a cat in 1990 oh I made bad jokes I'm sorry yes everyone who's a card drafting game you're building your little civilization you are competing with the two neighbors to your side drafting cards it's quick it's a very quick games about 30-40 minutes no matter how many people are playing so that's very nice you can play up to seven and about the same time frame the game feels like it wraps up extremely quickly I like that you're playing three epochs three whole stages but each one is so fast and yet feels distinct and things build upon one another mmm-hmm this is one of those games that I think goes over well with just about anybody because people will find because there's enough in it that people will find something in it they like and nothing in it feel so offensive that it pushes people out I'm I know I'm laughing but they don't like conflict who's conflict at this but it's barely there yeah you know some people like conflict and they'll find it they'll look over here and look or gonna be like I'm gonna crush your armies mm-hm you know what I mean so you can draw out from the design the thing you like and focus on that and that's it manages to touch on everything without making anything off-putting that's kind of how I feel about it so I like things that are made of pudding hmm Ivan had pudding in a while and I'm thinking about it's going on all right back to my previous statement I don't think you guys will guess mine either so I think the all-around game that I think is great for new people is that I great things great for gamers it is one of my most played games in the last five years is it based on my bad Ross a couple years no weights your most played game over the last five years but it's only been out for two parts how much I played it in the last two years how much have you played in the previous three years before it came out I'm saying in the last five years this is the I get it why is it nerdy ish nerdy ish is it a bad space vegetable says correct space space space space Matt I don't know what it is about this game it just it does well I think I put this on the gateway gamer list but I also I think it goes over well this is one of those games there's a lot of games that I love but I don't often feel like teaching them to people or this one I'll gladly I'm gonna go let's play space-based come on you on plays bass bass bass bass oh you're you want to learn space bass I'll come armor teach it to you I don't even play I'm just happy that someone's playing it I this game just is extremely fun for me all right I think that it will be fairly high in my top games of all time I don't know where yet because I haven't made the list yet top 10 this one oh I don't know what's the best game of all time No so number one we just say it's uh say like oh there's so many great games you know but there's one other game that you might so space-based fantastic all right so what are games that you think we should have mentioned but we didn't yeah we knew I didn't say I mentioned memoir 44 you might wonder I thought you would for sure because it is again it has that it focuses on conflict and so tearing a little bit maybe not really world or theme I mean you know it focuses on conflict and some people just I mean it's almost and I don't know this but I would say it's almost pretty close to being straight down the middle people who like and don't like conflict sure right and you're it's hit or miss so that's the only reason I didn't put it on my list yeah someone here does that they have 20 out of 29 games that's pretty good that's good you're doing fine beyond balderdash it or balderdash you didn't put on the list because I've just put one party game and I put times up you can also technically play at the dictionary game for free if you oh that's awesome you could do that with times up if you want to yeah which is why it's not on my list surprise no Cosmic Encounter a broad range cosmic counter I love it but it is definitely not a game I would recommend everyone there's a lot of people I'd like yeah you're not gonna like Cosmic Encounter I mean there's very few games of us that I would say for everyone but they have a wider range than cosmic as much as I love it about blood rage same thing again yeah it's it's a little bit too I wouldn't say advanced but it's a little bit on the heavier side than what I wanted to do on this on this list what about sin one sound ones great I think a res Arcana kind of feels like the combo driven nature of it and at the end of the day sent wants a little more dry it's a very specific theme but kind of a dry one building buildings in Puerto Rico in that time period I don't think is near is as picturesque let's call it as res Arcana and someone mentioned king of Tokyo that was like sitting on my list floating around the whole towers like king of Tokyo I couldn't fit it on the left I really like I think if it was on my list last time yeah definitely one I really thought about them for sure I got to almost finishing the list and realize you know there's not a lot of dice rolling on here because I had already put down four so on it so I was a racing game I didn't have died so I almost put king of Tokyo on there but I know a lot of people that don't like it I don't know people feel it it's too close to Yahtzee maybe like Yahtzee with some you know a little bit of window dressing yes I don't agree with personally but I get it so I went with Atlanta's rising 2nd edition was rolling to push your luck a ton of games and people were saying I mean that dinosaur island evolution patchwork camo up I consider would you ever put a race game and I just I didn't have room to put a race again this is almost like a 20 game list for me because I want to put a racing game on it I want to put a social reduction game on it I know there's so many different categories all right we're gonna get going here we're gonna be back tomorrow morning we are playing hour of need so we'll see you then and then next well week from Monday not Monday but a week after Monday our live 24-hour marathon oh if you watch it live over that probably 30 hours at least of marathon what we have scheduled if you watch it live you have a chance to win one of many games including like a full blinged out nemesis which showed up in popular cartoon just recently and yes we know about that word okay anyway thanks so much for watching if you're watching this later on put your top ten in the comments what other people know what you think would be ten essential games y'all until then I'm Tom vassal I am Zhi Garcia thank you Sam Hayley see you on the flip side folks and take care [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thanks so much for watching another diced our video if you enjoy our videos subscribe to the channel for more fun comprehensive board game coverage also consider joining us at one of our events come to die stellar retreat small intimate gathering where gaming is king join us or Die stellar cruise the largest board game colonels attended ice tower west in las vegas for gaming fun on the west coast or diced our east in orlando insight florida diced our conventions the friendliest gaming conventions on earth I'm Eric summer and you've been watching the dice tower

Channel: The Dice Tower

Views: 265,411

Keywords: board game, board, game, dice, card game, cards, catan, monopoly, tower, dice tower, vasel, tom vasel, vassel, settlers, gaming, GeekUsername: TomVasel, boardgame, uno, ticket to ride, apples to apples, educational games, educational, top 10, Sam Healey, Healy, Zee Garcia, Essential Games

Id: isE1bOW4HBA

Length: 79min 21sec (4761 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 14 2019