Star Realms is currently one of my favorites and it is another living card game. It's simple enough to play with children and complex enough to enjoy with competitive players. It has a number of expansions, much like Dominion mentioned in the video. It has a variety of play modes, pvp, cooperative, team, etcetera. I've been playing it for years and years and have yet to grow tired it it. It is also easy to introduce to new players and non-gamers and a game can complete in a very short time, often resulting in starting another game. It hits all those variability and replayability buttons for me, much like Dominion does.
This was a great video and needed. As a gamer drawn to lifestyle games, I’ve always been a bit put off by gaming channels that ignore that aspect of play. Similarly it’s odd for me to think of trying to have board games fulfill all my gaming desires, trying to ignore neighboring gaming types like role playing games and classic games with decks of cards. How many people would chill on the board game churn or stop playing these seven board games if they just tried Dungeons and Dragons and learned two trick taking games with a deck of cards?
I admit I'm one of those that looks down on Catan. Years ago played it with friends (all of us 35+) quit often over a 3-4 month period. Then we found we were bored when we played with 5-6 players. Mid game onwards people were spending too much time trading at the expense of others sitting there being bored. One day we realised it's been years and we are playing other games and Catan is still gathering dust on the shelf.
The video is informative. But card games are not board games in my opinion. I came from playing Star Trek CCG and Magic and other CCG games because I was tired of buying cards every month. I moved to all In one board games everything you need in one box and some with expansions. Forever games from me. Are Village, Castle Burgundy, Puerto Rico, Carson City, Caverna, explorers of the North Sea, a feast for Oden, New Bedford, viticulture, War Of the Rings.
The board for card games is the table, sorry but that isn't really an opinion thing, we sorted colelctively solved that issue 20 odd years ago when BGG was setting up. That said, your list of forever games has some absolute bangers on it.
The issue with card games is it’s constant buying to stay competitive and it’s a lot more to handle with 4 kids, board games 100% sort of out of the box experience. And if you want to, you can add expansions you don’t have to. Thank you. I’ve been playing feudal and chess since 1980 But love the new Euros style Board games.
I now have a carefully curated collection of only about two-dozen games (all fit in one closet), seven or eight of which I & my gaming group play over & over again. Only very rarely does a new game enter my collection - it has to really wow me and my group for it to stay. Previously, I was constantly buying new board games for every game night and I and my group just got burnt out. Having a small rotation of favorite games is so much better!
This is the first video of yours I've seen, but it's incredible. Well thought out, extremely in depth and artfully delivered. Brilliant takes and showcases your holistic knowledge of the hobby. I'm very impressed 😊
I used to love terraforming mars. It used to be my top favorite games for a while, but as I added expansion and we kept playing it... Instead of speeding up... It feels like it's dragging down for some reason. At this point, it does not get to the table often cause it feels too long. I wonder if switching it for Ares expedition would give me the fix I crave when I pulled terraforming mars of the shelf, but in a much shorter playtime? Edit: and to be honest, at this point in my hobby, I am cautious of shelves space. Having the terraforming mars big box is a big cons. Ares expedition would take half that space
T-mars with all the expansions is much longer. Turmoil in particular adds little to the game more than more time and a system that tends to overshine the rest of the game. We've cut it out and will likely never play with it again.
Need? Everyone "needs" games, they just don't know it, or understand it. Games are how we learned key life skills as a child, wihtout the risk of real harm. Games are how we learn complex life skills as young adult, without the risk of real harm. Games are how we cope with life circumstances and any insurmountable problems when we are adults. Everyone should have so many games. They are like books, you can never have too many, and you will never likely read them all.
Yes, but games don't need to be packaged up things you put on shelves. Tag is a game, as is Eye Spy. I get your point, but i was mostly referring to expensive hobby games here.
Hilarious how comments are fully of just euro games. The type of games that are just pretty math problems and can be "solved" or meta'd very fast. Long last games are ones that make you out think your opponent, not who's better at math (euros).
Euro games =/= Multi player solitaire puzzles. Even Catan isn't like that and the top Euros in my mind, are highly interactive affairs like Brass, Power Grid, and Hansa Teutonica.
Met a guy at a meetup that claimed he never plays the same game twice. Blew my mind. I asked if he never listens to the same song twice or go to same restaurant twice.... Most games can't be fully explored in just 1 play.
Earth is very interesting to me. I like it for sure. But your points are very valid. It feels very open. Which is both good and bad, depending on how you see it and what you like in a game. It's mostly good for me. It feels good building a good engine; and when your cards come together well. It sorta fits nicely in between Wingspan and Ark Nova. I do think those two are better designed games overall, but Earth still has a place in my collection.
It's a strictly worse race for the galaxy, isn't it? I'm not sure even the iconography is better. Maybe a better theme/look, but it's stock photos, not art. At least it's brighter? Like others have said, though, race for the galaxy is so good that a strictly worse version can still be quite fun.
I dunno, race is just a much tighter game, but i also feel like its one where i cant really experiment much. Earth is just damned wide open with its combos and scoring, i feel both can exist. But i doubt the same people will like both. But just being a worse race? Nah, its too weird and wibbly for that
I know you aren’t an Ares Expedition fan. I’m a huge fan of it. I just kept thinking “I wish I was playing Ares Expedition”. Ares scratches the same itch as this one does. I’m sure you have one that scratches one too
Played Earth a bunch on BGA, played a friend's copy once last year. So much of it felt like reinventing Race for the Galaxy to me, but if the cards were all devoid of personality and the action selection mechanism was more blunt. Every card feels so average that if I asked someone "What is your favorite card in this game?", they might not actually have an answer, or misremember the name. Doesn't help that you draw a billion cards every game and your starting setup is euro game mad libs. I shouldn't be too harsh though, I would gladly play Earth over a lot of other games that come out these days. Its proximity to Race for the Galaxy (my #3 game) makes me more willing to play it while also being more critical of it.
I definitely agree most of the cards are not very exciting by themselves. Ark Nova has cards you look for, and are excited to get when going for certain strategies. However, I do still think it's satisfying chaining all the cards together, even if all the individual effects are small. When you find all the right number of small effects and put them together you can do a lot.
Love this game, easily top 5 for me. It plays excellent at 2-5, comes in right at an hour for all player counts, +/- 10 min depending on each players AP.
Chaos is right. Nothing particularly great imo about this engine builder that others don’t also do, and this game has that race to the end and gets points for doing it which isn’t fun imo. I didn’t see the mass appeal of this game. It’s fine, and I’d play it, but I’ll just as easy look at someone’s shelf and say oh what about that one instead.
I hated this, the action selection felt really boring and obvious and running the engine fiddly and tedious. Everyone heads down with the simultaneous play, might as well have been playing a solo game. I’d rather watch an England football match… ok maybe not.
@@VoidVerification I think that is a bit harsh. I think the designers where going for an eco ethos oriented game. To mean about our personal connections to the environment. So it’s more personal than traditional oppositional games. It is an engine oriented game, for sure. So the programming or auto of the game is based on your personal tablue construction. So maybe from that your seeing the issue? But I would give the game a few goes before making ones mind up on your stance with it.
Yeah, i dont think its pure multiplayer solitaire at all. I very much kept and eye on what others were doing when it came to placing actions and what i chose. There is a ton of busy work, but i definitely felt the other players decisions impacting me. Merchants cove or railroad inc it was not.
This is my wife's favorite game. It's one of my favs. I can look past the chaos since I got so many plays under my belt. I know what cards to gun for. I know what colors to major in. There's something mechanically well going on in this game when you familiarize the ins and outs of some cards and realize which combo best together.
I enjoyed Earth, but Earth is a mess as well. Both these statements are true. Its a great sandbox engine builder and you can do a lot in it, but its such a messy game in many regards. Fun, enjoyable and clever, but just a little sloppy in places for me to truly adore.
I love the mess. I have a habit of saying "oooh I don't really care if I win" because I'm a liar, and while I'd like about Earth too, the last time I ended up playing twenty event cards, dropping asteroids and comets and supernovas on my island and the play group couldn't stop laughing.
100% no warhammer. Now there is a hobby that 100% does not want you playing it forever, it just wants you buying new things forever. A big difference there.
I am sure this list is full of fantastic games, in researching what are considered the best games to play vary a ton. Because people have different interests. So far the games we play every weekend include Catan, Carcasson, Isle of Cats, Root (though its too much for my gaming partners) and Doomlings. I am not much of a deck building hard core strategy player but I love playing games. When it comes to a game that requires a lot of memorization, I am just not good at that.
So many good points here. Lately, the games we pull out the most are Dominion and The Crew. As I've bought our last few games, I have been thinking a lot about replayability & what our family will most enjoy & request, so I'm excited for some new games I've ordered, but also pulling out some games we already have that are collecting dust.
I totally agree that Dominion should be on this list, but I am curious if you've had a change of heart on the game. I remember you writing on your Dominion video that you didn't really enjoy playing it all that much. Anyway, great list. I would personally nominate Race for the Galaxy- it's such a snappy and satisfying tableau builder once you get master the somewhat arcane notation.
I don’t suppose there’s any way to change the shipping address of a purchased copy of Red Dust, is there? I backed a few years ago but am moving! I’m not big into COIN games but was excited that a person with many of the same game favorites was designing their own game!
That last things u say i second milion times. Definetely on my list: -treason games like Avalon, BSG, the last Cthulu thing - with bsg i think i have around 300 games or more, - some area control unsymethric games like Chaos in the old World or Root.
