Board Games that are GREAT at all player counts

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Today we're talking about our Top 10 board games that play great at all of their player counts. Some games really don't do this well but there are some that absolutely rock it!
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Опубликовано:

1 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 78

@andrejsasd8904 6 дней назад

To this list, I'd add: * Space base - there's big difference in "playstyle" in 2/3 or in 4/5 player game. In 2 or 3 player game you focus on your turns, in 4 or 5 player game the "opponents" turns and dice rolls will be more influential. * Carcassonne- it is as fun in "duel mode" (1 vs. 1) as it is in full 5 (or even 6) player chaos.

@sleepykid19 Год назад

I like how Hanabi scales. At 2p, you hold more cards and typically know a lot more about your own hand because you're the recipient to half of the clues. At 5p, you have fewer cards and typically get clued less, but you can deduce more because you can see more cards and watch how other people are clued.

@txsportsfreak02 Год назад

Hanabi is a very good game.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Good call totally agree

@Atlasfilms08 Год назад

In no particular order my top 10 would be… Space Base Planet Unknown NMBR 9 Roll for the Galaxy Fuse First Class Karuba So clover! Forbidden Desert Quacks of Quendlinburg

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Very solid picks

@tyleryoung3158 Год назад

Mike, not many people can pull off that type of hat, but you absolutely do. Kudos.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Ayyyye thanks so much!

@dougsundseth6904 Год назад

Some games that I've found to work really well at different player counts: * Ticket to Ride - Relatively friendly (and a good intro for new gamers) at 2 or 4 and very tight and often mean at 3 or 5. I've had very good results at all player counts. * Evo - This game has two double-sided maps that you pick to vary the size of the board (like Small World). It's both kind of charming and viciously cutthroat at all player counts. * Medieval Merchant - This trade network game has fixed costs for each route built, but the income from your trade outposts varies with player count, so you're always worried about income and build speed at every player count from 2 to 6. And because the map stays the same size and ends when it fills up (there's more than one way to "fill up"), game length is largely the same regardless of player count.

@tzgardner Год назад

One of the main factors when I think of games that scale well is how much time is added when player count goes up. The first game that comes to mind for me is The Reckoners. A 2 player game and a 6 player game takes about the same time because of simultaneous play.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Simultaneous play is like the ultimate cheat code in game scalability

@BoardAllTheTime Год назад

Petrichor is amazing for not inflating play time based on player count.

@TheDavidPhillips Год назад

For real - if the box says "X minutes per player", assume that the scaling can be boiled down to "now it takes longer".

@teejleague3838 Год назад

I believe we wound up paying $50 for just the Backstage Expansion of Shakespeare, but we love it so much. All it is is a deck of cards but it makes the game EVEN BETTER!!!! Might be best expansion ever.

@RollAndRate Год назад

Great list! Most Roll and Write style games scale well. Outside of those, I'd say: Point Salad Libertalia Winds of Galecrest Quest for El Dorado Quacks of Quedlinburg Food Chain Magnate

@bibleboardgames5199 Год назад

Thanks guys! I have a couple of those and didn't know what player counts work, so now I do.

@teejleague3838 Год назад

Had surgery recently and far behind on my videos. You guys are awesome as always! So fun to watch! Love you, bros!

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

All love right back, and we hope that you are recovering well!

@mikaeki5245 Год назад

My 10 picks in no particular order: - Race for the Galaxy - Glass Road (this probably the best) - Marco Polo 2 - Heat (this gets tied for #1) - 7 Wonders (obviously) - Search for planet X - Sentient - World's Fair 1893 - Crown of Emara - Alices Garden

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Great choices!!

@roswithaprochazka912 Год назад

The original Azul also scales nicely, as do Aldabas and Birds of a Feather. Wayfarers of the South Tigris takes decidedly longer with 4p, but I have played it 2p and 4p, and I enjoyed it every time.

@stefanformgren4978 4 месяца назад

I only playd azul at 2p with wify and like it, but I realy like games that plays the same 2-4p with the only differens in TIME

@Gamnificent Год назад

Cool! As soon as I saw the theme of this top 10, I immediately thought about Small World! 😁 totally agree with you, it is a great game and it scales really well…

@specimenseven Год назад

Smallworld is such a great game. Also great list theme. Thanks.

@middleclassboardgamer Год назад

The top ones from my collection that scale well are: Cry Havoc--the npc faction of the trogs being present in 2 and 3 player games solve the main problem with are control dudes on a map game, it feeling too open. Trogs are ever present. Also has different boards for different player counts. Via Nebula--The number of resources that get placed when a spot is scouted changes with player count, as does using a full tile for a building sight in 2 players versus a half tile on 3 or 4 players. Rocketmen--changes to the number of points that will trigger the end if the game and the number of cards both in the market deck and the permanent decks help it feel tight and frantic no matter the player count.

@brianmiller230 Год назад

Two more that come to mind immediately: Kemet - war game with territory control for 2-5 players. Uses double sided board with one or both sides of the river depending on player counts. Interesting added scoring mechanic with odd number of players. Notre Dame - card drafting worker placement. Modular board changes shape and size depending on player count. Only works 3-5. Doesn't add a lot on length to the game to play with more players, which is brilliant for getting a quicker game in with 5.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Noice!

@starshadow8857 Год назад

Love the video. I would say that for me, terraforming mars scales very well, with more than two players up to the max of 5 players. You’re all fighting for the spots to put on the board and the game may end quicker due to meeting the global parameters quicker but I feel still scales well. I know I’ve mentioned that game before and other comments for videos you made so obviously lol I really love this game. Another one would be tapestry. I also feel like regardless of what player count, it still plays really well at any of those player levels. Yes, it may move a little slower, but when you really know the game, the pace for both of these games is pretty good.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Great picks thanks for sharing your thoughts!

@keithrex1481 Год назад

I've only played Le Havre twice - the first time with 3 players and had a wonderful time; the second time with 4 players and it was a horrible experience with scores having a 100 point spread. I'd like to play it again, but I don't think I'll every play it again at 4 players. Some of the other games you mention that I've played I completely agree with you. Quacks of Quedlinburg (even with the Herb Witches expansion) scales really well at any player count.

@TheFunfighter Год назад

Heat scales pretty well. It's good at high player counts, and at lower player counts you can pop in bots that are super quick to resolve.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

That’s what we’ve heard! Makes us excited to pick that going up!

@Janisurai Год назад

Codenames, 7 wonders and any social deduction game

@adamjohnston2145 Год назад

I enjoyed the list! I hope Planet Unknown becomes available again. I would love to get a copy.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Same! Hoping to get one this summer

@txsportsfreak02 Год назад

Hey guys I love how smallworld scales. I would have added ethnos to this list instead oh la harve. I gonna have to go watch the patreon list.

@richardshagrin8565 Год назад

Power Grid. Multiple maps, most with special rules that make it special but interesting for two to six.

@FestaNoYoutubiu Год назад

Never played Le Havre with more than 2 players. As a 2 player it is a 180min (just played last week and we were not taking exceptional time each turn) and the manual says +60min per extra player, so I never had the courage to deal with more players. That being said, I am willing to try it with 3 players, as I found a bit loose with only 2 players. Thank you for the list.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Ah dang we find that fame to be pretty snappy at the various player counts so we haven’t encountered that problem but hopefully you find the sweet spot at 3 player!

@FemmeSensei Год назад

Ooooh...surprise #1 but this is a GREAT GREAT GREAT list...well done sirs.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Cheers!

@jaredrushlo8288 Год назад

hey is it possible to find planet unknown out in the wild to buy? I missed the Kickstater

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

It’s been pretty scarce. Hoping to find a copy ourselves! I imagine another print run is on the way as we speak

@TheDavidPhillips Год назад

It's not readily available yet, but stay tuned for more info on that later this year - most i can say is be patient and resist the urge to pay through the nose on the second hand market.

@crysicle 5 месяцев назад

Le Havre absolutely doesn't scale. It's only good at 1-3 players. The game ends up much longer ~30-60min per player + you'll have turns where you'll get only 1 turn per phase which means you need to plan to feed your people twice almost back to back, requiring to think about feeding multiple phases before the feedings happen + it removes much of the snappiness of the game where turns feel like they're zooming by. Thinking that this game scales well is close to believing that the earth is flat.

@TheBrothersMurph 5 месяцев назад

Is the earth not flat?

@shockwavemasta Год назад

Really surprised to see Le Havre - it's not recommended beyond 3

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Well hey I guess we’re the recommendation but like we said it’s just very interesting in how it’s different at those counts so it won’t be for everyone :)

@samlauver Год назад

RA is great at all counts!

@DeyaViews Год назад

the one thing i was missing from this video is having the player counts mentioned more explicitly, or listed on the game's title card

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

That's a very good point we should have done that!

@TheDavidPhillips Год назад

I really appreciate when scaling requires little to no lift from the player - Small World is a great example, grab the right board and go. Things like Point Salad are the ones that kill me - gameplay scales great, but setup for 2 players requires me to remove 2/3 of the cards, and do so in equal distribution - that takes about as long as playing the game at 2. The worst is 4 player - at 2 you can split the deck and play 3 different games, and 3 you can do it twice; 4 requires the most work and a full reset to play again, which is a shame because it is probably the best count gameplay-wise.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Very fair points!

@TheDavidPhillips Год назад

That said, play Point Salad - its freaking great.

@Esbenrahr Год назад

Wsbg link isnt active ;-) great video anyway :-)

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Fixed!

@JL-qo6lo 4 месяца назад

Planet unknown is pretty good

@jasonsmith9074 Год назад

I played Viticulture once at 6. Never again:) Too slow. If you're playing with very fast players, fine, but any AP kills this game for me at that player count. 3-4 works best for me.

@stephenball2108 Год назад

Ethnos is so good at all player counts

@GettinJiggly Год назад

I still feel we must have played Wonderlands War wrong, or it's just not our game as it didn't work well for us at 2

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Ah dang bummed to hear it!

@Hybridtheory2007 Год назад

I played Outer Rim this evening and it reminded me how much better it is at 2player. Too long. Game is basically 45+ mins per player

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Good to know it’s good at 2 player! We’ve always wanted to try that one

@Hybridtheory2007 Год назад

@@TheBrothersMurph yeah a lot of down time at 3 and 4 p

@katietimmerman7397 Год назад

Spirit Island

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Good call!

@jeffreywriddlejr Год назад

I have to disagree on Viticulture. While the game is great at 3+, it's awful at 2, at least base is (haven't played Tuscany at 2). The extra worker spot is so powerful anyway, and to allow the 1st player to get 2 workers on Turn 1 is massive, while the 2nd player has to sacrifice their grande worker just to get 1. I tried it once and only made it into round 2 before giving up and agreeing it was a terrible idea.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

Ah weird we have not had that experience at all however the 2 player is better with tuscany 100%

@rossjaax Год назад

I’ve had great plays of Viticulture at 2 players. What squeezes my grapes about Viticulture in this list is on the higher player numbers. At 5-6, the game becomes soooo long. I’ll never play at that level again after experiences with those player counts.

@fionajackson8002 Год назад

I've only played Viticulture with 2 players and I've enjoyed all my plays.

@BoardAllTheTime Год назад

Guys, I love you both. But Le Havre is a terrible choice for this list. This game only works at 1 or 2. 5 is one of the worst gaming experiences I've ever had.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

That’s so interesting we didn’t mind it at all at other player counts. Different stroke different folks I guess

@ushg7 Год назад

Second!😊

@reaper2r Год назад

🎉your greatest achievement🎉

@eVanDiesel Год назад

Where you gotta be Mike? Take off your coat and stay a while.

@TheBrothersMurph Год назад

It’s cooooollllld

@eVanDiesel Год назад

@@TheBrothersMurph "cold"

@TheDavidPhillips Год назад

@@eVanDiesel LA is "City of 7's" - if the temp doesn't start with a 7, they start preparing for the end of the world. 60s are the beginning of a nuclear winter, and we all need to become Mole People or light our neighbor's houses on fire just to survive. 80s are the hottest temperatures anybody has ever seen anywhere ever, and we all need to carry shovels to scrape the melted bodies from the sidewalk. In either scenario, somehow everything still has organic cilantro on it. LA, baby!