Thank you for all your hard work on the “This Game Is Broken” podcast. I am a regular listener and really enjoy the unique format, great conversation, and fun content. I know you do a lot of work to edit the episodes and make them as good as they are, so please know your effort is well appreciated even if the Golden Geek award has eluded your grasp!
I second that! I find it a lovely escape to listen to a comedy panel show that has no politics or world events. Not that those aren’t important, but sometimes my brain needs a break. This Game is Broken is like a day at Disneyland for my brain.
With accessories I have bought dozens of dozens of small plastic cases with small plastic trays in them and I've spent hours working out how to not only fit everything in the box but also the best/most efficient way to set them up so I can get the game to the table fastest. War of the Ring has something like fourteen cases full of little plastic dudes with labels above each case saying where on the map they go. Twilight Imperium 4 has a little tray for each factions tokens/cards and several cases for each colours different ships. I get almost as much satisfaction from sorting these out as I do playing them.
I’ve never been good at shuffling. People that have played a lot of classic card games like poker and rummy can do that thing where they bend the cards in both hands and interlace them and for me they’d always come out in large stacks when they didn’t scatter out of my hands across the table. And with cards for more expensive board games, bending the cards with this type of shuffle makes me a little uncomfortable. I learned at a convention a new way to shuffle that mostly just involved sliding cards out of one hand into the other several times, it is taken some practice and it’s finally starting to come more naturally. Doing this with sleeved cards makes it easier because the sleeves, if they are not cheap, can slide in between each other easily without damaging the cards. Perhaps someone better at shuffling can explain better, I’ve only sleeved one game and it was not to make it easier to shuffle but rather to make it easier to slide cards under one another (dealing with eyrie decrees in root)
I always look for a "youtuber badge" on the front of a board game, specially if it's the "Shut up & sit down", I don't know why but it makes me feel more interested in the game. I sleeve all of my games hehe but the thing that I can't play without is a playmat under the game. I always thought that the exit or Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve a mistery would be the best for a couple night. And the first time I played Wingspan I didn't like it, I think I should give it another try to enjoy it, but this happened also with Dixit were the second time I played it I understood why it was a good game.
Tabletop games I've hated the first time but fell in love the 2nd time? I'm kind of stubborn when it comes to tabletop games, if I dislike a game, I rarely if ever return to it and sometimes it's the opposite, I like the game first and hated it other times (Red Dragon Inn is a good example of that) but the ONLY time I hated a game first time and loved it afterward was FORTUNE AND GLORY, my first time playing, I had a kind of weak character, everything that could go wrong happened and it sucked BUT the second time I played it, I had a different character, my luck turned around and I came a close 2nd and it was fun
Really disliked Isle of Cats the first time I played it. Perhaps it is some level of OCD.. I just felt blocked and could never do what I wanted to do. Especially towards the end of the game. However the more I played it the more I liked it. Certainly doesn't hurt that my wife loves the game either.
Origamis are great for organizing your games, cheap and easy to make. Also if you have excessive board game material maybe it's time to boot up a prototype! :D
Too easy to answer the last question. Watched a bunch of great two player games lists and almost all featured 7 Wonders Duel. My wife and I bought and played 7 Wonder Duel and Tragi. Loved Targi immediately, but played 7 Wonders Duel, and thought... people like this game?? went almost a year without playing it again. 2nd time around, liked it. Then played a few more times, and started to really like it. Just bought and expansion for it last week and like it almost as much as Targi now. But really almost sold 7 wonders Duel after first play.
The accessory/upgrade I love the most is the custom meeples I have for Lords of Waterdeep. It seems more thematic to have little wizards and fighters in your tavern rather than cubes.
Wife and I are generally beat by the end of the day so little two player games like fox in the forest duet are great for things like that. We work together and try to read each other to play this little game with nice art and we keep a peice of paper in the box with our scores and just try to do better than last time.
I have a lot of BGG store upgrades -- bags for Castles of Burgundy, bits and bags for Orleans and Quacks, those new quacks containers. I also got a set of Iron Clays on sale once and they're pretty great. The first time I played Dice Throne i hated it, but now it's one of my favorites. Probably a good Valentine's game too, though this year my wife chose Tyrants of the Underdark because "murder" is one of her favorite game mechanics. Love the video, Matthew! Great as always. You know, I'd support a TGIB award. I'd want to call them "The Brokies."
Awards can be a guide amongst the hundreds of game coming out, but what is most important is watching playthroughs, checking the weight/time/player count and see if it fits, and a theme and art that speaks to you. Yes, for Valentine or any romantic night you don't want to screw up, definitely a coop game or at least something that's not a 'take that' game at all ;)
Matthew, you made me tear up when talking about Valentine’s Day. I have watched your videos and listened to your podcasts for several years, which amounts to probably hundreds of hours by now. I feel like I know a fair bit about you, although I know you keep some things private and have a persona to a certain degree. I am old enough to be your aunt and I have a spouse, so I say this in that context: you have a lot to offer a significant other. Don’t lose hope. I was single for many years before I met my spouse. For what it’s worth, I send you my best wishes that you will soon be able to spend a sweet Valentine’s Day just like you described.
If something wins the Dice Tower or BGG game of the year or one of the other big categories I am 100% always going to try it. If that many people think it’s good I have to give it a try
For starters, I adore you, sir. For seconders, I blinged the HECK out of Gloomhaven with 3D terrain, metal coins, painted miniatures, a thing that holds floor tiles, a baseball card book thing to manage the store, a wooden insert for the box. Also, Quacks of Quedlenworcestehshire man I got the geek up bits, the fancy bags, the little plastic trays. Love that game. Does getting giant Takenoko count as "bling"? Or giant Meeple Circus? because I regret nothing there.
I use small expansion boxes such as from Cosmic Encounter or Eldritch Horror for a dice tray. But agree on the game mat being the most important game upgrade to me.
The first time I saw Space Base, I had plenty to say about it (critiques)...mostly cosmetic but a few conceptual thematic critiques as well, and while some of those I still feel are valid, it wasn't until I saw the game played a few times, then bought and played it myself, that I really fell in love with the game, in spite of those issues that originally turned me off of the game. It's one of those games where you really need to play it and embrace what the game offers. It's a game that scales well, it has no downtime between turns, there's almost always good choices to be made, and there are multiple paths to victory...and, it's the type of game you play once, and immediately want to play again.
My favourite award is the "Deutscher Spiele Preis". It is probably comparable with the golden geek awards as it is an audience prize, but there is only one category (best game) and the first 10 places are published. The winners of the last couple of years are: Arnak, The Crew, Wingspan, Azul, Terraforming Mars, Mombasa, the voyages of Marco Polo, Russian Railroads, Terra Mystica.
The only way awards influence what I buy is when I'm torn about buying a game or not. An award MIGHT be the final push towards buying it when I'm really indecisive, like some sort of tie-breaker. However, this is rare and it's far from the only factor that might convince me, and otherwise I really don't care much about them in general. As for their weight, Dice Tower, Golden Geek and Mensa awards might catch my attention, while SUSD or Spiel de Jahres awards mean literally nothing to me.
Excellent as always, Matthew! I’m coming up to playing Troyes for the second time, didn’t really like it the first time around but I’m giving it another punt! What game would you like someone to learn the rules for for you?
Thanks for another great video, Matthew. I hated Hats the first three play throughs (despite winning every time). I think it was because I couldn’t get a feel for a decent strategy and felt like I was winging it. Took a break for a while then went back to it (cause my wife really enjoyed it) and it just clicked. I now absolutely love it
I don’t pay much attention to awards. The SDJ award does catch my attention but doesn’t make me more likely to play a game. Favorite accessory is definitely inserts, the work of setting up a game is a serious deterrent for solo games for me, and I enjoy putting together the wooden inserts. Not every game needs them, just the ones with lots of little pieces. I wouldn’t mind a bigger table too. Co-op story game is a great recommendation for a Valentine’s Day game. My wife and I don’t play very cutthroat so there’s not a lot of “crushing opponents” going on in our sessions but learning a new game is stressful to her so I’d probably gravitate towards something she’s familiar and comfortable with for a date night style game…
Yeah, we tried lava and it really didn't work out well... Great video/series, had several good laughs and enjoy the info. Oh, and Spiel des Jahres award nominees and winners are ones I definitely look further into because of the award.
I wish some of the obscure or not well received games I love would get more love. But part of the fun of gaming is find games **you** personally enjoy, even if others aren't as enthused or hyped about them!
8:23 tbh I think that if I got upgraded components for any games, I'd keep the old components separately and use them for prototyping for my own boardgames. No throwing stuff away! Just repurposing!
I really enjoy this. You are an unconventional thinker in a way that really invites others to consider things from a different perspective like, "Oh, why haven't I thought of that before?"
For me, there are just some games where I have to have that organizer/insert. Terra Mystica, Great Western Trails--if I spent one more minute pulling out dozens of tiny baggies I was going to lose my mind!
When I upgrade components I often keep the originals for use in my own game design endeavors, a lot of them don't get used, but certainly early on there's a lot you can do with colored cubes and disks to play about with new ideas.
