Hey, Rahdo! Thanks so much for checking out the video and including your list here for everyone to check out. That is so awesome! Loved your list. I really need to play Roll Camera and Free Radicals. Those have completely passed me by for some reason. I loved seeing Amerigo on the list. I think we might be the only people who like that game. :) I just played it with three friends like two weeks ago and we had a great time. More games should use a cube tower. Seeing Castles of Burgundy on your list is really making me rethink my choice. I may have made a mistake there. Thanks again for checking out the channel and for everything you do for the hobby! Have a great day!
"Evil board game dictator" 😂 You're teasing me with that Antiquity. I almost had a fight against a local online board game seller because of an un-updated stock listing of this game. Prompted the purchase, paid it in advance and turns out it is no longer there. Ugh, the nightmare. And currently it is no longer in print. As to date, if I ever had to keep a game it always still had to be Mage Knight, always will, and nothing else. I wouldn't care about other year's published games 😂.
Went into the solo boardgame rabbit hole recently, and i've been really enjoying the great energy and commentary from your playthroughs. Thank you for the hours of entertainment !
I really appreciate that and I'm glad you found the channel. Thanks for supporting us by checking out my videos. I hope you continue to find entertainment here for years to come! Have a wonderful day!
Awesome list. Thanks! You will LOVE the Arnak Missing Expedition. Playing currently with a buddy and it's surprisingly natural as a 2p co-op, but would be equally great as a solo. Also, I share your enthusiasm for Troyes. So good.
Ah, I need to get that to the table. My gaming time has been consumed with learning and playing Voidfall. Hopefully soon I'll have some time to dig in to Arnak again. Glad to hear you are enjoying it. Thanks so much for watching the video!
Many games that we also love, and many that we aren't familiar with- great to look into! Thanks so much for the video (and to Rahdo, who recommended it in his own video).
It is nice that a lot of those older classics are still in print or have new editions, like Ra. They deserve to be played and collected right along with the new games. But after you get beyond 15 years or so, the selection becomes less interesting to me personally. And for solo gaming, it is basically a barren wasteland past 15 years ago, as far as my tastes go. Board gaming may be incredibly old in one form, but the modern hobby is still very young, even when compared to video games. There will be much growth, both positive and negative, to come. Thanks so much for checking out the video!
Very cool lists and very cool video! We have 4 overlaps, although I don't consider Viticulture a 2013 game because the Essential edition i what made it grand. 2010 will forever be the Troyes year, 2015 Grand Austria Hotel in which I consider probably the best year in board gaming (partly because Viticulture: EE). And Obsession for 2018. I was surprised not to see Orleans mention in 2014.
I've never heard about half of this list. You inspired me to research some of these games, it looks like lot of them are euro, and in your videos they look so good and interesting ^_^ Definitely piqued my interest, maybe I'll find next gem for my collection. Love your vids, thank you for great content!
I hope you find the next game you love. I'd be thrilled if my video was the inspiration! Lots of great games over the years and it is easy for them to get forgotten in the face of a mountain of new games. Luckily, I think most of the games I mentioned are available -- nothing too esoteric. Thanks so much for checking out the video!
Love the video! I began my board game journey in 2020, so just a little baby to the hobby. I absolutely adore the Lost Ruins of Arnak solo campaign and the new missing expeditions expansion really gripped me 😊 two games I keep coming back to solo are forgotten waters and Stardew valley! Mr president is fantastic as well but I often can’t keep it out for long and it’s a bit challenging to save your place 😝 I value you so much as a content creator because you really frame and set expectations so well, and you prioritize the experience and story of a board game 😊
That's awesome! I'm still trying to get Mr. President and the new Arnak expansion to the table. Excited to try them. Forgotten Waters is super fun. I've played quite a bit of it with my wife. I'm really glad you enjoy the channel. I really appreciate your support! Have a wonderful day!
Thank you! Watched again and wanted to play all those game have in my collection. Currently my table is filled with Arnak Missing expedition. We almost finished it with my friend and it is really good puzzle. I would have added to this list Eldritch Horror. I really like it as it is quite challenging and also generates unique stories as Nemesis or Robinson Crusoe
Eldritch Horror is a good one for this list. I need to play it more -- I've only tabled it a few times over the years. I'm jealous you've played Missing Expedition. I really want to try that expansion. I'm hearing great things from everyone. Thanks so much for watching the list!
Man, you mentioned so many of my favourite older games here it's just insane ;). I have compared your picks and runner ups with my ratings on BGG and I'm shocked (it's like I was reading my own list when it comes to pre 2014). If I were to make three changes here, I would pick El Grande for 1995, YINSH for 2003 and probably Brass for 2007 ;). I will try to do my list in a separate comment :D. spoilers below: . . . . . . . . 1995 High Society 7/10 1997 Tigris & Euphrates 10/10 1998 Samurai 10/10 1999 Ra 10/10 2000 Carcassonne 9/10 2001 never played 2002 Age of Steam 9/10 2003 Alhambra 7/10 2004 Antiquity 9/10 2005 Glory to Rome 10/10 2006 Through the Ages 10/10 2007 never played (Agricola 10/10, Race for the Galaxy 10/10, 1960 The Making of the President 10/10) 2008 Dominion 10/10 (Cosmic Encounter 8/10) 2009 At the Gates of Loyang 9/10 (Macao 7/10) 2010 Troyes 10/10 (Dominant Species 10/10) 2011 Mage Knight 7/10 (Castles of Burgundy 10/10) 2012 Robinson Crusoe 9/10 (Ginkgopolis 9/10) 2013 Viticulture 9/10 (Concordia 9/10) ----- 2014 never played (La Granja 6/10) 2015 Grand Austra Hotel 8/10 (The Gallerist 9/10) 2016 Great Western Trail 6/10 (A Feast for Odin 4/10 - I don't like it) 2017 Gloomhaven 8/10 (This War of Mine 7/10) 2018 never played (Nemesis 3/10 I was SO dissapointed with this one) 2019 Pax Pamir Second Edition 10/10 2020 Lost Ruins of Arnak 7/10 (Dune Imperium 8/10) 2021 never played 2022 never played (Ark Nova 4/10)
Cool idea for a video!! It made me want to do the same exercice. You showed a lot of great games, many of them would be in my runner up 1995 - Pitch Car 1996 - Compatibility 1997 - Tigris & Euphrates 1998 - 1849 1999 - Paths of Glory 2000 - Carcassonne 2001 - Winner’s Circle 2002 - Cannes: Stars, Scripts and Screens 2003 - R-Eco 2004 - Antiquity 2005 - Indonesia 2006 - Ticket to Ride: Marklin 2007 - Amyitis 2008 - Le Havre 2009 - Hansa Teutonica 2010 - Glen More 2011 - War of the Ring: Second Edition 2012 - Thunderbolt Apache Leader 2013 - Skull King 2014 - Three Kingdoms Redux 2015 - Leaving Earth 2016 - Pax Renaissance 2017 - Calimala 2018 - Meltwater 2019 - 1882 2020 - Regicide 2021 - TrickTakers 2022 - The Old Prince 1871 2023 - Oranienburger Kanal
Great list! You have a bunch of games I have never tried or even heard of before. Leaving Earth is one I've been meaning to try for a long time. I was also excited to see Three Kingdoms Redux. That game is difficult to get to the table (I rarely have 3 players exactly) but the few times I have it has been a fantastic experience. And I'm a big fan of Oranienburger Kanal as well. It is going to be higher on my Top 10 of 2023 list than people expect. Thanks for this amazing contribution to the channel and thanks for checking out the video!
Thank you so much! That is very kind. And good news. I'm editing my Voidfall playthrough as we speak! It is a monster, so don't hold your breath, but it won't be too much longer. Thanks for watching!
I love this list idea! Very unique and enjoyable content; as usual for you, Shaggi. I just ran through this exercise myself for just the last ten years and I don't know how you did this. It was tough choosing just one from each year. Some years were STACKED. As a tangential point, I think a fun list/ranking idea would be the top 20 or 10 years for board games. I'd be interested in seeing something like that from you. Some years are just better than others but what was your personal favourite? Could be good content. Also, love the cliffhanger for your 2023 top ten. Looking forward to it! 2014 - Star Wars: Imperial Assault 2015 - Burgle Bros 2016 - Scythe 2017 - Dinosaur Island (cutting Anachrony HURT) 2018 - Everdell (cutting Obsession hurt, too!) 2019 - Marvel Champions 2020 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles AUGS (IDW Games) - my #1 all-time but Lost Ruins was runner up 2021 - Ark Nova 2022 - Wayfarers of the South Tigris (Sabika would be runner up and both these games are top tenners) 2023 - Voidfall
It's funny you say that, Laurence -- I already have my Top 10 Years for Solo Gaming list done and organized for all years but 2023. Once I feel comfortable slotting 2023 in, I will definitely make that list. I might do one for all games as well. Honestly, it might be the same list, not sure. But this exercise definitely reinforced that some years are straight fire and others are just okay. Nice list! I need to try the TMNT game. Never really heard much about it for some reason. I also want to try Sabika. Cool to see Voidfall. It is currently on my table and it is the main reason why my Top 10 of 2023 list has been delayed. What a beast of a game. Why couldn't it have come out in June? :) Thanks again for watching and commenting. I enjoyed seeing your list.
@@TotallyTabled Woo-hoo! Talk about knowing what the people (or at least one person) want! Looking forward to that list. I'm going to have to start thinking about mine. I enjoy the mental exercise of these kinds of lists. 2023 will be pretty high for me as I bought more new games this year than any other year since getting into the hobby. Voidfall, Nucleum, The White Castle, and Scholars of the South Tigris all being standout hits for me. I hope you'll get a chance to check each of those out soon (if you haven't already)! The TMNT game is a solid design with interesting decisions and fun dice rolling. But it is definitely the IP that places it in my top spot - especially the fact that it's specifically based on the IDW comics run by Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman. One of the greatest comic book series ever, in my opinion. Based on what I know of your taste you will love Sabika. It's crunchy, got good combos, tight resource management, and tense decision making. The solo design is probably the best ratio of low complexity to highly challenging AI for any solo game in my collection. The design is brilliant. As for Voidfall, it's definitely the most complex game in my collection (only barely beating out Weather Machine if BGG is to be believed). But I think it is the best set of rulebooks I've ever used. I played the tutorial keeping in the solo aspects and just followed that step by step. After doing that, Ian O'Toole's iconography made a lot of sense to me and by my second game I was barely referring to the rulebook anymore. Just the glossary for confirmation/clarification on some cards. It's a steep learning curve but is pretty smooth and EXTREMELY rewarding after that. You'll enjoy it immensely.
It was an interesting exercise to go through as well. I recommend trying it for yourself. I gained an insight into how game design and my own tastes have changed through the years. Thanks so much for checking out the list!
I'm surprised I don't see Clans of Caledonia on more reviews anywhere. I found it on Board Game Arena and it's great solo or multi-player. If you have not checked it out, put it on your list to try sometime.
Clans is a great game, although I haven't played it solo very often. Unfortunately for this list it was published in 2017, the year of 100 amazing board games. But it is a great pick. And the BGA implementation is fantastic. Thanks so much!
Ha, yeah the runners up were amazing most years. Turns out there are at least 2 great games made each year -- despite what some people in the hobby would say. I think my future board game dystopia videos are going to result in worse collections. Thanks for watching!
I'm really interested in Through the Ages, Obsession, Troyes, and Lost Ruins of Arnak. I did purchase Robinson Crusoe late last year but haven't played it yet. Will in the next couple of weeks for sure! Love the video, thanks for the ideas and showing the games.
Let me know what you think about RC once you get it tabled. Opinions very. Check out my RC playthroughs if you haven't. They might help. Thanks for watching!
While I Loved gloomhaven I've never played another game more than 10x solo apart from Spirit Island where I am 200+ deep and I'm only just scratching the surface of all of the content!
Yeah, Spirit Island is practically a lifestyle game. I've not dug into it at that level yet. Maybe one day I'll get there, but for now I appreciate the brilliance and depth of the design from the sidelines. Gloomhaven is one of my most played games, certainly at this weight. As for Earthborne Rangers -- I'm still working on my rankings and playing a couple more games, but it will be in the top 10, I promise that. Thanks for watching!
Robinson Crusoe: no mater how good your plans and strategy are you can be derailed with a bad dice roll. You pull yourself out of that disaster feeling very pleased with yourself and then the dice screw you again. So frustrating. If there was an alternative to dice this would be a classic.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I think the dice in RC add fun decisions to the action selection system and a sense of dread necessary for an effective survival game. Dice are the critical ingredient to most great survival games from This War of Mine, Nemesis, Ghost Stories, Final Girl, Halls of Hegra... Push your luck, risk management, swings of fortune, cruel fate, determination in the face of impossible odds -- it's all there in those dice rolls, as well as the flips of the cards. I honestly think it is a genre that a lot of people don't enjoy because they want to be in control. But horror is about a lack of control, a lack of understanding, a lack of fairness and predictability. But I understand why a lot of people find it frustrating or not a fun way to lose a game. I think there is more strategy in these games than first appears, but I might be on an island myself with that opinion. :) Thanks so much for checking out the video!
@@michaelhill6453 Yeah, you should definitely watch my RC plays. I don't think they will change your mind, but I think they turned out pretty entertaining. Not every game is for everyone. I try to push RC because it is one of my favorites and I want people to have amazing experiences with it like I have had over the years. My biggest advice that I tell people is to not treat RC like a Euro efficiency puzzle. You aren't trying to solve the puzzle of survival. Rather think of it as a story being told. Often the most strategic opinion is the thematic opinion, not necessarily the efficient one. I think that is why so many people overlook the "setting up camp" action. We have been trained that spaces like that are inefficient and only a last resort. But in RC, the question is "can you keep up your morale, in the face of misfortune, long enough to accomplish the necessary tasks?" When you approach the game as "an adventure story about the will to survive," then the dice rolls are no longer randomly messing up your puzzle solving, but rather improving the story, adding those important beats. Ah, when I start talking about RC I just can't stop. :) Sorry. Thanks again!
Great video! I must completely disagree with your choice of Mage Knight over Castles of Burgundy. I tried so many times with Mage Knight and just couldn't play it anymore. I hope I can get that special edition of Burgundy though. 😁
Definitely a tough choice. I love Castles of Burgundy and the new edition is amazing. Check out my playthroughs of both games if you haven't. Thanks so much for watching!
I agree with you. Both are fantastic. I prefer D:I with more players, but I really like Arnak solo. Hard choice. Thanks so much for checking out the video!
My list would be mostly similar, but definitely War of the Ring for 2004, Lord of the Rings LCG for 2011, Spirit Island for 2017, and at least 1 Garphill Game but I can’t decide which!
War of the Ring is a good call. I might rethink that for my own list -- tough choice. And 2017 is just an insane year. Not sure how that happened. Thanks for watching!
Thanks! It was a fun thought experiment. The choices just got harder and harder as I went along through the years. If nothing else, more games that fit my personal tastes are coming out year after year, even if some of those older ones are incredible. Thanks for watching!
Thanks! I'm glad you found the video interesting. I had to stick to more recent history, given my own history and personal tastes, but it would be interesting to see someone do this list for the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I'm sure it has been done before, but I'd love to see it. Thanks so much for checking out the video!
I factored that in a bit as I went. For example, I didn't pick Final Girl and Nemesis because I had other survival games and wanted a mix. I am missing a higher player game -- like 6+ players. Something like Codenames would have been nice, but I couldn't find a good spot. Thanks for watching!
2017 was definitely a very very very tough year to pick, but I think the hardest was 2021 although I agree with your choice which just was so good it beat the other “finalist.” 😉👍🏻
Yeah, 2021 was a surprisingly great year. Hard choices all around. I'm planning a video to rank the years for solo gaming and see where 2023 fits in. The results are interesting. Thanks for checking out the video!
15:39 WOW! Really..... Crikey! Gotta agree with Obsession, so surprising a game. 19:18 I found this game to be too static until its expansions and have come to like it. But please can one get away from the top XXXXXXXX videos.... It's a bit of a cheat; as interesting as they are.
Well, here's my list from the last 30 years: 1994 Kingdoms 1995 El Grande 1996 GIPF 1997 Tigris & Euphrates (RU: For Sale) 1998 Samurai 1999 Ra (RU: Bus) 2000 Carcassonne 2001 DVONN (RU: Big Shot) 2002 Puerto Rico (RU: Age of Steam, Mexica) 2003 YINSH (RU: Carcassonne: The Castle) 2004 Antiquity (RU: Goa) 2005 Twilight Struggle (RU: Glory to Rome, Caylus, 1846: The Race for the Midwest) 2006 Shogun (RU: Neuroshima Hex!) 2007 Agricola (RU: Brass, Race for the Galaxy, TZAAR) 2008 Dominion 2009 Automobile (RU: Hansa Teutnica, Loyang, Steam, Cyclades) 2010 Innovation (RU: Labyrinth: The War on Terror, Dominant Species, Troyes, Space Hulk: Death Angel) 2011 The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game (War of the Ring Second Edition, The Castles of Burgundy, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition, Kingodm Builder) 2012 The Great Zimbabwe (RU: Pax Porfiriana, Terra Mystica, Las Vegas) 2013 Bruges (RU: Nations, Impulse, Bruxelles 1893, Concordia) 2014 Warhammer 40.000: Conquest (RU: San Juan Second Edition, Saint Petersburg Second Edition) 2015 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Second Edtion (RU: Food Chain Magnate, Through the Ages, Empires: Age of Discovery) 2016 Arkham Horror: The Card Game 2017 The Quest for El Dorado (RU: Gaia Project, Spirit Island) 2018 KeyForge (RU: Brass Brimingham) 2019 Pax Pamir Second Edition (RU: 1882 Assiniboia) 2020 Winter Kingdom 2021 Pax Renaissance Second Edition (RU: Summoner Wars Second Edition) 2022 Terra Nova (RU: War of the Ring: The Card Game, Carnegie, Heat) 2023 Horseless Carriage
Awesome list! Thanks for providing it for everyone. That is so generous! I love seeing Quest for El Dorado and Innovation on there. I've been playing a ton of Innovation on Board Game Arena. I'm not good at it, but it is a fun ride. I need to try Pax Renaissance and Horseless Carriage. Thanks so much!
Yeah, that is reasonable. So much to explore with that one. Basically a game you could play for the rest of your life and never get bored. Thanks for watching!
For This War of Mine, have you played with any of the expansions? If so, which one did you enjoy? Thanks for your multi-video playthrough on this game!
I have played with the first expansion only a couple times. There is so much to explore with the base game that I don't feel the need to use the expansion. Although, I do have everything in the box together, so I might be using some parts of an expansion and just not remembering. I don't think so. Also, I have not tried the newest expansion. I'm someone who usually don't jump into expansion content unless I feel like it is needed -- either the base game is lacking or I've played the base game out and I'm looking for something to juice it up. I don't feel that way yet about This War of Mine. Thanks for watching!
1995 High Society 1996 Settlers of Catan Card Game 1997 For Sale 1998 Excape 1999 Ra 2000 Carcassonne 2001 Munchkin 2002 Puerto Rico 2003 Magical Athlete 2004 No Thanks! 2005 Incan Gold 2006 Qwirkle 2007 Container 2008 Pandemic 2009 Tobago 2010 Forbidden Island 2011 King of Tokyo 2012 Lords of Waterdeep 2013 Concordia 2014 Orleans 2015 Champions of Midgard 2016 Great Western Trail 2017 Rajas of the Ganges 2018 Raccoon Tycoon 2019 Star Wars: Outer Rim 2020 Dune: Imperium 2021 Bad Company 2022 Clank: Catacombs! 2023 Apiary
Great list! Thanks for sharing it. Lots of great ones on there -- I love seeing Rajas of the Ganges. That is an underrated game. My copy of Apiary should arrive soon. I'm excited to try that one. Definitely one of the big ones I missed in 2023. Thanks for watching!
I just don't understand the love for arnak. There's nothing that differentiates it from any other resource conversion game. It's ok but what elevates it? The components? The theme? The pretend attempt at deck building?
It’s a head scratcher. I love the art and the theme there but the game is just not fun whatsoever. I feel the same way with the communities crazy love for Earth.
In my experience, once someone goes to the "just another soulless euro" stance, there is no coming back. It is like when my kids call something boring -- nothing will change their mind. I also find the "I don't understand why everyone doesn't feel the same as me" is a sign of a closed mind. So I'll answer the question, but I know it will not satisfy you or change your ability to understand why this game is popular. Arnak's design is clever in many different ways. My favorite: when you explore new worker placement locations, it comes with a guardian. That is now a personal private objective for the rest of the round. Can you alter your plans to get what you need to defeat the guardian and cash in on its valuable reward? Chances are yes you can, and the puzzle to get there is often great. In fact, the more you play, the better you get at seeing ways to squeeze out one or two more actions per round. You figure out how you can combo your multiuse cards, special abilities, bonuses, helpers, etc. to have massive turns. That's because some actions require cards, some actions require cards and workers, some actions just need resources, so it is very possible to do more by chaining together your actions in the proper order. And because you have worker placement angst, card drafting angst and racing up the research track angst, the tension remains high throughout the round. Add in the Leaders expansion with really asymmetric player powers, the great solo mode and the solo campaigns -- it is easy for me understand why this game is popular. But not everyone needs to love it.
@@TotallyTabled I haven’t played with the expansion yet. I do own it though. I have to get this back out. Personally, I love soulless euros as long as the mechanics are enjoyable. At 3 plays I found the fun and interesting part (exploring the areas) to be a detriment. Other players focused on resource conversion to climb the temple track got to reap the rewards of your efforts buy using the location you opened. Then, though it may not be true, the temple track appeared to be the essential area to focus on if you are to compete at all. I know… get gud. 😉 It’s been a hot minute, I need to play it with the Leaders, cuz I wanna like this game as much as I do its art and theme.
