Can't believe Ive been only been watching Dice Tower and SU&SD these last few years since I discovered boardgames. It's like Ive been listening to Cliff Richard my whole life and somebody has just played me Napalm Death.
To add to #1, when the influencers who told you the game was awesome then when it's released are like "I culled my copy" , and then when people call them on it are like "my gaming tastes are allowed to change!" . Yeah.... gaming tastes change, I've had games sour on me.....but you knew this game was "meh" from the get go.
Too many people listen to paid reviewers. If you play enough and are on the hobby a long time and seen the people reviewing and their tastes you should be able to know when they sell you crap for a wage. SA&SD, Quackalope, Boardgameco, ManVsMeeple among others... Yes i dare name them.
Idk about all the others but Quack are def hype men. They aren't strictly lying, but they basically say everything is GREAT!!! Which makes their reviews and impressions completely pointless. I don't get the same from boardgameco though he usually will list stuff that he didnt like or others might not like and that section is usually enough for me to decide for myself if its the type of game i would like or not.
Im pretty new to the hobby and I definitely leaning on the opinion of content creators a lot. from my perspective they were an authority/have experience in this hobby. Then I started to realize, dang, these people are getting free stuff sent to them, they go all-in, but they are getting patreon money and RU-vid monetization coming coming in to subsidize the cost. So when they are talking going all in, that’s not all coming from out of pocket at all, like you and I. I realized the top content creators in this hobby are in a different category and you really need to take what they say with a grain of salt. There are some that are super legit, but I think a lot are caught up in the hype to create more and more content.
@@walris44i agree. Quack dude sucks and he kind of creeps me out for some reason, that’s neither here nor there. Boardgame co is one of the best in the game but that dude is also invested in his channel, creating unboxing videos and content videos so when he says he’s going all in, I know patreons are paying for it too. It’s not all out of pocket. Heck, at this point companies send him free games.
Oh god, your number 10 is SO SPOT ON. Plus, these people who are “moderators” on Facebook board game groups who make posts about how amazing a game is before it even launched on Kickstarter. Then, if you ask them if their post is a paid ad, they kick you out of the group and block you. Another guy on RU-vid made a whole series of videos about his dealings with these people. It’s so frustrating watching crap games make millions because of these people where great games get completely binned because they didn’t grease the right pocket.
@@budsticky I accuse Rhadi of doing the same thing. But this video is right....most of them are turning into KS shills. I love it when they tell you this is the best KS game ever, and when the campaign ends it suddenly doesn't even make the top 20 games of the year for them.
Love it! Great list, Matt. One thing I hate are the plastic inserts that come with a game that either don't hold everything once you punch it all out or just completely let everything inside fly around inside if you simply tip the box on its side. I just end up tossing them in the trash and bag everything up so that it all fits in the box and doesn't explode in my face like a firework the next time I open it up. Eagle Gryphon are one of the rare publishers who add a plastic top to some of their game inserts so that you can close it all up once everything's in. More publishers need to follow their example.
Publishers should stop putting inserts in board games. The people who vare about it make their own or buy 3rd party inserts anyway, and the rest of us throw it out and use baggies anyways. Stop wasting money and resources. Give us the FFG cardboard trench shipping protection and a couple of bags and focus on the rest of the production instead
Days of wonder used to do this. Check out original copies of "Cleopatra and the society of architects" for proof. I agree though. if youre gonna go through the effort do it right or dont bother at all. At least be honest about your uncaring laziness to provide a reasonable product to consumers.
The best board game video I’ve seen in a long time. Very funny and very true. Number 10 especially. My heart sinks whenever I see Quackalope’s over excited face whilst he’s reviewing a lump of shit.
Haha just my thought. Stopped viewing his videos a very early on. So much talking and praising turds. Oh and don’t even start on Rahdo. Every board game he ever reviews is hyped to the best thing ever. You could send him a pile of dirt and he’ll praise it like it’s the second coming of Jesus. Saw a video of his once. Where he scrolled through all his bgg ratings. Over 1300 ratings. And the one in the bottom with the lowest rating had a 8.1 rating. Are you serious. 😱😱😱 That’s complete bullocks.
@@xGarrettThiefx IMO that wasn't always the case, as prior to the Daniele Tascini flashpoint, IMO he came across as simply someone who wanted to be positive, affable etc. (overly) Enthusiastic for sure, but he seemed naturally kind-hearted. He certainly attracted strong ire / attacks from the activists on BGG for his initial comments on that flashpoint, and that put him in a difficult position. He chose to lean into being more in tune with them, and as a business decision, I very much can understand it. I still genuinely believe he wants to be a decent person, but it's maybe not as natural as he was, as he's aware of the flak he got, and is a little more self-conscious about a further mis-step. I'd much rather people retain their natural instinct for wanting to be a good person, rather than being influenced by fear of further attacks.
From the game I own, the biggest "Empty Box" offender is definitely Splendor. Basically a deck of cards, ten Nobles, and 40 chips/ tokens- and all of that in a box that is at least 80% empty.
I’ve been following you for years now and hands down you continue to provide the best in board gaming content. Thank you for your raw honesty and passion towards the hobby. …. and for me? You’ve hit the nail right on the head with #10 - fucking “influencers”….. feels like it’s some bullshit popularity contest.
It is annoying when board games don't give you any bags to put the pieces in. But when I got into sewing I has a euphoric moment when I realised that I can make bags for all of these components which will always give me some little project to work on.
Number 2 is very easy to explain. 1-Shelf space, a big box get more atention then a small box. 2- Cost reduction, If you produce many diferent games you whant to have fewer sizes as possible so you don´t need that much inventory and reduce stock brakes
Great list but you missed my personal #1: TOO MANY F**KING BOARD GAMES!! I can't even play games I love more than a few times to fully learn them and develop strategies because in any group you play with, everyone has their own favorite they want to play and then there's the 'Cult of the New' that everyone clings to because of FOMO ... just make it stop. We need at least a five year moratorium on any new games, FFS. Great games get lost in the dust and our collections get bigger but by the time I play a game a second time, it might have been years since the first time I played it! Yeah, so, too many board games is my number one, followed by almost everything you said plus more.
so true, sometimes gaming events seem more like show and tell of new games that are played once and never seen again as people keep bringing these big bag of games
The spiritual mashup of Sleaford Mods and Dice Tower that I didn't know I needed. Just needs a dude with a long beard and a laptop full of beats doing backup
I just found this channel randomly and I 100% agree and love your content my dude (sorry, I'm a yankee) please keep it coming as this brilliant and 100% on point.
Great points, thank you! Jamaica must have listened to you because their second edition rule book not only is proper sized, but it has tabs along the right side to jump right to what you want to look up! Sadly though, the back of the book just has lore about the characters. While really neat, a cheat sheet of setup & turn options would have been more practical.
01:51 I love that your example is Eldritch Horror lol I do love the series. It's one of the few dice-in-combat games that I'm fond of. But the boxes are so unnecessarily huge. I've ended up using the base box for keeping boards and manuals from all the expansions along with the base game components, and have placed pretty much everything else in ziploc bags, the total volume of which are about the size of one large expansion box. So the entire line could have been stored in two big boxes instead of 5 big ones and four little ones.
Love this!!! My one peeve is useless inserts very similar to empty boxes... oh and regarding number 10 I can guarantee any game that Tom Vassel hates I love!! I don't really pay attention to (paid or non paid) reviews of games I try to watch how to play videos but in saying that your reviews and how to plays are the best!!!
The inserts are most often there to stabilize the box contents during shipping, not to be a practical storage area. I do wonder about FFG and others who insist on decorating such a disposable with artwork, though.
My favourite one is when insert can hold all the cards but there isn't enough room for cards in sleeves or those 10 cards that come in a promo next year and everything just becomes a mess inside. Then you either toss the insert out and try to make some sense with a shitload of rubber bands or buy overpriced custom insert that you have to assemble yourself, doesn't come with glue and when you finally find your old glue it's already dry as fk. And then, after couple of years, after the last expasion has been sold out, they print out limited amount of boxes that can store everything nicely for a price of another bloody expansion. I'm talking about you, Raiders of the Northern Sea. Bollocks!
Oh, my! Your content is topnotch. It's quite remarkable how the video and audio quality improves each time a new video is published. Hands down! Greetings from Mexico, mate.
How have I never seen your channel until today. This right up my alley...The damn plastic wrap on cards is too accurate...and cardboard construction very recently got me with King of Tokyo: King Kong expansion. That stupid Tokyo Tower was never made to ever stand without you gluing the hell out of it.
Number 10# has basically turned some of my favourite channels into commercials. It seems that those around 30-50k Subs are the worst offenders, as it's a crux for taking the channel to the next stop of popularity.
Yes, I used to very much enjoy Alex Radcliffe's 'coffee table' monologue on hot / sensitive topics and did like that he discussed / acknowledged different perspectives. That felt like it got dropped in favour of more commercial influences, as part of building his channel's revenues, plus his gig at Gamefound. It felt more and more like a shill channel, and afraid to rock the boat, so I moved on.
That’s how many subs I have, but the preview videos I make are not trying to tell you the game is the best thing ever. I just teach you how to play it and show you how it is played. You then have to decide yourself. :)
@@GamingRulesVideos And even then nobody could disrespect you for taking sponsorshiips, because you and other channels like "How its played" are just offering instructional videos. This is why if I see a reviewer spending more than 2 minutes explaining why a game is good or crap, then I just shut them off. Aint nobody got time fo dat.
Excellent stuff, have to agree with all of those. I also don't like it when they make huge unneeded miniatures for games when a small standee would have been fine, reduced the cost of the game and fitted in the box bette.
This is great! You must post the not safe for work version!!!! Number 8 is the most annoying thing. I've ruined many a card because of it. And number 10 is the best. Seeing it more and more which is unfortunate.
Number #4 REALLY makes my blood boil. Definitely the worst for me. I agree with most on this list though. Can probably add an 11th which is new games getting lauded for mechanics which have been done a million times before but for some reason people eat it up, might be stepping on your kickstarter comment from your BGG videos.
Top video mate! The only one that didn't immediately register with me was when the rules have the diagrams of the tokens on one page and the description of them on another. Don't know why, but this one doesn't seem to get my dander up. But No10 is definitely - DEFINITELY - the worst of the lot. I too hate these paid mercenaries running around all over RU-vid, saying how stunning this new game is, knowing full well it's a pile of 💩, but keeping quiet because they've got a nice fat cheque from the publishers. Closely related, indeed a Siamese Twin to this, are when these games are sitting on BGG with 9's and 10's, even though they haven't even been published, while really good games that have been available for months or years, are scoring 6-7. 🤬
You said it best about these paid or sponsored previews AND reviews. I always make sure to steer clear of their channels and I tell others to avoid them. Because whether these channels admit it or not, they ARE part of the board game community and their deceptive practices weakens it.
I create preview videos. It is my job. But I've been a gamer for over 40 years and have been a part of the hobby as long as I can remember. I hope my videos don't come across as deceptive (I don't give my opinions in those videos, just provide a playthrough so that people can make their own mind up)
@GamingRulesVideos I watch a lot of your videos and I think they are the best. I have ended up purchasing several games based on your play throughs. Keep up the great work.
I give Ed at Heavy Cardboard credit here: his sponsored previews do not have review or postgame discussions, and he often says, 'We're not trying to sell you on this game, but you can see for yourself whether it's for you.'
@@majkus I do exactly the same :) the thought of making a promotional marketing video where I will say marketing friendly phrases that persuade people to buy the game makes me feel sick. I’ll let other people do that with their “one of the best games I’ve ever played” on every video :)
@@garylaframboise2721 thanks. If you’ve watched a lot of videos, you’ll know that I do some that are sponsored, and some that are not. And on the sponsored ones, I focus on providing information only, showing how it plays, not repeating marketing buzzwords to get you to back it.
I totally agree with all this list. As someone who works for a site that does paid previews...I won't sign up for any promotions of games I think suck. It would be a disservice to anyone that has had faith in me for years. I'm choosey and still make it clear why I chose to preview the game in the first place. All that extra over the top stuff I see is BS. Very few games are great, we all know this. You made me smile cause you would think some of these final games just have to be prototypes....but they aren't.
Something that annoys me is the inserts that cost as much as a game itself. Is it too much to ask for games to come with an insert to store all of its components? All my old games have this 'feature'. A good example is Conquest of Nerath, it has an excellent plastic insert for all the components. Can't be too costly once it's been designed.
This is a great list. The only difference in opinion I have is about empy spaces in boxes. If a game has expansions, I'd like them to fit in the base box. I don't like pulling three boxes out when setting up a game. But I understand the frustration regarding shelfspace. Bollocks.
I always wondered why publishers don't design the boxes for expansions to fit the original game and the expansion in it. That way, the base game doesn't have wasted space, and the expansion can account for all the components that would need to fit and it can still just be in one box.
Agree completely with everything on this list. I think a lot of the time box design is about marketing rather than practicality, the box cover art and the box size probably have a major impact on sales in shops. Games Workshop is notorious for selling half its games in boxes that are way too shallow to fit the miniatures in once they're assembled, it's a full on piss take considering how much their games cost, £100 for a game that won't even fit in the box.
As someone who creates paid preview videos - since it is my actual job - I hope I'm not included in your list :) I don't give opinions in those videos, I just provide a playthrough to help people make their own mind up. Some of them are games I enjoy, some not so much :)
But if you are talking about the people who get paid to tell you how amazing the game is with all the marketing speak and generating all the buzz "one of the best games we've ever played" when the game isn't even finished yet - it bothers me too. I'm in the tricky position though of this being my actual job, it's what pays the bills, and many of the publishers I work with do pay for those kinds of videos. I personally don't offer that service as it would make me feel dirty.
Great video! Many fantastic points here! Uneven turns bothers me a lot - lost a game of Scythe just a few days ago due to that having prepared for a massive last turn that I never got to go through with. Baggies never been a problem for me, so many games come with an overabundance so I have stores of hundreds and hundreds of them in different sizes that I never know what to do with. That said - I recently sold my copy of Shipyard due to its fiddly captains and chimneys.
Great List! Although I'm an ameritrash random dice roll masochist of old - so don't mind the cruel fates they might dish out. One of my favourite games I played in the 80s was Buck Rogers Battle for the 25th Century. It's basically Risk in Space but FIVE times as long winded! :D
I, too, love some random rolls and draws, especially regarding "ameritrash" adventure games or old-fashioned wargames. Although there has to be some form of strategic risk-reward decision, odds loading possibility, and/or mitigation involved in the whole process, to some extent. Some way to weight the odds in your favor, or have a chance to take it in stride. I can understand his "random die roll insta-death" complaint, however, as those can be an issue when things are completely out of your hands both before and after. The 'Choose Your Own Adventure' analogy was apt.. "turn to entry 64: You're Dead!" type of thing. I rarely see them go that far these days but I wouldn't be surprised if they're still around.
Haha this made me laff, great vid geezah. The card-deck unwrapping mini game has been quite traumatic for me, this video should have had a trigger warning bloke....
One day I'd love to see that more honest opinion vid on G to the first letter of the alphabet to the second. Where we make worker placement a speech that is free.
Great video. I for one wouldn't want to f**k you off, that's for sure! Don't know quite what you have in mind for that fish slice rampage but I don't think I wanna find out! I'll pass on the dog sh*t sandwich too. Tell you what really f**ks me off about board games is punch outs that rip even when you are being ultra careful. That's gotta be number 1 for me. Keep doing what you're doing, mate. Some of the best and most unique board game videos on RU-vid.
Before you said '#1 Rulebooks' I said to myself...'hey, I wonder if he's gonna mention rulebooks...those piece of shit, lost in translation barriers that are getting me to question whether I should find another hobby'. I used to plow through them but now, with so many games to choose from, I dont bother. I just ditch the game and find something else. And what really confuses me is how some designers and publishers don't make it a priority. Do they want to sell games or not? Fkme.
And heres a tip for all you designers and publishers out there: if your target market/audience is not your native language hire a professional to do the translation. You may know that second language but you are not fluent...period. And just because you think your buddy Sven is better at English than you are please don't ask him to translate the rulebook...it will still be a hot mess of dog shit...although neither of you will realize it. I've just read the rulebooks for Grand Austria Hotel and The Gates of Loyang and damn near quit the hobby.
I'm looking forward to the next 1700 rant videos with more top 10s then. Oh yeah and fuck the Camel Up pyramid, an opaque bag is good enough. Same with Mysterium, that games a ball ache with the card setup, so why did they add a flimsy clock that everyone forgets to use anyway?! Totally agree with the KS shills too. I don't even recognise 99% of the people telling me to buy KS stuff and the ones that I I do were selling someone's else's 'amazing' plastic mountain the previous week. I buy from maybe 3 companies on KS and that's probably way too many! The alternative boardgame media revolution stars here 😂 ✊
I hate badly written manuals. I remember one game I paged like crazy JUST for the setup. Second thing that annoys the crap out of me is BAD graphic design. Some of the complicated shit can be designed easier with simple logos and user friendly guidance / easy access. So that you DON'T have to pull open the manual each time.
I think the reason why we get oversized boxes, is that many people associate size of the box with "how much stuff there is in the game", and thereby "how much this should cost".
I feel the rage is going to be high in this one 🤣🤣. The empty box space makes me think they are following how crisp companies do things 10% crisps 90% air. Eurogame have horrific rulebooks it's not a rulebook it's a bloody tome!!! Most are so convoluted and have you flipping back and forth - that's why I'm not a fan of Euros I do like interaction when playing a game lol I agree with the RU-vidrs "Influencers" crap it has my eyes rolling. The sad thing is that their fans are quick to defend them and the game hits and it's shit and they try justify it so pathetic lol
Slightly out of date comment this one of mine - but those Avalon Hill games from the 1970s and early 1980s where the rules are sequentially numbered 1.0.0 to 139.23.2 etc and during play of some campaign you are supposed to remember rule 73.2 that "In week 3 of September, 1943 xyz happens, please adjust your economic factors by ...." - it's like - how the eff is any human player going to remember all these rules during a playthrough.
Bbaaaaaahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!! Gold!!! Agreed. The thing that annoys me the most is when there are all the parts, and no compartments to sort or store them.
Boxes full of air gets on my tits way more than anything else. In the US everyone seems to own a mega basement but here in England we are cramming our games into nooks and crannies. Gtfo here with all this air.
The box issue is due to standard sizes. Direct to retail games need to keep costs down. If they want to use a non standard box size or one that the factory doesn't produce then that costs more.
Fucking brilliant! I buy baggies by the 1000. Cops would think I’m a dealer if they raided my game room. A twist on the unused board issue is when boards are too big for no reason. Skyrim the adventure game or Isofarian Guard are good examples.
I refuse to put my game counters in baggies. I use plastic containers usually used for fishing tackle. These containers are available in various sizes.
*Sweats profusely* Phew! Looks like we managed to avoid all these with Cosmos: Empires... Other than number 8 maybe, the card deck doesn't have a flappy bit on the plastic, but it rips easily so hopefully that wouldn't give you a migraine the size of a 1000pc puzzle! Oh and we don't have a table of contents... But I don't think that would fall under #2.
"How many times have you opened a deck of cards and tried to find that little flappy bit of plastic, that probably doesn't exist or if it does it's in a parallel f@$!en Universe..." HAHAHAHA!!! Nobel prize winning comment that :-D
I agree with #2 except that you used Eldritch Horror as an example, which has a LOT of large and small expansions. I've managed to organize everything (sleeved*) from that game into the original core box plus a 2nd large box. I discarded all unused boxes. If the boxes were smaller, I would be pissed right now. So, in #2's specific example, I could not disagree with you more. Just about every other game, yeah, I'm with you. * If you have a problem with sleeving, I have a story about a spilled bottle of hotsauce over a box of 5,000 sleeved magic cards that you need to hear.
When there's a box insert with a space for a deck of cards. But it's too shallow to hold the deck without some of the cards sliding around and ending up loose in the box. AAAAARGH! If this doesn't inspire you to make an NSFW version of this video, which I really want to see, then I don't know what will
Industry hates: New games that weren't play tested Gatekeepers. It's great to like Twilight Emperium, Gloomhaven, Scythe etc. but don't shit on someone because they like Azul or Battleship. Rules that take an hour to read. If it takes more than 5 minutes I'm not interested Completely agree on all the unused space in boxes
On the bandwagon of hating overproduced Kickstarter board game bollocks... games that leap from the £50-£60 they should cost to double, triple, or more because every piece of card component or game board has been replaced with double-stitched screen printed neoprene mats (yay - waterproof!), the boxes are 3' tall because their game apparently deserves an entire storage closet on its own, and.... ah... f*** it. I'm shouting into the Grand Canyon, now. This video was hilarious though!
Card wrapping challenge, it's clearly the worst for me! By far! Awesome video 👏 Sadly what you said about influencers and kickstarters strategies is true 😢
+1000 for uneven turns in boardgames!! Unbelievable that designers still 'design' this way to end a game... this always feels so unfair... maybe (in the best case) there's a mathy kind a reasoning behind it, but even then this doesn't outweigh the perceived feeling of being unfair... but most of the time its just design dumbness i guess... yesterday played Ark Nova and Wayfinders, one giving each other player one more turn, the other giving every player one more turn... grrrrr😖 So to conclude and to state the obvious: the one and only way to end a game with variable end conditions is to finish the round and then play one final round!
Oh god Kemet does my head in you can't use all the board unless 6 players and there isn't even an expansion for the new version that allows 6p so that bit of the board is used by nobody. Just have different sides to the board.
