Some B roll footage was used from Board Game Hangover, Boardgamebollocks, and No Pun Included. All three create beautiful shots of the games we love. Be sure to subscribe to their channels.
My pleasure and thank you! Being honest and shooting the shit is sort of the vibe we want to go with on this channel. More like you're just talking shit with your friends rather then listening to a PR sales pitch.
I may have disagreed with some of your personal takes on some of the board games, but this was an absolutely incredible video! You’ve earned another subscriber. It’s pretty rare that I tune in with full attention for over an hour on a RU-vid video 😂
Thank you! We all have the games we love and hate. Feel free to watch the top 100 video, which is also over an hour, so you can never be productive in your day! 😂
@@TabletopTurtle I second the previous comment. I'm also glad to find out that there's someone else in the world that's not attracted to dexterity games and is not afraid of saying it in public. :)
I didn't think I was going to sit through your entire list but I did. I was captivated. Just your presentation style alone is fantastic, at least for me. And also it seems like our tastes align for the most part. For all the subs you may have lost. You gained one from me. Lol. Great job and super helpful
As I have said in some other youtubers comments, I love when youtbers are really clear with what they like or do not like. It helps me more than everyone trying to just sugercoat stuff to not get beef from publishers etc... I might not agree with some of your and/or others likes/dislikes but I learn a lot more from this kind of straightforwardness as long as it comes with some sort of eplanation of sorts. =)
It seems everyone hedges their opinions these days to not step on publisher toes. It's a lot more fun just saying what you feel about a game both for the viewer and for myself!
@@TabletopTurtleKDM is easily my favourite game, and I’ve played a 1000+ games and the vast majority of the top 100. The combat is way more dynamic and strategic than Gloomhaven (and I love Gloomhaven, but it does get samey fast); KDM going stale takes a near infinite amount of time. I have like 200 sessions under my belt, and I’m nowhere near done with it. There’s a clear reason those who like it, love it, and it’s basically a hobby unto itself.
Thanks for the effort with this video. It's very interesting to hear some else's view on games that we play. As with you, Ark Nova stays on our table for weeks on end and we just love it. I found it very interesting that you didn't like Maracaibo. It might be because it was my first heavier game, but I love it. Especially when we played the story mode with the board changing every game. I also love the multiuse cards. After this video there are so many games I want to play, with so little time!
Happy to entertain! Now, you can save the top 100 video for when you're cleaning the bathroom. Although at some point we are going to have to start charging for this cleaning service.
I appreciate that. It certainly feels strange giving games in a top 100 low tier ranks, but we all like what we like and sometimes what's popular may not be a very good game to us.
T.I. 4th Edition is worth the upgrade! agenda phase is much more interesting: you get all your planets refreshed before and after and you vote on two agendas back to back....tech is more streamlined....trading is more interesting because of commodities...players can have multiple secret objectives....objective cards are revealed automatically....taking AND holding mecatol Rex is rewarded....and the rules are a bit easier to follow. No shade to T.I. 3rd Edition, I just like all those changes in addition to updated visuals.
I don’t understand how you can love mean games and hate Power Grid haha. It’s my favorite game, we play every week… and I definitely have never seen anyone getting to a bad start and losing the game unless they don’t know how to play, it’s almost always tight at the end of the game
Maybe it’s a game that just shines with the right group. My group is all very competitive, and we use every opportunity to gloat over our victory from week to week. We only play at 4-5 player count, the 2 and 3 player game isn’t very fun and the strategy for 6 player is just too different. I would also say that if you only played the original and not the recharged edition, it might make a difference because the pacing of the original was too slow. We can usually knock out a game in 1.5-2 hrs compared to the 2.5-3.5 hours the original edition would take us.
I absolutely loved that you just kept it real and kicked the games you didn't like but you made it a fair point to tell why almost every time! This video is an A-tier... It's an A for me :-)
First ranking earned respect for boldness and honesty. Second built confidence for having a solid opinion on a solid game. Third sealed the deal as you called out a hyper-overrated game as just okay, which is all Barrage is. I’ll watch this whole thing and have faith in your assessments of the ones I haven’t played.
Do people really love Crokinole that much? I’ve met zero people who have ever been hyped about that game. Also, CoB in S-Tier is solidifying my trust. The affect of Lancashire at D is contingent upon where you place the obviously superior Birmingham.
Agricola in F is maybe one or two tiers too low, but anywhere below B is applauded! Nice! And Blood Rage in A to follow it up is perfect. I just wish I had the group for it! 😭
I had the same opinion on Gaia Project! My friends all said I was wrong when I told them that I prefer to play Terra Mystica but I told them it just doesn't feel like the extra stuff really adds value. Glad I'm not alone. Still a fun game though.
For the most part we’re closely aligned on thoughts (within 1, maybe 2 tiers). Only games I’d strongly switch around are Maracaibo and Twilight Struggle. Really didn’t enjoy Twilight Struggle, and I’m hoping that World Order (next Hegemony team game) creates something far more interesting.
Really? I hope there is one or two games that employ that same card play mechanic that you like, because it is pretty unique. 1960 Making of the President? Labyrinth? Watergate? Yeah, I have my eyes on World Order as well.
This has to be the most underrated board game channel out there! Great content as always! Keep up the great work your tier lists have been some of the best I’ve seen! 👏
Arkham Horror LCG does get better when you have a full 8 scenario campaign, but the game has only gotten more finicky as time has gone on, so it’s probably good that you stopped before you started. It’s my favorite game, but it is definitely flawed.
Thank you! Yeah, there is a lot of hype for certain games but I'm guilty of loving a game way too much myself. Hopefully we all have those special games to us that we hype the living hell out of whenever we get the chance. I always take their rankings on the Geek with a grain of salt. Good to put a game on your radar and get you to play it, but not good enough to determine if you'll enjoy it.
Haven't played most, but from what I've played here's my rankings: S-Tier: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Twilight Struggle, 7 Wonder Duel, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition, Race for the Galaxy A-Tier: Spirit Island, Through the Ages, Castles of Burgundy, Root, Blood Rage, Agricola, Sleeping Gods, Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, Le Havre B-Tier: Gaia Project, Nemesis, Terra Mystica, Mage Knight Board Game, Crokinole, Star Wars: Imperial Assault, Android: Netrunner, Lords of Waterdeep, Battlestar Galactica, Architects of the West Kingdom I'm sure if I had played more there would be some in lower tiers but I genuinely enjoy all of the games I've played off the top 100
Man, I really liked this video concept! I found myself agreeing with you about 60% of the time, and shocked for about 20% of it. My only one request/critique/suggestion . . . if you honestly don't recall your Architects of the West Kingdom game, then I'd ask you to play again with at least 3-4 other players. The resource gathering is pretty basic, but the arresting/gathering mechanic makes the game unforgettable. And with more players the interactions are quite hilarious.
As someone who had a weekly Twilight Imperium game going for several years, I recommend you try the Shattered Ascension community patch for 3e. It makes the game play much faster and with better balance. You can play it in 3 - 4 hours once everyone knows the rules.
That's beastly! I can't imagine playing the game that much. I think I used to play that variant for third edition and I did notice a significant difference.
The barrage ranking concerns me! Out of all the board gaming youtubers I watch, you guys are the closest match to my taste in games. Barrage is supposed to be my next purchase but seeing the ranking suggests I should maybe think about it a bit more 😅 who knows though maybe this is one of those preference outliers lol
I think it was the fact that the game felt very punishing if you don't understand a bit of early game strategy. There were a couple of players that placed poorly on their first turn and that kind of set the mood for the game. When I revisit it, I'll simply give some advice to everyone at the table as to opening strategy (which I don't usually do) and hopefully that leads to a better experience. I say go for it.
I just got Barrage, and I love it! Can’t stop thinking about it. Experianced players will definately dominate new players in this game. But I always give new players some advice the first turns, and that helps a lot. You should really do that if you’re playing with new players, or they will have a bad time. But as long as you do that, Barrage is amazing! Once your group knows it, you have an intense, crunchy and extreamely satisfying game😄 For me, the level of intensity Barrage brings is rare to find. In my last play, we all had to stand up next to the table for the last half of the game, taking off our shirts as the heat was rising in the room. It was Twilight Imperium level of intensity😆 It’s really something special once you get the hang of it. Recommend
Of the games I’ve played this is a solid list. Only major outlier is Agricola which is an S tier for me and even my wife who’s a relatively casual gamer. One of the tightest worker placement games, and the cards make the game infinitely replayable. It also plays really well at 2 players, and it doesn’t have to be a mean game if you choose not to play that way. Totally agree with you on Oathsworn, I think it’s a little overhyped on BGG right now.
You can tier list designers / board games by category / board games from specific designers / boardgames that you’ve played the most ( 20+ plays) / your partners top 100
so for netrunner, in fact the original sets are NOT cheap and difficult to find, but Null Signal Games has its new version of netrunner now, which is pretty much what everyone plays, and even has tournaments and world champs, so if people want to play netrunner, it is alive and well in NSG's version. and the art is just as amazing.
never hear of Mech vs Minions, but if is on the TOP, is probably just because is a League of Legends theme board game. and a lot of people LOVE tristana
Man, I wish I could sort through my own collection with such an objective approach as yours. I get so passionate about all kinds of different boardgames I have here and it becoms really hard to part ways with them, even though, I may not be so hot for them after all.
When going through our collection I always try to remind myself that I'm building an Olympic team of board games and mediocre or even just good will not make the cut! If there hasn't been a time I've craved a game I own in a year or two and it's not a super situational game (like an eight player), it's gone!
@@TabletopTurtle thanks for the insight, having an Olympic team of boardgames sounds pretty good. Despite the struggle I actually managed to cull my collection quite a bit. There have been times my collection had more then 200 games in it and now I'm down to 73 games (and some expansions). I'm pretty satisfied so far, but want to get the number to 50 or below someday. The goal is to reach a number of curated games that I not only want to play, but also can cicle through and play within a year.
I don't mind "this game isn't for me". I know Brass isn't for me. But i acknowledge that the new versions look great and are well put-together. I'm just awful at rail games.
I appreciate your opinion and the video is well done... Even though I disagree with most of these ratings. the video itself is well done and clear and concise on your opinions for each game.
Pass on Nemesis Lockdown as it just makes the game more convoluted than it’s worth. I actually ended up selling both with Stationfall out now. May not be for you but I adore chaos and it sort of gives me more of the silliness I wanted in Nemesis in a much shorter time. I still have a soft spot for Nemesis though. I’d probably ignore the new Nemesis based on what I’ve seen of your taste, though could be wrong.
Okay that's good to hear. It's not like I'm getting Nemesis to the table so often that I need something new. And Stationfall was one of my favorite games of the year, for sure!
I have recently bought Stationfall (not played yet) and have been hearing so much good stuff about Nemesis which have made me quite interessted in that game. Are you suggesting that me owning Stationfall would nullify my "need" for Nemesis. And if I would end up trying to get Nemesis should I try get the original instead of the newer stuff?
@@1Dreamking Not at all. Nemesis oozes with theme more than majority of games and excels at nailing the Alien theme. So get the base as imo nothing has excelled that theme more so. For me, my friends were not high on Nemesis as I was and still prefer BSG, as do I, if wanting a longer game with traitor mechanic. And for me there are about 80 other games I’d prefer to play but that is just because I’ve played tons over 10 plus years. We were hoping for more screwage and chaos in Lockdown, which it provided more of but was too convoluted than it needed to be. Stationfall was sort of the game we didn’t ask for but provided the chaos we desired so much desired in Nemesis.
My 2 favorite games are probably lost ruins of arnak and spirit island wish i was happy to see you rated highly. They both are super tactical where you dont know what you're going to uncover when you explore/dont know what fear card you're going to get and have to react to the game state. They both also have a light deckbuilding aspect which I think is fun. Spirit Island probably has more asynchronous features than Arnak (unless you get the arnak expansions) so I would say its more replayable but obviously the big differwnce is the cooperative vs. euro natures of the games. I will say the one thing I like more about Spirit Island is that you can vary the difficulty of the game a LOT depending on who you are playing with so that its always a fun challenge.
Yeah Spirit Island provides a great cooperative experience. A game like Pandemic can kinda feel like you're a family of four dividing up mundane low skill chores for the day, while Spirit Island feels like you're this group of powerful and unique individuals coming together with your own strengths and weaknesses to do thing only you can do to fight evil.
UWE= pronounced as UVA lol. Yeah I became one of those. Great video, happy to see the different tastes people have but also, the fact you played all these games is really great. Hegemony has quickly become my favorite game.
Great video! I agree with a lot of what you said here, except that I simply love Crokinole and think Too Many Bones is very enjoyable (probably a B for me). Crokinole is such a different game from all the others, though, so I don’t consider it a boardgame. I haven’t played Terra Mystica, but I love Gaia Project, and from what I hear, the temple(?) tracks in Terra Mystica are really lackluster, while the technology tracks in Gaia Project are one of my favorite features of the game. Also, I’ve heard that the different map sizes for the different player counts is a welcome addition, to keep the tension at lower counts. Do you want to give your thoughts on what you felt about these particular changes? Whether one agrees with you or not, this video is really helpful, because of your ability to clearly convey what you like and what you don’t like about all the games. Your short synopsis of how the games work were also amazing. To finish things off: Of my personal top 5 of all time, only three of them are in the top 100 on BGG, and I’m really happy to say that they’re all in your S-tier: Through the Ages, Mage Knight and War of the Ring. Kudos!
I think my friends and I are just not enthusiastic dexterity game players. I think the tech tracks in Gaia are interesting but not good enough to replace Terra mystica. Tm is like capturing lightning in a bottle. It's so good it can't be changed or added to
Funny to see how much opinions differ! Agricola is S-tier for me, while i would place Ark Nova and Scythe near bottom. We agree on Brass Birmingham tough!
A lot of rankings didn't surprise me, Agricola got spoiled a bit and I can respect the personal preference. But putting Maracaibo where you did was still a surprise, its essentially great western trail in another setting.
Yeah I knew those two would turn up some eyebrows. You're right, it does feel a lot like GWT and that just makes me miss my cowboys when playing it! Agricola is a game I hate so much and yet can completely understand other people loving it. I'd never peak over a person's shoulder in a game store holding up Agricola and whisper "don't do it, it's shit!". But I'd certainly do that with Kingdom Death Monster. 😜
@@TabletopTurtle haha, that's fair. And a bit spooky. To be honest Maracaibo didn't hit in my group as well, I'm the only one really liking it. The "campaign" idea was influenced by the time it came out and never made sense imo. Agricola is just old and way too unforgiving. It has no catch-up mechanism and feels bad for anyone learning it. The cards make the game somewhat interesting and I miss those in Caverna. But if we play these games 5 times or less like most games, Caverna is superior. Really enjoyed your video, good content
The grind in Tainted Grail turned off so many players from it, which is bad, because it is really a great game with a great story. I personally enjoyed it way more than Gloomhaven. The 2.0 update of the game with new rules and mechanics removed the grind from the game, so I hope you'll give it another chance in the future!
Liked and subscribed! First time I visited your channel and I enjoyed this video a lot. And you saved me some money on Too Many Bones. I’ve heard people praise it so much but it’s clear I’d hate it for the same reasons you do!
If you are not interacting during the opposing team's turn in Codenames you are playing it wrong. Making wrong but fun connections to distract them is peak fun in the entire party game genre. Decrypto is smart, but there isn't even half the space for fun that you can get in Codenames, you never laugh playing Decrypto.
I don't know about that. That sounds like a house rule, which is fine, but at that point it's not entirely the game providing the fun experience. I just like guessing the other team's clues more than anything. I mean, if you wanted you could play Decrypto where while the other team is guessing their clues, you could yell at them or kick them in the balls!
As someone who doesn't know a whole lot about some of these games, some longer b-roll footage would've been nice. Your body language is very important to the video when you're talking about a game you dislike/find boring or a game you really enjoy but a lot of the time I think that footage of the game would've been more valuable to me.
I mean nothing completely replaces it. It's like any other game where you might like a specific mechanism or theme and you end up finding a game that does that thing you like a little better. I like the card play in Terraforming Mars and a little bit of a shared board experience. I get that with Mosaic and for strictly tableau building card synergies, I play Ark Nova. Neither game really replaces TM. They just scratch a somewhat similar itch for us.
It's not in the BGG top 100! Actually, I'm surprised considering how huge it was on that site for a few months but it seems like it's lost favour over time.
Interesting list, enjoyed your reasoning and descriptions, thank you so much :D Just as an observation: I think my playgroups strongly influenced my own tastes and I'd vager to generalize. As an example Cthulhu Death May Die is an all time favorite for me. The reason is that there are hardly any games with that much variety that play well at 5 (even 6 - the 6th acting as GM) , provide a neat puzzle, have little downtime, convey an amazing story (if you enjoy Lovecraft) and play in less than 2 hrs. ^^ (7 Wonders, Roll for the Galaxy aso are ok twice a year) Had this game fallen flat with my group it would have gone the way of all unloved games and never got painted ^^ If you never read Lovecraft the scenarios will surely feel bland or weird. In my game group people will immediately recognize which book/story a reference or person relates to. Hence there is a whole slew of common background triggered when playing the game. PS: A note on Kingdom Death Monster as "not a board game in the common sense" meaning F is warranted if you look at it from a standard boardgamers view: KDM is amazing though just not as a standard boss battler or a play once/twice game ^^ The real task is setting yourself up well enough so you can mitigate every randomness this game throws at you and still survive. (A compacter game of this type would be Slay the Spire where you test out how far you can get and if you can beat Act 4 to advance ^^) And yes the first three sessions can feel boring as they are basically tutorials and the primary set up. With experience you get through them really quickly or skip them alltogether. Life/Death begins with the Butcher ^^ I would rather compare KDM to any computer RPG that takes 40+ hrs to play through - only in tangible form ^^ Patience is rewarded by amazing experiences on both ends of the scale. No other game I have ever played left such remarkable memories (maybe with the exception of Pandemic Legancy) :D (Btw.: We played through Gloomhaven and Frosthaven and while I love this system so much that I even backed the RPG, I do not remember a single outstanding situation or scenario anymore) However, KDM is definitely not for everyone and I might not have jumped in myself had it not been for Covid. For me it was more fun than playing a random computer game to pass lockdowns. This includes the hobbyside -building and painting minis as well as printing out community projects. Therefore KDM is not a boardgame in the common sense but more an allround experience. Also it is a vision of a person, Mr. Adam Poots, come true and a true piece of art I feel. ^^
You're welcome. Happy you enjoyed it! Yeah, there is no escaping playgroup influencing how we enjoy games. A game could be brilliant but if everyone surrounding me is having a bad time, it's likely going to make me have a bad time as well. I'm not playing these games alone, after all. Yeah, KDM is too much of an investment for my liking. I think that's the issue. I wouldn't mind painting the miniatures though.
Great tier list! Seems we have similar views on board games (except A Feast For Odin, you’re just wrong lol). I think you’ve finally pushed me to buy Ark Nova.
So you and i don't align at all for board game tastes. Power grid and gloomhaven are my top 2 all time. If i asked you what flavor of ice cream do you want you would say screw that lets get a steak. But i gotta give you props for playing every game for the good analysis and for actually pulling the video off.
Yeah, I enjoyed it for the time I played it and now never want to play it again. It's funny because it would still be a game I'd recommend to people but on the advice that it has a limited shelf life.
Absolutlwy wild right off the bat. I consistently point to Kingdom death as having the best combat system ive played in a board game, while gloomhavens is, to me at least, extremely medicore. Gloomhaven has only made it to my table 2 or 3 times because my group thinks kingdom death is so much better in every way.
@@TabletopTurtleyou literally have to go out of your way to find the nudity or buy special figs that have nothing to do with the game. Admit it you didnt give the game an actual chance because it had content you didnt like.
I'm being facetious. I don't care about tit and dick monsters, in fact I think they're neat. I gave the game almost a dozen chances and I hated it. Sorry.
@@TabletopTurtle Totally get it, different strokes for different folks. It's just surprising that we can agree on almost all other games, yet you have my #1 game of all time lol
What an amazing video and to be completely honest. I feel the same way on many of the games you ranked lower... some are hyped like crazy and it seems more due the components or cost (Crokinole I am looking at you!) that the gameplay itself 🤣 Five Tribes is my favorite game of all time so that would be an easy S for me... I wonder how would you rank "Tigris & Euphrates" since you like being mean, T&E let's you start a war between players and you do not have to be a part of it. I love it 😂
Hey, saves us some money when every game that's hyped turns out to be a little mediocre, eh?! Oh my friends and I played the crap out of T&E back in the early days but we got rid of it at some point. I'm not sure why. I should get another copy. It's a classic.
Man - hard to hold back and not say “ umm what??” But hey it’s your list. Glad you put fcm at least at A and it’s true - if you screw up early it’s over for you. But that’s what’s so great about it:). Get good heh. KDM is hard to table but totally disagree with combat. Totally agree on mechs vs minions. Way too random and I find boring too.
We usually play a game a day and that's over the course of many many years. How? Conventions, board game cafes, friends with no impulse control and deep pockets haha
Welcome! So the term "euro" is used in the hobby a lot to essentially reference a type of board game that is unlike Monopoly and the usual American-style games. "Euro" games usually feature a very low amount of luck, indirect player interaction, no player elimination, and lots and lots of point scoring.
If you’re an Argent lover, then you’re ok in my book. Doesn’t matter how wrong you are about certain games 😂 I need to find someone with your taste locally 😊 The reason I like Gaia Project better than Terra Mystica is because I can play Gaia Project with 2 players 😊 But other than that I’m more a TM fan and definitely own both.
We are so few, we have to stick together! lol Ah okay that makes sense. I've never considered any of the Terra Mystica type games with any less than four.
@@TabletopTurtle Yeah, four is the best, but I can rarely get that, so Gaia Project gives me the option to play with just my wife and at least get a taste of it more frequently.
I think your should tier rank all the too many bones gearlocs. I kid of course. Thanks for the rundown of all these games from your perspective. It’s impressive that you have played them all enough to have some meaningful insight for each.
Fellow RU-vidr here. I haven't found many Board game-related channels that I like. But I liked this video and the few others I checked out. It doesn't feel like you're putting on an overly enthusiastic face and I appreciate that. It feels like you are is just another boardgamer talking to me from across the table. We have similar tastes in games too, which is neat. (How dare you, not S tier Spirit Island though! 🥲) Regardless, great vid, subbed.
We just don't play well together at my house so all cooperative games are kept to a minimum! Yeah, everyone starts to feel like some weird PR person as RU-vid continues to get more and more polished.
Star Wars Rebellion as B tier is heresy! (although I guess it needs the expansion to truly be S, it smooths over a lot). It's a pain in the ass explaining the game to people but it really is the movies in a box. So good. I still need to play War of the Ring at some point. I got the box but I don't feel like learning a ton of rules at the moment. I really enjoyed Nemesis, but that was also a lot of rules.
Hmmm… you don’t think there’s any strategy to trick taking games? 🤨 Regardless, I love this video and I think you do a good job of explaining your preferences
I mean, there is strategy in tic tac toe, but it just comes down to how much I want in my games. I still cant' remember the name of the two games her family plays all the time, but man, my brain is on auto-pilot. Appreciate the compliment!
War of the ring, still looking for a game that could comparably bring you that same climatic feeling of thematic gameplay, I mean, You can play that game and still talk about what just transpired weeks later. Lol. Any suggestions?
