Thank you so much Mike for spot number 3, we are honoured! Imperium Horizons will indeed be coming with a brand new rulebook, so we definitely listened to the feedback and hoping to make life easier for everyone!!
I really liked this format. Mike interacting with the audience as the list is being reviewed. I personally enjoy this more than the Q&A sessions that seem forced. Nice work!
Nice one Mike - now that's how you do a solo top 10! When Tom does a solo top ten we barely get 8 minutes of content ! With you we get nearly an hour!! Talk about bang for bucks! 👍😉
I couldn’t agree more on El Dorado as number one. One of the sometimes frustrating aspects of many games which have deck building elements but are not pure deck building games is that: (1) You rarely properly play the deck you built up and it always feels unsatisfactory. Ie not enough turnover and card play (2) It is often difficult to trim your deck of weak cards and part of the fun in deck building is to create a hyper efficient deck Both of these issues don’t apply to El Dorado. You play through your deck multiple times and at speed. And there are ample opportunities to get rid off weak cards. Most of the times I end up the game with 8-10 cards only, and none of those is one of the starting cards which I all discarded along the way. So much fun to create a super powerful deck along the way during the jungle race !
By the way, have you read any of the R.A. Salvatore books? Just wondering since you mentioned your interest in the Drow in the section on Tyrants of the Underdark.
Mike is the best. Study in Emerald, Tyrants of the Underdark, Quest for el Dorado. Great list. I didn't know Imperium was a DBG! I will have to buy it now.
My list: 1) Mage Knight Board Game 2) Great Western Trail 3) Concordia 4) Lewis and Clark 5) Puzzle Strike 6) Eminent Domain 7) Valletta 8) Star Realms 9) Century Spice Road 10) Clank!
None of my top 3 deck building games got a mention. Great Western Trail, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Dune Imperium. But I suppose people already know these and would be tired of hearing about them again and again so some of these other games need to be featured.
Tyrants of the Underdark is in my top 10 games of all time. I agree, they didn't support it enough. Honestly, they didn't understand how good the game was. I'd love for a second edition (outside of the re-release with the box).
Study in Emerald used to be my favorite game. I agree it is hard for new people but once you have a game under your belt it is awesome with so many moving parts.
I like how the font for Paperback Adventures takes inspiration from Action and Adventure comics from DC, kind of a mix of both. Even as a kid I noticed that Adventure was in cursive and Action in print.
SPQF is the deck building game that fort was derived from, SPQR is the big GMT war game. I’ve Lao heard that Fort takes elements from Glory to Rome. great top 10, always really dig your content Mike!
Totally agree with tyrants of the under dark. I always put it in my top three deck builders when I do the tops. Such a good package. The area control also brings with it a drawback that you should have four players to fully enjoy this game but other than that I don’t see any “flaws” really.
It's gotta be nice to have the chat help bounce.. i was just day dreaming, how neat it'd be if Sam and Mike where together in the annexd Indy studio... I think there banter would be gold...
Have you tried For Glory, the gladiator combat deck builder? I've been really enjoying that one recently. It gets a little bit too lengthy for my taste, but I can forgive it when I'm very much engaged and invested the whole way through.
Same feeling here about Tyrans. This is such a great game combinating board and deckbuilding. It deserves more expansions. It should be reprint. You should lobby for this ^^.
Spot on with Tyrants of the Underdark. Why didn't they support it? The cards on the only expansion were a different cut from the original so they could not be mixed, can't understand
Paperback Adventures is superb. Easily the game with the most plays this year so far. There are various difficulty settings that are great at turning this into a simple romp when I'm low energy. Or allow me to ramp it up for a meaty fight full of meaningful decisions. "Exhausting" (exiled) the top card of a word is the real magic of the game ;)
Not that anyone cares, but here is the list of the deck builders I own and play with my wife and kids in order of preference: 8) baseball 2045, 7) Arctic scavengers, 6) marvel Legendary, 5) quest for el dorado, 4) star realms, 3) web of spies, 2) hardback and 1) Harry Potter Battle of Hogwarts.
I think the concept of live list reviews is good but in practice maybe have the comments at the end of the list or maybe in certain sections? Listening to a review to have the thoughts broken up to read chat makes it feel disjointed. Otherwise, love the list and the thought process 😊
Love seeing MoonRakers on here. I got the Titan box that includes the new expansions and in my opinion they only improve upon the base game. Overload in particular really enhances the deck building aspect of the game with increased card variations.
I admit that I’ve never played Tyrants of the Underdark, but it sounds similar to another deck builder that actually received the Dice Tower seal of excellence and I am surprised Mike didn’t have it on his list - Summer Camp. It’s definitely no where near as in depth as TotU I’m sure, and maybe that’s why it wasn’t on his list because it is such a light and basic game, but I LOVE how the game changes so drastically with every set up depending on which decks you play with. I know that you can do that to a point with Dominion and a few other games out there, but I also think that the simplicity in SC just makes the deck-combining mechanism that much more meaningful. I actual have fallen out of love with Dominion because I feel like it has taken away more and more of the beautiful simplicity with every expansion. So while I see a lot of comments about Dominion, I’m actually glad it wasn’t on his list as I think it has become overrated what with being basically the pioneer of the genre. That said, I will say that I am bummed that Dune Imperium didn’t make his list. I love the duality of the cards in that game. It makes it that more interesting when trying to decide what card(s) to add to your deck. Clank is also a really good one as well. Perhaps if Dire Wolf added the deck-combining mechanism to Clank (which I think would be really easy to do) it might stand up against Tyrants. But again, I’m speaking out of assumptions and ignorance here since I’ve never actually played the game.
Ascension Tactics is a fantastic and underappreciated deckbuilder, and while deckbuilding isn't the sole focus of Mage Knight, it's one of the highest rated games of all time for a reason.
Can you imagine if they released a new expansion for Lords of Waterdeep that incorporated deck building into the game? Not sure how it would work exactly but man, to revive that (amazing) game with something new after all these years, with a popular mechanic like deck building. YOWZERS!
Can’t argue with Quest for El Dorado, always a great time! I personally didn’t find Legacy of Yu to be very replayable. The first couple games were very enjoyable and tough but I mostly figured out the winning patterns in game 3 and it started to feel pretty samey and mechanical halfway through the campaign. I only played the last few games to see the ending and had little desire to return to it. I also agree with the person in chat who said they don’t like the art in Fort. I too found the art and theme pretty offputting (and also didn’t like the game itself). It felt like Nickelodeon the board game which isn’t my jam, but I can definutely see why it would appeal to other people.
Mike, excellent top 10 list really enjoyed it. Does anyone know if the Quest for Eldorado can be played online or if there's a nap, I have not been able to find it and it's a game that continues to rank high and something that would likely enjoy. Just hoping to play it online or a nap before sinking dollars into the game.
I struggle with Fort. I think I like it and the small box, but then I'd really rather play Dominion or Clank!. Surprised neither of those made it onto the list. Undaunted is another interesting deck builder I think should be in consideration.
Tyrants didn't get supported because Wizards of the Coast is not interested in ongoing boardgame franchises. One off games, yes, but they don't want anything ongoing that will take attention away from D&D.
I haven’t played any of those. There are a few that seem interesting. Personally, I still enjoy Legendary: Marvel and I’m looking forward to The Matrix releasing. Also, I enjoy Aeons End (although I stopped at Outcast) as well as G.I. Joe: DBG. Lastly, Ascension Tactics is a phenomenal deck-builder.
I was surprised that you didn't have Dune Imperium on the list. I suppose it's because Mike considers the deck building to not be central enough (more worker placement related)?
What happened there at the end? No sign off, still conversing with the chat then, jump cut to music outro! I suspect there was some REAL spicy content that has now been edited out. I suspect Zeevil of conspiring to diminish the creative genius displayed here
I love Tyrants of the Underdark. But, some of these newer titles are just ok and don't hold up to games like Marvel Legendary/Encounters, Clank In Space, Arctic Scavengers.
Legacy of Yu is a great game, but not really a deck builder. In a deck builder you choose which cards you want in your deck, in Legecy it's take everything you can get, otherwise the flood gets you.
When I play, I dismiss a good amount of cards from that top row for the immediate bonus and consider which ones I add to my deck. You do need to add a lot but it's a good consideration. -Chris
