I only speak for myself, but I watch these top 10 lists for ideas to play not just with my board gaming friends but my family that is less keen on games. The main priority is to all play together in any case. I don't go to many meetups, so I think that may be skewing your perspective into finding it astounding that people would rather keep their groups together.
If it's a random get-together, then sure, splitting up might be preferred. If "game night" is a special social activity that you purposefully make time for, the entire point is to spend it with all of the people in your group and enjoy that time together.
I know you people at the Dice Tower have always preferred splitting the group into 2 smaller ones, but this might be because you have the chance to often play games. I think for most of us, a game day (or night) with friends is such a special occasion that there is added value to the shared social experience and so we prefer to keep the entire group together.
I have a similar experience as the DT crew. Bottom line, I guess this will go in hand with group dynamic. When I started to play board games, I did it in a big organized group in Porto. We would plan ahead (sometimes) which games players wanted to play; so there would be groups of 4, 3, and 2 playing games. But then, we would mix stuff after games were finished, and we would have fun everyone kind of together.
We often play party games or roll and writes when we have 6-8 players…and there could have been a ton of those on this list. Generally, if you’re a family of 4 and have a couple more people over, splitting the group isn’t usually viable.
Mike is spot on with Medici. That is always the first game that comes out with 6 players and the first one our play group would recommend to anyone looking for a fantastic 6 player experience. Fantastic selection Mike.
At six I also like Lords of Waterdeep with the expansion, between two cities, welcome to ... (the moon), point salad, tiny towns, take 5, 7 wonders architects ...
Games that work at 5 or 6 but also don’t take hours is my entire collection because that’s the size of my family. 7 Wonders, Between Two Cities/Castles, Tiny Towns, Sushi Go Party, For Sale, 6 nimmt, and Camel Up all work great at 6 and none are too long or complicated to learn.
Quartermaster General! QG is so bloody good with six people that it's impossible to enjoy it with any less. It's the most accessible wargame you can imagine and it plays relatively quickly. The two teams dynamic is always a blast with a good group. I love it.
Surprised nobody picked Keyflower. That game plays best at 6 IMO and is amazing. The reason I don't have it is we rarely have 6 players, but I am first in line every time we play it at one of our yearly (before covid) boardgame vacations with all our friends.
I knew Scythe wouldn’t make any of their lists, but I LOVE it at 6 & 7. If players start their turn as the previous player is completing the bottom action, that speeds things up a lot. Also, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a GREAT game at 6, maybe my favorite game for 6 players.
To add my two cents to the discussion, I have frequently tried to encourage every 6+ group into smaller groups so as to play separate games, and they are always reluctant to. Even if it's not what's happening, everyone feels like pairing up with some and not others feels exclusionary. Granted, I mostly play with the same small group of friends that I've known for 10+ years at someone's house, not playing with a mixed group of new and old faces at a public game shop. The comparatively few times I've gamed at a hobby shop, it's been with either 2-4 other people, or 20+ other people. In the former, we're not at 6 and on the latter we obviously have to split into groups.
My list would be something like this: 1. Dixit 2. Codenames 3. Cosmic Encounter + expansion 4. Bang! The Dice Game 5. For Sale 6. Camel Up 7. King of Tokyo 8. TransAmerica 9. Airlines: Europe (with optional 6 player rule) 10. Ave Caesar I own Cyclades with the expansion, but I haven't tried it at 6 but it sounds interesting.
Scythe plays great at 6 as long as everyone has some experience in the game, someone helps keep everyone on track, and the next turn begins as soon as the top action is resolved. If you have a group that loves Scythe, it can be a lot of fun.
Stonemaier tries to make all their games play 6 players, sometimes it works well (Libertalia with simultaneous action selection, Euphoria with quick turns and lots of bumping, Rolling Realms also simultaneous turns), sometimes less (Scythe and Viticulture have a fair bit of downtime because some actions are more complex than others)
I'll throw The Alpha out there as one of our favorite 6 player games. Also, I love the 5 seconds of contemplation on Mike's face as he ponders the "Shake Your Jockies" joke. Keep up the good work crew!
My favourite 6 player game is New Angeles. It plays best at 6 players and the boardroom drama is so good. It is the only game that I know that does negotiation in a realistic manner as the two sides don't need to necessarily beat each other in the negotiation, so they can find a way to both benefit.
Ran straight to the comments to see if someone brought this up because I knew no one on the panel would, with their documented distaste of semi-co-op games.
I really LOVE New Angeles. I really wished there was an expansion for it. Don't get me wrong: I think the game is sufficiently awesome as it is, but still: At least to me it "feels" like the systems in the game were meant to be able to accommodate a few more things added to it and a bit more variety with the cards would be nice as well. (I know this was a contested point with Battlestar Galactica, that used a similar card mechanism and some people disliked the fact that expansions added more variety because they liked to be able to better predict what certain players could do. I however am not one of those people. ;) )
With my group, I often am the game host and the person who can explain rules in a concise-yet-understandable way to newer players. Because of this, people dont like to split into multiple games. I can certainly understand splitting the room when able, but it's an assumption that "Foxbear is going to show us how to play quickly," so everyone wants to be in whatever game I'm leading. 6+ games are a hot commodity.
Um... Shadows over Camelot is EXTREMELY rare. $673.20 worth of rare on Amazon. Been tryingto acquire it for a couple years now and should've got that copy on eBay recently for $120.
Amazon is known as a place where a certain kind of people place out-of-print products for extremely exorbitant high prices. It's really not a good price indicator for out-of-print products.
Imperial (2030) - such an original game that plays very well at 6. Too bad that game somehow never gets any attention on The Dice Tower. I don't know any game like It, but rarely gets some love.
I am not surprised that roughly 85% of the voters said that they don't split. I would be in favour of splitting into 2 groups of 3 but never have a situation that makes sense to do so. Especially as I am usually the only one who knows the games and has to teach one table then switch back to the game I am about to play. It feels odd to split my attention. It would work better if you had enough people who can teach and setup the game for each group you split into. Also the other situation is when my immediate family gets together for dinner. We are all adults and enjoy playing non-party games, but as we meet mainly to catch up, the board game needs to include everyone so if there are random side conversations other people aren't left out.
I agree. There are not a lot of groups that have a bunch of experts like dice tower groups have. There’s a lot of ppl like us who love bored games, but tend to coerce our loved ones or non board game friends into a game night. Couldn’t t agree more on the catching up part too. If you split, you don’t get to socialize with half the ppl you wanted to that night.
Power Grid is great with 6 that no one mentioned. Auctions are great with more players - fighting over real estate is intense. Managing your plants is simple and fun. I also picked your honorable mentions Bohnanza and Colt Express. They are too predictable and not enough options with only a few players.
Maybe I'm the odd one here, but my choice to play in a large game depends on the setting. If I'm at a game store or public club meetup, I'd rather split into smaller groups. If I'm at a friend's house we'd rather play a big six-player game even if it takes longer. Splitting into smaller groups feels like somebody got banished to the kid's table at the holidays.
Agreed. I will never want to split a group among friends. If there is not a game we all want to play together we just won't play a game and sit and chat instead. Or sometimes there are those that don't like boardgames as much and prefer to sit out and watch. I am HAPPY to take the role of rules teacher for instance and take myself out of the game. I find playing and teaching a game at once to sometimes be frustrating. So usually there will be some who will bow out and stay at the table to usually heckle the rest of us, heh.
"The Kids' Table" That is exactly how I feel when it happens to others in the group. In my gaming circle, I'm the one that more or less brought so many of them into the hobby. So I'm the one that is "the game nerd", and everyone loves to beat me in board games (which happens more than not).
I think there are a few reasons splitting up isn't practical for many groups. Firstly I feel the dynamic for many is everyone is there to see each other and have a good time, which makes to the less gamer types splitting into two less desirable, I doubt many people's groups of 6 consist of 6 hardcore gamers. Secondly I feel making this work in practice isn't that easy as you'd like two games that end around the same time, that's not easy to setup. Then you have all the other issues, eg. often someone is bringing out a new game and they have to teach, one of space is also relevant. I know I'm in the minority on this specifically, and I miss out on a ton of good games this way but I only buy games that play at least 5 players as >80% of the times I play games is with 5 or 6, and there's just no desire from anyone at the table to split up on those nights.
Yep I agree with you. My gaming sessions are 4,5 or 6 people going to someone’s house because we don’t have a game store. Splitting up into groups would be silly
@@RussianBot1998 I think it's probably more acceptable if everyone in the group is a hardcore gamer there to play games, but reality is most gaming groups aren't 6 hardcore gamers, there are some just tagging along for a bit of fun.
This was a timely Top 10: the boardgames night I facilitate at the FLGS has had a couple low turnouts (sunny days and holidays, can't blame 'em), and 6 seems to be the magic number for those sessions. I initially wanted to split it up, but the feedback was that people have opportunities to get 2-3 player games in usually...the "high player count" was actually a selling point or positive feature of their coming to the event. This list has given me some more options to draw on, for those low turnout sessions. Thanks for all the god work!
Great Video. My game group meets up twice a year and we are always 6 people, so I'm always looking for games for 6. Some games we really like and weren't mentioned: - Eclipse 2nd Dawn - It's a wonderful world (playable with 6 with expansion) - Lords of Waterdeep (playable with 6 with expansion) - RoboRally - Sushi Go Party
@@alexandertufano8462 I suppose that can be true, though, with more players, there tends to be more player interaction in the form of duels, playing poker, and sending the sheriff after other players. I'm also not someone who is bothered by downtime in board games because I enjoy watching what the other players will do.
one of my favs for more then 5 players is Citadels, it is just so much fun and it has a good pace. I rarely see this game mentioned in any list but i would add this to 6 player+ top 10 for sure
Late to this but surprised that Mike didn't say Cthulhu Wars for 6 players. Its a go to game when we get a lot of us together for a yearly thing and plays well at 6.
Hi Tom and all, I watch every group Dice Tower top 10 (and plenty of Tom's solo short top 10s as well) and also have gone back and watched every old one I missed from the very beginning. I've always been a "look up the channel" rather than a subscribe kind of guy. But today, with the excitement of seeing 300k subs, I'm officially hitting the button. Best of luck!
You can stay in Tokyo with 6 players. Because there will often be two monsters in. If a monster outside has low health they will try not to roll claws, so you can end up staying for a full round.
My own favorite twenty games with six players: 1. Rallyman: GT 2. Room 25 3. Zombicide 4. Battlestar Galactica 5. Dominant Species 6. Formula D 7. Impulse 8. King of Tokyo 9. Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem 10. Memoir '44 11. Spartacus: A Game of Blood & Treachery 12. Keyflower 13. John Company 14. Animals Frightening Night! 15. Cosmic Encounter 16. Mall of Horror 17. Millions of Dollars 18. Vegas 19. Trans Europa 20. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
Between Two Castles plays well at high player counts and is more complex than a party game. I'm on the fence about keeping it however since it never gets played.
We frequently get 6 players. We used to get more but when we got tired of Avalon and realized that splitting players up didn’t work for us, I decided six was max. It still poses a problem, but we always have a player or two willing to sit out on a game. Basically, it’s come to the point where we host 4 players most of the time when we want to be, “serious” about gaming…but we’ll host more less frequently and end up playing King of Tokyo and the like.
Pictomania, Skull King, Libertalia, Planet Unknown, BOOTLEGGERS!!!, Letters From Whitechapel, Shadows Over Camelot, Dominant Species, Power Grid, Wings of War, Battlestar Galactica or Unfathomable, Downforce *with a house rule, Wits and Wagers, werewords, cockroach poker, river dragons, and good cop/bad cop...All Favorites with 6...would add Fief, but prefer 5
Yeah I don't think splitting up is reasonable in most cases. First off, just having space in someone's house is the main challenge. Beyond that, in my experience, as a social experience everyone wants to play with the whole group, not just 1 or 2 other people. That's probably different if you have a hardcore gaming group, of course.
Tiny Towns is great at 6, just played it this week. A very rare instance where more players means a shorter game, because people have less control of the resources. It does become less strategic but it's super fun.
I play a lot of 6-player games. Great lists. But, here are more that weren't on the top ten lists. Asking for Trobils Avalon Bang the Dice Cash n Guns Celestia Cockroach Poker Code Names Colt Express Coup Crosstalk Decrypto Dicetown (w/ expansion) Dixit Dream Home (w/ expansion) Insider Just One Love Letter Mysterium Not Alone NY Slice Pit Saboteur Sheriff of Nottingham (w/ expansion) Skull Spyfall Sushi Go Party The Captain is dead Time’s Up Treasure Hunters When I dream
Absolutely love Shadows, it was the first game I thought of for this topic. I still have vivid memories of defeat being grasped from the jaws of victory as in a 4P game where there was maybe a traitor maybe not a traitor the traitor had remained hidden by the end of the game and so we lost by 1 sword! It was spectacular but also so painful.
I am sorry Tom. We are "gaming family" depending on how many of us meet we are playing on range from 5 - 7. We are not going to split, when we finally meet. If "worst" come to the worst, we make a pairs to play together as one player... But other than that... we just want to play all together. Not sitting in completely different rooms while playing our evening game...
How is Sidereal Confluence taking you guys three to four hours? That's thirty-to-forty minutes per turn! One of my favourite things about Sidereal is that it takes two hours and change regardless of player count, because everything is simultaneous. The rulebook mentions putting a ten-minute time limit on each trade phase if you feel it's necessary; sounds like it'd be worth giving it a try if things are dragging out that long.
The game goes up to nine players, but yeah, one of the races is mean and a couple are complex. Expansions should provide some alternative options. Most I've managed is seven, but I'm hoping to get a nine-player game at a boardgame getaway later this year.
Perpetual commotion is a great 6 player game. Very highly recommend it more. Every friend we play buys a copy. And only print copies are available in America. We live in Australia.
Tom has the luxury of having multiple people in the group who can all bring/teach/run games, so splitting into smaller groups is a simple thing. Typically, I bring the games, I have to teach the games, and I have to make sure that everyone is having fun. So if it's an event with 6+ players, I just have to plan what games I'm going to bring to accommodate everyone at the same time.
The "mystery" of why people don't want to split is that for a lot of people they privilege the social aspect of board games over getting the best possible game experience. They likely often play with friends, I'd rather have a "lesser" gameplay experience and get to chat with friends than silo people off into three player ghettos. The DT guys seem to often play with groups of strangers / friends so I could see how the game is more important to them
Architects of the West Kingdom with Age of Artisans Expansion is great with 6. It's a worker placement game that doesn't particularly drag with downtime no matter how many players you have as players place their workers so fast. Tiny Towns great at 6. I know not everybody agrees but I personally think Downforce is best at 6 where everyone gets 1 car.
Some of my favorite 60-90m 6p games (non-party or social deduction) are It's a Wonderful World (with ex), Isle of Cats (with ex), Libertalia, Mission Red Planet, Camel Up (2nd ed), and Zombicide. Also really like The Thing : Infection at Outpost 31, Gates of Ryleh, and Shadow Hunters which are social deduction, but more goal/task oriented.
If Sidereal Confluence is taking 3-4 hours, Tom's doing something horrifically wrong. It consists of 6 10-minute TIMED trading rounds, then a resolution phase where people actually run their machines, which consists of very little actual decision making - this phase adds maybe 5ish minutes per round. I've consistently had this game play under 2 hours with as many as 8 people, and with 6 players, especially player who've played it before (or are experienced in negotiation games) most trading is done before the 10 minute timer goes off. I explicitly love tihs game because of how it almost always plays in exactly 2 hours; I'm very curious about what causes Tom's games to take double that.
I had a hard time with that poll because I fit into all three camps based on the context. Biweekly weekday gaming after work - split group, usually based on how much time people have Nerdy dinner party where games break out - party game Rare all day Saturday gaming day - TI4, Dune, etc, massive 6 player game that takes 8 hours.
I feel most people don’t have enough space to split into two groups. We could but it’d be squeezed onto one table, which makes everything way more confusing.
I love 6 player count. King of Tokio especially, oh my God what a great game. I need to play Cosmic and its gonna joint my 6 player list, same with Dune. I love chaos (not necessarily RANDOM chaos mainly chaos based by player Powers and negotiations and hidden stuff being revealed etc) in games and 6 is a great player count for that. Funnily enough my favourite game of all time Mission Red Planet i try to only play at 3, and would be kinda against playing it at 6 unless it was the only fun option available though most people disagree with me. I guess I prefer that game at more strategy and less chaos because of HOW MUCH chaos there is even at minimum chaos option
One of the things I hate the most about gaming nights with "non gamers" (for lack of a better word) is they never even consider splitting up, even when that would mean playing much cooler or newer games. Breaks my heart every time :( Btw first game to come to mind when I have 6 players is definitely Decrypto, the only party-like game I actually go out of my way to table.
Got Decrypto for my husband over 2 years ago and haven't played it yet... My son and I keep bringing it to the table, but it gets pushed aside for the better known ones. (We often have 6 -8 players with the whole family wanting to play together.)
While it isn't intended for more than 5 players even with the expansions I have played Res Arcana with 6 players once and it did surprisingly well. I wouldn't recommend doing so with new players, only people who have played 4 or more times. Games still go smooth and there is a lot more tension knowing what you are going for could be swiped away just before your turn. It added even more advanced plays and only served to elevate my excitement for the game. Also more players in the game makes artifacts like the dragons better since it can effect more players so while it is usually a bad strategy to go for 1v1 and mediocre 3-4 player, 5-6 player is in my opinion the best way to play. Just requires a little home rules to decide how many monuments and places of power you want to include. We also played to 12 VP when we had the first expansion but the second expansion extended it to 13 VP so we might try 15-17 VP depending on how quickly games end the next time we have 6 people for it. Might even try 7 players if there is enough cards in both expansions.
My favorites for 6 players would be: 1.) Spirit Island 2.) Battlestar Galactica 3.) Unfathomable 4.) Twilight Imperium 4e 5.) New Angeles 6.) Level 7: Omega Protocol 7.) Bang! The Dice Game 8.) King of Tokyo 9.) Cosmic Encounter 10.) Don't know ... maybe ... Robo Rally? Though at 6 it's going to be chaos. ^^
@@Exozik it's 6 players max with Jagged Earth. I have to apologize for not mentioning that. When I talk about a game ... In my head it always includes all available expansions.
@@縞鰺-o3c Oh thank you! I didn't even know that as I only played the base game. Thou it is probably very long at 6 players. You need 6 veterans players or it will take forever.
The 5th and 6th player expansion for Sagrada changes the game so you are looking at your personal dice pool while others are drafting so there is little to no down time. Because of this, I would rather play it at 5-6 than 4!
A couple of trick-takers that want high player counts: Fool! is also a shedding game, where the important thing is not playing the worst card. Texas Showdown is trick-avoid, where playing off-suit lets other people follow you, which might make you win
@@saiyanroyalty229 Forgot for a moment that Red Dragon is not Red Dragon Inn and was confused. Haven't played this one, maybe I'll try with the Badger deck sometime
Not sure if anyone mentioned it, Zee, but I thought about Atlantis Rising 2nd ed. That is one of my go-to co-op's if I have a large player count bc of the simultaneous actions.
If it's any consolation you aren't missing that much. Also IIRC it's a solved game i.e. the good knights can win every time without fail (and it's not that hard of a solve either)
