@@theoldman2821 That's a bit mean spirited, 2 completely different people, Mike is very polished, Joey is the lovable goofball, but both are entertaining for me. Filling in for someone shouldn't always come with the expectation that they should be the same.
These three are such a good bunch, even when they're not having a great day it's always worth watching the episode, which is a great compliment when there is much media around to watch these days; gold! Love Roy's opinions too though, really knows what's fun!
Thanks for sharing your 2023 top 10s, you selected many great games! I particularly enjoy Life of the Amazonia which I've played 8 times in the last 2 weeks. I guess I tend to enjoy games with a nature theme ;) I must take the time to thank you for putting Earth in five of your top 10s, plus the people's choices, it's such an honour! The fact that Tom and the people voted it the #1 game of the year is just incredible for me and Inside Up Games team, we did not expect that at all at the beginning of 2023, it was simply and awesome year for us! It gives us even more motivation to work on the upcoming expansion! Happy holidays to all of you guys!
I laugh out loud so much when the 3 of you do these lists! I guess anytime the 3 of you are together is such a treat! I can’t wait for your show in January! Keep up the great work! And yes, I will be backing your upcoming KS campaign!
Mike 10. King's Tricktakers 9. Scholars of the South Tigris 8. Come Sail Away 7. Legacy of Yu 6. The Fox Experiment 5. Life of the Amazonia 4. Thunder Road Vendetta 3. Ostia 2. Earth 1. ICE Zee 10. The Vale of Eternity 9. Cyberion 8. Come Sail Away 7. Earth 6. Expeditions 5. Ticket to Ride Legacy 4. Thunder Road Vendetta 3. Marvel Zombies 2. Ancient Knowledge 1. Unmatched Adventures Tom 10. Path of Civilization 9. Thunder Road Vendetta 8. Freelancers 7. Seas of Havoc 6. Tales from The Red Dragon Inn 5. Arborea 4. Ticket to Ride Legacy 3. World Wonders 2. The Vale of Eternity 1. Earth People's Choice 10. Hegemony 9. Last Light 8. Forest Shuffle 7. Apiary 6. Distilled 5. Sky Team 4. Ticket to Ride Legacy 3. Thunder Road Vendetta 2. Expeditions 1. Earth
It's hard to keep up with the amount of games churned out every year, but I always go back to these lists after KS hype dies down, popularity dwindles, and every one is rushing to the next "big thing" and pick older games up second hand for much cheaper. I've made my peace with not having to play the latest and greatest new title, unless it's an expansion that's improves a game I love/already own. Love what you guys do, and the dedication to get so many games played and reviewed is commendable :)
Love their dedication to game reviews and how much they’ve elevated the industry! I agree with your comments. I enjoy watching these later to get clues what would be fun to be able to pick up games aftermarket when the hype has gone down.
The Earth cover is from the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, with the Kirkjufellsfossar Falls and Kirkjufell Mountain (also know as Arrowhead Mountain on Game of Thrones). ... My wife and I visited the site 2 weeks ago.
Thank you very much to all three of you for this fun video (love you as a trio, especially in top lists), for and very useful games lists! I will be checking out most of the games you talked about cause you hyped me up for them and I think I might like them too.
I taught Value of Eternity about 40 times at a regional event - 40 games, I don't think I saw a single repeated combination or path to victory. The number of permutations is insane. Almost everyone who bought it ended up buying a copy. Great for kids, families, and experienced gamers. One thing I will say is that the game does have a tendency to let lagging players come from behind and win, while leading players don't have as much punch at the end game to turn the lead into a clear victory.
I really liked Earth and I loved Apiary; however, after finally getting hold of in early December, I am obsessed with Voidfall and would love to see what you guys think of that one. I think it doesn't just Eclipse the previous Space 4x games it is an occultation of all previous space 4x games.
The big one for me that no one seemed to play at The Dice Tower was The Witcher Old World. Really enjoy that game. Thunder Road was my clear number 1 though, I get it not being everyone’s cup of tea, but that game really just reminded me about how games should be fun above all else. Zee put it perfectly too, the base game is great for non-gamers, and the expansions are great for gamers. I’d also shout out Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies, but I suspect that one isn’t getting any love because it just delivered and might have to wait for next year’s list. Loving my play of it so far though.
I agree that the Witcher has been overlooked by everyone in these lists, it's in the top 500 on BGG ahead of so many other games. Hope they get to it in the new year as it's my #1
I recently played Witcher Old World and I'm going to play it with someone else in the studio for a review soon. I didn't play it soon enough (nor enough times) to put it in my Top 10, and... Not to spoil the upcoming review, but you are correct, its really good. -- Joey
I was spoiled by learning this one from Mike, and I bought it almost immediately after. It really got its hooks in me. One of my most played games of the year for sure.
One of my favorite top 10's to watch, great synergy and very fun video as usual with Tom, Zee and Mike - keep them coming guys! For sure my top 5 games of this year are: Unmatched Adventures Tales to Amaze Pirates of Maracaibo Dune Imperium Uprising World Wonders Seas of Havoc Glad to see you appreciate most of them, any thoughts or maybe review on "Pirates of Maracaibo" - this is such a great game with very interesting decisions every time, snappy turns and lots of variability in my opinion.
"One of my favorite top 10's to watch, great synergy and very fun video as usual with Tom, Zee and Mike - keep them coming guys!" Here's the problem. Mike moved back to Indiana for "family reasons." Joey has been brought in to replace him. And it isn't working. If anything it makes it harder for Joey because unlike Sam who truly went away, Mike didn't. It makes very easy to contrast this trio with the newer trio and it always pales in comparison.
Mike welcomes light (What Not Cabinet, Tokaido), cute games, unusual mechanics (Tapestry, Peacemakers) and minimalist style and unique themes of Japanese and Nordic Euro designs 😊
I think there has been more diversity in the top ten lists than any year I can remember. Just a really unique year of amazing games from a wide range of publishers.
I wouldn't mind if you guys included reprints. Particularly for games like Zoo Vadis, which was originally printed a long time ago and was nearly impossible to acquire prior to the reprint. I would wager that Zoo Vadis is essentially a brand new game for the majority of folks in the hobby.
Indeed-Earth was one of the best games I played this year. It’s so snappy. And I was bummed I did not back Ostia for sure. I did back Aqua Garden I should have assumed Ostia would be good. It sounds like the kind of game right up my alley.
Played Seas of Havoc on the weekend, both times I busted this out, the players immediately requested a replay, super underrated title this year, I heard nobody talking about it but its a huge hit for me.
You missed Dune:Uprising. I thought Dune:Imperium was great last year, but Uprising was even better. I cannot stop playing it at least once a week since its release.
Great list and I did not know about "Tales from the Red Dragon Inn" and will be looking at getting that game, also "Ice" is another possible game. But I do enjoy the Red Dragon Inn world and have most of the initial game along with Battle for Greyport and now to actually take the characters out on adventures.
I would love for Roy (and whoever else helps with the active stream at the time) to be mic'd for these, when they gets excited and make comments, it makes my day.
Man, of all the top ten 2023 lists I’ve played one game that appeared, Darwin’s Journey. I’ve played The White Castle and lerusalem: Anno Domini but apparently games from other years. For reference, considering playing a game multiple times, I’ve played 148 games, or 114 unique games, not a whole lot but it’s what happens. It’s just interesting.
Enjoyed your review and camaraderie. Earth has been on my wish list for about 6 months. Time to take the plunge and purchase it. Ticket to Ride….I think I’m getting as a gift in a few days, so can’t wait for that one too. I’m a big fan of Ticket to Ride.
Would love a top 10 qst games (quick snappy turns)! Maybe mid length games that seem faster because of the gameplay. Maybe simultaneous action games would be a subcategory of this. Cheers!
To Zee who says he hasn't seen another game going on for a few years and go for a new way all cooperative. I know two : Dice Throne, and before that Legend of the Five Rings the card game (with the expansion Under Fu Leng's Shadow)
Amazed not seeing a couple big crowded funds games on this list that’s delivered this year - Frosthaven, Witcher old World, CMoN He-man and Monster Hunter World to name a few. MZ and Thunderroad did and for those wanting the Maximum Chrome version a 2nd print crowdfunding early next year with new expansion.
Expeditions, played it twice Solo, and I feel I would prefer this at 3 MAX. Does not feel to scale well, with how small the map is. Surprised it plays to 5, but really enjoyed the two plays I have of it. Still have never played Scythe, but will soon because of how much I enjoyed this. Love seeing Mike, FINALLY coming around to Garphill. Love Legacy of Yu, and can’t wait to table Scholars. Finally, really interested in Freelancers even more now, with the praise it has gotten from the Dice Tower team.
I'm happy to see the people giving love to SKY TEAM, EARTH, and EXPEDITIONS. At the same time, I'm baffled by the lack of love for KUTNA HORA and SEPTIMA.
My buddy was a Septima backer, and we got to play it for the first time around Halloween. I went in knowing very little about it but really digging its unique style. It turns out I loved it, it's my number 3 of the year, after Legacy of Yu (1), and Last Light (2, excellent game, Mr. Cannaday).
When i first saw Earth I REALLY couldnt wait for it to come out here. Months later I finally got it, played it, and really was disappointed. I played it a few times but I didnt click with it the way I thought I would. Even thinking about selling it. I got more boardgames now and really love Butoku and Trolls and Princesses. Meadow is also a great game, which I would rank higher than Earth in terms of looks and ease. Arborea looks awesomely beautiful, a bit like Bitoku. Im gonna check it out!
Freaking LOVE scholars. Its def my #1 game from 2023. I also am here to say Mike is my favorite but man is Zee funny. And Tom Mike and Zee combo is my favorite trio. I'll watch them talk about anything
ICE is such a good and tough game. Amazing production quality and great game. I´v only wished that they would have put the power itself (what the power is doing) on the active side of the artifacts as the powers are quite different and to remeber which power is doing what is really annoying.
I literally just got The Fox Experiment from Kickstarter a couple days ago. While technically 2023 it just came out in December. So most people were not able to play this like you.
I only had Thunder Road and Arborea in my top ten of this year that anyone else had in there list. I'm surprised Nucleum and The White Castle wasn't in anyones list, but those games are heavier and that doesn't seem to line up with anyones preferences
ooh, exceited about ancient knowledge. I was not a fan of 51st state (actually the retheme, I forget the name of it) partly because the combos never broke, it gave me feelings of a runaway leader, especially when you mix new players with seasoned players I felt the new players just got rofflestomped. Decaying combos gives the newer players a chance to get in the groove later and maybe not win, but feel that they are at least playing the same game at the end.
Hey Dice Tower - Mike mentioned that Witchcraft! was already for sale in retail. We're looking forward to getting a copy! Is it in the US or did he mean .....international.
I was so disappointed with Expeditions. I mean, the term "multiplayer solitaire" is thrown around for many games, but Expeditions really takes that to a whole new level. In the solo mode, locations are sometimes blocked, and when playing with other people locations are sometimes blocked, but in both cases the conscious intent behind that blocking is exactly the same. I.e. your co-players could as well just be a die or a deck of cards. Add to this that there is zero connection to the theme in the mechanisms, nor are there any risk involved in anything you do, and your expedition to the frozen north ends up less exciting than commuting to work.
I cannot find the Amazonia game on Amazon or an online. I think the game should be available on Amazon or an online retailer before being recommended not all of us want to spend money on a Kickstarter game or direct from the manufacturer. Just a minor comment. Still enjoy the show very much 🎉
I backed Life of the Amazonia, then changed it to the $1 pledge, the didn’t end up getting it. Part of it was money related, but dang do I feel dumb now! I need to try it. Especially after what Zee said about fans of Cascadia needing to do so.