100 Reiner Knizia Board Games Ranked

[@actualol]

Now with added timestamps! 💝

[@otocan]

Very good of you.

[@ThyAsianMan]

Do Patreon members get the other 700?

[@ImagenaryFriendd]

We did! I still haven’t finished watching.

[@blanketoffear]

What a concept for a video. I really dig it! So, Uwe Rosenberg next? :) Amazing that you gave me an idea of how the games work, why they are put where they end up and still not take a lot of time. Thank you, that must have been a lot of work.

[@Ruedujeu]

Hello, I make videos retracing chronologically ALL Uwe Rosenberg games on my youtube channel. It's in french but maybe automatic subtitles will work for you ? Anyhow, just throwing the link it case it interests you kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXaQd32FbZaNepI :) (also made it with other designers, Stefan Feld for example)

[@actualol]

Glad you enjoyed it! It was a labour of love, I had a very detailed excel spreadsheet to help me :) Sadly, Uwe Rosenberg doesn't have enough games for me to do the same video, but I can say that Patchwork and Bohnanza are S Tier :)

[@MrButlertron9]

Absolute madman Jon Purkis with a 2 hour mega-video (love it, the weirder the better)

[@arttunieminen4583]

This is what i needed tonight a 2 hour Actualol video

[@АртурБогданов-с2с]

Really. How did he know

[@sarahwatts7152]

I checked out Lost Cities from my library based on Actuallol's recommendation. I was surprised by how much I liked it!

[@nedeljkodukic7279]

Easy rules, tension with every decision, risk taking, just great.

[@THESP-rz3hg]

You absolute madman. You actually ranked 100 games. No shortcuts, no BS. Color me impressed.

[@fufu_212]

Funner Fact: The German word 'reiner' actually is the comparative of the word 'rein' which means pure. So technically, 'reiner' means purer ;)

[@mattvucu6706]

Well he is purer than most magicians … GOB Bluth is very impure

[@blarneystone38]

@@mattvucu6706 COME ON!

[@matthiasschulz3569]

Depends on how the word is used. "Pure Randomness" translates to "Reiner Zufall".

[@NickBentley]

just when I thought you couldn't make a video any more tailored for me

[@chrisg5098]

Some others that are worth a mention: - Spectaculum: simple but interesting spatial stock game. - Orongo: hybrid closed economy auction and tile laying game that has bad components but is actually a lot of fun. - Municipium: slightly obscure Reiner area control game but well liked by the die hard Knizia philes I liked more of these than Jon and booed a little when some of my favorites got panned (Justice for kingdoms, Tigris and Botswana!), but it’s really hard to argue with the ones that did rise above the rest, which makes this a really useful list for people who are not going to dig up every Knizia and just want some recommended good ones to grab.

[@actualol]

Thanks for the tips! Those three were definitely on my hunting list but I didn't come close to finding copies of them 😭

[@bkiddo9284]

as much as I try to avoid auction games, Orongo is strangely one of my favorites games❤

[@Cocoabine]

45:18 I can tell you why the older the game is the less you can trust its rating on BGG is because board gaming is more popular now than years ago. And older board games simply don't have the amount of ratings that a new game has. For BGGs rating system it uses something called a Bayesian average. This is a way to calculate an average that takes into account not only the data you have but also some prior knowledge or assumptions. It's especially useful when you have only a small number of data points and want to avoid getting extreme values. Imagine you want to know how good a restaurant is based on reviews. If one restaurant has only 2 reviews and both are 5 stars, should you assume it's perfect? Probably not, because there aren't many reviews yet. So, with a Bayesian average, you start with a "prior" assumption, like the average rating for all restaurants is 3 stars. Then you combine this with the actual reviews. The fewer reviews you have, the more weight your prior assumption gets. As you get more reviews, the actual data gets more weight, and the Bayesian average moves closer to the regular average. Basically, BGG fills its ratings with dummy ratings to give low review games lower scores. Older games don't get many reviews so the genuine reviewers cant get past the dummy reviews and so ratings wise the score usually ends up somewhere in the middle 4-6 ratings. Hope this helps. Love your content mate.

[@GlassofJ]

Referring to Tigris as “just a game” as a board game reviewer is a BOLD move. And I love it

[@dold_]

I can't believe you left out all of his best games! I can't take any Knizia list seriously that doesn't include 3D Memo Smurfs, Harry Potter: Honeydukes, Monster High: Potworrrnie wciągająca gra!, Disney Party Party!, Hot Wheels Speed Rallye, Playmobil: Piraten-Fang, Queen of the Cupcakes, Go Lightning McQueen, and Cars 2: Race Champions! In all serious, this video rules. I enjoy almost every video talking about the literal mountain of work Knizia has published over his career. I'm looking at my shelf for games of his that weren't covered (I hope I'm not mistaken on any of these, I was watching while playing a solo game of Imperium: Classics lol): Stephenson's Rocket, Blue Moon Legends, Abandon Ship, and I think that's it? I guess I'll also mention Bunte Runde, not because it's a good game (it's not very good), but the fact that it's basically a stockholding game for kids is kinda wild to me? 6 shapes in 6 colors = 36 blocks, take turns walking a pawn around the circle Patchwork style to claim blocks, once all of a shape or color is claimed everyone takes 1 of the 36 coins for each block they have of that type. So the whole game is just trying to get paid for both the color and shape of your blocks as much as possible. I think about Bunte Runde a lot.

[@blarneystone38]

There is just no other designer like Reiner Knizia. He is the GOAT and it is not even close. His ability to create such amazing, tense gameplay scenarios out of rules that can be explained in 2 minutes is unbelievable to me. There are probably 15 games of his that just blow my mind when I think that an actual human came up with that idea

[@bruceknight3720]

Wow - what a thorough video. I have the Polish version of Great Wall of China, retitled "You can't stand there!" (in Polish). The theme really fits the gameplay. It's set in communist block times where people spend ages queueing for items outside shops with limited stock. So each shop has a line of depressed looking people (cards) queueing for toothpaste, Levis, or digital watches.

[@actualol]

I love that theme :)

[@amivanzyl8876]

Lost Cities is the first game I picked up on your recommendation, and it immediately became a favourite.

[@corinnajuras-tabletopsavants]

Wow, was not expecting this video to ever pop up on my feed! So excited to watch this, thank you!

[@sebastianb.3777]

There is a real chance that Reiner himself sees this video

[@NickBentley]

Biggest difference of opinion: Ingenious, which goes into "He Walks Among Us" for me

[@tanyabutton4806]

That was my thought too. I love ingenious.

[@ahchiu9]

A 2-hour Actualol video! Let me pop some popcorn and light some candles

[@DaleKeefer]

Regarding Cascadero, I REALLY like the player interaction because it's a mix of positive and negative. You want others to score the cities you're approaching so you'll get an extra track bump when you arrive. There's some good ole' fashioned blocking, but then sometimes there are stale mates on a city, as nobody wants to score it first. As you said, the race for public objectives is really enjoyable!

[@letartean]

In our family, High Score is very much liked. This is one disagreed with. It’s not a masterpiece but it deserved more that the worst category.

[@play-it-or-not]

I totally agree, it hits a table quite often with my gaming groups and everyone seems to like it.

[@lucduchien]

Great list. I agree with almost everythibg. Ingenious and Tigris and Euphrates deserve better. They are both excellent examples of unique scoring that only the Good Dr. can make work.

[@brucebush5744]

You’ve played a lot more than I have - but I’ve very little to quibble about (apart from, maybe, Llama). Was pleased to see high rankings for Mille Fiori and Marabunta - great new games and it’s impressive that he’s still making games that are so fresh and innovative whilst still being quintessential Knizia.

[@knitlobe1305]

Wow good ranking for llama card game. When I first played it I thought is this game the simplest game in the world or sth? But ends up playing maybe 100+ now. Plus many of those games are with my 5 years old son ❤

[@lauradavis4610]

Are you kidding me? My group LOVES Africa! Lincoln convinced me to get it, and I've had a lot of good game nights with it. I'd rank it at least Game Boy, probably higher. But we do agree on Lord of the Rings. Thanks for the video!

[@denycast]

What! Blue Moon City is on the List but not Blue Moon? Blue Moon was a LCG before the term was a thing. And it was awesome and basically made me a board gamer😅

[@bushibayushi]

Even though our tastes differ, this is an EXCELLENT video. Fantastic stuff.

[@ericjome7284]

"Too much down time?" When are we supposed to do our drinking if not while other players contemplate their turn?! :)

[@Stopdressur]

2 hour actualol? THANK YOU!!!

[@nowvoyaging8881]

Love it! Just saw a new interview with The Good Doctor on The Gameschooler Podcast, and now this! I’m in Reiner Heaven! Thank you!

[@Ruedujeu]

As an Actualol fan, couldn't dream of a better video as it seems similar to the "Retrospective" I make on my channel (all boardgames of one designer or publisher analyzed in chronological order). Thanks a lot for this huge work and congratulations for being the best boardgame videast on the planet !

[@actualol]

Thank you 😊

[@anonleft]

The Tigris & Euphrates bit... ouch. "Just a game"? Below even "designer" level? It was a BGG #1 for years for a reason. It is at the top of many, many best of lists for a reason. I... really think you should have found a second-hand version somewhere before doing this list. :-/

[@cyberyoshi24]

Tigris & Euphrates is in my top 3 of all time. Seriously a great game, imho his best ever

[@shortydancer]

It’s a personal list, mate.

[@anonleft]

@@shortydancer Aware of that. But if you're an experienced, professional reviewer doing a list on RK, it seems a bit odd to not try T&E - of all games - properly before dismissing it. It's like doing a review of Shakespeare plays and saying "I didn't get around to Macbeth, but it's about kings again so for now I'll rank it as passable".

[@JoseContreras-ht5ys]

This video makes me really happy, My favorite reviewer with 100!!! mini reviews about games from my favorite designer! Sometimes life is just good man, thanks!

[@actualol]

You're very welcome!

[@markcontreras6453]

The good Dr.!!! 😊

[@noizeemama3697]

Glad you like Mille Fiori. We enjoy it too. Can't wait for the next 100 of his you play. Will you do this with other designers? I enjoyed this.

[@actualol]

I don't think another designer comes close in terms of number of games, and my passion wouldn't be quite so high.

[@play-it-or-not]

I love High Score, it is a lot of fun!

[@TRCizzle]

Good to see you pivot from frustration with the struggle of being a content creator on youtube to making feature lenght videos. Keep up the great work! Beer is on me :) Uwe Rosenberg next ! After the beer of course.

[@actualol]

Thank you! I shall enjoy a German beer in the Good Doctor's honour.

[@CheeseDud]

I’ve played exactly one Knizia game and after watching this entire video, I’m certainly motivated to try some

[@Zilong09]

Most board game reviewers give you a top 100, Actualol walks among us by playing at boat load of Knizia games and ranks them. What a mad lad.

[@kashmoneykarl]

My heart broke when you ranked Kingdoms below God-like Tier 💔 Sure it’s “simple” but I’ve played it 100s of times and every game has been different yet familiar. I’m making my own travel version and updating the theme to be apocalyptic like Fallout, maybe it’s one of those worth a revisit.

[@nreekm]

Watching this video made me realize how much I hate Knizia's designs. He really repeats himself and most are terrible. I love Stephenson's Rocket though.

[@bushibayushi]

There are three games I would add to this list: Blue Moon Legends (excellent 2-player game), Spectaculum (very fun portfolio managment game that works best at 2 players) and Medici vs Strozzi, a 2-player version of Medici which I find to be a superior design!

[@clarkkent7973]

Wished there was a video of just the top 7 games. Do you really expect me to watch a two hour video to find them?

[@Tornroot]

Your comparison between MLEM and Celestia is spot on, except the main problem I have with MLEM is I find it basically plays itself, which I'm surprised you didn't express/feel. As you said it's just a probability game, so if the odds are in favour that the person will roll an appropriate number I'll stay on the ship, otherwise I won't. Woo hoo.

[@MezumeTS]

My two cents on Equinox - it was probably the biggest surprise game in my group. I got it 2nd hand for basically free, expecting to just try it out and pass it on, but found it to be the most played game of 2024 so far. It just seems to mesh well in the group, everyone has their "favourite creature" at this point, a particular style of play.. Not sure what I am trying to say, except I guess that giving not-so-hot games a chance can be a great idea if you can find them for cheap?

[@Cempa666]

T&E is the best game I’ve played. Voodoo Prince is a true gem, can’t believe the low score Also Kingdoms, Taj Mahal, Rapido, eqaniox are good games I adore

[@joerihessels8230]

Whale Riders the card game is pretty great! Every turn you play a card in front of yourself and when X of a specific card have been played all players score those cards with all others being discarded ( X=3-7, with this number also being the amount of points the card is worth). Great shared incentives, you have to collaborate to score, but you want to get the most out of it... (but sometimes you get desperate and just want something out of it...)

[@chrisjanson8283]

HONEYBEARS ! One of the best Dr Reiner games ever, and yet not mentioned at all. (Republished as “Bucket Brigade”, but not as thematic as racing bears.)

[@johannesblank1552]

I really wish FFG would release a proper Lord of the Rings collectors edition with Friends&Foes. One of my favorite games ever.

[@felipe.goicovic]

Another hidden gem from the good doctor is Tajuto (2019)...super underrated

[@markhopper3895]

I highly recommend Yellow & Yangtze on iOS. It takes out all the fiddliness and allows the design to shine. It’s my #1 game of all time. Spectaculum and Yangtze are worth a play but they probably won’t rise to the top of your rankings. Ingenious, Tigris & Euphrates, Taj Mahal, Botswana and Medici are all “He Walks Among Us” for me.

[@contactkepa5524]

Does anyone put more effort in than big JP?

[@actualol]

Perhaps my editor this time

[@jasonsmen5533]

Fantastic video. Loved all the rankings. I have all your top picks except through the desert. Very nice!

[@grog3514]

You did so many games dirty! Excape, high score, poison,blue moon city, marshmellow test, art robbery, sunrise lane, hot lead, circus flohcati, and botswana are all either A or B tier. They are really good games. Sunrise lane has just as much luck as TTR but it prevents players from stockpiling cards. Its all about using the cards you have. Sometimes you need to burn a card to kill a 5 point space because if you cant have it no one can! You should play botswana more. Once everyone gets the strategy it becomes really fun to see who holds out on which cards, especially if a suit is about to end the game. Its awesome.

[@davidharmsworth6580]

Good list. Reiner knizia is the master of pasted on themes which leads to a lot of his games reprinted with different themes. I do like Lord of the Rings but I can see why people do not like this.

[@EmporerDragon]

On the topic of BGG's ratings, I feel as what's happened is basically the same as we've seen happen to video games, where the reviewers have become almost afraid to give an actual critical score, forcing people to read between the lines to discern what the true score is on a scale of 1-10 than the scale of 7-10 the reviewer uses. A great example I can think of is a game called Draconic Dice. This is an absolutely terrible game that is 99% luck based (to the point where a player can win on the very first turn of the game), and yet it somehow has a 6.6 rating on BGG and a 4.6 rating on Amazon.

[@lauradavis4610]

You should try Abandon Ship, which we have nicknamed "Rat Overboard." Lots of laughs and groans with this one!

[@EmporerDragon]

My game group cracked open Mlem on our most recent game night. We enjoyed it, but we messed up on one big rule for movement, where we read the rules as 1 die = 1 space regardless of the number rolled instead of "move the total number of pips on dice used", so we didn't get into deep space often. In our defense though, the rulebook in their movement example, uses 1s as the dice rolled, further reinforcing the confusion.

[@Bleuchz]

I skipped to the end but I promise to watch the whole thing! I'm actually picking out games for a weekend with some friends and played a me vs me game of Through the Desert and got totally engrossed (I won! The me I was rooting for!) Makes me sad seeing El Dorado up there as I can't get most of the expansions here in the states :(

[@duchypuchy]

Nearly two hours long video? Not that I planned to sleep much tonight ❤

[@macximchic]

What a treat for the knizionados. Thank you. Fantastic job.

[@bushibayushi]

2-player Kingdoms is my top tier of Knizia games! :)

[@mightymac1723]

The first digital picture of him could double for Jimmy Carr.

[@CarolineReisG]

Art robbery is just SO COOL. I love it. All the adrenaline

[@25thCenturyGames]

Awesome round up! Excellent video as always.

[@2bearnest]

Will watch tomorrow but it already gets a thumbs up!

[@SamHoughton]

Ooo will Rebirth be in this list?! Time to watch and find out! ❤

[@stephanpalaczky2963]

Looks like I'm finding that DS game😂

[@Julien-d4n]

New edition of Samurai would be awesome!!

[@pr0tux]

Actually… „rein“ means pure. „Reiner“ is the comparative, so it’s even purer. 😄 Also: you might have one of the biggest Knizia collections in the world now. 😎

[@actualol]

Oh, I haven't kept them all, only the top few tiers.

[@Julien-d4n]

Rebirth? Too recent and couldn’t test it? Great video, and agree with all of it!! Except Lost Cities, I just don’t get the appeal.

[@actualol]

I'm excited to try Rebirth, but it's not arrived at my door yet.

[@Ferretywrath]

100 games and he missed the one I've played, "That's a Question!" XD Worth it for the art and manual alone!

[@XCM666]

That's a Vlaada Chvátil game though...

[@bobcattom5997]

Others have mentioned them, but definitely don't skip out on Orongo and Blue Moon (or Blue Moon Legends). I honestly don't how much/if you'll like them, but definitely worth a try if you can find reasonably-priced copies!

[@actualol]

I'll keep my eye out for them!

[@kolomahler]

There's a super early super short Knizia auction game that we think you might like. It's called Das letzte Paradies from Kosmos. It has this simultaneous vickrey auction for a region (winner pays what second place bid) and then you negotiate with the players what you do with the tile. Really strong environmental theme with a rapidly fluctuating economy. It comes with a warning that everyone will lose the first time you play.

[@actualol]

Interesting! I've not even heard of that one. It sounds intriguing for sure!

[@Jorge_Pronto]

Brave of you to share the editing setup, here's all the expected internet feedback in one comment: - Stuck on a playlist from 2020?! - You really need to dust off your KRK's - Call that cable management? - No beers in the fridge, what is this, an office? Jokes aside, great (long!) vid, Jon.

[@actualol]

there actually are beers in there but I never drink them!

[@josuelservin]

What a fantastic video, a truly impressive and it shines as a labor of love, I will certainly take advice this to build my collection and gift to my friends, and thank you for this.

[@actualol]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)

[@davidharmsworth6580]

Don’t forget the free roll n write Decathlon

[@helenfranks2376]

Love Dr K. Thanks for the video.

[@turtleandbear1179]

very best from the currywurst 😂🤣

[@puzonzenon3702]

Two words: impressive!

[@CaroLiaGrace]

Happy to have a new video!!!❤

[@trickynumber7]

You madman, you actually did it!

[@meewarwoowoo]

Hollywood Golden Age FTW!

[@playground2137]

It was bound to happen 😂

[@otakuofmine]

next Stefan Feld? :P

[@MMmikes]

Ohhh instaclicked🎉

[@Nasser_board]

Wooooooow great video ❤❤

[@zieloneszkielko]

Great video!

[@ghtddkc]

Exciting concept !

[@nasezwerg1151]

Kenizia ;D

[@FrugzillA]

Lost cities ❤

[@h1tten1t]

Brilliant! ❤

[@carlosmoreno9710]

Ooohh

[@SenseiJae]

Games I think worth trying that you didn’t feature: Taj mahal Sushizock im gockelwock Star trek expeditions Formula motor racing Risk express (art of war) Fits

[@MrJakabar13]

Taj Mahal is on the list.

[@SenseiJae]

@@MrJakabar13 guess I am just not used to these long form videos…

[@MrJakabar13]

@@SenseiJae not where it should be though 😊 quite surprised to see it that low, same as Blue Moon City. But I get it, this is Jon's personal list and kudos to him, for such an effort.

[@HansJoachimMaier]

My favorite is still Lost Cities :) Oh, and "Rein" means pure ;)

[@actualol]

Google translate always lets me down 😔

[@HansJoachimMaier]

@@actualol Oh, sorry. Was not meant to put you down! The ending "er" stands for "more" That makes "Reiner" more pure or purer :)

[@actualol]

@@HansJoachimMaier It's all good! Thanks for educating me 🙂

[@ChrisLowResDream]

thanks 😊

[@paolobingham3045]

das tu meny!

[@Theplaysthet]

My kingdom for a timestamp! Impressive video tho!!

[@actualol]

Thanks, I'll take your kingdom now.

[@Theplaysthet]

@@actualol Hahahaha! It’s truly impressive how much work u put in to all ur videos. Thank you.

[@JSKatz]

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