Board Games that Video Gamers should play & many more board game questions & answers!

[@Leron...]

Strangest game I own: a custom printing of "Them's Fightin' Words" the cowboy insult memory game where each card is part of a cowboy insult you need to add to a memorized string of previous insults. You start with "You Rattlesnake!" And word by word add and memorize new addition until you eventually wind up calling someone "You lowdown, yellow bellied, son-of-a, namby pamby, cross-eyed Rattlesnake!"

[@WatchItPlayed]

That. Sounds. Amazing. 😀 -Chaz

[@elaine9223]

My weirdest games are Cosmic Frog where you get to empty your gullet into your vault and knockback your opponents from the Aether to the Outer Dimensions. Super weird and super fun. Another is So, You've Been Eaten. A space miner is gathering gems from the space beast who is trying to swallow the miner.

[@andrewh5568]

About 10% of the fun of Cosmic Frog is pretending that the theme of 2 Mile Tall Frogs floating in space is the second most common theme in board games after Trains and despite being such a generic cliched theme it still manages to carve out its own personality.

[@kishorepurohit8010]

Playing board games is a big stress buster for me. This really helps me to keep my mobile away for some time and help me enjoy great time with family and friends which many have lost due to advent of technology

[@billbeuginton9742]

Honourable mention to BOSS MONSTER. You’re the villain in a dungeon building card game, where you have to draw cards and build out your dungeon in order to trap the hero’s who are out in search for loot. The entire series is inspired by retro gaming, from the art style to the packaging used to sell the many complete games and numerous expansions which keep the game fresh and exciting after many many rounds. It’s a quick set up and the rounds last between 30-40 minutes. It’s a must try if you’re a lover of online rpgs

[@scyldscefing3913]

My weirdest is The Road to Canterbury. You are a shady Pardoner, trying to get travelers to sin in order to sell them indulgences. How wild is that?

[@eVanDiesel]

We have that too. The hilarious theme came through less than I had hoped, but still fun!

[@WatchItPlayed]

That certainly is a bizarre theme! -Chaz

[@mosestaff]

And at three players

[@Trueflights]

The best game for people who like shooter games is classic FRAG! It perfectly captures the look and feel of games like Quake. Running around an arena, picking up powerups and new guns, and shooting everything.

[@Kinosei30]

For racing game, Flamme Rouge has a similar feeling with a videogame to me. It is quick, has some randomness but also some strategy involved.

[@ssoperific580]

Best card game for video gamers: "Slapjack" Flip over cards, whenever you see a Jack you slap your hand down onto it as fast as possible before your opponent. Fast paced, relies on hand/coordination. Best board game for video gamers: "Hungry Hungry Hippos" 4 players one on each side of a square board. Each player controls a plastic Hippo with a lever that opens its mouth and juts forward to grab marbles. Player with the most at the end wins. Most people lever mash but there is something to be said for timing and nuanced lever control. fast paced, relies on hand/eye coordination.

[@tomvermeulen8003]

I do agree, I use boargames to get away from tech. When my kids are on their bloody ipads again I often suggest a boargame and we have an nice time as a family. The fact that there is a game with cute dragons (flamecraft), saving people (flashpoint), collecting pink eggs (wingspan and yes i have 2 daughters) or growing trees (photosynthesis) does help to get their attention. Thanks to the enormous variety I can only hope that they will keep their interest in board games and have it as a nice childhood memory when they grow up. And maybe they pass it on to their children...

[@Paper-dust]

For racing games, you missed out on Thunder Road and its remake Thunder Road Vendetta

[@ShibbyW.]

Adrenaline do be great game, it really captures the quake feel

[@blueshadesable]

To add another option for boardgames to pull-in a videogamer, I would suggest Bullet ⭐/ Bullet ❤for those that enjoy the bullet hell type games but also, a spacial puzzle like candy crush. I've ordered it and can't wait to play!

[@JEV03]

Good choice, not just for the pattern matching gameplay but also the theme. I’ve seen some in the hobby complain about the anime style but there is a lot more anime influence in video games and I think a certain contingent of video game fans will feel right at home there. As a side note from a big fan of Studio Ghibli I kinda wish there were more good anime inspired board games out there. There’s a publisher that focuses on them that I usually see at conventions but when I see their stuff I can’t help thinking their approach reinforces the “anime is for perverts” stereotype lots of people still have. Would love to hear some recommendations, especially if they’re not arena battlers or CCGs which seems to be where more IPs land.

[@kirkwagner461]

Bonanza. People always say "bean farming?"

[@mateusmc123]

Matt: Play boardgames to be in a safe place away from the digital world - Me: Playing mostly online because the hobby is weak here 🤣 But it's great that I'm knowing people from all over the country Thanks for the vid!

[@teejleague3838]

There are so many zany games out there to choose from, with wacky themes!

[@elink2k1]

The weirdest is called Touch It... you feel the raised ink on a card, and guess what it's a picture of. Meat Masters testing your knowledge of food you have never eaten. Rattle Battle, euro your ships, throw dice in a box lid, and use the card edges to move them around. Sealand, area control with windmills and rapeseed. Vikingar radial paneled board and ruins instead of dice that you try to get to stand on end.

[@WatchItPlayed]

Those all sound really interesting! The one with the raised ink on cards would be an especially unique challenge. -Chaz

[@cay6857]

My strangest game is probably Kabuto Sumo. You’ve got these beetle meeples (beeples?) that look like someone’s backside in a bikini bottom, and you’re trying to push them off this elevated board with these pusher thingys. There’s chairs and ladders…a coffin! It’s WWE with bugs.I love that game.

[@WatchItPlayed]

Kabuto Sumo is awesome, and unique! Great pick. 😀 -Chaz

[@JEV03]

I was going to say this too, first game that came to mind when the question came up!

[@JEV03]

To the Golden Age question I’d sort of dodge it since I feel like that’s a kind of thing that is usually only said in hindsight but I disagree that having a golden age needs to imply that that the bubble is going to burst. It could be that moment when the hobby had some of its most memorable releases and moments even though it continues to be great, possibly even better as time goes on. I do feel like there’s a strong argument to be had that breaking down the wall between Euro and “Ameritrash” (scare quotes because I still dislike that word), the rise of Nature / Casual / Cozy themed games, examples of some genres really hitting their stride, and the budding diversity in theme / style / audience qualifies for a golden age. I do think we should savor this period of time in the hobby as if it was the golden age, regardless of whether history ends up agreeing with that. There are some amazing things happening right now that might be making history for the hobby, and I think we should enjoy and appreciate them. There may be no “bubble burst” but there are different phases and eras and I’d not want to wait until nostalgia kicks in to appreciate the era right now.

[@davidthompson7233]

Thanks so much for the kind words about Sniper Elite and Undaunted!

[@WatchItPlayed]

Our pleasure, David! 😀👍 -Chaz

[@thamesandkosmosgamesuk]

Anno 1800 is a great crossover from the video game. We agree that Exit games would be fab for video gamers! Another brilliant and interesting video!

[@JEV03]

My answers to question #2: As a fan of real time strategy games, I really got into Scythe. The emphasis was less on battling and more on economy and building myself up for an eventual conflict and that honestly captured the magic I love in RTS games. I bet other games that lean even more into 4x would be good for those kinds of players. Since you already mentioned Zombicide, I’ll add Sleeping Gods as an open world narrative adventure since open world is all the rage in the video game world. While I haven’t played them I think there’s a whole batch of Tycoon style games for the gamers that like that franchise. A couple genres where nothing comes to mind at all as being a board game that captures the same spirit are the platformers, metroidvania, and collectathons. Curious what’s out there.

[@JayChampagne]

Puzzle Strike II is certainly a strange one.

[@loganbear2988]

The weirdest game my family plays that’s so easy to teach is Fluxx by Looney Labs, a card game where creating the rules and goal of the game is the play of the game. As to theme, there are many themed versions of Fluxx

[@teaNgames]

If you're Monty Python fans, the Monty Python Fluxx is a must-have. I consider it the ultimate Fluxx because the chaos & silliness of game play seems so thematically appropriate for Monty Python 🤣 It's great fun!

[@laxisusous]

Two absolutely bonkers themed games I have. First is the game Origin of Failing Water, which is themed about the moment that Frank Lloyd Wright came up with the idea for the house Falling Water. Not when he built it, or designed it, but when he got the idea. Due to copyright issues it isn't called Origin of Falling Water (Yes, the original Japanese has the kanji version of a typo) to keep the lawyers at bay. And the idea-person is just "The Architect". The fact that he looks almost exactly like Frank Lloyd Wright is a coincidence I am sure. The second game is Cleopatra's Caboose which was literally designed and published on a dare (an online dare at that). Just your standard game about being being a rail baron in ancient Egypt, transporting fruit. Oh, that ol' yarn.

[@elainetyger]

The weirdest game I own is kittens in a blender. You are trying to save your own kittens and send everyone else's kittens into the blender. And purée them. The last sentence in the rulebook is: and then everyone goes home and apologizes to their cats.

[@WatchItPlayed]

I've heard of Kittens In A Blender. Such a bizarre theme. Good pick! -Chaz

[@rickwhite4059]

You are correct. I can't believe Adrenaline is not more popular. It is amazing.

[@garryknox1614]

Thanks Matthew that was some great infotainment. A weird card game you may enjoy is Demon Worker.

[@teaNgames]

The weirdest game I own is hands-down Cosmic Frog. Besides the trippy artwork, you're playing as a ginormous (2 mile tall) space frog who is eating chunks of broken planets, storing them in its gullet then disgorging them into a vault. It has wonderful large frog minis. And is possibly the only game which has "gullet" as feature of the game🤣 My 2nd choice for weirdest is Gloom. It's a dark humor storytelling game in which players are inflicting terrible things on their family before killing them all off in various bizarre manners. It's a fun card game, but you really can't play it with *anyone*: you need a group that gets the black humor and will engage with the narrative aspect.

[@jamescartwright1150]

Excellent stuff as always Matthew. I don't own it but the strangest board game I've seen in recent years is Cosmic Frog.

[@henriwhitehead]

Great video! Great answers!

[@geoffreys78]

As a point and click gamer, we either like the genre because of the puzzles or we like it because of the story. I can say that those of us that like the games because of the puzzles can be onboarded to board games pretty easily. Maybe Destinies for the story gamers?

[@Astros287]

What about Thunder Alley for the racing game?

[@obsidiansiriusblackheart]

I think we've passed the Golden Age of boardgames, when Kickstarter games were cheap and shipping was affordable. The next golden age will be when we all have cheap 3d printers that can "download" a full boardgame and print every component including the board and rules manual on 10 mins

[@eVanDiesel]

Do you REALLY want to know the weirdest game i own? Because i own a Japanese game called Libido. It's seriously about hiding your dirty magazines so your siblings and mom don't find them when she cleans your room.

[@WatchItPlayed]

...uh, okay, yeah. I'll settle for the SECOND-weirdest game you won. 😬 -Chaz

[@eVanDiesel]

@@WatchItPlayed 🤣😂🤣😂

[@JayChampagne]

This is more of a life skill than a game. The trick is to just put the dirty magazine on the bookshelf, out in the open. Then, you put something really outlandish in the center of the room to draw attention away from the dirty magazines. Something like an inflatable doll with a car battery hooked to it should do nicely. You will either shock and stun your family into silence, or get a talking to about a secret vice you don't actually have. So, when you give up the thing you never cared about, pretty much everything else gets a pass.

[@TheDavidPhillips]

My weirdest game is probably Igloo Pop.

[@daem0nfaust]

I'm such a vanilla gamer that I don't feel I have really strange games. I suppose Democrazy is pretty strange especially in comparison to my other stuff.

[@billbeuginton9742]

Osrs is the only game the world needs

[@Booneface]

Strangly enough it's Gloomhaven..i know i know it's very highly rated however even that is bizarre..... it's such a huge, unique, seemingly niche game that has taken the board game world by storm

[@WatchItPlayed]

I think that counts. Great selection! -Chaz

[@afrank525]

Heckmeck is amazing!

[@WatchItPlayed]

I'll have to check it out. Add it to the list! :D -Chaz

[@jonathonhatten5005]

I was gifted Bears vs. Babies. The box is furry. So that's weird right off the bat. In the game, you are trying to build comically horrific monsters, wielding absurd weapons to try to defeat armies of comically disturbing babies. You battle the babies on land, at sea, and in the air. Overall, an absurd game.

[@snarfleezcattleprod4506]

I think I might win the prize for "weirdest game". It's the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role Playing Party Game. It comes with spinners and hand puppets. That has to win, right?

[@WatchItPlayed]

Oh my livin' catfish, I have that game in a box up in the attic somewhere. Got it in high school. Oh, the memories you've just unearthed! 😳 -Chaz

[@snarfleezcattleprod4506]

@@WatchItPlayed Hey, I'm planning on bringing this ridiculous game to Dice Tower East. If you're attending, you're invited!

[@Becinroom101]

Consentacle for me, all the way. Even leaving aside the art (you really *do* want to look at the pictures) the theme is both affirming and weird as.

[@WatchItPlayed]

I can imagine! -Chaz

[@JayChampagne]

I think the only thing that would cause a board game bubble to burst would be total economic or societal collapse. An EMP strike over the continental United States, for instance, might create such economic hardship all over the world that specialty leisure products aren't really an option.

[@fenixreborn3834]

Are we in the Golden Age of Matthew Jude? I hope not cus I'd hate to see his bubble burst! Also, I don't think he's going away anytime soon. ;)

[@nicolasmogollon9253]

O11 is my weird game

[@JEV03]

Some of my weirdest games though I doubt they’re that unusual all things considered: 1. Kabuto Sumo - A game inspired by coin pushers wheee you can play as a dung beetle named Sisyphus, I mean how awesome is that? 2. Vagrantsong - Cool 50s era animation art style tapping into Southern folklore about haints. Each scenario has completely unique gimmicks which makes teaching and learning a little rough (you need a pen and paper to track them, seriously) but it also keeps the game creative and weird through its long campaign. 3. Deliverance - KS still fulfilling so I don’t own it yet but it’s a boss battler based on apocryphal Judeochristian lore about angels. Always wanted to see someone take characters like St Michael and do for them what games have been doing for Thor and Zeus for years. 4. Rear Window - A game about spying on your neighbors but one player is actually setting the scene trying to get people to guess them while possibly hiding the fact that one neighbor is a murderer… the fact this game is unapologetically based off a 1954 movie only really adds to the weirdness. And yes, I watched the movie because of this game.