Five (Nearly) Effortlessly Fun Games

[@ei7565]

Love that intro music

[@Dmoon1234]

I really like the intro music. Very nostalgic.

[@Scotch5ailor]

Great presentation and great list. Well done.

[@communis_]

Hell yeah, Escape the Dark Castle is ace. Such a chill experience. Just need to get some of the expansions

[@seanv3997]

Great video, thanks. Heroquest is effortless for us, but not small! One Deck Dungeon is a nice, very small, quick and easy crawl with very little rules and setup time.

[@Kryosleep]

Jason Glover's games do it for me when I just want to quickly play. I'm liking Game Knight's new game Crypt Crawler. Easy setup and simulates a nice meat and potatoes dungeon crawl.

[@JeffWittyArt]

The Castle game will be coming out on (meta) VR as part of a package set of games. Been waiting for it. 😊

[@Griff_Zero]

Excellent video! Thank you! I ordered Paupers Ladder and all the expansions based on your video and my family and I love it. But like you said, it can take some time to set up with all those cards (it's well worth it though!). Definitely going to pick a few of these games up!

[@lone_adventurer]

Great list! Interesting to see that three of your five choices are from the UK 🙂

[@crazyvolucris]

Thank you for that video… i am also looking for those games in between the heavier ones😆

[@blainroman7317]

Though not adventure games a couple of fantasy type games I have been playing are DemonSlayer by Andrea Sifiligoi and What lies Beneath by Chris Scaffidi. Both games are very fast to set up and play. DemonSlayer is a hex crawl and What lies Beneath is a game book. The rules are light, the gameplay for me is exciting. I like a game where there isn't a lot of luck but your choices do matter and the consequences good or bad are real.

[@mrjspancakehouse]

I backed Lands of Galzyr expansion and main game last year. Really looking forward to it and great to see it as a low effort game. That's exactly what I need!

[@ObsidianKnight90]

I have the game and backed the expansion (and plushie). It's super easy to set up and play. I added some rules for character advancement for solo play because it's kinda hard to succeed at many challenges unless you have help in the co-op mode.

[@littlestbunny7]

Totoro is perennially tempted by Lands of Galzyr

[@isolatedincorporated]

Great video! I was with you when someone said Arkham Horror LCG and Mage Knight were effortlessly fun. While I enjoy them, it took a couple of head scratches, hours of rulebook reading, and explanation videos before I even started shuffling the deck, haha. Honestly, I’ve only heard of Escape the Dark Castle on this list! I plan to check out all the rest, especially BN1 because of how quirky the art is :)

[@202303606707808909]

And when you step away from Mage Knight for a while you need to go through that all over again to a degree. That said, it’s worth it to me but it’s not a learn once game in my experience.

[@matthewelzenbeck4025]

Zombies!! Such a small box but simple and so much fun 😊

[@darrickdean1849]

I agree, a lot of content in 7 Moons. It does feel like Runebound light, but not too light like some small box games.

[@reelneim]

Wonderful de-tuned synth, did you play that yourself? In any case, I love it! Also, the cover art for Lands of Galzyr really makes me want to be there. Thank you for the great video, Daniel!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thanks! Yes, the little synth piece is something I recorded. :)

[@jdebarr]

My favorite effortless game is Ascension. Can have it up and going in 5 minutes. Thanks for the video. Hope you had a great holiday season.

[@joejohnson2291]

Do you recommend a particular version of it? Seems like there's a ton of expansions/variants.

[@jdebarr]

@@joejohnson2291 I bought the collector editions that have two full sets that work good together along with promo's. If you do not want to invest in the collectors editions, then just read the descriptions of them and buy the sets that are in the collector editions. When we want a simple, fun and easy game we always pull this one out.

[@ElderGoblinGames]

Just tuning in, but looking forward to this!

[@waclawtraier1900]

Thanks for the great tips! I didn't know Paul Stapleton had this game-it looks so fun, and the theme is incredibly original! But the Mage Knight suggestion must have been a joke. :)

[@corgibuttz2550]

Can't wait to see the list! I'm the one that said Dungeon Degenerates but changed my answer to Pathfinder: Adventure card game. I don't really think Dungeon Degens is effortless... but at this point it's my most played game this year and it's become pretty effortless to me personally, just because it's been so practiced. :) I agree that Mage Knight is... a wild pick hahaha. I have owned it for 10+ years, but rarely play it because I just don't find the brain burn that enjoyable. I know others feel differently though. ;)

[@torq21]

I love Pathfinder: Adventure Card Game but I never found it to be what I would call effortless. Managing all the cards always seemed like a real task for me.

[@the_Mike_d]

Never really thought of trying Escape the Dark Castle as a "party" game. That's an interesting suggestion I might need to consider as I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought as I would as a solo experience.

[@joejohnson2291]

I've only ever played it as a party game and my family had a lot of fun with it.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I can’t stand the game solo. It’s so boring.

[@the_Mike_d]

@@TheDungeonDive that's really good to know. The majority of my gaming is solo and so when I picked this up (based on the theme) I figured it would be great. And after playing it a few times by myself, I was confused at all the praise.Never occurred to me to bring it to a game night and to save it for later in the night when we're transitioning to lighter stuff!

[@polycontrale]

I appreciate the quick and easy games so much more as I get older. I'm sure we all enjoy long epic campaigns, but... Ain't nobody got time for all that. At least not most of the time. Most of the time I want games that are quick and easy to set up, play, and put away. It's the same reason why I also get video games played more on portables or mobile. The quicker and easier a game is to pick up and play and put down, the more likely it is to actually get played.

[@ytc0m]

I would pick Iron Helm

[@travisnaganuma2542]

For me, I think the game with the most gaming heft that is extremely effortless is Cthulhu death may die. The pattern is really simple and is literally written on all of the playing pieces. Every character sheet has the turn steps on the left-hand side and the steps are very simple. The objectives of any given session are written on the episode card. What each enemy does is also written clearly on cards. And there's not that many of them. The only thing that's a non-standard pattern is what you might get when you draw a discovery card. But what it does is clearly written on the card itself. There are other games that are similar that have a lot of the rules written on the pieces that you're actually using to play the game. But this one seems to provide really robust gameplay that's still fun for gamers, but so effortless they can bring anyone to the table and play it in a matter of minutes.

[@TheDungeonDive]

DMD is another good choice.

[@RayLancer]

Never heard of 7 moons. For $25 here seems like a no brainer even though I have Runebound 3rd.

[@AndreMartins-hg1tu]

Always something fresh from you! Was expecting Pauper's Ladder but you are right, after adding parts of the expansions it becames a bigger game. Would you say 7 Moons feels like a good replacement for Runebound 3rd Edition?

[@ObsidianKnight90]

Lands of Galzyr is the only game that uses an app which I'm okay with because (1) it's a webpage and also downloadable so it'll probably be supported and accessible for many years, (2) by making it an app it's way easier for them to add more content when expansions are released, and (3) according to the designer if you printed out everything it would be about seven novels worth of text. You'd need a box the size and weight of, like, Gloomhaven to hold it all.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yep! That exact same thing goes for the new Plaid Hat games. They use the exact same all tech as LoG. Their apps are websites that are basically just many hundreds of complex encounter cards.

[@wizardbrawl]

​@@TheDungeonDive we just played Freelancers the other night, and it's definitely got the best app integration I've ever seen in a board game. The onboarding alone was fantastic.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Freelancers is awesome!

[@Amalga_Heart]

My own favorite is Catharsis... I got it fairly recently and it's become one of my favorite games of all time, top 3 certainly. I typically play it solo with 2 characters, and it takes about 2 minutes to set up. Like, actually 2 minutes, no exaggeration there. Yet there's a lot of depth to it and some really cool mechanics... honestly to me it's a genius design. The only real complaint I have, and the most common complaint I've heard from others, is the box (for the core game). I've never seen a box that freaking enormous for any other game, period. That could never fit on any shelf, at least no shelf I've seen. It (and its expansion content) has a permanent space under my gaming table, because I have no clue where else to put it. But as it's played so often, that's fine. It is pricey though, and can be hard to get. It's an indie creation, but unlike something like Lost Pixel it doesnt use Game Crafter, so supplies tend to be pretty limited. The quality of everything is excellent though, and the art is just amazing.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yep - the box size of that one kept me fully away. :) I have no place for something that size!

[@Darthus]

Wow, Mage Knight and Magic Realm as effortlessly fun? People must define effort differently than I do! =)

[@MilenioOscuroGames]

I would say Fallout Boardgame and Tiny Epic Dungeons are very fast to put in table for me!

[@NigelBree]

Yeah, both great (once you use Atomic Bonds and the solo rebalances from BGG for Fallout). The big problem with most of the great small games Daniel recommends is that they're all essentially unavailable outside the US, but these two are also relatively easy to get as well.

[@MilenioOscuroGames]

@NigelBree Tell me about it... I am from Argentina! And I am the owner of a comics and game store and still it is difficult to find some games! I am building some PNP games (like Iron Helm) so at least some games show on my table haha.... I have Atomic Bonds but never hear of the solo rebalance mode....

[@uncleeric3317]

Which games do you think closely resemble your opening intro in terms of tone, aesthetic and nostalgia?

[@matthewelzenbeck4025]

I record synth lines into an old sp 404 to get that warped sound. What do you use for your intro Daniel?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Nice! These were mostly done using an OP-1.

[@matthewelzenbeck4025]

@@TheDungeonDive That is a really cool piece of gear 😎

[@paultice]

Totally agree with 7 Moons and Escape the Dark Castle. I think my others would be Hit Z Road, Crypt of Chaos and Lord of the Rings Adventure to Mount Doom (although it's entirely the theme for me as there's barely a game there 😄).

[@TheDungeonDive]

7 Moons is so cool. I still need to check out Hit Z Road. Looks fun.

[@frankbranham7404]

Oh yeah. Galzyr is amazing. Do you do computer games? There are some impressive indie gems that play a LOT like boardgames, but the barrier for entry is often much lower. Worlds of Aria is lovely, and kind of a multiplayer homage to every Fighting Fantasy book and the ilk presented as a party game.

[@NickRusso-ik6fe]

what is order of ranking of these please?

[@TheDungeonDive]

As mentioned, the order is in box size from smallest to largest.

[@danjohnson887]

I like the new intro music, but it's too long, maybe consider cutting it in half?

[@TheDungeonDive]

It’s not new. Just part of the 8 or so I rotate in and out over the last few years. Of the 8, it’s the longest one.

[@JumpmanJRH]

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