The "Must Have" Board Games I Was Wrong About

[@brianwhite2960]

Top for me is Gloomhaven. Thought it checked all the boxes, but I found it very unenjoyable in most every way.

[@TouristAarchie]

same

[@cablesalad3168]

Same here.

[@RILOVINCO]

For me is the other way it was really boring but i give it another oportunity and nope its just not for me.

[@fishfleas]

I love dungeon crawls. I don’t like Gloomhaven Gloomhaven is just a puzzle game disguised as a dungeon crawl, with with races and classes I didn’t care for.

[@petergross7235]

Same

[@petergross7235]

Great idea for a Video! Good surprise was "lost ruins of arnack". A friend introduced it to me on BGA, and I absolutely hated it. I didnt play it for years from that. Came back around when my family bought me a real copy not knowing I hated it. I said what the hell, lets try it once.. and I frick'n loved the physical copy. Bad surprise: Tapestry. Thought it was going to be an awesome civilization game streamlined by SM games. It did not meet expectations.

Arnak! I have yet to try it but I will!

[@normstewart546]

Took me a long time to give Spirit Island a try - WOW, a great game.

Agreed!

[@sirguy6678]

Great advice! Hey Chris - can you please make a short video of you screaming “ No! Don’t buy it! - it’s only fomo- you have too many games already! “ to assist people before they decide to buy more crappy games or back a kickstarter. Thanks!

Ok, this made me actually chuckle out loud

[@greginfla_1]

another great and successful board game channel that I’ve never heard of… Enjoyed your commentary.

Thanks!

[@EarthenGames]

13:48 a horrifically bad rulebook is pretty much where I stop attempting to play the game and just sell it (OG Robinson Crusoe and Tiny Epic Zombies to name a couple)

[@VF308]

I concur regarding the rulebook for Apocrypha. They did release a new rulebook and there is also a fan made rule book that is a great improvement as to explaining the mechanics and sequence.

[@tristangodfrey282]

Weirdly, pushing through some of those Rulebook challenges... I ended up rather loving Apocrypha - I'd only ever play it solo though 'cos explaining / teaching the game is just a big old nope!!!!!

Yeah , at that point (probably well before tbh), I gave it up. Only so much time and effort sometimes

[@chunkcurtis85]

I was so happy that they did so well with Dune War for arrakis. One of my favorite head to head skirmish games that is longer dive than current skirmish games I have. Great video!

Thanks!

[@DanRoberts44]

“Eating Crow Chris” may be my favorite Chris yet. 😎

I do what I can. Though that Chris often makes too many unannounced appearances

[@DanRoberts44]

😂

[@cburks6207]

Excellent channel, glad I stumbled upon it. You deserve more subs.

Thanks! I’m trying, though they tell me I’m an acquired taste

[@kevinanderson5442]

Whenever someone says funner(4:58), I'm reminded of my mother correcting my grammar. Funner is not a word! Yeah, but the more times a word is used the more likely is does become a word! Great Video Chris, are you from Wisconsin? I'm in the Madison area myself, let me know if you're ever short a player!

Michigan! I purposefully do that sometimes because my mother was an English teacher so just to irritate her!

[@bcantui]

Wonder what you would think of the refreshed edition for city of kings

Me too.

[@christiankudahl7405]

Happy the Mindbug got you in the end :D thanks for the kind words.

[@MichelS_1138]

"Wow" is the correct word for Spirit Island. Amazing game.

Agreed!

[@FredzGreen]

Agree on Landmarks, Castles of Burgundy and Spirit island. Interesting picks, thanks😊

Thanks for watching!

[@beerman2000]

I played Dragonfire. The first game was good. The 2nd game was slightly worse, the 3rd was slightly worse again. The 4th continued the downward trend. After the 5th game I had no desire to ever play it again. Also 100% agree on City of Kings. They sold it as a "build your character however you want".... which you can do.... but if you want to have a prayer of winning you have to build a certain way. There's also not enough variation in the scenarios to make that "certain way" markedly different.

[@ty4thevenom]

That side cough to Defenders of the Realm was like a stab to the heart 😭

I know…

[@NandoVP48]

Satisfaction in its highest form. 😉

[@TheSverVe]

You should try sakura arms. Great fun 1 vs 1 game.

I have it! Love it! I’ve been meaning to review. I had it done two years ago but it never ended up being published actually. Maybe it’s about due time…

[@Sthunderrocker]

I LOVE City of Kings!

[@flipz101]

What if you got your ‘wrongs’ wrong…

That is me all the time.

[@johna6108]

I agree about city of kings. To a lesser extent as well Isle of Cats- once i got the roll and write version i havent wanted to pull out the big box again.

Did you know they have a duel version coming too? CATS!!

[@vinceburrito]

I’m still waiting for that spirit island moments where it clicks lol

I hope it does! But it may not too! I’ve found that I wish every game was for me but some just aren’t!

[@alyssamova7388]

He appeared without saying his name

[@markd2060]

For me 7 Wonders Duel and Quacks haven't worked for me. I was pleasantly surprised by Veiled Fate and to a greater degree Marvel United (which is now my favourite game)

Marvel united represent!! Now where the flying deuce is my Multiverse!?!?! 😡

[@BoardGameHype]

Your kids were WILD in this one 😂😂😂😂

I was gonna put a disclaimer in there. But then thought, nahhhhh

[@BoardGameHype]

It’s life. Not needed at all ha

[@raymyers700]

Castles is my favorite game and the first few plays of it, I didn't even think this was the top FELD game. Then when you see what a well oiled machine it is: you recognize it's brilliance. I am NOT one to play a game a ton, but I have over 200 plays of this and still love it. Mindbug was very boring only because I'm an old time MTG player who was raised with blue's "stealing" things and I hate that part of it.

lol. I remember that blue in my time dabbling as an elementary student. Ah crap, aging myself here

[@manjr]

I would never say CoB is a top 10 game for me, but it's gotta be in my top 3 PLAYED. It's like comfort food... I'll always be happy to eat pizza or play CoB. :)

[@Paul-ro6py]

CoB is great, we have the 2019edition and its all we need.

[@jhowd78]

Divinus was better than I thought. I played the first four missions and the app was smooth. Honestly the stickers made it fun. Play 12 games and be done.

And that’s exactly what I did. Though I think it ended up being 13 or 14 total cause we did a little extra

[@johnbobbryan]

I’m intrigued by Mind Bug, anything with Richard Garfield’s name has my attention

I love it

[@godhenry007]

Where do you go to trade for games? Is it usually safe?

Boardgamegeek, reddit, or occasionally facebook. Making sure to have authentication via pics or videos if it's one of the later two.

[@JonathonV]

Good video! Here are some games I was wrong about (opinions are my own): BEYOND THE SUN: This game looks ugly and basic (so much so that a staff member at a game café I visited in London asked if we were playing a prototype) and is full of tech trees. I thought this was going to be a miserable experience, but it ended up being my most played game of 2022. I’ve since played other games that handled resource production in a similar way, but this one was my first and I still love it. BIVOUAC: A game by amateur designers with only one printing? I was sure this game was going to be a dud. And to be fair, there are some hallmarks of amateur design, but overall, this game is cute and the theme is great! BOONLAKE: I thought there was going to be a lake in the game. I was wrong. (The game is great, by the way.) CARCASSONNE: Everyone loves this game, so I should too, right? Nope. Boring as all get-out, with janky scoring (if you play with farmers) and high luck (unless you care to memorise or look up the tile distribution, which is no fun for the other players). CASCADIA: I thought I’d love this, considering the hype and the beautiful art by Beth Sobel (and the fact that I live in Cascadia). It was such a mediocre game to me. I think I’d already played so many more games that were more exciting and strategic that this one fell flat for me. THE CREW: This got so much buzz and hype and was everyone’s favourite game of the year, so I figured I certainly would find it unique and interesting. The thing is, I’d already played trick-taking games and a few cooperative limited-communication games, so it didn’t seem that earth-shattering to me. DELTA: This game’s cyberpunk theme, while beautiful, makes no sense, and I was sure that the mix of all the different mechanics would be broken or solvable. I was wrong. This game is an absolute diamond, and everyone I’ve introduced it to loves it, from new gamers to heavy gamers. DICE THEME PARK: I thought that no game would ever make me reach for the digital adaptation, but then I played this one, with all its complex action tracking. FAFNIR: My success rate with Oink Games hasn’t been high, so I didn’t have great expectations for this auctioning game. Actually, it’s great! GOLEM: The garish cover would have you believe that this is a horror game, when it’s absolutely not! The theme is not super deep but it is respectfully done. Primarily it’s a Euro game that I really like, but I never would have chosen it on the shelf. MARIPOSAS: I had such high expectations given how wonderful Wingspan was for its time, and to be fair, I did enjoy this game. I did think it was going to be more advanced and interesting than Wingspan, but it was very different from my expectations. Played it once and it was fine, but forgettable. (I did learn about the importance of milkweed, though!) MOONRAKERS: I heard “negotiation” and thought this game would not be to my taste. But actually, it’s pretty fun! PIPELINE: Given a laughably bad experience I’d had trying Curious Cargo a few weeks prior, I was sure I was going to regret getting its beefier, more complex cousin, Pipeline. Both games involved pipe networks involved and were by the same designer. Thankfully, I was wrong. Pipeline is interesting and I enjoyed it. RES ARCANA: I keep playing this game like it’s an engine builder, but it’s too short for that, so you never get to the fun combos before the game is over. But every time I play I always play for the engine rather than the points, and I always get massacred. 😂 SIENA: A friend brought this game, which is so rare that it’s hard to even learn how to play by video. With all the negative opinions on BGG, I was sure I was going to hate this. But it was actually a really unique experience and a great game! TAPESTRY: I love sprawling Euros with lots of different paths to victory. I love track advancement and engine building. With that in mind, I was certain I was going to adore Tapestry. However, it had so many balance issues and runaway leaders and conflicting/supercharged power matches that I got frustrated by the metagame. My second experience was much better, but still, I was disappointed. TREASURE ISLAND: Great theme! And it’s Euclidean Geometry: The Board Game, and I love Euclidean geometry! Nope, this was a hard pass. Everyone hated it. VOIDFALL: This looked like a massive 4X space battle. With all the miniatures and sprawling maps, I was expecting dice combat and high conflict and other mechanisms I didn’t care for. It turns out all of the combat is deterministic and not random, and most of the conflict you do will be with the aliens rather than other players. At its heart, this game is a Euro, and a delightful one at that. No way was I expecting this game to be fun, let alone to be one of my favourite games of the year!

Now thats a list!!

[@KimDahl77]

Love your videos. Your camera quality could use an upgrade though :)

Probably! Have $1000 hiding anywhere for me? 😁 My patreon needs more people!

[@juvigoat2168]

What it sounds like when going full speed into a baritone stop, starts at 3:56 😂

[@thesphyrth]

Tales to Amazed also underwhelmed me. The PvE was meh at best. Unmatched simply shines as a brawl.

That’s fair.

[@afterworkboardgameclub3423]

Actually I collected all of DragonFire. But did you know its a collector item now because its over. The publishers had lots on expansions in work, but lost the license before release. So its over.

I did not. I’m ok with not having it anymore though

[@witchedwiz]

I like city of kings but i share some of your criticism.. still i enjoy the game so it's fine . In general i also am less of a xry euro game :/

[@Biodelic]

This is hilarious. I kidd you not, I just got Apocrypha a few days ago. So far I am having a lot of fun and enjoyment with it. It's basically an evolution of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, with dice. Sorry it didn't work for you.

[@madDdog67]

IIRC, Apocrypha came first, but during the development, the Pathfinder folks had the designer (who's name escapes me at the moment) set it in the Pathfinder world. I've beaten PACG like a drum, in both the digital and physical worlds, but I've lost Apocraypha so badly 3 or 4 times (once I figured out how to play it lol) that I gave up. Keep meaning to go back to it, but haven't yet. Glad to hear you're liking it.

[@Biodelic]

@madDdog67 Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords 2013, Pathfinder Skull & Shackles 2014, Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous 2015, Pathfinder Mummy's Mask 2016, Apocrypha 2017.

[@madDdog67]

@@Biodelic I'm aware of the publication time line, but I swear I saw an interview with Mike Selinker where he mentions that what later became Apocrypha was the basis for PACG. Could just be I did too much LSD back in the day haha. But that's how I became interested in Apocryhpa. (not the too much LSD part lol).

[@Biodelic]

@madDdog67 Now now, there is nothing wrong with LSD. 😁 I will keep an eye out for said interview. That would be interesting.

I’m happy that it works for someone!

[@freeheeler00]

By any chance do you live in Madison?

Michigan actually

[@freeheeler00]

Oh cool. I'm in da U.P. eh!

[@bigmop9]

Yes Spirit Island is absurd.

[@iphatbass]

If you like Thunder Road, check out Death Roads: Allstars! It's more advanced with card based car control! It's even better than TR:V!

I’ll give it a look!

[@JeremyJohnsonmcmxcAD]

Which Colorado game store?

I honestly don’t remember!

[@haxan6663]

I thought that I would love Tainted Grail. A grimdark version of Arthurian legends just seemed perfect for me. Possibly the most boring game that I have ever played?! I know some people love it, but it isn't for me. On a positive note, Dungeons of Doria. I love dungeon crawlers and I paint minis avidly i.e. everyday. Backed Dungeons of Doria because I liked the old school artwork (but not the tiles) and I thought it could be an okay game. Standees rather than minis. What a great game?! There is so much gameplay in that one box that I would say it is the best value dungeon crawler, ever! I have not missed the minis at all as standees do the job perfectly well. Top 10, maybe top 5 game for me.

You and me both there with Tainted Grail

[@C42ST3N]

TG is more like an interactive book than a board game. My wife an i liked the stroy and exploration but i 100% can see why people are not liking it.

[@neojaw2192]

Castles of Burgundy… that game got me too… it looks so bland, so meh… I played it once and didn’t get it, then a second time… a third time, now I have everything… great game! ❤

Agreed!

[@seansmith2650]

You forgot too many bines because you definitely wrong on that

Bines?

[@seansmith2650]

Bones

[@mrbovinejoni569]

Glad I didn't buy any of these games 😎

[@freeheeler00]

But not all of them were on this list because he didn't like them. Three or four of them were games he didn't think were going to be any good but surpassed his expectations.

👍👍

[@twirth8906]

First!!!😀

And I’m last!