Shelfside’s Best (and Worst) Gaming of 2022

[@VeeeeryyyFaaaastSlooooth]

I'd love to hear what you guys think of Unmatched and Undaunted, love both systems.

[@iventhe.]

Definitely looking forward to that Twilight Inscription review, had a ton of fun with it. The concept is definitely a little silly (TI roll n write?) but it pulls it off really well. Regardless, always look forward to new videos from y’all. Thanks a mil and happy new year!

[@wayner7263]

I bought it because it was described as a full 2 hr boardgame whereas most roll n writes are filler games. I played several 2 player games and 1 3 player game. At 2 players, I did not enjoy the game at all. My friend, on the other hand, loved the puzzle like nature of the game. The 3 player was an improvement. We could do away with the AI. However, I still was not into it. My friend who played the 2 player game with me enjoyed it more. The 3rd player was on the fence. He could not say whether he enjoyed the game or not.

[@vinnieyang5422]

My vote is for Cuba Libre! You guys consistently have top tier videos!!

[@BenBoersma]

Would love to see you guys review War of the Ring card game.

[@hairbrainedgames3127]

I appreciate that you separate the 'experience' you had of Civilization from the game itself. I've had incredibly terrible experiences with games (Libertalia) that had nearly nothing to do with the quality of the game itself but rather the circumstances in which I played it. I don't think there's a wrong answer as to what to review next, but if I had suggestions it'd be Descent and Twilight Inscription (the former because if you hate it, you can save a ton of shelf space by getting rid of it ;), the latter because I want to know if someone else found it more and more lukewarm the warm one plays it... or if it's just me. Either way, great list.

[@stephencleary562]

Awesome video! Looking forward to the Descent review, it should help my purchase decision

[@gregorys9629]

Just coming to your channel now after your epic Frosthaven review, and wanted to say this was a great video! I particularly enjoyed hearing about your worst experience - just because you love a game doesn't mean you will love playing it every time.

[@Manny0Calavera]

Looking forward to the review of Circadians, I've been considering buying this game for a while now. I'm also interested to know your thoughts on Undaunted, GWT and that War of the Ring card game I never knew existed.

[@JasonSmithPsychedelicTherapist]

How fun to discover your channel. Great content and energy. Yet for some reason the algorithm has avoided you for years I've been watching board game channels. Subscribed! Great energy.

[@Shelfside]

cheers man, more to come! -Ashton

[@Jaded_AF]

Star wars rebellion is up there for me as well. It's a great game to play repeatedly with the same person, and see how your strategies with each side develop.

[@truce11]

We need that Expansion review/impressions ASAP! Move it up the priority list. Undaunted North Africa is a must! Please do the Stalingrad

[@jusatin]

This video is just on time. You cannot create a best (and worst of) 2022 video while still in 2022 like some channels do.

[@cheddarcheese6474]

The Star Wars Rebellion expansion makes the game incredible.

[@Lucas.Blevins]

Why do you say that? I remember hearing of the original game and lots of reviews saying it didn’t have replayability (you only wanted to play each side once then it lost its luster). Does the expansion change that?

[@yogibbear]

@@Lucas.Blevins Once? Who said that? The game is probably worth 20 plays minimum. The expansion improves the combat and throws in a bunch of other strategies, but the main thing it immediately improves is the combat.

[@BreezingThrou]

@@Lucas.Blevins Yeah... have to agree with Yogi, who said that? Play this myself 6 times, but it is played at least once a fortnight at our open house nights. Much like War of Ring, more plays the better. Play 5 times without expansion and you can get frustrated with combat. Once Play with expansion, most never go back.

[@benjaminnadeau7305]

Don't play it 4 player

[@JTtopcat]

@Babes & Board Games From what I seen most people prefer to play the game with lords but not warriors

[@Theotherotherhand]

Personally I am intrested in seeing a circadians first light review, its a game thats been on my radar, and would love to see a review on

[@cvok34]

The review im looking for the most is the DI: Immortality because I really aggreed with your opinion on rise of ix. Which I will never play with. But immortality doesnt tinker with the places on the map (only one) and the other board is completely separate from the main board. THe expansion also feels like it makes it easier to deck build. So looking forward to your thoughts!

[@Shelfside]

Sounds good, I'll have to find some time to do it! -Ashton

[@emmafradd]

Keen to see a Great Western Trail Review! :)

[@kristofwinkler6664]

Just a suggestion because I see no one else mention this: I think you shouldn't play sidereal confluence the way you did => with unlimited/long trading. try playing with a 10 minute timer per trading phase. As such any game of sidereal should be over by around 2 hours and at the most 3. it makes everything very thight and gives a certain "arc" to every trading phase. (I thought this was mentioned in the rules somewhere but I can't seem to find it, so it is something I probably picked op somewhere else)

[@CareyMcDuff]

A good year. Appreciate that you took the time to review a game like War Bonds, that isn't on the top of many people's minds, but was very interesting to learn about. I'd be interested to hear what you think about First Light.

[@Shelfside]

Cheers! Yeah Warbonds has stayed in my head for sure. Noted on first light! -Ashton

[@papareece]

I've seen a few reviews on twilight inscription; as a TI fan it would be interesting to see your take on it.

[@DeadneckL]

Would love to see a video on your favorite game in each genre. Also, have you ever tried Sorcerer? It works by shuffling 3 decks together and I was surprised at how well it played.

[@TheAlfahDj]

Boy, every time we play SW rebellion is special. I as a rebel also had revelation of goin to the offensive, and became into one of the craziest matches ever. Mon calamari became a key stronghold for my troops, and by the end we were in a tug war where I won by a hair. Rebellion never disappoints.

[@Shelfside]

No kidding, I love it so much I just balk at buying the expansion because I'm already so satisfied with base. Cheers -Ashton

[@TheAlfahDj]

@@Shelfside just buy it, the new leaders are not big deal, and you might or not enjoy the new cards, but boy Oh boy, combat is SO much better. For that alone I love it. Also with the expansion, the game (at least to me)feels more balanced, games had became tighter.

[@ManyWorldsTavern]

Thanks for sharing! Glad that your Rising Sun play got a bit better. We've had a copy of Solforge for a while now and somehow haven't gotten it to the table. Really want to try it now!

[@Shelfside]

Cheers! Yeah solforge has held up after many plays! -Ashton

[@misterArdito]

I look forward to hear your thoughts about undaunted.

[@thelosc2]

Looking forward to a war of the ring card game review :)

[@silverlock15296]

I love the complete unbiased reviews you guys do! In fact I watched them a couple of times of just for your humor. I would love you guys make Sleeping Gods & 7th continent reviews.

[@Shelfside]

yo awesome to hear! Campaign games are a little tricky for us, but we'll get a couple in the future :) -Ashton

[@jakubfijak9218]

I am definitely waiting for that Lotr card game. I am such a sucker for this setting that I only need it to be half-decent to grab it.

[@Shelfside]

I've heard great things, still havne't cracked open the box yet though :D -Ashton

[@tahubob]

I'm excited for you to cover Unmatched, Twilight Inscription and WotR card game! Although my dream review would be for you to cover Dungeon Degenerates some day!

[@cvok34]

New shelfside vid, better day right away.

[@miya7430]

Super excited for a potential Cuba Libre review!

[@ThePaticake]

What's the game at 16:12 ? Loved the video btw, was especially nice seeing authentic footage of a boardgame night

[@ashtonwu7760]

That is cerebria! It's a 2v2 area control game -Ashton

[@beakerkell]

Great video! I really want to hear your thoughts on Circadians: First Light. It's on my wishlist, but I just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[@Shelfside]

gotcha! CHeers! -Ashton

[@andrewcallahan1642]

This was a big year of gaming for me, and I added so many more games to my collection. My top 3 would definitely be Everdell, Bloodborne, and the base Ticket to Ride. Yeah that last one is an old, easy game, but me and my son started playing it and have become addicted. It's just easy enough for him to learn, and allows for enough thinking to keep me interested. Otherwise, Everdell was a hidden gem I did not expect to like as much as I do now. Which I also got from Barnes and Noble's 50% sale!

[@timothyfrontino2693]

I can’t wait for your review of “unmatched”, it is a really great game! The game really shines with additional characters from the expansion boxes.

[@flash21de34]

Please try Unmatched. I’m still undecided on this one and wonder if I should buy more characters. Really like to see your opinion

[@kayafiso8697]

ubmatched is so good defenely buy it i already bought 5 sets

[@wayner7263]

Dice Throne is better (at least the one with the Marvel IP) :p

[@BryceChristiansen]

Great video, would love a review of War of the Ring Card Game.

[@vojtahanus6217]

Wow definitely review Unmatched! But I must say that the Vol.1 is kinda bland (compared with what came after). I recommend picking up Cobble and fog or vol. 2.

[@kyleweeks2941]

Would love to see Twilight inscription! It's a fantastic game with tons of TI flavor.

[@hamzad5061]

Cool games for the upcoming reviews. Looking forward the most for GWT.

[@kayafiso8697]

yeah i have 5 sets of unmatched but would love your reviewwww !

[@flash21de34]

You play Star Wars Rebellion without the Expansion?! You need to add it! It so much improves the battles!

[@Iamwrongbut]

Really want to see War of the Ring the card game review!!!

[@xzilo288]

Would like to see a review on descent! Whens the frost haven review coming aswell?

[@hamescarlos]

Please review descent 3rd edition and if you have it, descent 2nd edition.

[@st0ox]

Since I have seen Andor Star Wars Rebellion feels like a serious struggle for freedom.

[@JoseMedia2421]

Plz review descent 3 and circadians. You 2 are awesome!

[@AdamJorgensen]

I played Rebellion a few weeks back. Didn't have enough time to finish but it was pretty fun. I really messed up as the Rebels and terrible objective draws left me struggling to work out what to do. We ended without a victory due to the time limit, but I'm pretty sure the Empire would have won, Rebels were hanging on by a finger

[@DaCooGa]

Would love an Eclipse review

[@Snipfragueur]

That Civilization Board Game situation sounds... very close to an actual game of civilization among noob

[@RichardRobertson]

Just subbed. How about a review of Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory?

[@ShaneXName]

I'd love to see a review of Great Western Trail!

[@thursty4boardgames944]

I’ve been eyeing down Bohnanza at Barnes & Noble, love to see what your thoughts on it are

[@Shelfside]

gotcha, its one of my favorite rosenburg games haha, I will be playing it guaranteed more -Ashton

[@1rnw792]

Unmatched and undaunted reviews please!

[@joeymcjoeysalot6596]

Love Circadians! Highly recommend checking it out sooner than later

[@andrewschaff3765]

Would love to see your thoughts on great western trail.

[@daem0nfaust]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that soured experience. That's like the worst worst, when something you really love gave you a ruined experience. Though I understand what you mean, but not to *that* extent.

[@Shelfside]

I'm probably never gonna play 3p again, then we should be good :) -Ashton

[@daem0nfaust]

@@Shelfside yeah, I hope you will be able to give it another chance. And whether you do or not, I hope you reconsider if ever you think of letting it go. Don't make my mistake of letting that game go! 🤣🤣🤣

[@naturesfinest2408]

I wanna see a review on descent. Ive been eyeing it for awhile but havent pulled the trigger.

[@OlegKlishinArt]

ISS Vanguard spoiler is actually the first interesting thing I've heard about the game, I'm a bit more interested now. Majority of what I've seen makes me think "why not just play Mass Effect or something". As for review, my vote is for War of the Ring Card Game.

[@athanasiospetsas9367]

Which is this board game table featuring in most of the video? It looks great!

[@XlllSwords]

Any reviews or play through of Nemesis or Clash Of Cultures? :)

[@sebastianruizromo637]

Cuba libre! Would love your opinion on that game! Also first light... that s it

[@chrisc1625]

I saw a quick glimpse of Gears of War the Boardgame at the beginning of your video. LOVE that game. Curious how you guys feel about it.

[@Shelfside]

sweet! It's my friend's copy, so not sure if I'll even get around to it, but we'll see :) -Ashton

[@martintomov7576]

I would be very interested to hear how you guys find Twilight Inscription as fans the big TI :) Was a bit of a let down for me, but then again I am not a major roll and write fan.

[@Shelfside]

I'm interested too! Haven't gotten much of a crack at it yet, only opened up the game and read the rules. Excited to see what happens -Ashton

[@somerandomperson8282]

Dude your civilization experience is the reason I NEVER start long 3-4hour+ games in the evening. Like... EVER. Afternoons only.

[@vlowolvtake1797]

It seems pretty realistic that reinforcing military just started a vicious cycle though (civ). [After watching] So was this Ashton's list, then?

[@soup6924]

I just learned about Sidereal Confluence this week and was interested in getting it, so I'm glad to have heard some critical thoughts about it. I'm wondering how long your game of Sidereal lasted. I've heard playtimes hitting about 3 hours when using 10 min timer for the trade phase. According to the designer, the timer is mainly an optional variant instead of the base rules because he didn't want to include a timer in the box 🤣

[@blacksheep9950]

Should be 2-3 hours regardless of player count.

[@zak1090]

Just ordered undaunted stalingrad! Seen undaunted on your to review pile there, i think its a great game!

[@Shelfside]

Gotcha! I balked at getting Stalingrad due to its size, and Normandy seems like the perfect size for me -Ashton

[@williamsimkulet7832]

12:16 I watched your review of this game the other day; interesting. But I can't help but think there's a better way of enacting the "level up" mechanic. MTG, of course, has a clunky level up, clunky double faced cards, etc. MTG also introduced "stickers" in an Un-set (ugh), but it strikes me that stickers and/or dry erase cards would have opened up more design space here, while avoiding the clunkiness. I understand it's an adaptation of an online game, but I also understand it's semi-RNG decks which really undermines player agency, as you can't prepare for cards you don't know exist. :/

[@Shelfside]

Yeah I'm really not sure how they would do it. They can't do the double faces because there are 3 levels, and rotating would make you run out room one day. Maybe there's something they;ll come up with, but man I dig the gameplay enough to bear with it -Ashton

[@williamsimkulet7832]

@@ShelfsideDFCs aren't the best mechanic, honestly. Glad it's a fun game; does the unpredictability/randomness (of facing decks you don't know exist) bug you?

[@justacynic]

No Oathsworn but still enjoyable. 😉 would be curious to know your thoughts on Twilight Inscription vs Imperium.

[@DermoniS]

Review new War of the ring. You tried original Wotr and Star Wars Rebel. and I would like to see your review of this new card game version

[@NathanaelHuber]

Would you guys recommend "Moonrakers"?

[@DaveBrunoAnimation]

Man I subscribed because youre probably the first person to say Rising Sun and Sidereal Confluence arent great. I bought both of those because every reviewer said they were their game of the year and amazing, and I couldnt even get a room of Game Designers to look at the instructions for Sidereal, and Rising Sun has such obtuse mechanics that negotiation seemed too gamey and weird (why is everyone killing themselves a WINNING play?)

[@Shelfside]

Cheers man. I don't think they're poorly designed games at all, but definitely don't suit my tastes. Rising Sun just feels so unintuitive to play, and Sidereal feels way too long and messy for simply just trading discs to poop out more discs. Daniel likes Rising Sun a lot (we have a big review on it), and hopefully we can do Siderreal review at some point, since that's also one of his favorite games (bahaha) -Ashton

[@worldofbachman]

What wooden token holders do you use? I like 'em.

[@Shelfside]

They're the Wyrmwood ones; we're not sponsored by them haha. Just really like it! -Ashton

[@stowcreek1999]

Can you point me to your discussion/video about ur opinion about Dune Rise of Ix?

[@Shelfside]

sure thing, kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYbRi62GhMmmfNk

[@robertthurman9866]

UnMatched is amazing. So simple but with so many strategies. As for your gaming experiences, who you play with is far more important the what you play. I'm really bummed out because my B&N stores only had 50% off on 8 games, not all.

[@TymofiiLisovychenko]

Recently bought my first Unmatched set, being Little Red Vs Beowulf, and I'm plenty satisfied, though I'd love to pick up Cobble and Fog next. I like the gameplay design of Battle of Legends vol. 2 and some Marvel characters(mainly Daredevil and Ghost Rider), but I also refuse to support Marvel any more than I have to and would much rather have Unmatched do more silly public domain or less in-the-face IPs, and I'm not a big fan of characters in Vol. 2 as opposed to Cobble and Fog.

[@TheErnieforss]

I think i've been playing it wrong, because i dont understand moving. Either we just stand next to each other hurting each other. Or i play a person who i chase around the board and do no damage and we end up runing out the deck

[@TymofiiLisovychenko]

@@TheErnieforss To be honest, this is a bit of an issue with the game come endgame, it certainly runs out of steam towards the end, BUT I've found that willing to go for risky plays with boosting maneuvers is what gets you out of this - a good boost more than doubles your movement, and some character schemes let you execute hit-and-runs more easily - in the Little Red Vs Beowulf set, Little Red has 2-3 copies of a scheme that (conditionally) can teleport you, and of a scheme that moves you 3 spaces, both giving you an action afterwards, while Beowulf has a card that lets Wiglaf swap with him(provided you can get Wiglaf where you want to be) as well as Golden Drinking Horn, which lets you move Beowulf up to 4 spaces, provided it's one of the options you pay rage for.

[@bwah9481]

This means you guys need to be playing more board games!

[@BobbyJuno]

Can't wait to see the Undaunted review

[@JamesPattersonME]

I skipped the whole ISS Vangard section because of the spoiler alert ... and the was no spoilers over. Might I suggest letting us know when it's safe to come back.

[@ashtonwu7760]

After resolving log 75 you should be good!

[@ericegan5707]

I would love a review of War of the Ring the Card Game.

[@ZelDances]

Highly recommend War of the Ring at 4 players. It nails the feel of the original war game pretty well. From the push and pull flow of the Free People and the Shadow, down to the hard to understand rulebook that you'll need to reference every 10 mins for easy to forget rules.

[@LeTrèsVilain]

Im very curious about Cuba libre and wotr!

[@MinistryProductions]

TWILIGHT INSCRIPTION! HAPPY 2023!!! 🥳🎉

[@Sanderus]

I read online that Civ may drag. This was the reason why I have this game a pass. My worst experience was playing in the board game cafe where one large group was playing Blood on the Clocktower. That was super annoying.

[@Shelfside]

oh we'll have to do a review for that too, we played a bit over the holidays :D -Ashton

[@wayner7263]

I never played the older Civ game from FFG. I played their most recent iteration called Civilization New Dawn and it had so many shortcomings but its central mechanic saved the game from being a pass. The Terra Incognita expansion made what was a mediocre game into a really good game.

[@thecaryou]

Thought you know how Rex was a re-theme of Dune. I wish Dune Imperium had a TI theme swap I think it would work.

[@poetics1725]

Would love a War of the Ring Card Game review!

[@Shelfside]

Working on it! -Ashton

[@JustACuteFox]

I have heard that Tresham's Civilization blows away Sid's. You may want to give it a look, or other games in that lineage.

[@oldmanshreds]

Our (me and wife) most played game of the year was Silver Bullet, along with Pandemice Legacy 0 and 1. But it seems we played everything we have; Carcassonne, Splendor, Isle of Cats, Love Letter and versions+whatnot. The year has started with multiple plays of Clank! and Quacks of Quedlinburg. We are moving on to Ark Nova and Castles of Burgundy the coming weekend. Next purchase will probably be Clank! Legacy, and when available: The Night Cage, Res Arcana, Bunny Kingdom, Legendary Encounters Alien and perhaps Gloomhaven JOTL or Scythe. We shall see. Kickstarter campaigns can kiss my ass for now.

[@MyParedrus]

You should NEVER play Sid Meier's Civilization The Board Game (2010) with 3 players! This is the reason I stopped playing for 7 years!

[@lkjkhfggd]

I've tried takenoko a few times since your videos about it, but I still don't understand why you like it so much. If you need to memorize all the cards for it to be fun, How did you get to the point of memorizing all the cards?

[@Shelfside]

Nice, yeah I don't think the game is for everyone (Daniel thinks its a 7 I still). The main group I play it with initially really liked the theme a lot, which drew them in to play it a lot. I would say people started getting a really good feel for the cards at around the 3/4th play. Then again, they are diehard gamers haha. No point in forcing yourself to play a game even if I like it, no worries! -Ashton

[@zenster1097]

I'm more in the KS space. So Oathsworn. Especially ATO is hot right now. Townsfolk Tussle had a game already done but they're doing a KS relaunch. Yeah, most of my interest is boss battlers but hey.

[@sombersleep.1207]

Yea 8 player SidCon without an irl timer is bound to be a rough time lol

[@Shelfside]

We eventually instituted a 10 minute timer, which REALLY helped, because my gosh that game would have gone past 1 am if we didn't -Ashton

[@francispham6113]

You've convinced me to play Star Wars Rebellion finally.

[@JTtopcat]

You should look at Sniper Elite the board game. Surprisingly good video game licensed game. Amazing hidden movement

[@Illyrien]

Interesting... ISS Vanguard solo playthough hmm... worth considering

[@Vectrex-pi5ib]

Great Western Trail needs to be reviewed!

[@dirkschulz7599]

War of the Ring card game review please!!

[@Pmartshand]

Personally want to know more about Undaunted. But there is a new Stalingrad Undaunted that is supposed to be the best version yet.

[@eriksjogren800]

Thank u for the video

[@RolandsBriedis]

Circadians first Light please.

[@KMReviews]

Base Dune Imperium is mehhh to me. Rise of Ix is a MUST have to play. Now that I’ve used immortality, I’ll use every time. I like it more than rise of ix. Grafting makes card play way more fun

[@TheErnieforss]

Lets see your unmatched review. Its such a lite game that i wonder how it stacks to a T.I./Magic player.

[@Shelfside]

alright, challenge accepted! -Ashton