Top 10 Games I've Warmed Up To - The Broken Meeple

[@monomundo]

Another interesting TopTen. I sold my copy of Through the Ages - as you, I only play (asynchronous) on the app now. Space Base, Agricola were "one and done"s for me - Clank left my collection in its shrink :) I immediately fell in love with Star Realms and Terraforming Mars (I am lucky to have AP-free friends). I am still trying to get Camel Up and RftG on the table, but none of my groups seems interested. Brass Lancashire is on my wishlist but will probably stay there ;)... and I don't own a Feast for Odin.

[@dantes9811]

Oh Man... You nailed down the focus. Sharp as a razor

[@Vadimaster]

I’m chucking my base Star Realms deck in my bag for Essen. Expect to be challenged for a quick vanilla game at the Dice Tower booth. 😈

[@barryhatchel]

Clank! In! Space! anyone? They added mechanics to slow down rush tactics so you don't cheat yourself and the big bad seems to actually be dangerous in this one.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

But each time I see it played it takes forever to finish. The game length extends a lot.

[@barryhatchel]

@@TheBrokenMeeple certainly have a point there. I don't think I've had a game shorter than just over a couple hours, particularly since I think C!I!S! is better at higher player counts. Incidentally I appreciate that you like shorter, tighter games than I gravitate towards. I also appreciate your opinion as the AP player you often rant about.

[@pjmcc51]

Great video. I’ve been more involved in the hobby much more in the past year and I’ve watched many of your videos to gain info on different games/choices. Keep up the excellent work.

[@TheDavidPhillips]

My copy of Camel Up (2nd ed.) is still in shrink because I keep convincing myself I don't have the optimal group/count to break it out. What would you say is the minimum player count you play this with?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I would say 4-8 works fine. The more the merrier.

[@martyn4576]

Loving the top 10's!

[@gcbrit76]

Nice list Luke! 👍🏼 I Kickstarted Scythe but sold it on the same day I received it...to you! 😁 I’ve still not played it unfortunately but I have got the Steam app to try.

[@nuuqbgg]

It might be getting old, but starting to watch this with trying to guess where will Concordia be... 😎

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Ha ha, the irony is that the thumbnail picture is actually fitting with regards to me and Concordia! :P

[@TheDarktater]

This is the only theme-less game in my top 25. I don't get to play real often but every time I appreciate it more. I suppose you could argue GWT in my top 10 as theme-less but I like the theme :)

[@monomundo]

... and Eclipse :D

[@ThomasHelms]

As an owner, I feel confident in saying this: Clank! is so overrated. I love the concept, but I completely agree that the dragon is rather toothless. I think if I were to play it solo with the app and/or with the expansions, I might warm up to it a bit more. Also, I love Star Realms! I got the core when I first started collecting and, while it's fun, it's difficulty to find someone who wants to play it 1v1. I then got the Frontiers deck, with all the commanders, from this year's GenCon, but have yet to open it because I don't have a storage solution... :(

[@monomundo]

I use an Ultimate Guard Arkhive 400+ Xenoskin to store it ;)

[@ThomasHelms]

@@monomundo *looks it up* Nice!

[@mauriciogerhardt3209]

10: a feast for Odin 9: space base 8: Agricola 7: clank 6: star realms 5: race for the Galaxy 4: brass 3: terraforming Mars 2: camel up 1: through the ages

[@jwspiker]

i tried to learn brass from the App as well, so glad you verified that 4 me as well.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Oh god yeah, it's horrible. It was so much easier to grasp from the Roxley reprint.

[@c.w.2000]

I thought maybe I should try the app to see if I would like the game, but it's good to get a warning to stay away.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

Curious to know how many points do you get by going hard on purple in Coimbra?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Well the two times I've done it I've won by a ton! I forget numbers but it's been insane.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I always score around 200 and I do not go really hard on purple at all. I do get the 2 level 3 one though.

[@AjanM2501]

Cool list. Very nice. I was wondering, do you have a top 10 Games that are easy to learn but has complex gameplay-like there is many options/actions to take?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I did one earlier this year with games with low complexity/high depth.

[@danielastin9445]

Glad to see Camel Up 2nd ed gets some recognition. Mine would be Auztralia, finally played a 3 player game and it was amazingly fun and different to anything in my collection.

[@Andural69]

Enjoyed this list. However, what I enjoyed the most was during terraforming Mars, complaining about AP, then in TTA saying, yeah, I could do it in 20 minutes but I like to think about my turns. AP is all perspective.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Except with an app I'm not holding anyone up. I can choose to take longer but I'm only delaying myself, not other players with limited free time.

[@Andural69]

@@TheBrokenMeeple with the physical game, you don't stop and think at all? Or you just have it all planned out regardless of what cards get shifted. More of a point tha AP is perspective than Broken Meeple is a hypocrite. I have heard people talk a lot about AP recently and those same people run into their own AP and not own it.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

The point on TM isn't implying that I don't suffer from AP - though I like to think I'm actually quite a fast player as even if I don't know the optimal move, I will take "a move" and get on with it, enjoying the experience rather than caring if I win the game. As long as I'm following my initial game strategy (for e.g. I'm planting trees everything, so I'll focus on that). But games like TM and even TTA suffer from AP being a constant factor from the options available to a player. And in TM some actions may literally just be "place a cube on card" but while it takes you 2 seconds to do that, you then have to wait ages for other players to do more interesting stuff. TTA has AP issues also, hence why I only play the game in the app form against the AI.

[@laartwork]

I still haven't warmed up to Terraforming Mars. I have always enjoyed Clank! Because it felt like deck building was a mechanic within the game and all other felt like deck building was the game.

[@barryhatchel]

Settlers of Catan. I admired the design, but hated it mostly because I was so bad at it. Took me years learn decent trading strategies instead of trying to do it all myself. Still a bit slow to jump on trades, but at least I don't hand people the game.

[@brodizajn]

@Agricola: Nice to hear, You started to respect it, thought I understand Your reasons for not liking it as much as Caverna. By the way Farmers of the Moor actually make game easier and more interesting. @Race for the Galaxy: Me and my wife just love it! We play the base game with Goals from the 1st expansion. Nice list anyway!

[@KDbooks]

WINGSPAAAAAAAAAN

[@benlauson555]

Nice to top ten! I can count the five lights on the tip of your nose.... it's so shiny! Great focus!

[@mkitten13]

Star Realms was the game that won me over on deckbuilding. I though Dominion was just plain dull, even when I won a game of it. And then someone tried to sell me on Thunderstone by telling me it was "way better" and I ended up feeling it was exactly the same just with monsters tacked on. So I though, okay, maybe I just don't like deckbuilding as a mechanism, but then I tried Star Realms and fell in love. I guess it's the reactive way you need to play it, which is kinda funny since I normally love games that are pure strategy and that I can plan out from the start. But it seems like with deckbuilding I feel the opposite for some reason.

[@artemlarionov7084]

Just interested, when you're saying Terraforming Mars lasts too long, how many generations (rounds) game lasts with 3 players and Prelude on average in your games? Ten generations should be very maximum or 2 out of 3 players clearly play this game wrong. Maybe you just unlucky with opponents for this game because I saw players who just don't understand the tempo of this game and play for time. Bad experience in that case. Also, experienced players prefer to play one action at a time with the exception of when you clearly need to play 2 actions.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

It's not the number of generations although that number does fluctuate a lot, its the time length which tends to be fairly consistent regardless.

[@artemlarionov7084]

​@@TheBrokenMeeple It should be 8-10 generations for 3 players and about one hour and a half of time, two hours in very rare occasions.

[@JimmySquiky]

I agree with you that Terraforming mars takes too long and without the draft feels too random. I still like the theme and the gameplay isn't bad, it's just ugly and it takes too long. I didn't know about the variant where you advance 1 cube for free each generation, I think I'll do that in my next multiplayer game :)

[@artemlarionov7084]

I totally agree with Race for the Galaxy. Hate 4 player variant (too random), love 2 player and 3p with a draft. Also, The Gathering Storm expansion is a must. Like base Star Realms, but hate all expansions (except Heroes). Also, I wanted to like Hero Realms (because it's more thematic) but an absence of scrap mechanic killed the game for me.

[@matthelion]

If you ever find yourself in Melbourne, I’d love to play a few games with you.

[@seanmorgan2257]

A feast for Odin, is available from Element games, Amazon.co.uk and Thirsty Meeples

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah but the expansion isn't available in UK.

[@seanmorgan2257]

is that the norwegians?

[@TheDarktater]

Funny, we played Clank! on Saturday and it ate 3 of the 4 of us. I refused to play the old version of Brass. It was just too ugly. The people who say artwork doesn't matter are just wrong. I very much enjoy Brass: Birmingham now.

[@TheDarktater]

Yep. There are too many good games out there that are aesthetically pleasing to waste time on a good game that is ugly. Not ridiculous as I only have so much money to spend on games.

[@countzethro]

You still need to give Twilight Struggle another go to unearth it’s Cold War goodness.

[@Naledgeizpwr]

I actually prefer the original Brass than the new Lancashire edition. The illustrations and cover are prettier in the new edition, but the board and game state are harder to read for me. I am very opposed to production getting in the way of functionality. I would also rather play Age of Industry than any other implementation of Brass.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Really? The old version I found harder to read because nothing looked right? Actually being to see a map of the area and the cities helped me. Granted there's an argument against the railroads/canals but I put up with that in favour of some actual art!

[@prufrock1977]

Totally agreed on Clank! But I am excited about Clank Legacy. That game looks like a ton of fun!!

[@prufrock1977]

You mentioned Race for the Galaxy, what is your opinion on San Juan? I slightly prefer it to Race, and Lehmann is finally printing The City in English. Worth checking out.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I have San Juan on my shelf behind me, I much prefer it to Race. Simpler and quicker and still has the role selection aspect. The City?

[@prufrock1977]

@@TheBrokenMeeple The City was a German precursor, same draw-discard mechanics, but I don't remember how role selection went. Rahdo has an OLD video with English cheatsheet. to play.

[@vincentvanbeelen837]

:-D The lights reflect on your nose...

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah hot in that room, I keep changing the positions of the lights and some work better than others!

[@whittaker007]

Clank in Space is better from the "dragon" aspect - when a player has exited they don't just sit round, instead they act on behalf of the bad guy and start drawing out cubes. So the cube drawing accelerates and players trying to escape are definitely under serious pressure. Also it is more modular and doesn't need as many expansions. I really wish the artist behind Brass did the anniversary version of Castles of Burgundy, the redesign they came up with is uglier than the original. I'm a little disappointed you didn't give Tzolk'in another chance ;)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I don't mind Tzolkin though, didn't have to warm up to it.

[@StefanS-ig2rm]

Nations is a solid game, but was way too expensive. Mediocre components , bland artwork and the huge box suggested there was way more in it than actually was. A couple months later the improved TTA came out at half the price, with components and artwork twice as good. I get why people love the game, but I couldn't get over it and stuck with TTA.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

It's the fact that Nations is at least half the length usually of a typical TTA game and that's with 4 players let alone 2.

[@StefanS-ig2rm]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I guess that means that 18xx review of yours is not coming anytime soon?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@StefanS-ig2rm ha ha I doubt that would be much of a review as more an Angry Rant! 😂

[@ppfn]

You hate Great Western Trail!?!?!? I think that is genuinely the first I've heard of someone not liking that game, but good on ya!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I honestly don't get the love for it. It's just designed to grate me! 😂

[@reneebaziuk5976]

GWT, so goooood! 😜 So many ways to get points, so many different strategies to pursue. Thanks for this top 10, always enjoy your content. 👍🏽

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Only 2 ways to win! 😂 But I just find it boring, the theme is tacked on, the deck building was literally bolted on to sell to Euro gamers as it makes no thematic sense and it goes on way too long past the point where your engine is done and dusted.

[@reneebaziuk5976]

@@TheBrokenMeeple No wayyy! I've seen a plethora of strategies to victory--buildings, objective cards, station master tiles, engineer/deliveries, and of course cows. I'm not a fan of the theme, and I rarely ever win, but it's the game mechanics I can't stop thinking about in regards to "I should have...I could have...If only I had..." Top notch hand management game imo. But, I respect your differing viewpoint. Always looking forward to your board game content. 😁

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Objectives are a means to an end, you will be doing those regardless of your path. And buildings require the stars to be in perfect alignment for it to win as they're too expensive to get at higher levels.

[@theadamkirsch]

Gloomhaven didn't make the list??? Color me shocked!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Well I haven't warmed up to it! 😉

[@willbeplayin]

Totally disagreeing with Brass: Birmingham. It is it's own game, it is much better than Lancashire, and it deserves every award it has won. :P Lancashire is just way too linear compared to Birmingham.

[@goranstosic3106]

Nice nose mask man. Little big but it's ok.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Not sure what that was, can only imagine it was just sweat or something reflecting, gets hot in that room with camera stuff on.

[@RevanFan]

Come to New York and I'll play Star Realms with you for hours, haha. One of my favorites.