Top 10 Surprising Games of 2023

The Winter Spectacular continues with Tom Vasel, Chris Yi, Mike DiLisio, and Zee Garcia sharing their Top 10 Surprises of 2023.
Previous: kzbin.info...
Next Up: kzbin.info...
To purchase many of the games from this Top 10 list (paid link): amzn.to/3uUmECe
Check out Great Tables, Games, & Bags at: www.allplay.com
Join the Dice Tower Discord here! / discord
Dice Tower Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com...
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
To buy Official Dice Tower Merch: www.DiceTowerS...
Support The Dice Tower at www.dicetowerki...
Support the channel by becoming a member!
/ @thedicetower
Subscribe to our newsletter, "The Dice Tower Digest": bit.ly/DTDiges...
Check out the friendliest conventions on Earth!
Dice Tower Cruise - www.dicetowercr... (January 14-21, 2024)
Dice Tower West - www.dicetowerwe... (March 6 - 10, 2024)
Dice Tower East - www.dicetowerea... (July 3-7, 2024)
Find more reviews and videos at www.dicetower.com
BGG Link: boardgamegeek....
#dicetower #thedicetower #winterspectacular2023

[@bn5055]

Great to see Mike back in the studio again. Those other guys are ok too I guess 😉

[@phillipstone3116]

There were other guys?!?!?

[@marcelbirkenkamp1386]

without shadow, there can be no light :D

[@Sparticuse]

Everyone else seemed like flashes in a pan

[@searose6192]

*Joey was right! you do load canons from the front.* 😊 You have probably seen this in movies on ships (think of the pirates of the Caribbean) the recoil from firing shoves the whole canon back through the hole on the ship, then it is loaded *from the front* , rolled back into position by pulling it forward with ropes, and then lit from the back. It’s the same with old guns, everything goes in the muzzle (hence the term “muzzle loaders” )

[@jeffprzybylo7533]

Cannons in the time period of Seas of Havoc were loaded from the front. Thought Mike was a history guy….

[@kevinb9675]

That's correct breech-loading cannon weren't common until the mid-19th century. 1-0 to Joey!

[@thedicetower]

They were loaded from the front, but the cannonballs were then pushed to the back of the cannon. Joey kept them at the front. Unimportant thing to get hung up on, but any chance to make fun of Joey is worth it. It's not like anyone actually stores 5 cannonballs in the cannon anyway. -Chris

[@VerenaFuchs]

"Stich" can have several meanings in German including "trick" when it comes to card games. So it could be translated to "Trick by Trick".

[@ramonlimberger]

Top 10 Furnaces of the year

[@robgrieco6828]

I should not have watched this. Now I have like 15 games to add to my wishlist...

[@AntoineLefebvr]

Thank you Tom for mentioning Romi Rami! I remember you gave it a great review but to find it in your Best Surprises of the year, that's truly awesome! The correct prnunciation is "Rummy Rah-mee". It is a twist on Rummy, and Rami is the french name for Rummy ;) The Winter Spectacular just became Spectacular-er (???)

[@thedicetower]

My pleasure!

[@elaphawnte]

I love how shook Zee looks when they’re talking about the Rubber, Paper, Scissors hahah

[@3Bcrown]

Straight flabbergasted

[@Singulitarian]

Would love to see a video where each reviewer is profiled with their major game-style preferences.

[@ObsidianKnight90]

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is absolutely fantastic. It plays like a streamlined version of Gloomhaven with all of the tactical fun and none of the chaff. Plus, its story is actually quite good and coherent with a fun crew of adventurers who each have unique personalities and dialogue, as opposed to Gloomhaven's disjointed adventure with faceless mercenaries. My only 'complaint' with Tales is I wish there was even more content; more Heroes, more Scenarios, and more Treasure.

[@KToneyColorado]

Rustling cattle (aka cattle raiding) is specifically stealing cattle from others. Wrangling cattle is moving cattle.

[@ALDRO88]

I always find the comments of Chris interesting.

[@SocratesRR90]

Mike!

[@johannesblank1552]

"Stich" means three things in German: trick (as in trick-taking), stitch, or stab, the verb is "stechen".

[@wsnhelios4006]

Mike, I'm very happy that you enjoyed STICH FÜR STICH so much. In german the title is indeed a wordplay, because "Stich" means both "trick" and "to stab". But I am also happy that EVENFALL and NOOBS IN SPACE made it on the list, because both designers live like me in Vienna (Austria) and we playtested each others games.

[@badazz02220]

Mike's #5 brought the biggest smile to my face. He was spot on the TMB explanation. Amazing system and can't wait for future decks.

[@RichardBrooks-e8w]

I do believe you do load a cannon from the front.

[@arcubal]

Mike is so transparant. I could tell by his approving sounds that Amazonia is gonna be in his Top 10 this year, probably 3 or 4. Also, Fliptown was indeed great. When I played it last year, I knew this was gonna be a sleeper hit.

[@scottytedrow9272]

🎉 3 Cheers for Mike DeLisio!!! Glad to see my favorite onscreen!!!!

[@carbonduck9852]

So glad that you've kept the transitions! The #10 transition always sets the mood perfectly

[@mariposagames]

So happy that you liked our Trailblazer: the John Muir Trail! :) and gave us such a great mention. Thank you very, very much. Sincerely, Dan @ Mariposa Games

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

Still waitin g for Mike to do a top 10 Knizia games or perhaps top 100, lol.

[@JonReid01]

I wanna see zee do his top 10 Cathala games. "It could be Cathala or your papa" 😂

[@JonReid01]

Or what about a top ten face off, Mike's top Kaizia vs Zee's top Cathala 😂😂😂

[@jasonsmith1133]

Fiction is one I blind purchased at Origins. I like most Allplay games but this one is terrible. Haven’t played one that I disliked this much since GPS

[@IdlestHands]

Mike describing Trio sounds like self hypnosis

[@timborocksloud]

Wow!! I was so excited to see John Muir trail mentioned! I backed this game and it's beautiful and so much fun! My wife and I have really enjoyed it.

[@WalkSteady]

Great list. New Kickstarter Stretch Goal - some audio compression that won’t be blown out by the strong laughs of these great folks!

[@adamwhite4858]

I’ve got to give Skyrim another chance. It didn’t grab me on my first try, and as of now sits as the only game I’ve ever backed that disappointed me. That being said, there was something there that I could see getting more fun once I get more acclimated myself to the rules, so I do look forward to giving it another chance. Thanks for the motivation, Chris!

[@ZD10house]

I love deduction games - Turing Machine, Search For Planet X/Lost Species, and Mind MGMT are all among my favorites - but Hooky also broke my brain. It's a very cool game, but definitely humbling.

[@Ian-R-Wilz]

The next Trailblazer (The Arizona Trail) hits KS in February. I was in contact with the guy during the campaign on Facebook and he has games for 5 trails in the Western part of the US planned.

[@jimgrant9081]

Hooky would be near the top of my list too - a surprise on so many levels! You’d never expect this game in that package.

[@BoardGameCasualChannel]

Man, I guess I need to check out Imperial Miners...

[@ThymeKeeper]

Glad to see Skyrim get some love. I backed it on Kickstarter and have played it quite a bit :).

[@shawns3911]

Mike: Check out the vale of eternity solo mode I posted on Bgg

[@daniellebackus819]

Interesting that Zee was cautious about the Trailblazer John Muir Trail game. I thought it looked awesome from the first time I saw it!

[@nerdyjawsh]

I knew Skyrim would be on Chris's list. Glad to see it get some love.

[@nerzenjaeger]

1:20:22 Mike and Zee at improv class 👌👌

[@MAdair4327]

Hey Mike! It is always good to see you in studio.

[@phillipstone3116]

My #1 surprise was Furnace not being mentioned!

[@jean-christopherioux3546]

Furnace is old thought

[@phillipstone3116]

That's the joke. Mike accidentally put Furnace on his "Top 10 Surprises" list 2 years in a row prior to this. He got a lot of grief for it.

[@phillipstone3116]

2020 and 2021. I guess it is an older joke than I remembered lol

[@jean-christopherioux3546]

@@phillipstone3116 oh ok 😅

[@daniellebackus819]

I like Star Wars Rivals, too! Great little game. Lots of things to throw away or recycle though if you collect a lot of characters.

[@adamwhite4858]

Good game for this list, was definitely a nice surprise!

[@jsdodgers]

For Redwood, what does "templates" mean?

[@ringostarr7080]

Stich für Stich means Trick by trick

[@WhatUpRob]

For the Pod Father, Milla, and Chris’s top 10 of 2023 I only played 1 game from the 30 on that list. Yes, surprises probably mean more obscure games, but still 40 games and I haven’t played a single one. Not bragging or anything, just noticing.

[@randalladkins7452]

35:16 - There you go, Mike! :)😊

[@mattvucu6706]

Furnace?

[@lukasvitroler2178]

@Mike Stich = Trick, stab

[@porqpine53]

What is a “template” when it comes to mechanisms? I still can’t quite understand based on y’all’s discussion

[@KissellMissile]

It comes from miniatures games where you place a "movement template" at the base of a mini and it shoes where you can move to based on some maneuver. If you look at pictures of Xwing you'll see an example.

[@evanstrong4064]

im all about mike for the holiday top 10 lists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@fabiengridel]

😍

[@glasscube6391]

Noobs in Space is a great game! I really enjoyed it. Definitely need to communicate well.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

@1:20:20 30% of surgeons don’t know what the buzz means either :)

[@Lordjunon]

While Hegemony is a long teach, for me it was not that difficult to teach players in my opinion. I actually taught it without the rulebook, with the help of the wonderful player aids (Mainly because i forgot the book at a friends)

[@thedicetower]

You are a braver man than I! I would be afraid to tackle this without a rulebook nearby.

[@tabuleirodechumbo]

Hegemony is so the best game of the year it's not even fair to the other ones.

[@mrnixon2287]

gr8 job guys. love your work. enjoyed this segment a lot.

[@Mimi-ca]

Trailblazer the John Muir Trail is such a great game! We love it!

[@glen7567]

No. Skyrim the board game IS really bad!

[@susanmichele957]

Trailblazer and Hegemony are at the top of my list! Happy to see them on some of yours, too

[@JonReid01]

1:13:07 lmao Zee 😂

[@davidtaracena86]

Bad audio😢

[@arthurwohlwill3837]

Richard Garfield made an on-line game like Fiction called Fibble.

[@conanross]

Roy is really lacking in his slide management this episode!

[@TheEpinema]

Big games in small boxes? Is that an upcoming video? Because that is exactly what I'm looking for at the moment!

[@thedicetower]

The individual lists we did during the Spectacular will be reposted throughout the week! You'll see it up soon.

[@searose6192]

Will Mike please play Skyrim for his solo video series?

[@fleazapp]

evenfall is pretty good

[@boardgamerluck]

A lot of fun looking games.

[@gingerscholar152]

they should have randomized the order each of them went for each number, that way they were "surprised" when they were the ones pitching their game

[@AMichagin]

Rock and stone!

[@kimberlycelaya1895]

HELLO, good video! 🧡🙏🏼

[@crepusculo1027]

"Stich" means "trick" in German. So "Stich für Stich" means "Trick for Trick"

[@crepusculo1027]

However "Stich" also means a stab. So there might be a pun there.

[@whytemeet]

#teammike

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

Gee I wonder what you do in that Star Wars game, lol. We need a Star Trek version imo.

[@eduardocarvajal2313]

Always great to see you guys , can’t wait for the anual ranking !!

[@RynoKenny]

can't believe zoo vadis isn't in Mike's top 10 of the yr

[@michaeldilisio557]

I chose to exclude it from consideration because it is a reprint of an earlier game. There were changes made to the game, so it was tough for me to decide, but I played it safe. It absolutely would be in my top 10 if I had considered it.

[@emesekatona-fila1504]

It was a nice list, although it feels like you guys used this kinda as a best games of the year 11-20 :D (some of the reasoning for "surprise" was kinda weak, also I don't get why there is no crossover for anyone between this list and the best games of the year list) Still, it was enjoyable to watch as usual :)

[@knolchi]

Wandering Towers is the best possible Pachisi variant.

[@tyrussleightholme7261]

1:11:52 that’s what she said

[@noneyafkn]

Where's roy

[@macdrizzle131]

No "Beat the 8 Ball" on Tom's or Chris's list. That surprises me

[@thedicetower]

Well, it was a fun silly game! But it's not a 2023 game.

[@macdrizzle131]

I just looked it up. Blue Orange released their version this year so by a technicality... lol

[@benjaminspears8488]

I disagree with Tom that there’s a lot of Star Wars games. There are a lot of SW miniature games…but because Hasbro had the license for so long, there isn’t a lot of decent 30-45 minute SW games out there, which is what drew me to the deckbuilding game.

[@turtlevader]

I love when games blow me off…

[@stupidytacct]

Tom & Zee, "oh look another star wars game,not interested."...meanwhile they have 15 marvel games on their top 100😂😂😂😂

[@thedicetower]

Do we? How many Marvel games are in our top 100? :)