Summer Spectacular - Roy, Wendy & Jason's Top 10 Games of All Time

[@dougsundseth6904]

I'm glad that Jason was on this series. He represents a very different gamer demographic than most of the people at Dice Tower, and the contrast is both useful and entertaining.

[@Stinger420]

Ya know, I must say I hadn't thought about that, but I do very much agree. I hadn't thought about exactly what you said, but I have noticed & enjoyed Jason's hmmm.... how do I put it....??...his gaming views are that of an insider who prefers to be an outsider. I hope that makes sense.

[@CptRoboto]

Amen! I’d love a Jason and Wendy series.

[@DicepairGames]

The downside is, some of the games from his list are out of print 😢. I did want someone with different tastes, but Jason wasn't what I was thinking about. I don't mean that in a bad way, I just wanted someone with tastes more similar to mine to participate in this top 100 and was hopeful that would be Jason.

[@kuremalone78]

Really enjoyed watching this group. Nice to see Jason's top 10

[@The_Real_Danger_Mouse]

1:09:59 18XX is another gamer's game. Not for the casual play, but oh so satisfying.

[@lonewolfvc3575]

18XX games are amazing. I am glad they are loved at least by somebody in The Dice Tower.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

What about Ambie?

[@lonewolfvc3575]

@@JJ_TheGreat I follow her on her channel, but it has been a while I have not seen her in the Dice Tower.

[@johnbrown6230]

Really appreciating all these top 10 picks! Marvel Champions, Dune: War for Arrakis, and Summoner Wars are fantastic games. They've all earned their spot in my top ten. Battle Lore 2nd Edition recently dropped out of my top ten but it's still in my top 20.

[@The_Real_Danger_Mouse]

53:33 Food Chain is best with competitive people. It is VERY offput-ish with casual players. Excellent game for hardcore gamers.

[@JoshuaLivie]

War of the Ring is my favorite game of all time! Great to see the love for it.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:00:58 Oh, wow… I didn’t know that! I had thought that Gizmos was similar to Potion Explosion, too, lol!!! 😂 But you got me intrigued, telling me it is similar to Splendor!

[@chrisarney8265]

Thank you, Roy, for checking Jason on Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings. And being on the right side of the argument :)

[@vanyaserra1]

🤣

[@Shad0wSix]

To be fair, there is a small degree of randomness in Puerto Rico. The plantations that come out are different but that's the only random element in the game. So it is not "solved" because you don't know what plantations will come out. You should try it, Roy!

[@vanyaserra1]

There is also seating luck. This game has a big who you sit next to element.

[@shaneannigans]

Yes!!! [Roy's #6] really is an incredibly good game!!! Doesn't even need a new edition, I just wish they would reprint it all so others could enjoy it and its expansions as much as I do (and I normally haaaate 'victory points'!). 😊👍

[@BRBTheFireball]

I won't be releasing my 2024 Top 250 Games list to BoardGameGeek until at least October, but here are the projected stats regarding crossovers with my list. As of this post, I have 33 crossovers with Jason (up from 20 in 2018), 12 crossovers with Roy (up from 11 last year), and 39 crossovers with Wendy (up from 37 last year). Keep up the great work!

[@nerdbomb]

I got a fever and the only prescription is Jason! We need more Jason

[@jumpjohnny1]

I like hearing Roy’s lists they are very close to mine. More Roy!!!

[@mattvucu6706]

I just realized the pairings… Tom, Roy, Milla = high energy love of gaming, Mike, Wendy, Joey = charismatic good people, Zee, Jason, Chris…. Actually bringing the good games ;)

[@tacotruck4176]

I love Jason!! Always happy to see him in a video!

[@tacotruck4176]

Blood on the clock tower, FCM, formula D, I LOVE this guy

[@palacsintaz]

Been waiting for this final episode because I am planning to watch these in reverse order.

[@TheTrendz24]

Great lists all. I fell in love with Dice Realms from these lists and found a new copy for $60. For all the content and quality of this title, that’s a great price imho. Also some good news, Rio Grande is releasing an expansion for it this month called: Dice Realms Trades. This can now be pre-ordered, as I have already pre-ordered it. Tentative release date is supposedly June 30, 2024.

[@RulebooksForYou]

Through the Ages - Definitely a 10/10!!

[@sorrowsong08]

I agree with Roy about Puerto Rico...not my game in the least, but love what it brought with the follow action.

[@PatrikGrip]

I would love to see more content with Jason.

[@MisterAbysmul]

Amazing top100 series, and a great top 10! You 3 knocked it out of the park, thanks for having Jason on, he really brought a great list to the mix.

[@paulsalomon27]

Wendy and I are BIG time Phil Walker-Harding fans. Finding my tastes alight with yours often, Wendy. I hope to say hey at Gen Con.

[@DTWendy]

Awesome! We need a PEH fan club!

[@TabletopTurtle]

Always love your top 100's videos, guys and I'm happy to see Jason again!

[@MrNintendeion]

Roy talking: Me just hearing Jason's breathing 😡 😂

[@ethidian3444]

There is luck in Puerto Rico, tiles are randomly drawn which changes the tactical play every turn. And chess has no luck, but its game theory isn't even close to being solved.

[@TheHexyBeast]

oh look its bluey lewis and the pews lol love how legally distinct the intro music is great video guys :)

[@darinherrick9224]

One of my biggest boardgame letdowns is Cosmic Encounter. My wife hated it for years. Then she finally won and had a little fun. I’ve never won. And never had fun. But boy have I ever tried.

[@bibleboardgames]

Great Picks! And great dialogue throughout your top 100-1 Wendy, Jason, and Roy! I have Formula D but have not been able to get it to the table with my group yet. WOTR is my #1 Epic game. I have BarenPark on my short list for future gifts. Mansions of Madness was fun solving a scenario together as a group. I would try Dune War for Arakas again. We messed up some rules the first time. Thank you!

[@nickvandam1214]

"heat replaces it" the look on Jason's face. Heat is the current popular game with that theme, dice rolling usually creates more excitement in a game than cards, but cards to a better job of limiting luck. Which will still be sold in 20 years....

[@IJJusion]

The cards are much more than just dice replacements.

[@Pengi_SMILES]

Heat

[@m-sousa]

Unless Wendy was exaggerating, I find it odd chat was "concerned" about her top10 being more on the familiar side. What would be the problem if they were all 10 mid-light games? I specially find Kingdomino and Gizmos some of the best games in that range. Talking about Boonlake, I am still dying to try it out!

[@DicepairGames]

I think people was just surprised by those games being that high on her list considering her tastes. Try out Maracaibo!

[@DTWendy]

It's been a family game year for me, but I still love heavier games ❤. Also I tried Pirates of Maracaibo and loved it.

[@vanyaserra1]

I was not a fan. The race element drains some of the fun out of the game for me. If you do not like games were one player can push the end of the game much quicker than others this might not be the game for you. It is funny many people complain about that element in Earth, but earth controls it way more than this game. IMHO Pfisters' opus is Mombasa, it is sad that it has to be shrouded in such controversy(? not sure that's the correct word as I think most people agree colonization was bad). Please do not get me wrong I still rated it a 7.5. So it is not a game I won't play, I did enjoy my play, but I just wish the race element was not in the game.

[@DicepairGames]

@@DTWendy Don't know about Pirates of Maracaibo, but (original) Maracaibo is awesome!

[@m-sousa]

@@vanyaserra1 for me, Pfister's opus is Blackout Hong Kong. Such an amazing game. It's a shame there wasn't - and probably there will never be - an expansion for it

[@brianstever2146]

I also love big complex Euro games and Kingdomino is also in my top 10, specifically the 2 player 7X7 variant.

[@middleclassboardgamer]

Yup yup! Time to head back to #100 and binge all 10 videos in a row. Not even gonna wait for them to be a Playlist.

[@jwomlo]

They come into a playlist automatically I think

[@middleclassboardgamer]

@@jwomlo Yeah, when I went back and looked they're in a Playlist, but the order is a bit jacked up.

[@RossEphgrave]

Interesting lists folks. I still like Catan with expansions. On its own not in my top 30 but with expansions probably in my top 15. In my top 10 i like games like Clans of Caledonia, Village (also with expansions), Roll for The Galaxy, Forbidden Desert, Castles of Burgundy, Wingspan, Carcassonne, Stone Age, Near and Far and probably Race for The Galaxy. On the cusp of the top 10 i have MoM 2nd edition and Dominion. I play alot of games from a large cross-section. I've played over 10,000 games of Catan on my phone app heh heh. And BTW Catan Traders and Barbarians played with the rivers and barbarians is a blast with 4 people. Very under-rated.

[@The_Real_Danger_Mouse]

Nice discussion, three different kinds of gamers discuss what they prefer. It is good info for when deciding what to play for the gathering group. Too bad War of the Ring is two players and hours upon hours long or it would be on the table all the time (maybe it is a good thing that it isn't flexible) - Smallworld anyone!

[@RulebooksForYou]

Puerto Rico is GOLD and AW was my dream announcement!

[@RickKoeppen]

I am so happy to see some Gizmos love!

[@DTWendy]

We need a PWH fan club

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:04:18 …And also don’t forget to play San Juan in San Juan! 😉

[@EdBoardGameFever]

I'm sorry, 4,000 times playing BotC? Let's say each session is 1 hour long. You would need to play 8 times per day for 500 days straight to get to those numbers.

[@jasonlevineDT]

I was playing online starting in the summer of 2020 and was playing on average 5+ games a day during the lockdown! It was essentially my BGA and kept me sane while being forced to stay in my house!

[@EdBoardGameFever]

@@jasonlevineDT I don't think I will ever love a game this much, that is impressive

[@darinherrick9224]

Wild. I thought war for dune would top a lot of people’s lists. I doubt it’s better than Imperius but I want to play and know for sure.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:21:02 Ask Alex Radcliffe about this game!

[@namelessfire]

“Food Chain Magnate looks like a bland prototype.” Yes, it’s a parody of Monopoly; and it purposefully nails the theme.

[@joeferreti9442]

meh

[@ethancollins4593]

I adore the artwork actually, it has a retro charm to it

[@Szurumbur]

Purposefully bland is still bland.

[@m-sousa]

I find its art amusing and appropriate for the setting, but the components are prototype level for sure

[@joseg.6187]

Okay.. for Destinies, which scenario is the most child friendly?

[@coreynoemif3j29]

Wendy, what do you think of the draftosaurus expansions?

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:18:05 It’s funny that Tom doesn’t like it.

[@JimmySquiky]

Hey Wendy can we expect a review of Boonlake: Artifacts pleaaase?

[@codainlaw]

Jason’s “Romeo, Romeo” pun sent me. 💀

[@freeheeler00]

Ranking Top Ten Star Wars AND Lord of the Rings movies of all-time: 10. SW: Ep 3: Revenge of the Sith - The best and darkest of the prequel trilogy. Children are flat out murdered. 9. SW: Solo - An underrated gem of a movie that does more in terms of real universe-building and story-telling than any of the prequels. 8. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - A great movie that just drags on too long with its action sequences - just stick to the story man! 7. SW: Rogue One - Another underrated SW movie that seems to somehow get better with age. 6. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - A near perfect adaptation and the best of the Hobbit trilogy that probably should've been condensed into one long film 5. LOTR: The Two Towers - Some of the best battle sequences ever put on film. 4. SW: Ep 4: A New Hope - A true classic and a pop culture phenomenon from the late 70's - truly one of the greatest adventure films ever made. 3. LOTR: The Return of the King - A modern classic. 2. SW: Ep 5: The Empire Strikes Back - One of the best movies ever made, period. 1. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring - A perfect introduction to the world of Middle-Earth complete with mystery and an increasing sense of dread. Oh, and The Shire. Who doesn't love The Shire? I could live in the first 30 minutes of this film forever.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

I’m off the Wendy Team and on the Zee Team this year! 😂

[@dwmmd12]

"Are you afraid of being Jumanji'ed into Jumanji, or is it being Jumanji that Jumanji comes out??" Bravo, Jason, for that reference! 😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpTHc5acgc19jLssi=7w9h8z-4IqoUZRX0

[@GGdeTOURS37]

Nice video! But we disliked WOTR and sadly sold it back. We much prefer SWRebellion by FAR because of the great mechanisms (even if we prefer the WOTR theme)!

[@DicepairGames]

Wendy, you haven't played Maracaibo yet, right? I have played Boonlake first, but Maracaibo definitely beats Boonlake in every way. Boonlake's cards are so bland as they only increase your income, give you resources or give you points at the end of the game. In Maracaibo, cards are multiuse: you can use them to improve your ship, as objects to complete quests or play them to get a lot of different benefits like discounts, income, new actions on the board's spaces, etc. And that's besides all the other elements it has. Such a great game! In Boonlake I feel like all I'm doing is getting cowboys and spending them to build something, rinse and repeat 😵. I still like it, but nowhere near as much as Maracaibo.

[@DTWendy]

I have played Pirates of Maracaibo, and I really enjoyed it. Sadly not as much as Boonlake, but it was still fabulous 😊

[@DicepairGames]

@@DTWendy I was talking about Maracaibo, not Pirates of Maracaibo, which I havem't played but I'd love to. Haven't been able to find it in my country =(.

[@armstronghawkins9183]

Wait. When did Blood on the Clocktower come out? I thought it was after the pandemic. You played 3,000 times? Even over four years that's like +2x each day.

[@jasonlevineDT]

I was playing online before it was released starting in the summer of 2020 and was playing on average 5+ games a day during the lockdown! It kept me sane while being forced to stay in my house!

[@jennahealy-destefanis1900]

@@jasonlevineDT I couldnt agree with you more. IF you have the right group and DM - it's a gaming experience like no other. However a bad dm or one person can really ruin the experience.

[@jasonlevineDT]

@@jennahealy-destefanis1900for me it was people who want to believe that they are important leaders of the community who ruined the experience! Luckily we have copies in the Dice Tower library and I can play the game with fans of ours and show how good it is without any of the drama!

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Birmingham is in Alabama; Birminhum is in England! 😉

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:14:55 BTW, it’s BIR-MIN-HUM, not BIR-MING-HAM…

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:22:37 Last Light??!!

[@VexylObby]

In Roy's #1 picture, someone was playing MY #1!

[@goodsound4756]

I miss Sam Healy in Dice tower.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:01:34 Puerto Rico??

[@RulebooksForYou]

Yeah the app has my man talking to you in avatar form! :)

[@TheSpider-hs4jo]

No "Sentinels Of The Multiverse", Roy?1

[@ethancollins4593]

I love Sentinels! It's so slept on, man

[@TheSpider-hs4jo]

@ethancollins4593 I know! I think Sentinels (especially Definitive Edition) rivals Marvel Champions but you don't always see love for Sentinels.

[@ethancollins4593]

@@TheSpider-hs4jo I honestly like it better than champions, it feels crunchier in a good way

[@TheSpider-hs4jo]

@@ethancollins4593 me too, agreed!

[@Dalmatinac3]

Jason takes forever to say his title...i like how Wendy just gets straight to the game.

[@Noobwater]

okay.

[@bushibayushi]

Wendy's taste in games could not be different from mine, it's like literally completely opposite, to the point where if she likes something, I'm like "OK, this is the one to avoid" :D.

[@DTWendy]

Well our goal as reviewers is to help you find games you will love. Whatever the litmus test, I'm glad it works for you.

[@bushibayushi]

@@DTWendy you are doing great job ;)

[@goodsound4756]

According to themselves, the publisher CMON is not pronounced "see-mon" but "come on".

[@thedicetower]

They pushed for that several years ago then went back on it after a year or two. Currently, they have stated it's pronounced See-Mon and everyone from the company pronounces it that way as well.

[@goodsound4756]

@@thedicetower noted, but it makes no sense as phonetically it can easily be mistaken with ZMAN

[@neojaw2192]

I can always count on Roy to bring Marvel Champions! Marvel Champions FTW!

[@boboy1000]

Need some stock market games.

[@DTWendy]

I do too, any suggestions?

[@boboy1000]

@@DTWendy No, just seemed like it is a theme lacking in recent years.

[@fingolfinfinwe]

Really loved this series of top 100! More Jason!!!

[@kylebraby2357]

Eric finally replaced! History has been made

[@GameWeekendChalbie]

Sorry Roy, Star Wars is better than Lord of the Rings

[@J.Dot187]

I feel the need to voice my opinion. While I respect these individuals, as a group, they really do not give off a great vibe or gel well together. The chemistry is off and made for some awkward interactions. The difference between the two concurrent top 100 lists is stark.