Top 10 Big Box / Euro Board Games of 2023

Like your games on the heavier or longer side? Well, do we have the list for you! Welcome to the grand finale of our 2023 gaming - our list of the Top 10 Big Box / Euro Board Games of the year! It's been a truly fantastic year for admirers of euros, with our top games of the year likely to hit some of our favourites of all time. We hope you enjoy this video and that you get the opportunity to try some of these titles in 2024. Happy Monday and happy gaming! A&M xxx
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:51 We promise we didn't forget it - Game 1
02:43 We promise we didn't forget it - Game 2
04:32 Maggie's #9
07:51 Amy's #8
11:56 Maggie's #8 & Amy's #10
16:16 Maggie's #7
18:52 Amy's #7 & Maggie's #9
22:32 Maggie's #6
27:13 Amy's #5
30:49 Maggie's #5 & Amy's #9
37:33 Amy's #4
45:55 Maggie's #4
55:55 Amy's #3
57:43 Maggie's #3 & Amy's #7
1:02:22 Amy & Maggie's #2
1:07:08 Amy & Maggie's #1
1:13:12 Wrap up
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer #top10boardgames ❤🏳️‍🌈🇦🇺

[@hegemonicprojectgames771]

Thank you Amy and Maggie for the Top 1. What an honor! :)

[@shortydancer]

Dude, spoilers!?

[@milest4214]

Oh behave. @@shortydancer

[@hragkaraoghlanian7591]

Spoilerrrrrr

[@virgilalighieri7192]

Im so happy you also have Hegemony as your #1 this year. I've landed on it as my #1 of all time. I just got into the hobby this past year, so we'll see if it lasts, but for now I'm absolutely enthralled every time I play it.

[@rolling.reggie]

Maggie’s theme pattern this year: witches, more witches, Forest spirits, forest rangers, then evacuating earth happy holidays ladies! What a fun watch. I gotta try a lot of these.

[@mlooch990]

I absolutely agree with you about Earth. I felt absolutely overwhelmed with it, and I love heavy euro games. Too many cards to read, too many options. And you can't keep up with what others are doing. It felt somehow dispersive.

[@JohnClem56]

Wow! Really impressed with your #1 selection of Hegemony. I can see why it was one you agreed on since it is deeply thematic and it is so mechanically sound since it is driven by actual economic dynamics between the various factions represented. I think I was surprised it's your #1 because of the length of time required. That makes it even more impressive that it has that hurdle but is so good that it still tops your list. As always, great video and enjoyed your lists.

[@alejandroruiz1486]

I like the fact that I don’t have to look up pictures of any of the games you mentioned. B Roll perfection

[@bookaddict777]

My favorite list of the year! Thanks, ladies! There are a lot of games on your lists that I have not had a chance to play yet, but hopefully I will get to some of them soon.

[@rossjaax]

The Thinker is discounting games for lacking theme! Good to see you coming around. Haha

[@AprendaQualquerCoisa]

hegemony is just soo good!!!

[@teetotumgamestudios]

Thank you so much for your kind words Amy and Maggie. We are definitely thinking about revisiting the rulebook, some things need to be clarified. As for the "take that" scheaming action, well, you can try the "truce" variant and play without it, but as you said, we will also lose the opportunity to use more bonuses, a really strategic part of the game.

[@Oaklestat]

So many great games this year. Excellent list and i love the thoughtful depth of your explanations.

[@craiggruesome6400]

Unfortunately I didn't get to try any of these this year, but I still love seeing these lists. Thanks for another great year of the channel.

[@HexStarDragon]

Hope you both had a great 2023! I'm glad you got to check out Apiary! Connie and I had the pleasure of running into you briefly at GenCon by the NorthStar booth, but the game hadn't been announced and revealed at the time. Thanks as always for taking the time to put these videos together and share your thoughts with the community!

[@jameskirk4692]

Awesome video! Very nice strong list(s) of games. I think you have done very well describing the games and why you love them. I can totally see why they are on your top 10 list. Especially your top 3. You were so enthusiastic and thrilled talking about them. It's so thrilling even for me now and I really wanna be trying them out. I think I would enjoy your top two for sure. I just don't have really who to share those gaming experiences with unfortunately. But maybe in the future. Thank you for this and other such enthusiastic and long videos! They are such enjoyable for me.

[@ForAllTheMeeples]

Fantastic list! I've written down a few that interest me so, thanks for featuring them. As to Apiary, Jamey Stegmaier in a recent video said he wanted the space theme added since the game, at the time, was too similar to Honey Buzz. They are far different now. Merry Christmas! ❤

[@MomentumCycling-om8fp]

Just discovered your channel and it is excellent! Having already subscribed to so many BG channels I was not looking for new content but going forward your videos will be a much watch for me :)

[@Cissewis]

What a fantastic list! Really enjoyed listening to all the games you discussed! Have a great holiday season!! Cis

[@user-oq8ng3jp1l]

I’d have to say Earth was my favourite game of the year but totally appreciate there is something for everyone in the hobby. Great video!

[@Abe_1861]

You ladies rock! Great list! Thanks!

[@darlene7165]

Great video as always!! Really good list! I haven't played either of the #1 or #2 but hope to play at DTW! I agree with you on Earth. I went all in, but it just fell flat for me. It's just too much going on and way way too fiddly! However, I do enjoy The White Castle. I have Nucleum but haven't tackled it. Hope to learn that beast over the holidays! Have a wonderful holiday!!!

[@merrywisdomx]

Why did this come out so close to Christmas?? I wished I'd added several of these to my wishlist. As a big BG hobbyist, this is a fantastic list!

[@lenaforsgren]

Thank you for sharing your Top 10 Big Box games of 2023. ❤️ I’ve been away from the hobby all year, so I haven’t heard much about them, if anything at all. They seem very good, I hope to try at least some of them out. 😀

[@ChristopherElst]

Y'all are the best. Thanks!

[@johns6177]

This list makes me curios about evacuation and GWT NZ. Thank you for the Lists :-)

[@TheBrothersMurph]

Love you two!

[@monicamurphy6552]

Another great video. Earth is my favorite this year. But you have alot I haven't tryed yet on your lists.

[@johnhedberg9728]

Great list of games! We have very similar tastes, was surprised not to see Darwin’s Journey.

[@ylein6508]

Amy's dream would be full of boardgames and numbers and plushies lol

[@hedgeymcgee3079]

Wow, you both agreed on your #1. I’m interested in how Hegemony is mainly as a 2 player game. My wife and I play mostly as 2 players. Great content, keep going in the new year.

[@jingZhen]

The game becomes a bit restricted at 2 player as like Root (Base Game) you are stuck to playing only Working Class and Capitalist Class. Crisis and Control adds Automa which allows you to fill in for another class, allowing you to try Middle Class with 1 or State with 2- but it's definitely restrictive. I still enjoy it at 2 players but you will be left feeling like you're missing a huge chunk of the game if you stick only to 2.

[@Guinnes1988]

I agree. We now had 2 games at 2 players. On the other hand, just 2 hours incl. the setup and boxing on our second play :) Still fun though at 2, I kind of am amazed how this game is scaling the different playercounts without changing the setup all too much @@jingZhen

[@LuizAugusto-st3bb]

Hey girlies. I just want to say that discovering your channel has been one of the highlights of my year. I love the vibes, feels like I'm talking to two great friends. Happy hollidays and to a great 2024, much love from Brazil ♥

[@truelifetales]

Every time I see the cover for Age of Rome I have a cognitive disconnect - thinking the game is themed around Abraham Lincoln. I cannot unsee it. 😆Great list, and as always, terrific overview with some nice surprises - and could not agree more with that #1!

[@ChristinaPlans]

I'm so excited for this video.

[@CB-yh3db]

Great list and Happy New Year Maggie and Amy and also to the all the Thinker(s) and Themer(s) out there.

[@mich_mash]

love it!

[@martonferenci]

Great to see you getting all these games played! Castles of Burgundy is the odd one out here as it is just a deluxification not even as new as GWT: NZ

[@meangreenlipsey]

Great list! My big box this year is between Dark Ages heritage of Charlemagne & witcher old world. Happy holidays ladies

[@juleswatson7646]

Really interested in Evacuation now! I also agree Hegemony is amazing. Apart from Hegemony the other big box game i enjoyed was Nightmare Cathedral.

[@jamesmorgan1967]

Hoping to get Nightmare Cathedral to the table in the new year! What player count did you find worked best?

[@hugodasilva198]

Woohoo cant wait to see the videooooo

[@sinzianaromanescu9167]

Amazing list and very good video! My wishlist just went up - me and my son we will have a lot of work! Also, Maggie list has the themes that I love: witches, nature, nature spirits ❤❤❤

[@sirpoupadou]

Great video as usual, thanks for your reviews! Hegemony looks interesting, but I just would need a different skin to play it, somewhere in space or a dystopian world to make it appealing 😄

[@Luke_L]

Merry xmas, Amy and Maggie! I haven’t tried most of the games on your list. Strangely, Earth also fell a bit flat (flat earth?) with my game group. It was good, but for whatever reason, we didn’t have that love for the game that so many others clearly do. I haven’t played my copy of Last Light, but I really enjoyed a couple TTS prototype plays with Roy. Hopefully I’ll get this to the table soon :) I definitely want to try Evacuation, Evenfall, Apiary, and Earthborne Rangers. Hopefully I’ll get those to the table in 2024 😊 Hope you both are having a great holiday season and have a great start to the new year!

[@wrany72]

A great video with some wonderful games. Subbed.

[@klaceekoolstra2658]

Magically ‼this 💖🔆🤪

[@dark-folklore]

I really liked your list. It was fun to hear about games I have never heard about. For example, the two witch-themed games. I will check them out at some point and maybe buy one or the other. The only thing I do not understand about recent TOP 10 board game lists, is why Hegemony is #1? I used to study Business Admin in uni and we "played games" (simulations) like that quite often. Yes, they were not as good looking as Hegemony and the goal was not to have fun. We participated in them to practice accounting or understand how taxes, etc. work. Thus, for me, it seems like a weird thing to put in top #1.

[@candyafton9094]

I love your channel content as a whole, but I really love the fact that I agree with so many games you don't like. Earth for me was totally flat, I am content to never own / play it ever again. Thanks for the great stuff!

[@MattTheSpratt]

So you're saying that you're a Flat "Earth"-er? /jk

[@slysof6436]

Great video! You’ve peaked my interest in Septima. So far Expeditions is my favorite. I also like Earth. I have Sleeping Gods Distant Skies but haven’t played yet. Also can’t get Evenfall. It’s not available yet. But that’s in my wheel house.

[@nkorppi]

Agreed on the top 2. Evacuation was surprisingly replayable, too...

[@StephenGrubb]

We just received our copy of Sleeping Gods Distant Skies. Loved the original, so I’m sure we will enjoy this one as well.

[@EpicGamingNight]

So stoked Last Light made your list!!! 🚀🚀🚀

[@Zilong09]

I can't say I've played almost any of these other than a demo of Apiary at PaxU this year (looked good enough). In fact I've barely got many plays of Terracotta which was a huge recommendation from you two last year. Just too many darn games to keep up with, let alone afford. Maybe I'll check out Evacuation and Hegemony in a year or two after I've kept up with my own shelf. Although Septima is too cute looking to pass on.

[@irinakrasilnikova2830]

surprising top-1. after your review didn't think it it would rank so high on your list. And not many games from Essen anticipations list made it to your top.

[@jbringas9582]

Greetings ladies. I’m really intrigued by your #1 Hegemony. I can see myself playing this game with my college kids but afraid that those opportunities are going to be few and far between due to our busy schedules. Do you have experience or even feedback on playing the solo expansion “Crisis & Control”. I’m hoping to get my money’s worth and not pick up a game that I’d just play infrequently. Thanks and love your channel.

[@jennycranston7687]

I felt the opposite about Septima's Ritual track. I like dashing around brewing potions, but the rituals and spells made the game feel more magical, it gave the game a sense of progression, and it differentiated one play from another much more effectively than the witches in the coven did. To me, it didn't feel tacked on at all, it felt like the missing piece! Glad you liked it anyway

[@kenjisugawara1260]

So interesting to hear you both didn't care for the ritual board. I can't imagine playing Septima without both it and the spell cards. It's just the euro punch the game needed.

[@ferrum5]

Nice video. I'm surprised Nucleum was not in your top 5. At least it make it to your list.

[@StephenGrubb]

We went all in on Last light and it’s worth every penny, in my opinion.

[@EpicGamingNight]

Thanks!! This really means a lot! Stoked to see it on Amy’s list!!

[@rmclean101]

So want to try the Ranger game Joel at Drive Through Review has been raving about it.

[@MadMark118]

I've covetted Hegemony since the original campaign, but I just couldn't see it getting played. Lots of great stuff this year, but I feel like I'm more aligned with Maggie this time.

[@MicLarson]

Age of Rome! The diamond of the year! Finally! The best choice for 2023!

[@monomundo]

Thank şou for the video and Hegemony is just awesome!

[@Boardgametherapist]

Great list! Would love to try Hegemony but I hear the playtime is quite long. Did you guys try/play Voidfall by any chance. It is amazing

[@hpshovecraft]

I have a question about your experience with Apiary. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but from the outside the puzzle of anticipating your opponents' plays and sequencing your own in order to best take advantage of bumping seems very interesting and like it would keep my focus on what the other players at the table are doing. Did you find this wasn't the case? Were the advantages gained negligible compared to the value of making a move "on time"? Thanks for your videos!

[@ekconley6429]

Interesting... One campaign into Sleeping Gods and you've got me thinking about Distant Skies! Seriously though, we really enjoyed our first campaign and I don't recall us finding it clunky, but did find the story quite engaging! Similar thoughts on the Foreteller app. We also found it funny, then annoying how gunwale was consistently pronounced wrong (gun whale). 🤔

[@JonTripp115]

Imagine how good a game about Space Witches would have been this year!

[@a-c-m]

Would be interested to get your views on “Evacuation” in say 6 months’ time. I think it wears out very quickly as you always do the same. Limited variability in strategic options makes this game rather repetitive. There is just one path to victory so you are always solving the same efficiency puzzle.

[@ajdarias]

Hello, how good is Ago of Rome at two players,is there something missing at this player count? Seems with the rondel might not be as good as with 4. Thank you!

[@djmurp2]

The critique of GWT New Zealand is somewhat amusing, because OG Great Western Trail ain’t Texas or Oklahoma, but cattle are fun and so are sheep. Good enough. Very intriguing list though, and will be taking a close look at Hegemony.

[@TheDarktater]

2023 was a fantastic year for games, especially if you are a fan of medium-heavy Euros. My top 6 - #1 - Voidfall, #2 - Nucleum, #3 - Evacuation, #4 - GWT: New Zealand, #5 - Darwin's Journey, #6 - Revive

[@rmclean101]

Ugh, adding bunches of games I must get now. We only played sleeping gods one run through and it seemed crazy to a sequel when there is so much to explore. The struggle is real

[@keep_on_harpin8267]

I'm curious, was Andromeda's Edge in consideration for this list? I know the kickstarter was Jan this year but hasn't actually released yet so I wasn't sure if it qualified for this list.

[@djkidkaz01]

In regards to Ticket to Ride Legacy and it’s final state after completing the campaign. We made the decision to keep a lot of the “special” unlocks still part of the game. *Spoilers* I removed all the stickers off the tunnel spaces so we can use them every game as well as left the ghost train mechanism in play with the curses. This allows you to still get the money for building a tunnel but causes you the risk reward issue of being in the ghost train area and potentially getting a curse. We also don’t have any stickers on the bridge areas which keeps them all grey but we made sure to bring back all the cards that cause earthquakes for that area which again you have to weigh the cost of trains on that side of the board due to potentially having a damaged bridge. You can still use the shares mechanic and we keep using the blood gulch event and every game starts with $5 for each player. Just go in and bring back any events you may have removed like the one for if you have more than 7 cards put money on blood gulch. You can also use the money paid on the momma O’Donnell spots to go towards blood gulch instead of the bank, honestly, so much of the game I was able to maintain what we played in the campaign. Other than the treasure hunting because you will run out of scratch offs and the circus train because you will run out of stickers. Everything else you can keep and just house rule a couple things and it will forever play like most of your campaign games.

[@MikeAlger1964]

I had one eco-friendly game and my house is, apparently, too humid so the box fused together and the interior was moldy when I cut the box open. I doubt I will every buy another eco-friendly production. My house is not high humidity.

[@dragonboy689]

Not sure if you have played Horseless Carriage but it blows the rest out of the water in my opinion!

[@robertjackson8246]

Is this the right place to find backers for my new big box Euro: Witches in Space!

[@gailwondowski3207]

While I love Earth, all games aren’t for everyone! In 2020 I didn’t really care for Dune, & I was definitely the outsider. Stick to your preferences. There are so many games out there!

[@prel6630]

Where did you get Evacuation? I've been looking for it in stores in Melbourne

[@stephene.2096]

Pretty surprised that the white castle didn´t make it. But can see where you´re going at with your criticism. Fully agree on what you said about earth though! On the other hand septima didn´t do it for us. It felt really repetitive and actions felt very ineffective.Play a card do the thing, repat! Have a wonderful christmas season you both! 🖤

[@nihlify]

White castle isn't a big box game though.

[@stephene.2096]

that´s right but it was mentioned by the girls anyways :)@@nihlify

[@zocktol]

The White Castle not making it makes sense, cause its not a Big Box.

[@19tonami57]

… and if the game is tooo short you just play one more round > problem solved! 😂

[@mithrandir510]

For solo what would be the best ? Evacuation ? Arborea ?

[@lostinsim]

Sleeping Gods, Earthborne Rangers

[@TheOriginalSqueezel]

I liked a lot: Nucleum, Voidfall, Darwins Journey, Federation(German Edition was released this year) and Hegemony. Arborea looks intersting, I have to get a closer look on that one. A total fail for us was 'Age of Rome' (so boring, no interesting interaction, between the actions themself or the players). It just fell flat. Evacuation sounded more interesting then it was playing it (probably my biggest disappointment) The games felt samy and nothing really new. Still would play it, but nothing I would search to play (only a 6.5 out of 10 for me) But by far my favorite heavy game of the year was Horseless Carriage, such a brilliant design, not comparable with anything else I played so far. Each decision influences a lot (more then you think at first, also watching what the other players do is so important. It can have AP problems, why I will not play it with these players for sure. I see it on your shelf as well. What are your thoughts on this one, as it didn't appear on any of your lists?

[@xragg]

Castles of Burgundy: if they don't fix the two shades of green that are very close, then they haven't fixed anything. I play with people that don't have the best vision and it is VERY hard for them to tell them apart, enough that we don't play it very much. I hope it is fixed.

[@konstantinosspiliopoulos4712]

Did you play scholars? If so,why didn't it appear in the list?

[@JosephFlemming]

What's up with legacy games resolving with a "boring" final product? It seems they should be able to use most of the unlocked elements as modular expansions you can turn on and off as you please, but then again, I haven't played TTR legacy.

[@markhaessler4395]

I'm surprised Voidfall isn't on the list or mentioned in "why not on the list". It's seemed like a very strong showing.

[@nihlify]

Did they play it?

[@balbright]

Is Amy's #7 Ticket to Ride Legacy or Arborea?

[@chadvader974]

Is last light coming back to gamefound I heard rumours they were doing a reprint?

[@ylein6508]

I so agree with amy, CoB old edition was so ugly lol. The new edition with the vineyard expansion really elevated this game

[@JosephFlemming]

GWT New Zealand sounds good but it looks like it takes up too much table space

[@Listan1]

Is either Hegemony or Evacuation better at 2 or are they both bad at 2? Also are they Ark Nova complexity or beyond? Thanks.

[@sergioperez2771]

Evacuation is great at 2, but I personally wouldn't recommend Hegemony at 2. It's certainly playable, but I think it's at its very best at 4. Evacuation and Ark Nova are quite close in complexity; perhaps Evacuation is slightly higher, but not because of its rules. It's a game where the rules don't get in your way (there isn't a ton of rules overhead, nor many fiddly rules), but there isn't much variance, so doing well is up to you (it's significantly more deterministic than Ark Nova). Hegemony is a step up in complexity compared to either, both in terms of rules and in figuring out how to put the entire puzzle together as the classes are asymmetric (like, entirely), and you truly need to know the ins and outs of every class to play the game well.

[@sergioperez2771]

Disclaimer: Evacuation is my game of the year so far. I'd put it #2 behind Age of Innovation, but the latter is too derivative (by design) for me to give it my nod as game of the year even though it instantly landed in my top 3 games of all time.

[@MikewithaK]

everyone i know said they liked the game at 4 players, because each role is unique and different. But there's an expansion that adds NPC players for the other roles, so you can play like a 4player game with just 2 people.

[@gadgetgeekgirl]

I've not played Evacuation but I have played Hegemony at 2,3 and 4. At 2 it is fine, and fun but honestly at 3 or 4 it just sings. 4 is best, but 3 still works surprisingly well.

[@hugodasilva198]

Update : after 4 to 6 games i manage to hit on base game of feast for odin 156points ! Let me know your strategies !!!

[@robertjackson8246]

The fact it went unrecognised when Amy said "There's a lot of AP in Apiary"... sad.

[@terry3733H]

earth bees 🐝🍯 are cuter than space bees 🪐🐝 🤣

[@jonathanleach383]

What are your top 10 games of all time???

[@terry3733H]

isn't hegemony too realistic and stressful? I won't be able to sleep...😅

[@Suzanne2609]

Saw the news. Everything okay with you?

[@hermesnoel]

If it makes you feel better the original Great Western Trail does not invoke the United States much better nor does it geographically make 100% sense.

[@TheProgrammerGuy]

Whaaaat?!! A strange way to do a top 10 list. How do you go from 10 to 8? Just doesn't make ANY sense to skip because the other person has something something...