Top 10 "Back From The Dead" Games

[@Darkangelus429]

Omg. I actually own Kings Court. I used to play it with my dad constantly as a kid. I introduced my wife to it and we olay it from time to time. Thank you Tom.

[@ShogunCharlie]

Oh Primordial Soup takes me back. Me and a friend went to Coolstuffinc while in Florida for a cruise, and Tom and Zee were there. And we got to play Soup with Zee and another gentleman as Tom taught the rules. :)

[@JonReid01]

I added this one to my Best of Dice Tower playlist. Great work guys.

[@Nukatha]

Mark: 10: Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Cracy 9: Assault of the Giants 8: Paper Tales 7: Michael Strogoff 6: Tavarua 5: The Faceless 4: Joraku 3: Elysium 2: Stephenson's Rocket 1: Dogs of War Zee: 10: Ascension 9: Castle Panic 8: Hera and Zeus 7: B-Sieged: Sons of the Abyss 6: AuZtralia 5: Vikings 4: Concordia 3: Magic: The Gathering 2: Basket Boss 1: The Lord of the Rings Card Game (Fantasy Flight) Tom: 10: Wallenstein 9: Ra 8: That's Life 7: Russian Railroads 6: The Great Museum Caper (Clue Spinoff) 5: Primordial Soup 4: Scotland Yard 3: King's Court (Not the Dominion card) 2: OverPower 1: Saint Petersburg

[@danacoleman4007]

I guess Mark is off camera

[@rneumeye]

I love their "Trip to Marshalls" scenario. 😅🤣 A candle, a single pillow case, weird snacks on the verge of expiring, or... random game! 😅

[@marcjohnson4677]

Have you guys ever done a Top 10 Games You Regret Getting Rid Of? If not, sounds like the perfect follow up

[@GamesOffTheShelf]

For me the bad thing about getting rid of games (board or video) is years later not only do I miss playing them but I also find out they sky rocket in value and can't afford to get them back. In my opinion if you have space and enjoy the game even if you don't play it much hang on to it.

[@pcuimac]

Or build a circle of people who buy games and then borrow them from each other. We call it Tauschring or Klub in Germany.

[@Haldered]

I'd love to start my own game lending library, I have too many games to play myself but I don't want to get rid of any!

[@ramonosuke]

I’ve learned this the hard way. Unless I really need the cash, I will put games in storage over getting rid of them. I mean Faceless goes for absurd prices now

[@petergross7235]

Eventually though space runs out and then you can't keep up with the hotness! 😮

[@danacoleman4007]

This is a really fun idea for a list! Thanks guys!

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I'm so happy that you mentioned Clue: The Great Museum Caper. That is a fantastic game. All it needs is a tweak on the scoring system.

[@warblefly81]

Yes Tavarua!!! This is a hidden gem of a push your luck game. Great pick, Mike.

[@juanpablozabala4975]

At least for me its never about the games or the theme of the top10, I just really enjoy listening to you guys like chat and bring back memories and internal jokes. Thanks for keeping up the good work and greatings from Argentina!

[@evanstrong4064]

i love this trio. mike is so funny and they play so well off each other

[@bryanwinston8820]

Fantastic call on Elysium Mike. I know better than to get rid of it because every time I take it out it's amazing.

[@pcuimac]

Hera and Zeus were printed to be language independent, which does not work. It's understandable that companies try this, because otherwise they have to print multiple language versions, which makes everything more expensive.

[@dougsmith6175]

Totally agree with Zee on Castle Panic. It's a great way to introduce people to modern games and to co-ops. I've taught it to many people and it's always a hit.

[@rabidpickle]

Castle Panic was my FIRST hobby game! October 2014. I don't own it anymore and not really interested in playing it but it got me started.

[@The_Player_To_Be_Named_Later]

If youre an Original Star Trek fan at all, Star Trek Panic is AMAZING. adds the element of 'castle movement' and mission achievement. SO UNDER RATED. Cannot recommend enough

[@thesumo24]

I own this same version of St-Petersburg and even if everyone around me think he sucks, I kept it because I love it

[@runraggedrhino]

Tom's rendition of the Billy Eilish song, Bag Guy was funny enough (in that 'I'm way too old to make this reference' sort of way. But then Mike genuinely asking if it was a 'show tune' was just pure ageist comedic poetry. Love you guys!

[@DamianFragoso]

Tom, I’ll have you know I ran a game of Wallenstein at Dice Tower West at 5 players, most who hadn’t played before, and it went off really well! Had one person say they preferred the cube tower combat to Ahnk/Kemet. It’s back baby!!!

[@KissellMissile]

Cube tower is a great way to add randomness within a battle, bu you know if you get bad luck, your time will come. Plus it adds a layer of strategy of when to attack.

[@bonniewhite3699]

There are so many versions of Ascension that add really interesting elements. I really like dreamscapes

[@seniscram7958]

So cool that you mentioned Wallenstein. I played it with a cool dude who brought it to DT West. Best or tied for best game experience that I had there. Solid game...awesome!

[@JonReid01]

What is the purpose of the cube tower in the game?

[@theweebchannel4850]

​@@JonReid01 Resolving combat

[@severngamingnetwork]

1:04:06 I was properly chuckling for ages at the low key playing off each other there..."ahh, there we go..."

[@JonReid01]

😂😂😂

[@Jon-G]

This kind of thing is right up my alley. I definitely buy new stuff but I vet new games very hard. I spent much more time and attention looking into the past for great games to play. For example, I just started getting into Dominion and it's spectacular. The two "newest" games I have bought are the new versions of Puerto Rico and Marrakesh. Saint Petersburg looks like it would be a good addition as well. Thanks for the list, very useful.

[@daniellebackus819]

St. Petersburg is great! My sister has a copy, so I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember enjoying it every time we played!

[@alecgalbraith5604]

Is there an older version of Marrakesh? From my understanding the one that just came out is an original design.

[@matthewcrawford4216]

Now that my kids are older Dominion has been pulled off the shelf and is being pulled off onto the table quite often. So many interesting deck building expansions. It’s been a lot of fun.

[@ramonosuke]

For me it’s got to be Claustrophobia. I wish I kept my copy, cause the main reason I sold it was to back the kickstarter of the new edition, but sadly I missed it due to needing the funds elsewhere. Had everything for and made a custom insert for it to boot. But also Tom I agree hoarding is bad, but not everyone has a mobile game library to fall back on. Sometimes it does suck to get rid of a game only for it to skyrocket in price, and you can longer acquire it now that you have a game group that can appreciate it. I think it’s more nebulous than you think but buying games just to store them in crates upon crates upon crates, without them being played I do agree is bad

[@kbell2660]

I played Hansa Teutonica at the local board game cafe for the first time last month. That was a really nice ‘oldie’. Simple rules but nice depth

[@hanseathl]

One of my all-time favorites. I was so happy as they released the last big box version. Such a great design.

[@jaron9978]

Same here! Great game, I immediately wanted to try the other maps

[@joeybergin1058]

Clue Museum Caper is amazing. One of my favorites from when I was a kid. I introduced it to my step kids and it instantly became one of their favorites, as well. I've been surprised it's come up so infrequently

[@raggededge68]

This was one of the first games my wife and I bought after getting married. It was a favorite in our family for many years and was definitely responsible for pulling a few people into the hobby. We dug it out again two months ago and have been having a blast introducing a whole new generation to this amazing design! Our neighbors loved it so much, they borrowed it for a week and played it every night.

[@16Ezalb]

Zee has played Clue The Great Museum Caper. He played it with Tom and Sam 5 years ago.

[@npckse8508]

Assault of the Giants is a great game with a card action system similar to Concordia. This is a game that gets hurt by the cover, but is actually very solid.

[@destrio]

I would say games that leave my collection do not come back, but many games have come back from the past into my radar. Lots of modern euros with low interaction have caused me to look back at older euros with more direct interaction, and later editions of thematic games have piqued my curiosity on older editions and I am finding that the new stuff are not always 100% improvements. There is quite a lot of fun to be had with older editions of games even if the rules and game length tend to the longer end. Examples include Royal Palace, a precursor in some ways to the popular Carnegie. And Descent Journeys in the Dark first edition is long, but it is also a lot of fun and though Descent 2nd did improve some things by breaking up game length into more manageable chunks in a campaign, the original edition does something special as well in a long one-shot session. So despite the plethora of new games, I think sometimes it is worth paying what you have to in order to access some of these older gems as they go out of print. I don't enjoy paying scalpers, but many of these older games will not come available again especially if tied to an IP.

[@IndependentOutsider]

I LOVE That's Life. That's one that I don't need to own but I would play ANY TIME.

[@ViolosD2I]

Living close to the designers of Ursuppe I was exposed to it often and liked the idea, but feel that the one thing that holds it back is the amount of management you have to do between turns. Especially notable when you play a digital version and spend so much more time actually playing. P.S. Also agree that MTG Duel Decks are still among the most fun "two player games" out there. And you can flavor them a little bit with legacy cards, especially if you play someone on the regular where you want a bit of a handicap to keep it interesting. P.P.S. And yes Dogs of War is great! I had acquired a copy more or less by chance when a shop closed, never having heard of it, and always thought it's a hidden gem. Simple, interactive and always suspenseful. (Recommend using a couple of the designer's variant rules, earlier glorious victories and sudden death.)

[@whitleypedia]

I like how much Mike quotes Seinfeld 😀

[@codainlaw]

I LOVE this list so much. More importantly, I love that we’re looking at and talking about something other than WHAT’S NEW AND HOT. Maybe in other corners of the hobby, people are in a different mindset, but the people I intersect with in the hobby are always looking for the new hotness NOW and for the stuff that has not even come out yet. 🤦🏽‍♂️ If that’s you, that’s fine. For me, It’s discouraging and tiring. I’m not talking about board game KZbin channels. I get that that’s how they drive up the numbers is by covering Cult of the Future material. Please keep videos like this coming Dice Tower.

[@estrathmeyer]

37:40 We're gonna miss you, Mike!!

[@IndianaGeologist]

You guys are the best in board gaming.

[@joshbain8032]

So stoked to see zee call out Auztralia. Such an underrated game.

[@kaliban2747]

In the 600s on BGG, seems decent

[@freeheeler00]

I want it!

[@TheHallbjorn]

Just picked it up based on this video--looking forward to trying it.

[@samuelatwater2845]

Growing up we always called it 3-D Clue, even though it was nothing like Clue. Museum Caper is awesome! I saw it in the library at Dice Tower West and nearly grabbed it to play, but didn't have anyone to play it with.

[@Frankie-the-Tankie]

I was actually at the retreat last year and saw this on the shelf and got so excited I grabbed it and sent a picture to my two brothers as we played the hell out of this game growing up haha.

[@gaucholaw1]

I would of been down to try it. Sorry we didn't connect

[@spike2439]

Yeah Museum Caper was awesome

[@talkietoaster0]

Castle Panic is probably the only game I've gotten rid of that I wish I hadn't. There aren't many good fairly straightforward tower defense games out there.

[@jaron9978]

I totally dismissed it as a kids game but it really is a great intro to co-op

[@brdanner]

The collected edition of Paper Tales is only in French. Hoping that the publisher might be persuaded to publish in English.

[@jankogo]

They have released the updated version of Wallenstein and Shogun so I have high hopes for those!

[@carbondragon]

I just want to mention one game in this category -- Star Trek Attack Wing. Deader than Disco and then this year they have come out with 3 boxes of Star Trek Alliance, a COOP/SOLO 3 box campaign with pretty much everything you need in the box. Amazing AI, fun campaign, thematic. My most enjoyable game of this year and an excuse to get out my old stuff so I can use my premium stuff and a few ships that aren't included in the Alliance boxes (but which have rules for those ships). I never thought I'd play again till those boxes showed up. Too bad the game's so dead that when we played at the game store everyone thought it was a brand new game.

[@jr637-1]

I’m on pins and needles waiting for my new version of ra. I was so confident I would enjoy it that I got the Deluxe Edition. Who knew a finance manager with a PhD in mathematics, could make a good auction game?

[@adwilliams1987]

Tom you need to remember St. Petersburg when someone asks you every week in the QA "What game did you not like at first but now you love?" and all its variations

[@arnold2011]

Have I told you, I love Dice Tower Top 10 vids? ❤

[@namelessfire]

Stephenson's Rocket is brilliant. It might just be Knizia's best game. The interactivity is a feature, not a bug; and it's glorious.

[@estrathmeyer]

Clue: Great Museum Caper is awesome! It's like a predecessor to Spector Ops.

[@tulsaborn545]

Clue Museum Caper is a great choice, to keep wanting to get it. Also, Risk: The Great Museum Caper

[@darinhalvorsen]

Man, this combo. Aside from Rahdo, some of the most erudite commentary on board games in the biz. This stuff rises to the level of art analysis that board gaming needs to be regarded as an artform.

[@marcoschaub8978]

Board gaming is not an art form... "Look at me chucking dice and managing resources, I'm the new Piccasso!" 😂

[@darinhalvorsen]

@@marcoschaub8978 tell me you are an idiot without saying it outright. I didn’t say playing board games was an artform. But board games themselves are.

[@tmcd5049]

​@@marcoschaub8978 Board game design is though.

[@marcoschaub8978]

@@tmcd5049 Not really. Design is not art. It has some of the same characteristics but it's much closer to engineering. The main difference is that design must be functional while art generally isn't.

[@tmcd5049]

​@@marcoschaub8978 If Architecture is an art, then design is too!

[@mdhall41]

I don't think the reprint of Stephenson's Rocket bombed like Tom said... It seems to have sold out at most online retailers. Sounds interesting to me.

[@squared82]

Love to see the Vikings pick!

[@nshaw1299]

Joraku is so much cleaner than Brian Boru! I love the change in scoring of zones. It's a march to Tokyo. I love its game arc.

[@psterud]

My deepest BFTD is Dark Tower, something I played with friends in the early '80s. Back then it was wildly high-tech and exciting, now it's just charming and nostalgic. Found a cheap but working version at a thrift store. Another BFTD of mine is the base Carcassonne game. It was my gateway game, and once I got into more complex games I got rid of it. It's very tight, elegant, quick, and fun to play.

[@littleceasar9351]

After a 5 player, 3+ hour game of St. Pete, I promptly sold my copy and expansion on eBay. It’s only good at four players who are relatively equal in skill.

[@MerrillWhiteKalEl]

I still have my Over Power. Need to play this with my kids.

[@danacoleman4007]

And......

[@Animal_board_gamer]

Empires of the void 2 is underrated. It’s definitely back from the dead. I played it 3 times last month and I’ve been reading posts of people who have been playing it lately.

[@TheSchaef47]

Empires of the Void (2) is still my favorite Ryan Laukat game.

[@Animal_board_gamer]

@@TheSchaef47 it’s also now mine too. 4. Empires of the void 2 5. Deep vents 7. Above and Below 10. City of iron

[@BalanceFreedomPiano]

Maybe someday I will love something as much as Mike loves saying “BACK from the DEAD”. Probably too unrealistic.

[@ozza000]

Tom is right on MTG starter decks. They come out with at least 1 set of these for Standard/Pioneer every year. They are much better than they used to be, and are relatively balanced against each other. Though Jumpstart is a fine product for what Zee wants to do too. For me the best way to play MTG by far is still draft.

[@ClockworkWyrm]

This list validates my decision to never get rid of games. I still have my copy of King's Court which I got back in the 90's!

[@bonehead797]

Tavarua needs to be in a best cover competition.

[@virtualexamman6251]

Dogs of War is a fantastic game (at 5). As said here, it’s all about negotiation and alliances and not so much the board. Perhaps I’ll be on my own here, but the card play makes me think of Ankh, but is so much cleaner and more simple. I also personally love the miniatures - I think they add so much to the experience.

[@CountDewkeww]

Glad to see b-Sieged get some love. Feel l you guys treat it harshly for the same reason Roy treats ghost stories harshly. It’s hard but there is some strategy there

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

Good to see Wallenstein aka Shogun in these lists ! Shogun has been in my favorite top 3 for a long time now and I don't think it will ever drop out. Such an awesome experience every time. How much I dislike Queen Games and their way of doing things, can't deny they produced some masterpieces in the time area when Shogun came out.

[@JonReid01]

What does the cube tower do in the game?

[@ronaldbharvey]

Deckbuilding area control - Undaunted

[@eltonlau844]

OMG....finally some love for St. Pete's

[@EATENG]

Legacy: Testament of Duke de Crecy is one of the few games where I care almost as much about the story of my family tree as the outcome of the game. One of my old favorites!

[@delorean-88]

I think the golden age of board games was 2009-2016. The games released in those years hit a sweet spot in interaction between players (games before that were even more interactive and often mean because of that). Nowadays it's all about doing stuff on ever growing personal boards or your own tableau of cards a la TFM or Everdell.

[@Skorrigan]

Elysium is one of the games I'm not getting rid of. So good.

[@Clappincardboard]

Overpower makes the list! Fantastic Tom!

[@mikebollen9238]

Top Ten 2 page rule book games please!

[@tuntemon]

Legacy - the Testament of Duke de Crecy and Shogun (the better wallenstein ;) ) are both in my top 5 favorite games. I got around 500 games at this moment.

[@piratedoggames1332]

I really like B-Sieged. Yeah, I had to play it several times to figure out some strategies on how to best play it, but I win about 75% of the time. The only thing I do different is only use Event cards with difficulty of 1-3. A few of the other cards can really unfairly ruin the game for you.

[@Syobnaf]

I like the old Ascension cover/art better (and I'm not someone that grew up playing Ascension)

[@jasona8396]

I've got to say, to my taste the original Ascension box looks awesome, the 10th anniversary box kind of looks like that almost early 90s CG art poop.

[@joaocarvalho8275]

Elysium is an outsanding game! Really don't know why it didn't get more love. It's a super fun, solid and FAST game, with super cool components and good art. Super proud to still have it on my collection :)

[@gizmothecat854]

Dangnabit, Tom’s voice is coming back

[@mattlewis5095]

Tom has always had at least one Knizia in his top 100, it's just easy to forget that I think

[@MindsetTabletop]

Didn't I see Ultimate Railroads in the library at DT West?

[@myr9220]

I believe Zee is getting old, he played Museum Caper in a live show 5 years ago... 😂😂

[@amysinger2201]

[@danacoleman4007]

This comment should DEFINITELY BE PINNED TO THE TOP!!!! Great advice!!!!!

[@montanaricello]

Mike is hilarious 😂

[@donofmath248]

Zee’s right about the state of Magic preconstructed decks; most of them (and all of the interesting ones) are for Commander, so if you don’t like commander, Zee is also right that Jumpstart is the best non-deckbuilding way to play Magic.

[@soogymoogi]

Re: MTG, would love to see you guys take a crack at the 2020 Digimon tcg someday with starter decks or sealed play. Fast, fun and inexpensive to play.

[@nicholasimholte7359]

Vikings is great. I still have mine, and it works great at any number from 2-4. No special rules needed. I think the reason it fell a little flat is because with a name like "Vikings" you expect it to be about pillaging, plundering, sailing out and so forth. And it's not any of that.

[@InVinceIble009]

Some of the old school euros are the meanest and most interactive games ever made. Ursuppe fits perfectly into that category.

[@brettpetersen1671]

Elysium is an underrated game.

[@marcoschaub8978]

I've easily gotten rid of 50-100 games and not once did I want one back. And some were good games too. But there are SO MANY GAMES and so little time that I either want to play the ones I truly love or games that are new and I haven't played them out yet. Of course, in some cases I got rid of games because other people have them too or because I can play them online.

[@UndeadPanda]

Tom took his glasses off, its about to get serious 😂 he really doesn't like Stephensons Rocket 😂😂

[@phillipheaton9832]

Zee, try Pauper for MTG.

[@soogymoogi]

Iirc Roy is big into Pauper, so Zee's probably played it some

[@phillipheaton9832]

@@soogymoogi lirc???

[@soogymoogi]

@@phillipheaton9832 if i remember correctly

[@guandjs]

Russian Railroads is great….the German Railroads makes it even better as it has a lot of great options to increase replayability, so I hope you have that or Ultimate version in your library too!

[@jonofpdx]

Ascension is amazing. But the app kills it for me. It's just removes every possible barrier to playing. Automates literally everything I don't like and leaves everything I do. Great game.

[@WannaBeRockStar800]

Mikes dice surfing joke was such a Zee joke

[@estrathmeyer]

57:15 Is Tom grumpy? Or does he need new glasses?

[@confuzed6]

I would love a dice tower mini series on Auztralia and its expansions….

[@markcassidy2410]

Totally agree with LotR LCG. Started with it last year and now it's the only solo game I play. Acquiring expansions. Also I loved playing St Peterburg years ago. I had someone who played it 1 or 2 times a week. Always close and fun.

[@perwesterlund1725]

Knizia underwear, is that just a bowtie in some way?

[@PredicadorLC]

I own Michael Strogoff. It's a good game but very stressfull because since the beginning of the game all sorts of bad things happen to you and when you get to the middle of the race you are half dead and if you are lucky you'll make to the end dying in misery.

[@VoicesofHonour]

Android Netrunner for me. Unfortunately, it is not back for my friends xD

[@thanziep]

Kings Court! Yes I loved playing kings court with my parents and siblings. For some reason I was always really bad at Checkers but pretty good and Kings Court. It is the far superior Checkers.

[@mikaeki5245]

Elysium and Deus I always mix up and they're kind of inbetweeners. Very good games, but nobody seems to have desire to play them more than once or max twice.

[@sidetracksbgc]

Sansoucci and Memoir ‘44 for me.

[@theunwelcome]

I have that Clue Museum game, it's great and absolutely nothing like Clue