Top 10 Best Campaign & Legacy Board Games Ever: Best of All Time Ranked!

[@RunWilburRun]

If you hate having money, Kingdom Death Monster has a breadth of content to get lost in.

[@MrScrawnjuan]

Most of it is unnecessary pinup models though

[@gummibaer3597]

​@@MrScrawnjuanNot anymore, the actual content they're pumping out now is mind-blowing (and my bank account is crying)

[@johnharder9925]

@@MrScrawnjuanThe Pinup Models are part of the ‘brand’, but they have nothing to do with the game.

[@cjpny1455]

@@MrScrawnjuan I hate the pinups but the game is the best campaign game on this planet.

[@jcapo5]

My favorite campaigne game is etherfields (2.0) I cant get enough of it. One day ill beat this monster. The story and art are just so cool

[@nikosmessis]

Tainted Grail is the best for me. Great story, great voice acting great gameplay. Especially for fantasy/medieval fans it's a must

[@sagittariusa9012]

I only played to chapter 3 but it was great as far as i can tell. I did not stop playing it because it was bad. I stopped because i backed Kings of Ruins with the 2.0 edition of Tainted Grail fall of Avalon and will start playing from the beginning again when it arrives. But it can be pretty grindy and the downtime in battles can be pretty long with higher Player Counts. I played solo so the downtime is not an issue for me :)

[@nikosmessis]

@@sagittariusa9012 that's a wise choice. We got some of the rules from the 2.0 and used them for the game. The grind is way more manageable now and it will be even better in the official 2.0. We competed it as 3. I am really glad I played with 3 and managed to live this experience with two close friends. The downtime was not an issue. We used to discuss our battles, the story choices etc. Solo works great, too! Especially if you can't find a standard group for a specific day every week or so

[@sagittariusa9012]

@@nikosmessis That sounds nice. As a solo player the board game can also stay at the table :)

[@shark_bacon]

I have always loved the clank games! I’d for sure put gloomhaven somewhere on this list the combat mechanics are just too good

[@harrisonparnell1853]

I absolutely love Oathsworn. So much so I came here to find another campaign to run my group through. Thank you for the suggestions!

[@shazam2323]

it's been sitting on my shelf with a few other campaign games, it's def intimidating

[@rainerschira5163]

great list. Mine includes Pandemic Legacy (all 3). But my favourite is Clank Legacy. Writing is awesome. Can't wait for the 2nd.

[@Romzael]

No Gloomhaven or Pandemic Legacy? That's interesting

[@siriactuallysara]

Nice list. I’m on chapter 15 of oathsworn. Love it. I didn’t play a couple of these like “something shiney” I would take clank legacy off and put the original gloomhaven here. Games I finished that I would add: Seafall. (This game was epic with 4 players and we all loved it. It was our groups first legacy game and now we have finished over 10 of them. Games I haven’t played enough of but should likely be too 10 games Stars of akarios Arena-Tanaras adventures Vampire the masquerade - chapters Tales of the red dragon inn Frosthaven Games coming out still that should be amazing Primal 7th sentinel Stormsunder Dawn of madness Nova Aetas renaissance

[@Filthyanimal9]

I love your optimism that Stormsunder will ever see the light of day

[@viesturskokarevics2427]

Which number for Pandemic Legacy?

[@moncilu]

I know you talked about King's Dilemma a lot but this video finally convinced me.

[@BoardGameHangover]

It's an amazing experience to share with your friends :)

[@jimalexander687]

A fair compromise for Janis G to play a 100 hour campaign of Aeon Trespass with Janis T would be for Janis T to play every single GMT game Janis G owns with him. And then Janis T might still owe Janis G about 40 more hours of play to make it even. :P

[@Bieranti]

This list really lacks Undaunted: Stalingrad. For me, one of my favorites also would be Imperial assault.

[@BoardGameHangover]

Good choices. We are yet to play U: Stalingrad.

[@realdealastrology9]

If they aren’t replayable with enough variety where each game is different every time, that’s not a good campaign game.

[@Panamaniac3D]

Betrayal Legacy is the best one I have ever played. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion was super great too.

[@marekhajducak7428]

Janis what happen with your hand? I hope you are all right. Soon recovery. Great video, 3 of them are on my wishlit, 2 owned. I was really surprised that on the list Glomheaven is missing. What is your opinion on that game (the second best game on bgg off all time*) ?

[@cardiner-lv]

Was surprised to see some of the entries, some does make a lot of sense tho :) Want to shake this list up, try some of this - LOTR LCG, Tainted Grails, Isoferian Guard, Cloudspire :)

[@ptastydactyl]

I was very surprised at your top #2 and #3. I've seen those games but have never thought much about them. I surely will have to give them a look. I just got my Oathsworn all-in and can't wait for Aeon Trespass to show up next year. I'm fairly new to the hobby and the only Campaign game I've experienced is KDM, which has been a blast. Unfortunately my gaming group kinda fell apart when the two brothers had a falling out and now can't stand each other. So I had to take a break and try out a few solo games. So far I've played and thoroughly enjoyed TMB Undertow, 20 Strong and Marvel United Spider Geddon. Thanks for the great content guys!

[@lotterwinner6474]

Argh my gloomhaven campaign had a similar fate.

[@DanielSilva-sr1dm]

Very nice list!! Good video and description!! Well done!!

[@JanisGoldmanis]

Should have mentioned The Crew: Mission Deep Sea when talking about it. 😅 I think it heavily improves the first version.

[@camipco]

Yes, although it also makes it less-campaigny. Because the thing it improves is giving variety to the base game, the campaign progression feels a lot less essential.

[@HorseIRL]

I would love to see an Etherfields review on this channel. Especially after the 2.0 update. That game is slept on. Especially with common trends of people having too many games to play, thus not giving games a chance and Quickly jumping to another more accessible game. Oh, and the hating trend. It's a great game despite its flaws. Very creative.

[@krisjaniszviedrans9871]

A few addition to your grate list: Exit advent calendars, Magic Maze, MicroMacro Crime city ard Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle.

[@mike9139]

YOU ARE BOTH AWESOME! ❤❤❤

[@writerian]

Brilliant! You guys are my favourite channel! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥃🥃🥃

[@dblevins343]

After all these years, Imperial Assault is still my go to campaign game.

[@lotterwinner6474]

10 .I really want to love 7th continent. I played it a couple of times and really loved exploring but I keep dyeing and felt pretty helpless. Ive kept it but it might end up being sold 9. Never played 8. Argh still waiting for single wave shipping. The wait on this one has felt absurd. 7.Never played but have wanted to. 6.Never played 5. ATO is amazing. So good that it pushed me to pick up all of ATO Sons of Herc, Kingdom Forlorn and Kingdom Death. 4.Never played 3. Looks super cute 2. If I didnt already own so many huge games I would have picked this one up. 1. Oathsworn. This is the game I recommend when someone says they want to try a boss battler or looking for a campaign game. It nailed the complexity to fun ratio. If they end up loving Oathsworn then im inviting them over to play 500 hours of ATO.

[@faelreklaw8837]

As Hellene(Greek in Eng) I am very happy to see a trend in board games with Hellenic Mythology. From the 70s till now we see always Gothic and Norse themes and I like the theme ofc but at some point it is come on there is so much more out there. What about the rich culture we have. You cant imagine how much bibliography and lore exists about Hellenic myths. I am sceptical about the Aeon and would like to see more reviews because you bet I would buy it if it deserves it.

[@ValorantRivals]

Excellent list

[@KevinStrider-q5u]

I got 7th Continent, Aeon Trespass, Oathsworn, and Tainted Grail from this vid (and comments). The other games are for part-timers :)

[@SPQRKlio]

I have a question, that struck me when the vid got to Aeon Trespass. When people say a board game has really good writing, do they usually mean that the descriptions on cards or in the book are written well, as in the actual words are good writing-or more that the plot the game builds is well constructed, even if the writing of it is just functional?

[@craigandrews7544]

Have you guys played Frostpunk?

[@BoardGameHangover]

No, we haven't. Need to get our hands on it

[@grimfodr837]

No KDM, Gloom/Frosthaven, Arkham Horror: TCG, Scythe, Pandemic Legacy, Middara, or many many others.

[@jimalexander687]

As someone already mentioned in the comments, definitely Imperial Assault.

[@harliquin74]

OK I think we need an intervention. You put a trick taking game and a flip and write in, and left out The Jaws of the lion/Gloomhaven/Frosthaven Series :O. Also If your going to play a game like Aeons Trespass maybe take a crack at Kingdom Death (In my opinion a far better game).

[@MrFormenis]

Gloomhaven has to be part of that top10 😢

[@baddaysbasil5376]

I scrolled down to see this exact comment-- yeah, what gives? :)

[@lillianwandomhale2368]

Same, I thought I'd buy one of their top 10, but when i saw they skipped Gloomhaven/Frosthaven/Jaws .... yeah ....can't trust anything on this list then XD Gloom and Jaws are still on top 10 in BGG and can't get here even an honorable mention ... soo disapointed

[@MrFormenis]

Exactly at least one of them should have been there.

[@Gwanosh]

specially if it's going to include eila and the crew. Only reason I can imagine it didn't make it is they didn't get to play it for some reason, but with the digital implementations being so popular even that sounds weird to me. I *guess* it's possible that boardgamers out there do not like the havens, but even saying it feels heretical xD

[@EphraimSyriacus]

What is the difference between campaign and legacy? I know legacy is you play it once in multiple sessions and then the game is over. You can throw it in the bin so to say. Is campaign the same or can you play it infinite times?

[@BoardGameHangover]

Campaign is fully ressetable. Legacy is what you described.

[@EphraimSyriacus]

@@BoardGameHangover Thank you for the quick reply! But if I went through one whole campaign, is it replayable or is that story over? Maybe an idea for an episode, to explain all those terms: Legacy, campaign, coop or even deck-building, worker replacement etc. I am just a noob in the board games. But I stepped directly into Scythe and Spirit Island. Some high complexity games. Although simple after a few times.

[@BoardGameHangover]

@@EphraimSyriacus It depends on the game. Some games have less story and the emphasis is on the mechanisms of the game, then you can try different characters or different weapons and go again, for example the first thing that comes to mind is Descent Journeys in the Darks 2nd ed. There is some story, however it is not the main draw of the game. And then there is something like Destinies, which is story heavy and 2nd time around you might not enjoy it as much as you already know the story and the mechanisms are just there to help the story along.

[@EphraimSyriacus]

@@BoardGameHangover thank you very much!

[@peterevensen]

Are we not talking about the arm?

[@MrAxe802]

what about pandemic legacy??? its outrageous that it's not on this list.

[@writerian]

Can you do video with a list of solo campaign games? Please? 👍🏻🥃😉❤️

[@BoardGameHangover]

Adding it to the list!

[@jackstrange6360]

So far my favorite campaign game is Valor and Villainy: Lludwicks Labyrinth. It’s massively enjoyable and really well balanced.

[@BoardGameHangover]

Hah, I did not even know of such a game. Will have to check it out. Thanks. /JG

[@jimdaily737]

Yooo... your quick cuts make it almost impossible to read the list you made Like dear god why do you do so many cuts? Theres parts of the video where youre zooming or cutting every single second. The editing on this video is straight up manic.

[@MrIndomerun]

You forgot number 0 - Frost' mother-flippin Haven (all the Havens btw).

[@ilirtanku9722]

At least some love for Sleeping gods

[@Straddllw]

I pretty much just have 3 campaign games that I play solo that I’ve never finished and I’m done with the genre because I will never get time. The 3 games I have are: 7th Continent, Gloomhaven, Kingdom Death: Monsters That’s enough for me if I’m being realistic with my time, they are already collecting some dust. Oh I also played the crew but I don’t have the game, it was someone else’s.

[@stefanformgren4978]

looks fun but whay to expensiv for one play, have hard time paying 30euro for EXIT aswell :), but if I try I think Pandemic or ticket to ride legacy wud be nice :)

[@coffeespoonman7931]

Guys, I agree with almost everything up here! King's Dilemma fell flat for my group, and I didn't love 7th Continent (although I think 7th Citadel will fix my problems with the system). I guess I would probably put Arkham Horror LCG and Gloom (or Frost) haven up in their place. I've never played Sleeping Gods or Elia, but now I'm off to order them! Absolutely love your videos btw! You're my new favourite reviewers!

[@MrScrawnjuan]

Aren't the first two self-contained missions? Like there's no overarching campaign, is there? 🤔

[@El-gu2hi]

Janis’ arm got broken after playing just one hour of aeon trespass… rough!

[@simonsanchezj]

Missing gloomhaven/frosthaven and tainted grail.

[@icalculi]

campaign? AH lcg should be on the list imo

[@Ragingspoon]

Interesting. Tried playing Oathsworn but unfortunately it fell flat for me. Biggest problem was the time it demands of you coupled with its needless overproduction. If it was quicker to setup and play I think it could have worked for me but for the time it requires I would have liked something with a bit more depth.

[@vantuantran5160]

Try Kinfire Chronicles then, its quick to set up (~15 minutes) and it has some fresh gameplay like drawing turnorder from a bag. Pretty cool story too

[@mouseward1706]

I enjoy Aftermath with my kids

[@maxwell6563]

You know what to do with that big fat game: wiggle, wiggle, wiggle 🤭

[@sufiansmadi6699]

Guys you forgot to add Ticket to ride legacy and put it at num 1 👍

[@BoardGameHangover]

We have not played it yet. When we do, who knows.

[@brettspielknights]

No Tainted Grail in Top 10🤔

[@Treehorn_]

Quite telling the Gloomhaven is not on this list. I have played half of GH, but found overrated because it is so repetitive. Thanks for your input. Will look into some of your choices again. Keep up the good work!

[@matthew7419]

We could not figure out what the point of "The Crew" was. I couldn't figure out what was interesting or motivating about it. It was kind of like, "Shuffle 100 cards and pass one to your neighbor to see what the next message says." ?????? 😕

[@koppfrosch7439]

there are so many great co-op legacy games out there that makes it realy hard to create a top 10 without missing some. so every list will be very subjectiv and its understandable. in my list oathsworn is nr1 too but i have gloomhaven, descent legends of the dark and massive darkness also on the list. as well as arkham horror lcg and several others you can play as a campaign game. its a great time for boardgamers with all these wonderfull games out there. if i just had more time at hand...

[@oldmanshreds]

World needs more legacy games.

[@BoardGameHangover]

Agreed!

[@georgechatzopoulos136]

Did someone brake your hand because you had no timestamps on the video? 😂

[@BoardGameHangover]

No comment ;) /JG

[@georgechatzopoulos136]

@@BoardGameHangover I was only joking by the way 😅 Great content as always! 🔥

[@BoardGameHangover]

I figured as much ;) /JG

[@shazam2323]

eila..interesting. I've literally only heard negative things about it. All the other popular channels hated it

[@BoardGameHangover]

To each their own I guess.

[@DoubleUpBrettspiele]

Ooo we loved Nr. 4! Currently playing through number 5 and it's A LOT. :D Never heard of 3, looks really interesting. Cheers guys! - Janis :D

[@siriactuallysara]

Ohh these are my favorite games. Let’s see which you pick then I’ll complain laugh out loud😃.

[@Rodinov_Claw]

Oathsworn is bleh...for a similar genre in boss battlers, I'm surprised it upstaged ATO. Oathsworn's writing is average and every decision leads to the same outcome, and it is whether you get ambushed or vice-versa. The fights are clunky and the terrains are a waste of idea. I cant recommend Oathsworn that high on the list. Maybe 8 or 9 at best. Sleeping Gods is a nice 7th continent-ish game that is a snore-fest. Yes, it has multiple endings, with only 1 or 2 memorable. The journey is uninteresting in most parts, doing menial fetch or kill quests. The stack of cards that you discovered is used sparingly, so why not just use a matrix to track? The game is poorly playtested by the absolute swingy fights and the way enemies are introduced. Absolutely no way it should be that high on the list. If your bar of top 10 is that low, perhaps then you should include other similar games like Etherfields, Tainted Grail, Assassin's Creed, Vampire the Masquerade Chapters, Hunters 2214 AD, and KDM

[@goldsmeeth2771]

What campaigns would be in your top 3?

[@stevekingswell9143]

So Pandemic legacy has lost its crown then, oh well.😢

[@christaggart5687]

No gloomhaven or pandemic legacy?! What sorcery is this?

[@Kryptonite_V]

I know which Janis is always correct. Aeon Trespass: Odyssey is NO. 1!

[@Kryptonite_V]

Oathsworn and Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies are waiting on my shelf, though...

[@richardclegg8027]

Glad to see Sleeping gods got up there... such a good game (Distant skies the sequel is also great but needs a rule tweak to make it hard enough). Weird to omit Pandemic legacy (any) and gloomhaven (any).

[@Nnomadd]

crew ? lol

[@Dwigii]

No Arkham Horror: The Card Game on the list, unsubscribe :D

[@ejim941099]

I dont care about anything right now, I SEE RETALIATION BACK THERE!!!!