Top 10 Board Games of the Year

[@actualol]

What was your favourite game from 2023?

[@pedroartur2230]

Dune Imperium

[@naomig8997]

I loved the first case of Perspective. Can I bring just the envelopes on a trip I have planned or do the second/third cases need the box by any chance?

[@actualol]

No they don't need the box. Great idea!

[@ettrian3742]

Star Wars deckbuilder. Hero Realms had been a staple with my game group and probably got more plays than every other game combined. Years later, Star Wars comes out with some fresh new mechanics that I'm quite fond of and as a lifelong Star Wars fan, it can't be beat for 2023.

[@MrEddy3991]

​@@pedroartur2230i bought it recently but still need to try it, its that good?

[@BaracFuentes-q3t]

It’s always a good day when actualol uploads

[@edmundsiu322]

Agreed! This channel always has some interesting games to recommend 😁.

[@RebeccaAlis]

Yes!! Agreed!!🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@smeariestbat5544]

This though

[@Wezla]

Love these reviews and your witty writing to match. "plagued by floods and flooded with plagues" was really good

[@actualol]

Thank you!

[@THESP-rz3hg]

Quick show of hands- who wants a podcast of Jon ranting about the trend in games for anthropomorphic theming

[@actualol]

Be careful what you wish for!

[@daleprather3026]

Absolutely! As long as you don't hurt their feelings.

[@diagonalleaf]

🤚

[@Simrck]

I actually like anthropomorphic theming. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was hurting so many of you :(

[@rileymcphee9429]

That was so hilarious 😂 Was sitting here like, "how did this game make the list after this 10 minute rant about it's theme?"

[@tuntemon]

"...I play video games about killing people and I don''t do that anymore either." This made me choke on my drink! Nice one!

[@joelface]

Haha, I had to pause the video and come find someone quoting this line in the comments after hearing that. Too hilarious.

[@vaarios]

It actually makes for a fun joke actually, but I think the true metaphor there would be playing a video game about playing Mario but not actually playing Mario or something xDD

[@kolja-v]

@@joelface I had the exact same and then I found these comments...

[@idokoren4333]

"At the usual exchange rate of a thousand to one" is genius

[@TheTravelingPrince81]

"It's perfect to fit in my wife's handbag for when we go to a dinner party and I want to take a game that we never end up playing." Oof. Next time just @ me.

[@luiscarlosqg]

I already stopped taking games to places 😢

[@TheTravelingPrince81]

@@luiscarlosqgNever give up. How will we know in our hearts that we are gamers if we don't feel the weight of a tichu deck at all times just waiting to be ignored?! 😛

[@AJEddy99]

John you are not just my favorite board game enthusiast. Not just my favorite youtuber. But you might be my favorite person. You are awesome John and we are blessed to have you to entertain us and make us smile. A lot.

[@actualol]

Thank you ☺🥰

[@giothevanni]

That “Forbidden desires” joke almost made me spit out my drink laughing 😂 Brilliant!

[@mikehuff2693]

Fat kid eating all his sandwiches at 10am did it for me.

[@ryanskrenes6247]

I really appreciate your independent reviews of games that are just plain great.

[@virgilalighieri7192]

So in German it's pronounced Zo, which rhymes with so and quo. And as you know (haha) Reiner Knizia is German. I'll also argue and say that I absolutely love the anthropomorphic animals trend. I get so bored staring at art that looks like it came from my Latin textbook. Give me Redwall art any day.

[@actualol]

There's got to be a middle ground! Does the Empire's End box art look like it came from a Latin textbook?

[@luiscabral9194]

Love all your Actualol videos. I can't get enough of your humour!

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Yes! 😊

[@M7MD-]

Every video you upload makes a dent in my wallet, a dent that brings tons of fun moments and joy to me, my family, and my friends. As much as I like other creators in the industry, your choices suited me best numerous times. Keep up the good work. Just keep in mind that what you do really helps other people connect, bond, maybe even heal and have fun together, as board games are rarely played alone. Games you recommended definitely helped me and my wife get through tough times. Thanks ❤

[@actualol]

Thanks for the nice comment :)

[@M7MD-]

@@actualol I spent the last two days trying to get my hands on Match of the Century but it’s insane how it’s out of stock everywhere in the UK. I would really appreciate if you can help! Maybe you know someone who is willing to sell theirs.

[@GoodEnoughParty]

I would be onboard for a 3 hour video rant on the Anthropomorphic animal themed epidemic! It really gets my goat!

[@actualol]

I hate your goat

[@GoodEnoughParty]

@@actualol He's easy to hate. But you can't blame him, he's just a kid.

[@jasonmenard3098]

The joke writing on this script is as tight as ever.

[@thebeardedmother1535]

This was ridiculously entertaining. Too many gags to choose from but the Australia joke was a comedic uppercut :) A thing of beauty. Greetings from across the pond.

[@25thCenturyGames]

Thank you for the kind words and including our version of RA in the list. Much appreciated, Jon. - chad

[@jeremyfrank5253]

"... if Vincent Dutrait is busy" Shots fired! Genuinely interesting picks, added a few to my 'hunt down and play' list, thanks!

[@JohnWII]

"...it's perfect to fit in my wife's handbag, for when we go to dinner party and I want to take a game that we never end up playing". Why did you have to attack me like that?

[@PeterFreese]

John, I don't always agree with your favorite rankings, but I love your perspective on games and especially the humor in your writing. Every video features some quip where I think to myself "That's brilliant. I need to borrow that."

[@Bleuchz]

I feel you on Last Kingdom's production but one thing I never hear anyone shout out is how delightfully slim the box is. I have everything sleeved with a plano to sort the minis and its like one of those CMON troops on a map game that fits in a box 1/4 the size. A big reason why it'll probably stick in my collection over some games that maybe are a bit better?

[@actualol]

You're not wrong!

[@TabletopTurtle]

Actual LOL is like the event of board game content creation. Video releases once a month and everyone who follows watches in a day or two. Brilliant stuff!

[@anthony449]

I've never been drawn to that chess game because I only knew one thing : it's by the watergate people. I love watergate, but I thought it was basically a retheme... This video sold me to look into it more!

[@ManishaGeorgina]

I hope you get the recognition you deserve... Thank you so much for these videos!

[@andymacleod752]

I could watch Actualol all day!

[@pranavrai99]

"For example this V means Very good" had me LoLing so hard.....😆😆😆

[@seth5362]

18:30 as someone who loves every game to have cute animals in it... this is great for me. Also they would have never thought to do the special powers without the animal theme.

[@MichaelZipkin]

"Like that moment in an M. Night Shyamalan movie when you finally realize it's really bad." 🤣

[@pedroartur2230]

I' ve never laughed so hard at this channel before,

[@kevinboadomonteslier32]

Caught me off guard

[@jakekimball9589]

At 8:39 I cant deal with how cute the plushie peeking over the mini DM screen is.

[@GirlyGamer-BoardGameGran]

Great list, the only one I'm super interested in for myself is Perspectives, just because it's so different.

[@justbank5007]

..."learn through misery," which was the motto at my school. 😂😂😂

[@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551]

The thing with Knizia games is that they can be whatever theme, they all taste like no theme. I mean, he is a mathematician and all his games are equations. A drop down for me, because I realle enjoy well themed games. The only one I've got from him is Lord of the Rings, it slightly smells like LotR.

[@1Galaron]

"Like having a child who plays Warhammer." I will be stealing this little bon mot, and will not be crediting you.

[@joannakrolikowska187]

Thanks for the video. There are a few games which caught my eye, which I hadn't been aware of.

[@jamessherman7797]

Enjoyed your review and list! An unusual amount of ads that disrupted the flow of the video.

[@uplift-yourdailypickup6424]

Great list. Some of my favorites here as well. And I can't stand the anthropomorphic animal theme trend as well. You and I would get along splendidly.

[@Kheldar633]

"Mad Max: Fury Road" is great fun and requires no Mad Max lore knowledge.

[@9thandbaklavey926]

Seconded, one of my favorites

[@markwilson455]

Love seeing the OG Guild shoutout at the end. Glad you're enjoying Ra!

[@adamwill559]

All of your stuff is amazing! Thanks for all the ideas!

[@Nidhogg13]

I was a KS backer for Thunder Road: Vendetta, and one major thing I like about it is the expansions are all really meaningful and aren't a pain to incorporate.

[@SembeiNorimaki]

In roman numerals V means Very good and X means eXtremely good

[@bangazboom9925]

I think the whole animal characters in board games has come as a reaction to a very vocal group of people on boardgamegeek who seemed to have limitless issues with representations of people; they even took umbrage regarding comments made about illustrated representations of fictional gods from fictional worlds. So now we are at the point where designers are using pictures of animals instead because representations of humans or characters that look like people upset some board gamers on a forum.

[@FernandoAPrado]

I love how you add some clever and funny comment in every sentence.

[@Puzzu]

Great post, I learned about so many cool games, will have to go check them out! You explain each game in such a simple and humorous way that they sound super fun to play, love it.

[@paulhamrick3943]

Two theories on the retheming of Zoo Vadis: let's face it, games that feature images of Roman men in togas on the box art give the impression that it's maybe an overly "serious" game with a "dry" historical theme. But it might also help you steer clear of any offense-seekers out there.

[@origenward3845]

"The simulation world is running out of ideas" is actually a very intriguing physics/philosophical comment.🤔

[@FiveZeroSafaris]

Magic videos! I would love to sponsor a video for a review of my game - what is the best way to get in touch with you?

[@ZezimaContra]

The goat is back!

[@cwb95k]

My favorite 2023 is pretty easily Scholars of the South Tigris. A long, arduous grindy process toward translating point scoring scrolls.

[@aos-archive]

Would you say Match of the Century could replace Air Land & Sea, if you had to pick one between the two to keep?

[@actualol]

Hmm, not necessarily - both good for different reasons.

[@patrickabby2589]

Great list. I look forward to this video every new year. Gotta say tho I VASTLY prefer the animal theme of Zoo Vadis over Quo Vadis. It makes the sell so much easier when the theme is fun animals and not historical, fantasy, or sci-fi.

[@griffglowen5555]

Love the comedy in Your videos. Sadly I only meet the first 3 of your video editor criteria but come on is a knowledge of video editing really needed for a UK candidate that loves actualol AND board games!?!

[@Kikkerv11]

I bought Orion Duel and I really like it! My version of the game looks slightly different from yours because it's not a board but a mat that you can roll up.

[@AhJong0]

The wonderful one liners and "games other channels haven't raved about" goodness of ActualLol 😊

[@ImagenaryFriendd]

I love how you casually implied that you were alive during ancient Egyptian times.

[@actualol]

🤐

[@345345asdasd]

Dude i gotta say... your jokes are underrated. Very funny videos and i don't think a lot of people catch them. Watching an older vid of urs and you said, "...yea so i was just disappointed in this game, and I'm disappointed in you" and i nearly spat my drink out. Cheers

[@irakyl]

Great list, great video! Good luck with the editor!

[@joewalsh1031]

Uploaded yesterday and Orion Duel is available nowhere in the US. That game looks very good

[@Leron...]

I 1000% agree with the disdain for the trend towards anthropomorphic animal game art. The new Libertalia art makes me so sad compared to what it used to be, but the gameplay is better so I got the new edition. And I also agree on the Zoo Vadis name confusion. It's like trying to retain brand recognition even though the brand is completely removed from the product

[@grog3514]

This. I sold off my old libertalia when I hear SM was doing a new version. Biggest board game regret. The mechanisms are improved, but that art direction is just awful. I stopped bringing it to game nights. They stripped it off all it's charm.

[@sarahwatts7152]

I like the look of Perspectives! Good for people who say they don't like board games

[@branboom3342]

You crack me up man, awesome video, informative reviews, great jokes. Btw, in German, "zoo" sounds more like "zoh" and thus rhymes with "quo." 😋

[@TheMartinChronicles]

I got Colt Express on your recommendation and *love it*. Welp, off to check out the Thunder Road Kickstarter.🤓

[@asmallcat]

The worst thing about the Ra reprint is the pointless boat. It's an objectively worse way to track when the age is ending because you can easily forget to advance it and there's no way to check whether you actually did once you're past age 1. Luckily you can flip the board and just track using the Ra tiles as you draw them, which is vastly superior.

[@David-ym2vk]

The writing in this was so damn good! Had me smiling and laughing throughout. Well done!

[@Kristin-hx7us]

I love the Anthropomorphic animal themed epidemic and I like your rant against it. The name Zoo vadis is so ridiculous, chapeau.

[@blindey]

Damn you Actualol, like half of these sound super interesting and I want them. At least some of them are on BGA..

[@Paul-ro6py]

We continue to enjoy the reprint of RA, the colours just pop! The mechanics are simple and work.

[@darrenb1522]

The last kingdom has a similar mechanism to "The King is Dead" with the cards and limited choices - The King is dead finishes in about 20 minutes.

[@Tomdabom876]

This was a hilarious watch, thanks for the great reviews!

[@jessbachman331]

Great content. I hadn't heard of any of these games

[@actualol]

Thanks, glad you found it interesting!

[@AndyVandercoy]

So many good lines and great selection of games. Empires End all the way. Well...I am poor now and dont really want to pay mortgage anyway. Thank you Actualol 😂😢

[@actualol]

Paying a mortgage is like playing Empire's End - make sure you've got enough wheat!

[@AndyVandercoy]

I do!!

[@daveclarke5321]

Funny. About 10 minutes ago I watched a video of David Mitchell saying that he thinks about the Roman Empire multiple times per day.

[@jimicapone]

Great video, as always. You should have upgraded to the Ra Pharaoh edition. Totally worth it.

[@branboom3342]

Ra was new to me with the recent reprint and I thought the retail version was great, but its become my most played and favourite game this year and I desperately wish I could get the deluxe version now! 😫

[@25thCenturyGames]

@@branboom3342 - reprint KS campaign for the deluxe coming this summer!

[@FxBrawler]

''...if he (Marcus Aurelius) wasn't so busy writing books, his empire might still be around.'' I almost spat my coffee. LOL!

[@onedeadsaint]

just picked up thunder road: vendetta. looks fun and hopefully a decent commission.

[@Squatch_needs_no_heroes]

Last Kingdom showed up at my gaming club and I was the one who had never heard of it.

[@youedged]

People who have played Thunder Road Vendetta, do you need expansions? Does it get boring or have short replayability if you only got the base version? Do you think expansions are necessary @actualol ?

[@actualol]

I've not played the expansions. I think it's great without them. But I guess it depends how much you plan to play it. To me it's not the sort of game I'm craving lots of depth or variability from. I'd usually caution buying an expansion at the same time as the base game but I realise that Kickstarters don't allow for that.

[@terhuneb]

Check out that platinum on the shelf back there. Looks good on you!

[@Kikkerv11]

Zoo Vadis rhymes with "quo vadis" in German, Dutch, Czech, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish etc. On top of that, it's a German board game.

[@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551]

Oriend Duel reminded me a bit of Catan Puzzles.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Thanks for telling me about what Match of the Century is about. I heard about it - and of course, I was intrigued because it is a board game about chess - but I had no idea what it was like until now! 😀

[@mikeghanley]

What was the other auction game?? Was it “art society” because I have it on back order but might cancel in favour of Ra

[@actualol]

It was 🤫

[@kaustubhverma5266]

Having good friends and a good board game is so good. I lack both of them

[@hugotavaresgomes9539]

first game reminds me a lot of The king is dead. but The king is dead is just 20 minutes long.

[@guandjs]

You are really witty and clever so I enjoy the video very much though what I love in board games is very different from the OG style that you favour. I am very happy that new games don’t have that much meanness and threats as many OG games. They may not hit the emotional highs but they also don’t make me feel like I am spending the evening attacking others or being attacked. I do love that you still have Cascadia behind you as that is a game I like a lot! Thanks. PS I also hate seeing animals in pants. Let animals be animals!

[@banjohumphrey]

PowerGrid is a 10/10 game, I'm gonna have a look at Ra after this

[@daleprather3026]

Fantastic list!

[@EngMadison]

Huh, I kind of passed on Empires End at first glance, but now im pretty intrigued by it. Thunder Road Vendetta is also a game that is not one I typically like, but ended up being my favorite 2023 release. First Rat, Wandering Towers, and Donut Shop were other good recent releases for us.

[@mitchhorton9178]

Where to sign up for the OG community :)? Love simple rules with interaction game play.

[@actualol]

There's a link in the description.

[@Konquerror]

Awesome video, I was hitting the like button by the third joke

[@melissamorrell5239]

Orion Duel looks really cool - reminds me of the paper and pen game Hex, but more intriguing. Too bad I can't find anywhere to buy it in the US.

[@bengreen1181]

Some cracking games in this list! Great video ✌️

[@JustACuteFox]

"They don't make them like Ra anymore" is so painfully true. One of the only games I've ever bought twice, just to have a nicer edition of it.

[@TheJasonvange96]

Great list! Refreshing games aswell 😊

[@bradhombre6912]

Is there a kickstarter for Forbidden Desire?

[@aletcher89]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Last Kingdom is a rip off of Pax Pamir without the sudden end rule?

[@MarekEffendowicz]

Thanks

[@actualol]

Thank you!

[@tyshchenkoserhii]

Thanks for such a great list! I'd love to try out Perspectives but my concern is English as my 3rd language and most of my friends do not know it too well. Will it be an issue while dealing with clues for cases?

[@Thermalions]

7:48 Careful, John Wick thought he'd retired too.

[@mitachu]

Forbidden Jungle looks good - might grab it at Airecon