Top 10 Next Step Games - The Broken Meeple

[@jimokelley3792]

Agree on Takenoko. My game-playing 6-year-old got it immediately, but it was a total bust when we tried to teach it to my sister and niece, who are less familiar with strategy games. Lesson learned. The next time I gamed with them-this past weekend-I taught them Splendor.

[@jomc8768]

I tried to teach takenoko to non gamers it was a nightmare. I'm with you. Great games too.

[@bigaleka92]

Thanks for the video. Made a note of some for future purchases. Potion Explosion, and a mention to Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle. Some like it some don’t. My wife and I did, that game evolves from gateway to mid game over the course of the 7 books. Very clever and a good way of adding complexity for non game players.

[@ericmatthews9673]

Thanks for this Luke. Glad you finally got around to doing a Next Step list. ;) (Dice Tower did a top ten next step games in 2016...and Rahdo did it in 2017. Had to mention it after your intro, Sorry bout it.)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Was that list in the podcast as I'm only counting the You Tube DT shows?

[@ericmatthews9673]

@@TheBrokenMeeple That depends; do you count your podcast shows that are also on KZbin as KZbin videos? 😉

[@intrusivemoose1013]

Hey Luke, I like the way you are filming these now. Love the choices you made and the intro is new for me, looks great too!

[@Farstr1d3r]

LOL’d hard at the intro. This wide angle looks good too, Luke. Better angle than the first shot you tested. Aspect ratio is better and there’s much less distortion around the edges. Not bad at all!

[@Garylovescheese14]

Imhotep Mangrovia Istanbul Rococo Great list Luke and keep the top 10’s coming :-)

[@davegildersleeve4316]

Great list!! I think you're spot on with your choices, though not familiar with Small Islands. I would include Via Nebula and Hit Z Road judging from our experiences. Thanks for the video!

[@robertrichardson3888]

I view a gateway+ as a little lighter than Luke does, but that really could be who we play with. 7 wonders is a great choice. My favorites are Clank, champions of midgard, villainous, and networks. The strong themes really help motivate people to try them. Then Scythe and TM for first games on this side of the gate.

[@dchampagne68]

Here are my 5 Quantum (Dice power mecanic) Clank (Great fun deck builder) Arena of the Gods (Great fun battle game with the draft at the start) Mexica (from Ielo) (Area control and great components) Star realms (Great 2 players game . Buying cards, doing combo)

[@andreisteopan3551]

Loving the new intro format! Also, quality is better, stick to this lens. Focus is perfect and the brightness is not high.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Things have changed a lot since then ✌️😋

[@claytonweaver7335]

The games in my collection that I use for gateway+ are: Bunny Kingdom, Paris Connection, Automobiles, and Harvest.

[@cklester]

Liked just for the intro! (Watching rest of vid now...) :D

[@CaptainGamer347]

Luke, here are some other gateway+ games in my collection: Adrenaline Artifacts Inc The King's Guild Firenze Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road Raccoon Tycoon Order of the Gilded Compass Stockpile Thanks, Luke, for posting this list!!!

[@i4m3rr0r]

It's not really the type of game I like but Takenoko is so cutesy, I might have to buy it just for the Panda.

[@bushibayushi]

I also think that Ra, El Grande and London (2nd edition) are great next step games ;).

[@monomundo]

Hey, I am starting to like the wide angle (such a good idea to cover the big boxes on top). Usually we don't have many crossovers, but this list was an exception (probably because you've put most of those games on my radar :D ). I would also recommend Automania, Blood Rage, Bunny Kingdom (only the scoring is fiddly), Concordia (I know you are not fond of this one) and Suburbia as second-tier games.

[@scyldscefing3913]

Great list, and I think most are spot on.

[@francoisgodbout6835]

Takenoko is right up there on my list!!!

[@ProfessorB.]

What do you think of Pandemic Iberia? I would consider it a gateway plus. Same for Arctic Scavengers.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Iberia is the best of the bunch yes but always consider that franchise gateway.

[@JuliusCorvinus]

Wingspan just won the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2019 Award, which is basically a next step Games award.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Just noticed - I was rooting for Detective, but hey, glad to know I'm backing some award winners!

[@CaptainGamer347]

Great list, Luke!!! 👍👍

[@giladnadler]

Great games! Thanks for that! I played small islands at Essen and got it signed by the designer! If you havent done it already- take out the insert. Thank to me later

[@raykempinski7085]

Valley is my favorite deck builder. Entombing is fantastic.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

It "may" be my favourite too - wait for Top 100 :-)

[@FrasierFanMSU]

Champions of Midgard fits right in here too, at least without expansions.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

A lot say Champions, I'm not so sure but I guess it's only a little more tricky then LoW. However I don't like the game as much in base form, the diceare too swingy. But really want to play it with expansions.

[@FrasierFanMSU]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Valhalla certainly improves the game, but it does bump the weight up to just above this list. That said, I don't think the base game is overly swingy; there is certainly luck, but it can usually be mitigated with careful preparation and allocation. I recognize that this perspective is very American, though!

[@kirkbeiser]

I might have this entire list - Wingspan - Valley of the Kings - Mission Red Planet - Takenoko - Viral - Raiders of the North Sea Other great ones for next step - Vikings Gone Wild - Dale of Merchants - Champions of Midgard - Near and Far (and Above and Below) - K2 - Aeon's End - Asking For Trobils I agree that Viticulture is beyond next step for me. I have found it not very easy to teach to my game group unlike the rest of the games listed above.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I'm quite surprised you managed to have no issues with AeonsEnd and Near And Far, I might have classed them as a bit much.

[@kirkbeiser]

@@TheBrokenMeeple They are definitely at the upper end of next step and I wouldn't disagree if you classed them as solid midweight. Near and Far is just a typical Laukat design. It is complicated because there are a million bits everywhere and it takes awhile to explain because of all of those bits. The actual gameplay isn't that difficult imo but somebody needs to really understand the game well in the group. Definitely not a teach yourself next step game. I am convinced that Laukat's games could benefit from having a strong developer that pushed him to get rid of some of the extraneous actions in his games. Aeon's End is a bit of a reach strategy wise but it is a coop game so that makes it more attainable and the actual gameplay is rather straightforward if you have one person that knows the game well to do the nemesis actions and make sure each action is correct.

[@quibily]

I'm still a semi-noobie here. Are there any games that can be both gateway and gateway+, if you add an expansion? My husband and I are kinda... cheapskates, lol. Though you piqued my interest with Raiders of the North Sea. It looks great, and I've been really into Viking folklore and Norse mythology lately.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Raiders, Lords of Waterdeep, Flashpoint Fire Rescue, Dominion?

[@quibily]

The Broken Meeple cool. Thanks! I'll check them out. Also, by Raiders, you mean, Raiders of the North Sea, I assume?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yes, raiders of north sea.

[@formalne]

Wide angle looks sooo much better :)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I think it does also, but around 50% thought otherwise, hence the compromise. Certainly all Top 10's / Top 100's and VLOGs will be wide angle.

[@seanmorgan2257]

Hi Luke, I can understand why this was an awkward list to make, as you said, different people are at different levels with different intelligences and therefore can pick up some type of game quicker than others. Awesome games on there though

[@brodizajn]

Very nice list! I like your arguements for picking this or that game. Luke you I dislike those people who claim "I play LotR LCG with my 6 years old son, why the hell would you learn your kids Carcassonne." Good job anyway ;).

[@giladnadler]

Just made a list like that to my friend- put Sagrada, Spice road, takenoko, stone age and potion explotion

[@Oaklestat]

I'm a big fan of mission red planet :)

[@txsportsfreak02]

trains, wingspan,, and spacebase i would put on my list. Good choices though.

[@reneebaziuk5976]

My current gateway+ game for new gamers is Museum.

[@buffalobear160]

You're the man.

[@mbrochh82]

awesome intro!!!

[@docholliday7777]

Hahahaha Intro was hilarious thanks for the laugh

[@wendywesley7423]

I would add Fresco to this list🤓

[@scyldscefing3913]

Century: Golem Edition, Sagrada, Karuba, and The Quest for Eldorado, seem good candidates.

[@jessebruning6738]

Love Century: Golem and Sagrada, but if I can get my 8 year old to play them with any kind of fluency I'm thinking they'd be a little lighter than what Luke was going for on this list.

[@brownrhythms]

The Quest for Eldorado is gateway for me. I think Trains is more in the gateway plus area.

[@scyldscefing3913]

Yeah, if he's considering Viticulture for the list, I suppose you're right.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yes, Century/Sag etc would definitely be gateway for me, there's very little to learn in them. Trains is hard to say, there are easier deck builders and this adds the unintuitive map also, might be a bit much even for G+. Also I only considered Viticulture but quickly dismissed it.

[@bushibayushi]

Valley of the Kings series is awesome.

[@psiblast005]

LOL at the imitated box flip.

[@vonwoolf9963]

I wouldn't call Valley of the kings a next step game. Almost all cards are different, so keeping track of all the effects and card families is kind hard. I would rather call Clank! and Legendary Marvel next step (deckbuilding) games.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Marvel is dead simple and Clank could qualify but I don't like that game that much. World's most ineffective dragon ever every game.

[@vonwoolf9963]

​@@TheBrokenMeeple Ahah, I understand what you mean for Clank. The thing about deckbuilding games is that, as gateway and even next step, the mechanic of DB is a unique one to grasp. People understand the concept of drawing cards from the same shared deck in games of poker, bridge, etc. But having your own deck of card, which evolves throughout the game, seems to be an entirely different thing. As an example, when someone is told to draw a card, I have been asked if the person has to draw from his own deck, or from the central raw deck :-D One could simply play all cards from their hand each turn, and buy/kill cards and baddies at random, however they would instantly miss the major aspect of what makes deckbuilding games fun : to build a deck. Children and teenagers would dig in quite fast, but in my opinion, adults would require to discover simpler DB games before introducing VotK.

[@LeeroyPorkins]

My list from easy (10) to hard (01): 10. Photosynthesis 09. Wildlands 08. Alien Frontiers 07. Starship Samurai 06. D&D Adventure System 05. Specter Ops 04. Wrath of Dragons 03. Heroes of Land Air and Sea 02. Hyperborea 01. Cyclades

[@exiledsonofhawaii3934]

Kingsburg and stockpile.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Both good choices, just burned out on Kingsburg in favour of Alien Frontiers.

[@ericmatthews9673]

I'd throw either of those at even new/non-gamers. They are pretty gateway. But I'd say the same for a bunch of Luke's suggestions too. Next step vs gateway is super though to distinguish since some non-gamers can really surprise while I know people who call themselves gamer, but who struggle with new game rules for even simple games every single time.

[@jimbizzlewizzle7312]

His voice goes from English to a weird twangy American at points, instead of pop he says paarrp

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Comes from watching far too much American KZbin content! :P

[@jimbizzlewizzle7312]

@@TheBrokenMeeple haha no worries, was watching with friends and debating is he Canadian, American or British! Enjoying the reviews. Love the top ten stuff. Request for a top 10 co op would be awesome!