Top 10 Things We Look for in a Great Game

[@progmanrob]

I always find myself coming back to these videos. Their synergy is unmatched.

[@reesenico6402]

sorry to be offtopic but does someone know a method to log back into an instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the account password. I would appreciate any tips you can offer me!

[@areshudson4508]

@Reese Nico instablaster =)

[@nicoleuenberger]

Funny to see "good artwork" and "consistent" artwork mentioned in #7, followed first by a screen with totally inconsistent fonts and then the hilariously cheesy intro to #6 ;-) Don't get me wrong, you guys are awesome, but this cracked me up :-D

[@AnishChari]

10. Nice art work, board and cards. 9. Theme that fits mechanically with what you are doing. 8. Components that look like what they do. ie. A sheep token instead of a white cube. 7. No twitch skills or time based decisions. 6. Randomization used to create replay value, not determine power or strength. 5. Minimal bookkeeping ie. Multiple scoring tracks. 4. Small downtime between turns. 3. Interplayer interaction (no multiplayer solitaire). 2. At the end of the game, being able to figure out why you lost. 1. Multiple ways to win with few obvious decisions.

[@wesw8561]

Thanks for this list :)

[@eastlynburkholder3559]

It is a nice list.

[@davidwit7749]

Sam's mention of having battles with his farm set reminded me there was an actual series of toys called "Barnyard Commandos" where you had toy pigs and sheep that had rocket launchers, guns, etc.

[@keynei9876]

I'm actually watching a lot of these videos for my college class where I have to design a board game. I must say, not only are these videos entertaining and fun, but also extremely insightful. They are so helpful for me and I hardly ever notice an hour has passed when I watch them :)

[@robertmoffitt1336]

You guys are super. Very entertaining to watch! You guys always seem to have just the right balance of agreeing and not agreeing with one another. Just the right balance of seriousness and playful banter. Watching three guys who seem to be genuinely friends with one another is a nice thing to see, really it is. I'm more of a wargamer, but I love watching your top ten lists, and hearing your comments on all the great board games out there. Cheers! Keep up the great vids!

[@davidkelly4937]

I'm really loving your shows, your dynamic with and against each other is really enjoyable and awesome. Keep going guys

[@reddish22]

For the record, I did the math on the whole "literally impossible" thing. Tom was right, with 8 players each game and 100 aliens, there are 3 x 10 ^ 21 numbers of combinations. We live only around 2 billion seconds. Tom was right when he said you couldn't play the same game twice, theoretically.

[@Tallyst]

I find that language independent references are very helpful, especially when you come back to play a game you haven't played in a while. Or if you have played a game once or twice and boom you know exactly what everything does. IE Castles of Burgundy, everything the player needs to know is on the board, and the visual aid helps cement the vocal instruction you give the player. And the new player will associate that visual cue with the action he/she can take.

[@pdbedlion]

I love these lists. :D You guys are great. I would definitely want to play games with you. (Especially Sam)

[@Orgodemir6]

Sam Healey, you've inspired me to make a ridiculous game about farming where you raise your vicious cattle and chickens to combat rival farmers and you have to feed your herders and animals with crops you grow.

[@bloodrunsclear]

+Orgodemir6 You should call it 'My Chicken Army Shall RISE!'

[@KingOfShadeEmpire]

+Orgodemir6 Naw, man! You feed your animals with your rival's casualties. Blood for the blood god!

[@elsasslotharingen7507]

Necrorancher

[@OnlyCualquiera]

Was it a joke?

[@doctorxombie]

Oh my gosh! You guys had me rolling over with laughter! Great top 10

[@Allseeingone]

I'd also add "internal box design" as something to look for. A great game will have space and dividers to keep all the pieces neatly organised and supply enough plastic bags for all the bits, preferably including enough space to add extras from future expansions to keep it all in one box.The Pandemic expansions are a good example.

[@BardicLiving]

Shuffling a deck of linen-finished cards is so nice, especially when they're sleeved. :p

[@KAM1138a]

These Top Ten Lists with the Three of you are really fun. Keep them coming.

[@brabra2725]

I'm designing a game and this video is GOLD, thanks for sharing this! Many of your videos are PURE GOLD for a game designer :)

[@KingOfShadeEmpire]

0:34 Yeah right! 44:13 Called it! Of course I realize you disagreed on the game and not the actual choice. The unusually strong reaction just reminded me of the introducing words. Also don't get me wrong! You guys having differing opinions is one of the biggest reasons I watch these lists. It really helps you play devil's advocate and keeps the lists from being identical. The comedy it creates also helps!

[@randalladkins7452]

Great list guys! Love your guys' interaction and fun. Really needed a laugh today so enjoyed it a lot! Sam, you were right to sit in the middle on this one because your list on this seemed the most focused. Sam and Zee, you all should do a top 10 things you like to tease Tom about!

[@BeeCeeJay]

I think this is my favorite of these videos yet. Nice job!

[@ninajiron5488]

This is from 2013, and at the end Tom is saying, just because we don't like the game you like doesn't mean we don't like you... And goes on to say, "I'm getting tired of having to say that." Man! He's STILL saying that! Love these guys!

[@dabearz27]

10. Being able to be the green player 9. At least decent component quality 8. Mechanics make sense for a game's theme 7. Games that aren't too restrictive on what you can do at any given time 6. Games that encourage interaction inside and outside of the game 5. "Experience" games (Ones that give you stories to retell later) 4. Worker placement/action selection 3. Games that make you feel smart (No decisions feel wasted (See: Trajan)) 2. Card-driven mechanics 1. Replay value

[@ricksleurink5064]

My top10: 1. cards that are easy to read - non-gamers have difficulties with them (e.g. special power-cards) 2. strong theme - Pirate's Cove 3. several flavours in one game - Mystery of the Abbey 4. quick turns with little decision time - Gangster 5. get to know each other better - Ostrakon 6. story-driven - Winter Tales 7. reference sheets per player - Mystery of the Abbey 8. puzzle aspect - Torres 9. crazyness, just for fun - Spank the Monkey 10. a board made of pieces - Drakon, Takenoko

[@iSocket_]

Agreed, though I think in that sense it really fits that theme of a struggling farmer. Early on, you really feel that you're scraping by, getting what you can and getting just enough food to get by.

[@Korsheth]

Bob Ross of Game Boards! "Lets paint a little cow here, it's a happy cow, just eating some grass there."

[@loicovis426]

Thank you so much for the video! Your videos are always amazing!

[@TC_Capitalist]

My #1 would be hidden roles. Resistance, Werewolf, Bang!, Shadow Hunters, Battlestar Galactica, these are all games in my collection because I can't get enough of that 'WHOA, so it was YOU that was the traitor?! You scoundrel!" excitement and the paranoid tension that you get when there are hidden roles involved. Great video guys.

[@ikesteroma]

Top ten things I'm looking for in a game: (I wrote these down before actually watching this video.) 10) The lack of wooden cubes and generic wooden meeples. 9) Standard features - i.e. standard box size, standard card size, etc. 8) A reasonable price point. (It had better be a very good game if I'm going to pay more than $50 for it.) 7) Well written rulebook. Table of contents and/or and index is a BIG help for a lot of games. 6) Good artwork. (I'm looking at you Eclipse - you disappoint me oh-so-very-much.) 5) A solid theme. 4) Strong mechanics - lots of strategy. 3) A moderate-to-mild-to-nonexistant luck factor. (Luck is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as it doesn't drive the game.) 2) Originality. 1) Strong player interaction - *conflict* is a nice bonus. I do not like playing multi-player solitaire. There are games in my collection that I enjoy a lot that are missing 3-4 of the points that I list, so I wouldn't consider this to be an essential list for any game that I will get in the future. Now I just need to hit play on the video to see how my list matched up with the Dice Tower Crew.

[@vincivader]

This was so good! I laughed the whole time.

[@mrozzdude]

I agree with the colour, linen finish cards and dice rolling. I like it when a game it has green. Linen finish cards not only feel better but shuffle better. And I like smart dice rolling like in stone age specially when you have control over the outcome, again like stone age

[@jriceblue]

"The theme is strong with this one." That needs to be a T-Shirt.

[@FMD-FullMetalDragon]

This is better than watching television. :)

[@avp28]

Sam, Tom, Zee - I love you guys! Your good hearted banter and arguments are a joy to watch (plus I've bought sooo many games after listening to you go on about them...not sure my wife would thank you for that though! :D

[@talon4lifeable]

Zee and Sam Harvest Moon is a video game series themed on farming. About 20 titles in series and its huge in Japan.

[@Sarahmalt]

if you post a top 10 list it always makes my day :)

[@MrRetroGnome]

Also, Tom's mention of games that have multiple paths to victory is a winner. That's what makes cyclades a winner in my book.

[@JaKamps]

Settlers of Catan is another game where you're always involved. Players usually have to pay attention to what's going on during Ticket To Ride & King of Tokyo, maybe even Dominion (a little, depending on the cards used)

[@Nightsorrow1]

With thet 135 aliens (all 4 expansions), thats 346.700.277 combinations (NO repetition) for 5 players. If a group play 4 times a day, its still would take 243.470 years to complete every single combination.

[@Popcornio]

Yellow players, represent!

[@susanjohnson318]

I am yellow, all the way! It's one of my favorite colors (I even look good wearing it) and one of my microbadges on BGG. My husband used to be yellow but now goes for green -- such a sweetie.

[@TheIndieOcean]

I agree on art. The weird, dreamlike art is one of the things I enjoy about Onirim and Urbion. When I played Ascension: Immortal Heroes (I can't speak for other Ascensions) I loved the early Fighting Fantasy style of illustration. That's also one of the reasons Talisman 2nd edition has been a favourite board game of mine for so long. Gary Chalk's art. The man is inspiring.

[@jeremywright4100]

Good comment on struture! That's why the win condition should always imeddiately.

[@JaKamps]

good question about the Magic artwork Tom, that's what I thought of while Sam was talking as well.

[@TonganJedi]

I'm always surprised at how many people waste the time and energy criticizing KZbin videos and don't bother to provide anything constructive. Just move along and watch something else, trolls. No one's forcing you to watch them.

[@Benderwii]

It's time for a compilation of the top10 best Agricola discussions.

[@PerkChops]

I actually like having purple pieces.

[@braydenb1581]

It is nice to meet another Pirple player. You are clearly of the highest culture

[@peterdobiasch1400]

Theme with historical content. Zee: Pirates vs Dinosaurs... i nearly died laughing

[@destrio]

This was a really great topic and great banter to go with. Some designer should attempt to create the perfect game for the 3 of you that has all 10 per person or all 30 things.

[@kristapsrozulejs2682]

I have question, does drafting counts when you want to build for example an axe(card) and it needs two components wood(card) and iron(card), you put them away and take the axe(card), like crafting mechanic, just making a game and looking for any infromaton, great video thou took a lot of tips from here on my notes.

[@sanderdb1]

I still got to try it. Have you tried 'A castle for all seasons'? That's my favorite role selection. It also has some worker placement, a beautiful Menzelboard and although the theme is cliché (building a castle), it's there. I think it's a euro you and Tom might really enjoy.

[@oviaelectronica]

love these videos, please keep them coming!

[@jimsmith7445]

Tom... you're right! I think 3D miniatures really DOES build a great deal of excitement! I'm thinking "Operation Tannhauser", "Memoir 44", and "Battle Cry"... great board, great terrain pieces, and fantastic miniatures. Great boards... specifically... "Letters from White Castle", "Spector Ops", etc.... Zee, I can agree on unique dice, especially colored dice... Fantasy Flight's Star Wars games... especially when you roll different sided dice.

[@jeremywright4100]

Okay here's your mechanic. You can either take a middle of the road result or roll some dice and risk going low or high! Lol brilliant ....love the haughty accent !

[@PurityThruFire]

I grew up next to a large dairy farm, I used to enjoy running around feeding the animals and watching the farmers at work. I have some really great memories of that farm and they stuck with me, enough so that I really enjoy games about farming. Out of all the Dice Tower crew, Sam's negativity really gets to me. Not that he hates on everything, but it seems like he has an awful lot of negative comments about a lot of games.

[@BuzzKirill3D]

YES! Finally! Another top 10! *cries tears of joy*

[@Alluvian567]

I really like games where everyone needs to be there all the time, but that makes games much longer. If you are playing a 5 or 6 player game, then everyone has to completely STOP whenever anyone grabs a soda, or has to go to the bathroom, or gets a work call, etc... This can make a game draw out like crazy.

[@KAM1138a]

"Character Powers" or "Factions" in games really boost the variability and fun for me as well. I think totally symmetrical games are boring by comparison.

[@defaultdefault9090]

ROFLed for like 20 minutes with toms 'surprise'

[@Davord]

"You're hooting like a deranged clown" :D

[@TheGnomeDenial]

I love these shows!!

[@JamesBarrett1981]

Excellent video guys thanks!

[@lpdude72]

Sleeving them would help, but that's my gripe, that i would have to buy an extra component because the base game by itself doesn't work or is somewhat faulty. So for STAW (or any games with cards of that texture i.e. Takenoko) the cards should have been of good quality to begin with so that i don't need to buy sleeves for them.

[@MikeDye86]

I hate most dice rolling in games. There are good ways to utilize it but most the time they aren't used right.

[@philheaton1619]

Sam, you should love Campaigns of North Africa; very Epic.

[@gprosch]

Zee, you are the man! I love linen cards as well.

[@Mackerachi]

As far as the Agricola argument goes, the theme of farming is widely loved. See: Harvest Moon (Spin offs like Rune Factory and Innocent Life) and things like look at the popularity of Farmville. Wow, that grew fast. :P

[@njshaw2]

Sam, your English accent is really quite good. :) Zee, you crack me up. And I agree on piece colour - I have to play green, or I move whoever's playing that colour's pieces.

[@NickSibicky]

One of your best lists!

[@BLindForger]

Very entertaining, keep it up guys!

[@Whisper6911]

i can't wait for the 'top 10 ridiculous reasons for a top 10 list' list.

[@otterbot]

Great show. I agreed with almost everything, but wood > plastic.

[@Sickbrush]

As a board game / card game artist, and also a Dice Tower fan, you guys scare me [in a good way] hahaha i never want to mess up artwork now!!!

[@TimothyDRiel]

If you start watching it as soon as it's available, you catch it while it is still "Processing". KZbin encodes the videos in a way that allows you to watch in several qualities, but it takes time to encode all the levels.

[@CrimeaRiver]

27:56 - Great sound effect!

[@SuperBellicose]

Sam, Agricola's theme is not about farming, it is about life for a peasant in the past thousand years. Life was centered around food production.

[@jjankosky]

Off topic, but what is the song being played during the #10 intro?

[@dabearz27]

Dice tower drinking game: Take a shot every time Tom mentions Agricola, Sam mentioned TI3, and Zee mentions Pandemic.

[@scottishduck88]

Tom must love Robinson Crusoe. I'm pretty sure it has every single one of his top 10 here.

[@susanjohnson318]

I have Robinson Crusoe (because of Tom). I went back and looked at his entire list, because of your comment. And you're right! RC has them all!

[@Gizmovolders]

You don't watch this vids just for their opinions. You got to love the interaction and dissing each other. We have that same interaction in my gaming group and that's why i love this vids!

[@MrRetroGnome]

19:22 The Mortal Kombat impersonation was priceless!

[@Jootie_de_Kop]

About dice... Dice are great! Dice mean gamble, dice mean tention, dice mean risk, dice mean injustice, dice mean hope, dice mean so much more. Dice represent life itself! Long live dice!

[@juanovo89]

11:20 Sam, your brItish accent sounds really impresive XD

[@AgentKuo]

You showed us where you record the individual game reviews, but where do you record these Top 10's with all 3 of you?

[@arimarismacon]

Dice would be number 1 for me. I even own a bunch of just dice rolling games and I really love it when others want to play them with me.

[@MrAVJax]

Totally agree with Zee's number 7, consistent art work. The one that gets me worked up is The Lord of the Rings Coop. Those blinking tokens are a crime and an insult to the rest of the art work.

[@ezezezezujh3EARHG]

From what game is that board we can see when Tom say he likes a board that look cool?

[@scottishduck88]

1 billion seconds is slightly less than 32 years. So yes, people are alive for billions of seconds, Tom.

[@scottishduck88]

Also, Pandemic certainly qualifies. You don't know the combination of cards in the two decks at the start of the game.

[@danielskrivan6921]

3D pieces is part of why 1999 Acquire (with plastic tiles that nest onto the grid squares) goes for 10X more than the current print with cardboard tiles that sit on the grid squares. I agree 100% that 3D pieces can make a difference. Every once in a while, tokens are better (i.e. if stacking on top of each other is required, tokens might be better than 3D objects).

[@ClericID]

That was a hilariously contentious list somehow. Great episode.

[@andyb520]

wait a second...Tom did you give Zee the fungool sign after he said Connect 4? Or is that just coincidental. lol If that was intentional that was brilliant because i don't think anyone noticed it. You guys are great. Losing more sleep watching you guys is totally worth it.

[@williamschneider690]

I'm a guy originally from an agriculture community with farming/ranching background. I also like Coke-Cola. Now when I see the game Agricola, I see Agri (as in agriculture) and cola (as in the aforementioned soda). Why do you and others pronounce it so oddly as "Ah grick ah la?" Just curious.

[@nerode79]

Pirate Role selection? Libertalia?

[@EyalItsik]

Sam, have you tried, by any chance, playing Rune Age with its (not so) new expansion? I think you might like it much more now than you did before.

[@danic3372]

aw no farming games? Harvest moon was one of my favorite video games back in the day. Awesome video though, great inspiration for designing my own board game.

[@NestoreMangone]

You can enable subtitles please?

[@daniellegoldman2064]

Our lists wouldn't be identical but I'm pretty sure mine would be close to identical to Tom's... not sure how I feel about myself now :P. I think it's strange to say Agricola's scoring prevents it from having different strategies to win because it absolutely does. A few -1's won't lose you the game and being afraid to go heavy into one thing or another because you're afraid of those -1's despite your cards making it obvious you can pursue one strategy misses the point of the game entirely...

[@fluffylee]

i love the combos you get in knightmare chess

[@ekbergiw]

19:18 absolutely, this is my beef with Catan

[@acree0684]

Speaking of game surprises, hidden deployments would do this. And a great game right now on kickstarter featuring hidden deployments is Clockwork Wars. Check it out!

[@RavensbladeDX]

You're not the only one Dario. I think Ascension's artwork is quite original and in as much a breath of fresh air within a genre that is weighed down by a lot of cookie cutter style artwork.

[@CopperLontra]

I like the IT crowd reference at the end.

[@eddieb8054]

Game.... Board..... Game... Board.....Board...Game.....lol you two at the end!

[@coffeegremlins]

Including all the expansions there are 196 aliens in Cosmic Encounter. Ignoring incomparable aliens, The total number of 5 player combinations is 2 289 653 184. Additionally there are 2 009 402 703 possible combinations of flair cards for each combination of aliens. Which gives 4.6e+18 possible set-ups for a game of Cosmic Encounter. If Aliens enslaved the human race (7.53 Billion people) and forced us to play all possible combinations of Cosmic Encounter it would take (assuming 1 hour per game) 3 billion hours or (allowing 8 hours a day for sleep) 522 770 years. Which is longer than humans with the ability to play board games have existed. And that only counts 5 player games.