Top 20 Adventure Games (in 5 categories)

Mike ranks some of his favorite adventure games across 5 categories (since "adventure" covers a ton of game types).
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Patreon - / onestop
Podcast - / onestopcoopshop
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0:00 - Introduction
0:38 - Crawler Adventures
3:48 - Crisis Adventures
6:28 - Survival Adventures
9:47 - Card Play Adventures
12:35 - Exploration Adventures

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Scroll down for full list of games: Crawler Adventures: 4 - Stuffed Fables 3 - Resident Evil 1 2 - Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition 1 - Agemonia Crisis Adventures: 4 - Return to Dark Tower 3 - Tamashii: Chronicles of Ascend 2 - Dungeon Degenerates 1 - Eldritch Horror Survival Adventures: 4 - Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island 3 - The 7th Continent 2 - Unsettled 1 - Paleo Card Play Adventures: 4 - Roll Player Adventures 3 - Earthborn Rangers 2 - Mage Knight 1 - Arkham LCG Exploration Adventures: 4 - Sleeping Gods 3 - ISS Vanguard 2 - Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin 1 - The 7th Citadel

[@Valen-D]

Great list of games.. The Hexplore It series of games are my favorite adventure games out there.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I only played a single game of volume 1, and I didn’t enjoy it much. I’d like to give it another go, especially with the new campaign books

[@crushingit5128]

Was lil surprised Isofarian Guard didn't make it on the list since it fits perfectly into the adventure genre and has a high rating. But I can imagine Mike is holding off from playing it till 1.5 comes out.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

They never sent it to me, so there's currently no way for me to play it or review it :) But I have a feeling it wouldn't be a top game for my personal tastes anyway, since I hear there is a good amount of grinding

[@philthephreak]

Supposedly they fixed that in the 1.5 update. Which I backed. 😊 Can’t wait!

[@veitus]

WOW!!! Great Video...this show me that adventure games are also one of my favorite category in this wonderful boardgame world :)

[@EricLebigot]

Runebound 3rd edition is another notable adventure game, with repaylable scenarios and a rich leveling up (through varied and powerful abilities). I'd say that most of the scenarios fall into the Crisis category.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I always preferred 2nd edition to 3rd personally, but 3rd was great with the solo/coop expansion. It’s a bummer that it’s so impossible to find cheaply though :(

[@GeekGamers01]

A video that’s actually caused me to think differently about my games. Love the categories.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

That’s awesome to hear. Thanks!

[@AtrusDesign]

I am glad to have several of them!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Which ones are your faves?

[@stogrady]

Great video! Thanks for this.

[@Jason-xs5ux]

Great lists thank you!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Great video, Mike. Good list and selections.

[@moo2k4]

I'd probably have found a way to fit Nemesis Lockdown on to either the crawler or survival list, but great stuff all the way around!

[@biglew031]

Agemonia is amazing so far. Definitely one of the top games I’ve played this year!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Glad you are enjoying it too!

[@musicmax5296]

Thanks Mike. Great video !

[@siriactuallysara]

A game I would add for adventure is Vampire the masquerade chapters. The game is a big adventure. Similar to agemonia with a lot happening during each scenario and you have a lot of ways to solve problems. It’s pretty great. (Just use the eratta)

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Your last point is my main fear for this one. Many people on our discord who played it said all the errors were super distracting.

[@moeheep]

Just Added several more to my wish list…..hate to tell you, Mike, you’re not wifey’s favorite person right now….

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Sorry!!!

[@ALDRO88]

Very nice list

[@andrethannhauser6302]

Medium to heavy adventure games is what I would call my favorite board game genre, even more than medium to heavy eurogames. Of course, more and more great games are kind of hybrids as I think people get bored of just chucking dice.

[@jessyjkn]

Love the list! I'm particularly focused on the card play adventures category. I absolutely adore the arkham horror lcg game. Have you played the latest Hemlock Vale expansion? If so, do you have thoughts on it? Thanks!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I haven’t yet! With all the shakeups in asmodee lately I lost my contact there, but I’ll try to pick it up at some point

[@michaelpalmer3521]

You got some of my favorites up there Eldritch Horror being my #1 game. RE1 is a fantastic crawl that I've had up for a while. RPA is a chill choose your own adventure game. You had Maximum Apocalypse on the collage for the survival but didn't make it. I really love that one; great card play, dozen or so characters with specific decks, dozen or so Apocalypse themes with different angles and Scenerios. Each Apocalypse has 3 or more Episodes with a loosely connected story. Wasted Wilds updates the system to 2.0 and makes it even easier to table.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I liked wasted wilds’ upgrade a ton. Max apoc would be in my top 10 for the cardplay focused category, but not my top 3

[@Ready_to_play_by_marco]

Great Video, cool Games ❤️

[@elikurtz729]

Greatly enjoyed your list Mike :D Thank you! The world built around Agemonia is simply amazing and totally wowed me :D Also looking forward to Kings of Ruin and Tamashii. Need to wait for the langauge versions to be shipped though ^^ Earthborne Rangers is a marvel of card design and world building as is 7th Citadel. Unsettled has increadible variety (only played 3 sessions sofar) Love all the sometimes crazy ideas that make the planets feel lived in. It is mostly a puzzle though ^^ Would so love to try Dungeon Degenerates ... it sounds right up my alley. I would almost consider co-op Lost Ruins of Arnak - The missing Expedition an adventure. We had tremendous fun playing it. What a great way to mix up a Euro ^^ Not sure if Cthulhu Death May Die would fit. This is my #1 quick adventure best at 5 players ^^. Really love that we finish a game in about 2hrs and wins/ losses always feel so tight ^^ My survival game of choice would currently be Kingdom Death Monster (even if it fits too many categories :P ) Our Dungeon Crawls at 3 are currently Frost-/Gloomhaven and Massive Darkness II in campaign mode. (MDII is really well done in campaign mode and feels satisfyingly Diablo-esque)

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Great additional game suggestions. I love death may die too. Though there isn’t really exploration… well maybe in some scenarios. Categorizing is hard!

[@siriactuallysara]

I love agemonia. 7th citadel is a great game. The sequel kicks the originals butt.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I really like 7th continent, but I also fully agree with you :)

[@kevinerskine3299]

Thanks Mike. Love the list and format. I'll have to look into Agemonia, I keep looking at Unsettled. I saa someone had it for trade with planets 001 and 002. I really didn't know what that meant as far as replayability. Any thoughts. Do you need more planets? I just traded for ISS Vanguard.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

So each planet has 3 scenarios, and I’d say you can play each scenario 2-3 times before you might find it too repetitive. So 2 planets is looking at maybe 10-15 plays. Hope that helps!

[@kevinerskine3299]

@@OneStopCoopShop Thanks. It does.

[@stefanstenke4594]

Great video, lot of my favourites as well! Like you, the point I play ISS the less I'm liking the dice play. I'd replace it with Etherfield, because the worlds your exploring are just so different and fantastical

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I have a copy I bought used, still unplayed! One day I’ll have time 😅

[@dsarrazin]

Fun interesting video as always. Many games that I would like to get from your list (most of them are outside my budget :-). Of the games that I've played that I think fall into the adventure style and that you don't mention, I would say that my favourite would be The Rise of Fenris expansion for Scythe. I don't know where it would fit in your categories (and technically, it's an expansion) but I really enjoyed that one. I thought it was very well made and fun to go through.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Rise of Fenris was great, but yeah I wouldn't personally call it an adventure game. It has some scenarios that are more adventure-ish, but it's still mainly an empire-building skirmish game (like regular Scythe) to me. Thanks for watching!

[@dsarrazin]

@@OneStopCoopShop Fenris has an interesting fun story and development, but yeah, it really is just a coating over Scythe. In terms of Crawler adventure games that don't focus on combat, I would think that (of the games that I own), Star Wars Outer Rims might potentially count. I've soured a bit on the game since it is a bit of a pain to get to the table and a bit long to play for what it is, but still nice (particularly with the expansion which lets you have two automa/AIs to go against). It is mainly exploration and doing missions, with some occasional combat. It might better fit your last category, or this one, I'm not sure (if it fits at all). For the crisis management adventure game, I would think that Dawn of the Zeds would count in that category? I really enjoy this game although I find it somewhat swingy at times (a couple of bad cards have sometimes made me loose rather suddenly and unexpectantly, but it is still a lot of fun for me still). I don't have any survival adventure games. The only one that I had was 7th continent which I thought was kinda boring. Paleo, though, is on my wish list to eventually buy. Wouldn't Frostpunk also fall into this category? Of the card games adventures, Earthborne Ranger is also on my wishlist (I have to cull some games first ;-). Both Mage Knight and Arkham Horror are both top 10 games for me so great choices there. I don't know if Nemo's War would fit in this category but it's one that I own and enjoy. I've also enjoyed Destinies (I don't own it anymore), but to be honest, not so much for the story but more because I thought that the mechanics was very fun and interesting. I guess it might fit in your exploration category. What about your latest crowdfunding game (Flame & Fang) -- would that fall into any of these categories?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@dsarrazin great choices! Outer rim for me is pick up and deliver, which could have been its own whole category. Flame & fang would best fit the card category, but I don’t have a big enough ego to say it’s better than mage knight 😜

[@nihlify]

Remember that a lot of these games, while expensive, have many hours of play through a campaign and some with good replayability as well.

[@dsarrazin]

​@@nihlify I'm not criticizing the cost -- I just can't convince myself to spend that much on a game. As a reviewer, I assume that Mike gets most of these for free but I know that lots of people buy them (otherwise the company would not be making them). It's just too pricey for me. There are many games with a lower cost that have tons of replayability (albeit fewer miniatures usually) such as Scythe or Spirit Island (of course, games like Arkham Horror TCG still cost a lot but the money is spent over time as a bunch of separate optional scenarios so I guess I don't mind that so much). Mind you, there are some games are overproduced (for example, I wish that Foundations of Rome had a version with polyomino tiles and such at a more reasonable cost, with the miniatures available as an expansion). Personally, I wish that most games with miniatures came with a cheaper non-deluxe version using standees (which I personally find often look better anyway). Again, I think having these huge epic expensive games are great (at least when the game is good), but I just can't really buy those and wish that there were cheaper version of them available.

[@Deltium5683]

I believe this list should definitely include HexploreIt and Oathsworn.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Oathsworn and other boss battlers are so heavily focused on combat that they don’t feel like full adventure games to me, though to be fair the narrative half of Oathsworn does fit some categories. I love that game regardless

[@jcapo5]

I'm really digging nova aetas renaissance. Such a great package of gameplay and adventure. There's so much possibility on customizing and branching paths.

[@joonaskinni6012]

Agemonia is an amazing game! Grab one if you find any in stock anywhere!

[@ulyssescastillo4689]

thanks. been waiting for something like this. I have exactly half of these, so this gives me something to look forward to. I need to look at 7th Citadel more. I skipped it b/c of 7th continent.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

You might want to listen to our recent podcast episode on the game. Peter didn’t like 7th Continent at all, and we compare the two games in more depth

[@athragan]

I fully agree with your thoughts on ISS Vanguard. 7th Citadel is amazing, and I love how easy it is to remember the rules. One of my favourite games is Familiar Tales, and the voice acting, and the music makes it even better. Mansions of Madness is my group's all time favourite. It's noteworthy how they made every scenario feel different. I like Role Player Adventures, but it's not that good with too many people. Tainted Grail is indeed a bit too grindy. 7th Continent is a bit too long even for my taste. One of my friends got traumatized by it xD Maybe it's just me, but in Earth Borne Rangers everything felt the same, and most of the times I didn't have much of a choice on how to do skill checks. I still need to try to play it more. I've tried Arkham Horror the card game, but I failed the first game right away, and got so frustrated by the mechanics, that I packed it up right after that, and never played it again. I just got Agemonia, so no thoughts on that one, but from what I've seen online, it looks fun. My no.1 adventure game is still Time Stories. Sadly I don't like the system of the second series as much as the first one. Eila and something shiny also gave me a great, unforgetable experience as well.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I enjoyed original time stories quite a bit too, but all the missions I’ve tried for the new releases have been a letdown :(

[@siriactuallysara]

I haven’t had a chance to play a couple of these yet that I have. Like Robinson curusoe Iss vanguard Resident evil.

[@Kentchangar]

Interesting list of 5 Dungeon Crawlers and 15 Adventure games. 😁

[@OneStopCoopShop]

That’s why I made them their own category ;)

[@Quincy_Morris]

Yeah people don’t seem to understand that medieval fantasy isn’t the adventure genre. Adventure is about globetrotting and treasure hunting.

[@TheDungeonDive]

@@Quincy_Morrisadventure games can be set in any setting or time period. Medieval fantasy would just be one such setting or period in which an adventure game can be set.

[@gidiyaniv82]

Have you tried vetran mode in distant skies?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I haven’t tried it, but I looked over it. The new combat makes things exciting, but maybe roughly balanced. Running out of time and limits on ability cards should help with power leveling. But it doesn’t address getting and recharging a billion adventure cards, which was my biggest issue.

[@stevejones9967]

You might also like Machina Arcana. I really do.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I had some interest in it, but I watched the video we have on the channel (Bairnt's I think?), and didn't enjoy a lot of the fiddly bits I saw in the play. But if I ever see it at a convention I'll try to give it a go!

[@medchem30]

If you were to take off Awaken Realms games, which games would take their places?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I might replace Tamaashi with Runebound 2nd edition, my personal favorite of that series. For exploration, I might replace tainted grail and ISS Vanguard with… hm, I’m not sure. Some of the other category choices also have great exploration: agemonia, mansions of madness, etc

[@andrethannhauser6302]

My favorites are: 1. Crawler Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion. (But I still have Sword & Sorcery unplayed, so we will see) 2. Crisis Eldritch Horror 3. Survival This War of Mine OR Dawn of the Zeds (can't decide) 4. Cards Arkham Horror LCG (my #1 game of all time) BUT I highly recommend Aventuria Adventure Card game I really like Mage Knight, but I don't put it here because somehow this doenst feel like a card game, even though well all you for actions is playing cards. ;-) 5. Exploration ...so I'm gonna slightly cheat and put Mage Knight here. It doenst have a real story, but you do explore the map. As a story-driven game I would add Fallout incl the Atomic Bond expansion

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I didn’t think to include Dawn of the zeds, but you’re right it’s a great one!

[@ObeliskM]

Curious what are other card play adventures that did not fit in your top?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Lord of the Rings LCG, Heroes of Terrinoth/warhammer quest ACG, Pathfinder ACG, to name a few

[@ErmacFellwalker]

My favourite genre and for the longest time, it was seriously slim pickings. No love for Euthia? One I'm yet to try personally but it looks great

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I’ve never played it. Heard pretty good things though

[@user-jt1jf5en5u]

I thought Isofarian Guard will be in this list. Well just thinking. Great list.

[@Christian-cy2pn]

I liked the concept but ultimately it was too much traversing and grinding for me. I played the 1.edition though,heard the 2.nd edition kinda fixed this.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Haven’t played it myself, so no way I could include it. But I’ve heard positive things about

[@yadayadayada]

Oh yeah, Isofarian Guard deserves to be on this list. It's the closest to a true Skyrim in board game format. Incredible experience.

[@mithrandir510]

I've Agemonia - Tamshii - x - Earthborn/Mage/Arkham - (SG distant skies)/ISS/KoR/7th Citadel

[@jorgemontero7905]

No Tales from the red dragon inn?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Like I said in the video, for dungeon crawlers I only focused on ones with a lot of exploration. Red dragon Inn is entirely focused on combat, so it didn’t fit the focus of the list

[@jorgemontero7905]

@@OneStopCoopShop you're right. My bad :D

[@arcubal]

I love this. 100%. Well...maybe with your '3' (actually 2) of crawlers. Love that game, it's Top 5 material for me, period. Like of ALL games. So, imagine my disappointment that you had no imagery to go along with that entry 😅🤔😔 So, Love this. 98% 😉

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Mansions? Yeah that one is a super fun thematic adventure each time

[@harmarize]

A great survival adventure solo game is Friday.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Good one for sure, though I played it too much and now don’t enjoy it a ton.

[@user-bh1rm1rk8x]

Some great adventure games you should try if you haven't Fortune and Glory - pretty much the ultimate adventure game it's basically Indiana Jones the board game Touch of Evil- great horror themed adventure game with great theme imo Isofarian Guard - best game to just have on your table and play 30- 60 plus minutes a night. Everything you do advances your goals somehow so the "grind" didn't bother me Star wars outer rim - I'd consider it adventure although can see others not agreeing with me Fallen Land- by far the best post apocalyptic adventure game with insane amounts of rand events and loot with one of the best rulebooks I've ever read. Hexplore it- like Mike I didn't really enjoy it first time I played it but second edition and the addition of art on the monster cards got me back into it and after watching a playthrough on KZbin it's become a favorite. The adventure books Are Amazing as well I have yet to play kinfire Chronicles but it looks great Agemonia and 7th citadel are fantastic of course

[@OneStopCoopShop]

F&G - My buddy has it. I know it's super random and very long, though, so I'm hesitant. ToE - Used to play it back in the day. Great theme and fun! IG - I'm a bit scared of the grind. Outer Rim - This would fit well into a 6th category, pick up and deliver, along with a lot of pirate games and such. I didn't love it though. Fallen Land - I've heard this is great! Hexplore it - Yeah, I need to try this again. Kinfire - I should have a review coming soonish. It's good, but not top tier for me personally.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Fallen Land is a masterpiece!

[@user-bh1rm1rk8x]

You're welcome 😂

[@coreyjohnston6185]

KEEP MY WHAT FILLED?!? 😂

[@OneStopCoopShop]

What did I say!? 😬😬😬

[@denisloebner4882]

the AHlcg is hands down my favorite game but when i am thinking about adventure id definitely throw Secrets of the Lost Tomb in there as well. Now i know that that game is ugly as &/$?%, i just hope that the epic edition that is currently in development will fix that. Also in the encounter-then exploration/story rythm games i wonder if you had a chance to delve into pericle, gathering darkness and/or kinfire chronicles?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I have a review of kinfire coming later this week. I haven’t gotten to play any of the others you mentioned.

[@denisloebner4882]

@@OneStopCoopShop oh interesting, looking forward to your review. i think secrets of the lost tomb could be a real gem for you. full of quirky creative ideas and emergent stories.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@denisloebner4882 I watched one of Colin’s old plays from the channel when the new campaign lost. I’ll be honest that it seemed a bit too random and silly to me 😅😅

[@denisloebner4882]

@@OneStopCoopShop thats true. id say on a level with the amazing dungeon degenerates in regards to its sillyness; the mishmash of tones that can happen do fit with the general narrative though as the tomb is some kind of time traveler.

[@olegyd]

hmmm 7 Citadel better then King of Ruin? why?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Watch my review of each :)

[@Quincy_Morris]

Wow people will really call anything “adventure” Adventure means going on a journey to gain a treasure or explore a region in the era after 1492 and before the future, but especially in the early 1900s If it’s medieval then it’s not adventure

[@FrancoisLandryCorbin]

You seem to have a very narrow definition of adventure, which for you seem limited to the age of discovey / age of exploration. For me it's more like BGG state it : "Adventure games often have themes of heroism, exploration, and puzzle-solving. The storyline behind such games often have fantastical elements, and involve the characters in some sort of quest."

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Yeah, like Francois I’m not really sure what you are taking about, but define things however you like for yourself 😅

[@BericD]

So Homer's Odyssey one of the most well known and genre defining stories of the Western adventure genre isn't "adventure" because it takes place before 1492? I'll have to respectfully disagree, but you do you I guess.

[@TheDungeonDive]

lol. What an absolutely wild thing to think.

[@AtrusDesign]

In my real life I think I had several adventures, no one of them was to find treasures, and I am also quite sure in all ages there were adventures. I like your definition of adventure, but I think there is more in that word!