I hear you on the introvert situation. It took me a long time to finally take the step to join a (small) gaming group, and it turned out to be a great group of people. We played weekly, and also threw in some marathon weekend sessions now and then, and it was awesome. Then the pandemic hit, and during that, a few of the members moved away. So now, anything that isn't solo is difficult to table for me.
Yeah it can be hard but I do really want to push myself to find some more gaming friends! Maybe find some local groups to join. 😊 We will see! And dang, I hope you find another group or reconnect to some to met before!
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!! As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
We have two rules with new games. We always play them twice back to back because the first time playing you are just trying to figure things out. The second rule is that the first win doesn't "count" so you can just try things...but after that it is full on battle! This lets us get a good sense if we like the game or not since we explored the mechanics in the first game, but then tried the game normally in the second game.
Those are great rules! I would totally agree with you on the second rule but one first plays I usually win (usually the only times 😂) so I would like those plays to count. LOL! But seriously great rules and I totally agree!
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!! As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
Between 2 castles is at its most competitive at 3 since all players effect all players. At 6 players depending on who you sit next to you could lose before the game has started since there is an entire set of 3 players that you have no effect on
Jenna, as a fellow introvert, I just want to say you do a fantastic job talking through these videos, and I know it's different being face to face with people, but your kindness shines through and puts others at ease. Watching your videos sort of feels like a Zoom call with a good friend. 🙂
This comment just made me tear up! 🥺💕 thank you so much Gurn! That’s my ultimate goal. To create a comfortable vibe that just makes it feel like a chat with a friend.
@@TheBoardGameGarden You've absolutely nailed that vibe since Day 1. Your original channel found it's way into my feed when you started doing board game content, and I subscribed immediately. And as long as we're friends who are chatting, I should mention that my real name is Dan. (No worries at all if you don't remember that) "Gurn Blanston" is a very old reference to a bit of standup comedy from Steve Martin, way back when that was what he was famous for. 😂
Alchemists is soooo good. And I think the word you were thinking about is logic deduction. But I agree, you really need to understand how two alchemicals mix with each other and the outcomes. The rule book does a good job.
Very much recommend Jaws of the Lion. It's very good at easing you into the heavier game concepts of Gloomhaven. However, both of these are just like committing to a D&D campaign. You need a group of dedicated players to get the most out of them.
great video Jenna!! how serendipitous I was watching this and then heard Alex and I at the end :) I highly recommend grabbing Jaws of the Lion, it's shorter, the intro is much better to ease you into the rules and some things are cut out to make it more digestible. Please ask me any Gloomy questions you ever have
Awh thank you so much Meg! 🥰 That's hilarious! I do think it would make it easier to move into full Gloomhaven eventually if we started with JOTL! I've only heard good thing about it. And oohhh thank you for the recommendations. I'll have to look into both of those! Stuffed Fables does look adorable. I believe it is from the same publisher as Familiar Tales. 😊
I highly recommend you to prepare a hard game with some time in advance, in order to avoid situations like you with Bitoku. For example, I bought Kanban three years ago, just because I like the theme, but until this summer I never tried to put it on the table with my friends. The point is, if you prepare a game well enough you can handle any game I think (Kanban, Gaia Project, On Mars, Dominant Species...). To finish the comment I would like to say Chakra is a little gem, easy to learn but hard to master, and Alchemists is just a masterpiece (it is in my personal top ten).
Some games are just too complicated, fiddly and/or cumbersome to table often unless you commit to playing them consecutively and they have to be quite good to make that worth it. In a few years you’ll be committing more than one entire room to board game shelving and looking at tons of dusty games you haven’t played. ❤️ Id like to try Between two Castles.
HAHA! Oh boy! I'm not sure what other rooms I can fill with board games in our house! 😂 And yeah! Between Two Castles is one I would love to try as well! Looks fun!
New subscriber from a couple weeks ago. I use to stick to SUSD and Dice Tower and Rodney Smith and BBG gang... But you bring such a different angle, and so easy and pleasant to listen to! Great job! :)
Thanks for the interesting video! Hope you're able to table some of the games you mentioned soon! As for me, I've got a lot of games in my collection that I have trouble tabling, but three that immediately come to mind are: 1. Anachrony: A very heavy, complex Euro that's intimidating to teach to new players. 2. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition: Finding a minimum of two other people willing to spend well over four hours learning and playing a heavy strategy game is a major challenge...still haven't gotten this one to the table since buying it. 😭 3. Heroes of Land, Air, & Sea: Overall on the simpler side as far as 4X games go imo...except that the combat system is way too fiddly for its own good. I've seriously considered trying to come up with house rules to streamline the combat because it's the most annoying part of the game to learn, teach, and play imo.
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it interesting! 😊 And yeah all three of those games scare me. I hope you can get them tabled soon, they all look amazing!
When we got Alchemists we were a bit bummed that it needed an app, was our first boardgame with app. It worked really well however and after a few plays the mechanics just clicked and making notes on the scoring cards were much more logical. We discover plant properties, right down the results on our card and crossing out everything that could not have the same combination. Reminded me a bit of Mastermind and I like the puzzling aspect. Really recommend a few more plays 🙂
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!! As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
ah i totally agree on games with an 3+ player count! I really think they could be adjusted for 2 (forgotten waters) I also see what you mean for between two castles-I actually haven't played games with strangers at ALL yet hahaha because I feel like that's such an intimate experience and there's a lot of brain energy required to read other people and see if they're ok with taking tiles/making agreements...IDK! I'm stressed just thinking about it hahah so I totally get you there Jenna! P.S. the last one on your list is one I really really really wished i had a dedicated group for! It looks so fun to work through with a group of friends~
Yeah I did look after and Forgotten Waters I think has a 2 player variant and solo as well! And I'm glad you can relate! We a few groups of board game friends but I think I would only feel 100% comfortable playing that type of game with one of those groups and family. Even then sometimes I just don't feel like making decisions with other people you know? 😂 I just want to pick the rooms on my own, thank you. Yeah it does interest me for sure and I think Francis would be so happy if I played it with him. 😂
@@TheBoardGameGarden We play Forgotten Waters two player only. You just control three players each and take three actions each. It’s no huge adaption. In fact the adaption is more complicated when you play three players because you have the “masked pirate”.
Great idea for a video. Very interesting set of games. Only one I am familiar with is Maracaibo. At least you have gotten it to the table. Everyone slammed Great Western Trail after Maracaibo came out. I know eventually, I will probably have the same viewpoint as the others. Maracaibo’s theme is more to my liking, but GWT is so clean and easy to play. I dunno. The deck building and the rondel are incredible. Your descriptions of all the other games definitely make me hesitate to even want to try. Getting a game to the table is important. I loved a game called Dominant Species. The game is quite brutal and a bit lengthy, but for me it was a nice tactical brain burn. Played only once, it never hit the table after a year. And it definitely isn’t solo oriented. I often avoid games of that nature now. Along with co-ops. Pandemic was terrible for us. Thanks for the show.
3:47 But the first thing which I would do after I have a bad experience with a game is check the rulebook, to make sure that I was playing it correctly. After that, I would try giving it another try.
Great vid! I've also got Gloomhaven sitting on the shelf of shame. I tried a couple of years ago with my then 8y son, who understood how to play, thought it was fine, but didn't care to play more. My partner wasn't able to at the time commit to such a big game, so its sat on the shelf since. We since played through My City and Charterstone, both of which covered the campaign/legacy style game I was keen to do. I also played through MicroMacro with my son, which he loved. Jaws of the Lion might be a gateway to Gloomhaven for us in the future, though we're currently playing through King's Dilemma at the moment. Loved your list, lots of outside of the pop list games!
Have only played Wonderland’s War once, and I really want to get it back to the table!!! Also your introvertedness is so relatable, it really made me feel seen 😅
Hi, love your videos. I am newish to the hobby of board games. I have a membership with our local shop and I can rent games there. I have been playing many of your recommendations for solo games. I just bought Castles of Burgundy and for Christmas I asked for Cascadia, Hadrian's Wall, and Gloomhaven, hopefully the hubby gets me one! Gloomhaven would be the biggest one I have taken on yet but everything I have read about the creation of this game makes me want to play it even more. Cascadia was amazing when I rented it. I loved cartographers, thank you for that one, addicting!
@@TheBoardGameGarden Trickerion is a superbly thematic game and extremely heavy Euro. Lots of components to setup, rules are complex and strategy depth is quite insane. Personally it's the most daunting game I own and I'm mainly a heavy Euro fan so :)
I can HUGELY recommend Jaws of the Lion --- my oldest and smallest friend and I play this after we'd each played a chunk of GH core. The setup is absurdly fast in comparison and while the story is linear, the missions themselves are more interesting than most GH ones.
Great video, Jenna! I am a HUGE fan of Maracaibo but I also find that game hard to get to the table... and the setup time is fairly substantial, too! It can be played as a campaign/narrative game although the story is pretty weak and it plays really well on just the basic/intro scenario! I do love that game, though--I'll have to try to get it played again sometime soon! ⚓
I've invested in storage containers that make set up of all games much faster. I do not regret the money I spent!!! I even put lists of how many of each type of container (I mainly use Stonemaier ones) and what to put in which ones. Sliced my set up by half!
Thank you so much Dave! 😊 Yeah it does take quite a bit to set up too! I think it would help if we invested in an insert for it! Right now it is just a bunch of bags which is painful. LOL.
@@TheBoardGameGarden Maracaibo is one of my most played games, but yeah, the setup is a beast. To be honest, I don't even see how containers would really help since the three worst things (in my opinion) are the nation influence cubes, the ship discs, and the cards. For the first two, they have to be placed manually so bag or container, it's a "fun" little dexterity game BEFORE the game. :) The cards are even worse since you have to separate the white and tan/brown rope decks so you can deal tan cards to each player then you have to shuffle 40 random white cards back into the tan deck. For me, it's all worth it since I love the game, but I always start Maracaibo setup with a big sigh.
@@TheBoardGameGarden A designated insert for Maracaibo is almost essential! It would help a LOT with the setup, I'm sure! I actually bought some plastic jewelry containers from Amazon back in the day and I found one that is the perfect size for Maracaibo! It holds all the fiddly bits and speeds up the setup time! Had I known I'd end up playing it as much as I have, I probably would have spent the money for a more legit insert but mine works pretty well! ☺
Not a board game, but one of the games I find the hardest to table is Werewolves. You need a pretty big player count for that one. Edit: I’m further into the video now, I think most of the tabling issues Werewolves has are the same as Deception (they’re very similar in concept)
I've soloed jaws of the lion to mission 5 prior to my son being born. Actually while my girlfriend was in hospital and i wasn't allowed to stay during the waiting time. I played the whole evening through. Then I went to bed and 45 minutes later I had to rush to the hospital. Since then it stayed untouched because I have no spare time left. :) It's gonna get tabled again in the future. Guess I have to relearn it tho.
Bitoku's issue is its atrociously written rulebook. It tries to do too many things together. Teaching it is a pain but its not as complicated as it looks. The single player has taken me longer to do than a 2 player version. The theme is so good but the developers really dropped the ball with it.
Yeah the rulebook is a lot. We typically learn through how to play videos but at the time of us learning it a few months back there weren’t any great how to play videos up either! It was difficult. I think once we play it a few more times we will be confident enough to teach it. Maybe instead of playing the solo variant I'll just play it two handed.
Maracaibo has a campaign and it's awesome. It works solo, it works two players and I love it. I know it's a matter of taste but I disagree on the rules overhead, setup can be long-ish but it's very satisfying game. Have you tried Boonlake?
Good to know! It is really great. 😊 I want to do more of the campaign for sure. The set up is pretty long. I totally forgot to mention that because that is most likely another reason it is hard to us to table. And I have not tried Boonlake! It looks fantastic! We love Great Western Trail by Alexander Pfister as well so I'm sure Boonlake would be a hit.
I had a similar experience with Maracaibo. I bought it, learned it and then put it away for 6months. When I brought it out I remembered almost nothing from my first play. I then played through the campaign, and now the rules are in my head, but it took quite a few games to get there. I really like some of the new game tiles, and recently added in the expansion.
Yeah I think the main thing we need to work on is just getting these games we have really enjoyed to the table a bit more! I think once we do that the game rules will be in our brains permanently and they will be easier to table. 😊👍🏻
Two words for heavy games with lots of rules: player aids! There are great ones out there for a lot of games, and usually the most popular ones have pro-looking ones like for Maracaibo (check out ACTION_ANDY's). I always print, not double-sided, and insert both sheets (usually for longer games there are 2 to 3 pages) in a sheet protector with a medium heavy cardstock paper in-between so that it holds itself better and I can flip it over as I need to review certain specific rules instead of going through the whole rulebook. Saves tons of time, energy and brain space! Plus you can make some for other gamer friends if they know their way around games but don't know the one you are playing by heart. Perks: good player aids often list all (and I mean all) icons and symbols which somehow the designers missed or thought we didn't need but totally do (I'm especially looking at you Garphill Games! :) Good aids will also compound the rules for expansions in a different section or colour so you know to use or skip it depending if you are using it.
I've played Chakra once on BGA, and I remember not liking it much We have been having a difficult time getting to play Anno 1800, other games just keep getting prioritized over it
I usually cull games that are hard to table. Some of my favorites are Inis and Kemet which aren't a good fit for people who dont like board games with conflict. Also CO2 has stayed because it's good solo, otherwise it's a tricky teach and people who like Lacerda games don't usually like Co-op games.
Cool video, and such an important topic to explore, for gamers as well as designers and publishers: what is it that prevents a game from getting to the table? Also, side note: we are constantly honored to see our little baby, Seize the Bean, sitting behind you on your set.
That is so true! 😊👍🏻 great topic to discuss throughout the entire community and industry. And always so much love for Seize The Bean! It’s my spirit animal (spirit board game? Lol) at this point! 🤣
It might be worth looking into the expansion for Between Two Castles, Secrets and Soirees, which introduces a two player variant and two solo modes. I won't guarantee it'd be worth it for you, I haven't played the 2-player variant, but it sounds like it loses some of the 'magic' that would be appealing about having a higher player count. It was an essential pick-up for me though, as a solo player, and I enjoyed that aspect
OH DANG! Yeah I think I need that expansion! Especially because I've been getting more and more into solo gaming recently. Thank you! It is such a fun game with a ton of players I agree but I think personally I would enjoy it just as much or more by myself or just with Francis and I. 😊👍🏻
At the end of the day, I have to be very choosy on games if the play count is 4+. Games will get tabled a lot if the have solo, and will hit the table decently often if you can play 2-3. But the sad fact is that a game that requires 4 or more might only see the table once a year at holiday time (and we all know how difficult the past few years have been for gatherings). Also... Games that spread out too much on the table tend not to get tabled. Chaos is stressful, especially when you have a smallish table haha
Yeah. I am really hoping it starts to get easier to play games with bigger groups again soon! I hear people talking about having gaming groups and getting together on a weekly basis and I'm so jealous of that. Just having more opportunities to play games that wouldn't normally get tabled would be really nice.
25:23 As for myself, a variant would have to be an official variant for me to play it - that way I know that it would be tested or endorsed by the game’s creator.
I got Jaws of the Lion, organized all the pieces and never played it because haven't found anyone to play it with me and to play it solo means playing dual handed. I have other games that I'd like to give attention to. You all can have my copy! 🎁
@@TheBoardGameGarden I'm in Florida and if I'm not mistaken you all are in Canada? Regardless if shipping is too horrible I'd still like to make a contribution to the channel. Have you thought of using Patreon or something of the sort?
@@anthonium. you are so kind. Seriously thank you! 🥺😊 Email me at jennabeasley04@gmail.com if you would like! And I have been recently looking into Patreon more actually! I think it would be a fantastic way to build the community more and allow people to support what I am doing if they have the means. 💕
The trick to getting these games to the table may be to stop buying new games. But then does that mean not playing the games we already have is really a guilt we feel rather than a desire?
After three games of Gloomhaven fizzled out with three different gaming groups, with between four and eleven game sessions each, I discovered FOLKLORE provides all the fun of Gloomhaven but with more staying power: easy setup; more varied conflicts/combat sessions; creative leveling-up; 'dead' players aren't out of the rest of the game session; 'failing' still propels the game forward. Folklore. Luv it.
Lol nothing like a dusty game to let you know it’s tough to table 🤣 Deception Murder in Hong Kong is sooo good but soooo hard to get to the table because of player count, so sad! We’ll have to play it together someday! 💜
🤣👏🏻 I’m ashamed. I need to take care of my babies better. What kind of board game mother am I? And YES! Would love to solve some murders with you guys! 💕
been eyeballin Gloomhaven quite a few times, but felt it would be hard to table and with the pricetag I decided not to get it. I have the digital version on my Steam wishlist and will try it out that way when a nice sale comes along
Yeah for sure! I've never been super pushed towards trying those just because they are quite heavy but some of them intrigue me for sure! Recently Septima from Mindclash! OHH I'm excited to try that one eventually! And Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar! Hoping to eventually move into more of those!
I totally agree with Gloomhaven, my kids and I love the game, but it has been awhile since we have played because it takes so long to set up. I also find Dinosaur World had to table because of how big it is. Usually we play on card tables I have to set up and I need to use all three of them lol (This is also another problem for Gloomhaven).
I think I'd be scared to have to learn all the rules of Bitoku. Seems pretty tough to get into. Also for 3 player games I tend to avoid them most of the time unless I'm sure mom will play it too or if I can convince someone.
In the US I have heard table to mean to postpone. But in British English it means to present, which is sort of the opposite. Learn something new every day!
Have you ever played Forbidden Stars? I'm about to get this game to play 2 player, but I imagine it's going to be tricky getting 3 or 4 players cause it's a long game from what I hear. I'll be worth it getting for 2 player matches anyway and I canno wait.
Lignum. 💀. i got it used , looked at the 20 soming page rule book... and was like well shit. Beem dodging learning it lol. New angeles as well is hard to able as well cause of player count and its mainly a political game.
Ugh, my husband and I checked out Spirit Island from the library, and we won our first game (with the lightning spirit and earth guardian spirit), but we tried multiple times with the other two starters yesterday and couldn’t win. I tried to play with him one more time last night, but he immediately couldn’t keep track of what was going on, and we gave up for the day as I didn’t have the cognitive energy to think for both of us anymore. We’ll see if we ever play it again or just return it to the library. It makes me sad, because I think it would be really fun to play… but the learning curve might be too high for my husband to have fun playing it.
Interestingly, I almost find campaign games easier to table. I take a dedicated time to play through the whole thing and then I "know" that is the game I want to play next.
Weirdly it’s Unmatched for me. My wife and gaming buddy aren’t big fans of it, and I only know one other person is my playgroup who actively enjoys it and 2p games don’t get played much in the group so 3-4p Unmatched is unlikely. Doesn’t help that it’s also a pain to transport if you have more than a couple sets. I rarely bring it to my group these days since I can use the bag space for a couple more Euros or other games more likely to be played in my group.
Totally understand why you are "scared" to dive deeper into Gloomhaven, the size of the box alone is so intimidating. My copy is in shrink since 3 years. I guess it will stay like that forever, and will eventually leave my collection probably sooner than later. Also I did not like Jaws of the Lion, but that's just me, not really a fan of dungeon crawlers.
Yeah ultimately I think dungeon crawlers aren’t really my thing either. I think the building of the characters is really the thing that is making me want to give Gloomhaven a chance. We will see! 😊👍🏻
I think Gloomhaven is really overrated! I got it and was soooo excited and have played maybe 4 scenarios and have not touched it for 7 months😢 It is also not cheap and I feel like it is too unnecessarily bulky
HAHA! Seize The Bean came with 2 very thick rulebooks and I was so scared! Thankfully it is just because each customer group works a bit different and they have quite a few little added modules.
Board games that are hard to get to the table must go. Board games that have no solo and you can’t play with your boyfriend must go. There is zero point in holding on to them. They stare at you accusingly.
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!! As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
I hear you on the introvert situation. It took me a long time to finally take the step to join a (small) gaming group, and it turned out to be a great group of people. We played weekly, and also threw in some marathon weekend sessions now and then, and it was awesome. Then the pandemic hit, and during that, a few of the members moved away. So now, anything that isn't solo is difficult to table for me.
Yeah it can be hard but I do really want to push myself to find some more gaming friends! Maybe find some local groups to join. 😊 We will see! And dang, I hope you find another group or reconnect to some to met before!
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!!
As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
We have two rules with new games. We always play them twice back to back because the first time playing you are just trying to figure things out. The second rule is that the first win doesn't "count" so you can just try things...but after that it is full on battle!
This lets us get a good sense if we like the game or not since we explored the mechanics in the first game, but then tried the game normally in the second game.
Those are great rules! I would totally agree with you on the second rule but one first plays I usually win (usually the only times 😂) so I would like those plays to count. LOL! But seriously great rules and I totally agree!
Great rule! We typically do new games back to back as well!
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!!
As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
Between 2 castles is at its most competitive at 3 since all players effect all players. At 6 players depending on who you sit next to you could lose before the game has started since there is an entire set of 3 players that you have no effect on
Jenna, as a fellow introvert, I just want to say you do a fantastic job talking through these videos, and I know it's different being face to face with people, but your kindness shines through and puts others at ease. Watching your videos sort of feels like a Zoom call with a good friend. 🙂
This comment just made me tear up! 🥺💕 thank you so much Gurn! That’s my ultimate goal. To create a comfortable vibe that just makes it feel like a chat with a friend.
@@TheBoardGameGarden You've absolutely nailed that vibe since Day 1. Your original channel found it's way into my feed when you started doing board game content, and I subscribed immediately. And as long as we're friends who are chatting, I should mention that my real name is Dan. (No worries at all if you don't remember that) "Gurn Blanston" is a very old reference to a bit of standup comedy from Steve Martin, way back when that was what he was famous for. 😂
Been watching for a little while and just subscribed. Thanks for your helpful vids!
Thank you so much Seth! 😊
My group loves deception! Usually we have at least 5, but you are right that the more is the merrier.
Alchemists is soooo good. And I think the word you were thinking about is logic deduction. But I agree, you really need to understand how two alchemicals mix with each other and the outcomes. The rule book does a good job.
That is it! Hate social deduction but LOVE logic deduction! 🥰👏🏻 Yeah thankfully the rulebook for Alchemists is good and helps out well along the way.
Jaws of the lion is great and the book for sure helps. But definitely give it a try again.
I definitely will! 😊
Very much recommend Jaws of the Lion. It's very good at easing you into the heavier game concepts of Gloomhaven. However, both of these are just like committing to a D&D campaign. You need a group of dedicated players to get the most out of them.
great video Jenna!! how serendipitous I was watching this and then heard Alex and I at the end :) I highly recommend grabbing Jaws of the Lion, it's shorter, the intro is much better to ease you into the rules and some things are cut out to make it more digestible. Please ask me any Gloomy questions you ever have
Awh thank you so much Meg! 🥰 That's hilarious! I do think it would make it easier to move into full Gloomhaven eventually if we started with JOTL! I've only heard good thing about it. And oohhh thank you for the recommendations. I'll have to look into both of those! Stuffed Fables does look adorable. I believe it is from the same publisher as Familiar Tales. 😊
I highly recommend you to prepare a hard game with some time in advance, in order to avoid situations like you with Bitoku. For example, I bought Kanban three years ago, just because I like the theme, but until this summer I never tried to put it on the table with my friends. The point is, if you prepare a game well enough you can handle any game I think (Kanban, Gaia Project, On Mars, Dominant Species...). To finish the comment I would like to say Chakra is a little gem, easy to learn but hard to master, and Alchemists is just a masterpiece (it is in my personal top ten).
Some games are just too complicated, fiddly and/or cumbersome to table often unless you commit to playing them consecutively and they have to be quite good to make that worth it.
In a few years you’ll be committing more than one entire room to board game shelving and looking at tons of dusty games you haven’t played. ❤️
Id like to try Between two Castles.
HAHA! Oh boy! I'm not sure what other rooms I can fill with board games in our house! 😂 And yeah! Between Two Castles is one I would love to try as well! Looks fun!
Yeah…David Turczi solo modes are like learning a whole separate game sometimes. I love is solo modes, but Bitoku’s board alone scared me off
New subscriber from a couple weeks ago. I use to stick to SUSD and Dice Tower and Rodney Smith and BBG gang... But you bring such a different angle, and so easy and pleasant to listen to! Great job! :)
Thanks for the interesting video! Hope you're able to table some of the games you mentioned soon!
As for me, I've got a lot of games in my collection that I have trouble tabling, but three that immediately come to mind are:
1. Anachrony: A very heavy, complex Euro that's intimidating to teach to new players.
2. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition: Finding a minimum of two other people willing to spend well over four hours learning and playing a heavy strategy game is a major challenge...still haven't gotten this one to the table since buying it. 😭
3. Heroes of Land, Air, & Sea: Overall on the simpler side as far as 4X games go imo...except that the combat system is way too fiddly for its own good. I've seriously considered trying to come up with house rules to streamline the combat because it's the most annoying part of the game to learn, teach, and play imo.
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it interesting! 😊 And yeah all three of those games scare me. I hope you can get them tabled soon, they all look amazing!
When we got Alchemists we were a bit bummed that it needed an app, was our first boardgame with app.
It worked really well however and after a few plays the mechanics just clicked and making notes on the scoring cards were much more logical.
We discover plant properties, right down the results on our card and crossing out everything that could not have the same combination.
Reminded me a bit of Mastermind and I like the puzzling aspect.
Really recommend a few more plays 🙂
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!!
As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
Found your channel last night and love the content! Great stuff 🙂
So I just discovered your page. I am enjoying this content. Super chill and relaxing board game talks.
ah i totally agree on games with an 3+ player count! I really think they could be adjusted for 2 (forgotten waters)
I also see what you mean for between two castles-I actually haven't played games with strangers at ALL yet hahaha because I feel like that's such an intimate experience and there's a lot of brain energy required to read other people and see if they're ok with taking tiles/making agreements...IDK! I'm stressed just thinking about it hahah so I totally get you there Jenna!
P.S. the last one on your list is one I really really really wished i had a dedicated group for! It looks so fun to work through with a group of friends~
Yeah I did look after and Forgotten Waters I think has a 2 player variant and solo as well!
And I'm glad you can relate! We a few groups of board game friends but I think I would only feel 100% comfortable playing that type of game with one of those groups and family. Even then sometimes I just don't feel like making decisions with other people you know? 😂 I just want to pick the rooms on my own, thank you.
Yeah it does interest me for sure and I think Francis would be so happy if I played it with him. 😂
@@TheBoardGameGarden We play Forgotten Waters two player only. You just control three players each and take three actions each. It’s no huge adaption. In fact the adaption is more complicated when you play three players because you have the “masked pirate”.
Great idea for a video. Very interesting set of games. Only one I am familiar with is Maracaibo. At least you have gotten it to the table. Everyone slammed Great Western Trail after Maracaibo came out. I know eventually, I will probably have the same viewpoint as the others. Maracaibo’s theme is more to my liking, but GWT is so clean and easy to play. I dunno. The deck building and the rondel are incredible.
Your descriptions of all the other games definitely make me hesitate to even want to try. Getting a game to the table is important. I loved a game called Dominant Species. The game is quite brutal and a bit lengthy, but for me it was a nice tactical brain burn. Played only once, it never hit the table after a year. And it definitely isn’t solo oriented. I often avoid games of that nature now. Along with co-ops. Pandemic was terrible for us. Thanks for the show.
3:47 But the first thing which I would do after I have a bad experience with a game is check the rulebook, to make sure that I was playing it correctly. After that, I would try giving it another try.
Great vid!
I've also got Gloomhaven sitting on the shelf of shame. I tried a couple of years ago with my then 8y son, who understood how to play, thought it was fine, but didn't care to play more. My partner wasn't able to at the time commit to such a big game, so its sat on the shelf since.
We since played through My City and Charterstone, both of which covered the campaign/legacy style game I was keen to do. I also played through MicroMacro with my son, which he loved.
Jaws of the Lion might be a gateway to Gloomhaven for us in the future, though we're currently playing through King's Dilemma at the moment.
Loved your list, lots of outside of the pop list games!
Have only played Wonderland’s War once, and I really want to get it back to the table!!! Also your introvertedness is so relatable, it really made me feel seen 😅
Hi, love your videos. I am newish to the hobby of board games. I have a membership with our local shop and I can rent games there. I have been playing many of your recommendations for solo games. I just bought Castles of Burgundy and for Christmas I asked for Cascadia, Hadrian's Wall, and Gloomhaven, hopefully the hubby gets me one! Gloomhaven would be the biggest one I have taken on yet but everything I have read about the creation of this game makes me want to play it even more. Cascadia was amazing when I rented it. I loved cartographers, thank you for that one, addicting!
I feel the same about Bitoku. Absolutely love it, need to get it played more. Others for me are Trismegistus, Trickerion and Feudum.
Ahh, Feudum. Loved that game, top 3 for me. Ultimately sold it because nobody could see the forest through the trees. That and it was a bear to teach.
Ohhhh Trickerion is one I've been recently interested in! Why is it difficult to table? Tricky rules?
@@TheBoardGameGarden yeah. Rules teach, table space, complexity.
@@TheBoardGameGarden Trickerion is a superbly thematic game and extremely heavy Euro. Lots of components to setup, rules are complex and strategy depth is quite insane. Personally it's the most daunting game I own and I'm mainly a heavy Euro fan so :)
At this point with my group or lack thereof every game is a hard to table game 🤣
I can HUGELY recommend Jaws of the Lion --- my oldest and smallest friend and I play this after we'd each played a chunk of GH core. The setup is absurdly fast in comparison and while the story is linear, the missions themselves are more interesting than most GH ones.
Just found your channel. Love it!
I am the first time on this channel. After this video, I instantly subscribed 😃
Awh! Thank you so much! Welcome to the garden! 😊
Great video, Jenna! I am a HUGE fan of Maracaibo but I also find that game hard to get to the table... and the setup time is fairly substantial, too! It can be played as a campaign/narrative game although the story is pretty weak and it plays really well on just the basic/intro scenario! I do love that game, though--I'll have to try to get it played again sometime soon! ⚓
I've invested in storage containers that make set up of all games much faster. I do not regret the money I spent!!! I even put lists of how many of each type of container (I mainly use Stonemaier ones) and what to put in which ones. Sliced my set up by half!
Thank you so much Dave! 😊 Yeah it does take quite a bit to set up too! I think it would help if we invested in an insert for it! Right now it is just a bunch of bags which is painful. LOL.
@@TheBoardGameGarden Maracaibo is one of my most played games, but yeah, the setup is a beast. To be honest, I don't even see how containers would really help since the three worst things (in my opinion) are the nation influence cubes, the ship discs, and the cards. For the first two, they have to be placed manually so bag or container, it's a "fun" little dexterity game BEFORE the game. :) The cards are even worse since you have to separate the white and tan/brown rope decks so you can deal tan cards to each player then you have to shuffle 40 random white cards back into the tan deck. For me, it's all worth it since I love the game, but I always start Maracaibo setup with a big sigh.
@@TheBoardGameGarden A designated insert for Maracaibo is almost essential! It would help a LOT with the setup, I'm sure! I actually bought some plastic jewelry containers from Amazon back in the day and I found one that is the perfect size for Maracaibo! It holds all the fiddly bits and speeds up the setup time! Had I known I'd end up playing it as much as I have, I probably would have spent the money for a more legit insert but mine works pretty well! ☺
Not a board game, but one of the games I find the hardest to table is Werewolves. You need a pretty big player count for that one.
Edit: I’m further into the video now, I think most of the tabling issues Werewolves has are the same as Deception (they’re very similar in concept)
I've soloed jaws of the lion to mission 5 prior to my son being born. Actually while my girlfriend was in hospital and i wasn't allowed to stay during the waiting time. I played the whole evening through. Then I went to bed and 45 minutes later I had to rush to the hospital. Since then it stayed untouched because I have no spare time left. :) It's gonna get tabled again in the future. Guess I have to relearn it tho.
My wife and I feel the same about Alchemists. We keep wanting to play it with some our friends but are intimidated to try and teach it.
Alchemists is great, but it's a real brain burner! I can only play it so often 😅
YES! Once every 4-6 months at most. 😂
Bitoku's issue is its atrociously written rulebook. It tries to do too many things together. Teaching it is a pain but its not as complicated as it looks. The single player has taken me longer to do than a 2 player version. The theme is so good but the developers really dropped the ball with it.
Yeah the rulebook is a lot. We typically learn through how to play videos but at the time of us learning it a few months back there weren’t any great how to play videos up either! It was difficult. I think once we play it a few more times we will be confident enough to teach it. Maybe instead of playing the solo variant I'll just play it two handed.
Maracaibo has a campaign and it's awesome. It works solo, it works two players and I love it. I know it's a matter of taste but I disagree on the rules overhead, setup can be long-ish but it's very satisfying game. Have you tried Boonlake?
Good to know! It is really great. 😊 I want to do more of the campaign for sure. The set up is pretty long. I totally forgot to mention that because that is most likely another reason it is hard to us to table. And I have not tried Boonlake! It looks fantastic! We love Great Western Trail by Alexander Pfister as well so I'm sure Boonlake would be a hit.
I had a similar experience with Maracaibo. I bought it, learned it and then put it away for 6months. When I brought it out I remembered almost nothing from my first play. I then played through the campaign, and now the rules are in my head, but it took quite a few games to get there. I really like some of the new game tiles, and recently added in the expansion.
Yeah I think the main thing we need to work on is just getting these games we have really enjoyed to the table a bit more! I think once we do that the game rules will be in our brains permanently and they will be easier to table. 😊👍🏻
I enjoy seeing you appear on my timeline, fine enough.
Two words for heavy games with lots of rules: player aids! There are great ones out there for a lot of games, and usually the most popular ones have pro-looking ones like for Maracaibo (check out ACTION_ANDY's). I always print, not double-sided, and insert both sheets (usually for longer games there are 2 to 3 pages) in a sheet protector with a medium heavy cardstock paper in-between so that it holds itself better and I can flip it over as I need to review certain specific rules instead of going through the whole rulebook. Saves tons of time, energy and brain space! Plus you can make some for other gamer friends if they know their way around games but don't know the one you are playing by heart. Perks: good player aids often list all (and I mean all) icons and symbols which somehow the designers missed or thought we didn't need but totally do (I'm especially looking at you Garphill Games! :) Good aids will also compound the rules for expansions in a different section or colour so you know to use or skip it depending if you are using it.
VERY TRUE! We love a good player aid! I didn't think to look for fan made player aids! 👏🏻
I've played Chakra once on BGA, and I remember not liking it much
We have been having a difficult time getting to play Anno 1800, other games just keep getting prioritized over it
I usually cull games that are hard to table. Some of my favorites are Inis and Kemet which aren't a good fit for people who dont like board games with conflict. Also CO2 has stayed because it's good solo, otherwise it's a tricky teach and people who like Lacerda games don't usually like Co-op games.
Cool video, and such an important topic to explore, for gamers as well as designers and publishers: what is it that prevents a game from getting to the table?
Also, side note: we are constantly honored to see our little baby, Seize the Bean, sitting behind you on your set.
That is so true! 😊👍🏻 great topic to discuss throughout the entire community and industry. And always so much love for Seize The Bean! It’s my spirit animal (spirit board game? Lol) at this point! 🤣
It might be worth looking into the expansion for Between Two Castles, Secrets and Soirees, which introduces a two player variant and two solo modes. I won't guarantee it'd be worth it for you, I haven't played the 2-player variant, but it sounds like it loses some of the 'magic' that would be appealing about having a higher player count. It was an essential pick-up for me though, as a solo player, and I enjoyed that aspect
OH DANG! Yeah I think I need that expansion! Especially because I've been getting more and more into solo gaming recently. Thank you! It is such a fun game with a ton of players I agree but I think personally I would enjoy it just as much or more by myself or just with Francis and I. 😊👍🏻
At the end of the day, I have to be very choosy on games if the play count is 4+. Games will get tabled a lot if the have solo, and will hit the table decently often if you can play 2-3. But the sad fact is that a game that requires 4 or more might only see the table once a year at holiday time (and we all know how difficult the past few years have been for gatherings). Also... Games that spread out too much on the table tend not to get tabled. Chaos is stressful, especially when you have a smallish table haha
Yeah. I am really hoping it starts to get easier to play games with bigger groups again soon! I hear people talking about having gaming groups and getting together on a weekly basis and I'm so jealous of that. Just having more opportunities to play games that wouldn't normally get tabled would be really nice.
25:23 As for myself, a variant would have to be an official variant for me to play it - that way I know that it would be tested or endorsed by the game’s creator.
I got Jaws of the Lion, organized all the pieces and never played it because haven't found anyone to play it with me and to play it solo means playing dual handed. I have other games that I'd like to give attention to. You all can have my copy! 🎁
Awh thank you so much for the offer Antonio! 🥰 Where are you located? I'm just worried about the shipping being expensive.
@@TheBoardGameGarden I'm in Florida and if I'm not mistaken you all are in Canada? Regardless if shipping is too horrible I'd still like to make a contribution to the channel. Have you thought of using Patreon or something of the sort?
@@anthonium. you are so kind. Seriously thank you! 🥺😊 Email me at jennabeasley04@gmail.com if you would like! And I have been recently looking into Patreon more actually! I think it would be a fantastic way to build the community more and allow people to support what I am doing if they have the means. 💕
Gloomhaven is SO GOOD... and it's hard to table.
Alchemists is sheer brilliance. But yes the laws of alchemy are arcane :)
The trick to getting these games to the table may be to stop buying new games. But then does that mean not playing the games we already have is really a guilt we feel rather than a desire?
After three games of Gloomhaven fizzled out with three different gaming groups, with between four and eleven game sessions each, I discovered FOLKLORE provides all the fun of Gloomhaven but with more staying power: easy setup; more varied conflicts/combat sessions; creative leveling-up; 'dead' players aren't out of the rest of the game session; 'failing' still propels the game forward. Folklore. Luv it.
Ohhh I’ll have to look into Folklore! Thanks! It sounds great!
Lol nothing like a dusty game to let you know it’s tough to table 🤣 Deception Murder in Hong Kong is sooo good but soooo hard to get to the table because of player count, so sad! We’ll have to play it together someday! 💜
🤣👏🏻 I’m ashamed. I need to take care of my babies better. What kind of board game mother am I? And YES! Would love to solve some murders with you guys! 💕
I was waiting for Spirit Island, but I think I have o lot to learn
i know that the feel to be on the table is awesome but maybe for gloomhaven, could you try the digital version!
been eyeballin Gloomhaven quite a few times, but felt it would be hard to table and with the pricetag I decided not to get it.
I have the digital version on my Steam wishlist and will try it out that way when a nice sale comes along
Hearing what you said about Maracaibo and Bitoku, you prob would also find it hard to table Mage Knight and games from Mindclash, Lacerda, T series.
Yeah for sure! I've never been super pushed towards trying those just because they are quite heavy but some of them intrigue me for sure! Recently Septima from Mindclash! OHH I'm excited to try that one eventually! And Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar! Hoping to eventually move into more of those!
Heavy games need time. If you like Maracaibo you should try something a bit more challenging. I recommend Kanban EV that also has a great solo mode
Kanban EV has been on our wishlist. Definitely the Lacerda game we want to try the most! 😊👍🏻
I totally agree with Gloomhaven, my kids and I love the game, but it has been awhile since we have played because it takes so long to set up. I also find Dinosaur World had to table because of how big it is. Usually we play on card tables I have to set up and I need to use all three of them lol (This is also another problem for Gloomhaven).
Dinosaur World is one I would LOVE but I have heard it is hard to table solely on the amount of space it takes up on the table. 🥲
Hahaha Jaws of the Lion was my first adult boardgame. Try playing the digital version of Gloomhaven. It's great and quite true to the boardgame.
I think I'd be scared to have to learn all the rules of Bitoku. Seems pretty tough to get into. Also for 3 player games I tend to avoid them most of the time unless I'm sure mom will play it too or if I can convince someone.
In the US I have heard table to mean to postpone. But in British English it means to present, which is sort of the opposite. Learn something new every day!
I got anxiety both times I put BItoku out on the table. I love the art but have yet to actually play it.
I love how you use the word “table” as a verb.
Every time I feel like playing Maracaibo…. I play Jamaica instead, which is much easier and faster…. A bit like a fastfood version of Maracaibo😅
OHHH good to know! I'll have to look into Jamaica! Thank you! 😊
Have you ever played Forbidden Stars? I'm about to get this game to play 2 player, but I imagine it's going to be tricky getting 3 or 4 players cause it's a long game from what I hear. I'll be worth it getting for 2 player matches anyway and I canno wait.
I have not but I have heard of it! It looks good! I hope you can get it to the table! 👏🏻
Lignum. 💀. i got it used , looked at the 20 soming page rule book... and was like well shit. Beem dodging learning it lol. New angeles as well is hard to able as well cause of player count and its mainly a political game.
For me it is unfortunately Spirit Island. Don't really know why... I LOVE this game. I guess it is because there are too many options.
Imo Maracaibo is a campaign game. I am pretty sure the scenarios build up and depend on the previous ones.
Ugh, my husband and I checked out Spirit Island from the library, and we won our first game (with the lightning spirit and earth guardian spirit), but we tried multiple times with the other two starters yesterday and couldn’t win. I tried to play with him one more time last night, but he immediately couldn’t keep track of what was going on, and we gave up for the day as I didn’t have the cognitive energy to think for both of us anymore. We’ll see if we ever play it again or just return it to the library. It makes me sad, because I think it would be really fun to play… but the learning curve might be too high for my husband to have fun playing it.
Hippocrates: a table eater 😅😅
Interestingly, I almost find campaign games easier to table. I take a dedicated time to play through the whole thing and then I "know" that is the game I want to play next.
Weirdly it’s Unmatched for me. My wife and gaming buddy aren’t big fans of it, and I only know one other person is my playgroup who actively enjoys it and 2p games don’t get played much in the group so 3-4p Unmatched is unlikely. Doesn’t help that it’s also a pain to transport if you have more than a couple sets. I rarely bring it to my group these days since I can use the bag space for a couple more Euros or other games more likely to be played in my group.
Jenna, I see a crescent moon neon light to your right behind you on the wall. Might that be a triple moon light? Just curious.
No it's not! Just one moon on its own. Love it so much! 🥰🌙
Scythe...
Totally understand why you are "scared" to dive deeper into Gloomhaven, the size of the box alone is so intimidating. My copy is in shrink since 3 years. I guess it will stay like that forever, and will eventually leave my collection probably sooner than later. Also I did not like Jaws of the Lion, but that's just me, not really a fan of dungeon crawlers.
Yeah ultimately I think dungeon crawlers aren’t really my thing either. I think the building of the characters is really the thing that is making me want to give Gloomhaven a chance. We will see! 😊👍🏻
With cost of housing, the future promises smaller tables. With smaller families, player count will be an issue.
Hard to table? That's easy (see what I did there): Root, Western Legends, Ark Nova, Endless Winter, After the Empire. Yeah I'm new.
I think Gloomhaven is really overrated! I got it and was soooo excited and have played maybe 4 scenarios and have not touched it for 7 months😢 It is also not cheap and I feel like it is too unnecessarily bulky
generally when a game comes with 2 rule books , im scared 😧
HAHA! Seize The Bean came with 2 very thick rulebooks and I was so scared! Thankfully it is just because each customer group works a bit different and they have quite a few little added modules.
@@TheBoardGameGarden lol, u know the fear . xD # 2 rule book fear
Board games that are hard to get to the table must go.
Board games that have no solo and you can’t play with your boyfriend must go.
There is zero point in holding on to them. They stare at you accusingly.
Deception needs 6 people minimum imo! It becomes a fantastic game at that point.
You can get away with four and five if you don’t use the witness or accomplice. But yeah, I also prefer six or more.
You’ll always be Board Dances with Rose to me…..
This video should be renamed 10 games we will never play again so we are giving them away!
🤣🤣🤣
Liked hanging out with you.
I really don’t like Alchemists. feels like I am doing homework 📚.
its the only modern boardgame I refuse to play.
😂 that is very true.
DO NOT PLAY ON THIS SITE!!!
As soon as you become the best player in any game, you are immediately given a ban without explanation. Just so others have a chance to be the best too. The administration ignores all the problems!
subbed... STOP YELLING AT ME ;-)
OMG you are so cute. Sorry. had to say it.