I had a Board Game Mechanic. My worker placement just wasn't working. He said he'd fix it. He worked on it for 2 full weeks, until I got it back to try it again! In the end, the worker placement wasn't fixed. I tried and tried. So, I'd rank my mechanic on the bottom. He's absolutely the worst person to hire to fix things - at least worker placement. Or maybe that's too complex for him. Maybe you'd have better luck with him on some simple maintenance items - like dice rolling.
I can sort out your problem: your game did not win the "Best worker placement deathmatch" and was therefore burnt to the ground. No mechanic can help you there.
Even though it's still only your lower ranked mechanics, I'm still really enjoying this series! With every mechanic you describe, I mentally go through my collection and think "oh yeah, that game has that too", so I really felt engaged throughout.
Just a thought, but you mentioned a couple times how mechanics mesh well together, and I think that would make for a great followup series. Take your top 25 or 50 mechanics and find games in your collection that have 3 or more of them. It would be an opportunity to discuss why the mechanics mesh or play off each other well and how it contributes to your enjoyment of the game.
My favorite "catch the leader" mechanic is in Food Chain Magnate. It's called the "Ketchup Mechanism" and can actually be used as a "win more" mechanic, the exact opposite of a "catch the leader" mechanic.
I absolutely love roleplaying and acting! ...outside of board games. In tabletop RPGs (where it has roleplay-focused mechanics that help roleplaying), or in some other form of media or activity (where the roleplaying is just freeform, up to you, and an added bonus rather than an inherent part), roleplaying is absolutely wonderful. But the way it's there in board games comes across to me as a combination of needlessly limited (moreso than video games and MUCH moreso than tabletop RPGs), much more focused on the mechanical growth of a character than their personal or narrative growth, and typically not *all that* different from many other RPG-y board games overall.
The catch-up discussion was my favorite of this video, or at least was the most thought provoking for me. I can understand the "get gud" argument against catch-up mechanics, as I do think for some there is a satisfaction in finally triumphing over a good opponent, or a difficult game, without any assistance. I just played Attack on Titan yesterday for the first time, and lost before the 4th archenemy titan was even revealed... and I wasn't even playing with the Titans on Attack cards... I can see that the game is pushing me to adapt and develop my strategy to be successful, and putting some sort of catch-up mechanism would be detrimental. I can tell already I'm going to enjoy repeat plays to hopefully "get gud". However, in the context of a game night, if a competitive game doesn't have some element that keeps all the players feeling like they have a chance at the win, to me, removes some of the tension that can keep a game fun and engaging, and can possibly even sour an evening. Especially those who have not played a wide variety of games, seeing a runaway leader can be quite deflating. Now with equally matched/experienced players, catch-up mechanics can seem frustrating or unnecessary, but I think it adds a timing dimension by allowing the players to game that mechanic.
Another response that is entirely too long. Please take that as a positive comment on the series. Really fun to watch. Command cards are an integral element of many games I like. In the Richard Borg games (Battle Cry, Memoir '44, Commands and Colors, Red Alert), managing your hand of cards (which we know is one of the worst mechanics ever, of course) is really interesting, if often also really frustrating. I love games that do map addition well. That experience of exploration and optimizing the changing environment is really enjoyable to me. Aside: If I prick you, do you bleed? Really? I mostly agree about Tug of War, but the multi-sided tug of war in Credo, where you're trying to get your preferred version of the Ten Commandments through the council of Nicaea is actually both interesting and fun. GDW's "En Garde" uses an action queue mechanic for it's dueling game. Since each action in a duel takes time to execute and since it's impossible to stop a lunge once you commit to it, it's a fun mechanic. And one of the big advantages of a better duelist is the ability to shorten his own queue, so he has a better ability to react. The Imperial Favor in the L5R card game is an example of a very thematic advantage token. It's gained each turn by petitioning the Emperor when your family has the highest honor and then has a variety of ways it can be used. Since gaining honor is done to some extent at the expense of other choices and requires using a character action (that is then not available later), it's an interesting strategic choice to make. Later versions of the game reduced the effect of this token, which I consider a detriment. (Kind of the opposite of looking for a game with an advantage token, but there you go. And now we reach the part of the list where you are far too generous. 8-) Rock-Paper-Scissors should be much, much lower. If you want a random result, flip a coin. We hates it. That said, circular advantage can be an interesting mechanic that I hate much less. It's just the RPS mechanic specifically that I despise. Not a fan of any sort of dexterity boardgame, whether piece removal, stacking, or flicking. I don't know why that's different for me than (say) darts or basketball, or pool, but it is. I like movement points because of their association with simulation games. It's a pretty elegant mechanic where it's appropriate. Note that if you use an area board with non-regular cells, you can simulate this by using smaller cells where movement is more difficult, or oblong cells where movement is more difficult in one direction than another. But that can have other effects if movement and (say) logistics or resource collection are not particularly related. I'd rather have an expectation of resignation when you're too far behind to catch up than an explicit catch-up mechanic. Why should players be penalized for doing well early on or be rewarded for doing poorly? Even though I don't like Settlers, it's not because of the Pieces as Map mechanic, which gives you variability, if only in the starting condition. I like it even more when you're adding map pieces as in LotR Journeys in the Dark. I think it's actually a very good mechanic for the same reasons as I like map addition. I really dislike taking loans in games, to my detriment when playing games often. Which is to say I think it can be a good mechanic, but I dislike it anyway. Which sounds like about where you are. The closest to single loser in a game that I like is something like Hearts. Where the game ends when one player gets too many points, but the remaining players are rank ordered by points, so it's not quite the same. I enjoy programmed movement, even where it's more complex than it is in RoboRally. It's a core mechanic in an old SPI game called "Sniper!", where you have to plot the movement of each of your guys every turn. Some people find this tedious, but I really enjoy the reveal. And of course there's always "Diplomacy", which has a very bad reputation, but there's a reason it's been around for decades and is still popular among its aficianados. Even though I've played a lot of chess, I don't much care for patterned movement. I really dislike flicking. And I've been a roleplayer for more than 45 years, from which you can infer my opinions. 8-)
I'm thrilled by the response and I love hearing about it! Yeah, everyone's going to have a different scale of things, I just think it's fun to nerd out and think about the nuts and bolts of the thing, so I love hearing about other people thinking about them too :)
In Edward Scissorhands, they refer to it as "Scissors, Paper, Rock" and I know why they do it, but every single time I think, _"Who talks like that??"_
I'm looking forward for more of this. Thanks for the video. Isn't Gloomhaven something using command cards, or is it a different mechanic? Physical games were fun for me when I was young, but all of those mechanics would rank over 100 for me, too, today. Btw., no favor for advantage token here.
I don't think so-I believe command cards are activating one of several characters based on the card played, rather than activating a particular power on your one character. Undaunted comes to mind for command cards.
Loans are the worst! I always avoid them if possible. Although I'm curious, would corruption (like in Lords of Waterdeep) be considered a loan mechanic? You have to either work to pay it back or pay for it in points. Both leave that same nasty feeling.
if you want a good/elegant tug of war game, Watergate is so good! For Loans: Brass Birmingham, or Anachrony you get something from yourself in the future, and have to give it back later, or it causes a time paradox, and also you get victory points
I guess that's true with Anachrony, it is a really integral part of your engine, and you directly do get points for doing the loans. That's a great example. I haven't played Brass Birmingham yet (which my phone wants to auto correct to Brad's Birmingham haha), but one of my neighbors has it and I've told him I may show up at any point in time, any middle of the night and he'll have to wake up and teach me haha
I need to go rank the mechanics too. I’m curious to see what I would find as my top 10. Pretty sure deck building would be high up. Not to be confused with one of the worst mechanics, deck construction! 🤮
Hahha, yeah someone else brought that up below too, I didn't even make the connection but it's a great example. I absolutely love Anachrony, even though I've only played it once. It is so so good.
@@RoomandBoardReviews I agree as well, why would anyone rank this that low? Thats why I hate the bgg/community rating of stuff they don't understand what is really best and just go after the hype and Shiney Bahh... Grow your own taste already people 😋
So I may have a spoiler for your number 1. Having Maggie around with those Devilish DICE means the shirt swap mechanic is clearly number 1. It can’t be anything else. Stop the ranking now. We’ve figured out number 1! Wait… does this fall into “physical removal”… shoooooot, this list needs to be revised! You messed up! Physical removal can’t be this low! Nooooo! Quick, take this video down before Maggie sees! 😰
I had a Board Game Mechanic. My worker placement just wasn't working. He said he'd fix it. He worked on it for 2 full weeks, until I got it back to try it again! In the end, the worker placement wasn't fixed. I tried and tried. So, I'd rank my mechanic on the bottom. He's absolutely the worst person to hire to fix things - at least worker placement. Or maybe that's too complex for him. Maybe you'd have better luck with him on some simple maintenance items - like dice rolling.
Haha, yeah sounds like you need a new mechanic!
I can sort out your problem: your game did not win the "Best worker placement deathmatch" and was therefore burnt to the ground. No mechanic can help you there.
Even though it's still only your lower ranked mechanics, I'm still really enjoying this series! With every mechanic you describe, I mentally go through my collection and think "oh yeah, that game has that too", so I really felt engaged throughout.
Just a thought, but you mentioned a couple times how mechanics mesh well together, and I think that would make for a great followup series. Take your top 25 or 50 mechanics and find games in your collection that have 3 or more of them. It would be an opportunity to discuss why the mechanics mesh or play off each other well and how it contributes to your enjoyment of the game.
My favorite "catch the leader" mechanic is in Food Chain Magnate. It's called the "Ketchup Mechanism" and can actually be used as a "win more" mechanic, the exact opposite of a "catch the leader" mechanic.
I absolutely love roleplaying and acting! ...outside of board games.
In tabletop RPGs (where it has roleplay-focused mechanics that help roleplaying), or in some other form of media or activity (where the roleplaying is just freeform, up to you, and an added bonus rather than an inherent part), roleplaying is absolutely wonderful. But the way it's there in board games comes across to me as a combination of needlessly limited (moreso than video games and MUCH moreso than tabletop RPGs), much more focused on the mechanical growth of a character than their personal or narrative growth, and typically not *all that* different from many other RPG-y board games overall.
The catch-up discussion was my favorite of this video, or at least was the most thought provoking for me.
I can understand the "get gud" argument against catch-up mechanics, as I do think for some there is a satisfaction in finally triumphing over a good opponent, or a difficult game, without any assistance. I just played Attack on Titan yesterday for the first time, and lost before the 4th archenemy titan was even revealed... and I wasn't even playing with the Titans on Attack cards... I can see that the game is pushing me to adapt and develop my strategy to be successful, and putting some sort of catch-up mechanism would be detrimental. I can tell already I'm going to enjoy repeat plays to hopefully "get gud".
However, in the context of a game night, if a competitive game doesn't have some element that keeps all the players feeling like they have a chance at the win, to me, removes some of the tension that can keep a game fun and engaging, and can possibly even sour an evening. Especially those who have not played a wide variety of games, seeing a runaway leader can be quite deflating. Now with equally matched/experienced players, catch-up mechanics can seem frustrating or unnecessary, but I think it adds a timing dimension by allowing the players to game that mechanic.
Another response that is entirely too long. Please take that as a positive comment on the series. Really fun to watch.
Command cards are an integral element of many games I like. In the Richard Borg games (Battle Cry, Memoir '44, Commands and Colors, Red Alert), managing your hand of cards (which we know is one of the worst mechanics ever, of course) is really interesting, if often also really frustrating.
I love games that do map addition well. That experience of exploration and optimizing the changing environment is really enjoyable to me.
Aside: If I prick you, do you bleed? Really?
I mostly agree about Tug of War, but the multi-sided tug of war in Credo, where you're trying to get your preferred version of the Ten Commandments through the council of Nicaea is actually both interesting and fun.
GDW's "En Garde" uses an action queue mechanic for it's dueling game. Since each action in a duel takes time to execute and since it's impossible to stop a lunge once you commit to it, it's a fun mechanic. And one of the big advantages of a better duelist is the ability to shorten his own queue, so he has a better ability to react.
The Imperial Favor in the L5R card game is an example of a very thematic advantage token. It's gained each turn by petitioning the Emperor when your family has the highest honor and then has a variety of ways it can be used. Since gaining honor is done to some extent at the expense of other choices and requires using a character action (that is then not available later), it's an interesting strategic choice to make. Later versions of the game reduced the effect of this token, which I consider a detriment. (Kind of the opposite of looking for a game with an advantage token, but there you go.
And now we reach the part of the list where you are far too generous. 8-) Rock-Paper-Scissors should be much, much lower. If you want a random result, flip a coin. We hates it. That said, circular advantage can be an interesting mechanic that I hate much less. It's just the RPS mechanic specifically that I despise.
Not a fan of any sort of dexterity boardgame, whether piece removal, stacking, or flicking. I don't know why that's different for me than (say) darts or basketball, or pool, but it is.
I like movement points because of their association with simulation games. It's a pretty elegant mechanic where it's appropriate. Note that if you use an area board with non-regular cells, you can simulate this by using smaller cells where movement is more difficult, or oblong cells where movement is more difficult in one direction than another. But that can have other effects if movement and (say) logistics or resource collection are not particularly related.
I'd rather have an expectation of resignation when you're too far behind to catch up than an explicit catch-up mechanic. Why should players be penalized for doing well early on or be rewarded for doing poorly?
Even though I don't like Settlers, it's not because of the Pieces as Map mechanic, which gives you variability, if only in the starting condition. I like it even more when you're adding map pieces as in LotR Journeys in the Dark. I think it's actually a very good mechanic for the same reasons as I like map addition.
I really dislike taking loans in games, to my detriment when playing games often. Which is to say I think it can be a good mechanic, but I dislike it anyway. Which sounds like about where you are.
The closest to single loser in a game that I like is something like Hearts. Where the game ends when one player gets too many points, but the remaining players are rank ordered by points, so it's not quite the same.
I enjoy programmed movement, even where it's more complex than it is in RoboRally. It's a core mechanic in an old SPI game called "Sniper!", where you have to plot the movement of each of your guys every turn. Some people find this tedious, but I really enjoy the reveal. And of course there's always "Diplomacy", which has a very bad reputation, but there's a reason it's been around for decades and is still popular among its aficianados.
Even though I've played a lot of chess, I don't much care for patterned movement.
I really dislike flicking.
And I've been a roleplayer for more than 45 years, from which you can infer my opinions. 8-)
I'm thrilled by the response and I love hearing about it! Yeah, everyone's going to have a different scale of things, I just think it's fun to nerd out and think about the nuts and bolts of the thing, so I love hearing about other people thinking about them too :)
This series should be called "I dont like this mechanism except for in... "
In Edward Scissorhands, they refer to it as "Scissors, Paper, Rock" and I know why they do it, but every single time I think, _"Who talks like that??"_
See THAT'S just madness! Even us Paper Scissors Rock people can agree!
I'm looking forward for more of this. Thanks for the video.
Isn't Gloomhaven something using command cards, or is it a different mechanic?
Physical games were fun for me when I was young, but all of those mechanics would rank over 100 for me, too, today.
Btw., no favor for advantage token here.
I don't think so-I believe command cards are activating one of several characters based on the card played, rather than activating a particular power on your one character. Undaunted comes to mind for command cards.
Ah! Understand.
Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock is a much better mechanic. I imagine it will be in the top 10.
Shhh don't spoil my number one!!!
Taking loans usually assists in winning “Le Havre”.
Loans are the worst! I always avoid them if possible. Although I'm curious, would corruption (like in Lords of Waterdeep) be considered a loan mechanic? You have to either work to pay it back or pay for it in points. Both leave that same nasty feeling.
Great video!
Flicking is crokinole, flicking is life
Damn i wrote this before you said it yourself. But i stand by it
Hahaha great minds XD
Would the feet symbols in Clank! count as movement points?
Yeah I'd say so! Also is adjusted by the crystal caves too terrain wise
if you want a good/elegant tug of war game, Watergate is so good!
For Loans: Brass Birmingham, or Anachrony you get something from yourself in the future, and have to give it back later, or it causes a time paradox, and also you get victory points
I guess that's true with Anachrony, it is a really integral part of your engine, and you directly do get points for doing the loans. That's a great example. I haven't played Brass Birmingham yet (which my phone wants to auto correct to Brad's Birmingham haha), but one of my neighbors has it and I've told him I may show up at any point in time, any middle of the night and he'll have to wake up and teach me haha
I need to go rank the mechanics too. I’m curious to see what I would find as my top 10. Pretty sure deck building would be high up. Not to be confused with one of the worst mechanics, deck construction! 🤮
34:55 A game that slips loans into the gameplay and disguises well it is Anachrony. It's thematic enough maybe your cheap a$$ won't mind. 😉
Hahha, yeah someone else brought that up below too, I didn't even make the connection but it's a great example. I absolutely love Anachrony, even though I've only played it once. It is so so good.
The previous one was shit, this time I'm OK with the ranking
Phew! I can finally stop my sleepless nights!
@@RoomandBoardReviews yeah
I just really mad to see solo gaming and other non mechanics at a low place 😅
@@mabos555 It still makes me mad to see Hand management down there, past Chris was a FOOL! 😂
@@RoomandBoardReviews I agree as well, why would anyone rank this that low?
Thats why I hate the bgg/community rating of stuff they don't understand what is really best and just go after the hype and Shiney
Bahh... Grow your own taste already people 😋
@@mabos555 I hate solo variants with passion, tbh. The only exception of that rule is Search for Planet X
So I may have a spoiler for your number 1. Having Maggie around with those Devilish DICE means the shirt swap mechanic is clearly number 1. It can’t be anything else. Stop the ranking now. We’ve figured out number 1!
Wait… does this fall into “physical removal”… shoooooot, this list needs to be revised! You messed up! Physical removal can’t be this low! Nooooo! Quick, take this video down before Maggie sees! 😰