This is a fun idea for a list! The first one that came to mind for me is Dune (2019). The game is so crazy and bombastic, but has a ton of depth to explore, mainly in a huge variety of different player interactions because of the unique faction abilities. The hard part is that the game can take several hours and you really want a full complement of 6 players, so finding a regular group and time is difficult. Hansa Teutonica would make my list as well, as would Inis.
Whoaaaaa Inis definitely slipped our minds. We love that game. Also I’ve had about 3/4 of a play of Dune but I for sure see it. We saw an alliance between Harkonens and Atriedes and I want that chaos in my life.
This was a fun list! Knizia's games, and especially the tile laying ones, are so good for this that I'd have to throw a secret top 6 Knizia games into my list. I'd think Tigris & Euphrates, Yellow & Yangtze, Babylonia, Blue Lagoon, Through the Desert would all be games vying for a spot on my list. Hansa, Terraforming Mars, Terra Mystica, Crokinole, Pax Pamir, Root, Scout or The Crew: MDS, would be top contenders for me as well. Surprised Nemesis didn't make an appearance for Rodney, although player elimination and the length might spoil the book-clubiness of it a bit.
@@crain1rr That makes sense. I don't think any would make my list, Avalon would be the closest, but I know there are a lot of die-hard Blood on the Clocktower players where it's the main/only game they play. Although there is some fuzziness between lifestyle games and book club games in my mind.
Nice video! If you want to recommend Glory to Rome without the expensive piece tag for a used copy, Mottainai is the same game rethemed and still in print.
I think these are all fun games to play repeatedly, but as a 'book club' game, I think you need to have a game that is also easy enough to play on autopilot that you can have good conversations while playing them. A lot of your options are pretty intense games where you need to keep a lot of focus on the game, which makes it harder to have a club built around it. I'll definitely put Tichu and a lot of the Knizias on this list, but games like Root, Pax Pamir are a bit too complicated for me to consider a 'book club game'. (And this is coming from a guy who absolutely loves complex games) Coops like Spirit Island and Gloomhaven are also good for book clubs. I've got a 'club' playing Gloomhaven now, and have done so in the past with other games like Descent or Imperial Assault. Rodney's point on setup time is also a huge one, where if you don't have a dedicated table, something like Gloomhaven is a pain, and your point on Dwellings of Eldervale also holds. Glory to Rome as a top one is interesting, and I think that it hits the sweet spot of a deep game, with relatively shallow rules that you can still talk while you are playing. My top 6 (I'm going to do categories here) would probably be something like: 1. Trick taking card game (Euchre, Pinochle) 2. Campaign style game (Gloomhaven, Imperial Assault) 3. Legacy games (Pandemic Legacy, Seafall, Risk Legacy....these are also great but limited in length a bit) 4. Interactive trading game with lots of players (Chinatown, Sidereal Confluence....this would be higher but these also tend to be a bit heavy on rules) 5. Simple games with decent replayability through gigantic decks of cards (Wingspan, Glory to Rome, Dominion, other deck builders) 6. More complicated games that you want to really experience the depth of (Terra Mystica, Kanban, 1830...though I think these are less 'book club' games and more ' club' games)
This is a fun idea for a list! The first one that came to mind for me is Dune (2019). The game is so crazy and bombastic, but has a ton of depth to explore, mainly in a huge variety of different player interactions because of the unique faction abilities. The hard part is that the game can take several hours and you really want a full complement of 6 players, so finding a regular group and time is difficult.
Hansa Teutonica would make my list as well, as would Inis.
Whoaaaaa Inis definitely slipped our minds. We love that game.
Also I’ve had about 3/4 of a play of Dune but I for sure see it. We saw an alliance between Harkonens and Atriedes and I want that chaos in my life.
This was a fun list!
Knizia's games, and especially the tile laying ones, are so good for this that I'd have to throw a secret top 6 Knizia games into my list. I'd think Tigris & Euphrates, Yellow & Yangtze, Babylonia, Blue Lagoon, Through the Desert would all be games vying for a spot on my list. Hansa, Terraforming Mars, Terra Mystica, Crokinole, Pax Pamir, Root, Scout or The Crew: MDS, would be top contenders for me as well.
Surprised Nemesis didn't make an appearance for Rodney, although player elimination and the length might spoil the book-clubiness of it a bit.
Nemesis would be my vote for “social deduction games.” But I actually think social deduction games don’t lend themselves to this.
@@crain1rr That makes sense. I don't think any would make my list, Avalon would be the closest, but I know there are a lot of die-hard Blood on the Clocktower players where it's the main/only game they play.
Although there is some fuzziness between lifestyle games and book club games in my mind.
Nice video! If you want to recommend Glory to Rome without the expensive piece tag for a used copy, Mottainai is the same game rethemed and still in print.
I think these are all fun games to play repeatedly, but as a 'book club' game, I think you need to have a game that is also easy enough to play on autopilot that you can have good conversations while playing them. A lot of your options are pretty intense games where you need to keep a lot of focus on the game, which makes it harder to have a club built around it. I'll definitely put Tichu and a lot of the Knizias on this list, but games like Root, Pax Pamir are a bit too complicated for me to consider a 'book club game'. (And this is coming from a guy who absolutely loves complex games) Coops like Spirit Island and Gloomhaven are also good for book clubs. I've got a 'club' playing Gloomhaven now, and have done so in the past with other games like Descent or Imperial Assault. Rodney's point on setup time is also a huge one, where if you don't have a dedicated table, something like Gloomhaven is a pain, and your point on Dwellings of Eldervale also holds. Glory to Rome as a top one is interesting, and I think that it hits the sweet spot of a deep game, with relatively shallow rules that you can still talk while you are playing. My top 6 (I'm going to do categories here) would probably be something like:
1. Trick taking card game (Euchre, Pinochle)
2. Campaign style game (Gloomhaven, Imperial Assault)
3. Legacy games (Pandemic Legacy, Seafall, Risk Legacy....these are also great but limited in length a bit)
4. Interactive trading game with lots of players (Chinatown, Sidereal Confluence....this would be higher but these also tend to be a bit heavy on rules)
5. Simple games with decent replayability through gigantic decks of cards (Wingspan, Glory to Rome, Dominion, other deck builders)
6. More complicated games that you want to really experience the depth of (Terra Mystica, Kanban, 1830...though I think these are less 'book club' games and more ' club' games)
Jake I’ve seen you take the long way to mention Seafall before but this is a whole new level.
Hah, I was wondering if you'd catch that :)
Agreed