Thank you so much :-) With our first we forwent filming when baby needed me, but this time I’m much more “this is me, this is us” and less concerned about it being an inconvenience for viewers. This is how we game most of the time!
This list is such a fantastic idea. This year my wife and I are doing our yearly 10x10 board game challenge. However, this year we decided to not limit ourselves to just 10 board games played 10 times, but we have organized it by mechanic. That allows us to play more games in our collection, but get in a core mechanic. We've enjoyed our 10x10 this year than we have in the past.
7:12 I think we have a different definition of “tile placement”. When I think of the mechanism, I think of games like Carcassonne, Castles of Burgundy, Azul and Cascadia, in which you are picking up a tile and placing it into a grid/area (whether it be your grid/area or a common grid/area). I get a vibe that you are taking tile placement to mean “polyomino” games, specifically - in which the tile you are placing is geometrically cut out/shaped - like a Tetris piece; because you are talking about Uwe Rosenberg’s games and he has done a lot of those type of games.
@@AntLabGames Great video, but also agree with JJ.... tile placement in my view is placing tiles usually with other tiles to go on one of the edges, like Carcissone, Cacadia, Land v Sea etc, ie: all the same shape. I see the tetris placement style of mechanic as Polyonimo (not sure of spelling) as its own mechanic. However, agree with your selection as a tetris type of game, great choice!
I could make Polyomino games their own category… but then that doesn’t resolve something like Feast for Odin, which uses polyomino, worker placement and even some resource management. I concur with the others: Tile placement is more where you build your board through tile placements. There should be an exploratory component to tile placement, IMO.
Even Castles of Burgundy has tile placement and is nowhere near to typical polyomino games. I prefer Cascadia and Azul, but I am happy that New York Zoo got a shoutout, it's unique :)
I haven't played any of these games, I'm just getting into hobby board games (Catan C+K, Wingspan, Senators, and Forbidden Desert are in my collection right now). However, I'm always on the lookout for new games, dipping my toes into new mechanics. New York Zoo and Tesla vs Edison look epic!!
Interesting list! Here's mine: Tile Placement - Isle of Cats, Worker Placement - Dungeon Petz, Deck Builder - Clank, Area Control - Ginkgopolis, Tableau Builder - Obsession, Pick up and deliver - Vindication (sort of; I don't play this category so closest that I love) or Container (which is a little closer), Civilization builder - 7 Wonders (not my genre, so closest), Dungeon Crawler - Too Many Bones, Economic - Lisboa, Deduction - Decrypto
@@privy2322 Too Many Bones is my favorite game that I don't own (so expensive!) and probably the only dungeon-crawler that I actually like. Luckily, I've gotten the chance to play it at conventions and it's definitely uniquely excellent.
@@lazulin We have Too Many Bones and I have to admit it is not my favorite as it can be super swingy. We have had games where we lost by the 3rd fight. However, it is a masterful piece of art to behold.
Frances and Anthony, I absolutely love the new format! I own 70% of the games you mentioned and agree wholeheartedly with your assessments, especially rococo which is absolutely beautiful and very engaging. Also, Nations remains my #1 Civ Builder, far and a away better and far less punishing than Through the Ages. I also love Outer Rim as a solo experience in addition to getting it to the table w/friends. When I heard you mention Thirsty Dice, it reminded me that I have to have you down to the café soon. As an aside, I was listening to the first 45 min in the car and it was only when I picked up my phone to listen to the last few minutes did I notice Frances holding your newborn...adorable. If I could give one note, I'd recommend turning the table around so the viewers can read The Board Game NEXUS. Otherwise, flawless!
Great List. I share a lot of love for your picks as well. Here is my list: Tile Placement: Planet Unknown Worker Placement: Caylus Deck Building: Aeon's End Area Control: Feudum Tableau Building: Ark Nova Pick up and Deliver: Now Boarding Civilization Builder: Through the Ages Dungeon Crawlers: Gloomhaven Economic: Imperial Deduction: Search for Planet X
Hi guys, thank you for your video. Great to watch you sorting out your favourite games in each genre😁. Mine are as follows: Tile placement: Isle of cats Worker placement: Barrage Deck Builder: Clank in Space Area Control: Blood Rage Tableau Building: Ark Nova Pick up and deliver: in too deep Civilization Builder: Sid Meier's civilization Dungeon Crawler: Descent LotD Economic: Dinosaur Island Deduction: human punishment 2.0 Although I was not sure what to pick for economic 🤔 Keep up the good work Best wishes from Germany Benjamin (Boardgame Engine)
Great video guys, with some excellent picks, here are my choices. Tile placement : Glenmore Chronicles 2 Worker Placement : Dwellings of eldervale Deckbuilding : Direwild Area control : The Godfather, corleons empire Tableau Builders : Empires of the North Pick up and Deliver : Star wars outer rim 👍 (Really keen for the expansion for this) Civilisation : Tapestery / Imperium legends or classics Dungeon Crawler : Descent Legends of the Dark. 👍 Economic : Brass Birmingham/ Smartphone inc Social Deduction : coup / skull So a couple of cross overs, you had a few on your list I haven't played as yet Thanks guys
Really enjoyed the video! It brought a lot of insight to your gaming tastes...and definitely piqued my interest in a couple games I've never played. Looking forward to more...cheers!
I would consider Anachrony as my favorite worker placement game as well. Watching you guys' playthrough of Anachrony is how I learned the game. Great list!
Cool list guys! Mine would look something like this: -Title placement. - Tigris & Euphrates -Worker Placement - On Mars or Dominant Species -Deck Builder - Moonrakers or El Dorado -Area Control - The Bridges of Shangri-La or Mission Red Planet -Tableau Builder - Gizmos or Abyss -Pick up and Deliver - Bus or Ahoy - I dont really play any Civ or Dungeon Crawl games. Id swap these categories for 'Abstract' and 'Negotiation'. - Economic - Age of Steam or Brass - Social Deduction - Mysterium or Quest
Always interesting to see personal curated lists as it gives the viewer an insight into how your tastes skew. Mine go towards mid/lite complexity games as they tend to be more inviting to family/casual players.
I would love if you made a sequel to this video but made a video on the same topic but limit it to light/entry games. feel like alot of folks get turned off by a game mechanic because the game itself is so heavy. would love to be introduced to new game mechanics in a light entry level game to see if I enjoy it.
There are two tableau builders that stand leaps and bounds above anything else I’ve tried (although I do love Kemet as well), and those are the second editions of Pax Pamir and Pax Renaissance. Definitely not accessible, but every game feels wildly different, tells an amazing story, and the amount of history in the form of flavor text is just staggering.
@@AntLabGames Definitely not accessible to those who are new into the hobby, but knowing your tastes, Pax Pamir isn’t as tough rules-wise as most Lacerdas for example. PaxRen on the other hand is a tough nut to crack at first. However, the gameplay itself is surprisingly smooth after you get over the first learning game. And it plays usually in 45-90 minutes. Furthermore, it’s amazing at 2p and has become my absolutely favorite 2p game ever. Definitely worth giving them a shot!
@@AntLabGames New York Zoo, Mysterioum, Harry Potter. A game is planned for Roccoco this Saturday. Still need to get Everdell and Descent off my shelf of shame. Excited to get the expansion for Outer Rim to get it back to the table.
Those were really interesting picks. I thought from your playthroughs that our tastes aligned a lot more than they apparently do. Only 2 of those make my top 50, and the highest of those is number 35. Either way I appreciate the content!
My wallet is already hurting.... looking at NYZoo, Arnak and Outer Rim that I had managed to remove from wishlist but now you made me rethink it. Great video and congrats on the baby. For some reason, bringing him/her into the parents' activity instead of postponing filming or getting a way to distract him/her off-camera is something I loved and can relate to.
I was listening to the video not watching and also have a new born baby so when the baby starting cooing I was rushing to check on the baby the when I looked at video noticed the baby cooing was from video... it scared the living soul out of me
Very inspiring 😊🙏👍 I haven’t played any of these, although I actually own Lost Ruins (and will hopefully get it to the table soon). Now I basically want to try out all of the games you talk about in the video. Some of them have been on my radar for quite some time, like Rococo and Everdell. 😊
Great set of ideas. My most likely to get played set are….Tile laying is Carcassonne; Worker Placement is Lords of Waterdeep; Tableau builder is Res Arcana; deck builder is Lost Ruins of Arnak; Social Deduction is Don’t Mess with Cthulhu. Action selection is Concordia. Contract filling is Century Spice Road. (Lack a Civ game…have been eyeing Nations).
Entering the world of lists. They aren’t my favorite to make, but they are helpful and viewers enjoy them. Well done. Glad to see Rococo. Anachrony is a a want to play for me
That was a great list and it gave me a few games to check out that I had not considered before. I don't know how you keep doing so much filming with a newborn but well done!
Never seen Roccoco as an area-control-game, but you are right, it is one of the many things this great game is. Congrats with the newest member of the family.
Funny that Clank! was given as an exemple for a "not pure" deck builder because there is much other stuff going on. It's still mostly a deck builder in my book. Compared to Arnak which barely feels as a worker placement to me. It's always described as a hybrid worker placement deck builder but it has only a very small part of each and doesn't feel like either genre. It's a resource management game and you get your resources using various mechanisms including deck building and worker placement and multi use cards and exploration and race, etc
Everyone interprets their game mechanics differently. Probably why everyone’s lists are different and why we all have similar but different tastes in games. I just never think of Clank when I have to name a deck builder. That’s just me.
If you can forgive Firefly, then you must've been able to forgive Battlestar Galactica too! Great video as always, looking forward to more "list-type" content from you guys!
my TOP 10 regarding your mechanics: tile placement: terraforming mars (great tableau builder too) worker placement: anachrony (top theme represented by its mechanic) deckbuilder: path of light and shadow (deckbuilders kind of feel the same. Aeons End is also a good one) area control: root (comp) or spirit island (coop) (second best game of all time in my view) tableau builder: race for the galaxy (great depth plus interaction for such a fast game) pick up and deliver: xia legends of a drift system or Outerim are both great sandbox games civ builder: Innovation from carl chudyk (what a legend! my favourite game of all Time) dungeon crawler: Galaxy Defenders or Sword and Sorcery bec of its KI system Economic: age of steam Deduction: spyfall. it gets better the more you play and trick the others. recommended for 5+ players. for less than that go with "coup"
The list: 1) Tile Placement - Neuroshima Hex 2) Worker Placement - Rajas of the Ganges 3) Deck Builder - Taverns of Tiefenthal 4) Area Control - Beyond the Sun 5) Tablou Builder - Empires of the North 6) Pickup and Deliver - In Too Deep 7) Civilization Builder - History of the World 8) Dungeon Crawl - Solomon Kane 9) Economic Game - Brass Birmingham 10) Deduction - Search for Planet X
Nice list :-) I will play along using your categories with the idea of the mechanic being central to the game and not just one of many mechanics. Some of these categories definitely not my thing, but obviously still lots of great games in all categories. I need to give mechanics some through sometime. Tile Placement - Castles of Burgundy Worker Placement - Anachrony Deck builder - Marvel Legendary Area Control - War or the Ring Tableau Builder - Suburbia PU&D - Firefly Civilization - Through the Ages Dungeon Crawl - Gloomhaven Economic - Gaia Project Social Deduction - Decrypto
@@AntLabGames Firefly definitely requires at least Blue Sun though to be a good game. I have Kalidasa also which is a nice cherry on top. Through the Ages is I think the only take that game I actually enjoy. You can play around almost everything once you know the cards and it really becomes a fun 6 dimensional chess match.
For Tableau Builders, I would pick Obsession. It has a great theme, the card-activated aspect is enjoyable, and it has worker enablement elements. At its core, building your manor is not only the way to win but is a real joy. For Pick Up & Deliver, I would select Xia with its expansion Embers of a Forsaken Star. It is also my favorite Sandbox game. The game has terrific replayability with the random tile placement, the Kiln, and the expansion's Economy mechanic. The ship mods mitigate much of the die roll randomness, but at a cost. It has a more challenging learning curve than Everdell, but it is worth it. Want a shorter game? Play to 5 or 10 Fame Points.
Interesting list, thank you. My list would be: Tile placement: - Isle of Cats Worker Placement: - Agricola Deck builder: - Xenoshyft: Dreadmire Area Control: - Twilight Struggle Tableau Building: - 51st State Pick up & Deliver: - Outer Rim :-) Civ Builder: - Civilization New Dawn Dungeon Crawler: - Euthia Economic: - Concordia Deduction: - Codenames Fun fact: Of all the games I currently own, only 2 of my personal Top Ten list fit nicely into the mentioned categories. The other games are mostly a mix of mechanics: - Mage Knight - Robinson Crusoe - Xia - X-Odus - Nemesis - Blood Bowl Team Manager - Dead of Winter - Glen More II
Great list! Would love to see each of your top 10 (The more the merrier). We have a number of tile placements we enjoy, such as Isle of Skye, My City, and Tigris & Euphrates. Arnak with leaders is awesome! I really enjoy Bruges for the Tableau building. Outrim looks interesting and it sounds like it works well at 2 players..fantastic! Clash of Cultures is our got to, but we like Nations for its simple and clean play (not a super long game and you still get the civ flavor). Roll for the Ages is our travel civ game. TIny Epic Dungeons is an interesting Dungeon Crawler we like. Brass is our go-to econ game. We just learned Furnace and it is a quick game with a programming format. Mysterium is a great Halloween game. We enjoyed that one. The visions can be confusing, but still fun. What a cute bundle of joy!
Regarding "worker placement," I like their choice of Arnak. It certainly has "light" elements of other mechanics, like deck building, resource management, track advancement, etc. But yes, the core is worker placement. My way of explaining this would be to point out that many of the most valuable cards are the ones that either let you reclaim a worker to place in a new location, or take the reward of a location without actually placing any worker there. You could also point out that the most simple of the expansion characters has the unique trait of having 3 workers instead of just 2. The fact that this is a big deal shows how important the worker placement aspect is. I'll also add that my favorite worker placement game (and favorite competitive game overall) is Champions of Midgard. It has a few other elements, like dice rolling, set collection, and of course resource management. But to me, I think Champions highlights worker placement even more so than Arnak as the core mechanic of the game. And as a quick, final, sidenote, Champions is significantly more awesome with the expansions. If you've only played the base game and never either of the expansions, I'd encourage you to give it another try, assuming you have access to the extra content.
Loved that someone else commented their own list, and I wanted to join in on the fun! :D So here goes: Tile placement: Carcassonne (don't like these games much, so haven't played many) Worker placement: Dune Imperium (This game made worker placement fun for me) Deck Builder: Legendary (by a mile. Maybe 10 miles) Area Control: Settlers of Catan (I don't like area control much at all, but I like Catan a lot) Tableau Building: Ark Nova (My new favorite game!) Pick up and deliver: Outer Rim ftw! (I just got the expansion delivered today!) Civilization Builder: Not interested, never played one, not my kinda game. Dungeon Crawler: Nemesis (we play co-op, so it's essentially a dungeon crawler) Economic: I don't know if I've ever played an economic game. Does Terraforming Mars count?? Deduction: The Resistance or ONUW (hard to choose)
@@AntLabGames It’s probably the most beautiful game I’ve ever seen. It finally came in today with the Golden Age expansion. Looking forward to playing it. Take care
For dungeon crawlers, I preferred Myth 2.0. It had some serious issues with some confusing mechanics, but once you understand it and can work with it, it is a solid experience. There are a number of other issues, but the fundamentals were good. They are supposed to be working on a new edition to fix all of the previous issues. Not sure when it's supposed to release, but I plan on getting it.
@@AntLabGames It is. Unfortunately I have it. It's just too convoluted to play and the limitations on magic items it too extreme. I haven't found a good dungeon delver that has a good middle ground for that. It's either not enough or too much. Myth was way to limiting. And the quest system was a good idea, but implemented very poorly.
I think the best worker placement game out there is Raiders of Scythia. The place a worker-take a worker mechanic is just elegant. The game takes the best of Raiders of the North Sea with expansions, and streamlines it. For two players though, Targi is the best worker placement/tableau-building game, if for no other reason than it makes worker placement work at 2 players. I also like Gugong (if Architects of the West Kingdom is worker placement despite non-exclusive worker spaces, Gugong is as well), because the gameplay (giving gifts) brings out the theme (Ming Dynasty corruption) so well. For deckbuilders, I think my favorite one that will stand the test of time is Star Realms. Sure, the theme is pasted on (try Cthulhu Realms for a goofy variation), but it does away with Dominion-type fiddliness and boils it down to the essence of deckbuilding in a way that handles scoring much better than Ascension. For Dominion type deckbuilders, I like Heart of Crown because the way game end is triggered via backing a princess and gathering support for her coronation adds a race aspect to the game. For area control, one great game that is off the radar is Founding Fathers. The game is about the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, and while one can learn quite a bit about history from the game, it isn't edutainment. It is too long to get into it here, but check it out. For dungeon crawlers, a good one is Space Hulk: Death Angel. It is unfortunately out of print thanks to the Games Workshop/Fantasy Flight divorce, but if one can find a reasonably priced copy, it is really impressive how Corey Konieczka was able to deliver the feel of Space Hulk using only cards.
Good discussion on the topic! May I suggest editing and adding B-roll of the board and the contents of each game as you discuss them. It's difficult to follow the discussion when one doesn't know the games being discussed.
Great vid, sweet Guitar and like you said, some games I have never heard of, ie Tesla vs Edison. That would make a good video, these categories, but those that are not in BGG top 500 or similar.
For Worker Placement my personal pick would be Century: A New World (or the Golem equivalent). Very accessible, but very well integrated mechanism. Another one I really like is Pixie Queen. It adds enough twists to traditional worker placement mechanism to make it interesting. And the theme + other mechanics just make it a lot of fun. I would have picked Arnak as the top deck builder though ;) IMO it’s more prominent a mechanism on that one compared to worker placement. Star Realms Frontiers has also been a quick fun game to play every now and then. Would be nice to give Valley of Kings a try though.
I really enjoyed this video. I believe you've had a lot of hassle on the internet lately and I hope you get past it don't feed the troll. Seeing a baby appear mid vid was hilarious and brilliant. I will have to look at Rococo as I've never played it tbh. Nations sounds interesting too. Like yourselves I have Descent 2e but not sold it's actually in my loft! I literally received Journeys in Middle Earth today after playing it last week and loving it. Descent 2e put me off the new one maybe I'll try it once I've played LotR to death!
@@AntLabGames I watched a video earlier about a guy naming some people who had given you grief. Must have been an old one? Oh well thank goodness no hassles lol. I've just checked my history and the video I watched was from 3 years ago! Apologies for the confusion.
Your 'area control' pick completely took me by surprise. But right away as soon as you started to discuss it I had to agree. Great pick. (Have to disagree on the deck builder though. I just LOVE 'Trains' by AEG. I know it's a Dominion rip off, but the theme is so much better and I love the variety of maps.)
Having a bit of a hard time figuring out what the thought process/criteria behind this list is...is it favorite of each mechanic? "Best" representation of the mechanic? A game to introduce each mechanic? I love most of the games on this list, it just would have helped my understanding to have a clear communication of the thought process that you used as criteria for the list. Really good games, though!
@@AntLabGames nice! I particularly love Everdell. Would have personally gone through a slightly more "Ages" oriented civ game 😉 but I hear Nations is wonderful as well and a lot more approachable.
I really appreciate this style of "top ten" and definitely got some good ideas for games I'd like to try out. Where would barenpark rank in tile placement for you all? It seems like a pretty solid contender to me.
Harry Potter deck builder is such an interesting decision. The theme send to have really brought it home for you. Ours would be Dale of Merchants. Such a clever, engaging and fast deck builder.
Great choices. I like Zoo-ography better for tile placement and zoo theme. I like Holy Grail Games Dominations Road to Civilization for a civ game I love Anthony's tee. Keep up the good work.
I really like the way you did this list! It's also the way I think of games in my own collection - what kind of niche does this game fulfill? Is there another game that surpasses it that I should replace it with? Although my niches tend to be more 'how does this game make me feel?' rather than 'what mechanic does this game use?'
Great video, you introduced me to some new games. Question, what about Roll and Writes. I feel like the mechanic is growing in popularity. Welcome To is one of our favorites
Auction/Bidding should absolutely 100% be a category, no exception. Also party or word games. I think you went with the convenience of having the number 10 for the video but that shouldn't be a reason to cut out two major categories. Trick taking, Cooperative also pretty significant categories.
I think you spelled "the dice rolls were the best part" wrong. :P Maybe it comes from my RPG days (GURPS anyone?), but dice rolling is a fantastic way of simulating unexpected outcomes common to storytelling. No matter how much you prepare, no matter how skilled you are, there's always a small chance that something will go wrong. And even if you're really bad at something, possessing little skill, there's always a small chance you could get lucky. To me, that's exciting! It's like watching a movie. Will Han Solo make it through that asteroid field? It's such a risky maneuver, and now I'm literally on the edge of my seat! :)
My top games for each category would be Tile placement - Isle of cats Worker Placement - Anachrony Deck Builder - Obsession Area Control - Rurik Dawn of Kiev Tableau Building - Everdell Pickup & Deliver - Star Wars Outer rim Civilization Builder - Imperium Legends Dungeon crawler - Cthulu Death May Die Economic - Clinic Social Deduction - Tortuga 1667
I haven't played Arnak, but coming from someone who's not a fan of Worker Placement, I was surprised that I enjoyed Dune Imperium so much. I hear these two games compared quite a bit, because they both incorporate deck building and WP. Why do you prefer Arnak? Is there room for both of them in someone's collection?
For tile laying, Foundations of Rome. Yes, it’s huge. But it’s sooo easy and accessible, and can be inviting to new gamers. Hard to find and buy though haha
For worker placement I’d put Tzolkin at the top. There is no chance element in it. Deck builder I’d go for Imperial Settlers. Love this game and in fact! Discovered it when Ant played it solo. For pick up and deliver I hate Star Wars, my alternates are Xia or Fire Fly. Both great great games, I’d suggest better. Civ builder, ands down Through The Ages; it’s absolutely supreme. Irrespective of the military bit. Vlaada is just a genius.
Completely agree, I discover new games from yrs past all the time. So many good games out there. Its not always about the newest game, sometimes those older games are just so good The Hatty Potter deckbuilder was my wife's gateway game. Its basically the 1 gamey wife will play whenever. I, personally, prefer the DC Deckbuilding game, but this is a really fun game!! Never played Everdell but always been in my peripheral vision just never pulled the trigger. I'm a fan of the classic Terraforming Mars but 51st State and Fantastic Factories hit my table often based on simplicity and play time and they are both great games!! Outer Rim is fantastic, such a great game!!! pumped for the expansion!! Firefly is an awesome game, with a ton of mini expansions. Not only is the IP amazing, the game play is great!! Love your videos, always a great viewing!! and loved the cameo by the newest, littlest gamer. so precious ❤️!! again, congrats!!
For myself although I like many of the games in this list these are my top of each of those mechanics that I've not only played but own(Or soon will own)and think everyone should have in their collection...... 1) Tile Laying: Meeple Land. Kingdomino is a close second. 2) Worker Placement: The ever so classic and easy to learn but hard to master STONE AGE. Rajas of the Ganges is a close second. 3) Deck Builder: Hadara. Taverns of Tiefenthal being a close second. 4) Area Control: The classic and very underrated ROYALS. Rococo is a close second for me. 5) Tableau Builder: COIMBRA. Coimbra honestly is a combination of quite a few mechanics(Worker placement with dice, Card Drafting, Income Management, Set Collecting, Track Movement, Variable setup). Coimbra is easily my #1 all time favourite out of all the games that I've played/owned since 2004(I've played well over 4,600 games in that time). Close second for me is both GREAT WESTERN TRAIL and THE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY. 6) Pick up and Deliver: Hands down it's BLACK FLEET. Close second is Cinque Terre. 7) Civilization Builder: I haven't really played many games in this mechanic but I did however really like 7 Wonders/7 Wonders Duel, Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization. If I had to choose between the two I'd for sure go with Through the Ages. 8) Dungeon Crawler: I haven't played many of these games either honestly but from the handful of games that I've played in this mechanic ARCARDIA QUEST is my favourite. I honestly don't own any from this mechanic because it's not a mechanic that I'm fond of and neither is my roommate who's my main coplayer. A close second would be MANSIONS OF MADNESS. 9) Economic: BRASS BIRMINGHAM is at the top of my list for this category. Close second would be 1817. 10) Social Deduction/Deduction: Honestly I've only really played a few in this category and those were WEREWOLF, CODENAMES, and JUST ONE. My favourite from those three is CODENAMES.
Your list is quite unique and I appreciate some of your choices here. While I enjoyed Through the Ages, that game is so take that it can be brutal! And yes to Brass. Real tough call for us on that one.
@@AntLabGames Yeah Through the Ages is a lot of "take that" so it makes sense that it's not on your top list. I was trying to figure out any of the games that I've played that were part of the Economic category honestly and from the list that I came up with after looking on BGG Brass was on the list and it's an amazing game to me hence it being at the top of my list for that category. I appreciate many of the games on your list as well and look forward to seeing more tops from other categories from you two.
As always great video some of the games you choose I haven't played yet so will have to check those out.. .Here are mine for your categories: Tile placement : Glenmore Chronicles 2 and if it counts for this category Terraforming Mars for the ocean, greenery and city tiles Worker Placement : ( 3 Way Tie ) Abomination The Heir of Frankenstein, Raiders of the North Sea, Russian Railroads Deckbuilding : ( not a big fan of this mechanic so... ) Great Western Trail Area control : ( not a big fan of this mechanic so ... ) Twilight Struggle Tableau Builders : Lewis & Clark The Expedition ( Everdell was second for me ) Pick up and Deliver : Western Legends Civilization : Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization Dungeon Crawler : Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion Economic : Brass Birmingham and Raccoon Tycoon Social Deduction : Deception Murder in Hong Kong
@@AntLabGames I am not usually a big fan of tiling laying but this game so good. My son loves it too so it’s great game for our family. If you get a chance give it a go. Really enjoyed this video BTW. I am looking into the Outer Rim as a result.😊
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
LOVE, you being a mom… on camera… reviewing board games!
Thank you so much :-) With our first we forwent filming when baby needed me, but this time I’m much more “this is me, this is us” and less concerned about it being an inconvenience for viewers. This is how we game most of the time!
Moms rock
This list is such a fantastic idea. This year my wife and I are doing our yearly 10x10 board game challenge. However, this year we decided to not limit ourselves to just 10 board games played 10 times, but we have organized it by mechanic. That allows us to play more games in our collection, but get in a core mechanic. We've enjoyed our 10x10 this year than we have in the past.
Awesome idea on the 10x10!
Really excited for the Outer Rim expansion next week.
Same here!
Been awhile, but wanted to say I'm loving the new board game nexus channel
Thank you!
7:12 I think we have a different definition of “tile placement”. When I think of the mechanism, I think of games like Carcassonne, Castles of Burgundy, Azul and Cascadia, in which you are picking up a tile and placing it into a grid/area (whether it be your grid/area or a common grid/area). I get a vibe that you are taking tile placement to mean “polyomino” games, specifically - in which the tile you are placing is geometrically cut out/shaped - like a Tetris piece; because you are talking about Uwe Rosenberg’s games and he has done a lot of those type of games.
Agree, tile placement could have meant both as described. We will be more specific in which one we are referring to in the future.
@@AntLabGames Great video, but also agree with JJ.... tile placement in my view is placing tiles usually with other tiles to go on one of the edges, like Carcissone, Cacadia, Land v Sea etc, ie: all the same shape. I see the tetris placement style of mechanic as Polyonimo (not sure of spelling) as its own mechanic. However, agree with your selection as a tetris type of game, great choice!
I could make Polyomino games their own category… but then that doesn’t resolve something like Feast for Odin, which uses polyomino, worker placement and even some resource management.
I concur with the others: Tile placement is more where you build your board through tile placements. There should be an exploratory component to tile placement, IMO.
Polyomino technically is tile placement, it's a subcategory of the very wide tile placement category.
Even Castles of Burgundy has tile placement and is nowhere near to typical polyomino games. I prefer Cascadia and Azul, but I am happy that New York Zoo got a shoutout, it's unique :)
54:40 Your experience in the hobby gives your two the vernacular and perspective to judge wisely. Thank you for sharing your picks.
I haven't played any of these games, I'm just getting into hobby board games (Catan C+K, Wingspan, Senators, and Forbidden Desert are in my collection right now). However, I'm always on the lookout for new games, dipping my toes into new mechanics. New York Zoo and Tesla vs Edison look epic!!
Great commentary! Amazing chemistry on screen, and love the music in the transitions
Thank you!
Couldn’t agree more with your “Pickup and Deliver” choice. The Unfinished Business expansion makes it even better. Great content!
Thanks!!!
Interesting list! Here's mine: Tile Placement - Isle of Cats, Worker Placement - Dungeon Petz, Deck Builder - Clank, Area Control - Ginkgopolis, Tableau Builder - Obsession, Pick up and deliver - Vindication (sort of; I don't play this category so closest that I love) or Container (which is a little closer), Civilization builder - 7 Wonders (not my genre, so closest), Dungeon Crawler - Too Many Bones, Economic - Lisboa, Deduction - Decrypto
I would agree on Isle of Cats and Clank! I sooo want to play Too Many Bones.
@@privy2322 Too Many Bones is my favorite game that I don't own (so expensive!) and probably the only dungeon-crawler that I actually like. Luckily, I've gotten the chance to play it at conventions and it's definitely uniquely excellent.
@@lazulin We have Too Many Bones and I have to admit it is not my favorite as it can be super swingy. We have had games where we lost by the 3rd fight. However, it is a masterful piece of art to behold.
@@privy2322 Both on our list, just not the tippy top!
Love Obsession and Lisboa. Dungeon Pets is also fun.
Great video! Love your content. Some very good and interesting choices that are well thought out for each category. 👍
Frances and Anthony, I absolutely love the new format! I own 70% of the games you mentioned and agree wholeheartedly with your assessments, especially rococo which is absolutely beautiful and very engaging. Also, Nations remains my #1 Civ Builder, far and a away better and far less punishing than Through the Ages. I also love Outer Rim as a solo experience in addition to getting it to the table w/friends. When I heard you mention Thirsty Dice, it reminded me that I have to have you down to the café soon. As an aside, I was listening to the first 45 min in the car and it was only when I picked up my phone to listen to the last few minutes did I notice Frances holding your newborn...adorable. If I could give one note, I'd recommend turning the table around so the viewers can read The Board Game NEXUS. Otherwise, flawless!
Thank you so much! Ahh to your point about the logo, that’s a great idea but it would be upside down on the overhead camera 😂
@@AntLabGames ahhh, got it!
Perfect video. Pure conversations. Thanks a lot guys.
Thank you!
Great List. I share a lot of love for your picks as well.
Here is my list:
Tile Placement: Planet Unknown
Worker Placement: Caylus
Deck Building: Aeon's End
Area Control: Feudum
Tableau Building: Ark Nova
Pick up and Deliver: Now Boarding
Civilization Builder: Through the Ages
Dungeon Crawlers: Gloomhaven
Economic: Imperial
Deduction: Search for Planet X
Congrats on your new baby!!
Frances you look great. 😊
Thank you!
Hi guys, thank you for your video. Great to watch you sorting out your favourite games in each genre😁.
Mine are as follows:
Tile placement: Isle of cats
Worker placement: Barrage
Deck Builder: Clank in Space
Area Control: Blood Rage
Tableau Building: Ark Nova
Pick up and deliver: in too deep
Civilization Builder: Sid Meier's civilization
Dungeon Crawler: Descent LotD
Economic: Dinosaur Island
Deduction: human punishment 2.0
Although I was not sure what to pick for economic 🤔
Keep up the good work
Best wishes from Germany
Benjamin (Boardgame Engine)
We like a lot of those in your list. Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting way of sorting these games and making a nice top ten. Thanks for great video.
Thanks!
Great video and discussion. Added a few of these games onto my list. Also, love seeing the baby ^_^
Sweet! Thanks!
Great idea for a video! I enjoyed hearing your picks & why you liked each one. There were a couple I hadn't heard of or knew almost nothing about.
Some interesting ones on the list I wasn’t aware of. Thanks for doing this!
Glad you found some potential new games to play!
I’m so excited to receive the expansion to Outer Rim! Unfinished Business should be in the mail within the next two weeks. Can’t wait!
Same here!
Great video! I liked the format and subject!
Great video guys, with some excellent picks, here are my choices.
Tile placement : Glenmore Chronicles 2
Worker Placement : Dwellings of eldervale
Deckbuilding : Direwild
Area control : The Godfather, corleons empire
Tableau Builders : Empires of the North
Pick up and Deliver : Star wars outer rim 👍
(Really keen for the expansion for this)
Civilisation : Tapestery / Imperium legends or classics
Dungeon Crawler : Descent Legends of the Dark. 👍
Economic : Brass Birmingham/ Smartphone inc
Social Deduction : coup / skull
So a couple of cross overs, you had a few on your list I haven't played as yet
Thanks guys
Brass was real close to making the list. We haven’t played Smartphone yet, but we may just have to give it a go.
i agree with Everdell for tableau building... my deck builder is Viscount of the west kingdom...the rest i havent decided yet
Really enjoyed the video! It brought a lot of insight to your gaming tastes...and definitely piqued my interest in a couple games I've never played. Looking forward to more...cheers!
Awesome, that's the whole intent behind these lists!
Your are my favorite board game channel!
I would consider Anachrony as my favorite worker placement game as well. Watching you guys' playthrough of Anachrony is how I learned the game. Great list!
Thanks!
Cool list guys!
Mine would look something like this:
-Title placement. - Tigris & Euphrates
-Worker Placement - On Mars or Dominant Species
-Deck Builder - Moonrakers or El Dorado
-Area Control - The Bridges of Shangri-La or Mission Red Planet
-Tableau Builder - Gizmos or Abyss
-Pick up and Deliver - Bus or Ahoy
- I dont really play any Civ or Dungeon Crawl games. Id swap these categories for 'Abstract' and 'Negotiation'.
- Economic - Age of Steam or Brass
- Social Deduction - Mysterium or Quest
Always interesting to see personal curated lists as it gives the viewer an insight into how your tastes skew. Mine go towards mid/lite complexity games as they tend to be more inviting to family/casual players.
We don’t mind the lighter games every so often. Actually prefer them in larger groups.
I would love if you made a sequel to this video but made a video on the same topic but limit it to light/entry games. feel like alot of folks get turned off by a game mechanic because the game itself is so heavy. would love to be introduced to new game mechanics in a light entry level game to see if I enjoy it.
New York Zoo is great fun. Was a real sleeper hit for me. Good choice :)
There are two tableau builders that stand leaps and bounds above anything else I’ve tried (although I do love Kemet as well), and those are the second editions of Pax Pamir and Pax Renaissance. Definitely not accessible, but every game feels wildly different, tells an amazing story, and the amount of history in the form of flavor text is just staggering.
Never played either Pax. Will have to look into those.
@@AntLabGames Definitely not accessible to those who are new into the hobby, but knowing your tastes, Pax Pamir isn’t as tough rules-wise as most Lacerdas for example. PaxRen on the other hand is a tough nut to crack at first. However, the gameplay itself is surprisingly smooth after you get over the first learning game. And it plays usually in 45-90 minutes. Furthermore, it’s amazing at 2p and has become my absolutely favorite 2p game ever. Definitely worth giving them a shot!
Love you guys. Regards from Poland!
For Worker Placement I think Architect of West Kingdom not a bad choice as well
My game wishlist grew after watching y'all.
That’s the goal!! Which ones?
@@AntLabGames New York Zoo, Mysterioum, Harry Potter.
A game is planned for Roccoco this Saturday.
Still need to get Everdell and Descent off my shelf of shame.
Excited to get the expansion for Outer Rim to get it back to the table.
Those were really interesting picks. I thought from your playthroughs that our tastes aligned a lot more than they apparently do. Only 2 of those make my top 50, and the highest of those is number 35. Either way I appreciate the content!
It’s great to see how different we all rate our games. Glad you enjoyed the list!
My wallet is already hurting.... looking at NYZoo, Arnak and Outer Rim that I had managed to remove from wishlist but now you made me rethink it. Great video and congrats on the baby. For some reason, bringing him/her into the parents' activity instead of postponing filming or getting a way to distract him/her off-camera is something I loved and can relate to.
Thank you! We appreciate your understanding!
I was listening to the video not watching and also have a new born baby so when the baby starting cooing I was rushing to check on the baby the when I looked at video noticed the baby cooing was from video... it scared the living soul out of me
Lol he was making so much noise and we hoped it would be distracting!
Very inspiring 😊🙏👍 I haven’t played any of these, although I actually own Lost Ruins (and will hopefully get it to the table soon). Now I basically want to try out all of the games you talk about in the video. Some of them have been on my radar for quite some time, like Rococo and Everdell. 😊
Kanban EV has the best mechanics I've ever played with. Doing anything in the board just feels so good. Plus the components and artwork are amazing.
We have not yet played this. Soon!
Awesome vid!
Thank you!
Great set of ideas. My most likely to get played set are….Tile laying is Carcassonne; Worker Placement is Lords of Waterdeep; Tableau builder is Res Arcana; deck builder is Lost Ruins of Arnak; Social Deduction is Don’t Mess with Cthulhu. Action selection is Concordia. Contract filling is Century Spice Road. (Lack a Civ game…have been eyeing Nations).
Really want to try Res Arcana.
@@AntLabGames really like Res Arcana.
Entering the world of lists. They aren’t my favorite to make, but they are helpful and viewers enjoy them. Well done. Glad to see Rococo. Anachrony is a a want to play for me
We resisted for so long. But, we actually enjoyed making this video so we have many more lists planned out!
@@AntLabGames awesome. Next list from me will be 5 solo games for Detectives.
Wasn’t able to guess your area control game but agree it is a great choice and an excellent game! Great pick
Great game choices! 3 of my favorite games are on your list: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Rococo, and Everdell.
That was a great list and it gave me a few games to check out that I had not considered before.
I don't know how you keep doing so much filming with a newborn but well done!
It’s no easy task, but we love making content for you all and we’ve been refining our process to make it possible. Thanks!
My favourite area control game id El Grande. So smooth and engaging.
It’s on our list to play!
Never seen Roccoco as an area-control-game, but you are right, it is one of the many things this great game is. Congrats with the newest member of the family.
Thanks!
Funny that Clank! was given as an exemple for a "not pure" deck builder because there is much other stuff going on. It's still mostly a deck builder in my book. Compared to Arnak which barely feels as a worker placement to me. It's always described as a hybrid worker placement deck builder but it has only a very small part of each and doesn't feel like either genre. It's a resource management game and you get your resources using various mechanisms including deck building and worker placement and multi use cards and exploration and race, etc
Everyone interprets their game mechanics differently. Probably why everyone’s lists are different and why we all have similar but different tastes in games. I just never think of Clank when I have to name a deck builder. That’s just me.
Best work placement Anachrony
Congratulations on the baby!
Thank you!
I love your philosophy here with regards to buying games. Buy a few good games and play them a lot!
If you can forgive Firefly, then you must've been able to forgive Battlestar Galactica too!
Great video as always, looking forward to more "list-type" content from you guys!
More on its way! And yes, I would forgive anything related to BSG.
Just got Rococo Deluxe in with the latest On Mars Kickstarter. Can't wait to bust into it!
That’s a great haul! Enjoy!
my TOP 10 regarding your mechanics:
tile placement: terraforming mars (great tableau builder too)
worker placement: anachrony (top theme represented by its mechanic)
deckbuilder: path of light and shadow (deckbuilders kind of feel the same. Aeons End is also a good one)
area control: root (comp) or spirit island (coop) (second best game of all time in my view)
tableau builder: race for the galaxy (great depth plus interaction for such a fast game)
pick up and deliver: xia legends of a drift system or Outerim are both great sandbox games
civ builder: Innovation from carl chudyk (what a legend! my favourite game of all Time)
dungeon crawler: Galaxy Defenders or Sword and Sorcery bec of its KI system
Economic: age of steam
Deduction: spyfall. it gets better the more you play and trick the others. recommended for 5+ players. for less than that go with "coup"
We have Path of Light and Shadow but haven’t played it yet. Need to do that it seems…
The list:
1) Tile Placement - Neuroshima Hex
2) Worker Placement - Rajas of the Ganges
3) Deck Builder - Taverns of Tiefenthal
4) Area Control - Beyond the Sun
5) Tablou Builder - Empires of the North
6) Pickup and Deliver - In Too Deep
7) Civilization Builder - History of the World
8) Dungeon Crawl - Solomon Kane
9) Economic Game - Brass Birmingham
10) Deduction - Search for Planet X
Many great games on this list! I personally love 3,4, and 9.
Nice list :-) I will play along using your categories with the idea of the mechanic being central to the game and not just one of many mechanics. Some of these categories definitely not my thing, but obviously still lots of great games in all categories. I need to give mechanics some through sometime.
Tile Placement - Castles of Burgundy
Worker Placement - Anachrony
Deck builder - Marvel Legendary
Area Control - War or the Ring
Tableau Builder - Suburbia
PU&D - Firefly
Civilization - Through the Ages
Dungeon Crawl - Gloomhaven
Economic - Gaia Project
Social Deduction - Decrypto
Gaia Project and Firefly are top notch. Through the Ages can be very take that but otherwise a very cool game.
@@AntLabGames Firefly definitely requires at least Blue Sun though to be a good game. I have Kalidasa also which is a nice cherry on top. Through the Ages is I think the only take that game I actually enjoy. You can play around almost everything once you know the cards and it really becomes a fun 6 dimensional chess match.
For Tableau Builders, I would pick Obsession. It has a great theme, the card-activated aspect is enjoyable, and it has worker enablement elements. At its core, building your manor is not only the way to win but is a real joy. For Pick Up & Deliver, I would select Xia with its expansion Embers of a Forsaken Star. It is also my favorite Sandbox game. The game has terrific replayability with the random tile placement, the Kiln, and the expansion's Economy mechanic. The ship mods mitigate much of the die roll randomness, but at a cost. It has a more challenging learning curve than Everdell, but it is worth it. Want a shorter game? Play to 5 or 10 Fame Points.
Xia is one of those games I wish I had picked up a while ago. Looks right up our alley.
Interesting list, thank you. My list would be:
Tile placement: - Isle of Cats
Worker Placement: - Agricola
Deck builder: - Xenoshyft: Dreadmire
Area Control: - Twilight Struggle
Tableau Building: - 51st State
Pick up & Deliver: - Outer Rim :-)
Civ Builder: - Civilization New Dawn
Dungeon Crawler: - Euthia
Economic: - Concordia
Deduction: - Codenames
Fun fact: Of all the games I currently own, only 2 of my personal Top Ten list fit nicely into the mentioned categories. The other games are mostly a mix of mechanics:
- Mage Knight
- Robinson Crusoe
- Xia
- X-Odus
- Nemesis
- Blood Bowl Team Manager
- Dead of Winter
- Glen More II
All good games! Your second list fits in a category or two we plan to cover in the coming weeks.
I absolutely love civ builders! I really like Mare Nostrum Empires, Innovation, Antike, TTA and Nations.
Same! I just think we need more of them.
Best tile placement for me, Quadropolis
Beautiful people beautiful baby, fantastic selection and you have just sold me on Rococo x
You will love Rococo!
Great list! Would love to see each of your top 10 (The more the merrier). We have a number of tile placements we enjoy, such as Isle of Skye, My City, and Tigris & Euphrates. Arnak with leaders is awesome! I really enjoy Bruges for the Tableau building. Outrim looks interesting and it sounds like it works well at 2 players..fantastic! Clash of Cultures is our got to, but we like Nations for its simple and clean play (not a super long game and you still get the civ flavor). Roll for the Ages is our travel civ game. TIny Epic Dungeons is an interesting Dungeon Crawler we like. Brass is our go-to econ game. We just learned Furnace and it is a quick game with a programming format. Mysterium is a great Halloween game. We enjoyed that one. The visions can be confusing, but still fun. What a cute bundle of joy!
New Top 10 video coming out later tonight. Thanks!!! You listed a bunch of great games!
Regarding "worker placement," I like their choice of Arnak. It certainly has "light" elements of other mechanics, like deck building, resource management, track advancement, etc. But yes, the core is worker placement. My way of explaining this would be to point out that many of the most valuable cards are the ones that either let you reclaim a worker to place in a new location, or take the reward of a location without actually placing any worker there. You could also point out that the most simple of the expansion characters has the unique trait of having 3 workers instead of just 2. The fact that this is a big deal shows how important the worker placement aspect is.
I'll also add that my favorite worker placement game (and favorite competitive game overall) is Champions of Midgard. It has a few other elements, like dice rolling, set collection, and of course resource management. But to me, I think Champions highlights worker placement even more so than Arnak as the core mechanic of the game.
And as a quick, final, sidenote, Champions is significantly more awesome with the expansions. If you've only played the base game and never either of the expansions, I'd encourage you to give it another try, assuming you have access to the extra content.
We used to have Champions and all the expansions. Frances hated the dice combat. It was unfortunate as I really enjoyed it.
Loved that someone else commented their own list, and I wanted to join in on the fun! :D So here goes:
Tile placement: Carcassonne (don't like these games much, so haven't played many)
Worker placement: Dune Imperium (This game made worker placement fun for me)
Deck Builder: Legendary (by a mile. Maybe 10 miles)
Area Control: Settlers of Catan (I don't like area control much at all, but I like Catan a lot)
Tableau Building: Ark Nova (My new favorite game!)
Pick up and deliver: Outer Rim ftw! (I just got the expansion delivered today!)
Civilization Builder: Not interested, never played one, not my kinda game.
Dungeon Crawler: Nemesis (we play co-op, so it's essentially a dungeon crawler)
Economic: I don't know if I've ever played an economic game. Does Terraforming Mars count??
Deduction: The Resistance or ONUW (hard to choose)
Great list! I have to give Dune another chance.
Thanks for the video. Have you ever played Tang Garden? The line of sight mechanic seems to be a very addition to tile placement.
We have not but will add it to our list.
@@AntLabGames It’s probably the most beautiful game I’ve ever seen. It finally came in today with the Golden Age expansion. Looking forward to playing it. Take care
For dungeon crawlers, I preferred Myth 2.0. It had some serious issues with some confusing mechanics, but once you understand it and can work with it, it is a solid experience. There are a number of other issues, but the fundamentals were good. They are supposed to be working on a new edition to fix all of the previous issues. Not sure when it's supposed to release, but I plan on getting it.
I wanted to get into Myth but it seemed so broken…
@@AntLabGames It is. Unfortunately I have it. It's just too convoluted to play and the limitations on magic items it too extreme. I haven't found a good dungeon delver that has a good middle ground for that. It's either not enough or too much. Myth was way to limiting. And the quest system was a good idea, but implemented very poorly.
I think the best worker placement game out there is Raiders of Scythia. The place a worker-take a worker mechanic is just elegant. The game takes the best of Raiders of the North Sea with expansions, and streamlines it. For two players though, Targi is the best worker placement/tableau-building game, if for no other reason than it makes worker placement work at 2 players. I also like Gugong (if Architects of the West Kingdom is worker placement despite non-exclusive worker spaces, Gugong is as well), because the gameplay (giving gifts) brings out the theme (Ming Dynasty corruption) so well.
For deckbuilders, I think my favorite one that will stand the test of time is Star Realms. Sure, the theme is pasted on (try Cthulhu Realms for a goofy variation), but it does away with Dominion-type fiddliness and boils it down to the essence of deckbuilding in a way that handles scoring much better than Ascension. For Dominion type deckbuilders, I like Heart of Crown because the way game end is triggered via backing a princess and gathering support for her coronation adds a race aspect to the game.
For area control, one great game that is off the radar is Founding Fathers. The game is about the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, and while one can learn quite a bit about history from the game, it isn't edutainment. It is too long to get into it here, but check it out.
For dungeon crawlers, a good one is Space Hulk: Death Angel. It is unfortunately out of print thanks to the Games Workshop/Fantasy Flight divorce, but if one can find a reasonably priced copy, it is really impressive how Corey Konieczka was able to deliver the feel of Space Hulk using only cards.
Good discussion on the topic! May I suggest editing and adding B-roll of the board and the contents of each game as you discuss them. It's difficult to follow the discussion when one doesn't know the games being discussed.
Will provide that in a follow up video. Thanks!
Have you tried Ausonia? It's my favorite deck builder. It's a pure deck builder (no other mechanisms) but has a ton of deck manipulation and control.
Will look into that, thanks!
Great vid, sweet Guitar and like you said, some games I have never heard of, ie Tesla vs Edison. That would make a good video, these categories, but those that are not in BGG top 500 or similar.
Agreed. There are so many games that get overlooked by the hype. It’s a shame really.
For Worker Placement my personal pick would be Century: A New World (or the Golem equivalent). Very accessible, but very well integrated mechanism. Another one I really like is Pixie Queen. It adds enough twists to traditional worker placement mechanism to make it interesting. And the theme + other mechanics just make it a lot of fun.
I would have picked Arnak as the top deck builder though ;) IMO it’s more prominent a mechanism on that one compared to worker placement. Star Realms Frontiers has also been a quick fun game to play every now and then. Would be nice to give Valley of Kings a try though.
Completely agree with Nations. What a great game.
I really enjoyed this video. I believe you've had a lot of hassle on the internet lately and I hope you get past it don't feed the troll. Seeing a baby appear mid vid was hilarious and brilliant. I will have to look at Rococo as I've never played it tbh. Nations sounds interesting too. Like yourselves I have Descent 2e but not sold it's actually in my loft! I literally received Journeys in Middle Earth today after playing it last week and loving it. Descent 2e put me off the new one maybe I'll try it once I've played LotR to death!
We haven’t had any hassle on the internet in years that we are aware of lol. Where are you seeing this?
@@AntLabGames I watched a video earlier about a guy naming some people who had given you grief. Must have been an old one? Oh well thank goodness no hassles lol. I've just checked my history and the video I watched was from 3 years ago! Apologies for the confusion.
Your 'area control' pick completely took me by surprise. But right away as soon as you started to discuss it I had to agree. Great pick. (Have to disagree on the deck builder though. I just LOVE 'Trains' by AEG. I know it's a Dominion rip off, but the theme is so much better and I love the variety of maps.)
I was turned off on Dominion due to the theme. I may have to check out Trains. Thanks!
Having a bit of a hard time figuring out what the thought process/criteria behind this list is...is it favorite of each mechanic? "Best" representation of the mechanic? A game to introduce each mechanic?
I love most of the games on this list, it just would have helped my understanding to have a clear communication of the thought process that you used as criteria for the list.
Really good games, though!
Our favorite games for each mechanic. Thanks for watching!
@@AntLabGames nice! I particularly love Everdell. Would have personally gone through a slightly more "Ages" oriented civ game 😉 but I hear Nations is wonderful as well and a lot more approachable.
I really appreciate this style of "top ten" and definitely got some good ideas for games I'd like to try out. Where would barenpark rank in tile placement for you all? It seems like a pretty solid contender to me.
Barenpark would be in our top 10 tile placement for sure. Probably about at the midway point.
I totally agree with Outer Rim and Firefly! Outer Rim over Firefly for the same reason. Great video
Thanks!
Harry Potter deck builder is such an interesting decision. The theme send to have really brought it home for you.
Ours would be Dale of Merchants. Such a clever, engaging and fast deck builder.
This category is not a super favorite of ours so we are very picky with what we want in our game. Harry Potter just did it best for us.
Great choices. I like Zoo-ography better for tile placement and zoo theme. I like Holy Grail Games Dominations Road to Civilization for a civ game I love Anthony's tee. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!
A Feast for Odin is my #1 worker placement game and my #1 game.
It’s a great game for sure!
Love the list and your approach to games! What are your thoughts on rondel, hidden movement, trick taking, engine builder, and 1 vs many games?
We enjoy all of these mechanisms as well and will most likely make another top 10 about these and a few others!
I really like the way you did this list! It's also the way I think of games in my own collection - what kind of niche does this game fulfill? Is there another game that surpasses it that I should replace it with? Although my niches tend to be more 'how does this game make me feel?' rather than 'what mechanic does this game use?'
That’s an interesting way to look at it.
I love this kind of content! It would be nice if you had set up examples as well, helps "sell" the game.
What kind of examples would be most beneficial in your opinion?
Great video, you introduced me to some new games.
Question, what about Roll and Writes. I feel like the mechanic is growing in popularity. Welcome To is one of our favorites
We will cover that in an upcoming video!
@@AntLabGames awesome can't wait to see which one you like.
Auction/Bidding should absolutely 100% be a category, no exception. Also party or word games. I think you went with the convenience of having the number 10 for the video but that shouldn't be a reason to cut out two major categories. Trick taking, Cooperative also pretty significant categories.
We are planning a follow up with 10 more categories!
My personal worker placement is lords of waterdeep.my favorite push your luck is quacks
We enjoy both of this games too!
I so wanted to love Outer Rim, played it so many times, but the dice roll kills this game for me.
I think you spelled "the dice rolls were the best part" wrong. :P
Maybe it comes from my RPG days (GURPS anyone?), but dice rolling is a fantastic way of simulating unexpected outcomes common to storytelling. No matter how much you prepare, no matter how skilled you are, there's always a small chance that something will go wrong. And even if you're really bad at something, possessing little skill, there's always a small chance you could get lucky. To me, that's exciting! It's like watching a movie. Will Han Solo make it through that asteroid field? It's such a risky maneuver, and now I'm literally on the edge of my seat! :)
My top games for each category would be
Tile placement - Isle of cats
Worker Placement - Anachrony
Deck Builder - Obsession
Area Control - Rurik Dawn of Kiev
Tableau Building - Everdell
Pickup & Deliver - Star Wars Outer rim
Civilization Builder - Imperium Legends
Dungeon crawler - Cthulu Death May Die
Economic - Clinic
Social Deduction - Tortuga 1667
Isle of cats is up there for us as well. So is Obsession.
I haven't played Arnak, but coming from someone who's not a fan of Worker Placement, I was surprised that I enjoyed Dune Imperium so much. I hear these two games compared quite a bit, because they both incorporate deck building and WP. Why do you prefer Arnak? Is there room for both of them in someone's collection?
I like the theme and feel of Arnak over Dune. It just feels like a more fleshed out game.
It seems like production is very important to your experience.
How many of these categories have an alternative game prettier than your pick?
That’s a great observation. I will have to think this a bit!
For tile laying, Foundations of Rome. Yes, it’s huge. But it’s sooo easy and accessible, and can be inviting to new gamers. Hard to find and buy though haha
Will look into this one.
Wargame category? (War of the Ring)
For worker placement I’d put Tzolkin at the top. There is no chance element in it.
Deck builder I’d go for Imperial Settlers. Love this game and in fact! Discovered it when Ant played it solo.
For pick up and deliver I hate Star Wars, my alternates are Xia or Fire Fly. Both great great games, I’d suggest better.
Civ builder, ands down Through The Ages; it’s absolutely supreme. Irrespective of the military bit. Vlaada is just a genius.
Completely agree, I discover new games from yrs past all the time. So many good games out there. Its not always about the newest game, sometimes those older games are just so good
The Hatty Potter deckbuilder was my wife's gateway game. Its basically the 1 gamey wife will play whenever. I, personally, prefer the DC Deckbuilding game, but this is a really fun game!!
Never played Everdell but always been in my peripheral vision just never pulled the trigger.
I'm a fan of the classic Terraforming Mars but 51st State and Fantastic Factories hit my table often based on simplicity and play time and they are both great games!!
Outer Rim is fantastic, such a great game!!! pumped for the expansion!!
Firefly is an awesome game, with a ton of mini expansions. Not only is the IP amazing, the game play is great!!
Love your videos, always a great viewing!!
and loved the cameo by the newest, littlest gamer. so precious ❤️!! again, congrats!!
For myself although I like many of the games in this list these are my top of each of those mechanics that I've not only played but own(Or soon will own)and think everyone should have in their collection......
1) Tile Laying: Meeple Land. Kingdomino is a close second.
2) Worker Placement: The ever so classic and easy to learn but hard to master STONE AGE. Rajas of the Ganges is a close second.
3) Deck Builder: Hadara. Taverns of Tiefenthal being a close second.
4) Area Control: The classic and very underrated ROYALS. Rococo is a close second for me.
5) Tableau Builder: COIMBRA. Coimbra honestly is a combination of quite a few mechanics(Worker placement with dice, Card Drafting, Income Management, Set Collecting, Track Movement, Variable setup). Coimbra is easily my #1 all time favourite out of all the games that I've played/owned since 2004(I've played well over 4,600 games in that time). Close second for me is both GREAT WESTERN TRAIL and THE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY.
6) Pick up and Deliver: Hands down it's BLACK FLEET. Close second is Cinque Terre.
7) Civilization Builder: I haven't really played many games in this mechanic but I did however really like 7 Wonders/7 Wonders Duel, Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization. If I had to choose between the two I'd for sure go with Through the Ages.
8) Dungeon Crawler: I haven't played many of these games either honestly but from the handful of games that I've played in this mechanic ARCARDIA QUEST is my favourite. I honestly don't own any from this mechanic because it's not a mechanic that I'm fond of and neither is my roommate who's my main coplayer. A close second would be MANSIONS OF MADNESS.
9) Economic: BRASS BIRMINGHAM is at the top of my list for this category. Close second would be 1817.
10) Social Deduction/Deduction: Honestly I've only really played a few in this category and those were WEREWOLF, CODENAMES, and JUST ONE. My favourite from those three is CODENAMES.
Your list is quite unique and I appreciate some of your choices here. While I enjoyed Through the Ages, that game is so take that it can be brutal! And yes to Brass. Real tough call for us on that one.
@@AntLabGames Yeah Through the Ages is a lot of "take that" so it makes sense that it's not on your top list. I was trying to figure out any of the games that I've played that were part of the Economic category honestly and from the list that I came up with after looking on BGG Brass was on the list and it's an amazing game to me hence it being at the top of my list for that category. I appreciate many of the games on your list as well and look forward to seeing more tops from other categories from you two.
As always great video some of the games you choose I haven't played yet so will have to check those out.. .Here are mine for your categories:
Tile placement : Glenmore Chronicles 2 and if it counts for this category Terraforming Mars for the ocean, greenery and city tiles
Worker Placement : ( 3 Way Tie ) Abomination The Heir of Frankenstein, Raiders of the North Sea, Russian Railroads
Deckbuilding : ( not a big fan of this mechanic so... ) Great Western Trail
Area control : ( not a big fan of this mechanic so ... ) Twilight Struggle
Tableau Builders : Lewis & Clark The Expedition ( Everdell was second for me )
Pick up and Deliver : Western Legends
Civilization : Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Dungeon Crawler : Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion
Economic : Brass Birmingham and Raccoon Tycoon
Social Deduction : Deception Murder in Hong Kong
You have a few games here we have not tried yet. Thanks for the suggestions!
My favorite tile laying games at the moment are streets and kohaku.
Interesting. We’ve not yet played those.
Tile placement wise… Unknown Planet is amazing!!
Have not played this yet.
@@AntLabGames I am not usually a big fan of tiling laying but this game so good. My son loves it too so it’s great game for our family. If you get a chance give it a go. Really enjoyed this video BTW. I am looking into the Outer Rim as a result.😊
The best social deduction game is Blood on the Clocktower…if you like Mysterium you should break out Obscurio
We have Obscurio as well and agree it is similar fun. Will have to check out Blood on the Clocktower.