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Episode 29: Our most important games to us
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Shane and Steve list the games that were most important or impactful to them since joining the hobby. This is the leadup to our top 100, starting next episode.
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Transcript
Warm Welcome and Podcast Introduction
00:00:15
Speaker
Hello welcome back to Mate Let's Play. How are you, Shane? I am satisfactory. Thanks, mate. I'm doing okay. A bit of call back to the G-Money days. I love it. Satisfactory. Well, I guess that means I'm adequate.
00:00:29
Speaker
You're adequate.
Top 10 Games: Personal Significance
00:00:33
Speaker
So, yeah, welcome back. It's been about a month since our last pod and this time we are doing something really cool.
00:00:40
Speaker
We'll get into that a little bit later as far as the list is concerned, but the list is going to be our top 10 games that are important to us, which is a kind of a cool list. It's not our top 100 games of all time. That's coming soon.
00:00:53
Speaker
It's the games that mattered to us with regards to the hobby. So very, very keen to hear our list and if if there's any crossover. which would be an interesting thing.
Lords of Vegas Experience
00:01:03
Speaker
so But before we get to that, I guess we can also talk about any games that we've been playing. Shane, what's been hitting your Thursday night game group or else?
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, for the last last few weeks in a row, we have been playing Lords of Vegas. Oh, cool. It is such a good game. ah it's um It's kind of a choir...
00:01:26
Speaker
ish or choir-esque but you know you're you're running your own casino and you're trying to expand your casino and take over all everyone else's casinos that are trying to um uh block your you know block a land and um you know the the The owners of the casinos are determined by whoever's got the highest dice number.
00:01:49
Speaker
um And so you know there's you have big takeovers. and If you get a one dice, you can spend a million bucks to re-roll that one dice and potentially get get a six, and then you you own the whole lot.
00:02:00
Speaker
And it's ah it's really, really cool. And, yeah, we've been playing that for last. It's Lucky Phil's game, and he got it from the States. When Pastor Nick went back to America, he brought it back for him.
00:02:14
Speaker
Cool. Which is really nice, you know. It's a big, heavy game. good But, you know, with the first time we played it, we all just loved it. you know the the And then me being me, went, okay, I cana need to blingify Phil's set.
00:02:30
Speaker
So went 3D printed all of the casinos. Yeah. Instead of having your boring bit of cardboard sitting on the on the yeah on the board, you've got these really nice casinos, all 3D printed.
00:02:43
Speaker
And it looks great. It's really, really good. And the dice sit inside the little the casino at the top as well. So on the 3D plastic model. So, yeah, we played that.
00:02:55
Speaker
We had a really close game. Not Thursday night gone, but the previous Thursday night. There was only about two or three points in it between the twenty three of us. Passed to Nick. He won that one.
00:03:08
Speaker
And he's won it two times in a row. Like, he's gone back to back. Yeah, I reckon. Such a good game. And then after I he blinged it out and did all the three prints. I'm like, hmm.
00:03:20
Speaker
where can I buy this game from? Good luck. Although I think, is it in print now? It's in print now. Yeah, they just... there But, you know, you're looking $100, $30, $140. Yeah. But, ah you know, ahve I've stopped doing that type of thing now. i've um You know, if one of us have got the game in the group, that's enough.
00:03:38
Speaker
So, Phil's got it. Yeah. it consist it It'll always stay in the group. So, I haven't gone out and purchased it. But, yeah, that's what's been hitting my table. It's it's been...
Game Ownership Dynamics
00:03:50
Speaker
Been pretty hectic last few weeks, though, because my youngest son, Max, he just turned 18. So we had his 18th birthday party. And, oh, God, that was massive. Happy birthday, there Max.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah. And... And yes, so we've we've had that over the last couple of weekends. So not much else has hit the table and because I've been pretty busy. But man, Las Vegas is enough for the last few weeks. that's looking good to vegas sorry yeah it's it's It's brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant game. Have you played it?
00:04:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I've got the old version. So I've got the original print. I think it's the up expansion, which I think is built into the one. it is. Yeah. And it is. It's great fun. And it's it's it's probably different now, but is it isn't much of a looker.
00:04:35
Speaker
Like it. um on considering it's Vegas, like you would expect it to be all flashy and blingy, but it's really just like a top-down view of buildings. But it still works. and It has that Vegas feel about it because you're rolling the dice and you're pay you get more money to yeah overrun someone else's casino and stuff. So it still captures that essence. And yeah, my son actually, Sebastian, my oldest son, he loves it. So it's one game that on occasion, hasn't hit the table for a while, but on occasion when he's um home,
00:05:05
Speaker
We'll pull out Lords of Vegas and have a run. So it's an interesting thing you just said before though. um i think it was on the first Dice Tower hot takes one they did.
00:05:16
Speaker
And it's so true, which is the more people in your game group that own the game, the less you'll ever play that game. ah And the idea is because everyone owns it, everyone wants to try something new or show someone a new game.
Game Spotlight: Tend
00:05:30
Speaker
The game that you all own sits on the shelf and never gets touched. Yeah. it's um it is It is interesting because ah like I just sold a whole heap of games um and which is very rare for me, but I needed to make some room. And I pulled out 30-odd games and just sold them at a game day.
00:05:50
Speaker
Yeah. Bring them by sale, which was good because then that helped pay for Max's birthday. Yeah, well, there you go. Your birthday has been funded by cardboard. Selling my board games.
00:06:03
Speaker
But, mate, it's such a cool game, that Lords of Vegas. if If anyone out there wants to have a really cool – it's it's the party-esque, but still so much take that.
00:06:15
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, you know, even even like gambling at someone's casino, like you you're down to your last $2 million bucks and you go, oh, I'm going to just go and gamble over over and past the Knicks casino. and Yeah, no, I don't think I won once.
00:06:31
Speaker
I don't think won in anyone's casino. I'm just handing money over. right Well, I guess that's realistic, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Such a fun game.
00:06:43
Speaker
ae Definitely will be in a list. Oh, wow. Okay. Spoiler. I like it. well i like it Well, I've been playing a new game that I got. It's a year old, I think. um I missed out on the Kickstarter, but I ended up getting a Kickstarter version, um which is way overproduced.
00:07:02
Speaker
But it is such a great game. I don't know if it's my new favorite thing in right, because there's Hadrian's Wall. Yeah. ah Boy, it's close. And that is Tend.
00:07:17
Speaker
I don't know if you've heard of Tend or played played it. It's an IV Studio game. No, I haven't. Yeah, it's it's just delightful. So the game is huge, by the way. Like, it's a roll and write that's, you know like ah almost a Gloomhaven-sized box. What? The deluxe version is anyway. And at first I was like, come on, this is a bit nuts.
00:07:37
Speaker
But it's because they give you literally 200 sheets. 200 um but there's three sheets so you get 200 of each so it's got 600 sheets in it in the box um so you could play this game 200 times theoretically and um i was playing it on the week last weekend and the girl i was playing it with she's like oh so eventually it'll run out of like yeah but if it runs out i'm pretty sure i'd be happy to buy more sheets if i'd played it that many times
Kickstarter's Impact on Collections
00:08:05
Speaker
yeah i
00:08:07
Speaker
So you've got, yeah, you've got three sheets. You've got like this cargo manifest sheet. You've got your main sheet, which has got all your actions and purchase values and stuff. And then you've got a ah scratch it card.
00:08:18
Speaker
So when you go mining or or chopping, you actually scratch a path out of ah of the forest or of the mines. And that's, I mean, come on, gimmicky wise, that's pretty awesome.
00:08:31
Speaker
um They even give you a coin to scratch with. It's great. Yeah. But the idea of the game is you are cultivating your your area. So you can either mine, go through the forest, you can fish, you can cultivate your land by putting animals or plants out.
00:08:50
Speaker
And there's another action that I... No, I think that they're the four main actions. Yeah, they're the four main actions. And each of them is like ah ah somewhat of a minigame. Like the mining and the and the chopping work basically the same. You're just going down a path on a scratch it card. But it's really cool
Gen Con Visit Aspirations
00:09:05
Speaker
because there's a path. And if you follow the path, you'll get through it quickly.
00:09:08
Speaker
but all the good stuff is off the path. So you kind of, if if you want to get to the bottom, because if you get to the bottom of the mine, you open up grotto fishing, which is better fishing. And ah you get to the bottom of the forest, you open up lake fishing, which is better fishing. So you want to get to the bottom, but then you miss out on all the good stuff. So it's already like just juicy the decisions just within that.
00:09:27
Speaker
The fishing is really cool. You roll two dice, one's an X axis, one's a Y axis. So you've got like a grid of fish and whenever you roll, you move across and down and find that fish. And that's that's what you get as a resource. But when I say resources, you don't actually own anything.
00:09:42
Speaker
um turn to turn. Every resource you get, you have to spend, which is where one of the main sheets comes in because everything has a cost. So if you go mining and you find a stone, well, then you've got a you can use that stone to help build the bridge, which will get your river fishing, or you can use the the copper to upgrade an item or, you know, these sort of things.
00:10:01
Speaker
i And if you can't do anything with that, or if you don't want to, on the other side, you can, you can sell them and put them in your cargo manifest and, um So, or you sell them, you deliver them and you put them in your cargo manifest, which is where most of your victory points come from. Or you can sell them for coins so you can buy other things that you need. But it's like, it's a continual chain because you don't hold onto any resources.
00:10:21
Speaker
You have to use everything you get when you get it. So there are some massive combos that you make, not so much in the early game, but mid to late game. There'll be some turns that you have where you're like, okay, cool. Oh, I just unlocked another mining action. All right. So I'm going to wait here on this one. i'm going to do that mining action. Okay. That got me fishing. That got me a geode. So I'm going to roll for the geode and do that. Cool. All right. That got me that.
00:10:44
Speaker
And then you go and do all this other stuff and you're like, well, hang on way back when, I got the free mining action back here. I've got to remember that I'm still back here because I've still got other things to do. Like I got some gold I've got to spend elsewhere.
00:10:55
Speaker
So that's probably the biggest downfall of the game is that sometimes you can just get lost in your turn, which is amazing. I love it, but it's, it's ah yeah, it's full on. so um And it's a game that and rewards multiple plays. Like the first game we played, I won with a score of 84.
00:11:14
Speaker
The person who came in second had 82. I worked out later she probably did win because I remembered that I had, I think I had three turns in the last turn instead of two. So just because I got lost in my turn and I didn't know whether I'd done something or not. But I've found a way to track that now, which is which makes that less of a problem. And the person who came last got 33.
00:11:34
Speaker
So huge variance. But he knew straight away he was not going to score well because he was putting nothing in his cargo manifest. But the second time I played it, I i lost and I scored 130 points.
00:11:48
Speaker
The third time I played it, I scored 187 Because it's got that like that feast for Odin kind of feel where the first time couple of times you play it, you're like, oh, there's no way I'm going to be to this or that and that.
00:12:00
Speaker
And then all of a sudden you're like, yeah, I can totally do this. Yeah, I can. um you know You know how you're more intentional about your turns and you just have these amazing chaining turns.
00:12:10
Speaker
So I love it. It's fantastic. it's I mean, it's a big game, like I said. You get and um in the deluxe version, which is the Kickstarter version, you get 36 textiles for your cargo manifest, but they're not textiles that you draw with. They're stamp textiles.
00:12:28
Speaker
So when you put the shapes in the cargo manifest, you just press it down and it shows you a fish or a mining shape or whatever else. Super cool. And when when your wife's an art teacher, really easy to help her get into the game.
00:12:40
Speaker
she just Her whole sheet is just covered in fish and they are shapes and forests and all kinds of love hearts. just Yeah. Outstanding game. i would absolutely recommend if you get a chance to play it, play it. It looks, that the teach is something else because you've got to explain all the mini games, what you're using the resources for, how you score victory points.
00:13:01
Speaker
There's so much. And it is a game that halfway through you're still going i don't know what i'm doing i guess i'll just go fishing but um you know i've mentioned its similarity to feast for odin in that sense that you'll you'll figure out how to do things more but also like i always think about brass the first time i played brass birmingham i was halfway through ah probably but just started the second era and i'm like oh i realized that everything i've done now has been a total waste And it's like, I want to play it again because now I understand how the game works.
00:13:32
Speaker
Oh, yeah. It definitely has that feel. Like everyone who's played it, everyone I've played it with has played it twice. And it's like a 60 to 90 minute game. So it's not a short game, but everyone's like, I need to play this again because I need it all to sink back in again. So Tend is outstanding. T-E-N-D?
00:13:51
Speaker
It will also be on our top 100 games of all time list. Oh, yeah. So don't know where, but well, I do know where, but I'm in just going to just throw that carrot out. We've we spoiled two games for our list.
00:14:02
Speaker
We did. So it's Tend, so T-E-N-D, E-N-D. Yeah. I've never even heard of it Yeah, right.
Buying Games Abroad
00:14:10
Speaker
No, it's's it's great. And tend is one of the four actions. So I guess it makes more sense calling it tend than fish, mine, or chop. Although chop would cool.
00:14:20
Speaker
Probably would have preferred chop. But yes, tend is just one of the four actions you can take. So you tend to your field. Tend to your field, yeah. Anyway, that's what I've been playing a lot of. Fantastic game.
00:14:33
Speaker
Never even heard of it, mate. But I will be looking it up as soon as we finish this. Not buying it, though. Well, there is a standard version too. And apparently the only, well, the difference is is you don't get as many sheets.
00:14:45
Speaker
You don't get the fancy textures. You just get pencils, but apparently they're really good quality pencils. And I think that's it. So less stuff, less quality pencils and then the rest of the games, you still get scratch at cards, still get everything else. So,
00:14:59
Speaker
That's cool. And speaking of like pencils and textures and stamps, just noticed on Gen Con, Gen Con's, you know, happening as we speak, and um they his war hammer or army paints are doing those uh speed textures yeah i saw that yeah that's ah what a cool i is want they yeah it does all like the shading and depth and stuff yeah yeah really cool stuff get out your paintbrush and paints you know they've got textures yes please
00:15:35
Speaker
Yeah, i wonder to that I wonder if that's purely for people who can't paint because I imagine excuse me imagine if you could paint, it would still be quicker. But at the same time, I can't paint for to save myself. So if I could just colour in. Colour in?
00:15:50
Speaker
yeah I'm the same. eye I try to paint. You know, yeah I don't do too bad of a job of it. But, yeah, when I saw the text, as honey and that's much easier. who Colouring in my mini, that'd be great.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah. I have to admit, I'm really glad we we're recording today because every year when Gen Con's on, I just get so jealous. And I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of people in the hobby and a lot of them are at Gen Con.
00:16:15
Speaker
And I'm like, they're all posting videos. They're all posting on Facebook. And I'm like, I don't know when. Like, I honestly, I don't know when I'm ever getting to Gen Con. I really want to.
00:16:26
Speaker
But I don't know when that physically could happen because it's the wrong time of year for Australians, to offer for people who work in the education to travel because it's mid mid-school term. yeah um Yeah.
00:16:38
Speaker
It's in indiana Indianapolis, which is not easy to get to from Australia. Well, not cheap to get to. So it's not like I haven't looked. But, yeah, I'd love to do it one. But at least we're talking about board games instead. Let's let's make it a mission.
00:16:50
Speaker
You and I will eventually get there. cause i'm gonna laugh i'm go it Based on the missions that we've already got planned in the future at some point, we're going to make a lot of freaking fly points out of our missions one day.
00:17:03
Speaker
No, we definitely need to get over there because I do... I like watching all the the vlogs that are happening at the moment and you're just like, him wow, it would be cool to go to at least once. Yeah. I don't even think it would be the best board gaming event I've ever been to, but it'd be the most iconic. Like it'd be the one where you go, holy moly, this is our hobby.
00:17:21
Speaker
This is huge. Yeah. Like to to think you can just go and play board games in the middle of an NFL stadium. Yeah. Yeah. Nuts. So, yeah. Yeah. how I am ah did mention that I'm not buying any more board games at the moment because it's interesting when your wife says to you, Shane, I think we've got fraud happening on our account.
00:17:41
Speaker
I said, why is that? She said, there's a purchase here from San Jose, another purchase is from London. i said, yeah, they're my board games. are got coming What?
00:17:55
Speaker
You just sold heap. And I said, oh, I just, you know there was some nice cold Chadwick games going for cheap. So, yeah, I bought it. Yeah, it is funny. i've I've really slowed down a lot in the in the last few months, but you still buy it you still buy games. But um what doesn't slow down is the Kickstarters that you backed a year and a half ago.
00:18:16
Speaker
So it's really hard for me to convince my wife that I've slowed down when packages just keep arriving. And especially now, like around Gen Con, a lot of things get delivered. So it's like every other day I'm down post office. like Oh, I got another one.
00:18:27
Speaker
I got Eternal Sevens yesterday. So that's the follow-up to Eternal Dex. Oh, right. It's not the same style of game. It's based on Sevens, the card game.
00:18:39
Speaker
um But yeah, it arrived. And I'm like, wow. When I put in that pre-order, because he did a pre-order via PayPal through through PayPal Japan. And again, that would look pretty fraudulent on a... um He was like, oh yeah, it's not finished yet. It'll come out later this year. And then all of a sudden, it felt like three weeks later, I get an email saying, your package is on the way.
00:19:02
Speaker
So i didn't even i was i was not even certain it was that when it rocked up, but it was. So yeah, I haven't tried it yet, but yeah. yes It's hard to hard to win an argument about how many board games you buy when they just keep showing up.
00:19:17
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's certainly, you know, kudos to Lauren there when she came to me this morning and said that. And i figure yeah, no, fair call. But, you know, I'm a big fan of Carl Chattuck, as you know. And um when you see Bear Valley for, like, $17, you've got to pick that up. branding And then I saw another one. It starts with U. It's like Utopia or something like that that he does. Another rare one that he's done.
00:19:46
Speaker
I saw that. Yeah, picked that up. And then I then i started thinking, oh, I wonder if you can get that Joker chest yet. Have you ever heard me? Oh, yeah. Maybe talking about that. It looks terrible, but apparently it's going to be great.
00:19:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it looks terrible. but It's going to be great. Anyway, lo and behold, yep, there it is for sale. Noble Knight board games over in the US. Purchase.
00:20:09
Speaker
Oops. I was chatting with Dave and Suzanne, a couple of
Meta Gaming Discussions
00:20:15
Speaker
that we play board games with regularly up here. And we were talking about how the hobby has gone so meta that now we're playing games about the hobby. And that's just a little bit, that's like, that's pretty nerdy.
00:20:29
Speaker
That's, you that's like going for a bike ride and in Strava and making your ride the shape of a bicycle. Like, because essentially he was playing a game where it was about building a Kallax and filling it with games.
00:20:43
Speaker
And while he was telling me this, I was looking at an update for the Game Makers, which is getting delivered very soon, um which is a game about making board games. At some point, we're just doing their job for them. Like, it's... it's it's oh Anyway. Well, then there's this other... I was like, well, what's this for? What's...
00:21:05
Speaker
$190. ninety dollars I said, oh, that that'd be a comic book that I bought. What?
00:21:12
Speaker
And I mean, as you can see from behind me, ah you know I've got a collection of comic books, but this was a 9.8 CGC graded Clayface number one. Now, Clayface is about to come out.
00:21:27
Speaker
It is, yeah. If you get in early, generally, the comic just goes up a little bit, so... Yeah. Well, um all right. Well, that's ah theyre the two games we talked about and a whole bunch of other stuff, which is cool. I'll try those heaps. Actually, I do want to touch touch on something, though.
00:21:43
Speaker
I'm doing a tournament for the first time in PGA. How doing? I've never done one before. I've been playing a shit ton of Flip 7. So much Flip 7. i got i got I got invited as a guru of Flip 7 now.
00:21:58
Speaker
and And so you got this like you go and vote on certain things about Flip 7. okay and anyway um so i thought i'll join the tournament and with three days in this tournament i've had three goes
00:22:19
Speaker
and that's flip seven too that's like it's not like oh you have lots of turns in flip seven the game's going to be done in 14 days there's no way we're getting this game over done within 14 days I tell you what, though, hot tip for um for competition play on BGA, though, always be the person who's used the least amount of time.
Board Game Arena Tournament Strategies
00:22:39
Speaker
Because when the game does run out of time and it hasn't finished, the winner is the person who's used the least amount of time.
00:22:46
Speaker
So id let everyone else be slow. Yeah. Man, it's doing my head in like three goes in three days. Yeah. So like we like we're just I've just passed with a score of 31.
00:23:00
Speaker
So now I'm just waiting in round one. And there's there's five planets. It's too many. Yeah. I remember I played a game with Dan back on from the board game Barbecue of so of Super Fantasy Brawl, um which I used to like, and played it a couple more times, and now I actively dislike that game. And one of the reasons was the games on BGA because it's a turn it's a game where you're like, take this turn. All right, now that you've taken this turn, the other person has a chance to react to that turn. Okay, now that they've reacted, you have a chance to do this. And then now, once we've just so established all of that, you can now move the one space that you asked to move first at the start.
00:23:39
Speaker
You like it's just so many back and forth with works because it's a battle again, but it doesn't work on BGA. Yeah. And we were in a tournament in that. And um we, not a tournament like that. Well, it was a tournament, but it was like ah ah like a with people we knew.
00:23:53
Speaker
wasn't like in the arena thing. And I was playing Dan and I was getting absolutely hammered. I was down 4-1 and it's a race to five points. So I was definitely losing the game. And then the time ran out and I'd used less time than Dan, so I won. And was so angry because he's like, that was two weeks of my life where I was clearly winning the game for nothing.
00:24:20
Speaker
Well, it's good to know that I've got to make sure I have a quick go, whatever it's my go. Use the least time, but yeah, man. There's no way we're finishing in 14 days. No, it doesn't sound like it, not that pace. I don't know.
00:24:36
Speaker
All right. Well, let's jump into it. so Do you want to explain what we're doing
Top 10 Games Introduction
00:24:40
Speaker
today? Because I hope I got it right, but I'm pretty sure I haven't. Yeah. Well, if you got it wrong, we can just do two different lists. That works. So the idea I posed to Shane was doing a top 10 most impactful games to me list. Most important, most impactful, game most memorable. Could even be most memorable. But for me, it's like important games. So games that framed games.
00:25:02
Speaker
who I am in the hobby or the hobby itself, maybe like games that I play that change my perspective on something or whatever else. So yeah, that's kind of what I've gone with. So it's a bit broad, but it's also, so it's not your top, it's not your top 100 or top 10. It's not your, your favorite games. It's not whatever it's, it's the games. Like there are multiple games on my list that will not be in my top 100. So yeah, that was kind of the idea.
00:25:30
Speaker
Very good. I like the idea. All right, so I might as well kick it off with numero 10. Numero 10 for you. which is a Which is Pandemic Legacy, and it's on the list because it was the first legacy game ever played. Yeah.
00:25:45
Speaker
Very memorable game, not just for what happened in the game, but also we started this. My parents were living in our front yard when we lived in Cloncari in their caravan for about six months or three months. It felt like six months maybe. And we started playing Pandemic Legacy with the four of us.
00:26:03
Speaker
And while that went okay, there was clearly some issues because mum kept falling asleep. Dad kept thinking he knew the rules when he didn't. And it became quite a frustrating experience for Helen and I to game through it.
00:26:18
Speaker
So we made it to about June. Mum and dad jumped off in their caravan and Helen and I were done with Pandemic Legacy. We put it back on the shelf. And just sort of went, nah, with like, you know, because we thought the only way we're going keep playing this is if we get mum and dad back in the room to play it. And we really don't want that because it wasn't that enjoyable of an experience. So we just left it. And then we just kept hearing about all this amazing stuff that happens in Pandemic Legacy.
00:26:42
Speaker
So after about two years, we both, we got it out again and we played four characters. So we played mum and dad's character, we played two-handed, four-player game. And we finished it and it was outstanding. like It was such a great experience. So much so that we still, to this day, try to have one legacy game kind of on the run. yeah We played through both Clanks. We played through Ticket to Ride Legacy, Aeon's End Legacy. We're currently playing through Cozy Stickerville.
00:27:07
Speaker
So anything with that sort of ongoing narrative, we really we really like. and it all started with Pandemic Legacy. So that's why it's my number 10. Brilliant. Love it.
00:27:18
Speaker
My number 10.
00:27:20
Speaker
Now, it is important to me, okay? So it's probably not important to anyone else out there in the board game realm. um
Significance of Monopoly
00:27:30
Speaker
But it's Monopoly.
00:27:31
Speaker
Number 10 for me is Monopoly. Reason being, it's really the first game I ever got hooked on as a kid. I played it a lot I remember used to playing as a family with my brothers and sisters or with my cousins and and and playing with a martin playing it with my mum.
00:27:53
Speaker
um Monopoly was just always hitting the floor on the weekend. Not a game table. You'd play it on the floor. and you know And I was always the banker.
00:28:05
Speaker
got Go you knowo figure. Still always the banker in any game I play now, too. um But, you know, as a kid, you know, you used to try and stash the 500 bucks. Every now and then, you you know, you give yourself an extra 500 to stake. So you should, you know, make sure you have enough cash.
00:28:25
Speaker
But I just, you know, and it was just up until a recent time where the boys said, oh, we're going to play Donopoli. Dad, do you want to play? And I said, okay, yeah. Because I'm undefeated.
00:28:39
Speaker
Undefeated? And they're like, yeah, bullshit, Dad. mean i wo You know, we'll whip your butt. I think Josh was first one gone. Then Max, about a half an hour later, he was all bankrupt as well. said, see, boys, still undefeated.
00:28:55
Speaker
not Monopoly is just, it was what got me into the ballgames. Let's face it. Yeah, fair call. That's my number 10. Well, my number nine is also a game that's probably not going to make many board gamers' lists, but it um was one of the... it was I don't know it was the first
First Kickstarter Memories
00:29:15
Speaker
Kickstarter I received or the first Kickstarter I backed. Yeah.
00:29:19
Speaker
I don't think it was the first Kickstarter received because that was Charity Party. ah this um But this one was the first one that was kind of like, oh when you go on Kickstarter, you get fancy things kind of game.
00:29:31
Speaker
And this is Rival Restaurants. So Rival Restaurants is a fun little game. I'm not going to sit here and try and make it sound like it's a great game. It's a fine game. There's nothing wrong with it. It's a good time.
00:29:41
Speaker
You have a bit of a laugh. But it's it's it's a game that means a lot to me for two reasons. One, because it was that Kickstarter that I received and was like, oh, wow, it comes with a wooden bento box and you've got to build it and everything's got their own little space. And I didn't use glue. So when I moved to a place with more humidity, everything fell apart. And like...
00:30:01
Speaker
yeah memories like that. I took it to Bali and Bali should be human and all fell apart again. but it's actually that Bali trip that is the reason why it's so memorable because it was a game that we played in a restaurant.
00:30:14
Speaker
So we played rival restaurants in a restaurant with um my two two um my two oldest kids and my wife while our youngest, Raphael, was like in kids club because he was four like imagine remember those days how good were those days the four of us would just sit down and it was just became the what we did we'd we'd go out have morning tea pull out rival restaurants at the restaurant and play it so it sparks holiday memories for me um as well as the fact that it was like one of those first you deluxified kickstarters i guess so uh yeah rival restaurants
00:30:46
Speaker
It's worth, it still sits on our shelf. It's, I haven't gotten rid of it. I've gotten rid of a lot of Kickstarters I've backed, but I can't get rid of rival restaurants because it's got that sentimental attachment. So number nine. And this is the one where you had all the little pieces and baggies, didn't you? And you had to come back. kind trick here yeah Same trip. It was wingspan that caused me the most problems. That was for sure. With those eggs.
00:31:08
Speaker
Yeah. Very good. Um, ah yeah very good um My number nine is on the list because um i just love playing it with these people.
Social Aspect of Gaming
00:31:26
Speaker
And whenever I go to a game day, Ingrid and Shane say, please paint, pack, Uncle Ball Pop and or Nantinaki. Any of those two. And um so every game day, ah know that they're going to be there.
00:31:40
Speaker
That game's coming with me and we play it. And God, we have such a good time. um and it's just one of my most favourite games to play with those two humans. and Ingrid and Shane are just fantastic to play any game with, but Nancy Narking and Uncle Bob, God, we have fun.
00:31:58
Speaker
and yeah And generally, generally it's ah it's it's all against Ingrid, so when we play, but yeah, fun game to play with those two people.
00:32:11
Speaker
I am when I was doing my, cause I've already done my top 100 list that we're going to start going through on our next pod, but it kept popping up and I kept upvoting. I can't remember whether it made the top 100 or not. ill I haven't looked at the list in front of me, but I've only played it once with you guys.
00:32:27
Speaker
that And it was such a great experience that it's like, it's hard to vote a game. only played once up high on your, on your list because you know, who knows what multiple players, but it's so clear that,
00:32:38
Speaker
It's only going to get better the more times you play that game. So, yeah. Great. And it's and it is it's so fun. So, so fun. Everyone's trying to guess who's trying to you know and end their game and you know what they're trying to do to end the game.
00:32:51
Speaker
And then you're completely wrong every time. So, you know, you're... it's a weird It's got a weird memory for me too, which is a little bit of a strange memory, but I don't consider myself good at board games. I don't consider myself like a highly strategic player. I don't like to think about my turns too long. Like I'm really conscious of um analysis paralysis. So sometimes I make suboptimal turns and yeah whatever. I have to live with that.
00:33:18
Speaker
But when we played that game, Ingrid made it fairly clear that she thinks I'm really good at board games. She was out to get me in that game. and She's like, because you'll figure out a way to win it. And I'm like, who was telling you this? like When have I proven you correct? i don't understand. um Yeah, but that's a great game.
00:33:39
Speaker
Very keen to play it again. odd.
Accidental Favorite: T.O.T. Wakka
00:33:43
Speaker
Speaking of games that I'm keen to play again, this one is one of my most played games. And it stands out because many, many moons ago, i started the Board Game Barbecue podcast with eight other people.
00:33:54
Speaker
And we created a segment called Swear Enough. and on the very first show, I swore to play T.O.T. Wakka. I didn't pronounce it that way because I didn't know how to pronounce it correctly at that point.
00:34:07
Speaker
I didn't even buy this game. It showed up in a box accidentally from a supplier that I'd bought other games from. It was in the box. And I'm like... I didn't buy this. And then I emailed them and they're like, just keep it. so I'm like, okay, problem solved.
00:34:22
Speaker
um So TO ended up becoming my favorite game for a long time. Like it's, so to go from that, that being my first swear on oath game to being my favorite game for years running a game that I would still happily play now, pull out, um i love it as the base game i love it with all the expansions and everything in between um but yeah just just a cool thing every time i play it i'm like this could never have been like this i i could never have played my favorite game if it wasn't for ah a a handling stuff up in a in a warehouse somewhere so like yeah
00:34:59
Speaker
And I remember, I think last time you and I played it, you were having a shocker. That's so true. Speaking of times when I played with Ingrid where she thinks I'm good at game, what proof, Ingrid, what proof do you have? Yeah, you have. I remember looking at that board and just going, i honestly, I don't know where i don't know how to score points anymore. I've like forgotten how to play this game.
00:35:22
Speaker
yeah Yeah. That's good. um My number eight is my first Kickstarter. Oh, cool.
00:35:33
Speaker
and So, you know, when you talk about things for important, so I've backed a Kickstarter for a very long time, mind you. But um this was my first Kickstarter, and I can guarantee it's probably this game, it'll be the only list in the world that this game would
Backing Terra Below
00:35:50
Speaker
be on.
00:35:50
Speaker
It'd have to be. And that's terrible, O. Oh, yeah, right. I backed that. And then I sold it because I didn't like it.
00:36:01
Speaker
It's one of those, you know, Thunder Road Vendetta type of games where you just leave your brain cells at the door and you're just dodging big worms that are coming up out of the ground. And, you know, you've got your dog or you've got yeah you're loading up your gun.
00:36:17
Speaker
You're jumping over canyons and you're shooting the worms in the air as you're jumping over. It's just a stupid game. ah But it's still in my collection. I haven't sold it, only because it was my first Kickstarter.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah. and I was so rapt when it arrived. I was like, you know, because it was, I'm like, do i do I trust this Kickstarter? hear all the bad stories. and And then when it arrives, it was really cool. And you've got the big statue worm that you put on the board. And I thought, this is the best thing. And then then I think that born my next Kickstarter, which was Architects the West Kingdom.
00:36:55
Speaker
Was what sorry? Architects. Oh, oh, okay. Yeah. Sorry. I a car drive past, just as you said the name. My first Shin Phillips game. So yeah. Very nice.
00:37:06
Speaker
Number eight, Terra Below. I challenge anyone to find that on our top 10 list anyway. That's it's a good point. It'd probably be as familiar as rival restaurants.
00:37:17
Speaker
ah Now, speaking I've got a bit of a theme going all of a sudden here because I just realised the reason my number seven is on the list is because it was the game that proved to me that I enjoy this hobby irrespective of whether I win or lose because my number seven is Quacks of Quedlinburg.
Loving Quacks of Quedlinburg
00:37:35
Speaker
And hi famously did not win this game for like the first 30 times I played um But it was one of my favorite games. And... um hi the first My first win came against someone who was big noting himself, talking about how um the game is actually a lot more strategy than luck. And and then I beat him. And I was like, how does it feel to lose to the guy who never wins because it's more strategic? Yeah.
00:38:05
Speaker
ah So, yeah, Quacks of Quedlinburg, it still hits the table every now and again. It's it's a bit of a family favourite, but it is that game where, similar to what you were saying about leave your brain at the door, like if you want to play high strategy in this game, feel free, but be prepared to just lose.
00:38:22
Speaker
again And I loved, I was chatting to my kids about it not long ago. And we used to always, when we played this, because we had at the time, like Raph would have been like maybe seven or eight.
00:38:33
Speaker
Seb would have been about 11 or 12 and Heidi would have been a year older again. And we all just like watched Raph like a Hulk because he had the tendency to look into his bag or pick out something and put it back. So... We're like, you can't cheat, Raph. You know, so we all watched Raph.
00:38:47
Speaker
And then Seb says to me when we're talking about it not long ago, he's like, while you guys were watching Raph, I was just going for my
00:38:55
Speaker
ah Like, you cheesy bastard. So i probably would have won it more than I did. But, um yeah, I just still still i still have a terrible record, but i love it. That's Quacks of Quedlinburg, my number seven.
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah, great, great game. i are you know When I owned that game, i was teaching it at all these game days. I don't think, there's probably not been a game that I've onsold to more board gamers than that one.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah. Because generally when they're playing it, someone's looking on their phone to buy it. Yeah. Yeah. So. And it is a game too, like because you're, and obviously I've taught it a lot too, when you teach it, you teach that, like, you know, the the level one, everything's level one, right? Yep.
00:39:37
Speaker
um I still, there there are many combinations of that game I haven't touched yet because it's got so much variability built into the box, but it's so good just in the base version. And because you're always teaching it, yeah invariably you end up back at the base version more often than not. So, yeah. Great. It is great game.
00:39:56
Speaker
All right. number seven
00:40:00
Speaker
is the game that taught me
00:40:05
Speaker
that I absolutely hate a board game. so I know what this is, I reckon. And this is a game that even when I hear the name of it, I get shivers.
00:40:19
Speaker
If I ever see the board game cover, I just want to burn it. um It's probably the worst game i have ever seen.
00:40:31
Speaker
sat in that I couldn't even chew my arm off to get out of the room and say I'm done I don't want to ever play this game again. It's fantastic. Because I didn't want to feel mean to the person that was hosting the board game day and they said oh it'll be a quick game don't worry be quick game. Okay now five hours later we're still going and bargaining on a black cube.
Sidereal Confluence: A Negative Impact?
00:40:51
Speaker
Bugger off.
00:40:55
Speaker
So, Shit Real Convluence is
00:40:59
Speaker
excuse my number seven. It's so funny. i like I'd seen that game before you talked about it and I'd always looked at it and thought it sounds a bit pretentious. And and I was like, oh but, you know, people like it. I'd probably give it a go one day. And then I heard you talk about it And it's just been stricken from the record. Like I will never play that game because ah i feel everything that you felt. Like I could imagine just being in that situation. like and we've all been in that situation, right? Where you're you're at a game and you're playing a game and you and you feel obliged to pretend you're enjoying it because you don't want people that you don't want to yuck someone else's yum. You don't want to be that guy right? That just says, see you later, I'm done.
00:41:37
Speaker
Yeah. But um there's nothing endearing that I've heard about it. So I'm like, it's done. It's done for me too. So thank you for that, Shane. It has that. See, I'm glad. See, that's why it's my number seven. and I can then pass on never, ever play that shit game.
00:41:54
Speaker
say awesome It just is terrible. no People love it. I don't know how or why. Yeah. what I saw it in a game store the other day.
00:42:06
Speaker
um just like i look at it look at it and go, it was like a hundred bucks or something like that. I'm like, why would anyone spend a hundred bucks on that? I'd rather go and eat a hundred dollars worth nails than play that bloody game.
00:42:21
Speaker
I it. I love that that made your list. That is so awesome. That's just, that's made my day. Well, it's important to me. It's...
00:42:32
Speaker
Oh, so good. All right. um Far less interesting. my number six is another... If not my first Kickstarter received very early on, and that's Smartphone Inc.
Smartphone Inc. Kickstarter Joy
00:42:44
Speaker
ah Smartphone, for me, that's good game the thing the thing that's the the thing that I always think of when I think of my Kickstarter version of smartphone, and I've mentioned this before, is that when I opened the lid, there was a handwritten letter from the designer thanking me for backing the game. And I was like, how cool is this?
00:43:04
Speaker
It cool. put it to the side. The very next thing underneath that was this bit of folded board and it said Steve on it. And I'm like, what the hell? Did I like get a fully customized version of this game? Like, does everyone get their name printed on this thing? And then once I looked at a bit further, I realized it looked like an outline of Steve Jobs and that's the solo mode. But that that existential moment of going, I'm in the game.
00:43:35
Speaker
um but yeah like it again turned into one of my favorite games it is to this day i think it is my most liked game i got on kickstarter i could be wrong but it's up there um i mean now that i've said that out loud i'm probably going to prove myself wrong when we do our list next next time but uh I just, it's still so great. I only played it again, started this year with a a totally different group. I'd never played board games with before. And it still just shines. at five Find me a better five player game out there. Like there isn't.
00:44:09
Speaker
Well, there is. There's nothing. Yeah, well, I don't know if I think there is. I think this is i think this is my favourite five-player game. but um And it's but it's it's good at other player counts, but it just absolutely pops at five. It is good. It is really, really good.
00:44:25
Speaker
It's, ah you know, it's it's a... um The first game I ever bought that had um like the dual layer boards that things sat into and there was no knocking of resources out anywhere. And the the component quality was awesome. the The design of the game is great, but it just, it really stands out for me because it was the first, like I mentioned rival restaurants, I mentioned Charity Party, but smartphone was that game where I went, Kickstarter is kickstarter is a genuine way to get good games.
00:44:53
Speaker
I've been burned since then, but at that point, it was very much, yeah, if it wasn't for smartphone, I probably wouldn't have backed anywhere near as games as ah many games as I have because it gave me the confidence that it's it's a legit platform, I guess.
00:45:07
Speaker
And you teach it really well. The only time I've ever played it is with you. I've played it, I think, three times with you. um And the way you teach the game, you get it straight away.
00:45:18
Speaker
but There's no there's no a home ah home aha moments like there was with me in brass. um It took me halfway through the game. I went, oh, shit, that's how we play brass. I got it from your teach from the get-go.
00:45:30
Speaker
ay Thank you. and so it's ah I do enjoy playing that game. Yeah, good one, mate. Good choice.
00:45:40
Speaker
What about two, number six? um Number six for me is A game that I played at my first game day in the hobby. So I remember when i started doing all my solo gaming and and starting off with my first 10 games that i purchased, I reached out and just said, are there any and places that do game nights or game days?
Blood Rage's Early Impact
00:46:07
Speaker
And someone had responded to me and on Pool Game Geek. And so we went to this game day. And it actually then from then i wanted to host my own.
00:46:19
Speaker
So that's what kind of started my own thinking of, I want a host my own game days because i knew I could do it better. us we got my left pi this pi but No one was talking to anyone.
00:46:32
Speaker
like you Like I was new walking in. No one greeted me. No one said hello. No one made me feel welcome. um It's stanked like BO shit.
00:46:42
Speaker
i'm I'm pretty sure I know where you're talking about. Yeah, you you would. Yeah, you would. It was so pretentious. But I did play what was a game that I really, really wanted to play.
00:46:56
Speaker
And two people taught me it. It's the only time I've ever won it. Yes, it's the only time I've ever won it was that night. That's Blood Rage. right I really, really wanted to play Blood Rage.
00:47:11
Speaker
um And one of the guys that was coming along that invited me to this game night, he had it and we played it. And that got me hooked on Blood Rage from then on. So I knew I wanted to go and it.
00:47:25
Speaker
It's the only game I've fully painted all the minis. So I did that myself. So there's little memory there as well. But it actually was the night that in my head I knew I wanted to host game day events and um and welcome people into the room, welcome people into the hobby and make sure everyone had a good time.
00:47:47
Speaker
Mind you, I didn't put the caveat on the you make sure to make sure you're wearing deodorant, please. ah That should be a gimme. It should be a gimme, but it's not. Yeah, you would think that that is just human nature to understand personal hygiene, but no.
00:48:02
Speaker
do And unfortunately, in our hobby, it seems even less known.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yeah, it's say number six for me, Blood Rage. All right. My number five is a game that I played over 200 times. I don't play it as much anymore. In fact, I don't and the don't own the game anymore.
00:48:21
Speaker
I don't know what this is And it was probably going to be, we were initially going to do a list of games that got ruined by overproduction. And this one was very underproduced and then became very overproduced and it almost
Terraforming Mars Nostalgia
00:48:33
Speaker
ruined the game. um This is Terraforming Mars. So there are two very distinct elements reasons this sticks out for me. The first one is this was one of the first quote unquote heavier games that I learned. I mean, it's not that heavy now in retrospect, but at the time I'd made the jump from like Ticket to Ride and Splendor to Terraforming Mars.
00:48:55
Speaker
um And I did that with my sister and my nephew. My nephew has autism. He is a brilliant, brilliant person, but not a board gamer.
00:49:05
Speaker
So he's got the rule book. We're reading through the rule book. i've explained what I've learned, which wasn't a lot to try and understand the game. And then we started playing and we we fumbled our way through it, but we had a good time. And it was like, we, all of us were like, we'd like to play this again.
00:49:20
Speaker
So they went back home, they were visiting, and then it would have been like maybe ah two or three weeks later, played again and I realized we got a rule wrong. And so I told my nephew and my sister, and my nephew's just gone, yeah, actually on page 21 of the rule book, it actually states what we should have done.
00:49:39
Speaker
yeah like he He just, he knew, he knew we got it wrong, but he didn't want to upset the apple cart. um so didn't say anything at the time, but he was well aware that we'd made the errors and, um and it was just, it was brilliant, but it actually in a weird way, it kind of,
00:49:55
Speaker
I wouldn't say it brought us together. It's not like we didn't have a good relationship before, but it gave us some common ground. They ended up buying Terraforming Mars. They play it a lot. And they're board gamers, but they're not board gamers like we are. They've got like, you know, a shelf of 30 odd games or something, right? Like a normal person would. um them Yeah. Terraforming Mars still takes pride of place at their house. And so that was the first time.
00:50:16
Speaker
The second time was also with my sister, with G-Money, with who else played in that game? was on my 40th birthday. um And we played at the brewery that we had the board game day at. And um before my dad ran into a a rock wall and had to go rush to hospital, before all that happened, there was games that played. And um I just remember it for two reasons. It was a great game. This is the first and only time I used the fully upgraded set that I had. All the fancy buildings. remember sitting on the table.
00:50:49
Speaker
Yeah. um Were you in the game? i'm trying to think. There was definitely five. No, there wasn't me in the game. Jackson, my nephew. So it was Jackson, Julie, G-Money, myself. Maybe it was just the four of us. But some we were playing this game. and It was such a great game.
00:51:03
Speaker
But what what is memorable about it was not that it was my 40th, not that I was playing with these people, but there were people sitting outside looking through the glass watching us play.
00:51:14
Speaker
And they they watched the whole game. And that's not a lot and that's not a short game. And in the end, they didn't come and talk to us until the very end when were packing up. And then they came in and said we didn't want to interrupt you.
00:51:25
Speaker
What was that game you were playing? and And we're like, have you been watching the whole time? And they're like, yeah, we we were enthralled. We were trying to work out what was happening. And i'm like, you could have come in. Like, you we would have happily explained it all to you. But they didn't want to interrupt. But it was just such a cool moment where non-board gamers can just get fascinated in something happening. And watching four grown people sit around a table being so invested in something is probably something that you don't see pretty much anywhere else.
00:51:52
Speaker
Like, so yeah, that's, it was kind of So yeah, Terraforming Mars for a couple of reasons, or few reasons, um, is definitely worthy of being in the top five. Yep. Yeah, I agree. Um, my number five is, you ever had that experience where you really, really wanted a game, but it's so rare, so expensive,
00:52:18
Speaker
And you're just like, I'm just never going to own it um But then out of the blue, you just, some days, you just had that day where you think, I'm just going to check and see if I can find it anywhere. Yeah.
00:52:30
Speaker
And there it was for $100. And just lost my mind and purchased it And then I thought, nah, this has to be dodgy. This is going to be fraudulent.
00:52:42
Speaker
even Even people in the ballgame, you know, in our hobby, I was telling them, I've just bought this. For a hundred bucks. Ah, no, no, that's just going to be not true. It's not going to be right.
00:52:54
Speaker
And then it rocks up. And then you have that feeling, you're like, yes, I finally, you start posting it everywhere. Look what I've got. li So glory to Rome, my number five.
Rare Game Acquisition: Glory to Rome
00:53:05
Speaker
Yes, I've got the ugly version. I don't give a shit. um But I like the game. But it's that it's that game where I just went, man, I own it. I can proudly say I own Glorada Ray.
00:53:17
Speaker
Yeah. and And, like, because even the other day I saw there was a black box for sale. But it's still $1,000. Yeah, it's crazy. ah I don't need it.
00:53:29
Speaker
And personally, I don't like the black box edition either. I actually actually like the ugly card talking one I own. Yeah. um But yeah, so it's it was that time where I um got a rare game and just just was so happy and proud that I've got it in my collection.
00:53:47
Speaker
Similar to the you know Space Hulk. you know It's those games where you you know you're just so desperate to get it. um And you know it sits pride of place in my collection.
00:54:00
Speaker
yes ay i've I've actually 3D printed a black box that has glory to Rome written on it and I've painted that gold. So it sits there in a little black box. in the It says glory to Rome.
00:54:12
Speaker
And, uh, yeah. Yeah. My number four is a bit of a different swing than what we've been talking about. Um, and with good reasons why it's on the list. Um, this game, I got taught this game, um, by Thomas, a good friend from Germany. Um,
00:54:33
Speaker
And it was in the midst of a time where in my, at my time in the hobby where it felt like if you were a board gamer, you needed to be learning heavy games. You needed to be learning Vitalis Oda games. You needed to be learning like that. So just, that was what was going on around me at that time. And I ah felt like, you know, and I don't begrudge any of those games. I quite like, you Vinyos, I quite like Skateplan, Kanban. They're great games.
00:54:57
Speaker
But at the time, it just felt like every game I was learning was this really heavy game. And that's just how my trajectory in the hobby goes. And Thomas pulls out an online version of Fantasy Realms.
00:55:12
Speaker
And it fully just changed my perspective on the hobby. It made me realize, like, I think we might have just played a Lucerta game and then we played this afterwards. And I was almost like, why did I waste my last three hours playing that game? Like, this is great.
Rediscovering Lighter Games
00:55:27
Speaker
This is like, yeah there there's strategy, there's luck, there's, you know, like, it's such a simple game. You start with seven cards, you end with seven cards.
00:55:35
Speaker
The game ends when 10 cards are out in front of you. Done. Like, it's so simple. Such a great game. And it just made me realize that it doesn't matter yeah doesn't matter how heavy a game is. It matters how fun a game is. And that has since meant that I've probably missed out on a lot of heavy games since, like, um I backed Speakeasy, which was that that you the only Lucetta I've ever backed. I still haven't played it. I i had Luthier set up, and then I poured drink all over it and still haven't gone back to it. um like the heaviest game i've learned in the last year or so it was probably galactic crux and that wasn't that heavy so like it and i'm not saying that's all because of fantasy realms but i'd say it's got a lot to like i wonder whether if we never played that game of fantasy realms whether i would have just you know gone holos bolos into the whole heavy game world and that's where i would have ended up it just really reframed my vision of the hobby so yeah great game
00:56:31
Speaker
It is a good game. I kind of have the same feeling about, now I can never pronounce it properly, Conte-te-te, Conte-te, or whatever is. You'll see a game. We had the same feeling, I reckon, the three of us, when we started playing that game, like, this game's brilliant.
00:56:46
Speaker
And it's over within 15 minutes. so Yeah.
00:56:51
Speaker
That's it. Oh, good. Good choice. My number four, and this is actually no joke, this was my number four. without even me thinking about it. um But I have so many memories, fantastic memories when I play this game.
00:57:08
Speaker
It's bloody long, but there's so many stand-up moments. You know what
Epic Memories with Twilight Imperium 4
00:57:13
Speaker
I'm about to say. yeah It's one of my most favourite games I've played with you. It's definitely got a lot of memories for me.
00:57:22
Speaker
And that is TI4. Enough said. You've heard me talk about it so many times on multiple podcasts, but whilst that game does take all day, it it doesn't feel like it takes all day.
00:57:35
Speaker
And you're having so much fun with people that you really enjoy playing the games with. Yeah. Yeah, i it was my number 12, actually. I had it it here and I just just kept pushing it away. But for everything you said, yeah, like you you can't, there's no such game as playing a game. There's no such TI4 game where you don't remember things about. Like it's such ah such a moment every time you play that game. and I was only im joking with Dave and Suzanne because they're away at the moment, but I didn't know they were away. So I messaged and said, oh, you guys coming over for Thursday night, for games tonight. And They're like, no, we're at Bramwell Junction, which is about two and a half hours down the road from here.
00:58:13
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, so you'll be late then. So just a quick game of TI4. And they'd never played it. so But they'd also never, like, they knew they knew it was a long game, but they thought I was half serious. I don't even own the game.
00:58:26
Speaker
Like, you know, oh like, oh, we'd love to play that one day. I'm like, oh, no, no. It's just that it's this that joke. When you don't have time, you suggest TI4. Like, yeah. Yeah, just a quick game of TI4. Yeah.
00:58:38
Speaker
Yeah. great game and and kudos to you know g money and dave too they keep that game so well and dan i'll give dan a wrap i played it a couple times with his group dan minora yeah um cool uh all right my number three is the game I've played the most of, and it's Gloomhaven.
Gloomhaven and Community Building
00:59:04
Speaker
and the But the reason it's on this list is not because I played the most of it. The reason is this created my first ever game group. We used to get together every Sunday play Gloomhaven. We'd put something on the smoker. We'd stop. We'd eat lunch.
00:59:18
Speaker
Ness would make her cobloaf. Matt would buy a cheap salad from Woolworths on the way over. uh helen would make an amazing interpret potato bake and i'd and i'd smoke a brisket and we wed we'd play we'd play a session in the morning we'd stop for lunch we'd play a session after lunch and then matt would go home because he ate too much of the uh the brisket no no he ate too much of the um cobloaf and he's lactose intolerant so he needed to leave that's pretty much how every sunday went for like a year and a half uh so yeah outstanding
00:59:54
Speaker
Yeah, don't damage your own daughter. Yeah, well, well's it's funny. He used to take a tablet. and he's I'm like, you could just not eat it. He's like, no, it's too good. I'm definitely eating it. But um we had ah ah i had a 4x4 board game table at that time, and I built a a Lazy Susan that just fit inside that.
01:00:15
Speaker
And we played Gloomhaven on that. So when it was your turn, you would turn the map around so it was in front of you. But on the other side of the map, was like a cheese board. So when it wasn't your turn, you had a cheese board. It was so good. I've never before, never since, I have had that regular session like that where we just knew. didn't even have to ask.
01:00:37
Speaker
yeah They just rock up it's start rocking up at 9 o'clock on a Sunday. It's like church.
01:00:45
Speaker
Excellent. Good choice. My number three is a game. that, you know, I love solo board games and I have never won at this game, but I love playing it because of the experience you get when you are playing it on your own.
01:01:08
Speaker
it's It's basically depression, the board game.
Solo Play of This War of Mine
01:01:13
Speaker
So this yeah this war of mine is... so many choices that you've got to make and in this game and sometimes you think, can no no way no way in hell would I ever make this choice in real life. But hey, I'm playing this game. Yeah, I'm going to do that.
01:01:31
Speaker
But I can't win. I reckon I've played it at least 10 times on my own and still have not been able to beat the game. aye This war of mine, my number three.
01:01:47
Speaker
I told you I bought a copy of this and I was going to play it with Raph. And ah you were like, don't do that. Yeah, no, don't do that. Don't play with Raph. Not yet. A little bit later.
01:02:00
Speaker
Yeah. But, you know, I've still got two expansions in shrink for it. But I'm not opening an expansion until I've beaten the game. So... I might get it out this weekend, actually, and have a go at it. But mind you, I did have Star Trek Captain's Chair arrive.
01:02:17
Speaker
aye So that may hit the board game table this weekend. All right, my number two is Scythe. So game that is yeah somewhat synonymous with me. Most people who have known me for a while have known that at some point Scythe was my favorite game. It's a game that I've fully blinged out. I've played it a lot. it played through the Rise of Fenris like four or five times.
01:02:39
Speaker
ah It's still great. I played it last year, which I haven't played. um I haven't played it a lot in recent years, but I taught it to everyone up here.
01:02:52
Speaker
towards the end of last year. And just, it's such a great game. Every time I play it it play it, I'm like, I don't know why I don't play this more often. I should just, should get it out more often. But yeah, that ive I've played so much of it, but still when I get a faction that I don't use very often, I'm like, how do I, I got to work out how to win with these people. Like I still don't, like you still can't understand that game.
01:03:13
Speaker
Um, doesn't matter how many times you played it i played over 200 times i still every time i ah find something new i love it for its imperfections i love that there are strategies that are like there are factions that are stronger than others and like even though that's not good game design maybe i it just kind of adds to the the beauty of it that that isn't perfect um but yeah uh I've 3D printed the factory in the middle and Helen painted it up all like steampunk style. She's painted all the meanings and everything in it. And, um, you know, it was the first game that ever had that thing where like a term just
Scythe: A Strategic Flagship
01:03:52
Speaker
became Kenan. So whenever I've taught this game and whenever I play this game, it's honey pots, not food.
01:04:00
Speaker
um And what's funny is it's not even honey in the pots. It's actually wheat. But we just started calling them honey pots and it stuck. And I've had that bizarre circular moment where I've only ever taught the game saying honey pots. I'm not saying the only one who's ever done that.
01:04:14
Speaker
But I once played this game with someone on the other side of the world And they called them honey pots without me prompting them. They're like, ah i I get a few honey pots. And I'm like, I don't know it was because of me. And it probably wasn't because you know they look a little bit like honey pots. But it was just that, like, we we create our own board game lexicon. We don't have to call it. And I've even taught the game and I've said, these are honey pots. In the rule books, it'll say they're food. The rule book's wrong. It's honey pots. Yeah.
01:04:46
Speaker
But yeah, like i can't I can't leave side of this list. it It was nearly number one. But yeah, just just a tremendous game that really elevated the hobby into not just a place to hang out with friends and have a great time, but also to play some some really tactical gameplay and learn how crazy yeah a game that looks like you should be blowing each other up is actually all about diplomacy and and strategy rather than fighting.
01:05:11
Speaker
So yeah. Yeah.
01:05:15
Speaker
Well, um my number two is a crossover. So, I don't know, who would have thought? My number two is Gloomhaven. Oh, yeah, cool.
01:05:27
Speaker
Gloomhaven, the reason being, it taught me that life is precious. So I have not touched Gloomhaven for a very long time. It still sits there.
01:05:38
Speaker
on top of my cupboard. I'd love to go back to it, but I just can't. um started a campaign so We started the game with a dear friend of mine, and unfortunately he passed away suddenly.
Gloomhaven and Personal Loss
01:05:51
Speaker
A very fit young man he was, and his character is now retired in the box. But, yeah, just can't bring myself to go and play it again. and Because, you know, i I just have to start all over again. And I'm just like, oh, no, I just can't. I think I'll just leave it retired. I'll never sell the game.
01:06:10
Speaker
Yeah. And I'll just leave his character retired. So RIP Tony, you know, thanks very much, mate. know, you taught me that life is precious.
01:06:22
Speaker
That's awesome. And that's probably the better ree's best reason that any of us have had for any game. So, yeah. yeah Yep, yep. which takes the win out of my number one sales a spitch, but that's okay. Sorry to bring it down. No, no, no.
01:06:37
Speaker
Don't apologize for that. That's fine. My number one is the game that got me into
Ticket to Ride: The Gateway Game
01:06:41
Speaker
the hobby. It's Ticket to Ride. and Not only does it get me into the hobby, I still play it. I've got two games of it going on BGA right now. Last holidays, Helen and I played through every Ticket to Ride thing we had.
01:06:54
Speaker
It still gets regular play both on the table and digitally. <unk> a great game. And if it wasn't for Ticket to Ride, who knows? what whatever yeah I might be one of those people who has 20, 30 games in their cupboard rather than yeah more than another zero on the end of that.
01:07:11
Speaker
um So, yeah. um If you've never played Ticket to Ride, and there are people in the hobby that have never played Ticket to Ride, I don't think I'd say the same for Catan or Carcassonne, but give Ticket to Ride a go if you've never played it. It still holds up.
01:07:26
Speaker
Oh, I only played it couple of weeks ago, Lauren. Yeah. Great game.
01:07:31
Speaker
Great choice, mate. ah Similar. My number one, though, is not what got me into the hobby, but it's what gets my family around the table.
Family Fun with King of Tokyo
01:07:41
Speaker
And, you know, because I won't play many board games with me, but this game they do, and that's King of Tokyo.
01:07:47
Speaker
It's my number one. It's the only game that both boys will say, let's play King of Tokyo, Dad. uh lauren will jump in as well and you have those stand-up moments when you're rolling the dice i don't think there's many games where i haven't had stand-up moments uh when i'm playing it with the boys so king of tokyo is one of one that's it that is a great list that's what how about how are some of those games like just outstanding so yeah and a bit a bit of humor as well mate you know with a bit of
01:08:20
Speaker
shit real confluence yeah yeah no i i i absolutely love that you included that because as as games that i know that are involved with you like that one it's so synonymous with you for the wrong reasons it's great i'm so glad you included i didn't actually i didn't even think that you would but as soon as you started talking i'm like oh this is great this is the best thing that's happened today um There were a couple. um My number 11 was Hadrian's Wall and specifically how I learned Hadrian's Wall, which was when you taught me at a game day while I was in the middle of teaching three other games and I could only play the first round and I was just like, oh, this is amazing.
01:09:00
Speaker
I've got to go back to my game, but this is amazing. but like And, you know, Dune Imperium didn't get a mention, but that's another game that has memories for iconic moments specifically with you again.
01:09:13
Speaker
um Yeah. Yeah. there's There's so many, but um yeah, TI4, as we talked about, but yeah. And it was great list, mate. Really good list. And thanks for coming up with the topic idea. It was really good.
01:09:25
Speaker
Well, it does lead a little bit in into the next, what, 10 episodes? So here's Shane and I committing to doing 10 more episodes. Watch out, everyone. In relatively quick succession. This is only episode 29, so it's going to over a quarter of our episodes by the time we're done.
01:09:45
Speaker
um But we're starting our top 100 next episode, and we're gonna attempt to put them out weekly until it's done. so So that the the top 10 will still be the same as what it was at the start. Yeah. It's not going to be a tournament game of Flip 7, put it that way. No, no. So that that'll kick off next time, but I hope you enjoyed this episode. I really enjoyed recording it, that's for sure. And we will catch you in the Top 100.
01:10:11
Speaker
Take care, everyone. Thanks, mate.