So yeah, here's the top 100 this time around. Thank you to all our patrons for keeping the channel going. I hope everyone enjoys this list, they take quite a while to pull together and edit. But i feel the time i put in respects your time and i try to waste as little of that as possible here. And please, make your suggestions below!

A top 100 video all done in a single video instead of spread out across dozens of videos to garner more views and clicks?! Is that allowed!?

What an amazing video. You put so much effort into all the footage and commentary, and summed up what's good about every game without resorting to "I just really like it". Top tier!

Man, thank you for doing such list in one video without building this artificial hype and release 10-20 games every week! I prefer to sit and do one big binge-watching :)

------------------------------ SPOILERS (Complete list) ----------------------------------------- Arkham Horror: The Card Game The Castles of Burgundy Spirit Island Brass: Birmingham Star Wars Rebellion Thunderbirds Obsession Nemesis Roll Camera It’s a Wonderful World Terraforming Mars This War of Mine Battlestar Galactica Tyrants of the Underdark Bloc by Bloc: Uprising Junk Art Leaving Earth Azul War of the Ring Paths of Glory Unsettled The Crew Anachrony Yokohama Mansions of Madness XIA: Legends of a Drift System Argent: The Consortium Gaia Project Underwater Cities Paladins of the West Kingdom The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire Rush M.D. Everdell Pan Am Chinatown Circadians: First Light 7 Wonders Sidereal Confluence Twilight Struggle Millennium Blades Crisis Santorini Roll for the Galaxy Spartacus Blood Bowl Team Manager Le Havre Arkham Horror Star Trek Ascendancy Final GIrl Pandemic: The Cure The Captain is Dead Museum Horrified Archeos Society Space Cadets Power Grid Votes for Women Empires of the Void II Kolejka Robinson Crusoe Healthy Heart Hospital Dawn of the Zeds: 3rd Edition Libertalia Dune The Isle of Cats Civilization: A New Dawn Potion Explosion Eclipse: Second Dawn of the Galaxy Suburbia Scholars of the South Tigris Lords of Waterdeep Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood Century: Golem Edition Black Orchestra Modern Art Akropolis Above and Below Architects of the West Kingdom The Castles of Mad King Ludwig Sentinels of the Multiverse Dune Imperium Abyss Gloomhaven Defenders of the Last Stand Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game Imhotep Dead of Winter Spacecorp: 2025-2300AD Android ISS Vanguard Lanterns: The Harvest Festival Village The Reckoners Root Empyreal: Spells and Steam Planet Unknown Galilean Moons Freedom: The Underground Railroad XCOM: The Board Game Mosaic: A Story of Civilization

As someone trying to get into the hobby, videos like these are incredibly useful. Board games are usually so expensive that I spend a lot of time trying to pick and choose what one game to buy for the month. Thanks for making this, great watch.

Thank you for making this list every year - it´s so enjoyable to listen to your thoughts and see new entries enter the list 🙏!

Spirit island not being your #1 is DEFINITELY in my top 10 anime betrayals list

Succinct, articulate, and highly informative! Thanks for the work put into compiling and presenting this impressive list! Also, your comment on the adjective "filler" being used to describe shorter games being belittling was food for thought, and you've convinced me to drop it from my gaming lingo. Keep up the great work 🍻

I finally played Tyrants of the Underdark a couple weeks ago. As described to me, I was honestly expecting only an average experience but by the end, I was fully impressed. The way your deck ramps up and how tight the area control can be without feeling like a slog. Just an absolute banger!

Pan Am really felt like it came out of nowhere and it is a very fun airplane-themed game.

Once again, I am pleased that The Captain is Dead is still in your top 100! Also, I see Concordia on your shelf and unless I missed it, how is that not on your list? It's a masterpiece!

Betrayal ☠! You're the reason I took the plunge on SI. I'll be forever grateful that you helped me find my favorite game, even if you've temporarily lost your mind! 😁 (p.s. Nature Incarnate is another A+.)

56% cross over. :-) Thanks for all that You do. All the best from Germany.

Really Appreciate the effort you went into putting this list together. Had great pace and great explanation of each game. Sad that Dominion wasn't on the list, it's such a classic with so many expansions it can cater to anyone. But like you said, it's your list and love hearing you opinions Look forward to all the upcoming content

So happy to see your Tahi, and this game's community should be happy to have you as an endorser! And, as you might tell, I am definately part of this community, as I current rank this my favorite game

Good list. You are into a lot more heavier games than I am. Cool to see different peoples lists

You blink, you miss out. Fortunately I didn't blink once. Great list. Thanks for putting it together.

Your channel is really incredible, and I love to hear what you have to say about the games, being a designer yourself, or simply because you know what you are talking about. I'm expanding my game collection in hopes of getting more frequent groups to play, and I'm letting your comments about the games influence me a lot.

This is the best list you have done to date. The descriptions were short but so, so useful. You do a great job of boiling the essence of a game down; you say more in three sentences than many do in 30 minutes. I now have Museum, Kolejka and Votes for Women (also highly rated on "The Player's Aid" channel) on list to track down. We have really enjoyed "That Time You Killed Me," which is 2 player only. Easy to learn, with evolving rules during a campaign, but very strategic. Definitely appeals to those who like chess or go like games with a fun theme on top. My other one I really enjoyed was "Galenus", which is about curing disease in Ancient Rome. It scratches a similar itch to Brass for me; I can't quite place why that is, but I just find it so satisfying. Like Brass, I think it is best at 4. It seems to have slipped under the radar.

I really enjoy this lost every year and a few hidden gems always pop onto my radar, thanks for putting these out!

Great video! :) 33 game overlap and several new ones added to my 'to play' list.

Always enjoy these. Something new catches my attention each time and it’s just a positive experience talking about a bunch of great games. Seeing one of my own favorites near the top is always exciting too

Love it! Have watched it through twice now. Love your channel, unbridled passion for the hobby, and your nuanced perspectives. Thank you and blessings for the rest of the year. Love from across the pond in Aus.

A wonderful list of so many different games without many of usual suspects. Love your compact review and reasoning for each game, a pleasure to watch.

I feel like your group would have a great time with Moonrakers. It's like a version of Munchkin with all the things that makes Munchkin a grind fixed or removed. Tight negotiation, simple but fun deck building, sudden but inevitable betrayal and a neat space pirates theme. Also some very clanky coins, which is always a plus.

Watched the whole vid in one go! Love it! Any chance of an updated top 30 solo games in the future? I’ve gotten into the LotR LCG for solo gaming, but I’ll also check out AH LCG due to your recommendation!

Thank you always for what you do. I appreciate you a lot. I wish all the best for you and your family!

Whoa Steph for parliament! That’s so cool. Best of luck.

Brass Birmingham : the set of cards does not shrink from the start because you play 2 then draw 2. And you play 2 cards per round , not 1. In a 2 player game : you play 19 + 20 cards total , which is far more than 16. But yeah, i's a masterpiece!

Great video! Thank you for making this. I've loved a lot of those games and added many (too many?) new recommendations to my playlist

Good to see you and the misses is doing well. Love the variety here as well as your clear love of space and historical themes. Where I’m from everyone is wild about middle earth so it’s nice to see some sci-fi picks that I can investigate.

It’s this time of the year again!

Above & Below! One of my first strategy games post Catan. Love the art, the stories and exploring! Never get tired of it and always want one more round.

Great job explaining all your games in just an hour! I'm in the process of re-doing my top 100 list and it's hard because there are so many games I haven't played since before I had kids! Arkham Horror was also the game that turned me to board-gaming-as-my-main-hobby, and I have fond memories of it although we no longer own it. I've added Roll Camera to my want to play list after hearing you talk about it! Have you played Challengers? It gave me a feel similar to a light Millennium Blades (the deckbuilding and tournament part), so you might like it.

village life cycle has its engaging theme and the morbid humour that is my cup of tea 🤣

Some games to check out (though you may have already): for groups- Just One, and Bang the dice game. For 1 to 4 players, Massive Darkness 2! What a fun dungeon crawl.

"Old Testament, New Game" 😂 Love it.

TM out of top10, Castles at #2 and Spirit Island losing its spot - this one was full of surprises!

😂 I like how secure you are asking us (at least me) to recommend a game, I hope some day I play enough games to recommend st to you. As always enjoying your top100. You just sold "It's a Wonderful World" to me. 🤩

16:48 YESSS oh man, I was stoked when I saw you include Sentinels of the Multiverse, but then... you like Dune too?!? Where have you been my whole life! Both of these games are hardcore slept on by the board game community. Dune is an absolute gem.

I'm guessing you've played Lord of the Rings LCG but just doesnt make the top100? - just asking given your #1 and as there are other Lord of the Rings games on the list. But anyway, awesome list - really enjoyed it!

Glad to see the love Castles of Burgundy is getting here on your channel. I bought our copy second hand and it's our most played game of the last couple of years.

Ugh. Sorry about the roof. I recently replaced a portion of mine so I feel your pain.

This was an exceptional production, thank you

Great list! Always love when I'm picking up some games I've never heard of before, not just the obvious candidates

I appreciate your videos like this, as they help me expand my horizon. Another list with a lot of games I haven't heard of. I still consider myself somewhat of a beginner collector/player. That said, I have a dozen or so kickstarters so far and waiting on a few more to produce and ship. I've heard players who like Everdell also like Wingspinm I own the pc version. And so far I've only played Everdell the base game, but I backed the complete collection. I do enjoy both solo. But I grasp the point gaining better in Everdell. I backed the royal edition for Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and first thing is it's a visually beautiful game. I like it. But it's not in my top 10 solo mode. It's better with 2 I think. It's difficult to get many points solo I find. Your explanation of Project Gaia moves it farther up my wish list. It sounds even better now. I got Terraforming Mars the video game version and Gloomhaven free off Epic Games, and haven't touched either yet. I got Jaws of the Lion 50% off while I wait for the second edition I backed during the grand festival. If you like worker placement games, and farming themes, there's a handful of them out there. I haven't played Agricola or Fields of Arle yet (heard good things about them, but I enjoy Clans of Caledonia. It's heavier than you might expect first time in, but it's fun. I've tried to sit down with Arkham Horror the LCG twice, and found it confusing to self teach. I want to like it. I'm a little HP Lovecraft obsessed. So I'll get through it eventually. Top of my list to get still is Spirit Island, and now Project Gaia is higher up on the list. Mage Knight is fun, but sometimes I'd rather the combat be more complex. Weirdly enough, the game sort of feels like D&D lite to me, so sometimes I just want the D&D combat system instead of Mage Knight. Thanks for doing your videos. They always are a good watch. Adding the Captain is dead and Star Trek to my future watch for game lists also.

I love to see Thunderbirds so high up. One house rule I play with is that if you ever roll two "hood symbols" when trying to complete a mission, you can reroll one die until you get any number. Getting 2 hood symbols is brutal especially on higher difficulties as the hood moves up twice in the track and you have no chance of completing that mission even if you have all sorts of modifiers to ensure success. The instant fail nature of that particular dice roll bothers me, so I just remove it so there is always a chance to succeed a mission even if you only get a 1 on the rerolled dice

I really appreciate this list, even though my game group and i are generally averse to games where we are required to be mean to each other. I really have to try AH:TCG though... based on your review i really think it'll be a hit with my group. Thank you for all of your insight!

My Crossovers with you: - Root -gloomh - modern art - gaia project - crew - war of the ring - Leaving earth - bsg - tfm - brass birmingham - Spirit island (my #2 game) My suggestions: - vale of eternity - innovation from chudyk (best civ game, my #1 game of all time) - viticulture with tuscany - spyfall (best social deduction) - crazy pix (best party game next to top10) ❤

Interesting evolution of your list! Great vid as always.. don’t know how I just found 70min to watch it but life find a way. Cheers!

I have to put codenames in my top list, because it's so versatile for number of players and player experience and time available. It's one of those games that I can get to the table with so many different groups and still have fun. I love heavier games, but I will always need to have more flexible games in my top collection too because the heavy games aren't always a good choice for the situation.

Mosaic looks so beautiful… I have it but haven’t played it yet 😢

Yayyyyy! AHLCG is #1. Can’t wait to hear about your Scarlet Keys campaign when you’ve completed it.

'I like to play solo games two handed' 😉😉 Ambidextrous are we? 😂😂

I looked through your videos and checked out the geek buddy thing on BGG and I only have one game suggestion I haven’t seen you mention, Trekking Through History (unless I missed something). I haven’t played the other trekking games, but I love this game. It’s light, but very satisfying to play, and it looks beautiful. I love it solo, two player, and even four with my in laws, who also liked it. Great video as always!

Excellent list! I've taken some notes for games to look for in the future. \o/ On the topic of very thematic games, I recently bought one called Big Easy Busking, where players take the role of three-piece jazz bands performing at a three-night New Orléans music festival. It's part area control, as you perform songs to be the most memorable performer at different locations, and part resource management, as you manage your band members' energy levels and try to match songs to the moods of the crowds. One song might have a big drum solo, so it takes more energy outta your drummer, for example; after a song, you can spend money (which are your victory points) to buy your performers a coffee 'n snack to let them recover a bit of energy, to keep performing a bit longer into the night. It's nothing ground-breaking, but it's been a blast to play. Once people know it well, you can bang out a full 5-player game in 30 mins.

This video inspired me to pick up another cycle for Arkham LCG… Carcosa, and wow do I really love this game! Interesting though that unlike you I’m not a huge fan of the deck construction… I just love the combo of storytelling and emergent narrative that creates those memorable moments

Great list. Both Burgundy and Brass are among my top 10 as well. While I am as biased as one can be, I do think you would enjoy Come Together, both because of it's high amount of player interaction and because of it's focus on theme integration.

Interesting list. Just all over the place (not in a bad way) really opened me up to trying to some games that have been on your list. Empyreal: Spells & Steam

I literally watched this start to finish, I love how you quickly describe each game without going into too much detail, and you just get to the point, which is so awesome. This was a top quality list, thank you so much for making it, I do appreciate your channel. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Ark Nova ? Spirit Island is my number 2 of all time, and I know it's been your favorite for awhile, so I was excited to hear what your number 2 and 1 were gunna be when it came out as number 3 ! xD

I think you would really like Pax Pamir: rich historic theming, potential for a lot of backstabbing, tight decisions from start to finish and many very exciting or heartbreaking moments

This list is my favorite from your channel! Thanks!

Purely based on the number 1 choice, I wish I could like this video 100 times. Love the channel

I got into Arkham LCG in 2018 to play for Halloween with my friends. I soon realized that the game was really deep and dove in head first. I haven't looked back since. My previous #1 was TIME Stories, but since then Arkham has to be my favorite game now.

It's a shame there are no Splotter games on the list. If FCM is not your cup of tea, try Bus or The Great Zimbabwe instead! It was a joy to see Millennium Blades on the list, and the high placing of Tyrants of the Underdark is well deserved

Jake’s “a game that’s worth the math” made me lol. I agree.

I either found this video at the best, or the worst time. It's Prime Day and most of the games that I have an interest in are in the $20 range. So, I have 7 new games on the way.

Love seeing Arkham at the top of the list, it's my favorite game of all time for 3 years running now, and I very rarely if ever have seen it at the very top of other folks lists. Cheers!

Absolutely superb video and eagerly awaiting your next! Plenty of good suggestions here for me to try at my LGS this weekend

Just played Arkham Horror the lcg for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I can already tell it will end up being one of my top games

Love seeing Mosaic and ISS Vanguard making an appearance. Where did Beyond the Sun end up? Also, have you tried War of the Ring: The Card Game yet?

So here we go again, the top 100. Some fun and weird facts about the list. I've been doing this for 6 years now and 167 games have been on the list. Meaning, on average, 13-14 games drop off each year. That means my lists are 86% consistent every year. Also, exactly 50 games have been on all 6 instances of the top 100 games, which seems to say that once i like a game, i stay liking it for a long time. And finally, 2 games published in 2023 have made the top 100. A rush to cram new titles into a list, this is not. Anyway, i find it interesting after 6 years seeing the patterns that have emerged in my thinking and the slow shifts in my tastes over time. Anyway, if you have suggestions for games i would like, please make some comments below and thank you all for watching.

Two important questions: How do you have enough time to play all these games…? How did you find a group of friends who share this passion with you and also have so much time to play games?!

I really appreciate you and this channel. Many of my favorite board games in my collection were purchased after watching your videos, so thank you! Have you ever played Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein? I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Would you accept payment to cover the Everdell promo and postage to the US? Not sure when I’d see you in person, and admittedly if I did it would be much more expensive than the card. I can do PayPal.

Awesome video. Part of me wishes it was twice as long with more detail per title, but i'm happy with the result regardless!

Great list. Super happy to see both Crisis and Chinatown on your list, they're so underrated and probably both make my top 10 or thereabouts. For recommendations I'd suggest giving Cloudpsire a go if you can borrow a copy from someone,. It's a Wonderful World was my favourite solo game but this has blown that out of the water, but it is expensive to get into. Also for more combo goodness I'd give Praga Caput Regni a go. Found the gameplay really satisfying in a similar way to castles of burgundy, though this is a big less streamlined

Kolejka sounds very similar to the Indy PC game “Papers Please”. A hugely entertaining game of the same, if not very similar theme

My #1 is Spirit island and #2 is Arkham Horror. I like the gameplay of Spirit Island more but I think you captured perfectly my thoughts on AH:LCG when you spoke about how you think about the game away from the table. I have spent so much time building decks and thinking of investigators to pair for 2 handed solo. Its a game that has so much to explore before play and during and makes it an amazing game.

I was quite surprised when Dune Imperium didn't hit for you at first, given what I know of your tastes through your reviews. Cool to hear how it's grown on you! 😃

A great list. We to enjoy many of the games on the list. One I may add is Big Trouble in Little China (Epic Games). Harder to get hold these days but a great co operative game. We to enjoy Thunderbirds and just recently pick up La Harve and Brass Birmingham. We play Legendary Encounters ,both Alien and Firefly. Firefly has an interest ship mechanic along with its shocking art. Oh and if your into a little confrontational take that , Here to Slay can be a riot with the righr group. Also good that it has two ways to win.

SI dropping was a surprise! I hope we get a Nature Incarnate video when the time comes :)

I sold Thunderbirds. Didn’t have a group for it. The years and the tears …

But in Brass Birmingham you draw to replenish your hand at the end of each turn? Its a lot more than just 16 actions.

I love Eclipse, but the best part about it is the ship customization, not that it takes "only" 5 hours.

I look at your video as if it were the oscars 😂. Its your opinion, but a highly respected one. Thanks!

I wasn’t expecting the number one this high, my favorite game too, by very far

seeing your awesome list I would recommend any of the quartermaster general games, ww2 if you have a group of 6 or ww1 if its a group of 5 players

Excellent list, as always. took a few notes for games I need to try :) If you like the combination of interesting mechanics with strong narrative and story telling you might want to take a look at "Sleeping Gods" . it is a little fiddly at times with over cumbersome resource management but the story telling is so good that you have to try "Just one more move!" Given the timing you might even want to wait for the follow up game "Forbidden Skies" which should improve on some of the mechanics while keeping the same level of narrative. Would really love to hear your thoughts on any of the two.

So behind with videos just getting to this. A couple recommends: halls of Hegra- bag builder/worker placement tower defense compared to Robinson Caruso how the board changes. Witcher: Old World, card combo deck builder that gave me some Gloomhaven feels, but not near as content overload: The Lamps are Going Out: WW1 grand strategic game, but bigger sandbox and easier rules than PoG. It simulates WW1 combat with tons of head to head die rolls with high roll winning so each side burns through stacks of units. No CRT, combat odds, but it has random events and tech trees! I’d highly recommend.

Trains only at #95 and #4. Funny enough my top 100 has 95 and 4 as my only non-train games. 😆 Seriously, nicely done and interesting discussion on all of these games!

Great video as always! Every time I watch, I add a few games to my list of games to try out or purchase. Question about Brass Birmingham: is it a variant to only play with 8 cards per round? Every time I have played it so far, you refresh your hand to 8 cards at the end of your turn until deck runs out.

Thanks for sharing Jared :) Interesting list.

Thank you for this. I've noticed on lots of these lists that there's no indication if the game is available. A year that the game was last released might help.

A few dexterity games that might be worth a try: - Men at Work, superb wooden components and similar to junk art, can be remarkably stable even when very wobbly - Push It! A simple premise, effectively a game designed for pub tables, based on bowls rules, but played by striking pucks, Again, well made - Viking see saw, by Itten games from Japan. It's a not totally original see-saw balancing game, but as with the above two, it's absolutely made by the components, including brass cubes that always get a comparison to the cruddy cubes in Terraforming mars - Carooka. Not cheap (~GBP150), but a lovely mish-mash of Carrom and snooker, being a circular wooden board on an in-built lazy susan, with 6 pockets around the circle. At first (like snooker) it feels impossibly difficult, but come the 2nd or 3rd game of it, players start to get the pace and technique needed. The accidental trick shots are also a joy.

I think you might like Stationfall if you’ve liked Nemesis. It’s a lot of fun!

Stone Age over Lords of Waterdeep, every time. Lancashire over Birmingham. It looks like you love worker placement games. You should try Caylus: 1303, especially with your group that likes to screw with each other. I would also recommend Bus, but that one is $$$ at the moment. Also shocked there was only a single Knizia game (Modern Art) on this list? There is definitely a lot to explore with that designer. See if you can get a copy of Taj Mahal. Through the Desert is also currently being crowdfunded. And, of course, everyone should play Hansa Teutonica. It looks and sounds boring but is so compelling. Give it a shot!

Hi, listening to this list helped me have an epiphany about a question you asked one time and that has kinda stuck with me. You asked about different hobbies and how a collection can come to completion/have a plan for the collection. But you said it seemed like board game collectors don't seem to have a purpose behind their collection. Well my epiphany came when you were talking about Dune. You said that you think Dune: Imperium is the better game but Dune lets you experience the theme better. I was like well if he thinks Dune Imperium is the better game than why isn't it ranked higher than Dune. And then it hit me... I was like wow it's because he is valuing the feel of the theme higher than game design. It helped me realize how to curate my collection...to think about the things I value in my board games, and how much weight that value should hold when decided if a game should be a part of my collection or not. Like the value of being able to play with my family holds more weight than am I having to read text across the table a lot. But they both would be something I will consider when thinking about purchasing a new game or culling a game.

Enjoyed your top 100. You seem to like sandbox games. Played Hexplore it recently and would recommend it if you have not tried it. I have a question for you. Do you think Paths of Glory would be a good solo war option? GMT recently released a solo system for it. I do not really play war games but I'm trying to play different stuff lately and expand on gaming.