You guys should do a list of games with mechanisms that should be reused.

Tom: 1. Robinsoe Crusoe 2. Sunda to Sahul 3. The battle at Keble's cascade 4. Starfarers of Catan 5. Polarity 6. Tamsk 7. Khet: the laser game 8. Fireball Island 9. Dungeon twister 10. World of Yo-ho Sam: 1. T.I.M.E. stories 2. Tannhauser 3. Neuroshima Hex 4. Quantum 5. Cleopatra and society of architects 6. Ticket to Ride: Nordic countries 7. Thurn & Taxis 8. Mythe 9. Snow tails 10. Khet: the laser game Zee: 1. Witness 2. Trotofont 3. T.I.M.E. stories 4. Zendo 5. String railway 6. SHH 7. Coffee Roaster 8. Anachronism 9. The 3 commandments 10. A fake artist goes to NY

Zee, we love you. =( Don't be sad , your list was the best.

I feel like Tom and Sam really phoned it in on this list. Unique doesn't necessarily mean quirky, but games that give you a different experience than anything else, and that also stand out in a collection.

I know it's new and all but Captain Sonar seemed like a really unique experience for me

I like how Sam keeps his notebook held in secret to the side. Love watching you guys do top 10's. Keep it up, please!!

hey dice tower! I'm kinda new to board games and started playing more recently thanks to watching your videos and researching lots based on all your recomendations. so I just wanted to show my support and say you guys have a great character dynamic between you as well as the variation of games that you all enjoy which really helps when looking for something new to play whether w my nieces and nephews, at a party, or with a close group of friends looking for a challenge(or at least a challenge of our friendship)

Thank you for putting that list at the end!!

Love all 3 of your presentations! I'm not looking for the gospel truth of top 10's, just your opinions. I'm totally stoked by the three of you offering your voices, bantering with each other, and having fun. Love it! Thanks guys!

I rarely write comments, but now I want to say that I really enjoyed this episode. Probably the best of your top 10-s, that I've seen. Fun arguments, fun jokes, interesting findings. Thanks, guys.

I love your reviews and whatnot. Keep it going!

I always enjoy watching your reviews. In fact, this channel has open my eyes to the plethora of games available. However, I often find that the social complications of actually getting a game night together frustrating and depressing, counteracting what games are suppose to provide :)

Here's my list in no particular order from games I own: - Time Stories - For all the reasons mentioned above - Grow - You build a 3-dimensional tree as you play, competing to bloom the most flowers, farthest from the trunk. - The Eye of Judgment - A hybrid video game/card game, played with real cards on a real board, with a Playstation w/ Camera watching what you do, and animating the action on the screen. It's basically Yu Gi Oh come to life. It is a card game first - the Playstation is only used to animate the action, and keep track of life, mana points and status effects. It can be played without the PS3 using tokens. - Niagara - The box is part of the board, with a flowing river where you can go over the falls. - 504 - 504 games in 1 box, using a flip book for rules. - The Magic Labyrinth - A memory game that uses "Invisible" walls. The walls are located under the board, and the game uses magnets to determine if you cross them. It won the Kinderspeil des Jahres a few years back, too. - Ladies and Gentlemen - A game played in teams of 2, where each member of the team does something drastically different. Tremendous game to play with couples. - Polarity - Magnets used the way magnets should be, great pick here by Tom - Ugg-tect- Club your friends over the head with blow-up clubs if they make a mistake, and you have to talk like a caveman to get your teammates to build an object. Funny game. - Khet - For the reasons mentioned in the video. It was re-implemented in Khet 2.0. Honourable mentions: Alchemists, Sherlock Holmes, Flip City, Mousetrap, Between 2 cities (the way the game implements your score and partners is unique).

I seriously expected Vast: the crystal caverns on Tom's list, given his glowing review of the game.

You Munster......I spit out my water when you said that Zee! Killing me softly bro, killing me softly!

Holy cow... I had fireball island as a kid and haven't thought about it in almost 30 years. That was a massive nostalgia hit right there

zee = lord of dice tower

A few games that I would have put onto that list: Tzolkin - The wheels that change the action a worker can take, depending on how long it has been on that wheel is interesting and I haven't seen it anywhere else Why first? - A kind of racing game with the unique twist that you have to be in second place to score and at the end of the game (multiple rounds are played), the person with the second highest score wins (and yes, I intentionally listed it as the second game here :P ) Riccochet Robot - Unlimited number of players, VERY simple rules and unique gameplay

Anachronism is a great choice. I love it! Also I feel like a lot of the depth of strategy is in the deck building- coming up with unique combinations and have special abilities that mesh well.

My favorite list of games from a top 10 since I'm not familiar with a lot of them or hadn't checked them out in a while. Though poor Sam seemed to be struggling on this one (focusing solely on them like for Thurn & Taxis, Ticket to Ride because it plays three (but also two too)). I have an older game with sand timer pieces like Tamsk called Quicksand but I don't know if the sand timers were the main reason Tamsk is on the list since it seems to be considered the black sheep of its abstract family. This was a fun watch on a sick day. Thanks!

O.O I've been trying to remember the name of Fireball Island for years now! My older brother and I played it a lot. Thank you!

Thx for the list, folks, always a way to find out about hidden gems. Tom - you mentioned Fireball Island which I say uses a similar mechanism like Fliegenfalle (German name) also by MB does. Hails back from the 70s. I don't know if there has been an English language version to it. My bro's kids love it.

Played Trieste a couple of months ago and it was quite the fun game. Nice to see a game made for three players were all have very different roles and ways to win the game.

Sam's #3, Neuroshima Hex!, feels different, and there's a reason for that, it's not just a "feel". It transforms a wargame into a extremely engaging puzzle (which are not usually engaging for theme-suckers like me). And it does so, by using a non-wargame mechanic as it's core mechanic (tile-placement), and it also makes combat a very special thing (which in wargames is just a routine) by removing that phase it from the turn, and making it into an event driven mechanic. Brilliant!

Interesting Top Ten list. Great topic. I may disagree with some of what you included, but it got me thinking for sure. I've seen some good suggestions in comments too. I was thinking of some odd German kids games like Igloo Pop (using sound) and Waldschattenspiel (using shadows). Or quirky dexterity games like Hamsterolle, Gulo Gulo, or Saturn. Or communication games like La Boca or Visionary. So much territory to cover... and very interesting!!!

I think it's awesome that Zee compares T.I.M.E. Stories to the Titanic in light of their experience with the game this year. Nice bit of foreshadowing.

Niagara was a cool unique game. It had the same idea that Cleopatra used, namely that the box was part of the board. But, there were also the disks that represented water, and you pushed the disks to move the pieces down the river. And off the waterfall. I dont remember if i loved the game (as I haven't played in ages). But I do remember, when playing thinking about how unique it was as a mechanic.

Great top ten list. As always a joy to watch, I think the fact you guys never completely agree makes it.

I'm really glad to see Anachronism getting some love here. I feel like this was a very misunderstood game. Perhaps because the packs or not random, people seem to think that you just play them out of the box. However, it was intended to play more like Magic the Gathering where you deck-build and create custom Warriors. Give William Wallace a Japanese sword and Greek armor, for example. You were supposed to build decks around the strengths of specific Warriors or cards. People who reviewed the game just seemed to miss this point. Yes it was somewhat random, as one would expect with any miniatures game that uses dice, but with careful construction of decks you could have some enjoyable, quick, somewhat tactical little skirmish matches. I'm sure that I am biased, because it's the game that got me into hobby gaming, but I really love that little card game. It was very expensive, but that should hardly impact whether it's unique or not. I still love that game, even though I don't have anyone to play it with. I'm trying to finish my collection, except for promo cards, and maybe some day my son will play it with me when he's older. :) I would love to find a local opponent though.

Sam should have stood up and say: I did not do my homework.

My most unique game was the old Sonar Sub Hunt by Mattel. It was a variation of Battleship played with a split, round dual-level "sonar" board. Each player lifted his side of the opaque top screen, placed multiple submarine pieces on the lower level, replaced the screen and took turns hunting for the opponents hidden ships with an electric probe. What made the game different were the periscopes that let players secretly watch the lower level while their ships were hunted, and the explosion effects when a sub was "hit" by the probe. Gimmicky? Yeah...but so much fun!!

I'm glad you mentioned Zendo. Never played it, but I have played and loved Eulesis, which is a similar idea (and predates it by decades). My vote for most unique game is Nomic. Although it's not a commercially produced game, the game where the rules of the game are solely about how to change the rules of the game is great fun.

Some games I own that I find pretty unique in no particular order: #1 Rampage or Terror in Meeple City - you are destroying buildings by blowing, flicking cars of your dragons head, awesome theme and pretty unique gameplay #2 Ugg-tect - party game in which you have these gaint inflatable clubs with which you communicate to your teammate by whacking them on the head how he should build a structure with different shaped building blocks. They even have a paragraph in the rulebook which explains the importance of safe club using which cracks me up everytime I read it. #3 Patchwork - 2 player game in which you are making a quilt by gathering tetris shaped pieces, I think it's unique because of its theme, which is very 'womanly' if you would like. #4 And Then We Held Hands - 2 player game in which you try to reach the centre at the same time as your partner in a board with multiple circles. You play a couple that has an argument and without talking you try to play the correct 'emotion' cards so you can move on in your argument always trying to keep in balance. #5 Egg Dance - Haba game that comes in an egg container in which you try to get as many eggs as possible by squawking, running around the table etc, but you have to hold the eggs you won under certain bodyparts (your chin). If someone drops an egg the person with the most eggs wins. Ridiculous party game.

First 2 Games that came to my mind were 'Time'N'Space' and 'Witness'. Happy to see it at the end. For me also 'Galaxy Trucker' would fit nicely into this list.

Fireball Island! My family has that one. Every time we get together for holidays we try to play it. The box is huge!

Great list. :)

15:29 "You Munster"....actually made me LOL. Slow clap, sir.

Zee sounded so sad when Tom compared A fake artist goes to new York to Spyfall.

FYI I've played Witness with no whispering where we get up and go to a different room and it was really fun!

Stronghold, every action that the attacker takes gives the defender actions, super amazing idea

I'm surprised Tom didn't put Primordial Soup anywhere on his list. I recall him saying it was one of the most unique games he's seen in his review.

Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar was the first game I thought of. Unlike other worker placement games, you don't get any benefits when you place your worker, but on a later turn when you pick it up you get the benefits - and at that point your worker has moved. So it requires that you plan several turns ahead. Also, the beautiful (?) look of the board makes it very unique to me.

Zee just did Top 10 Quirky games :D Loved his examples of 3 Commandments game with kissing the pieces and dancing with them. And Sam's face just got dimmer and dimmer :D

You guys should do Top Ten Games with Replay Ability.

See had the unique games. Same and Tom did well highlighting unique aspects of games.

Always a glee with Tom ,Sam and Zee!

Zee ruled this list!!!

Zee brings so much subtle comedy to these top 10s! 😃 "now you say; no my #1 is the most unique" 😄😂

Only on #9 but Zee you have the best picks! That 3 Commandments game sounds like my kind of nuts! ETA: I just found copy on eBay and I bought it, ha. Now to watch the rest of the video.

Thanks a lot Zee, I played several games of a solo legacy variant of Khet and now I can't see properly. Although I suppose you're not entirely to blame, my parents did always say if I play with myself too much eventually I will go blind :/

I'm definitely going to look for The 3 Commandments.

Hi Tom! Eldritch Horror also has cards that haunt you at a later time for actions and decisions you make now. Trüffel Schnüffel by Haba is also very unique

I LOVED anachronism soo much! It suffered from lack of play testing (especially in the early sets), but it was great. Looking back it should have been an LCG, but they didn't exist at the time.

Fireball Island would be my number 1! Loved that game as a kid. I also agree with Starfarers of Catan. They need to remake both. Mouse Trap and Operation. So simple yet very unique.

when I was a kid we played a unique game simply called Hockey Card Game made by Grand Toys where you played a game of hockey using cards in a turn by turn basis, each card with different moves you could use and came with score sheets.

Nice lists, I enjoyed them :-). But I was just thinking about "Junta". How many games are there, where you switch the game modes back and forth?

Hoshi Battle is a fairly unique 2 player game. You toss D8 and D10 dice in an arena made out of a circular string, and tap your opponent's hand or do other weird moves basing on which face of the die you get. Plus you've got cards with heroes and artifacts that spicy it all up, causing you to react differently at each round. Weird game indeed, frantic and fun.

Galaxy trucker , while building the ship is unique tied to a card game

For another 2 or 3 player game, Sam, Jared Whitley included Road To Canterbury in his Dice Tower top 100 a couple of months ago. He says it plays equally well for either player count. It's near the top of my wish list since he raved about it in that video.

The Hungry Ant Game was a tile-based children's game made back in the 1980s. Each player placed a single tile that showed ant tunnels. The tiles would then connect to make pathways to take picnic treats. There were other tiles that could block other tiles.

In no particular order: Ace of Aces - the picture book mechanism Cosmic Encounter - the alien powers mechanism has been used elsewhere, but the seemingly simple card-based combat system gave a lot of opportunity for interesting alien powers Xactika - each card has 4 suits, a value determined by those suits, and the ability to be a higher-ranked card in one suit than in another Set - the pattern-matching mechanism Swish - the connection-discovery mechanism Chrononauts - the timeline mechanism (although I prefer the Back to the Future themed version that is now out of print)

I watched this video and spotted The Three Commandments on the shelf of my local gaming groups library. turns out that the cards were still wrapped and it had never been played. I enjoyed the 4 player game we had, but I think I want to play a 6-7 player game of it soon.

Cool list

has anyone mentioned the worker placment game tzolkin? pretty interesting with turning gears.

Sam was actually fairly prophetic about TIME Stories regarding Zee's analogy to it being like Titanic. It sank HARD

I myself might have had Betrayal at House in the Hill on the list, I haven't ever seen any other games that start out co-op but (usually) turn 1vAll (but of course there might be other games that do have it which I don't know about, if so, please do enlighten me), and also the combination of all the components/mechanics/theme and the feel I get when playing it seem very unique to me and make it one of my favourite games

Fireball Island! Wow!! :)

Chaosmos has GOT to be on this list

oh wow fireball island is a game i completely forgot about...as a kid i loved it

Tom I like the table flip card idea! Make that happen it would be a fun novelty item.

The card "recycling" effect Tom mentioned as being in Robinson Crusoe is implemented in Frostpunk's "Dusk Deck".

Ha. Fireball Island. That takes me back. I remember as a kid how I just enjoyed playing with it as a toy rather than playing the actual game. Would really like to see it come back.

great call on Fireball Island. would've put other games from that generation on the list too like Escape from Atlantis or Web of Gold.

I would have included on my list: 1. Key to the Kingdom 2. Inner Circle 3. Clue: The Museum Caper 4. Mystery Mansion 5. Advance to Boardwalk 6. Stay Alive Fire Island is a winner in uniqueness.

Definitely Polarity - triple-leaner, baby. Esp gets interesting when you get some bigger stacks on the board. Don't know what it is about Cleopatra, but though it's quite light and we only break it out every so often, it still has a special place in my collection - I think it's more for the innovation/ingenuity of using the box to such great, visual effect (and, to an extent, gameplay, though it could have been done without it if the columns were flat card sections) than the toy factor - but that rates highly. A few more I'd suggest, though I'm not sure if there _are_ other games that are very similar to them:- Duel In The Dark - the interesting mechanism of having to pre-plot the bomber course, then the balance of protecting it with the fighter vs bluffing to draw the German fighters away from it Elysium - have any other games done that mechanism of cards that you play out for abilities, but then also you have to balance converting them to scoring cards, at which point you lose those abilities? I'm sure there are other games, but I can't think of any. Formula De - sure, there are plenty of other racing games, but do any use that great increasing dice mechanism for the gears? I, Spy - it's an interesting combination of having to use cards to perform actions, but every action gives points to a certain country, so you're trying to work out what other countries your opponents are and boost your one but not theirs - and the neutral countries don't count for placing. Sure there will be other games where you each have a hidden objective you're trying to push out into the front, but do any others really work it so deeply into the core action mechanics of the game?

King Oil has a very unique mechanism of searching the ground for oil. Would love to see Restoration Games redo this one as well.

'Ringel Rangel' from 1993, HABA is great and unique too. You slowly nudge wooden turtles on an increasingly overcrowding wooden board and try to move your turtles through that crowd. And if turtles fall off the board you collect minus points. The way those turtles shuffle is very thematic and the game forces you to be 'zen'.

Finally it is here!!!!

What about Mysteries of Peking? A 'solve the mystery' game that uses decoding apparatus such as mirrors and red film, alongside a 'Guess Who?' style of game play. Lots of fun for kids and adults. Beautiful board also.

Top 10 under-used themes would be great to see

Ugg-Tect, Happy Salmon... there are so many unique games out there.

The most unique games I've played are: Chaosmos, The Battle at Kemble's Cascade, Earth Reborn, Xia, Legends of Andor, Mystic Vale, Tragedy Looper, T.I.M.E Stories and Tzolk'in

Great video; thanks guys! Tom - doesn't Castaways do a similar thing with choice consequences as Robinson Crusoe?

Have to say, I am kind of surprised that Betrayal At House on the Hill isn't on there. The randomness of the story being something that can go to free-for-all, co-op, or traitor aspects made for a good game for the theme it was aiming at. Maybe I'm wrong and there are others similar, but I haven't played, seen, or really heard of any.

I got all misty eyed when Tom mentioned Starfarers of Catan. I own the game and it is one of my all time favorites. I agree that it is one of the unique games I've played with the rocket "ball" shaker thingy. However, I've been praying daily for years that it would go thru a "reprint/rework", which I fear may never happen. What about Jumanji? It is also out of print, and I wish it would go thru a reprint, too. But it is also one of the more unique games I've played. I don't know if it somehow does not qualify since it was basically modeled after the movie, perhaps?

Tragedy looper is one the most unique games in my personal collection. The game does take a while to wrap your head around though...

I own Trieste, was difficult to track down but I often have only 3 players and like the asymmetry of the decks and each person has their own win condition. Very unique.

I guess I probably missed out on a few games but isn't Takenoko unique (and quite fun in my house). Those growing bamboo plants on the board with players moving the units that either make them grow or eat them... And it sur looks nice after a few turns...

21:20 - Lol wtf zee ? Man you're awesome !

The Robinson Crusoe thing sounds a lot like the Dark Secret / Shocking Discovery system in Dark Gothic. For those who don't know, at certain times (usually when buying certain types of cards) you will need to take a Dark Secret card. This gets shuffled into your discard pile, and as DG is a deck builder, it will eventually be drawn into your hand. You resolve it as the first action on your next turn, and take a Shocking Discovery card into your discard pile. When that comes into your hand, resolve its effect. It will usually (but not always) be bad, for example requiring players to discard cards from their hand.

I haven't played either of them, but The 3 Commandments and Zendo sound like they are pretty similar games, with someone making the rules and the other players trying to figure out those rules by playing pieces on the table

I thought Dixit was pretty unique when it came out. A number of games have a "guess the thing" element, but Dixit implemented it in a way that was unexpected. Now it seems old hat, but at the time it was new and interesting. Rampage (Terror in Meeple City) feels unique to me even though dexterity games aren't new. Pirate's Blast is another interesting thematic take for dexterity games. Also, Betrayal at the House on the Hill was fairly unique when it came out.

Haggis plays 2-3. Mali Powstańcy: Warszawa 1944 is another game with mail delivery as the theme although not German as it is based in Poland.

Quite a unique list.

My Top 10 Unique Games (tried to limit the number of kids games picked): 1. Witness (when the guys were down to number 2 I was thinking they must have missed this one but Zee pulls through). 2. Chateau Roquefort (No one mechanism is unique, but the combination of all of them makes for a very unique game.) 3. Innovation (I really feel any Carl Chudyk game could make the list) 4. Cash 'n Guns 5. Mysterium 6. Loony Quest 7. Starfarers of Catan 8. Magician's Night (dexterity game played in complete darkness where half the pieces have glow in the dark symbols) 9. Mafia de Cuba (social deduction game where players actually get to choose their roles out of a cigar box) 10. Amerigo (the only game I know that uses the cube tower, but not for combat) Honourable mentions: T.I.M.E. Stories, Space Alert, Niagara, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, On the Underground, The Black Pirate (from HABA), Galaxy Trucker, Spiderella, Dancing Eggs, Ticket to Ride - Nordic Countries (just kidding)

Khet - absolutely, loved it. Neuroshima Hex is great as an app ... brain busting as a board game. I note none mentioned Robot Turtles

Patchwork seemed like a pretty unique game. Knit Wit looks like it has a similar theme, but I've never played it.

Even though I am not a fan of it, I would think 504 would have been listed as a unique game. Has any other game ever done the modular rules like that before?

The most unique game I have is Mord im Arosa. It's an audio game where you listen to cubes being dropped down the inside of a tower. Each level has a ledge, and you are guessing what level other players' cubes are on. Not much strategy, but a fun time nonetheless. In response to Sam's 2-3 pkayer game, I would say The Road to Canterbury. It's also unique for the theme: players are con artists trying to tempt the Pilgrims on their way to Canterbury to commit The Seven Deadly Sins, then sell them fake pardons for thos sins. Very fun indeed!

Source of the Nile (Avalon Hill - 1979): You have to draw the map with crayons in hexes. You each have a different colour. If you die the hexes you have explored gets rubbed out; you have to return to Europe to present the findings and score victory points.