Just want to say - you guys are killing it. The channel keeps going from strength to strength. You're obviously having so much fun and it's contagious.

This was great. I’d love to see this list revisited in 3 to 5 years.

I would love to see a top 10 solo games list! I think you guys may have done one years ago, but I am an avid solo gamer and would love to see a new list!

These list videos are so addicting. Love the banter back and forth between you three and the distinct thought processes you all go through when crafting and comparing your lists. Great chemistry. Keep up the great work

The people's choice disapointed me because it seems they confused "cooling down on" and "being burned out on". Your lists are way more interesting: it's not games you simply are tired after too many plays (that's just called achievement), it's game you reevaluated for what they would be for new players today.

I love the camaraderie you three have. You can tell you are all really good friends and it comes across in every video you do together.

Congratulations on becoming a grandfather, Tom! I hope everyone is well.

You know, so many of us have developed such a fondness for the three of you. I wish I had even one friend as fun and cool as you guys are that was also into games. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you are all loved. Thank you for being a daily source of inspiration! 🙏🏼

I love these top videos you 3 do together. You just bounce off each other so well. It’s just fun and relaxing. Thanks guys!

A great conversation. I was impressed with how respectful all three were towards the games toward which they've cooled. The Dice Tower at its best. (And congratulations, Tom!)

Thank you for the laughs - needed them today!

It's enjoyable to watch your engagement with one another. You really bring out the joy and passion for gaming and your shared experience really comes through. Thanks for making these videos. I make it all the way through these videos because of your interactions. Thanks, very much.

Thanks for another great list and video! You guys, and this channel, are great! It was nice to see you guys come around on some games I hated the first time I played them :) Lighthearted negativity and honest criticism are definitely needed in this hobby. Keep up the good work!

I agree with basically all three lists (especially Escape Room games and TIME Stories), but Seasons is still an all-time banger. What a smooth, rewarding engine builder.

At the end seeing Catan as people's choice as #1 makes so much sense to me. My game group used to love Catan when it was new. It didn't take many plays, less than 10 I'm sure, before it became a bad game for us. We pulled it out and everyone was having a terrible time so we just called it and agreed we're done with it. Reassuring to see we aren't the only ones to have cooled off on Catan.

I see the common theme. Any game that has 1 or more of these following gets cooled eventually: 1) Take forever to set up and clean up. 2) Hard to teach, overcomplicated=hard to get new players. 3) Takes too long to play, so only hardcore gamers play them. 4) Designed around a story like a book=First read through was awesome. Second and third read through, after you know the story already, not so much.

This was a great list! Seeing all the top 10 lists, this is so out of the box. I hope this would be an annual thing or something.

This was a great episode. Thanks Zee, Tom and Mike!

We need a: Top 10 games we most agree on. It will only be 1 joint top 10 with both positive and negative games the guys agree on.

In case anyone missed what Mike was saying from 25:10 to 25:41, it's basically that he doesn't think it's a bad game; it's just that it's a bad game for him.

Dominant Species was such a good pick. That game seemed magical to us when we first started playing boardgames more regularly - but it just kept ending in frustrating ways and took so long to play... It'll always have a place in my heart but I can't imagine jumping to get it to the table anymore.

That was a fantastic list, fantastic video. You guys are so much fun to watch, and honestly, I agree with a vast majority of your picks. I will say I was appalled by the Between Two Cities pick, and I don't really agree with the reasoning, but to each his own. Congrats on the grandbaby, Tom!

Hey Tom, congratulations on becoming a grandfather! Best wishes to you and your entire family! This is a very cool Top 10 list.

Dear Sam Healey, after all this time, Tom admits you were right about TI3 as mentioned in the “games these 2 jokers don’t appreciate video”. He also had a thinly veiled attack on Bang The Dice Game so you need to promote that more (maybe Mythic can get the rights).

When Tom said that is now a Grandfather, I turned my partner and said Melody's had a baby and we both smiled, we hope Mum and Baby are both doing well. It's an amazing thing that whilst I live in the UK the power of the internet means that I care about people I have never met, who do not know me, yet I am happy for you. Best wishes

For me Catan has grown on me, so much. First 15 years of knowing about it I always said it was my least favourite game, but now it's my most played.

Great list!

Great video as always. You three are my favorite folks to listen to on all of KZfaq board games

I enjoyed that, a couple of genuine laugh out moments amongst the banter. Quite interesting peoples choice. And congratulations to Tom and his wife on becoming Grandparents.

Great video, guys! I love it when the panel is squirrelly, you're so funny!

Quite an entertaining video, thank you :) . A similar style list you could do would be games you were excited for, played once, and just felt like you had seen everything the game had to offer and weren't interested in playing it again. Atlantis Rising is that game for me. In terms of this video, Pandemic has gone from an okay game to one I won't play after being burned out by two of the legacy versions of it that I didn't find that interesting but had to play 15 or 16 games of it in a very short time frame (twice!).

Congratulations Gramps! :-) But seriously, happy for you and your growing family.

Great list. It's one I really enjoyed. I figured Duel of Ages would be on Tom's list. It's nice to see that despite cooling he still really loves it deep down and if he only had someone to play it with it likely would go up again. It's still my favourite game out of 500+. That all being said there is a more streamlined version due out in the next couple of years called Worldspanner Factions. It's got the full 360 and has been much re-imagined despite still trying to adhere to the same feel.

Personal comments on games shown here that I have cooled on: Dead of Winter: Basically I cooled on it after two plays back when it was new, because in both cases the traitor (not me) had a TERRIBLE time the whole game, since his / her options seemed so limited and in the end I decided: When I want a 3 to 4 hour hidden traitor game with resource management I'd MUCH rather play Battlestar Galactica again, because it's just so much better. Also: Battlestar Galactica AND Unfathomable are bot AMAAAAAZING games! Shorter social deduction games are nice to have and I love many of them, but none of them get close to the 'experience' of BSG. (Though BSG needs at least the Cylon fleet board from the expansions, because the Cylon(s) don't have enough options in the base game.) Legends of Andor: Yeah, at first glance it seems like a great idea ... but at second glance it's a very static, heavily scripted thing ... a puzzle with that one ideal solution that you have to recognize, pick and then roll dice to see whether it works. Side-note: I tried to get rid of it when I was selling other games in a local board game group and offering that someone buying ANY of my games could just take this as a free add-on. I had five people coming by and buy my games and no one wanted a free copy of Legends of Andor. A few months later I put it up on a flea market and no one wanted it. I really don't know what to do anymore. What I also did NOT cool on: Twilight Imperium! I prefer cooperative games most of the time, but this is still in my top-3. (I DID cool on Eclipse. I thought that game was fine after my first play and after my second session I never want to play it again. Sure: It's shorter than TI4, but not enough to justify taking out EVERYTHING except the "build fleet and punch someone's face" part, which is all that Eclipse is. If I only have 4 hours I'd rather play Spirit Island ... or BSG ... or Unfathomable ... or XIA ... etc. etc. etc.)

fantastic list

I really liked this vid especially the what does it better aspect. As a relatively new gamer this is helpful

massive congrats to the Vasel family, best of health to you all! :) and maybe, just maybe, one day do go and play Duel of Ages with the little fellow!

Great idea...and great disclaimer at the end. I love how hobbyists can ebb and flow with their top games and games they don't like anymore, but Tom Vasel has to LOVE (insert game here) until the end of time because it was in his top 20 back in 2011 :D

I'm not even through this video yet...this is such quality. Great topic and you're each making a statement with these selections and not trying to do shock drama, but really explaining how the game got here. So good...wow, really solid. I'm so glad I tuned into this video!

I think I'm addicted to Dice Tower Top 10s. I literally don't watch any other Dice Tower videos, I just go on Top 10 binges all the time

I just felt Zee and Tom just had soooo much love into time stories that only when they got to the very end….that contrasts just had them talking about it…for years! Even just by judging your facial expression talking about it…there was such vivid memories and there was so much love and hate. =]

This was a great list, as is shows how we all change over time.

You guys are delightful.

"the game is just too long" seems to be a pretty strong trend here. which makes sense. I hope game designers take note! great list all around. I think I'd agree with pretty much all picks (especially with the given reasons).

There should be a game called "A Bear to Teach" which has overcomplicated rules, but which is also about the players teaching a bear.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this ‘Games I’m Cooling on’ idea, bit it was really good, except that I own four of the games named. I haven’t cooled on them, yet. Anyway, hearing your reasons for why you cooled was well, cool.

Never understood the hate that Dominate Species gets for the look. I absolutely love the look of this game. Respectfully

I think a lot of games like Dead of Winter and Battlestar Galactica can be played out in groups. I still have both and we love them, but we also only play them once, maybe twice a year. Keeps it exciting for us. They are event games.

Time stories has some of my best AND worst gaming experiences. We house ruled it to improve lots of things. The main thing is that once you've passed a test, it stays passed for future runs. Like you know how to pick that lock now, you don't need to roll for it again. But the ending was just SO BAD. I'm still angry.

Interesting. As someone that is just really getting into the hobby (I would consider myself a serial hobbyist, and mid-level in the board game space... I know and have played more than most folks who just casually play board games, but certainly nowhere near the knowledge of the real serious board gamers), I almost use this video as a jumping off point to check out some games I've not heard of or played. Doesn't matter if I will cool on them, as long as I get some runway out of them in the beginning (Takenoko is a great example... I've already checked out some other videos and really think it's a cool concept, with a great design, so will check it out). Thanks for the amazing content, y'all!

I still love bang and dead of winter despite some of the flaws. Really fun list. Thanks guys. Love the banter

Oh Dominant Species.. I still love you enough to keep you #1. *We always get the game done in under 2 hours. I dunno what we do differently other than keeping it moving. Not for everyone, but this was the pinnacle of clashing worker placement/Action Selection. I try to get it played 1-2 times a year.

Dominant Species is still my favorite long euro game. Love it. Brilliant design. I haven't played the new version, but willing to give it a try.

I love this trio! Thanks for the tips on what NOT to buy.

Great list guys. One of the best top 10 ideas, especially knowing the history of when these games were favorites for you all an myself in the past. I do like Between Two Castles as a larger group game. Never tried Cities.

Zee's #3 is a Must-Have for me chiefly due to IP, and it will remain so. Tom's #3 plays kinda like classic PC adventure games "Myst" or LucasArts adventure titles for me (I enjoy subtle clues in the art). I'm early into enjoying these titles, so time will tell if my experience tracks similar to theirs. Great video, TDT, and spot-on takes of the People's Choice selections - thanks for the perspectives in general. Ah, JJ Abrams dropping the ball in a series? Unheard of.

Gloomhaven's setup killed it after a while.

Surprised by people's choice; Terraforming Mars and Scythe were in the people's top 5 in the top 100, so for them to also be in the top 5 cooled games is a bit odd since they're seemingly still blazing hot for the people. But I guess it just shows how many people play those particular games compared to other games I guess?

I've cooled on social deduction, the only one I still own is bang the dice game because it still has a fun dice game at its core. Deception murder in hong kong was my biggest fall from grace. I just feel like we're having the same experience and the same conversations each time, I'm just over it and dont care to play it anymore.

Now you should make a list of games that you warmed up to.

Great list! Lots of crossover for me with a lot of the picks (even though they may not have made my top 10) particularly Dead of Winter. Keep it up team!

Could rename this list “Top 10 games the Dice Tower convinced me to buy and are now trash.”

To be fair to Ex Libris. The second printing included player aids for all location cards, which greatly improved the playability. Even though I too cooled on it. There’s better tableau builders these days.

I think 7th Continent has some problems but the fact that not every single encounter is 'super exciting' is not one of them. This might seem weird but I like a little mundanity in my exploration as it makes the special stuff feel more special. I greatly dislike many open world videogames for the very reason that they feel less like a world and more like a themed amusement park with activities every 5 feet.

I haven’t watched in a month or two and seriously thought Tom aged overnight 😂😂😂

Great video guys!! For me Roborally. I have a friend who loves it and I will play if she chooses it , but I find it tedious and frustrating, not fun. Also, Libertalia. The mechanics are fine, just too many negative outcomes for my taste. Thanks guys!!

Couple of things re: One Deck Dungeon: You don't know in advance what's in the rooms, but once you reveal the room you can choose to start that encounter, or flee (which does cost you time so it's a meaningful choice). And you can't further explore while there are four doors so you need to resolve at least one of them before you can move on. Putting them in a stack *would* just remove all choice. And yeah, the final fight does come down to rolling dice, but how well you do at that fight depends *so* much on how well you've prepared for that fight over the course of the game. You can be unlucky, but for the most part there's quite a bit of mitigation available.

Just started watching, so if my question is brought up during this video, I apologize. Are you considering a reverse of this list? That is, games that you have grown to like more over time.

I definitely cooled on: Catan - too lucky/reliant on convincing others to trade, and the expansion that makes it more enjoyable (Cities & Knights) makes it take too long Chess - had fun with it growing up, but people started taking it way too seriously and the matches went from manageable 30-60 minute affairs to multiple hours long and I just really grew so fatigued with it I just have zero desire to ever play a match ever again Sushi Go! - first I loved it for its simplicity, but now I find it dull for the same reason Tokaido - same as with Sushi Go, eventually the simplicity became dull for me Takenoko - I find it a bit on the simpler side for me, but unlike the two above, this one I would still say yes to playing if someone else brought it.

I was expecting for Tom to put Terraforming Mars around 10 or 9 since it fell so much on his rankings this last year. But I guess he still loves it a lot and it wouldn't make sense to put it here. That Roy's exasperation reaction at 38:13 for Tom's choice killed me xD

Tom was heading the charge on that fad of escape room games.

I've cooled big time on Feast For Odin. I still want to play with the expansion, but as is, I'm good.

Tom just needs a moustache to be a dead ringer for the Engineer in Great Western Trail (1st Ed.)

I've cooled on Marvel Legendary. Played this game tons!

This was hilarious. An excellent watch. You need not be a board gaming heavyweight to get a lot from this.

While having mindless minions marching to their death provide easy income and XP during the early game, their real value as a mechanism comes in the mid and late game when the meeting point of the two sides acts as a neutral tower of sorts, sliding back and forth in the lane. Pushing it towards your opponent provides resources, but also improves your vision and can passively pressure your opponent's buildings. This pressure forces your opponent's to show on the map to push it out, giving away their position, or giving away their lack of presence in the area if they don't respond to the pressure. It's a simple mechanism that adds a lot to MOBA game-play but maybe doesn't translate as well to board games.

Spot-on regarding Dead of Winter. And that’s why I think New Angeles is such a genius design that brings about the same conflict organically. It’s a shame that it is such a long game which really limits its play.

It's uncanny how many of these games I own and still love to play.

Wingspan on the ppls isn’t to surprising as I was getting stale on it but Oceania expansion changed everything for me with the new boards. It has many paths to victory now

Was expecting Puerto Rico on at least 1 persons list and the people's choice. it was king for a long time and now I never see anyone play it anymore.

I think 10 is too small of a list for this category. I'd love to see you guys re-visit it again (maybe with the A-Team?)

Great list. Has a list been made for top 10 games that still have staying power?

I honestly have not idea why Bang even exists. Bang the Dice Game is better in every way, and yet Bang is still in print…

Photosynthesis is a great abstract, open game. I love it, but I love chess as well :-)

Fields of Green replaced Among the Stars for me. I miss the cool species asymmetry, but Fields adds engine building and has a much quicker setup.

I still love Seasons, Imperial Settlers and Lewis and Clark. Great topic for this video.

Tom is turning into an Amish farmer more and more all the time.

39:03 I beg to differ. The two later Battlestar Galactica expansions, Exodus and Daybreak, added quite a lot to the point where it feels naked without them. Treachery cards, the CAG, the Cylon Fleet board, the Mutiny cards, the Earth goal, the Cylon Leader which is a super fun different way to play. Pegasus I could take or leave though.

Lewis & Clark is a great game played with 4 players in turn-based mode on BGA. Zee is correct that AP can make this a long (boring) game with >2 people. However, turn-based, everyone makes a move once a day with all the AP they wish. Four players allows for a great race with the jumping over meeples mechanic in play as a catch up mechanism.

Watched the first two minutes, had Mike mention Castor Oil, and thought, "Man, I love Mike being in the Dice Tower!"

Dead of Winter has a shelf life--Dead of Winter The Long Night is always a great time and never boring!! Great lists!

1:21:00 we've only played Time Stories once (4 persons group) and it was soooo boring that when our time expired (finished?) we cheated to play it without starting all over again and to just finish that first scenario and forget about the game.

The 2-player version of Citadels will always have a place in my collection, but as soon as a group wants to play it, I will veto it in favour of so many other games.

My big problem with Bang is that I have been eliminated multiple times before I even got to my turn. That is a huge flaw in a game.

The people's choice list felt almost like a 'games we played too much' list.

Funny when I first saw this title, Time Story immediately popped in my head.

Interesting topic ! I added Dungeon Deck to my selling games, it was my first dungeon game and now i have Jaw of the Lion so i don't want to go back to it. I played Dominant species 2 times in my life and i want to play it again so bad !! But for Evolution, i got the same feeling as you after 3 games, the art is beautiful, the concept is great but there is no real option in this game so i lost interest really fast. I would really like to try dead of winter ! I don't feel like playing Citadelle or Seasons anymore either. I'd say my number one would be 7 wonders, first game that got me back in boardgames but now i'm fed up with it. Next would come Gaia, first game we buyed and we played a lot at 2 player, really good memories but since then i played so many different games. I would add Lost Ruin of Arnak and Tapestry, i feel like i'm always doing the same thing, there is only one way of playing/winning so after 5 games i just don't want to ever play it again, i didn't try any extension though.

What a fantastic list! And also, such an important list for hobby gamers ….

For me it would be Munchkin and Pandemic. I really think Pandemic was the first good coop and that’s what made it huge. To me it’s pretty easily replaced by other coops, Flash Point for example. I would also say Catan, but I still enjoy the Cities and Knights expansion and I would agree it’s a classic game at this point.

I think Pandemic isnt there because other games do it better now. But because once you "get good at it" you almost cannot lose. We had this with the Legacy one. We lost once. And partially because we were trying at that point, because we were trying to make that game at least bit difficult, as it was breeze...