While I'd prefer to share campaign games with at least one other person, I finally just decided to solo them because scheduling was impossible. I'm very glad I did because I've been enjoying the heck out of Nova Aetas Renaissance over the last two weeks. Down the road, if a friend and I can coordinate I'll happily replay with different characters.

Dedicated table for campaigns is a must.

My wife and I have a number of campaign games. We finished Kingdom Death, multiple Sleeping Gods and Iss Vanguard playthroughs. We have Gloomhaven, Folklore: the Affliction, and King's Dilemma that we played and never finished. Gloomhaven is massive compared to the others, Folklore's rules get to complicated, and King's Dilemma isn't as fun for us because we are of the same mindset with our group, so conflict doesn't happen like it should. We are currently playing Iss Vanguard with her family, and own the expansions. If they drop out, us two will stick with it cause we enjoy it. When it's just us two, we are currently playing tainted grail. Got it and Red death for Christmas, and I will be getting the other expansion.

Love the content! Keep it up!

What me and my group planned was a separate session in the week to play the campaign game outside the usual game night, it allows us to get in the routine to finish the game while still allowing us to have some variance in our normal game night! Thanks for the giveaway!

Great Video, I’ve recently come to this realization too. I prefer games like Euthia and Street Masters that give me that Campaign feel in one off sessions. I just finally pulled the trigger on Cthulhu Death May Die for that same reasons. I like the idea and mechanics to a game like Tainted Grail my biggest hang up is I get in the mood one week I read the rules set up and play for 4-6 hours and then maybe get to to another 2-4 hours the following week and inevitably something comes up and it’s 2-3 weeks that pass and by the time I come back to it, I just don’t remember where I was what I was pursuing what my strategy was and I end up boxing games like this up. I really want like the idea of playing these open world games, but there’s no question I table the ones broken into individual game sessions much more.

Me and my group primarily play campaign games. To be honest we struggle more to table small games if our session comes to a point we dont have enough time to complete the next section but arent ready to pack up yet. Generally we give a game 4-5 sessions and decide then if we are going to see the box through. I would say luckily we are on for an generally positive curve to the number that stay on the table as opposed to leave the collection. For us we just wish could play more to experience more. For each campaign game i have i have 3 more waiting to come out the box. (Fomo is no joke). Keep making the great content. #fracturedsky

Thanks for the content. I tend to shy away from campaign games, because I know that my group would not finish them. It is tough to get a game to the table enough times with so many other good games to play.

Campaign games are the genre that got me into the hobby, but I find myself playing less and less of them lately. It's not so much that they're difficult to get to the table or that my group doesn't enjoy them -- we definitely do -- but it's more that I don't really want to dig out Frosthaven or Oathsworn after a long day at work to play a co-op game with my hubby. They'll always have a place in my collection, but I think I'll be focusing on just finishing one at a time and getting rid of them after that for now. Also, I didn't know fractured sky was getting a reprint. Thanks for the heads up! :)

Thanks for the video. I agree the theory of a campaign game is completely different from the actual practice of one. I've been playing with KinFire with my husband, and life keeps getting in the way. We are looking forward to picking it back up in the summer. #fracturedsky

#FracturedSky Campaign games do not work on our regular bi-monthly game nights, we never know who will show up and it's hard to keep a regular group on those days. However I do set aside time during the month for different smaller groups to specifically play campaign games. This works so much better than trying to do it on the regular nights. It sometimes means we are playing during the week but if it helps their enjoyment I am happy to accommodate.

Some great tips, biggest problem for us is time, 4 ppl all working, doing some sports, hard to schedule for playing.

To play campaign game, things for me to consider will be able to play solo, game play mechanics that i like, game theme that i into, ease of game setup and is the game playable at each session within 2-3 hours in progression to complete the whole campaign

Thank you for this, great insights as always. I am conflicted about campaign games. I play solo, so the group commitment is not a factor, but making time for any playsession aof 2+ hours is hard due to my daily schedules. I decided to shift my focus on the game away from finishing the campaign and focussing on the scenario as a single session. By this I am trying to avoid the pressure of finishing the game, which tends to feel more like chores, especially in artificially bloated campaigns. What I dislike most about them is that they would otherwise shift you away from other games and "need" to be played to stay engaged with the overall campaign. They demand a lot of time, often space and focus. So I play ISS Vanguard now, Oathsworn will be next and when Kingdoms Forlorn hits my doorstep this will be the last one (and will have playtime up to my death).

I just started getting into campaign games with Sleeping Gods, which was fun! Next up will be Tainted Grail!

I am fortunate enough to have a friend that is as much into gaming as me. So we have several groups. He and I play campaign games, those that are best at smaller player counts. Right now we are playing through Isofarian Guard, which is perfect. Then we have a group of 4 that loves campaigns as well, and we try to get together every two - three weeks. We are playing Oathsworn right now and loving it. And then on top of that we have an open gaming night where we have a pool of about 12 people and every Friday night, whoever is available to come shows up and we play a game based on the number of people. #fracturedsky

Thank you for tips, and the giveaways too!

Campaign games! I love many of them. Sadly, I have not played very many yet. Giveaways sound interesting! :)

Fractured sky looks cool!! Will checkout the reprint campaign

Thanks Brian. I agree we all underestimate the amount of time needed for these games. Both solo or with a group. I retired in January and my brother and I made it through half of Oathsworn. We will continue when we get together again in a year since we live a thousand miles apart. Even with more flexible time in retirement these can be difficult to finish.

I just started Oathsworn solo. As much as I would love to play it with my play group, I just love that I can play it any time I want, since it's just me. Playing solo will speed up the finishing of campaign games for sure. #fracturedsky

It is always pleasure to watch your videos. I'm playing my campaign games solo because it's impossible to have constant group for such a game. I don't mind to control multiple characters

Honestly, after finally receiving Oathsworn and Kings of Ruin, I've realized that the only way I'll be able to get through them is by playing solo. It's unfortunate, but there's no way my friends are willing to dedicate that much time to completing them. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!!!

Thank you very much for who you are to the communty.. i love your contents and tips

Brian I hope to see you reach your goals with the subs you deserve it. Being at a very low point in my life that I won't go into details I try to immerse myself into board games as kind of an escape from reality. I don't have a big collection but I really enjoy it. I love campaign games as I can just get so immersed. Thanks for being kind and doing a giveaway.

Thank you so much for the giveaways!!

Great campaign game tips! Love your channel, nice giveaway too!

I like campaign games because they remind me of my childhood playing D&D.

#FracturedSky You are absolutely correct about not needing the expansions for many games. I’m drawn to so many of these campaigns because of all the content, which leads me to thinking I need all the expansions with all the content. In practice, whether solo or with a group, I rarely include expansion content though. Still, I don’t think the completionist in me could back just the base game. It is often difficult to track those expansions down afterwards when they turn out to be good or even essential.

Why do I feel personally attacked when the Chronicles and Drunagor comment? 😜 I have everything all in on both as well! Haha

Great topic!

I couldn’t agree with your video more. I have numerous campaign games that I’ve either never been able to get to the table or have only played 1 or 2 sessions with my group of friends before we moved onto to something else.

Am playing Oathsworn at the moment really enjoying the game & story with my group but it definitely takes longer to play than I hoped. We take it in turns each week playing a game each of us own so usually every three weeks we play a game of Oathsworn and even though am enjoying it I will be happy once we finish so can move on to other games in my backlog probably be a while till I play a campaign again as a group if at all I might even just play them solo so can experience the story have fun and move on

Keep up the good work. What have you found to be the best campaign experience for you/your group? What hit it off and had everyone excited to keep going? Did you/your group end up finishing it?

#FracturedSky - Thanks for the video! Some good pointers and suggestions! Oathsworn is a big box campaign that I’m very excited to start but have some anxiety along with it because of the time commitment required to get through it. Campaigns are not for every gaming group so making sure you know who would/wouldn’t have the longevity for it is important. Now, I need to make sure I have the longevity for it lol.

Thank you Brian for the content. Been wanting to get into campaign games.

Great video! I think you brought up good points that I have also thought of after purchasing a few campaign games and not being able to get through them and feeling frustrated about it. I have come to the conclusion that campaign games just don’t fit my lifestyle and it sucks because they’re a lot of fun..

I literally want to buy almost every campaign game. I then force myself to think of all the unplayed or partially played ones I have. I do like the trend of shorter campaigns though.

I view campaign games as aspirational. They don't need to hit the table -right now-, but it's nice to have a few options in the wings if needed. Love your channel! #FracturedSky

Great video. Great points. Next give tips on protecting your games for maximum resell value when the time inevitably comes. #fracturedsky

Thanks so much for the tips I will definitely 💯 keep that in my mind when I making decisions to buy a new game

My first campaign was Jaws of the Lion. We enjoyed it, but it was not drawing us back. My second campaign game was Oathsworn. WE LOVED IT! Completed the entire game and we do plan to play it again. My third campaign game was ISS Vanguard. We only did 5 chapters and stopped. It was very much a grind and we just were not loving it to invest all the time. Now we are on our fourth and just started Sleeping Gods Distant Skies. So far so good. I do like campaigns, but the commitment has to be there from everyone. #fracturedsky

Actually good video for thought, the temptation and feel good vibes from campaign games get me all the time #fracturedsky

There are definitely a few campaign games that I want to pick up, but they are definitely overwhelming at times. I have a couple that sorta fizzled out after a few plays, so it’s always a hesitation on my part to go big on them. Thanks for the epic giveaway, hope you reach all your milestones! #FracturedSky

Nice reflection on campaign games. Thanks for the tips.

Halfwards is my new favorite word 😮

I got into campaign games about a year ago and really glad I did. I mostly play them solo with an occasional one with a friend that lives nearby. #FracturedSky

campaings can be daunting and scary for groups that are not ready for the time commitement, for my group before we kind of learn what we liked and settled on campaing light games, we had started with gloomhaven. Definetly this made me understand kind of what you are stating about group loosing interest after a few games are played since they got the initial rush, the initial character retirement mechanic and then the magic faded so we didnt even made it thru halfway before the game was abbandoned. we would eventually settle on massive darkness 2 which we are about to enter the heaven portion of it but then it also took a different approach for me since i had to kind of weave a bit of story into it to make it compelling as for example homebrewing certain aspects of loot and XP , the ability to change characters at certain points and utilizing zombice crossover to completly change the rules on them as an excuse to combat campaing fatigue. but as Bryan stated it is important you know the time is going to take and keep the group interested or the group will disolve and most content will sit as a nice reminder of your investment colecting dust. Finally I will say the game theme is also something you might want to look at since if your group doesnt like fantasy and you are all in on a fantasy campaing chances are you will not even see half of it before it gets shelved. #fracturedsky

Very interesting topic you’re highlighting here. Well put too!

I wish I had a group enthusiastic enough about a campaign game that would still play regular games on the side. But as is, I've sworn off them. Although I'm tempted to just play one solo.... #fracturedsky thanks!

We currently have 5 campaign games going between my 2 gaming groups. Frosthaven, Gloomhaven, Undaunted Normandy, The initiative, and Pandemic Season 1. Plus I'm doing solo Sleeping Gods: DS, and Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs. Needless to say we aren't making a lot of progress in any one game, but we get to at least of them each week. #fracturedsky

I’m a solo player that plays campaign games but without a vaulted game table and… phew, the setup and tear downs can get super demoralizing 😅 looool

#fracturedsky I got into purchase rampage after playing some Oathsworn, I have 2 other campaign games now + 4 more backed, including ATO all-in. Looking at how my current campaign slowed down from 4 chapters a month to like 1.5, I doubt I will ever finish all the other games. I love the stories campaigns tell, and sharing the moments with my friends, but it is a huge investment not many people want to make. Also, for non-english speakers, language can be a huge barrier. Good thing there are more and more localized games.

I have Arcs on its way. will be my third campaign game but kinda. Dead reckoning I haven't touched the campaign stuff, and i only solo'd Scythe - The Rise of Fenris. Hoping to actually get a real run at Arcs and its very viable since i think its only 3 games to get through one campaign

I love the Idea of campaign games. But it’s almost impossible to get a group together to play. So I end up playing them myself but even then I end up only playing about 5 or 6 times before I want to try something else telling myself I will get back to it in a few weeks and then I never do.

#FracturedSky - Have to agree with your points…. But still wont stop me buying new campaign games now and then… i just love the continued story of a character in a well-told world, well-done story :)

Campaign games no longer interest me. The biggest reason for this is the upkeep between sessions. I don't like having to remember where we left off, or continually tracking stats/equipment/available quests/etc. Games with similar mechanisms that offer one-off scenarios are far more appealing to me. Sweet video, and very generous give away! #fracturedsky

Honestly, I love campaign games, but playing them solo imo is the way to go. Getting a 3+ person game group together to commit to that is way too tough.

Campaign games are so hard to justify these days. Great thoughts on the subject! #fracturedsky

#fracturedsky woul love to have 1 of the games ! Keep up the good work.

#fracturedsky I ended up buying several campaigns. Tainted grail FOA 2.0, Tainted Grail KOR, ISS Vanguard, Lost Ruins of Arnak the missing expedition, Sleeping Gods, Sleeping Gods Distant Skies, Mansions of Madness, Gloomhaven JOTL, and Gloomhaven. We finally decided we just had to commit to completing them one at a time which has been much more enjoyable! We beat Sleeping Gods and JOTL and are now 21 Scenarios through Gloomhaven. It's still an internal struggle to not start playing the other ones though!

I like the idea of campaign board games, but they are definitely daunting and not for everyone. I have only recently been getting my family into bigger and more complex games, but for these games and for the time being, I'm pretty sure I would have to fly solo #FracturedSky

love me some mythic mischief!

#fracturedsky I did Gloomhaven with a group, but it took us almost 3 years to complete it (part of that was due to COVID). I am currently playing 7th Citadel solo and loving it.

I am definitely in that boat, I tend to all in on things I want and there is never a guarantee I will play all of it...ever... I still have a few in shrink that is in the queue to be played. Your FOMO discussions definitely ring true. DC United is an all in for me, even though I just backed DCeased from the same company! But hey, I guess I am a sucker lol :( #FracturedSky

Just completed oathsworn, and now just started Frosthaven. Usually it is just my wife wife and I. It's our first time going through a campaign with 3. #fracturedsky

#fracturedsky I think your point about the expansions and add-ons was spot-on. I loved Chronicles Of Drunagor, but I still haven't managed to come back to play through it a second time, so why do I need a dozen different characters? Some of the extra scenarios were good, but I'm pretty sure I have not managed to play all of those expansion parts either.

#FracturedSky As a not so new board gamer, campaign games still intimidate me. This video has provided great information and definitely helped ease some anxiety!

This is great! Thanks a lot!

For the moment i m playing The Isofarian Guard. It is a very good story and app is splendid. I keep playing because i want to know how it will end.

I’m currently playing through sleeping gods distant skies, and Oathsworn. It has been difficult to make time for them because I don’t have a dedicated space to leave them set up. I don’t buy many campaign games but when I do I always watch videos to see if the game interests me first and then back the second printing if it stands the test of time. Both incredible games and looking forward to the Vagrantsong expansion later this year! #fracturedsky

#fracturedsky Awesome points! I’m fairly new to the hobby and honestly a little bit scared to dive into a campaign game, even though I’m super interested. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

This color pallet, I thought it was a 🦆alope video. I was worried why it was on my feed 😂

Campaign games draw me in due to the narrative, but I am realizing more and more that super heavy narrative games aren't my cup of tea. Then you are battling the weight and the time commitment. It feels like there are too many barriers at this point in my life.

Would love to see white text pop up during your video to highlight each point you make when you start discussing them. I also think you should include a notification for the giveaway in your video title OR make a stand alone short or video that just says ‘hey guys, here is what I’m doing right now. Please join in’

For campaign games, the core gameplay loop needs to be just complex enough to be interesting but simple enough to not make the massive time investment feel like a slog. I've been playing through Stars of Akarios which balances this pretty well.

The only campaign I ever tried was Jaws of the Lion and my group couldnt handle more after 2 sessions...

I know still got to open my Oathsworn pledge and its not just campaign games but way to much games from kickstarter or gamefound. Still some years before i retire and too little gaming time;)

Great job keep going -:) Greetings from Poland -:)

#fracturedsky Thanks for the video and sharing your thoughts. Yup, I agree that the base game is usually enough content to experience. I think expansions and extra content can be cool and nice to have for collectors.

I mostly play Campaign games, I had one day during the week were I played a campaign game, and one were I played regular games, we usually go through the campaign until we transitioned over to an expansion, or until people wanted to finish. Like for Gloomhaven we played everything until it was over, and people still wanted to play more afterward, while Etherfields people wanted to end before the first expansion. Personally was enjoying etherfields more then Gloomhaven but I do what the majority of what my group wants to do. Recently though about a good 3 months, board games in general have been on Stall, everyone is available but they don't want to play board games because their "burnt out", they are on a Horror movie binge. They watched the Grudge last week and everyone loved it, and I fell Asleep lol. Just not a big Horror Fan. I forgot that I am the crazy board game guy that buys all the crazy board games, while others just play them, but Its not something they are as crazy about as I am. Like for me personally I feel like us all watching movies together misses out on that interaction that board games have, and I would rather play a board game, but its the majority so while I mention something, I don't complain too much. They promised we will go back to board games, but you guys had to do this while were in the middle of Oathsworn, on chapter 19, like we were so close to finishing that game lol.

Maybe you have said this in another video, but how do you overcome the issues mentioned in this video? How do you get your campaign games tabled and played to the point where you’re happy to stop?

I think I need to finish the few campaign games that I already own before I jump into backing more. That’s easier said than done hahaha Appreciate the giveaway opportunity! #FracturedSky

#fracturedsky I can't seem to get into campaign games but this video was helpful. Even Pandemic Legacy seemed difficult to table

#FracturedSky Would love Fractured Sky or any of the Ivy studios games! As for the video, you are so right on the campaign bloat... scary how we want everything but realistically we can never play a quarter of it.

#Fracturedsky Since I mostly play solo when it comes to campaign games, it is not really that much of a problem for me :) I get my dose of other types of board games with my gaming group. However, I do agree that the base game is enough for campaign though. Great job Brian!

Mythic Mischief is really good. Good stuff. Campaign games are some of my favorite games but they’re also the most demanding category of game I own. #fracturedsky

Hey. I found your channel recently because I am starting to get into board gaming. This video was especially helpful because I am really excited about campaign games. Thanks for the information. #fracturedsky

#fracturedsky love your channel man. Deserve the subscriber goals you're targeting.

Campaign games are always so tempting, but they have the same commitment issues I have with long D&D campaigns. #fracturedsky

All these reasons are exactly why I am scared to back another campaign game like Dante: Inferno for example. I already have 2 campaign games that I have yet to table in Vagrantsong and Sleeping Gods so I have to be realistic on if I need another campaign game. 😢 #FracturedSky

#fracturedsky I agree with you about the content. Some of the campaign games I have have hundreds of hours of gameplay. I still get them, but I am considering more often if the base game is enough.

Loved the video! Have too many campaign games to count but I will play them all! #fracturedsky

I love the idea of campaign games. I have always been intrigued by DnD, but it's missing something for me. When I joined the hobby and noticed the campaigns game, I was so interested but I knew our group likes variety. I decided to jump on Jaws of the Lion to test the water. We played a full week times (our group always takes 1 week vacation for board gaming during the summer) and had a blast... But then on our regular Saturday board game meetup, we were kind of burned out already. We took a week break and then it felt like a chore to get back into it... And we aren't even talking about a story heavy campaign. Needless to say that we never finished it. This was a great experience cause as soon as I see campaign, even though the roleplaying itch in me is triggered, I just know it will never work. And I am not a solo gamer, if I am to play solo, I will just hop on a video game and dodge all the upkeep. That being said I am really excited for Elder scroll: Betrayal of the second Era. The fact that a campaign last 3 session (assuming you don't power through in a day or 2) and that the replayability comes from the multiple different path / story branches just seems perfect. We can reasonably go through a campaign every year on our annual trip and take a break, come back to it with a blank slate without the burden of catching up on old sessions. If this one fails, I will have to stick with CMD for my ''campaign'' fix. Really interesting give away ! I have been eyeing IV studio games for a while. They seem interesting, easy to get into and simple enough even for non gamers... But maybe too simple (except I guess for Mythic Mischief, but I rarely play 2p games). The price tag though, wow. Everything looks nice, but it still feels quite overpriced for what your are getting. Fractured sky looks really nice, but I have a feeling it's the kid in me that wants it for the minis. Veiled fate seems interesting too for the 6P+ factor, but also feels quite overpriced. Too bad it's not part of the give away :P #fracturedsky or #fractured sky ... Does it matter which how it's typed ?

#fracturedsky I just started my first campaign with Agemonia!

I havent found a campaign game I really love yet. I usually get bored with the gameplay loop before I get even close. Campaign type experiences i enjoy are usually not typical dungeon crawlers. Scythe Rise of Fenris, Cloudspire, Arkham and LotR LCGs. I WANT to love these deep narrative dungeon crawler exploration games, I just don't.

I'd prefer playing campaign games solo, two handed, or with my significant other as it helps us bond together and finish the campaign with little to no downtime.

I have really struggled with campaign games lately. I just cannot find the energy to table it no matter how much I think I would like to. Burn out is real. Also ooooh Moonrakers - #FracturedSky

I only buy a campaign if I want to play it solo, I know it would never make it more then two plays with my groups

Great stuff! I feel the same way about campaign games #fracturedsky