This is easily my favorite boardgame channel ever. Can't WAIT for more videos!

As someone who has avoided "wankfest miniatures games," I am glad to see El Grande at the top where it belongs. I don't think I am smart enough for the multiple mechanisms that come into games like Rising Sun, and certainly do not have the patience for Twilight. El Grande has a simple ruleset with complex decisions and plays fast with great screwage potential. Along those lines, I am glad to see Las Vegas Royale made it too. Honorable mention goes to Tammany Hall but maybe too similar to El Grande? Great list and SYNT.

That was very entertaining, good sir. I have a recent version of Las Vegas and find that people understand and enjoy it quickly. Just rolling dice for money and starting random vendettas is always a joy.

Took me a while to get on board with your presenting style, but after watching a view videos of yours, i'm hooked! Great video, keep it up.

Inis is probably my number one area control game. It's soooo good !

Great vid. My personal take is TI4 is #1 by a mile, but it helps that we have a group that lets us play multiple times a month.

Played Kemet (1st edition) for the first time last week and was blown away. May actually be my new favorite. There was a bit of king-making at the end by two players who stood no chance of winning, which is my only criticism but still loved it.

Because your taste is very similar to mine, I backed Cyclades Legendary, the meeples version. I am so glad they're even offering that option. I'll bet meeples are just so much cleaner and more tasteful on the table, and I look forward to that auction magic, since I love QE quite a lot.

My top 10: 1. Chaos in the Old World 2. Rising Sun 3. Forbidden Stars 4. Kemet 5. Cyclades 6 Twilight Imperium (IV) 7. Feudum 8. Eclipse 9. Wonderland's War 10. Empires of the Void (II) Honourable mention for Mission Red Planet. Not sure if Scythe fits, it would probably come in at #4 if it does. I've not had the chance to try El Grande, Root or Inis.

The eco warrior also did a very good Godfather game as well and you can find it super cheap.

I struggle when recommending/teaching entry level games for players new to the category. i.e Co-op games have Forbidden Desert, Deck builders - Star Realms etc. I'm going to take a look at El Grande and Las Vegas. Thanks for the video!

I sold my "big box" El Grande but I would absolutely buy it again if they produced it in a sane sized box. Glad to see Cyclades up here! That game doesn't give near as much love as it deserves. I put Cyclades up there with Inis which is sadly lacking from your list! If you haven't had a chance to try Tammany Hall, you should give that one a go as well.

We too own and love playing Kemet and Cyclades. May take a look at Blood Rage

Haha... loved the repeated preface to Eric Lang....

I love how when you switch the subtitles on, it fits perfectly to the punchy one-word-at-a-time speaking style. Hilarious!

Love Kemet and Cyclades! Also you inspired me to order the German version of El Grande and sleeve it with the English translations (I couldn't bring myself to glue it up). Rumor has it that a new edition is coming.

Excellent list!

Great list! I own and love Brass Birmingham, Ark Nova, and Dominion. I'm a fan of the Viking theme, but have yet to play Champions of Midgard. That'll be on the list for 2024

Good to see some love for Alien Frontiers. Mission Red Planet is a favourite of mine, but Inis and Scythe are top.

Awesome list. A lot of really great games on here. I don't know if I will ever get to play Twilight Imperium but I really hope I do.

ian o'toole is currently doing a reprint of el grande, or so i surmised from his and the game publisher's postings. i cant wait for that one.

A top ten list of travelsize/small box games would be nice since the season is about to begin.

My Top 5: 1. Twillight Struggle 2. Dominant Species 3. Campaign Trail 4. Time of Crisis 5. Sekigahara

Always love seeing Rising Sun get some attention, though you're definitely right that Blood Rage tends to be easier to table.

That Godfather game is great, criminally underrated.

Excellent list. I am eager to play Scarface 1920. I am just waiting for the right group of cutthroats to get it played.

Great channel. Love your presentation style. Also, Mexica is a good area control game that still holds up, but unfortunately gets overlooked by the new flashy games. 😢

Forbidden Stars can be played as well at 2 players, and is pretty good at that player count.

Löwenherz is still a great area control game.

I'd personally swap out Kemet with Inis, but that's just a personal preference.

I liked Ankh a little more than Rising Sun, but that could have been due to who I played Rising Sun with. Eager to give it another go

love Forbidden stars - its my No.1, Lucky, in our oarty we have eTI4 + PoK at table once or twice a month ;) btw you forgot one of best: Circadians: Chaos Order

Great list packed with wonderful games! I guess you're right, but I've never thought of Las Vegas or Caylus as area control games. I'm a simple man: in my area control games, I need a *map* and big plots of imaginery land to fight over. :D My picks: 1. Mission Red Planet 2. Cyclades 3. The Court of Miracles 4. Kemet: Blood & Sand 5. Lockup 6. Rising Sun 7. Caesar! 8. Bunny Kingdom 9. Blood Rage 10. New York 1901 / Garden Nation

Very happy to see El Grande top of the list! We discovered it a couple of years ago and it's so obvious now how it influenced everything that has come after. Do you have the Big Box edtion? Really mixes things up. I also have to to mention, that whilst I know you'd probably rather break it into small pieces and stick it up your arse, Inis is incredible and such a shame it doesn't work for you or your group. Possibly our fave area control game. Certainly is based on amount of plays. 🤩

Bought the reprinted El Grande recently...

No Tammany Hall on the list, sad times

Agree with El Grande, a true masterpiece. Caylus is not really an area control game (or should I say - I would never consider it as something more than straight euro) but I miss Dominant Species here or Tammany Hall.

Nice king

Agreed, El Grande is grande

Have you ever tried Condottiere? How would you rate it?

I told my soggy pillow that I adore Battle for Rokugan. Bluffing, asymmetrical, special card abilities... really, this is a big game in a medium-sized box, my favorite. Tim Jolly is only getting a 7.5 on bgg... which is a load if you ask me. This game is closer to a 9 than a 7.

😂 Thanks for this video, makes me almost miss London. Games of Throne, Oath and Root are our favourite go to, with bling where it counts. Hang on... maybe these aren't area control? 😁

Great fuckin video, thank you

Wish you could still buy El Grande

I'm still trying to figure ist if I should sell my copy of Cyclades and back the upcoming kickstarter or keep the old one.

We matched on 8/10 of those, great picks, I couldn't have done it better myself, except for #9 and maybe #10. #9 is a huge stretch though ... there's not much area control in that one at all - but then again I played the 1303 version so it might be different so ignore me if it originally had more area control. For me personally, I would have included Cthulhu Wars and Antike II as my replacements. Honorable mentions goes to Godfather, Inis, Viral, Small World, Mission Red Planet 2E

Brutal but fun as always. The game I thought you might have included as an honorable mention was Ethnos. Is there any truth to the rumor that El Grande is getting a re-release? Thank you for your work.

El Grande is a great game. One of the classics that will always be somewhere on the lists of lists.

People love top 10 lists

Concordia is basically an area control game. I'm sure you've played it, so that means you think it's dog shit. But it isn't.

No Tammany Hall?

Some real shite on this list, but pulled it back with the #1 pick. For me not just the top area control game, but of of top games period.

Inis should be Number 1.its a masterpiece.

Surprised by the absence of Innis.

Very good! Change ‘Rising Sun’ to ‘Chaos in the old World’ Then it a perfect list for me.

I think Ankh is Eric Laing’s best design, but opinions differ. Nice video, shame about the worker placement games at the start, what the f@*+?

Wot no Ethnos?!

Risk Europe is worth a look

El Grande controls the area! Hooray! Not a fan of Les Vague Us.

Chinatown =)

Im here for some more bollocks talkin'

Bollocks!

Ruination

Some great games (and some crap) here but the list is fundamentally flawed because you don’t start by defining your terms. As a result you are trying to rank Las Vegas against Twilight Imperium, Alien Frontiers against Khemet and Caylus against anything not found in a sewage farm.

Listen he may be a social justice warrior but he does make good games

Nah, Blood Rage is bloody bollocks. Crappy drafting, rage mechanic that fuels a runaway winner, and a done-to-death theme. I find it a yawn fest and I'd play Rising Sun over it any and every time.

We put black electrical tape over Eric Lang's name on the box cover. Can't stand this race-baiter, cop hater. But.....a few of his games are excellent. Every time we see his name, we yell, "Bollocks!"

Haha, loved your comments about a certain social justice activist, that guy is insufferable (although I guess he makes great games, I don’t know I haven’t played them).