Major thumbs up for including a visual preview for each of the games in this Top 10 video!

Even when Zee doensn't like a game, he agrees with why its good or what the expansion brings to a game...hes so open minded!

This was such a fun episode! Their chemistry keeps me watching.

10. Tom: New Buildings - Puerto Rico Sam: River World - SmallWorld Zee: Gates of Arkham - Elder Sign 9. Tom: Prosperity - Dominion Sam: USA 1910 / Europa 1912 - Ticket to Ride Zee: Friends & Foes - The Lord of the Rings 8. Tom: Campaign Book Vol. 1 - Memoir '44 Sam: Pegasus - Battlestar Galactica Zee: Wizard's Tower - Castle Panic 7. Tom: C3K - Kemet / Cyclades Sam: Shattered Empire - Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed. Zee: Climate - Evolution 6. Tom: Incursion - Cosmic Encounter Sam: Extension - Dice Town Zee: Pantheon - 7 Wonders Duel 5. Tom: Trade & Intrigue - Orleans Sam: Power Up! - King of Tokyo / New York Zee: Egypt - Deus 4. Tom: USA 1910 - Ticket to Ride Sam: Mediterranean Theater - Memoir '44 Zee: Leaders - 7 wonders 3. Tom: Echoes of the Past - Innovation Sam: Gods of Asgard - Blood Rage Zee: At Your Orders! - The Grizzled 2. Tom: Titans - Cyclades Sam: Old Saloon - BANG! The Dice Game Zee: Power Up! - King of Tokyo 1. Tom: Tuscany - Viticulture Sam: Character Packs - Hero Realms Zee: Titans - Cyclades

Totally agree with you Sam (Hero Realms) with the character packs is essential indeed, and I can't wait for the adventure expansion coming up (where you can play co-op quests). Great video guys, I really enjoyed it. Now I know a lot more about the essential expansions I really need to buy. Thanks!!

That sneeze was hilarious. Had to rewatch it at least once! 😂

really loved this top 10. Great revision of the older list and loved the back and forth

Zee.. you are absolutely correct about the nastiness (difficulty) of The Grizzled and I jumped to buy At Your Orders! when it came out. It even adds a solo option. Now I just have to get my gaming group to try it with the missions, etc. :D Very essential to have this expansion. Thanks!

For me, the Power Up! expansion to King of Tokyo crosses over the line from "essential expansion" to "this should have been in the base game." It really feels like the Day 1 DLC you see in video games, where content that was originally part of the main game gets stripped out by the publisher and added as an option for more money.

what about Xia: embers of a forsaken star? it changes the exploration token to always be usefull, adds tons of new outfits/modules, and fixes so many rules. also has more tiles including gravity anomolies (xia lore).

Glad Zee mentioned Friends and Foes. That's such an amazing expansion, even if it is out of print. I think I would have also included the expansion for Revolution that fills up the rest of the board and gives you more options.

It's crazy, but, earlier today I had updated my BGG collection and called Cosmic Incursion a "must-have" expansion, if only for the rewards deck!

I really watch these because I enjoy the banter between you 3. I don't own none of the games you mentioned... But I'll keep those expansions in mind if I go buy any of them.

I really liked the way Zee gave the expansion name first. It was fun to play along at home.

22:58 - priceless moment! Y'all are hilarious!

• Friends & Foes can still be found via auctions, and either very cheaply or ridiculously expensively, never seems to be moderately priced. Be patient and get it cheaply! • TI3 expansions .... yikes. Their prices have quadrupled in the past 3yrs. And are going higher. And I don't have them :(( • Haven't dug into CE expansions yet, glad to hear Tom's advice! • Memoir 44 Desert/War maps are easily found on eBay for $20-$25. And they are great for all kinds of games that can use big ol honkin' hexgrids.

A note on USA 1910... Any game that replaces small cards with normal sized cards is an essential expansion for me.

My favorite Dominion expansion is Dark Ages: the "When trashed" and "When acquired" effects are REAL cool.

Machi Koro with the Harbor. Definitely agree with the Grizzled expansion at your orders. Another great video.

Note about the building expansion, you can get the pdf online and make your own; definitely like that one.

For C3K: Matagot sells the mosnter sets for Kemet and Cyclades ont heir site, so if you really want it, you can an extra set of each to avoid opening 2 boxes (yeah, it's a pain). Just whished they would make a new expansion for the Ta-SETI monster to go into Cyclades.

Eldritch Horror - Forsaken Lore. It's just more cards. But you know what, those cards should of been in the base game.

Totally agree with Pantheon. That completes the game for me. The ability to not take any cards on your turn is huge. However, I usually keep the regular guild cards, the Pantheon purple cards a bit too boring for me.

The first two essential expansions I thought of: Marvel Legendary: Dark City....yes, I know there are a mammoth amount of expansions, but this one definitely completes the initial game and fills it out perfectly. Firefly: Pirates & Bounty Hunters...eliminates the game being nothing more than a race and player interaction (thievery and such) can actual serve an end goal purpose.

I agree with Tom on Orleans trades expansion. Just a must have

That's a new one, Tom. "Easiously." I love it.

Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport! I love the base game, but can never play it now without adding corruption:)

Another great Top 10...thanks.

The Lost Legion for Mage Knight the Boardgame. The base game has some balance issues (ranged and siege attack is too powerful and often roflstomps everything, couple of cards are a bit too strong), which are fixed by this expansion very well. You get a decent amount of extra cards, too. Also, if you are into coop/solo, this is even more essential if possible: it includes the cooperative skills and a new, super strong foe, who is actually going to be a challenge. All that stuff is great, but my favourite part of this expansion is that it gives all characters a second unique card for their starter decks. Since there are only 4 characters included in the base set, this is a very nice addition to the game! The expansion also includes a fifth character, but unfortunately she kinda sucks. =/ That's the only negative I have for this one. I use her only when teaching the game to new people, so they can play with the better characters and have a slight edge at the beginning. All-around fantastic expansion, highly recommended if you like the base game!

I keep hearing about Hero Realms on so many vids that I may have to go ahead and give this game a look, absolutely loved Star Realms!

I agree with Zee's #4. I won't play 7 Wonders without Leaders.

I'm surprised that nobody has said Inns and Cathedrals for Carcassonne. I will never play without that expansion, because I think it's silly that it wasn't in the base box. I usually also don't play without Traders & Builders as well, but I usually don't teach people that first unless they know gaming well.

finally! useful "top 10". you should do your best of all time 100, top10 games best expansions, so its not just random expansions, its your best games with best expansions ;)

Totally agree with Sam's #1 and Zee's #6. Arctic Scavenger expansion(s) would be on there for me as well.

Never play Lords of Waterdeep without Scoundrels of Skullport. Maybe that's just me.

Best thing about Wizards Tower to Castle Panic, the draw bag, essential!

I whole heartedly agree with 7 Wonders Duel, 7 Wonder Leaders and the campaign book for M44. My experience with original Duel is the same as Zee, the game is predictable. With Pantheon the game becomes much more open and less down to the random luck of how the card pyramid was stacked. Leaders just added a little thing I always found missing from base 7 Wonders, a bit of direction. Without Leaders I find the game will always head the same way depending on your play group. Non-confrontational people always go greens and blues. Some people resource hoard and then grab all the yellow cards etc. With Leaders, this can either strengthen those natural inclinations or they can push you to try something different, to take a risk on an unusual strategy. Also the chaining of Leader powers is so interesting. And I barely played M44 because we found it boring until I bought the PDF version of the campaign book. That just added such an amazing amount of history and theme to an already mechanically strong game.

Robinson Crusoe: Voyage of the Beagle! Amazing expansion

Ok who is the guy on the left and what has he done with Zee???? A Top 10 list WITHOUT Pandemic on it?! That is NOT Zee! ; )

I can't believe Pandemic: On the Brink didn't make at least one of their lists. After playing countless games I can't imagine the game played without it. Not to mention the nice tray for all the pieces and the petri dishes that it comes with are perfect for holding all the cubes.

Some expansions I will never play without (in no particular order): Coup: Reformation; Viticulture: Tuscany; Among the Stars: Ambassadors; Tokaido: Crossroads; King of Tokyo: Power Up; Dominion: Seaside; Cosmic Encounter: Cosmic Incursion (for the exact same reason Tom said: Rewards Deck!); and then Dixit really just needs a few decks to be added in (they're all good, you just need the variety).

Pandemic: On the Brink Core Worlds: Galactic Orders Both of these are knockouts that should have been mentioned.

I wish more of these were more available. the Twilight Imperium expansions are like $200 a pop for what used to be a reasonably priced box for example.

Sam - BSG I think # 1 Daybreak which fixes some of the elements introduced in Pegasus is most essential, then Pegasus for Pegasus itself and then then Exodus for the Cylon Fleet and the Mark VII vipers. I always play with all 3 expansions, even if we do a Kobol run. Firefly - Blue Sun is essential to me as well.

Days of Wonder sells Volume 1 Campaign Book as a PDF. It works fine, you just need to print out the tokens.

I think Powering Up is essential for Tesla vs. Edison. I love the labs, I love Walker, I love the more diverse scoring, and the events... are also in the box.

I was about to angrily comment on how Tuscany wasn't on the list. Thank you Zee!

"Prosperity" is *the* essential Dominion expansion. After that, I'd say "Seaside", with "Intrigue" in 3rd. Other than Dominion, the only game I would say has *essential* expansions is Carcassonne, in this order: - "The River" - just get this (if your copy didn't already come with it). The River II is interesting for the fork in the river. - "Traders & Builders" - for the Builder piece giving you an extra turn! - "Inns & Cathedrals" - the traders on the roads and the pig are meh... but the cathedrals are a great monkey wrench to throw into someone else's half-complete city.

TOTALLY agree in Sam's no3 The Gods of Asgard makes it that the Zone are now randomly different each game which means it balances new or regular BloodRage players. Without it, the games are often the same and regular players can take advantage of that

If I had to make a list, in no particular order I'd go with Dark City- Marvel Legendary: The base is just too easy and basic, this one is essential more so than the others Leaders/Cities- 7 Wonders: Agree with Zee here. I own Babel, but haven't learned it yet Furor Sanguinis-Claustrophobia: More cards,Tiles, scenarios, and new units for both sides Ta-Seti-Kemet: Adds black power tiles, that alone is worth it to me Titans-Cyclades: Pretty much everything Zee and Tom touched upon. Must get Scoundrels of Skullport - Lords of Waterdeep: Makes the game so much deeper, and is easy to teach outright to new players

Agricola All Creatures Big and Small: either one or both of the more building expansions. The variability of the setup alone makes them essential. They have made that game last a lot longer on my shelf than it would have. Almost impossible to duplicate a set up.

I have a great idea for a list guys: Top 10 Games Where You Play As Teams

Ghost Stories and White Moon Expansion. I enjoy the game much more with the expansion because I don't feel like I am just putting out fires, I am actually working towards something

This is probably a matter of an opinion (it usually is!), but I disagree with the Battlestar Galactica. I've played it many times and it's my favourite game and I've played it with many different expansion rules and with many different modulation options. And to me the most important expansion is Exodus. It comes with the Cylon Fleet Board which makes the game much less random and also more interesting and the new "CAG chooses.." Crises Cards are very good. Not to mention about the new module that give even the human players secret agendas to fullfill to increase the tension. So I would definitely choose Exodus from all the expansions (but I actually don't hink the game needs to played with any expansion at all).. PS. And for those who don't like the Sympthizer Card I can suggest to play the game with 3 or 5 people and not have that one in play. I don't mind either way and I like the game better with a Sympthizer than with a Mutineer. I'm probably one of the few.

I've always said the Coup: Reformation expansion is absolutely essential. Coup is an awesome game by itself, but for an expansion that doesn't change a ton yet has a huge impact on gameplay, it doesn't get better. It just makes a good game great IMO.

Small World Tales and Legends is an essential expansion for me. I am surprised you haven't done a review for this. Sam, have you ever played with these cards? I love mixing and matching the cards after playing with the set groupings.

Tom is correct with his number 1 Tuscany is fantastic!

With the new titles, you should tilt the camera down a bit, no need to see that top shelf. Some great expansions in there. Totally agree with Zee about At Your Orders.

Thought I would see Arcadia Quest: Pets on your list Tom ! :P

I'd say the expansions for 1st and goal really does bring that dice game ot the next level. I'd include them in the list.

I was almost certain Zee would pick Pandemic on the brink.

Strongly agree on Tuscany, except you guys didn't mention what I consider to be the most essential part (which, in fact isn't a part of the Essential Edition Viticulture, but is in Essential Edition Tuscany - huh?): The four-season map, which includes the action to freely trade money/cards/grapes. This opens up the game A LOT, and gets rid of the excess-money-during-endgame problem. Also, I agree the naming on the different versions is a bit weird, but I think the intention was good. Maybe naming Viticulture EE and Tuscany EE "second editon" would be less confusing? Either way. Love the game. Love the expansion. Won't play the game without it (I can drop the special workers and buildings when teaching new players, but even the extended board stays in every game).

No idea how scoundrels of skullport got missed. It's pretty much the perfect expansion and I never play without (so much so that I just threw all the crap cards in the expansion box and never separate them again.

Sam mentioning the American bias in Memoir ‘44 reminded me to press like 😂 Yes Sam! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

I got USA 1910 for Ticket to Ride and we use those cards over the ones that came with the game just because they're so much bigger and easier to handle

Forsaken Lore for Eldritch Horror is the epitome of an essential boardgame expansion. It feels like it contains stuff they cut from the main game to keep the cost down. The encounter decks are a pitiful 8 cards in the base game, you could get through that in one game and by the third you would probably have seen them all (multiple times). That the base game has so few encounter cards can also be seen as a good thing, as the decks don't feel bloated, even on the now what? Fifth? Sixth? expansion. And it may have been the intention all along, because that happened with Arkham Horror. In fact the modular nature, where the setup is based on what Great old One you are using, keeps everything managable even with all those expansions.

I consider Tuscany to be an essential expansion to Viticulture.

Great list... perhaps a Top 10 Worst Expansions list could be made?

Zee's fake-out at 47:08 cracks me up.

Agree with Viticulture/Tuscany. Played 2 players with hubby a few times before adding the Tuscany board. Totally changed the game. Would never play with Viticulture's board again. For 2 players it is an essential expansion!

Glad to hear Alvin & Dexter get mentioned, but sad Carcassone: Catapult didn't make anyone's list.

The expansion for Port Royal!

Where is Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport? Lords of Waterdeep is a decent game by itself and an great game with The Scoundrels of Skullport expansion added. Would not think of playing the base game anymore

I'm a little surprised that Pandemic - On the Brink is not on Zee's list :)

Man, I thought the look on Zee's face was a dead giveaway that he was trying to not give away his number one.

1.) Scroundels of Skullport for Lords of Waterdeep 2.) Power Up! for King of Tokyo 3.) To Forge a Realm for Kingsburg 4.) Viticulture + Tuscany 5.) 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon.

Very nice intro, Sam

Agree with King of Tokyo - "Power Up" - I will not play without that

Scoundrels of Skullport for Lords of Waterdeep makes completing quests easier, allows a sixth player, and adds more scope with cards and buildings.

You guys don't like Eclipse, but Rise of the Ancient is absolutely necessary for Eclipse. It adds some new species, new discoveries, variants that fans liked a lot like permanent alliances and best of all rare technologies and discoveries. The base game is in print and the expansion currently is not, I tell people not to even buy the game unless they can get the expansion it makes the game that much better!

The most essential expansion for me is Eclipse: Rise of the ancients. Makes the game so much better.

1. Tomb: Cryptmaster a stand alone expansion. Tomb is a great game, but some of the decks were too small, and you would cycle through a couple of the decks in 1 game. Adding the 2nd game to the 1st fixes this, as well as adding new mechanisms and better rules. Is the reverse true? Unfortunatley somewhat yes, you would still have smaller decks, but you would have the better version. Unfortunately both games are OOP, but Cryptmaster can still be found in some stores. 2. Bang! the card game. Another controversial pick here. Many people have moved on from Bang!, but if they had played with the expansions it fixes most people's issues, including the one Sam discussed with the dice game: player elimination. The 3 expansions High Noon, A Fistful of Cards, and The Valley of Shadows all have at least 1 card that brings people eliminated from the game back into the game. Gold Rush also has the shadow feature which does so, but I do not think it does it well. But Gold Rush's other half helps the game by adding gold which you get by shooting other players and you can spend that gold on cards. This shortens the game by encouraging more shooting! So I would consider those 3 1/2 expansions essential. Dodge City is close to being essential by just giving more of the same to the base game and perhaps a bit of balance, but if you buy Bang! the Bullet, you get most of these expansions in the whole package. The only expansion I think that is completely a waste is the Wild West Show. To be clear though, the last expansion, Valley of Shadows is not in the Bullet version, and you could do without it, if you run the 2 cards from High Noon & A Fistful of Cards. 3. Talisman: I am a completist, but some expansions are not essential. Talisman is the king of fantasy adventure because of its large content, without it, other games like Prophecy would beat it. Talisman has 4 corner expansions, but I consider only 2 of them essential: City and Highlands. The Highlands is great for low leveling and for getting money, and the City is great to spend money. Now the base game would be repetitive without some of the small expansions which adds more of the same. There are 3 that do this, but to make Talisman shine, I guess only 1 is essential, but a 2nd for just a bit more content would be best. The 1st of these which many consider the best is The Reaper expansion. It adds lots more of the same kind of content but also adds a cool npc character that runs around the board. For a 2nd of the 2nd choice I would recommend The Sacred Pool Expansion. This adds cards where you can go shopping if you don't have the city or just don't want to travel there, but again adds lots more of similar content in the game. The 3rd choice would be The Frostmarch Expansion. An expansion which just adds more of the same. 4. Colt Express: Horses & Stagecoach: It took me 3 plays to enjoy this expansion, but now I won't play without it as Colt Express would be boring. 5. RoboRally: Armed and Dangerous: An expansion for the early edition of RoboRally that added a lot more option cards. This revved up the fun factor a ton. An essential to RoboRally. 6. Heroes Incorporated: S.U.P.E.R. (Scrap's Upgrade Pack and Expansion Revision): This like many famous expansions adds more content to the game making it more replayable and giving variety. I wouldn't like heroes Incorporated nearly as much with out it. 7. BANG! The Dice Game - Old Saloon: see Sam's comments, although I haven't played this as much as Sam 8. Lord of the Rings: Friends & Foes: see Zee's comments, this adds more of the same, which is always better, unfortunately The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey replaces the Lord of the Rings co-op, and still am surprised to this day Tom did not play that game with Sam & Zee who both liked the LoR game more than him. So this means I need to get The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug which expands the Hobbit game, but since that hasn't happened yet, isn't on this list. 9. 1910 Ticket to Ride: see Sam & Tom 10. One Night Ultimate Werewolf Daybreak: makes an ok game into a good game. That is: One Night Ultimate Werewolf. The game shines with more roles!

Forgot a big one, Carcassonne. Although it likely crosses the line of should've been in the base game, Inns & Cathedrals. The game is borderline unplayable without it. Was shocked that it was not bundled in when the New Edition came out.

For me the Cities and Knights expansion for Catan is a must have. It helps alleviate some of the issues of getting boxed in and adds a couple of fun elements without overcomplicating things too much. I also agree that the Saloon expansion to Bang! the dice game is super needed. It adds a lot of components to help keep the game fresh, and the ghost is a super good mechanic.

Monuments mentioned a few times with Cyclades Titan, but its a separate expansion.

Race for the Galaxy: Gathering Storm is a necessary one for me with the fifth player, 4 more starting worlds, firsts and mosts+the solo variant, which personally I don't like, but maybe other players do.

How about a "Top 10: 2017 so far"? You could point top 5 games so far (that could perhaps make the top 10 year list) and the top 5 expectations for the balance of the year (considering all the new info the came out since Jan).

Expansions that made great games even better

no lords of waterdeep ,scoundrels of skullport

For me it has to be Crown and Glory for Warrior Knights. Not only does it add thematic depth to the game, it also makes it impossible to go back to playing without Forced March.

23:04 This should stay forever on KZfaq.

Ow, our party was thinking about an expansion of BG, I guess pegasus it is! But I am still not sure about cylon leaders...

Zee is adorable.

52:12 - Rare footage of Sam agreeing :)

Does Titans fix the abrupt ending in Cyclades? I enjoy the beginning and middle of the game but, ending is always anti-climatic. As I understand it the moment a player gets the second metropoli the game immediately ends. So you get games where you can see one player is going to win and there is nothing you can do about it. They either take a metropolis from another player or just build the fourth building.

question: What would you consider essentials or best expansions for games like Catane, and pandemic

At least you can get Campaign Book vol 1 (for Memoir '44) in digital PDF format from Days of Wonder.

Tom, just to let you know you can buy the Kemet and Cyclades monsters on their own from the Matagot website. No need to buy another game just for them! ;)

Scythe Rise of Fenris is a must have

Just checked the review from 2011 of Alvin and Dexter. "I'd play with this expansion every OTHER time!" - Tom