Jeezus that intro music hit me with some SERIOUS nostalgia. Thanks for those goosebumps!

Well, that got MY attention! xD Nice shot Joel!

The podcast feed works perfectly. Thank you.

Woodcraft suffers from the fact that it really does take more plays that usual to crack.. and then when you do... So good, so satisfying. It's a serious puzzle.

Great idea for a list, and not one I've seen others do before. I've seen "this replaced that" lists, but these are games which stood on their own as enjoyable experiences and weren't replaced. They aren't replayable but they are worth mentioning and remembering, and I like that idea for a boardgaming list. I've kept Mechs and Minions and brought it out on occasion -- as you say, with "years" of a break. And it has worked extremely well. I'm glad I've kept it. I remember some of the missions but it's not so narratively heavy that the experience of revisiting it is diminished. I couldn't agree more on Pandemic Legacy Season 1. It's probably the single best boardgaming experience I've ever had (Gloomhaven was close). But you can't go back--it's a one time experience, and that's perfectly ok. I won't play some of the others you've mentioned on this list, but it's simply because they never struck the right note with me, and that's not really what your list is about.

We (my partner and I) loved My City. Absolutely loved it. We have now played twice through My City Roll and Build, which is wonderful in its own right, because it grabs the essence of the boardgame in a roll-and-write. We can't wait for My Island either!

Great list Joel and an interesting topic. Always appreciate how you lay it all out there for us to essentially listen to your internal dialogue of your experiences. Also appreciated your take on Earth. I completely agree that I can't see it being an Ark Nova killer. I've only played one solo game, so definitely need to explore more to see if I like the game, but no way it replaces Ark Nova for me as they are very different games. As for Woodcraft, I have been really liking the latest Suchy games. Of the latest three, I'd definitely have Praga first likely followed by Messina, but Woodcraft has some promise to potentially pass Messina. Really liking his releases lately.

Great episode. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these specific games. I agree with your assessment that if you have great memories of a game, you can move on and have no need to revisit them again. It's like some movies and TV shows. If I feel a movie or show was "finished" or had a good ending, I don't need a remake or a new series/movie of that show. Let the show be complete and remain finished. How many shows have been ruined/tarnished by those trying to recapture the greatness of the original show? (answer: too many to discuss here). 😄

I agree with most of the things here except for… 1) Earth: I think that there is more to do here than in Wingspan. I also don’t really angst too much about the ordering of the cards in my tableau. What it has going for it in comparison to Ark Nova is it has things like looking at card tags and having cards play off against each other in less than half the time. Yes Ark Nova is deeper but if I have 4 people I can get two games of Earth played before I finish one game of Ark Nova. 2) Mechs vs Minions: I still like going back to some scenarios and trying them again. I still get play from this one. All in all, good list

I personally didn't enjoy Earth. So glad I played someone's copy before buying it as everyone was raving about it. I just found it a chore to activate everything continuously and it has too many cards and no clue about how anything synced together. It's a game you probably have to play a dozen times to learn the cards and what cards go well with each other and to build a strategy up. The photography is beautiful though.

"I'm already angry enough!"... Just 🖤 you, Joel! X

I find interesting the Mechs vs Minions is on this list. For me, it's not. I thought it would be, because I hadn't played it since 2018 when I suggested to try it anew with a couple of friends who came to try games. And we all had a great time! I've barely opened envelope 4 last time we played last week because I keep on changing groups who play. But I still like the experience of it. It's not a game I'd replay night after night, for sure. But it still shines (as a lighter experience than most in my collection), a few times a year. I hope finishing the campaign won't mar that for me. Thanks for the sharing!

An Anno 1800 system based civilization game you say. Watch this space.

“I’m not gonna end on negativity but…” (40 seconds later) “Jail is not good… All right, so there we go. Thanks everybody.” 😂😂😂

It seems many of your games are 'legacy' or campaign style games. Any legacy/campaign type games you would like to play again?

I like the game Eleven was based on (Club Stories) pretty well. It's a charming little indie solo game. I was briefly excited for Eleven but became worried when I saw Portal would be the publisher. I've had bad experiences with them and rule books. I became even more concerned when I looked into the gameplay changes and all the extra stuff being added on top. Anyway, I'm happy I kept my copy of Club Stories and passed on Eleven.

No Churchill? No La Venise du Nord? I don't even know who you are anymore...

Anno 1800 is so good. If you do buy it, please check out the advanced rules, a.k.a. the rule updates from the upcoming expansion. They help with a couple of small quirks with potentially big outcomes.

I'm also one of the rare people that didn't really enjoy Earth. Wingspan is alright, but it's not one I would suggest.

Hi Joel. The "neat" vs "exciting" topic is very attractive to me and I think it could make for a very interesting video. Please consider to do it 😊 Cheers!

On Mars offers players access to other player’s tech tree advances in a similar way to Anno 1800

I agree that I think Earth is grossly overrated at present. I think it's fine enough and has some clever design elements but it certainly isn't some kind of mind-blowing experience of a game like I see many folks making it out to be. I didn't enjoy Ark Nova much at all and I've cooled on Terraforming Mars but I think Earth works for me as a replacement for both of those games mostly because it is a faster and more streamlined experience that still delivers on most of the same beats. I have no objection to playing Earth again but I'm not clamoring for it. It's a solid 7 out of 10 in my book. Keep in mind, I'm not all that much of a Eurogamer.

Yes, the 24 chapters of My City (legacy) are sure nice. However, it is the eternal side which is epic. I compete in it online at boardgamearena. The max theoretical score seems to be 48. But you need to be skilled and very lucky to achieve it. Knizia is a brilliant genius.

I've never played "Freedom" so I can't address anything specifically regarding that game. I also understand not wanting to play games due to topic (I won't play anything which deals with the occult or spell-casting). But, to me, there is a difference between avoiding topics which can affect a person now (the occult) and things which happened in the past -- particularly the distance past, and experienced by no one living today. Yes, slavery is evil -- it existed throughout human history, encompassing every race and ethnicity, not one of which hadn't been enslaved at one time or another by some other group of people. Likewise, war is horrendous -- and people, (including myself) have played war games for decades. Jack the Ripper was a monster, but people not only play games about him, they even play as him. Should all of these be reasons not to play a game? I don't know. Just throwing this out there as something to consider.