You guys need to do this list yearly and show what has changed. In 2019 this list would likely be drastically different

I would love to see a follow-up to this video on whether the game has now been dethroned and by what.

Zee's comedic timing was ON POINT this video. ..."hate to keep bring it up"

Is it an American thing, this obsession with theme? As a Brit, my experience is that, in general, theme isn't all that important, in relation to the mechanics of the game.

I think its actually very sad what Sam said about KDM. Dice tower is a source of information and review, and a reference to me. When I was thinking about investing money on KS campaign, I hoped to find something here, but coudn´t find even a note. Its a shame the hate coming from Sam, without even playing the game, just because of the theme. The miniatures on the base game aren t even offensive in any way, he sould inform himself. Besides a boardgame, a hobby that we all love, earning 13 milion bucks on KS should be a motive to celebrate.

Sam: "I'm not really a grumpy person..." LOL

Chess is also public domain. Literally anyone can produce a copy and sell it.

As someone who worked at a newspaper that tried to get rid of the bridge column. The paper got so many complaints bridge was brought back the next week.

Codenames: Pictures is actually harder to play as the codemaster, but on the other hand, it avoid the accidental uttering of the wrong word. In either case, I think the whole idea of "people sitting around staring at the cards" means your group hasn't yet learned to trashtalk and confuse the other team during their turn. Adds a whole bunch more stress. We don't even use the timer. The main appeal is that the game serves large groups of new players, and it's easy to slip people into the game if they arrive late.

Munchkin needs to be dethroned by an actually good game... I like the humour of Munchkin, but the game is waaaaay to long, and all the fun gets zapped out of it.

How about a "Tremors" hidden movement game where multiple creatures need to find the humans on the surface? :D

How can i find the music that was played in the end? thanks for help :)

Sam said he never heard anyone say about how good kingdom death is, but that is all I ever hear about the game

- The big 'squares' that you can use with poker are called plaques. :) - I like Codenames, and I always tell people to think out loud. The codemaster can't react of course or think out loud but it's amusing nevertheless to hear the players associate. It doesn't need to be a silent game imo.

MONOPOLY! WHERE?!

Tom's #7 "I want a fast fun racing game that everyone is talking about." - after 6 years it's finally here, "Heat pedal to the metal"!

Pure Trading? Chinatown!

Tom: Thus games kinda old DETHRONE IT!Sam: This game has too much hype DETHRONE IT!Zee: This game is too long and fidly DETHRONE IT!

Wow you kind of nailed the games that were iterated on over the past 4 years

Just a quick word about Chess-Boxing (from an old chess player). They're more closely related endeavours than you might think. Lennox Lewis, for example, is a strong chess player who funds after school chess clubs. I've never boxed, but I've read that they share core skills - delivering fundamentals under intense pressure, understanding movement, position and strategy, or increasing one's strength through training. What at first glance seems like a ludicrous idea actually makes a decent amount of sense. Just saying. Peace x

About Codenames: I think it's a fine example of the "magic" that a game can have. It goes against reason to resist playing or introducing people to it, because it's so widely loved. That said, I think I enjoy it only about half as much as everyone else, and less every time I play. I like it okay, especially at 4 players, but I'm stunned how much everyone likes it. I think the success of the game can be attributed to, primarily, 2 things(keep in mind, this is off-the-cuff, I really could talk about this for an hour): It's pretty easy to grasp, so players who don't want to invest mentally in a game get to the delightful struggle without much work. It rewards a shared sense of identity. Players always attribute their successes this way. It's never "I picked up your clue from this other clue and pieced the message together"(though that is totally plausible), it's usually "we're winning because we're all sports fans" or "I am just on the same wavelength as you". We had a game recently where it was men vs women. The women are all schoolteachers and/or moms, and the guys are a mixed bag. The women got a clue "Independence Day:2" (sketchy clue, I know), and immediately got "alien" and "fighter". While trying to throw them off the trail, I suggested "England", which they weren't considering. I thought it would be a big risk, might just be the right answer I'm tipping them off to. Instead I got blank stares and looks of confusion. Not one of them could imagine how England would have anything to do with Independence Day. When I clued them in later, they said "well, I guess. That's more about America than England", and got a look of "yeah, that's right" from all around. It wasn't a clever strategy, a successful communication, or an in joke. What won the day was a shared kind of outlook. You'll win if your team are all non-video gamers playing off the clue "Nintendo" and skipping word "cartridge" in favor of "crash". That feeling of being rewarded by seeing what you have in common with other people is powerful and resonates deeply.

Chess Boxing is an Henki Bilal invention (real good French Bande-Dessinée creator and designer). It appeared in his comics in the late 90's and early 2000 and then was adaptated as a sport by fans. Great video, thanks !

The good thing with Sentinels is that you are one hero, with Legendary you could be fielding four different heroes. And the other players are playing the very same heroes as you are. There's no personal investment, no role play as it were.

I love it when Tom is ranting about scrabble meanwhile Zee is hopelessly trying to explain to Sam what “Qi” is 😂

"I want 'Words With Enemies'" Simpsons already did it. "You sunk my Scrabbleship!"

"I hate a game I never played" I feel like you violated a reviewer code of ethics or something.

Oh man. Betrayal is my number one. That was a good choice.

Nothing will ever overthrow the god emperor of mankind. NOTHING

Kingdom Death: Monster really is a fantastic game, especially for a huge fan of Final Fantasy Tactics like myself. The only criticisms I have are the prohibitive price (my gaming group had to combine funds to buy it) and the unforgiving insta-death dice rolls (we just ignore those). Sam is usually my favorite reviewer, but it's sad to see him hating on a game he hasn't even played.

In regards to El Grande, isn't Zee just describing the Dice Tower Essentials game, Royals?

I love how he said Fury of Dracula was too complex to play with mom and dad, and it's the first board game I've ever managed to get my parents to play and want to play again.

A feast for Odin is definitely the most Viking(y) game. Because Vikings were merchants in the first place

If you ask Rahdo, Nations dethrones Through the Ages.

Dethrone Scrabble? if your talking mechanics then Qwirkle. If you're talking words then letter tycoon.

Did you try Bohnanza with one less reshuffle than usual? Works well here.

What do you mean Tom? Stratego is literally chess but cool and fun and still has the same overall punch, its perfect!

"They literally sell a Scrabble dictionary!" "Is it really a dictionary?" "No. It's just a bunch of words." (whispering) "So is a dictionary."

Me thinking gloomhaven is on the list until I see the date of the video. Woops

A somehow late question, but Tom mentioned that for him Exodus dethroned Eclipse...why Empires of the Void is never mentioned? Do you think that is at the same level of Exodus with a feel of TI3?

Hey Tom, quick question if you see this (I haven't played it yet, but) does Downforce fit the replacement for Formula D?

All my friends think board games are nerdy.... I need new friends

It sounds like Sam just wants people to stop talking about games they like that he doesn't.

What are the other abstract strategy games that Tom mentions? ty

If you want competitors for trick-taking games, I'd recommend the two most popular classic card games in Germany: Skat and Doppelkopf (double head). Skat is a highly technical game, where skilled players are almost guaranteed to win any hand but the most busted distributions. Doppelkopf is superficially familiar, but it is a much more chaotic sort-of co-operative game.

Zee...you described Royals when looking for a game to replace El Grande :P

As an avid chess-player (I do the daily puzzle on chess.com and the tactics training, I play online almost every day)... Chess needs to be dethroned. It has the highest throne of any game in existence: Internationally played at tournament level... respected as though it indicates a person's intelligence... openings, mid-game principles, endgame all analyzed and memorized and named... Any number of two-player abstracts could be just as idolized, memorized, and equated to a person's IQ; it is an accident of history that it was chess and not Hive or any of the Gipf games, etc. It's one of my favorite games, but it's really time for another abstract to take the stage. It's been time for that for hundreds of years.

26:30 what is the trick taking game he said? 'Teachu'?

I really enjoyed this list and found it very informative. I would like to see more like this, where you can just open up and be honest about what you'd like to seen done better. Normally on a top-ten, I just kind of leave it on background noise but this one I was actually listening to every point you each made.

"Hasbro should be dethroned" lmao

Sam: I know nothing about this game... and I'm sick of it.

Sam, I think you're crazy regarding the art for Alien Frontiers. The art is one of the best things about it! Retro sci-fi!

1:01:21 what are these other strategy games?

Codenames is people sitting staring at cards quietly? Clearly Sam is playing with boring as fuck people. Whenever I've played the only person sat quietly is the Codemaster as everyone else furiously argues over their interpretations of the clue given, and even then it's taking an effort of will for them not to start yelling as well, pointing out how blindingly obvious the clue is.

Tom the best trick playing game is Euchre. So much faster and better then bridge or hearts. I know it's heavily played here in Michigan. I remember tables of ppl playing it in high school at lunch time and parties.

Can someone please tell me what the space game is that Tom mentioned - something something zoma centauri??

Tales of the Arabian Nights with an app instead of the giant book would be a big improvement. If it'd read the choices to you, walk you through it, ask you to choose in the app, it would be a lot shorter and more fun.

I think Zee is missing the point with Dead of Winter as far as how the game makes everyone look like a traitor. He says he wants to excise that dynamic from the game, but the fact that each player is keeping an eye out for a possible double-cross while advancing their own agenda IS already shaping story subplots within the greater narrative of Dead of Winter. Nothing will ever change the overarching tale -- a group of isolated survivors huddled together in the cold and fending off undead hordes -- that's more or less fixed and dictated by the game's thematic design and components. It's the context of each individual's actions and how their decisions play out from moment to moment within that environment that creates a unique and memorable story.

Never played KDM but dislikes it... smh.

Solarius Mission, is it too Euro, or maybe long, or peacefull to replace Eclipse?

Letters of Whitechapel - Have you played Scotland Yard? Vegas Showdown - The Killer here is Mad King Ludwig. The biggest problem with 40k is they keep changing the rules without keeping any backwards compatibility. I'd like to be able to play my Deathwing, Kult of Speed and Squats armies in modern rule sets.

I'm really surprised there was no mention whatsoever of Monopoly, which holds, wait for it, the monopoly on family boardgame...

I friggin love code names (and dixit).

30:10 I would love to see a live playthrough of Zug um Zug Deutchland with those passengers.

I had an idea for a "top 10" list. Make each number a genre, like 10 - Worker Placement. 9 - Cooperative and so on. Then all three of you pick your favorite game of each genre and argue over why it's the best one and why people would like yours. It's kind of more like a debate, but I think it would play out very well in your Top 10 format AND it would get the best games of the biggest genres all in one video for people who would like that too.

To dethrone chess you would need the game to be free for everyone to make copies.

I'm surprised Sam has never heard anything good about Kingdom Death Monster. It has a really high rating on BGG and is pretty well acclaimed by most who have had the opportunity to play it. I feel like Sam is turned off by the Horror aspects and won't give it a fair shake. Which is unfortunate. I like watching Sam's reviews because I am a fan of miniature games, and of all the people up there he should see the merits of the quality of the miniatures, even if he has never played the game. Yes they are on par with GW, both make amazing figures.

Color-coding d numbering & showing d cover box does make it easy for us to find d segments of d titles we need elaboration on. *thumbs up* Keep it up.

Thank you guys, had great fun watching this one (still laughing at the "inflatable terrain" idea). Was expecting Monopoly to be high on one of your lists. I had some heart-pinching also when I heard Catan, El Grande, Galaxy Trucker, Eclipse and Splendor rightly mentioned as I had really good time with those and it makes you a little sad to realize that their time is over.

I think I've had my annual safe dose of grumpy old man after watching this one.

BEST LINE - "I can whoop on a chess player!"

@Tom Vasel: Could you explain Century: Spice Road a little bit more? I have watched the game a long time, there are from what I know 4 things I can do in my turn, but it seems to be interesting.

7 years later and Codenames, El Grande, Chess, and (for me) Kingdom Death have still not been replaced.

New Angeles as a quasi-BSG replacement?

Sentinels of the Multiverse is my favorite game. I agree with Tom. We need superhero games to compete with it.

11:58 - I want to see that list: Top 10 Games We Keep Meaning To Play But Never Get Around To... I'll start (my list also includes those I haven't played in a long time and would like to again): - Republic of Rome - Twilight Struggle - Zertz - Robo Rally - Splendor - Battlestar: Galactica - Sticheln - Seafarers of Catan - Shadows Over Camelot - Coup

Definitely never thought that Catan was a strong game because of the trading going on. I think it's the hexes, the resources and the robber that most people like about Catan! 🤔

Idiotic comment from Sam about not liking and getting tired of hearing about Kingdom Death: Monster. Says he's never played it, and doesn't care about playing it. It's one of the best all around campaign board games that have been made. Lots of strategy and decision making. I understand if he's being a prude about the adult theme of the game, but the game mechanics are top notch. It has one of the highest ratings on Boardgamegeek that I have ever seen, mid 9's and climbing. Just don't make a blind judgment on a game based on your personal moral compass or whatever.

Kingdom Death is actually a really great game. The problem is that it's basically a Games Workshop level investment to play it. The reason you don't hear about it is because there's still fewer than 10,000 copies in world. The new kickstarter will help change that and you'll start hearing about how good (or bad) it is from people.

What I'm a little confused about is why, on the subject of games with secret movement, Colt Express wasn't mentioned? It's not that I think they need to love it, but it's a major, recent game that has hidden movement, and if they don't think it has dethroned Letters From Whitechapel, it's strange that they didn't explain why. Is it because Colt Express is a Programmable Movement game? Is that treated as a different game mechanic than Hidden Movement? I haven't played Letters From Whitechapel. Does it handle movement in a way that is closer to Scotland Yard than it is to Robo Rally? (I think I heard them mention pens and paper...)

For Zee's request on El Grande, a game like Ticket to Ride but instead of point connection, it's area control. Is this not Royals??

I've never spent a dollar on Kingdom Death Monster, but I have had a chance to play it many times. It is an exceptional game. It is easily one of the best games I have ever played.

X-Wing is possibly going to be the 40k dethroner. It has woken Games Workshop up.

Has Zee played Agents of SMERSH? It's basically a much gamier version of Tales of the Arabian Nights.

Tom, what about NEW DAWN by Stronghold games for your space game? It is a good bit shorter than games like Eclipse, has combat and exploration. What do you think of that one?

Check out KDM Sammy, almost everyone that's actually played it is fond of the game as much as the production values.

Racing game to dethrone Formula D? Mario Kart the board game or Pod Racer. FFG could do Pod Racer. Varying player powers...different Pod builds..a selection of play mats with different tracks, cool minis, some type of pod combat or sabotage mechanism...cool.

What about Olympos for the Civ game? Medium-weight with a tech tree, plays in less than 2 hrs. Tumult Royale for Galaxy Trucker?

For me, Letter Tycoon is the game that dethroned Scrabble. Its core concept is exactly the same as Scrabble's (i.e., making words), but it does away with the board. The Scrabble board is, in my view, the source of all the frustration of the game: 1) lack of space necessitates the dreadful 2-letter words; 2) a person can snag the good multiplier spots just by luck of timing; 3) the unequal letter point system means that a bad draw can neuter your chance at scoring well, and it rewards placement of particular letters rather than skill at coming up with words; and 4) you can have a great word and be unable to use it because of space restrictions. Letter Tycoon solves all of these: 1) the longer the word, the better the reward; 2-letter words are worth nothing 2) no multipliers, no timing effects 3) all letters are worth the same when played, and the reward scales properly (see item 1 above); the valuation difference is in the patent cost 4) you play your best word, plain and simple And, to boot, the rest of the game around the word creation is successful and makes for an interesting framing device while keeping the focus on the words, as I think a word game should.

I dunno how Nations wasn't mentioned as a civilization game that compares to Through the Ages. I enjoy both, but Nations is MUCH shorter with 3-5.

they are talking about a Dune remake, so perhaps they will make a new movie version of Dune (as it would sell well alongside the movie)

People have been saying that GW (WFB/40k) needs to be dethroned for 30 years, GW has been generating $200 million a year, the next biggest is PP with Warmahordes, but the difference in revenue is HUGE! Even Age of Sigmar (WFB) is outselling the rest. FFG might have something interesting with Runewars, but it isn't exactly cheaper, I would say even more expensive then GW. As for as good or better hard plastic models: KDM, Dreamforge, Bandai, Malifaux. GW pricing has actually become reasonable when you start buying minis in the larger boxed set (games and army boxes). It's not happening anytime soon, either competing companies release hardplastic minis at a snails pace or use other materials (metal, resin, PVC). Many have tried, all have failed...

So agree with Tom on the Short Space Game! It would be nice if it also had quite some Tech-Tree in it! The game currently holding the possition is really ok though, but I'm also waiting for a replacement. Thanks for the thoughts guys!

I want to see TI3 dethroned... with TI4. Update it now!!!

Oh man , thanks for reminding me how awesome Kingdom Death Monster's gameplay is. Oh man , I could go on and on but I think I need to run off and play it now.

Sam Healey, I heard you say something about season 2, 'from what I heard they added some things in ...' at 1:14:30. What did you hear ?

OMG 1000 thumbs up. So funny. I usually hop around to the announcements but you had me cracking up the whole hour. Much needed.

I don't get why Tom wouldn't want a game to come along to dethrone Cosmic Encounter? I would love that and also a game to dethrone any and all of my favorite games... Because then I would have games to play that are even better than those! Hooray! And I really don't understand Sam picking games he doesn't like. Why would I want a game to dethrone Munchkin? That would only be a game that I dislike slightly less. I still probably wouldn't play it. I have nothing to gain from that. If you think about it logically Zee should want a game that dethrones Pandemic, Sam should pick TI3 and Tom should pick Cosmic as their top picks!

I have to agree with Sam, I would love another Dune game/reprint!

Monopoly needs to be dethroned as the household name in Boardgames and in marketshare in non-specialty stores (target etc).

I consider Canasta to be an "old person game" - but when I finally learned it, I actually find it's really fun to play :-)