Excellent list man! You definitely have similar taste in games to myself. I've been wanting to get Empires of the Void 2 for a while now. Really enjoy Ryan's games but something about EOTV just looks incredible!

Great content, as always. Five Tribes is my personal #1. Also, I'd probably have put The Ancient World SE and Tash Kalar on that list as well.

Once again, this is a great list Luke!!! Empires of the Void II is also my favorite space games! I love the components, gameplay, artwork, and smoothness of this game. I also love the follow a player's action mechanism that it provides. I still haven't played Terramarra and Pulsar 2849, but I have both games in shrink. They will get played eventually, and I'm sure I'll love them both. Thanks Luke!!!

This might be the best top 10 you did. Medium weight games are the sweet spot for my group, we mostly moved past light weight games awhile ago. I feel like categorizing games as light, medium or heavy is not really descriptive enough, I really like the idea of the 1-5 complexity rating that bgg has. I wasn't surprised by most of the games on your list, except your number one, I actually never heard of it. I was also expecting to Empires of the North on the list, I ordered it recently and haven't had the chance to play it cause my wife only wants to play Underwater Cities since we recieved the expansion in that same package. Everytime you mention pursuit of happiness, it puts me on the fence about getting it but my wife is very finicky with the theme in more complex games. I would like to see your list of too heavy-medium games also, I think that would make a good list as well.

Really excellent list Luke, some really different picks here, I like heavy games but I play most of my games with Emma my partner and we gravitate to medium games that is our sweet spot I have to admit. We love PULSAR 2849 and ENERGY EMPIRE. We also love TERRAFORMING MARS, CASTLES OF BURGUNDY which we see as medium, I guess they are the heavier end of medium but we also love WINGSPAN which is to the lighter end but still medium, we found this much harder to teach to non-gamers than we expected! You have sold me on EMPIRES OF THE VOID must get this. Some of your other picks are interesting must check those out.

With BGG weights: - Five Tribes: 2.85 - Raiders of the North Sea: 2.53 - Pulsar 2849: 3.35 - Energy Empire: 3.03 - Architects of the West Kingdom: 2.76 - The Pursuit of Happiness: 2.49 - Empires of the Void II: 3.46 - Vindication: 3.07 - Viticulture: 2.89, Tuscany: 3.27 - Terramara: 3.43 - Scythe: 3.42 My subjective view: half of this list feels quite heavy to me. For medium-light games I would recommend: Pan Am, War Chest, Clank!, Machi Koro 2, Parks, Search for Planet X, Isle of Cats, Wingspan, Cascadia

I agree with you about Scythe. Once a game is understood by the players it becomes medium weight, but anyone wanting to upgrade from light weight games would not consider Scythe medium.

I’ve never even seen your #1 and #2. Thanks for exposing me to new games!

I agree that medium-weight games are my sweet spot! I love the ease of play coupled with the wide range of choices. Plus, their play time is generally not too long.

Love your content! Stay safe/healthy ❤️

One of my favorite mid-weight games not mentioned here is Grand Austria Hotel. Great list, Luke! Sad that I will never get to play Terramara. I would love to try it sometime, but I play almost exclusively 2-player.

Thank you for including timestamps!

My 1st thought was Vindication, happy to see your rank. Havent played Viticulture or PoH yet and them having solo is enough to seal the deal. (I love to learn a game solo as it makes the teach so much easier)

Nice list Luke! I met you at Essen last year, was really fun to say hi to you at the Dice Tower booth. I also love Terramara. No love for Grand Austria Hotel on this list? /Felix from Sweden

Usually love your videos and your well defined taste in games, but this one is a winner, my wishlist grew a ton after watching it lol. Thanks for all the content!

A bloke could build his entire collection around this list. Excellent!

Nice list! I'm really curious about Terramarra now. Unfortunately, even if I buy it, it will be a while before I can play it with anybody....Also, since our tastes in games are somewhat alike, have you ever played Unfair and would you recommend it? I know exactly how you feel about the isolation part, esp living alone, all the days are starting to blend together.

10. Five Tribes 9. Raiders of the North Sea 8. Pulsar 2849 7. Energy Empire 6. Architects of the West Kingdom 5. The Pursuit of Happiness 4. Empires of the Void II 3. Vindication 2. Viticulture + Tuscany(expansion) 1. Terramara Patrion Choice: Scythe

Wow. This list was incredible. All the games you have have been on my radar to play or have in my collection. I didn't know about your number 1, Terramara, so I hopped over to your review and looks like a good game. I guess you are like me, I'm looking for games that are not too hard, not too long, fun and want to play again and again. So, med-weight is where I want to be. There's a game that has been on my radar that you didn't mention on your list, but wanted your thoughts, is "Crown of Emara." Have you played it? Thanks and thanks for all your videos.

Great list!!! Also- check out the MeepleSource Empires of the Void II upgrades- they’re so cool 🤘🏻🤘🏻

Hi Luke! Great video once again! Quick question(s) for you. I am starting to play Arkham Horror LCG and I know you like it. For now I have the core box (finished) and the Dunwich Legacy expansion (finished first scenario). Where do you buy your Mythos packs? They are crazy expensive. Amazon does not have them all and the ones available cost at times 20+ pounds. That is expensive for 1 scenario only. I finished the core box with Roland (Guardian) and I am currently playing Dunwich Legacy with Ashcan Pete (Survivor). I am enjoying both maybe Ashcan better. What is your favorite class? Thank you.

Excellent list and I'd agree with you that these are all spot on in my eyes, at least the ones I have played. I know you're really not a fan but to me Concordia is slap-bang in the middle of medium-weight. Pretty easy to pick up but still a lot to consider. What do you think?

Good list Luke! Vindication is one of my overall favourite games right now and probably my favourite medium weight game.

For me a heavy game is about how much info you need to process to play it and is directly correlated to the rule book / explanation length. I don't include strategies, so I don't consider chess an heavy game. Keep up the good work and stay safe during this difficult time !

your #1 and 2 look really good, number 2 a bit pricey at the moment, but Terramara really nice price thank you

So the wife and I have gotten Viticulture to the table in the last week from this list. I had not thought about Vindication, but I guess we can try it at 2. The only 2 you missed for my list is Gugong and Rajas of the Ganges. Solid list otherwise! Not sure Empires of the Void 2 would play at two?

Please describe a situation when it´s necessary to have artwork from Empires of the Void 2 on the walls. ;-) I just can´t think of many reasons on the top of my head...

I love that I have never played a game from your list, but want to play them all now (I do own Viticulture...). My favourite medium game of all time is Concordia. Have you played it?

If you say Empire of the Void one more time, I will just rage-buy the god damn game 🙈 Been on my radar for so long now because of this channel :)

This was a really cool list. For your #1 you listed things that makes it an appealing and successful game. Do you have a top 10 list for that-like top ten “things” (not sure how to word it) that make games successful? Like game art, game mechanics, # of players, right balance of challenge, replay ability, etc. This wouldn’t really be a list of games but a list of the features of successful games, I guess. If you were to design a game, what does it need to have?

That was a nice happy-list! But what about Concordia? Talk about fluent! And pretty easy to get going but a lot ta master. Sooo good!

Great list...Five Tribes is my #1 for sure.

Props on Civ FF version. You got rid of Gaia Project? That game is fantastic.

"Light" is not a term I use to describe Five Tribes. There's a lot going on with the game that may cause analysis paralysis. I feel Scythe can be the same way.

My definition of medium weight is a little less strict than yours. Champions of Midgard, Raiders of the North Sea, Agricola, Near and Far, Clank, Wingspan are my favorites. I really wanna try Viticulture and Terrahamara

Beside wingspan terramarra is my favourite of 2019

Lately I play a lot in Pangea. Really like it :) and it is midweight for sure

Shakespeare with Backstage expansion is a wonderful game.

It's funny you have Automania there peeking in the background which to me is the perfect Medium weight game.

Great list , but not even a mention of Castles of Burgundy? For me, that's the paragon of a medium weight game!

Vindication is bit on the heavy side, isn't it?

I show my friends whatever game I want to play regardless of their newness

where are do you live/from?

Empires of the Void II.....you're a smart man/chap.

I love the hair!

What about Empires of the North?

i agree with scythe

I would have been disappointed if Empires of the Void II wasn't on this list. ;-)

Jamey @ Stonemaier games last name is Stegmaier, not Stonemaier. Great list though!

Hang in there dude. I’ve been holed up with wife and kids for two weeks now, only going out for groceries and the occasional walk around the neighborhood. I miss my game groups, my friends. Wife and kids aren’t gamers, except for my son who like a game of Kamisado once in a blue moon, so my gaming is restricted to solo games. Apart from that, I’m not alone, but we do get more on each other’s nerves than usual. Lockdown is a PITA, but it’s necessary to stop this nasty bug from spreading. Which makes me wonder, have you ever discussed whether you like Pandemic?

For me if it's above 2.5 and under 3.5 on BGG it's medium weight, so by that definition Scythe is medium weight at 3.39.

Scythe and Terramara are both 3.4 on BGG but maybe you are saying Terramara "feels" lighter.

good video dude!! middleweight is my level!! stop isolating!! its a scam!! or find a couple buddies to mongamously isolate with!!

20:32 Made me cringe a little, MB's "Game of Life" uses a spinner not dice. Sorry OCD here. :D

top thematic games

Tribune and Lancaster are my favorite medium games. 5 tribes is one of the few games that give me bad AP. I avoid it.

I was so disappointed that my wife (who loves wine) didn't even want to give Viticulture a try. I would have loved to do so. She's just not at all drawn to any board game. Those who have spouses who are should be glad of it. Not all do.

Literally ordered PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS after watching this video. i should check terramara .. i dont like the artwork though 🤔 Thx for video ❤

I dont think you need to struggle with people about how to cluster a game concerning the weight. The only thing I would struggle with is that there is no three weights (light, medium, heavy). IMO, BGG is a great source but IMO still five weights (light, medium light, medium, medium heavy, heavy) is not enough. But concerning the BGG weight, you need to consider that a part of the players tend to rate games too low concerning the weight. E.g. take a look at the weight of Paladins of the West Kingdom. There are 246 votes. from those, 5 obviously are subjective idiots (light? medium light?) Even those 99 (40%) who rate medium dont seem to recognize that while the game is not that hard to learn, it's definetely hard to get a good score or even win...and that game definetely is a brain burner from time to time. There are games out there which are not (too) heavy concerning learning how to play BUT which are heavy concerning actually winning (no matter if playing solo or not). IMO, heavy games at least start with a BGG weight of 3.5. Seems weird because from definition perspective that is still between medium and medium heavy, BUT as I explained above, there seem to be a lot of players who can't really objectively rate a game. Just because I'm a very experienced player, that doesnt mean that a heavy game suddenly is medium or that a medium game is light. BGG should be there to be an information platform to other people and not to show that one is a king of games by rating games lower than they actually are. I would even let it start with 3.25 which are more like medium+ games. From 3.25 to 3.5 are games as Agricola, Power Grid, Yokohama, Scythe, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Eldrich Horror, Nemesis. So those are just between medium and heavy. But as there are not that many really heavy games, one could/should put those game rather in the heavy spot. Examples: - you can easily play Agricola with most people. BUT beginners are gonna lose heavily because they would already have problems to feed the family...and as concequence would become frustrated.

How about a TOP 10 HEAVY GAMES.... ;) list

At the Gates of Loyang, Grand Austria Hotel and Welcome to Walnut Grove for me. 😘

anachrony medium

Scythe base game is medium, IMO.

When my son was 7 he could play Scythe and would remind me of the rules.