"You don't sleeve your games? No I have 7 children!" It's by far the biggest laugh of the whole convention. Tom being such a PG rated family orientated figure to allude to something so scandalous was just so hilarious.

KZfaq board game videos like this one have been good for me, because I realized I had some really toxic behaviors, and was being more of a gatekeeper of the hobby than I realized. I know these are for fun and in jest, but there are lessons to be learned from them. I have been working on being less of a snooty board gamer. It's been hard, but it is worth the effort.

With half a voice and a full sense of humor, Mr. Vasel brought the house down with an epic #1. Love it and all the rest too!

Tom's top 10 at the end was amazing. I originally thought sleeving joke was about the cost of 7 kids and the cost of sleeving 😂.

What a lovely closing sentence from Tom! Make board games a better place, encourage new players (don't destroy them) and respect individual opinions about games ♥

"In Generia, everybody quells" -Zee 😂

I like the negative lists. They are always entertaining and fun to watch.

Tom's number 1.6 was one of the funniest moment in Dice Tower history. I'm still crying from laughter.

Been watching and listening to The Dice Tower for years, and Tom's sleeving joke was the funniest thing I've ever heard him say, whether he originally meant the double entendre or not.

One thing I really appreciate about Final girl by VRG is that the name of the character is on the underside of the base of the mini. It's sooo useful. No questions. No guide needed I understand it was a slightly greater expense, but that should be the standard.

I loved that moment where Chris is (I am assuming) is saying to Camilla "I don't think he meant it that way."

Zee's pick about campaign games. Bothered me at first, because I love campaign games! Then I thought about it, and I think the more honest answer is that I love the idea of campaign games. In 10 years of playing hobby board games, I've never gotten a group together consistently enough to finish a campaign, ever.

I totally agree about the 'pointles' stretch goals. Give me upgraded components. You don't have linen finish cards - give me linen finish cards. Give me metal coins instead of cardboard ones. Make a board that's gonna have a load of cubes on it dual layered. Ok, I can understand about the more RPG-esque ones having a soundtrack but I want that to be the half a million stretch goal whereby you've already upgraded everything that you reasonably can.

I am the exact opposite of Mike's #5. If it ends in a tie, let to be a tie! Don't have some random tiebreaker that arbitrarily picks a winner.

how bout a serious one: companies way understating their KS campaign goals just so they can see "funded 600% in 13 seconds!"

Excellent!! Never realised what a board game nerd I was until I completely agreed PASSIONATELY with what you all said. How many times did I say, "Yes! Thank you!" when you called these things out. And then to end with the roasting of gaming groups 🤣🤣🤣🤣 So good!!

Wow, this one had me literally in tears from laughter. Awesome top 5!

My god, I had not laughed this hard in such a long time!! Please do more of these lists in front of crowds, it really changes the vibe :D Thank you! ^.^

I love how angry the bad rulebook thing makes Tom. It's like that other list where they mentioned the guy who didn't pay attention to the teach and then says "you never said that", and Tom said "I want to take the rulebook and feed it to them".

Actual literal tears of laughter. This has absolutely brightened my day in ways you can't imagine.

The most fun I've had watching a Dice Tower video EVER! Great job!

I think Tom’s message of making the hobby a more welcoming place is much needed. I think there’s a lot of negativity in the board game community (on BGG, on Reddit, on Instagram) with “heavy gamers” looking down on people. People don’t like to admit it, but it’s there. They want to gatekeep and keep people out of their hobby, and it’s not cool. The Dice Tower is an antidote to that, and that’s why I love these folks.

Way to close it out Tom! This was such a fun video.

Always great chemistry between everyone. Great job!

The best part of this joke was that it took him 14 seconds to realize he'd made a joke, and then was embarrassed.

Such panels should be mandatory lecture for board game publishers!

Bravo Tom. I always say the obsessive sleevers are a cult. There are literally threads on BGG of people asking for the card count/sizes for games that haven’t even hit Kickstarter yet. This is a mental illness.

I somewhat agree with Mike's stretch goals, some of them are so mundane. How about this for a true stretch goal; Save money on the game, so if we reach $250,000, get a $5 rebate on the game. being able to pay less for a game instead of getting a different version of card would be way better.

Inserts don't frustrate me because almost always I immediately throw them away and just use bags, etc. Exception being game trayz-style ones where things are actually organized and *STAY* organized.

Omg that sleevers comment! I was in a packed train, completely caught off guard in hysterics, hilarious 😂

Thanks Chris Yi, and all for a great top 5! Lessons learned: we should be gentle and kind to one another, and help bring new people to the hobby.

I was sad that I missed this when I was there. I had too much voodoo steak right before it. Thanks for uploading the recording :)

As a sleever, I'm fine with what Tom said. My only bug bear is that games which spend money on a proper insert all too often don't make the card wells just a bit wider and deeper to account for the 10% of us who do sleeve! Like Zee said, there's a lot of space down there! You can make 'em bigger and no body loses!

Yes, make the hobby a more welcoming place! Tom is so right.

I'm a sleever...but as Yoda says, "once you start down the sleeve path, forever will it dominate your destiny"...

I really appreciate that you were able to upload this. Audio is fine for a live event. Hearing the audience really adds to the viewing/listening experience.

Camilla: “I would happily pay an extra $2 to know my tokens won’t rip” Asmodee: “I’m listening…”

This is one of the funniest and most entertaining DT videos I've seen in a long time. 😂😂😂

40:06 - Zee's example with the video game industry releasing an unfinished product, _knowing_ it isn't finished, justifying that they can still release it (on time or earlier) because they can patch it at a later date is so spot on; it's lazy, irresponsible, and--quite frankly--a slap in the face to their consumers.

Awesome show once again. Loved the top 10 list within the top 5 list! Call the hobby downers out Tom!

Also, a thread on BGG *does not* replace an officially released and versioned FAQ document for your game! (PDF or TXT file on the internet)

So much fun. Great lists!

100% on Camilla's #4! A tile/patch in my copy of Patchwork ripped like this and I think of it each time I pull out the game. :)

One of my biggest pet peeve‘s is when the rulebook says the resources are unlimited and if you should run out use a substitute. How about just put some more in because you play tested this enough to feel like you should mention that because you Obviously know it’s a possibility!

4:30 You can often remove stickers from boxes by rubbing it with a damp washcloth (note: damp, not soaking wet). Work slowly and gently to weaken the paper and glue. They will come off without damaging the box itself. Edit: I understand and sympathize with the problem punching pieces out. I think some designers (or whoever) expect you to use an exacto knife or something...

At Zee that Ultra Fiesta Mango is way to good :) Also this was an awsome top 5, thx for the laughter. Watched that final entery a few times.

This was just wonderful , especially Toms number 1 (all of it)

Great fun and great message to all gamers, thanks!

That was funny.... Thanks for sharing!

For future viewers, when Camilla said she hated BGG, the BGG server was down for “upgrades” with her axe.

It is clear who are the natural funny guys within DT. The way Zee and Mike were riffing and playing off the public was so brilliant. Comedy genius and actually hard to do because you need to listen carefully to what is said and react instantly. And delivering it with a straight face as well.

Thanks for uploading this video, it was fun to watch! In response to Tom's number 4 about inserts, I always wonder why games don't come with a little instructon sheet to explain how to pack the game back into the box. I'm looking at you Coloma! I'm surprised there aren't videos online about taking games and showing how to put them back in the box. There are plenty of unboxings, how about some back-in-the-boxings 😃

48:52 "Oh, you don't sleeve your game?" "NO, I have 7 children" For future generations to find the funniest Dice Tower moment in history.

Everyone's laughing about Tom's sleeving joke but I'm just amazed at how accurate Tom's description was of Tichu groups 😆

This list deserves more than the limit of 1 like per KZfaq user.

On the insert topic, any insert with a HUGE row of coins or something on their side in a trough. Getting them in there is such a PAIN.

I especially agree about anti-app people and the "solo extremists." Although I would expand "solo extremists" to people who want every game to be playable by any player count. I've seen kickstarters for solo only games where there are people in the comments complaining that there's no multi-player variant, which is just as annoying.

Well somebody went to Chick-fil-a! I like them too but with all the food options in Vegas? Related to Zee's #3 - card or tile holders that are just shy of being deep enough! 😡 So two or three cards are floaters!

"I have 7 children" ..somewhere I am hearing Sam Healey say " He went there!"

#1 for me as far negative aspects of the hobby, will forever be kickstarter exclusives. “Oh here’s a new game, that will be the talk of the town and looks amazing, but 80% of the good content is behind exclusivity Kickstarter nonsense, and you will never get it unless you pay out the nose for it now!” But Tom I must hand it to you on your 1.2: Lacerda Fans…100% this! Bravo Tom, Bravo.

Agreed about online dissing. Its okay if you dont like it, or do like it. Not every game is for every person. I never want my kid to be afraid to try something just because the masses dont enjoy it.

My top 1 thru 5: Unpainted freaking grey minis!!!

18:53 Camilla looks pissed about something she saw on her phone. LOL!

And in one single slide, Chris Yi rockets to the top of the coolness list... RATT

Nice list as usual :) i wonder if there is no better option for audio. They all use a microphone, however what we hear seems to be a room mic with all the respective issues like echo etc. Couldn't you record the team's mics directly? Currently it's like scanning a page, save as PDF, print again, scan again and then discribute it :D

Chris' Number One is one that really resonates with me. Categorizing games by anything other than their mechanical genre just feels wrong. If you want to tell me whether or not a game is Worker Placement, that's fine. But don't tell me a game is or isn't "heavy". That word has a different meaning to everyone. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses for what's easy/hard or light/heavy. The ONLY exception I make to that is that I will also call games "gateway" games. Which (for me) is games that are appropriate to introduce someone to with minimal board game experience of any complexity. Some gateway games are purely gateway games to me (I don't play them with my usual play groups at all). For me, this includes Ticket to Ride. It's a great game, but it doesn't have the kinds of depth that my group looks for. For a group that isn't "as into heavy games", it could be a weekly play. On the flip side, a gateway game can also be something that you love to play even after you use it to get people more involved. For me, Azul falls into that category. Despite it's simplicity, the need to see what other players are doing makes it *just* deep enough to keep me interested. However, in both cases, it is a great game as an introduction - and for the right group, it continues to remain a great game. Neither game is heavy (I think, by anyone's definition), yet both are incredibly good games. Which I think gets at the other part of Chris' point. Many people treat 'heavy' as 'good'. If a game isn't heavy, it can't be a top 20 game. Just, NO. Light games are some of the best games out there, when they provide satisfying mechanics and competition. Like Azul.

Awesome video

This is great!

I can't agree more to Mike's #3 Fancy Scoring Tracks! Kramer track is an industry standard for good reasons.

I think Mike's disappointed dad energy with external scoreboards was my favorite part of this.

For #1, Tom was in rare form! awesome! I cackled.

I am with you on the box sleeves, Mike!

I love how centered that Mountain Dew is lol.

29:43 Rococo is missing there! But I agree with your picks Chris.

Here are some of mine in no order: 1. Colored game pieces that are all bright boring primary colors and black. It works for a few games, but not for every single one. It's probably a cost issue, but I'd love some more interesting colors of game pieces. We're not playing Sorry here. 2. Cards that are hard to shuffle. The best cards I've ever experienced are the ones in Grand Austria Hotel, and they make that experience so much more palatable. They're thin but sturdy, and shuffle like butter. They totally spoiled me and I wish every game had them. It also, by the way, has interesting game piece colors. 3. Folding game boards that are near-impossible to flatten when unfolded. My light OCD goes crazy with these things, and I feel like I might break them if I unbend them too hard. Is it that hard to make a flat game board? Maybe, but we've also been to the moon. 4. Kickstarter games with a lot of hype but they take forever to arrive because they get stuck on a boat from China or something, and then they suck and make me never want to give my money to anyone ever again. 5. Box tops that are so tight you need a blowtorch to get them off. I understand the need for good tolerances, but we're making board games, not quantum computers. 6. An excessive amount of plastic wrapping. It's always fun to open a new game, but when everything is wrapped in plastic I feel like I'm contributing to the future death of a whale. 7. Putting absolutely, criminally unrealistic game times on the box. Those times are for Olympians. I personally double the high range of the game time on the box to know what I'm getting into. 8. Cartoon box art. It's so rare that a game company takes adults seriously with their art. I'm trying to play a good game, not go back to high school. 9. Game money that is not in 1, 5, and 10 increments. I bought that awesome metal money online so I didn't have to play with cardboard money, but your 1, 3, 7, 11 increments ruin this and are only good for SETI. 10. Big expansions that totally change the experience of the base game that made you want to get the expansion in the first place. I don't trust expansions anymore, but I think small expansions can be fun.

A marvelous hidden Top 10 list!

I want to play the Genera game now... and if no one publishes it, I hope that they all go out of business!

Loved the surprise top 10, very true also

What made me sad is that Zee never got that hug from Tom 😞 The best part was seeing Mike's and Zee's confused faces after hearing Tom's sleeve joke.

After Tom’s joke regarding card sleeping, I fully intend on buying tickets to next year’s Dice Tower West. 😂

Tom being a king for like 10 minutes straight with that nr 1 list

That's a fantastic list, Tom's number 1 top 10 list was an amazing finale (and I think Tom meant the sleever gag the way we heard it... though it did still make him blush)! I suspect I may come off as a 'solo extremist' at times... well, I doubt it as I hope I give a respectful delivery of my interests. Anyway, I do look for solo in the vast majority of my games these days, simply because I really enjoy new games and just don't have an opportunity to get them to multiplayer tables. So, I play solo and that helps me categorize ones I'm happy to continue to play solo and prioritize what I get out to multiplayer when the opportunity arises. Those heavy euro purists though are complete jerks! 🤣Just kidding, as you say... 'have fun. gaming!'

This was awesome.

Yes, please, stop the campaign only! If you're going to have a campaign MODE in your game also make it so that people can dip in and out of it - a 4P game can be played by 8 different people over the course of the campaign because well every other week Jo and James aren't free and on the third Wednesday of the month Jane's busy, and one week someone was ill. Provided that isn't a problem I am all for it. Also, make it so that you can play mission 12 as your first mission if you so desire, just tell me what kind of upgrades I should get/set my character/etc to.

Alone on the Blood Tower (the solo variant!) ^_^

“No, I have 7 children” was the funniest moment of all time watching the Dice Tower. Huge applause for Tom 👏 hahaha

Zee’s #3 got me. Sometimes you get inserts that fit the cards perfectly when they’re in shrink, but the cards sit over the well once you’ve opened and used them. Infuriating.

I would say I somewhat fall into two of the ten groups Tom calls out here, but I aim to be positive and inviting in things rather than gatekeepy and stuff. Any holier-than-thou groups bother me, so this is a great sub-list for that reason.

My #1: Different rules or skipped rules for the first round. It makes learning the game so much harder for new players. Especially when the skipped rules has an easy work around. For example, when I teach Robinson Crusoe, I just put the Wreckage card on top of the event deck and play round 1 like any other....

Exactly Chris.... I got confused with step, turn and round all the time.....

This was a fun list

Great finally !🎉

To remove stickers, use a air dryer. It will soften the glue on the sticker and make way easier to remove. Honestly I have not ripped any stickers or boxes using this method.

Tom's Top 10 at the end is gut busting. Holy cannoli that was a great ending! Pithy & spoke the truth!

I totally agree with Mike. Especially if no other scoring method is provided, then for crying out loud put a score track on the board! Looking at you, First Empires. Make the board a smidge wider if you have to!

I lime box sleeves. Bit of a story: On a trip, I found a copy of "Finance & Fortune" in an antique store. I bought it, & wanted to open it right then & there, but I had a 10 hour car ride ahead of me. I knew there was a good chance the game would wind up getting spilled on the way home. A box sleeve would've solved that; the sleeve would have kept the two halves of the box together on the ride home. I like 3M's bookshelf games; the boxes are generic, with simple, robust, sleeves with classy art. The sleeves also make harder to spill the contents. Modern game companies could learn a thing or two from 3M's 50+ year old packaging.

Dude, the US presidents in Zombicide were amazing. AMAZING! Did you see Queen Elizabeth with a minigun? I almost backed it based just on that!!

I agree with Zee on his #1. Carcassonne (2017 Big Box with 11 expansions) is the worst of the games I have at this as there's plenty of tiles in several expansion sets that don't readily have the expansion element on them. Ended up taking different colored sharpies and making small dots on the bottom to be able to tell which tiles go with each other in the expansions.

The one that’s so frustrating to me these days is game boxes that don’t have the name of the game written horizontally on any side of the box. I don’t want to store you vertically, why isn’t there one side that has it written horizontally?

That was so fun and I agreed with... let me check my math here... all of it! Yeah, that's all of it.