Top 10 Stonemaier Games - with Tom Vasel

In this Publisher Showcase, Tom Vasel takes a look at his top 10 games from Stonemaier!

0:00 Intro
1:27 #10
2:12 #9
2:56 #8
3:31 #7
4:20 #6
5:11 #5
6:13 #4
7:03 #3
8:00 #2
8:54 #1

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[jameystegmaier]

Thank you, Tom! I feel very fortunate to be about to design and publish games as my career, and I never imagined I'd have even 1 game for reviewers to talk about, much less 10!

[Hemux]

I reckon Red Rising is in my top 3 of SMG, it is amazing, and this is coming from someone who also loves Fantasy Realms. So far there is no miss for me with SMG, I am no fanboy of anything, but for me this is a publisher that rose from "who?" to "I have more than half of their games!". Worse: the other half is in my wishlist!... Good on you, Jamey.

[dannyanderson]

Two Stonemaier games are in my top 10, 3- Scythe (rating: 10) and 5- Viticulture (rating 9.5). Loved this review, though I disagree with Tom on Between Two Cities, I think it's the perfect game for helping bring novice and intermediate players into gaming.

[franciscorojas]

Scythe is a 10/10 for me, it's just perfect, I've played it over 200 times by now and I'm still enjoying it. I especially love it with new players, because they get so engaged we eventually end up playing between 2 and 3 plays in one day.

[Groovestonenz]

It's Scythe, Viticulture and Wingspan for me. I haven't played their version of Libertalia, or Charterstone, Viticulture World or Red Rising.

Scythe is the game that made me fall in love with modern boardgames, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. I've got all the expansions and have deluxified it, as I have with Viticulture. I'm not a fan of the cutesie art style of some of their games, but mechanically they're outstanding.

[Gmoney]

Would love to see a updated video to see where Apiary and Wyrmspan would fall into this list. I also can't believe Red Rising didn't beat out pendulum or euphoria. It's underrated.

[bus]

When you know its from Stonemaier Games: you know what you will get
it's = Quality in Production!! one of the best
For me the best Stonemaier games are : RED RISING and WINGSPAN!
Thanks for the good games

[jdotco]

Great list, Tom. I 100% agree that Charterstone is so great after you're done with the campaign. I personally wish they would just release a more streamlined, non-campaign version of the game. I realize you sort of can do that anyway, but I'd love to see a version of that game with better rules and better scoring designed around single playthroughs.

[Redcorvus]

It would be really nice to have your 1-10 score next to each game. I've been loving it in the 4 square reviews! Thanks for all the good content!

[winstonhammonds]

With regard to Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, I am reminded a great deal of The Legend of Zelda in 2000. Fans of the series had just played one of the greatest games of all time- Ocarina of Time and its cult follow-up- Majora's Mask. Then that video from Space World dropped with a "realistic" looking Link battling Ganondorf. It was incredible.

A year or two later, fans realized just how much of a tech demo that was after being shown the newest title Nintendo was working on- Wind Waker. People were so upset about the cartoony, cell-shaded shift in the series.

And then they played it. It's become one of the best in the series, and typically ranks higher than the more mature-looking titles.

Yes, people might prefer to grab the gritty, dirty looking art (which I do think is amazing), but no one should discount this re-imagining just because of the lighter looking art.

[TorIverWilhelmsen]

Red Rising is perhaps also interesting in that the retail version can be a better choice than the deluxe version, since two of the metal player colors are not as distinct as one would like, and that the insert requires the box to be oriented in one particular direction in order not to spill the components all over.

[kjak]

I love many of Stonemaier's games, but I'd agree with Viticulture (with Tuscany) at #1. It's one of those few games that I KNOW that whenever I bring it to the table, with whomever is at the table, win or lose it will have been an entertaining and intellectually compelling gaming session. Some of my favorite play sessions have been really back and forth games where I've lost on a final turn, and I think it's a mark of a great game when those moments can still be regarded as worthwhile.

[cotj]

Scythe is one of my top games of all time and Stonemaier won my loyalty after sending me a replacement part for it, even though I had got my copy in a trade.
Amazing publisher, one of my favorites by far.

[manuelkooijman]

My number one, by a mile, is Wingspan. It is such a beautiful and very good game whereby in every game I always find myself short of one turn to just get done what I wanted to do or just put that last bird out from my hand. Clever and gorgeous game.

[StevenStJohn-kjeb]

Of the ones I've played:
1. Scythe
2. Tapestry
3. Euphoria
5. Between 2 Castles of Mad King Ludwig
6. Wingspan
7. Viticulture
8. Red Rising
9. Rolling Realms
10. Charterstone (only played the app)
11. Libertalia (though I haven't played the SM version)

[bigd]

Stonemaier Games is also my favorite publisher & 2 of his games are in my top 10 of all time (Scythe & Tapestry) with both Viticulture & Wingspan also being in my top 20!!!

[antoniostoryteller]

Scythe and Viticulture are in my top 10 of all time. I also love Wingspan.

[corbinrasmussen]

My favorite has to be Wingspan, although I love almost all Stonemaier games. I’m not surprised that Wingspan is number 4 on your list, just based on what you have said about it in passed videos. I am surprised that Charterstone was ranked so high on your list. Thanks for the list Tom!

[jeromykoffler]

Wingspan is #1 for me for sure. Red Rising also deserved to be on this list. I really like that game, too.

[Muhd_Akmal]

Pendulum is such an interesting game and it is so underrated too! Great to see it on the list.