9 Games That Will (Probably) End Up in my Top 50...Once I Play Them!

We all have those games that we haven't yet played, but that we look at and say "Oh I know I'm going to love that game!" There are a bunch of games I haven't personally played that I'm sure will have a great chance of making my Top 50 Board Games of All-Time once I do. Today, I've narrowed that down to 9 that I think are the most likely!

What games do you need to play that once you do, you're fairly confident they will be among your favourite of all-time? Let us know in the comments!
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0:00 Overview
1:21 How I "Anticipate" Board Games
3:15 #9
5:48 #8
7:32 #7
9:39 #6
11:18 #5
14:15 #4
17:43 #3
21:24 #2
23:52 #1
27:47 Which Games do you Need to Play?

[AllYouCanBoard]

What games do you still need to play that once you do, you feel certain they will be among your favourites?
Let us know!

[codykunka]

Interesting. I’m completely the opposite in anticipation habits. Board games are expensive and spend limited gaming time, so I thoroughly research them. In contrast, a movie is easy to experience without alot of commitment/energy, so I tend to avoid spoilers more. Plus, I feel like the knowledge of a movie is more of the experience. With a board game, the experience is so much about the players (at least in the games I like), which cannot be spoiled.

[galswingirl]

I love discovering a new hobby and falling down the rabbit hole! I do the consuming all the content thing for boardgaming now as I'm still fairly new to it and keep seeing new to me games that I need to research! And the cycle continues 😂

[jakermaker]

Great list Dylann. 7 of these 9 are in my top 100 games of all-time (Le Havre and Ark Nova are the highest) and are all well worth the time. Of course it depends on how they land with you after several plays but I can definitely see you loving most of these, regardless of whether they appear on your top 50 or not.

[stivomali]

Thanks for the info about possible new #1 TM. I'm in the same boat of expecting the fantasy setting to win vs space for me. A new updated version of a classic? Heck yeah!

[hbartz]

Been loving this channel, you guys are great presenters and I've been loving your suggestions, the 2 player games lists especially. I'm in the process of getting my Mom into board gaming since we've been playing a lot of poker and dominoes. I thought it'd be fun to learn some board games with her and it's been pretty fun so far. I myself haven't played anything in a long time though, so videos like yours have been really vital for me to find good picks. I've been introducing her to some various games over the course of the past couple months;

Hive and Onitama have been our go-to Abstract Strategy games so far, I also have Yinsh and Santorini on the way that I'm hoping we enjoy. Hive gets more playtime since we can bring it into the Jacuzzi (Wish I could with more games) and we love it, but we're so used to taking pieces in chess that only pinning bugs can lack some sense of satisfaction.
Jaipur and Battleline have been fun for the card game/poker fix. Hanamikoji and Mandala are on the way too, thinking about The Fox in the Forest but I've never played a trick-taking game myself so not sure if I should get it.
The best so far has been Crokinole, also most expensive ofc but man it's fantastic. Honestly I enjoy it as much if not more than Pool.

She gets very competitive though so I'm hoping to get some co-op games so we can work together instead of battling, not sure what to get for that but I have an Exit series game coming and Codenames Duet on the way. I do have Pandemic in the house and I'm hoping that will serve as our co-op game soon, but I need to learn the rules myself and find a good time to bring it to the table.

I'd love if you guys did a list of gateway games or even specifically "Games we'd play with our parents" kind of list.


Along with my Mom I'm trying to get some games my younger brothers with Autism may enjoy, they can mostly just play Jenga and Scrabble for example, their comprehension on rules is pretty minimal. So I got Super Rhino Hero Battle and Men At Work to fill the Jenga hole, Men At Work didn't draw them in but halfway through our second tower on Rhino Hero my brother came around the table all curious. He actually started stacking cards until he was satisfied enough to knock it over, moments like that are very rare so I cherished that experience. King of Tokyo also brought us together for a bit, my brother picked The King and enjoyed rolling the chunky dice, and he seemed to actually grasp the yahtzee-esque aspects to the rolling, and he loves monsters so the theme was perfect for him!

Probably a longshot, but a list of the best dexterity/Dice rolling games and games that are both thematic enough to draw people in and simple enough they can play immediately would be a good one I feel. or specifically a list of the best games to show to people with mental challenges (or even just to children) would be really cool.

Love all your content, keep up the amazing quality of videos!

[meeplechat]

Clank Legacy is one that I know I’d love but I haven’t bought yet. I’m a big fan of Clank but have held off buying cuz it’s expensive and because of the pandemic, I wasn’t sure if I’ll be able to get to the table. But the more I wait, the more the price increases. I’ve had Le Havre in iOS for years and played it a few times but I”m not a fan of playing games digitally. Your desire to get it has now peaked my interest again especially now that the physical version is back in stock. Great video!

[brotherhorus]

Great video, agree with Root, really worries me that my group will not sync with the game due to high entry level, Dwellings is AWESOME, we all love this game, easily one of our favourite games.

[MichaliSarris]

Great list, I have a few these and are among my favorites: Ark Nova, Concordia, Orleans, Clank and TM (Gaia Project actually). I was very hyped about Dwellings of Eldervale too but it was sadly a miss for me. Very different to the other games here, much more luck based with the battles and it fell kinda flat to me. I really like deep strategies, and I didn't feel it there.

Another game I would add to the list is Spirit Island but then played with the Adversaries. ;) SI is my favorite game, and it would be such a shame if you didn't experience it fully.

[kumanight]

Oh man you're gonna love Dwellings. I don't push to get it to the table enough (it is a table hog), I'm gonna try to get it played again soon.

[nihlify]

I have a few that I'm pretty certain would be in my top 50 but haven't bought mainly because I don't have anyone to play with currently (either due to the heaviness or theme). Games like War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle, Gloomhaven, Game of Thrones TBG, Cosmic Encounter, Root and such.

[bgshield]

Great video and list. List looks similar to my own. As a very recent owner of Orleans, it is a fantastic game and you will enjoy it. It has elements that remind me of Concordia, Paladins, and Le Havre, all rolled together. Anachrony might sit atop my own list.

[davidkahnt]

New watcher... longtime boardgamer

Well done.

I just got my copy of Ark Nova yesterday.

Terra Mystica is amazing... I'd highly suggest the Fire & Ice expansion as it fixes one of the main issues I had with game.

[JJ_TheGreat]

28:16 For me, it is a time commitment issue. I only have so much time - and it takes me so long to read the rulebook and “learn” how to play a game - unless someone who has played it before is able to teach me. But my #1 game in this category is Dwellings of Eldervale. My goal is to get it played before the end of 2022.

[wizardavelar]

As the self proclaimed #1 fan of Dwellings of Eldervale, I agree that you will love it. If you are going to Dice Tower West, I would teach you.

[TurtleDude]

Good video. I'ed have to agree on the Uwe games. There are quite a few I haven't tried. But I know I would probably love them if I do.

[Cornchps]

I haven’t seen you cover underwater cities ever… are you not a fan? It’s one of my favorite games

[ManL]

Orléans and Clank Legacy are two of my favourites! I'd love to play Terraforming Mars. I've only played online once and it was a terrible experience. So I want to play in person and decide. I even bought the game second hand for dirt cheap! But Covid has just been a bummer for gaming for me. Hopefully this year!

[ryangilmore]

Thats funny what you said about Dwellings where you don't want to know everything about a game before you buy it. I thought i was strange for doing that too! I don't want to watch playthroughs or unboxings or read any rules. Sure that would help me decide if I like the game, but all of that is part of the discovery. And I want that surprise. Sure I get games that i find out weren't for me, but usually based on mechanics/art/reviews I can get a sense of if it's a game for me. That being said, I want Dwellings!!!

[pipstevenson]

Great list. Root, Orleans, Smartphone are all on my wishlist. I have all the rest and they are all great choices. Concordia was my first ever purchase and is great. I recommend the salsa expansion once you've played it a bunch ( The wild Salt resource and forum cards are good). i just got Ark nova and it is fantastic! Regarding the artwork there are many cards and no repeats so if they had gone with Art instead of pictures it wouldve been ridiculous amount of work. I think for this game pictures suit it well. The game trays on dwellings are fantastic.
Other games I am on the lookout for are Vagrantsong, Modern art, For Science!, Whistle Mountain, and Anachrony.