10 Classic Board Games That Suck (And 10 to Replace Them)
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04.10.2022
500 Comments
Debbie Downer fact: Candyland was invented to give kids in iron lungs something to do! That's why the play is so simple and the it's more about the meandering through the colorful board than anything else.
A absolutely love the table top game renaissance we've been in for about a decade now. So many games, and so many of them are better than what many of us grew up on.
I really like how you both offer your opinion on why you don't like the game (anymore) and a mechanism based replacement. This video will serve many families looking to replace standard classics with the next steps into higher level of gaming.
If u like cards against humanity or apples to apples, you should try funemployed. It's my favorite party game! It's very similar in format, but the judge has a card that has a job on it and the players have cards in their hands that represent qualifications (and sometimes they are very silly) which are deliberately written to be vague. Then the players have to play 3 or 4 of their qualifications and explain why those things would make them good for the job. It adds the creativity of roleplaying to the playing the cards. My friends also play variations where a players dont pick the qualifications for themselves and have to give their cards to another player so no one knows what cards they're going to use. I strongly recomend this, especially if you have have some friends who can make you laugh.
I love can't stop. My cousin gave it to me for christmas. He also got me a similar gambling dice rolling game called Vegas which involves rolling 8 dice and using the dice that land on a certain number to try to win a sum of money and whoever has the most dice of each number wins that sum. I think that's my favorite game of chance.
9:52 try diplomacy if you haven't already. It's a "dudes fighting on a map" game with zero luck, the outcome of every fight is deterministic. The game is still dynamic and surprising, because everyone's turns take place simultaneously. The only downside is you pretty much need exactly 7 players. If there's ever been a game that actually feels like being a general, it's that one.
I agree with everything said here. However! I have yet to find a modern board game commenter on YouTube that actually understands the complexity of Scrabble. Scrabble—particularly as a TWO PLAYER game!–is not about who knows the most random 2-letter words with high point letters (one popular criticism), nor is it about getting onto the high paying spaces (a criticism repeated here). Nay, friends. There is so much more…playing offensively…defensively…leading the other player…playing a tight game. Verily, open your minds to the glory of Scrabble!
It appears you are extremely biased against dice rolling. Is there a reason why rolling a die ruins a game for you? It’s a classic and well established system that allows for chance and strategy (which is useful for groups with varying skill levels. Randomness can allow for closing the skill gap)
Strong recommendation for Crytid as a deductive Clue replacer, every player has parts of the full picture and after some guesses you start putting the picture together.
I dont think that battleship can be compared to anything, because you dont need to actually buy it, its like saying that pokemon are better than rock paper scissors
I've always been so mad because the old edition of Camel Up made it look like the name was "Camel Cup" which I think is a much better name for the game and it has alliteration. Then we got the new edition and realized what the name actually was.
Great video, I dream of a game that “scratches the itch” of my MtG cube but is like 200 or fewer cards and no accessories (counters, tokens, spin downs) so I can take it on travels that I could never take my cube on. Anyone heard of anything like that? Preferably not entirely abstract 😅
I had the special prívela he of playing captain sonar on a navy ship, with the two teams in separate spaces using sound powered phones for communications.
Great topic, interesting picks! Letter tycoon still too monopoly-y for me (more begets more) and Can't stop we play with the mandatory rule of "must proceed if stuck on top of another player";o) Also dice chugging and card drafting are both not luckbased but just probabilities. If one doesn't like that, they should look for mechanisms to midigate the "luck". Love Quacks of Quedlinburg f.e.;o)
My suggestions, same order:
10. Unspoken words (Rolling for words + Chtulhu) 9. Goblins Inc. (Team battle with mechs and goblins) 8. Mystery of the Abbey (So, small monk with beard did it?) 7. Deus (similar look and style, more tactics) 6. Nobody is perfect/Dixit (not 100%, but creating your own funny answers, bluffing) 5. Smallworld Underground (hereditary area control) or Dominant Species 4. Lords of Vegas (actually fun, Monopoly was created as a simulation for… Amazon^^) 3. Talisman (bit dull but Fantasy-themed, good for Noobs… sorry gateway game) 2. Dog (swiss game, Sorry in teams with Cards) 1. Elefantenparade (got 2 but must move 3 figures + water holes) or Escape from the hidden castle or Fearsome Floors by Friedemann Friese
Ticket to Ride? Power grid! UNO? MAD! Yatzee? Ancient terrible things!
I'd say Lords of Vegas for a monopoly replacement. The main draw to monopoly is buying up properties and making money, and this game does this very well. The Game of 49 is another choice for the same reasons
For people who like the playing cards to answer cards aspect of Cards Against Humanity but dislike it devolving to “Ha ha offensive”, I have to recommend Red Flags, Snake Oil, and Funemployed. They have the same base gameplay but involve you having to actually think of your answers to the prompt to try to fit the best with what you have, and it removes the “bias” aspect of knowing what will be picked by certain judges.
I disagree with your Clue assessment, I think clue is a bulletproof boardgame, however, if I had to offer an alternative I would suggest Whitehall Mystery. it's a real time deduction game and I think any clue lover would absolutely LOVE this game.
If you don't like the fact that In Clue you have to roll a dice and hope you get enough to make it into a room then I have a lotion to that. Make say a spinner a label it with each of the rooms this way you are guaranteed to make a guess. Although I like the fact that you have to hope you roll enough to get somewhere.
old video but hopefully you still see comments – I'd really love a list of top games that are quick to pick up and get going; simple rules, quick to set up, etc. I really like playing games, but I have no patience anymore for spending a bunch of time going over complex rules to figure them out initially, and it's a real pain to have to redo that every time you want to play with a new friend. Games that have straightforward or intuitive rules and don't require a lot of setup time with a bunch of pieces are very appealing for this reason, but you can only play Apples to Apples so many times. Being exposed to new games like this would be awesome, and unlike most of my board game fanatic friends, you seem good about acknowledging when games are maybe too complex/hardcore to be more widely accessible to people who maybe aren't really into board games.
Some people's suggestions for Risk here are absolutely bananas, especially because the answer is obvious: Memoir 44.
Dudes on a map? Yep. Classic history feel? Yep. Dice (which a lot of people actually like)? Yep, although the randomness is significantly offset by your strategic decisions. Highly recommend.
i love monolopoly i will never do the auction rule tho, f*ck that rule. we also do it to where if someone buys a color property the other player cant buy from that color so it makes it alot quicker
The pictures shown when you talked about "Alchemists" were actually of the game "Alchemist". Two pretty different games, and "Alchemists" is better IMO. Still quite complex, but solid game.
Debbie Downer fact: Candyland was invented to give kids in iron lungs something to do! That's why the play is so simple and the it's more about the meandering through the colorful board than anything else.
I wonder if Everdell would be a good replacement for Catan
My alternative for scrabble is speed scrabble. It is played like banana grams but uses points written on the scrabble pieces.
This one is for you Sungwon. My replacement for sorry/trouble is the Yut.
A absolutely love the table top game renaissance we've been in for about a decade now. So many games, and so many of them are better than what many of us grew up on.
When he mentioned "Life" I though he was going to say "Persude of Happiness" but that one is just life it improve mechanics.
I really like how you both offer your opinion on why you don't like the game (anymore) and a mechanism based replacement. This video will serve many families looking to replace standard classics with the next steps into higher level of gaming.
If u like cards against humanity or apples to apples, you should try funemployed. It's my favorite party game! It's very similar in format, but the judge has a card that has a job on it and the players have cards in their hands that represent qualifications (and sometimes they are very silly) which are deliberately written to be vague. Then the players have to play 3 or 4 of their qualifications and explain why those things would make them good for the job. It adds the creativity of roleplaying to the playing the cards. My friends also play variations where a players dont pick the qualifications for themselves and have to give their cards to another player so no one knows what cards they're going to use. I strongly recomend this, especially if you have have some friends who can make you laugh.
I love can't stop. My cousin gave it to me for christmas. He also got me a similar gambling dice rolling game called Vegas which involves rolling 8 dice and using the dice that land on a certain number to try to win a sum of money and whoever has the most dice of each number wins that sum. I think that's my favorite game of chance.
Why isn’t Chess on this
9:52 try diplomacy if you haven't already. It's a "dudes fighting on a map" game with zero luck, the outcome of every fight is deterministic. The game is still dynamic and surprising, because everyone's turns take place simultaneously. The only downside is you pretty much need exactly 7 players. If there's ever been a game that actually feels like being a general, it's that one.
fuck monopoly BIG TIME
Mysterium is my go to replacement for Clue.
So… replace a strictly 2 player game (battleships) with a strictly 8 player game (captain sonar)?
Seems legit.
No dice, no deal.
A game that is better that Clue, but still pretty light is Ghosted. It has a similar deduction mechanic as clue, but no roll and move.
I agree with everything said here. However! I have yet to find a modern board game commenter on YouTube that actually understands the complexity of Scrabble. Scrabble—particularly as a TWO PLAYER game!–is not about who knows the most random 2-letter words with high point letters (one popular criticism), nor is it about getting onto the high paying spaces (a criticism repeated here). Nay, friends. There is so much more…playing offensively…defensively…leading the other player…playing a tight game. Verily, open your minds to the glory of Scrabble!
Captain sonar sounds like a videogame more than a boardgame
Mystery of the Abbey fired Clue for our group. It's pretty crunchy but there's no roll and move.
When I first saw CAH I thought: "Oh, it's like Big Idea (by Cheapass Games) but with all the creativity and joy sucked out of it!"
It appears you are extremely biased against dice rolling. Is there a reason why rolling a die ruins a game for you? It’s a classic and well established system that allows for chance and strategy (which is useful for groups with varying skill levels. Randomness can allow for closing the skill gap)
What is on the shirt you are wearing thought it was hong kong phoey at first but then i see a dog with tennis racket and ba and i have no clue
You ever try Monopoly empire? It's like Monopoly, but with way more bullshit so the game takes like 10 minutes tops. It's fantastic
Strong recommendation for Crytid as a deductive Clue replacer, every player has parts of the full picture and after some guesses you start putting the picture together.
The whole point of monopoly is the unfairness and luck element. That is the educational part of the game
Thanks for the many F Bombs. It really brings class to this video..
I dont think that battleship can be compared to anything, because you dont need to actually buy it, its like saying that pokemon are better than rock paper scissors
I really like captain sonar but other than theme it does not play similar to battleship at all
Dungeons and dragons is a great replacement to playing imagination, because it gives you more strategy to work with.
I've always been so mad because the old edition of Camel Up made it look like the name was "Camel Cup" which I think is a much better name for the game and it has alliteration. Then we got the new edition and realized what the name actually was.
late to the game, but Dix It as a replacement for Cards Against Humanity
Shogun or iska is a great replacement for risk.
“This game is called ‘Alchemist’ and you’re… wizards or whatever” 😅
Great video, I dream of a game that “scratches the itch” of my MtG cube but is like 200 or fewer cards and no accessories (counters, tokens, spin downs) so I can take it on travels that I could never take my cube on. Anyone heard of anything like that? Preferably not entirely abstract 😅
I had the special prívela he of playing captain sonar on a navy ship, with the two teams in separate spaces using sound powered phones for communications.
Island of El Dorado has replaced Catan for me. Great list!
Damn is that the sit & spin adventure music?
Great topic, interesting picks! Letter tycoon still too monopoly-y for me (more begets more) and Can't stop we play with the mandatory rule of "must proceed if stuck on top of another player";o) Also dice chugging and card drafting are both not luckbased but just probabilities. If one doesn't like that, they should look for mechanisms to midigate the "luck". Love Quacks of Quedlinburg f.e.;o)
My suggestions, same order:
10. Unspoken words (Rolling for words + Chtulhu)
9. Goblins Inc. (Team battle with mechs and goblins)
8. Mystery of the Abbey (So, small monk with beard did it?)
7. Deus (similar look and style, more tactics)
6. Nobody is perfect/Dixit (not 100%, but creating your own funny answers, bluffing)
5. Smallworld Underground (hereditary area control) or Dominant Species
4. Lords of Vegas (actually fun, Monopoly was created as a simulation for… Amazon^^)
3. Talisman (bit dull but Fantasy-themed, good for Noobs… sorry gateway game)
2. Dog (swiss game, Sorry in teams with Cards)
1. Elefantenparade (got 2 but must move 3 figures + water holes) or Escape from the hidden castle or Fearsome Floors by Friedemann Friese
Ticket to Ride? Power grid! UNO? MAD! Yatzee? Ancient terrible things!
Fav. game still Heroscape;o) Cheers, have fun
I'd say Lords of Vegas for a monopoly replacement. The main draw to monopoly is buying up properties and making money, and this game does this very well. The Game of 49 is another choice for the same reasons
For people who like the playing cards to answer cards aspect of Cards Against Humanity but dislike it devolving to “Ha ha offensive”, I have to recommend Red Flags, Snake Oil, and Funemployed. They have the same base gameplay but involve you having to actually think of your answers to the prompt to try to fit the best with what you have, and it removes the “bias” aspect of knowing what will be picked by certain judges.
enjoyed this video! But the joy of clue/ cluedo… is not the mechanics of figuring out, its the murder mystery.
I disagree with your Clue assessment, I think clue is a bulletproof boardgame, however, if I had to offer an alternative I would suggest Whitehall Mystery. it's a real time deduction game and I think any clue lover would absolutely LOVE this game.
I love bananagrams/anagrams, precisely like you said because I feel like if puts more focus onto the clever words you make than the points you get
I can't be the only one that was expecting Monopoly to be higher on the list than it is …
I haven't heard anything yet.
If monoply isn't dissed virulently I'll be disappointed.
If Catan isn't derided I'll be sad.
Hard agree on Catan
If you don't like the fact that In Clue you have to roll a dice and hope you get enough to make it into a room then I have a lotion to that. Make say a spinner a label it with each of the rooms this way you are guaranteed to make a guess. Although I like the fact that you have to hope you roll enough to get somewhere.
old video but hopefully you still see comments – I'd really love a list of top games that are quick to pick up and get going; simple rules, quick to set up, etc. I really like playing games, but I have no patience anymore for spending a bunch of time going over complex rules to figure them out initially, and it's a real pain to have to redo that every time you want to play with a new friend. Games that have straightforward or intuitive rules and don't require a lot of setup time with a bunch of pieces are very appealing for this reason, but you can only play Apples to Apples so many times. Being exposed to new games like this would be awesome, and unlike most of my board game fanatic friends, you seem good about acknowledging when games are maybe too complex/hardcore to be more widely accessible to people who maybe aren't really into board games.
Some people's suggestions for Risk here are absolutely bananas, especially because the answer is obvious: Memoir 44.
Dudes on a map? Yep. Classic history feel? Yep. Dice (which a lot of people actually like)? Yep, although the randomness is significantly offset by your strategic decisions. Highly recommend.
i love monolopoly i will never do the auction rule tho, f*ck that rule. we also do it to where if someone buys a color property the other player cant buy from that color so it makes it alot quicker
The pictures shown when you talked about "Alchemists" were actually of the game "Alchemist". Two pretty different games, and "Alchemists" is better IMO. Still quite complex, but solid game.