AMAZING Board Games I Never Need to Play Again
Today Mike takes a look at 5 games that he admits are fantastic, and that he never needs to play again…
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I’m so mad at you right now.
Terra Mystica for me
The whole time I was thinking "this is fine, but i'd rather just play Gaia Project"
I'm sorry, but Waterdeep is not the granddaddy of worker placement. Caylus in 2005 (almost 10 years before Waterdeep) takes that honor; and I know the BUS (1999) was the first to introduce the modern take on worker placement, but Caylus is the one that really brought it to the zeitgeist. Waterdeep claim to fame was to bring all the DnD players into the Euro games.
3 of these are still top 10 for me… but I get it. The ones for me that just doesn’t do it anymore is Splendor and Formula D.
I love Terra Mystica but don’t want to play it again. The folks I know who play this game take it way too seriously and suck the fun out of it.
This is an amazing video idea, love these different top 10s!!!
This video was so painful. When you hit Everdell I died inside. Hopefully, people won’t listen and buy it. It’s wonderful!
i'll agree pearlbrook is not good. it's the worst expansion (havent tried bellfaire). if there's one expansion to try, it's Spirecrest.
Great video! I think I would be good to never play Marvel United again. It is a very good game, but it just feels okay for me. 😊
This is sad and I never want to think about it again.
Eclipse 2nd ed is on my list for pretty much the same reasons. Lost too many games due to poor tile draw on my part and others getting the really cool tiles and techs.
I would add Dwellings of Eldervale to the list. Played the overly deluxe-ified version, and its got a lot of QoL components. It suffers a similar problem with luck, and there are a couple of mechanical issues that I have with the game, so I really have no interest in playing it again. Luckily for me, many of those issues I have will be fixed in the new Andromeda's Edge
Another game I would add is Tapestry. Lovely game. but the design just fluffed some of the details, and can make luck determine the winner.
My first real worker placement game was Architects of the West Kingdom, so I felt I could not go to Lords of Waterdeep from there.
I would have loved for Mike to have namedropped a few games that he preferred over Lords of Waterdeep. I keep being drawn back to LOWD but would happily be talked into “more modern” worker placement quest filling games. What do you all think replaces Lowd?
I think sometimes it is just the moment you are in. For instance, I play games about 3 times a week with various groups and the last 10 euros I've played just have NOT sparked joy. Tiletum, Barcelona, GWT, Space Station Phoenix etc are objectively good games, but I found myself really not enjoying. them. For 20 years I've loved a good dull Euro, but I feel like right now, in my gaming journey, they just aren't for me. However, I may change my mind some day, so I don't want to dismiss them entirely. Cool vid!
Weirdly, I love reaching the point where I've played a game *enough*. It's disappointing if it happens within a game or two but there is a feeling of accomplishment when you play a game to the point where you are done with it, happily. Not a messy breakup, but a happy end to a fun relationship 😉
I was just doing a pubmeeple reading and i thought game x is better objectively and i even like it more subjectively, but I'd just rather play game b.
Great video concept !!
Content idea: (maybe you already have it in the works but…) Maybe a couple games that you would rather play for each one that you don't want to play. Say someone says,"let's play everdell." What games would you rather play that give kind of the same feels that would want to play and they might enjoy also?
That shirt rules
My tastes are weird to start with, so games I consider "great" tend to be offbeat, but even when I try to incorporate other viewpoints into any assessment of "greatness," I can't think of a single great game with which I am "done." Weird.
(EDIT: Then again, for me, LOW and Everdell are pretty "meh" to begin with.)
I was wondering if Res Arcana was going to make this list. I know you guys really like some engine builders like Furnace ect – but I've never seen you mention Res, so I just assumed you don't like it much. I love the game. Games that I've played recently that I wasn't a fan of for reasons were Fury of Dracula, Encyclopedia, and Munchkin.
Agree with all these games EXCEPT lords of waterdeep. Definitely need the expansion and some upgraded bits but it’s an evergreen at my house. I can do without any and all Lacerta games.
Fully agreed with regards to Eclipse. I played it for the first time recently and don't really see myself revisiting it.
Big ones for me are Ark Nova and Bitoku. I'm sure they are great games because they seem to have decent fanbases, but once was enough for me. For the former, I just find the game play very formulaic, and for the latter, even though it's very pretty it is way too fiddly.
Your first game makes me very sad… LOWD is an all time classic, not dated… .edit… Oh my God!! Next is Blood Rage? You're killing me!! These are both Evergreens for me and will never leave my collection. .. and now Everdell? You're heartless!
I agree that Everdell has gotten too big! The only expansion I play with now is Mistwood because of the new solo mode. I’ve also started home brewing some of the rules from the new Fairshore into Everdell and it’s helped a lot!
Really loved Everdell when it first came out and then Pearlbrook absolutely ruined it for me. I know it’s dumb. I can just play base Everdell and I’m sure I’d enjoy it just fine but I just never turn to it anymore. Ever since then I’m real careful before buying expansions. Kinda ruined the game for me. 🤷♀️
Never ever playing 7 Wonders again. Hated the experience. If you are learning the game and getting obliterated by experienced people, it’s not fun. Hope you are doing well and everything is okay, Mike! Now, I love TS- but I am a child of the Cold War. I watched some tournament videos on YT to help me with strategy.
Lol the first 3 are in my top 10 🤭 here’s hoping on the last 2 🤞🏽
I’d be more than content not playing Scythe, Champions Of Midgard, Too Many Bones, and Anachrony ever again. If someone wanted to I would but these games have just completely lost my interest
I don’t think I have any games I actually like that I don’t want to play again. I feel like even if I don’t want to play a game anytime soon if I like the game I will eventually have a desire to play it again.
Plenty of games I didn’t like and don’t care to play again though…
for me these 5 games I have gotten rid of, but sometimes I regret it, but then again I don't need to play them again: a feast for odin, underwater cities, gugong, voyages of marco polo and beyond the sun. I miss them though…
I got into gaming when Tigris & Euphrates had been #1 on BGG for years. Every time it reached the table I needed to learn the rules afresh. Never enjoyed it, I appreciate it was an important game for an era, but never want to play it again.
Your comments are very valid and very intersting to say why you are not going to play them. I´ll just say that I was expecting like the games that take the place for those games, like Lords of Waterdeep.
That intro 10/10
One thing I hated about Everdell is that it really needs you to chain very specific cards together to play well. The deck of cards is big enough that you may never realistically get the chance to grab the linked card you might need. I don’t really want that kind of thing. I prefer something like Ark Nova where I can get a similar feel of chaining combos but it’s less specific and more general with tags/elements on cards.
For me, don’t ever need to play Spirit Island or Brass again, both frustrating games so yeah, one and done!
For me it’s Root. Because I want to be able to play other games. It feels like Root requires many, many plays to really “get” each faction.
Wingspan i never want to play that again, still don't get all the hype even if i recognize it's a good game, just overhyped. I also won't play gloomhaven again or anything like frosthaven because for me it's a project in itself to set it up and to always remember rules, find it flimsy unless you are dedicated on a weekly basis to play it.
I have 200+ games in my collection, Everdell is waay to hardcore for me lol. Last time I played was online, I ended up watching Youtube videos while my opponent finished…for 25 minutes. I then sold my sealed Complete Collection box knowing it was not for me lol.
Pandemic and Sleeping Gods. I wouldn’t refuse a game of Pandemic, but if I never play again, I’m perfectly fine with that. As for Sleeping Gods, I’d rather invest that much time in multiple other games instead.
Thanks for the video. Nice to hear people's personal reasons for liking and not liking specific games
Whoa, coming out swinging with LoWD! lol I'd be interested to hear if you think there's a game that replaces LoWD for you but keep that gateway-plus-ish complexity level? There are worker placement games that I love to play more than LoWD, but I've found very few that I can bring out with casual gamers that I like as much. Everdell Farshore kind of solves the issue to me of coming into the whole system late. I was someone intrigued by Everdell but didn't jump on the train, and then like you said now there's 10 expansions, it kinda moved past me. So then they just introduce Everdell Farshore, and that's where I took the plunge. A new refined base game for those of us who the original passed by.
Honestly talking about experience imbalance and getting recked by more experienced players, I think think this is a huge problem in our hobby and it can be fixed. My inlaws are competitive as heck, everything is a chance to show intellectual dominance and to lose at a game means you are less intelligent than your opponent wich leads to its the games fault. I hate every game they teach me only to realize I like the game but the experience sucked cause they were playing against me as hard as they could. When I introduce some one I usually fool around or goof off letting them learn a strategy and as they pick up steam I pick it up with them, but try to still stay a little behind. Like dash from incredibles "close second!" We need to not play hard on newcomers. Make it fun for them
I was really excited to finally get my hands on dinosaur Island. I really liked it, but after about 3 plays, I was okay never playing it again. Same with Duelosaur Island. I don't know what it was about the games, but I was done after a few plays. Another one that comes to mind is City of Iron second edition. I really liked the way it handled deck building and I thought it was a really good game, but after a few plays, I was okay never playing it again. One thing that really bothered me about the second edition was the addition of the round tracker. The round tracker has always felt like a very lazy design choice, unless it has a thematic tie. In almost every case, I'd prefer the end of the game is tied to some other condition.
I would be happy to never play Azul again
It sounds to me Mike like you want to buy my collector’s edition of Everdell and you’re playing hard to get.
Idk if this game is considered well liked by others but for me, the game I’m good never playing again is Endless winter. I played it once solo and once 2 player. And I didn’t hate it but it’s just not a game I’d ever want to own. I’ll play it if someone else wants to play that with me but otherwise I’m good never playing that one again. Just wasn’t for me.
The benefits of renting from your local game store…I get to try out games before buying
Great vid!
Near and far was a one and done for me.
I completely agree with what you said about Everdell; my first play was great! My second play, and a friend went out and got burgers and came back before the other two expert players finished. Not interested.
Lords of Waterdeep originally only appealed to me because the theme was light. I don’t like fantastical themes that much and I don’t do RPGs, so its dryness was what appealed to me the most. But I agree that it feels dated now.
In no particular order, here are some games I’d be okay with not playing again, despite how great they are.
LE HAVRE. I enjoyed this but it’s too high a barrier to entry for new players given the experience the game provides.
SCYTHE. I loved the one full play I had of this game. That’s right, I said one, because it’s such a sprawling game that takes so much setup and explanation, even if you’ve played it before. If I were exposed to fewer games I’d play this a lot, but according to my stats app I averaged 1.6 plays per game last year, so it’s not going to stick in my brain. 😂
TERRA MYSTICA. Another fantasy theme that does nothing for me. With GAIA PROJECT and TERRA NOVA, why would I play this again?
INIS. My first area control game that didn’t depend on dice combat, which I felt was a step in the right direction! But there are just so many genres I prefer over area control, and if I were looking for area control, I’d choose a game like BEYOND THE SUN, which has other things going on too.
STAR REALMS. Thought it was great to have a portable DOMINION! But then I realised that it’s necessarily vicious, and the factions take away any satisfaction you’d get in other deckbuilders from making action combos, because you already know what cards will work together.
(I could mention ROOT here because everyone seems to like it, which must mean it’s a great game, but I never liked it—despite winning both games of it that I played—so I don’t think it counts.)