The Games I got rid of in 2021
To support us on Patreon please head over here
And, if you just want to buy us a coffee for a good job, pop over here
You can buy many of the games mentioned here on miniature market.
3 minute board games theme Music by Vic Granell
Sound effects from
“special spotlight” “killers” “crusade” “shiny tech” “eastern thought” “cheery monday”, (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
…
“Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act
1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.”
I think if you like the Marvel universe you get into those games. I don't. No thank you. I'd rather play Dice Thrones or Netrunner
Your analogies in this video cracked me up! The burger with the missing sauce and the teenage boy analogies in particular 😂🤣
I 100% agree with you on Dune Imperium and Meadow. Dune Imperium felt unsatisfying because the game ended by the time you built any kind of deck (and as you said, the combat was underwhelming) and Meadow felt linear and light and uninteresting. Haven’t played Merchant’s Cove bc it felt just the way you described it… appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for the video! I had the same thoughts on Dinosaur Island. Fantastic graphic design, totally okay gameplay.
The collar….the collar is KILLING me! But thanks for the video. Good stuff.
I keep hearing Dune is one of the best solo games. I think Alex Radcliff still likes funfair.
I'm looking at Tenpenny Parks myself. And I already backed dice city theme park.
I heard some people say Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write is the best of the three in the series, so I picked that up.
I concur with the Dinosaur Island comments. I think Dinosaur World plays better, though my favourite dino game is Dinogenics. Under the bonnet it's pretty straight-forward (which is a blessing when DI feels clunky) though it runs with the theme really well.
Hey, we all have our tastes in games and they're not wrong. I like hearing what you like and dislike. The reason is that you go into detail about the games you review in such a way that I can get a good idea of how it'll play and if my wife and I would like it.
go for sentinels instead of Marvel champs…got it. Thanks for the advice.
Cascadia was one I bought because of the buzz and then quickly got rid of. In theory it’s my sort of thing – light, family game with a Wingspan/Parks sort of vibe – but I just found it to be dull, pedestrian and lacking any charm or innovation. Fair play to them for hitting the zeitgeist and rising out of the pack, I just don’t understand why this was the one to do it.
Kid rock covers 😂 Nice video. I’ll have to look more into dune imperium because it was on my relatively long list of games to get, but since we seem to share some favorites(spirit island, roll for the galaxy, bloc by bloc, and terraforming mars) I’m a bit wary because you tossed it.
It's actually really interesting to hear someone's negative review of a game I really like. There's a piquant cognitive dissonance as I'm agreeing with you at the exact same time that I'm remembering all of the fun I've had and scheming a strategy for my next play…
I like Dune: Imperium quite a bit, but I agree with you that it’s not a thematic game in the slightest. Not sure why people voted for that tag on BGG.
My friend, you have a baby. Your short term memory is a goner!
Hey, you like you like! No apologies needed! I love Marvel Champions partly because of how easy it is to get to the table, and I'm not looking for long deep campaign like Arkham Horror (plus I don't enjoy horror). Also, it's more forgiving than LOTR in the deckbuilding side also lending itself to being more accessible 🙂 It also is way snappier and easier to manage than Sentinels of the Multiverse which has way too much bookkeeping, plus the MC decks are customizable to your tastes. Besides, Sentinels is horrible at true solo. Lastly having been a Marvel fan my youth, I can see the thematic connection way more than you probably do.
Wow, Dune Imperium and Marvel Champions are two of my favorite games and you go and do this? Now I have to write a strongly worded comment telling you that…..
We can agree to disagree and that's perfectly fine! Be it board games or video games, some people make their favorite games a part of their personality and look at any criticism of that game as an attack on them personally, and it's absurd. No one should have to worry about getting flak because they said a game didn't land for them.
Besides, you like Spirit Island, so that automatically means you have good taste!
Odd question : have you played Hands in the sea?
What’s the best way to dispose of games in NZ and how do you determine pricing? Are they easy to move along?
I agree on Meadow…really didn’t understand the love. However, really disagree on Dune Imperium. While I do agree that the Dune theme is mostly pasted on, the gameplay has put this in my top 10 games. As for Marvel Champions…I too liked SofM but it is WAY too fiddly and this scratches the same itch for me.
I have to disagree with people comparing marvel champions and Arkham horror. They are two very different games that just happen to be LCGs and it annoys me they get compared. I think FFG do a great job of making 3 co-op lcgs that all scratch different itches.
Cards on the table I thought Arkham horror was a great story ruined by a bad core mechanic. The chaos bag can do one. Ruined the game for me.
Dune imperium is on my short list of games to purchase, but a couple comments I’ve seen (aside from just yours) have made me second guess dune imperium.
Im a big fan of Lost Ruins of Arnak, and I’ve heard a lot of people say they think dune imperium does all the same thing but better. Im wondering how you feel about Arnak?
I've only played Dinosaur Island from that list, and my opinion is basically the same.
I wanted to like it, I wanted it to be THE jurassic park game, but beyond the cool art style I was bored.
And then I played Dinosaur World hoping it would fix Island and it actually had boredom as a mechanic.
I'll keep going to Dominant species for my dinosaur kicks (even though it has no actual dinosaurs except in the cover).
on mars big fan here ☝️
Finally someone who shares my opinion of Dune Imperium! OK game but nothing grabs me even though the Dune theme should.
Dinosaur Island is the only one on your list here that I've also played, and I can see what you mean with it. The theme is great, but yeah, all the extra resources, layers, and phases do sometimes feel like they're just addons to ordinary worker placement.
I did watch Meadow as it was being released and hyped though, and I'm kind of disappointed that it really did end up as simply mediocre. The artwork and everything looked so nice.
Thanks for your unpopular opinions! I’d rather people just put it out there than constantly be like “yeah it’s such a great game, cause everyone else says so”. I think my unpopular opinion for 2021 was Sleeping Gods, so highly rated and just really disappointing to me.
Do "I" need 10 different dungeon crawlers? Yes. Yes I do.
audio sounds pretty bad,,,,bouncing off walls
Re: Merchant's Cove. I felt the same way as you. I had it in my collection only a few weeks, played around 3-4 of the different Merchants, then sold it on. I admired what they were trying, but also felt that none of the mini-games were all that good. If I want to play a roll and write, I'll get out Railroad Ink. If I want to play a marble game I'll play Potion Explosion. They all felt like watered down versions of other games that I'd much rather be playing instead. Plus, the interaction on the main board with the other players just wasn't interesting at all.
Worst 4:48 minutes of my life, thank you for fixing it.
What do you do with games you get rid of? I always find it hard to get rid of them easily outside donating them
Dune Imperium – I enjoy the game, but my friend owns it. We're moving a state away and it is one that the misses and I aren't looking to add to our collection.
I find the original Dune takes way too long (8 hours the one time I played), and it didn't seem strategic or tactical because it was nearly impossible to have any measure of control, and the alliance cards never really came up at regular intervals. Maybe that was the group though.
For me Dune Imperium does have enough flavour, although I know some don't feel that way. My main gaming partner is my wife and she loves Everdell, and so Dune gives us something similar (worker placement) but different with enough conflict without being mean. Helps that she liked the Dune movie too.
Now I just have to find a way to get the Battle of the Five Armies reprint to the table with her (she doesn't like Ameritrash, but she likes LotR).
Got rid of Marvel Champions and On Mars as well. Except for Dune: Imperium, which my group loves, I'd have dumped all the other games on your list as well — but luckily I didn't buy them in the first place 🙂
The thing that really sets Marvel Champions back from Arkham Horror LCG for me is the sheer fact that I did not care at all what the other players did. In Arkham Horror I'd actively try and find ways to solve problems using each player and our own strength – we'd actively listen and be engaged on all turns. But with Marvel Champions I just wait a few minutes until my friend tells me how much damage they did, and not need to engage at all with how they did it or help them in any way.
I have bought Meadow and Cascadia, but because of the bug, I haven't been able to get together with people to play them yet. I'll be interested to see what I think of them, given that I bought them based on the hype and a couple of playthrough videos.
Man, you really went in on dune imperium, my favourite game of last year. It won’t change my opinion, I don’t play much war games at all. I subscribed anyway.
Nga mihi
I could reiterate a lot of the things that people are already saying about Marvel Champions, but ultimately I just like it because I like the comics and this game scratches an itch that the movies have failed to scratch for over a decade now. I like the big flashy colors and the battles with the silly villains. Game wise it's the equivalent of putting on that comfort TV show you've watched a hundred times over just to have background noise and that's fine with me, heh. Gives me feelings reminiscent of Magic the Gathering but without all the baggage of that game.
I've played Arkham Horror LCG a bit and it's good! But I don't want to own it because honestly I just don't need more Lovecraft in my life outside of Unfathomable for special occasions. And as someone who has trouble getting games to the table in general, campaigns have quickly become the opposite of a selling point (not that that's stopped me). I do find it funny that I can pretty accurately guess how someone will take to MC based on how much they like AH:LCG.
BTW, your criticism of game mechanisms that are justified “because game” is spot on for Vital Lacerda games, or at least that’s what I found out after acquiring Kanban EV. The game is not that complex, but the rules are hard to remember because they barely make thematic sense.
*HOWEVER*, I wonder if this “because game” criticism is something you apply selectively?
Huh? Huh? Are you a hypocrite?
UPDATE: you just said something that is very close to exactly why I said I have a problem with Kanban EV, the game gives the impression of being very thematic when in reality it’s not.
The only point I disagree on, respectfully of course, is saying Marvel Champions "throwing numbers" at something untl it falls over but Sentinels isn't? I like both games but if any game was ever mathing something to death, it's SotM. IMO. 🙂
Honestly I'm just impressed you have the ability to give games away. I've got half a dozen games I don't like and haven't played in years, but I can't bear to get rid of them. For example, I got the StarCraft board game fifteen years ago, have played it twice and didn't enjoy either of those. But the goblin part of my brain demands I keep it "just in case."
Totally agree about the Dune stuff, the Gale Force Nine 2019 Dune wins
Really like hearing your opinion of the games! I love your 3 minute video format and your objective commentary on the games but would love to get a bit of this type of commentary or a final thought too at the end of your reviews
"Dune Imperium: a dull, bloodless lifeless game."
Probably not a quote they'll use on the box 😂
For me, it's fine. I like playing Dune: Adminium, but don't like the intrigue cards. Better with Ix. Better with minis. Still prefer Arnak.
When i see cards with novels written on them in marvel champions i am just glad i never played the game.. hard pass
What kind of reality are we living in that 3 minute board games gets rids of a Mars game? Believe it or not I pitched Lost Ruins of Arnak, which I bought the expansion for and realized when I replayed it that I didn't actually like the game. I also defended Arkham Horror 3rd Edition last time I commented here and now i've actually got rid of it. After playing a few scenarios, I lost any desire to replay it and actually went back to 2nd edition and Eldritch Horror. I also got rid of Western Legends, the promised Western sandbox game that all you really have to do is mine a bunch of gold. Other super popular games I pitched were Everdell, Raiders of The North Sea and 'don't tell Steph' Obsession. I also got rid of Marvel Champions and most of my content for Smash Up. Ark Nova despite all the hype got pitched from me as well as Meadow which should be titled 'Meh'dow.
I for one am glad you owned On Mars.
That gave us THE SONG.
I am not one to jump on hype trains, but we recently bought Dune Imperium and it really is excellent, and stands out in our collection of 300+ games.
Also unfortunately I agree on the dinosaur island part. Though I don't think the production value is good. The deformed pink plastic dinosaurs and the UI that looks like it was made in paint really make it all look cheap. Sadly Dinosaur World and Dinogenics are not better gameplay wise.
Always good to get a bit more context and info on your thinking on these things. Merchants cove I passed by for the same reason as Root, there is no way I am teaching that.
Just had Marvel Champions +red Skull arrive on a really good deal yesterday. Played 4 solo games and really liking it so far. Could be another Warps Edge situation where I initially thought was gonna be my new fave solo game and then falls off quickly. Or it could be a new obsession.