What would you like to see us play on Tabletop Season Three?

Anonymous asked:

Second Season of Wil Wheaton Project. Yes or No? I hope SyFy channel has the foresight to keep it going.

So for those of you who don’t know, earlier this summer, I did 12 episodes of a silly comedy show on Syfy called The Wil Wheaton Project. It was basically The Soup for people like me who enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, as well as jokes about those things. If you’d like to see a bunch of clips from the show, they’re right here on my YouTube thing.

We’re officially on hiatus right now, and we don’t know if the network will order more episodes. I know that they liked us in a creative sense, but the ratings weren’t very good (ratings are generally not very good in summer, and while I don’t believe that ratings are as important as they once were, my opinion on the matter isn’t particularly important to the decision makers), but the people who did watch us really liked us. So I won’t know for a few more weeks, but until then, I’m on hiatus, which means I get to write more, play more games, and prep for season three of Tabletop, which goes into production in October.

Part of that preparation includes finding 20 games to play on the show, and as of today, I have eight (maybe nine) that are strong contenders.

What do you want us to play on the show next year? Would you tell me the game, the publisher, and why you like it?

Keep in mind the criteria for Tabletop game selection:

  1. Plays well with 4 people.

  2. Plays in under 90 minutes.

  3. Can be generally explained in about 5 minutes.

  4. Has a high ration of luck to strategy, so everyone has a chance to win the game.

  5. Looks great, has clear graphical design and photographs well.

  6. Is not something we’ve played before.

I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.

2,070 thoughts on “What would you like to see us play on Tabletop Season Three?”

  1. Also, Saboteur by Zman games is a good pick. One person screwing the rest over? Or maybe not? Who knows. It’s fun, photogenic, and easy to explain (only having 4 different types of cards)

  2. The Timeline games, particularly Inventions is good if you’re looking to a multiple/quick games episode.

  5. I’m putting in a vote for Snake Oil. Wil and friends trying to create and pitch wacky creations sounds like a lot of fun.

  7. For quick fun 4 players games you couldn’t go wrong with “Sentinels of the Multiverse” or “Red dragon inn”. Both excellent games that me and my friends play often.

  8. You really need a deck-builder. I suggest one of the Legendary games from Upper Deck, Marvel if you want superheroes, or Encounters if you’d prefer a co-op. Then again, the original deck builder Dominion is never wrong. Ascension or Thunderstone are two very good ones with a fantasy theme. The Lord of The Rings games or DC comic game from Cryptozoic are simpler ones, or if you want to please the Manga crowd I suggest Tanto Cuore.

  9. Battletech – a quick start rules game is under 45 minutes. Alternatively Alpha Strike which is the way simpler non board game version.

    If card games are considered Star Wars LCG or Android Netrunner.

  12. Might not be a good fit for the series, but ya never know
    Dragonstrike =) I remember playing it with my brother and his friends when I was little. You may have heard or it and played it before. What always stuck with me in my memory, was the story/instruction video that came with it. Hopefully there isn’t an instant block for posting links, but here goes.

    P.S. Thinking about games made me think of Dragonstrike and looked for the video xD Your fault.

  14. There are like 900 comments in front of this, so if you made it this far: good jorb and sorry?

    Anyway, I totally dig this game called Fantastiqa (Gryphon Games), which I just randomly came across this year at Origins. It feels like Neil Gaiman wrote a tabletop game. The setup: you arrive at an old man’s house to apply for a dog-walking job. He looks you over and says, “No no no. You don’t need to be walking dogs. What you need is an adventure!” and he stuffs a toothbrush into your hand, tells you it’s a magic wand, and shoves you out the door where you must subdue fantastic creatures so they will ally themselves with you and help you complete quests. And also you still have to walk the dog.

    The game is a deck building game with a board you must travel around to complete your quests, and from which you build up your menagerie of creature allies. The art on the game board, cards and game pieces is beautiful- it’s all classic works of romantic fantasy. The game is casual, but imaginative: quests are things like “Snare the elusive Hill Hamster of Harn and bring him home in time for tea!”

  15. Cyclades–a hybrid board (war) game/Euro game with beautiful art and beautifully crafted game components each with incredible detail. Involves strong elements of both strategy and luck. And it has layers of complexity to it that changes the way the game is played depending on the number of players.

  16. Ghost Stories, a cooperative strategy game designed by Antoine Bauza and published by Repos Productions. The gameplay is easy to understand, fast-paced and intense, and while it’s punishing hard even at the easiest difficulty it’s definitely winnable. Plus the art is gorgeous, the component quality is excellent and it can be finished in ~1 hour. This is currently my go-to “super challenging cooperative game”, even over Pandemic.

  17. Zeppelin Attack by Evil Hat Productions. It’s a deckbuilder card game that’s fast, fun, easy to learn, and gives everyone the chance to laugh like a mad scientist as they attempt to conquor the world from the skies! Plus, monkeys and brains in jars.

  18. Discworld Ankh Morpork
    Treefrog Games

    Best with 4 people, not high on luck factor with experienced players and can be one-sided with noobs, but great theme, great visually and lots of humour for fans of the series – similar to the owlbear running joke.

  20. Flash Point: Fire Rescue. Since you were unable to save the world from a Pandemic™ perhaps you can save a family from a burning house.

  28. I think it’d be brilliant to have a bunch of us space/science nerds play Cards Against Mars on TableTop. (Or, y’know, just accept the invitation and come over when it’s not your wife’s birthday!)

  29. “Quantum” by Fun Forge (2-4 players)
    Abstract strategy game with some luck elements

    Everyone plays a space-faring race that tries to place “Quantum Cubes” on planets to claim them. Your ships are just neon colored, 6-sided dice. The number on a die / ship shows how fast it is (higher number = better) and how strong (lower number better). Each ship type also has a special ability (e.g. 2 = transport => can load an adjacent friendly ship, move two spaces and unload again).
    As an action a ship can be “reconfigured” by re-rolling its die.

    You have 3 actions per turn and you try to combine moving your ships, using their special abilities and reconfiguring them to win the game.

    If you win battles you can buy cards that shape how your race evolves (e.g. agile vs faster research).

    That’s basically all there is to explain to play the game 🙂

    (The artwork on the cards is very nice and could lead to a bit of roleplaying)

  30. Mr Card Game, by Evertide Games. It’s a deck builder/tableau management game based on Kingdom of Loathing, so like that, it’s silly, sarcastic and irreverent. The Kickstarter had some issues (especially for us overseas backers!), but the game itself is well thought out, simple and fun.

  33. I’d be very much interested in the new XCOM board game.. From what I’ve heard, it’s fastpaced, hectic and the app that accompanies it adds rather than detracts from the experience..

    Other than that, I second a game like Diplomacy (which promises a lot of backstabbing) or maybe an episode about boardgames for younger kids for the young parents (like myself) among us..

  34. Railways of the World fits what you are looking for. The rules are simple, it plays fast, and looks great.

  36. Ra, from Reiner Knizia.

    It’s a great auction based game, with simple rules, and a lot of funny moments potential.

  38. Seasons and Among the Stars would probably be a good fit for the show. Neither game is too complex and last between an hour and 90 minutes.

  39. Kill Doctor Lucky. We have played the hell out of this game.
    My kids want to see you play Lunch Money but I’m not sure it meets your criteria.

  42. War on terror by terrorbull games, it’s visually appealing and much more lighthearted than its been portrayed

  43. I second the suggestion of “Zombies!!!”, it’s easily explained and 4 players can do a lot of mischief to each other!

  45. The Gryphon Games Bookshelf Series might be worth looking into. For Sale, High Society, Roll Through the Ages, Money, Sleuth, Botswana (with little plastic animals!), Incan Gold, Masters Gallery, I’m the Boss the Card Game and Lords & Ladies are all solid titles. Some of them are pretty short, so you might need to stack two in an episode, though.

  46. All the below games work for gamers and non-gamers and have very diverse target audiences.

    7th Hero is an AMAZING card game that plays quickly (15 minutes), plays 3-5 players, 2 minutes to learn the game and has really good bluffing and hidden information mechanics. This is a true gem of a game and would work well on a show where you did several shorter games. I say it’s amazing and a gem because I like it that much.

    Saboteur gets my vote too. Wil – if you haven’t played this game, you need to. This is the best group traiter game I’ve played. Plays 3-12 people. it’s clever, a cinch to learn and always a crowd pleaser.

    Sail To India – Euro-lite game in a small box. Plays 3-4 players, plays quick, rules in 2 minutes and is really well balanced and crafted.

    Lost Legacy – it’s like Love Letter 2.0. Similar mechanics, but takes it to another level.

    Contact me – I’m near you and would love to help your show out.

  48. SYFY is a bad network to be on..they jerk EVERYBODY around. It seems like they don’t want to buy many NEW episodes of anything..

    BBC America would be a solid home for you.. I see your face on there frequently and you would fit in nicely… Josh Gates went to Travel Channel, so we WILL see new episodes of his show under a new name… Hopefully things will work out for you…

    As far as games… check out Rather Dashing Games at http://www.ratherdashinggames.com The have some great games!

  49. I’d have to add votes for
    * Galaxy Trucker
    * Zombicide
    * Ghost Stories

    I’d also like to suggest:
    * an awesome four player game: Tash Kalar – Arena of Legends, spell slinging wizards card game meets abstract strategy with pattern recognition, plays great with 2,3,4 players. Has several play modes. Four plays either as two teams or each for his own.

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