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

Posted on By Wil

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.

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Comments (2,070)

  1. I think that Kingdom Builder fits into the criteria for game selection. Easiest game in the world to teach (randomly select 4 quadrants and build the map in a square, flip 3 ‘scoring’ cards out that determine how the score is resolved, give everyone a card, place 3 buildings per turn on the tile shown by the card in your hand, you have to place adjacent to your existing buildings if possible, build next to the special tiles for bonus moves or points). Luck is from the card you get in hand, strategy is being able to carefully choose your moves such that you don’t force yourself into bad, mandatory moves later. The map has clear, colourful distinction between the terrains (desert, grass, forest, flowers, canyons, mountains, and water).

  2. Thunder Alley seems like a good fit. Racing teams of cars, quick to explain the jist of play and should film well.

    Taluva is a quick and seriously pretty chunky tile laying game. You end up with a colourful island, built up on a number of levels. Not enough for a show, but if you are planning on a tile laying episode it might be a good fit.

    Letters from Whitechapel would provide lots of potential role playing type shenanigans.

    Star Trek Fleet Captains… just because.

  3. For bluffing games episode: One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Coup, Bang The Dice game and Sheriff of Nottingham .

    Minigames á lá -Get Bit Episode – Dragon Slayer, Hanabi, No Thanks
    and a the awsome Escape: The Curse of the Temple.

    General games that i think work great on TV: Cosmic Encounter -5 Players, Jamaica-5 ou 6 Players and SteamPark – 4

    WorkerPlacement – StoneAge, Fresco or Manhattan Project, the problem is that this type of games happens on the head of the player and Manhattan Project maybe have a theme not suit for the show.

  4. Unexploded Cow from Cheapass Games.

    It’s a competitive “Take That” sort of card game wherein your objective is to detonate unexploded WWII ordinance by sending cows infected with mad cow disease into the fields of France – for fun and profit of course. Cheapass Kickstarted it a couple years ago and put out a deluxe version with art that captures the theme beautifully. It consistently gets great responses at my table from newbies and veterans alike.

  5. I’d love to see some indie games on the show. Maybe host a few of the Tabletop Deathmatch contestants?

  6. I heartily recommend Avalon. It’s all about trying to deceive the other players at the table while working to reach or avoid a goal. I think it would be particularly great with the right group of players.

  9. I’d love to see you play Firefly,Manhattan Project,Boss Monster,Flash Point…………………..stopping there or the list will go on forever!
    Love the show! Love the guests! Love Mr Wheaton!

    Thanks for putting smiles on our faces and from those of us that have read your books and blog and listen to Radio Free Burrito – a huge thank you for giving us inspiration,sound advice,a jolly good chuckle and someone we can relate to!

  10. Henchmen! by DFL Games. It plays 3-6 players and ranges from 40-80 minutes. Also there’s a reference to you and Felicia Day in the game.

  12. I’ve actually thought about this.

    Alien Frontiers is my current favorite game, hands down. The box says 90 minutes, but I’d say closer to 1 hour. Plays 4 people very well and has an obvious high luck-strategy ratio. It’s a dice placement game where you are trying to colonize a planet. The artwork is fantastic, the pieces are beautiful, the game is very easy to learn and play. This would be my top pick.

    Stone Age would be another great choice. Plays 4, takes about an hour, good luck-strategy ratio (dice rolling combined with worker placement) and it looks awesome. I think it would be a perfect choice.

    Coup is a decent choice. The Resistance episode was awesome and Coup captures the same feel, but is a clearly different game. Games are short so maybe playing a best of 3 series would work? Or do another episode of shorter games?

    Incan Gold is another short game. Plays 8 people, you can teach it in 5 minutes and it’s intense. The push-your-luck aspect of the game keeps people engaged. It has very well illustrated cards, very nice components, and gameplay that will definitely keep you tense. This is a great one. It is short though. Each game is probably 15 minutes, so it might be a good one to combine with other short games.

    Citadels plays up to 8 and is easy and fun. Hidden role selection mixed with tableau building. Very fun game. It’s a card game with nice artwork so there wouldn’t be a board per se, but the player dynamics and hidden roles would make for an interesting episode.

    I want to suggest 7 Wonders, but I’m not sure how good it would be with only 4. It gets much better with 6 or 7. But still a good choice. Easy to learn, plays in about 30 minutes, looks great, and is a fun card drafting game.

  14. Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on a Cursed Island
    Cosmic Encounter is a must for this season
    Agree with the calls for Coup too.

  16. I like the idea of Dread Curse. Interaction with other players = good viewing. Or even the new Sheriff of Nottingham.
    Do not do Firefly the game. It is boring to play and cannot be very good to watch.

  17. 7 wonders is a fun game and fits that criteria. I would love to see the firefly game as I did not know it existed.

  18. Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre

    It’s a card game where you’re a powerful wizard (or princess riding a furycorn) and build crazy over the top spells to hurl at each other, for example Bleemax Brainiac’s Boulder-Iffic Bedazzlement or Midnight Merlin’s Two-Faced Power Vortex.

    1. It’s a game about battle and conquer with a very unique style to it all, Was created by a good friend of mine, and i hope it destroys as many friendships as monopoly 😀

  20. The Red Dragon Inn! The base game is set up well for four players, the concept is simple, the cards are brightly colored and hilarious, and I think it does have a decent luck to strategy ratio.

    2. I second Red Dragon Inn. The characters are hilarious, plus a plush rabbit should be included for whomever plays the wizard!

  23. Trying to keep within your criteria: Elder signs (nice condensed version of Arkham Horror and Eldritch Horror), Boss Encounters (love the 8-bit art), and Robo Rally (Might have to play a shortboard or 2-part).

    1. Italian publisher daVinci Editrice.
      I like it because it is my first western theamed card game and it has a little bit of bluffing about goals, luck of the draw, and randomized events.

      p.s. sorry I didn’t include all this in the original comment I got really excited about the opportunity to share this game.

  25. I would recommend Shadowrun Crossfire by Catalyst Game Labs. I picked up a early copy of the game at Gencon this year and it’s incredibly fun. A game can play in about 45-60 minutes, has great cooperative play as everyone is trying to help each other, the art is fantastic, and it has very simple rules. There are upgrades you can get for each player’s characters if you play the game often (think like gaining experience points in an RPG) and the upgrades allow you to play some of the harder missions that come in the box, so it has tons of replay value. The beginner adventure is perfectly fine for the show as it’s good and challenging just by itself.

    Other games I played and saw at Gencon that I thought were great were Heroes Wanted by Action Phase Games and also Shadows of Brimstone by Flying Frog Productions. Heroes Wanted is basically the movie Mystery Men turned into a board game. It’s really funny. The only thing is that its a Kickstarted game and I don’t believe its officially out yet, but should be soon. My friends picked up a copy at Gencon and we’ve been having great fun with it. A game usually runs about 45-60 minutes. Shadows of Brimstone is a really awesome, cooperative board game adventure that play a lot like an RPG. A game of that would run about 90 minutes or a little less. I really like the setting its in, which is old west meets Lovecraftian horror monsters. Absolutely fantastic.

  26. I’d love to see you play a game called Morphology. It’s a bit like pictionary, but instead of drawing a clue on paper for your partner, you build it out of a sample box of mini objects, string, etc. You only have about a minute to do so, it’s timed of course.

    Btw, my kids (13 & 9) and I have enjoyed watching Tabletop very much and have bought and played many games we have seen on the show, but were unfamiliar with. So thanks a bunch for adding new fun to our family time. (We are particularly loving Munchkin and its variations right now.)

  30. hi Wil.. two suggestions.. both are good games.. but possible don’t meet all your criteria.. Talisman 4th edition (bit longer than 90 minutes) .. T’zolkin (not very easy to explain) but both are very visually good to see .. enjoyed your Wil Weaton project .. and the first two seasons of Tabletop.. bought my parents Tsuro… they loved it.. good luck with season 3.

  31. Villainous vikings!! Amazing theme, fantastic game play, interactive, super easy to teach. You know you want to raid towns and destroy your enemies.

  32. Guillotine! Our family’s favorite game together, reenact the French Revolution with goofy silly playing cards =)

  33. I’d love to see Puerto Rico played. It’s published by Alea, and I believe Rio Grande Games in the US.

    Very well executed theme, easy to explain and learn, little downtime, lots screw your neighbor elements. It fits most of the criteria well, the one thing I’m unsure about is the luck to strategy element. People who have played it before generally do very well against beginners.

  34. I know you’ve done Pandemic, but what about the new variation they just released where you’re trying to kill off the world instead of save it?

    Or maybe Kill Dr. Lucky or the card game version, Get Lucky (Cheapass Games)

  35. A series of short games; “Flower Fall”, “Win, Lose, Banana”,”Villa Palletti” (German rules), “Banangrams”, “Animal Upon Animal – Here we turn”, and “Dancing Eggs”.

  37. My suggestion is the game: Down with the King, by Avalon Hill.

    As far as your the criteria for Tabletop game selection:

    1.Plays well with 4 people.
    – Down with the King is designed for 2 to 6 people, and it works really well with just 4 people.

    2.Plays in under 90 minutes.
    – Yes, Down with the King can but played in under 90 minutes.

    3.Can be generally explained in about 5 minutes.
    – YES! Very much so.

    4.Has a high ration of luck to strategy, so everyone has a chance to win the game.
    – Yes, one of the things I loved about it when I played years ago was the ability to suddenly go from a losing position to a winner in just a few hands.

    5.Looks great, has clear graphical design and photographs well.
    – Well, it is a game that’s now over 30 years old … I’d leave that up to you if you think it looks great and all.

    6.Is not something we’ve played before.
    – I don’t think you’ve played it.

    I played this game back in 1981 when it came out and loved it, after many moves and all … I lost my only copy of it, but I still remember playing it and the good times, the fun times, I had sitting around with friends playing it. That was a summer, 33 years ago. All of those friends have moved on, some married, some died, some I have no idea what happened to … but whenever I hear from some of my old friends from way back then and we are talking about the “glory days”, the subject of “Down with the King” comes up and we remember clear gaming sessions we had playing it.

  39. Villanous Vikings – 4 player game, can play under 60 minutes, good balance of luck vs strategy, and an awesome theme!

  41. You should definitely play “Love Letters”!
    And “Galaxy Trucker” would be very funny… 😉

  43. I would highly suggest Guillotine. We play it constantly and love it. Who doesn’t love beheading French nobles.

  45. Back to the Future, Looney Labs: fun theme, fun mechanics, easy and fast
    Battlestar Galactica Express (BSG Express), print & play: the awesomeness of the Battlestar board game condensed to a dice game (reimplemented by Stronghold Games as Dark Moon)
    City of Horror, Asmodee/Repos: you love zombies!
    Dixit, Asmodee: this game is pretty fun, pretty easy, and just pretty
    Dungeon Fighter, Fantasy Flight: it might play havoc with your studio setup but it’s exactly the kind of goofy thing your guests/viewers would love
    Love Letter, Alderac: it’s a great game- I imagine it’d have to be filmed kind of like poker, though
    PitchCar, Ferti: my grandma can play this and it’s tons of fun- no talent required!
    Queue (aka Kolejka), Instytut Pamieci Narodewej: joyfully dreary re-creation of the shortages in communist Poland- easy to play and would make awesome jokes
    Skull/Skull & Roses, Asmodee: bluffing game that would be fantastic in a minigame series with Love Letter
    Space Cadets Dice Duel, Stronghold: I think the ships look like the USS Defiant, and you could take helm, and it would be great….

  46. You can give Unexploded Cow a try. There’s also Girl Genius: The Works. Both are card games. Other possible games are Tokaido, and the tile game Ingenius.

  50. Wil, I would recommend two recently Kickstarted games if you can get your hands on them.

    Copper Country by CMX Games or
    Yardmaster by Crash Games

    Both play with 4 players and fit everyone of your criteria. Yardmaster is more of a gateway card game that you can pick up and play really quickly and easily while Copper Country takes a bit more in depth thinking and strategy. However, both provide a great deal of skill play vs luck play and give any player a good chance at winning.

    Thanks!

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