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.

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

  3. I have lots of (mostly co-op) ideas:

    1) Sentinels of the Multiverse (by Greater Than Games), whether a basic version or something expanded. Superhero action! As a true co-operative however, everyone wins or loses together. Dunno if this works for your show format.

    2) Dead of Winter (by Plaid Hat Games), although you’ll definitely want to do one of the short scenarios to keep it under 90 minutes. Super thematic, and it has been quite a while since Tabletop did Zombies. This is meta-coop, so you get any combination from “everyone loses” through any number of winners up to all winners (rarely).

    3) Coup or Coup: Reformation (both by Indie Boards and Cards). Both are in-universe to Resistance which you’ve played before, but it is a very different bluffing game. This probably belongs in a show that is a collection of shorter games.

    4) Dragonslayer (also by Indie Boards and Cards): Another one for a short-game show, I feel like this is an alternate-theme upgrade to Zombie Dice. It has a little more player interaction and oneupmanship.

    5) Red Dragon Inn (by Slugfest Games): who doesn’t want to see you and a group of three friends play as rowdy stereotypical adventurers having a brawling drinking contest?

    6) Get Lucky (or lots of other things by Cheapass Games): Probably also for a “multiple shorter games show”, but lots of James Earnest’s games are charming, silly, and variance-heavy enough to make for a good showing. Mostly, I want to see you fill a table with celebs who also also portrayed on the cards of this game.

  5. I checked to see if there were any I was going to suggest that you’ve already played, and I don’t think there were, so here’s my 3:

    Firefly – Gale Force 9 Games. Has 3 expansions out for it (breakin’ atmo, blue sun and one for mercs/bounty hunters), but even just the base game is phenomenal. They (GF9) also put out a Spartacus game, but while great, isn’t the most family-friendly.

    Relic – Fantasy Flight. Based on the rules for Talisman, but set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Plays great with 4. Competitive, but indirectly antagonistic. They’ve released an expansion, Nemesis, which introduces a directly antagonistic element.

    Zombicide – Guillotine Games. Co-op zombie scenario based game of zombie-killing mayhem. Lots of fun, right out of the box. Has many options for expansion as well.

  7. More storygames if possible. The Fiasco episodes were revelatory and I know for a fact that they are important in the storygaming community for having attracted new players to the hobby.

    Perhaps Love in the Time of Seith or Microscope or even more Fiasco.

  8. Heroes Wanted (by Action Phase Games). You guys will have a riot playing this game! Very original theme and concept as well as being very visually appealing!

  9. Stupiduel by Lost Adept Distractions. An incredibly fun (and funny) card game which involves challenging someone to Stupiduel and using the words on the cards to create your weapon ( explosive hamster, 10 mutant garden gnomes etc.) to be used in a plot to destroy your opponent. Priceless for the creative, outrageous stories that ensue! Currently has 2 expansions!

    1. Agreed. Stupiduel is pretty wonderful! You could say it’s more luck than skill, but it’s mainly based upon creativity.

  10. Check out the Pathfinder Card Game. If you include setup, it may be over 90 minutes, but actual playtime is shorter. Also, it’s cooperative, so ‘give everyone a chance to win’ is a moot point.

  11. Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot by Playroom Entertainment.

    Strategy needed to keep your bunnies alive and to earn carrots.

  12. I would love you to play Concept. It’s a new game that has already won some awards. It’s a word guessing game where the only way to give clues is by placing markers on a board with ~120 pictures representing basic concepts.

    The genius part is that the markers are color coded so that you can give clues for sub-concepts without muddling the primary concept.
    For example, if you’re trying to convey “Back to the Future” your first set of clues might be the Movie icon and the Time icon. If that doesn’t work, you could extrapolate a sub concept with Land Vehicle, Fast, and Bad Weather, or you could try to convey Parents (baby + opposite) and Love.

    The game is a huge amount of fun to play, the board has a simple clean design, it can be explained in about two minutes and play in under an hour, and I think it would lead to great antics with the cast members of your show. I think it’s a perfect fit, and I hope that you are able to play it.

  13. Guilds of Cadwallon by Cool Mini Or Not. This was a Kickstarted game. I think Kickstarter is a great platform for new board games, and especially since season 3 was funded using Indiegogo, I think it would be great to see more crowdfunded games on the show.

    Guilds of Cadwallon plays really well with four players. It’s easy to learn, especially when playing with fewer options (there are many variations of play when including various expansions). If action cards are used (still easy to learn) it gives the game a much higher luck to strategy ratio, because your careful plans can be thwarted easily. But the game is also very strategic, and strategy is easy to develop, even for new players. Very competitive, very fun, and can definitely be played in 90 minutes.

    Forbidden Desert by Gamewright. A more complicated version of Forbidden Island, Also by Gamewright. Similar to Pandemic (by Z-Man Games, which was already on the show). This is a cooperative artifact hunting game.

    Forbidden Desert is a cooperative adventure game with a very steampunk setting, where the players need to hunt down sections of a steampunk airship crashed in the ruins of a desert in which a huge sandstrom is constantly burying everything and everyone. It’s one of those games that looks complicated, but in fact can be learned in literally about 5 minutes. The steampunk art and theme is really neat. It’s easy to play and takes usually around 45 minutes with four players. Similar to Pandemic in that it’s cooperative and each player has abilities to help the group’s cause, but less complicated.

    Superfight! Self published here: http://www.superfightgame.com/
    Superfight! Was also Kickstarted. It’s like Apples to Apples and/or Cards Against Humanity, but with multiple cards designed to build fighters, and fights judged by either the whole table, or by a referee.

    Of two players, each places a fighter and a good attribute. Then each places a negative attribute on the other player’s fighter. Each player defends his case as to why his fighter would win the fight. Then a the ref or the table judges the winner. Then the roles of fighters and ref move to the next players. It takes as long to learn as it does to read the above five sentences. The game is hilarious and creates great debate among the players. And you get great character combinations like, A Robot, 100 of them, Afraid of Clouds. That’s not even a very good example of how awesome the fighter combinations can get. It can be played for any duration determined entirely by the players. I actually like it better than Apples to Apples or Cards Against humanity.

  14. I vote for Heroes Wanted, a very new game from Action Phase Games. It’s basically “Mystery Men: The Game,” in that you play randomly-generated C-list heroes (like, “Captain Giraffe” or “The Leather Laser”) fighting the bad guys AND each other to earn a spot on Zeta City’s only real superhero team. It’s hilarious and so much fun!

  16. Game Wright has this awesome card game called GUBS which has become one of my group of friend’s favorite quick gotos. The rules are simple enough for most people, the game is chaotic (which person is in the lead is constantly changing), and the art and text on the cards are delightful.

  19. Sheriff of Nottingham (Arcane Wonders). Merely for the look on your face when Felicia Day sneaks a cart load of mead under your nose. Great game of deduction and bluffing. Put your acting chops to the test, Mr. Wheaton.

    Galaxy Trucker (Rio Grande Games). The real time mechanic is rare in games, but no game does it better. It only takes up a portion of the overall game play and is not overly complex. This game is a hoot win or lose. I feel this would be a great addition to the show.

    Rampage (alt. name: Terror in Meeple City, by Repos Production). Another unique mechanic (dexterity) to showcase the versatility of games in the market. Plus, who doesn’t like big monsters wrecking a city and eating meeples? Just don’t invite your table slamming wife.

    To round things out, how about another co-op game.

    Flash Point: Fire Rescue (Indie Boards and Cards). Loved your show on Pandemic and this game would deliver much the same. Looks great on the table and that moment when you clear out a patch of raging fires with a precise shot from the fire engine hose, it’s high fives all around.

  21. Heroes Wanted by Action Phase Games! Great for 4 players, easy to pick up, and the quirks would make for a hilarious episode.

  24. Legendary: Villains would be great with a set of villains that emphasize being jerks to each other (Loki and Magneto stand out).

    Sheriff of Nottingham, with all of its bluffing, would be right up there with the Resistance for sheer fun with actors.

    I agree with the people above who mentioned Cosmic Encounter and Forbidden Desert.

  25. Zombicide Season 2 (Prison Outbreak) with Toxic City Mall expansion! (or just the base game). Looks fantastic, is coop fun, miniatures, easy to play!

  32. Zombicide by guillotine games… Because… Zombies. And most of the survivors look like characters from different movies and shows.

  36. Dead of Winter from Plaid Hat Game : It’s awesome

    Zombicide from Guillotine Game/Cool mini or Not: Co-op and beautiful for the camera

    Hanabi: Would be a nice little game

    Quantum from Fun Forge: I think i could have potential for the show

    Libertalia from Asmodee/Marabunta: Pirate game šŸ˜€

    Cosmic Encounter from Fantasy Flight Game: Another nice game here šŸ™‚

  38. Zombicide – Guillotine games, great game, easy to pick up and you also get to smash zombies which is never dull

  39. Since all of my knowledge of any new games comes from Tabletop, I can’t suggest what. However, I will suggest someone you should have on for at least one episode: Joel Watson

  44. Zombicide, but not for a couple months. A few characters resemble TBBT stars, and it would be great to see the actors use them. Most are limited, though.

  45. Zombicide – by Guillotine Games… the Game hast everything… fun, strategie, luck and more fun!

  48. Zombicide
    Fast, action paced, coop and you get all of those feelings you have watching a zombie movie while playing a board game.

  50. I don’t know if this has been done before, but how about a show on games for smaller kids? I’d love to introduce my kids to new games but so many of them seem above their age level and I hate buying stuff only for it to sit on a shelf for years. What can a 8 yr old play? Or a 10 yr old that is more fact-based and doesn’t have the imagination for RPG?

    1. Shannon both my kids (son now 12 and daughter now 16) have LOVED Scotland Yard for years, because it takes a bit of both and the fun of teamwork to catch the bad guy (and occasionally being the so called bad guy) Kind of gets them role-playing but still using strategy and deduction to solve the puzzle of where Mr X is going to turn up next.

      That said, both my kiddos for various emotional development reasons had trouble getting into standard rpgs at first struggling with visualizing their characters and the world “around” them. Until I adapted a basic starter D&D game using elements from their favorite tv show and gameboy game at the time Pokemon. I streamlined game rules and character/monster stats (mostly on the fly in my head during the game.) That helped bridge the gap for them to get more immersed in role-playing because they’d already done essentially the same thing naturally playing on their own pretending to be Pokemon trainers and suchlike.

      So maybe that could be an option for you and your kiddos. Taking elements from their favorite programs and characters and incorporating it into a role playing adventure. I have to admit I thought I would be bored the first time we did it but I still treasure the hilarious memory of my son’s character running around with an angry Farfetch’d Pokemon on his character’s head after a failed “attack” roll. And his sister’s character tried to knock it off but failed her roll and ended up knocking him down instead (and the Farfetch’d made its saving throw and STAYED on his head!) All in our heads but it really came to life that day. šŸ™‚ I can still hear their laughter.

      Best thing about that approach is that you control all the stats, you decide what is age and individually appropriate action in their adventure, for example, we didn’t kill our Pokemon in battles we stunned them or they fainted as in the game, and any “damage” they did to the characters was minimal. And I set a puzzle for them to solve, or rather a mystery much like the show and movies so it wasn’t just roaming about the countryside smacking random Pokemon.

      Anyway, hope this helps a little, I remember all too well my frustration with trying to find games that we could play as a family that didn’t end in tears and bore the ‘rents.

      I’ve also found that several of the games played on Tabletop can be adapted easily for you and your kids, Ticket To Ride, Small World, Castle Panic, just to name a few.

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