For the past several months, my producer Boyan, and I built a list of about 140 games that were potential candidates for Tabletop. We spent the last five weeks playing them to find our final list of games for season three of Tabletop.
It was a very fun process that was also very challenging and kind of exhausting. #GamerNerdProblems
Before I tell you what some of them are, I wanted to talk a bit about the selection process, because it comes up all the time.
I did a Not The Flog all about this, but the basic rules are:
- I have to love the game.
- It has to be in print.
- It has to be teachable in roughly five minutes (there are some exceptions to this rule).
- It must have a good ratio of luck to strategy.
- It shouldn’t have player elimination.
- It can not have simultaneous play.
- It needs to have good production values.
- It needs to play in under 90 minutes with four players.
I’m sure there are some others that I’m not thinking of at the moment, but those are the fundamentals.
We also put games into categories, like:
- Worker Placement.
- Area Control.
- Bluffing.
- Co-operative.
- Co-operative with a defector.
- Bidding.
- Negotiating.
- Storytelling.
And so on. If we end up with two or more games that we really like that fit into the same category, we pick the one that we think would look best on camera, or is in some way a better representation of the category for some reason.
There were games that I loved, like Daniel Solis’ Belle of the Ball, which just won’t work on our show (Belle joins Sentinels of the Multiverse, in that regard). There were games that were so infuriatingly awful, like [GAME THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED], they made me literally angry with rage. There were games, like Escape, that were supremely fun, but feature simultaneous play, so we can’t use them. There’s Rampage — which really needs to be played at human scale at conventions using cardboard buildings and plushie Meeples — that we can’t play because it’s impossible for us to shoot. There were games that seemed promising, but just fell apart at one point or another.
So we took over 100 games that we thought looked promising, and eliminated the ones that broke one or more of those rules. I’d say that left us with about 45 games in all those categories, which we played many times. I guess we’ll call those games the finalists, because I can call them whatever I want, since this is my show. In fact, we’re going to call them Batman.
So we took the Batman games and played them intensely over a span of about five weeks, ending up with 23 games to be played in 20 episodes. They’re all really great games in their various categories, and I’m super excited to see how they play out when we film the show.
I thought it would be cool to share some of the games we’re playing before we get into production, instead of making everyone wait until the episode comes out, so anyone who is interested in them can pick up a copy before the Tabletop effect hits, and also because I like the freedom to be open like this that comes with our crowd-funded season.
So, here are a few of the games we’ll be playing this season:
Tokaido, by Antoine Bauza [Boardgame Geek | Website]
This is a gorgeous, perfectly balanced game, where players take a journey from Kyoto to Edo, along the East Sea Road. It’s from the same designer as Takenoko and Rampage.
Libertalia, by Paolo Mori [BGG | WWW]
In Libertalia, we’re all pirates trying to outwit each other and bluff our way to the best treasure. It’s super fast to learn and play, has massive replay value, and allows us to talk like pirates. Yar.
Sushi Go! by Phil Walker-Harding [BGG | WWW]
We describe this as “7 wonders express”. We’re all trying to have the best meal in a sushi bar, passing cards around the table and trying to keep what will help us, while we try to mess up what everyone else is trying to get. I just love this game, and it’s one of many that are simply outstanding offerings from Gamewright, a publisher that is increasingly becoming one of my favorites.
Five Tribes by Bruno Cathala [BGG | WWW]
This is one of the few “gamer” games we’re going to play this season. It’s published by Days of Wonder, a company that usually publishes “lighter” games (like Ticket to Ride and Pirate’s Cove). I’m most worried about how we’re going to make this game work, because it has a ton of meeples and the art on the game, while beautiful, may feel cluttered on camera. I love it so much, though, I am determined to make it work. I even had my editor come over yesterday to play it, so he could give us ideas on how we can best film it. Not that it matters, but this was my favorite game at GenCon this year, and is so far my favorite of 2014.
Oh, I guess I should tell you a little bit about it, right? All these different colored meeples are on the board, and we pick them up and drop them off like in Mancala, as we use them to claim spaces, score points, and collect resources. It’s a little complex to learn (just because there’s a lot of information to digest), but once you climb the steep learning curve, the gameplay is very intuitive and easy to understand. Because it’s set in ancient Persia, there are Djinn that can help players, and it’s heavily thematic.
Also, while we were playing it yesterday, I got up from my crummy card table (I’m waiting for my Geek Chic table to arrive), bumped the table leg with foot (well, maybe I kicked it really hard because DEX is my dump stat), and not only did I knock all the meeples off their tiles, I spilled my iced coffee over all the djinn cards, and knocked a bowl of almonds to the floor.
It was the most epic and total destruction of a game I have ever witnessed, and I’ve been to France.
Not that it matters, but I ended up winning the game after we restarted with an entirely new setup. I’m really good at this game, so when I lose on the show like I always do, it’s going to be rough.
So there you have a few of the games we’re playing this season on Tabletop. Over the next few days or whatever, I’ll post some more of them. We go into production on Thursday the 8th, and we shoot until the 20th.
OH! And there will probably be a MAJOR AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SEASON THREE in the next few days. I hope you’ll join me in getting excited about it.
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Good looking games…can’t wait to see them played. I’ve been thinking of picking up Libertalia because Pirates!
really enjoy watching tabletop.
Id say try diplomacy but its a smidge long and u don’t want to kill each other half way through the game….
Nice subtle GeekChic name drop there too
I thought you already hinted that you were going to be playing Sheriff of Nottingham on the show?
It’s one of the games that made Batman.
My older two kids (ages 8 and 11) and I are looking forward to season 3. Sounds like I better set aside some more money for when they beg me to get the games you feature on the show. And I’m going to have to build a new shelf just to hold them (and the games we’ve already gotten due to your show).
Any chance for 7 Wonders? You must use the Wil Wheaton leader card though…..
7 Wonders is one of the games that Wil has explained before wouldn’t work. They did play it on a livestream though http://youtu.be/WdrXcikNdQU?t=1h27m29s
Why the restriction on simultaneous play? Just curious.
It’s not possible for us to film it, for a lot of reasons.
With simultaneous play you would need cameras on each person and probably a Brady Bunch style grid to show everything that’s happening. Otherwise the game would really slow down. Much more that normal filming slowdown. Also I suspect everyone talking at once would not make for a very enjoyable experience. When they did 7 wonders during Tabletop day (or whenever it was) everyone was talking and it was difficult to follow.
I am super excited for this “7 Wonders Express” Sushi game! 7 Wonders is a game that I desperately wish worked for Tabletop because all of my friends love it and, in spite of their very patient attempts at explaining it to me and trying to help me play it, I still Do. Not. Get. It. Maybe after watching the Sushi game, the mechanics of 7 Wonders will make more sense! 🙂 (Or not, either way, it’ll be fun to watch!)
I like dread curse better than libertalia.
Goddammit, I was hoping Bang! would be considered because its such a fun card game – it does pass the criteria for being in print, being teachable in approximately 5 minutes, has no simultaneous play, can be played in under 90 minutes, has good replay and production value and most importantly it has a ratio of luck to strategy because of the different cards and their effects
There is however player elimination but not at the outset – in the game there are cards with bullet casings on the back representing the health of the player, when that reaches 0 the player is out but in the game, when either the sheriff or the outlaws and renegades have 0 health then the game is over…
Will, can’t Bang! be an exception to the rules?
I also love Bang!, but we can only have four players on the show, and I do not like Bang! with four players, at all. I only like to play it with a minimum of seven.
Can’t wait to watch the new season! Thank you for making tabletop games more approachable for my family. We’re big fans!
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Tokaido got picked. Very, very cool game.
I would really like to see Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery , but i doubt it would meet the rules ect, anyway looking forward to season 3
“Allows Players To Talk Like Pirates” That, right there, are the ONLY words that need to appear on any advertisements for the game !
Dead of Winter???
How does one find out if you received a game that was sent to you? Just a courtesy yes or no!
I keep mentioning one of my favorite games so let this not be an exception! Stone Age!! fun game, fits your criteria! Also St. Petersburg another favorite of mine!
I think on twitter Wil said he played it in the last couple days, so I suspect there’s a good chance 🙂
Stone Age seems like a strong contender, based on Wil’s recent tweets. https://twitter.com/wilw/status/518235329426640896
I would like to suggest Cyclades…
“[GAME THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED], they made me literally angry with rage” Well that’s not going to kick off the nerd speculation. Nope. Nosiree!
Well we can see what happens to the games he likes…. 😉
It’s likely FATAL…
Really happy about these choices. These are all games I’d enjoy watching being played. It’s reassuring to know that you’re not really short of good options.
I just really hope you play One Night Ultimate Werewolf…I love that game so much but there aren’t many decent videos of it out there.
Awesome games! Hopefully you can score one of the new collector’s editions of Tokaido for the show! Also, glad to see a fantastic new game like Five Tribes but beware, there has been a lot of controversy about that game on BGG regarding the “slave” cards and representation of slavery in the game. It’s been a very polarizing game because of this. Just something to consider regarding possible controversy this game may generate on such a public show, so it bares consideration.
I’m very uncomfortable with the slave cards. I dislike them so much, we almost didn’t play the game on the show, in spite of how much I love the game.
I don’t like, at all, the idea (and the reality, at one time) of humans being used as currency. I don’t like the art on the cards. I also don’t like that they could have been anything, because you basically use them to activate djinn powers, or buy djinn cards, so they could just as easily have been “apprentice” or “mystic” cards.
What I think we’re going to do when we play the game on Tabletop is explain that those cards are in the game. We’re going to acknowledge that slavery existed and was abhorrent to us. We’re going to then explain that it’s so offensive to me, we almost didn’t play the game, but the game is so freaking great, we are going to replace the slave cards with something else, like “apprentice” or “mystic” or … “Owlbear” cards.
If you search on BGG someone has come up with a great Camel card.
Still no Dominion, why is this awesome game never shown on Tabletop???
Dominion is pretty good, but there are deck building games that I think are even better, so if we play a deck building game, it’ll be one of the others.
I’m a sucker for a good deck building game. Which ones would be towards the top of your list to play on the show?
Looks really good. Would be great, though, if you could release more names of games before the start of the Spiel convention in Essen, which starts in 2 weeks. It’s not like I need my “short” list to be any longer than it already is, but it’s nice to be spoiled for choice…
I would like to suggest Quantum
Five tribes was our favorite at gencon too. We learned it from Bruno, in the exhibit hall, and he was the nicest. We have been playing it constantly since. Even my 11 & 13 year old daughters love it. So happy it made the cut.
So on what show, or what occasion are we going to play Cat Wars? 😉
Groove on, s3!
Did you get a new table from GeekChic or are you just moving the old one from the porn set to the…. well the new porn set?
I ordered a table from Geek Chic for myself, which will live in my game room. The table from previous seasons will be used this season, as far as I know.
Oooooo…I’m so excited for you!! Welcome to the club. I got my GeekChic table because of Tabletop. What’d you get? Please post pictures when it arrives.
I’m always torn between wanting you to play my favorite games on the show so you can tell others how great they are and wanting you to play games I haven’t played so I can learn about more games. Either way is a win-win for me, though. So far, I haven’t played any on this list.
Can’t wait–I want to play them all. Thank you so much for making this series, and for having the moxie to go out on your own to produce it.
Thanks for the preview. I’ve played Libertalia on BoardGameArena great game. Can’t wait for the season to start.
Random thought… Would anyone else here like to see Will host a show where game-creators try to develop and launch games? And Will guides them through the process? That would make a great secondary series on Geek and Sundry.
Thanks for this. It’s nice to hear how these shows get made. It’d be cool if you did a post on how you get the guest lineup. Would love to see Patton Oswalt on there someday.
I’m really sad Sentinels of the Multiverse won’t work. I was really looking forward to your & your guests take on it.
It’s a shame about Sentinels. Hopefully that can make an ITD live feed. Personally, I did not notice deck builders on your list (a personal favorite mechanic). It would be cool to see something like Dominion or maybe Arctic Scavengers (which also has a “bidding” element) on the show.
Still, I’m eagerly awaiting the new season.
Yes, a Dominion episode would definitely ease the pain of not getting a Sentinels episode. Now I have to look into Arctic Scavengers. Thanks.
And people gave Anne crap for messing up some trains! Lol
Regarding Five Tribes, you should send people to Shut Up & Sit Down; they just did a video review of it a couple of weeks ago (http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/blog/post/review-five-tribes/).
The hosts (Paul & Quinns) have become a pretty big name in board game reviews and come to the US on occasion…it would be awesome if they were on TableTop some day (hint, hint).
I guess I should take the hint since you obviously read your comments. See you at every game conference next year Mr. popular. Oh, and I hope you liked the game! G
Wow. I will definitely never be playing your game. Great PR man.
That sounds like a very fun grouping of games I like that Tabletop introduces me to games I’ve never heard of.
Love that you are playing Tokaido! One of the most beautiful games out there!
Can I ask (since the gf and I have recently really gotten into it), what about Sentinels of the Multiverse didn’t make it work for TableTop? Just curious.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the game recommendations here! 🙂
Where Sentinels comes to life, for me, is with the flavor text on the cards. We just can’t capture that on the show in a way that doesn’t disrupt gameplay. There are also a crapload of token that are constantly moving around, and it’s too much to keep track of. It is a really fun game, though.
That’s a fair point. When I first wanted to introduce my girlfriend to the game, I could only find a first edition copy of the game at my local board game cafe.
However, it didn’t include any of the tokens they added to the second edition and I knew all of the stats would be a nightmare to keep track of in our heads!
Anyway of doing a special episode for introducing these kind of games to kids? My four year old loves Carcassonne even though he doesn’t comprehend the strategy and it would be awesome to find more games he can play with us without affecting the overall game.
We are doing a kids’ episode, playing with actual kids! I’ll give more details on it later this week.
WOW! You have just made my 7-year old Tabletop-fan son very happy. Also his dad (and presumably his mom).
So awesome! I am a huge fan of Antoine Bauza’s games, and can’t wait to watch the Tokaido episode. I backed the fancy version on Kickstarter, and I’m hoping that will be available in time for your shoot. Keep up the good work, love TableTop! Also hoping to see Gail Simone as a guest 🙂 And bring back Colin Ferguson! He’s hilarious.
I’ve discovered that I’m also a huge fan of everything Antoine Bauza does…. almost.
I’m in the small minority who just doesn’t get the appeal of 7 Wonders 🙂
You know Wil, you won 5 of 19 last season, which is almost exactly average for 4-player games. Complaining that you never win doesn’t work any more.
Hi Will
On the not winning thing. If you can,win. Better for the payers to have a hard fought victory than one not earned’; Unless this is alltongue in check,fun comradry. (I got this sense it is.)
I desperately want one of the games to be the new Firefly game, and for scheduling magic/sorcery to happen that allows for Nathan Fillion to be a guest on that episode. I feel like the awesomeness of a Wheaton/Fillion Tabletop/Firefly supercombo would cause the internet to explode in a shower of rainbow unicorns. And possibly bring about world peace. Amiright?!
I was hoping that you’d play Dead of Winter, but I haven’t played most of the games you picked, so that might be better. (otoh, it might be worse – for my wallet!). On a purely nerd level I’d have loved to see Firefly played (with the Pirates & Bounty Hunters expansion to make it interesting).
Cash n guns would be a fun episode
Yeah, it’s a great game, isn’t it? The only thing that makes it unacceptable for our show, is that we’re pointing guns at each other. I’m not a big fan of firearms, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if somehow some irresponsible gun owner let their kids watch the episode, and for some reason those kids decided to recreate it. I know it’s a one in a million shot, but it’s a risk I’m not willing to take.
Thanks for the shout-out for Belle of the Ball, Wil. I’m very glad you liked it. I hope you also got a chance to play and enjoy some of the other Dice Hate Me Games titles we sent your way. Just as an FYI, the web links for both Belle of the Ball and Sentinels of the Multiverse just link directly to Duck Duck Go. But, hey, at least it’s a search engine!
Cheers,
Chris K.
Ugh. You’d think that, after almost 14 years of this blogging thing, that I’d be able to make the correct links. I’ll fix it right now.
Thanks for the sneak peek! I am so excited to see the episodes for these games. Many of them are on my wishlist, but I haven’t had a chance to play any of them. This is going to be so much fun!
Also, you have to do a review of your Geek Chic table when it arrives.
You just wrote the first sentence of your autobiography.
Love the selection of games so far. But I honestly don’t see what’s wrong with including an out of print game. Have you thought the popularity of Tabletop might cause an increase in demand for an OOP game and it’ll get reprinted because of it?
Katie, that’s a nice thought, but a lot of games go out of print and stay out of print, and I totally understand why it’s a risk Wil isn’t willing to take. It would suck for people not to be able to buy a game they loved seeing on TableTop, and there was already a lot of that in season 1. (Curse you, TableTop Effect!)
When you put it that way, it’s very true. It seemed like years waiting for Betrayal at House on the Hill to come back in print…and even then, I still don’t have the money to buy it yet! ;_;