It’s finally here! Our third season of Tabletop officially kicks off today, with Tokaido.
I love this game so much, and I hope we captured the beauty, balance, and wonderful mix of strategy and guile that goes into each turn.
I played with my pal Chris Kluwe, J. August Richards (who some of you may remember from The Wil Wheaton Project), and Jason Wishnov, who wrote, produced, directed, and coded a wonderful game I worked on earlier this year, called There Came An Echo.
I have said this quite a bit in the last several months, and I’ll continue saying it for the next several months: thank you, so much, to all of our backers, for helping us make this show that we love. I couldn’t have done this without you, and I sincerely believe that you’ll be happy that you did, as the season unfolds.
(NB: Apparently, we made a minor rules mistake at one point in the game, which I won’t discuss specifically because spoilers, but I don’t think it would have affected the outcome.)
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I adored this, I was really rooting for you! Great episode! #teamwil 🙂 x
So proud that one of my artworks is appearing in season 3!! Thanks to you Wil and all at Geek & Sundry – it’s amazing to see it hanging above the couch again! And it was an amazing first show 🙂
This is fantastic! So very excited for this season, as it will be the first season that I’ve actually played some of the featured games beforehand! A HUGE thanks to you, Wil, for being a big part of introducing me to this wonderful hobby!
Watched it. Loved it. Glad I supported it. #PlayMoreGames
Wow, you’re spoiling us – two episodes in two days! I don’t know if I can wait two weeks for the next one. 😉
So glad it’s back! Great episode!
Wil, you seem to have really hit your stride with this series. You seem so relaxed and natural in this episode.
I think the occasional rules mistake is totally okay, because you’re depicting a real game played by real friends, and in real life, we all make rules mistakes.
It makes me sad when you have to say that you made a rules mistake. It’s still a game and should be fun. So what if you made a mistake? Did everyone have a good time? (It seemed like it.) Will they play it again? (Probably, or at least someone out here in the wild will.) Does it make you a better host to get so wrapped up in the rules that you can’t pay attention to your guests? (Never.) So, just call it a house rule and then people can get over themselves and just play and enjoy each other.
Hi Wil: I’m hosting a CAH party for a large group of people new to the game. Can you tell us when that episode will air? Watching it would be an awesome way to orient them to the game. Ps-I learned about CAH from you! Thanks.
pretty sweet
Awesome episode, so happy for Season 3 to be kicking off as i’m just about finished re-watching season 1 and 2 from my backer kit!
Great premiere! I love this game, particularly with the expansion set, and you guys really did it justice. Also I don’t think I’ve ever played any of Antoine’s games and not forgotten a tiny rule the first few times I played them but it’s never taken the fun out of it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the season!
Excellent production value! Thank you for creating such a wonderful show. <3
Wonderful episode, host, guests, and game. Can’t wait for the rest of the season. And based on the footage that made it to the final cut, maybe we can hope for an extended version of this sometime in the future. Thanks for doing this Wil – and all of you that made it possible.
I believe I know which rules mistake it was. After looking back, you would’ve gained 9pts or 4 pts. Not enough to win, but enough to be last. Either way, I’m glad you guys had fun and we the viewers get to be a part of the fun you guys have.
With a game like Tokaido, in which many of us, I included recommended, others outside of the game can get enraptured into the game and enjoy it to a degree that most games don’t tend to have. Boardgames are about the interaction and enjoyment you get from it, so to he able to share that with outsiders, is a very neat treat.
sorry…. Enought to NOT be last.
What a great episode! Enjoyed watching it, and I will probably watch it over and over again. The artwork and the creatively in Tokaido is just amazing. Your video got me rushing to my FLGS, I was able to get a copy of Tokaido. The game is very easy to understand, and I enjoyed it very much. Thank you Will and Tabletop!
Yay! Glad you are back.
A question: Does it matter if I view the show on Youtube or Geek & Sundry? IOW is there a financial benefit to the show if I watch on one site or another? (I think Felicia Day said watching Spooked on Hulu was better for G&S than watching it on Youtube is the reason I’m asking.)
I just want you to watch it, and enjoy it. I don’t care where or how you see it. 🙂
Doubt anyone will be reading this, but missed opportunity not having the player’s background color match their actual meeples from the game.
I like the artsy cuts, as well as the Gurren Lagann reference!
What are you saying: it totaly did !
Grey Wil, Green J, Blue Chris and Yellowish Jason.
(and reaaaly nice touch btw)
The best word to describe the season 3 premiere is ‘beautiful.’ The game is beautiful, the production is beautiful, and the guys playing are…well, you get my point. Congratulations to all involved, for a great first episode.
Watched the season opener with my 8-year-old son. We both loved it. And as awful as it sounds, we love to watch Wil slowly lose his mind as he starts to lose.
I (especially) can empathize, because I lose all the time as well, but Wil’s barely-contained rage at the universe or fate or whatever is wonderful to watch in it’s absurdity, simply because I am right there with you ALL THE TIME.
I know exactly how you feel, and you express the way i feel when I play so very well. I know you want to win, and we also love when you win (“doing donuts in the parking lot” from season 2 has made it’s way into our family lexicon), but when you lose it gives us a real sense of comaraderie.
So thanks for expressing what we are feeling when we lose. If there is a silver lining to your horrible track record, take comfort in the fact that you are making empathic connections with SO MANY of your fans who routinely lose at the games.
Thanks for everything. You’re doing a great job
Wow. That was like sitting at a table with three Waterdeep Felicias. You have my condolences, good sir.
Am I the only one that noticed that Wil kept mispronouncing Chris Kluwe’s last name (pronounced kluːi and not klu)? Chris even introduced himself with the correct pronunciation, but Wil never once got it right.
Anyways, great episode and glad it’s back! Can’t wait for Libertalia and Sheriff of Nottingham episodes!
Yeah, I am really terrible about that, and nobody corrected me until the end of the day.
Enjoyed last night a lot!
One suggestion for future episodes still in pre-production: Bring back the owlbear to cover the mouth of players that are cursing with the “hooo!”. First, because it is comedy gold and hilarious. Second, because the beep isn’t always sufficient to hide what’s being said. I watch the show with my kids so the fewer instances where I have to say “Don’t repeat that in front of your mother or she won’t let us watch the show together,” the better. And they love anything with the owlbear!
Anyway, again, love the show, going to buy Tokaido to play with my Dad (who’s a Japanophile), and can’t wait for the rest of the season.
I like these ones where all the players have a set of teeth. Sharp ones in this episode!
I couldn’t wait for the new season to begin! I felt so sorry for you, Wil – maybe it was just me, but it seemed like the other guys were too hard on you for no reason, and that detracted from this episode from me more than I would expect. ‘That’s not okay!’ I kept thinking. ‘That’s no fun!’ I really hope you had fun, and had more fun (and luck) in other episodes! Best regards, Damian
I’m hoping to play Tokaido very soon. I will also definitely get Pairs from the backers only episode. As a card game it’s easy to transport and it sounds perfect as a filler game or when you want to play something simple and quick after a long night of gaming.
Great episode, lovely game, too bad it appears to be of limited availability. Will have to scour the local comic and game stores.
So glad to see Tokaido get some love. The artwork sold me on the game but the game play keeps me playing.
Just got around to watching this now. Pretty entertaining episode, I personally am a fan of trash-talking so I thought it was fun watching your interactions.
Surprised at all the youtube comments saying people felt you were ganged up on, but maybe it was the editing. 2nd to last player was also getting blocked a lot but not as vocal. Having played Tokkaido once myself it is pretty common to have your optimal move blocked out then you just take your next best move which inevitably blocks someone else’s optimal move. Also if you know who the winner is going to be sometimes it’s fun to just mess around =)
Great game. Glad for another season of game exposure. Wil do you have a top ten of your favorite games? Im always looking to increase my library and since you get to play so many games thought you might have some good suggestions.