Strap up your piratical boots, and navigate your ship through turbulent waters in Sail, a co-operative trick-taking game for two players. Reach the end of this dangerous deep end, and avoid taking damage from the Kraken to win the game together...or your crew will be sleeping with the fish!
Before each round begins, players exchange cards, then play a series of tricks. Different game actions will be triggered depending on who wins each trick in combination with the unique character skills. However, the crashing sea water and the roaring Kraken make for a deafening situation, and players are unable to communicate about tactics and card information from the moment cards are dealt to the end of the action phase.
Players win the game as a team if they sail their ship into the final token before the Kraken reaches the Death tile or the Kraken deck is exhausted.
—description from the publisher
- Blend of strategy and unpredictability
- Thematic connection to Arctic life
- Mechanics like unlocking reindeer, recruiting neutral bucks, and capturing opponent pieces.
- Sami people, reindeer herding, competing for grazing rights
- Northern Scandinavia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Capture — Whenever you land on the same line as the opposing plays pieces, you capture them. Think of it as reigning in your opponent's reindeer.
- Dice rolling — By rolling the wooden shaped dice, you'll be able to unlock reindeers on your turn.
- Movement — The reindeers in this game follow a fixed circuit going across the bottom row, moving through the center, and snaking up to the top row. The results of the three barrel dice that you throw will determine the type of movement you'll get.
- set collection — If you ever land on the same space as the neutral buck, you'll get to flip it over to your color side and recruit it, giving you an additional choice on your turn.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a traditional board game of the Sami people of northern Scandinavia.
- It's a game that has a blend of strategy and unpredictability that's shaped by the rhythms of the Arctic life.
- Imagine two Sammy hering groups competing for grazing rights guided by the shifting winds of their knowledge of the land and maneuvering their reindeer herds.
- Saku is a two-player only running fight game in which each player controls 15 reindeer as they try to drive away their opponent's pieces and claim dominance.
- Think of it as reigning in your opponent's reindeer.
References (from this video)
- Engaging cooperative gameplay.
- Intriguing for a two-player trick-taker.
- Requires significant player deduction and coordination.
- Very hard to play.
- The host admits to being bad at it.
- Cooperatively moving a sailboat to the end of the sea, navigating obstacles like krakens and enemies.
- The sea
- Sail Legacy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — All players work together towards a common goal.
- Movement — Winning a trick moves a sailboat in a specific direction along a diamond pattern.
- No Communication — Players are not allowed to talk about their hands or objectives.
- symbol matching — Players try to match symbols on a table based on the cards played in tricks to perform actions.
- Trick-taking — Players play tricks to achieve certain symbols.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Wow, straightforward.
- One of the best mechanisms ever and and most everlasting.
- This is just like seriously one of the like most bafflingly amazing mechanisms ever created for games.
- Keep making new ones. How?
- It's fantastic.
- The scoring in this game is nuts.
- It was one of the greatest like board gaming experience of my life.
References (from this video)
- elegant design and beautiful presentation
- lots of thinking and counter-thinking in a simple rule set
- spiritual theme with appealing art
- ultimate opinion is still forming; not a glowing recommendation yet
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area control / capture mechanics — capture Spirits by meeting set requirements; Spirits shuffled into a central sigil.
- Pattern-building / set collection — seven suits of seven cards; build patterns to capture Spirits.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I am planning on recording a full playthrough of Scythe tomorrow
- I believe I'm going to be getting a review copy of the game so I hope to be able to try it pretty soon and I will be sure to let you guys know what I think about it
- I love seeing how different mechanics mesh together in new and interesting ways
- it's got some stuff that I really like in games has some stuff that I'm not usually crazy about
- it has astonishing art
- I ended up playing this twice ... nuclear war ... I lost both
References (from this video)
- Ability to collect and utilize cards for tableau building and icon set collection
- Area majority on a central board
- Expansion adds new elements
- Previous play experience was not the best
- Game went too long at high player count
- Players may accomplish objectives too easily, leading to extended playtime
- Civ-themed game using cards
- Civilization
- Terraforming Mars
- Ark Nova
- Epochs: Course of Cultures
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area majority — Uses a central board for area majority scoring with military units and cities.
- card drafting — Collect and utilize cards.
- civilization building — A Civ-themed game.
- Iconography/Set Collection — Features icon set collection for scoring.
- tableau building — Place cards into a tableau for abilities.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- So, most of if not all of these games can only be played in person that I will mention in this list.
- So, this is a very heavy game about running a hospital.
- It's like a hospital administration simulator rather than like a game similar to Dice Hospital where it's more focused on physicians treating patients.
- But it it was quite a heavy game, you know, especially considering some of the other heavy games that I've talked about it definitely was over my head
- This is probably at the top of just games on this list that I really want to play again.
- It's a Martin Wallace design of a board game adaptation of a video game, the video game Anno 1800 where you are building up industries in the 1800s acquiring resources and then often trading them with other players in this game to fulfill contracts in hand.
- make games that sound pretty simple when you explain them, but have a lot of strategic depth.
- I really liked how approachable this game was even without having played the video game.
- And uh you know, since then the game has kind of been out of print.
References (from this video)
- The game is tense and players are constantly in each other's faces.
- The celebration action and giving points for money is liked.
- The dice rolls don't significantly bring the game down.
- It evokes emotion and adrenaline.
- It has sharp edges and is aggressive, feeling like a game from a different age.
- The game forces multiple plays to understand its opacity.
- It's a direct player-versus-player experience.
- Mechanically simple but engaging.
- Might be too long, especially with four players.
- Can be AP prone.
- The setup was confusing.
- Fishing
- Fyas Swamp
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose from actions like building, fishing, selling, celebrating, or moving.
- area majority — Islands are scored at the end of the game based on buildings and boats adjacent to cult sites, with a blind bid of influence determining the winner for each island.
- bidding — Players bid a number between 1 and 10, which impacts building costs, movement, turn order, and Fisherman's God movement. Lowest bid goes first for the Fisherman's God.
- set collection — Collecting fish is a core mechanic, with fish degrading in value over time if not sold.
- worker placement — Players place huts (meeting, boat builder, fisherman) on islands to take actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is about as aggressive as it can be without it being a dudes on a map game.
- It has sharp edges. There's elbows out. It's fiddly. It almost feels like a splatter sometimes.
- But then something like this, like, yeah, it's going to suck if you roll bad and it's going to feel really good if you roll well or if you just make the right move. And there's just like this roller coaster of emotions that gets my adrenaline pumping more than like this like steady state the whole time.
- I have no idea what's happening and that to me like feels good.
- The game forces you to to play it multiple times to be able to fight your way through the opacity to to see the path.
References (from this video)
- Dynamic card synergy with banner providing energy to cards
- Multiple upgrade paths (blacksmith, fencer's hall, stickers)
- Variety of optional events adding strategic depth
- Presence of random rewards and rare cards adds excitement
- Clear sense of deck thinning and optimization toward banner timing
- Energy constraints can slow or lock cards if energy not available
- Shuffle sickness and fatigue can slow battles
- Some cards or shop options are expensive or not synergistic
- Demo glitch occurred where battles didn't start or deck was empty
- deck-building, card-based combat where cards grant abilities and effects through energy/mana management
- one-on-one battles with side quests, shops, blacksmiths, and exploration in a fantasy-adjacent world
- commentary demo playthrough
- Stacklands
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- auto-battler — cards play automatically each turn; player has limited control, energy determines which cards resolve.
- bleed — attack creates bleed that deals additional damage; equipment like a cheese grater can apply bleed and draw a card if energy allows.
- boss battler — cards play automatically each turn; player has limited control, energy determines which cards resolve.
- burn — burn is a resource from some cards; healing and energy interactions; when a card is discarded due to not enough energy, burn damage is applied to the opponent.
- card crafting — cards can be upgraded via blacksmith or hall; augmented cards add effects like crit or energy; can reroll options.
- combat victory condition — need to win six battles before losing four; battles increase in difficulty.
- Deck building — start with a small deck, draw cards, discard and upgrade through encounters; deck can be thinned or expanded.
- deck-building — start with a small deck, draw cards, discard and upgrade through encounters; deck can be thinned or expanded.
- energy/mana system — each turn grants a base energy; playing cards consumes energy; some effects increase energy or fill energy on other cards (banner); energy recovery is limited.
- Multi-use cards — Crumbs, Martyr, Slingshot, banner interactions, etc.
- poison — poison increases damage as it's stacked; poison interacts with certain reward cards.
- rewards and events — side quests, treasure hunts, blacksmith tools, trait shop reward options.
- shuffle sickness — after shuffling the deck, the player skips one turn.
- special reward cards — Crumbs, Martyr, Slingshot, banner interactions, etc.
- sticker-based card ordering — stickers can reorder cards by priority (first/second/third) affecting when they are played.
- Trait system — gaining traits like Battle Honed, Sadist; can upgrade traits for permanent effects.
- upgrading and augmenting cards — cards can be upgraded via blacksmith or hall; augmented cards add effects like crit or energy; can reroll options.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the demo for Grail, a deck building auto battler sort of thing.
- This deck works pretty darn well when banner comes out early.
- we're murdering these fools.
References (from this video)
- Clear setup and play explanation
- Explicit description of how scoring works, including row/column matching and differing word card difficulties
- Discussion of pacing (nine rounds) and hand management options
- Mention of a solo mode for single-player play
- visual-word association within a grid; tableau-building driven by image and word cards.
- Tabletop, players build a 3x3 image-card tableau in front of them across nine rounds.
- procedural
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- grid-based tableau construction — Players create and modify a 3x3 grid of image cards to form their tableau.
- hand management — At the end of a round, players may draw new cards or discard to refresh their hand, with endgame penalties for discards.
- hand management / card draw — At the end of a round, players may draw new cards or discard to refresh their hand, with endgame penalties for discards.
- image card drafting / selection order — After players reveal their chosen image cards, the numeric marker on each card determines play order for selecting from the grid.
- resource scoring with gems — Gems are used to track scoring on the grid; points are tallied and endgame deductions apply for discards.
- round-based play — The game unfolds over nine rounds, with simultaneous play and scoring each round.
- solo mode — A solo variant exists for playing alone.
- tableau building — Players create and modify a 3x3 grid of image cards to form their tableau.
- Word building — Word cards placed around the grid score points when they associate with corresponding images in rows or columns.
- word-image association scoring — Word cards placed around the grid score points when they associate with corresponding images in rows or columns.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is Mosaic, a tableau building game
- the goal of the game is to have a nine card tableau in front of us.
- When everyone has played their picture cards, adjusted their grids, and scored their words, they then have two options.
- The game also features a solo mode which I will let you explore for yourselves.
References (from this video)
- beautifully simple
- puzzly and engaging
- stunning artwork
- open to interpretation leading to discussion
- No explicit rating provided in transcript; potential depends on players enjoying puzzle-y word-grid mechanic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — Score in a row/column depends on how many cards match the word on the corresponding word card, indicated by gems.
- gem_resource_management — Gems are placed on cards to indicate the number of matches (1-3).
- hand management — Players start with a hand of three cards and choose one to place in their grid.
- hand_management — Players start with a hand of three cards and choose one to place in their grid.
- Resource management — Gems are placed on cards to indicate the number of matches (1-3).
- row_column_scoring — Score in a row/column depends on how many cards match the word on the corresponding word card, indicated by gems.
- tableau building — Players place cards into a 3x3 grid to create a personal tableau.
- tableau_building — Players place cards into a 3x3 grid to create a personal tableau.
- Word building — After placing a card, players select a word card from a common supply to place in a row or column.
- word_card_selection — After placing a card, players select a word card from a common supply to place in a row or column.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- What I really love is when a game seemingly comes out of nowhere, blindsides you, and is just incredible to play.
- Mosaic is beautifully simple and also really, really puzzly.
- I just love the artwork.
- It's open to interpretation as well, so there's a lot of discussion and conversation that can go around.
- I highly recommend you give Mosaic a try when you get a chance.
References (from this video)
- beautiful art
- solid core concept of grid building and pattern matching
- engaging, social interaction through card meaning debates
- ambiguous card meanings can lead to arguments
- lack of an explicit reference for card-to-ability mapping may slow play
- Grid-based tile matching with pattern recognition in a tabletop party game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Discard to draw — Discarding two cards allows drawing three new cards; discarded cards are set aside and penalize scoring
- End-game scoring — When all grids are complete, scoring tallies across players, including penalties from discards
- grid placement — Players place cards into a 3x3 grid, adding cards adjacent to existing rows and columns
- hand management — Each player holds a hand of three cards; rounds involve selecting and revealing cards, then adding to grids
- hand management / draw — Each player holds a hand of three cards; rounds involve selecting and revealing cards, then adding to grids
- Pattern scoring — Points are earned for matching features across a row/column (e.g., color, helmet, star, moon)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I like Mosaic.
- I'm giving this game a seven out of 10.
- There is a reason it's not an eight.
- It's a fun, amusing, different style party game. Mosaic.
- The concept of the game works really well.
- I find this to be enjoyable.
References (from this video)
- Simple core rules with surprising depth
- Beautiful, rib-cage-like board and a distinctive visual aesthetic
- The central buck mechanic adds meaningful tactical choices
- Dice introduces randomness that can affect control and timing
- Track-based movement may feel abstract to some players
- Deer herd management and territory control with a central buck that can flip sides
- Sami culture in northern Scandinavia; Arctic deer herding
- Cultural anthropology-influenced abstract with a vivid wildlife/arctic scene
- Backgammon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Capture via landing on same bone fragment — Landing on an opponent's bone fragment removes their deer from the board.
- Central buck as dynamic resource — Capturing the central buck flips it to your side, increasing your herd and opening new sweeping options.
- Dice-driven movement along a track — Rolls of dice determine how deer pieces unlock and advance along a figure-8 track on a rib-like board.
- track-based positioning — Deer move along three main rows with a central corridor where most conflict and captures occur.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Doesn't matter which way you turn them around because they all are super fun.
- Paya is actually a Greek game that philosophers and the citizens of Greece used to play to test their mental agility, their ability to ent trap and encircle their opponent by making strategic and tactical moves.
- I find Saku quite a fascinating game just because how simple it is, but I just can imagine myself, you know, leading the herd of deer across the snow in the Arctic, bracing that cold weather and just really um thinking about how I'm going to maneuver my herd into position so that I can have maximum impact against my opponent.
- Bear Hunt has this interesting tactical element to it. You're guided by the lines on the circuit.
References (from this video)
- Unique prediction mechanic that ties player attention to opponents' strategies
- Tarot-based action selection provides a tactile, thematic core
- Strong thematic integration with fortune telling and studio-building
- High production value in deluxe edition (premium components, depth illusion from layered printing)
- Multiple viable strategies thanks to flexible objectives
- Potential learning curve for new players due to intertwined mechanics
- Requires careful tracking of opponents' strategies and resources
- Deluxe components increase price and may complicate setup
- Prediction, fortune telling, reputation-building, and studio management
- A fantasy setting where fortune tellers operate a studio, vying for customers and prestige
- Competitive, player-interaction driven with hidden intentions and forecasting
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Artifact and marketplace expansion — Acquiring artifacts and expanding the studio through a marketplace mechanic adds depth and strategic choices.
- Hidden deployment — Players attempt to anticipate other players' choices, blending hidden intention with strategic planning.
- Prediction/forecasting of opponents' moves — Players attempt to anticipate other players' choices, blending hidden intention with strategic planning.
- Resource and set-collection management — Players attract customers who provide resources (money, crystals) and use them to acquire artifacts and build their studio.
- Tarot card-based action selection — A deck of tarot cards is used to select actionable options each turn, acting as the core action-selection mechanism.
- Track advancement — A shared track tracks fame and power, influencing customer choices and overall progress toward victory.
- Track-based fame and power scoring — A shared track tracks fame and power, influencing customer choices and overall progress toward victory.
- Variable objectives with two-of-four win condition — Four possible objectives exist, and fulfilling any two can secure victory, enabling diverse strategies.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a competitive Bard game for two to four players in which players will pay as fortune tellers
- they have a cool deck of tarot cards which is actually an action selection mechanism
- to secure customers ... get their payment
- spend those money to purchase artifact trinket to set up a good Studio
- by fulfilling just two of them you can win
- you can craft your own strategy into the game and each other player will likely have a different strategy with respect to yours
- seed of the game itself ... we really wanted a game that asked for you to pay attention to the other players and their own strategy
- the fortune teller led to the tarot cards because we had to provide many actions
- it's representative of the deluxe edition
- premium acrylic components with three layers of printing which give an illusion of depth
- there are shadows and those are the core differences between the premium and the base box
- the marketplace is an extension over here
References (from this video)
- Deep interaction and clever cardplay
- Innovative use of prediction and multi-layered bonuses
- Vibrant thematic setting
- Potential complexity for new players
- Some player interactions depend on others' choices
- Fate, prediction, client management
- Fortune-teller themed social interaction game
- competitive deduction with hidden information about others' actions
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deity-end scoring via favors from four gods — End-game scoring determined by God factions
- hand management — Players hold three face-down action cards per turn; plan and reveal
- predictions of other players — You predict opponents' plays to gain bonuses
- Predictive Bid — You predict opponents' plays to gain bonuses
- set collection — Gaining favors from clients and gods to upgrade abilities
- set-collection / resource gain — Gaining favors from clients and gods to upgrade abilities
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- oh my God how good it is
- it's absolutely fantastic
- Mega clever
- no rarity barrier
- it's absolutely delightful
References (from this video)
- Novel two-player cooperative trick-taking mechanic
- Pirate theme
- Interesting dual objective system
- Creative tension between cooperation and competition
- pirates
- naval
- town building
- cooperative competition
- heroes
- fantasy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
References (from this video)
- beautiful production and tactile components
- clear path to scoring through paintings and mosaics
- setup and table presence can be extensive
- potential for analysis paralysis for new players
- artistic production and geopolitical development
- Global civilizations and world-building through mosaics
- tile-based world-building with artistic scoring
- Canvas
- Mystic Veil
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area/engine-building — combine actions and tiles to improve your mosaic engine
- engine building — combine actions and tiles to improve your mosaic engine
- tile placement — place tiles to build mosaics and gain effects
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a very simple game in that on your turn you're going to take one of several actions but there's a lot going on
- Dice in a bowl is the current reigning champion
- this is one of those games if you're interested in playing don't feel like that after one game you feel like you got a handle on it
- the learn to play guide in here walks you through the game
- it's a heavy Euro that uses the app for four players only
- we're here to have fun don't worry about it, we're gamers
References (from this video)
- Unique twist on trick-taking, cooperative
- Strong communication and timing opportunities
- Visually appealing artwork
- Two-player limit
- Can be punishing if goals are not reached
- Asymmetric powers may be underutilized in some plays
- Cooperative trick-taking with map navigation and spatial constraints
- Cooperative sailing journey with a map and hazards
- Team-based objective to sail to a destination
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric powers — Each player has a power that can alter play timing
- card passing — At round start, pass one card to teammate to communicate intent
- symbol matching — Cards have symbols that combine to enable boat movement
- Trick-taking — Follow suit and win tricks to progress the boat
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- cdsk is a trivia based game so it's a little hoot for the family
- I actually really really like this system
- it's quick and it plays in like 10 minutes
- this is a trick taking game but the point is to sail this boat
- I don't know if I'm ever going to use this asymmetric power but then you get to the final three
- this game was a pleasant surprise for me
References (from this video)
- very accessible for a complex civilization game
- strong table presence and strategic depth
- setup can be lengthy for newer players
- card-driven production and multi-path scoring
- civilization-building mosaic
- grand strategy with accessible rules
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — build a diverse production engine by selecting cards
- card drafting and engine-building — build a diverse production engine by selecting cards
- military and civil objectives — compete on multiple public objectives and end-game scoring
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I absolutely adore this one
- I think it is an absolute blast
- this game is fantastic
- an evergreen to me
- it's stripped back and still a blast
References (from this video)
- beautiful production
- challenging and engaging
- very challenging; not casual
- cooperative two-player trick-taking
- pirate voyage with a stormy sea
- lush, thematic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick-taking — players cooperate to navigate a ship using trick-taking mechanics to steer movement.
- two-player cooperative trick-taking — players cooperate to navigate a ship using trick-taking mechanics to steer movement.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Inflation is true. Everything costs more.
- There is a lot still you can buy for £20.
- Code Names is a tremendous game that you can get for $19.95.