Top 60 Board Games at Gen Con 2019 | Part 4

0:00 today we are wrapping up my Gen Con top 60 picks with my final 15 hey there I'm Chaz Marlar from pair of dice paradise and we are mere days away from North America's largest annual board game convention Gen Con where at least 600 new board card and tabletop games are gonna become available for gamers to add to their gaming tables their shelves and their game nights I recently combed through this list of upcoming games and I picked out about 10% of them that interested me the most to discuss here in this series this particular episode in the series wraps up the top 60 picks with only 15 left to cover so let's continue on with number 46 number 46 is an expansion for stockpile illicit investments stockpile illicit investments the second expansion for stockpile contains a deck of investment strategy cards that influence your actions every round players can now shoot for the big short conduct cowboy marketing or pump and dump a company stock which sounds unsanitary but the game also provides another investor card elicit Ivan and an optional variant for deciding your player order stockpile remains an oldie but goodie in fact it's around here some dope here it is yup front and center yep in fact stockpile still sits on my shelves ready and waiting to be played next in fact the next time I play I hope we'll be with

1:30 the illicit investments expansion worked into the mix number 47 on the list is tattoo stories a drawing party game where your art skills much like my opinions on the Star Wars franchise don't matter in a series of quick paced potato in a series of quick paced tattoo competitions win the most points by making up tattoos and telling the best stories players will compete to get their tattoo story selected from the other players and those players will receive points for using the selected tattoo elements most creatively now in the end the player with the most cards and the sickest ink wins the game to be fair storytelling games are always hit and miss but tattoo story's is a unique enough theme I'm willing to give this one a try to see if it scores a hit number 48 is thieves then a card drafting pattern building worker placement game and thieves den set in the world of 10 min heist the Wizards tower the players are master thieves who send their hirelings out into the city to nab the choicest treasures and then sell those ill-gotten gains to the underworld fences to increase the master thief's reputation certain treasures can also be bartered to al-azhar the wizard for special powers which is very kind of him however it comes at a price because al-azhar don't play after 3 rounds the player with the highest reputation is the new crime lord of the town illicitly ill giving ill-gotten booty for your own personal game while bartering with

3:02 underworld elements Oh count me in number 49 is time chase which it turns out is not a game based on the 1994 cinematic masterpiece time chasers this is a stat is a trick-taking game published by renegade game studios or the twist in this game players are allowed to actually travel back in time to previous tricks that have been taken known as events and change their outcome then the first player to control 3 events and the timeline wins it all and that sounds really neat in fact the only thing that would make this concept even more appealing is if the game was redeemed to center around the exploits of science enthusiast Nick Miller as he struggles to use his time traveling profit plane powered by a 64-bit home computer to thwart the evil corporation Jiang Corp a purposeless high-tech firm run by JK robertson whose office is located in the mezzanine of a shopping mall but I seem to have gotten off course somehow so that's time chase an intriguing sounding trick-taking game unfortunately not based on a movie that this promotional photo here is taken from I mean just think of the marketing tie-in potential that you're missing out on renegade game studios the mullets alone in this movie could warrant their own expansion have your marketing people call me well have your marketing people unblock my number then call me number 50 is the Tooth Fairy game the tooth fairy game is the first kids game developed by Petersen games under their new imprint larva games this is

4:34 four games in one complete with 125 plastic teeth in five different colors five bags in five different colors six sided dice five to three cards and rules in English Spanish French and German and Italian which the smart move Peterson games because we all know that the Tooth Fairy travels the entire world covertly collecting obsolete oral bone fragments from children from all nations and languages lurking unseen under cover of darkness now among the games that this box includes rules for is a game about baby teeth called that's my tooth a game about pulling teeth another about adult teeth and one called lie through your teeth which is a variation on the classic game of liar's dice overall this seems to be a really inventive set of children's games which getting parents to play hopefully won't be like pulling teeth the Tooth Fairy still owes me $17 number 51 is the towers of our con oaks a dice drafting tower building game for two to four players this is pitched as a fast and fun family game that plays out in about twenty to thirty minutes in the towers arc knows players must jointly build arcane towers to channel the power of past civilizations and for this your master and apprentices must use magic stones dice and apply abilities written in the book of magic book acquiring prestige and becoming the magician with the most incredible reputation throughout the kingdom there's always room in my collection for another fun fast-paced family game which has enough strategy in it to keep my

6:04 wife and I engaged but also it's funny enough for my kid who actually usually beats us anyway no matter what game we're playing now to think about it so yeah it's the tower volcanoes my last-ditch effort at victory number 52 is tricky druids the players in tricky druids spend all day long collecting ingredients for their potions because they're so super nice they give each other gifts all the time not like that Tooth Fairy who's gonna chippy out of 17 dollars where the hard-earned tooth money in the game tricky druids each player brews potions in their huts hidden from everyone else and each potion needs special ingredients to succeed these happy altruistic druids are having a great I'm given ingredients away to one another and the recipient of each can decide to accept the gift with thanks or return it to the giver well in that case the giver mixes the ingredients in their own potion or just throws the potion in the trash to keep the potion from overflowing the inflammation that I was able to find about tricky druids online was written with such a happy cheerful perspective that it really intrigued me but how this game is actually going to play which is one of the reasons I'm really interested to find out more about it at GenCon to find out if it really is such a genuine feel-good experience or to find out if there are more layers of skullduggery lurking below its surface I'm actually hoping it's the former number 53 is undaunted Normandie designed by Trevor Benjamin who also designed war chests which is right here

7:40 this game is cool in fact hang on here's his other game undaunted which I got to play at organs which is also cool this is a deck building game that places you and your opponents in command of American or German forces fighting through a series of missions critical to the outcome of World War 2 players will use their cards to seize the initiative bolster their forces or control their troops on the battlefield in multiple scenarios to win or even come close to beating your opponent strong leadership is absolutely critical and it can help to turn the tide of battle in your favor but reckless decisions could also be catastrophic as every casualty you take removes a card from your deck so take charge amidst the chaos of battle hold fast in the face of opposition and remain undaunted if you enjoyed war chests or just deck builders in general do yourself a favor and check out undaunted we are on a roll with only seven games left to go on this entire list so let's abruptly interrupt our momentum with this arbitrary thing that some random person wants to sell to you hey and welcome back to this YouTube channel which I hope that your subscribing to and hitting Bell notifications for right now because if it's one thing that complements the video watching experience its it's extra work to do let's continue on with number

9:10 54 which is undo another time travel card game on the list that's also not based on David Jean colas 1994 directorial debut time chasers God instead this is a cooperative storytelling adventure card game which presents emotional extraordinary stories that players must assemble piece by piece and attempt to resolve now far go any further with this full disclosure this game can actually be a little bit off-putting to some as it deals with the pretty heavy theme of attempting to undo untimely deaths to prevent these unfortunate events players will travel minutes or hours or years back in time sometimes even thousands of decades to change events that have laid the foundation for future repercussions in the undo series each time jump gives the players another choice and how they can change the past but not every change is gonna be a better result in the future oh yes I am torn on the undo series i I'm very curious about what its gonna present but I'm also quite skeptical especially because of its theme so in spite of well actually because of this curiosity it's the reason why I really am intrigued to find out more about it at GenCon to find out if it's worth pursuing or if it's another game that perhaps is left undone number 55 is unmatched a highly a symmetrical miniatures fighting game for 2 or 4 players in this game each hero is represented by a unique deck designed to

10:41 evoke their style and legend you've got a myriad of legendary fictional and non-fictional characters at your disposal to choose from but I'll get back to that in just a second first I want to mention to you what this game wants me to mention to you which is its tactical movement and no luck combat resolution system which creates a unique play experience that rewards expertise because just when you've mastered one set new heroes are gonna pop up and arrive to provide all new matchups for you have to figure out and struggle with until you win perhaps perhaps not but either you win or not win fun will be had yep earlier I mentioned that this game includes a myriad of different heroes to choose from such as King Arthur or Sinbad or Alice from Wonderland or Bigfoot and just a whole bunch more oh and and to answer what is inevitably your very first question because it was mine this is the ancient old legendary Sinbad of yore not the 80s comedian at least not yet because there's a lot of expansions coming so each of the cards in this game offer unique effects as simple but deep timing system that leads to interesting decisions each time that you play it this game includes a double-sided board with two different battlefields pre-washed miniatures for each hero and custom life trackers restoration games just seems to be on fire with unmatched it's one of the few games that actually sold out completely on the BoardGameGeek pre-order system before Gen Con so a lot

12:12 of people are hoping to scoop this game up and I think with good reason number 56 is until daylight look not all games have to like you and that's okay but but every now and then you come across a game that seems to just revel in its dispassionate disdain for your struggle for victory and with that allow me to introduce daylight a cooperative survival game in which your goal is to survive 10 waves of enemies and save at least one of the survivors in the game good luck because during the game players can find exchanged objects and weapons and ammunition with other characters and they can build traps or barricades to protect themselves and to ensure their survival as a group with all of that at the player's disposal I don't see how we can lose now each character that you can play in this game has its own unique advantages and drawbacks which would help amplify the tension that builds over the course of this game now the publishers description of this game states that quote a player's first games should be difficult and they will probably die thanks game but don't worry it continues it's normal to lose like this because surviving the apocalypse isn't supposed to be easy it then politely offers some salt for that wound by adding that every attempt will teach players a little more about the game mechanisms and strategic priorities until daylight is a game in which every

13:43 single action counts and where time will be very very cruel to you in some phases players will have only a few seconds to react before the Horde falls upon them perfect thanks game now am I kidding I'm in number 57 is vindication formerly known as epoch The Awakening this is a highly strategic fantasy based tabletop journey for 2 to 5 players with a play time of 15 to 30 minutes per player in this game players start out enjoying their luxurious boat ride until they're thrown overboard due to their life of wretchedness and eventually they wash ashore a hostile island of ruins completely alone with nothing except the breath in their lungs and an undaunted spirit well we're already off to a great start that what happens well then through the players advanced resource management techniques area control tactics and freeform action selection they will add companions to their party acquire bizarre relics attain potent character traits and defeat a host of unnatural monsters towards the ultimate goal of mastering heroic attributes and regaining their honour tada oh you have quite the challenge ahead of you don't you game player but don't worry I have complete and utter confidence in you because you have strength of character and are not a total deadbeat unlike a certain dental sprite I could mention but won't number 58 is Watergate a political thriller

15:16 from capstone games in this two-player game Watergate one player represents the Nixon administration and tries not to resign before the end of the game while the other player represents the Washington Post and tries to show the connections between Nixon and some of his informers I usually avoid games based on real-life political stuff like this because I just I'd rather be an elf but this game really does intrigued me I saw this being played at origins I didn't get a chance to play it myself but based on what I saw and heard about the game there it instantly went on my list for Gen Con this game has been compared to Twilight Struggle perhaps Twilight Struggle Lite but in some ways it may actually be a little more approachable and accessible so even for someone who when it comes to real-life political dramas unfolding in front of them would just rather not Watergate still to me is intriguing and interesting enough that okay yeah show me what you got Watergate number 59 is Wilkin the goal of Welkin is to win the most gold by crafting and selling those famous floating islands that you see on science fiction book covers and that one time that the chiropractor accidentally wrote you the wrong prescription each turn the players can either select a new island creation to contract for construction produce one of the five various resources that are available or allocate those resources onto their contracts to craft them sounds easy but not so fast because players will have

16:46 limited spaces to store their contracts and their resources so they're gonna have to constantly juggle their production to complete their objectives in an optimized manner I'm really interested in finding out more about welcome to see if the game goes well or if it's one I can do without we only have one left and it's number 60 which is wreck Raiders a dice trolling sent collection worker placement game that uses an interesting dice drafting system in this game players are competing to recover exotic treasures from a sea floor that's overflowing with pirate shipwrecks so send your divers into the deep but be careful because moving too close to other divers lets them get in on the haul that you're bringing up players will accomplish the recovery of their treasures by selecting dice from a central pool and then sending one of their divers to any spot on the board that matches that number but be warned mr. diver guy because the spot that you choose will help any diver in the spots that are next to them whether they are friendly or not in short what's mine is mine and what's yours is also potentially mine will you risk arrival in on your haul to get that treasure that you really do want or can you find a way to grab yourself some other loot somewhere else that is the conundrum at the center of every turn in wreck Raiders now I got to see an overview of this game at origins and it looked pretty interesting with room to make some pretty tricky decisions in fact the only problem that I have with

18:16 this game is that I always miss here its title as Rock Raider one of the DJ's from the executioners and if you understand that reference so let's hang out sometime but for now we're done hanging out because that is my list of the top 60 games that I am hoping to find out more about at Gen Con 2019 and if you you are gonna be at Gen Con this year well be sure to stop by the BoardGameGeek booth where I'll be working throughout the convention and come say hi but until then I've been Chas Marlar from pair of dice paradise take care

18:54 you