We Crown The Best Antique Board Game - Tournament Style!- Lost In The Shuffle

0:00 It's time to find out which one of these 16 antique board games is going to win our very important board game tournament.

0:07 Very important. And which one of these are going to get lost in the shuffle.

0:17 Welcome back to both you, the viewer, and to my co-host, Grant.

0:21 Yay. I'm excited to be here. I am I am ready to hear which of these games is going to win.

0:25 That's right. Last episode, we went through and listed 16 antique board games, games that were first published between 1900 and 1925 to then put them to the test against one another to determine once and for all what is the best antique board game.

0:44 And I will say I was surprised at how many games from over a hundred years ago are still relevant today, whether they're still being played or whether they've influenced more modern games. So, there's a lot of strong games in this bracket.

0:57 Oh, I shared that response to seeing the games that were on our list.

1:01 Yeah,

1:01 let's reintroduce the games by their placement on the tournament bracket.

1:06 And it is important to note that we randomized the placement in the tournament bracket. These weren't like seated or anything like that. It was just random who was going up against whom

1:15 exactly. Speaking of which, first off, we're going to have the game of time up against Rook. Then we've got spoof against excuse me, a game of manners for children.

1:26 Then we have Bunko, which perhaps I should put in quotation marks. Duking it out against the wonderful Game of Oz.

1:34 Little Shoppers against Pit.

1:37 Bridge against one of Grant's favorite names, Hickey. Hickey.

1:41 Come on. It's fun to say. Jin Rummy against Uncle Wiggly. Complete. Tidly Winks against Pogs. and the landlord's game against little wars.

1:53 Oh, this is going to be a good challenge. We are going to debate and discuss which one should go forward. We'll vote secretly on our candidate and if we are unanimous in our decision, that game will move forward.

2:06 Okay.

2:06 Otherwise, we'll have a tiebreaker to be determined.

2:12 Are you ready for our first matchup?

2:14 Yeah, I'm I've already written it.

2:16 Oh, I'm very ready. I'm I'm I'm ready to see a winner here.

2:21 Okay, let me put mine down.

2:23 Yeah.

2:24 Okay, Grant, since you're chomping at the bit there, what did you put?

2:27 I put Rook.

2:29 Oh, I put also. You knew I was going to vote for it. I love trick taking games. I still play trick taking games all the time. And Rook being one of the earliest trick taking games, it's still fun and it's still relevant. And the game of time is too real for me.

2:45 Okay.

2:46 Yeah, I think that this one was pretty much a no-brainer. just given the fact that you can go to any game store in the world and still see Rook on the show.

2:52 Yes, for sure. All right, move it forward.

2:54 That was easy enough. So, our first one, Rook moves.

2:57 Boom. Okay, congrats to Rook.

2:59 Well, let's go over here now to Spoof versus, excuse me, a game of manners for children.

3:04 Okay, if you remember, spoof was kind of like the early version of Spoons. And a game of manners for children was a game about corporal punishment for your child. About testing your child.

3:18 Yes. Okay. Well,

3:20 all right.

3:21 Oh, boom.

3:22 I also chose spoof.

3:24 You didn't also choose it, though. You didn't write also.

3:26 Oh, okay. I coincidentally chose spoof. I chose spoof because, as I mentioned last episode, there's still games that are influenced by this concept. Whether or not Spoof came up with the concept, it's still being applied to games like Jungle Speed and other Spoon.

3:41 Sure. Yeah. I mean, that idea of grabbing something in the middle, but being sort of secretive about it, I think that's a fun idea. It's a nice way to do some player interactions.

3:51 Have you played Magic Maze?

3:53 I have. Yeah, I like Magic Maze.

3:55 Would you say that Magic Maze also has a little

3:57 Yes, it does. Yeah. Yeah. So, congrats to Spoof for moving forward.

4:01 Yes. Into our next round. Bunko versus Wonderful Game of Oz. And this is important to mention that this is a card game Bunko, not the dice game bunko that Paula and I recently discovered at a thrift store.

4:16 They literally they literally say on their BG page, "This is not the dice game that you're thinking of."

4:23 However, it is still indetermined whether or not this version of Bunko is haunted or not.

4:28 Sure. Sure.

4:29 All right.

4:29 All right. You got yours?

4:31 I did. Oh.

4:32 Boom. Hey,

4:33 I also chose Why did you pick this up?

4:35 Because we don't know what that is. That's why I picked it.

4:39 Because when your first sentence is this is not the game you want to be playing, that's a bad sign.

4:45 Yeah. This game you found is not the game you're looking for.

4:48 Yeah. Yeah.

4:49 Yeah. I mean, that's pretty much a disqualifier right off the bat.

4:52 Yeah. For real.

4:53 Okay. We'll probably come back with more to say about the game of specifically in the next round, but I think that is enough just to propel this one forward.

5:00 For sure.

5:00 What do you got for us?

5:01 All right. Little Shoppers against Pit here.

5:04 Oh boy.

5:05 Uh, and remember, Little Shoppers does come with 24 playing pieces. So, that's a nice thing about it.

5:12 And that's kind of an interesting thing about these two being matched up randomly because Little Shoppers selling point was its components.

5:19 Yeah.

5:19 One of Pit's selling points is its component.

5:22 Component. It comes with a bell.

5:23 Yeah.

5:24 Is that enough to push Pit over the top?

5:26 That is for me enough to again, it's still a relevant game. And that matters to me in this bracket. If you have somehow stuck around for over a hundred years, that's a that's a pretty big accomplishment in my mind.

5:41 I have a jar of peanut butter in my cupboard that has the same accomplishment.

5:45 I think Yeah, Pit. I mean, I've played Pit within the last decade.

5:49 Yeah.

5:49 And I have not played Little Well, I've done Little Shopping, but I haven't actually played Little Shoppers. Speaking of games that can stand the test of time, next up we have paired bridge versus Hickey

6:03 Okay.

6:03 Will Hickey Picky's fun to say title be enough to push it past bridge?

6:09 I don't know. I'm a little nervous. You were scribbling there on your board for a while.

6:13 I I needed the world to know that my head says Bridge, but my heart says Hickey Pickity, but I picked Bridge.

6:21 I'm sorry, Hickey Pickity. [clears throat] I love your name, but a name is not enough.

6:25 Name is there's not enough. I put this Bridge.

6:28 So,

6:28 and I think you're right, too. Bridge is really a lifestyle game.

6:32 Yeah. I, you know, again, that idea of still being relevant. Bridge is still relevant many, many decades later. All right. Now, we've got Jin Rummy against Uncle Wiggly. Another fun name against probably a better game. Just fun name, I guess. Better game. Yeah. Are you telegraphing your decision?

6:56 Maybe slightly.

6:58 Okay.

6:59 Uncle Wiggly, you'll always remain in our hearts. Jim Remy beat you.

7:03 Oh, yeah. And I put Jin I even went so bold I spiced mine up by giving you a little poison for the band poison from 80s. Little flare at the end. That's Yeah. Yeah.

7:12 Yeah. I kind of gave my M too many um parts of it.

7:17 It's a little ruming itself. You know what I mean? Yeah. Oh, Jin Rummy against Bridge is going to be interesting in the next round.

7:25 Match up in the next round.

7:26 Well, let's work our way there by putting the complete Tidly Winks versus Pod. Okay, important thing about this. This is not the original game, the inception of Tidley Winks. This is a variation of Tidly Winks where they threw in like extra games and add-ons and bowling pins and other stuff.

7:43 Yes, bowling pins is a nice selling point.

7:46 Yes. All right. So, it's time to scribble out an answer here without revealing to my co-host/competitor/partner what I'm writing down.

7:56 Yeah.

7:56 All right.

7:57 All right. You got yours?

7:59 I do. I'm locked in.

8:00 It's Pogs for me. That was so much of my childhood. The '9s. I got to go Pogs.

8:04 I You know what? It's got to be Pogs.

8:06 Wow. We've been on the same Yeah. It's going to start getting way harder, though.

8:11 Yeah. Yeah. I think we're breezing through the first round. Now, what I thought was interesting about the random pairing is we both have games about flicking things up together, but only one has stuck around long enough to make a resurgence.

8:24 Yeah. And only one is was so popular in modern times that I guarantee you 99.9% of people wouldn't even know it's based on a game from a hundred years ago,

8:35 you know.

8:35 Absolutely. Well, that and many other factors bring Pogs forward to the next round. I think we have what is probably our hardest matchup in the first round. Little Wars versus the Landlord's game.

8:50 Now, these are such pivotal games. Maybe we should take a moment to just reintroduce each game as why we feel they have such

8:57 Yeah. I mean, I think I feel slightly bad for whoever loses this uh matchup because I think they could have beaten a lot of games out there, but that's uh that's the luck of the draw in a tournament. So, the Landlord's Game is what became Monopoly. Uh, a game that is obviously one of the highests selling games of all time. And the Landlord's Game was created 30 years earlier and then stolen from the designer of the game. Uh, and then Little Wars was uh sort of the first war game.

9:24 First miniatures war game.

9:25 Yeah. The first the first modern miniatures war game.

9:28 Yes. Yeah. And was created by HG Wells, famous author of War of the Worlds and other uh great books. two two games that in any other pairing would have been the no-brainer choice.

9:39 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they really are like they are games that have influenced the board game hobby for a long time and are uh both important

9:48 to the hobby.

9:49 And now it's time for us to make our choice of which one advances.

9:54 All right. Should I reveal first?

9:56 Yeah. You know what? Next round, I'll reveal first.

9:58 Okay. Yeah.

9:59 Well, the reason I went with this game is because she's already had enough stolen from her, and I didn't want to steal this win from her, too.

10:08 Okay. I also chose the land. Okay.

10:12 Because if you walk into any big box retailer, are you going to see miniatures war games or you're going to see 700 flavors of Monopoly?

10:19 That's true.

10:20 Okay. It's still out there. is still evolving in some way as are, you know, ninjas war games certainly, but they are just a little bit more broadly accessible.

10:29 Yeah, for sure. That is true. All right.

10:32 All right. Bring Landlord's game over.

10:33 We got our final eight right here. Boom.

10:36 All right. There we go. We're going to just truck right on to the next round. So, we're going to reset the board. Yep.

10:43 With these. And as we reset, actually, you know, let's take pause for a quick word from someone, somewhere, or something that helped make this episode possible, we'll continue with our two-player duel after thanking the strategic two-player duel that helped make this episode possible. And that is Naishi, a tableau builder with a twist. Cuz at the heart of the Japanese Imperial Court, you will be expanding your province by obtaining new structures and influential characters, each of which will grow your prestige. From a shared market, players will add cards to either their tableau or directly to their hand. However, it's not quite so simple cuz the Shogun's law is strict and reorganizing your cards is strictly forbidden. That means the cards you take must remain in the same relative row that they came from. So, you'll need to tactically seize crucial opportunities and use your emissaries to obtain and place your cards as efficiently as possible. Each card type has its own unique scoring method at the end of the game, and using every option available to arrange your cards on the table and in your hand will be crucial to victory. Naishi is available right now, so follow the link in this video's description to find it at local game stores and directly from Renegade Game Studios.

12:00 All right, eight solid games here. Eight solid antique games still in the running.

12:04 Yes. And I think that this is going to become a lot more difficult.

12:08 Yeah, I agree. Now, [snorts]

12:10 hell, if you are set, I am as well.

12:12 Uhhuh.

12:12 To discuss Rook versus Spoof.

12:16 Okay.

12:16 Uh, as I mentioned, you know, spoof has influenced uh many other games that we were able to think of.

12:22 Mhm.

12:23 But rook itself is still round.

12:25 Yeah.

12:25 So, I had to go rook. And I personally love trick taking games. I think it's a great genre of games. So, Rook, congratulations for moving on to the semifinals.

12:36 Yeah, that was Yeah, that was a pretty definitive

12:39 Mhm.

12:40 win for Rook over Spoof.

12:42 Yep.

12:43 But this one

12:44 Yeah. Bridge versus Gin Romy. Two card games, two lifestyle type of games that are still actively played regularly by a lot of people. So, what we have here, yes, is two very popular long-standing card games, but one of them you can play with a normal deck of cards and can be adapted to other games and incorporated in the other other games much more easily. Yeah. Which is why I picked Jin Mario.

13:11 Yes. And I will say of these two games, I have played one of them and one of them intimidates me because everybody knows how to play it so much and is like if you don't know how to play this, get out of my house. So I also picked Jin Rummy.

13:26 Okay.

13:26 Yeah.

13:27 And it does I think Bridge should get like an honorable mention, but Yep. I think Jin Rummy is the more versatile, accessible, uh, and wider spread game.

13:38 Yep. Boom.

13:40 Okay. Okay. Well, here we have the wonderful game of Oz versus Pit.

13:44 All right.

13:45 This one, to be honest, wasn't even worth wasting a lot of ink on, so I wrote it very small.

13:51 Pit

13:52 and Pit. Yeah. The Wonderful World of Oz really only uh advanced uh because Yeah. because of Bunko being so bad.

14:01 Yeah.

14:03 Yeah. So, yeah, that was So, yeah. Sorry about that. Nothing against you, Pit, but Yeah, that was kind of a gimme for Pit. Yeah.

14:10 Oh, but now,

14:11 yeah, this is a tough one. Pogs versus the landlord's game.

14:15 Oh, boy. Here we have a game that made resurgence in the '9s versus a game that kind of never went away.

14:23 That's very true.

14:24 But you could make the argument that the Landlord's game actually did go away. Was replaced with Monopoly. Is that a fair thing to say?

14:33 I think that's fair. I think

14:35 it was changed into a different

14:37 That's true. But there would be no Monopoly if there wasn't a landlord game.

14:41 That's very true.

14:42 Which is why that's the one I went with. Landlord's game.

14:45 Okay. Um well, I, you know, have I guess I've never really played the landlord's game. I've played Monopoly and I played Pogs a lot as a kid. While Monopoly has been around and has influenced a lot of people, uh it also has um created a lot of bad memories for people. There are a lot of table flips and frustration and I had some of those as a childhood from the landlord from Monopoly, but I didn't have a lot of those from Pogs. So, we have our first disagreement here. Yeah.

15:16 Yeah.

15:17 Oh, here we go. Now, the game is a foot.

15:21 Let's talk about longevity.

15:22 Sure.

15:23 And gaps in presence on the market. Pogs disappeared and they came back.

15:28 That is very true.

15:29 Yeah. But technically speaking, Monopoly replaced landlords game. land. We're not talking about Monopoly here. We're talking about the landlord's game.

15:37 Yeah. But I will say there there is no Monopoly without the landlord's game.

15:43 True.

15:43 You know, and I would argue that uh Elizabeth, the creator of the landlord's game, she argued that Monopoly was the landlord's game.

15:55 That's true.

15:55 Right. I don't think having your ideas stolen shouldn't be a knock against you.

16:01 Okay. Okay.

16:02 Right. Yes, Monopoly has gotten a lot of people into board games. Sure, but it has also gotten a lot of people out of board games. I think there are a lot of people that are like, I played Monopoly as a kid. I didn't have a good experience. I don't want to play games anymore.

16:22 Counterpoint.

16:23 Sure.

16:24 Which do you think is a higher amount of people? the number of people that Monopoly opened the door for them to board games or the amount of people that played POGS AND GO, "WHOA, I GOTTA PLAY MORE GAMES." That's fair. I think probably I mean, just by the sheer number of people that played Monopoly, Monopoly has gotten more people into board games than Pox.

16:45 Okay.

16:46 All right. I'm willing to switch my vote off of that.

16:49 Oh, I had another really good argument.

16:51 Well, you can say it.

16:52 Okay. So, these are games from 100 years ago. 100 years from now between Monopoly and Pogs, which one do you think is still going to be on store shelves?

17:01 Monopoly will probably I'm willing to say, well, Landlord's Gabe wins. I'm sorry, Pogs. I still love you,

17:08 Pogs. Yes, Pogs will have a special place in my heart,

17:10 especially from that

17:12 that accident that happened at the Pogs tournament.

17:14 Yeah. Boom.

17:15 Boom.

17:16 Okay. Well, we have our semi- finalists.

17:20 Down to our final four.

17:21 Final four. Be right back.

17:26 Final four.

17:27 That is a strong final four. All of these final four still highly highly relevant.

17:33 Yes.

17:34 Today.

17:34 That's true. That's true. Well, let's take these two over here. Rook versus Jin. Two card games again.

17:40 This is like honestly like the first time that I don't even know what to write.

17:48 Like I'm torn right now. I've had pretty strong feelings about every one of them up until this point. And this one,

17:55 I really don't I I'm This is so hard. Rook is not a game I actively play these days, but rook is a game that so much influenced games that I love these days and other games that I actively play. So, so from like a personal perspective, I feel like I play more games like Rook than I play Jin Rummy. However, I actively play actual Jin Rummy in these days. You know what I mean? I play more games like Rook, but I actually still play Jin Rummy. So, I'm going to I'm going Jin Ramy here.

18:36 Okay.

18:40 I think I've mentioned before I think Jin Ramy is a little more accessible. a little more uh you know ubiquitous out there. And I I actually disagree with you. I think I see more Gin Rummy mechanisms incorporated into modern

18:53 Borg. Sure. Just with like the runs and sets and stuff like that.

18:57 Yes. Yeah. Trick taking which I know Jin Rummy didn't necessarily invent trick taking, but there's still that flavor.

19:03 Sure. Sure.

19:04 That rummy that rum flavor

19:06 permeates modern.

19:08 All right, moving on.

19:09 Moving on. You know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to take Rook off at this point.

19:12 Oh, there you go.

19:13 There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Pit versus the landlord's game.

19:17 Okay. Was this a difficult decision for you?

19:20 This was not because I think the landlord's game deserved to get far in this bracket. But again, it is also Monopoly has created some bad memories for people too. And so I'm going pit.

19:34 I my I was my hand was getting tired of writing, so I put the landlord's game.

19:39 Oh, yes. Monopoly has brought a lot of people to to board games, but I, you know, I think some gamers make jokes about flipping the table with Monopoly, but I remember actually doing that. That isn't a joke that I made. I remember getting mad at Monopoly and knocking all the components off of the table and going away. I actually had a game of Monopoly recently. My cousin brought Ted Lasso Monopoly and it made my mom super mad on Easter and so everybody was trying to have a good time and my mom was just real mad that all of her stuff was getting bought and stuff like that and I was like yeah I you know it can create those moments of people getting frustrated and mad.

20:25 Well I guess I guess I have to make the counterpoint of you know I've played Pit and I've actually come away with those similar feelings. Okay,

20:34 pit. You're sitting here yelling, trying to get people to buy your commodities and trade and everything and it can really easily turn into like no one's no one's listening to me by myself.

20:44 But yes, Monopoly is a quicker game than people give it credit for because they're playing wrong. But Pit is also just a quicker game than even the right version of Monopoly.

20:55 Yeah.

20:55 Right.

20:56 Yeah. I'm Oh boy, I'm torn. Uh because we have so many things, so many arguments and counterarguments you could make. You know, the landlord's game is not Monopoly. You know, you could say, "But then Monopoly is not the landlord's game." So, anyone in the comments who's getting their fingers ready to say, "Chaz, you're on." I'm already, you know, kind of contradicting myself that way.

21:16 Okay. Um, one last point.

21:18 Okay.

21:19 It has a bell.

21:20 It has a bell.

21:22 Oh, it has a bell. They even put that on the box, don't they?

21:26 Yeah, they do. Oh. Well, you know,

21:31 I mean, I I do think Monopoly is more relevant to the hobby. So, if that is what we want to go with, if that is our big line of demarcation,

21:43 is it though?

21:44 I don't know. It seems like that's one one of the things you're saying.

21:47 Well, let me ask you this.

21:49 Yeah.

21:49 For the final matchup, which one do you think will be more challenging? Jin Remy versus Pit or Jim Renee versus the Lamar's Gang? I think probably Jin Rummy versus The Landlord's Game is a more fi challenging final.

22:02 Then I think that tells us which one has to proceed. Okay. The one that's not just a slam dunk. The one where we actually have to put some thought into it, I think, is the the salient point.

22:11 Okay. All right.

22:12 I don't feel good about it. I I I don't feel good about it.

22:15 The landlord's game has made it through multiple rounds of like, yeah, I guess.

22:20 Yeah. Okay. Well,

22:21 and they just keep trucking on kind of like Monopoly.

22:24 Okay. Well, does it still have some gas in the tank or is it out?

22:30 Which of these two antique board games will be now crowned

22:36 number one?

22:38 So, we have two games here that in one form or another are still played today, are still influencing games today.

22:45 Sure.

22:46 Are still games that you'd play at your grandmother's house?

22:48 Yeah. But if I had to say which one of these two is the number one pick for an antique game, I would have to go with Jin Rummy. Yeah,

22:59 landlords landlord's game. Salute you, but it's it's time to pass the torch on.

23:04 Sure.

23:05 And only one of these games, if somebody was like, "Hey, do you want to play this right now at a convention?" Only one of them would I say yes to, and that is obviously Jin Rummy. So, congratulations, Jyn Rummy. You are the best antique board game out there. Even though you're a card game, but you know, still.

23:23 Oh, no. Was our whole thing skewed? We bad data going in.

23:31 You get the middle. You get the middle of the big old board.

23:34 Maybe celebrate.

23:36 Well, how did we do? How did our selections and our votes compare with yours?

23:41 Let us know down in the comments below. And more importantly, is there an antique board game that should have been within the top 16 that we missed?

23:51 Oh, I would totally be interested in hearing that.

23:53 Yeah. Yeah, we totally have. We have space. We have Bunko that can totally take it out. So, let us know.

23:59 In the meantime, though, thanks for joining us for this episode and we will see you again real soon.