Top 5 Disappointing Games of 2019

0:09 viewer discretion is advised this video is brought to you by audible all the bull is offering you a free audiobook with a 30-day free trial membership all you need to do is go to audibletrial.com/preneurcast boardgames unlocked and it is that type II type tight tight and time time of year uh where we're gonna talk about the games of the year and unlike the top one top 100 top 10 best games well there are some games I just did not quite live up to expectation this is actually the first year we're doing a disappointing list we did worst we did we do worse we do top 5 worst and then we do top 10 best and this year I played enough games that I was like oh well we can do disappointing and there were a lot of there were for me there are actually quite a few games that I was like man that just you know it's not a bad game so my five are not inherently bad games that's exactly what I was gonna say they're not bad games they just didn't live up to the hype they just didn't work for me so clearly this is a very subjective list so if your favorite game in the whole world is on this then then you'll uh then I'm sorry better take say well to cross it I think we will have absolutely zero likely really no I really looked like two in the top in the top five I will be very surprised if if you've even

1:41 well I know one of them for sure won't be but I'll be surprised if you even played the other four so I guess we'll see I'm excited to see what you think are two two crossovers yeah so um so I'll get started by cracking open a cold one crack over my since we're doing it right now brought to you by [ __ ] coke sued me but guys you win it like I'm sorry um so my number 5 but we don't do like a dishonorable mention anything we just did a straight 5 my number 5 actually just made the list because play I got the copy the Kickstarter copy and the game that it replaced the game it replaced was hate um cuz hate hate was was disappointing but I realized that I didn't quite play it up to its full potential with the Chronicle where you like vie for control and like a lot of people are like yeah just as a skirmish game it's not the best but the Chronicle kind of makes cuz you upgrade your tribe and all that still wasn't my favorite but at least kind of managers were so good but my new number five is Coloma so Coloma was that Western I think made by the same company that did paladins architects and all I'm at least it's the same artist I don't think the same company like about what you're doing it looks it looks like it's the same art so Coloma was I kind of it has it's kind of a Western game of the Coloma city the in California kind of

3:12 around the gold rush era it just the reason why it was disappointing was because like all the pieces were there like for a great game but in my experience it was one of those games that end up being like this is the way to win like and it's like okay well yeah I guess I was fine won the game was extremely I wouldn't say long but it was very very boring and whenever you look at it because the sweep of victory from first to last place and even in verse ii was so grand because of the strategy and the one person went for that i was like why would i would never not do that same with crusaders like we'll be done like that game was it was pretty good but it's like i will never not do this strategy because I know that's the surefire way to win same here with Coloma it's at number five because it like I said it just snuck in there but because the game is not terrible and I know it would probably be better with more people but I don't have that luxury all the time that it just I was more disappointed than anything like not a bad game some of the mechanics I actually really liked but I just don't care for work replacement style games where it's like well one everyone was able to kind of do everything didn't really care for that and it's like okay well I would never not play this way again so it is the Raiders the North Sea guy okay yeah so I thought it was the same but that the Sun company different company other kind of same yeah okay I thought so because I played the the certain like

4:43 power cards I was like yeah I didn't do this day I don't like his artwork but I know some people do clearly I like negative - it's not bad it's so weird like Jerry yeah I definitely tell that was him that's why I thought it was the same company because usually he does their games but that's my number five Coloma alright my number five I don't think you've ever played I don't know if you've played the version of this game that came out first come this is lanterns the dice game hmm their lanterns dice it's got a weird sub name to it but I remember seeing lanterns on tabletop with more eaten well lanterns the original lanterns to some festival yes called Chinese food it's a piling game yeah I bought it for my wife when it came out a few years ago and it's a it's one we still get to the table you know and when I was origins mm-hmm this last year they had that that was the release of the dice game yeah so I went through and I played the demo of it and stuff and there was no there's no point oh okay no I'm saying like like that's why it was disappointing because I was like okay it's a dice game it's gonna do something different sure like it's a dice game two nations or castle the burgundy the dice right it doesn't do anything good I mean you're trying to simplify a tiling you know or whatever it's like cuz in the game I don't like you have you ever played there regularly I've never blamed you have tiles yeah then you match colors any match colors

6:15 you guys like so why in the hell are you making a dice game yeah that's weird I so I tried it just to see if it's there and I'm not saying it's exact same thing but I mean it sunny but if you're trying to simply because that's usually with a dice game is right right usually so far version of yeah something weird but it's not horrible game because it still still does what it's like it does but it's just not different enough sure if you justify it you know it's played as simple that's that's why it's on here okay yeah that's enough that's enough at night I'm not sure you said there's two crossover I'm not even sure like because here's the thing well yeah like so when when it comes to disappointing that's clearly meant to be for obviously it's disappointing to me for a variety of reasons but yeah and these may be crossovers going over to your worst and they might be maybe yeah these were considered your worst - I don't know yeah and because the disappointing the worse there was a fine line right right like basically my delineation is just the okay well the game was good so but I just didn't really care for it versus like I inherently think this game is bad okay um so my number four is really unfortunate and it's on here because the company who made the game and I thought the game was very bog-standard boring and long and just tedious and that's Dead Man's cabal I almost bought that I was yeah four and I backed on Kickstarter for kind of theme alone and because panda Soros made it and I was like oh hell yeah like it's about like

7:47 necromancer's this game is I mean it's not disjoint abstracted it is it's yeah that's that's a good way of putting it it's very abstract I did a no run-through review for it and we just saw it was very boring like we kind of like the mechanic of like you draw in a bag this is what this is the action I get to do and then now we are in that drawer from right it's like this is the action that I only get to do and then I'll choose an action that we all get to do you cut it so that was interesting but it was very yeah it was abstract and I think that that must have been the disconnect I had because whenever we were talking about I'm like this would have been a phenomenal worker placement but it wasn't so like a lot of times you're running this track you're pulling skulls from a bag and you're like okay go in here and you have these bodies and the art I think was black and white yeah it was like I mean there was it was I kind of like punk black and white drawings and you you're trying to match like certain like symbols by placing like okay like skulls here or imus Pentacles to do certain actions and you're trying to match up like this pentagram symbols to be able to resurrect a body and theme was just [ __ ] I mean theme was what I what sold me on it and I just thought this was one of those like I could see this going to Wars but no the game worked out and I'm more sad than mad that the game is bad because Panesar is you know dinosaur island I'm like where was it wrong here like and I see no one talking about took me forever to sell the game and I was like at some point I was like you know just [ __ ] pay for shipping also give it to you so that's my number for the game I mean if

9:19 you're in the abstract and I'm not the biggest abstract fan but it just it was just it was just sad to play but I guess it kind of worked so that's my number for Dead Man's cabal my number four is on this list the game is okay but I I wanted it to be better because of the world that takes place in okay because I'm such a fan of this world okay role player was the world hmm lock out of lockup yes thank you um I didn't Matt I was when I was backing on Kickstarter and then I pulled out yeah I did because I was like it just doesn't I was hesitant and then I I got it yep I got it dad I think they're killers or maybe less than a year ago I can't remember how much I think it came out in 2019 yeah yeah when I got it I got it a couple few months after it got really sure okay so but anyway um and played it and it it like I said it was fine yeah it wasn't a bad game it's just I wanted more with though with that world it just makes me more thing that girl player adventures to be mandatory I'll take the faint assembly something I'll get outside of that deal cuz like I like that he's human games in that world I'm making like basically your ripoff D&D right I mean so I like that cuz lock up would have been a really good one for for this list but like I think the tension of kind of the placement of like where you're going that was that was probably the the best part of the whole

10:50 game but ultimately yeah it was just kind of like a oh lucky me turn order kind of thing and I'm gonna buy this you know this item and get a bunch of points it's like I said I would it's not like I would never play it yeah she'll play it that's actually good plan I still own it oh oh hey I say that's actually good point all five of these games like that's what that's another distinction from disappointing to worse is like all five of these games I was like hey do you want to play I'd probably be like sure if there's really nothing nothing else to go do the worst it's like I don't ever talk to me offering me that trash so yeah that's lockups a good choice and I mean I think it's gonna be more for play style than anything yet did it have a solo variant no it did really that have never played a solo though that's that weird everybody yeah I need to try the solo great because I always do I can't imagine that game being that good solo but and also yeah like you said the world because you expect the underworks role player you're like oh cool where the prison break but apparently we can all run around in a prison and it may be this was all the co bulbs - oh great you know I'm like yeah you know I yeah they could have made it a little bit more interesting that's a good one I don't know it is why I said okay it's fine but yeah so my number three is like it's like this kind of really should have been my number one in terms of just Grant's scope of this game this game is

12:20 do boot or you know that would have been on mind if I were to play it yes I would never play this game like this game was such the submarine simulator that it was mind-boggling how how I mean it it does a fantastic job of what it's meant to do but it's such a niche like oh are you an 80 year old submarine World War two veteran this is the game for you oh it's too difficult for you to figure out I was tell you they were running demos of it origins really and and I'm sitting I'm watching them do this and it's like these older guys they like war gamers yeah and I'm sitting there and I'm like they're like rubbing their heads like what the hell am I supposed to do it I myself I'm like oh my god I was like I never I don't know who's for I really like the submarine enthusiast I guess so whenever we were playing the game it took us a while and like I mentioned I'm in I think I'm pretty sharp when it comes to games like I can pick up like heavy euros and get it this one like we were we were like I think the app wasn't also like that crystal clear at the time I was playing it but like I was like I see how that this game can be good like I see how each person is unique and needed kind of like basically it was like a super advanced captain sonar right but I was like look I'll play captain sonar no like I'm not gonna go out of my way cuz this is one of those games that you would have to help same group same roles hitting the

13:53 table all the time we got it I don't I don't do that like so it was more disappointing of the sheer potential of the game and like I said it's not a bad game it does what it wants to do very very well it's just disappointingly so complex and I'm like who the hell is this for like Oh in the insert [ __ ] this company for that shitty ass insert it was like a piece of paper that they put like and taped in the middle and oh man it was bad actually no there wasn't there wasn't an insert that was the thing it was just stuff in a box like I'm like like it was it was bad I remember you and a lot of people's a lot of people I think were like they got some of their components were destroyed just because it was haphazardly they didn't even like bundle stuff together it was it was pretty bad so that's my number three Ubud my number three was a game that I would play it again but it's on this list because of the randomness causing issues in and out again okay we've been in here I bet I know what it is yeah rest are kids that bummed me out I and like I said I I think if we home ruled a drafting system I wouldn't even say drafting nor is this like that or here's ten cards pick eight alright yeah or something something some sort of home rule but it going by the basic rules mmm-hmm and there being that potential of having you know dead cards on seven yeah they're only having a deck of eight you know and that's that's why it's on this list yeah I like card game

15:25 and I like the theme of that and it was fine yeah and I just think it it needs and you're having more cards even expansion I don't know if that's if that's gonna be like righteous more yeah it's fixing stuff you know or what but yeah it just hits that cuz you just get dealt the 8 quarts mm-hmm so I mean there's a chance well like you had a pretty good engine higher the prairies I had that one thing but it took me the alchemist tons of turns to get it to fire yeah you know so it's like there's that potential that somebody's gonna get a really good symbiotic sip of eight hearts and then somebody's not you know and it could just as easily happen to you right right

16:13 you know yeah I mean yeah you're right basically your your thing with you had like Dragon cards but no dragons to use them for right um and and you're right I think that that is one of those things that you could easily just be like hey instead of just getting eight and looking through because I think that's the brilliance of the game is the eight cards you kind of do an engine with that but but you're right I think it would just it wouldn't break the game or anything it's okay here's ten pick eight right and that's and I'm and it's on this list just going by the rules like if we if I we were to take talking house rules that probably wouldn't be on this list because it would take away that because there's not that many dragon cards in the game I mean no not be able to whittle out and see what's gonna work and stuff that that's why it's on here just just because you know and people talk so highly of it yeah I mean about this like you know like I mentioned it was it was a contender for top tarring like I think it's I think it's a really really good game the only thing for me that was missing was I want more locations and things I just wanted more content um but I've never I played the game multiple times I've never had that problem but I've seen I saw it happen to you and I'm like yeah it does kind of suck so I think it's such a low risk though but is annoying so I agree with you there um my number two is a game that I had very high expectations for but ultimately fell flat and that is journeys and middle-earth the lore of the Rings journeys in middle area um we kind of

17:43 talked about it for a year for your top ten I didn't play it solo I played it with two and it was just none of us felt like we felt like we were doing fine but none of us feel like we were growing characters quick enough like the campaign was very very slow I thought the writing was kind of bad too but and and like like you mentioned you were talking about the Resident Evil 2 game and how if you're a fan of Resident Evil like the game is fine but like brezin evil kind of amplifies it this one I'm such a huge floral ring fan and it still didn't amplify that's why it was so disappointing because yeah you can play as who they have they didn't have like the main three they had Bilbo ha Legolas yeah they did like I played Legolas and then they had like I think they had a female yeah female L she's like I support like I like a bard almost and then a ranger yeah and so like I mean that was kind of neat but I never like felt like I was Legolas like I never like it's like with mansions it's like I mean well those characters don't even exist but these characters have been amplified and put in the books and the movies like it was just I felt like I was more going through the motions than anything like really invested in the story it just didn't grab me but that app is really good like like it makes me excited for the future of Fantasy Flight after I'm in games but yeah like I said like this is not this is not a bad game like for intense like for purposes of mechanics and things like that I know a lot of people really liked it but just I

19:14 could not get engrossed in it so that's why it was more disappointing than anything yeah my number two I've only played once it's it's this far down on the list and a combination because of the gameplay I had plus the overall hype this game had coming out and not living up to the hype by a lot of people probably know what I'm talking about it kind of the most hyped game this year if I because I didn't even know you played it yep so how about tapestry yeah yeah I don't know you played it yeah I played it at a gift exchange thing okay couple weeks ago okay good deal um I put it on there I mean you would have sorry oh wow it's it's a they heard you trashing tapestry is what's this name here Jamie stegun drags me out that's funny again it's on this list I I will I will play it sure but God with the with the amount of juice this they had coming why I'm sure everyone's copy has like a hole in it cuz they just [ __ ] the game this game is so good and I honestly think the people that think it's like one of the best of the year I think are just

20:45 probably played one game will pull that or they just are so enamored with stone wires I guess you know and use the thing like I'm the stone buyers one of my favorite I hope in here they make good game um it's it's kind of a sieve building game so can I talk about my number one is it yeah yeah yeah I wondered if it was gonna be on there yeah go for it yeah I was like cuz we can kind of add a little bit so my number was gonna have you guessed but yeah my number one is tapestry that's the most disappointing game of all time because of the hive cuz of the company and I think this game was astronomically boring and quick caveat like I have to do make up an apology and I'll I grow I need to sit down and do it because I mentioned in my discussion for the game that I I thought other reviewers had got paid to review it that is incorrect they did not to mine not they might have been like I do the table but I felt like I saw some like this paid promotion or some like that couldn't find it so that's my bad but ultimately that shouldn't that doesn't I don't know [ __ ] about that tapestry was such I mean it was fine like you but like that what killed it was a civilization game like that's what made that's what made it so hyped up because you're like oh hell yeah but there's no like semblance of a sieve game right well the components just make it like

22:18 you like all the building the building stuff that's amazing like that's what made it nice but at the same time it was like here's the thing someone commented on the discussion they're like so basically what I got is if this isn't through the ages it's not good it's like well clearly you didn't listen you [ __ ] ignorant piece of [ __ ] like those comments made me so mad but because it's like no when it comes to a civilization game you start from nothing and you grow into a civilization you don't go from like oh I am a euphoria down to you know whatever the the Bronze Age it's like what like the leaps and logic that this game makes you have to be a civilization you wipe that if they never mention that asset building game it actually like it probably would have been a little bit better but you're trying to make those leaps and build up your civilization by going on these tracks that I thought we're kind of boring like just to go you're like okay well I guess I'll just uh I'll do this section to go up on that alright yeah it just was really bland at and and it's weird how well the last two releases from them mmm what I mean wingspan was a hit yeah and I guess tapestry I'm assuming was a hit I mean everyone but as far as title once again the same with wings man no one's talking about it right but it's like these things like tapestry nobody knew anything about this game and then all of a sudden BAM pre-orders up damn its release yeah you know it's like where'd it come from that's true the other way it was like a rough draft you know I got it just came

23:49 from nowhere and usually games have a little more mm-hmm but then turtle came from out of the blue and then that hype was so crazy like every single YouTube reviewer that I watched was like immediately BAM yeah had had these copies out which is I mean it's good promotion I'm either that's that's what you do when you release in the game but but of those people that did the early reviews there wasn't anything negative being said yeah exactly and that's and I think that's where a lot of the stuff comes from it's like it's like okay nobody thought this was right the only honest one was Tom vessel right like he's the only one that was like like I know it was okay like his that's one thing I will say that I like about dice towers he's not he doesn't follow the hype like me I don't think this made his top ten and so and like he was like yeah it was like tough cuz whenever he was talking about like his thing and it was like he said yeah this game was super hyped as I call please don't be tapestry and maybe then a being wingspan but yeah I mean like I said this game is not terrible functionally it works fine it's just and whenever we did the discussion one of my friends rated it higher because his semblance of cards happen to actually resemble a civilization is like growing and like ours like was all over the place like it was just so boring I also think it's unbalanced I think powers like are there were clearly some better knows some was like leaps in my cosmic encounter where it's like that's

25:21 something I remember hearing some on one of my podcast that he did it he did a no restructuring structure to make things power yeah yep you can kind of scale it and it's like maybe you should have yeah like so like I said stone Meyer games I love a lot of their stuff and this one was this one just fell so flat um and I don't really think I kind of fell into the hype like i pre-ordered it as soon as I could but I'd do that for any stone Meyer game but yeah yeah so sorry sorry I didn't mean to steal your thunder for it but I was like years of second up to my number one so mind you haven't done your discussion over in stuff yeah so that's it just man it was this one was really disappointing and that's it this was actually the reason why I want to make the disappoint yeah cuz I'm like I can't put this on worst because I knew it wasn't gonna be on your worst that's why I kinda figured it was good yes so so that was my number one tapestry yeah you wanna do your two now since I just did here with journeys amil earth Oh mind huh so you went first yeah yeah so we're talking to me again yep my number one most disappointing game was a Kickstarter I wanted to back I'm glad I didn't track it okay they were really really late delivering it and then I don't know it just didn't went as good as I thought it was gonna be it's based on an IP of an old computer game a turn-based game that I played back in the early 90s called jagged alliance okay oh wait I think I was on mantis

26:52 you're anticipating that's right and I was like okay man okay boomer no I connect I'm not quite a Cooper I know I'm kidding but I was like but uh but no um what what jagan Lance was back in the days when those turn-based you know action point where you you'd move these hexes and then spin at me points and then just shoot use your gun it would take this main points you know it's just kind of yeah stuff but what it was the whole theme of jagged alliances you were this mercenary group and you were in a jungle and you would go and be put on missions that's right and you'd go and take out things do sneak in do whatever so when they announce board game I'm like holy [ __ ] as like jagged alliance the board yeah that's gonna be awesome yeah art looked sweet you know and all this stuff and then as I was following after I backed out I was following the deal and I kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed well a friend of mine kept his pledge okay I decided to play it a month or so ago and it just wasn't just didn't quite hit like like you're remembered now was it like just do a good job okay I mean it didn't feel like the game that was gonna be my question was it like was it like just like the video game that you're like wow this actually isn't that good or no I like like I would have loved it if it had like you have four actions and you know like you know wanna you know and you can move you know move the stuff and I read it but it just what it was just more or less like a almost like our

28:22 cheap seal on you I don't like you like it came out because the miniatures weren't very good yeah you know and yeah and that's here's the thing it's like probably like and I I've never played this game I've never played it I have no idea what you're talking about but whenever comes to Kickstarter that probably would have been a decent Kickstarter five six years ago most like it but now when kicks our games are coming out you're like okay this is this is top tier so it's like I know is that is it or is it just like this is just a piss-poor 2019 Kickstarter game or is it like it's just like still just like damn it shows its age and I don't know okay I don't know if they were trying to to UM make it feel old oh but I mean it was I mean it's uh I mean here's like a if you look that's kind of like a mmm like a mission on the outdoor mission you know and it's yeah they're just kind of basic you know they look like plastic army guys see they kind of do you know in a way and stuffing and having the lines it's it's so that's an eight point six yeah I don't from 129 rings okay so those are probably all tens from people who were like right it's like like you like oh my god jagged never lady um you know I'm glad it's one I'm glad I avoided and you know like I said I'll play those kind of games because it's fun when you play cuz you could play solo yeah it with others but it just

29:54 didn't wasn't as good as I was expecting it yeah it could have been sure if it would have been picked up by it bit because I think this is the company's only game okay they've ever put out yeah and I only came though like if it was like if it was somebody yeah these are some some is good at doing video get my piece yeah that's true you know it might have might have done a better job or whatever but oh hey yeah alright so those are our top five disappointing games of 2019 like we mentioned 2019 was a stellar year not ever game can be can be amazing but once again these games aren't bad like in their just they just didn't live up to either the hype just missed out on this just wasn't for us so let us know what your disappointing games of the year are in the comments below other than that like comment share and subscribe and have a wonderful with every time I'm Davis for you hey everyone thanks so much for watching this and if you liked this video then click the subscribe button below to enjoy any video that I put out and right next to that subscribe button it's a little Bell click that so you get notified of whenever I actually upload these videos if you want to support the channel you can definitely visit my patreon page the link is in the description below other than that like comment share and subscribe and have a wonderful with every time of day of this for you