The best board games of 2022!

2022 games that we loved and that's going to make us happy it is going to make us very happy because 2022 was one of the best years of board gaming that I've ever played ever like just hands down I am just making this list it was hard was probably the most excruciating like there are games that are exceptional phenomenal games that I had to leave off of the list I mean there just wasn't enough room right yeah it just there's just so many so many good games and honestly we're not doing a top ten no we're just doing a best of 22 because the sheer number of games we're sending my list and he's like that's not 10 and I was like making fun of me and everybody makes fun of me for having more than 10.

Tim and I was like hey I'm the baby to bed and he's like what if we don't do 10 and I was like perfect that made it a lot better I'll be honest with you being able to kind of do what we wanted to um which was really great I mean there are no rules there are no rules there's nothing I was trying to say it's our Channel we get to do whatever we want we get to talk about the games we want to we get to tell you why we're excited about these games and everybody's like I mean I know tongue-in-cheek some of my friends were like oh it's it's a rule you have to do top ten you don't no it's not you can do whatever the heck you want to do and that's what we're gonna do and that's why I'm excited so without further Ado all of that rhymed in a weird way there's just a lot of dues there anywho so we are both actually starting off with a caveat this is not part of our best of list and we each have a reason why our game is not in our list so would you like me to go first or do you want to go first uh go first so mine is I had a baby at the end of the year so I didn't get everything played so endless winter was my most anticipated game that I didn't get to play it's by Stan gordonski my favorite designer uh we had it all set up on Saturday Daryl got a chance to play it it's only a four player and we had three guys come over and I had just played a game and baby was fussy and it was between me and Derek playing and I was like you know what Derek just play you can teach me later that was on Saturday we obviously did not get a chance to play between then and now so it is my biggest regret that I didn't get to play it I'm sure when I play it I would love it and it would probably make the list but I can't put something I haven't played obviously on my list I know Lizzy and she's right this would make her list um and I'm I'm super sad that we didn't get a chance to play together but it is still on the table and I'm still gonna teach you because I remember it absolutely but we didn't want to push this off any longer anyway you know it's the end of January so what's up Kevin yay it's working exactly it's working we're just excited to be here we're gonna move on past that we're just gonna Etch A Sketch that out of our brains and we're gonna move on my honorable mention now this is tough for me because honestly I truly would make this my number one game of the year because of how fun the game is but I can't uh because of just obvious reasons um but that's gonna be Wonderland's War um I did a lot of development work on this I worked on it I was part of the team and I don't think it's fair to put that game up that high for me but I legitimately think the game is phenomenal oh yeah that's fantastic um and so you know what but that's my honorable mention it's not going to be in my official top 12 but I think the game is fantastic spoilers you might see the game again in the future but no such ties to it for me I felt that um I needed this is how I needed to handle it so uh those are our honorable mentions should we get into the uh the list the actual list the actual okay another just note we did not number our list so these are in no particular order these are just games we loved I didn't want to stress and pressure we do have at the very top a couple numbered ones 12 through four are unnumbered they're just these are just games that we love and enjoy without saying this one's better than this one but less than that one too much pressure these are just games we loved yeah and then we did end up coming up uh coming up with uh top three so like our our three favorite games we played the most of in 2022.

uh but honestly for me and I'll be completely honest like I didn't even really want to make a top three for me personally these are literally just 12 games I loved to play in 2022. like in any given day if you say hey let's play this game absolutely put on the table let's play so for me there's it's there's really no hierarchy here um that's me personally I just these are 12 games that I personally loved and I think you will also enjoy so here we go Lizzy uh you are first with get on board get on board I don't know that came out of nowhere who knows uh so we got this at Gen Con I believe right yeah because we actually played a bunch of games and we got back from Johnstown it was awesome um so this is one it is a bus map route I think we played New York because we were the two player yeah we're out building um yeah and so you're trying to go around get as many stops pick up as many people uh it's a you have like little yeah well there's actually a physical or pieces little roads from like Katan type thing and you place them and that's your route that you're following but you want to pick up as many people and go to so many places and you want to like avoid crossing over other people and then there's parts of the city that are busy you want to like stay away from that does it you know that's the turn uh so I really like it like combination right and yeah whatever other the genre you want to like mash it up with so this was fun but no no keep going keep going this was a fun amalgamation of a bunch of different stuff um but I I really enjoyed it you know I love a good rolling right I think it's really cool our lists there are some crossovers very little but our lists are very unique and I think that's super fun because we both have such a different play style we do but we also enjoy playing the games the other person would like to play typically I mean I mean yeah give or take I also really enjoyed this one it did not make my list but I did enjoy playing it and that's it's a fun game like I said there were so many good games this year uh it was wild all right for me it is gonna be flamecraft from Lucky Duck well actually cardboard Alchemy and lucky duckies distribute it uh this game to me is just there were so many good family weight games this year and this one to me was easy and uh quick the great lightweight family games are ones that look beautiful they have good strategy to them and they don't overstay their welcome like there were quite a number of games like that this year but this for me the artwork is just so freaking adorable it's so adorable and of course Peter and the team at cardboard Alchemy went Above and Beyond in the the production value on this game is is wonderful the little mini I mean they've got the miniature dragons but even the screen printed stuff is just gorgeous um and I like the recipe fulfillment and the way the worker placement works and how the the map or the board ends up uh growing over time and it's just it's just really not it's a really fun game to play I really like this one and I think you also really like this one this might show up later I don't know I don't know why we wouldn't have done the ones that we share at the same time uh well I just went on based on the list you gave it to me but if yeah go ahead talk about it now this is also a mess I mean it's too weird to like since we're not doing it in any order to like hit it for you and then like come back to it that's true on my list uh I like I mean the art was so cute those little dragons that was actually I mean I think that's a big drop for everyone the art um but the gameplay is really fantastic as well I love the the little markets that come out and then as like they're said as you play the game more come out and it's gonna be different every time they're gonna be in different locations you're going to get different markets and it's a really easy to pick up game it's very cute it's very easy to introduce other people but like it's serious Gamers I mean serious as people who have been gaming for a while I would say sure it also held our interest it was something that we're gonna want to play again it's something we can introduce people something we're gonna play with you know people that we we've been playing games with for years it is that perfect mix of yeah right it's an inviting game like you see it and you're just like oh I would like to sit down and play this please yes please may I have one all right good call on that we definitely could you know condense there because it's both on our list so that was a that was the first duel the first double up hey what's up Michael good to see you by the way thank you so much to everybody who's here we truly love you all you guys are great um thank you for your support and for being here to listen to us talk about some of our favorite games of 2022.

all right Lizzy next up for you oh man I'm just everything is getting thrown at me well no it's fine um Mythic Mischief from Ivy Studios I love this company and what they have done with every game that they have put out every game is a different genre it's a different play style it's a different art it's just so different from the last thing they've done but they have all blown me away with how fantastic they are the quality of the production everything they do is top-notch this Mythic Mischief with the the school theme and like the different gangs so like I think I've always played vampires and I loved it and like the 3D printed well I mean the the three like structures that you have uh the walls right the walls yeah the walls things like okay like there's all these different things that you put in the hallways I've found it fantastic I think it's super fun it is challenging the first time you play it you're trying to figure out what all your powers do how you can move your things your creatures how you can like best utilize them and then the next time it's so much fun to remember all their powers and do even better it's it's a fantastic puzzle I loved it I agree with you and this so there were in 2022 some amazing abstract games and this was a fantastic abstract games in fact there were a couple that I think ended up making Lizzie's list that I easily could have put on my list and this is one of them so that there you have it next up for me is a game it's a little game that we covered um and had a blast playing it's a game that I still have at the last playing it's a game that I can constantly talk and ask the designer if he can give me any information as to what is coming up weren't you one of the first non like company people who play this I was I mean like I mean there were play attacks like I mean like stuff maybe I'm not sure the game's sorcerer's Arena yes I mean come on everybody this game is oh my gosh is it so good it is just if you want to play a tactical Skirmish game with an adorable Disney Art yeah obviously we don't care yeah and it was this Pixar but Disney sorcerer's arena is so so so good it is one of the best parts about the game is the fact that they have mastered the ease of gameplay where kids can pick it up because it's an introductory step so they teach you step one step two step three and then by step four you're playing the actual game and it's it's awesome like if you have kids that aren't ready for steps three and four you just keep them at step two and you can still play the game and they can still have a great time I mean who doesn't want to move around Mickey and solely and um and Stitch and all of these wonderful Disney characters and uh right now I'm really excited to see what they do with this Gen Con tour they're doing this like road to Gen Con tournament happening right now very cool so good for them but this to me was one of to fit my favorite games I played this year he talked about it so much you guys quite a few games but this one was always up there yeah he was always talking about I mean I loved this game enough to where I tracked down and I should have brought them down here but I tracked down Disney Infinity figures like 3D Miniatures for most of the base characters the ones that they they had uh and found those on eBay so you know you can do that too uh all right Lizzy I'm gonna throw another one back at you you ready I'm ready boom 10 mini Parks from I want to say it's Keith but that's not something that's it I was like I know who it is but yes so theme park build well yeah it's probably almost but like you're kind of building your theme park with the the polyaminos and you have to like clear the area and the nah it is LeBron it isn't rondelle yeah I mean it moves around it's like a carousel shoes anyway love it it's super fast teach um we learned it and played it the first time I think in like 35 minutes it was so fast like it was so surprisingly fast how easy it was to pick up but it is a fabulous game I had so much fun with this one um it had like the module I don't know I loved it it was it's so cute it's such an interesting theme there's like that no I'm very multiple different perks that you can go to there's so many different things you can do on your turn there's the boards at the bottom where you're racing where at the end of the round depending on where you are you're gonna get some kind of bonus if you're a first but like if you take the bonus it pushes you back one it's got a lot of depth for something that was so simple to learn it's a sleeper of last year I haven't seen very many people talk about it I mean I think we talked with for a while and he really loved it too yeah but I don't think as far as it should have no not at all uh though there is an expansion coming out I don't know if I should I don't know if I'm allowed to say that I didn't even know that I mean I did this coming whatever you know what exciting a big coming out this year but we'll see uh but yeah Tim Penny Parks is super super good um I mean Vincent you trade art I mean what more can you ask for I mean when they talk about it that's enough no I mean he's one top five artists for me uh Vincent Detroit sells games like coaching like just sells them so good good Shing um all right my next game is gonna be a game that we played and did a uh Kickstarter four and finally got a chance to own it and that is Mosaic from forbidden games now this is the game from blend Rover who did raccoon Tycoon it's huge it's probably the biggest game of 2022.

like when you talk sheer uh table presence it is definitely probably the one I mean no it beats Wonderland's War 100 Frost Haven though um Frost Haven's pretty small when you're going back like box size oh no no I'm talking like table spread this this guy is massive but anyways if you are a fan of Civilization games for me civilization five six like the whole civilization franchise is top five video game ever for me and this Nails it like this game made me feel like I was building a civilization in less than two hours in fact two players we're talking an hour maybe maybe an hour and 90 minutes it all depends on but how quickly You're Building reach the end of the game there are three in the game triggers it's got area control it's got engine building it has Resource Management I mean literally this is Glenn's Magnus Opus it is magnum opus sorry it's like yeah but there's really what like five actions you can take and like that's it you're doing one of like five things so there's a lot of choices and a lot of things at the base of it it's just pick one of these five things oh super simple yeah yeah yeah but I mean like when I say simple though that doesn't mean that there's not gray shrouds it's a it's like it's like the tallest sort of talks about with lisbo it's like oh it's super simple just once you take a card play a card so easy but like yeah it's fantastic it's got a lot going on and it's it's so good I'm very excited for the expansion that that's coming out yeah um constantly harassing my friend about it um and it's it's just great it is a group when you're friends with Publishers right I mean you know uh me or you I don't know whatever's next that'd be you the Guild of merchant explorers so this is the most rolling right game without actually being around writing like is that not what this game is that's such a good explanation it isn't right in it oh that is such a great way to put it yeah absolutely you're right um I like I don't even know how to describe it but it's a fantastic game AEG always brings it with the theme and with the Fantastic games and this is just a blast and I honestly I don't know how to describe it I mean like it's I liked how it's in different ages Three Ages Three Ages there's cubes you're trying to spread out but like each round after you spread out you clear the board and you like restart like something like a couple you restart from like the starting place and you have to get back to like where you were or maybe you want to go the other direction that probably is not a good contributor in the description of it I honestly don't know how to describe it but play it goes line play it yeah and then you will understand I've yet to teach it to somebody that didn't enjoy it um and this this also again 2022 had so many good games this is another one that just literally was on the edge I mean when I'm talking like 13 14 number I mean it was that close uh this this game was so so so close um fantastic so good AEG just puts out so many good games it's true I mean they're Worldcraft from oh the year before I still love that game it's so good all right here we go ready I'm ready what is it gonna be green team wins hey yo green team wins from 25th Century this is you didn't think this was gonna be on the list you did not hear Derek talk at once last year I mean I loved this game so much I created my own print and play and cut out like 100 cards and sleeved them is that why we had to take you to the hospital that one time was it this game uh um actually I don't know if I cut myself on this game or not I can't remember but anyways green team wins is just when I'm talking party games it is the one party game that you should all own I don't think there's a better party game no I I 100 am willing to put my name on it that there is no better party game I've played time's up I've played monikers I've played you name it there is no better a party gaming green team's wins I mean and again this is my opinion okay so you gotta take that with grain of salt if you don't enjoy my style of games if you don't know my taste then this might not be a game for you it could fall flat for you I don't know but for me I would play this over just one I would play this over to crypto I would play this over literally other party now wavelength is also very good but green team wins is the king we're talking Tom Brady the goat of party games right here hey I'll give the man I'll give the man credit he's the best quarterback we've ever seen anyways green team wins is uh there you go and you're up I'm up What's it gonna be I don't know you tell me it's your list you're in charge of the controls so this was one of the ones we actually played like kind of later but I mean I think it came out towards the end of the year anyway picked it up with packs unplugged and brought it home yes and then it was also a secret Santa gift I forgot he put it on there so that he bought it twice um but we played it loved it okay I know that um Seven Wonders duel is like the granddaddy of like all the Dual games that really started it I don't really like that one that one is not it for me this one however fantastic essence of the original game different enough gameplay that it's like an entirely different game I love it um I would pick this over the original game although like obviously if you have more than two players I would still play splendor but Splendor duel is where it's at for me I thought it was fantastic they made some really great changes I'm I didn't know I needed it but I need it I didn't know I needed it I mean I heard about it no no I was like cool I'll expander I'll try it and now it's on my list yeah so it's a game that is so simple but has really really and there's a watch played video on how to learn it always bumps it up for me that's true anytime you can get Roddy to do a watch I played your your game is going to instantly go to the front of the cube for for playing it at least um at least in this house that's true but no Splinter duel I won't take too much time because Lizzy nailed it but it is the essence of Splendor we overplayed Splendor duel the Pick 3 I mean we played a lot of splendor I'm just not good at Splendor either what I really I'm just a little bitterness there's a little bitterness what I really like about Splinter duel is there are three Victory conditions so it's not just a race too what is it 16 in the first one whatever it's not a race to points I mean there is a race of points but there's three different ways you can win but if you're you're not great at one thing you can focus on something else I just felt like it was it was easier for me it was catered more to me because I'm just not good at that race right so I felt I felt like it was it was better so I liked it a lot okay all right this one's gonna be interesting because we're going back to back with the same publisher who consistently puts out games that are literally top-notch I mean when I think of a game company and I think production artwork and gameplay this this is this is a top three for me I personally I don't know how you feel but like I gave her like company one yeah company-wise publisher-wise I mean they've not missed yet I'm waiting for it I'm waiting for the day and I tell them every time I'm waiting for the Miss but it hasn't happened yet and that is gonna be wow this is my game this is your game but what'd you do we're putting we're putting both of them up there oh we are okay we're just gonna talk about both of them why don't you go about yours and yours are me or here you know what you talk first no we just did you turn her plans it's my abstract of the year um there were a lot of abstracts I played that were really great Lizzy talked about Mythic Mischief we talked about Boop we talked about um I I can't remember if we played any other abstracts but oh wait that was the other one and we did play other objects but to me power plants was the abstract that I wanted the way that you use your tiles to place them on the board and create a a board that has not only area control but the way that the plants or the you know tiles are placing can either activate the one you're placing on the board or the ones that it touches add such a unique Spin and and just thinkiness to the game that you just aren't quite ready for and not only that but you have asymmetric Powers you have variable uh plant Powers there's so much replayability in the base game and on top of that the components are freaking amazing I mean it's true it looks so good like I we did a produce we did a we did a live stream of the kickstarter prototype and I was like wow I was blown away with how good the Prototype looked and then I get the actual production copy and I'm like this is amazing like how did they improve improve this much I I don't know but seriously the gameplay for power plants if you're looking for an abstract game this to me was the best of 2022 look no further than right right here laughs and it's great at all player counts it is it's so good a similar Reign Creature Comforts for a worker placement and uh there's simultaneous play but there's also like turn-based play as well um just the coziest board game it is cozy like it's hard to describe cozy it's just like that warm feeling you get and this board game is so cozy we did that as a prompt for book club we're gonna like just pick a cozy book and if it's like what is that and then we we it's okay we voted on one we read it and at the end everyone was like yes that's what it was called Legends and lattes that sounds like a good book super it's just cozy it's it's there's no other way to describe it you just feel heartwarm playing this game and like it's it's kind of like we talked about with flamecraft like these are two of the best family weight games that have come out in years like these to me both flamecraft and Creature Comforts are the epitome of what a family weight game should be yes and I mean again another super easy to learn game yeah and I mean like I said the art is fantastic it is so cute I love that there's a section where it's simultaneous player yeah and then I love the section where it's everyone is going one at a time so I think that's really great for kids and like you know to like teach them to do stuff independently but you also have that where you're like doing it together I also like that with a work replacement game I mean obviously you could say oh work replacement needs to be mean and it needs to be blocking off but I enjoyed that it was a shared board like the work replacement shocks were so necessary a family style game if you're gonna be playing with kids it saves so many meltdowns it does save meltdowns but also like it teaches it teaches kids like sharing is caring right but also like lessons I mean there's just a lot of really great things you can use this game to teach family and life lessons with and create your Comforts to me again I'm it's it's was another one I and I knew Lizzy was gonna put this on her list so I didn't feel as obligated to add it to mine because I knew I could talk about it but this is another one that I also enjoyed okay ready yes what are you going to talk uh do you want me to go or you want to go your turn it's my turn we've been going every other day oh okay so my game my next game uh we have uh just a few more games before we get to our top three um this is a game that is ginormous um it's one of my favorite what's the year uh this yeah this was the year of the Giant games you're right there were just so many large games and this one is no exception this is literally a foundation of a game this is foundations of Rome from Arcane wonders the dad jokes yeah a whole calyx it is ginormous but oh my goodness is this game so simple and you're seeing a theme Here simple yet satisfying simple to teach easy to learn but deep strategic thinking and that is what this game does this to me is Emerson's best game hands down like it is so good I love the the way that there's the area control and the auction and the bidding um and it's not auction bidding but like you're buying plots of land you're using those plots of land to then Place uh buildings from Rome out on the board to score points and there's just so much cleverness and like the positioning of your of your buildings and like you can over build so you could have a couple down there and then someone's like oh cool I'm gonna sneak in here and then you over build on top of them completely changes the way things score in that area there's just a lot of really clever stuff happening in this game I know it's extremely expensive I know the production quality on this is absolutely absurdy the amount of buildings it's just it is absurdly awesome isn't it buddy painting it I did paint four of the five colors it looks fantastic on the table um I just I this is a game to me that I will always recommend and I will would love to play with anybody that wants to play it so there you go it's also on TTS that's a really good mod on TTS oh yeah all right you're up good laughter hey Kevin's here from tantrum con from tantrum house I am excited okay so this is another abstract game with little cat well it's got the kittens and then it's got cats and you're on a quilt and the quilt is on the box which is actually a bed it's so cute it is an abstract you're trying to get three little kittens to get the big cats and then you try to get three big cats in a row but every time you place one it pushes everything a wave right like the big cats don't push other big cats but they're like the kittens don't push the big cats yeah yeah push everything um so it's so difficult because like you're also gonna push yourself you're trying to get three in a row so you really need the other person to push you into the three in a row so oh it's like cat and mouse right I like back and forth but because it's so simple it's just you place a cat on the quote like that's it trying to get three in a row I played it with sub and he did fantastic I mean it's it's so deceptually simple so fun the production like the components are fantastic yeah instead of just doing things even like in neoprene mat it's a quilt it's literally quilted so cute I cannot with the quilt I lose it every time about the quilt but it's the perfect cute board game yeah abstract if you I mean I know Derek said power plants was like the abstract game and it's awesome abstract but if you want a bit of a simpler this is the simple abstract game this is this is the abstract game you teach your mom and dad yes or you know what I'm saying like power plants is the hobbyist abstract game there's you know quite a bit happening in that it's a little bit deeper this is the abstract for people who like no Tic-tac-toe and chats yeah yeah like yeah yes I would agree with that I also really enjoyed this one like there were like again 2022 blew my blue my brains away it was amazing it's just 2022 had so many wonderful games that came out um like literally you could play anything on this list and I think that you would have a good time gave him a Sidekicks just join us on YouTube oh no I'm making all the comments on Facebook and just realized you probably didn't think uh yeah it's tough for us to see on restream to see the Facebook and YouTube comments uh I think we both accidentally so for those of you on Facebook hello thanks for being here ignoring you we're not ignoring you we love you just as much as the people on YouTube all right Boop uh all right for me we're gonna go with merchants of the dark Road from Elk Creek this was a game that came out very very very early 2022 uh I think it was like January um and this to me was one of my one of the better Euros that came out this year um and in fact was leading most of 2022 was my favorite game but 2020 she was so good of a year that it ended up just getting pushed back a little bit because of all the games that had come out but this to me it has a rondelle it's got recipe fulfillment it has um like a little bit of Adventure some narrative yeah the rondelles it's got the magnetic uh Market uh there's like an economic uh speculation and so you can change the market and it's magnetic and it's just the production on this again was phenomenal and there were so many games this year that came out that were just wonderful Productions and I'm trying to think I can't remember his name right now but the designer also did like uh fresh water Brian is it Brian Surrey there he is Brian Surrey it's on there it's on the box hey just read Brian Siri this is his best game to me of the ones I've played really really enjoy this one I think this was a hit this was a hit for Elf Creek and it's unfortunate I don't think as many people enjoyed it as as much as I did which is fine I was just really surprised by how many you know I I feel like this was kind of a sleeper or it just kind of got forgotten because it came out so early in 2022.

I mean we did um volunteer with elf Creek last December packs when they were they had a few and it sold out really quick it did so I was working the booth and I'll play I'll teach it to you um by the way plug for tantrum con February 24 25 26 or is it 25 26 27 25 26. yeah anyways Lizzy's birthday also going to be at tantrum con would love to play and uh hang out play games and hang out all right Lizzy you're next yeah so we learned that oh I learned it at what's the one in St Louis uh we played this at geek way to the world played it uh what's it called oh the Lazy Susan I mean like I remember Derek challenged me about it and I was like you were you didn't believe you thought I bought something for the game yeah I thought that it was like something that someone was like oh I'm gonna make a lazy Susan and I was like that is so actual I mean it is extra but I mean yeah obviously it's extra but it is actually a component of the game it's the the game tray um but this one so it's another polyamino game um we it's you can do everyone has the same board or you can do everyone oh yeah different planet I think there's 12 different places I think they just threw me into like here's the planet we're playing different that's what you have and I was like but I loved it it's fantastic uh just everyone takes the polyamino that's in front of them and then it rotates so everyone is always placing different shapes you're trying to cover like well it doesn't just rotate you get to pick which tile you want on your turn which forces what the other players have to take well I mean it is rotating everything it was so smart it is super smart it's it's fantastic there's so much there's so much depth and I love it it's great fantastic if you've not got a chance to play it again this was one that that was also leading up like top three for me of the year and then I think it's gonna be like the one that got bumped off this did get bumped off this is the one that just got bumped right off the edge but it's okay because I 100 agree that this is a game that everybody should play it is very good yeah it was fantastic all right um so it's well okay so there's a game coming up that I already talked about that we could have done together but it was in your top so no it was just outside your top okay uh but I'm gonna talk about a game that I just got to play this weekend this is not um no no work no this is for me um I'm sorry Heat this game is already number 250 on BGG and it just came out like less than three months ago this game is honestly with all the hype I was a little skeptical I was like there's no way I was I internally I was like there's no way this game could be as good as everybody is saying like it it had that Arc Nova effect where there was nobody saying anything bad about this game so I'm like okay you know what I'm really excited I want to play this so I had some friends over last weekend we played a bunch of great games helping play Derek play it Seb helped me play it I was putting into bed right after and he looked at me he's like Mommy can we buy that game yeah he was like can we get a copy of this I'm like I don't know go talk to your mother and I said Mr AJ has it we'll borrow his this is hands down the best racing game I've ever played and I've played rally man I've played formula d uh I don't consider down force to be a racing game I consider that to be an auction game I played from Rouge um I've played I played a little bit of automobiles from AEG that's out of print so I don't really technically think that this counts because it's not really available automobiles is a great uh bag building game but heat is phenomenal everything you hear about this game is true I feel like Harrison Ford in in Star Wars episode 7.

it's all true all of it it is so good um I can't wait to play this again in the amount of things they have in this game with the different double-sided boards you can draft starting equipment that go in your deck you it's just a little okay these guys The Minis are awesome uh I just can't pull for you I I I can't speak highly enough about this and I wasn't sure if it was going to be as good as it was and it is I I can confirm this game if there's you know a few games that you should own this year or a few games you should play this needs to be on the list yet you just you got to play it it's it's still fun don't rule Maiden he said hey what up that's exactly see I felt it the force I felt the force there it is ruelle all right Lindsay so this was about talking about hit on it again fantastic game adorable art perfect family weight yeah all right so this is the last game before we get into our top three games of 2022.

this is a game that came out very late in 2022 um probably within the last like last half uh it was a game that I played at Origins a year before is a game we played on TTS this is the like one game that I've played on TTS like willingly without having to learn it for a stream or anything it's true Lizzie was like I don't play games on TTS and that's like absolutely necessary but this is absolutely necessary it was it was that's a game Resurgence Resurgence is from Stan kordonski uh it is he is self-published by Stan kordonski it is a post-apocalyptic bag building game set in Russia um and it was I I played it in Origins and I could not stop raving about it I told everybody that I could that you've got to go play this game Stan's got it he'll do a demo for you I got Isaac and I got Bob to play it I told Ryan over at Man versus people I was just telling everybody about this game because we love back building games I loved the theme Stan is probably Lizzy's favorite designer I literally already said you just said that and I was like oh my gosh it was like super close for me was it yeah yeah I figured it's a little bit of a heavier like strategy game so you know it's not quite I would say I do need to wait yeah I do a little bit more towards like the the lighter games I mean looking at my list it's definitely a lot more family heavy or family weight games than doing these a lot more heavier games so this one is just like it was on Kickstarter and just a little heavy to make my game at the end it probably was missed by a lot of people because it came out so late in the year and I'm not even sure if it went to retail I don't really know it was kickstarted it was I got it through Kickstarter whatever but this was to me this is well when I played it it was my favorite stand game I have since played another game that is now my favorite stand game which we'll talk about in a second though we alluded to earlier but anyways Resurgence highly recommend it Go support Stan self-published uh it's it's a wonderful wonderful game all right this is it this is the top three teams three games of 2022 for you and for me okay ready are you ready me first yes laughs did not say a whole thing about it last time was because it's in my Cafe so this is my favorite party game as well super easy to learn I mean Derek would not shut up about this game I mean like I said he he made his own copy before it actually came out and we played it so many times and then we've played our actual copy so many times it is so much fun I've never had a bad game the questions are fantastic we did our own little like um um so like we did like gamer questions with it but like if you don't have gamer friends this is the perfect introductory game it is the perfect party game I I cannot say enough about it I can't speak highly enough of it so this is a game two where I've had situations where people who don't necessarily enjoy party games open up with this game yes like you can get people to come out of their shells and enjoy the game it's so much fun to get to know people playing this game it's a great ice cream play with people that you know really well and are like what is wrong with you I've known you for 20 years it's true sometimes you're playing the table you're not necessarily playing the person right you're like okay I might vote This Way in real life but at the table being on Green Team so you win this is not what I think right yeah it's it's so much fun so good I've already ranted and raved about the game all right my number three game of the year I just got a chance to play uh last weekend with some friends uh realized not only how bad I am at this game but how good the game is I was really excited it was on my I made a list of games three games that I needed to play before we made this list and they all three made the list so I think I chose pretty well uh Keat was one of those games the other one is Weather Machine from Eagle Griffin games this is a game that I did so badly at that I still enjoyed I loved the puzzle the artwork is amazing I think it's probably their like the tall's best looking game so far and I loved how many different systems you can find from other games in this one so there are little pieces of DNA from his other designs that you can see woven within this game um I I just I I already want to play the game it was a game that kept me thinking about it and that to me is a mark of a great game is when I can't stop thinking about a game and thinking oh what if I done this or okay now I know the strategy is this way and I want to try to Pivot next time and do a lot of other stuff it's it's so good um the tall is one of my favorite designers which is why I really wanted to play this game because I I had a feeling that it was going to be really good but I really needed to to play it to see I needed to play it so um and it wasn't as long as I was expecting it to be and it wasn't as difficult to learn as I was expecting it to be the difficulty in this game but the thing with this game is it's not rules heavy I think this is probably one of his more complex systems games where there's so many different things happening that you need to piece everything in certain uh you need to sequence things really really well in order to maximize and I I think that this is the game of his that does it the best and but also makes it the hardest in some ways but the most rewarding so weather machine if you really like heavyweight games if you really do you need help if you really really like the tall asserta uh you gotta try this one out here oh my goodness baby you're see-through he's wearing a taco Tuesday yeah okay all right Lizzy you are up next hang up I'm not gonna be able to make sure my camera no it's okay is it okay okay so we actually just streamed this uh because it was one of my favorite games and I love it and it is a oh by the way hold on I just gotta jump in here Isaac you're wrong five six says the weather machine is his easiest to to learn and play yeah right get out of here so a tile placement it has the oh I don't know what I did there I don't know now I'm crooked are you crooked I'm just trying to fix it I'm sorry I was just trying to fix it it's fine it was good all right um it's got that level you know where if you're on a higher level you're worth more points you have the scoring um tiles that come out and then you also have the um tiles that score different ways so like one has to be isolated one has to be on the ad one is the biggest group um so it's just really thinky little game we play the two player but we play with all the tiles usually we didn't stream with all the tiles if we find ours um but I love that uh variant where you can build the bigger city and it takes a little bit longer and it's a little bit more challenging because there's so many more tiles and then it's a higher scoring game uh I love Acropolis when Derek taught it to me for the first time we played it a couple times in a row and then we played it every night that week oh yeah we played it every night we played it it was five six times it was so good and it is great it's so fun so yeah definitely so this is my this is another one that I really wanted to get in my list which green team wins was my favorite party and this is my favorite lightweight Game of the Year okay hands down okay yeah no it's so good it honestly really I really wanted to get it in my list um but I just that's the nice thing about us each having our own unique list is that like if I can't have something Derek usually will and then I feel a lot better about not having it in mind it's true but also we made our list we made our list without looking at each other's either so like I'm like oh here's my list here's mine we're like hey cool this is nice it's a little bit of overlap but mostly all right my number two game of the year was another one that I finally got a chance to play because I was like I have to get this game played and we've already talked about it in this one number two this is my number two no this is my number two uh my number one is oh gotcha uh this is a game that truly lived up to the hype as well that I had heard about it is a just it's a super eclectic mix of mechanics but man is it fun it's got deck building and area control and worker placement and it even uses the same mechanic from Valley of Kings where like you bury cards and they're worth more victory points as it goes on give it to me I need the bottle truly going to shine with more plays because there's so many different things you can do on your turn um and there's a ton of little like really cool modules you can add to the game we added just a few of the modules but there's a lot of content in the game um it's got micho artwork which is which is always nice the production on the kickstarter Deluxe is phenomenal I've not seen the retail version I did back the kickstarter for the deluxe copy and it is just a beautiful production um I I really really think that more people should try this out it's also another stand game it took a little longer than I was expecting to get here there were delays obviously because of the pandemic and we already know the supply chain issues but I was more than happy to wait because I had a feeling that I was really gonna like it and I did really like it uh again it's just got the mix of mechanics it has is everything that I really enjoy from from board games so it was almost like man this game just feels made for me right so um that may not be the case for everybody I have seen some people that you know were a little mixed on it but for me I was like man this is like Derek's game and and it it was a lot of fun and I've left them on table because I know once I teach Lizzy I really really think she's gonna like it I'm excited all right it is our number one game of the year now again I did mention this at the beginning of the show I don't I don't necessarily have a number one game of the year because truly all 12 of the games I've talked about are games I would play at any time whatever um but because we needed to kind of come up with number one I thought okay if I have to choose one then I'll go with this I don't know about you was this very clear this was your favorite of the year I don't know how you were heavy game this is your favorite strategy game of the year okay so I did a strategy of like lightweight family and a party I like the way you picked that I did not at all do that I I like that you had a party game a lightweight heavyweight game I was just like I hope so that my heavy game is other people might be like oh that's most super heavy but you know like well that's fair you know this is my list it is your list and you can do whatever you want are you ready I am sure so again I didn't say much when Derek talked about it also because it wasn't on his List It was one that he worked on um so I had no association with this game I did not I mean we've covered it for the kickstarter that was years ago well I know but like that was like my first time playing it I did not oh true I did not like help Derek when he was developing it oh yeah part of like any of like the play testing or anything so like I purely played this as like a content creator reviewer and it's fantastic and I love it and the area control is so good and the um the picking of the cards in the draft the draft at the beginning is fantastic the models are great it's Manny art which I mean you cannot go wrong with me Manny's enough money machine we have several of his pieces on the walls this one the baby he there's one that he was like staring at the other day a Manny piece and he was just oh really the fire oh yeah the from Dice Throne oh yeah he was just staring he was just staring at me in minutes he was staring come on no it's a whole time Ransom was enthralled with this artwork so we have a big fan already um but I just the game is awesome it's a bag Builder I was gonna say you haven't even touched your favorite part about it the bag Builder which I love and the chips oh my goodness if you did not get the upgrade of the chips uh total game changers it's so fantastic it is a game changer just like feel the Tactical experience I mean it is a little bit of a longer game especially if you're playing with the larger group yeah so we we played this one also at geekway we had five players we taught Jamie this game yeah you were very excited that was so fun like Jamie steckmeyer came up to me and said hey I would like to play Wonderland he's like I heard you have it can you teach me and I said apps of freaking lutely I can so we sat down with him and two other people another couple and the five of us played here what did I do I mean can't believe he pulled the chair out for me and like thank goodness he caught me because me falling over when I'm pregnant I was trying to move a chair for you not realizing that it was the miscommunication that you were going for that chair and like she's falling my eyes are like this and I like reach out and I grab her and before she falls and everybody at the table is just kind of like what and I was like oh this is so embarrassing it was pretty funny though game was really good it's it's a fantastic game um I think and Jamie I think really liked it because he featured in one of his uh my favorite mechanics videos James is trying to figure out a way to bring it back right well they did the expansion oh you're right yeah so they just had the expansion for the reprint and this game this game just made the top 300 on BGG which is an amazing feat um so I'm glad that Lizzy you forgot you were able to talk about yeah yeah it was on Kickstarter that was awesome yes so good I love it can't say good things enough good things about it it's great super good always play it all right my last this is it this is the the final melon the the last melon this is game number one for me uh I I truly believe that like the last couple were right up there um but for me the the game that truly transcended all Euros all year that just that I really regret that I have not gotten the chance to play this and I regret that I've not taught her yet and I need to just do it like within this winter I think I'm just gonna set it up because the two players this game flies uh especially with the way we play um but that is a game called Arc Nova this has not been dethroned for me for your for a Euro game uh I know there's a lot of people like oh it's just XYZ blah blah blah but you know what it takes XYZ and does it better than any other game has uh this has polyamony placement drafting uh modular boards uh Resource Management the mechanic that that it uses from the civilization Sid Meier Civilization of like you take a card and it uses a conveyor belt and you have to move it to the end and like that's what's going to activate you can choose like what card to activate and the further it gets on the timeline the better the action gets but then you can you know it's going to get worse it's just the puzzle this game creates is just top notch and all year it was not dethroned and nothing but positive everyone I'm not even sure where it ended up on BGG because this game was flying up the ratings now I don't I don't necessarily think you know BGG is the be-all and for game ratings whatsoever but I do believe that a good game gets the hype and it gets great reviews for being a good game in fact this is now number four this is the fourth fourth best game rated on BGG that's incredible it is past Twilight Imperium terraforming Mars Gloom Haven draws a lion Star Wars rebellion in tears because that's my favorite game ever it is just behind gloomhaven brass Birmingham and pandemic season one that's a top five game of all time and to me this game does it is a top five game um it it may not be for everybody per se but if you're looking for a great mid to heavier weight Euro game with really fun decisions um managing you know the this this Zoo because that's something essentially doing you're managing a zoo uh and building all that out it's just it's so much fun um now granted do I do I wish this and I I do want to talk about about this too because this is kind of like a mini review of the game but because it's not always great you know but I do want to mention that I'm honestly not a fan of Zeus um so that to me the theme like the theme the zoo and I was like I don't know what that has to do no no no I'm not a huge fan of zoos in particular because of like the way they treat animals and stuff um so that for me the theme is a miss and I think that they could have easily done something like creative and like more unique um I mean space is another thing but we've already got terraforming Mars so for me the the biggest issue I have with this game the big con is the theme like if it was anything else then it would be a perfect 10 out of 10.

but because of the theme and I'm truly just not a fan of zoos I gotta give it a nine out of ten maybe an eight I don't know but it but but I just want to say though that the gameplay is phenomenal and I do want to mention uh that part about it because I think it's important to note so but I mean it's also a game and it's not it's also a game and you're not actively yes you're not actually being cruel to animals whatsoever and in a perfect world where the news could be like more safaris where they're actually where they're like safaris in their actual habitat Type Thing versus in captivity yeah for sure for sure but this is it this this was my number one uh this was a great year of board games I like I said at the beginning I truly believe that we've not seen a year as good as 2022 um and I'm hoping 2023 is just as good I'm hoping that this year I can remember to keep a running list on my phone I have I'm trying to use BG stats more so I want to be able to look at BG stats that way I can look at the games we've played so then it's not like an end of the year like oh what did we play and then going to keep a notes list on my phone I have two on it so far we will see if I can continue what do you have on it so far Joan of Arc oh yeah and great split and gray split there you go hey we got two games on us so far we I mean I've played both of those though too anyways thank you so much for joining us oh he's very hungry thanks so much for watching this was so much fun um this was our personal list of games that we thought were the best games of 2022.

we're sorry for the little glitch at the beginning yeah though it happened thank you so much for joining us can't wait to see your list yeah let us know in the comments tell us what we missed tell us some things that you thought that we should have had on there yeah what was on your list what was shared what wasn't we love seeing that absolutely and as as we say the best games are still yet to be made so I can't wait to see what 2023 has in store so anyways thank you so much for watching everybody and we will see you Thursday yep uh for our next live stream catch you later say bye baby see ya