No Pun Included's Board Game of the Year 2024
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Transcript
Hello viewers, it's me! Hello me! My name is Efka, and I'm hiding something very exciting behind a thin piece of red fabric! [Elaine] Ooh, can I play with it? [Efka] Don't know, let me have a look. Well, it's board games [Elaine] Oh. [Efka] So yeah, you can. What a year it has been! Unprecedentedly, board game publishers completely surprised everyone by making... ...more board games. Of which some were, at least, good. So naturally we also reached for the unexpected, and made a Game of the Year video which, let me promise you, we have never done before! [Elaine] What about the one we did last year? And all the years before?
[Efka] Thanks me! That's right we have, on occasion, made videos that might or might not have been called Game of the Year, but never one with categories. [Elaine] Again, last year. [Efka] Completely new categories! Now roll the bad Photoshop! [Jaunty Music] Mass Effect! Dead Cells! Divinity Original Sin! Wilmot's freaking Warehouse! You'd be right to think these are all video games. But you'd also be wrong, because in 2024 these video games were board games! Like matchstick men, they're joining a long, tired queue of video game to board game adaptations, churning out safe sales for publishers with cash enough to purchase intellectual property.
Dah-dada-dah-dada-dah-dada-dah-dada-daaaa! Plot twist! Some of these are good now. Just last year, Dorfromantik the Board Game won the Spiel des Jahres, Wilmot's Warehouse is a neat party trick, and Dead Cells is actually, in my humble opinion, terrible. But they've tried, I can tell they really tried. However, none have been as big a surprise as... [crow cawing] Look, if you know you know. If you ever cast Echo Form, and the next turn an upgraded Defragment, you've been asking the same exact question I have. Why in the Watcher's name would you make Slay the Spire into a board game when it is already a board game, just one you have to play on your personal computer or handheld SNES? Turns out, as per our review of it, miraculously you can make Slay the Spire into an even better game than it already was.
Listen, I know this sounds ludicrous, but so many comments on our review are like: "Yep, this is genuinely better than Slay the Spire!" I'm not the only one. If you, however don't know, Slay the Spire is a deck building game. And in the board game version a co-operative one. Each game you have the chance to unlock more cards and create zany combos. It is... ...the best. And now it's even better. Again, watch our review - explains everything. This rather sizable box ran against all expectations and industry prejudice, and surprised everyone with an adaptation that not only could, but should. What a delight! What a treat! What a fantastic video game 'colon' the board game! If you like the original, if you like co-operative games, if you enjoyed any deck building game ever, 'Slay the Spire: The Board Game' is a must play.
[Elaine] Efka coming out the gate stronk! [Efka] Well, I thought, "Let's reel them in with the heavy hitters from the get-go, lull them into a false sense of security, and then... ...hit them with that weird NPI [tractor noise] that we love to put into these videos!" [Elaine] Well, you know me, I love that weird NPI [tractor noise]! But first... [Jaunty Music] That's right! This year we are giving an award to a game that already won our game of the year! 'Nepotism!' I hear you shout. Dear viewers, please get out your drum kits and start banging because what is a bigger banger than a double dip G.O.T.Y?! Okay technically, technically, 'Undaunted 10 o'clock Callisto' is not 'Undaunted Stalingrad', But it also kind of is.
Undaunted is a system of World War II themed two-player card games. Sleek like a pain au chocolat, and tense like the season 2 finale of Squid Game. Since we reviewed Undaunted Stalingrad - the campaign game entry in this system - it was hard to imagine a bigger, bolder version. And in some ways Undaunted Callisto... ...is not that. Instead of the standard 10 scenarios, or 15 like in Stalingrad, this only has eight. Also it's not a campaign, it's just Undaunted. In space! In a gritty corporations versus labour, The Expanse-adjacent, setting. Just saying that out loud made me sweat a bit. The reason Undaunted 2200 deserves a nod, is because in so many ways it delivers on the promise of that sentence.
The corporate side feels distinct from the unionists, not just because one has ED 209 lookalike combat mechs, and the other drives around preposterous space drills, but because each of its eight scenarios is pitched perfectly to depict the different sides of eight mini conflicts. One scenario might ask you to defend a strategically located bridge, whereas another might force you to try and hold up on an exposed platform, whilst being fired at by a giant space laser. The intricacies of this only emerge once you start playing, making it less of a pain au chocolat, and more of a pain au quantum. You won't know if it's actually chocolat - yay, or raisin - bouh, until you take a bite. Is it good to hold up on this platform? Is that a reasonable strategy?
Or should I charge it whoever's manning the space lasers instead? You just won't know until you go through with it. Or you die trying. Which makes this game joyous in that way where you feel like you're dipping your toes in, learning the ins and outs of space, and boy, do you want to return to this scenario. Or try another one. This is some of the best that Undaunted has ever had to offer... ...and also some of the worst, with a rule book that has the shoddiest onboarding for both returning and new players. But this little blemish won't stop us from recognising Callisto as the sublime achievement that it is. [Efka] That game is so hot I'm talking deep fried tyre mountain, but in a good way. However, me and me, we are No Pun Included.
We don't go for hot, we go for obscure little games that no one's ever heard of like Gloom Haven or Brass or Terra Mystica. We promise people, and I quote, weird [tractor noise]. [Elaine] Don't worry, I have a feeling that the next category is really going to bring that promise home. [Jaunty Music] I want you to imagine a game that looks beautiful, is produced sustainably, blends crowd favourite mechanisms and implements them in a new way, serves as a learning tool without being a tool, is remarkably fun to play, and most importantly remains staunchly hopeful. Surely that kind of game deserves universal acclaim and recognition?! Sadly 'Daybreak' went completely unnoticed by everyone.
It won no important awards, got no positive reviews, and was entirely robbed of any and all accolades. The level at which Daybreak was completely ignored by everyone that isn't us is so staggering that you'd think we fabricated this entire segment for some sort of a hackneyed meta gag. If you haven't heard of Daybreak, and I'm sure you haven't because, again, no one's talking about it, it's a co-operative game about solving climate change. If that sounds too real to you, there's two things you need to know: One, it's a remarkably fun engine building game, and two, it is purpose-built to inject so much hope that by the time it's done with you, you'll look like one of those bodybuilders. Except instead of muscle mass, you'll be bulging with good feelings. And yet it still remains realistic about the plight that climate change is.
This game, I am telling you, it's a miracle. If you'd like to find out more, good news, we've made a video about it. And we're the only people to do so. Again, no other coverage of this game exists, so don't go trying to look for it. Do not type things like 'Spiel Des Jahres winner 2024', or 'Daybreak Shut Up and Sit Down review'. Just follow the link in the description and watch that one. [Elaine] Ha-ha(!), I see what you did there. You took a well awarded and respected game and said it was obscure. What a funny, meaningful gag. [Efka] You're right, I am ashamed of myself. Only me could have stooped so low. [Elaine] Wow, that was surprisingly grown-up of you to admit... wait a minute that was an insult!
Oh great, a scene change! You think you can't get to me editor Efka! I'll just wait till this segment is over and then you're forced to be with me in the funny in-between bit. Let's get on with this. [Jaunty Music] Yes 'Gibberers', or its full title: 'Gibberers, the Word Game of Language Invention and Civilization Development' is so good it deserves a mention in the Game of the Year video. And yes you literally cannot buy this game. No, not even on the BGG Marketplace. Which might make you ask: "What is the point? Why tell us about it? Why torture us me and Efka?" "Do you take joy out of knowing that we would really love to play this game but can't no matter what we do?!" Oh yes, such joy!
But also... Here's the deal. There are a lot of board games designed in Asia, and a lot of them are genuinely amazing. But we never get to try them because board games are physical things, and to translate, produce, and manufacture them in English, and then sell them successfully, requires infrastructure. To get around that, Asian publishers produce small print runs and sell them at a convention called Essen Spiel. This is how we got 'Love Letter', 'One Night Ultimate Werewolf', and a whole bunch of other games that now sit on your shelves. They were obscure indie gems until they got a licensing deal, and now they're everywhere. Is this ideal? Fair? Kind of backwards? No, no, and yes. But this is the situation we're in. Gibberers is, like the title says, a game of language invention.
And it means that literally. The game itself is split into two parts, each as brazen and bizarre as each other. First, you and your friends need to invent 18 words. Again, literally. Imagine yourself, and your besties, at the dawn of time: gathering berries, hunting deer, wearing nothing but mankinis. What words are important to you? Wood, food, sun, tight fit. Okay, you know these words in English, but what are they in *your* language? So then you and your BFFs agree on what they are. This is less a game and more a process, it feels less board game-y and more improv theatre-y. Should we call the sun 'blorp'? Yeah and maybe, let's not call it blop.
Okay, what about a compromise? What if we call it 'blop' instead? Fine we can call the sun blop. But then we have to call wood 'hummana-hummana'. These words don't have to be wood or sun - you get to decide what words are important for your language. Out of the 18, you're only required to have four specific words: I, yes, no, and also know with a silent K and W. 'Kanau'! We should say kanau, that's... that's way more fun! But be careful, because once you do come up with a foundation of your own language, the second more gamey part of the game begins. And that's where one player draws a prompt card, picks a word on it - let's say flame - then comes up with a new word that means flame in this new language you're inventing.
The other players only hear this new word, let's say /dʒæri/ and they have to guess what it means. And here is the best bit, they can ask as many questions as they like, but the entire rest of the game must be spoken only in the new language. Blop hummana-hummana? Chio! Bik kanau! Flame! Chio! But the game does not stop there! Each round the words get progressively more complicated. At first, you start out by only having to invent simple words for things like wheel or knife, but of course then these words get added to your lexicon, and the game starts asking you to define more complex words like king or typewriter, so you need all the words in your arsenal to get across what you mean. If you've already defined ink and machine then you're in luck, but if you haven't, how do you get these concepts across with the words that you do have?
And of course you can mime. So if I wanted to do monarchy, I could go hummana-hummana, because you know crown jewels. Get it? No? I'm not sure that made any sense. But that is the beauty of language! But in latter rounds, even this miming ability is taken away and the words only get harder. In fact, in the three hour long expert version of the game, you have to start defining things like designer baby and dark matter. And I hope by now you get it. Maybe to some of you this sounds like a nightmare, but I know that there are some of you watching who are like, "This sounds amazing! I have never played anything like this!" And that is the point. Games like Gibberers have infinite potential.
A lot of people maybe haven't considered that you can turn inventing language into a game, and it's precisely these kinds of games that draw people into our hobby. A promise of an experience they've never had before. Honestly, how many of you thought that you could make a game about watching birds before 2018? And now Wingspan is on Eastenders, and half the board games released since are nature themed. Publishers, if you're watching this, I don't know if someone already got the license to Gibberers, but if you didn't... I don't know what it is you do - pick up the phone, send a telegram? Grab this potato like it's hot and chuck it into the schlep scalotol! That's the word for printing press in my language. Anywho, segment over. Efka, nowhere to run cut to the... [Jaunty Music] Oh no(!) That last segment went on for so long, we had to cut the in between bit for time.
What a shame(!) Speaking of time, yes we did throw Gibberers into our video to use our clout in the hopes that some publisher picks it up and makes it widely available. Because this exact kind of thing has happened already. "Hey Efke - just to say we'll be announcing a new English-language edition of this tomorrow/this eve coming to KS this year. Thanks for putting us on to this, we wouldn't have found it without yourself and Elaine's coverage." That is Anthony Howgego who, yes, has misspelled my name, but also has worked for companies like Osprey and Mindclash and also co-runs a small independent publishing company called Play for Keeps, telling me in March 2023 that they'll be putting 'My Favourite Things' on Kickstarter.
And by that I don't mean just taking all the things I like and putting them onto Kickstarter which, let's face it would be an amazing business opportunity, but you know, a game called 'My Favourite Things'. Which is something we ourselves discovered in 2018 in Essen Spiel where, once again, a small Japanese publisher brought a small print run. We tried it, thought it was genius, and covered it in one of our videos. Anywho, this isn't about hipster cred, this is a legitimately joyous and weird game. One of those either you're into, it or you're not things. And if you are, this thing will produce nights you will remember. I'll explain the premise very quickly because again, we already covered it once - link in the description - and we'll cover it again in the future, link in the description when available.
My Favorite Things is a trick-taking party game where you and your friends rank things on whatever zany dreamt-up subjects you like: favourite smelly cheeses, favourite Steve Coogan impressions, favourite British weather... Okay maybe don't do that one. And then everyone plays with those rankings without knowing the values. Does this sound like fun? Because, I'll be honest, we have about a 50% success rate with My Favourite Things. When it flops, people are just kind of uncomfortable about it. It needs a little coolness with sharing. A carefreeness. It borders on intimacy. But when it works, in the right setting, it just takes off. I will never forget being asked to rank horror films by my horror film afficionado friend, and him just cringing every time one of my answers was revealed.
"No! Why?! What is wrong with you?!" A question for the ages. Anywho, My Favorite Things is finally available, and you should at least give it a try. And if you do and you love it like we do, know that a tiny tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny part of this thing existing is maybe potentially down to us. [Elaine] No more running! No more scene changes! I have you cornered! [Efka] Fine, fine. But why? [Elaine] What?! [Efka] I mean that whole thing with us happened what like 2,000 words ago. Do you even remember what your beef with me was? [Elaine] Yes! First, you kept calling me me in this entire video instead of using my actual name which, believe it or not, I can't even remember anymore.
Then you insulted me... damn it I can't even say that word - me - without it being weird. [Efka] See, there's something poetic about us moving on from this. Almost like a narrative path, or a three-act structure. What's another word for it? [Jaunty Music] Arcs! Of course it's Arcs! The game that produced the 'this is my game of the year' videos in the heights of summer, and an equal amount of "Whoa, whoa, this is overhyped you snobs!" responses from the Groucho-not-Marx pundits. If that tells you anything, it should be that Arcs is interesting. There is something about it that divides people. Which means that it pushes ground, it grinds the gears, it provokes, it titillates, it hummana-hummanas.
In principle, Arcs is a space game where you build cities and star ports, construct spaceships, and attack other players to conquer territory - a concept that's as fresh as an old egg. But, and this is a big but, Arcs is deliberate. A subversion, a play on genre. It's commentary - mechanically, conceptually, meta-narratively. It is so rich, so provocative, so stupendously uncomfortable I have spent the last half of a year writing effectively one review. And it is still not done. There is nothing I can say in a segment that could fit into a video like this that would explain what Arcs actually is, what it feels like, whether you'll like it.
In fact, that last one is impossible. No one can guess whether you like it because I can guarantee you your response to it will be intensely, viscerally personal. I can't even tell you whether I like it. Not sure I ever can. I just know that I've never played anything like this. If board games ever produced a masterpiece, this is it. And I hope that really soon I can talk to you about it again. [Efka] And that's all the games of the year everybody! [Elaine] What about my Game of the Year? [Efka] Well, you don't need that - you can just borrow my Game of the Year! [Elaine] I don't even like Arcs - I want my own category! [Efka] You know what? You're right, it is important to have individuality. Everybody is their own person.
I am me, you're me... [Jaunty Music; crashing, banging] And stay down! Apologies, things got a little heated, but you can't deny that violence is good entertainment. And the best kind of violence is a dual. Listen, if anything Efka should be doing this segment. I mean I like Lord of the Rings a lot, but I can't tell a Feanor from a Fingolfin. I don't even know what a Fingolfin is. Efka wrote these lines and assures me that they *are* characters from Tolkien. But I've seen all the films, and I have no idea. Which is why I am delighted to tell you that 'Lord of the Rings: Dual for Middle Earth' has absolutely nothing to do with Lord of the Rings, and everything to do with cool gameplay.
In it you play either as Sauron or as the Fellowship and, just like the famous epic you'll be collecting cards in a tableau to combine abilities. Each turn a player either takes a card or discards a card. That is basically the entire game. Except this game is like a... ...what's a thing with peeling layers it isn't an onion? A leek! A scallion! A shallot! ...each step revealing complexity and depth heretofore unseen. Has a bit of a bite to it as well. There are three ways to win Lord of the Rings: Dual for Middle Earth. First, the hobbits carry the ring to Mount Doom, or the Black Rider catches up to them. Functionally, this piece is a fancified track. Get to the top first, and you win. The second way to win is to court favour of the various factions: elves, men, wizards, Ferengi...
Have six and you win. And finally, the third victory is possible through amassing armies. Have one soldier in all regions of Middle Earth, you win. What's important here is that as you take these cards, you're inevitably giving up others. You're less focused on what you want, and more on what you're leaving behind. And that is really the genius of this game. What you get is good, but what your opponent gets is also good. Everything is good. In fact, it's forking good. And I don't mean that in a Kristin Bell way of saying the f-word, I literally mean forking. Card by card, you set yourself on a path. You might be very good at climbing the ring track, and you're middling in having soldiers in Middle Earth. Your opponent is devilishly good at picking up faction allies, and also no slouch on those soldiers.
So when you get something you want, you're giving your opponent access to something they want, each of you getting dangerously closer to stealing victory from each other. And Lord of the Rings Dual has this fantastic ability to make you feel like your opponent is 95% there. At all times. Even though the game has just begun. It. Is. Constant tension. And it just gets worse, and worse, and worse. So you start doing the unthinkable. Instead of taking the cards that you want, you start discarding cards that your opponent wants. And by discarding those, you unlock access to even more cards. And maybe those cards are fine, not dangerous, but behind them? Even more dangerous cards!
If Euro games give you serotonin, Dual for Middle Earth gives you adrenaline. And it's so good at it that it's easily my Game of the Year. It is worth noting that this is a remake of a game called 'Seven Wonders Dual'. We like that game just fine. I don't know what wizardry they've done here because I recognise that same exact game in this new version, but somehow so much more sleek and present. It's not just a new coat of Tolkien, there's magic happening in this box. Not dark, like the Seven Wonders one, but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love 'me' and despair!! [Efka] Oh I get it me - M.E - short for Middle Earth! The clue to what your game of the year was, was right there in the very first line of the video!
What another successful G.O.T.Y video done, and we can all go home. [Elaine] Efka, you're forgetting the most important category. [Jaunty Music] [Elaine] Last year, 'Robot Tied to a Sock' won Bessie's prestigious Game of the Year category. But this year, the stakes have never been higher because now we have two dogs, and one sock just won't do. [Efka] Which is why we were over the moon when we heard that the publisher of Robot Tied to a Sock was releasing a sequel called 'Robot Tied to two Socks'! [Elaine] Needless to say, the winner of this category was a no-brainer! Congratulations publisher of Robot Tied to two Socks, we didn't think you could top this, but top this you did!
[Efka] And now it's time for us to doff our own tops, and ask for you to top up our Patreon. I'm sure you know what Patreon is, but did you know that we're one of the very few independent board game reviewers? That's right, it means we have no support from board game publishers, only from viewers like yourselves who donate to us on Patreon. Which not only ensures that we can keep making videos, but also take some time off to focus on some really interesting projects. We've got some exciting stuff coming up in 2025 and we literally couldn't do it without you! See you soon!