If you like THAT game, you may love THIS game... - Lost In The Shuffle

0:00 If you have enjoyed previous discussion topics that we've done on episodes of Lost in the Shuffle, well then you may enjoy today's discussion topic that we're doing on Lost in the Shuffle. Or you may just have your losses shuffled, in which case you will not not be lost in the shuffle, which I think means you are lost in the shuffle. Always

0:24 pop quiz. I Rick, what is the one stereotypical question that non board gamers ask to a board gamer when that board gamer introduces that non-board gamer to board games?

0:41 I would have to say, how does this compare to Monopoly?

0:44 Oh my gosh. One, you understood the question. Two, that's exactly right. The old

0:50 You mean like Monopoly, the worst litmus test you could possibly have for a board game? Absolutely. Yes. Well, today you, me, Grant, Matthew, and Paula are going to provide a little bit of ammunition to help better answer that question. Perhaps we've actually gone and asked each other and ourselves in some sort of sophisticated matrix. What is a game that if someone said, "Oh, I like this game." You could respond with, "Well, if you like this game, well, then you may also like that game." to help broaden all of our gaming repertoire.

1:23 Repertoars.

1:24 Repertoire. Repertoire. Repete. Reptoire. Repertoire.

1:28 Repertoire.

1:29 Repertoire.

1:30 The plurality of repertoire.

1:31 Uh-huh. Okay. I Now I'm lost. Essentially, what we're doing is we're each going to just give a recommendation. If you like game X, you might like game Y. It's as simple as that.

1:40 Okay. The only nonsimple thing left to do is to figure out which of our guest contributors is going to be presented first by the most convoluted unnecessary means that we can think of.

1:53 Absolutely.

1:53 Break out the artifact.

1:54 I think it's time to break out our little Kenner Star Wars spinner, which has numbers one, two, three on it twice. This will help us determine whether we go with in alphabetical order Grant, Matthew, or Paula first.

2:06 All right, here we go. Today we have

2:11 Paula.

2:12 Paula's up first. All right. So, let's go to Paula's first game or her only. Let's go first to Paula's G. No, I can't. It's bothering me. Let's first go to Paula's one game recommendation of actually two game. Well, she one. She's mentioning two games, but it's one recommendation. It's Paula. Up next on Lost in the Shuffle.

2:32 Some of you have probably heard me talk about this before, but growing up, my favorite game to play was Clue. Uh, so I'm always looking for a game that can replace that that's a bit more strategic or kind of like a hobby level game or, you know, just like do what I love about Clue. I'm always looking for games that can do that better or in a way that's more interesting and strategic. And so for that, I would say a game that fully replaces Clue is Awkward Guests or Awkward Guest 2, the Beric Cases, which is the two-player version. And it's really good. And I'm not sure how easy either one is to find, but if you can get your hands on them and you like Clue, it basically is the same theme. There's a murder. It's happened in a house. There are suspects and weapons, and you have to figure out who did the murder, what weapon they used, what their motive was. You know, it's got all those things I love about Clue, the mystery, the deduction, the maida, but it takes away like the luck of roll to move. You don't have to worry about that in this game. So, it takes that out. It adds more of a layer of strategy, I think, to the game. And I really like it. I will play this over Clue anytime, always. It replaces it for me. If you like this style of game, but you don't want that theme of like murder, then I would say check out Crypted, Search for Lost Species, or The Quorum, maybe for like a similar kind of deduction style game that you could play in place of

4:03 Clue. Okay. So, it makes sense to me that Paula would mention Clue, one of her old all-time favorites, game she grew up on. And I know she has mentioned Awkward Guests to me in a previous video. You, while we were watching it, you mentioned another game that's like reminded me, oh yes, this is another game kind of like Clue. That's a good kind of if you like X, you might like Y type of game,

4:24 right? I really thought that's where she was going to go. It was kill Dr. Lucky,

4:28 which is very much like Clue with a great twist. you know, instead of having an actual victim, you have a guy who's going to a potential victim, but he's just incredibly lucky at avoiding all these things. It's kind of Mr. Magcoo style that way.

4:40 One of my favorite things about Kill Dr. Lucky is the the different weapons you have at your disposal. And one of the murder weapons you have available is a tight fitting hat.

4:50 So, it's a little too tight and it just kills him.

4:52 Which always makes me wonder if if it's really a small hat and he has a small head or if he has a very large head

4:57 as and and just the constriction of a regular size. Oh,

5:01 they never clarify that in the game.

5:02 It's all relative, I suppose. Yes. Yes. Well, I went in a similar direction as Paul. I chose an old standard classic of Monopoly. I thought, okay, if you like Monopoly, well, then you may like this game, which I enjoy very much. Magnate: The First City. This is to me perhaps more than any other game has done, really become a modern gamer version of Monopoly for me. Oh, on the old back of the box here. Yeah, you got your plots of land where you build houses and you build your houses and you build up your hotels and you make things happen and you construct and you buy properties and you rent your properties out to people. And so it takes that similar premise of being a real estate mogul,

5:46 but really takes it and takes the, you know, the role and move out of it and gives you a little more agency in all the decisions that you make. There's still a lot of interactivity because where someone else builds will affect what you build and what you can rent out.

6:00 Here's an example of some of the skyscrapers that are available in it. Boom. Boom. There's some night

6:04 again. I'm talking that.

6:06 So, it's got definitely that going on.

6:08 I would play with just that for hours.

6:09 I have. So, if you want something that's monopoly adjacent, but a little more uh I hate to say the word sophisticated, but moderniz modernized Magnate First City, highly recommend looking into this one. I adore this game.

6:24 Interesting. I look forward to playing it.

6:26 I'll put on our list.

6:27 All right. That list is getting long.

6:29 It It is always longer than than the amount of time that we have to play games, isn't it?

6:33 This is true.

6:33 Yes. But you know what? We do have time for our next contributor.

6:38 Bum. So, give that a spin. We want one or two.

6:42 One. One.

6:43 Mr. Grant.

6:44 Mr. Grant, you are up to bat. Let's see what he has to say. If you happen to like the game Ticket to Ride, then I really think you should check out the game station to Station. Uh, this is a game that came out earlier this year that I've really loved a lot. You know, it's not an exact comparison because in Ticket to Ride, you are famously building routes. In stationto station, you are not building routes. You don't have little train cars that you put down on the board, but you are traveling from station to station, hence the name. This game is one of the train games that I want to play the most. It's one of the ones that I've liked the most because it's not just the traveling from station to station. There is a pickup and deliver element to this game. What I really like about the game is the engine building aspect to it because you are going to be purchasing these uh employees essentially for your train line and those employees will get you special abilities. So they'll help you do more and more stuff. You'll also add these caboosees onto your train and those will get you discounts on goods in the future. And so if you grab some of those like those character tiles and those caboose tiles and things like that, then you're doing so much more by the end of the game than you were at the beginning of the game. And it feels really satisfying. I love games that have a cool ramp up like that. There is a lot of uh replayability because it's

8:15 dependent on how the tiles come out and where they get placed on the board. And so you're always going to have a different map. Each spot on the board is essentially, you know, a different tile each game you play. So, I like that aspect of it as well. But if you want some engine building in a train game, which thematically makes sense, trains have engines. If you want some engine building in your train game, then I think Station to Station is worth checking out.

8:43 Have you played Station to Station?

8:46 I have not, but I appreciate that they made the title really straightforward. It's true. It is quite descriptive of the game itself, isn't it?

8:54 Yeah. What's this about?

8:55 It's true.

8:57 So, I'm glad actually that Grant remind mentioned it because that reminded me of it and now I want to play it. I liked what he mentioned about the pickup and deliver aspect to it and increasing the length of your train. So, Conarnit Grant, you got me interested in another game to to to go and play and add to the shelf.

9:15 That list is getting long.

9:16 That list

9:17 really long.

9:18 Okay. What game can you remind me of?

9:22 One that I've really enjoyed, which is Hrien's Wall. This is one I would have thought would have been the recommendation.

9:28 Yes, it's a it's a very unique game and it's a a euro, right? You have sheets of paper that you're marking things on and these create little synergies and and there's a great kinesthetic part with moving and swapping of resources and people. So, a really wonderful game. And then recently, uh same publisher has come up with the Anarchy.

9:46 I haven't even heard of this one.

9:47 Yeah. And this is what I I really like about it is is they took a lot of the mechanisms from Hrien's wall and then added more to it, complicated and made the battle component a little more strategic.

10:00 Oh,

10:00 you know, before it was very much a flip and this is what happens. And now you're actually while you're also trying to manage your town and do everything else, you're having to build your castle. There's this wonderful little kesthetic and so you're building walls and towers and the moat and you got to keep increasing as the battles get more and more difficult. You got to keep increasing your fortifications.

10:19 Now is your castle is are we still talking about a little, you know, roll and write type piece of paper or you actually building a 3D thing?

10:27 This is where they actually made a little 3D thing. So there's a little little cardboard set and then there's uh I want to say it's about 10 dice. So, it took everything from Hrien's wall, which I really loved, and added uh more strategy to it. I won't say complexity. Uh it is more complex, sophisticated,

10:46 but more sophistication, more nuanced in that way.

10:48 Nuance, more nuance.

10:50 Yes. Much more nuanced in that way. For me, it's just very satisfying in that regard, but it's neat to see the way they've done these interactions and yet changed them. And again, I know not everybody is into solo games. Um, but this to me was just a wonderful absolute followup. I mean, I love Hrien's Wall. And so, I'm just absolutely loving The Anarchy. I think they took everything that was great about it and improved upon it.

11:12 That's what I love about this hobby and and everything is there's so many options. There's so many ways to approach these games and so many things, different things that games can offer. This whole exercise of if you like X, you might like Y doesn't have to be the lowhanging fruit of, oh, here's a game you might be familiar with because it's on the shelf of every big box store that's out there. You took this game that you have this passion for, there's got to be other people that are in that same boat that would have that same appreciation for that being the next level that would appreciate being introduced to it. I think it's awesome.

11:45 Thanks. Yeah, I I I hope for all you solo gamers out there, it's a good recommendation. Speaking of passion, we have one more person with a passion for games to hear from, and that is Matthew. So, let's see what Matthew has to recommend for us.

11:58 All right, take it away, Matthew.

12:01 Okay, this is difficult for me to talk about. I'm sorry to anyone that I might offend or upset, but I I love the game Samurai by Rhina Canitia. It's great. It's real good. But that being said, Bitewing Game have come up with a game called Bbop, which is about music festivals and all that type of stuff. You're trying to get area majority around these different band stands. And it it's heavily inspired by Rhino Canitzia and Bing Games will tell you that themselves. They reprint Kitia games. They probably went in thinking this. There's a beauty in the simplicity of Samurai. one of my all-time favorite Canidia games. It's incredible game. But Bbop, it's very similar in its core mechanisms, right? And you can play it like you're playing Samurai pretty much.

12:57 But you can also play it with adding some extra elements, some different cool things, some different ways that things score. There's a very definitive scoring in Samurai. You either win or you lose. In this, you can count points and you don't know who's going to win. And it's all comes down to the wire at the end of the game. I very rarely say that something has replaced another thing. I don't think any game replaces any other game. I'd say Planet Unknown. Sell every other Polyomino game you own and just get Planet Unknown cuz it's just the best one. I actually do believe that. But I do think Bbop kind of has replaced Samurai. But in the same breath, Bbop couldn't exist had it not walked in the footsteps of Samurai that went before it. Yeah, I don't think I need to own Samurai anymore.

13:53 I feel I feel bad for saying it.

13:57 I'm actually really glad that Matthew mentioned that he feels sorry for Samurai.

14:03 We should have started with him. Yeah, because I think that's a very good point to make in this episode. Well, like my my my example is Monopoly. If you like Monopoly, you might like Magnate. That is not to say that Magnate should replace Monopoly. If you enjoy Monopoly or any other game, play it. Play the games you enjoy.

14:22 Yes, we're doing this in reverse. This list is meant to be more of a stepping off point. If you like this flavor, well, you might like this other flavor mixed with it.

14:31 Right. Right. If you had chocolate, try a chocolate and peanut butter. You can always have chocolate.

14:37 Mhm.

14:37 Ice cream, I guess I'm referring to.

14:39 Glad you clarified that

14:40 specifically like that.

14:41 I appreciated the way Matthew spoke about like, look, this game could not have existed. Yeah.

14:46 If the other game hadn't existed, right? And that goes for all the recommendations that everyone's made here today. It's like, well, if Clue had never existed,

14:53 Awkward Guests at Kill Dr. Lucky would be, if they even did exist, they'd be completely different games.

14:58 Correct. Correct. Right. We almost need those reference points. So yes, I'm glad we thought to include that at least at the end of the episode.

15:07 So So when you watch this, start at the end and watch the video backwards momento style by segments.

15:14 That's what you need to do. Speaking of things thrown in at the end, let's throw in that this episode is now at its end. And if you like it, hopefully you can join us for the next one. Until then though, thanks for watching this one and let us know what game recommendations you have to supplement other games and uh perhaps we'll do some follow-up on it in a future episode. Until then though, my new thing I'm doing to I hate it. Goodbye.