News & Week In Review - JonGetsGames Done After 12 Years, The Allplay Sale & More!!

0:00 Hey, I'm Alex Rack from Board Gameco and this is news and weekend review. Although once again we are light on the news again this week. Last week there was barely anything that was like I don't know noteworthy to talk about and this week is unfortunately or fortunately I guess the same. Depends on kind of how you view news and is it something that you need to know about that new board game or or something that happened in the industry. Although there actually is something that kind of happened you know. Let's go ahead and get into that in a second. But uh first this channel is yeah this channel is sponsored by AllPlay. If you like the shelves behind me, you can check out the shelf video I did. You can check out, well, I will have a board game table video at some point, but this board game table is from All Play. This playmat is from All Play, and a lot of board games on the shelves behind me are from All Play. You can check all of that at allplay.com. But with that, as far as the uh news, this wasn't actually I kind of had nothing in my news segment to talk about, but I realized there is something worth talking about, which is John Gets Games is kind of done with YouTube. I mean, not kind of, John Gets Games is fully done with YouTube.

0:56 Basically, John Gus has been doing videos uh for 12 years, which is an insane number. Like I'm at if it's 2026 now and 2019 my have I been doing this for six years? Meaning sevenish I started in 2019 but like late 2019. So like I mean 2019 to 2021 no to 2020 to 2021 to 2022 to 2023 2024 2025 2026. I've been doing Wait, that can't be right. Have I do have I been doing videos for seven years? Oh my gosh. Wow. Wow. Anyways, uh John Games has been doing videos on his channel for 12 years. And if you've been following his content, uh over the past, you know, five plus years, it definitely is one of those things where you can kind of content creators go through es and flows. I've talked about uh burnout in general. I did a full video on burnout a few months ago, like just how there's a lot of content creators in the space who have been kind of tapping out or just doing less videos or doing any any number of different things. If you like a content creator, support them to every extent you can because it is one of those things that for some reason or another, it's definitely not a job that lasts forever for everyone. I think Board Game Brigade just did a video about how he's been taking a break.

2:02 That's more like stuff going on in his life. But like in general, there's lots and lots of content creators who do less or nothing at all and just disappear one day. It's one of the reasons why the people who do keep doing it time after time, year over year. I mean, Rod's been doing it forever. Dice Tower has been doing it forever. Who else? Shut Up and Sit Down's kind of been doing forever, but like the crew's definitely ebbed and flowed. Who else has been doing videos for like that long consistently? And there's like some channels like, you know, Joel Eddie, Drive-Through Games, who like drive-thru reviews, who will do like occasional videos here and there because like they they do that thing, but not the same way they once did. It's very hard to find people who have reliably been doing videos for 10 plus years. And with John Gets Games leaving, it's another one down. Uh, but like I was saying, if you've been following his content over the past several years, it's definitely been clear that he's been enjoying it less and less over the past several years. It's one of those things that it constantly feels like a slog. Initially, you go through this phase of uh growth and people liking your content and enjoying it, and then over time, it's harder and harder to keep up, especially as new people enter the space. It is a it's a challenging thing. I'd like to think that I will be doing this forever, but I will constantly have to tweak or adjust whatever it is that I'm doing to make sure that I'm still getting joy out of it in the same way. It is like listen, I'm sitting here Friday night, my work day is done and I'm like, "Hey, it's gonna it's time to film a video because I have to have my weekend review going up tomorrow and then I'm thinking through all the videos I'm have to film, you know, over the weekend just to keep up with things." And it is like I love playing games. I love filming videos, but I also like having time in my life.

3:29 And it's one of those things that it is a constant balance making it all work. And so, if you've appreciated John Gets Games videos over the years, it's worth heading over to his goodbye video and leaving a comment saying as much like, you know, what you've gotten out of it. again, if he even if he's done with videos, he's doing his own separate thing now. He has like he got a job and all that, it's still nice to hear that you were appreciated over all that time. Anyways, with that, we're going to go ahead and dive into the videos of the week. Videos of the week. We had a few general videos. We had a vlog uh going up uh covering the games I've played post Gen Con. Next week, we'll have a vlog focusing on the games I've reviewed post Gen Con. Just kind of going through a segue of learning, playing, and reviewing all the Gen Con games. Make no mistake, there's lots more. There's some more to learn, a good bunch more to play, and still lots lots more to review. But it's just a it's a slow it's a slow process of getting it all done, making sure that uh these shells full of games are are being closed out as quickly as they are expanding. I also had a Gen Con purge video going up. This is kind of an impromptu purge. I recognized as I was playing through these Jean Con games that a bunch of them were definitely going to be sticking around. And so I went through the shelves and kind of gathered a bunch of games that are leaving. Uh, some of them I've already put back for a variety of reasons, but I still managed to get rid of a good chunk of games, even if it's not as many as I was hoping to, but I'll probably be doing a bit of a recap of what actually left and what I had second thoughts on when I do my games leaving the collection video, which I realized I missed this past month's video because of Gen Con. So, I'll have a games leaving the collection video probably going up next week or the week after, and I'll do a recap of what actually left. But if you want to see uh

4:59 I saw a comment that I really appreciated. Speaking of shutting out other content creators or people who've been doing it for 10 years plus, Paula Deming has been doing this for 10 years plus and she recently has been doing a series of purges on her channel. They are very entertaining to watch. I highly recommend them. But I did see a comment uh on my purge video basically saying Paula should watch your video to understand how quickly you can actually get rid of a game. Because if you watch Paula's videos, she's excellent. She's amazing. A good chunk of the videos are not getting rid of any games. Even though the videos are called getting rid of games, but it's hard. It's it's challenging. You're uh whenever you have too many games, this is a problem whether you're a content creator or not. This is a problem if you like the board game hobby, there's too many games at any given point. There's too many games and your your eyes are bigger than your stomach, so to speak. The amount of games you want to play is very different than the amount of games you're actually going to play. And so there's there's a contrast between your desire and then the reality. And the reality is sadder.

5:52 The idea like I mean, what's a game on the shelf? City of Spies is Satchel. Okay. Citywise, I've been debating getting rid of that game for a long time. It's a five out of five game for me. I love it, but it hasn't been pulled off the shelf in two years now. And and I don't know what it is. Maybe it's my gaming group dynamics. I I don't know. I don't know what it is. It used to be a regular regular presence of the at the game table. And now it's one that hasn't been played in two years. And I'm like, I should get rid of it. But I'm like, but no, I can't. But I should get rid of it, but no, I can't. And as much as much as I can make those harder decisions around certain games, there's just as many that probably should leave that don't. There's a lot of games out there. There will never stop being more games and it's a constant challenge to figure out what you want to play versus what you're actually going to play. It's rough. It's rough out there. Anyways, that's as far as the videos of the week. As far as games covered this past week, we had a review going up for Red Lanterns. That's a Mago, not Mato. It's um what's it called? Uh Panda Spin, whatever. Panda gate design, whatever.

6:45 Uh we had a review for that going up. Give it a 3.5 out of five. It's a fun game, beautiful game. There are elements that I really enjoy and elements that I think are more fine. There was a review for Into the Machine. I gave that a four out of five. I really like Into the Machine. It's one of those games that I wonder how it'll fair over time. Even with the expansions, I think it's a little too seamy game to game, but I do appreciate the puzzle. That's one of the uh post Gen Con games that will be being added to the collection, at least for now. We'll see how things go. There is a review a review and gameplay are of Ace of Spades. As much as I enjoy this one, I don't think it's a forever game. I think it's a game that I enjoy what the game is doing, but having beaten it already and I mean I'll be playing it a few more times probably, but I don't think it's sticking around. But I do enjoy it. I really I think it's a very solid uh Batro adjacent uh solo game. And then there was also game plays and previews. So there are two game plays, two previews for Orbit Star as well as Aberation. Aberration uh Oblivion's Embrace I think is the expansion name and Orbit Star Expedition to Darwin 4, I think is the name. These both have like names longer names than the uh basics.

7:44 Uh but both those those are both sponsored content. So take everything with a grain of salt, but Orbitar, I thought it was really well done. I thought Orbitstar was a good game of combining uh basically bag building, building up your tableau, and then area control over fighting various uh beasts. I thought they did a really good job with it. I enjoyed it a lot. And then there's also aberration, Oblivion's Embrace, which is a much better version than standard Aberation. It it really takes aberration and improves multiple aspects of it, which I think is the gameplay design. Like I think it's the design of the expansion, but basically the two main elements is it takes it from random objectives that don't have a sense of purpose to kind of more of a cohesive story. And that's something that I don't even know if I thought of that as a complaint against the original, but having seen the changes, it's just better. It feels like there's more of a story going on in a way that's not overwhelming on the rule set. It's just kind of more structured objectives you're going through. But the thing that's a much better gameplay experience, not just thematic one, is the fact that you get much more upgrades in the campaign. It's a fiveame campaign arc. Even in the first game, you're already getting more upgrades than you are in a base aberation. Especially as you play through the campaign, you're getting a lot more. Definitely improved upon the gameplay. At least for me, that was my biggest complaint against Aberation is that you don't see enough expansion, enough uh player upgrades as you play. That's basically as far as the games covered, which brings us to the games I've played this past week. As usual, this is a small smattering of games that I've played this past week.

8:59 We have GOTO 5, which I have played so much Got Five this week, it's insane. There's a review going up for Got Five on the channel today. Uh, but I'll say I filmed that review already like a week ago. Since that review, I have probably played Got Five like 15 20 times. It has become one of our go-to fillers. It's just so simple. I don't I I don't even think it's amazing. It's just become one of our go-to fillers uh over the past week and a half. We'll see how time fares on that one. There's Oracle of Deli. I'm really enjoying playing Oracle of Deli. I'm playing it a lot on BGA. I think I do have to go hunt down a copy. Uh it is it is it's been becoming it's been being added back into the user rotation. Uh I really like it. I've always liked Oracle Oracle of Alpha. It's been one of my I've always felt there was a kind of a puzzle. If you like games like uh Vindication, if you like the idea of being given a set of things you're trying to do and then you have to try to figure out the optimal path to do it. That's what Oracle of Deli really does. I think it's an excellent game. I I am I'm going to go hunt down a copy. Then there's Cascadia Alpine Lakes. Cascadia Alpine Lakes is uh one that I've really been enjoying.

9:56 In fact, it's over here as well. Uh, it's one that I plan on doing a 12 x 12 review of, which is a series that I do not do enough of them. There's two series on the channel. Play this, not that and uh, Cascadia and 12 x 12 reviews. Both those are series that I always want to do more of and I have a hard time. I think it's because I've entered that kind of I don't know the review grind, so to speak. And this is honestly, this is like speaking back to like content creator burnout. This is something that I do need to figure out at some point because it's going to become an issue if I don't if I don't stay on top of it. But I I definitely have YouTube is both a joy and there's also the elements of kind of the churn so to speak. And there's so many games that constantly are coming in to review and I both want those games. That's the problem. Like I do want the games but then it kind of enters this like cycle where I get the new things, play the new things, go on to the next thing. And that cycle as much as it lets me find amazing games that I really enjoy, it also means that I can't dive into certain things the way I actively want to. And there's [clears throat] that kind of internal pressure to put out videos that I I need to put out more videos and cover the new thing and play this not that or 12 x 12 reviews. They have a lot more time playing games relative to the diving into the video part which in theory I want but there's like a sense of pressure that I probably put on myself more than anything else.

11:06 This is a longer conversation. Basically, uh, if I think of YouTube, Alex, uh, four years into the future, I'd like to think that I'll be able to focus more on the things that spark more joy and appreciation for the content, even if I manage to take the the pedal off reviewing as many games as I do or putting out as many videos as I do. We'll see. We'll see what we'll see what longterm we'll see what the longterm future holds for the channel. But anyways, point is, uh, 12 x 12 reviews, I want to do more of them. I hope to do Cascadia Alpine Lakes. We'll see. Already played it a few times this week, and I'll be diving into it a few more times over the weekend. I hope to. We'll see what happens. That's basically a small amount of the games I've played this past week. Also, Olon. I'll actually shout out Oolon as well. I played the expansion of Olon, which is great because it's on one of the it's on the list of games I'm trying to play this year. I also need to review it, but I'm debating whether I dive into all the expansions before I review it. Again, that goes back to the aspect of I feel the pressure to get a review out even though it's an old game. But on the other hand, I kind of want to dive into all the content and talk about it more.

12:01 So, we'll see. We'll see what happens there. Anyways, as far as today, today there'll be a few things going up. There'll be a um three small party game reviews going up. Uh these are more Gen Con reviews. It's basically three party games in a roundup video as well as a review for Got Five. Like I mentioned already, I'll be giving you my thoughts on that later today. And then next week, there'll be a few things. On Sunday, I'll have a video on the All Play sale. Speaking of, I probably should have done this during the earlier allplay shoutout, but Allplay has a sale going on right now on their site. Uh you can go ahead and check it out right now if you missed it. It is a very good sale with a lot of good deals there. But I'll be doing a full dedicated video on this tomorrow, which will be I think two days before the sale ends or the second last day, whatever it is. But basically, I'll be doing a full video covering what I think are the best deals on the allplay sale. And then also later this week, there'll be an upcoming crowdfunding video, which again, I missed last week, but last month because of Gen Con. Uh, but I'll be doing an upcoming crowdfunding campaigns for the month of September. Uh, that should be going up on Monday if things go as planned. Which brings me to the games on the table. As usual, these are a smattering of the games I hope to be playing this week.

13:00 Forbidden Legacy and Cascade Alpine Lakes. I hope to be getting the both these played within the next 24 hours if nothing else. So, these ones I'm pretty darn sure I need to finish Forbidden Legacy. I have like two games left to go and then of course I'll be reviewing it. But I'm almost done with the campaign. I have thoughts. We'll cover those thoughts when I do the video. And then over here we have Mandalorian Sworn to Creed. This is the newest expansion for Mandalorian. I've played the original base game. I've played the first expansion. I have not played Sworn to Creed yet. The shrink is still on this. I need to take this off, learn how to play it, and then go from there. And then we have all mine. All mine capstone games. This is basically um it's a trick- taking game in which you are trying to I've read the rules for this one, but I always I already forget the basic idea. You're trying to predict the things that the the suit that you're going to win the most of and the least of. That's the hook. That's the hook of the game. And uh depending on how well you do that will depend on how many points you get as you play through it.

13:46 It's got cute art. Hope to dive into it soon and let you know how I feel. Anyways, that has been your news and weekend review. Until next time, I'm Alex Adler from Board Gameco. I hope you enjoyed this video. I hope you have an excellent weekend and as always I hope you have a good one.