Quality Game Stores, My Must-Have Expansions, & Awards - Your Board Game Questions Answered!

0:00 hi everyone welcome to another question and answer show here on what you've played where I with a lot of your help we're going to try and answer some of the internet's most burning board game questions the first question I have this month is what makes a good board game store hmm now straight off there are lots of different types of board game shop there's board game cafes like board game club places and there's board game stores that sell board games you know but across them all I have to say friendly staff and clean toilets those are the two main things something that stops me from going into any board game related establishment is when they don't look inviting I am fairly confident with my general knowledge of board games I feel like Ron Swanson going into our Home Depot I know more than you it's how I feel when anyone comes up to me in a board game store and that's fine but I tell you there are some places where the windows are all tinted and full of posters and you can't see in or you can see in way too much and anyone in there feels looks like they're an exhibit in a zoo places just need to be inviting I understand that you know you want it to look cool I'm a dive bar kind of person that's why I want to day but you have to be invited to invite people in lights a

1:30 welcome sign a friendly smile those type of things some shops I've noticed in my life do miss out on those key little things if we're thinking just a board game stores I like them when they are interesting not very clinical I like it when you've got rows of things and you can explore and you feel because part of my enjoyment of board games is the thrill of the hunt hunting down finding something cool however I have also been in places where you just think what is the point of being in here there's just no chance I'm confined what I need to find I can't even now I mean I can't find the exit it's the Labyrinth of mystery and pain and we're a ball game cafes come in there's three things I almost said two I'm gonna say three there's three things that I look for in a Board Game Cafe firstly we've already said toilets firstly I want there to be food on the menu but not loads of food just everyone knows that a place that does three things well is better than a place that does 300 things terrible I personally would like to have that elaboration of the menu put into drinks lots of drinks weird drinks I like that and also personally I would quite like there to be an alcoholic option but the thing I do really dislike about some board game cafes specifically you go in you pay to be there I've you know you go in you're paying by the hours I went recently somewhere and it's you know three pounds an hour you're sitting in there and you get some food because you kind of feel obliged to eat because you're in a Board

3:02 Game Cafe so you get some food and I swear the last place I was in they came up to my table every 10 minutes for about three hours to offer us more drinks now I understand that that is how they make money but at one point I just was like I need to leave I cannot tell this person I do not want a 15th cup of coffee again and I was just like please just leave leave me alone and maybe that's a personal thing but I was just like I'm paying to be here can you let me buy a game in peace oh it was a nightmare one thing I think that's really good in a Board Game Cafe obviously a great game selection is wonderful I don't need that because I guarantee I will be bringing games with me to play rather than playing anything in the library that's why I bought these games so I can play them but I did notice the last place I was at as well there was some really real newcomers to board gaming in there which is fantastic that's a great thing because you know you get you get them hooked but they were struggling to learn some of the rules and at one point I was like I might just go over there and teach them how to play this game myself because I knew how to play it and I didn't because the person working there did it and they were they did a really good job of it but I would love to see on a board game Library somewhere that's like on every single box is a QR code that you can scan which takes you to a YouTube video which teaches you how to play the game most games have some type of YouTube video to teach you how to play hello welcome to watch it played that's

4:33 literally what we do but I thought that would be a really good thing because I think a lot of people who are new to board gaming might not even realize that there is a YouTube video to learn how to play the rules like that would be a really cool thing to have in in a shop I love the idea of there being a swap meet kind of marketplace in there you know a shelf I've seen it in a few places a shelf where you can bring all the games that you want to sell bring them there leave them on their shelf and you know regular punters come in and there's the discounted secondhand area and the shop gets a take and you get a take and you don't have to think about you have to package them up you don't have to do anything man if there's a place like that near me I would have put a hundred games in there by now but what do you think makes a good board game shop what do you think makes a good Board Game Cafe let me know what you think in the comments below the next question we have is is the spielder Charis relevant the spirit which I'm sure I'm pronouncing incorrectly but there we go is the biggest award in ball gaming or at least that's what they say and most people tend to agree it's an award given out each year for them I think for almost 30 years they've been given the reward out and it's the game of the year that's what Builders Yaris means there's also now a Kinder Spiel which is the kids game of the year and a killer Spiel which is the connoisseurs game of the year is it relevant that very much depends on whether you are winning the award or a German family because that's what

6:04 the award is for right the spirit of jaros is four German families that's the whole point of the award it's hey everyone this is the best game of the year that we think your family could enjoy on your weekly German game night this is the game you should go out and buy and they sell a lot of them I think I heard that if your game wins a spielder jaros you sell like an extra 100 000 copies of that game in Germany because every German family says yeah and they go and buy it now that means that the kids game I think is incredibly relevant as well for that market because the same people who are going to play that light Euro game normally are also probably thinking well we've got kids and we should get the kids game as well so that's going to sell a bunch I think the connoisseurs game is the award that they're trying to make lean slightly more to hobby board gamers however I think that the the actual difference between The Connoisseur and the game of the year the actual weight the difficulty of those games it's kind of merged a little bit in recent times but is it real relevant for the likes of you and me I don't think a bad game has ever won the spielder jars I think many incredible games has won the game wins the spiel I'm very much likely going to want to at least try it for me the kids game I don't care about I don't have children and I never will so I don't care about the kids game award but if you have a family then I think you

7:34 should pay attention to what wins the kept the Kinder Spiel award because I guarantee you it's going to be a good kids game but just to take the shoeless eyes award on its own there are a few factors as well that really play into it they don't they're not going to allow or they're not going to vote for because it's voted for by a jury of like board game people in Germany industry people a war game for instance and a mirror thrash type of game is probably not going to win ever it's normally some type of Euro s game and in recent years they've definitely had a propensity a leaning towards Cooperative games so if you hate that style of game then maybe don't pay attention to it what bugs me sometimes is when people the IC Harvey board gamers going oh I don't agree with this or I don't like this game or this isn't for me or the Spiel has lost its way I hear this a lot spielder Charles have really lost their way now and people don't realize that that award just isn't meant for them it's meant for what game you think what game we think a German family is gonna like and for that for what they do I think they nail it all the time they are pretty really consistently good at voting for great games for that exact Market are they always games that I need or I want no but I think for what they do they nail it it's just what people want from the spieloshaurus they don't deliver on that

9:05 because that's not what they were promising to do is it relevant I think it is relevant for what it is which is that for games for German families or just families in general I think what really kind of loses its way is calling it the biggest award in board games and in one way it is but I don't know if that's ever really what they were trying to do we all kind of like hype it up I do the news and watch it play distribution is normally the only award I will talk about because it's the biggest Awards in board games which should it be I don't think it wanted to be the biggest the biggest Global award in board games I think it wants to be the German awards for board games it's a funny one what do you think have you ever been shocked amazed disbelief over what's won or lost in this field assurance and what's your favorite game that's ever won the Spiel let me know in the comments and the final question I have this month is what are your most necessary expansions I've said on this show a couple of times before I'm not the biggest expansion type of guy because I barely get time to play these games once so expansions are not something I normally go for but by necessary expansions I'm thinking of what are those games that I am never not going to play with the expansion you know what now I've got it or a module that's included I'm always going to play with it I've never not if I have the option and I'm not talking about games that are

10:36 really good now there is an expansion because if it wasn't good without the expansion there's too many games I can just ignore that game forever frankly I will always play with the extra decks in agricular there's lots of different decks of cards to play with the grickler which is uh Rosenberg farming Masterpiece and the cards of Agricola kind of Drive the gameplay it's a worker placement game but you've got these cards which kind of like drive your engine often right into a ditch but there's lots of different extra decks lots of them and I've got some of the weird decks like with aliens and crop circles and nonsense in there but I'm always going to play with a few of the extra decks I'm always going to want to play with the seasons board for the victor culture there's two different types of board I think or maybe more than that now where you've got summer and winter is like the standard board but in Essentials Edition I'm pretty sure you've got spring summer winter and Autumn although surprisingly not in that order I always want to play with that board because I really like it in fact I'm never going to play viculture without at least throwing in some of the modular expansions from the essentials Edition I'm always going to throw in Tuscany stuff like the Lost map where you've got area control going on I love that you know Mamas and Papas and all the bits I'm always going to add in expansions to viticulture same with some of the modules for taverns of teeth and Thor I'm never going to play that game without at least throwing a few of the modules into that and I think if I'm gonna play Ticket to Ride which is a

12:06 game I still absolutely love if I'm going to play two players I'm always gonna want to play on a board that is four two or three players normal the Nordic countries aboard is is my favorite I think the regular Europe or USA map for two players it makes Ticket to Ride into a like non-aggression pact almost I want it to be a bit more Cutthroat where you can't help but be cut throat I mean I guess I'd never play a game of chess without adding in the cards from Nightmare chess but that doesn't really count I think there's an argument as well for some really classic games that I love two of my favorite games of all time are carcassan and Alhambra I've recently fell back in love with Alhambra in a big way but if I'm gonna play Carcassonne I am going to one throw in some type of expansion but normally that means to playing a different version playing carcass on the castle Carcassonne the city or carcass or Mists over Carcassonne which is the Cooperative version Alhambra as well I love the base game of Alhambra but I always want to throw in a couple of those little modules there's one where you get change just that alone is a great little module but I think Alhambra just really Springs to life in a quite beautiful way when you just pepper in a few of those modular expansions they're fantastic which expansions do you find to be necessary do you really need to play with that you just think I ain't playing without this now I've got it crazy let me know in the comments below

13:37 until next time hey thank you so much for watching I just appreciate you so much if you've got any questions that you want answering on the Internet or any fantastic answers to these questions let me know this episode then pop those down in the comments I'd love to see them until next time everyone thanks for watching