Look Back - 8-26-26

0:17 Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vassal. Welcome to Look Back, a series where I take a look at games that I reviewed a year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago. And I tell you what I think about these games now, if I think about them at all. So, let's go back 20 years ago. I took a look at a game called Bison: Thunder on the Prairie. Not a terrible name. Designed by renowned designers Kramer and Kiesling, but the fact of the matter is, I thought this was a really, really unfun game. I gave it a four out of 10. It's boring, the theme is nonexistent, the resources are interchangeable. Didn't like it at all. Tempest, a civilization game from Martin Wallace. This was a big deal when it came out cuz there were so few civilization games. There's a lot more now. This one's okay, six out of 10.

1:04 Mykerinos, this is an interesting game about building up a little museum. And it's a small little game with cubes. It doesn't really look fantastic, but I'll tell you what, this gives the feeling of a bigger Euro style game in a small box. I was very impressed by it, 7.5.

1:22 [clears throat]

1:23 10 years ago, I took a look at Tiffin, about delivering lunches in Indian traffic. Really cool theme, looks terrible, and wasn't very fun, four out of 10. Yeti in My Spaghetti. I'm very amused to know that this has been remade as Sloth in My Broth. I think Yeti in My Spaghetti is a way better name. Anyway, uh this is a kind of a kerplunk style game, but the fact of the matter is, when you're down to three noodles, whoever pulls out the next one, it's over. It's such so dumb, four out of 10. Quartz. This has been remade into many different versions of the game. There's a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There's a Friday the 13th version. Um it's an okay push your luck style game. Six out of 10. Fantasy or Fanta I don't even know how to pronounce that.

2:11 Hordes and Heroes from AEG. It's an okay game about fighting monsters. Six out of 10. Looters. This is a silly little game from Broadway. We're going after each other. If you want Sometimes you just want a little game you go after each other out of these take that style games don't work very well. But Looters I remember this was from CMON and came out when they were trying to make games that weren't miniature based games and this was I found one of the more enjoyable ones. A seven out of 10. Stronghold second edition. So this was originally published by Portal then Stronghold obviously got involved. And in this game to it's a two-player game. One team is the orcs and the the trolls attacking the castle and one's defending the castle. Such a cool concept that really this is the only game I can think of that has it that's in it other than miniature games. It's it works really well. There's a lot of complexity to it. There's a lot of back and forth but very interesting game. Eight out of 10.

3:02 Pueblo. Such a classic game. I think I reviewed a newer edition of it. There's a new edition of it coming out all the time it seems. Uh where you're placing these little blocks and then trying to have your blocks covered so they can't be seen. Eight out of 10. Manhattan Project Energy Empire the sequel to Manhattan Project but a very different game. Um they're pretty much the same game only in name. Uh this one's about energy and you're going to do clean energy what's the best way uh in the Dice Tower Studios I think I like this the least and I still like it a lot. Eight out of 10. Codex. Codex is an interesting game because it's part tower defense part deck builder and also you have these books and you can pick cards and I think there's eight different factions and then variations on those factions. There's a lot of different things.

3:47 I was very enthralled with this game 10 years ago when it came out. I still think it's a very good game, but other games have come out that are easier than this one and has a lot in it. It takes a lot to get this to the table, but I still enjoy it. An eight out of 10. And then A Feast for Odin. Can you believe A Feast for Odin is now 10 years old? Um many people consider this to be Uwe Rosenberg's best. I don't think so, but that's such a high bar and it's just a really amazing game. Um it's a game about filling in, you know, the little Tetris-y type things, but that's just a smidgen of what's involved in this game. A great game. Nine out of 10. Five years ago I reviewed Super Truffle Pigs. Yeah. Moving pigs around. Don't get eaten by the wolves. Five out of 10. Not very good. Dark Ages: Heritage of Charlemagne. This is one of those big Kickstarter things. There's two boxes of Dark Ages. They can be combined. Never will be. They're 4X.

4:43 Really boring. They just weren't good. Five out of 10. Cascadia is five years old now. Uh this is the game in which, well, you all know Cascadia. You've heard about Cascadia. A lot of good things. Uh and it and it is done. It's probably their best-selling game. I like it. Seven out of 10. Munchkin Dungeon. Now, I know a lot of people don't like Munchkin. And I agree. I'm not a big fan of Munchkin, but I like the jokes of Munchkin. I like the idea of what Munchkin is. And I think Munchkin Dungeon, which probably could have been called Munchkin the board game, does Munchkin. It's still a Munchkin-esque game, but I think it has a lot better rules to it. Seven out of 10. And Alubody. This is a game that doesn't look particularly interesting, but you're placing tiles down, building things, and getting points on what kind of tile. I really like this one. Eight out of 10.

5:30 Last year, I reviewed Sanctuary. This was the follow-up to Ark Nova. Um but it's a tile-laying game. It's just a smidgen too random for me. I just It feels every time I play it, I'm like, I'd rather just play Ark Nova. 6.5. It's close, though. Graft. The drafting game of Tend. Tend is amazing, but Graft is still pretty decent. I enjoyed it. 7 out of 10. Surface Arcs Max, what a silly, silly game, and I like a lot. Actually, I think Surface Arcs Max was not the game I reviewed a year ago. I reviewed the fruit version of it. But, they're still fun as you It's like semi-cooperative poker type thing. Very fun. 8 out of 10. Guildlands, a tiling game in which you're building a city, and everyone is playing an asymmetric faction that scores based on how stuff is placed out there. Some really neat concepts there. 8 out of 10.

6:23 10 B, this one has gone up in my estimation since a year ago. I love this little charming game, but it just It's so fun and simple to play. When you talk about games that are cozy-esque, I think this is pretty close one of those as you build these nice streets. I like it. 8.5. Santorini, second edition. Santorini, one of the best abstract games ever made. The new edition adds more powers, more stuff. Just Just really, really good. 9 out of 10. And Star Trek Captain's Chair, a one- or two-player game, which was a a follow-up to a game called Imperium deck building, which was based on real history. I kind of think I would prefer the real history, but the Star Trek Captain's Chair is so good, so [clears throat] streamlined, but also offers such depth. It's just a fun game to play. 9 out of 10. And so, those are the reviews that I did 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Tom Vassal, and this is Look Back.

7:25 Hey. Thanks for watching another video here on The Dice Tower. We really appreciate you stopping by and checking our things out. Thanks so much for joining us today. And hey, if you really like what we're doing here at The Dice Tower, then there are different ways to support The Dice Tower. One of those ways is through Patreon. We have links in the description of this video. We have links to lots of other things we do down there, so definitely check it out. But either way, we're glad you watched us. Tell your friends about the Dice Tower. Until next time though, I'm Tom Vasel, and I hope you enjoyed this video.