I have and love some of his heavier games (Hallertau is just waiting until I can meet with people indoors next week). But my group and I always come back to Nusfjord. Such a satisfying game, very glad I took a chance when it was on sale. Great to see it get love in a top 10!
That's what I really enjoyed about Feast for Odin on top of the built in solo mode too - I see it's happening for Maracaibo at the moment too, great creativity from fans
As I haven’t played all of Uwe’s games I can’t really comment on the ranking but I find it hard to imagine a world where Le Havre isn’t in one designers Top 10 designs.
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
I'm gonna have to get me Nusfjord, and find a copy of Merkator somewhere... Thanks for this Tom. Uwe is my favourite designer (too?). I just get a fantastic sense of achievement playing his games. Immensely satisfying. Also, I agree, Hallertau plays very differently to all his other games. It sounds like it would be similar, but it just isn't.
I really love Agricola because of the same reason: the cards you get at the beginning of the game, and the variety they create.. there are so many different decks to choose from, I should get it played more often (haven't played it for years, sadly..)!
Ranking the Uwe's in my collection: 1. Le Havre 2. A Feast For Odin 3. Fields of Arle 4. Hallertau 5. Patchwork 6. Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small 7. Caverna: Cave vs. Cave These are mostly played 2-player, even the bigger box games
Great list! Uwe is my favorite designer by far. The only one on the list I’m less likely to play is Feast for Odin, unsure why but I’ve never had much fun with it. One not mentioned on my top 10 Uwe - Wurfel Bohnanza. Love that quick little game! Great fun.
I think the solo challenges that were happening on BGG really helped cement Odin, and they're nothing to do with Uwe :D Sounds like I need to try some Bohnanza stuff, I've never played any
Im in total agreement with you on Agricola over Caverna. I just got this game this month (aug’21)There is something i like about the punishing tension of having to feed your people at every harvest. Its exciting to me. I know sooooo many prefer Caverna but somehow, Agricola still shines brighter. Id love to see a playthrough. It may be an older game, but its a goodie!!
Your hair looks great.. just FYI lol I like how in this you did a few things. You included Patchwork, which I think is wonderful and your open-mindedness to include this small box game was awesome. I also like how you admitted to changing your mind on one of the games. I've been thinking about doing a video of this myself, because we all do it. Interesting and well explained as always! I like Patchwork and Cottage Garden. I have New York Zoo on pre-order. Yes, I'm a lighter gamer it seems.
Thanks, it's refreshing to not have it bouncing around everywhere :D it's always a bit strange comparing light short games to the heavy huge box monsters, but at the end of the day the brief was just Uwe games and he's designed plenty of those by now! I'm crediting viewers with changing my mind about Fields of Arle, it's long been requested but the comments got a bit more frequent to the point that I thought I should give it another go and either I was wrong or I've just changed a bit as a gamer - probably both really, I'm wrong a lot and it would be strange to stay the same 5/6 years on :D
The two that intrigue me most are Nusfjord and Fields of Arle. Nusfjord for its system of play and relative simplicity; Fields of Arle for its open design and thematic depth (much like Paul Grogan, I've found that I enjoy A Feast for Odin mostly when I don't care about winning, but just about immersing myself in the theme and I can see that Fields of Arle is much like that). My favorites are A Feast for Odin (definitely improved by the Norwegians expansion), followed by Le Havre, Caverna, Hallertau, Ora et Labora, and Agricola. Patchwork is also amazing.
I found it interesting how you described Klemens Franz’ artwork as “it says board games to me” and “it makes me feel at home” as I feel the exact same way. I’ve said in conversations on BGG/Discord that his art feels like home, just looks like what I think of as “board games”, and feels nostalgic even though I just got into the hobby a year ago. Even before I played any Uwe games (or, really, any modern games at all) the cover art for games such as Agricola strongly evoked those positive feelings. Also interesting that his art seems polarizing and others find it off putting, even ugly. Curious if you played Harvest Moon when you were younger? I did and I think that may have some part of the nostalgic feel. Lastly, I eventually did play Agricola and now have almost 50 plays under my belt, mostly thanks to BGA, and it and Caverna are probably tied for my favorite games, regardless of designer. I definitely think Caverna is worth another shot for you though I know a fair number of people who like one but not the other, or at least have a strong preference for one. I seem to be in the rather small minority of people who like them equally.
Thanks Tom! Uwe is my favourite designer easily. Here is my top 10: #1 A Feast for Odin #2 Fields of Arle #3 Hallertau #4 Caverna #5 Le Havre #6 Ora et Labora #7 Caverna Cave vs Cave (the 2 player smaller one) #8 Nusfjord #9 Glass Road #10 Bohnanza What? Where is Agricola? Well it would be #11. The reasons it's not ranked higher is that I very much prefer Caverna. Also, the food panic throughout the game is very painful. It's a much better game with the expansion though. Some other mentions: I'm not fond of the tetris-style games like Patchwork and Cottage Garden. I haven't played Nova Luna or Merkator. At the Gates of Loyang is good but not enough to make the list, like Le Havre the Inland Port. Bohnanza is the only game on my list that I don't own, all of the others I've played both solo and multiplayer.
Just picked up Hallertau as my first Uwe game. A big fan of worker placement but somehow never played one. In the end it was a decision between that and Nusfjord. It came down to the theme, which appealed to me a little more, and it was a bit cheaper. Really interested in Nusfjord (especially after your review) and a Feast for Odin but stock is limited on the former and nonexistent on the latter. Pleased to hear Hallertau is well reviewed here and a little different from his other games!
The more recent games are probably a better start - I wonder now if I was playing Agricola for the first time in 2021 after playing a lot of other games if it might seem dated. I hope not, but I wonder :D
I know, right? It never gets much attention in the playthrough votes but I've been doing a bit of an Uwe series in the live playthroughs so Agricola has got to come along sooner or later :)
Thanks for this. Love me a bit of Uwe! Out of interest, why don't you like Le Havre as much? It would be in my top ten (and I am mainly playing his games solo to be honest). Never played Merkator, but have recently acquired both Glass Road and Hallertau and enjoy what they bring to the table.
Le Havre would be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
I've seen many reviewers rank their fave Uwe games and I'm dismayed that Bohnanza does not make more lists. Your list probably comes closest to my own despite this oversight. Love Nusfjord and dislike Le Havre.
At some point early on I heard it was bad for 2 and since that's what I mainly play I never really looked into it. Maybe once lockdown's lifted I should give it a go :)
Ooh for solo I'm not quite as excited about Agricola - even though it's got the campaign where you keep some cards from before, you're just playing a worker placement game with a lot less pressure on the spaces - so it'd probably be: 1. A Feast For Odin 2. Hallertau 3. Nusfjord 4. Fields of Arle 5. At the Gates of Loyang 6. Agricola 7. Merkator 8. Glass Road 9. Ora et Labora out of those 10 anyway :) I'm about to revisit Merkator solo next week though after a long while so it might jump up!
@@slickerdrips interesting, AFFOdin is one of my solo favs, just ahead of Arle and Nusfjord so I guess I'll have to get Hallertau. Thanks! But, no Le Havre??
Good list. Havent played few of them and few are missing. My #1 is Feast for Odin which currently is my #3 game of all time. I would put Ora et Labora and Fields of Arle higher. The only Uwe Rosenberg game I found disappointing was Reykholt. There are still some games I have never played on my want-to-play list - Caverna (while I have the duel version) - Le Havre - Glassroad - at the Gates of Loyang - Hallertau - Merkator - Spring Meadow - Sagani
For solo I'm not quite as excited about Agricola - even though it's got the campaign where you keep some cards from before, you're just playing a worker placement game with a lot less pressure on the spaces - so it'd probably be: 1. A Feast For Odin 2. Hallertau 3. Nusfjord 4. Fields of Arle 5. At the Gates of Loyang 6. Agricola 7. Merkator 8. Glass Road 9. Ora et Labora out of those 10 anyway :) I'm about to revisit Merkator solo live this week though after a long while so it might jump up!
I was quite put off when we played Caverna, I liked the exploration but didn't like the big display of rooms right from the start and really missed the cards from Agricola - it'll get revisited if I get the chance to though, a lot of its fans have spoken :D
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it
@@slickerdrips Ha, I've never played it either, I just wanted to make you smile. I've heard it's among his best early games. There's an older video posted here on CZcams somewhere where a nine y.o. explains how it's played and why they enjoy it.
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
I have and love some of his heavier games (Hallertau is just waiting until I can meet with people indoors next week). But my group and I always come back to Nusfjord. Such a satisfying game, very glad I took a chance when it was on sale. Great to see it get love in a top 10!
It's grown on me more and more as I've kept playing :) hope you enjoy Hallertau!
Love Uwe's games, but I really enjoy Nusfjord for solo. Quick setup for an Uwe game and there's some nice solo scenarios on BGG to spice it up.
That's what I really enjoyed about Feast for Odin on top of the built in solo mode too - I see it's happening for Maracaibo at the moment too, great creativity from fans
Love your vids mate. Uwe is a favourite. Great stuff.
My top 3 are Agricola, Ora, Le Havre.
Thanks Jon! Really enjoying seeing where everything falls in other rankings :)
thanks for this! so glad to see nusfjord move on up, it's my fave
As I haven’t played all of Uwe’s games I can’t really comment on the ranking but I find it hard to imagine a world where Le Havre isn’t in one designers Top 10 designs.
then try nusfjord
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
If you were giving your top 10 Uwe games for solo play only, what would that list look like?
I'm gonna have to get me Nusfjord, and find a copy of Merkator somewhere... Thanks for this Tom. Uwe is my favourite designer (too?). I just get a fantastic sense of achievement playing his games. Immensely satisfying. Also, I agree, Hallertau plays very differently to all his other games. It sounds like it would be similar, but it just isn't.
I really love Agricola because of the same reason: the cards you get at the beginning of the game, and the variety they create.. there are so many different decks to choose from, I should get it played more often (haven't played it for years, sadly..)!
Ranking the Uwe's in my collection:
1. Le Havre
2. A Feast For Odin
3. Fields of Arle
4. Hallertau
5. Patchwork
6. Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
7. Caverna: Cave vs. Cave
These are mostly played 2-player, even the bigger box games
Love your Uwe top 10. Thank you so much 👍
Thanks for watching Marius!
Great list! Uwe is my favorite designer by far. The only one on the list I’m less likely to play is Feast for Odin, unsure why but I’ve never had much fun with it.
One not mentioned on my top 10 Uwe - Wurfel Bohnanza. Love that quick little game! Great fun.
I think the solo challenges that were happening on BGG really helped cement Odin, and they're nothing to do with Uwe :D Sounds like I need to try some Bohnanza stuff, I've never played any
So many good Uwe games. One of my faves not on your list is New York Zoo. Thanks for the top ten 👍
Ooh I haven't tried that yet, it looks lovely though!
This list is pretty much the opposite of Rhados. Interesting. I agree with this one much more.
Im in total agreement with you on Agricola over Caverna. I just got this game this month (aug’21)There is something i like about the punishing tension of having to feed your people at every harvest. Its exciting to me. I know sooooo many prefer Caverna but somehow, Agricola still shines brighter. Id love to see a playthrough. It may be an older game, but its a goodie!!
Your hair looks great.. just FYI lol I like how in this you did a few things. You included Patchwork, which I think is wonderful and your open-mindedness to include this small box game was awesome. I also like how you admitted to changing your mind on one of the games. I've been thinking about doing a video of this myself, because we all do it. Interesting and well explained as always!
I like Patchwork and Cottage Garden. I have New York Zoo on pre-order. Yes, I'm a lighter gamer it seems.
Thanks, it's refreshing to not have it bouncing around everywhere :D it's always a bit strange comparing light short games to the heavy huge box monsters, but at the end of the day the brief was just Uwe games and he's designed plenty of those by now! I'm crediting viewers with changing my mind about Fields of Arle, it's long been requested but the comments got a bit more frequent to the point that I thought I should give it another go and either I was wrong or I've just changed a bit as a gamer - probably both really, I'm wrong a lot and it would be strange to stay the same 5/6 years on :D
The two that intrigue me most are Nusfjord and Fields of Arle. Nusfjord for its system of play and relative simplicity; Fields of Arle for its open design and thematic depth (much like Paul Grogan, I've found that I enjoy A Feast for Odin mostly when I don't care about winning, but just about immersing myself in the theme and I can see that Fields of Arle is much like that).
My favorites are A Feast for Odin (definitely improved by the Norwegians expansion), followed by Le Havre, Caverna, Hallertau, Ora et Labora, and Agricola. Patchwork is also amazing.
I found it interesting how you described Klemens Franz’ artwork as “it says board games to me” and “it makes me feel at home” as I feel the exact same way. I’ve said in conversations on BGG/Discord that his art feels like home, just looks like what I think of as “board games”, and feels nostalgic even though I just got into the hobby a year ago. Even before I played any Uwe games (or, really, any modern games at all) the cover art for games such as Agricola strongly evoked those positive feelings. Also interesting that his art seems polarizing and others find it off putting, even ugly.
Curious if you played Harvest Moon when you were younger? I did and I think that may have some part of the nostalgic feel.
Lastly, I eventually did play Agricola and now have almost 50 plays under my belt, mostly thanks to BGA, and it and Caverna are probably tied for my favorite games, regardless of designer. I definitely think Caverna is worth another shot for you though I know a fair number of people who like one but not the other, or at least have a strong preference for one. I seem to be in the rather small minority of people who like them equally.
Thanks Tom! Uwe is my favourite designer easily. Here is my top 10:
#1 A Feast for Odin
#2 Fields of Arle
#3 Hallertau
#4 Caverna
#5 Le Havre
#6 Ora et Labora
#7 Caverna Cave vs Cave (the 2 player smaller one)
#8 Nusfjord
#9 Glass Road
#10 Bohnanza
What? Where is Agricola? Well it would be #11. The reasons it's not ranked higher is that I very much prefer Caverna. Also, the food panic throughout the game is very painful. It's a much better game with the expansion though.
Some other mentions: I'm not fond of the tetris-style games like Patchwork and Cottage Garden. I haven't played Nova Luna or Merkator. At the Gates of Loyang is good but not enough to make the list, like Le Havre the Inland Port.
Bohnanza is the only game on my list that I don't own, all of the others I've played both solo and multiplayer.
I did enjoy Caverna Cave vs Cave, it'd be in the 11-20 for sure if that ever gets done :)
Hair looking good. I guess lockdown lifted? XD
Well for hairdressers it did - a few days after I recorded this in fact :D
For us definitely fields of Arle is the best. Strange top ten :)
Just picked up Hallertau as my first Uwe game. A big fan of worker placement but somehow never played one. In the end it was a decision between that and Nusfjord. It came down to the theme, which appealed to me a little more, and it was a bit cheaper. Really interested in Nusfjord (especially after your review) and a Feast for Odin but stock is limited on the former and nonexistent on the latter. Pleased to hear Hallertau is well reviewed here and a little different from his other games!
The more recent games are probably a better start - I wonder now if I was playing Agricola for the first time in 2021 after playing a lot of other games if it might seem dated. I hope not, but I wonder :D
Love it!!!
Great video. Now, you have to do an Agricola playthrough. :)
I know, right? It never gets much attention in the playthrough votes but I've been doing a bit of an Uwe series in the live playthroughs so Agricola has got to come along sooner or later :)
Thanks for this. Love me a bit of Uwe! Out of interest, why don't you like Le Havre as much? It would be in my top ten (and I am mainly playing his games solo to be honest). Never played Merkator, but have recently acquired both Glass Road and Hallertau and enjoy what they bring to the table.
Le Havre would be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
I've seen many reviewers rank their fave Uwe games and I'm dismayed that Bohnanza does not make more lists. Your list probably comes closest to my own despite this oversight. Love Nusfjord and dislike Le Havre.
At some point early on I heard it was bad for 2 and since that's what I mainly play I never really looked into it. Maybe once lockdown's lifted I should give it a go :)
Nova Luna sorta replaced Patchwork for me. Plays wonderfully at 2 and has some similarities.
And you just caused me to buy a copy of Merkator... It better be as good as you say it is! :-)
I hope you think it is :D I'll be doing a solo playthrough for it next week too!
@@slickerdrips Excellent, I look forward to watching it!
Thanks for the review! For solo, your ranking would be the same?
I too would love to know!
Ooh for solo I'm not quite as excited about Agricola - even though it's got the campaign where you keep some cards from before, you're just playing a worker placement game with a lot less pressure on the spaces - so it'd probably be:
1. A Feast For Odin
2. Hallertau
3. Nusfjord
4. Fields of Arle
5. At the Gates of Loyang
6. Agricola
7. Merkator
8. Glass Road
9. Ora et Labora
out of those 10 anyway :) I'm about to revisit Merkator solo next week though after a long while so it might jump up!
@@slickerdrips interesting, AFFOdin is one of my solo favs, just ahead of Arle and Nusfjord so I guess I'll have to get Hallertau. Thanks! But, no Le Havre??
Good list. Havent played few of them and few are missing.
My #1 is Feast for Odin which currently is my #3 game of all time.
I would put Ora et Labora and Fields of Arle higher.
The only Uwe Rosenberg game I found disappointing was Reykholt.
There are still some games I have never played on my want-to-play list
- Caverna (while I have the duel version)
- Le Havre
- Glassroad
- at the Gates of Loyang
- Hallertau
- Merkator
- Spring Meadow
- Sagani
I enjoyed Reykholt but enjoyed things like Loyang a lot more so while it streamlined it, it changed things that I really liked
How do you have a copy of Dice Theme Park you little rascal? I hope you did a review for their Kickstarter that launches Monday!?!
I have one just for that in fact :D it's a prototype but you'll see what's what in about half an hour...
Hi Tom. Wich game would you recommand for solo players ?
For solo I'm not quite as excited about Agricola - even though it's got the campaign where you keep some cards from before, you're just playing a worker placement game with a lot less pressure on the spaces - so it'd probably be:
1. A Feast For Odin
2. Hallertau
3. Nusfjord
4. Fields of Arle
5. At the Gates of Loyang
6. Agricola
7. Merkator
8. Glass Road
9. Ora et Labora
out of those 10 anyway :) I'm about to revisit Merkator solo live this week though after a long while so it might jump up!
I was expecting to see "Caverna"; if not at the 2nd place, at least into the Top-10...
I was quite put off when we played Caverna, I liked the exploration but didn't like the big display of rooms right from the start and really missed the cards from Agricola - it'll get revisited if I get the chance to though, a lot of its fans have spoken :D
No LeHavre? Very strange.
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D
Le Havre?
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it
No love for Le Havre?
You missed his best game! :o
Hengist?
Caverna??
I only played it once, I missed my Agricola cards and didn’t like that everything was available every game. Haven’t played the expansions though
Caverna?! 🥺
Ya really!
Can't believe no caverna. Wow
I need me some cards in my farming apparently :D it's been some time though, maybe I'll get to revisit it at some point
No love for "Mamma Mia!"?
I've never played it - actually I don't think I've played any of his earlier card games, am I missing out then?
@@slickerdrips Ha, I've never played it either, I just wanted to make you smile. I've heard it's among his best early games. There's an older video posted here on CZcams somewhere where a nine y.o. explains how it's played and why they enjoy it.
No Caverna???? Where the hell is usubscribe button!!! ;-)
I disabled it as soon as I realised Caverna wasn't there :D
@@slickerdrips 😂😂😂😂😂
Caverna >>> Agricola
For me, Cards >>> the same tiles every game
Don’t cut your hair, it looks cool.
Thanks! Too late I'm afraid, but it'll grow back :)
So you seems not to like Le Havre as much as the others. Interesting, for me its one of his best, sometimes I put Agricola on top sometimes Le Havre!
It'd be there somewhere, but not in the top 10 - from what I remember my partner didn't like that other players could use your buildings in the multiplayer and I enjoyed the solo but not enough to keep going back to it. That was a few years ago now, maybe that's another one to revisit given the feedback :D