My Top 10 Favorite Games I've Only Played Once
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2024
- In today’s video I talk about my favorite tabletop games that I’ve only played once…and will probably only ever play once, and I’m happy with that. This is about games that are designed to be played multiple times (i.e., not campaign, legacy, or escape room games).
Ambassador picks (multiple occurrences): Ark Nova, Barrage, Betrayal, Blood on the Clocktower, Endless Winter, Gloomhaven, Lacrimosa, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Munchkin, Nemesis, On Mars, Root, Takenoko, Twilight Imperium
Ambassadors mentioned a few Stonemaier games too, though no repeats! :)
Honorable mentions: Fireball Island, Fury of Dracula, Food Chain Magnate, SHASN, Barrage, Marvel Champions, Journeys in Middle Earth, Tainted Grail, This War of Mine, Two Rooms and a Boom, The Alchemists, Eldritch Horror, Star Wars X-Wing, Twilight Struggle, Android Netrunner, Flesh & Blood, Archipelago, On Mars
10. Twilight Imperium
9. Cosmic Frog
8. Eclipse
7. Game of Thrones
6. Cthulhu: Death May Die
5. Anachrony
4. Maracaibo
3. Wonderland’s War
2. Blitzkrieg
1. A War of Whispers
00:00 - Introduction
01:20 - Ambassador Picks
03:05 - Honorable Mentions
05:10 - Top 4-10
17:40 - Top 3
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podcast link: stonemaiergame...
Intro animation by Jeff Payne vimeo.com/jaar... and video proofing by Cody Simonsen - Hry
Twilight Imperium is the game I excitedly tell everyone about, but have no intention of ever playing again.
#10-5 are all in my favourites. Rather than equating the experiences to a movie, however, I find these games more like a vacation destination I am willing to go back to often and spend time exploring more with each trip.
So many things depend on your game group. I think an important note is the difference between designers, hobbyists, and everyone they rope in. I think most people have collections of < 30 games and actually do replay games, but as hobbyists we generally just want to taste everything, and if you have friends that also want to that’s great, but that may be rare.
I too have only played TI4 once, but I can say that if I had no kids and friends who had time to play it, I could easily play that one Saturday a month.
Just rambling but mostly saying so much about what games we play is about who is playing WITH us. And that’s why I’ve played catan, because it’s the only thing in laws will play.
These are excellent observations, especially about how what we play depends heavily on the people with whom we play.
Anachrony is absolutely brilliant, especially with Fractures of Time...admittedly I do sit on the heavier side of games though.
It’s still my 3rd favourite game of all time…could possibly edge up to 2nd eventually (Spirit Island may never move from #1).
Honestly can’t think of any games that fit this list for me. After I play a game once I either don’t like it or I do and I’m interested in trying it again someday. I like playing games at least twice I guess
Man I can feel u on this one, based off thumbnail alone. So many times have I put that mother of dragons expansion in my cart for no good reason.
Surprised about Blitzkrieg. For me it's a game that the more I play it, the more I want to play it even more. It scratches a different itch for me than Air Land and Sea.
Twlight Imperium was a game I did not think I would play multiple times. I am playing it again next moth for the fifth time.
War of Whispers is interesting. My first game was a little underwhelming, but it’s only revealed more about itself as I play it again and again. It has this uncanny self-balancing act so all our games are super close. It always feels (and is usually the case) that one move done differently would have changed the outcome
I've played Scythe solo probably over a dozen times but only ONCE with other players. I'm happy I was able to experience the game once in its full glory but I have a strong feeling I'll never play it again with others.
I feel the same way about Nyctophobia, it was too hard to convince someone to play a board game 'blindfolded'.
My brother owns Twilight Imperium and keeps asking me to play. I need to try it.
We played Black Orchestra and it was so tense and stressful in a really fun way. You sneak, you plot and plan but suddenly opportunities arise out of nowhere. It was very thematic and I enjoyed the game quite a bit (it probably helps that we won) but even though I own it I don't know if I need to play it again now that I have had the experience.
That's a good pick. I had a lot of fun with my one play of it as well.
Insightful and thoughtful video Jamey!
My pick is kinda weird one since it breaks the rule and maybe a topic for another video. I own the physical version of Twilight Struggle. It's one of my favorite games. But I've only played the physical version once. Since I discovered the digital version, I haven't gone back to the physical version, since the digital adaptation is much less fiddly and provides better interaction with the game systems. I don't think this is the case with a lot of digital adaptations, but Twilight Struggle is a prime example.
I think I'll have to go with Battlestar Galactica. It's not that I'm opposed to playing it again, it's just highly unlikely it'll happen. It's not my typical style of game (hidden traitor, co-op, social deduction-adjacent), but I had a ton of fun in that one game, even with the disadvantage I had with not having enough time to fully read my loyalty card before the other players started lowering theirs and I happened to be the only player starting out as a Cylon, lol. The IP definitely played into my enjoyment, as even though the rethemed version of the game is readily available at my gaming club, I just have no interest in playing that one. It was the flavour of the the show, the characters that truly made that experience (and I usually care very little about theme in games). I'm happy to have had that experience. I tend to detest anything remotely resembling social deduction (I just get awkward and uncomfortable in those settings) and this game gave me a version of that which worked for me as a player.
Ti4 is my most played game. Most games I’ve only played 2-3 times. My top games I play 8+ times. Ti4 I’ve easily played over 40 times and I know people who’ve played over 400 times.
I keep stats, so it was easy for me to find games I've logged once. Some favorites:
AquaSqhere, Captain Sonar, Findorff, Gloomhaven, Pandemic: Fall of Rome, Porta Nigra, RoboRally, Scarabya, Spirit Island. But I'd like to play many of these again - AquaSphere and Findorff are recent first plays and I'll probably have a chance to play those again.
Impressive stats, Steven!
Really interesting topic, and immediately had me thinking about Tapestry - possibly my all time favourite Stonemaier game, definitely one of my faves of all time and a game where I see players racking up hundreds of plays and finding new things to do each time…
…yet my first play of Tapestry I was a bit ‘hmmm?’ - albeit as a playtester so I played again and was like ‘aaaahhh!’ and it got better and better with each play. When it was released, loads of people in the communities I was in played it and weren’t sure so I said ‘play it again!’ and many did and had exactly the same experience - that it gets better and better with each play.
Question - what does a game need to do both? To be constantly replayable there needs to be new things to discover from game to game yet the game that’s brilliant once and that’s enough sometimes shows all its pleasures in one sitting, hence the ‘once and done’?
That's an interesting question. I have a video about replayability, but I'm not entirely sure that's the biggest factor for me to want a game to get back to the table. For me, I think a game needs to be fun the first time but present a puzzle/decision space that takes multiple plays to fully appreciate (while being a reasonable length and having intuitive rules so I don't feel like I'll need to relearn the game when I get it back to the table).
@@jameystegmaier just watched that one (the 15 ways) and it's one of the most insightful and thought provoking I've watched in a while! The games I often think about as being less fun the first time but still encouraging repeat plays are often drafting games - It's a Wonderful World is a good example - as first time around you have little to no idea what to pick but by the end of a first game (and probably a dismal score) there's a 'lets go again - I've got this!' instinct. If that game was longer though, or if playing with hardcore experts then the urge may be to leave it. The rules thing is very group dependent also - I know there's games where I'm the rules guru so others can rely on me for the (re)teach and vice versa that otherwise (i.e. if we actually had to get the rulebook out) would stay on the shelf.
What are some heavy games that you do get back to the table regularly?
I ask because it seems you have a slightly different approach to the decision of tabling a game as a designer, which you reference multiple times, that makes it seem more about engaging with new designs. This of course is totally understandable but I think it creates a different perspective of tabling games where the innovation-to-weight ratio is key.
For instance on the flip side, I'm pretty new to the hobby and tend to want to invest in games that I know I'll be able to play, enjoy, and find depth in dozens of times. I don't know enough about myself or board games to yet to be unwilling to replay something until I've played at least five or so times.
Absolutely, here's my video about my most-played games: czcams.com/video/r4sZPh5WBz4/video.html
Who are you people who only want to play Root once?! You only tried one faction and each faction plays radically differently!
I understand that from the perspective of someone who enjoyed their first play of an asymmetric game. But they probably saw how a few other factions worked in that first game, and if that didn't pique their curiosity--particularly if they also did not enjoy the game--I completely understand them moving on to other games.