Top 10 Deck Building Games
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2023
- Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Chris Yi take a look at their favorite games of shufffling, and shuffling, and shuffling.
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No love for Tyrants of the Underdark? It's a fantastic deck-builder + area control which scales well with all player counts and has unique deck preparation each game.
I am not saying it’s justified, I don’t know because I haven’t tried it, but that seems to be a game that has faded in popularity a lot over the years. Just not front of mind anymore.
@@DavidSupina I know - it surprises me given the popularity of Dune as a worker placement deck builder - ToTUd was there first and did it well.
I agree. Its one of the first ones to really nail the combination of deckbuilding + X for me, in its case area control. Dune nailed deckbuilding + worker placement in the same way for me.
They mentioned it at the end when they were reading through live viewer comments.
Plus it's underrated how it makes deck culling easier for beginners by rewarding them with points for doing so, as well as theming it to promoting.
Like many Ascension-likes though, the combos don't feel as present, maybe that's why?
I recently played Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade and I was impressed at how thematic it felt and actually how fun it was. I expected a cash grab. Instead I got a pretty good deck builder.
Companies keep surprising me when they make a board game from an IP and ends up being fun.
The gaming experience, variety, and knowledge of these guys is mind boggling!
Kodachi rules. A unique push your luck deckbuilder. Thanks for bringing this one into play, Zee. If people don't know about it, they should.
Still don't know why it doesn't have a decent solo mode
In my opinion Clank! (as a system) is the best deck building game ever period. Also it is one of my favorite board games of all time as well but the deck building mechanism and how it works with the exploration and moving around the map - simply awesome!!!
I like Clank a lot, but the deck building element is such a small part of it that I personally wouldn't rank it highly among deck building games. Obviously, YMMV. 😊
Yeah, I think the deck building part is a bit weak. The synergies of "In Space" don't work well, as it is too hard to get multiple of one tags unless you just get lucky. Certain resources are far better than others, and in general the movement/purchasing power is more useful than the abilities. It's a great idea, but a truly great deck builder needs to have interesting decks emerge.
I don't understand the others. The deckbuilding is the main mechanism of Clank! and it's main engine. I understand that argument about, say, Arnak or Dune but not Clank!
Imperium: Classics and Legends are a massive pain to learn, but once I got my phd in the rules, it is easily one of my favourite pure deck builders. Domonion for the simplicity, Imperium for the complexity.
I like Dune and Arnak well enough, but if I had to say what percentage of my time was spent thinking about the deckbuilding in either vs the other elements of the game, both are at less than 10 percent, so i would not really include them
This is a great one, but I haven’t gotten it to the table frequently enough, so I keep having to relearn it, which is such a pain lol.
I bought Imperium both versions from an auction. I never made it past the rulebook on a 1 player game. Sold the pair. Made good money on it though.
Tom, please make a top 11-20 deck builders video for those of us that are also huge fans of the mechanism 🙂
Agree
Or just pin a comment at the top with it
Yes agree
Since co-ops were mentioned a few times: Xenoshyft! I like the game arc, and I like the mechanism of being able to play cards onto other player's boards to get the cards into their deck.
If you like small quirky deck builders, give Flip City a try. It combines with push your luck nicely, and it has 2 different win condions and seems to be about the right game length.
Nice to see Siege of Runedar getting some love, it's a really fun co-op game and the deck building feels unique, when you get a new card you have to get rid of an old card, so your deck is always the same size.
Thunderstone Quest is my favorite. I have so much fun I don't even care if I win. The feeling of leveling up heroes and equipping them with weapons and getting treasure is just so good. Has such a cool feel while still being a straight deck builder
I agree. This is not only my favorite deck builder but my favorite game. Love it.
Tyrants of the Underdark is a very underrated deck building game.
Yes and no. I used to like it, but the production is so crappy especially that of the new edition and it would need some more variability of the board setup. Also, the card designs and half-decks could be done better. And The 'tuck-away mechanism' isn't that great. As far as I know the insert still doesn't support sleeved cards. It's a bit of a nightmare. It needs a major overhaul with love.
@@andrethannhauser6302 - Fair point. It’s just my subjective perception because I rarely hear any reviewer sing its praises but this is a skewed perspective now that you bring it to light. And to your point with nearly 8000 ratings…..it seems to be quite well received at 160.
@@andrethannhauser6302 I also think its underrated in that no one ever really talks about it. I think I enjoy it more than any other game they mentioned in this list as far as deck builders go.
Tyrants of the Underdark is fantastic! Deck building and area control. excellent! And the deck building in Rococo Deluxe is amazing ( no shuffling of cards but you can choose).
Maaaaaaan!! Nobody EVER talks about Dale of Merchants, but it has been on my Wishlist since I first fell back into the boardgame hobby (You know, after a childhood of Sorry, Monopoly, and Catan, when you reach your 20s & realize that there is a whole world of boardgames unknown to the general population)
This is my personal favorite from my library and from deckbuilders ive managed to play.
Very surprised Baseball Highlights 2045 didn’t make a list. I am aghast that that my #1 Deck Building game didn’t make a single list, Tyrants of the Underdark. Dudes on a map where gameplay is driven by deck building, c’mon!
The gulf of music knowledge that exists between Chris and Tom is one of my favorite things of all time.
I love Undaunted. I also love that they now have solo modules for all of the scenarios for Normandy and North Africa. So well done.
My personal favorite from ones i've played and in my library is Dale of Merchants.
Another interesting one I discovered in a game shop library is Choosing Sides , I thought the combo mechanism it uses is very interesting.
Interesting one! Thanks for the List!
As much as the theme of the game is a little bit tough to digest, KamiGami Battles is one of my favourite Deckbuilders, specifically for the chaining mechanic, but i also just love a good combat/duel deckbuilder.
Great list! Summer Camp is probably my favourite. Great theme, awesome race, and pretty light and quick.
I recently just started seeing Arnak more as a deck builder and my scores have indeed gone up. 🎉
Y’all need to give Arctic Scavengers another spin. The skirmish phase still shines on as an extremely unique mechanism to this day. Also extremely theme rich… something deckbuilding games STILL struggle with so many years later.
Arctic Scavengers: The ORIGINAL deckbuilder. Don't let Dominion fans lead you astray.
Shards of Infinity was the first deck builder I ever played and honestly I’m kind of sad that I started off on such a high note because to me there is nowhere left to go. Cannot recommend it enough
The single best pure deck builder out there!
Star Wars The Deckbuilding Game is getting a lot of love in our family. Yes the theme and artwork is perfect, but it’s the Force mechanic combined with the ability to attack enemy cards in the market row (galaxy row) with units plus Capital Ships protecting a series of “final boss” bases?! What?! Yes please, give us all the expansions, so good!
I know it's not perfect, but there is a special place in my heart for DC Deck-Building Game.
Agreed, it was first introduction into deck building and was instantly hooked, and played it a ton.
I have to say I'm with Zee. Pure deck builders don't do much for me, but as an element of larger games? Love it.
Top 3 would probably be Dune, Lost Ruins if Arnak, and Endless Winter.
Though I've not played a lot of the ones listed.
Dune Imperium is such a great game, top 5 all time for me. I do tend to like Deck Building as a mechanism within a bigger game, rather than the deck building being most of the game. Dominion is a weird one for me, where it’s obviously a classic, but I just can’t seem to muster any interest in it. It just looks so drab to me, but who knows, maybe if I gave it a try it’d surprise me.
I feel the same way about Dominion. It's so ugly and I have zero interest in trying it. I'm probably wrong, but if I were ever to play it over Clank!, Quest for El Dorado, or Dune Imperium, it would take someone else really wanting to play it and introduce it to me.
Love deckbuilding, love Dice tower -> Insta video like
Thanks for the video!!
Shards of Infinity has a "saga collection" coming to Kickstarter this summer (they're aiming for late June or early July) that will have a sort of remastered version of all the game content, all at once.
Yeah, now that I have almost everything... 😞
@@markusbiewer2756 I feel you. I have literally everything now and JUST purchased a nice box to hold it all (not themed to the game or anything). And they are revamping, so there's a lot of hints from the team on social media that an upgrade pack might not exist, given the extent of the tweaks to the game.
I expected to not like Baseball Highlights (and it has such a stupid name), but what constantly impresses me about it is how so many games end up coming down to extra innings. The feeling of pulling it off against your opponent in Game 7 in extras is such a fantastic way to end a game.
On deck builder that I like a lot but is really a hidden gem is Battle for Greyport. Take a look at it, it's really good :)
I'd love to see this same list made by Mike, Joey and Roy... just saying!
Pretty sure Mike explicitly dislikes deck building as a main mechanism 😂
Zee´s reaction to Tom´s "rules" was awesome! 🤣
I don’t think I’ve even played 10 deckbuilders, but I absolutely love the ones I do have. My ranking would probably go dominion, clank!, dune imperium, marvel legendary, lotr fellowship of the ring deck building game
Aeon's End for me. :)
Ruff Ghanor was just launched yesterday. Very cool story, great graphics and amazing gameplay.
On Valley of the Kings being mean, I have this big box edition, and a couple of the various sets you can add have more interaction and can be slightly take-thaty. However, you plug and play with whichever sets you want, so you can really customize the style of gameplay and quite easily avoid meaner cards while still having a lot of options.
I loved that Stall out interaction 😊
I had the reverse experience to Chris when I first played Dune Imperium. I thought it was trying to do too much, and ending up a jack of all trades as a result, master of none. But man was I wrong! One more play and I was hooked!
Summer Camp is a streamlined (but good) deck builder, but I think Flip City is even more streamlined.
I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but one of the reasons I own Flip City is as an entry level teaching tool for the deck building genre. Would I start people with Summer Camp now? Probably. 😊
Not surprised about Dominion. It’s a classic and is where most modern deck builders are based from. Such a soooliddd game. Great choice!!! Also, I am not surprised about how high Dune Imperium is. One of my all time favorite games as well ☺️😌😌
Xenoshyft and Tyrants of the Underdark. Nightfall with expansions as well. Splendid Deckbuilders.
My Top 10 Deck-Building Games:
1. Legendary Marvel
2. Codex: Card-Time Strategy (surprised this wasn't on Tom's list)
3. Lost Ruins of Arnak
4. Eternal Chronicles of the Throne (HUGELY underrated)
5. Masters of Mutanite
6. Dungeon Alliance
7. Clank!
8. Path of Light and Shadow
9. Shards of Infinity
10. Tea Dragon Society (great intro game)
So many amazing deck builders not included. Tyrants Of The Underdark, Venom Assault, Arctic Scavengers, Marvel Legendary, GI Joe Deck Building.
As a fellow Bebop fan I really appreciate that Chris put Space Serenade on this list. I've only tried it on Tabletopia but would like to get this at some point; I do think 10 is appropriate but as many franchise games aren't great this seems better by comparison.
I love deck builders! Many of these are in my top 10. I also love Harry Potter and Tea Dragons
I have a lot of Deckbuilding games. Rune Stones is one of my favorites but it doesn't seem to get much love.
Played it just last week. Really enjoy Runestones.
1:19:44 What card did Tom mean by the "blind pirates"? Couldn't find anything on google but i'm curious to see what's it like 😄
It's hard to beat Dominion, since it's got so many options and endless different deck combos to play it with. Some suck, but with a random deck generator app, this game is always awesome to play.
Sucks to try to keep up with a complete set though lol
But totally worth it IMO
I’ve been waiting for this video for a long time. I’ve been looking for something as good as Legendary with a quicker setup so it can get the the table on weeknights. Definitely have some games to look into now. Thank you so much!
Surprised Eminent Domain wasn't on Tom's list. The Harry Potter co-op game is fun, as is the 2-player version of it. And I love the Cryptozoic game: The Hobbit and DC Deckbuilder.
Dominion is my #1 game (not just deckbuilder) of all time by a lot, and I hope they keep pumping out the expansions.
As much as I love Deck Building Games. I'm surprised how many of these I've not tried.
I do enjoy the Hunger, but that has to do with that I see it as a racing game with deck building. However my favourite is the Resident Evil games.
Tanto Cuore and Kanzume Battles are two quite fun deck builders from japanime. So you shut your mouth Mr Vasel 😉
Fort is also a light one. This was a fun watch now I need to go hunting a bit for some of these titles. Especially Undaunted!
Zee you try a lot of button shy games. Try “at the helm”! It’s a deck building game with 13 cards but you will love it!!!
I just noticed I have only 4 deck building games in my collection.
Clank in Space
Dune Imperium
Lost Ruins of Arnak
Viscounts of the West Kingdom
I would have a hard time to find 10 deck building games that I like enough to put into my TOP10 list. 3-4 spots would stay empty and #10 would be Dominion as an honorable mention because it basically started the genre. :D
A problem for me with deckbuilders is that they seemed like the default mechanic for IP cash grabs for a while. It put me off the genre for a while, so there are a number of titles I maybe ought to try. My Sister-in-Law and Nephew love Star Realms so I'm probably going to end up trying some more eventually
I would love a top 10 dominion expansion list!
Friedemann Friese’s Friday is a great deck building game.
Chris, I understand completely how you feel about aeons end. (its my wife's and I favorite game in general) we are at the final battle of legacy of gravehold and it definitely feels like a step in the wrong direction. After playing legacy, it was an extremely enjoyable experience even if it wasn't as challenging as other Aeons end core boxes. The progression felt amazing. On the other hand, Legacy of gravehold has a strong story but has bad Namesis and annoying battles. And you loose characters for the rest of the campaign. It was a struggle to put on the table. After we beat the first camping (Azer) the second one has been more enjoyable. Can't wait to see what past and future has in store. Oh and have you played Astro knights? Would like to hear your thoughts on that.
I expected Clank! higher and on more lists however, watching this TOP makes me want to play ~80% of those games (I haven't heard of ~half of them, adding to at least to-watch-review list and then maybe to-play list).
Can confirm that Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade is real.
I only played it once but had a lot of fun from what I remember (and being the deck building fan of my group, won)
I just bought Stalingrad as my first undaunted game. I'm loving it. So if you haven't played undaunted don't let the size and campaign of Stalingrad scare you off. It can be your first choice.
Top 10 hand building games please! Probably my favorite mechanism while I'm very meh on deck-building (I like El Dorado and Aeon's End).
My top 5 hand building games:
Spirit Island
Concordia
Obsession
Aquatica
Century
Dominion, Thunderstone, Tanto Cuore, Arctic Scavengers and Ascension. Then there was Eminent Domain, A Few Acres of Snow, Blood Bowl Team Manager, Core Worlds. Aaand Mage Knight. Then Quarriors around the same time, twisting cards into dice. That was a good game! I wish it got a 2nd Edition.
It did... They just had to make it collectible at the same time 😢
Not a big deckbuilding fan, but two games that I adore with deckbuilding are Endless Winter and Mythotopia.
I love how Mythotopia handles assymetry. Everyone starts the same except for location, and you can gain assymetry by taking the special cards at the expense taking other actions. Everyone ends up with asymetric decks organically.
Every time Tom comments about Aeons End I feel like he’s playing a different game than me. I don’t feel like the game is very difficult to play well, my young son has enjoyed it as well and he does NOT play heavy games or anything. It’s also normally pretty easy to discard your cards, it’s typically just discard the card that gets more ether first or the spell that does more damage. If anything it’s a game I play less because it’s too simple personally.
Wide variance based on player count. 2p it’s pretty easy. 4p it’s actually pretty tough
Chris' pick of cowboy Bebop really surprised me. I don't ever hear people talk about that game. I have it surprisingly. I bought it back when it came out. My biggest complaint is the card quality is very poor. After a couple of plays the cards got kind of sticky. Definitely cards you need to sleeve to get several plays out of them. I'm more surprised by it than anything. There are dozens of better Deck builders out there but it's still a solid game especially if you like cowboy Bebop.
I have the cowboy bebop game Chris. Bought it because of the show (my number 1 anime of all time) but it actually IS a good game!
Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade getting some recognition, yes! One of my fave deck builders
Just also noticed they used my picture for it from BGG, hehe. It is such a good game and criminally overlooked. Glad there's an expansion in the works!
a small correction about shards of infinity , it has 3 expansions not 2, and when you combine all three the game is an absolute masterpiece!
Chris Yi, starting off strong with the love for Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade! Love that game - stays in my top ten of all games (#9, currently), along with Hardback (#8) and Legendary Marvel (#4). Definitely helps to be a fan of the anime because the theme is so well done, but I also think the game plays very well.
Dune Imperium and Arnak are great. I really enjoy Paperback.
Yeah I would like to see where Imperium:Classics/Legends is. I put it to the top of my list since the campaign style of the game plus so many different ways to matchup civs. Tough rulebook but worth it once you understand it all
Chiseled is a little game about thinning out your deck that I really enjoy. It might be borderline for “deck building”, but it would have made my list.
Well I used to own it sucks
Play Shake up instead for the same deck deconstructed one but better
I'm surprised Tom didn't even mention "Core Worlds" - I remember him loving this game.
I'm so surprised that mystic Vale isn't on anyone's radar. You build the cards! Definitely my fav
We mentioned it at the end!
Baseball highlights 2045 and hero realms (especially with the solo campaigns) are 2 of my favorites that I don’t really see getting much love.
Yeah BH2045 is the best 2p one. Yes even over Star Wars - the gameplay is BH2045 is about 10x more fun than in Star Wars
I wish they would reprint Baseball Highlights 2045. I can't seem to find it anywhere.
@@mikemudrow Noble Knight games is prob the best site to get it from. Shipping though
Really surprised not to see Mystic Vale on anyone’s list. Easily my favorite deck builder next to Dune Imperium
We had a board game tournament at my house where after each game my kid and I rated the game. March madness style the higher score moved on. Dominion did okay but was beat by 4 other deck building games. Our winner was a deck builder, Star Realm. Surprised it did not make it on any lists. Too basic for them???
A pair of Cryptozoic made it pretty far: Penny Arcade and Rick and Morty (which to play with kids I had to remove 4 of the location cards from the game).
Is Spellbound by the Lamont bros. considered a deck building game..never see much about this game..i love it
I guess Eminent Domain is getting buried in the past XD. I'm surprised the Hunger get so little love.. we always crack up when someone fails to make it back in time bc they ate too many humans, it's kind of like when you esplode in Galaxy Trucker. Surprised Fort doesn't get the love. Surprised Monumental gets so high but Imperium's too complex? Glad someone finally mentioned Trains lol. Finally gotta give shoutouts to Ruthless, Seize the Bean, Gate, Flip City, and Rune Stones!
I'm sure the Tim Fowers Word Games, Paperback and Hardback would be in Tom's Top 20. I would have put it in my Top 10 for how unique this one is. I love word games and deck building games and the combination is perfect.
I hear everyone saying that paperback is mainly a solo game.
@@Exozik "Everyone" is wrong.
@@chuckm1961 Nice to hear that! By everyone I meant the 'Best At - X player(s)' on bgg and reviewers I heard talking about it. What is your preferred player count?
@@ExozikI enjoy the concept of Paperback, but it ends up being a little too long…and even longer with more players. With the new edition coming it sounds like there are rules for a quicker game, so that would be great.
Love paperback
Big Book of Madness was my favorite game during its release year!
Eminent domain, High Command ( Horde and WarMachine), and Xynoshyft and my favorites.
I don't see myself going for Arnak in a world where Dune Imperium exists. Also another shout out for Tyrants. Just tried it recently and it plays super smooth and fun!
They are quite different, Arnak is much more focused on ressource management and card combo as dune as more enphaisis on longterm strategie and end of round tension. I own and really like both !
Really surprised at the lack of codex here, Tom liked it quite a bit awhile ago which swayed me to purchase it. Wonder where it stands on his current list of deckbuilders.
Codex is a fun game, but deckbuilding is a small part of it, I guess.
need to play dominion again. so many combinations and variability even with just 1 or 2 expansions. would love a top 10 dominion expansions video!
Where's Mage Knight?! It's really strange to me that it didn't show up at all. Did it even get a mention? (nevermind, it gets mentioned) It's probably the heaviest deck building and exploration game ever made with different Clix figure mages, some innovative mechanisms for combat, and a ton of content. Every action you take in that game is driven by card play from the deck you're building.
Personally, I don't feel I'm building a deck in MK.
It has more of an rpg feel to it, character development, than deck building.
You cannot transform your deck easily* , you mainly spice it up, evolve it.
Best card came for me, but not top10 in deck building.
*iirc only 1-2 cards allow you to completely change it if you want.
Because it not a deck building game at all...
Star wars Deck Building game has 4 players rules in the box but you need 2 versions of the game. I hear its really good but i need to investigate further
H'mm surprised Tom forgot about Trains. He really liked it if I recall, especially Rising Sun.
I'm a little surprised nobody mentioned Tyrants of the Underdark or Taverns of Tiefenthal. They're both fantastic games that would make my top 10 deck builders.
Is taverns of tiefenthal a deck-building game? 🤔
It is. If Arnak and Endless winter are deckbuilders....so is Taverns. It's just combined with push your luck
@@daanrousseau7845 Thanks, I did not know that. Ill check it out!
My favorite is Clank! in any of its iterations. Probably followed by Star Realms.
It's actually not that easy because so many deckbuilders are very similar. E.g. Shards of Infinity is probably the best one amongst the "Ascension family" of deckbuilders when only looking at the base game. But Star Realms has so much content that it overpowers it by sheer force. Hero Realms was great because it introduced character packs and later a campaign but these have been added to Star Realms as well now. Ascension is amazingly great as an app but I would probably not enjoy it as much in person because what makes Ascension great is the 20-minute mega turns you can pull off sometimes that might end up crashing your app.
Tyrants of the Underdark is still one of my Fav deck builders. I feel Lost Ruins is barely a deck builder in caparison.
Dune: Imperium and Clank! Are both in my top 5 games.
Really want to try Tyrants of the Underdark.
Shadowrun crossfire is a great deck builder that’s always overlooked
For me Heart of Crown replaced Dominion in my collection. It does everything Dominion does in a fraction of the shelf space.
You guys are the best ❤
I love how y’all can rattle off game after game that influenced others. I could see there being a series of videos on the history of games by type/genre/mechanism.
I must be the only in the world that like deck building games (Star Realms is my favorite) but can't stand Dominion. It really bores me to death
Nope. I totally agree 😅
I despise dominion. I will leave a gaming day if dominion is being played.
8:55 Whoa!! I should go to a corner and rethink my life! Cowboy Bebop is for decades my fav show, seen it few times, listen to the music at least few times a month yet I didn't know that Ein is short for Einstein. It make sense, sure, but I was not aware of it. Shocking news to me :) As for the game, I saw some reviews and they were mostly "meh" so I'm not pursuing it but if at some point it will be in my reach, I would definitely try it - just for the sake of the theme.
Cant believe noone mentioned RUNE AGE, it has the best PvP combat mechanism ive seen in a deckbuilder, each faction feels unique and thematic, there are multiple modes to play (coop, race, PvP, 1vAll), amazing art. Granted, you need the expansion... and its criminal it only had 1 expansion 😞😓😩
Yes! I completely agree with this - with the expansion you have so many options for variable setup, especially since the player factions are so different from each other. The player vs player fights are always tense and exciting. Truly a gem of a game!