Great list guys!! The problem with Viral, for me, and the reason we got rid of it, is that everytime we pulled it out to play (and this was pre-pandemic), I would see these organs on the board and think of all of our family/friends who have/had illnesses and/or diseases. Morbid, I know! I just couldn't disassociate for some reason. After my father passed away a couple of years ago from CAD, diabetes, and renal failure, we put the game on the donation pile.
Witchstone is so amazing. The ripple actions effect is so satisfying. Everyone I have shown this game too has LOVED it. Easily for me this is my favorite Reiner game
Powerline is also an underrated excuse to give to a girl you like about why you can't come to her party because she refuses to listen when you tell her your dad is forcing you to go on a "save my son's soul" road trip. Like, for real - Pete gets a bad rap, and Roxanne was the real villain of the story. LIFE LESSON, KIDS!
Love seeing some love for King of 12 and Cuphead! King of 12 I got after seeing a random review online, and it was an immediate hit for us... and that ARTWORK!!! Cuphead I tried out at GenCon a few years ago, and was immediately charmed. Played it through in full with two different groups that also loved it. Only downside there was, unless you're into trying to S-rank each box (which I'm not), there's not a lot of incentive to try going through it again, so I did let my copy go, but it's absolutely worth checking out.
I think one really underrated board game is Pret-a-Porter, its not an easy game to learn, sure, but there is so many incredible things inside that, it just blows my mind how little people talk about it, a great economic/worker placement game, full of color, interesting decisions and many roads to victory.
I'll pitch Cairn. 2p, abstract, open information. Think Onitama but whenever a player is eliminated or crosses the other team's threshold, a magically powered cairn spawns in the vacated space. These cairns range in powers from being able to teleport players another cairn, move any players in close proximity to the cairn one space, or even have cairns swap places. It's possible to combo some moves using the cairns and being open information means that you always (sorta) know what the other player is going to do.
I really enjoy this content; there are so many board game channels, and they all seem to focus on the hype. However, I'm interested in learning about the games that get overlooked. With so many games being released, it's hard to keep up. Hopefully, a new list of 10 underrated games will be released soon. Keep up the great work.
I really appreciate that guys did this, and that you are constantly talking about games that aren’t talked about a bunch. Not to bash anybody else, but I typically hear about nothing but new, popular games, except for top 100s and whatnot. You guys balance between the new and the not-so-talked-about. Thanks Murph bros! You guys rock.
Boonlake is also one of my favorites, card play is amazing, and the technologies are well done, the game manages to provide you with lots of tactical choices based on the cards you draw and the land tiles, you are engaged the whole time. Luck of the draw can be an issue for some people, but I don't care, the tactical choices that stem from random draw are so good, that I don't mind losing because of luck
I ADORE Boonlake. It's one of my favourite Pfister games. I always have a great time with it. My flatmate and I actively try to prolong the game, so the length is definitely not an issue for us, lol. I love how it curtails the player rushing element, as players have to actively choose less popular actions to get to move faster.
Great list, love giving the lesser talked about games some love. My #1 is Ginkgopolis. I know it’s recognised by The Brothers so I don’t need to explain, but good lord that game is such a balance of choice and pace.
For me, The Godfather: Coleone's Empire is one of the best most underrated games. It's definitely my favourite Lang game and I wish there was an expansion with some different mob jobs just to mix it up a little. Thanks Brothers Murph, love your vids!
Yes to Viral! Especially with the expansion to make mutant viruses! Definitely a favourite in our house. Thanks for highlighting Duelsaur Island as well! We’re currently exploring “Di-November” so the more games about dinosaurs the better! Keep spreading the love for gaming guys! Thanks for all that you do!
My underrated game is a game called Tungaru. It was one of the first projects I backed on KS back in 2019. It’s a dice placement, resource management euro game with a fun setting on an island in the archipelago. I really enjoy it and have never really heard anyone talk about it.
In my opinion one of the most underrated games is "The Artemis Project"- absolutely great game that I think has not received enough attention and totally deserves recognition!
@@TheBrothersMurph If you have the chance to try it - definitely do! I would love the hear a review on it from yourselves should you manage to get it to the table :)
Seconding The Artemis Project. Everybody I introduced to it liked it. I would love to see you do a playthrough, especially with the expansion and updated rules.
Viral is one of my favorite games. I don't like area control, and I really dislike take that, but I LOVE Viral for some reason. So much chaos at the full player count
I Love Boonlake. It’s only as long as one player wants to make it. I play mostly solo, but I had one player who took the highest move count every time with the attempt to end the game early to reduce our chances of getting more points than him. Lowest scoring game we played and it took less than 45 minutes. Great Video guys. Always entertaining.
Kiddo and I got Cuphead at GenCon this year! I got super excited about it after seeing your game play forever ago. It was even one of the games we brought with us to Grand Con last month. It was wild, crazy, hectic, and an all around good time 💜
I backed Coloma and the expansion on Kickstarter, so I'm really looking forward to getting this game. The western/pioneer theme seems to vibe with me. Boonlake is a great game! Thanks guys!
@@TheBrothersMurph It's 2-4 player competitive Oregon trail with 5 color dice drafting. The dice can be taken for money, resources or villagers (all of which help you score differently). But every round 1 dice is left behind which advances a disaster track of that die's color (black die advances all disasters). The disasters are imminent but you want them to hit to hurt your opponent and not you. Special powers great decision space, variable but simple set up and multiple paths to victory. Win or lose I always have an absolute blast.
Boon Lake was a great river race with the Ark Nova sliding action selection. Coloma ...gotta check that out some day. I remember everyone bouncing off of Viral fast too.
I don't think Chicago Express gets enough love. It scales very well; six people can play almost as quickly as two. It plays in under an hour. It's easy to teach and easy to learn. It can be cut throat if people like that sort of thing, or almost peaceful if the group is so inclined. It's a train game with more complexity that TtR, but not as much as 18xx. It's just a brilliantly designed game. It always makes it to the table at our game days. Great vid guys!
Well, from your list, I’ve tried King of 12 and Boonlake. King of 12 was too random for my tastes, so I didn’t adore it, but Boonlake was great! Just played it for the first time last weekend in a game tournament and I thought it was really neat! I had some massive misunderstandings about the iconography so I did terribly but I still had a good time! Here are some games that I think don’t get enough love: • Autobahn • Azul: Queen’s Garden (everyone hated it because they were expecting Azul, which this is not) • Barony • Colours of Paris (a.k.a. Old Masters) • Corrosion • Crystal Palace • Fuji (Wolfgang Warsch!) • Gentes • Golem • Leaving Earth (a brain destroyer but cool) • Messina 1347 (Vladimír Suchý) • Newton • Noria (I don’t personally like this one but lots of my friends do and it’s very original!) • Ora et Libora (probably my favourite Rosenberg so far!) • Siena (super cool game phase mechanic!) • Tramways • Wild Space (big in France but no one in North America knows it) • Yukon Airways Thanks for the video!
I received Powerline in August or September, either as a gift or in trade. I can't remember right now. I added it to the list of games I wanted to check out because of one of your videos. The box is still in shrink, but I watched a how to play on it earlier this week and I've been trying to get it to the table, but I just haven't had time.
Genotype and Ginkopolis don't get enough love, IMO. Genotype is a great worker placement, dice selection and set collection game. The theme is based on real science, which is also cool. Ginkopolis has interesting mechanics around area control, deck building and hand management.
Witchstone came out at the same time as Mille Fiori. I guess that took some of the attention away. Totally agree on Witchstone about everything you said. Chaining is crazy good in this one. The cauldron puzzle is really smart and a fun part of the game.
I have to agree with many of your choices such as Boonlake, Coloma ( Backed recent crowdfunding), and Witchstone. I bought Bloody Inn, Last Will, and Prodigals Club on your recommendation and I love them. Admittedly, I have 3 Kallax shelves with Vladimir Suchy games. Thanks guys and well done.
Circadians: First Light. It has large numbers on the BGG page, but very little presence on UA-cam. Maybe cause it's just older. But I think C:FL is amazingly fun.
Ora et labora and rococo ..both top 20 for me, rarely see anyone talk about them. And omg, I missed you guys playing orianberger kanal?? I missed the limited backing thing for it and my buddy didn't find one at Essen... niiice looking forward to watching that
My own personal game which sadly is so underrated: Mare Nostrum Empires. I have all the extras for it including the giant map. Its an epic empire management game. Yes, its big, and not so accessible. But every time I play it, I feel amazed by it.
Have you guys ever played "Shadow Rift"? I have literally never heard anyone talk about it on any of these boardgame channels, but it is our most requested boardgame by friends (different groups) for boardgame nights. If you can find it, it is a gem of a deckbuilder, battling the monsters back into the rift from whence they came until you can finally seal the rift and save the town. The expansion(s?) are fantastic too.
Lords of Xidit is a game I like that doesn't get much love. It's a programming game, so it gets compared to Robo Rally a bunch, but the amount of double thinking done against your opponent is nothing short of "two samurai on the beach at sunrise" moments. ... it also has the potential for, "You fool; I'm playing chess while you're playing... tic-tac-toe?? Why did you do that?!" so you need to be prepared. 😅
A great list of games! Naga Raja is such a dynamic two player game. So many two player games feel like tug of war, but this one has layers of decision that higher player count games give. As good as Targi. And, Witchstone is my Halloween game this year. I just played it last weekend and fell in love. Can't wait to bring it to my monthly game group tomorrow night. 🎃
One game I can recommend for any gamer that wants to check out a really nice deck builder that, IMO, seems to be quite underrated is Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade
I enjoyed your playthrough of Witchstone and it's been on my want to play ever since, but I've not seen a copy in the wild to play yet. I think one for me might be Adrenaline, I don't feel it's thought of much, but it is just a blast to play with all of it's ridiculous weapons to play with.
Thank you, Bros... You are Underrated! I have only played... none of these, so I guess they are underrated. I think Brian Boru is underrated. It has an interesting hybrid of mechanics that somehow work together with trick winning and losing being meaningful strategies. You brought up an interesting new video topic. 'What games can you play on location' We'll also accept Moon and Mars as they will surely be board game enthusiasts when they get there.
Watched this video and You sold me Naga Raja. Immediately got me a copy of the same and played it. i must say this game is sooooo good and i agree with you guys that its very underrated. It has all the required stuff to make it a great fun game… Indiana Jones Theme… nice balance of luck and strategy and the race element. Those faith sticks are very cool… Another gem of a game by Bruno after 7 wonder duel… ❤
Being late to the party(2019), even though there are in bgg top 500. Two games that feel forgotten are Flash Point Fire Rescue & The Godfather: Corleone's Empire
I was going to claim that Through the Desert belongs on this list. It's out of print (as I think are the other two games in the classic tile-laying trilogy), but has just been Kickstarted. But your #1 was Reiner, and all the games on your list interest me (I don't think I've played any of them).
Solid list! Naga Raja, Lllamaland, and Witchstone are all great fun. My fellow Kniziaphiles poo-pooed Witchstone, which I think hurt it getting traction. I love it. Enjoy!
Duelosaur Island is great! I agree with the thought process of being a 1 or 2 player game got it under the radar to most people. It deserves a bit more of a spotlight. I think Llama land was overlooked by many people due to the "Family game" tag slapped on the box... I still want to try it, but I can't convince anyone for it 😅 Two underrated games for me: Cloudage and Ruthless. I have so much fun with both of them but don't see anyone talking or referencing any
I am very surprised to hear WItchstone on this list since we were told a few days ago not to tell people it was on the list. Bloody Inn, Franchise, Goodcritters, Royal Visit and Coffee Traders are a few of my underrated games.
We just recently picked up Boonlake, and are playing it frequently. I love it much much better than GWT. Racing down the river is amazing, and it really isn't that long if everyone knows the rules.
Most of these games I never heard of. Three games I heard of because of yall and never found locally. One of the game stores I frequently visit just recently got Powerline.😂
I wanted to love the cuphead dice game. I feel like it could have used more development. The 2nd pack was by far the most difficult of all the boss packs. I feel like they could have escalated and combined the different challenges more toward the end to build up the difficulty. There were many unique challenges that only showed up in one of the boss decks and the whole game I was thinking "wow, when they combined this with the dice stacking, that will be so hard!" But it never happened. I believe I could modify it myself to turn it into what I envisioned it to be, but I decided I just didn't have the time 😅. My favorite hidden gem is a timed word game from 1986 called Jitters. I'm just waiting for some publisher to discover it and re-skin it/market it to modern gamers. I think it would be really
My hidden gem is Sub Terra (and most recently Sub Terra II). It is such a unique game with great asymmetric characters with easy and quick set up. I haven't played The Night Cage but Sub Terra seems like it did it first and better.
I own two of the games on your list, Viral and Boonlake. I also do not understand why both are so under rated. Viral is really unique worker placement that I really enjoy. One other game that i really like is Cartographers.
I felt the same way about Duelosaur Island, though I admit I sold it, because we ultimately preferred those cute little dinomeeples in its big sibling game. Witchstone looks super fun, but kind of overwhelming. I’m trying out Marrakesh soon, which has some similarities in building up the power of actions, minigames, and tracks.
Summoner Wars Second Edition is definitely overlooked, if not under-rated. One of the very best 1v1 2 player combat games out there. A miniature combat game without the miniatures! Your units are represented by cards on a chess like grid such that both positioning and card play is important. Kill the other summoner and win, that's it! Very well balanced. Lean rules. Deep system. 20 factions out there and counting. Unlike TCGs, this is an expandable card game with unique decks that play very differently from one another, so you know what you are getting if you buy any specific faction. You can buy the 6 deck master set or the 2 deck starter set to try it out. And if you like what you play, you can go ahead and buy faction decks. Each faction deck can immediately be played against any of the other faction decks that you already have. While we are on 2 player 1v1 games, its somewhat similar to the Unmatched series that TBH seem to like a lot. While Unmatched has one fixed deck per character and no deck construction, Summoner Wars has a flexible and elegant deck construction system that one can indulge in, should they choose to do so (or completely ignore, for that matter, as the out of the box decks are super well balanced). Overall, a very awesome game!
Given that you folks love Unmatched so much (I do too!!), I have a strong feeling that you will love Summoner Wars as well, whenever you manage to try it out!! It's arguably one of the best tactical card games on the market. Like Unmatched, its simple to learn, primarily card based, got assymetric fighters/factions and fights go on until leaders' death. The optional deck construction is icing on the cake. Once you get into it, it has that Unmatched-like buy one more box quality to it (not good for the wallet)!
Personally one of the most underrated games I own and think people should play more is The Bloody Inn. You guys actually introduced me to it.
Yeah that was on a previous Underrated list we did so we didn't put it on this one. It's one of the most underrated games ever
We have this, got it out the other week and played a couple of times kind of forgot we had it
Great list guys!! The problem with Viral, for me, and the reason we got rid of it, is that everytime we pulled it out to play (and this was pre-pandemic), I would see these organs on the board and think of all of our family/friends who have/had illnesses and/or diseases. Morbid, I know! I just couldn't disassociate for some reason. After my father passed away a couple of years ago from CAD, diabetes, and renal failure, we put the game on the donation pile.
No, that totally makes sense. I appreciate you sharing your story!
Witchstone is so amazing. The ripple actions effect is so satisfying. Everyone I have shown this game too has LOVED it. Easily for me this is my favorite Reiner game
Powerline is also an underrated excuse to give to a girl you like about why you can't come to her party because she refuses to listen when you tell her your dad is forcing you to go on a "save my son's soul" road trip. Like, for real - Pete gets a bad rap, and Roxanne was the real villain of the story. LIFE LESSON, KIDS!
on my way to work with a long commute, but wait! a new top 10 from the Brothers Murph ! ? tsssss.. NICE! Thank you Mike and Nick ! :)
We're here for you!
This channel is so good. Well done guys. Would love more playthroughs - maybe with your online community if you're open to it
Thank you so much! What do you mean exactly when you say play throughs with our online community?
Love seeing some love for King of 12 and Cuphead! King of 12 I got after seeing a random review online, and it was an immediate hit for us... and that ARTWORK!!!
Cuphead I tried out at GenCon a few years ago, and was immediately charmed. Played it through in full with two different groups that also loved it. Only downside there was, unless you're into trying to S-rank each box (which I'm not), there's not a lot of incentive to try going through it again, so I did let my copy go, but it's absolutely worth checking out.
I think one really underrated board game is Pret-a-Porter, its not an easy game to learn, sure, but there is so many incredible things inside that, it just blows my mind how little people talk about it, a great economic/worker placement game, full of color, interesting decisions and many roads to victory.
That’s one we’ve always wanted to try for sure
I'll pitch Cairn. 2p, abstract, open information. Think Onitama but whenever a player is eliminated or crosses the other team's threshold, a magically powered cairn spawns in the vacated space. These cairns range in powers from being able to teleport players another cairn, move any players in close proximity to the cairn one space, or even have cairns swap places. It's possible to combo some moves using the cairns and being open information means that you always (sorta) know what the other player is going to do.
Oooo that sounds interesting!
Witchstone is indeed a terrific game!!!! The bonus combos are so interesting. The artwork is also more beautiful up close.
Yeah it's got a great look!
I really enjoy this content; there are so many board game channels, and they all seem to focus on the hype. However, I'm interested in learning about the games that get overlooked. With so many games being released, it's hard to keep up. Hopefully, a new list of 10 underrated games will be released soon. Keep up the great work.
I really appreciate that guys did this, and that you are constantly talking about games that aren’t talked about a bunch. Not to bash anybody else, but I typically hear about nothing but new, popular games, except for top 100s and whatnot. You guys balance between the new and the not-so-talked-about. Thanks Murph bros! You guys rock.
Boonlake is also one of my favorites, card play is amazing, and the technologies are well done, the game manages to provide you with lots of tactical choices based on the cards you draw and the land tiles, you are engaged the whole time. Luck of the draw can be an issue for some people, but I don't care, the tactical choices that stem from random draw are so good, that I don't mind losing because of luck
Gugong is in my top 3 and never gets talked about
Always wanted to try this one
I ADORE Boonlake. It's one of my favourite Pfister games. I always have a great time with it. My flatmate and I actively try to prolong the game, so the length is definitely not an issue for us, lol. I love how it curtails the player rushing element, as players have to actively choose less popular actions to get to move faster.
Great list, love giving the lesser talked about games some love. My #1 is Ginkgopolis. I know it’s recognised by The Brothers so I don’t need to explain, but good lord that game is such a balance of choice and pace.
Thanks for this list! Within a couple days of watching it, I found 2 of the games on the used/clearance shelves at a local store and snagged them.
51st State master Set for me. It's getting older , but I still love the puzzle of needing to use all your resources on each turn.
I love this topic! I mostly listen to board game content to learn about new games, & hearing about something other than the new hotness is always fun.
I think my hidden gem is a PWH (“praise be”) - Archaeology. Such a great little set collection game.
Posted this before seeing you had a PWH title. Of course you did 😂
Praise Be!
For me, The Godfather: Coleone's Empire is one of the best most underrated games. It's definitely my favourite Lang game and I wish there was an expansion with some different mob jobs just to mix it up a little. Thanks Brothers Murph, love your vids!
I love your gamehaus episode of Witchstone! I watch it! Combos baby😂
COMBO WOMBOS!
Me too! I actually bought the game a few months ago, and I was not disappointed
Heck yeah!
Yes to Viral! Especially with the expansion to make mutant viruses! Definitely a favourite in our house.
Thanks for highlighting Duelsaur Island as well! We’re currently exploring “Di-November” so the more games about dinosaurs the better!
Keep spreading the love for gaming guys! Thanks for all that you do!
Cool list. I'm a Boon Lake booster as well! I would also include Stefan Feld's Carpe Diem as an underrated gem.
Carpe Diem was on a prvious Underrated list, a very underrated game
You guys did it again - got me to add a couple more games to my “want to play” list!
Yay!!
My underrated game is a game called Tungaru. It was one of the first projects I backed on KS back in 2019. It’s a dice placement, resource management euro game with a fun setting on an island in the archipelago. I really enjoy it and have never really heard anyone talk about it.
In my opinion one of the most underrated games is "The Artemis Project"- absolutely great game that I think has not received enough attention and totally deserves recognition!
Never tried this one but always liked the way it looked
@@TheBrothersMurph If you have the chance to try it - definitely do! I would love the hear a review on it from yourselves should you manage to get it to the table :)
Seconding The Artemis Project. Everybody I introduced to it liked it. I would love to see you do a playthrough, especially with the expansion and updated rules.
Viral is one of my favorite games. I don't like area control, and I really dislike take that, but I LOVE Viral for some reason. So much chaos at the full player count
I Love Boonlake. It’s only as long as one player wants to make it. I play mostly solo, but I had one player who took the highest move count every time with the attempt to end the game early to reduce our chances of getting more points than him. Lowest scoring game we played and it took less than 45 minutes. Great Video guys. Always entertaining.
Did he win?
@@cgrice1971 No, close second. He would adjust his moves to land on the VP water points.
Great list. Completely agree with choice of Witchstone.
Kiddo and I got Cuphead at GenCon this year! I got super excited about it after seeing your game play forever ago. It was even one of the games we brought with us to Grand Con last month.
It was wild, crazy, hectic, and an all around good time 💜
That’s aweOme!!
I backed Coloma and the expansion on Kickstarter, so I'm really looking forward to getting this game. The western/pioneer theme seems to vibe with me. Boonlake is a great game! Thanks guys!
Yeah the western theme on Euro games we really like
Pioneer Days is one of my favorites in my collection but I feel like no one talks about it
Never played it! Give us the elevator pitch
@@TheBrothersMurph It's 2-4 player competitive Oregon trail with 5 color dice drafting. The dice can be taken for money, resources or villagers (all of which help you score differently). But every round 1 dice is left behind which advances a disaster track of that die's color (black die advances all disasters). The disasters are imminent but you want them to hit to hurt your opponent and not you. Special powers great decision space, variable but simple set up and multiple paths to victory. Win or lose I always have an absolute blast.
Boon Lake was a great river race with the Ark Nova sliding action selection. Coloma ...gotta check that out some day. I remember everyone bouncing off of Viral fast too.
Yeah we seem to be some of the few Viral stans out there
@@TheBrothersMurph 🤷
Naga Raja and Duelosaur are two of my favorites and i introduced my friends to both.
Intrigued about Witchstone now. Never heard of it. Will check it out. Thanks for the video.
Any time!
Powerline was played a few times this past weekend. My nephew loved it at 12 years old.
Great selection on Witchstone. In terms of my choice for underrated I’ll go with both Crystal Palace and Quebec.
LOVE Crystal Palace
It is just sooo damn amazing. Chef’s kiss if you will.
I don't think Chicago Express gets enough love. It scales very well; six people can play almost as quickly as two. It plays in under an hour. It's easy to teach and easy to learn. It can be cut throat if people like that sort of thing, or almost peaceful if the group is so inclined. It's a train game with more complexity that TtR, but not as much as 18xx. It's just a brilliantly designed game. It always makes it to the table at our game days.
Great vid guys!
Wow !!! 😮 ! Thank you 🙏🏻 ! Great top 10 for xmas gifts 🎁 Love it !!!
30:49 “I get knocked down, but I get up again You are never gonna keep me down”…
Well, from your list, I’ve tried King of 12 and Boonlake. King of 12 was too random for my tastes, so I didn’t adore it, but Boonlake was great! Just played it for the first time last weekend in a game tournament and I thought it was really neat! I had some massive misunderstandings about the iconography so I did terribly but I still had a good time!
Here are some games that I think don’t get enough love:
• Autobahn
• Azul: Queen’s Garden (everyone hated it because they were expecting Azul, which this is not)
• Barony
• Colours of Paris (a.k.a. Old Masters)
• Corrosion
• Crystal Palace
• Fuji (Wolfgang Warsch!)
• Gentes
• Golem
• Leaving Earth (a brain destroyer but cool)
• Messina 1347 (Vladimír Suchý)
• Newton
• Noria (I don’t personally like this one but lots of my friends do and it’s very original!)
• Ora et Libora (probably my favourite Rosenberg so far!)
• Siena (super cool game phase mechanic!)
• Tramways
• Wild Space (big in France but no one in North America knows it)
• Yukon Airways
Thanks for the video!
I received Powerline in August or September, either as a gift or in trade. I can't remember right now. I added it to the list of games I wanted to check out because of one of your videos. The box is still in shrink, but I watched a how to play on it earlier this week and I've been trying to get it to the table, but I just haven't had time.
Genotype and Ginkopolis don't get enough love, IMO. Genotype is a great worker placement, dice selection and set collection game. The theme is based on real science, which is also cool. Ginkopolis has interesting mechanics around area control, deck building and hand management.
Witchstone came out at the same time as Mille Fiori. I guess that took some of the attention away. Totally agree on Witchstone about everything you said. Chaining is crazy good in this one. The cauldron puzzle is really smart and a fun part of the game.
My underrated games: Battle Sheep, Ancestree, Yummy World: Party at Picnic Palace (praise be), The Blood of an Englishman, and Garden Dice.
I have to agree with many of your choices such as Boonlake, Coloma ( Backed recent crowdfunding), and Witchstone. I bought Bloody Inn, Last Will, and Prodigals Club on your recommendation and I love them. Admittedly, I have 3 Kallax shelves with Vladimir Suchy games. Thanks guys and well done.
Heck yeah all great games!
I love WitchStone so much. Totally agree. #1 underrated. Just got the expansion but I’m holding it until Valentines.
We absolutely love witchstone! I discovered it at DTW 2022 and we have been playing ever since. ❤️
Circadians: First Light. It has large numbers on the BGG page, but very little presence on UA-cam. Maybe cause it's just older.
But I think C:FL is amazingly fun.
Great list. I would have to say Ruthless is a very underrated game. Especially if you are a fan of interesting deck builders.
Calimala is a great underrated euro. It is getting a fancy reprint soon, so that may change.
Can't wait for the reprint! Such a good game, but I (nick) refuse to play it because of how ugly it is. The new version though? Gimme all that
Ora et labora and rococo ..both top 20 for me, rarely see anyone talk about them. And omg, I missed you guys playing orianberger kanal?? I missed the limited backing thing for it and my buddy didn't find one at Essen... niiice looking forward to watching that
We’ll do a Playthrough for sure! And there will be another release of the game by another publisher with upgraded art and will simply be called Kanal!
Nice Korn drop there! Now I can't get "Twist" out of my head lol
Have had Freak on a Leash stuck in my head ever since editing this
My own personal game which sadly is so underrated: Mare Nostrum Empires. I have all the extras for it including the giant map. Its an epic empire management game. Yes, its big, and not so accessible. But every time I play it, I feel amazed by it.
Boon Lake is great! Totally agree. Looking forward to the expansion.
Yeah we can't wait to get the expansion
Have you guys ever played "Shadow Rift"? I have literally never heard anyone talk about it on any of these boardgame channels, but it is our most requested boardgame by friends (different groups) for boardgame nights. If you can find it, it is a gem of a deckbuilder, battling the monsters back into the rift from whence they came until you can finally seal the rift and save the town. The expansion(s?) are fantastic too.
We haven’t tried it, but now we might have to look into it!
Lords of Xidit is a game I like that doesn't get much love. It's a programming game, so it gets compared to Robo Rally a bunch, but the amount of double thinking done against your opponent is nothing short of "two samurai on the beach at sunrise" moments.
... it also has the potential for, "You fool; I'm playing chess while you're playing... tic-tac-toe?? Why did you do that?!" so you need to be prepared. 😅
I have always wanted to pay this one! i love the universe, it's the same universe as Seasons if I remember correctly
You are absolutely right. Love the game 😍
A great list of games! Naga Raja is such a dynamic two player game. So many two player games feel like tug of war, but this one has layers of decision that higher player count games give. As good as Targi. And, Witchstone is my Halloween game this year. I just played it last weekend and fell in love. Can't wait to bring it to my monthly game group tomorrow night. 🎃
One game I can recommend for any gamer that wants to check out a really nice deck builder that, IMO, seems to be quite underrated is Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade
I completely agree with the Boonlake pick! It's so good!
I enjoyed your playthrough of Witchstone and it's been on my want to play ever since, but I've not seen a copy in the wild to play yet. I think one for me might be Adrenaline, I don't feel it's thought of much, but it is just a blast to play with all of it's ridiculous weapons to play with.
We have always wanted to try Adrenaline because it just seemed like such a unique game
This is a great list, with a lot I 100% agree on. And as a result, you guys have managed to rescue Duelosaur Island from my sell pile!
Ayeee we're out here saving games!
Thank you, Bros... You are Underrated!
I have only played... none of these, so I guess they are underrated.
I think Brian Boru is underrated. It has an interesting hybrid of mechanics that somehow work together with trick winning and losing being meaningful strategies.
You brought up an interesting new video topic. 'What games can you play on location' We'll also accept Moon and Mars as they will surely be board game enthusiasts when they get there.
Lignum, Madeira, Downfall of Pompeii, Pax Transhumanity and Tournay are my most underrated games.
Ah, we love Witchstone!! Combotastic for sure and can be fun to be super clever with it.
This channel is underrated! 🤘
Ah cheers thank so much!
You guys have shouted out Ginkgopolis and I think that would still be #11 here. Thanks for talking it up. Tres bien
It's SO good. Now I want to play it
I love Viral. I also have Coloma and need to get it played.
Watched this video and You sold me Naga Raja. Immediately got me a copy of the same and played it. i must say this game is sooooo good and i agree with you guys that its very underrated. It has all the required stuff to make it a great fun game… Indiana Jones Theme… nice balance of luck and strategy and the race element. Those faith sticks are very cool… Another gem of a game by Bruno after 7 wonder duel… ❤
Being late to the party(2019), even though there are in bgg top 500. Two games that feel forgotten are Flash Point Fire Rescue & The Godfather: Corleone's Empire
Happy City--played that game TONS and it's just so much fun to pick up!
I was going to claim that Through the Desert belongs on this list. It's out of print (as I think are the other two games in the classic tile-laying trilogy), but has just been Kickstarted. But your #1 was Reiner, and all the games on your list interest me (I don't think I've played any of them).
Yeah I am interested in the new Through the Desert
Solid list! Naga Raja, Lllamaland, and Witchstone are all great fun. My fellow Kniziaphiles poo-pooed Witchstone, which I think hurt it getting traction. I love it. Enjoy!
Witchstone is soooo good! We played it this week and it's still a banger
Duelosaur Island is great! I agree with the thought process of being a 1 or 2 player game got it under the radar to most people. It deserves a bit more of a spotlight.
I think Llama land was overlooked by many people due to the "Family game" tag slapped on the box... I still want to try it, but I can't convince anyone for it 😅
Two underrated games for me: Cloudage and Ruthless. I have so much fun with both of them but don't see anyone talking or referencing any
Praise be. Added King of 12, Naga Raja, and Coloma to my TBP.
You gents are awesome as always. Hope to see y’all BOTH at DTW???
We’ll be there!!
I am very surprised to hear WItchstone on this list since we were told a few days ago not to tell people it was on the list. Bloody Inn, Franchise, Goodcritters, Royal Visit and Coffee Traders are a few of my underrated games.
We want to play Coffee Traders so bad
Love Witchstone! They announced an expansion like a year ago and MAYBE it's coming out soon? Powerline looks intriguing!
Ooooh that is exciting!
Duelosaur also has a solo mode that's fairly good boys. Glad you added this one🎃. It doesn't get much love.
Yes the solo is great too!
We just recently picked up Boonlake, and are playing it frequently. I love it much much better than GWT. Racing down the river is amazing, and it really isn't that long if everyone knows the rules.
Love Viral!
Haven’t tried the expansion yet
I own Viral and Witchstone and love them both!
Most of these games I never heard of. Three games I heard of because of yall and never found locally. One of the game stores I frequently visit just recently got Powerline.😂
Viral was the game that came to mind when I saw the thumbnail. Happy to see others agree.
Yasss Viral love!
I wanted to love the cuphead dice game. I feel like it could have used more development. The 2nd pack was by far the most difficult of all the boss packs. I feel like they could have escalated and combined the different challenges more toward the end to build up the difficulty. There were many unique challenges that only showed up in one of the boss decks and the whole game I was thinking "wow, when they combined this with the dice stacking, that will be so hard!" But it never happened. I believe I could modify it myself to turn it into what I envisioned it to be, but I decided I just didn't have the time 😅.
My favorite hidden gem is a timed word game from 1986 called Jitters. I'm just waiting for some publisher to discover it and re-skin it/market it to modern gamers. I think it would be really
My hidden gem is Sub Terra (and most recently Sub Terra II). It is such a unique game with great asymmetric characters with easy and quick set up. I haven't played The Night Cage but Sub Terra seems like it did it first and better.
I own two of the games on your list, Viral and Boonlake. I also do not understand why both are so under rated. Viral is really unique worker placement that I really enjoy. One other game that i really like is Cartographers.
Yeah, I’ve never heard of your #9 - but it sounds interesting!
I love Viral. It is in my top 20, but I can rarely get it played.
Yay combo wombos! Great list!
Coloma looks so great, but it's super out of print right now. Can't get it anywhere, but I still keep my eyes open.
I imagine more copies will be available soon with the expansion coming out! Fingers crossed
I felt the same way about Duelosaur Island, though I admit I sold it, because we ultimately preferred those cute little dinomeeples in its big sibling game. Witchstone looks super fun, but kind of overwhelming. I’m trying out Marrakesh soon, which has some similarities in building up the power of actions, minigames, and tracks.
Yay another Duelosaur Island lover!
Summoner Wars Second Edition is definitely overlooked, if not under-rated. One of the very best 1v1 2 player combat games out there. A miniature combat game without the miniatures! Your units are represented by cards on a chess like grid such that both positioning and card play is important. Kill the other summoner and win, that's it! Very well balanced. Lean rules. Deep system.
20 factions out there and counting. Unlike TCGs, this is an expandable card game with unique decks that play very differently from one another, so you know what you are getting if you buy any specific faction. You can buy the 6 deck master set or the 2 deck starter set to try it out. And if you like what you play, you can go ahead and buy faction decks. Each faction deck can immediately be played against any of the other faction decks that you already have.
While we are on 2 player 1v1 games, its somewhat similar to the Unmatched series that TBH seem to like a lot. While Unmatched has one fixed deck per character and no deck construction, Summoner Wars has a flexible and elegant deck construction system that one can indulge in, should they choose to do so (or completely ignore, for that matter, as the out of the box decks are super well balanced). Overall, a very awesome game!
Yeah we have always wanted to play Summoner Wars as we've always heard such good things from those who have played it
Given that you folks love Unmatched so much (I do too!!), I have a strong feeling that you will love Summoner Wars as well, whenever you manage to try it out!! It's arguably one of the best tactical card games on the market. Like Unmatched, its simple to learn, primarily card based, got assymetric fighters/factions and fights go on until leaders' death. The optional deck construction is icing on the cake. Once you get into it, it has that Unmatched-like buy one more box quality to it (not good for the wallet)!
I love Boonlake too mate!
Coloma is criminally underrated. Also, agree that Boon Lake and Witchstone are very underrated.
Yassss Colomaaa!
Fabled Fruit, Comic Hunters, Evee Point Salad (Korean), Expedition/Relic Hunters (Korean, goes by 2 names)
I hop Comic Hunters makes its way to the US
The Brothers: llamaland is an underated game
Also the brothers: we've kinda cooled on llamaland.
por que no los dos?
Free Radicals is by far my favorite game below rank 1000 on BGG (it’s like 7200)
Llama Land I really want try also. I love Barenpark so much.
My favorite board game is the very little known Chronicles of Frost.