Daniel (00:03.727) It's PlaySavesTheWorld Episode 10, Top 10 Board Games for Starting a Casual Game Group. Daniel (00:29.779) Hello, welcome everybody to Play Saves the World, an ongoing conversation on the meaning of play for human flourishing. My name is Daniel Hilty. Kevin (00:41.001) and my name is Kevin Taylor. Daniel (00:43.311) And we're so happy to have you joining us today. Thank you for tuning into the episode and giving a listen to a discussion about the top 10 board games for starting a casual game group. And Kevin, I know this idea kind of occurred to both of us at the same time as we both recently had experience a couple of days ago, actually. You want to say a little bit about how this conversation, how this idea for an episode came about? Kevin (01:16.085) Yeah, so we were invited to speak with a group of the United Methodist Church, which is a Protestant denomination in large parts of the world, and we're both United Methodist, and they had a district committee on ordained ministry, which is just as exciting as it sounds, and they're having an online meeting, and this was sort of a continuing education event to talk about play and the role of play in the religious life. and folks were really interested and they were curious about board games that we might suggest for doing gaming at their church. So we thought, you know, we've never really done a top 10 list in this nature and we could do it. But this applies not just to churches, right? Am I right? Daniel (02:02.055) Right, right. Yeah, this could be, as you said before you went online, Kevin, I mean, this could be in your local Rotary Club or your college group or whatever, maybe your office group. But any place you'd like to get together with other folks for a casual gaming group. Basically, what we mean by that is a group that is intentionally open to everybody, whatever their level of interest in gaming. So it could be Kevin (02:14.637) Mm-hmm. Daniel (02:30.929) people who are kind of hardcore hobby gamers, but also people who the only experience they have had with board games is like Monopoly or Uno or something like that. Yeah. Kevin (02:38.988) Mm-hmm. Yeah, so this should be a low-stakes, good fun game if you're experienced. We're looking for games that are going to scale well. I know we haven't discussed criteria formally, things that will... Yeah, I was looking for things that would accommodate different group sizes. Daniel (02:57.073) Yeah, what's your criteria? Daniel (03:02.087) Mm-hmm. Kevin (03:02.343) A level of complexity that's going to be low so that if people come in late or they just you know Some folks don't have a tolerance for this and that is totally fine in terms of minutiae other people are really hungry for a four-hour You know minutiae led Detail oriented war game. I can kind of be that person So we want to make sure we're clear about what this is which is it's going to be fun, but it's really focused on a a low Daniel (03:06.429) Mm-hmm. Daniel (03:11.048) Yeah. Kevin (03:31.086) barrier of entry and you don't need to sit around and wait 20 minutes for someone to take their turn because for some people the neurodivergent and others that's gonna they're just gonna hate it they're gonna be on their phones it's not gonna be fun so you we want to make and then also so I was concerned with group size complexity and then time how long does the game take because you may have people coming late or leaving early and you want something that Daniel (03:44.646) Yeah. Daniel (03:52.035) Mmm, that's a good one. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (03:58.038) If they come in late, well, in five minutes, we're going to start another round or something. What about you? Daniel (04:02.215) That's a really good point. like that. Yeah, yeah. Some similarities, though I hadn't thought about time, but you're exactly right that this is, you know, for the most part, people in general are not going to be willing to commit, you know, hours and hours to a game. And so, you know, what can they get started quickly and get out of quickly? No, I agree. just, think other things I had was maybe like maybe going along with that time, like quick setup and take down. So these aren't games that, you know, you're going to take going to take a half an hour to set up on the table. Kevin (04:27.565) Mmm. Daniel (04:32.243) Replayability, know, that's just kind of a good, know, like the game will remain interesting after 10, 15 plays of it across the weeks or the months of the meeting of this group. I kind of looked for a mix of cooperative and competitive because some people like competitive games. Sometimes some people like cooperative games. I think most of the games I came up with here are are pretty affordable and Kevin (04:40.492) Yes. Kevin (04:52.077) Mm-hmm. Daniel (05:02.267) And I try to pick games that are fairly widely available to... There are a few exceptions, but I think most of the games that I've got here at least are available on the mass market. Again, there are few exceptions. It's not true for all of them. Anyway, but yeah. So I think we're on the same page and I'm excited to dig into our top 10 board games. to start a casual gaming group. Dun dun dun. Kevin (05:34.253) Dun dun dun. Daniel (05:36.915) Kevin, if you'd like, I could get started. We didn't talk about who wanted to go first. I can go first, and that way we can save your number one for the grand finale, which I'm so excited. And we should say, a couple caveats, this obviously is not like a definitive list. Like Kevin and I have not played every board game that's out there. So there may well be other games that need to be on this list. Yeah. And this is how we're feeling today. We might feel different tomorrow. Kevin (05:41.069) Okay. Kevin (05:47.531) Number one. Kevin (06:01.773) That's right. Daniel (06:06.259) But for right now, at this point in time, which is as we're recording it at the beginning of 2025, these were games that for us are the top 10 games that we know to start a casual gaming group. And also that Kevin and I have not seen each other's lists. So this is going to be as much a surprise for each other as it is for you, our dear listeners and dear viewers. So I'm excited. Having said that, without further ado, may I share my number 10? Kevin (06:19.405) That's right. Kevin (06:25.632) Mm-hmm. Kevin (06:36.758) Number 10. Daniel (06:37.821) My number 10 is Similo. Similo is spelled S-I-M-I-L-O. Do you know this game? That's fine, that's fine. Similo is a game that came out a few years ago. It's a re-implementation of an earlier game. It is a cooperative card game. Super easy rule set. It can accommodate literally any number of people. Kevin (06:45.389) this game. Daniel (07:09.051) from 2 to 20. Basically, there is a clue giver and they have one card that they're trying to get everyone else to guess around the table out of a hand of 20, of 12 cards that they lay out face up on the table. Simulow comes with different themes. I have the animals themes here. So every card has a different animal on it. So the clue giver is trying to get them to guess an animal. And once the game starts, they can't talk. basically, the clue giver lays out a new card every round. And whether that new card is parallel to the cards that are laid out on the table or perpendicular indicates that the clue giver thinks that there is something similar. between this new card and the card they're trying to get them to guess or different between the new card and the card that they're trying to get us. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (08:04.404) Mmm. Kevin (08:09.741) So it's almost like a charades type or a pictionary, with... So how many cards do you get to pick from? Daniel (08:18.067) Initially 12, and the ClueGiver has 5 in their hand and they always drop to 5. And every round you eliminate, you're not trying to get, the guessers are not trying to guess the card, they're trying to eliminate cards. So every round they eliminate more and more cards, unless they get it wrong and then the game ends, until they eliminate it down, hopefully, to the right card. It's a lot of fun, it's really quick, maybe a 10 minute gameplay, cooperative, simple ruleset, any number of people, similo. Kevin (08:30.669) Hmm. Kevin (08:39.533) That's cool. Daniel (08:47.815) My number 10. Kevin (08:49.205) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 10 for me is a, this is a great game, but it's a bit of a one trick pony and it can be a little frustrating. That's not a half. Daniel (09:00.317) Ha, I love that game. Kevin (09:02.081) This is great because lots of people can play and it's goofy and it's fun and I enjoy it. It leads to lot of hilarious moments. But the problems with it is A, some people are self-conscious about their memory. Especially if you are in a religious type setting. You may have some older folks and they get, I've noticed they get a little embarrassed so they don't want to play. Daniel (09:24.637) Yeah. Yeah. Kevin (09:25.581) Some people are just not gonna remember and they're just out now the whole game is oriented around not remembering if you remember there would be no game but you have to be willing to lean into that and after a few rounds people are kind of done I think it's my experience like it kind of you get the hang of it and Unless you're playing with new people. We don't really play it a whole lot I don't I know you have played this game, correct, and I don't know about your experience. I kind of have a love slight dislike for the game, but it's still worth playing. It's a good opening game. Yeah. Daniel (09:57.491) I think it's a great choice. Yeah, yeah, it's a great choice. It's a great choice. And that's really thoughtful of you to be sensitive to the fact that, yeah, some people I think get embarrassed more easily by the challenges of remembering, even though, as you said, no one can remember in this game. The whole point of the game is to get you to not remember things. But yeah, yeah. Kevin (10:12.363) Yes. Kevin (10:17.399) Right. Yeah. Yeah, and the game is basically you're you're you look at a card face up and it's a very simple thing. It's a duck or a basketball and you give it to someone else saying this is a basketball and at that moment it flips face down and then multiple people are taking turns doing that and it's going around the circle and as you get things going around and you're given things you then have to remember what things are you can never flip them over to look again. So you can lie and only if someone challenges you do you get found out. if you're a good liar, you might win the game. But a lot of it is you can't remember because other things have happened and you can never consult. So you're like, this is a duck, I think. Because it's gone around the circle. And so that's the whole game. It's very simple, very easy rules. People get. it very quickly but yeah you can also as well as sometimes it gets stuck on one end people are doing the cards if you've had this and other people are kind of not doing anything that yeah sometimes that happens just by luck of the cards so Daniel (11:19.483) Yes, yes, especially larger groups. Yeah, yeah. Daniel (11:27.921) Yeah, yeah, and parts of the table kind of to sit out while the other parts of the table are playing. Yeah. Kevin (11:31.339) Yeah. Yeah, but it'll play up to, they say, I mean, you could play as many as you want. They recommend eight. That's probably getting high, because you're going to have some people that are not going to be active. Probably five to six is a good number. Daniel (11:46.067) That's a great choice. love that. Number 10. Cool. And I forgot to ask at beginning, Kevin, I'm trying to guess how many carryovers we think, duplicates from Artilla. I'm guessing three. Okay, I was gonna say two. So we'll say two to three. We'll see if we're right. Okay. All right, here we go. My number nine. Some of these games, why do I just get into it? My number nine is Anomia. Kevin (11:47.915) Thank you, thank you. What's your number, Nueve? Kevin (12:00.503) three. Kevin (12:04.621) 2.5. Kevin (12:16.649) Mmm. Daniel (12:19.699) Anomia. This is a game that we have just played so much in our church board game group and in our family as well. It is a favorite of our sons and it is a card game. It comes in a variety of box sizes. For our viewers on YouTube, you may have just noticed I held up a really big box. You can also find it in very small boxes based on Kevin (12:30.605) don't know this one either. Daniel (12:47.153) what store you're buying it at. A card game, competitive, very easy rule set, and very quick. People around the table draw a card, and they put it face up in front of them so everyone can see it. And on that card is a, there are two things. There's a category, like say, Rock Band, and then there is a symbol, like say, a Curly Q. And everyone is putting up their card face up in front of them, just rapid fire on the table. If at any point two symbols match, like if someone else got a Curly Q on theirs, then there's an instant match kind of showdown between the two people who have the Curly Q symbols. And to win the match, you have to give an example of the category on the other person's card. So like I might have Rock Band Curly Q, we go on the table. Someone else all of sudden gets... salad dressing Curly Q and all of sudden I have to say Thousand Island before they say Coldplay or something like that, right? And whoever does it first wins that card. I love the Coldplay salad dressing. You they were kind of branching out. Yeah, they were branching out. mean, you need to diversify your brand. Kevin (13:57.088) A cold-blazed salad dressing? Kevin (14:01.805) It's so good. They're reaching out. Kevin (14:09.025) You would think the croutons would get soggy in the dressing, but they don't. It's because those croutons really rock. Daniel (14:12.051) No, they don't. They don't. They really do. You know, my favorite Coldplay salad dressing is the yellow one. It's really great. It was made by a scientist. Kevin (14:25.717) And the red one, despite being called Coldplay Red, you're supposed to microwave it, which is strange. So it really ought to be warm play. Daniel (14:30.781) That's weird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, kudos to Coldplay for branching out in the salad dressing. They... Kevin (14:35.629) Kudos to Coldplay. If you want to sponsor us, we will be glad to be sponsored by you and your delicious salad dressing. Croutons included. Daniel (14:43.603) So, Enomia is great. It's really rapid fire. the one thing I would just say is if a person like me plays the game who is not a really fast thinker, and it's just not my gift, I'm not good at really thinking super fast, it doesn't mean obviously that the person is not smart or anything. It's just our brains are wired differently. Kevin (15:03.341) Hmm. Kevin (15:08.501) Right, right, right, right. Daniel (15:11.731) They might feel a little uncomfortable with it. so anyway, if people, if everyone feels comfortable with that, it's a lot of fun. Anomia, my number nine. Kevin (15:22.933) Ooh, very good, very good. My number nine, I don't have it here because it's actually at my church, at the church office there for use. Although I've not played it with this church, but in a prior church setting I did. The King of Tokyo, which was a popular game from years ago. You don't hear as much about it. I'm actually not super crazy about the game, but what it's a hit with is younger kids because you get a monster in the middle and different people get to attack it. Daniel (15:30.483) Yeah. Kevin (15:51.65) You kind of get points by being in the middle of Tokyo. So you're like a rampaging Godzilla or something. But you're losing health when you stay in the center, but that's how you're getting victory points. So different people kind of hop, almost like a hot potato section, like we'll get in there and there's different cards and the art's really cute. And that's just a good one for you. Youngish kids, I mean, they'd probably need to be. Six five or six years old you could play with the younger child for you Maybe but they might need an adult to help them, but it's just really inviting and fun and it's a little goofy There's a little strategy but king of Tokyo I think is a real pleaser with a younger crowd especially young boys are gonna get a kick out of it potentially if not not the girls wouldn't but It is kind of a young boy game. I think So are you yeah, you're familiar with king of Tokyo? Daniel (16:39.731) Great choice, great choice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like you said, yeah, probably our biggest fan of King of Tokyo in our previous search group was a young boy. He just loved to get that game out and it's so great. Is there a certain character that you always play as? Okay. Yeah, yeah, that's okay. Kevin (16:51.509) Yes. Kevin (16:58.154) You know, I really haven't played it all that much I played it a few times but I've seen its effectiveness and they are funny like ones like a chicken with a Helmet on or something. There's some really goofy ones Cyber bunny. Yeah, so the adults will kind of find it amusing and the young kids will take it totally seriously Like when I used to watch the Batman TV show, you know Did not know it was comedy at all. It was very serious. Yeah Daniel (17:03.953) That's a great choice. Daniel (17:08.049) Yeah, yeah. It's like a cyber bunny or, yeah. Yeah. Daniel (17:18.333) Yeah. Daniel (17:22.301) That's a great choice. What? was comedy? I never... Kevin (17:28.658) Exactly. It all makes sense now. Daniel (17:31.373) It all makes sense now. That's a great choice. And I also like Kevin, that choice, because it's kind of a nod to people who are a little bit more into hobby board games, too, because there's a little tiny taste of hobby board game-ish mechanisms in it. Yeah, so I like that. I like that. Yeah. Kevin (17:45.805) Yeah, it is. Some of the cards and the points, yep. And you get the card draft. So there is a little bit, yeah, the adults will find that a little more interesting. Daniel (17:56.071) Yeah, I realize I like that. That's great. That's great. Perfect. All right. Well, mine. So number eight. My number eight is Quirkle. Quirkle. I have a couple here in the row that make me think of family members. My mom loved Quirkle. Quirkle is a game that has been around for quite a while. I think a few. Kevin (17:57.87) That's my number nine. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. Kevin (18:05.901) 8. Kevin (18:11.735) Clicky. Kevin (18:20.14) Hmm. Daniel (18:25.585) decades at least. It's just a very satisfying game to play. There's these big, wooden, chunky tiles that have different symbols on them. There are six different symbols that come in six different colors. And if you like candy crush on your phone or matching games, this is probably game that you'd like for our listeners. But basically, you're playing in a common area. Kevin (18:47.392) Mm-hmm. Daniel (18:54.479) Everyone on their turn tries to play tiles from their hand to the common area, and they have to match tiles around them either by color or by symbol without repeating color or symbol. And it's just great. And every now and then you'll be able to play all six of your tiles, and you get like a bonus, a Quirkl bonus, and that just feels so good. And it's just a fun game that I've found Kevin (19:15.023) Mm-hmm. It feels good. Daniel (19:22.919) This probably is one of the most popular games we've played in game groups among folks who are retired or maybe senior citizens who, even if they don't like games very much, they kind of find that for whatever reason, it just seems to be a game that, I mean, everyone likes, but it seems like it's especially resonated with folks in that group. Kevin (19:33.773) Mm-hmm. Daniel (19:50.319) in the church groups where we've where I've been at least for people who aren't into games otherwise. Quirkl is a great game. Yeah, so that's my number eight. Quirkl. Kevin (19:59.476) Mmm. That's cool. We have it and I've played it, but it's been a long time. I'm gonna break play this again. I need to get this out. So that's awesome. My number eight is similar. I don't have it with me, unfortunately, but it's actually how many does Quirkl play? How many people? Four? Daniel (20:07.803) It's a neat game. Daniel (20:16.403) that's a good. it says four, which is not great on player count. Kevin (20:18.635) Yeah, well mine is similar and mine is called Rummikube and similar to what you're saying with Quirkl that it's a popular game with senior citizens, which is great. They're part of the church community too, but it's also anyone can play with Rummikube. It's not that hard a rule set, but it's fun and it's sort of like Jen Rummy or Rummy type thing, but with dominoes and with numbers and you're trying to get Daniel (20:23.286) yes! Kevin (20:49.089) They are dominos, right? Daniel (20:50.419) or like custom tiles and they're about the size of dominoes. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (20:53.036) Custom tiles, but they're kind of domino-ish. Yes. And you're trying to get rid of either the same number in different colors or a run of numbers, five, six, seven. And if you can do that, then they go on a common board. And what's fun is you can divide up others once it's on the board on the table out of your little racks. You these little racks. You can break up other people's stuff because you're just trying to shed and it's not It's not yours once you've played them. It's in the common area. And so if someone has a five, six, seven, eight, you could throw a nine on the end of it and help you shed. And that gets really fun. So it's, it's a numbers thing and it's a bit of luck and a bit of pattern things, but lots of people get it or have played it and it's popular. And yeah, I've just seen a lot of groups. My mother loves it. It was a favorite of hers and her family used to play with her sisters-in-law. So lots of people are familiar with it. It's a good game, but it does only play four. But younger kids can get it because there's no reading. It's just if you know your numbers. So a patient five-year-old could play this, I would think, right? Yeah. Yeah. Daniel (22:03.939) That's a great choice. I love that that Rummikub and Quirkle are both our number eights because I you're right in my head I connect those two games there. There's almost kind of a kinship between Quirkle and Rummikube. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Great choice. Great choice. I love this Kevin (22:14.155) Yes, there's a kinship. Yep, it's a pattern thing and yeah, yeah, that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. And probably someone has a copy of Remy Cube in your community. It's kind of a standard. Daniel (22:27.933) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it really is. It's a great one. Good choice. Good choice, Kevin. My number seven is kind of kind of in my mind, at least kind of similar to what to your king of Tokyo choice. It's like it's a game that's accessible, I think, to all levels of interests in board games. And yet it kind of has like a hobby board game feel for people who like hobby board games. I, by the way, keep using that term. When we talk about hobby board games. Kevin (22:33.313) Yep. Number seven. Daniel (22:58.439) board gamers, what we just meet is people who kind of like, who have a hobby of collecting board games and really kind of get into the deeper board games and things like that. That's kind of what I mean. So. Kevin (23:09.037) Yeah, people interested in different mechanisms or variations. So yeah, they're people that have an appetite for variety and innovation in games. And some people don't, and that is totally fine. Some people, they love a game and they don't care about, yeah, they're missing whatever. I'm missing the sports gene. I think Daniel as well, we don't really not into sports, but you show me a pair of dice that have, you know, a weird symbol on it. I'm very curious. I want to know how that works. So yeah. Daniel (23:18.493) Yeah. Daniel (23:22.653) Absolutely. Daniel (23:29.105) I am. Yeah. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. So that preamble brings me to number seven, which is Seven Wonders Architects. Seven Wonders Architects. This is a simplified version, Seven Wonders Architects, of a very popular hobby board game called Seven Wonders, which has been out for a long time. Seven people can play it, so it's got a big player count. Kevin (23:46.474) Daniel (24:04.935) But the Seven Wonders Architects is a simplified rule set for kind of a larger audience. And children can play it, adults can play it, it plays really quickly. In Seven Wonders Architects, everyone has a unique set of cards, but they're very simple cards, and a unique set of tiles to build an ancient wonder. You're literally... Kevin (24:04.941) Daniel (24:34.807) building a two-dimensional ancient wonder in front of you. It's kind of a cartoony style. On your turn, it's really easy. You just draw a card from your left or your right. All of the decks of cards are in between each of the players. You use its effects to help you either build your wonder or gain victory points in some other way. At the end of the game, whoever has the most points wins. It's a really simple rule set. but it also kind of scratches that itch if you like kind of the hobby board game feel as well. But something that any age and interest level of persons can play. Seven Wonders Architect. Kevin (25:10.637) Mm-hmm. Kevin (25:16.469) I don't know that one either. I know Seven Wonders vaguely and Seven Wonders duel. I've played like a couple of time or two, but it's been a while. But yes, Seven Wonders Architects. I love the big player count in Simplify. That's awesome. What a great idea to do that. Yeah. And great. Good choice. Good choice. Number seven for me is a really fun game called Coup. Have you ever played this, Daniel? Daniel (25:23.347) Yes, yes, those are great games. Daniel (25:30.141) Thanks. Daniel (25:45.463) I am not sure that I've ever played it correctly. I think I played it wrong thing correctly. And that was on me. Yeah, it was my fault, not the game's fault. Yeah. Kevin (25:48.73) right. It's a little quirky. It's a little quirky and it is a game. Hmm. It's like you. So you will like it. Yes. No, no, the game is a little quirky, but it's basically a bluffing game. And so what works well, teenagers love it in my experience because they get to sort of go to the dark side and, and, also not only you might lie or bluff to try to win. Daniel (26:08.371) Yeah, yeah. Kevin (26:13.901) but you can call someone out and if you catch them, that's a lot of fun. And add the whole table. So it's a real good table experience of finding out later someone was lying or catching their bluff or whatever and watching. It can be a little mean though because you are eliminating people from the game. But it can play if you have the expansion reformation, which this is the expansion to Coup. You can play up to 10. That's probably too many people, but it'll play a large number. It doesn't have to take long. It's still interesting even if you get taken out of the game because you have two cards and when you lose both cards you're out. It'll go quickly and to watch what people do and you might even look at their cards, you know, quietly, it's still fun to be a part of the game. But Ku, Ku's a fun game. it's, so there's different roles and like the Duke contacts, but then there's an assassin and but the Contessa can block the assassin. So they're really cleverly chosen the roles. Daniel (27:11.441) It sounds kind of similar. Kevin (27:11.711) So Daniel could say he's the assassin. He's going to kill one of my people. He could be lying. And then I could say I'm the Contessa and I'm blocking him, but I could be lying. And it's up to us to decide whether to call each other on it. Daniel (27:26.067) It sounds, is it kind of similar? It sounds like it some similarities, like Love Letter. Have you ever played Love Letter? No. But that sounds like a great game. Maybe there aren't similarities, I don't know, because I haven't played Ku, really. I like that. That's a great choice. And I love how it appeals to teenagers in your experience. And they're just having two cards. mean, what a cool, simple setup and ruleset. That's awesome. Kevin (27:32.257) haven't played Love Letter, but I've always heard it's really good. Kevin (27:51.67) Right? And it's very, it's got a showdown like Wild Wild West almost of, I going to call your bluff or do I let you? Right? So yeah. So Koo Koo's a win after a few rounds, you're probably done with that group. Again, you kind of want to play with different people or play something else, but it's a good little light game to play. Yep. Cool. And people figure it out. Yeah. Daniel (27:57.905) That's awesome. Daniel (28:02.055) That's awesome, that's awesome. Daniel (28:13.383) Yeah, I love that. I love that. And just for our listeners, yeah, yeah. This is coo spelled C-O-U-P, not the other game, coo spelled C-O-O where you make sounds like pigeons, right? It's not that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Kevin (28:21.644) Right. Kevin (28:27.371) Right, which is a game in development by Daniel. Kevin (28:35.053) Do remember the Who had a really good song? It's called Coo Are You? Coo, coo, coo, coo, tell me coo are you? Coo are you? There's a pigeon. Daniel (28:39.091) Who are you? Yeah. That was their pigeon album, right? It was, yeah. Yeah. It was experimental. A lot of people were like, whoa, what's going on? But who knew what they were doing? You know, not too dissimilar from when Cold Plate went into the salad dressing business. They were trying to expand the brand. Yeah. I have thought that the pigeon market is untapped for a long time for, especially 1970s British rock. was, yeah. Yeah. Kevin (28:49.409) Right, right. Kevin (28:54.058) It's music. The music industry is so amazing. People. Yep. Kevin (29:05.985) Right. Yes, yes. Daniel (29:08.775) Good, So C-O-U-P, coo. Great choice, great choice. Thank you so much. Kevin (29:12.109) Coo! Coo is fun. Very cheap. Available. Daniel (29:17.39) My number six, this is one that I love and everyone that plays has played this with me loves this as well. It may be a little bit harder to find this. This is one of the harder to find ones. Probably have to order it somewhere and then she can maybe ask your friendly local game store to have it or to order it. And that is strike. Strike, strike the dice game. It is what it says it is. It's a dice game. Kevin (29:39.21) Right. Daniel (29:47.251) And you open up the box and you play the game in the box inside There's like this little kind of plastic Roman Coliseum sort of thing with a rubber foam mat in the bottom and you just roll your dice Sequentially In into the box around the table. It's a push your luck game If you get a match you get to add those dice to your hand if you don't get a match you lose your dice There are our strike dice that Automatically get eliminated if it comes out that side of the dice when you roll it when you roll them It's it's push your luck if you like that kind of game where you try to see how far you can go and the further you go the greater the chance of success but also the greater the chance of failure and It's just a lot of fun. It's one of those games where there's really no skill. It's it's almost all luck but Regularly on on the on the in the game, you'll see, you know, the whole table kind of jumping up and going, oh, what an amazing roller. You know, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's great. And then there are these really special moments that if all the dice match, which happens around the end debate, you get to remove you remove them all and the next person has to roll all of their dice and some really funky things can happen then. Anyway, strike is a great game, a little bit harder to find. Kevin (30:51.437) I love a unified table moment. That's the best. Kevin (31:08.685) Hmm. Daniel (31:15.409) But super quick, super easy setup. Strike, my number six. Kevin (31:20.993) Number six. Number six for me, this is probably my more challenging or involved game and that is a classic called Mysterium. And this will play up to seven people and it's gonna be about a 45 minute play. this is breaking, it's breaking the, you know. Daniel (31:29.843) yes. Kevin (31:43.446) Accessible time time accessibility unfortunately, but it's probably worth it just because it's so interesting one person's supposed to be a ghost and They are communicating to the table about their death so it you know You may have to know your group and whether you know don't think anything's upsetting but you never know but But you've died as a ghost and you want to like clue indicate who killed you with what weapon? but you can never speak and what you do is reveal these artsy type visions and people have to decide what you're trying to tell them based on it. And the artwork is cool and lots of people, young kids could get into it because it's a lot of guesswork. So it's similar to what you were saying with the words earlier with, was it anomia? Where you're suggesting something with different words. This is doing that with images. Daniel (32:33.817) yeah, yeah, yeah. Kevin (32:38.696) and trying to figure that out. And it's just a really fun experience. It's fun to be the ghost because you watch people make totally wrong guesses, but you can't help them. And you're like, no, I didn't mean about the color red. I meant about the scarves, right? But they get off track, and then you try to fix it. And yeah, it's just fun. It's So, Mysterium. Daniel (32:53.331) Right. Daniel (32:59.667) That's a great, I've heard so many good things about Mr. Room, I've never played it, but that sounds wonderful. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (33:04.109) you would really like it. You would like it. Yeah, it's a fun little game. Daniel (33:08.307) In fact, I have a copy that I need to have a try. Yeah, yeah. So that's great. What a great choice. What a great choice. It sounds like it kind of has that cool element that you were saying about that's not a hat kind of too, where you kind of bluff a little bit and you have the chance of calling someone else's bluff maybe or a little bit. No? OK. OK. Kevin (33:11.107) do you? Okay. Yeah, you'll enjoy it. You'll enjoy it. Yep. Yep. Kevin (33:28.575) No, you're not really. No, this one is, it's really just trying to, you're honestly trying to figure out what they're saying. It's just the artwork. never, the artwork's really cool, but it might show bunnies with balloons. And you're trying to use that to indicate the tailor killed you, you know? Because you get so many cards and you have to pick one and you're hoping there's something, you know, in that that they'll see. Daniel (33:37.979) I see, I see. Daniel (33:46.318) I see, see, okay. Okay. Kevin (33:55.99) You give them a couple and then you're hoping they'll see something similar between them, but they're real weird, the images, the dreams. Supposed to be dreams, like visions speak. Daniel (34:05.683) That's a great addition to the list because it gets into some thematic elements that a lot of the elements we've talked about aren't necessarily that thematic. So I love that. That's great. Good addition. Kevin (34:13.195) Right. Kevin (34:17.665) Yeah, yeah, but this would be for the group. This would probably be once you if you have a group that's developed and really want something more interesting than a cat. So this probably doesn't belong in a casual game list. But anyway, I did it. No, no, I'm terrible. I'm terrible. I'm a bad person, Daniel. I'm really bad person. Daniel (34:28.443) No, I think it's fine. My understanding is that it's rather casual. No, I celebrate that choice. I think you're an amazing human being. I love it. Kevin (34:42.477) Thanks, man. Daniel (34:42.803) All right. we're on our we're on our top half of our top 10. Here we go. Number five is a game. Honestly, I haven't played as much recently just because we've played so much of it when we first got it. But I've played it with so many people over the years, including staff at churches where I've worked. So I think it's a good thing for office retreats, too. And that is the good old much beloved code names. Codenames is my number five Codenames is is a team cooperative game So it is cooperative but you divide the group into two teams and so you are trying to beat the other team But everyone on the team is working together just two teams you have a a grid a matrix of 25 cards laid out on a common table that have various names on it of secret agents and they can be anything from like unicorn lollipop ice cream dragon. the two clue givers for each team, one for each team, shares a common map that shows them which secret agent belongs to which team, and which are neutral, and which is the assassin. And they're just trying to their team members to guess who their secret agents are by giving one word clues. And ideally, to really win the game, you try to give a clue, one word clue, that can apply to multiple agents who are out on the field. And though if you get the assassin, you instantly lose. It's just a great game. What I love about this game is so often when we've played it, almost immediately after it, someone hops on their phone and then orders a copy. And I love it when people have to like that. So. Kevin (36:12.396) Right. Kevin (36:16.909) you Kevin (36:27.595) Right? And you can get this, think, maybe even at Walmart. Target, everyone has it. Yeah, it's readily available. Daniel (36:32.051) Yeah, super mass market code names. Great game. Plays in. mean, it's not the quickest game, but plays and maybe. 1520 minutes or so. Codenames great game. My number five. Daniel (36:51.059) Is this your number five as well? Codenames. Yay. Our first carry crossover. Kevin (36:51.502) What? Codenames, codenames. First crossover. I need to play it more to be honest. I have not played it in church setting, but I've played it in a family setting and yeah, it's a lot of fun, especially because it's so easy to... This is like Mysterium where you're thinking a certain path and people see a connection you weren't thinking about at all and you're like, no, not that one, right? Because they end up with a dud and it cancels things out and stuff. So yeah, Codenames is a lot of fun. I agree. it's, Yep, it's cool. And there's a of variations. There's like an after dark. I've not played anything but the classic one. Daniel (37:21.895) Right. Daniel (37:32.827) Yay! Daniel (37:37.671) Right, right, like a Disney, a Marvel. Kevin (37:41.259) Yeah, but should just be the words are gonna be different. assume. Yeah called solid dressing Daniel (37:45.875) Coldplay, salad dressing. That's right. Yeah, that's great choice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, I love our first crossover. All right, ready for number four? Kevin (37:52.973) Yay. Cross over. Daniel (37:57.211) Well, if anyone has had any contact with me personally over the last couple months, this next one comes as no surprise because I've been playing it and talking about it a lot. And that is a little card game called Trio. Trio is my number four. I know you heard me talk about this, Kevin. I love this game. This game just came out in the last year or two. One of the newest additions to my... Kevin (38:16.397) you Mm-hmm. Daniel (38:26.205) to my collection and newest edition, one of the newest editions to our church game group. But by golly, is this a great game? The simple card game. And yeah, it really is. There's a deck of cards that are numbered one through 12 and there's three copies of each card. And on your turn, you just, you reveal a card. You reveal a card that's either in the middle of the table or by asking someone to show their lowest or highest card. Kevin (38:33.975) Yes. So simple. Daniel (38:55.043) and including yourself, you can show your lowest or highest card. If you do that twice, if those two cards match, you get a third attempt to reveal another card. If those three cards match, you claim all three as a trio. First person to win three trios wins. Or if you claim the seven trio, which is the hardest trio to claim, you win instantly. It's somewhat a memory game, but also a luck game. Kevin (39:09.665) Mm-hmm. Daniel (39:24.569) I just love this game. It's so much fun. Yeah. So you, yeah, you went, you bought a copy too, Kevin (39:26.635) It's great. It is so good. It's so good. You told me about it. I'd never heard of it. And I've had, yeah. And it's, it's, you know, 15 bucks of just pure joy and, and plays up to six people. there's, there's a bit of bluffing and you can be like, what do you, know, you can do some trash talk at the table. Like, what are you giving me this two for? That's not what I wanted type thing. So, I took it to our friendly board game store when they had a board game night and. Daniel (39:48.145) Right, right, right. Kevin (39:55.374) played with some strangers for about an hour and we had more fun. They were just howling kinda. So it is a great game. People always have a hard time with even your cards follow the rules. It's so unnatural. And it's a Japanese game, I believe. So I don't know if it's partly that versus Western games or what, but everyone thinks, well, I can of course do whatever I want with my cards, but you can't. Daniel (40:01.537) Yay. Great. Daniel (40:09.287) Yes, yes. It's from Japan, that's right, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Daniel (40:22.717) Like draw from the middle. Yes, yes, but you can't. Yeah. Kevin (40:24.171) Yeah, and everyone, and you try to tell them, but the noobs will always miss that because it's so unnatural to every other game you've played. But yeah, you can't do that. Daniel (40:33.778) I'm glad that you like that game. That's great. Kevin (40:36.108) Yeah, I Trio. love Trio. My number four is a game that we played a bit and then we stopped and then we've recently started replaying to lots of Howls of Joy. And that is Secret Hitler. Secret Hitler. This is a sort of trade. Well, I guess it's not hidden trader. It's it's a it's like the old mafia game we used to play where there's a Daniel (40:52.019) Secret Hitler. Daniel (41:03.891) Okay. Kevin (41:04.779) Bad team and a good team and the bad team knows who they are kind of but the good team doesn't know so the bad team wants to lie about being bad of course because they're and and It's not an endorsement of fascism. It's supposed to be set in the 30s when hitler got elected as chancellor But you've got the liberals and you've got the fascists. So the fascists are the bad guys But of course, they're saying they're liberals and what will happen is you will elect The president will get a chancellor elected and then they will try to pass a policy that could be liberal or fascist. Daniel (41:38.707) Okay. Kevin (41:41.302) And so where the hilarity ensues is first off, you have to get the chancellor elected. Everybody votes on that. But then the president will draw three policies and there's more fascists than liberal. So they could get unlucky and get three fascist policies. They discard one and give the other two to the president. So the trick is they could be a liberal, but they're forced to pass a fascist policy. They're basically forced to say they're bad. Daniel (41:56.755) interesting. Daniel (42:09.331) you Kevin (42:09.389) So the whole table thinks they're bad, but they're actually good. Or they could be lying. You could lie and you could say, well, I gave the president one of each and the president says, no, you gave me too fascist. So it creates just these real shouting moments. And we have had so much fun and trying to be Hitler and get elected as chancellor. it's just great. It plays up to 10 people and it's just, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. 10 people and lying about who you are, not sure. Daniel (42:12.051) Wow, that's so interesting. Daniel (42:33.585) to ten people. Wow. That's Kevin (42:38.424) Why is that person so quiet? yeah, and with 10 people, Hitler doesn't know who the fascists are. But the fascists know who Hitler is. And you do it by closing your eyes and putting your hands out. if you're, yes, and so you don't need anyone to run the game, but that's how, know, so the fascists open their eyes, Hitler puts their thumb up. So yeah, it is like One Night Werewolf. Daniel (42:46.556) Okay. Okay, interesting. Daniel (42:55.008) like a werewolf kind of thing. Okay, okay. Okay, okay. Kevin (43:04.621) or something like that, which is the mafia game. Anyway, lots of fun, lots of, know, the minute this game ends, everybody's like, who was the, you know, like everyone is sort of energized to figure out what everyone was doing. I know my wife Jenny one time was like, I cannot believe you lied to me the whole game. And of course I was in heaven because I'm like, fooled you. It was great. So yeah, secret Hitler. Yeah. Daniel (43:13.223) Right, right, right. Daniel (43:17.157) I've never tried that game. Hahaha Daniel (43:30.555) I've never tried that. sounds, that's, but I've heard some people say they just really love that. It sounds, sounds really fun. Kevin (43:36.256) It's fun, it's fun. Don't let the theme, I mean, I'm not sure why they picked this theme. It's, it's, but it's not supposed to be anything. Yeah, it could be other stuff. It's not. Yeah. I guess it is trying to create a historical moment because Hitler was elected chancellor. So it is partly, but yeah. And they're clearly the bad guys. Yeah, it's clearly the bad guys. So we're against Hitler. Okay. How was number four? Daniel (43:40.883) Sure, it could be anything. Yeah. Daniel (43:49.927) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of learned a little history too. Cool, cool. Right, right. Daniel (43:59.195) Number four, Secret Hitler. Cool. Good, good. I like that. Thank you so much. Well, number three is... My number four was also a small box Japanese game. This is an even smaller box Japanese game. I bet you can probably guess this one. This is Scout. Scout. No, that's fine. Kevin (44:04.983) Yeah, thank you. Kevin (44:22.379) It's cool, isn't it? It's mean, Scout, I don't know why it's because that is C.O.U. in it. I to edit that. I meant Scout. I said cool. Daniel (44:29.137) That's right, yeah, does. There is a cool, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a super small box game about the size of a matchbox. Scout, by golly, also just a fantastic little card game. We've had so much fun with this game. It plays up to, I think, five, which isn't a lot. But if you get two to five, it's just great. Two's a little funky. Kevin (44:35.725) Look at those colors. Daniel (44:58.991) On your turn, either scout or show, which basically means you kind of hire away another card from somebody else's circus. That's the theme. Or you put on a new circus show, which is basically just putting out a new set on the table. There can only be one set on the table at a time. If you put out a new set, it has to beat the other person's which means, and a set is either a run of cards or a group of identical cards. Kevin (45:13.258) Mm-hmm. Daniel (45:27.539) You know, we had so much fun with this game, it was fun. But then what took it to a new level was a friend, a few months ago, we were playing this, and he decided to really incorporate the circus theme, because every card has the name of a performer and the name of a circus act on it. And our first couple months of playing it, we just totally ignored that, because it's a numbers game. You could ignore the theme completely and just go with the numbers on the cards. but he decided to really incorporate the circus theme. And so he'd say, well, you might be bringing in the bucks with Nancy and Mary's trampoline act, but you haven't seen anything until you've seen Xavier, Mark and Donald's human cannon act. And then he brings it out and then, oh no. then, so we found trying to incorporate the thematic circus elements really brings in a lot of fun. So scout is a great game as well. Kevin (46:05.473) You Kevin (46:17.951) That's hilarious. Kevin (46:22.817) Almost yeah, I did not go with scout. I probably should have I didn't put on my list It would be on my honorable mention list scout is great I'm so bad at it though Daniel in so quickly or it can end very abruptly so I can't tell you how many times I've played it and I was about to have a great move and it ended because yeah, it's and maybe I just need to play it more, but I think these some games and you just They click more for others, but I love it. It is fun. It is really fun. Yeah Daniel (46:33.253) It does. Daniel (46:49.309) Sure, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kevin (46:52.706) But yeah, I'm just, I can't ever seem to get in sync with doing well with Scout. But it is fun, it is fun, yeah. So. All right. Daniel (46:57.021) you Daniel (47:00.339) I Cool. So that's my number three, Scout. Kevin (47:06.935) that is your number three. My number three is kind of a classic just because it's easy and small and that's bananagrams. Daniel (47:19.079) Nanogram. Kevin (47:20.629) and it's going to fit, I don't know how many you can play, I don't know if there's a limit, but it's very satisfying to bring around, it's going to fit in a bag, and you're basically kind of very quickly playing Scrabble with trying to get letters. Do you know this game? And create words and building off of it, yeah, and if you can... So that's the one thing, if you're not good with words and letters or you're not a fast thinker, as we were saying earlier, it can be a little frustrating, like this will separate... Daniel (47:36.113) Yeah, it's like Scrabble without the board, right? Yeah, yeah. Kevin (47:50.414) like smart people that have a strong vocabulary or that played a lot of Scrabble are gonna do really well. So this can kinda get old for some folks I've seen. Like they don't wanna play it or, know, or so you need to mix it up or just play it a little bit or make sure there's different people playing, cause some people are gonna be devious at this. Like my wife has played a lot of Scrabble as a kid and she can really tear this up. Daniel (48:12.339) okay. Kevin (48:15.713) So I don't really like to play with her. But it is fun and it's simple and it's easy and you reset, you just dump everything in the bag. So Bananagrams, my previous church had a board game group and this was always being played. Which by the way, a lot of these little boxes, if you can get a group in a game, someone going, you can have multiple games going. So you can have Bananagrams and Trio, especially if you have 10 or 15 people, have three games going and let people cycle through it, circle through it. Daniel (48:17.779) You Daniel (48:27.923) Nice, nice. Daniel (48:34.835) Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Good point, yeah. Kevin (48:44.554) One problem with churches, you're a house of worship, temple or synagogue or mosque or something, if you have tables and they're round, those are frustrating. And you and I have talked about this. Lots of churches have gone to round tables because they're easier to store, they're light, they're inviting for people to be able to see each other, but they're not good for games because you're going to be far away. You really want a square rectangle table, but... Daniel (48:55.933) Yeah, that's true. Right. Yeah, yeah. Daniel (49:10.941) Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's counterintuitive. think people going into game group think that, a round table is going to be great, but they're not. Yeah, you want kind of those long rectangular tables. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (49:13.109) Yeah, banana grams. Kevin (49:18.709) No. No, you're reaching over. Yeah, it's designed for food and plates, not for, yeah, everything. Yeah, it doesn't work. But it's okay. I mean, it does work. It does work. It's just, yeah, you'll pine for the heavy old wood tables we used to have. That's my pick. Daniel (49:35.431) but it's pine for the pine tables. I love that. That's great. That's a great one, too. All these great games. I haven't thought about Bananagrams in a long time. Thank you. Good. All right. Well, my number two. Kevin, we've done various lists over the years. It's not fair to make you guess, but there's like one game that always shows up on all my lists, always forever. it is Telstra. Kevin (50:01.357) commit telestrations. Daniel (50:04.893) So my number two is TELESTRATIONS. We have the big party pack that can play up to 12 people! There are rules for TELESTRATIONS, but we never follow the rules. Ways to score. Basically, it's like the telephone game, but with drawing. You have a secret word, you have to draw a picture of it, then you pass it to your neighbor. Then they have to turn to the next page and write down what they think the secret word is based on your picture. Then they pass it to the next person and they have to draw a picture based on the secret word that the person right in front of them tried to guess at and you go around the table. And at the end, we don't care about scoring. We just, at least in the games that we play, in the groups we play, you just show, then you just, just show your notebook to the whole table and kind of the progression of the original secret word to how it evolved over the round the table. And if I've said it before, if you heard me talk about before, I apologize for repeating, but just Kevin (50:50.357) Mm-hmm. Daniel (51:01.927) I've never played any game that has generated more deep soul laughter than this game. just a game that has brought people to tears because they're laughing so hard. And it's just a great game. So, TELUESTRATION is my number two. Kevin (51:10.935) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kevin (51:18.433) Yes, yes. I agree with that. It's probably caused the most laughter of any game. Yeah. I'm surprised it's not your number one. Now I'm really curious what your number one is. Daniel (51:30.959) Yeah, personally, this I prefer my number two to my number one, but I felt like I had to give my number one to another slot for reasons I'll get into. But yes, yeah, yeah. Kevin (51:42.286) Interesting, okay. Wow. I almost feel like we should make this a, like a season finale and make people wait three months to find out Daniel's number one. So anyway, my number two is a game that means three. Do you know what game it is? Daniel (51:51.334) you Daniel (52:05.023) toi. TRIO? NOOOO! Really? Another crossover! I didn't think it was going to be on your list! That's so great! Yay. Kevin (52:11.681) Yeah, no I've That's like I said earlier. Yeah, this is a great game it people pick it up very quickly It can make people feel dumb at times because of the memory aspect of remembering who has what cards some people are gonna get to that really quickly and All the people like me that are forgetful are gonna hate them, but it's still fun and it's funny to know Daniel (52:23.165) Yay. Kevin (52:38.155) what something is and you can tell someone's forgotten and they're like, I've wanted the four and they, know, or there's a bit of bluffing as well. Like you're, you're getting Intel and hoping they don't figure out what you're fishing for. So it's this go fish memory game. It's, it's just fun. And there's a luck component too. Like I've seen people just get a trio immediately, just out of luck. You know, you have a one and I asked Daniel to show, and I turn a card over and everyone's like, wow, you get a one, you get a trio of ones immediately. Daniel (53:07.475) Yeah, yeah, yeah. The colors are great. No, I haven't. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (53:07.661) trio is great. I love the colors. Have you ever tried the spicy? I need to try the spicy setting. It's supposed to be even harder. Like you can't get any sets of three, any trios. Just any of them. You have to get certain ones. Daniel (53:22.321) Right, right. And the spicy variant is included in the box. So you don't have to go get a separate box. It's like, like, yeah. I'm so glad you like that. Kevin (53:27.021) Yeah, 15 bucks of utter joy. Yeah, I was thinking I was thinking this about secret Hitler. I think I spent $40 on this Five years ago and I you know, and just the other night we played with some old family friends there were 10 of us and we had you know, if each person had $15 of fun that um, that's $75 of joy right there and you know, this is this hobby Daniel (53:34.288) Yeah. Daniel (53:45.969) That's so great. Daniel (53:49.981) Yeah, yeah. Kevin (53:56.334) Is kind of cheap in a way if you're careful like you can I mean because I can keep playing this game Like it's it's so much bang for your buck. I would say so Yeah Daniel (53:58.427) Yeah, yeah. Daniel (54:05.169) I thought that's a great observation. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, you're right that board games can get expensive, you know, you spend some money. But if you play it again and again and again and again again again with dozens of different people over the years, it really pays off. Kevin (54:11.882) Absolutely. Kevin (54:21.569) Yeah, especially a game and you could have shelved it for a while, haha, and then you bring it out again and you're just like, I forgot how good this game is, which is so much fun. Like with Secret Hitler, exactly. I'm like, I forgot how fun this is. We will play it. We're with Daniel and I are going to be at the Geekway, which is a board game convention and I'll make sure to play it with you. Yeah, you'll love it. You'll love it. We'll see Dark Daniel emerge. Daniel (54:28.623) Like you did with Secret Hitler. Yeah, yeah, yeah, with your friends. That's so cool. I need to try that. I haven't tried that game. I need to try it. geek way. Yay, I look forward to it. That's cool. That's cool. All right, so we have two crossovers. I love it. All right, all right. you ready for number one? My number one. Again, this would not be my personal number one, but I think I've seen more people in more church groups respond to this game positively than any other game. And I also love it. Kevin (54:55.469) one. Kevin (55:07.021) I'm so curious. Daniel (55:12.135) Honestly, I used to love it more, you know, I've just played it so much. think I kind of got tired of it, it's but it but just complete. But that is but it's a great game. And that is just one, just one, which actually we played online with the group that Kevin was talking about the other night. Good. Yeah. Good. Yeah, it's it actually won the field, S.E.R.S., which is the Game of the Year award. Kevin (55:28.781) That's an honorable mention for me today. Yeah. I'd never played it. That was a good one. Kevin (55:39.051) Me neither, you're right. Daniel (55:40.133) Actually, codenames one should be able to see ours. think Scout one's field is yours. I didn't name all these, but. Kevin (55:44.769) And that's a big annual major prize for board games. Daniel (55:47.697) Yeah, yeah, for boring. But just one, it's a cooperative game, very easy rule set. There's one person who's trying to guess a word, and everyone else knows what that word is. And they have to give the guesser a one-word clue. But the catch is, if any of the clues are duplicated, are repeated, you have to remove all instances of that clue. before or for the game. Yeah, yeah. So there's this tension between trying to give a clue that is a really good clue that gets the person to guess the word, but not so good or so obvious that you think someone else is going to give that clue as well. A very simple rule set, but every... it probably more than any other board game I've played with church groups that this has resonated with the most number of people. People just adore this game. Kevin (56:18.295) Such a great mechanic. Kevin (56:44.791) Need to get a copy. Does it come with dry erase or you just use whatever paper? Okay, I was wondering. Because we played over Zoom and that worked really well. Zoom of 30 people and as long as you had an index card or something, just hold it up and it went better than I thought, yeah. Daniel (56:47.795) It comes with dry erase. Yeah, little everything you need is in the board in the box. Little dry erase placard. Good, good, good, good. Daniel (56:58.995) Yeah, yeah, you can play by... Awesome, oh my god. There's one house rule that I've done with it that I've kind of started to feel better about is in the original rules, there's only one guesser. But I've kind of house ruled it over recent plays of it where there are two guessers who work together. And the reason I do that is because every now and then, if it's just one person who's guessing and they don't get it right, Kevin (57:12.759) Okay. Kevin (57:21.157) huh. Daniel (57:29.007) sometimes that person can feel, make the person feel really down on themselves. you know, everyone is like, you know, I'm, I'm not a good guesser. I'm Kevin (57:37.399) So this, so you've created a pass the buck rule, you can blame the other person. Daniel (57:40.593) That's right, that's right. Or you can help each other. And so if you have two guessers, I feel like it makes it even more, that's right. You don't feel like it's on you for losing it or whatever. Kevin (57:47.82) Right. That's, you know, that felt so natural. I think that's great as well as it creates a little teamwork because they get to say, well, what do you think? You know, and so it creates a little bit of a table talk. genius, Daniel. Daniel (58:01.339) Well, thanks. Well, you're kind. kind. Thank you. So that's just one, my number one, a great cooperative. Yeah. Kevin (58:04.577) good that's honorable mention for me yeah I need to get a copy I had heard of it never played it till the other day and that was awesome my number one is a crossover what is it Daniel Daniel (58:18.323) Kevin (58:18.463) It begins and ends with consonants. Kevin (58:24.109) four syllables. Daniel (58:29.107) I don't... Tele-strations? Yay! Great, great. I'm so glad. Kevin (58:32.705) Telestrations, number one, telestrations. Yay, you got it. Yeah. Yeah, that game. It's great. It's great. it's sort of, it rewards you for playing it badly in some ways because it's funny, which is a bit how that's not a hat works. Like if everyone drew really well, there would be no game. Just like in that's not a hat. If you could remember, there'd be no game. Daniel (58:47.763) It does. Daniel (58:52.573) Right. Kevin (58:57.709) So the game is premised in a funny way on being a terrible artist and seeing how it evolves is great. It doesn't, they kind of have a win condition in there. It doesn't really work. So that's the one thing I think after you play it a few times for me, it's not quite a game. It's more of an experience, right? And so it can become a one trick pony of unless you play with different people or change it up somehow, you know, after a few playthroughs, I think I'm done for that session. Daniel (58:57.831) Right, true. Daniel (59:14.963) Yeah. Kevin (59:25.005) But for what it does, yeah. also sometimes you realize someone's a really good artist. You have no idea. So if you play with the church group, all of a sudden, know, dear old 78 year old Roland over there, what do you know? He's really good with the pen. And that's an awesome moment. And kids love it. Kids think it's hilarious. I have three teenage boys. they throw, the problem now is they're going to draw something inappropriate. So you have to like, you know, there's that danger if you've got teenagers in it that want to. Daniel (59:37.767) Yeah, yeah. Daniel (59:42.855) Yeah, yeah, I love that's your number one. Kevin (59:55.214) sort of throw a monkey wrench and things but yeah, Telestration is just a great game and to be honest you don't have to really, I didn't say this but you don't have to buy it. You could create your own version with paper and just picking a word. But it's worth it, it's not expensive. Daniel (01:00:06.867) You know, you're right. You're right. It's absolutely right. Yeah. That is awesome. I didn't mention, you know, a house rule we do in our family is after a while we don't even use the cards anymore. just like, just say, okay, everyone make up their own category. Like our son and daughter, adult son and daughter, they just love to like come up with the most random things. Like, okay, that's right. Like, like, like. Kevin (01:00:24.363) I played that with you, that was very surreal. Kevin (01:00:35.115) Yeah, I think someone had ennui or something. Daniel (01:00:39.571) That's right. Like abstract, abstract emotions. Yeah, that's just such a great game. That's right. That's right. Kevin (01:00:41.805) abstract concepts. And the picture I drew was Daniel at a football game on Wii. She was like, what's happening? Daniel (01:00:54.759) Confusion. I love that. Yay, they got the game. They got the ball furthest away from their goal. That's right. It's a good thing, right? That's awesome. Wow, that's great. So we had three crossover, which is what? That was your guess. That was your guess. You win the game. That's awesome. So then. Kevin (01:00:56.106) Utter confusion. I'm pulling for the blue team or the red team? Go blue! Yeah, I think that's the idea, right? Kevin (01:01:14.199) We did, which I think I win, because that was my guess. Daniel (01:01:22.599) Did you have any other honorable mentions you wanted to share? Kevin (01:01:25.771) Maybe I did. I will share Ticket to Ride is always fun. And I think it will only play four, but it feels a lot kind of like Monopoly, but much better. So if you want an interesting game, and I'm not, I'm not the biggest fan. I'm very unusual in that regard. It's fine. Maybe I've just not had the right experience, but people love it and I'll play it. I would definitely play it. It's just, it's a little Monopoly-ish, but in a really Daniel (01:01:30.707) yes, such a good choice. Daniel (01:01:45.073) Yeah, yeah, I'm kind of with you. No, I'm with you. Yeah. Kevin (01:01:54.008) good way. Like it's got ideas from Monopoly that are, yeah. So you agree it's kind of a... Daniel (01:01:58.247) Right, Yeah, but unlike Monopoly, you're right, it won't drag on forever. like no one, it's not, there's no player elimination. Like you're not going to feel like the game has destroyed you. Yeah, yeah. Kevin (01:02:06.295) Mm-mm. Correct. just mean, yeah, it's going to feel familiar to people, which is you're trying to build out something and it can get interesting. You're building trains, obviously, and you can block each other and you're trying to get segments. So Ticket to Ride is a good one. And then another that's a little more challenging potentially is Architects of the West Kingdom. But this is a great game, but it's very, the art's great and it's very approachable and it's going to be more of a... Daniel (01:02:28.366) yeah. Kevin (01:02:37.165) It's going to be more of a 45 minute to an hour game. But if you want something little chunkier, fairly simple though, you're putting meeples, little wooden pieces out to do selection of what you want to do. What's interesting with it is the more you get to a location, the more powerful you are. And then someone can try to stop you. So people pick it up pretty quickly and it's fun. Yeah, it's fun. Architects of the West Kingdom. Yeah. Daniel (01:02:57.799) That's a great, those are great. Yeah. Good, good, honorable mentions. Thank you, thank you. Kevin (01:03:02.381) Do you have any honorables? Yeah, thank you. and also we'll say harmonies. Harmonies is great, but only for people, but love harmonies. Harmonies. Harmonies is really good. Yeah, harmonies is fun. Daniel (01:03:07.827) Oh, yeah, a new game. A new game. Yes, yes, that is a great game. We had that at our church group and people really liked it, too. Yeah, that's great. My honorable mentions, just a couple. Scram is a little card game I love. I didn't put it out just because it requires a specific player count. You have to have four or six. But if you have four or six, it's a great game. And then Downforce. Kevin (01:03:22.349) Yeah, you taught me that. Kevin (01:03:28.183) Mm-hmm. Daniel (01:03:34.669) is a game that scratches that hobby board game itch, but I think it's accessible as well. It's a card game where you're racing cars around a track, and you do it by playing cards. I've had a lot of people love that in our game groups too, so downforce. Kevin (01:03:42.957) Hmm. Kevin (01:03:48.907) I've never played that one. Daniel (01:03:52.487) Kevin, this was great. So there you go. Around 20 games to start a casual game group. Kevin (01:03:57.452) around 20 games. from $11 to $50 and many available on Amazon or your friendly local game store or Target Barnes and Noble is going to have some of these as well. Daniel (01:04:04.434) Yeah. Daniel (01:04:14.365) Yeah, yeah. I loved your choices, Kevin. This was great. I love, getting to talk through these with you. Thank you so much. And listeners, thank you so much for, hanging in with us through this hour. This has been a lot of fun for us. I hope it's been fun for you. Kevin (01:04:29.335) Mm-hmm. That's right, that's right. A happy 2025 to you all. May it be prosperous and healthy and happy for you and those you love. And hope you will find lots of opportunities to engage in a playful life. Daniel (01:04:48.893) Sounds great. All right. Thank you so much, everybody. Bye-bye. Kevin (01:04:50.359) Check us out. Yep. Bye bye.