Drive Thru Review - Top 50 Games of All Time #1-10

You seem a bit harsh on Billy. He seems like such a cool guy & one of your patrons too! Thanks for your top 50. Always find you interesting to listen to.

Your breakdown of each game is the reason I love your videos...If it's I game I have, i understand better why I may enjoy it listening to you articulate it's boons, if I don't have the game, I gain a good understanding of how it would play out just by listening to you and I feel better informed. Thanks for indulging me in a surprising and fun list O' games.

Loved the list Joel, thanks a lot for your work. I don't know if is related to how much one has been in the hobby (in my case since 2012), but lately I have been really eager to try something related to warhammer, right now I'm between kill team and Blackstone. Also it doesn't help that a friend keeps hammering me with 40K lore. Anyway thanks again!

When you talk about making this list and the whys and wherefores of ranking or listing games, I feel like this list is Less about 'what is a good game with solid mechanisms etc.' for the masses... and More ' what game gives me the most enjoyment or fun'...which is personal. When you talk about games you actually have the most fun with, your enthusiasm shines and then I just want to get to the table and play!

Great after thoughts! Your top 40 had the effect you mentioned when you watched Tom's top 100. You made me check out gaslands and combat commander and I'll probably give them a try if I can. Thanks! There is also a board game ranking engine page where you can do what you said with the cards and if you like this game better than that. Cheers from Greece!

Great list. My "want" list has grown. By the way, the 4K cam is fantastic!

Agree with you about Top XX lists when you're first getting into the hobby.

I would regularly pause them to go and check if they met my criteria (soloable) on BGG and found some of my favourite, most cherished games that way.

Now that I'm a few years in I've played and/or researched hundreds of games so I enjoy them more for the thoughts of someone else about a game I already know about.

Also, thank you for this series. These videos and comments sections provide me the conversations I can't get in real life due to area I live in and lack of interest locally as well as my job hours (shift worker). 😊

Frostgrave is in my top 3!!! Funny how Rangers of Shadows Deep edged it out for you. 
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar is my favorite game too!!! It's actually the game that got me into boardgames.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this list. It's broader than many other lists out there, which is where it gets its charm. Thanks.

Those Top 50 videos are awesome!

Best reviewer! 😀

Totally refreshing take on the Top X Games list - as per usual Joel. So glad you offered to do this as a KS goal.

Wow. Brutal except for Caylus.

I was surprised by your top pick. While I have not played the game I do love watching videos of it and I really love the lore behind it. I have also read a ton of the novels as well. Great Top 10!

The way you describe Caylus brings it right off the board. You almost mock the dryness by your description of the characters that you’ve embellished to give the game life. Just brilliant.

Now I want to read AoS novels but who knows where to start haha

Wow, you are the ULTIMATE gamer! I'm just a light to medium euro gamer, but did I ever enjoy your list! VERY well presented, GREAT job!.. ♥

Of course they are teaming up on Joel in Clash of Cultures. I hear he is a terrible dictator! ;-)

Enthusiasm. Optimism. Thoughtfulness. Variety. Perspective. These are why I love your channel. Wow, Joel. Stellar job.

Thanks for your top 50 list, Joel. I've been a subscriber of yours since I first got into modern board games in 2014, and you have consistently been one of my favorite content creators to watch and listen to. I always appreciate your thoughts and opinions, even if they differ from my own on some games. Thanks for being true to yourself and focusing on what makes you happy. That is an important life lesson for all of us.

I haven’t played 6 of your top ten games...we need to work on that: Blackstone Fortress, Forbidden Stars, Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadowdeep, Age of Sigmar, Cuba Libre. Caylus and Brimstone need to see more play time as well.

Rangers of Shadow Deep...great pick. Lots of these fantastic games get missed by the BGG crowd...Four Against Darkness anyone? Or D100 Dungeon?

I love your philosophical insights. Great list!

Wow, this is a much different list than last time! (Nothing wrong with that.) You definitely embraced that miniatures life.

Most of these games I probably will never play the Minatures games due to have young children and other personal things I dont have time to put together and god I cant paint to save myself lol. The games with multiple players I have one friend I play games with montly and my wife will play one or two games but thats it. Im a solo gamer but... first thing to point out is exactly as you said we all have different things in life that influence the things we do in this case games we play. So refreshing for someone to not only clearly understand this but embrace it. Thank you. Secondly I still find this List of 50 games you are clearly pasionate about and Love to be not only informative but incredibly detailed. Some games I will certainly take a look at or even just watch videos of other people playing I.e Gaslands and Frostgrave battle reports 2 games I didnt know existed, seem really fun. So thank you for your list and thoughts and putting into perspective how different opinions matter. Great series of videos and first of yours I have seen will check out more new sub again thank you for your time and efforts.

You should just do a favorite 50 unranked going forward. Categorize them how you feel to “group” them for presentation. Keep it unranked. That’s what I plan to do eventually.

Fun list, as always, Joel. :-)

No boxes to put Joel in! Love you love all the games and always so well put in the why (or why not). Thanks, sir!

Great video. Thank you for taking the time to add pictures of the board, cards and miniatures. The editing time was probably brutal, but all worth it! 👍

Thank you Joel. I couldn’t do a Top X games list either as I have various games I enjoy with various groups. I could do a ”50 games I would never get rid off list” but even that is not meaningful as games I previously adored can become obsolete. Appreciate your aftertoughts, especially as you seem much relieved after all this effort 😊 Take good care.

thank you very much for the list, and for your rant at the end, a lot of us share your sentiments \m/










Btw, COIN games and Forbidden Stars are the games with the most epic moments I ever had :D :D :D

There were many situations when once civ could produce something but not others case in point china.

Meh. Way too heavy on the GW products. Can tell someone is a fan and has bought into the brand. Glad you're having fun but definitely do not share tastes.

Great review … loved watching this and then pausing after you introduced each game while I ran over to BGG and watched a video review of that game then came back to your list …
thanks for spending the time to do it !!!

Erased instead of edited my comment, so here it is again -_-': When you were talking about Frostgrave I kept thinking about my #1 game of all time, and then you gave it a shout out!! MAGE WARS has been in my collection from my early games of board games, one of my first 'lcgs' along with Summoner Wars. A very large number of mage VS mage card games have come and gone due to various reasons, but Mage Wars just has that spark that never died, it will always have a place in my shelves. I absolutely love building my spell book, my mage identity. It is not just a deck of cards, it represents my training and preparation as a mage. My trickery and planning, my economy and scope. Then when playing out MY magic, I feel like a Mage executing from my personal toolbag, playing to my magical school strengths but also reacting to my opponent's bag of tricks and the situation in the arena. I just love it to bits. So good.

Not a fan of any of these. Enjoyed the video though

Question: have you tried the new Age of Sigmar Rise and Fall of Anvalor from Wizkids? Curious about your opinion because you are a fellow warhammer fan!

I know this is random but those any one know whats the name of the book cases behind him the black ones.

Hey Joel, Great afterthoughts! It really seems like I am getting to know you :) I had just happened to wonder what kind of games you like, so I decided to watch your Top 50 games.
I completely agree with you. These are your top 50 games AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME, but players tastes can change over time. Otherwise, what would be the point, for example, of Tom Vasel coming up with a new Top 100 list of games every year (Well, besides the fact that new games are always being released and also played - which will inherently mean that one of a player’s old favorites WILL get replaced by a newer game, for various reasons - during this Top 50 list you had mentioned some examples of games which you will never play again because you discovered a newer game that replaces it for you).

Also, I respect the fact that you are a professional. My best friend is a computer engineer, btw. I am an accountant. I was just wondering how you are able to balance: a) your work; b) playing games - without which you would not have as good a sense of games in order to do your Drive-Thru Reviews show; and c) content for Drive-Thru Reviews? I would try leaving work early to make a Game Night at the gaming store which I play at, but sometimes, particularly during the tax season, I would not have that luxury since I would need to stay late in the office that time of year. Therefore, I would go during other times of the year. Perhaps your industry is quite different from mine.

Well, just to let you know, I will be leaving another comment about a game in this video (your Top 10). You should be seeing it soon! :)

Very informative. Great work!

I love the thoughts at the end of the video. It is kind of unintentionally funny and does more to get your personality across than anything. It reminds me of why I have always enjoyed your videos. To summarize, "There is the list...it doesn't mean anything. You should do one. It doesn't mean anything but it might tell you something." Excellent!

Because its fun! Nuff said Joel :)

I'm new to tabletop gaming & I've collected some D&D board games & Escape the Dark Castle. I'm also wrestling with learning solo table top RPG. I like the idea of having pencil, paper, some dice & maybe some pictures & playing with minimal stuff & big imagination. The 3D terrain & minis makes me nervous. I don't want to start down that rabbit hole. I don't want figures all over the place & I don't want to paint & dedicate all the time & energy into that. I get the appeal but it's a hobby on top of a gaming hobby that takes up a lot of time as is. Shadows of Brimstone looks like a lot of fun but I don't even want to assemble the minis as it seems like a first step into that mini assembly & painting hobby.

I’m glad you ended up making this top 50 list; I know you were a bit reluctant. It’s just fun for me to see what interests other gamers and why. Glad to see there are still some heavy euros in your top 20, as those are mostly my thing (I include area control with euro mechanics inn that).

I have mixed feelings about Forbidden Stars. I really like the stacking of the order tiles. I like the upgrading of the combat cards, though it really steepens the learning curve. The downtime for the players not involved in a battle can be a real problem, however, with my group, so it rarely gets to the table.

Keep up the good work!

Hi Joel,
If I have Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game and it's 2 expansions, do you - in your opinion - think it is worth it for me to invest in The Monumental Edition of A Clash of Cultures (which comes with the expansion) - since the 2 games seems too similar? Is there a place for both games?

Thanks.

Joel, you are like the cool older brother of board game reviewers. I’ve watched this top 50 but just rewatched it today and man the way you talk about games is top notch stuff. Much respect sir.

I've heard so many complain about the double turn "problem" in AoS. But hearing you praise it and point out how it forces you to THINK makes me want to try AoS. 3rd Edition is here so maybe now's the perfect time!

Great series!! Thanks. Do you have a favourite AoS novel or series?

If you had to do this list now would AoS, still be number 1?