It can be argued that abstract strategy is the world's oldest board game genre. Despite that, we continue to see amazing games in the genre be released. In fact, I will go so far as to declare, despite the presence of the notable heavy dungeon crawlers Gloomhaven and 7th Continent, that 2017 was really The Year of the Abstract. Santorini, Tak, Onitama, Azul...what an unparalleled year for the genre!
@mozu305
Жыл бұрын
For me, my favorite is Shogi: Japanese chess. The mechanic that I love is that the pieces you capture from your opponent can be placed back on the board for your own use. The pieces are all the same color, but they are wedged shaped, meaning that the direction the wedge points indicates which player owns them. Huge depth to the game and since all the pieces are in play, the end game I feel is more interesting and variable than in chess.
@GoldGeneral_0
Ай бұрын
Shogi is also one of my personal favorite abstracts. With the fact that pieces never permanently die, and the fact that most pieces promote (not just pawns), the game can be an explosive tactical experience. Also some of the piece names are just cool. Some of my favorite pieces are the "Dragon King" and "Gold General", and it really makes the game unique from that alone. I don't know any other traditional game in the Chess family that has a literal dragon as a chess piece XD
@pedro_navarro
6 жыл бұрын
1) Hive 2) The Duke 3) Onitama 4) Pueblo 5) Fearsome Floors
@thepardoner2059
3 жыл бұрын
Excellent list.
@Ad3tr
6 жыл бұрын
I think there's an issue with the color correction on your camera...
@KabukiKid
6 жыл бұрын
;-)
@asaskald
5 жыл бұрын
Oh! I get it!
@Hawkskull
6 жыл бұрын
For the record, Santorini is an island, not a city (or town) it has two notable towns, Thira and Oia. Thira is popular with cruise ships so if you did organise an European dice tower cruise, you could have people playing Santorini IN Santorini.
@TorIverWilhelmsen
6 жыл бұрын
I think you mean ON Santorini - if you are serious about the island thing. :)
@aubreygaraghan7479
4 жыл бұрын
been playin games wit my lady friend. so far her favs are Azul and Hamamakoji. super fun games. also Shobu is neat.
@CoinOpTV
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the list dude!
@wolflarson71
6 жыл бұрын
ahhhh, the midlife crisis purple colored beard. I sense a sporty convertible coming next. ;-)
@lf2334
5 жыл бұрын
LOL.
@michaelpark7913
3 жыл бұрын
Lol
@NATOnova
3 жыл бұрын
LoL
@HITFORDCYCLE1
6 жыл бұрын
Azul, and Sagrada are awesome!
@guillermoz4914
6 жыл бұрын
Can Zee do a top five companion to your top 10 abstract strategy games?
@jeremyslayton
6 жыл бұрын
If they happen to not record Zee's list, you could look at the last top 100 list to see his top five games.
@tamidorwindtaenzer1377
6 жыл бұрын
Pleaaaaaaase!!!
@stuartnow9
6 жыл бұрын
Santorini also my fav. Often play this as we wait for everyone to show up to the game group. Have not tried the golden fleece part yet.
@elgatoman4666
6 жыл бұрын
I like Santorini too. And don't own Golden Fleece expansion. I have the target retail version wonder how it compares to the original Roxley ver.
@Haldurson
6 жыл бұрын
Back in the 1980s I used to play the heck out of a chess variant -- it's been known by several different names, and I've seen several variants of it: Team Chess. The main issue with it is that with 4 players, it requires two full-sized chess sets, and two speed-chess clocks (which at least way back when, could be expensive). There's more to it, but the general idea is that if you capture a piece, you pass it to your partner (or to the middle, if you play with 3 person teams, or around in a circle with more people). Any piece that's passed to you, you can place on your board in any legal position, instead of moving. I had the same issue with chess -- it became boring to me. But Team Chess was like a jolt of adrenaline. We used to play at this Deli in NJ, and we'd have crowds watching us play all the time (so the restaurant loved us). Games usually took no more than 10 minutes. It was a great equalizer, since it was less important that you were good at chess, and more important that you played super aggressive, and could move quickly. It also helped if you had a teammate who knew how to work with you.
@dave3805
5 жыл бұрын
My friend introduced this variation to me 6 years ago. I’m not a chess person, but this variation was cool.
@sawderf741
3 жыл бұрын
Bug house
@MathPickle
6 жыл бұрын
Tom - Gord of Santorini here. Check out Urbino by Dieter Stein.
@FreelancerWV
6 жыл бұрын
Azul has taken over my life.
@d.b.gaston665
6 жыл бұрын
My current favorite abstracts not on Tom’s list: Trexo, Hive, Blokus (possibly my favorite abstract), Rumis (aka Blokus 3D), Lines of Action, Ponte Del Diavolo, Twixt, Abalone, Volcano (and other Pyramid Arcade games).
@moretac
2 ай бұрын
Haven't tried any of the others but I love Blokus!!!
@pigbobman
6 жыл бұрын
I’m getting the urge to listen to a Prince album for some reason
@sumtheglad
6 жыл бұрын
Lattice is one of my favorite abstract games. Also, an oldie but goodie is Pente.
@gamera2351
6 жыл бұрын
If you didn't include Through the Desert because it has a theme, then how is Santorini ok? Do you think it's less of a theme?
@wildmandon1
4 жыл бұрын
A game you should check out is Chase by TSR Games. In came out in 1985 and is played with dice on a hexagonal square board. It is a pure abstract strategy game that is just as challenging to play as Chess. The rules are completely different than Chess. The game board board setup and various move types is outstanding. The game board has no boundaries. Some of the moves are Capture like in Chess. You can land on your own piece, which Bumps it into the next board space and if it is occupied by your opponent, that piece is capture. You can Bump you first piece, 1 on the die, into the piece beside it and cause a chain reaction. You can Swap 2 pieces that are side by side exchange values. If you land in the center of the board, this let you bring an additional piece onto the board, including captured pieces.
@gsatchu111
3 жыл бұрын
Been playing different games finally settled at Backgammon.. There is dice involved but the probability part of the dice favours a strategic player..
@thepardoner2059
3 жыл бұрын
Backgammon is ultra cool. It's the James Bond of board games.
@PamWD
6 жыл бұрын
I don't need a theme to really enjoy a game, and I love abstract strategy. Three from the GIPF series are my favorites: Yinsh, Lyngk, and Tzaar. I like Onitama okay, and I don't care for Santorini. I'll have to check out the others on Tom's list. Thanks for the video!
@davegildersleeve4316
6 жыл бұрын
Latice is a excellent family weight abstract strategy game. Not super think but has gone over well with everyone we've played with. Also, easy to learn.
@scottiiboyii6590
6 жыл бұрын
Stratego... fantasy edition Fire VS Ice... amazing!! This edition makes the game a lot more enjoyable with each character having special abilities.
@natelinhart114
6 жыл бұрын
Quoridor is still my favorite, but I haven't played many abstracts over the last few years...
@janikloffel5836
4 жыл бұрын
Seikatsu is my favorite abstract game
@ddyer0
6 жыл бұрын
Not to brag too much, but 5 of these 10 games can be played on Boardspace.net
@gamera2351
6 жыл бұрын
Tom and Zee mention games from the Gipf series quite a bit, but never talk about Gipf. Is it a bad game?
@XeloX58
2 жыл бұрын
Quixo, easy to learn, lovely short game. (5 on a row variant)
@ThatGuyFromMaastricht
6 жыл бұрын
Triangoli didnt make it ? :)
@juancarlostouzet1366
6 жыл бұрын
I'd place tak there
@MisanthropicPrime
6 жыл бұрын
Me too
@miguelramirez5972
6 жыл бұрын
#1 Tak, #2 Kahuna, #3 Android Mainframe, #4 Hive (I still have to try onitama) Really hard to separate even superficially pasted-on themes with this list.
@thedicetower
6 жыл бұрын
It was probably my # 11 or #12
@AndyVandercoy
6 жыл бұрын
Absolutely
@CoNSu_11
4 жыл бұрын
Game of Thrones Hand of the King from Fantasy Flight is a delightful abstract-strategy game.
@cristinagomez335
6 жыл бұрын
Can someone please tell me what is up with Tom's colored beard lately? Don't get me wrong, I like them, but just wondering if there was a reason behind this...?
@ChrisLowResDream
10 ай бұрын
please do another one 🎉
@nigelwest6484
5 жыл бұрын
I actually have Santorini it's such a good game!
@Jonathan-rl8vv
4 жыл бұрын
A few of my favorites: Hermetica, Tak, LYNGK, Santorini
@Steve-L
6 жыл бұрын
I wanna see top 10 cowboy/old west games!
@knackability7098
6 жыл бұрын
The last one of these Top 10's i watched your beard and hair were green, today I see you're going with purple! Hahaha! What's up? Did I miss some explanation in another video?
@TechVick
6 жыл бұрын
Knack Ability I assume he’s just having fun for Mardi Gras
@Yaoau
5 жыл бұрын
Santorini, yep
@m.jsniper8935
3 жыл бұрын
No Hive?
@benclarke5914
4 жыл бұрын
4:02 .... is he saying Yarrow ? Yarra ? Yaro ? , i'd like to look it up plz thx
@kchorst5037
6 жыл бұрын
How do you put it on the third level of a dome? Won't it roll off?
@ningaubleotse171
6 жыл бұрын
Blokus and Blokus Trigon
@victorgonzalez2927
6 жыл бұрын
How is Santorini your favorite yet Onitama is in the Dice Tower Essential line? It also is the first game you added to that new line. You also forgot to mention Hive, Tak, and Hnefatafl.
@lf2334
5 жыл бұрын
How did he forget to mention them?
@mider9996
3 жыл бұрын
Great list
@Spudst3r
3 жыл бұрын
No Quoridor?!
@paulwilmes1553
6 жыл бұрын
Hey Tom, what is the name of the song you use in your intro here? The earworm is real and I must know the name, hah
@garyk2629
6 жыл бұрын
I think Zee should have done this list
@revimfadli4666
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, so Tom can do non-combinatorial abstracts
@KabukiKid
6 жыл бұрын
Would The Climbers qualify? I think it might. If so, that one deserves some love. :-)
@rlholo
6 жыл бұрын
Tak, Azul, Photosynthesis, Aton, Patchwork
@Trae_Lenox
6 жыл бұрын
Azul and Pyramix
@nickvandam1214
6 жыл бұрын
I'd love to try Kamisado, Khet, and Santorini... maybe someday
@ielmie
6 жыл бұрын
I haven't tried Khet yet but the other two are great!
@TorIverWilhelmsen
6 жыл бұрын
Kamisado exists as an app, you could try it there.
@blackdaz3
6 жыл бұрын
Element, great abstract game
@austinvickymoore3656
6 жыл бұрын
d'alex dario I was wondering about it I am trying to get into board games with my son to get off the electronics as much haha plus they are fun this a good one?
@blackdaz3
6 жыл бұрын
My Domain69. Yes, i highly raccomand it. Simple to learn hard to master and relatively cheap.
@justinrrizzo
5 жыл бұрын
Fascinating. I'm a lover of abstract games, and I didn't care for Onitama and I hated Santorini.
@jeremyferris2844
6 жыл бұрын
For me Hive, Quarto and Blockus. To any who put forward Raptor. That has a theme, it is Scientists competing with a mother raptor for raptor babies. And believe it or not the theme of Azul is ceramic tiles.
@rolandbruno686
6 жыл бұрын
The Duke! What about Azul? Cathedral is still one I enjoy too.
@borg9355
6 жыл бұрын
Not sure it would be considered "abstract" but Terrace is a good game for 2 to 4 players.
@billcook4768
6 жыл бұрын
Nice video as usual Tom. Put chess at the top of the list for me. There's good reason it has been played for hundreds of years and will continue to be played with most of these games are long forgotten. Oh, and just to be that guy, Santorini is an island, not a city.
@wh3elson
6 жыл бұрын
Bill Cook cool, the Greeks had sex with children for many years and continued to do so until they died out. Kind of morbid example but my point is just because something has been around for a long time doesn’t mean it’s good. I could go even further and say tradition/religion as well but that is not a discussion I want to get into. Imo tzaar and tak were games he missed in his top 10
@kotieerwee2593
6 жыл бұрын
wh3elson He didnt say its good because its been there for long, he said there is a reason its been there for long. You are missing his point.
@kjerins
6 жыл бұрын
That reason is probably "nothing else was around to compete with chess"
@benclarke5914
4 жыл бұрын
i really want a game similar to chess, so its all about unit placements and planning ahead , however what i don't like about chess is that weaker units can take anything in one move. does anyone know of one where each unit has advantages and disadvantages like archers for distance but poor against cavalry ect , mabie even landscape on the board ??
@CoNSu_11
4 жыл бұрын
Santorini feels like chess if you play against someone very strategic and competitive at your same level.
@revimfadli4666
3 жыл бұрын
IMO the ability for weaker units to capture anything is part of the beauty, it enables tactics like threatening to trade a weak piece for a stronger one, for example, making their weakness a strength, a nice self-balancing emergent mechanic. If you want a strict hierarchy, maybe Arimaa would appeal to you? It also has some sort of "landscape" in the form of trap squares(the only way to eliminate pieces). Or do you want a rock-paper-scissors style relationship where certain pieces can only capture certain types of piece?
@AndyVandercoy
6 жыл бұрын
1. Santorini 2. Azul 3. Yinsh 4. Samurai 5. Tak 6. Medina 6. Go 7. Quarto 8. Onitama 9. The Duke 10. NMBR 9 11. Hive 12. Backgammon/Chess 13. Quoridor 14. photosynthesis 15. Blokus 16. Otrio 17. Kamisado
@alicemoore2036
6 жыл бұрын
Blokus by Mattel?
@moretac
2 ай бұрын
Love it
@LionGambleLewis
6 жыл бұрын
Did he actually dry his beard purple? Or is this a camera color issue? Looks sweet though lml
@alexanderpopov3587
6 жыл бұрын
Hive, Raptor and Santorini are great!
@CumstainedBedsheets
6 жыл бұрын
What did you mean by Go making your brain squishy?
@detectiveassassin7937
6 жыл бұрын
Othello should have been on the list .
@marknic
6 жыл бұрын
I like his top 2 choices, but the rest are meh (though I haven't tried Glux, yet). However, Six Making is by far the best abstract I've ever played. It's simultaneously for people that like chess, and for people that dislike it. An amazingly clever little game.
@marknic
6 жыл бұрын
What I didn't like about the Duke was the next power being face-down... probably because of my poor memory. I recognize it's probably a good game, just, not for me. More my own fault than the game's. I'll definitely check Vikingdoms out. Thanks.
@hackersguidedan
5 жыл бұрын
I love Megis from Brass Engine Games
@vidmegusar4231
6 жыл бұрын
Why isn't raptor on this list ? :(
@Benny_Shoga
6 жыл бұрын
Where is Dragon Castle on this list?
@MrWiseFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Definitely Can't be a good top without Hive and Abalone!!
@ryanbuell4692
6 жыл бұрын
I’m sure someone has already asked this...but what is up with the change in beard color?? I mean it’s fabulous...but..WHY???
@Fanaro
Жыл бұрын
Blokus is still better, I believe.
@nerzenjaeger
6 жыл бұрын
TZAAR is the best GIPF game, though YINSH is great as well.
@mangs9940
5 жыл бұрын
what about Hive!
@Sonus2011
6 жыл бұрын
Suprised he didn't do tash kalar
@miguelramirez5972
6 жыл бұрын
kzitem.info/news/bejne/upiaqZVromhza5g
@theunamiable
6 жыл бұрын
He has reviewed it, but didn't like it.
@Sonus2011
6 жыл бұрын
Jumpgate Drifter oh..right. I was mixing up my memory of a dif reviewer that did like it with toms.
@theunamiable
6 жыл бұрын
SU&SD liked it a lot, so I juggled their review and Tom's one, and bought it.
@MisterChris1978
6 жыл бұрын
I KNEW IT! #tom's#1
@FrancisPelletier
6 жыл бұрын
HIVE!
@cashliam
6 жыл бұрын
Raptor and Fjords
@SuperLkelley
6 жыл бұрын
Tzaar and Hive for me.
@FlavioMarceloSousa35
6 жыл бұрын
The only abstract games I like are chess and Reiner Knizia's Ingenious. Theme is extremely important.
@kevinkheroux3438
6 жыл бұрын
La Trel is purdy good
@woblar1
6 жыл бұрын
is there something wrong with the colors
@markus4595
6 жыл бұрын
Uuuuuuuuuhhh... Did you lose a bet, Tom?
@rokorora8552
3 жыл бұрын
Azul :)
@DLee1100s
6 жыл бұрын
Take Back Toe
@bbzabstractgames
2 жыл бұрын
No way ^_^
@DIProgan
6 жыл бұрын
Go
@mRboylls
6 жыл бұрын
You look like buzz light year lol
@GeorgiosD90
5 жыл бұрын
The point of the video is: stick to chess
@XRay44
6 жыл бұрын
Santorini's god powers are way unbalanced and make it not truly abstract. I never play with them.
@rogerrigby7943
6 жыл бұрын
I’ve only started watching this to say I hate abstract games. They feel like an iq test that I am failing miserably. Leaving now.
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