Catch up on previous videos here

100 through 91
90 through 81

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition – 80 through 71

80. Flamecraft

• Published by Cardboard Alchemy in 2022
• Deliver on the most goals and score points as you play out adorable little dragons who help around the town

This game immediately grabs you with the artwork. The dragons are amazing, and Sandara Tang gives each of them such great personality. Beyond that the game is simple but fun, you go to a location and are either activating the cards and dragons there, or adding some, or spending resources to complete goals. As the locations get more and more dragons the more powerful they become. It’s a great ramping mechanism for a simple game. Though the game is not fast one, which might be my only knock on it.

Buy Flamecraft

79. Just One

• Published by Repos Productions in 2018
• Work together to get the guesser to the right answer with just one word

A party game on this section. I’m not sure, I expect that there are two more party games on the list, but we’ll see. I honestly have forgotten. But Just One is a great cooperative party game. One person is the guesser and everyone else needs to write down a one word clue to get the guesser to guess their one word. Sounds simple, right, but if you double up with anyone, now both those words are gone. That means that an easy clue can become very hard very fast. So you want to be obscure with your clue, but not so obscure that it won’t lead the person to the right answer.

Buy Just One

78. On Tour

• Published by BoardGameTables.com (AllPlay) in 2019
• Create the best route for your band to tour the map going from low to high numbers

This one is a fun roll and write. While I love a ton of roll and write games where they have a lot of combos, this one is a different type of puzzle. In On Tour two dice are rolled and players each place the numerical combinations on two spots on their board. But there are rules as to where they can go. And you may want to watch the city to gain bonus points, but if it won’t connect well to your route, is it worth it to push your luck?

Buy On Tour

77. Mythwind

• Published by Open Owl Studios in 2023
• Build up your settlement and play your mini game in this cozy gaming experience

Open Owl Studios went into making Mythwind with the plan of making a cozy game. So something that works well like a Stardew Valley or an Animal Crossing. They do that by creating a peaceful story world to play in, there are interesting elements to it though. And then each person plays their own little minigame. I demonstrate what the minigame for the farmer looks like. And One Stop Co-op Shop and Meet Me At The Table play some of the other ones. It’s just a unique feeling game that is fun, and relaxing to play.

Preorder Mythwind

76. Betrayal at House on the Hill

• Published by Avalon Hill in 2004
• Explore a haunted house but beware, someone is going to be come the traitor

This is a game that I still love though I haven’t played it in a few years. I fully recognize that the game has issues. When you sit down to play you know that the haunt may not work as planned because either the traitor is going to be overpowered or the other survivors will be. And the haunts themselves have janky rules. But I still love the game anyways because it’s thematic, silly, and just a fun time.

Buy Betrayal at House on the Hill 3rd Edition

75. Clever 4Ever

• Published by Schmidt Spiele in 2022
• Another combotastic game in the Clever line of roll and writes

I don’t know what else to say about this one. Clever 4Ever offers a ton of fun combos and a few different feeling sections of your sheet. How Wolfgang Warsch keeps on coming up with different and interesting ways to handle rolling five dice, using one, getting rid of lower ones and then rolling them again, I don’t know. But he does and this one is great, I especially like the sections where you can fill in different shapes depending on the number rolled. That element really feels different.

Clever 4Ever is either new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) this year or it just made the cut last year. I know I hadn’t had the game for long.

Buy Clever 4Ever

74. SpellBook

• Published by Space Cowboys in 2023
• Learn spells and feed your familiar to get the most points

This is a really simple game. All it is when you boil it down is set collection. You collect materia, you get enough of a color, you learn that spell. Then you use that spell you learned to collect more materia or learn new spells easier. Each spell you learn gives you points, or you can just feed the materia to your familiar for more points as well. The is fast, and there is a fun puzzle as to how you can optimize your spell usage as you get into the game.

Buy SpellBook

73. Century: Golem Edition

• Published by Plan B Games in 2017
• Get crystals, upgrade crystals and get golems to give you points

Another engine building game. Century: Golem Edition again, like SpellBook, has quick snappy turns. In this game it’s all about hand management and using those cards in hand to get more and upgrade crystals. Then you use those crystals to grab Golems that are going to score you points. But you literally just play a card, trade crystals for a golem, pick-up all your cards, or buy a new card. One of those things on a turn and the game just flies.

Buy Century: Golem Edition

72. New Frontiers

• Published by Rio Grande Games in 2018
• Build out the grandest space empire by doing the best action for you

New Frontiers is another engine building game. In New Frontiers you are doing it at a space level though, colonizing new planets, getting new technologies, fighting and conquering planets. All of that done through action selection where what action you pick gives you a bonus. But, everyone else is going to follow along with that action as well. So what is the best action for you and maybe not a great one for other players? I believe that New Frontiers is new to my Top 100 Games (of all time) as well though it isn’t a new game.

Buy New Frontiers

71. Meadow

• Published by Rebel Studio in 2021
• Create a beautiful tableau of nature through tricky card drafting

Meadow is another gorgeous game. I start out and end this section with beautiful games. In Meadow you want to score points by playing out creatures, taking pictures, and gaining trinkets. But to do that you need to build up your meadow from the land type up through bugs and maybe eventually all the way into deer, foxes, or other creatures. How you pick the cards you get is great. You use a fence post that tells you how far into a row or column you are picking. So you need to determine the best spots to play to get all the cards that you want and hope no one blocks you.

Buy Meadow

Final Thoughts

Firstly, let me know what your favorite of these games are. I obviously enjoy all of the tones in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition, so Meadow needs to be my favorite. But in terms of easily getting it to the table, I’m kind of feeling a big old stream and playthrough of all the clever games on Malts and Meeples. And let me know if there is one that you would want to get played as well that you haven’t tried in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition.

Join me next week for the next batch of games in my Top 100 Games. It’ll be starting around 9 PM Central on Wednesday if everything goes as planned. You can subscribe and click the notification bell to get notified when the video goes live. Thanks so much for watching.

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Let’s start out with some of the highlights of what have happened this past year on the channel. The highlights are the Slay the Spire Board Game was played, Rogue Angels, The 7th Citadel and Mythwind all got played. And a number of smaller games like Super Slopes, River Wild, Mind Space, and more have gotten played. Along with that, Balatro became a thing so that hit the stream quite a number of times.

The number of videos on Malts and Meeples is over 300 now and we are almost to 70 subscribers. So thank you to everyone who is watching. And for the people who are checking out the videos that I put out weekly.

What’s Coming Up on Malts and Meeples?

The Schedule is Changing

Let’s talk about that because the schedule changed early in the year. And now it is going to be changing again. I had an opportunity to see some friends more often and I took that opportunity. No longer do I stream every Monday night. Now it is about every other Monday.

Also, the schedule is going to be changing again, like I said, coming up here. It might not be less streaming, in fact it might be more content, but it’s changing. This is likely to mean content coming out on Friday as well as Wednesday. Though the Friday content is going to try and be weekly, it might not be as consistent.

Plus Bonus Content

I want to start doing more short form content as well. My plan is to try and record reviews, quick pitches, something for board games coming up here. Maybe do different shorter form content series. This might be one minute videos that go up as shorts. Or it might be 10 minute reviews. But I want to start to do more pre-recorded content for the channel. And eventually that’ll start to have more editing done to them, but right now I want to keep it simple.

The BIG New Content

So let’s talk about the biggest change that is happening. Because I want to hit on this one as it might be for some people and might not be for other people. But my wife and I want to stream a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. We both love the game, my wife has beat it three times and I’m almost done with my first. So our plan is to start streaming that soon. That is going to be either the additional content on Friday or be what is streamed on Wednesdays.

But, like I said, I don’t want to slow down too much on board game content. So I want the Baldur’s Gate 3 streaming to be an additional piece of content. Which is why I’m also looking to do more shorter form content. I love playing campaign games, but for campaign board games there is a tiredness that can happen.

What’s Going To Continue on Malts and Meeples

Let’s wrap this up with that is going to continue. And what things to look forward to coming up here. I need to do the numbers, but I am starting my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2024 Edition soon. Right now it is either going to be starting September 18th or September 20th depending on if it is done on Wednesday or Friday.

And I plan on playing more solo games on the channel. It is not turning into a video game channel. But how that looks might change. Right now I want to play more solo campaign games, but that is going to be continue to be more hit or miss. I find that while I love them, it is a lot of work to do them solo. Some are made for it, but even ones that are like The Isofarian Guard also work two player and would be less work that way. So expect a few, two or three throughout the year.

Along with that, I plan on keeping up my solo plays of smaller games. I still own a number of those that I need to get played. So that is what you’re going to see more often on the channel. Which, I think those games often get overlooked because they are often small. Or maybe people don’t think of them as a solo game. So I appreciate everyone who will be watching me as I play those.

The Final Ask

So expect a video up on Malts and Meeples of this soon. What I want to ask to end here is what do you want to see? Is there some particular content that you wish that I did? I’ve intentionally avoided reviews, but is that an element that you’d like to see on the channel. What sort of short form content would you like? Let me know that here, and I’ll be getting a question up on the community tab on YouTube soon.

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Top 5 Board Game Companies I Always Checkout

5. Awaken Realms

No surprise that Awaken Realms makes the list. They’ve made two games that I really like in Tainted Grail and ISS Vanguard. And while I did sell my copy of Etherfields, I am still regularly tempted to track it down and get a copy of it again. And I need to play my copy of Nemesis. Not all Awaken Realms games are for me. When they did STALKER, that one didn’t interest me. Or they do fancy versions of euro games, also not that interesting. But whenever they announce something new I’m curious.

Right now I’m waiting on Dragon Eclipse because it seems like a fascinating game that I really like the aesthetic of. And then they have a huge open world RPG type of game coming to crowdfunding later this year, also excited for that one. And they also have a one shot boss battler type of game with the Grimcoven as well, so many games that I’m intrigued by. Not always the cleanest games, but always something epic.

4. Chip Theory Games

Chip Theory is another one that makes a lot of epic games. But not with a lot of minis, instead with chips as the name suggests. I’m always intrigued by what they are putting out, though I rarely jump on their games right away. The only one I did right away was Elder Scrolls game that they have coming. And that was because it was a system that I knew already as it borrows from Too Many Bones.

But their games all offer something different and unique. And I also appreciate that almost all of their games can be played solo. One that I want to get to the table more after having an amazing time at GenCon playing it is Burncycle. I love the system of that game and the challenges of managing the burncylcle so that you can get the actions you want taken care of. It’s a tough balancing act of a game with a bunch of rules to learn to start, but not that bad when you get into playing it.

3. Open Owl Studios

Next up is Open Owl Studios and their games just really hit with me. Stars of Akarios has been one of my most fun gaming experiences with a big epic tactical space combat to getting down on planets and exploring the story. There are elements to that game that work so well for me. And then there is Mythwind a cozy game that feels like something different. It isn’t a game that I’ll binge all the time, but once that I will come back to a lot because it’s just easy to sit down and play. They call it a cozy game and it really is that.

Then there is Stonesaga their next one coming out. It helps, probably, that I know one of the designers. But he reached out to me because he knew it would be my type of game. And it really is. And I’m not sure what they have coming after that, there was just a reprint and expansion for Mythwind. But whatever it is, I trust that there will be a unique experience playing the game, because that’s what their games feel like to me.

2. CMON

Honestly, an odd one on the list, but I’m always paying attention to CMON. I could combine CMON and Steamforged here because I follow both of them for similar reasons. They both make beer and pretzel style games. Often that means grab a handful of dice and chuck them. But they also get a lot of interesting IP’s. CMON keeps on putting out Marvel games. And I know a lot of people will say it’s a cash grab. There is an element of that, but the games are also a ton of fun. Do I need all the characters and alternate sculpts, definitely not. But I want them, and like I said the games are a lot of fun.

CMON is also easier for  me to pass on. They revisit a lot of things. So when I hear something new is coming out, then I look to see if it matches something that I already have. And rarely do I replace it. Zombicide Undead or Alive go replaced by Marvel Zombies, but that’s because of the theme. I’d not replace Marvel Zombies with the newest Zombicide style game. I just pick the one that is best for me.

1. Pencil First Games

Finally we have the oddest one on the list. All the rest, easy to see what is similar. Big games, sometimes story and epic in nature. But Pencil First Games put out the first game that I crowdfunded and it’s a cute game. I got rid of my copy, but now they are putting out games that I really enjoy. Floriferous is the biggest, but then games like Skulk Hollow as well are great.

Why I’m always checking out Pencil First Games is that they tend to put a lot of interesting decisions into a package that isn’t too big or too complex. They are a company that is 100% on my radar for those games that are easy to travel with, easy to teach, but still really engaging. And while there are other companies who do that which I find their games interesting as well, Pencil First Games has a special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions

Two honorable mentions, only. I thought about more, and maybe I should have done a Top 10. But the two are Cephalofair Games and Serious Pulp. I didn’t put them on the list because for both of them it’s a specific game line that I’m interested in. Obviously Gloomhaven, one of my favorite games. And you can see me playing The 7^th Citadel over on Malts and Meeples YouTube and I’m loving the game. But they have their lanes for their games and generally stick with them.

Who Do You Keep an Eye On?

Alright, a few more bonus board game companies. 25^th Century Games, Reggie Games, Indie Boards and Cards with Astro Knights and Aeon’s End, Roxley Games, though that’s mainly for Dice Throne, and Dire Wolf with their Clank games. And Thunderworks, probably should be a true honorable mention. Like I said, I could have done a top 10board game companies.

But let me know who you keep an eye on. I still even kind of keep an eye on Fantasy Flight Games. But for them it’s a bit more specific. I care about games in their Arkham Files line and if they do anything new with their IP’s like Marvel, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings. They are a company that I wish I could keep an eye on more, but it’s been so hit or miss lately.

Let me know who it is for you down in the comments below. Is there a board game company that stands out?

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Streaming After Mythwind

I’ve covered Mythwind a lot. But I’m getting close to when I’ll wrap up streaming it. I like to show a game like this off, but there are so many campaign games or adventure games that I can play. Which is the one that I should play next? Here are a few that I’m considering.

Tales form the Red Dragon Inn

This one actually got talked about on the stream. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is supposed to be a fun and lighter dungeon crawling game. You play as characters from the Red Dragon Inn board game. Whereas that game is about what you do after an adventure, this one is the adventures, or at least them being retold. I feel like I shouldn’t trust the narration in the game for what actually happens, but we’ll see. Plus the game uses a map book which makes set-up and teardown a whole lot easier.

Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies

I already did a play of Sleeping Gods on the channel, so continuing with the sequel to talk about what is new and different, I like the sound of that. Plus, I’ve watched some of the game play over on the Meet Me At the Table Channel. A lot of what it changes in the game are things that I got wrong in the first one. Or at least one of the main items is. I want a chance to experience that from the game, plus I want to see what adventures it has to offer that I can find.

Wild Assent

Wild Assent got added into the collection recently. This one is going to be a monster hunting type of game. If I had my Primal in, it’d take this place. But I do want to play Wild Assent and see what the game is all about. Th is is about taking hunters out and defeating monsters/creatures in a boss battling sort of experience. I haven’t done too many boss battlers so that element is very intriguing to me. And I think less heavy campaign elements could be good for me as well.

Hoplomachus Victorum

This one is going to be less of a story driven campaign and more just a campaign. The story is going to come from the locations that I choose than narrative prose. But that sounds intriguing. And like Distant Skies, it’s going to be a shorter campaign. There are a set number of combats and events to play. So it hits my list of potential ones for that.

Others

Let me know if there are other games you’d be interested in seeing me play. I have mentioned Nova Aetas Renaissance recently. That one I left off the list, for right now, because I think there is more to get ready. And the sessions might take longer to play, so it’s does it fit into my evening time slot.

Aeon’s End Legacy of Gravehold is another that I’d love to play. Like Distant Skies, it is a game that I’ve already played on the channel. Well, it is kind of. I went through Aeon’s End Legacy and I love that game. So my hesitation comes from doubling up on that one. I expect that that there will be new elements, so the game might be different enough.

Let me know which one sounds the best to you? Or, checkout my games over on Board Game Geek and let me know which one you want to see played?

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least a few more games of Mythwind. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. The reason for that is with how many campaign games I can play solo, I want to try more. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Mythwind and it’s Longevity

One question, I’d not be surprised if people have about the game is how long can you play it. And can you play it again and again without it feeling repetitive. This can be in two areas, I think, the first being, when you play through the seasons, will the story feel the same if you restart? The other being, as playing the farmer, do I just feel like I’m taking the same few actions?

Events and Adventures

For the first one, I think it’s a mixed bag. I know because of the choices in town, some things I won’t see. When I didn’t have enough culture to throw a bonfire party for one group of sprites, that made it different as to what card went into my deck of events. But a number of the events are just going to stay the same.

But, to go along with the first one, you also unlock different adventures as well. And I have a big old stack of adventures in the game. I do those even less than I do events. So that is going to be an element of the game that is a bit more random as well. But an element of the game that shows up less often, which is something to be aware of.

Characters

As for characters, I just know the farmer. But I think there is an element where it is repetitive and that’s kind of the point. I don’t need to think that much about what I’m doing when I farm. Mythwind is supposed to be a cozy game. I slowly improve my optimization and that is my goal in Mythwind. Make more money to get more plants to harvest them to get more money.

Sometimes you throw other actions in there, like clearing land or getting a building started in the building queue. But the game is meant to be a relaxing experience which means that it can’t spring much new on you. But there are things to consider. I might consider getting some bees for some passive income each season. That isn’t part of my game thus far, but it could be fun.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least a few more games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. The reason for that is with how many campaign games I can play solo, I want to try more. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Watch Spring here.

Mythwind Thoughts

I know one of the bigger review channels, the Dice Tower, just reviewed Mythwind. I haven’t gone through their whole review for it, but the reviews were mixed. And I think all three people who reviewed it like it less than I do. And I believe like it less than other people do who I’ve seen play it. That said, I’m not going to say that the Dice Tower crew were wrong. They always have reasons for their opinions on reviews.

So I want to throw some of my own thoughts onto it. I tend to be a positive reviewer. I like more games than I don’t, and that’s a good thing. If you review board games and find that you like fewer than you enjoy, board games might not be the right space. But a game like Mythwind is always going to be a tough sell. Mainly because it is supposed to be a cozy, relaxing, kind of a goal but not really a win condition game. And I don’t blame anyone for not wanting that in a game.

Mythwind is What It Says

What I’ll call out, and this is something I’ve seen with other games as well, is when someone dislikes a game for doing what it says it is going to do. Mythwind is a cozy game. That might not be what you want in a game, but that doesn’t make Mythwind a bad game. Or I see this all the time with Tainted Grail. The amount of complaining about Tainted Grail when all the information as to what type of game it was going to be was right there was astounding to me.

A game might not work for you. And that is a fine thing. No game should work for everyone. If a game does, that means that it probably works okay for everyone. No matter what it is, you can’t please everyone. So I’m glad to see when a game comes out that is great for some people and okay or not so great for others. It’s better to have a subset who love the game and will come back to it, than everyone saying it’s a 6.5 or 7 out of 10.

Mythwind is Relaxing

At no point in time do I feel rushed when I play the game. Yes, this is just me restating that Mythwind is what it says it is. But it’s worth talking about. I don’t feel rushed. I don’t feel like I need to make a perfect decision, ever. If it takes two turns to get what I want, well, that’s okay. In fact, I like that feeling because it adds to the game in multiple ways.

I’ve talked about it being relaxing, that’s what this section is about. But that relaxed nature adds to the replayability of the game. My culture wasn’t high enough at times to unlock particular events. Will those events massively change the game, probably not, but they might tweak it. And what it’s like with more players, how much faster it can move, I’m curious about that. And because it is such a puzzle for each character, I can play it again with a new character and it won’t feel too much like I’m rehashing story.

It Might Not Be For You

And all of that said, I want to reiterate, Mythwind very well might not be for you. The game is something unique and specific in what it does. No win condition, no massive pressure moments, that is a tough sell. At the same time, I played and narrated my game for just over an hour yesterday to get through two seasons. This is a relaxing game where I can see, when not streaming, that a season will take me 20-25 minutes. And with 5-10 minutes of set-up and teardown combined, it’s a relaxing puzzle to play.

In fact, I think if you like small solo games, Mythwind is a good fit. The ease to the table stands out for the game. But it’s not just that, it’s the core loop for players. You get to really dive into one or two things that your character does well. And I like that a lot for the game. If that’s what you want, you’ll enjoy Mythwind. If you want a clear, well defined, end point, it’s going to feel lacking.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least a few more games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. The reason for that is with how many campaign games I can play solo, I want to try more. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Mythwind

It’s early to talk about what I like or I don’t like about the game One season and I’ve only started to build up the engine that I have for the farmer. But I think that the game does a number of things, already, that I find interesting. Also a few things where it feels like a more boring action.

I am not going to spend time going over the farmer here. Mythwind is a game where each character does their own thing with their own rulebook in their own way. I plan on playing through all of them, eventually, and then I want to talk about them. If I talk about them now or the farmer now, I feel like I need to experience his engine of actions more.

But the core game loop is interesting to talk about. Mainly the daily cycle of actions and how you might trigger something via weather or not. For me, that dawn phase is interesting. I like how I might get a benefit during the day based off of how the weather is. I also like how it sprinkles in events throughout the time you play. They might all happen at the beginning or they might happen later.

It’s the town actions during daytime that I find to be less even than the other actions. Evening or dusk is not that exciting, but it’s very fast and it’s where they handle the bookkeeping aspect of the game. What do you need to do to be ready for the next day. But the in town actions are, like I said, a bit more uneven.

In Town Actions

Let me just say, I think that from what I’ve done there are mainly two interesting in town actions. And one of them really isn’t in town. It’s going adventuring. That one to me is by far the most interesting. You get to do a lot of cool things and while it is really read a bit of story and make your informed decision or lack of informed decision, it works. But it helps build up the world of Mythwind either way.

The other one that feels good is when you go and hire. When you hire, now you can do more actions on your board. It took me the whole time, but once I finally got there, once I got to the point where I had an engine built up on the farmers board, it was nice to have those workers. I could really clear out everything and make some money and plant and harvest efficiently because of my workers.

The other actions are needed, though, in the game. Clearing space, it does give a benefit. Getting a buck or being able to get a skill, I think that will be good. They are just less interesting and less often that I’d use them. Even the building that I added to the board. It’s good for manipulating what I have on the board. I expect I’ll use it next time, but it’s not the most exciting action in the game. I expect it might stay that way for a bit, but we’ll have to see, or if, as I build more, more actions will be more exciting.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least a few more games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. The reason for that is with how many campaign games I can play solo, I want to try more. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Top 5 – The Campaign Game I Want to Play Next

5. Agemonia

The order of the list doesn’t matter much, if it’s a campaign game, I want to play it. Agemonia is the most recent campaign game to come in and this one is a big box of fun. So I want to get it to the table. I didn’t back it all in for the minis, but I do have the giant core box which gives you the monsters as standees.

But Agemonia looks like a unique world with fun characters to play as. And while it doesn’t look, to me, to be the most complex game on the campaign game scale, I like what it offers. Card overlays that will change if you don’t interact with something in a certain time, or depending on what action you take. So it shows you want you need to know on the board and who you might be interacting with, but throughout a play, that can change and get covered up.

4. Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

This is a tricky campaign game to put on the list. Mainly because, though it’s not as obvious, this is a legacy game as well as a campaign game. I really enjoyed going through Aeon’s End Legacy on the stream. And Aeon’s End is a system that I really like. I think as a solo deck building game it works amazingly.

And a legacy game is always fun to play on Malts and Meeples. Or just to be one that I want to play in general. The idea of an emergent story and changing rules is fun. The original one I really enjoyed, but it was very basic in what it did. Some fun twists, but mainly basic. So I want to know what this one is going to offer and how it can play around with the story of Aeon’s End.

3. Wild Assent

Next up is Wild Assent. I recently got this one from a local game story that buys and sells uses games. I was selling some games and I came back with the same number of boxes, but fewer games. Wild Assent is the reason for that.

But this isn’t as heavy a campaign game. So while I talk about Agemonia that meant that from what I remember the game play is lighter. In Wild Assent I mean that it’s not as long as other campaign games. The commitment to it isn’t there because it’s mean to be played over a few sessions and that is a campaign. So it’s resettable you grab new characters and go again. That is an intriguing option for a campaign game experience.

2. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is the next campaign game expansion. Red Dragon Inn is a game that I like and that I don’t like. I like it because it should be a fun, light, silly game with some crazy powers and cards for each character. It is that, but the issue is that it almost always takes too long. It might be a game that I’d only play at four because that’s the right amount of time for it to go on, it feels like.

But that’s not the game on the list, Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is supposed to be an easy to get into campaign game. It builds off of the world and some elements of Red Dragon Inn, but obviously changes it up some from being a free for all. What intrigues me is about the ease of set-up of the game. Everything you need for the map is printed on it. So it’s more of a grab what you need and go versus as intensive a game in terms of set-up.

1. Mythwind

Finally I have Mythwind for my list of campaign games. And this one is interesting in that it’s less of a campaign game and more of a persistent world. It’s not meant to take you through this epic journey that a lot of campaign games do. Instead Mythwind is meant to be a cozy game like a Stardew Valley where you can just play.

The game offers you a number of characters to play as. Each of them has their own mini game. What you pick and who you play as, that’s up to you. And you can change that any time. So you get to explore different characters all while leveling up your town, unlocking buildings, going exploring, and completing your own goals. I like the balancing nature of this and think, from what it shows, it offers some fun story and experience.

Which To Play?

Now these don’t have to be the only options. Kinfire Chronicles, Hoplomachus Victorum, and others, are all sitting on my shelf waiting to get played. Or even non-campaign games like Unsettled still offer a group of games to play through because there are different planets each time.

Help me decide what to play. Which campaign game sounds the best to you? And one of them might just end up being played on some Monday streams as well depending on what my schedule looks like. Is there a campaign game that stands out to you or one that you think is just so good I need to get it to the table?

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Campaign Games

Honestly, a lot of what you see is going to stay the same. I want to do better with more campaign games. I think that I can get 4 campaigns played at 10 games per campaign in this year. Last year I think I got three in, so this year the goal is four. Theoretically I might get in five, but because of Holidays, Top 100 Games of all time, Gen Con and other things, four seems more reasonable and that is going to be tricky.

But let’s talk about the games that I want to play. Starting off with Rogue Angels. I plan on playing through as much of this as I can. It’s still available for late pledge. But then I want to revisit one that I already did a play of.

I want to play more Chronicles of Drunagor. I didn’t like how it was playing with opening doors and everything being a bit of a mess that way for setting up mid stream. But I think I know how I want to fix it. And the other two, well, we’ll have to see. I have Sleeping Gods – Distant Skies, there is Assassins Creed, and I recently got Kingdom: Death Monster. And more should be showing up as well.

Solo Games & Painting

Obviously all of them are solo, but the plan for Monday is to continue with the solo games, but I want to add in a twist or change to it. Solo games, one offs, will be every other week. And then I want to mix in something else other times. One of the things might be doing Mythwind the game from Open Owl Games (used to be OOMM) as it’s a solo/multiplayer game with no real win condition. So that is going to get mixed in as well as Slay the Spire once in a while.

But I also mentioned that I have a game like Kingdom Death Monster and other games with a lot of grey plastic. Well, I have paints and brushes and a goal this year to paint more. So I might start streaming some of that every other Monday as well. I think that is going to be part of the every other Monday routine or maybe once a month. I want to paint more than that, you need to practice to get good, but maybe once a month streaming would be fun. Basically I want to give myself a bit more of a schedule for Mondays.

Malts and Meeples Goal

My goal is to continue to grow the channel. And I want to thank the people who have joined in 2023 and who keep on watching it over all the years. I really appreciate everyone and I hope if you enjoy the content that you’ll continue to watch and join live as you can.

And let me know what you think about the content and changes. Are there videos that you’d like to see me do more of? Other things that you hope from the channel, let me know. I want to keep my focus on solo gaming, but how does that work the best for you? Do you like the campaign plays or do you like more one off plays? Do you like it when I do Top 10’s or not?

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Top 10 Crowdfunding Project To Be Delivered

10 – Mythwind

This one is such a weird one. I can see myself not liking this game. It’s Stardew Valley the board game, which is not something that I thought I’d want. More so than the actual Stardew Valley game which gives you and end game condition. But Mythwind from Open Own Studios (formerly OOMM Games) promises that, a game where you can just build everything. Like I said, this might not be for me, but I am very curious and want to try.

9 – Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

On the flip side of Mythwind, Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin is a game for me. I already know that I like the system. And Kings of Ruin tries to take the things that people didn’t like, the grind, the keeping the Menhir lit, and make the game more streamlined for the story.

My little soapbox time. People are complaining about the grind and how hard it is to survive. The Story Mode takes care of most of that, extra house rules put in place show that people didn’t pay attention to what they were backing. Tainted Grail promised a hard campaign with attrition and grinding from day one. To complain about a game delivering on what it promised feels like a miss on the players behalf not the companies or the game as the complaints seem to say.

But back to Kings of Ruin. It’s more of a game and a system that I really love. I’m wrapping up the third campaign soon, and I want to know what story the are going to come with. Because story in this game is always so good.

8 – Agemonia

Agemonia is one that I late pledged. I couldn’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger when it was on Kickstarter (I believe), but late pledge got me. This is an adventure game with a lot of story and a campaign to it. Alex Radcliffe from BoardGameCo has a good video showing it off.

There are a couple of things that drew me towards it. Firstly it doesn’t seem to be as heavy as a lot of campaign games. As you might know from watching Malts and Meeples, I appreciate that. But also, I like the card system. It’s a nice system that in these specific scenarios changes up the board. So the world is dynamic as you spend time doing things.

7 – Stonesaga

The most recent one on the list and yes I am a bit biased knowing one of the people who worked on this game. But I’m still excited for it. It’s a nice system as you build out your stone age civilization. And the game does some fun things. There are a lot of mini games, they are fun. And there are some good decision making points which work nicely as well. Stonesaga is a legacy game, so know that about it, some elements will get used, but it’s not a single use legacy game.

6 – Robomon

Robot Pokemon is what Robomon showed off. A solo or two player adventure game, you go around capture and upgrade your Robomon. Sound a lot like Pokemon, it should. But there is never going to be a Pokemon game like this, I think, due to licensing. So Robomon looks like it will offer a lot of story and adventure in an interesting world. I like the idea that this is a very open world system.

5 – Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies

Sleeping Gods is a game that I know a lot about. And I had a few minor issues (as well as a mistake in how I played it) that I thought would make the game more fun. Now, I’m not sure my mistake got changed, but my minor issue did in Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies. It is like Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin in that it took what players knew and used the feedback to improve it. So I’m excited to get this one in and see what new adventure awaits.

4 – Witchbound

Witchbound is the second newest on the list, from this year. And it might be one of the earlier to come in from these games if the creator can keep up their frenetic pace on turning out new story and artwork. But Witchbound is a point and click adventure of a board game with RPG elements. It’s what I would call a relaxing solo story game. You don’t need to hold a ton of rules in your head, so I am excited to dive into the whole thing.

3 – Primal: The Awakening

From one of the shortest to one of the longest, we have Primal: The Awakening. A monster hunting board game that can be played in a one off or as a campaign. I can’t wait to get this one in, and while it has been outstanding for a long time, they do provide updates. I am very interested in the deck construction and combat mechanics of the game. How they created such a small grid and still gave an interesting game and game play.

2 – Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Arydia is another late pledged board game. This is one where I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I decided I wanted to get in on it still. Arydia is an interesting game in how it works on three levels. And I mean three types of maps. Firstly, you play on a world map traveling around. Then you have local maps, general areas that you explore and interact with people and points of interest there. Finally you get down to the tactical battle map.

That three levels of game play is just unique. And while a lot of games do these things separately, or at least two of them separately, Arydia more seamlessly moves between them. That is really interesting. Plus the game itself is just a big epic adventure game.

1 – Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapter

And finally at number one, we have a big epic adventure game. One that I saw game play of ages ago, and it is still so high on my list. I don’t know much about the World of Darkness RPG stuff that has Vampire The Masquerade in it, but I know I’m excited for this game. You can see some game play below.

That is just the prototype and there is a lot game and story in there. There’s even more with the game that is coming through Kickstarter. I like the different levels, again, how you get your main story through just story elements and a few decision points. But then you get to that tactical map, there is still more story and you can pick how to interact. But it’s really well done and it looks like a lot of vampire intrigue in the final box.

Final Thoughts

There are so many games that I am waiting on that just missed. The Chip Theory Elder Scrolls game, Tidal Blades 2 the dungeon crawler. Slay the Spire is up there, HEL: The Last Saga which I still hope to get. The Dark Quarter, a vampire mystery game. Divinius a legacy game or Arkeis an Egyptian themed legacy adventure game.

Like I said there are a ton of games. And I am going through my collection to get rid of games to make room for them. But all of these I want to see what they are like, and so many of them I hope are great solo games. So over the next two to three years, look forward with me for these games to come in and get a chance to explore them.

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