Top 10 Retired Lego Sets I’d Love To Own

10. Droid Escape

This is a very small set that is actually pretty reasonable to pick-up. And it is over 20 years old. Lego only had it out for a single year, but it wasn’t an expensive set then so it isn’t too expensive now. I am sure with it being Star Wars that a good number of them sold.

What is it about this set that I like? It is an iconic scene for me from Star Wars. You start out A New Hope with that great scene on the spaceship, but you quickly go to the droids on Tatooine. And this is just the escape pod and the two droids. But I think that is enough for the set because it just shows you what you want from that scene. Everyone is going to know where this is from in Star Wars by just looking at it.

9. The SHIELD Helicarrier

This is a huge set so definitely not one I will track down. But I really like the set. The Helicarrier looks great, and it is an iconic element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I wonder if Lego will every make one again? Maybe, I guess, if it shows up again in another movie. But the set is now $425. That is a lot, though, it started out at $350, so it isn’t a set that has gone up a ton in price.

I suspect that people like the set, but it is one where the minifigs are a bit more limited. And I believe that sets often times go up more in price if they have a rare minifig to go with them. But for a big set, it just looks cool and it is very detailed which is important for me as a nerdy Marvel and Lego fan. Though, it is hard to find Lego sets that I really want for Marvel because so many of them just kind of feel normal.

8. Iron Man Hall of Armor

This is an interesting one to have on the list. But it is one that feels less normal when it comes to Marvel Lego sets. It is not the biggest set, but for Iron Man it is pretty iconic. You get a number of different Iron Man armors, and you get the base that Tony Stark uses to get in and out of some of the armors I believe in Iron Man 3.

This set is one that is reasonable to get. It is more reasonable than a lot on the list for two reasons. Firstly, it is not super expensive. Used it is $43. In fact, the price is lower for it now even new than when it came out. But also it is reasonable because it is not a massive set. As much as I like the Helicarrier on the list, that is hard to display. This is going to be easy to display if I get it.

7. Kylo Ren’s Shuttle

The only Lego set from the sequels that I found to put on the list. This is one that I do think I want to try and track down. We own Poe’s black X-Wing, found a good deal on that. So if I can find a good deal on Kylo Ren’s Shuffle, that would be great. The detail is nice on it, and it comes with a good number of minifigs.

I don’t think it is the hardest to find as well. So while it is a not a super cheap set, it is not super expensive either as compared to some of the other sets on the list. I did a good job of not picking too many expensive sets, I think, this time around. Though, there are definitely some that are a long ways up there.

6. The Black Pearl

I think this one is pretty easy to say why I’d like it. This is from The Pirates of the Caribbean, a series of films that I’ve enjoyed really for the most part. Though, I think I’ve only seen four, are there five now, I don’t know. But The Black Pearl is an major part of those films. And this is a nice looking version of it and very black.

There are so many different pirate ships out there to pick as well. I know there are a lot of classic ones which could make the list. But not having a pirate ship Lego set growing up, it is something that I don’t have as much nostalgia for. So The Black Pearl is more fun for me than some of the other older ones.

5. Ahsoka’s Starfighter and Vulture Droid

I like Star Wars Lego sets. I think that much is obvious by this point. This one i like because it gives you that Clone Wars feel with it with an iconic character is Ahsoka. Yes, there are a lot of new sets with her from the Ahsoka show, but I need to watch that still. I’ve been watching the Clone Wars because my kid has been, and she is great in that.

This is a set that is expensive, though. Some of it is because she’s a popular character and Star Wars. Some also because this is apparently a Wal-Mart exclusive that was out for a single year. So it is going to be more limited in how many people picked it up, I’d think. Still, a set that I’d love to get my hands on, especially if I can find a nice used copy of it.

4. The Battle of Helms Deep

This is a massive castle set in a lot of ways. And it is not cheap to pick up used. I think that it goes for about $400 used and only about $100 more new. I’m sure if you get lucky you can find it cheaper used, but you would need to get lucky. But this set just looks great. And it really is a big set with so much going on in it and so many characters that we like. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas all are part of the set.

And if you read my other list, you know that I like the Lord of the Rings sets a lot. So this is one that feels even more of a bummer to have missed on. It is such an iconic scene and probably my favorite scene from the movies, I love the battle at Helm’s Deep, that it is a set that I would just love to own.

3. The Upside Down

There has only been one Stranger Things Lego set. I am not too shocked by that. It is something that people love, but is it going to give us a ton of iconic locations? No. It is just the US in the 1980’s. And while people love the 80’s, they aren’t going to buy Lego sets for it.

This set, however, I like because it combines not only the house from season one but also the upside down. So you get to see both elements that are pretty iconic for the show. And you need the upside down in there, I think, to really make it feel different than just being a normal house set of some sort.

2. Mos Espa Podrace

I know that people don’t love Episode 1 of Star Wars. Want to know something, it is my favorite of the prequels, even with Jar-Jar Binks playing such a major role in the film. And the podracing scene is awesome. I own the diorama set that they came out for adults not too long ago, and it is great. But this one is the podracers themselves all big and awesome looking. And it has Sebulba and Anakin’s podracers.

This is a set I think I could see myself getting. It has gone up in value, but it is not a crazy price used. Yes, it is more expensive than it was on release, but only by fifty more dollars. I know that I won’t buy this one used, though because that is about $400.

1. Gandalf Arrives

Why is this one at the top of my list? I’m not 100% sure. There are amazing bigger sets, but this one is just that starting moment of The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf is arriving and it’s going to be time for Bilbo’s 111th birthday. The set is simple but it looks great. And it has Frodo and Gandalf in the set along with some great looking fireworks in the back of the wagon.

I think this is also high on the list because it’s slightly more accessible. It is small so that point of being good value isn’t there, but it’s only around $50 used for a really nice looking set. And while you can grab it new, it almost doubles in price to get it in the box. This is really one where I wish I’d been more into collection Lego when it came out.

Final Thoughts

One of the great things about Lego is all the sets that they have put out before. And you can try and track them down. And you see my list, I do plan on tracking some of them down at some point in time. Especially #10 and #1 I think I might try and find both of them.

But Lego is always coming out with so many new sets that are amazing. So if you miss a set, I don’t think it is that big a deal. Yes, you might never be able to get another one of Kylo Ren’s Shuttles. That might be gone forever, but there is going to be new Star Wars sets. In fact, we are a few days away from May the 4th, and Lego is going to announce and drop more sets then. So you always are able to find new awesome sets, and I know I will find more that I would love to get.

What is a set that you are really glad you have because it’s old and hard to find? Or is there a set that you wish you had?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Top 10 Lego Sets I’d Love to Own

10. AT-AT

This one is really a dream set to get. That is why it’s so low. I love the look of this amazing and giant. But that’s the issue, it is amazing and giant and amazingly expensive. Expect to see that a lot on the list. There are a ton of expensive Lego sets out there. And while I’d love to get them all, I certainly can’t because of money and because of displaying them.

But the AT-AT is just so huge and grand it is one that I’d love to have. And in terms of the iconic vehicles from Star Wars, I think I’d prefer to have this giant set to the Millennium Falcon or Slave 1 or a lot of the other ships. Mainly because it is so much more unique than another spaceship. I already have a little Millennium Falcon, Razor Crest, Poe Dameron’s Ship, and more. But I don’t have anything like the AT-AT

9. Viking Village

There are so many medieval themed ones to chose from. But only one on my list and it’s the Viking Village. I think that theme is just more unique for Lego, in fact I know it is. And it stands out as some that still has some great buildings and a great look to it, but isn’t so much the classic stones walls put together. And there is something that feels like it’s going to be that more interesting display piece. Also at just over $100 it’s one of the cheaper sets on the list, though it’s still definitely not a cheap set.

8. Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle

There are a lot of big sets on the list. Enough that I’ll clearly never get them all or have enough space to store them all. But Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle is just such a sharp looking set. And it is a bigger set in terms of the size of the finished product, it’s a much more reasonable price.

This one is truly a display piece of a set. So while others on the list are going to have more toy factor to them, which I do love with Lego, there are some sets that just have more of that build it and put it up and hope you remember to dust it. And very few of them are as sharp and crisp looking as the command shuttle.

7. Avengers Tower

I thought that Avengers Tower might make it higher on the list. But there is a reason that it isn’t. Mainly because while it’s a cool building with a lot of great minifigs it’s less of a dynamic set-up than some. If you don’t know what it is or you just see the building with nothing else, it’s going to look like a kind of cool skyscraper. If you know what it is and you see the super heroes around fighting the Chitauri, it’s going to be more interesting. But while I love it, it’s just not quite as cool as some other sets.

6. Revenge of the Sith Heroes and Villains

This one probably will feel a bit out of place with a ton of larger sets. But I really enjoy the look of their blocky figures here. I don’t always love the kind of squared off guys that Lego makes. I think a lot of it is because, like Funko Pops, just one looks a little bit odd by itself. But when you have a whole group and all the key characters, or most of them, for Revenge of the Sith, it just looks cool to have them all together. And it makes sense because it’s a whole group, not just a random one off.

5. Sanctum Sanctorum

I love Doctor Strange as a character and I really like both movies. This it the highest second Marvel set though, which doesn’t surprise me too much. The Marvel sets are cool, but because they look more modern building a lot of the time it’s less fun than the sets higher on the list. The Sanctum Sanctorum, though, gives you some of that fantasy feel that you’ll see in some sets higher on the list. Plus then it is still Marvel so I really enjoy that element of it as well.

4. X-Men: The X-Mansion

This has some many things that I really like about it. The sentinel there, and the different rooms in the mansion are really two of them. You have also so many great X-Men characters that I think the set just looks great. And I think the X-Mansion is probably the most iconic building in Marvel. So to get a set of that with most of the characters that I really want, I could see having this one set-up in my background for filming videos for 10 Minute Marvel. Or maybe it’ll be down in the TV room as that area gets built out more. Either way, I’d love to get this set for my Marvel nerdiness.

3. The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dur

This one is just impressive with how tall it is. I love the details on it as well and how imposing it looks with that eye at the top. It is one that I think would be a blast to build but also would look great in our library since it is a literary set. I could see what with some of the other Lord of the Rings Lego sets displaying really nicely in there and fitting in very well thematically. Will we get this one, I don’t know. I will say that there is at least one Lego set for Lord of the Rings that is higher on my list.

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale

I love Dungeons and Dragons. So the combination of Dungeons and Dragons and Lego is huge for me. And I love the details on this set. There are so many nods to great Dungeons and Dragons things that keep this from just being a fantasy or castle setting set. And that is what makes me really want to get this one over some other sets on the list.

Add in the fact that it comes with a one shot or a short campaign, forget which that you can play is great. Imagine having that as the centerpiece on the table for a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Everyone gets their minifig out and you play through an adventure together. I have a group who I know would have a blast doing that, and I would have a blast running something like that.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Shire

This is one that I think should be pretty obvious from the previous Lord of the Rings on the list. The Shire is the newest big set. And I expect this one will get added to our collection. We’re mainly waiting for myself to land a new job before we get it. You maybe would have thought that Rivendell would have been on the list, but turns out, we already own that one.

This one I think I maybe even like better than Rivendell. The Shire is just so quaint and cute. And it’s a smaller set so it’s going to be easier to display. With that said, you still get a ton of great minifigs with it and the detail is great on Bag End. I know there are complaints that the party tree could or should be bigger, but it doesn’t bother me.

Final Thoughts

I did already toss out there, but just a reminder, that I already own Rivendell. I just need to spend the time with my wife and get that put together. And ideally we put that together somewhere where the cats can’t get it. I also have the Dagobah Diorama set that I need to put together that might have made the list as well because it’s a very awesome set.

The biggest issue, besides all the money that these sets cost, is displaying them. So many of them are huge and cool and I’d want people to see them, but they also take up a lot of space. And did I mention that we have cats? I need to rebuild my Razor Crest because a cast knocked it down, as cats do.

Also, this list might get revisited with a slight twist on it in the next week. Why? Every set I picked is available now, and I know there are retired sets that I’d love to get my hands on. In fact, I look at eBay from time to time to see if I can find some sets at a reasonable price.

Is t here a Lego set you want to add to your collection?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Dungeon Master Tools – The Campaign

Let’s start out with the big thing, the campaign. This is what you’re going to be playing for weeks, months, or even years of time. My current campaign started in 2020, I believe, and it’ll probably be wrapping up late spring/early summer. That is a long time so the question is how do you create a campaign that goes that long?

The Scary Part

That is the scary part. And the intimidating part that I want to help people get past when being a Dungeon Master. There is this idea that you need to know your campaign before going into it. You pick what you want to run, you spend time studying up, if it’s homebrew, you create the setting, you create towns, and you come up with NPC’s and once you do all of that, you are ready to start your campaign. But I think it’s way simpler than that. So let’s talk about how it is easier to implement.

How To Break It Down

There are two things that you need to start your campaign. One is going to be for you as the Dungeon Master, and one is going to be for your group or prospective players.

• An Elevator Pitch
• An Idea of the End

Let’s start with the Elevator Pitch. This is going to be that get the players interested in your idea pitch. It is going to give them a little bit of an idea of how the campaign is going to start. And some elements of the setting, mainly, is this high fantasy or low fantasy, a lot of magic, or a little magic. It’s not going to explain the whole setting to them or anything like that. It’s just going to be that one paragraph of three or four sentences and that’s it. It could even be as simple as a movie tagline to get them interested.

The other thing that you want to know is loosely how the story is going to end. Why, because you want to keep that in you mind as you plan out the sessions. And we will cover planning out your first game play session in an article soon. But I do want to emphasize to hold onto it loosely. Players might get creative and take the plot in a different way. Or you might come up with a better idea. So don’t hold onto it too tightly.

Examples

So, let’s look at what this can look like, and I’ll give you a couple of examples for it.

Example 1

Elevator Pitch

The party is facing off against the final boss, a terrible Lich who has caused destruction and been a scourge on the lands. You are unprepared for the bosses power and then you wake up. You find yourself back in your home town but you remember the Lich and all the destruction that he caused upon the land. Can you stop it this time around?

Ending

Defeat the Lich.

Example 2

Elevator Pitch

Mysterious towers appeared across the lands. They brought forth monsters into the world but also gave the average person powers to defeat those monsters. Now they are just a part of life, but something seems to be stirring. And there are rumors that if you make it to the top, you find out why these towers appeared. But is that true or is it just a legend?

Ending

Find out what is at the top of the tower.

Dungeon Master Tools Final Thoughts

So let’s wrap up this creating a campaign. Why not put more effort into it? You could, but always first get that buy-in from the players. And we’ll be talking about working with the players in a future article. When you come up with an idea, it’s as simple as starting out with those two things, and they will get built upon as you go.

So what are going to be the next Dungeon Master Tools?

• Session 0
• Session 1
• Story Arcs
• World Building
• Combat
• Exploration
• NPCs/Social Interactions
• Meta Game and Players at the Table

And let me know if there are other things to cover as well that you want to know more about, or help with. I think that there are a ton of different things that new Dungeon Masters are curious about or that feel intimidating. So I hope that I can help make them clearer and simpler for you. And this one is really that first step that you can take before you even start to think about the other elements.

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Initial Impressions on Shadows of the Galaxy

So, let’s talk a bit about Shadows of the Galaxy, the second set of Star Wars Unlimited that Fantasy Flight has put out. Because I like elements of it, but also don’t love other elements. And I know that my quibble is pretty minor. But I want to call it out.

Let’s start out with that quibble. Rightfully so, the first set is rebels versus empire. That is what people want, Darth Vader and Luke. And I like that a lot. But the second set, now, doesn’t continue that. I make mention that I got one more rebel card to use with my Leia and Han deck. And I wish that they’d built up those factions a bit more. Or given even just a few more nods to it in the set.

I get building multiple factions, and that is an element that I like. I love the new Bounty Hunter stuff and the bounty mechanism. So I think they were very smart with adding that in. It adds a very cool element to the game. But at the same time. It is a new faction with bounty hunters, smugglers, resistance, first order. All of them are new elements to the game which waters down the pool.

I assume that Fantasy Flight knows what they are doing. And with that assumption, I also assume that they will continue to flesh out those factions over the next few sets. It seems likely that they’d spend their time adding a bit new, but also revisiting what they’ve done before. If we get a new set two down the line with more rebels and empire, my concern is a moot point. And I think it will get there, but I hope it doesn’t take too long to revisit some of the iconic factions.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I play 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. And I might do more deck construction with Star Wars Unlimited on Mondays as well or pack openings. Right now it’ll be more Slay the Spire.

On Wednesdays, I play solo campaign games. I plan on playing a campaign game coming up. Right now I’m torn between two games. Well, more than that if you watched through the end of the video. And that is more of The 7th Citadel. I plan to keep playing through The Drums of Desolation for a while so join me for that.

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.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

What To Know About Star Wars Unlimited Twin Suns

Let’s talk about what is different tin this version of the game versus how a regular deck works. There are two main differences in the game. The second one, in particular makes it more like Commander. So deck building itself is going to be different.

The first difference is that instead of one leader you play with two leaders. You can see me debate who to set as my leaders at the beginning. It is possible to grab leaders of the same color or aspect, but that is going to limit your deck building. Sometimes, and I think as more sets are added, it might be valuable to do. But with that leader you then will be able to add in a base and get to a third color that you don’t need to pay extra for.

The commander like element is that you need a larger deck of cards, minimum fifty cards. And the cards, you can’t have duplicates. So only a single copy of a card. I need to tweak my deck to improve which cards I have in there, but it changes up deck building strategy. It is more random, so how can you counter the randomness to some extent is the question.

What It Feels Like It’s Missing

This format, I think, is going to be one of my favorites. It’s going to remind me of commander, but I don’t know, after now making two decks, that I feel it is there yet. I want to touch on what I feel like is missing. Because I think some people will jump into this format because they play commander. And then realize that some elements feel lacking in the game. And I think most of them are because it’s the first set.

Firstly, card draw or searching for cards is limited. I think I left one card in like that. I maybe should put in a tiny bit more. But when you only play with a single copy of a card, you might need or want to find it. You should build your deck to handle that you don’t come across it, but it’s harder than Magic the Gathering, because Star Wars Unlimited is so limited right now in it’s card base, to pull of combos. So I think for some they will miss that, even I miss that.

But to continue with combos, I think that the game is light on leaders. I don’t want more in the base set, I just want the second set which is coming soon. I put together a deck where Leia is the main one I care about as a leader. Han is fine, he provides some utility, but I want to look at see if Chewie might be better. Neither of them synergize that well with Leia though. So right now, it is tricky to build up really good synergy between leaders. As more come out, I know that will change, or I’m confident it will is a more correct statement.

Final Thoughts

Before I sign off on this format and give my full opinion, I need to play it. I think that there are elements that I like, and elements that will become better. Right now, I think it is going to be a bit more lucky. And I want to remember that as I play. My cost curve is probably slightly lower because of that. But I expect it to be fun to play this at Gen Con.

Have you played the Twins Suns format of Star Wars Unlimited? Do you like that format better than constructed decks or not? Or what is your favorite format?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Thoughts on Star Wars Unlimited

I’m not going to put in too many thoughts here. Why, I already gave them, and I haven’t played it since then. But I will say, I’m excited to play it. And I’m excited to bust into my other box, like I said, possibly streaming it tonight. I want to see what other cards I get and to start building decks.

If you want to see my Star Wars Unlimited thoughts, you can do so here.

And I can’t do it justice at least compared to Rodney Smith and Watch It Played as how to play the game. If you want a good overview of all of that, checkout the video below.

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.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Catch up on my Top 100 Games (of all Time) 2023 Edition:

100 through 91

90 through 81

80 through 71

Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition – 70 through 61

70. Medium

I suspect that I am reaching the end of where I have placed party games. But there are a lot of good party games on the list up to this point, and Medium is one of my favorites. Medium is a simple word but it offers some good laughs, it offers chances to feel clever, and it’s an easy one for everyone to play.

In Medium you and your partner, for that turn, each play out a card with a word on it. And then, at the same time you try and come up with a word that connects the two. So if the words were “duck” and “goose” options like “bird” or “fowl” would make sense. If you don’t match the first time, then you try again with the new words that you said. And the faster you match, if you do at all, the more points that you get. You get three rounds to match.

This is a game where when it isn’t your turn, 75% of the time you immediately have the “perfect” word pop into your head. As soon as it is your turn, you’re hoping that if you play down “goose” your partner for the round doesn’t play down “taco” and when they do, your mind goes blank. It’s as fun to play in a round as to watch.

Buy Medium

69. Under Falling Skies

Under Falling Skies is the first of a few games that can be played solo and the only true solo game on the list. I think I said two, but it’s the one true solo. Under Falling Skies is a combination of Space Invaders with alien ships coming down and Independence Day of trying to take out the other mothership. All of this before the mothership comes to Earth and it is too late.

I like how simple this game is, but also how complex it is. What you try and do each turn is pretty simple. You are placing dice to slow down an enemies ships descent, gather more power, blow ships out of the sky, build out your bunkers, and research how to stop the mother ship. That is a lot, but it is all just dice placement. You place dice down and that determines how strong your plane is to blow up alien ships. Or you place a die down to add power so you can actually send out that ship.

But the game has a great twist on it. You want high numbers to make your actions better, but by doing so it makes the enemy ships come down faster. If the little ships reach Earth, then the mothership starts to come down faster, I believe. Or it is getting another end game trigger. So you need to be strategic in what you are doing, like a good cooperative game, to fend off your impending doom.

Buy Under Falling Skies

68. Blank Slate

Another party game for the list, Blank Slate is a newer one to me, though was on the list last year, and one that just always works. A good party game should always work, and it should be simple to sit down and start playing within a couple of minutes.

In Blank Slate you are filling in a blank around another word. It might be “truck [blank]” and you need to fill in that second word. Your goal is to match with one other person. Because, if you watch with one other person only, you get three points each, but if you match with more, each of you get one point. And if you don’t match with anyone, you don’t get any points. And that is the game, it’s the first to twenty I believe, and it moves fast.

So it is about being creative but not too creative. I like party games like that because, like I said, anyone can play them. And Blank Slate might not have as many “haha” moments, but it has some fun game moments that party games which are just there for laughs often don’t have.

Buy Blank Slate

67. The Quacks of Quedlinburg

Now we’re on to The Quacks of Quedlinburg, a push your luck bag building game. And this is one that has a number of things going for it as well. It’s not a party game, but it’s pretty simple. With it being pretty simple, brew your quack potion each round and try not to bust, there is strategy to it. Each ingredient that you get has a power to it that may or may not trigger depending on its condition.

So, the powers are one fun element. I also like that Quacks of Quedlinburg adds in more to the game to balance that push your luck. If you bust, you aren’t out in the cold with nothing to show for it. You get to pick either purchasing new ingredients or scoring points. New ingredients means that it’s harder to bust, theoretically, depends on how much you push your luck. But you get behind in points you need to catch up.

And I didn’t mention this on the video, but there is a catch-up mechanism in the game. The further you are behind the leader the more of a boost you get to start the next round of brewing your potion. It isn’t a massive catch-up mechanism, but it helps you get back into the game, and when you do, it goes away. A nice little piece to the game to make it more fun.

Buy Quacks of Quedlinburg

66. Pandemic Legacy Season One (and all Version)

Now the first game that is just a group of games, this is Pandemic. I put Pandemic Legacy Season One up as the picture because that’s been my favorite experience. If you’re not familiar with Pandemic, it’s a game about trying to control diseases until you can find a cure. If you can get the cure for all four diseases the players win, run out of cards, have too many epidemics, or run out of disease cubes, you lose.

The legacy version adds in some story and a campaign that you play through. That story adds just a enough new things from new objectives to new rules and components to make it a really fun time. Though, I don’t know that you can really go wrong with any version of Pandemic. The base game is a lot of fun as well, for me, I don’t know that I need to play vanilla Pandemic again because of Pandemic Legacy. And Pandemic Legacy, the story, is replayable with a new copy and as fun the next time.

Plus now they have World of Warcraft game in the system and a Star Wars version, so if they keep on doing that, soon there will be a version of Pandemic for everyone.

Buy Pandemic Legacy Season One

65. Skytear Horde

This is the other game that I accidentally called a solo game. And I do think I would lean towards playing it solo. Skytear Horde is a tower defense, lane battler game where you are trying to take out the horde and their leader before they can wipe out your base.

I really like the different factions you can have to play as. I also like that the hordes come in different power levels so I might go for a harder challenge or a harder combination sometime. So the game really does scale to the level of difficulty that you want to play at. And it also means that it won’t get stale.

For me, I do think it’s a better solo game. I look at it, and I want to control what is going on. Because while it does scale, the game is not that difficult to learn your faction and play them. Even playing two isn’t the hardest thing out there. So I look at it, and I think, might as well just play it solo and have more of the decision making on my shoulders versus spread out across the group.

Buy Skytear Horde

64. Marvel United

Marvel United is a really fast and fun superhero game. And that combination is what puts it this high on the list. You can grab a character to play as and a bad guy to play against and be ready to play in a few minutes. There aren’t that many games that you can do that with. Add in that I have about 200 different characters, slightly over, between heroes, anti-heroes, and villains to pick from, that is even more impressive.

The game play is quite simple. You try and beat up thugs, take down henchmen or schemes, and rescue bystanders. When you complete two of those three things, you can start beating up the bad guy. Of course, who the bad guy is might change up what you need to do, and the heroes you take in change up what you can do.

I also like a lot how the heroes work. Not that the heroes are always that unique, they get more unique with the X-Men expansion, but how they promote teamwork. What you play down for your actions is boosted by what the player before you played down. So maybe they take a less optimal turn to set you up for a great turn of beating down on the bad guy. I think that works super well in the game and is a ton of fun. It also feels so much like being super heroes or the comics which is great.

Buy Marvel United X-Men

63. Lords of Hellas

From a very simple game to a complex one and honestly one that is a bit messy. But that is some of what makes Lords of Hellas so good. In Lords of Hellas you can win in four different ways (possibly five if I’m forgetting one). You can control a certain number of temples, areas, or a statue after it’s been built, or you can defeat three monsters. And all of them are viable ways to win. But because of that, it adds complexity to the game design.

Then, not shying away from that, Awaken Realms put in a pretty simple but action selection. Mainly, you can’t repeat actions and need to clear them off to be able to do them again. But to add to that, the character you start as, your leader, has a special power. As temples are built, drafts are done for new and more special powers. It’s just a lot of special powers and great time, but, obviously, that makes it more complex as you play. But that doesn’t keep the game from being a blast.

Sold Out

62. SpellBook

A new game to the list, we now are back to a much more simple game. This is a game about set collecting spell ingredients to learn spells and add them to your spellbook. Then you use those spells to improve your future turns and either get more materials to feed your familiar or learn more spells.

This game has a good progression and good decision space for a pretty simple game. How you learn spells and chain them together is an interesting puzzle. You can only learn each spell once and they have certain points on them. So do you wait for better points, or do you grab one or two early that will help you do better on spells later. And the game ends when someone has cast all their spells, or when someone has fully fed their familiar. And both options work to win, which I appreciate as well.

This is a game that won’t be for everyone. And I think if it just had one set of spell cards, it’d end up being pretty standard. But the different combinations offer room for expansion but also offer room in the base box for different games and different experiences as you play.

Buy SpellBook

61. Draftosaurus

Finally we have Draftosaurus. This is the closest to a roll and write game on the list. That is what it feels like to me. And it’s a light and fast game that is just a fun time. In this game you are drafting dinosaur meeples and putting them into pens to build the best dinosaur attraction out there. The game is super simple with pens having simple scoring rules. But that is what makes the game fun, grab your dinosaur and go.

And the pens are all different. So some of them you want to get all matching dinosaurs, some you want all different and some you want pairs. The not so twisty twist for the game is that you are limited to where you can place them. A die is rolled and what determines where, unless you were the person to roll the die and then you can play anywhere. It just adds a little bit of strategy and random structure to the game without slowing it down. So a light fun, filler of a game.

Buy Draftosaurus

Upcoming Streams

Let’s run through the stream structure like I normally do. You might already know the schedule but in case you don’t. Wednesday at 8 PM Central I stream either a campaign game, or with this time of year it’s my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2023 Edition. And join me next Wednesday for games 60 through 51, so hitting the half way point. It goes so fast, and now I have so many games that I want to play.

Then on Monday I stream at 9 PM Central time. It’s generally a solo game. Though I’ll also do pack openings for things, like I should have a Lord of the Rings Collectors box coming for the new cards. But normally it’s a solo game and a one off for the game like a roll and write, or sometimes a game like Under Falling Skies which was on the list today.

But the best way, if you want to know when I go live or a new video goes up (it’s basically always live), please consider subscribing. You can do that here. And click that notification bell on the channel and you’ll always know when I go live.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Top 10 Games to Demo at Gen Con

Let’s start out by cheating with two honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention:

Kinfire Delve – Kinfire is a game that I might pick up, it’s a big campaign game. Delve looks like a smaller game set in the same universe. But if it builds on that world in a fun away, even without being a campaign game, it is one that’s on my radar. And it’s still cooperative, so it might be more of a bite sized game.

The A.R.T. Project – Another cooperative game and another one that looks beautiful. I obviously like cooperative games, and I’m hoping that this one won’t be too complex. The idea of trying to figure out certain scenarios to stop an art thief, but again not be a campaign game, that sounds like a lot of fun. And with the look of the game, not a company I’m always drawn towards, but this game is.

Onto the main list.

10. Super Squad High

Let’s start out with the most important thing. There is a narrative dating mechanism. This is a high school for super heroes, of course there is going to be that. Plus it’s cooperative and it’s super heroes, and honestly, I don’t know what’s in this game not to love. Maybe the fact that secretly one of your classmates if the villains. But it doesn’t sound like a hidden traitor game, it sounds like one of the people you interact with through the game will be. So I hope I don’t end up dating them.

9. Spellbook

Phil Walker-Harding puts out good balances of interesting games, but not too complex games. This is fun that they are advertising there are 2100 different spell combinations. That means that the game is going to be and feel unique. And those spells are going to be unique and changing as the game goes on. Plus the whole main concept, feeding your familiar with the “materia” from the spells, that is interesting. Finally, you decide when you spit out those spells. Get an affect now, or you hold onto your spell and launch it later with more power.

8. Reign of Hades

Exploration, fighting monsters, dealing with whatever adventure is thrown at you? The only question is, why is this one not higher on the list for me? Honestly, it probably should be. It’s of course cooperative and hand management. I hope that it’ll be one that stands out as  unique and not too big, but one that I’m curious about as it’s a style of game I love.

7. Charcuterie

Build the best charcuteries board, that sounds fun. I do love a good charcuterie board. The downside I will want to eat charcuterie while playing Charcuterie. From the game side of things, it uses one of my favorite mechanisms. That being I split you choose, so I might want olives, but how do I make it so I give you something good enough that you’ll take it and leave me my olives? But I don’t want it to be too good so I make it harder on myself later on.

6. Diced Veggies

While I prefer charcuterie, this game also looks interesting and it looks simple. Honestly, this is one I’d have over looked except that the YouTube channel Thinker Themer were in on it. And I like what it looks like, you are cutting dice off of a big block of dice. Always need to cut at the edge and no more than 10 pips worth. So can you setup some good cuts so you get great turns and don’t leave anything great. All the while using those dice to fulfill cards for points. Simple, but sounds like a fun time.

5. Defenders of the Dictionary

Cooperative word game, like I said, I like cooperative games. And this one sounds very interesting. You are working together against some force in the game that is trying to stop you. And you do that by building words and working with each other. They do a good job of making it sound really fun, and if it’s a strong word game then I’m very curious. It also talks about it being grid based, so I’m not sure if you’re building up words or not? I think that just sounds unique.

4. Weirdwood Manor

This game sounds really interesting because it’s a horror themed game. But not just a horror themed game, one with a haunted or weird house. And the house, from what I can tell, rotates, so how it’s setup at the start of the game might not be how it ends. Maybe should be lower on the list, but I like a cooperative game, and when you have a weird horror theme, that makes me quite interested.

3. Horror on the Orient Express

Have I said that I like horror. And then there is a whole lot more. It’s a cooperative game. There is story and adventure to it, you need to deal with cultists and really a lot of the standard Lovecraftian things. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to play it. I like the them, I like the setting. And if it can have story and depth to the game, not just a simple dice chucker, I am excited to see what it can offer.

2. Ticket to Ride: Legacy

A legacy game, I love legacy games. Ticket to Ride, my favorite gateway game. What do I think this is going to offer, I’m not even sure. And what can you demo on it, I’m definitely  not sure. But I love the idea of it and I like the idea of it for being that gateway plus game. Kind of like Pandemic Legacy let me play Pandemic again and feel like there was more without being too much. I hope that Ticket to Ride Legacy falls in line with those.

1. Star Wars: Unlimited

This one no shock that it’s on my list. It’s a competitive trading card game. But it’s Star Wars themed, I really like Star Wars. And there is a collectible aspect and deck construction. But I like how they are doing a few things. Firstly, “rare” cards are less rare than you’d think to keep the game accessible. But alt art cards, or foil, those are going to be the chase cards in the set. And I like the deck building because you are battling on different fronts. So you might build a deck that is very focused on attacking and defending on the ground in hopes to overwhelm your opponent. Of course, that means that you are weaker in space, so there is going to be a lot of interesting strategy and deck theory crafting that I hope to dive into.

What Is Your Must Demo Game?

Let me know what game or games that I might be missing on my list. There are so many games, even more than I put up on video, which you can find below. But which ones stand out to you as games that you’d like to get demoed when you go, or ones you think should be on my radar?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Upcoming Gen Con Coverage

But before we get to all of that, let’s get to what my coverage is going to look like this year. Both leading up to Gen Con and post Gen Con. I did a video, two actually, of all the Board Game Geek listed games for sale and demo. I plan on doing two videos on that again this year. Those can be fairly long so likely will take the place of campaign games the next two weeks.

Beyond that, I like to put up my Top 10 games to demo and my Top 10 games to buy. The other look is more about everything, this is specifically what I’m most excited for. Slightly different, also fairly similar.

Finally, when I come back from Gen Con, I like to list off what I’ve played and talk about those. Write a “Point of Order” for the new games that I got. And then highlight some of the best experiences at Gen Con in another article. So expect that for the coverage leading up to and around Gen Con.

My 2023 Gen Con Events

7. Beacon Patrol

Beacon Patrol is a small tile tableau building game from Pandasaurus Games. I like that style of game with Carcassonne and I am curious to see what this one offers. It’s a shorter event and a cooperative game, so I want to know how this game comes together. And how as a cooperative game it is building in meaningful decisions for the players.

6. Splintered Lands

I like to find games that are in playtesting if I can. Something that is new or still in the works that I can sit down and get a look at first. Splintered Lands is one of those games. A deck building game in a post-apocalyptic world. Two things that I like there. I want to see how that works in a card battler game of building defense and attacking. It could be great, it could feel like what’s been done before. I am just curious and need to know.

5. Burncycle

One thing that I like about some events at Gen Con is sitting down and playing a game that I own. If I already own it, why do I need to play it there? Because I have yet to play it at home. Burncycle is maybe the only purchase from Gen Con 2022 that I need to play still. The rest I’ve played, and Burncyle is the biggest and most intimidating. So might as well learn the game at Gen Con and be able to take it back home, the knowledge, and play easier at home.

4. The Dice Tower 2023 Awards

First of two event ones here back to back. I enjoy the Dice Tower and while I really liked their Top 5 last year, this year they are doing an awards show. I haven’t watched their awards shows in the past two years. But I figure that it will be a fun time. And it’s part of an evening that should be a very good time with some laughs and hear about some games that I might have missed over the past year or what people are touting as the best.

3. Floodgate Games Celebration

The other event with Floodgate Games Celebration. I missed it last year, I think I maybe had an event scheduled over it. I just know that they had an ambitious event for their legacy game which they took down. Then this event replaced it. But because it came up later on the schedule in 2022, I missed it. This year, on the look out for it. A chance to learn about new Floodgate project, I’m excited for that and to just celebrate the games that they have put out already.

2. Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition

If it weren’t for a late added event this would have been #1. I really like Lost Ruins of Arnak. The system works well, the adventure, for being a worker placement game, is there. And there’s enough going on with buying cards to add to your deck, exploring, and fighting monsters to keep me entertaining.

The Missing Expedition expansion is going to make the game cooperative. That to me is weird and I need to know more. Also it is for a game that I love, so I want more. I already pre-ordered for Gen Con pickup the expansion. So that will b great to be picking that up. But like Burncyle, while I am at it, why not learn the game. So I signed up, on the first day, for a slot to get to play the game.

1. Star Wars: Unlimited

But my #1 event is a trading card game. Danger Will Robinson for that. I got pulled back into TCG’s with Magic the Gathering’s set for Lord of the Rings. Now there is a Star Wars set and I like Star Wars. This is a game that won’t even come out for a year, I would guess. But they are demoing it here. And if you demo it, you get some exclusive cards, Vader and Luke Skywalker. Don’t worry, they will be in the set as well, these are just special versions.

This one really interests me though because I like Star Wars. And I like a few things about what they said for the game. Firstly that you are battling on two fronts to take down your enemy. Both with land and space, so you can lean into one or the other. A balanced approach might mean you can get damage through on both, but if you lean heavily land or space, you might be able to overwhelm with more force. Of course, leaving yourself then vulnerable as well.

Final Thoughts

I often have a weird combination of events. And sometimes I don’t even make it to all the events. I was intentional about what I signed up for this year, a bit more than last year and less than the first year. Also shorter events.

It’s easy to overwhelm a schedule y signing up for a ton of things. And then you find that you don’t want to play them all. You want to spend time on the floor and demoing more games. On the flip side, it’s easy to just play a little bit and find yourself done every day when the dealer hall closes. Or find that you don’t sit down at tables and play. I play with random people all the time at Gen Con, that is part of the fun. But I get why it is hard for some people.

Overall, I like the events that I signed up for. There are definitely some less interesting ones to me on the list, mainly the bottom two. However, they are still interesting and I want to explore and experience them to see if they are a game that I will just fall in love with. There is certainly the chance so I got to try and take that and see what happens with them. Because one thing I love about Gen Con is trying new games.

What event sounds more interesting to you? And if you’re going, what event are you most excited to attend on your list?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Please note that this episode was recorded on Monday night. That means that there was no editing done to it. The time constraint was that we wanted to cover the trailer, we thought maybe trailers, coming out of the Super Bowl. And next week it would be too late because we’re going to be talking Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer:

Thanks for Listening to 10 Minute Marvel

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends. Word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find on the podcast services. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions

What did you think of the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer? And really, with this movie, how do you think it will end for the Guardians team? Will some of them continue on and who might it be?

Also, let us know when you’re going to be going to see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Will you be going opening weekend?

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below. Or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel.

Thank you again for listening, and I’ll see you next time.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here