Most nights, I spend about an hour before going to bed indulging in YouTube videos on board gaming.
There are hundreds of different channels dedicated to board & card games with everything from unboxing videos to instructional to myriads of lists. Some are extremely professional with studio quality visuals and sound while others look and sound like they were recorded in someone’s attic. Don’t be fooled by the professionalism. There are gems out there that might look or sound horrible but have some really valuable information.
As with my recent article on podcasts, this will be the first of a series that presents some of my favorite board game video contributors.
Foster the Meeple – Jeff and Jamie are two of the most entertaining contributors in the gamingverse. Whether reviewing a new game in their ever growing collection, quizzing each other about their game preferences or doing a tournament to determine the best Villanous character, they are always funny, informative and enormously creative.
They have also struck a chord with the board game video community, having teamed up with such channels as Watch It Played (Rodney Smith), Tablenauts, Kovray and Second Star to the Left.
ThinkerThemer – Like Jeff and Jamie, ThinkerThemer is also a real life couple, Amy, who looks at gaming from a mechanical and “brain burney” aspects, and Maggie, who is all about the theme of the game. The differences in approach to playing and reviewing games gives a really well rounded presentation that can be of value no matter how you approach the hobby.
This channel also embraces a wide variety of video subjects from reviews to looks at upcoming Kickstarters to “Small Talk” which delves not only into their gaming experiences but a little bit about their lives. More than most contributors, you often feel that Amy and Maggie are your friends and not just board game talking heads.
Their latest project is “10, Out of 10” where they are doing short reviews of every game in their quite considerable collection and rate the games on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s quite amazing how close the two come in their ratings on many of the games, even when taken down to a tenth of a point.
The Dice Tower – Hellooooo Captain Obvious but, just in case someone trips across this article who is brand new to gaming, it’s important to present the YouTube channel that comes the closest to a board gaming network.
Started many years ago by Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower has constantly evolved from just reviews to a wide ranging series of programs touching on all corners of the gaming world. While most gaming channels post a couple of new videos per week, Vasel and company sometimes do five or more a day.
For those who might remember The Dice Tower as the Tom Vasel show (or Tom, Zee and Sam), the channel has recently expanded with a wide range of employees and contributors who record in a variety of different combinations. Even the reviews, previously a one person enterprise, has become revolving groups of two to four which gives a lot more variety to the opinions presented.
