Investigating Board Game Miniatures

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There is maybe a reason no one’s done an exhaustive video on board game miniatures. It’s an incredibly specialist subject that requires insider knowledge of board game manufacturing. The only people who have that knowledge are the people who manufacture board games and the people who manufacture board games have a vested interest in the continuation of the ability to keep manufacturing board games.

It might surprise you then that for this video I sat down and talked to the people who manufacture board games (with the promise of anonymity) and found out that despite making board games with plastic miniatures, they were not actually fans of plastic miniatures.

This video then is a sort of reconciliation. An attempt to recognize that there is a joy and artistry with miniatures, but also many pitfalls. And also, a conversation about Iron Fist Alexander that’s way too long for it’s own good. But hey, wouldn’t be an NPI video without a massive tangent right at the beginning.

Endeavor: Deep Sea and the Turn One Trap

Yeah, the designers of this game spelled Endeavour wrong, but that’s not the only mistake in Endeavor: Deep Sea. There is a kernel of this game that is immensely compelling. It’s maybe my favourite euro game of 2025. It bucks a lot of modern trends of euro games and creates an interactive puzzle that centers on engine building in an incredibly moreish way. Real good!

But it also exists in a system that feels like it builds on design tropes that have become outdated for a reason. Basically, it’s old-fashioned in good and bad ways. What a package!

Sure, Tenby looks cute, but it's actually...

Some games are cute. Some games are crunchy. What if there was a game that could do you both? Okay, I mean, it’s not REALLY crunchy. But it’s crunchier than you might think! Like a panko bread crumb or toasted coconut shavings. Small, but punching above its weight. Did I mention it was cute? It’s the total package.

This Roll and Write is HUGE (and strange) | TEND Review

Our hobby is different now. There used to be this concept of a showpiece component. One standout feature to make you feel like there’s something special in your board game. Something to get punters to punt and players to play.

It is no great exaggeration to say that every component in TEND is a showpiece component (forcing the question: what is the point then?). With more bling than a nail salon, TEND would be easy to dismiss, but… there is something to this game.

A compulsive appeal to push, try and strategize. It is by no means bad. But board games don’t play in isolation, especially when their price tag begs you to find an alternative. More on that in our review.

The Hottest Games from Spiel Essen

Sometimes we make long thoughtful videos about the cultural nuances of our hobby. This is not one of those videos. This is just two hours of us talking about games we played at an absurdly large and consumerism focused board game convention. But hey, there’s cool games here!

Vantage is Perfect. I Don't Like it.

Rarely is a review this complicated. I like it, I don't like it - make up your mind Efka! Thankfully, I don't have to, I can just make a 27 minute video on youtube dot com and list all of my feels in a (hopefully) entertaining fashion.

The Two Braveries of The Old King's Crown

The Old King's Crown is a game that wowed us. So rarely do we see such a strong combination of intricate mechanisms and thematically rich play. It's a multi-layered experience, and although it is at times wobbly - the juice, as they say, is worth the squeeze.

My Friend Made an Excellent Board Game

Hello everybody! Today on Noooooo Pun Included we are shillin’ like there’s no tomorrow. Selling out. Taking the moolah. Except of course, there’s no moolah and we’re not taking, we are giving. Specifically, we are giving the gift of a video on our channel to a friend who made a board game that we liked. It’s called Emberleaf and we think - it’s pretty neat. Maybe take a look at it.

Why is Arcs Like That?

Well, here it is. The longest video we’ve ever made. I guess it’s only appropriate that the game that sparked a thousand discourses would provoke a video of this length.

Arcs is a game that will confuse people easily. It sits at an intersection of cultural expectations from multiple genres and it consciously attempts a subversion of all of them. There’s a lot happening here, and a lot to go over. We tried to make it as entertaining as possible. We hope you enjoy.

Time to Say Goodbye to Ticket to Ride

Hello, I would like one ticket please? My destination? As far away from Ticket to Ride as possible. You heard me right. At No Pun Included, we are not TTR fans.

Ticket to Ride, in case you’re not familiar, is maybe one of the most popular board games in the world. More popular than Catan, and certainly more respected than Monopoly. Or at least it was until we came along and said “ENOUGH!”

Join us for a video that does not waste time debunking the myth of TTR, but simply offers better alternatives, suited for folks who are off-ramping themselves from their first dip into the world of cardboard into new horizons.

Find the Board Game Dirtbag shirts here: https://no-pun-included-shop.fourthwall.com

Is Every Game REALLY Political?

There are many good things a person could ask. And yet, today I am asking, can we find political meaning in any game? For example, what about a game like Sausage Sizzle, a yahtzee style affair with cutesy animals? What is political about that. The obvious answer is nothing. This video, however, looks for a different answer.

Don't worry, Galactic Cruise is VERY safe.

Once in a blue moon comes a euro game that feels... special. There's just something about it that makes it stand out from the crowd. I am not sure that Galactic Cruise is that game - it's too hard a call to make because whether it feels like that to us or not doesn't matter. It's how everyone else receives it.

But I do hope that it is, there's just something cooking in this game that feels simultaneously breezy and crunchy - a good combination! Not to mention the standout production, art, compelling premise - a total package.

When we started working on this review, I asked Elaine, half-seriously, if she thought she could build a human sized rocket out of cardboard. The glint in her eye made me realise very quickly that my half-seriously was her full-seriously.

It took more than a week.

Which seems unreasonably long for something that's meant to be intetionally shoddy. But even a silly thing can take a long time. Especially when you have to cut out and glue together something like forty triangles.

Seal everything with primer and let it dry.

And then paint it and let it dry.

But, eventually we got there.

Yup, that's a "rocket" alright. And here is the kicker - the stupid thing is so big we could barely get it into shot. There's maybe a five second scene where the entire thing is visible in the video, otherwise you can see parts of it and that's it.

But it was worth it! Mostly because we got to make the kind of NPI video we used to make circa 2017-18 where we got to be silly, a little creative and just gush about a game because we enjoyed it. You might even say we've gone retro NPI to keep the theme of retro-futurism going.

And you can obviously watch the result for yourselves. I hope it brings some of that much needed levity.

Is Arydia the Next Board Game Superhit

Hot on the heels of checks notes a thousand other dungeon crawler campgain games comes another dungeon crawler campaign game! But wait, what is that smell? Is it… success? There’s certainly a buzz about Arydia. It feels like something is different, new, fresh. Some might say even exciting? Is it possible that this oversaturated genre is getting a shot of arydialine in its arm?

The answer, as it always turns out, isn’t so simple. Arydia is definitely a game that sports a wow factor but not everything is wow, some of it is just ow. More on this in the review itself.

This is Arousal

This is a YouTube video about arousal

No Pun Included's Game of the Year 2024

It’s our Game of the Year, and for more you’ll have to watch the video!

SETI is "The Best of" Euro Games

Friends, answer me this. Do you like tracks? And if the answer is no, I want you to think of good tracks. Not those shabby “I just go up on the track to get some points” ones, but dynamic. Where you have to time the placement just right, tactically outmaneuvering other players. Still no?

What about area majorities - you know, the euro game version of those miniature wargames except there’s no miniatures and everyone just places little cubes for their fights? Still no? Okay, what about hundreds of cards? Do you like hundreds of cards? Oh come on you gotta like one of these.

FIne. Aliens. This game has aliens. There’s actual alive aliens in the box. You open it - out the alien pops, says something unintelligible which you psychically intuit to mean “hello.,” even though up till now you were not aware you’ve had psychic powers but maybe this alien awoke something inside of you? Have I got your attention now? Okay. Then let me tell you about SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Pampero and Why Euro Games Don't Hit the Same Anymore

Is this harsh? I feel like this is harsh, right from the get go. But I’d be lying to you and myself if I didn’t admit that most euros just aren’t that special anymore. Has the genre peaked? Reached the plateau? Peak of the windmill?

Well, Pampero is here to say capital N capital O, it’s a euro that is HOT TO GO. With fancy components and innovative mechanisms it was ready to shake up a very stale scene and… crickets. The public concensus? It’s fine. So what happened here? What is it that’s so different about it? And why didn’t it land? All of that is the subject of today’s video.

But do stay till the very end for a very special announcement, if you’ve been a long time viewer and if you’ve enjoyed Bessie’s contributions to the channel, you won’t want to miss this.

Leviathan Wilds: A Spectacular Homage to a Classic

Somewhere in the video I say that Leviathan Wilds should not work. The fact that it does is a miracle, a conjuring, some sort of arcane trickery that animates paper and wood into a daunting physical act. If you boil Leviathan Wilds down into genre, you appropriately get boiler plate tags. Co-op. Boss-battler. Action selection. But if you distill it into essence you get only one word - magic.

Leviathan Wilds is a valiant attempt at translating a premise not at all dissimilar to Shadows of the Colossus into board game form. In it, you’ll climb, leap, hop and glide across the terrain of gargantuan creatures trying to liberate them from blighted crystals. It’s snappy, feather-light and more-ish in a way that only modern co-opeartive games can be.

But it’s beating heart lies in adaptation and how effortless it makes it feel. I still don’t know why Leviathan Wilds works, but I’m glad I got to experience it. For more, please watch the review above.

I'm not saying Slay the Spire: The Board Game is better than the original

Someone please pass me my hat - for I must eat it. Devour it whole, with fixings! Dear viewer, can you blame me for taking one look at Slay the Spire: The Board Game and every single one of my sceptical reviewier instincts kicking into full gear? In an industry replete with video game after video game after video game having it’s own little board game offspring and so many of them being, let’s not mince words, quite poor - it was only reasonable to asume that this one will not be somehow different.

But my job isn’t to asume. My job is to set those feelings aside and actually try things and my gosh am I glad I gave this one a chance. In every single step Slay the Spire: The Board Game surprised me and subverted my expectations.

My Favourite Game: Ra

The second episode of My Favourite Game should give you no doubts - this series is all bangers. I mean, name a better auction game than Ra. If you can - you’re wrong! Joking, you are allowed to like other auction games but you gotta admit that Ra is at the least excellent anyway.

If you’re not familiar, Ra is the creation of one Dr. Reiner Knizia, or the K-Niz amonsgt friends and has been about since 1999 in various editions. It’s longevity, of course, speaks for itself, but this new edition by 25th Century Games with artwork from Ian O’Toole is the perfect opportunity for my to review this gem of a board game. Enjoy!