YouTube is a fantastic resource when it comes to tabletop gaming.
There’s a huge number of game reviewers, previewers, Let’s Players and other content creators out there and I wanted to bring together a list of my favourites.
Hopefully someone will find this list useful, leading them to discover a corner of the internet they didn’t know about before.
In no particular order:
1. The Dice Tower
I know I said “in no particular order” there, but The Dice Tower really does need to be at the top. It’s been about for over 10 years and is the biggest board game channel around. Though The Dice Tower is hosted by many different people, with contributors from far and wide, the beating heart of The Dice Tower is Tom Vasel.
Tom is a hugely influential figure in the industry and if you spend any amount of time watching the channel, it’s clear to see that he’s a lovely man as well. Tom, and the rest of the folks at The Dice Tower, work incredibly hard to spread the good word of board games, with weekly reviews, top 10 lists, live shows, Q&As etc. The Dice Tower is a fun and friendly place to spend time, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wanted to learn more about board games.
Recommended videos:
Tom Vasel’s Top 100 Games of All Time
Any of Zee Garcia’s reviews
The History of The Dice Tower
Shut Up & Sit Down create what are, to my mind, the best board game reviews around. Their reviews are well produced, well written, genuinely funny, intelligent, charming and incisive.
Though their taste in games has somewhat veered away from my own recently, I still find their videos highly enjoyable, and I’ve discovered some amazing games over the years thanks to them (Fog of Love, Catacombs, Flick ‘Em Up, Mysterium, Quacks of Quedlinberg and Arkham Horror The Card Game to name but a few).
Their website is a great place to find the latest board gaming news, too.
Recommended videos:
SU&SD’s Fog of Love review
An Intro To Board Games
Board Gaming’s Golden Age
Watch It Played is a channel that specialises in teaching people how to play board games, presented by the fantastic Rodney Smith. It should be anyone’s first port of call if they’re looking to try and learn a specific game, as Rodney is superb at teaching and communicating rules clearly.
Watch It Played has become such a cornerstone of the board gaming hobby that it is now sponsored by Board Game Geek, the world’s largest board gaming website. Many board game publishers sponsor Rodney in creating the videos for their games, which gives his channel an air of officialness that is hard to find anywhere else.
If you want to learn how to play a game, or get better at teaching others how to play games, Rodney is the best in the business.
Recommended videos:
Any of the How To Play series
Cardboard Rhino is a brilliant channel that makes some excellent, high quality how-to-play videos (‘Play it Right‘) as well as a series of short reviews (‘Rhino Says Yes‘).
The Rhino Says Yes segment is full of great games, and introduced me to some of my favourites, such as the superb Chronicles of Crime, and at under 3 minutes each, they are really easy to watch.
The presenter, Eleni, really knows her games, is effortlessly charismatic and I could listen to her charming accent all day. A channel definitely worth checking out.
Recommended videos:
The Rhino Says Yes series
The Play It Right series
Tabletop Minions is a channel that is dedicated to Tabletop Wargaming. More specifically, it is focused on helping people new to miniature games find their feet in the hobby.
The host, Uncle Atom, is what you could call a “hobby hero”: he is very encouraging and helpful, full of wisdom and advice for those taking their first steps in wargaming. Uncle Atom offers advice on painting techniques, what to buy, ways to save money, how to conduct yourself when playing against others, ways to stay motivated when painting or building models and so on.
Out of all of the channels listed here, Tabletop Minions is probably the one that I’ve spent most time watching. Uncle Atom is an extremely clear communicator, and listening to him is an absolute pleasure (due in part to his deep and mellifluous voice). The sage advice that Uncle Atom gives really has helped me increase my enjoyment of the hobby, and I’m very grateful for that.
It’s a channel that I find very inspiring. Highly recommended.
As a bonus, Tabletop Minions is also home to a series of videos called Painting With The Pro, where professional miniatures painter Sam Lenz teaches painting. Sam is an incredible painter and just an extremely cool guy, so those videos are well worth checking out too.
Recommended videos:
Why You Should Keep A Painting Journal
Avoiding Your Hobby Motivational Traps
Painting With The Pro
Pete The Wargamer is a channel primarily focused on miniature painting.
Pete creates excellent painting tutorials that produce some fantastic results. They are easy to follow, and every step is illustrated clearly.
He has painted a wide range of miniatures, so it’s fairly simple to find something that is similar to what you may be looking for.
If you’re looking for clear, step-by-step painting tutorials, Pete The Wargamer is one of the best.
Recommended videos:
How To Paint Orruk Brutes
How To Paint Rust
How To Base Miniatures: Snow
Guerrilla Miniature Games is another wargaming focused channel, but this time one that specialises mainly in battle reports and Let’s Plays.
The host, Ash, plays a wide variety of games with his guests and makes some of the most watchable battle reports around, I think. He’s also a great painter, so the tables always look stunning and he has a really good attitude towards the hobby.
There’s plenty of other stuff too, such as chat shows and more editorial content.
If you want to see miniature games being played, this is the place to go.
Recommended videos:
Let’s Play Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Let’s Play Kings of War Vanguard
Let’s Play Gaslands
Warhammer TV is devoted to teaching people how to build and paint Warhammer miniatures.
From full step-by-step painting guides, to quick videos showing off one technique, I find their videos extremely helpful. Need to know how to make that gun look like the barrel has been scorched by heat? There’s a video for that. Need to know how to paint that particular cloak? There’s a video for that too.
Beyond the painting tutorials, there’s a whole host of content, with interviews, podcasts, previews, how to play guides and more.
Warhammer TV is a fantastic resource for anyone who likes painting miniatures or is interested in the Warhammer hobby.
Recommended videos:
Painting Tip of the Day
How to Play Age of Sigmar
How to Sculpt Fur on Your Miniatures
Martin Gonzalvez‘s channel is relatively small compared to some of the others here, but I think it’s really interesting.
Martin is an expert in print and play games, that is to say, free games that you can download and print out yourself.
He has created a series of videos which walk you through the process of constructing your own print and play game from start to finish, as well as a series of short videos called The Cut, which talk about developments in the world of print and play gaming, and give recommendations for games.
As someone who was aware that print and play was a thing, but didn’t know too much more about it, I’ve found this channel to be really interesting, and well worth a look if you have any interest in creating your own print and play games.
Recommended videos:
How To Make Print and Play Game Cards
The Cut
Happy watching.
DICE IN THE DARK 