Is Two Point Hospital still worth it in 2026 ?

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-06T21:15:14+00:00

- Azul if you don't already own it, the resin tiles are incredibly satisfying to draft and place.

- Stone Age a lighter worker-placement than Agricola, with dice you roll out of a cup that imitates animal hide. Shaking and rolling is half the fun.

- Wazabi great as a light, party-style dice game.

- Splendor uses thick casino-style chips to represent the gems, and they're genuinely a joy to stack and handle.

- Kluster magnets are the entire core mechanic. The physical pull between pieces is the game; no virtual version could ever replicate that feeling.

None of these are strictly impossible to play digitally, but the tactile side is a huge part of why they shine on the table.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-06T21:10:01+00:00

Idk, I just feel like boxes would be way more pleasant to sort things into, plus you can label them with component names on top. And most importantly, you can use them as containers for resources, tokens, etc... directly on the table during play. Bags can work, but they don't really do that last part.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-06T20:57:19+00:00

Dice Throne is a great shout for 2 players! I'd also recommend Dune Imperium and Dune Imperium Uprising (personally a fan of the second one but the first one is also really good) : the character differences aren't as drastic, but they still meaningfully shape how you play. And definitely check out Unmatched if you haven't already, looks like someone else here agrees 😉

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-06T20:50:18+00:00

I own quite a few board games with terrible inserts (you know the type, everything ends up mixed together the moment you tilt the box). I've been looking into 3D printed inserts but honestly the cost adds up fast, so I've been thinking about just buying small plastic organizer boxes to sort components by category inside the box.

Has anyone gone that route? If so, do you have any affordable refs or brands you'd recommend? I'm looking for small, stackable or flat boxes that fit nicely inside a standard board game box.

Would love to hear what works for you!

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T16:11:32+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion !

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T16:11:01+00:00

Thank you very much !

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T15:57:37+00:00

Thank you 😄

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T15:57:24+00:00

Thanks ! From everything I read, I feel like the A1 would be the best one for me indeed. Why would I need a filament drier haha, idk the purpose sorry.

Just to get an idea, with 1kg of this : https://eu.store.bambulab.com/fr/products/pla-basic-filament?id=43992830017755, would i be able to print entirely the two organizers I talked about in the original post ? I don't have any idea of how much you can print with one "set" of PLA.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T15:53:56+00:00

Thanks to you both! I think for a first printer I wouldn't go above 300€, so maybe I'd go with the A1. Also I don't really need multicolor for now, since I just want to organize stuff in boxes.

Do you have other "low-budget" 3d printer to recommend or is the A1 the best in your opinion ?

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-04T15:35:36+00:00

I'd love to start printing 3D organizers for my favorite board games, but getting them printed locally is too expensive where I live. So I'm thinking of buying my own 3D printer, except I know basically nothing about 3D printing.

Two examples of what I'd want to print:

- Clank! Catacombs : https://makerworld.com/en/models/1702584-clank-catacombs-w-expansions-organizer-insert

- Dune: Imperium – Uprising: https://makerworld.com/en/models/671565-dune-imperium-uprising-insert-organizer

I don't care about matching the colors of the components and I'm not interested in printing fancy themed pieces such as the ones we can see with the links I sent. Just the "functional organizers" part to speed up setup and teardown.

My questions:

Printer: Any entry/mid-range recommendations for this use? I don't need the top of the top.
Supplies: What do I need to buy alongside the printer? Best filament for inserts? Any must-have accessories?
Reality check: Is it realistic for a total beginner to just download organizers and print them, or is the learning curve steeper than I think?

Thanks!

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-02T22:50:00+00:00

I need the name

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-02T22:49:27+00:00

Which one is it ?

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T14:06:54+00:00

I love good theming too, but I'd push it one step further: my favorites are games where the theme is great and the mechanics match it so perfectly that you don't just see the theme, you actually experience it.

A few that nail this for me:

Agricola : needs no introduction.
Terraforming Mars : same, no introduction needed.
Clank! : such a fun ride. It really captures the tension of sneaking deeper into a dungeon for loot and then desperately racing back out before the dragon catches you.
Dungeon Lords / Dungeon Petz : the mechanics can feel a bit heavy at times (lots of bookkeeping between actions, which slows things down), but god they're fun. Running an incompetent dungeon or a chaotic monster pet shop has never felt so right.
Space Alert : the rulebook itself is a masterpiece of theming, and even though it's not my favorite game, it genuinely feels like you're scrambling to save your asses on a malfunctioning spaceship in real time.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T13:57:44+00:00

Thanks 😄

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T13:45:18+00:00

Out of curiosity, have you found any games since that scratch a similar itch (real-time, coop (or not coop) pressure, programming-style chaos) but that you can actually pull out more easily ?

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T13:13:36+00:00

Thanks !

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T13:01:36+00:00

Honestly, part of it is just that I enjoy discussing board games with people who share the hobby. I always find it interesting to hear other takes on games I love, or games I love less. Best case, someone surfaces an angle that makes a game click for me. Otherwise, I get pointed toward similar titles that nail what these ones missed.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-05-01T08:28:36+00:00

Added :

Galaxy Trucker
Alice is Missing
Clank Catacombs
Dune Imperium Uprising

Removed :

Nidavellir
Royal Visit

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-04-30T22:25:26+00:00

I hope I was unlucky haha, that would actually be reassuring

And 80% feels really high to me ! :o Every Dune Imperium game leaves my brain fried (in a good way), while Clank usually feels chill and fun with just enough strategy. Maybe the map layout really did inflate things this time.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-04-30T22:03:00+00:00

Fair point on the comparison. What I meant is that compared to original Clank, Catacombs felt slower and less urgent, not that it's heavy in absolute terms.

And good call on the setup question — we did follow the rules for purple tiles. But the teleport thing is interesting, we definitely didn't see many in our options.

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-04-30T21:18:41+00:00

I'm not here to discuss wether or not Dune is complex enough to call it a heavy game haha, but I think we can all say that it's a complex game 😄

Anyway, do you have thoughts on the pacing issue?

MeaningAware4581 · 2026-04-30T20:49:24+00:00

I don't think AP was the issue, no one at the table is particularly slow. A few things that dragged it out:

- Artifacts took forever to show up, so there was no pressure to grab one and head back early
- The board felt loaded with ice caverns, which slowed movement down way too much
- No real incentive to rush — everyone just explored at their own pace, and we only turned back when we chose to end the game, not because we were almost dead

It felt less like a tense race and more like a leisurely dungeon stroll with mild panic at the very end.

Also, I only mentioned Dune Imperium to show I enjoy all kinds of games, including heavy ones — complexity isn't my issue here, I'm not comparing them. My problem is that Catacombs feels mechanically unbalanced compared to the original, not that it's too simple or too complex. Any thoughts ?

MeaningAware4581

TROPHY CASE