Totally Tabled

Hello everyone! I hope you've enjoyed my coverage of Shackleton Base. I also just released an overview of PASTELES, a solo-only spiritual sequel to Conservas with a novel cloth-folding mechanism. Check those videos out if you haven't.

I have several topics I want to mention today. I'm experiencing quite a bit of burnout. I take this very seriously, so this month I'm taking measures to get over these feelings by changing up my routine. I find the best way to get rid of burnout is to try new activities. So in May I'm going to focus on the following:

First, Kickstarter is doing a MICRO MAY promotion starting tomorrow where they will highlight microgame campaigns from indie creators. I'll post more about this in a proper video. But I thought I would do my own micro game May by focusing on smaller games this month.

Second, Steam is hosting their 2026 DECK BUILDER FEST with hundreds of board game adjacent video games on sale and new demos to try. Playing video games is helping my burnout and making videos about these games is a ton of fun. I know most of you aren't interested in this content, so I am planning to post most of these videos to a second channel and keep the Totally Digital series focused on board game adaptations. More news on this soon.

Lastly, I am going to continue my TOTALLY DECKED series of solo games that only use a traditional deck of cards. I love this series and really enjoy sharing these games.

I'm also going to try to get a playthrough of Sweet Lands done this month. And I have several Top 10s in the works.

That's the plan! I know many of you aren't interested in these series and would prefer I focus on long playthroughs of heavy games, but I need to take this month off from difficult videos. I hope you understand.

Thank and have a fun day!

19 hours ago | [YT] | 172

Totally Tabled

Hello everybody! I hope you have enjoyed the last few videos, including the HOTSHOTS: SECOND EDITION PREVIEW. I'm working on a bunch of new playthroughs, but I wanted to address an issue that keeps coming up -- YouTube ads.

If you are struggling with too many ads when watching my videos, I am very sorry. I am as frustrated with the situation as you are, and I want to let you know what I plan to do about it.

First, let me explain exactly how I set my YT ads. I don't. YT is supposed to automatically set potential ad spots and then use its magical algorithm powers to make sure viewers don't get too many ads. Obviously, that works for some and not others. It keeps getting worse and worse with every passing month.

I can go in and manually set these ad spots to make sure they are spaced out every 15-20 minutes or so, but again, these are only "potential" spots for ads, not guaranteed. What I have found personally is the algorithm hates these manual spots and is less likely to put ads there, causing my revenue to plummet.

So what do I do? Keep the auto ad placements and have the videos be unwatchable for some viewers, which I find unacceptable. Or do I risk losing so much revenue that I am unable to make videos for the channel as often, which will cause growth to slow and cost me views and maybe the channel itself?

Both are bad options, but I'm choosing the latter. I am currently in the process of manually setting every potential ad spot on every one of my videos. This will take time, but it should ensure that you are not getting bombarded with ads.

I have a goal to remove mid-roll ads completely, which is why I started memberships on YouTube and Patreon. If I can get monthly financial support from 1% of subscribers, I would be able to remove mid-roll ads for everyone. That is a lofty, long-term goal, I know, but hopefully achievable at some point in the future.

Until then, I will do my best to mitigate YT's annoying practices as much as I reasonably can.

I would like to gauge how many viewers are affected by this problem. Please take the poll below. Thank you for your understanding!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 59

Totally Tabled

Hello everybody! Quick update. I just got back from a weeklong family vacation. I hope you enjoyed my TOP 10 CINEMATIC SOLOS list. I've been so busy lately that I had to record and edit the video during vacation. If it sounds or looks different, that's why.

I'm hoping to get back on track with videos this week. I'm working on the next RETAIL RUNDOWN. I meant for this to come out weeks ago, but as I say things have been crazy busy. I'll probably permanently change this series to bimonthly.

Totally Tabled members on Patreon and YouTube (Totally Tubular tier and higher) get to vote for a playthrough each month. For March they have voted for SWEET LANDS. Obviously, I'll need to do the playthrough in April. Again, very busy.

Next month I'm also planning: a playthrough of the next ROVE game, another Totally Decked episode, a preview of the new edition of HOTSHOTS, a playthrough of SHACKLETON'S BASE, and more.

Poll time! If you could only pick one, what improvement would you most like to see from the board game industry as a whole?

1 month ago | [YT] | 60

Totally Tabled

Hello everybody! Quick alert. I've been working like crazy on a sponsored video and the first part is coming out tomorrow. I am talking about my playthrough of the new expansion for Voidfall -- VOIDFALL: RESURGENCE by Mindclash Games.

The Kickstarter campaign launches tomorrow March 17, so if you can please stop by Totally Tabled and check out my video tomorrow, I would be very grateful. As many of you know, Voidfall is one of my favorite games of all time and I am so excited to have this opportunity to show off some of the new features in the expansion.

I'll be playing a new House and new scenario using the new solo/co-op mode called Incursion. In this mode, the Voidborn actually move around the board and skirmish more frequently and unexpectedly. Incursion is a much more dynamic and dangerous form of Voidfall. I can't wait for you all to see it.

The Voidborn also have new ships at their disposal, new crisis cards with new effects, and I'm playing as one of the six new houses -- House Erevon.

I hope you enjoy the video tomorrow. Thanks so much for supporting the channel!

1 month ago | [YT] | 309

Totally Tabled

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying my solo playthrough of Railroad Tiles, along with my plays of Star Trek: Captain's Chair, Wingspan with the Americas expansion, Viticulture with the Bordeaux expansion, and the newest Button Shy game to hit crowdfunding: The Weather Machine.

Also check out my two Top 10 videos about my most anticipated solo games and expansions for 2026. A third video in this trilogy is coming soon.

Lastly, I began a new series, Totally Decked, where I'll feature solo plays of games that use a standard deck of cards. I started with one of my favorites: Scoundrel. Hope you enjoy it.

Totally Tabled members on Patreon and YouTube (Totally Tubular tier and higher) get to vote for a playthrough each month. For February we have a tie between The Old King's Crown and Shackleton Base! I never decided how to deal with a tie, so I suppose I need to make playthroughs for both. Which will be first? I'm not sure yet.


In final news, my favorite American Football team, the Seattle Seahawks, won the Superbowl! Exciting!

Poll time! This one is for a very very small number of subscribers: Which of the following card games would you like to see next on Totally Decked? Thanks!

2 months ago | [YT] | 64

Totally Tabled

Hello everyone! Totally Tabled members on Patreon and YouTube (Totally Tubular tier and higher) get to vote for a playthrough each month. For January they picked STAR TREK: CAPTAIN'S CHAIR. I've already filmed it and I'm currently working on the edit. I hope to release the video later this week.

You can become a member on YouTube or by joining my Patreon at www.patreon.com/totallytabled. I am hoping to grow the channel, but I can only do it with your support. Thank you so much to everyone who has already contributed.

This month, I also plan to make videos for two new expansions of popular games, so keep an eye out for those. And I plan to release my Top 10 Most Anticipated Solos of 2026 list. January is shaping up to be a very busy month.

Poll time! With 2025 coming to a merciful end, how do you feel the year went for solo gaming?

2 months ago | [YT] | 40