I just watched a 20 minute video about a game that I could tell five minutes in I wouldn't care for. Listening to Tom talk about a game that he really enjoys is so much fun, though.
I remember the same when Pipeline came out a few years ago (edit to include the shoutout at the end, I thought they'd mention it!). I knew it was something I would bounce off of, but the team explained it so well and with that trademark SU&SD enthusiasm that I could completely understand what people would enjoy about it.
I love Food Chain Magnate and Roads & Boats, but this one seems like something I would hate passionately. Little interaction, fiddliness, very, very long game... Yeah, I don't see why I'd play this one.
As a not native speaker I'm admiring Tom's pronunciation and clarity, I can easily watch him without captions. It's a nice experience listen to you, Tom!
As someone with hundreds of hours in Satisfactory, this looks like exactly the sort of life-ruining experience I've been searching for in board gaming.
16:00 "You'll probably know by now if this is for you". I knew within 30 seconds it wasn't for me, but I stuck around for the great comedy and delivery.
I love Tom's reviews. Quinn's work is funny and on point, and Matts's reviews are clever and often amusing, but Tom is on a whole other level. You can tell he is passionate about what he does and finds the best ways to deliver his message using visually compelling sketches and artwork. It reminds me of the old Shut Up & Sit Down, back when Paul and Quinn were still experimenting and trying to make something new.
I managed to grab a copy of roads and boats and it's absolutely incredible, maybe my favorite joke in it is that the resources required to make an airplane are a goose and two planks
Tom is the best board-game reviewer online hands down. His crazed obsession with learning each nook and cranny of the entire game means you only need to listen to him and no one else.
Quinn - Biting critique and insightful honesty Matt - Surreal entertainment and abstract nuance Tom - Passionate appreciation and enthusiastic creativity Ava - Technical precision and friendly encouragement
This is a great summary of the reviewer flavors! Now we just need one of those buzzfeed quizzes for "Which SUSD gamer are you?" 😆 I'm probably mostly am Ava. But I know I have my Tom moments, because my mom, who doesn't really like anything more complicated than Wingspan, listened to me ramble on about Arkham Horror Lcg and eventually asked if she would like it. I assured her she would not, and she agreed (too complicated and too tense), but said I made it sound so interesting that she just liked hearing me talk about it.
Tom is really coming into his own for his style of reviews. Really loving it. I always look forward to SU&SD content because of all the quirkiness y'all add (and because I love board games).
This kind of review is so helpful for understanding whether or not a given game is going to be fun for *me and my friends*, rather than just good or bad. I appreciate that so much! Except sometimes Tom's enthusiasm makes me want games that I can tell no one I play with will like, just because he makes them sounds so *interesting!* (E.G., I'm still kind of weirdly pining for Oath, a game I'm 90% sure I would find too cutthroat myself and that I'll never get to play, lol.)
For what it's worth, most of my games of Oath have been quiet first halves as we explore and set up, followed by utter slugfests until the game snaps shut. The limited number of rounds helps a lot.
that short film in the middle of the review was incredibly evocative. I know the horror and mess of slightly adjusting a board and all the pieces are now in the wrong place.
Axis and Allies. 2006. We'd spent about a half hour setting up and ONE person had had their first turn and my mates huge dog bumped the very light table we were using. We never went back and played that game ever again.
I'm so excited to get my copy of this. I've yet to play a Splotter design that didn't either blow me away or at the very least, completely intrigue me.
Great vid Tom, the monthly news letter on the Patreon was also a good read. It's cool to see the perspective of someone on the creator side of these videos
That's the same advice Splotter gives themselves on their website. "Our games ain't for everyone, we suggest to try before you buy" is quite an alternative sales pitch 🙂
My favorite Splotter is The Great Zimbabwe which never gets enough love. It is easy to teach. It is not fiddly and table hug; in addition it can be finished under 3 hour even with 5 players. More importantly it is the most unique game that I have ever played with it's adjustable winning condition and Mancala auction mechanism.
I have a hard time picking a favorite, but I agree that The Great Zimbabwe gets a lot of points for being relatively quick and having less overhead to learn. I will say that it's arguably the worst Splotter title at two players, though; a lot of the options in the game just have no real effect or make no sense to use without multiple opponents. (On that note, I didn't catch Tom saying it in the video, but Horseless Carriage has a hard three player minimum.)
@@celestialspark5697 None of Splotter are good at two players. Splotter games like Mac Gerdts need minimum 3 players to shine. I have never try but I heard Antiquity is only Splotter can be played relevantly good at two players which is one of my least favorite Splotter games.
by drinking multiple full pots of "decaf" coffee you're getting the same amount of caffeine as just drinking a reasonable amount of regular. Decaf doesnt mean no caffeine. Congrats on feeling invincible though.
One Splotter game that got mentioned in the video, yet that I feel doesn't get that much love, is The Great Zimbabwe. Apart from being one of the rare games that has remotely anything to do with African culture, I find it a really nice distilled version of what Splotter games are all about. It has a nice spatial puzzle, a nice connect-this-to-that puzzle, a nice economic system that incentivizes positive player interaction, a cool cost-benefit scoring system, a suprisingly lesser amount of components and clutter than other splotter games, arguably less rules overhead and takes less time to actually play compared to FCM or Roads&Boats.
And a Splotter that works brilliantly for 2p and has a fairly short playtime. Brilliant game. Although this MA in African Studies with a thesis about Zimbabwean might not be the most objective person to ask!
I love how the last shot is him purposely using a wide angle to show all of the game and RUclips decided "You know what? That's an excellent place to put the recommendations for other videos!"
Hilariously I spent half this review thinking "this looks good, but...a little too much. I'll probably stick with pipeline" And then comes in the recommendation at the end. Long story short; pipeline's great
On those Twitch streams, is it just gonna be video games? Or will the team get back to board games? Personally, I would LOVE to see everyone play a round or two of Mind Mgmt!!
Would be nice if they’d do more live board game play throughs in general. Not sure if they decided those videos didn’t get enough views, they haven’t done it in a long time outside of digital on twitch.
14:50 I don't know how much you've played this game since this review, but something I noticed after about 10 plays with my group is that, once you understand the basic puzzle of building your factory floor, the game becomes very heads-up. It's really all about jockeying for position and making sure you can benefit from other players' research etc.
Great review! Just a little tip: decaffeinated coffee still holds 20-30% caffeine. So if you drink a bucket of decaff instead of 2 normal coffees you are not tricking your brain... You just drank the same amount of caffeine... 😳
I’m gonna be honest, I’m surprised you managed to license Nintendo music. And the choice is perfect. I feel like a lot of my games are falling into this niche niche category. Pipeline oddly broke my brain but I may have just been having an off day.
I’ve actually never seen those spider web pictures before and I’m dying laughing imagining a team of scientists coldly and clinically administering tiny little does of lsd and marijuana to spiders.
Reminds me of Dungeon Petz which I would consider a great alternative with similar aspects. You produce petz instead of cars. You have to meet their needs with an eye on what the customer wants. You have to manage the cages instead of factories. Simultaneously deciding what actions to take behind screens so no down time.
Great work as always Tom, I'd love to see you review Dungeon Degenerates, after your Turncoats review I know that tiny independent designers aren't off the table for a review anymore
Tom: "I chose this big wide angle so you could see exactly how much space this game takes up" *Link to another video immediately covers the whole table as soon as he starts speaking* Never change, RUclips. Never change.
I would love if you did a whole Splotter Spotlight. Food Chain Magnate is great, and I only played Roads and Boats once, but I'd love to see your take on all the others.
I have never understood the love this crew has for food chain magnate, I have never seen a game alinate everyone at the table as strongly as food chain magnate did when it hit my table. If i asked my friends to play anouther round I would be out of friends.
Unrelated to this video, does anyone remember the review where Tom made it look like he shoved another Tom out of a chair? He was wearing costumes I think. I remember laughing a lot at that but can't find it again.
you will drink decaf for a while, then you will see you do not need to drink it anymore, as long as you won't start to drink coffee occasionally, then the need for decaf will be continuous :)
Good review, told me exactly what I needed to know, which is that I really should play Food Chain Magnate. Played Pipeline for the first time last weekend, it really is great. I played Bus at a con last year having never heard of it before and if it was in print I would get a copy in a shot. Its like Power Grid had a baby with Village and Five Tribes....... kind of
I wish that shut up and sit down would review John Company Second edition, the most surprisingly refreshing niche game, that i wish got more exposure. I think that would make for a fun review.
An absolute testament to the quality of your content. Food Chain Magnate is one of the worst games I have ever played, and I instantly had zero interest in this...but I couldn't wait for your review to come out just for the pure entertainment value. I'm glad these niche companies and games exist, they are just on the polar opposite of my gaming tastes. Cheers!
I just watched a 20 minute video about a game that I could tell five minutes in I wouldn't care for. Listening to Tom talk about a game that he really enjoys is so much fun, though.
I remember the same when Pipeline came out a few years ago (edit to include the shoutout at the end, I thought they'd mention it!). I knew it was something I would bounce off of, but the team explained it so well and with that trademark SU&SD enthusiasm that I could completely understand what people would enjoy about it.
This is why I love SU&SD
I watched a 20 minute video about a game that I could tell five minutes in I really needed to own.
This community is the best.
I love Food Chain Magnate and Roads & Boats, but this one seems like something I would hate passionately. Little interaction, fiddliness, very, very long game... Yeah, I don't see why I'd play this one.
Smartphone Inc does this and is fun. Even has the 8 phase system.
As a not native speaker I'm admiring Tom's pronunciation and clarity, I can easily watch him without captions. It's a nice experience listen to you, Tom!
I’m Australian, got no idea what he’s saying…😂
@@windyhillbomber something something joke about people down there not actually speaking english
"Fiddle" is one of the most important short films of all time. Also I love listening to Tom talk about ... uh, everything?
OSCAR FOR TOM!!!
As someone with hundreds of hours in Satisfactory, this looks like exactly the sort of life-ruining experience I've been searching for in board gaming.
16:00 "You'll probably know by now if this is for you". I knew within 30 seconds it wasn't for me, but I stuck around for the great comedy and delivery.
I love Tom's reviews. Quinn's work is funny and on point, and Matts's reviews are clever and often amusing, but Tom is on a whole other level. You can tell he is passionate about what he does and finds the best ways to deliver his message using visually compelling sketches and artwork. It reminds me of the old Shut Up & Sit Down, back when Paul and Quinn were still experimenting and trying to make something new.
He's just got that youthful energy! And dedication and timing and editing skills and and and :P
Tom is an obviously insane man who is even more Paul than Paul ever was... and it's amazing.
TOM IS THE ONLY REASON I WATCH THIS CHANNEL. You can tell the other guys already lost their passion for this. Tom still has hope in his voice
I managed to grab a copy of roads and boats and it's absolutely incredible, maybe my favorite joke in it is that the resources required to make an airplane are a goose and two planks
The short film is the greatest thing I've seen in a long time. (Still want to give this one a crack). But... just.. standing ovation there for that.
Tom is the best board-game reviewer online hands down. His crazed obsession with learning each nook and cranny of the entire game means you only need to listen to him and no one else.
This game is obviously not for me, but I love Tom's delivery so much that I'm watching to the end.
Quinn - Biting critique and insightful honesty
Matt - Surreal entertainment and abstract nuance
Tom - Passionate appreciation and enthusiastic creativity
Ava - Technical precision and friendly encouragement
This is a great summary of the reviewer flavors! Now we just need one of those buzzfeed quizzes for "Which SUSD gamer are you?" 😆
I'm probably mostly am Ava. But I know I have my Tom moments, because my mom, who doesn't really like anything more complicated than Wingspan, listened to me ramble on about Arkham Horror Lcg and eventually asked if she would like it. I assured her she would not, and she agreed (too complicated and too tense), but said I made it sound so interesting that she just liked hearing me talk about it.
Having played a friend’s copy of Horseless Carriage, I can say you’ve nailed this review Tom. All your points are spot on to how we feel
I absolutely loved that 10 seconds of editing in beat with the Wii Shop Channel music.
What a beautiful twist! You nearly had me in tears for sheer awe!
Tom is really coming into his own for his style of reviews. Really loving it. I always look forward to SU&SD content because of all the quirkiness y'all add (and because I love board games).
Tom is a hero for keeping SUSD going in board game reviews.
This kind of review is so helpful for understanding whether or not a given game is going to be fun for *me and my friends*, rather than just good or bad. I appreciate that so much! Except sometimes Tom's enthusiasm makes me want games that I can tell no one I play with will like, just because he makes them sounds so *interesting!* (E.G., I'm still kind of weirdly pining for Oath, a game I'm 90% sure I would find too cutthroat myself and that I'll never get to play, lol.)
Huh, use of emphasis asterisks twice in one comment behaves unexpectedly. Strange.
For what it's worth, most of my games of Oath have been quiet first halves as we explore and set up, followed by utter slugfests until the game snaps shut. The limited number of rounds helps a lot.
Such talent from these guys, best board game reviews on the internet. This looks like the kind of game my group would hate, but loved the review!
This looks like a fun, interesting game I would love and can't introduce to anyone I know.
The first minute alone makes this review worth watching!
The short fiddle film was by far one of my favorite SUSD things lately. I immediately understood what it was complaining about 😆
that short film in the middle of the review was incredibly evocative. I know the horror and mess of slightly adjusting a board and all the pieces are now in the wrong place.
That moment when someone bangs their knee on a table leg and everybody freezes trying to figure out what the damage is.
Axis and Allies. 2006.
We'd spent about a half hour setting up and ONE person had had their first turn and my mates huge dog bumped the very light table we were using.
We never went back and played that game ever again.
All it was missing was the moment when the cat decides to get involved.
I'm so excited to get my copy of this. I've yet to play a Splotter design that didn't either blow me away or at the very least, completely intrigue me.
the fiddle is part of the in universe experience
You guys are my favorite content creators. Period.
10:57 decaf still has a little caffeine in it, so drinking that much probably just has the same effect of drinking one cup of regular coffee.
No regulation as to what constitutes decaf coff, could be just 20% less caffeine, still considered decaf, as been through a process
Yep I think Tom's got a bit of placebo effect going on here.
"'Fiddle' was the horror film we weren't ready for, no one was. Deeply effecting, 10/10."
That short film in the middle was so avant-garde. Magnificent.
I predict an Academy Award for the soulful, thoughtful short film 'Fiddle'.
Tom: I choose this wide angle to show you the entire game.
YT: Ill put some video recomendations over the entire game, so you can see none of it.
This game is clearly for people that stare at spreadsheets and filled with public domain clip art and find joy from staring at said spreadsheet.
Great vid Tom, the monthly news letter on the Patreon was also a good read. It's cool to see the perspective of someone on the creator side of these videos
Ah yes a game where you play as the bad guys
.....It's fucking genius!
That sleeve slo-mo.......pure gold😅
Tom + Splotter = distilled madness
Listened to the first podcast with Tom in it last night as I was having trouble sleeping. Tom’s videos are kind of the best.
Stop motion animation of a sleeve accidentally pushing pieces around to the sound of Debussy is oddly poetic.
I swear to god you guys best be talking about this on the podcast. I need more..
Seems like one I’d jump to play at a convention, but I won’t go and buy a copy till I’ve tried it myself. Thanks Tom!
That's the same advice Splotter gives themselves on their website. "Our games ain't for everyone, we suggest to try before you buy" is quite an alternative sales pitch 🙂
My favorite Splotter is The Great Zimbabwe which never gets enough love. It is easy to teach. It is not fiddly and table hug; in addition it can be finished under 3 hour even with 5 players. More importantly it is the most unique game that I have ever played with it's adjustable winning condition and Mancala auction mechanism.
I have a hard time picking a favorite, but I agree that The Great Zimbabwe gets a lot of points for being relatively quick and having less overhead to learn. I will say that it's arguably the worst Splotter title at two players, though; a lot of the options in the game just have no real effect or make no sense to use without multiple opponents. (On that note, I didn't catch Tom saying it in the video, but Horseless Carriage has a hard three player minimum.)
@@celestialspark5697 None of Splotter are good at two players. Splotter games like Mac Gerdts need minimum 3 players to shine. I have never try but I heard Antiquity is only Splotter can be played relevantly good at two players which is one of my least favorite Splotter games.
Lol the "fiddle" segment was a piano solo. That was great!
Just here to listen to Tom talk about anything; it's a bonus the game was fascinating and reminded me of some very high end Galaxy Trucker in parts.
Making the car with the different tiles and having to manipulate them around in the factory space reminds me of inventory management in Resident Evil.
by drinking multiple full pots of "decaf" coffee you're getting the same amount of caffeine as just drinking a reasonable amount of regular. Decaf doesnt mean no caffeine. Congrats on feeling invincible though.
Knowing the game makes this video even better.
A new Splotter I will never get around to playing.
Isn’t it though
Because you do not wish to, or can't?
@@quesoblanco444 Yes.
One Splotter game that got mentioned in the video, yet that I feel doesn't get that much love, is The Great Zimbabwe. Apart from being one of the rare games that has remotely anything to do with African culture, I find it a really nice distilled version of what Splotter games are all about. It has a nice spatial puzzle, a nice connect-this-to-that puzzle, a nice economic system that incentivizes positive player interaction, a cool cost-benefit scoring system, a suprisingly lesser amount of components and clutter than other splotter games, arguably less rules overhead and takes less time to actually play compared to FCM or Roads&Boats.
Precisely! And since it's just been reprinted you actually have a chance of finding it if you want to buy it
And a Splotter that works brilliantly for 2p and has a fairly short playtime.
Brilliant game. Although this MA in African Studies with a thesis about Zimbabwean might not be the most objective person to ask!
The more I watch these videos, the more I want to be friends with the SUXSD crew. Mandatory new boardgame nights? Hell yeah.
I love how the last shot is him purposely using a wide angle to show all of the game and RUclips decided "You know what? That's an excellent place to put the recommendations for other videos!"
I watched a rules explanation on another channel and commented that it looks really fiddly. So I appreciated that short film, “Fiddle.”
Just gotta comment and reaffirm my love for Tom’s reviews.
Hilariously I spent half this review thinking
"this looks good, but...a little too much. I'll probably stick with pipeline"
And then comes in the recommendation at the end.
Long story short; pipeline's great
Great review, Tom! I appreciated the Pipeline shout out, as well. That game is such a brain workout, but I love every play of it.
On those Twitch streams, is it just gonna be video games? Or will the team get back to board games? Personally, I would LOVE to see everyone play a round or two of Mind Mgmt!!
Would be nice if they’d do more live board game play throughs in general. Not sure if they decided those videos didn’t get enough views, they haven’t done it in a long time outside of digital on twitch.
Always enjoy your reviews :) thank you so much
What the factory floor needs to be is a breadboard.
Happy that "fiddle to faff ratio" lives on
Hey, where can we see that video where the ohter SUSD meeples talk about Road and Boats? Those clips really got me interested in hearing more! :D
I built a TTS table for playing this and it's a smoother and better experience than playing it physically due to being able to lock stuff in place.
14:50 I don't know how much you've played this game since this review, but something I noticed after about 10 plays with my group is that, once you understand the basic puzzle of building your factory floor, the game becomes very heads-up. It's really all about jockeying for position and making sure you can benefit from other players' research etc.
Love the home-made Radiohead outro ❤️
ruclips.net/video/B2JHChJpG_A/видео.html&ab_channel=on4word
Top work, Tom
Great review! Just a little tip: decaffeinated coffee still holds 20-30% caffeine. So if you drink a bucket of decaff instead of 2 normal coffees you are not tricking your brain... You just drank the same amount of caffeine... 😳
The tricking your brain part comes in thinking you’re not getting caffein when you are.
I’m assuming. :p
you guys crack me up with these reviews
I’m gonna be honest, I’m surprised you managed to license Nintendo music. And the choice is perfect.
I feel like a lot of my games are falling into this niche niche category. Pipeline oddly broke my brain but I may have just been having an off day.
I’ve actually never seen those spider web pictures before and I’m dying laughing imagining a team of scientists coldly and clinically administering tiny little does of lsd and marijuana to spiders.
Reminds me of Dungeon Petz which I would consider a great alternative with similar aspects.
You produce petz instead of cars. You have to meet their needs with an eye on what the customer wants. You have to manage the cages instead of factories. Simultaneously deciding what actions to take behind screens so no down time.
W vid Tom great as always
Great work as always Tom, I'd love to see you review Dungeon Degenerates, after your Turncoats review I know that tiny independent designers aren't off the table for a review anymore
Another brilliant review about a game that doesn't seem to be available anywhere. At all. Hoorah.
try chicory as coffee replacement
"So that's the first half of the game..." and that's when my brain exploded.
Tom: "I chose this big wide angle so you could see exactly how much space this game takes up"
*Link to another video immediately covers the whole table as soon as he starts speaking*
Never change, RUclips. Never change.
The physical prototype for a fantastic digital board game
I would love if you did a whole Splotter Spotlight. Food Chain Magnate is great, and I only played Roads and Boats once, but I'd love to see your take on all the others.
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at Splotter. You had me at Splotter.
Not.😁
glad to see some mario 64 weird fishes appreciation on my favorite channel
Another home run from Tom :)
yep, another one lost to the fantastic in rainbow roads. Great Review! You can love them or hate them, but splotter are truly unique
That was interesting. Thank you.
I have never understood the love this crew has for food chain magnate, I have never seen a game alinate everyone at the table as strongly as food chain magnate did when it hit my table. If i asked my friends to play anouther round I would be out of friends.
Video made me want to wrap a wiimote strap around my wrist. 10/10, would watch again.
Tom, Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues” is my favorite album of all time. Great taste!
Excellent! Thanks.
Tom, are you covering “Arpeggi” by Kelly Lee Owens with your end of video music there? 20:26
I really appreciate the alternative recommendations at the end of these reviews - Pipeline seems more my speed.
PIpeline is a boring pile of garbage.
Unrelated to this video, does anyone remember the review where Tom made it look like he shoved another Tom out of a chair? He was wearing costumes I think.
I remember laughing a lot at that but can't find it again.
you will drink decaf for a while, then you will see you do not need to drink it anymore, as long as you won't start to drink coffee occasionally, then the need for decaf will be continuous :)
Good review, told me exactly what I needed to know, which is that I really should play Food Chain Magnate. Played Pipeline for the first time last weekend, it really is great. I played Bus at a con last year having never heard of it before and if it was in print I would get a copy in a shot. Its like Power Grid had a baby with Village and Five Tribes....... kind of
FCM is awesome
12:25 I didn't expected SUSD to do a component drop.
The conspicuous absence of Antiquity from the list of Splotters Tom has played is probably relevant to the expectations mismatch.
Great review for Pipeline!
I wish that shut up and sit down would review John Company Second edition, the most surprisingly refreshing niche game, that i wish got more exposure. I think that would make for a fun review.
Is there a SU&SD Bus review? noticed a bit of Broll but cant find an actual review of it.
An absolute testament to the quality of your content. Food Chain Magnate is one of the worst games I have ever played, and I instantly had zero interest in this...but I couldn't wait for your review to come out just for the pure entertainment value. I'm glad these niche companies and games exist, they are just on the polar opposite of my gaming tastes. Cheers!
6:00 I hope Nintendo's lawyers aren't listening
Wait until Tom finds out that there's still about 3% of the caffeine in decaff and all those large pots add up haha
Does Matt work here anymore?
I thought Tom was about to announce more Cool Ghosts... 🥰
Great video