Thanks for your review! I am very glad to hear your honest opinion of this game. Your comments about what didn't work so well for you was very illuminating.
This is one of the best reviews I've watched for this game. You kept it concise, gave some clear explanations of the components, symbols and how they are used in game play, and didn't include any spoilers, then gave your honest opinion at the end. Thank you for all that. I have heard that this game is best for two players rather than played solo, because that way there is dialogue and interaction, which make this game that much better.
Nice review, Liz! Once again, we think alike. I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn't have enough for me ... and it was too samey. Finish the campaign, get an ending, yet I've seen 10% of the game. I didn't want to trace over the same old ground and make it different by going left instead of right. Played one campaign and got rid of it. Keep up the good work!
Curses! Another awesome review found in my feed on the same night as Final Girl. I need to remember to hit that darn bell so I’m alerted when you release a video. Oh wait, is that the sound of my wallet weeping? Ok, no bell then. But seriously, I always look forward to your take on any game I’m interested in playing.
Thanks Liz. I bounced off above n below as checking a book for narrative passages isn't my thing. I've hesitated on this one for the reasons you cited here as well
Get ISS Vanguard as soon as you can, I'm not kidding, this game is blowing me away, excellent story n narrative, amazing components, the way you build your ship is addictive, setup n teardown are streamlined and relatively fast thanks to good inserts...a lot of people are comparing it to Sleeping Gods, but imo it fixes everything in SG that are less than ideal.
Liz, I always appreciate your thoughts and perspectives on games. I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of this for months, but I do fear that the management of so many characters and components as a mainly solo player could prove to ultimately be a bit of a turnoff. I am kind of in the same boat as you with finding the game that has that premium balance of narrative and gameplay, and that's clearly a subjective ideal balance. I also think this game would probably be more ideal at 2 or 3 players if I had to guess. There are a couple of upcoming games I'm excited to try when they release over the next year or so, and Frosthaven can't come out soon enough! I do love 7th continent, and am anxiously awaiting 7th citadel, but sometimes the narratives on the exploration cards are too generic - as they're meant to suit several scenarios - and since you generally end up playing each curse several times before you even come close to lifting each one, it can get a little repetitive. I love the game very much, but for me that tremendous game doesn't suit the narrative/gameplay balance either because of the generic aspect to some aspects of the game.... Then again, it might be absolutely perfect for you lol.
@@BeyondSolitaire by the way, you turned me onto Mage Knight quite a while ago and I can't thank you enough for that gem!! It's a bit of a chore to setup each time, and a real bugger to win, but so much fun! Lastly, I'm currently absolutely loving, loving, loving Aeon's End. This might actually be my current favorite solo or group deck builder, it's just a blast to play!
I agree with your review. I think what I find lacking is in the writing. It’s really shallow and watered down to be acceptable to parents with little kids. I wanted the writing to be more deep and a bit less fantasy at every turn. I needed it to reflect the setting of the 1920’s with some real history. It needed some blood and grit and guts in it. What Game of Thrones was before the producers got on meth and destroyed it in the last season. Sleeping Gods had lazy writing and too many characters. Also no one can die!!!! They just get so bad off that they passed out. What I should’ve done is had a lot more characters who could float in and out of the game with deep back stories. Had they let characters die then they could’ve been replaced by finding stranded characters on some of the islands. I agree with your assessment in that it’s a game that I really thought would knock it out of the ballpark but due to lazy riding and shallow characters with too much game management that really didn’t make sense in the face of real life I think it failed
Dumb question, but I'm new here. She played this solo, right? I've been annoyed with myself for missing out on this one so far, but controlling all nine of those characters solo seems daunting.
thanks for the review, great to hear different perspective and i still remain hesitant as to whether buy this game or not. so i wonder what are your fav story driven board games?
I thought Lands of Galzyr was pretty good, and I am just starting it but I am enjoying the heck out of War Story from Osprey. (David Thompson, my co-designer, is one of the co-designers for War Story so I may be a little biased but I really am having fun!)
@@BeyondSolitaire upon watching those games reviews they defenitely seem to be thematic but not sure if they have enough story and exploration, I would have thought 7th Continent is more similar to Sleeping Gods. Lands of Gazy has some sense of adventure but not sure if I want to play and identify with animals or human characters. War Story though different game seems a great game and ive been hunting for a solo, medium weight war game. But neither this and Halls of Hegra are available on Amazon at the moment :(
I'm still on the hunt for a great meld between games and storytelling, but I did like Roll Player Adventures better than Sleeping Gods, I don't mind the less exciting story in Gloomhaven because the gameplay is truly great, I'm about to try Middara, and I still need to get to 7th Continent. I LOVE more imaginative RPGs like 1000 Year Old Vampire, so the more roleplaying end of things really works well for me.
Thanks for your honest review. Makes you much more credible. Too many reviewers love every game they review which is not helpful and disingenuous at its worst. People have different tastes which is fine. Plus, I know you enjoy MK so your taste is right. 😀
I think most reviewers are too worried that down the road, once they have built up a good following, they might be held at bay by the game companies or clients who were critical of past games. Basically everyone is too nice. I’d rather reviewers to be highly critical rather than soft.
Maybe you are just getting spoiled on so many war games recently! 😂 Seriously take games like the Valiant Defense and for me, the narrative unfolds in my head. I have been worried if a game like this would come across as gimmicky in balance of game vs choose your own adventure.
Thanks for your review! I am very glad to hear your honest opinion of this game. Your comments about what didn't work so well for you was very illuminating.
This is one of the best reviews I've watched for this game. You kept it concise, gave some clear explanations of the components, symbols and how they are used in game play, and didn't include any spoilers, then gave your honest opinion at the end. Thank you for all that. I have heard that this game is best for two players rather than played solo, because that way there is dialogue and interaction, which make this game that much better.
Thanks for watching! :)
I'm glad to see you reviewing this after taking shots at it on the Top 200 solo list LOL! Good reviews as always!
Nice review, Liz! Once again, we think alike. I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn't have enough for me ... and it was too samey. Finish the campaign, get an ending, yet I've seen 10% of the game. I didn't want to trace over the same old ground and make it different by going left instead of right. Played one campaign and got rid of it. Keep up the good work!
Curses! Another awesome review found in my feed on the same night as Final Girl. I need to remember to hit that darn bell so I’m alerted when you release a video. Oh wait, is that the sound of my wallet weeping? Ok, no bell then. But seriously, I always look forward to your take on any game I’m interested in playing.
Thanks Liz. I bounced off above n below as checking a book for narrative passages isn't my thing. I've hesitated on this one for the reasons you cited here as well
Get ISS Vanguard as soon as you can, I'm not kidding, this game is blowing me away, excellent story n narrative, amazing components, the way you build your ship is addictive, setup n teardown are streamlined and relatively fast thanks to good inserts...a lot of people are comparing it to Sleeping Gods, but imo it fixes everything in SG that are less than ideal.
Liz, I always appreciate your thoughts and perspectives on games. I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of this for months, but I do fear that the management of so many characters and components as a mainly solo player could prove to ultimately be a bit of a turnoff. I am kind of in the same boat as you with finding the game that has that premium balance of narrative and gameplay, and that's clearly a subjective ideal balance. I also think this game would probably be more ideal at 2 or 3 players if I had to guess. There are a couple of upcoming games I'm excited to try when they release over the next year or so, and Frosthaven can't come out soon enough! I do love 7th continent, and am anxiously awaiting 7th citadel, but sometimes the narratives on the exploration cards are too generic - as they're meant to suit several scenarios - and since you generally end up playing each curse several times before you even come close to lifting each one, it can get a little repetitive. I love the game very much, but for me that tremendous game doesn't suit the narrative/gameplay balance either because of the generic aspect to some aspects of the game.... Then again, it might be absolutely perfect for you lol.
It's still on my shelf of shame... erm... opportunity. D:
@@BeyondSolitaire by the way, you turned me onto Mage Knight quite a while ago and I can't thank you enough for that gem!! It's a bit of a chore to setup each time, and a real bugger to win, but so much fun! Lastly, I'm currently absolutely loving, loving, loving Aeon's End. This might actually be my current favorite solo or group deck builder, it's just a blast to play!
Thank you for this review Liz!
I agree with your review. I think what I find lacking is in the writing. It’s really shallow and watered down to be acceptable to parents with little kids. I wanted the writing to be more deep and a bit less fantasy at every turn. I needed it to reflect the setting of the 1920’s with some real history. It needed some blood and grit and guts in it. What Game of Thrones was before the producers got on meth and destroyed it in the last season.
Sleeping Gods had lazy writing and too many characters. Also no one can die!!!! They just get so bad off that they passed out. What I should’ve done is had a lot more characters who could float in and out of the game with deep back stories. Had they let characters die then they could’ve been replaced by finding stranded characters on some of the islands. I agree with your assessment in that it’s a game that I really thought would knock it out of the ballpark but due to lazy riding and shallow characters with too much game management that really didn’t make sense in the face of real life I think it failed
Dumb question, but I'm new here. She played this solo, right? I've been annoyed with myself for missing out on this one so far, but controlling all nine of those characters solo seems daunting.
I am a solo reviewer, so yes, I played it solo.
Ya. I think this is much better with 2-3 people.
thanks for the review, great to hear different perspective and i still remain hesitant as to whether buy this game or not. so i wonder what are your fav story driven board games?
I thought Lands of Galzyr was pretty good, and I am just starting it but I am enjoying the heck out of War Story from Osprey. (David Thompson, my co-designer, is one of the co-designers for War Story so I may be a little biased but I really am having fun!)
@@BeyondSolitaire upon watching those games reviews they defenitely seem to be thematic but not sure if they have enough story and exploration, I would have thought 7th Continent is more similar to Sleeping Gods. Lands of Gazy has some sense of adventure but not sure if I want to play and identify with animals or human characters. War Story though different game seems a great game and ive been hunting for a solo, medium weight war game. But neither this and Halls of Hegra are available on Amazon at the moment :(
Good review, thank you.
Doesn't exceed the sum of its parts for you, looks like! Just curious, what's your favorite storytelling game, Liz?
I'm still on the hunt for a great meld between games and storytelling, but I did like Roll Player Adventures better than Sleeping Gods, I don't mind the less exciting story in Gloomhaven because the gameplay is truly great, I'm about to try Middara, and I still need to get to 7th Continent. I LOVE more imaginative RPGs like 1000 Year Old Vampire, so the more roleplaying end of things really works well for me.
Thanks for your honest review. Makes you much more credible. Too many reviewers love every game they review which is not helpful and disingenuous at its worst. People have different tastes which is fine. Plus, I know you enjoy MK so your taste is right. 😀
I think most reviewers are too worried that down the road, once they have built up a good following, they might be held at bay by the game companies or clients who were critical of past games. Basically everyone is too nice. I’d rather reviewers to be highly critical rather than soft.
Maybe you are just getting spoiled on so many war games recently! 😂
Seriously take games like the Valiant Defense and for me, the narrative unfolds in my head. I have been worried if a game like this would come across as gimmicky in balance of game vs choose your own adventure.
We should all be spoiled! :) I feel like just about anyone can find their gaming bliss these days.