I think for the vast, vast majority of people, getting the core box with stretch goals is enough, most people don't play campaign games to completion and I don't think this will be the exception. They never said the extra adventures are GF exclusives, so you will be able to get them in retail. Get the core game and if you did finish it, then think about picking up one of the extra adventures.
This was my first "big" campaign i backed. I was glad to see they added a last second pledge level that had all the gameplay and skpped all the minis, changed mine to it. I don't mind miis for the players but i always think its silly to have tons and tons of minis driving up the price, especially when you won't see a lot o them moer than like once. I just hope tariffs don't end up causing havoc for this one when it delivers down the road.
I'm so lost on the campaign of this games shipping waves... If I back this thing all in with the Divinium Pledge... half of the game will show up in wave 1 next year, the other half wave 2 the year after... My issue is, does this mean I'm waiting until wave 2 to unbox and play the game? Or will wave 1 have the first half of stuff, minis, whatever stretch goals will be needed that I can play with the full experience in wave 1...or, do I need to wait until wave 2 to have all of the stuff to start the game? Ideally, you'd get whatever minis, add-ons, figures you'd need to start the games campaign, then the rest of the stuff for the extra adventures would come with wave 2, so you're getting all of the stuff when you're ready to start playing it. I wouldn't love starting the game with standees, then getting all of the figure models in wave 2. Does my issue/question make sense? I asked in the comments on the pledge page, but it gets lost in there SO fast, that nobody answers it.
I feel this is the most biased video I've ever seen from BGC. Not because you work for Gamefound, but because you are clearly a LoE fanboi. Well...clearly I am too because I completely watched this video just for confirmation bias that my Explorers of Evershade pledge with Sundrop was clearly an excellent decision. This leaves me with just one question: Where do you live that $650 is a mortgage payment?
I love your last question 🙂 and the answer is nowhere... But my first house that I bought in 2012, was roughly $650 for the payment. A 93k house with 20% down. It was a long time ago, but hey it half counts 🙂
@@BoardGameConot the greatest take, but that's also not as important. I think the game has enough marketing behind and hype, like awaken realm content in your channel feels weird and redundant - should sort of already be included in your paycheck. I think Alex from GF and Alex from BGC should remain different personas, but that's just my opinion.
Considering how people bounced off ISS Vanguard and Etherfields, I'm little surprised that some are quick to spend +$300 on this game. This game looks great, especially as someone who enjoy Elden Ring and loves DnD, but considering we won't see the complete game until 2026, I don't see a reason to rush out and back it. Happy to wait and see how things turn out for this one. I don't feels as bad as I thought I would dropping my pledge for it.
@@alecvincent7609 well a lot of people say it became boring in the second half, because of all the dice checks that hat to be made. I think a lot of people didn't finished it. But I guess people didn't felt robbed, because they had fun until then.
Etherfields is still in my top 10 games of all time, as is Tainted Grail and many other narrative games. I skipped ISS Vanguard because I don't care too much for the sci-fi theme (and I just cannot have everything), but in general Awaken Realms is considered among the top tier for people who like narrative adventure games. So it's really not that surprising that this is doing so well. Of course whoever didn't like their previous games is unlikely to back this (and probably shouldn't), but that goes for every game ever.
Should you back it? Short answer: Yes! Long answer Yeeeessss! I'm was backing Scout (gameplay); I'm now thinking of upping it to Explorer. The problem is that I want the Leather bound books (mostly for the full art pages) and the sundrop minis. It's pushing the price up, but to be fair, I mostly back/play large campaign games; it's not like I didn't go all in for Oathsworn 🤷 #noregrets
This looks amazing! I'm so very glad I've discovered, and am okay with, the fact that I never play anything more than the core box, no matter how awesome a game is. Knowing this allows me to back more games always at the core/all stretch goal versions. I would rather take a very rare chance that I want an expansion that is only sold on the second market for $500 over paying that much upfront for a campaign out of FOMO.
With AR you don't even have that risk - their expansions will be sold at retail and they generally run 2nd prints of their core boxes/stretch goals also. There is no good reason to not test the base game before spending exta hundreds on the rest of content
I always do single wave shipping on AR stuff, but I’m pretty patient and have plenty of games to play. I think I’m going to wait and pledge for this later after the first wave ships. I kinda want to wait until the first wave gets out into the “wild” and see how it plays out.
So you can do something like that? I've seen TG - Kings of Ruin that is on Late Pledge even though the game was done for one good year and it's already started shipping pretty everywhere. Backing later seems the best decision ever...I like what L.E what it promises, but I wish some more opinions from people that played the heck of it before getting in spending hundreds of $....
No sense of having acrylic tokens since most of the tokens like player tokens,items etc will still be a cardboard ones. I traded it for dices upgrade& dice tray
Hey Alex, Great video, already backed at a higher than I should level lol. Quick question is the Leather Bound books not an option in America? Because it's something that can be selected in Europe and it again adds to the price tag/premium natyre so going all out might push that up further. Really looks like a fun game.
I am no closer to deciding on this one than before I watched this, lol. Even as someone who plays everything for campaign games (core + extras), adding this much content is daunting when I think about the 3 years we likely still have left in Frosthaven. At least we are very close to finishing all the Etherfields campaigns? I will miss Etherfields. I am hoping to see Awaken Relams Next before I commit to this game. If I see Etherfields 2 I will be going all in on that one and skipping this one. As you’ve said many times before, there are too many great games. It’s a problem.
Im still waiting for my ISS vanguard pledge... I wont pledge this after waiting for 4 years. But i will watch your video to see how is the game. Thank you.
Thx for the video. Any opinion on the diorma ? I backed the Explorer pledge but do not need the diorama. Wish I could trade the diorama for free split shipping or something else... Wish it had some gameply like CMON does with their minia(mega)tures
Out of curiosity. You mentioned the game's narrative being broken up into smaller story arcs that can be played independently. Did you by chance ever play Dungeon Degenerates? I can never decide how much I like the actual game there, but the art is wild and it's nice to start up a campaign knowing I can finish it in a week or two.
I’m trying to be more fiscally responsible. As much as it pains me. I received to the special edditon with no add ons. And to be honest. I never use the add ons. Anyway.
Awaken Realms makes the very best miniatures in the industry. Better than companies that specialize in them. If I still had time for RPGs, I would have invested in them. But shelf space is more of a concern than uplifting the table presence of just this boardgame at the cost of playtime / fiddlyness (and money). Backed the special edition (as I love the contrast between character minis and opponent tokens / standees when playing) and the three add-on adventures. YMMV
If you think AR has the best miniatures you must not be familiar with many companies. AR is on the low end of mini quality. Ludus Magnus, cmon, Monolith, Dimension, Dragori, Kingdom Death, Succubus, Into the Unknown, Shadowborne, steamforged, Limbo all have better quality miniatures. And thats just off the top of my head. I have a lot of AR games and Nemesis is in my top ten but the mini quality is not it.
Need to point out an important correction: there are no standees followers. Its either buy the minis or use heroes minis you r not using in this adventure.
Apologies, and I think I actually read that update but for some reason it didn't register. Maybe its because the complains were going on for quite a while before they relented, like how they did with the Scout pledge now. Cheers!
It was either this or Enormity kickstarter, and for me, Enormity wins out for me mostly because I think the combat and RPG elements will be much deeper in Enormity. As for narrative, I am sure AR would do great on storytelling, but perhaps I should really finish Kings of Ruin first, which is still sitting half-finished on my shelf.
Absolutely agreed! Also check out my should you back it iss vanguard before I ever worked for Gamefound and let me know which one seems more balanced :)
I'm in for Explorer! 🎉- Skipping sundrop as I'm happy to slowly work through painting my way through a unending field of minis
I think for the vast, vast majority of people, getting the core box with stretch goals is enough, most people don't play campaign games to completion and I don't think this will be the exception. They never said the extra adventures are GF exclusives, so you will be able to get them in retail. Get the core game and if you did finish it, then think about picking up one of the extra adventures.
Man.. every time I see GameFound abbreviated as GF, I automatically just read Gluten Free in my head!! Ahhh it sicks haha
This was my first "big" campaign i backed. I was glad to see they added a last second pledge level that had all the gameplay and skpped all the minis, changed mine to it. I don't mind miis for the players but i always think its silly to have tons and tons of minis driving up the price, especially when you won't see a lot o them moer than like once. I just hope tariffs don't end up causing havoc for this one when it delivers down the road.
I'm so lost on the campaign of this games shipping waves... If I back this thing all in with the Divinium Pledge... half of the game will show up in wave 1 next year, the other half wave 2 the year after... My issue is, does this mean I'm waiting until wave 2 to unbox and play the game? Or will wave 1 have the first half of stuff, minis, whatever stretch goals will be needed that I can play with the full experience in wave 1...or, do I need to wait until wave 2 to have all of the stuff to start the game?
Ideally, you'd get whatever minis, add-ons, figures you'd need to start the games campaign, then the rest of the stuff for the extra adventures would come with wave 2, so you're getting all of the stuff when you're ready to start playing it.
I wouldn't love starting the game with standees, then getting all of the figure models in wave 2.
Does my issue/question make sense? I asked in the comments on the pledge page, but it gets lost in there SO fast, that nobody answers it.
This is my first big backing of a table top game. Went with Explorer! Excited to see how it all plays out.
I feel this is the most biased video I've ever seen from BGC. Not because you work for Gamefound, but because you are clearly a LoE fanboi. Well...clearly I am too because I completely watched this video just for confirmation bias that my Explorers of Evershade pledge with Sundrop was clearly an excellent decision. This leaves me with just one question: Where do you live that $650 is a mortgage payment?
I love your last question 🙂 and the answer is nowhere... But my first house that I bought in 2012, was roughly $650 for the payment. A 93k house with 20% down. It was a long time ago, but hey it half counts 🙂
@@BoardGameConot the greatest take, but that's also not as important. I think the game has enough marketing behind and hype, like awaken realm content in your channel feels weird and redundant - should sort of already be included in your paycheck. I think Alex from GF and Alex from BGC should remain different personas, but that's just my opinion.
Considering how people bounced off ISS Vanguard and Etherfields, I'm little surprised that some are quick to spend +$300 on this game. This game looks great, especially as someone who enjoy Elden Ring and loves DnD, but considering we won't see the complete game until 2026, I don't see a reason to rush out and back it. Happy to wait and see how things turn out for this one. I don't feels as bad as I thought I would dropping my pledge for it.
People bounced off ISS Vanguard ? I've never seen someone dislike that game lol
@@alecvincent7609 well a lot of people say it became boring in the second half, because of all the dice checks that hat to be made. I think a lot of people didn't finished it. But I guess people didn't felt robbed, because they had fun until then.
@@alecvincent7609 It got boring. I sold my copy after my group decided it was dragging out too much.
Etherfields is still in my top 10 games of all time, as is Tainted Grail and many other narrative games. I skipped ISS Vanguard because I don't care too much for the sci-fi theme (and I just cannot have everything), but in general Awaken Realms is considered among the top tier for people who like narrative adventure games. So it's really not that surprising that this is doing so well. Of course whoever didn't like their previous games is unlikely to back this (and probably shouldn't), but that goes for every game ever.
ISS Vanguard is an awesome game.
Should you back it?
Short answer: Yes!
Long answer Yeeeessss!
I'm was backing Scout (gameplay); I'm now thinking of upping it to Explorer.
The problem is that I want the Leather bound books (mostly for the full art pages) and the sundrop minis. It's pushing the price up, but to be fair, I mostly back/play large campaign games; it's not like I didn't go all in for Oathsworn 🤷 #noregrets
Thank you for covering this! My husband and I enjoy your content and respect your opinion very much.
I'm glad it was helpful 🙂
This looks amazing! I'm so very glad I've discovered, and am okay with, the fact that I never play anything more than the core box, no matter how awesome a game is. Knowing this allows me to back more games always at the core/all stretch goal versions.
I would rather take a very rare chance that I want an expansion that is only sold on the second market for $500 over paying that much upfront for a campaign out of FOMO.
With AR you don't even have that risk - their expansions will be sold at retail and they generally run 2nd prints of their core boxes/stretch goals also. There is no good reason to not test the base game before spending exta hundreds on the rest of content
Already backed the biggest tier; but I like watching your videos.
if only i haven't already spend 2k on KDM already
KDM is better money spend so dont worry!
I always do single wave shipping on AR stuff, but I’m pretty patient and have plenty of games to play.
I think I’m going to wait and pledge for this later after the first wave ships. I kinda want to wait until the first wave gets out into the “wild” and see how it plays out.
So you can do something like that? I've seen TG - Kings of Ruin that is on Late Pledge even though the game was done for one good year and it's already started shipping pretty everywhere. Backing later seems the best decision ever...I like what L.E what it promises, but I wish some more opinions from people that played the heck of it before getting in spending hundreds of $....
You should have added that Etherfields and ISS Vanguard did not hold up their value. Only referencing the best example of STALKER is not enough input.
Fairly excited for this title. Thanks for the dive in details!
Absolutely 🙂
The only game I've backed this year, and I may even finish Arydia before it arrives. 😅
I hope I finish Arydia, primarily so that I can focus on this one when it arrives properly
Also excited for Arydia and hope to be finshed when Evershade arrives
It's really exciting to have Arydia finally on its way! Not surprising to see some overlap with backers of LoE 😊
Backed at the Scout of Evershade level! Super pumped for this!
Enjoy 🙂
Thanks for the video. I see this is absolutely not for me. This just confirms it
Been waiting for this video, cheers Alex have a good day
Hope it's helpful 🙂
YES. Did I summarize it good? :D
Helpful video I went from legend to explorer , just unsure if I should lean onto the FOMO and pick up the acrylic pack.
I personally left out the acrylic because I felt like 90% of the time most of the acrylic markers are just going to be on my board anyways
No sense of having acrylic tokens since most of the tokens like player tokens,items etc will still be a cardboard ones. I traded it for dices upgrade& dice tray
Hey Alex,
Great video, already backed at a higher than I should level lol.
Quick question is the Leather Bound books not an option in America? Because it's something that can be selected in Europe and it again adds to the price tag/premium natyre so going all out might push that up further.
Really looks like a fun game.
I am no closer to deciding on this one than before I watched this, lol. Even as someone who plays everything for campaign games (core + extras), adding this much content is daunting when I think about the 3 years we likely still have left in Frosthaven. At least we are very close to finishing all the Etherfields campaigns? I will miss Etherfields. I am hoping to see Awaken Relams Next before I commit to this game. If I see Etherfields 2 I will be going all in on that one and skipping this one. As you’ve said many times before, there are too many great games. It’s a problem.
Might wait for second wave late pledge and see if it is as well received by punters as it has been in the paid reviews.
Im still waiting for my ISS vanguard pledge... I wont pledge this after waiting for 4 years. But i will watch your video to see how is the game. Thank you.
Thx for the video. Any opinion on the diorma ? I backed the Explorer pledge but do not need the diorama. Wish I could trade the diorama for free split shipping or something else... Wish it had some gameply like CMON does with their minia(mega)tures
Is the quality of SunDrop good and look nice? Trying to see if it's worth the upgrade.
The sundrop on their other projects has looked great so I personally think it is worth it
A little darker than what I like, but yes
Fun video, actually!
I caved on this one but i had to pull a pledge from two other games to do so. I hope its worth those two other games and then some.
Thats funny cause you can still pledge it one year from now so you really diddnt need to pull anything.
Nope, this ain't for me. I rather back Ballads and Tales Journey of the brave on kickstarter
Out of curiosity. You mentioned the game's narrative being broken up into smaller story arcs that can be played independently.
Did you by chance ever play Dungeon Degenerates? I can never decide how much I like the actual game there, but the art is wild and it's nice to start up a campaign knowing I can finish it in a week or two.
I’m trying to be more fiscally responsible.
As much as it pains me.
I received to the special edditon with no add ons.
And to be honest. I never use the add ons. Anyway.
Awaken Realms makes the very best miniatures in the industry. Better than companies that specialize in them. If I still had time for RPGs, I would have invested in them. But shelf space is more of a concern than uplifting the table presence of just this boardgame at the cost of playtime / fiddlyness (and money).
Backed the special edition (as I love the contrast between character minis and opponent tokens / standees when playing) and the three add-on adventures. YMMV
If you think AR has the best miniatures you must not be familiar with many companies. AR is on the low end of mini quality. Ludus Magnus, cmon, Monolith, Dimension, Dragori, Kingdom Death, Succubus, Into the Unknown, Shadowborne, steamforged, Limbo all have better quality miniatures. And thats just off the top of my head.
I have a lot of AR games and Nemesis is in my top ten but the mini quality is not it.
AR minis are good, but not the best. You should take a close look at KDM or Eldfall chronicles, just 2 mere examples, and there are others
Is it bad I look at these kinda games now and think , I can not justify this cost at all...ill wait for the tts mod
Need to point out an important correction: there are no standees followers. Its either buy the minis or use heroes minis you r not using in this adventure.
AR stated all standard and special edition core boxes will come with follower standees (update #15 on gamefound)
They changed that and will now offer standees for them
There is. Lol. Read the updates
Apologies, and I think I actually read that update but for some reason it didn't register. Maybe its because the complains were going on for quite a while before they relented, like how they did with the Scout pledge now. Cheers!
It was either this or Enormity kickstarter, and for me, Enormity wins out for me mostly because I think the combat and RPG elements will be much deeper in Enormity. As for narrative, I am sure AR would do great on storytelling, but perhaps I should really finish Kings of Ruin first, which is still sitting half-finished on my shelf.
Should you back it?
Nope. Too pricey...
Very annoying to have split shipping even with the core box content
Yes
That would have been a shorter video ;)
Looking out for you Alex. Saving time with simplicity.
C’mon man😂😂😂The bias is pretty strong in this one.
Absolutely agreed! Also check out my should you back it iss vanguard before I ever worked for Gamefound and let me know which one seems more balanced :)
Nope for me. Just can't back games with AI created artwork,
Especially ones so blatantly based on existing IP's (eg Elden Ring).