@@coltonbeatty6117 Too many wheels within wheels, and complication for the sake of it. They encourage people to confuse complexity for depth, and instead of delivering to the players clever interaction and meaningful decisions, Lacerda games instead make those decisions hard to make because of the complexity and near-impossibility of analysing things properly.
I appreciate your thoughts on things. Definitely looking forward to Black Forest but to me, the old Rosengerg games like Agricola and Le Havre are the best. I love the constraints. Too many modern games make it too easy for you. Thanks!
Bohnanza was one of my group's go-to filler games when we needed a short game. Of course our group dynamic must have been a lot different than Luke's as our four person group could knock this out in 20-30 minutes. I do really like playing Caverna with the Forgotten Folk expansion. And I will still play Le Havre if given the chance.
Fields of Arle is really special, it’s my favourite solo experience and the expansion is so good and almost always include it. I’ll be playing it in my old folks home 50 years down the line that’s for sure, it’s a forever keep♥️
A Feast for Odin is an absolute masterpiece, in fact THE masterpiece of Uwe among a lot of great games. I dont even need to discuss about that because all BGG figures show that. ;-) The Norwegian expansion is #9 of ALL BGG entries with at least 1,000 voters and sorted by the user rating.
So hold up, FoO is a masterpiece because an expansion that fixes the broken balance of the original came along years later and fixed the game? 🤔🤔 I mean yeah, truly masterful......most games don't need that but even so....
@@TheBrokenMeeple Well, even without the expansion it's great. With the base game it's just that animals were underwhelming. Most of the rest ist finetuning. And the board is an improvement like Tuscany improves the Viticulture board.
AFFO took all the deterministic farming aspects from his earlier games and added dice rolling. Add in the tetris game and I let my copy go quite quickly, with zero regrets.
So happy to finally hear some Atiwa love, I was beginning to think I was the only one who enjoyed it. 😂 Every game I've played has been insanely close as well in final scoring.
Hallertau is his best solo game. Uwe's games are often multi-player solitaire but this game is misleading with 1-4 on the cover; I will never play it again with other players. Solo though it shines because swingy cards are just events like in any solo/co-op. This completed by the more satisfying efficiency puzzle (you want to produce just in time instead of turtling) makes it one of the best byos.
Nusfjord and At The Gates of Loyang are much better solo games for me. Hallertau forces you to move the building to the right, every single game, if you want to score well. No opportunity to try a different strategy.
I strongly disagree about Uwe Rosenberg's games being mostly multiplayer-solitaire. If they were then most of his games would be best at 1 or 2 players, because that's the biggest indicator (=low player count being best although high player count is possible). The turn angst of most worker placement games already is enough interaction.
Agricola #1 for me. Followed by Feast For Odin and At the Gates of Loyang. By the way Agricola is only good at 4, thats the best combination of spaces/tightness.
The Bonanza hate is crazy!!! I only want to play this with 5-7. I think once everyone knows how to play it goes by a lot quicker! Everyone I have taught this game to has immediately bought a copy! lol sorry it doesn’t work for you though! Would love to play the game so try you and 5 more people though! Great video as always! Cheers!
For an even better solo experience on Arsle, use the solo rules of Atiwa, for added difficulty preset some workers first turn just to make sure you can’t always go the same way, but since you have Tea and Trade you just alternate colors. My other favorite way to play that is rolling dice, pick your color, figure out turn order and rolling for their placement but it requires on the fly adjustments. Atiwa rules so much simpler
I mostly agree except for 2 points: I've never met someone who dislikes Bohnanza after a teach and a play! Like it best at 3-4 though so agree with you there. Also, New York Zoo (at 2 players) is amazing - basically a Patchwork variant with some Uwe animal breeding, I think we find the animeeples so cute we take such good care of them they never get knocked over lol
I haven’t played enough for a list, but Bohnanza is probably top - and in my experience, it’s quicker with more players - which makes sense as more cards will be in people’s hands when you shuffle the deck at the end of the first stage. It’s more of a game for playing with non-gamers though. New York Zoo is decent. Much better than Cottage Garden and Spring Meadow, but not good enough for me to keep. I like Nusfjord, A Feast FOR Odin, Le Havee and Agricola - and Caverna has been on my shelf of shame for a while. I always have to remind myself that Atiwa is an Owe Rosenberg game when its cover really makes it look like a Friedeman Friese game. That’s high on my list of ones I want to try.
Uwe Rosenberg is probably my favorite designer, but I did enjoy watching you comment, whether negatively or positively, about the games and comparing it with my own experiences. A few comments of my own: • Hallertau: My group just got into Hallertau recently after a few years of it collecting dust on my shelf, and we quite like it. We played it today, in fact, and actually discussed doing a variant of our own to handle the card swinginess. We might either draw more cards in the beginning and then discard down to the normal amount afterwards, giving us some agency, or institute a general "draw 2, pick 1" through the rest of the game. I generally do NOT like to do this, especially with a designer whom I respect quite a bit, but I do agree that getting extreme synergy or some key early cards like tool generation is a massive advantage over someone with clearly lesser choices, and it is too long of a game to have that much individual player input randomness. As far as unique mechanics, my group really likes the action space scarcity between rounds as well as the “definitely not feeding” puzzle of the farmhouse moving. • Caverna: I am also in the “Caverna over Agricola” camp for many of the same reasons, so no need to rehash them here. I have actually won the game with only 3 dwarves before myself, so it is not mandatory action to get to the full dwarf count. As far as expansions go, I love the “Forgotten Folk” expansion and try not to play without it, as you can always teach the game to a new player and have them play as the normal Dwarves while others use the new races. I agree that the “Frantic Fiends” expansion is pretty bad, IMO, and I would add that it involves a lot of unneeded and uneven randomness. • Fields of Arle: I do indeed love this game but have played it relatively seldom, because the base game plays only 2, and you can only play up to 3 with the Tea & Trade expansion. It is very crunchy and wide open, and I would suggest it to any Uwe fan to try if they can fit into those player counts. • A Feast for Odin: An amazing game that is likely my group’s favorite Uwe game. The “Norwegians” expansion is one of the best expansions ever made, and I now teach the game with in included. The game has a lot going on and despite my group having played it quite a bit, I bet we could play it another 20 times and still not reach every corner of its strategic possibilities. Yes, it is a tough, long teach but well worth it IMO. • Nusfjord: I like this game but can never get it to the table. It is just too lightweight for my primary gaming group and does not really satisfy that “Uwe” crunchy Euro itch we often have. I do play it with others, and it is fine as a lighter Euro to teach newer board gamers. • Le Havre: An amazing game and a favorite of mine. I do agree that 3 players is the perfect count and 4 and especially 5 are too long for the amount of downtime between turns. I do think you break the game a bit with your loan variant, as you are meant to take loans in a sort of “Brass” fashion despite it feeling odd from a realism standpoint. • Ora et Labora: A fantastic game but maybe somewhat limited life given that it basically has no variance between games. As far as “new” mechanics, it has that resource wheel mechanic he later used in “Glass Road” as well as a somewhat unique personal board building mechanic that cares about adjacency. Great game, but I would try it before you buy it given your other feedback about his games.
@@tmcd5049 I think it has changed over the years, but I would pick "A Feast for Odin" as my current favorite with "Caverna" close behind. I honestly think that "Fields of Arle" would be my favorite if I could play it more, but my group tends to be 4 at a minimum.
Nice summaries indeed and we gel on some of them. I definitely need to try Ora and it's not an expensive buy. I'll ask the Patrons if they want to see it. No variety between games though?
@@TheBrokenMeeple There's a French "scenario" and an Irish one. Not sure about anything else. I think that aspect is overly dwelt upon in some games: in theory a player's tactics should change regarding random card order and their strategy should consider whether they lost with it last time! But I guess it depends on how many back-to-back games you're intending to play. For us, it's a kind of one-off, whenever the need arises. Being slow players, even 2 player, we don't reach for it all the time, or feel the need for back-to-back games: it's a large, satisfying meal!
I'm really enjoying this series. Based on your past reviews i purchased Fields of Arle last week, with the Tea Expansion. So I am happy to see where it ended up. Also, i was so happy to hear Barcelona comment. That game was so boring and lead to AP for everyone at the table. Such an unfun experience. Good video, thanks.
It's not as heavy as Caverna, Feast for Odin or... god forbids.. Fields of Arle. Also it comes from a time with cardboard shortage, so the player boards are really flimsy (we NEED a second edition and it desperately needs an expansion). For players who just want more and more and more complexity to be point of being unplayabe, it feels a bit ... dated. Besides that the settlement building, the different routes with a ton of ressources and the passive player interaction is really satisfying and thematic. Also you get TWO different economies/variants (Wine and Whiskey) with different buildings in one box.
Booom! Excellent breakdown! Fields of Arle with the Tea Expansion is the best! Feast for Odin fans can play their Tetris game, acquiring swords and stuff for its shape versus functionality. Fields of Arle is under appreciated. Tea expansion makes the sandbox almost unlimited. 🏆 🧑🏼🌾 🐑 🐄 ☕️
Great list - although Hallertau has a Sweet spot here at home. I just introduced my wife to it and it was a hit. Sure, it has some flaws, but we really like it…maybe I need to get FoA 😁
Le Havre is my favorite Rosenberg. Concerning the loans, players can only take them out if they can't afford to pay interest on their loan or cannot afford to feed at the end of the round; they can't choose to take out a loan as supplemental income. Therefore, people taking out loans tend to have very little money or food. But I'm guessing this would mean they would simply focus their attention on getting other resources and buildings in the mean time.🤔
Never tried this kind of strategy, but for sure the game changes if someone taught this rule wrong (take a loan when you prefer), you could shortage yourself at the beginning buying buildings, but I don't see how drowning in loans will make your strategy better.
@@MrJoelXIIIThe games is meant to be played with loans. And you only can take Loans for feeding and interests for other loans. If you play it right, you can archieve more. Snowball effect.
Love the series! Agricola is still one of my favorite games period. Otherwise Bohnanza is probably my second favorite followed by Glass Road. Im not a fan of polyomino games after Patchwork (which is good). Ive been trying to seek out Mama Mia as a lot of our game group members consider this or Bohnanza to he his best.
Hi Luke, Have you considered doing a top 10 video on what would otherwise be decent medium / heavyweight games which are spoilt by overly long set up time (such as Le Havre and Sankore) or unnecessarily large footprint (GWT New Zealand and Sankore again). Would be interested in your thoughts. Some of my weekly gaming is in a local pub which means GWT NZ and Sankore is out of the question. Le Havre also suffers from not being able to sort the cards for player count in advance although I take your point about 3 player count being the number to go for. Even on a large dining table at home, GWT NZ and Sankore require a bit of shuffling bits round to fit everything on the table
It's an interesting idea. Certainly plenty of candidates though not all of them are ones I don't want to play due to the setup. GWT NZ for example is still great to play but man is refreshing on TTS to have a scripted setup.
The fallow system in Hallertau is unique but I agree, it’s wrapped up in a subpar card-based worker placement game. Ora et Labora, Fields of Arle, and AFfO are my favorites. Atiwa is nice. I was underwhelmed by Oranienburger Kanal. I felt the game was fine but the cards were difficult to read and you have to keep the appendix handy and constantly remind yourself what you have so you can trigger everything properly. It was a smidge too much work for a solo option, which is how I was mostly playing it.
I agree with these picks (apart from Atiwa, I just realized it's his new game, oops) apart from 1 point on Le Havre. I would only play it at 4+ because the people feeding is so brutal at lower player counts it's not fun, just frustration. I'd rather deal with unequal player turns per round than that.
For Agricola, losing one point for not having something in a scoring category and getting 1 point for having one is functionally identical to not having it nets you zero points and the first gets you +2 points (i.e., in either case you get +2 points for your first). When I teach the game I point that out to help reframe the points, because you can absolutely still score highly (50+) even when taking negatives from a category or two. But yeah, just like Caverna, it is often the case that the person who grows their family the most/quickest (without starving wins). But that in and of itself is an optimization puzzle I quite enjoy. Nusfjord is so good. I like that it’s easy to teach (albeit with a couple quirky rules), relatively short, relatively light, and plays well at all counts. Usually the Uwe game I bring to board game nights because it’s often a hit both with experienced Euro/Uwe games and non-experienced ones. I feel it shines at 4p though imo if you have a chance to try it at that count.
I've won games with fewer dwarves than other players before in caverna. It's the combo of having negative points for not having items and the fact that EVERYTHING is capped.
@@TheBrokenMeepleDid you do adventuring? I’d found (at least with base Caverna) you win either having a massive family or monopolizing the adventuring part. Unless you’re playing against newer players who let you build all the high-ceiling furnishings, at which point it doesn’t much matter what else you do. Yeah, the capping in Agricola can be a downer. I really like the cards that provide points for stuff beyond cap, like the one that gives you points for your 5th/6th veggies, the one that allows you to turn grain into points, and the one that gives you points (and food) for every third sheep, for example.
1. Patchwork 2. Bohnanza - how are you taking an hour plus to play this? Playing games with my family is like herding cattle and we play it in like 45 minutes 3. Agricola 4. A Feast for Odin - not bad, just my least favorite of the ones I’ve played
This is one of my zero-hype designers. I don't dislike his games, in fact I have a couple I really enjoy, but I find myself default assuming a game of his is not going to be for me than the other way around. Not fully sure why, maybe it's a trigger response to others getting hyped. I own 1 from your bottom 3 (Hallertau), 1 from your top 3 (Fields of Arle) and 1 of your mentions (Le Havre). I also have one game that is a collab, but hasn't yet semented its position in my collection. With Uwe games I find I'm drawn to his big box games that have more streamlined set-ups, I got burned by Caverna's mass sets of tiles that always had to be sorted and matched to the board (which felt like it took forever to do, and no amount of organizing helped with that). Even though I liked the game, just the time it took to set it up made me want to play it less. With both Hallertau and Le Havre I feel I can get them on the table fairly quickly and get right to it. Fields is a little bit more involved, but not so much it becomes a problem - plus the game feels like a more contained Feast (in a good way).
Yeah compared to Feast, Fields is surprisingly more constrained and easier to teach, you game lots of options but the spaces on the board are all similar in how they work. I get your issue about long setups, especially Caverna building tiles.
Great video! Love this series! I really need to try more of his game! Really want to get Fields of Arle to play with my wife I think it could make her #1 Where I differ most from you is on time of game. I think a long game isn’t bad it. I think it’s when the game feels like it’s dragging is the real issue. Even a lot of down time isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re still having fun
But that's what I mean also, a long game is fine if its justified. Hegemony needs a long game time and I always love it. But then even Ark Nova can go too long work a full count. Many games that are long though don't justify their length or throw in too many random elements.
Oranienburger Kanal is the best game he’s ever made in my opinion. It’s tight, has loads of decisions but feels really smooth. Has insane replayability and takes some of the best things from other games and introduces an incredible spatial puzzle which feels really unique. It’s a shame no one can buy it currently. Hopefully the reprint will be decent.
@@TheBrokenMeeple My main issue with it (apart from the cards, which should obviously have been square) is the fact that its yet another 2-player only game. In any given year I'm unlikely to play more than a couple of two-player games :(
Love the video and your assessments. For Nusfjord, two strong likes for me that you didn’t mention: incredible Automa system for solo play and you can’t find a better worker placement game that satisfies this much in 20-30 minutes (I have aFFO, but that is a 2-3 hour commitment). Also, I’ll be very curious where you land with Black Forest. Since Glass Road isn’t in your top Uwe games, and it shares a lot of DNA with BF (like the resource wheel), I’ll be listening for what sets BF apart.
Black Forest's main difference is the lack of cards replaced by the action map. This eliminates a lot of the chance effects. You get more buildings to make and the map actions can switch places and add new ones.
A Feast for Odin is a great design, but it really feels like I'm roleplaying a viking hoarder, and just couldn't feel very attached to it. "Vikings love their f&$*ing rocks."
The design of the game is fine but it's so abstracted. Arranging your loot Tetris style and eating horizontal food rather than vertical, it's not even trying to game a theme.
Haven't read the other 120+ comments, but I think you should try Glass Road and Ora et Labora (if you haven't already). They have a unique 'rondel' mechanic, that isn't in those games you reviewed now, and I think you might like a lot.
I really like Uwe's games but once you have a few of the different styles it isn't really worth buying some of his other games. I would love to try most of his games, but don't get the opportunity. Fields of Arle sounds great as I really liked Caverna and Agricola is my #2 fav. But I don't think I really need a heavier Uwe farming game when Caverna already feels like it was a bit over the top with some of its inclusions
Man I still haven't played Hallertau. It just feels like more iteration form Gates of Loyang and Reykholt. The fact that they never supported it with new cards I assume means it didn't sell well. I should take Atiwa off the shelf and give it a look. We like Agricola and Caverna, especially Caverna with the Forgotten Folks expansion and I need to crack open Fields of Arle. Decent list, although I do like Le Havre and still need to try Ora Et Labora and Glass Road. I feel like you could do 2 or 3 separate Uwe Rosenberg videos just like this one.
Atiwa is my go to farming game. Perhaps I will get Caverna some time in the future and if I find it cheap. Until then I will try it on BGA to see if it’s for me.
Another great video. Agree with a lot of your comments. Not played Bohnanza. My top 3- Fields of Arle Atiwa Caverna Worst 3- Patchwork Hallertau Feast for Odin
@@TheBrokenMeepleIm not a huge polyomino fan. I've not played cottage garden but imagine that would make the list. Had high hopes for Feast. Really didn't like the dice mechanic and it lasted too long. So the expectation to reality was huge which makes it bottom for me. Patchwork I enjoyed but just no interest to play these days.
I really love Ora et Labora, but based on your comments, I'm not sure you'll like it. I prefer the old-school more restrictive Uwe (Agricola over Caverna). Also, because of how the 2-player rules work, O&L feels like a totally different game at that count vs. 3 or 4 players (which I much prefer, but you might like 2 better because much more open).
Gotta disagree on Hallertau. I just love the anytime card plays. It is more of a solo affair, but that doesn't bother me much. I also like the idea of fertile fields to yield better crops. You've got me wanting to try Arle for years now, but I just haven't had the chance yet. I can't wait to try it at some point.
That's kind of a simple statement to make, though. Hallertau, like many resource heavy euro games, is mostly a solo experience. So if someone enjoys the game at multi-player, it is likely that same person would enjoy it solo. Multi-player games don't magically become good solo games; the core game has to be enjoyable. Obviously, Hallertau didn't grab many people's attention. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it falls into the same camp as games like Imperium Horizons and Spirit Island. It definitely isn't as innovative as those two, but people recognize that solo/2 players cuts out the faff of other's turns. I would have liked to see the community center in Hallerrau become more of a thing everyone contributed to, I think the tone of the game would have changed drastically.
I haven't played it, but isn't Hengist considered to be his worst? Or Tulpenfieber? Did you find those to be not as bad as the others, or have you just not played them yet?
I was going to suggest Hengist! I seem to remember reading the German rules made the game work better -English rules were apparently inaccurate or unclear.
Not sure where I read this, or if it's even accurate.. but I recall reading something along the lines that Rosenberg just lent his name to somebody else's unfinished design and maybe there was also a deadline issue.. idk.
Hallertau and Bohnanza amongst his worst? Are you mad? Merkatur (dull, dull, dull), Spring Cottage (or whatever it was called - I’ve forgotten it already), and that game about growing things in sheds that wasn’t At The Gates of Loyang. I’m ignoring most of the two-player and abstract stuff, as I neither like nor play games in that genre.
Hard to pick his best. Le Havre, Atiwa, Nusfjord, Glass Road, Caverna, Agricola, Fields of Arle - all great games, and circumstances dictate which is the best at the immediate moment.
In fairness I've not played Merk, his other abstracts are certainly fairly forgettable but I can still play them, get some enjoyment and they are done nice and quick. Hallertau is far from quick and yet is basically "how much can you move your house for points with the swingy card system"? It has more to prove and yet doesn't succeed. Glass is good but you have to cap player count just like LeHavre but the latter has the fundamental problem with loan exploitation requiring a house rule to fix it. And Agricola is ok but Caverna exists which fixes the issues that one has.
If there is a hell, they will put me there making arts and crafts, if there is one, they will put you to play Agricola and Caverna and many other games with max counts, Twilight imperium with 8.
Interesting list Luke. Rare that I disagree with you but I really like Nusfjord and find it better than ATIWA for solo play, I'm looking forward to the 2nd edition coming out with two new expansions. Heard good things about Fields of Arle, must try and get a copy.
Has Rosenberg ever made a post on bgg? I think he’s the only designer who absolutely will not participate on that site. Kudos to him. I played almost all his games and sold them all. The only one I half liked was glass Road.
@@brianstever2146 Maybe because you can give a designer the benefit of the doubt? I don't care who designed a game as long as I like it. I don't have a favorite designer because all of them have games I like and ones that I don't like.
The one Rosenberg game which I am currently most intrigued about is „Oranienburger Kanal“. It seems to be a really good mid-weight puzzle game (something that is more likely to hit the table more often). However, even though it came out only in 2023, it is basically out of print at the moment and hard to get. So I‘m waiting for the reprint… Have you been able to play it? Any views?
Enjoyed the video. I’ve played about a dozen of his games. Favorite: A Feast for Odin. This is just in my Top-10 all time. Have the Norwegian expansion which is nice as well. Least Favorite: Le Harve. I’ve tried to like this one. I give it a 4/10. I recognize people really love it and such but I found it such a chore and in-fun. I even tried doing the digital version, and that made me like it even less. Don’t know what it is. Sorry. I think Agricola, All Creatures Great and Small, Patchwork and Bonanza are all ‘fine’, but I dont love them. Reykholt fell flat for me, but not Le Harve level flat. I have not played Fields of Arle or Caverna, but would give them a try. No body I know owns it, and I’m not about to buy them though. Maybe someday I’ll run into someone that has it.
I havent played many of his games. But i do own 2: agricola for tightness and a feast for odin for the opposite. I want to try fields of arle but ita too expensive to just buy on a whim.
My bottom three Uwe: Bohnanza - hated everything about this game. Prolly because I hate negotiation. Nusfjord - not a bad game but I was bored. Hallertau - not a bad game either but the town hall (or whatever it's called) mechanisms had one strategy and it annoyed me. My top three: Oranienburger Kanal - just pure fun, solo or two player Feast of Odin - the perfect crazy big sandbox-ish euro Fields of Arle - this is good but I feel that once I play more Uwes this will be bumped.
Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong 😮 Hallertau is a great game. Fields of Arle looks interesting but I'd have to buy it with the expansion as a 3 player. I have no interest of being"sad" and playing solo. As you know I don't care for solo modes, or any solo board game, any game I play solo is a computer game. So is fields any good at three?
Uwe is a nice 2nd video on this theme. I enjoy everyones thoughts and Uwe is easily one of the weirdest loved designers as some LOVE x game and others hate it but they LOVE y game etc. Agricola vs Caverna. I hear Oranienburger Kanal is something special
Can someone explain what exactly is so unbalanced about A Feast For Odin without The Norwegians and what The Norwegians does exactly to make up for that?
The main things it really does fix are two fold: (1) Emigration is no longer the dominant strategy - but can't recall if it got nerfed or other actions just got better to measure up to it (2) Animals absolutely sucked in the base game, there was no reason to take them or focus on them as a strategy. Norwegians actually makes an animal strategy viable.
@@TheBrokenMeepleEmigration ist group think. It is not stronger than other strategies. Animals are buffed by the expansion but possible in the base game. But if you stay in your group think bubble, sorry.
@@TheBrokenMeepleEmigration ist group think. It is not stronger than other strategies. Animals are buffed by the expansion but possible in the base game. But if you stay in your group think bubble, sorry.
Wow, i am surprised by this list. Do you have a list of ALL the games youve played? I agree with new york zoo. But hallertau and bohnanaza, you take that back!! My top three: fields of arle, feast for odin, Oranienburger kanal. Worst three: indian summer, keykolt, new york zoo, cottage garden
A Friend gave us Sagani as a gift and we really like it - we play it quite often, it is a nice little relaxing (but abstract) game after a hard day ´s work😊 Then we got ourselves Agricola (because it is a “classic” ) and it was an absolutely horrifying experience for us 😮 All that farming, animal breeding, slaughtering, having children, feeding the family… Horror!😮 This game is so tight, it is so punishing, it ended up being hard work - and this is no fun at all for us. We wanted to like this game, we tried it several times, but we ended up hating it☠️ Then we got Glassroad, that was ok, but nothing really fun… What makes things even more worse: the artwork of both of the games is atrocious….. We watched videos about many Uwe Rosenberg games - but everytime we see that farming and feeding the family is involved, we are out. Attiwa - the same: you have to do farming in Africa and you have to feed the family….. We came to the conclusion that Uwe Rosenberg ´s games are not for us. 😕
I think it's pronounced "OO-VAY". I give up on his surname! Ora and Labora is great. I wish I'd played Glass Road -being quicker, I suspect it would be my favourite, but who knows: O&L is just sooo good.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Certainly not for me. It's quite a long game, and we play it 2 player now -so not too bad in that context! P.S. We are slow players. Just thought I'd better add that for context!
I disagree about Nusfjord. Really cool solo game imho. I Consider getting Arle, but without an AI or a mechanism that blocks stuff, I fear that every game quickly will become exactly the same? Or am I wrong? 🤔
Half right, there is no AI but you are restricted in how much you can use action spaces on the opposite season. But that's about it. I do seem to hear that no one plays Nusjford multiplayer and simply plays it solo.
Another Uwe game if you can slot it in is Reykholt. It's a nice gateway race game where you don't have to feed your village...but you do have to feed the tourists. Looking forward to your other designer/publisher series.
No idea. The publisher is hit and miss for me, I've not tried the game and I ignore everything SUSD say with their over hyped click bait so until I see it in front of me I can't tell.
I generally don’t like his stuff for solo play because it’s always beat your own score. He really needs to put an automa out there for his games. I consider this such a disservice.
Can't take a list that puts Bohnanza as his worst seriously. It's a classic, really fun game, it's in SUSD's Top 10 of all time and is loved by so many. Weird choice.
@@TheBrokenMeeple It's all about the people you play with, the negotiation and the laughs, and then it flies by. Oh dear, what did SUSD ever do to you?
after watching the video, it made me wonder if he really "understand"s the game. Fields of Arle is THE sandbox game? This is probably the worst board game channel I have ever seen
"The" Sandbox Euro game - yes for sure. You want to name another rather than being obtuse for the sake of it? Also I can direct you to much worse channels from among the popular ones believe me. Then you can "like" your own comments on that one as well ;-)
We love Bohnanza! Been playing it for years and will probably continue to do so. Your thoughts on it were hilarious tho 😆
We also loved Caverna!
Funfact #1: We played Caverna with 7 players 4years ago.
Funfact #2: We havn't played Caverna since 4 years. :D
Lacerda next, please!
(Though I suppose we could go by your top 100 to know his top 3)
Lacerda is on the list!
@@TheBrokenMeeple too easy. They're all awful, and I run a mile whenever any of his games is put on the table.
@@ViscountCharles I've only played Bot Factory which isn't really a true Lacerda I don't think. Have an interest in trying Kanban and Lisboa
@@ViscountCharles Yes, share the hate. Lol What makes them all awful?
@@coltonbeatty6117 Too many wheels within wheels, and complication for the sake of it. They encourage people to confuse complexity for depth, and instead of delivering to the players clever interaction and meaningful decisions, Lacerda games instead make those decisions hard to make because of the complexity and near-impossibility of analysing things properly.
I appreciate your thoughts on things. Definitely looking forward to Black Forest but to me, the old Rosengerg games like Agricola and Le Havre are the best. I love the constraints. Too many modern games make it too easy for you. Thanks!
Bohnanza was one of my group's go-to filler games when we needed a short game. Of course our group dynamic must have been a lot different than Luke's as our four person group could knock this out in 20-30 minutes.
I do really like playing Caverna with the Forgotten Folk expansion. And I will still play Le Havre if given the chance.
You said you dont wanna do mechanics, but doing a Uwe Rosenberg Best and Worst of equals a Best and Worst of tile laying games :P
Fields of Arle is really special, it’s my favourite solo experience and the expansion is so good and almost always include it. I’ll be playing it in my old folks home 50 years down the line that’s for sure, it’s a forever keep♥️
Just so much choice!
A Feast for Odin is an absolute masterpiece, in fact THE masterpiece of Uwe among a lot of great games.
I dont even need to discuss about that because all BGG figures show that. ;-)
The Norwegian expansion is #9 of ALL BGG entries with at least 1,000 voters and sorted by the user rating.
So hold up, FoO is a masterpiece because an expansion that fixes the broken balance of the original came along years later and fixed the game? 🤔🤔 I mean yeah, truly masterful......most games don't need that but even so....
@@TheBrokenMeeple
Well, even without the expansion it's great.
With the base game it's just that animals were underwhelming.
Most of the rest ist finetuning.
And the board is an improvement like Tuscany improves the Viticulture board.
@@andrethannhauser6302 Certainly the animals were complete garbage but also emigration was the easiest win strategy.
AFFO took all the deterministic farming aspects from his earlier games and added dice rolling. Add in the tetris game and I let my copy go quite quickly, with zero regrets.
@@TheBrokenMeepleThat's what comes along, when someone thinks he understands all better than the creators but has absolutely no clue of the game.
So happy to finally hear some Atiwa love, I was beginning to think I was the only one who enjoyed it. 😂 Every game I've played has been insanely close as well in final scoring.
I love fields of arle! Such a good game! Glad you shared your appreciation for it!
Hallertau is his best solo game. Uwe's games are often multi-player solitaire but this game is misleading with 1-4 on the cover; I will never play it again with other players. Solo though it shines because swingy cards are just events like in any solo/co-op. This completed by the more satisfying efficiency puzzle (you want to produce just in time instead of turtling) makes it one of the best byos.
Nusfjord and At The Gates of Loyang are much better solo games for me. Hallertau forces you to move the building to the right, every single game, if you want to score well. No opportunity to try a different strategy.
I strongly disagree about Uwe Rosenberg's games being mostly multiplayer-solitaire.
If they were then most of his games would be best at 1 or 2 players, because that's the biggest indicator (=low player count being best although high player count is possible).
The turn angst of most worker placement games already is enough interaction.
Agreed on the house strategy, it's easily the best way to go.
I get the solo argument though.
Agricola #1 for me. Followed by Feast For Odin and At the Gates of Loyang. By the way Agricola is only good at 4, thats the best combination of spaces/tightness.
If anything I want less tightness! 😁
Fantasy Flight games next!
They are on the list!
The Bonanza hate is crazy!!! I only want to play this with 5-7. I think once everyone knows how to play it goes by a lot quicker! Everyone I have taught this game to has immediately bought a copy! lol sorry it doesn’t work for you though! Would love to play the game so try you and 5 more people though! Great video as always! Cheers!
With anyone new it drags on!
@@TheBrokenMeeple I have a blast so the time is of no consequence if everyone is having fun and no one is on their phones
For an even better solo experience on Arsle, use the solo rules of Atiwa, for added difficulty preset some workers first turn just to make sure you can’t always go the same way, but since you have Tea and Trade you just alternate colors.
My other favorite way to play that is rolling dice, pick your color, figure out turn order and rolling for their placement but it requires on the fly adjustments. Atiwa rules so much simpler
I mostly agree except for 2 points: I've never met someone who dislikes Bohnanza after a teach and a play! Like it best at 3-4 though so agree with you there. Also, New York Zoo (at 2 players) is amazing - basically a Patchwork variant with some Uwe animal breeding, I think we find the animeeples so cute we take such good care of them they never get knocked over lol
I haven’t played enough for a list, but Bohnanza is probably top - and in my experience, it’s quicker with more players - which makes sense as more cards will be in people’s hands when you shuffle the deck at the end of the first stage. It’s more of a game for playing with non-gamers though.
New York Zoo is decent. Much better than Cottage Garden and Spring Meadow, but not good enough for me to keep.
I like Nusfjord, A Feast FOR Odin, Le Havee and Agricola - and Caverna has been on my shelf of shame for a while.
I always have to remind myself that Atiwa is an Owe Rosenberg game when its cover really makes it look like a Friedeman Friese game. That’s high on my list of ones I want to try.
Uwe Rosenberg is probably my favorite designer, but I did enjoy watching you comment, whether negatively or positively, about the games and comparing it with my own experiences. A few comments of my own:
• Hallertau: My group just got into Hallertau recently after a few years of it collecting dust on my shelf, and we quite like it. We played it today, in fact, and actually discussed doing a variant of our own to handle the card swinginess. We might either draw more cards in the beginning and then discard down to the normal amount afterwards, giving us some agency, or institute a general "draw 2, pick 1" through the rest of the game. I generally do NOT like to do this, especially with a designer whom I respect quite a bit, but I do agree that getting extreme synergy or some key early cards like tool generation is a massive advantage over someone with clearly lesser choices, and it is too long of a game to have that much individual player input randomness. As far as unique mechanics, my group really likes the action space scarcity between rounds as well as the “definitely not feeding” puzzle of the farmhouse moving.
• Caverna: I am also in the “Caverna over Agricola” camp for many of the same reasons, so no need to rehash them here. I have actually won the game with only 3 dwarves before myself, so it is not mandatory action to get to the full dwarf count. As far as expansions go, I love the “Forgotten Folk” expansion and try not to play without it, as you can always teach the game to a new player and have them play as the normal Dwarves while others use the new races. I agree that the “Frantic Fiends” expansion is pretty bad, IMO, and I would add that it involves a lot of unneeded and uneven randomness.
• Fields of Arle: I do indeed love this game but have played it relatively seldom, because the base game plays only 2, and you can only play up to 3 with the Tea & Trade expansion. It is very crunchy and wide open, and I would suggest it to any Uwe fan to try if they can fit into those player counts.
• A Feast for Odin: An amazing game that is likely my group’s favorite Uwe game. The “Norwegians” expansion is one of the best expansions ever made, and I now teach the game with in included. The game has a lot going on and despite my group having played it quite a bit, I bet we could play it another 20 times and still not reach every corner of its strategic possibilities. Yes, it is a tough, long teach but well worth it IMO.
• Nusfjord: I like this game but can never get it to the table. It is just too lightweight for my primary gaming group and does not really satisfy that “Uwe” crunchy Euro itch we often have. I do play it with others, and it is fine as a lighter Euro to teach newer board gamers.
• Le Havre: An amazing game and a favorite of mine. I do agree that 3 players is the perfect count and 4 and especially 5 are too long for the amount of downtime between turns. I do think you break the game a bit with your loan variant, as you are meant to take loans in a sort of “Brass” fashion despite it feeling odd from a realism standpoint.
• Ora et Labora: A fantastic game but maybe somewhat limited life given that it basically has no variance between games. As far as “new” mechanics, it has that resource wheel mechanic he later used in “Glass Road” as well as a somewhat unique personal board building mechanic that cares about adjacency. Great game, but I would try it before you buy it given your other feedback about his games.
@@paulatreides77 Thanks for these summaries. Which is your favourite?
@@tmcd5049 I think it has changed over the years, but I would pick "A Feast for Odin" as my current favorite with "Caverna" close behind.
I honestly think that "Fields of Arle" would be my favorite if I could play it more, but my group tends to be 4 at a minimum.
@@paulatreides77 Thanks. I tend to prefer shorter games, so I think Glass Road would be for me. But Ora and Labora is sooo good!
Nice summaries indeed and we gel on some of them. I definitely need to try Ora and it's not an expensive buy. I'll ask the Patrons if they want to see it. No variety between games though?
@@TheBrokenMeeple There's a French "scenario" and an Irish one. Not sure about anything else.
I think that aspect is overly dwelt upon in some games: in theory a player's tactics should change regarding random card order and their strategy should consider whether they lost with it last time!
But I guess it depends on how many back-to-back games you're intending to play. For us, it's a kind of one-off, whenever the need arises. Being slow players, even 2 player, we don't reach for it all the time, or feel the need for back-to-back games: it's a large, satisfying meal!
Love Aitwa, but don't know why it says "advanced". I found a dice bag with bats all over it to put the smog tiles in. I was all giddy finding that.
I'm really enjoying this series. Based on your past reviews i purchased Fields of Arle last week, with the Tea Expansion. So I am happy to see where it ended up. Also, i was so happy to hear Barcelona comment. That game was so boring and lead to AP for everyone at the table. Such an unfun experience. Good video, thanks.
HALLERTAU is a genius game. Maybe sometimes a little unbalanced. But I love it
New York Zoo is in my top 20 games. I have a friend for whom it is his favorite.
Ora et Labora is in my Rosenberg Top3 so you should definetely get it on the table.
But it's a quite heavy one.
I'll put a Patron vote up to see what reviews they'd like to see and add Ora in to the mix. 👍
It's not as heavy as Caverna, Feast for Odin or... god forbids.. Fields of Arle. Also it comes from a time with cardboard shortage, so the player boards are really flimsy (we NEED a second edition and it desperately needs an expansion). For players who just want more and more and more complexity to be point of being unplayabe, it feels a bit ... dated.
Besides that the settlement building, the different routes with a ton of ressources and the passive player interaction is really satisfying and thematic. Also you get TWO different economies/variants (Wine and Whiskey) with different buildings in one box.
Booom!
Excellent breakdown!
Fields of Arle with the Tea Expansion is the best! Feast for Odin fans can play their Tetris game, acquiring swords and stuff for its shape versus functionality. Fields of Arle is under appreciated. Tea expansion makes the sandbox almost unlimited.
🏆 🧑🏼🌾 🐑 🐄 ☕️
Rare that I agree with you about games but your 3 best games are totally on point, except maybe in the opposite order.
Great list - although Hallertau has a Sweet spot here at home. I just introduced my wife to it and it was a hit. Sure, it has some flaws, but we really like it…maybe I need to get FoA 😁
I played Caverna with other 6 players once. Still fun and just 5 and half hours, slightly longer than a 6 player Agricola game I played before that.
Le Havre is my favorite Rosenberg. Concerning the loans, players can only take them out if they can't afford to pay interest on their loan or cannot afford to feed at the end of the round; they can't choose to take out a loan as supplemental income. Therefore, people taking out loans tend to have very little money or food. But I'm guessing this would mean they would simply focus their attention on getting other resources and buildings in the mean time.🤔
Never tried this kind of strategy, but for sure the game changes if someone taught this rule wrong (take a loan when you prefer), you could shortage yourself at the beginning buying buildings, but I don't see how drowning in loans will make your strategy better.
@@MrJoelXIIIThe games is meant to be played with loans. And you only can take Loans for feeding and interests for other loans. If you play it right, you can archieve more. Snowball effect.
Love the series!
Agricola is still one of my favorite games period. Otherwise Bohnanza is probably my second favorite followed by Glass Road.
Im not a fan of polyomino games after Patchwork (which is good).
Ive been trying to seek out Mama Mia as a lot of our game group members consider this or Bohnanza to he his best.
Hi Luke, Have you considered doing a top 10 video on what would otherwise be decent medium / heavyweight games which are spoilt by overly long set up time (such as Le Havre and Sankore) or unnecessarily large footprint (GWT New Zealand and Sankore again). Would be interested in your thoughts. Some of my weekly gaming is in a local pub which means GWT NZ and Sankore is out of the question. Le Havre also suffers from not being able to sort the cards for player count in advance although I take your point about 3 player count being the number to go for. Even on a large dining table at home, GWT NZ and Sankore require a bit of shuffling bits round to fit everything on the table
It's an interesting idea. Certainly plenty of candidates though not all of them are ones I don't want to play due to the setup. GWT NZ for example is still great to play but man is refreshing on TTS to have a scripted setup.
The fallow system in Hallertau is unique but I agree, it’s wrapped up in a subpar card-based worker placement game. Ora et Labora, Fields of Arle, and AFfO are my favorites. Atiwa is nice. I was underwhelmed by Oranienburger Kanal. I felt the game was fine but the cards were difficult to read and you have to keep the appendix handy and constantly remind yourself what you have so you can trigger everything properly. It was a smidge too much work for a solo option, which is how I was mostly playing it.
Great new series, I'm looking forward to see what publisher/ designer you'll pick next.
I agree with you on the Caverna/Agricola thing. My favorite is A Feast for Odin, but, Fields of Arles is a great choice.
"I've not played every Uwe Rosenburg game...and neither have YOU!"
Challenge accepted!
#EveryUwe
I agree with these picks (apart from Atiwa, I just realized it's his new game, oops) apart from 1 point on Le Havre. I would only play it at 4+ because the people feeding is so brutal at lower player counts it's not fun, just frustration. I'd rather deal with unequal player turns per round than that.
For Agricola, losing one point for not having something in a scoring category and getting 1 point for having one is functionally identical to not having it nets you zero points and the first gets you +2 points (i.e., in either case you get +2 points for your first). When I teach the game I point that out to help reframe the points, because you can absolutely still score highly (50+) even when taking negatives from a category or two.
But yeah, just like Caverna, it is often the case that the person who grows their family the most/quickest (without starving wins). But that in and of itself is an optimization puzzle I quite enjoy.
Nusfjord is so good. I like that it’s easy to teach (albeit with a couple quirky rules), relatively short, relatively light, and plays well at all counts. Usually the Uwe game I bring to board game nights because it’s often a hit both with experienced Euro/Uwe games and non-experienced ones. I feel it shines at 4p though imo if you have a chance to try it at that count.
I've won games with fewer dwarves than other players before in caverna.
It's the combo of having negative points for not having items and the fact that EVERYTHING is capped.
@@TheBrokenMeepleDid you do adventuring? I’d found (at least with base Caverna) you win either having a massive family or monopolizing the adventuring part. Unless you’re playing against newer players who let you build all the high-ceiling furnishings, at which point it doesn’t much matter what else you do.
Yeah, the capping in Agricola can be a downer. I really like the cards that provide points for stuff beyond cap, like the one that gives you points for your 5th/6th veggies, the one that allows you to turn grain into points, and the one that gives you points (and food) for every third sheep, for example.
I feel like Le Havre gave me " Rinse and repeat" feeling. I like Nusfjord though
1. Patchwork
2. Bohnanza - how are you taking an hour plus to play this? Playing games with my family is like herding cattle and we play it in like 45 minutes
3. Agricola
4. A Feast for Odin - not bad, just my least favorite of the ones I’ve played
This is one of my zero-hype designers. I don't dislike his games, in fact I have a couple I really enjoy, but I find myself default assuming a game of his is not going to be for me than the other way around. Not fully sure why, maybe it's a trigger response to others getting hyped. I own 1 from your bottom 3 (Hallertau), 1 from your top 3 (Fields of Arle) and 1 of your mentions (Le Havre). I also have one game that is a collab, but hasn't yet semented its position in my collection.
With Uwe games I find I'm drawn to his big box games that have more streamlined set-ups, I got burned by Caverna's mass sets of tiles that always had to be sorted and matched to the board (which felt like it took forever to do, and no amount of organizing helped with that). Even though I liked the game, just the time it took to set it up made me want to play it less. With both Hallertau and Le Havre I feel I can get them on the table fairly quickly and get right to it. Fields is a little bit more involved, but not so much it becomes a problem - plus the game feels like a more contained Feast (in a good way).
Yeah compared to Feast, Fields is surprisingly more constrained and easier to teach, you game lots of options but the spaces on the board are all similar in how they work.
I get your issue about long setups, especially Caverna building tiles.
Great video! Love this series! I really need to try more of his game! Really want to get Fields of Arle to play with my wife I think it could make her #1
Where I differ most from you is on time of game. I think a long game isn’t bad it. I think it’s when the game feels like it’s dragging is the real issue. Even a lot of down time isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re still having fun
But that's what I mean also, a long game is fine if its justified. Hegemony needs a long game time and I always love it. But then even Ark Nova can go too long work a full count. Many games that are long though don't justify their length or throw in too many random elements.
Oranienburger Kanal is the best game he’s ever made in my opinion. It’s tight, has loads of decisions but feels really smooth. Has insane replayability and takes some of the best things from other games and introduces an incredible spatial puzzle which feels really unique. It’s a shame no one can buy it currently. Hopefully the reprint will be decent.
Yeah never seen a copy of it!!
@@TheBrokenMeeple My main issue with it (apart from the cards, which should obviously have been square) is the fact that its yet another 2-player only game. In any given year I'm unlikely to play more than a couple of two-player games :(
Love the video and your assessments. For Nusfjord, two strong likes for me that you didn’t mention: incredible Automa system for solo play and you can’t find a better worker placement game that satisfies this much in 20-30 minutes (I have aFFO, but that is a 2-3 hour commitment). Also, I’ll be very curious where you land with Black Forest. Since Glass Road isn’t in your top Uwe games, and it shares a lot of DNA with BF (like the resource wheel), I’ll be listening for what sets BF apart.
Black Forest's main difference is the lack of cards replaced by the action map. This eliminates a lot of the chance effects. You get more buildings to make and the map actions can switch places and add new ones.
Really have enjoyed a recwnt purchase by him - Merkator and no feeding anyone thankfully
this is a great series, please keep it up.
Thanks, will do!
I'm a huge fan of Ora et Labora. It might be my favorite Uwe game though Le Havre is very close. At the Gates of Loyang is right up there as well.
I clicked as soon as I saw the title. My favorite designer. Time to watch this vid
A Feast for Odin is a great design, but it really feels like I'm roleplaying a viking hoarder, and just couldn't feel very attached to it. "Vikings love their f&$*ing rocks."
The design of the game is fine but it's so abstracted. Arranging your loot Tetris style and eating horizontal food rather than vertical, it's not even trying to game a theme.
Haven't read the other 120+ comments, but I think you should try Glass Road and Ora et Labora (if you haven't already). They have a unique 'rondel' mechanic, that isn't in those games you reviewed now, and I think you might like a lot.
I own glass road but ora and labor is certainly on the list.
Hope you know the correct Loans rules in Le Havre. You can only take loans to feed all your workers or to pay your loans interests.
Even though Interest is only 1 for all loans not PER loan.
I really like Uwe's games but once you have a few of the different styles it isn't really worth buying some of his other games. I would love to try most of his games, but don't get the opportunity.
Fields of Arle sounds great as I really liked Caverna and Agricola is my #2 fav. But I don't think I really need a heavier Uwe farming game when Caverna already feels like it was a bit over the top with some of its inclusions
Man I still haven't played Hallertau. It just feels like more iteration form Gates of Loyang and Reykholt. The fact that they never supported it with new cards I assume means it didn't sell well. I should take Atiwa off the shelf and give it a look. We like Agricola and Caverna, especially Caverna with the Forgotten Folks expansion and I need to crack open Fields of Arle. Decent list, although I do like Le Havre and still need to try Ora Et Labora and Glass Road.
I feel like you could do 2 or 3 separate Uwe Rosenberg videos just like this one.
Hallertau didn't sell well at all compared to others, they've long since abandoned it.
Atiwa is my go to farming game. Perhaps I will get Caverna some time in the future and if I find it cheap. Until then I will try it on BGA to see if it’s for me.
Funny enough my next podcast talks about the benefits of online gaming and testing out a potential purchase is one of them.
Another great video. Agree with a lot of your comments. Not played Bohnanza.
My top 3-
Fields of Arle
Atiwa
Caverna
Worst 3-
Patchwork
Hallertau
Feast for Odin
Oooo hatred for Feast!
@@TheBrokenMeepleIm not a huge polyomino fan. I've not played cottage garden but imagine that would make the list. Had high hopes for Feast. Really didn't like the dice mechanic and it lasted too long. So the expectation to reality was huge which makes it bottom for me. Patchwork I enjoyed but just no interest to play these days.
I really love Ora et Labora, but based on your comments, I'm not sure you'll like it. I prefer the old-school more restrictive Uwe (Agricola over Caverna). Also, because of how the 2-player rules work, O&L feels like a totally different game at that count vs. 3 or 4 players (which I much prefer, but you might like 2 better because much more open).
I don't get two player games to the table barely at all given my living circumstances.
Thanks Luke for making this overview. Always love honest opinions.
My pleasure!
Gotta disagree on Hallertau. I just love the anytime card plays. It is more of a solo affair, but that doesn't bother me much. I also like the idea of fertile fields to yield better crops.
You've got me wanting to try Arle for years now, but I just haven't had the chance yet. I can't wait to try it at some point.
A lot of people seem to be defending Hallertau based purely on it being a solo game.
That's kind of a simple statement to make, though. Hallertau, like many resource heavy euro games, is mostly a solo experience. So if someone enjoys the game at multi-player, it is likely that same person would enjoy it solo. Multi-player games don't magically become good solo games; the core game has to be enjoyable.
Obviously, Hallertau didn't grab many people's attention. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it falls into the same camp as games like Imperium Horizons and Spirit Island. It definitely isn't as innovative as those two, but people recognize that solo/2 players cuts out the faff of other's turns.
I would have liked to see the community center in Hallerrau become more of a thing everyone contributed to, I think the tone of the game would have changed drastically.
Perhaps do Stefan Feld or Vladimir Suchy? If that tickles your fancy.
I can do Suchy, but I'm not a fan of Feld games at all!
'Like' for that intro clip alone.
I was proud of that one! :D
We played a lot of Babel back in the day. It was in the 2 player Kosmos small box series.
Robin of Loxely is just amazing and so different
I haven't played it, but isn't Hengist considered to be his worst? Or Tulpenfieber?
Did you find those to be not as bad as the others, or have you just not played them yet?
I was going to suggest Hengist! I seem to remember reading the German rules made the game work better -English rules were apparently inaccurate or unclear.
Not played Hengist but I've heard bad things.
Not sure where I read this, or if it's even accurate.. but I recall reading something along the lines that Rosenberg just lent his name to somebody else's unfinished design and maybe there was also a deadline issue.. idk.
Hallertau and Bohnanza amongst his worst? Are you mad?
Merkatur (dull, dull, dull), Spring Cottage (or whatever it was called - I’ve forgotten it already), and that game about growing things in sheds that wasn’t At The Gates of Loyang.
I’m ignoring most of the two-player and abstract stuff, as I neither like nor play games in that genre.
Hard to pick his best. Le Havre, Atiwa, Nusfjord, Glass Road, Caverna, Agricola, Fields of Arle - all great games, and circumstances dictate which is the best at the immediate moment.
In fairness I've not played Merk, his other abstracts are certainly fairly forgettable but I can still play them, get some enjoyment and they are done nice and quick. Hallertau is far from quick and yet is basically "how much can you move your house for points with the swingy card system"? It has more to prove and yet doesn't succeed.
Glass is good but you have to cap player count just like LeHavre but the latter has the fundamental problem with loan exploitation requiring a house rule to fix it. And Agricola is ok but Caverna exists which fixes the issues that one has.
If there is a hell, they will put me there making arts and crafts, if there is one, they will put you to play Agricola and Caverna and many other games with max counts, Twilight imperium with 8.
Yeah that would cut it!
Interesting list Luke. Rare that I disagree with you but I really like Nusfjord and find it better than ATIWA for solo play, I'm looking forward to the 2nd edition coming out with two new expansions. Heard good things about Fields of Arle, must try and get a copy.
Who knows, will the second edition make the game more enjoyable?
I really wasn't expecting that sign off 😂
?
Has Rosenberg ever made a post on bgg? I think he’s the only designer who absolutely will not participate on that site. Kudos to him. I played almost all his games and sold them all. The only one I half liked was glass Road.
Yeah me too. Played most of his games. Often too long and repetitive for me
Genuinely curious. If you don't like his designs why do you keep playing them? Not trying to be a jerk, just genuinely curious.
Are you suggesting that he SHOULD have HAD to?
@@brianstever2146 Maybe because you can give a designer the benefit of the doubt?
I don't care who designed a game as long as I like it. I don't have a favorite designer because all of them have games I like and ones that I don't like.
@shatnershairpiece Are you suggesting Rosenberg SHOULD have HAD to participate and 'engage' others on Board Game Geek?
The one Rosenberg game which I am currently most intrigued about is „Oranienburger Kanal“. It seems to be a really good mid-weight puzzle game (something that is more likely to hit the table more often). However, even though it came out only in 2023, it is basically out of print at the moment and hard to get. So I‘m waiting for the reprint… Have you been able to play it? Any views?
Enjoyed the video.
I’ve played about a dozen of his games.
Favorite:
A Feast for Odin. This is just in my Top-10 all time. Have the Norwegian expansion which is nice as well.
Least Favorite:
Le Harve. I’ve tried to like this one. I give it a 4/10. I recognize people really love it and such but I found it such a chore and in-fun. I even tried doing the digital version, and that made me like it even less. Don’t know what it is. Sorry.
I think Agricola, All Creatures Great and Small, Patchwork and Bonanza are all ‘fine’, but I dont love them. Reykholt fell flat for me, but not Le Harve level flat.
I have not played Fields of Arle or Caverna, but would give them a try. No body I know owns it, and I’m not about to buy them though. Maybe someday I’ll run into someone that has it.
Awww man his two best you haven't tried? I hope one day you manage it!
I havent played many of his games.
But i do own 2: agricola for tightness and a feast for odin for the opposite. I want to try fields of arle but ita too expensive to just buy on a whim.
My bottom three Uwe:
Bohnanza - hated everything about this game. Prolly because I hate negotiation.
Nusfjord - not a bad game but I was bored.
Hallertau - not a bad game either but the town hall (or whatever it's called) mechanisms had one strategy and it annoyed me.
My top three:
Oranienburger Kanal - just pure fun, solo or two player
Feast of Odin - the perfect crazy big sandbox-ish euro
Fields of Arle - this is good but I feel that once I play more Uwes this will be bumped.
I'd like to try Kanai but never seen a copy!
Had the same experience with Bohnanza.
Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong 😮 Hallertau is a great game. Fields of Arle looks interesting but I'd have to buy it with the expansion as a 3 player. I have no interest of being"sad" and playing solo. As you know I don't care for solo modes, or any solo board game, any game I play solo is a computer game. So is fields any good at three?
Yeah works for me fine at 3 - you get a quick start and slightly less rounds.
Uwe is a nice 2nd video on this theme. I enjoy everyones thoughts and Uwe is easily one of the weirdest loved designers as some LOVE x game and others hate it but they LOVE y game etc. Agricola vs Caverna.
I hear Oranienburger Kanal is something special
Never seen a copy of that in front of me!
I understand everything... but putting Atiwa over Hallerrau... man ;). Atiwa has ZERO replay value
Exactly my issue with Atiwa. It was like a 9 after my first play, sold it after the 3rd play as the game is exactly the same each time.
But it is quick and smooth and the puzzle still remains. Hallertaus main issue of the high random factor gets frustrating.
Interesting how Frantic Fiends makes Caverna more like Agricola and Farmers of the Moor makes Agricola more like Caverna as it loosens up the game
Can someone explain what exactly is so unbalanced about A Feast For Odin without The Norwegians and what The Norwegians does exactly to make up for that?
The main things it really does fix are two fold:
(1) Emigration is no longer the dominant strategy - but can't recall if it got nerfed or other actions just got better to measure up to it
(2) Animals absolutely sucked in the base game, there was no reason to take them or focus on them as a strategy. Norwegians actually makes an animal strategy viable.
@@TheBrokenMeepleEmigration ist group think. It is not stronger than other strategies. Animals are buffed by the expansion but possible in the base game. But if you stay in your group think bubble, sorry.
@@TheBrokenMeepleEmigration ist group think. It is not stronger than other strategies. Animals are buffed by the expansion but possible in the base game. But if you stay in your group think bubble, sorry.
Wow, i am surprised by this list. Do you have a list of ALL the games youve played? I agree with new york zoo. But hallertau and bohnanaza, you take that back!! My top three: fields of arle, feast for odin, Oranienburger kanal. Worst three: indian summer, keykolt, new york zoo, cottage garden
I got a bit more out of Reykholt then others for sure but eventually sold it as variety lacked.
A Friend gave us Sagani as a gift and we really like it - we play it quite often, it is a nice little relaxing (but abstract) game after a hard day ´s work😊 Then we got ourselves Agricola (because it is a “classic” ) and it was an absolutely horrifying experience for us 😮 All that farming, animal breeding, slaughtering, having children, feeding the family… Horror!😮 This game is so tight, it is so punishing, it ended up being hard work - and this is no fun at all for us. We wanted to like this game, we tried it several times, but we ended up hating it☠️ Then we got Glassroad, that was ok, but nothing really fun… What makes things even more worse: the artwork of both of the games is atrocious….. We watched videos about many Uwe Rosenberg games - but everytime we see that farming and feeding the family is involved, we are out. Attiwa - the same: you have to do farming in Africa and you have to feed the family….. We came to the conclusion that Uwe Rosenberg ´s games are not for us. 😕
So maybe you would prefer the Tetris abstract games he does?
@@TheBrokenMeeple maybe 🤷🏻♀️maybe we will check them out. Have a nice Sunday 🎉
Luke, have you been selling off your table top covers? concerned.
He he just depends what I've used the table for!
Refreshing to not see Feast for Odin at the top
I know right? Euro gamers don't care about good theme!
Bohnanza is nº1 man
Please do Ryan Laukat / Red Raven Games.
I think I'd first have to play some of his more obscure titles though that's my only problem
putting the 'ewww' in Uwe Rosenberg.
I think it's pronounced "OO-VAY". I give up on his surname!
Ora and Labora is great. I wish I'd played Glass Road -being quicker, I suspect it would be my favourite, but who knows: O&L is just sooo good.
Strictly speaking it’s Oo-va
@@windyhillbomber They think it's all Oo-va -it is now!
I suspect Luke wouldn't like O&L for the reading small text on other player's small cards aspect... he's complained about that on some games before.
Oh does it have that problem?...... Well hopefully it doesn't kill the game.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Certainly not for me.
It's quite a long game, and we play it 2 player now -so not too bad in that context!
P.S. We are slow players. Just thought I'd better add that for context!
I disagree about Nusfjord. Really cool solo game imho. I Consider getting Arle, but without an AI or a mechanism that blocks stuff, I fear that every game quickly will become exactly the same? Or am I wrong? 🤔
Half right, there is no AI but you are restricted in how much you can use action spaces on the opposite season. But that's about it.
I do seem to hear that no one plays Nusjford multiplayer and simply plays it solo.
a lot of these major designers are mathematicians... or is it magicians? one or the other.
Hahahahaha! That intro!
I'm proud of that one! A subtle joke that gamers will get! 😂
@@TheBrokenMeeple It was perfect. And also, the Frostpunk background merged perfectly.
Another Uwe game if you can slot it in is Reykholt. It's a nice gateway race game where you don't have to feed your village...but you do have to feed the tourists.
Looking forward to your other designer/publisher series.
I once owned Reykholt but eventually it became very samey so I sold it eventually.
Hey men, what do you think about new game "ARCS"?
No idea. The publisher is hit and miss for me, I've not tried the game and I ignore everything SUSD say with their over hyped click bait so until I see it in front of me I can't tell.
Where's Odin??? Blasphemy!!! Lol.
In the middle! :P
I hate Bohnanza. Fish meets War.
We played 5 or more players. It was a waste of over two hours. I was super bored.
Ugh 2 hours for that game. So bad!
I generally don’t like his stuff for solo play because it’s always beat your own score. He really needs to put an automa out there for his games. I consider this such a disservice.
Can't take a list that puts Bohnanza as his worst seriously. It's a classic, really fun game, it's in SUSD's Top 10 of all time and is loved by so many. Weird choice.
It's too long and drawn out for what is a simple game that should be twenty minutes max. And I wouldn't trust a word out of SUSD period.
@@TheBrokenMeeple It's all about the people you play with, the negotiation and the laughs, and then it flies by. Oh dear, what did SUSD ever do to you?
Reykholt is hot garbage. 💩
The Worst and the Worst of…
Or
The Average and the Worst of…
Just not a designer to care for.
after watching the video, it made me wonder if he really "understand"s the game. Fields of Arle is THE sandbox game? This is probably the worst board game channel I have ever seen
"The" Sandbox Euro game - yes for sure. You want to name another rather than being obtuse for the sake of it? Also I can direct you to much worse channels from among the popular ones believe me. Then you can "like" your own comments on that one as well ;-)
The only good game is agricola. All the rest is garbage