This one was a hit in my group. By far, the simplest T-series, and we had no issues asking for white, grey, orange, or brown statues. We found that most of the rules were on the board, making it easy to remember, and the relationship between the actions made sense. I like the multiple scoring and the tactical nature of the majority and what was scored.... a solid 9 for me!
Some of their critiques of the design I think are wrong. Getting 1 clay/coin for not doing an inner action is a consolation. You aren't intended to take that. You also don't take 3rd ring often (by design). So it makes no design sense to give a consolation action to an action you aren't intended to take often. And you already build a ton of the map, so spoon feeding more resources for an action you aren't supposed to take often makes no sense. Also, the master who doubles is probably the strongest master in the game. The entire point of the game is to build the army and it's intentionally on the inner wheel so you can't get resources and then immediately build. Having the ability to double build on a turn is incredibly powerful, and if that master had access to double anything more than he already does, he'd be broken. Even if you rule out 4 cost builds (even though those can still be good), he matches 6/12. Also, first player is massive the later you get in the game. Inspectors are such a small piece of the overall game, and the only reason going later can be better. But between the action wheel, the decreasing of points on warriors, taking spots for end game and end of round objectives, taking spots for archers, and getting cheaper specialists (or even getting them before they run out!!) makes first player a massive advantage as the game goes along. There is plenty incentive to take first player if you play well. Agree on the AP, Inspector, Color Choices, 2 Player points though. Overall appreciate the well thought out review, but think you are wrong on the 3 points above.
This could have been my review of Origins: First Builders. 1) Really looked forward to it. 2) Has some great ideas that I really like. 3) Has some features that prevent me from enjoying it as much as I could. Same designer and publisher!
We are completely opposite this review. Great game, great at 2 players. At 4 not to bad because reduced number of workers. Most of the points are at the end with the grouping vs the row and column scoring.
When I first saw your review before buying and playing the game myself I thought, maybe it's not a game for you as 5 seemed too low. I play mostly war games from GMT and MMP but sometimes I do play and enjoy euros a lot. I was looking forward to playing this game as it felt like a euro with fun Area control mechanic and maybe some conflict. But you were spot on. It was not fun at all. With just one simple action all what you have worked hard is gone, and specially in a 2 player game it felt broken. I can't believe they did not come up with a variant or an option for 2 players. Thank you for the great review. Maybe I should have listened to you before buying the game myself.
Chris and Wendy make the most delightful team! Humorous and well-spoken and insightful and personable... If your review was being reviewed, 10/10 for sure 😃🥇
Very solid review, well done! You pretty much share the same opinion about the game as I do, although inspector movement was used against me and I really didn't care that much. But being last player in a turn order here really helps!
Wet that clay sounds like a euphemism. Anyways, thanks for the review! Was intrigued by this one but seen enough negative feedback on it that I’m going to avoid it.
I wanted to like this more. I was expecting more out of the warrior minis. That's the whole ballgame, thematically, and I don't think they are particularly good. It already feels like they took Generic Euro #7b and slapped the terracotta theme on it, but if the minis aren't compelling it's just meh.
Thanks for the review Chris and Wendy. I do most of my gaming with my wife so I really appreciate you guys talking about the feel of the game at 2. Wendy mentioned that she likes Origins, out of curiosity would you recommend Origins at 2?
I can't wait to get this, I just love Xi'an terracotta army game...and really want to do a side by side comparison.. to see if old-school is better then modern.
Thanks for the honest review. I suspected that this game would have some issues. Though I wonder a bit what Tom's opinion about the game is. A third Dice Tower opinion would have been interesting.
Really enjoying Chris and Wendy’s reviews. I find my gaming likes to really align with them. This review has helped me question whether I should purchase this game or not, and ai am currently leaning towards no. ☺️
You guys really dont like direct conflict in games. In a 2-player game, that is exactly what my wife and I are looking for. We dont want to build our own things and in the end be happy and chuckle about it.
What I am hearing is, you don't like the punishing nature of the game. All your complains seem to be about, why does X happen? it could have been Y instead which would have been better for me. My only response to that is "plan better". I have watched your reviews for long long time, and I know you are not new to heavy games. But I don't know if you like punishing games. I am not a glutton for punishment, but this game is punishing only if someone else does something to punish you. DON'T LET THEM. you can control is by going first. Also, yes envisioning the wheel turning (and almost expecting it at least in a 3p/4p game) is the way to plan ahead. Which bring me back to PLAN BETTER. Your upgrade worker and 2x are alligned? Don't DO IT. Either turn it yourself or wait for someone to turn it for you. It feels like in this case, you missed a trick, not the game. And if it weren't obvious yet, I love the game. And so does everyone I have introduced it to.
Have to disagree on a few points. 1. This game has to have the non rotating first player. Depending on round objectives and end scoring you want to go last sometimes. Getting stuck going first on last round is brutal. 2. The inspector points are relatively low impact. I have never scored that many points from it. However I do see how this is a bigger deal at 2p. The round objectives and putting like figures in a group for end game is more important. 3. The wheel doesn’t slow the game down as much if you put everyone in the right mindset. Don’t look at the combos you can necessarily do. Look for the single most important action to you and see if you can pair things up with it. 4. Yes while all “brown” you just have to call them by the specific names of spearmen, archer, etc. I never saw this as something good at two players because of the interaction on the figure placement. But regardless different strokes for different folks.
Thanks for saving me from a bad buy. I like the historical aspect and it looked like something quite different for my game shelf but whew..... yeah very little of this sounds fun.
Thank You, Chris and Wendy for the Honest Review This is why i love DT im also with you about this game and , i really dislike the board, its ugly ...ugh sorry :((
Yeah, I played this at the DT retreat and the my whole table did not have fun at all... The mechanism are fine but the scoring is idiotic (sorry to say)... Every time someone had to place a statue the game immediately became anti-climatic, as the player had to take a long time going there and finding the very best placement that would satisfy all the 17 different ways the mosaic of statues would score... Then the end of round and scoring round came and it was, ok, everybody gets up, let one person go through the scoring but have at least another one or two double check everything just in case... So boring.
Sorry, too long for such an ugly game, LOL. I liked the box cover. I looked nice. One you did the setup and it was like worker placement...boring... Then, I looked at the actual pieces and everything...boring x2...
Talk about not only a bizarre theme, but a complete stretch to in any way tie that theme to the mechanisms. Seems positively boring. I'm sure some people will like it, but some people enjoy watching grass grow. 5/10 seems generous. Thank you for the overview and review.
Yep I agree! This game hits home on alot of things I enjoy in board games. So someone changed your plans by spinning the wheel? Guess Five Tribes is lame too. Someone keeps moving the inspector? You can move it yourself so............... Great game with a tactical puzzle element.
While Chris and Wendy seem to be delightful people, this review is a complete miss. Inspector movement and the brinkmanship around it is a major source of decision tension. “I can do A, but if I do A and you move the inspector, what are the implications? Maybe I should do B to hedge against the inspector move - but A looks so good right now…” It is a GREAT 2p game - especially for one with area majority as a central mechanic. Almost no discussion about the many mechanical wrinkles present in the mausoleum area, which is 50%+ of the game. Not being able to do all actions is part of the game - players often have to tradeoff doing less but getting high priorities done, vs doing more and maybe not getting top priorities done. The very essence of a good, tense euro.
@@DTChrisYi it's a brownish tinge of orange sure but I feel like if you're calling that brown OVER the actual full blown chocolate brown the fault is in the person not the game XD
If you are into euro-lone games then you probably won't like this game and agree with the yi's. This game is truly a board game meaning you have to interact with the actions borne from the decisions of other players which means your plans will get disrupted and will need to be changed. But this also allows you to do the same to others. Isn't this what board gaming is? I can't see any situation where this would be a critique unless you are playing a solitaire game. Is this what most euro-lone games have become such as the much hyped ark nova thing? Have the euro-lone gamers been trained over time to see real board gaming as a fault and something to stamp out and replace with complicated freecell? Are we at a board game-apocalypse? Hahaha! But seriously, the game is great if you love board games, probably one of the best of the year out there unless you like low- to-no interaction activities where you gather your friends together to not talk.
Very weak review. Is it really bad that the game has a high-density interaction? That's how it was intended to be. It's like giving a rifle to a pacifist for a review. BTW - the game is very good if you know how to play it. It's an area control fight, for Ch sake! Review the game, not your expectations. Thumbs down.
![SahBabii - Viking [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D37cL92JX0I/mqdefault.jpg)
This one was a hit in my group. By far, the simplest T-series, and we had no issues asking for white, grey, orange, or brown statues. We found that most of the rules were on the board, making it easy to remember, and the relationship between the actions made sense. I like the multiple scoring and the tactical nature of the majority and what was scored.... a solid 9 for me!
Some of their critiques of the design I think are wrong.
Getting 1 clay/coin for not doing an inner action is a consolation. You aren't intended to take that. You also don't take 3rd ring often (by design). So it makes no design sense to give a consolation action to an action you aren't intended to take often. And you already build a ton of the map, so spoon feeding more resources for an action you aren't supposed to take often makes no sense.
Also, the master who doubles is probably the strongest master in the game. The entire point of the game is to build the army and it's intentionally on the inner wheel so you can't get resources and then immediately build. Having the ability to double build on a turn is incredibly powerful, and if that master had access to double anything more than he already does, he'd be broken. Even if you rule out 4 cost builds (even though those can still be good), he matches 6/12.
Also, first player is massive the later you get in the game. Inspectors are such a small piece of the overall game, and the only reason going later can be better. But between the action wheel, the decreasing of points on warriors, taking spots for end game and end of round objectives, taking spots for archers, and getting cheaper specialists (or even getting them before they run out!!) makes first player a massive advantage as the game goes along. There is plenty incentive to take first player if you play well.
Agree on the AP, Inspector, Color Choices, 2 Player points though. Overall appreciate the well thought out review, but think you are wrong on the 3 points above.
If this is Chris titling all the videos like this now, I am 100% here for it. 🎉
I had to put on my glasses to make sure I read it correctly. I love it.
I'm a dad so the dad jokes very much vibe with me as well 🤣
I'm loving it too
Wendy is so thourough in her explanations, it's amazing.
yeah I love Chris and Wendy's reviews.
This could have been my review of Origins: First Builders. 1) Really looked forward to it. 2) Has some great ideas that I really like. 3) Has some features that prevent me from enjoying it as much as I could. Same designer and publisher!
We are completely opposite this review. Great game, great at 2 players. At 4 not to bad because reduced number of workers. Most of the points are at the end with the grouping vs the row and column scoring.
Played this 4 or so different times with different people and it was a hit every time. Idk different strokes for different folks I guess.
AGreed, played it at the Retreat and really enjoyed it
Agreed its a great medium T :)
When I first saw your review before buying and playing the game myself I thought, maybe it's not a game for you as 5 seemed too low. I play mostly war games from GMT and MMP but sometimes I do play and enjoy euros a lot. I was looking forward to playing this game as it felt like a euro with fun Area control mechanic and maybe some conflict. But you were spot on. It was not fun at all. With just one simple action all what you have worked hard is gone, and specially in a 2 player game it felt broken. I can't believe they did not come up with a variant or an option for 2 players.
Thank you for the great review. Maybe I should have listened to you before buying the game myself.
Glad to hear your opinions. I hate little rules. I’m all for streamlining even if it means there’s some imperfections.
Chris and Wendy make the most delightful team! Humorous and well-spoken and insightful and personable... If your review was being reviewed, 10/10 for sure 😃🥇
Very solid review, well done! You pretty much share the same opinion about the game as I do, although inspector movement was used against me and I really didn't care that much. But being last player in a turn order here really helps!
I agree on every point you guys made.
One thing I’ve learned about myself is I I don’t like heavy euros IF you can’t plan your move between turns
Wet that clay sounds like a euphemism.
Anyways, thanks for the review! Was intrigued by this one but seen enough negative feedback on it that I’m going to avoid it.
Right off the bat, best video title ever.
I wanted to like this more. I was expecting more out of the warrior minis. That's the whole ballgame, thematically, and I don't think they are particularly good. It already feels like they took Generic Euro #7b and slapped the terracotta theme on it, but if the minis aren't compelling it's just meh.
A Sandlot reference? Amazing. Love it!
Thanks for the review Chris and Wendy. I do most of my gaming with my wife so I really appreciate you guys talking about the feel of the game at 2. Wendy mentioned that she likes Origins, out of curiosity would you recommend Origins at 2?
Yeah, we still got in each other's way, but not too much.
I can't wait to get this, I just love Xi'an terracotta army game...and really want to do a side by side comparison.. to see if old-school is better then modern.
Old-school interaction is not better: new games have mostly no or little interaction and there is nothing to compare. Oldies forever!
I personally like to know how ya’ll think of the solo mode, especially since you’ve been playing more solo Chris.
Thanks for the honest review. I suspected that this game would have some issues.
Though I wonder a bit what Tom's opinion about the game is. A third Dice Tower opinion would have been interesting.
Typically they have the people who like it the most make the review, so if he played it, he probably liked it less than them.
Tom showed no desire to play it.
For me this is almost perfect euro, I don't have any issues playing it except I wouldn't recommend this at 2 players
Really enjoying Chris and Wendy’s reviews. I find my gaming likes to really align with them. This review has helped me question whether I should purchase this game or not, and ai am currently leaning towards no. ☺️
You guys really dont like direct conflict in games. In a 2-player game, that is exactly what my wife and I are looking for. We dont want to build our own things and in the end be happy and chuckle about it.
Hmm, Board&Dice have never hit home for me apart from Trismegistus. Looks like this won't change the trend.
What I am hearing is, you don't like the punishing nature of the game. All your complains seem to be about, why does X happen? it could have been Y instead which would have been better for me. My only response to that is "plan better". I have watched your reviews for long long time, and I know you are not new to heavy games. But I don't know if you like punishing games. I am not a glutton for punishment, but this game is punishing only if someone else does something to punish you. DON'T LET THEM. you can control is by going first. Also, yes envisioning the wheel turning (and almost expecting it at least in a 3p/4p game) is the way to plan ahead. Which bring me back to PLAN BETTER. Your upgrade worker and 2x are alligned? Don't DO IT. Either turn it yourself or wait for someone to turn it for you.
It feels like in this case, you missed a trick, not the game. And if it weren't obvious yet, I love the game. And so does everyone I have introduced it to.
Have to disagree on a few points.
1. This game has to have the non rotating first player. Depending on round objectives and end scoring you want to go last sometimes. Getting stuck going first on last round is brutal.
2. The inspector points are relatively low impact. I have never scored that many points from it. However I do see how this is a bigger deal at 2p. The round objectives and putting like figures in a group for end game is more important.
3. The wheel doesn’t slow the game down as much if you put everyone in the right mindset. Don’t look at the combos you can necessarily do. Look for the single most important action to you and see if you can pair things up with it.
4. Yes while all “brown” you just have to call them by the specific names of spearmen, archer, etc.
I never saw this as something good at two players because of the interaction on the figure placement.
But regardless different strokes for different folks.
Might need to watch that a few times to actually follow it :/
Thanks dudes, you saved be forty quid there. Have yourselves a 👍
Thanks for saving me from a bad buy. I like the historical aspect and it looked like something quite different for my game shelf but whew..... yeah very little of this sounds fun.
Just FYI we love this game and I think it is great lol. Great buy for the price.
@@BadatBoardgames That's cool. Just not in my zone.
thumbnail is instant like.
These titles! Just so flippin good!
Chip Theory Sword and a Board and Dice Game, how scandalous!!
The sword!
Guessing no sponsoring for this video 😂
Yes!!!! We agreed on something!!!! :-D I'm grabbing a drink to celebrate!!! 5/10!!
I swear Roy is writing these stupid puns
Thank You, Chris and Wendy for the Honest Review
This is why i love DT
im also with you about this game
and , i really dislike the board, its ugly ...ugh sorry :((
Yeah, I played this at the DT retreat and the my whole table did not have fun at all... The mechanism are fine but the scoring is idiotic (sorry to say)... Every time someone had to place a statue the game immediately became anti-climatic, as the player had to take a long time going there and finding the very best placement that would satisfy all the 17 different ways the mosaic of statues would score... Then the end of round and scoring round came and it was, ok, everybody gets up, let one person go through the scoring but have at least another one or two double check everything just in case... So boring.
Sorry, too long for such an ugly game, LOL.
I liked the box cover. I looked nice.
One you did the setup and it was like worker placement...boring...
Then, I looked at the actual pieces and everything...boring x2...
So much beige! 🙈
Talk about not only a bizarre theme, but a complete stretch to in any way tie that theme to the mechanisms. Seems positively boring. I'm sure some people will like it, but some people enjoy watching grass grow. 5/10 seems generous. Thank you for the overview and review.
I couldn’t disagree with both of you more…. My wife and I love this game and it’s mechanics/ideas. Glad I bought it before your video spoiled it..
Yep I agree! This game hits home on alot of things I enjoy in board games.
So someone changed your plans by spinning the wheel? Guess Five Tribes is lame too.
Someone keeps moving the inspector? You can move it yourself so...............
Great game with a tactical puzzle element.
While Chris and Wendy seem to be delightful people, this review is a complete miss.
Inspector movement and the brinkmanship around it is a major source of decision tension. “I can do A, but if I do A and you move the inspector, what are the implications? Maybe I should do B to hedge against the inspector move - but A looks so good right now…”
It is a GREAT 2p game - especially for one with area majority as a central mechanic. Almost no discussion about the many mechanical wrinkles present in the mausoleum area, which is 50%+ of the game.
Not being able to do all actions is part of the game - players often have to tradeoff doing less but getting high priorities done, vs doing more and maybe not getting top priorities done. The very essence of a good, tense euro.
This looks ridiculously dry and boring. no thanks.
Chris are you colour blind? White, grey, orange, brown XD
I'm not, nor were the people I played it with but we all said it wrong multiple times. It's orange-ish brown and you know it 😛
@@DTChrisYi it's a brownish tinge of orange sure but I feel like if you're calling that brown OVER the actual full blown chocolate brown the fault is in the person not the game XD
If you are into euro-lone games then you probably won't like this game and agree with the yi's. This game is truly a board game meaning you have to interact with the actions borne from the decisions of other players which means your plans will get disrupted and will need to be changed. But this also allows you to do the same to others. Isn't this what board gaming is? I can't see any situation where this would be a critique unless you are playing a solitaire game. Is this what most euro-lone games have become such as the much hyped ark nova thing? Have the euro-lone gamers been trained over time to see real board gaming as a fault and something to stamp out and replace with complicated freecell? Are we at a board game-apocalypse? Hahaha! But seriously, the game is great if you love board games, probably one of the best of the year out there unless you like low- to-no interaction activities where you gather your friends together to not talk.
4 types of brown because Terracotta is BROWN 😂.
Dang guys, the last 3-4 reviews you guys have done together the games have sucked! Hope your next game review together is a better one!
That board looks boring !!
Very weak review. Is it really bad that the game has a high-density interaction? That's how it was intended to be. It's like giving a rifle to a pacifist for a review. BTW - the game is very good if you know how to play it. It's an area control fight, for Ch sake! Review the game, not your expectations. Thumbs down.