The boss battle are a lot less swingy when the ambush area is used. Because unlike during the normal game, you can pick and choose how many dinosaur come out during the boss fight.
Great review and playthrough video Mike! I'm new to deck building games and going to use this game to teach me the basics before I dive into more involved ones. Based on your review it looks like I picked a pretty good one to start with. Plus, dinosaurs. :)
Yes, for sure. This one shouldn't be too hard to get into. I'd also recommend Star Realms: Frontiers for an intro solo/co-op deckbuilder experience. It costs something silly, like $15-25, and has a bunch of content for that price. And of course Heroes of Tenefyr, my current favorite. I always have to plug that one... ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop Thanks Mike! I was already interested in Star Realms so that my be next on the list. I'll have to check on Heroes of Tenefyr as well. :)
Got dam, still love those opening moments, what a way with words. Love me some alliteration. If you want to youtube-review in hard mode, I recommend a brief summary-of-opinion in poetry? Like as an intro or Segway, not the whole thing
What do you mean that bosses are similar? You have to change up your gameplay strategy based on what boss you are fighting. Depending on the dinosaurs, evolve, and environments you encounter, they may be more or less difficult. Sometimes you have to alter it. As for gameplay, there is a lot of critical thinking you need to do. You said it would be obvious to do what to do that turn? To really pwn the boss you need to think of what possible consequences your actions have. Sure you can clear the board and hunt all the dinosaurs, but then the boss has a better chance to arrive next turn. Are you prepared for that? That will also shorten the game time as you will be encountering the boss each and every round sooner if you keep over hunting. There is no point in hunting everything if you are hatching apex cards to buy, so are you able to be doing this now? Etc. It is what I love about this game. Long, bloody boss battles are my favorite.
It's deck building with dinosaurs, what could possibly go wrong? I agree with all your points on this on Mike, it just needs a nudge and it would have been a great game instead of a really good one. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but this doesn't hit the table as often as it should. I suspect it's because it's a competitive game at heart, though solo is fine. I hope the messy rulebook was cleared up in the collected edition.
Based on forum posts, it seems the rules are generally much clearer, except for the silly boss change I mention in the playthrough. But I just ignore that... :) Thanks for watching!
Outland, in their attempts at cleaning up the rules, also left some parts out. You have to forum search for some rules questions that only people with 2nd edition can answer. Overall, the rules are more clear than in 2nd edition, but there are still issues.
@@PickleTheHutt Oh really well that's a missed opportunity. What have they missed out, roughly? I have the Exotic Predators which I picked up a few years ago for 30 or so euros with a few expansions included, the ruleset was all over the place.
I agree with all your points and I would add a big con for me near #1: The combination of deckbuilding and the limited number of rounds before the game auto ends with a loss. In every game I would be experiencing a similar group of evolution cards and I would only be able to purchase a smaller number of my dinosaur cards. Then, I would have to wait until I drew those cards into my hand. With the game fixed to a certain number of rounds, I was always left feeling like I barely got to experience my dinosaur and played with those same evolution cards again like the last game, and the one before that. Additionally, to make the game harder, you essentially reduce the number of rounds in the game, this means I get even less time to try and experience the dinosaur I chose. This ultimately lead me to selling my previous edition of the game. Love the art though, I just wish I liked the game more.
Great point, and it is something I could have mentioned for sure. The pacing can be too harsh to really have fun combos. For me, I generally stuck with 2 emergence cards (standard difficulty) and modified challenge by using tougher species and bosses. That felt best for me
I try to always beware of FOMO :). It seems so rare that I actually regret missing something (like 1 out of 20 Kickstarters) that, at least for me, it just isn't worth it!
I was so excited about this one but was really disappointed. Even ignoring the ridiculous rules changes made (including some that fundamentally break the game) and the poor quality control (many damaged cards with size discrepancy between decks), the gameplay just wasn't very interesting. I found it annoying to continually have to slide over and recycle cards every round. There are frequent event and ambush effects that cause even more recycling. I don't like that an unlucky string of effects (or just hunting a lot) can massively thin the hunt deck to the point of the boss coming out way too often. I don't like the added deck construction of species deck but a random selection is even worse. My biggest issue is with the Boss battle. Too many cards are useless when fighting the boss (even when ignoring the dumb rule changes about evolve cards) since you can't spend evolve points. I found that the only way to have consistent success for the boss is to grab infiltrate cards. The hunt totals (as long as you avoid "battle ends") don't matter, you just want infiltrates. It makes me feel like the rest of the deck is pointless.
I don’t rate games on BGG anymore. Anything you see on there is generally from a while ago. The more I review the less I like one-size-fits-all numbering systems. Sorry!
Um. You can't get this game at retail. Buying it now will cost a fortune, so you aren't even buying a game any more. edit: never mind just saw there was a kickstarter and pledges are being fulfilled. How the heck did this go under my radar????
@@OneStopCoopShop I've been chasing up this game from second hand sellers for years and not once did I think the company would actually try to make the game again. Last time they had great difficulties and had backers waiting for a copy, which they couldn't make at the time. Well I'm glad not to be paying AU$300+ for a second hand copy of the game.
It's an entirely different company that got the rights for the Collected Edition. As far as I know they have no plans for retail, but there should be plenty of KS copies out and about for a while.
0:00 - Introduction
0:33 - Modular Play
1:26 - Ambush and Hoard
2:39 - Boss Battle
3:29 - Deck-Building
4:23 - Cardplay
5:05 - Final Thoughts
The boss battle are a lot less swingy when the ambush area is used. Because unlike during the normal game, you can pick and choose how many dinosaur come out during the boss fight.
That's fair, though since you often don't know when you'll fight them, and you can't ambush during the boss bout, it's not always easy to set-up.
Great stuff, this one just went on my list from the Heroes of Tenefyr comparison - love those variable benefit cards!
For sure, though I like Tenefyr more :)
Great review and playthrough video Mike! I'm new to deck building games and going to use this game to teach me the basics before I dive into more involved ones. Based on your review it looks like I picked a pretty good one to start with. Plus, dinosaurs. :)
Yes, for sure. This one shouldn't be too hard to get into. I'd also recommend Star Realms: Frontiers for an intro solo/co-op deckbuilder experience. It costs something silly, like $15-25, and has a bunch of content for that price.
And of course Heroes of Tenefyr, my current favorite. I always have to plug that one... ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop Thanks Mike! I was already interested in Star Realms so that my be next on the list. I'll have to check on Heroes of Tenefyr as well. :)
Great review! Simple and to the point! Gave me just what I needed, thanks!
Awesome! Glad it was helpful :)
Thanks for the review, just got the game and already loving it!
Awesome! Glad you are having fun!
Got dam, still love those opening moments, what a way with words. Love me some alliteration.
If you want to youtube-review in hard mode, I recommend a brief summary-of-opinion in poetry? Like as an intro or Segway, not the whole thing
Haha, I had to rewatch to see what you meant. Maybe a limerick next time :)
@@OneStopCoopShop 😎👉👉
Thanks as always Mike! 😁
What do you mean that bosses are similar? You have to change up your gameplay strategy based on what boss you are fighting. Depending on the dinosaurs, evolve, and environments you encounter, they may be more or less difficult. Sometimes you have to alter it.
As for gameplay, there is a lot of critical thinking you need to do. You said it would be obvious to do what to do that turn? To really pwn the boss you need to think of what possible consequences your actions have. Sure you can clear the board and hunt all the dinosaurs, but then the boss has a better chance to arrive next turn. Are you prepared for that? That will also shorten the game time as you will be encountering the boss each and every round sooner if you keep over hunting. There is no point in hunting everything if you are hatching apex cards to buy, so are you able to be doing this now? Etc. It is what I love about this game. Long, bloody boss battles are my favorite.
As usual, love the energy you bring out!
Thanks so much Jose!
It's deck building with dinosaurs, what could possibly go wrong? I agree with all your points on this on Mike, it just needs a nudge and it would have been a great game instead of a really good one. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but this doesn't hit the table as often as it should. I suspect it's because it's a competitive game at heart, though solo is fine. I hope the messy rulebook was cleared up in the collected edition.
Based on forum posts, it seems the rules are generally much clearer, except for the silly boss change I mention in the playthrough. But I just ignore that... :)
Thanks for watching!
@@OneStopCoopShop Good news.
Outland, in their attempts at cleaning up the rules, also left some parts out. You have to forum search for some rules questions that only people with 2nd edition can answer. Overall, the rules are more clear than in 2nd edition, but there are still issues.
@@PickleTheHutt Oh really well that's a missed opportunity. What have they missed out, roughly? I have the Exotic Predators which I picked up a few years ago for 30 or so euros with a few expansions included, the ruleset was all over the place.
Nice review my kids will love dinosaur
It’s an under-used theme for sure.
I agree with all your points and I would add a big con for me near #1: The combination of deckbuilding and the limited number of rounds before the game auto ends with a loss.
In every game I would be experiencing a similar group of evolution cards and I would only be able to purchase a smaller number of my dinosaur cards. Then, I would have to wait until I drew those cards into my hand. With the game fixed to a certain number of rounds, I was always left feeling like I barely got to experience my dinosaur and played with those same evolution cards again like the last game, and the one before that. Additionally, to make the game harder, you essentially reduce the number of rounds in the game, this means I get even less time to try and experience the dinosaur I chose.
This ultimately lead me to selling my previous edition of the game.
Love the art though, I just wish I liked the game more.
Great point, and it is something I could have mentioned for sure. The pacing can be too harsh to really have fun combos.
For me, I generally stuck with 2 emergence cards (standard difficulty) and modified challenge by using tougher species and bosses. That felt best for me
What's your top 3 deck builders?
Here’s a video of them :)
Top 10 Solo/Co-Op Deckbuilders (with 1 Bag Builder) | With Mike
ruclips.net/video/sv0MUFcpoQY/видео.html
Dodged a huge unnecessary investment. Almost let FOMO get me when this was on KS.
I try to always beware of FOMO :). It seems so rare that I actually regret missing something (like 1 out of 20 Kickstarters) that, at least for me, it just isn't worth it!
@@OneStopCoopShop wise words.
I was so excited about this one but was really disappointed. Even ignoring the ridiculous rules changes made (including some that fundamentally break the game) and the poor quality control (many damaged cards with size discrepancy between decks), the gameplay just wasn't very interesting.
I found it annoying to continually have to slide over and recycle cards every round. There are frequent event and ambush effects that cause even more recycling. I don't like that an unlucky string of effects (or just hunting a lot) can massively thin the hunt deck to the point of the boss coming out way too often.
I don't like the added deck construction of species deck but a random selection is even worse.
My biggest issue is with the Boss battle. Too many cards are useless when fighting the boss (even when ignoring the dumb rule changes about evolve cards) since you can't spend evolve points. I found that the only way to have consistent success for the boss is to grab infiltrate cards. The hunt totals (as long as you avoid "battle ends") don't matter, you just want infiltrates. It makes me feel like the rest of the deck is pointless.
Great video! 👍👍
Thanks!
This game is not even rated in your collection..? 😕
I don’t rate games on BGG anymore. Anything you see on there is generally from a while ago. The more I review the less I like one-size-fits-all numbering systems. Sorry!
Um. You can't get this game at retail. Buying it now will cost a fortune, so you aren't even buying a game any more.
edit: never mind just saw there was a kickstarter and pledges are being fulfilled. How the heck did this go under my radar????
Glad it’ll be more available soon
@@OneStopCoopShop I've been chasing up this game from second hand sellers for years and not once did I think the company would actually try to make the game again. Last time they had great difficulties and had backers waiting for a copy, which they couldn't make at the time.
Well I'm glad not to be paying AU$300+ for a second hand copy of the game.
It's an entirely different company that got the rights for the Collected Edition. As far as I know they have no plans for retail, but there should be plenty of KS copies out and about for a while.
@@PickleTheHutt AH! That makes sense for the resurface of the game.
@@PickleTheHutt oh, I had no idea. Thanks for clarifying!