8:35 "Wherever you bid that zero, you're not going to get one of those dwarfs". Tom clarified on BGG that what he meant here is that you might not get the dwarf you want. All bidders do in fact get a dwarf (or equivalent card); the zero-bidders are just served last.
I get why some folks find Nidavellir "over-produced", but personally I'm glad to be able to play this excellent game with material that is both pleasant to look at and even touch. As for the price-point, it all depends on how much mileage you get out of a game; in this case I expect that to be quite a lot.
Was a little bit nervous regarding this review, with no reason... I bought this in the beginning of the year and found it a hidden gem! The BGG site is kind of "quiet" so I wondered if people in general didn't like it but this video will boost that. That's good for the developers! :)
Just FYI: The norse/icelandic pronunciation of Niðavellir is closer to : "neth" (smilar to the beginning of "neither") - "a" (as in "apple") - wed - leer => neth-a-wed-leer
@@amajou Actually we Icelanders are notorious for being unable to pronounce English 'w' properly, so no. The point I was trying to make is that the 'll' in vellir is pronounced as 'dl'. The 'v' is more like the one in Vasel ;-)
@@thorarinncom Got it! That's what I thought, since Germans also have that curious pronunciation of w's in English. Would you say your R is like the German, English, or more Spanish/Italian R?
Thats impossible. You can calculate your best outcome, but not if you will actually get the cards you want. Other players are bidding in secret, so you will be outbid on a number of occasions.
@@Edwinschuur I'm just saying that certain paths will more likely yield better results, barring interference. Once you get an idea of where the better points lie, you can extrapolate where to go or what you should be blocking. I do it a fair amount in other games. Yes, randomness plays into the difficulty, but seeing as I win the bulk of games of this type in our group, I'm hardly off-base in making these analyses.
@@goyasolidar I understand what your saying but their are too many uncertainties to calculate. What cards come up together in a row? What coins do my opponents use? What card type are they going for. If you win more then others then I think its not only match but also knowing your friends and predicting what they do. These games also have a meta within a group. If all players favor the orange cards for instance, then in my group people might favor going for green. This changes the meta. You can become really.good at this prediction but there is still a giant human factor which decides if it plays out nice that you have to take into account. Other games like workerplacement are more maths because you can calculate the optimal paths and have player order that you can take into account. Here you don't know player order.
With two players, there are still 3 cards in each location like the 3 player game, and the person who loses the bid gets the choice of the two remaining cards after the winner takes one, which makes it less tight. In all, it's probably best at 3 like Tom says, but it ain't bad at 2.
@@theballmittpodcast5734 I got it from Philibert. It was €45 (so like $50) with shipping to the U.S. It had English and French rules in the box. No language on any cards. Definitely worth it!
@@TheSpizer Thanks tor the info! I’m going to have to wait though. It looks like shipping is currently over 20$. I love board games but when shipping is more than half the price of the game, I draw the line lol
I had seen it come along in my boardgame stores and I was really intrigued but couldn't imagine how it would play. This sounds really good :) Hope it's still in stock :p
This game is way too fiddly for what it provides. The coin mechanic is interesting but I just never get this game to the table because it takes forever to set up and everyone is constantly fiddling with their card layout and messing up the leader displays because there is always someone who can't quite see what they all do. It's just too much hassle. The auction and set collection are cool, but I have multiple games that do each of those things better, just not at the same time. But with a quarter of the fiddliness.
Tom says its themeless because the theme doesn't matter. I played it and he's right. Doesn't feel like you're recruiting an army...couldn't care less about the theme but love the artwork. And more importantly: really enjoyed the game!
It's very strongly flavored, but the theme doesn't integrate that well into the gameplay No that it matters to me. But that might drive some people to abandon an excellent gameplay
Sounds like a cool game, now that I actually made it through the overview... on like my 5th attempt. I guess its your own prerogative to like the art, but for me? I see it as a themeless game with dull black and white art of ugly dwarves... it's abstract enough I couldn't follow the overview just by listening, but the aesthetics are so aggressively blah, my eyes glazed over when I tried watching. I'll be buying this now that I know the mechanics indeed sound rad, but this was a game that was VERY hurt by it's blah art, for me
It works for this game tho. The B&W bg makes it easier to focus on the values of the cards when you go to score. I noticed a difference against a game like lost cities for example.
8:35 "Wherever you bid that zero, you're not going to get one of those dwarfs".
Tom clarified on BGG that what he meant here is that you might not get the dwarf you want. All bidders do in fact get a dwarf (or equivalent card); the zero-bidders are just served last.
Ohhh, I get it now; you upgrade your coin but only if you choose to lose the bid that round, thought it's strange if that's just free.
I get why some folks find Nidavellir "over-produced", but personally I'm glad to be able to play this excellent game with material that is both pleasant to look at and even touch. As for the price-point, it all depends on how much mileage you get out of a game; in this case I expect that to be quite a lot.
One of my favorite games! Different strategies and a lot of interaction!
Talk about 2 player even just a little! Majority of DT reviews completely skip over it when it’s such a critical player count for so many people.
Just played tonight with my wife and we loved it, Would recommend at 2
Zee usually plays games at 2 players. His reviews usually tell you about the scaling of players.
True, 2 players is so important..
Thingvellir, the expansion, makes the game even better for 2 players.
I like that tie
Good news, Hachette Boardgames & Gigamic will be distributing Nidavellir in the US!
The game should be available in March 2021 at an MSRP of $39.99.
Ah man. Was hoping I could get it for christmas
Stop liking new games Tom. Temptation makes my wallet afraid. ;P
is this not seven wonders?
@@johnyuffels4796 It's the 8th Wonder
Don't worry this doesn't look available anywhere in the US yet
@@johnyuffels4796 that's what I thought as well
Finally! I was waiting for that review for a while. Glad you loved the game.
Was a little bit nervous regarding this review, with no reason...
I bought this in the beginning of the year and found it a hidden gem!
The BGG site is kind of "quiet" so I wondered if people in general didn't like it but this video will boost that.
That's good for the developers! :)
I always thought splendor would be great with a worker/adventurer building theme.
You nailed the title every time! It does not roll off my tongue.
To the Dice Tower staff, you do not have this review up on your website, I usually check to see how it is rated.
I like that little coin display box. Just sayin'.
I don't get the Splendor reference. This seems more like RA on steroids.
Thank you for showing us this game.
I will probably pick this one up as I do not have an auction/bidding game in my collection.
definitely deserves the seal of excellence, finally a unique fun drafting game
For once we received the game before the us in Quebec. Was surprise of how much I liked the game despite not knowing much before buying it.
Why would a company ever release a game in Quebec before the states?
@@benlauson555 I know in wouldn't make sense, mostly because french version often isn't made by the same publisher
Thanks for the review!
Just FYI: The norse/icelandic pronunciation of Niðavellir is closer to : "neth" (smilar to the beginning of "neither") - "a" (as in "apple") - wed - leer => neth-a-wed-leer
Funny you use "neither" because at least here in the US we say both "NEETHER" and "NITHER" so I'm still not sure what sound you were going for.
@@Ras137 The 'nee' one (as a rough approximate)
So the V in Icelandic is pronounced w, as in the word what (but with no h)?
@@amajou Actually we Icelanders are notorious for being unable to pronounce English 'w' properly, so no. The point I was trying to make is that the 'll' in vellir is pronounced as 'dl'. The 'v' is more like the one in Vasel ;-)
@@thorarinncom Got it! That's what I thought, since Germans also have that curious pronunciation of w's in English. Would you say your R is like the German, English, or more Spanish/Italian R?
The music at the end of this videos has a name to listen it completely? haha
I feel like this game can be mathed out for point optimization. I must buy it to find out.
Thats impossible. You can calculate your best outcome, but not if you will actually get the cards you want. Other players are bidding in secret, so you will be outbid on a number of occasions.
@@Edwinschuur I'm just saying that certain paths will more likely yield better results, barring interference. Once you get an idea of where the better points lie, you can extrapolate where to go or what you should be blocking. I do it a fair amount in other games. Yes, randomness plays into the difficulty, but seeing as I win the bulk of games of this type in our group, I'm hardly off-base in making these analyses.
@@goyasolidar I understand what your saying but their are too many uncertainties to calculate. What cards come up together in a row? What coins do my opponents use? What card type are they going for.
If you win more then others then I think its not only match but also knowing your friends and predicting what they do.
These games also have a meta within a group. If all players favor the orange cards for instance, then in my group people might favor going for green. This changes the meta.
You can become really.good at this prediction but there is still a giant human factor which decides if it plays out nice that you have to take into account.
Other games like workerplacement are more maths because you can calculate the optimal paths and have player order that you can take into account. Here you don't know player order.
So at what point in the game is this fun for you, before, during or after your point optimisation analysis?
@@55wownow The fun for me is puzzling it out and seeing plans come to fruition. You know, super villain style. 😎
How is it with 2 players?
With two players, there are still 3 cards in each location like the 3 player game, and the person who loses the bid gets the choice of the two remaining cards after the winner takes one, which makes it less tight. In all, it's probably best at 3 like Tom says, but it ain't bad at 2.
Agree
Watched so much of this game I am an expert in the rules, I just wished I had this game. Waiting for retail.
Played this today for the first time, the group played it 3 times. Pretty awesome.
Game of the winner folks!
This is a game for Zee! I´ll bet he loves it.
Great review!
Nice! Will wait for a retheme with updated art tho... :)
Thank you
You said wherever you bid the 0, you don't get a dwarf. Rules mistake or misspoke?
I meant you don't get the dwarf you may want. Sorry!
@@thedicetower Makes sense, as I think later you said something about always getting something. Just wanted to double check! Game sounds great.
Imported this game months ago after seeing a preview on BGG and can confirm it’s amazing!
How much did it cost including shipping? Is it in English.
@@theballmittpodcast5734 I got it from Philibert. It was €45 (so like $50) with shipping to the U.S. It had English and French rules in the box. No language on any cards. Definitely worth it!
@@TheSpizer Thanks tor the info! I’m going to have to wait though. It looks like shipping is currently over 20$. I love board games but when shipping is more than half the price of the game, I draw the line lol
Isn't century spice road splendor for gamers?
He did say they were.
Where can we get a copy?
"Everyone Get In Here!"
A drafting variation with a bidding mechanic.
Insta but when I can get it in the USA
yaaaaay some one else remembers shadows over camelot :)
I had seen it come along in my boardgame stores and I was really intrigued but couldn't imagine how it would play.
This sounds really good :)
Hope it's still in stock :p
What do you think about the expansion? Does it add a lot to it and a must buy?
Give it a go on bga
This game is way too fiddly for what it provides. The coin mechanic is interesting but I just never get this game to the table because it takes forever to set up and everyone is constantly fiddling with their card layout and messing up the leader displays because there is always someone who can't quite see what they all do. It's just too much hassle. The auction and set collection are cool, but I have multiple games that do each of those things better, just not at the same time. But with a quarter of the fiddliness.
Not available in the US at all
Not yet, but it's coming!
@@thedicetower Only next year I read
Hmm... feels like a more complicated sushi go with those card collecting and multipliers.
This game feels a lot like abyss to me.
tom not to be rude, but makes this a good or great game ? maybe i am just not seeing something but this game looks ok to me
This is just like Splendor with some more things to think about.
Not themeless , you are recruiting dwarves in different taverns to go fight Fafnir , you are building an army , that’s neet !!!
Tom says its themeless because the theme doesn't matter. I played it and he's right. Doesn't feel like you're recruiting an army...couldn't care less about the theme but love the artwork. And more importantly: really enjoyed the game!
It's very strongly flavored, but the theme doesn't integrate that well into the gameplay
No that it matters to me. But that might drive some people to abandon an excellent gameplay
>About recruiting dwarves to fight fanir
>Calls it themeless
yaaaay the theme could be anything :( can we have some thought put into the theme please ?
Sounds like a cool game, now that I actually made it through the overview... on like my 5th attempt.
I guess its your own prerogative to like the art, but for me? I see it as a themeless game with dull black and white art of ugly dwarves... it's abstract enough I couldn't follow the overview just by listening, but the aesthetics are so aggressively blah, my eyes glazed over when I tried watching.
I'll be buying this now that I know the mechanics indeed sound rad, but this was a game that was VERY hurt by it's blah art, for me
Why does the green sign looks like Eustace from Courage The Cowardly Dog?
That's a made-up word.
All words are made up.
Goya Solidar Erdi bonni fie thwip! PDP!
um where is the player intraction ?
The card design is awful, IMHO. I hate the black and white artwork.
why you hate b/w?
Guille Longhini It just looks dark, depressing, and ugly to me.
Yeah but it makes the icons pop.
I like the mature art.
Agreed. The art is not appealing. They look super dark.
I wouldn't mind the b/w, otherwise.
Other than that coin changing thing when bidding, I see NOTHING NEW in this game
Yeah, but that makes all the difference, really.
Looks very interesting, but calling it a Splendor for gamers seems almost like a disservice
still not seeing any interaction between players
Black and white art, nope I'm out. Is colour ink too expensive? What a waste.
It was clearly an artistic choice not to save money.
@@theballmittpodcast5734 Yeah I was joking, I just hate that style, it just makes the game look boring
It works for this game tho. The B&W bg makes it easier to focus on the values of the cards when you go to score. I noticed a difference against a game like lost cities for example.
@@mightyted1 Nope, not interested, I'll never by a game with black and white art. Too boring
i hate simple games and i dont like splender either
so it's like sushi go but your bidding instead of drafting?
Sort of