More than any of your videos, this set of play and review have completely SOLD me on a game. It's now at the top of my "must have" list. Frankly, I'm surprised I'd never heard of it until I saw it tagged as for sale the other day (which I sadly missed out on).
Fantastic. Nearly everything about this appeals directly to my taste in board games. I say nearly everything because I can see how having to stick the cards under the board would drive me crazy after about 15 minutes.
I have to say this game looks like it could top Agricola for me. Doesn't look quite as "stressful" but still has the unique card abilities and the great theming. So many cool mechanisms singing together in what looks to be perfect harmony...I really hope this gets a significant reprint!
I loved this video runthrough, it was a combination of really wanting to watch it to get a better feel and the fact that this game is absolutely brilliant !
I gotta say... I was no overwhelmed with this one. It is SO good, but it ends just when you are getting your engine going. Six rounds is just too short (for us). I guess on to Agricola and CoB next! Great game though!
I've played my first game yesterday with 3 ppl. Interesting and involved game. However, I felt there was some meaninness to it, in particular when one removes other people's goods from the market (you've built it and I take it away). Also, not sure if one can compete without buying 4-5 "engine tiles" (shoehorn issue).
So we just started playing this, and the consensus seems to be that the craft buildings are generally too slow compared to delivering to wheelbarrows and getting the trade good recycle and points. What's your feeling on this?
Great run through Richard!!! Thank you :) This definitely looks like a game my wife and I can enjoy. I have a question though. About how long does it take you and Jen to play a game? My wife is a little prone to AP as well and I'm concerned that this could stretch into a 2+ hour game. Thanks, Mark
FC Raymo well, if you can wait, Stronghold Games annouced last month that they'll be reprinting it in 2015 (I would bet either in August or Oct, but that's just a guess), so you'll be able to get it at a "normal" price then :)
It is a good game, but for me, it's not a very good game - because of the lack of diversity. The game presents itself as being diverse, but in the end, while you are not limited as much in what you CAN do, you are limited in what you SHOULD do. The left side of the cards are the fields. You'll build one of each of the three types, then you're done. You'll do this in every game sooner or later (so the diversity isn't in WHAT you build, but WHEN you'll build it.) The right side, you'll do 1-2 of those and then you're done because the return on investment isn't there after that. As for the pigs, you want two so you'll get offspring. There's no need to get more. The top side are basically just contracts. You have a choice of doing them earlier or later. The only real variety comes from the helpers. And they're really fun and diverse and the best part of the game. But you can only play three. But in some games, you'll only play 1 or 2. Again because of the lack of return on investment. It's a great game when you like getting an engine running and optimizing production and usage of resources. It's all about just in time production. So in the beginning you race to get the left and right side running, throw in some helpers and then you want to churn out points using the top side. You could go for top early, but not getting the bonus tile will put you at a disadvantage. Yes, you can score some points each round from the market, but I don't think this will make up for it.
Just a point of clarification on the helpers: You can only play up to 3 at a time, but you can play more by kicking out earlier helpers. I've had games where you only need 2 helpers, and I've had games where I've swapped out a helper or two mid game and changed up my engine. Also, just had a game tonight where someone didn't play market barrows at all, only went for bonus buildings, and nearly beat me playing more "correctly". If they'd realized that they were going to have a bunch of money left over at the end, likely they could have beat me by optimizing their last two turns a bit better, but it was just a 6 point difference in the end. I can't see "solving" this game to the point of it feeling like turns are rote, till at least 10-15 plays, and at that point we'll have at least gotten our money's worth at the very least even if that takes some of the lustre away.
More than any of your videos, this set of play and review have completely SOLD me on a game. It's now at the top of my "must have" list. Frankly, I'm surprised I'd never heard of it until I saw it tagged as for sale the other day (which I sadly missed out on).
Fantastic. Nearly everything about this appeals directly to my taste in board games. I say nearly everything because I can see how having to stick the cards under the board would drive me crazy after about 15 minutes.
chanm01 some little rubber risers would be a nice addition, but tbh it works pretty well as is if you've got 2 hands free :)
A little late to the party, but I just picked up the game and your vids really helped clear some areas of question. Much thanks!
Same here.
Same here, thank you.
First Viceroy and now this... the games I've been most excited about this year aren't available! Thanks a lot.
Seth Goldman you're welcome! :)
I have to say this game looks like it could top Agricola for me. Doesn't look quite as "stressful" but still has the unique card abilities and the great theming. So many cool mechanisms singing together in what looks to be perfect harmony...I really hope this gets a significant reprint!
Great to know you like it too!
I loved this video runthrough, it was a combination of really wanting to watch it to get a better feel and the fact that this game is absolutely brilliant !
where I live I often see secondhand copies going for good prices... but I saw a table playing and it seems very very complicated.
I gotta say... I was no overwhelmed with this one. It is SO good, but it ends just when you are getting your engine going. Six rounds is just too short (for us). I guess on to Agricola and CoB next! Great game though!
checking out older games that somehow passed me by. Does this still have the pull of back then, or superseeded?
revisited it recently :) ruclips.net/p/PLmQverenaaqJifessYyHkoSJKUCwrntxo
I've played my first game yesterday with 3 ppl. Interesting and involved game. However, I felt there was some meaninness to it, in particular when one removes other people's goods from the market (you've built it and I take it away). Also, not sure if one can compete without buying 4-5 "engine tiles" (shoehorn issue).
I really wish this game was available for non-ridiculous prices... I was sold on the game within 5 min of the intro... so cool!
William Shih i'm sure it'll eventually get reprinted :)
So we just started playing this, and the consensus seems to be that the craft buildings are generally too slow compared to delivering to wheelbarrows and getting the trade good recycle and points. What's your feeling on this?
we didn't find that to be the case, but we're not experts :)
Great run through Richard!!! Thank you :)
This definitely looks like a game my wife and I can enjoy. I have a question though. About how long does it take you and Jen to play a game? My wife is a little prone to AP as well and I'm concerned that this could stretch into a 2+ hour game.
Thanks,
Mark
Mark Szakos it's not too bad, easily under 2 hours. and that's with jen's AP...
I believe they're sold out and it was a limited run, less than a 1000.
This eats Caverna's lunch, both in game play and especially in the price.
I would love to hear your opinion on this game today, now that a new Kickstarter is coming in 2022.
if all goes to plan, i'll be covering the new updated version for when it launches :)
@@ServiceDogPuppyRaiser if they send me one, but it hasn't shown up yet!
Hi, I just looked at BGG to find out where to buy this and was shocked that it nearly a £100 game. Do you think this game is worth this please?
FC Raymo well, if you can wait, Stronghold Games annouced last month that they'll be reprinting it in 2015 (I would bet either in August or Oct, but that's just a guess), so you'll be able to get it at a "normal" price then :)
Thank you
FC Raymo it's releasing at origins next week (june 4)! preorders on their website are around the same time I think if you haven't looked in a while
Thank you
truely looks great
It is a good game, but for me, it's not a very good game - because of the lack of diversity. The game presents itself as being diverse, but in the end, while you are not limited as much in what you CAN do, you are limited in what you SHOULD do. The left side of the cards are the fields. You'll build one of each of the three types, then you're done. You'll do this in every game sooner or later (so the diversity isn't in WHAT you build, but WHEN you'll build it.) The right side, you'll do 1-2 of those and then you're done because the return on investment isn't there after that. As for the pigs, you want two so you'll get offspring. There's no need to get more. The top side are basically just contracts. You have a choice of doing them earlier or later. The only real variety comes from the helpers. And they're really fun and diverse and the best part of the game. But you can only play three. But in some games, you'll only play 1 or 2. Again because of the lack of return on investment.
It's a great game when you like getting an engine running and optimizing production and usage of resources. It's all about just in time production. So in the beginning you race to get the left and right side running, throw in some helpers and then you want to churn out points using the top side. You could go for top early, but not getting the bonus tile will put you at a disadvantage. Yes, you can score some points each round from the market, but I don't think this will make up for it.
Just a point of clarification on the helpers: You can only play up to 3 at a time, but you can play more by kicking out earlier helpers. I've had games where you only need 2 helpers, and I've had games where I've swapped out a helper or two mid game and changed up my engine.
Also, just had a game tonight where someone didn't play market barrows at all, only went for bonus buildings, and nearly beat me playing more "correctly". If they'd realized that they were going to have a bunch of money left over at the end, likely they could have beat me by optimizing their last two turns a bit better, but it was just a 6 point difference in the end.
I can't see "solving" this game to the point of it feeling like turns are rote, till at least 10-15 plays, and at that point we'll have at least gotten our money's worth at the very least even if that takes some of the lustre away.