Great review, I've played over 500 games of Clans of Caledonia, it's my favorite game of all time, so here are my 2 cents. The game plays best at player count 3, the board gets a bit too crowded with 4. It's still quite good at 2 players but indeed some of the interaction is lost. The solo game is very good (you can play it on BGA it has a great implementation). About the 'negative' that was pointed out here (import goods being worth more or less points at the end depending on which was done more/less) everyone that starts playing this game feels that way. After some more plays you start to understand why it is really more interesting though, and you have more influence over it than you think at first glance. I want to highlight one thing that makes this game so great: the market system, it is just brilliant and the elegance is unmatched. If I must coin one negative (which has nothing to do with the gameplay): the board itself is too small for me. I get why they did this and it fits in a nice box, but man would I have loved the map to be like 30% bigger, it would make playing the game so much easier.
I will have backed 5 games(including expansions) this year and 3 of them came out close to each other: Clans of Caledonia, Vestige and the upcoming Cthulhu Death May Die Forbidden Reaches. What a end of the year for crowdfunding. I would have like to get Lands of Evershade but it felt in fourth place and I don't have the budget for more new games at his point.
For me the 2 player game is great if you add in the variant that tightens up the board a bit. Plus I like to use the solo dice between each round to shift the marketplace randomly to add a bit more excitement. Without those changes I do agree with you though that 3 and 4 player is a better overall experience. However I would happily play this at any player count as I love this game
I don’t understand how you can rate this game higher than a 1 without dual layer player boards. Didn’t you see from the latest Kickstarter that the game is basically unplayable without them?? Seriously though, looking forward to finally being able to get this one!
Having played this game for many years dual layer boards would be nice, but also entirely unnecessary. I have never had an issue with bumping the boards that isn't easily recoverable
What?? I think you made an excellent review, but I was very surprised that you picked out the export goods mechanism as your dislike. I think it's brilliant. I'm a bit more skeptical about how balanced the clans are.
Ya, for me it felt that the puzzle of grabbing export goods based on value, felt like hot potato....chasing something that will constantly change...but that might just take more plays.
@@BoardGameCo I think Industria expansion handles this by exposing upcoming contracts, ,thus allowing you to plan for them. doesnt mean an opponent wont beat you to the one you want, but the surprise aspect will be gone. I am looking forward to this change.
@@JJ_TheGreat I believe so. Seems nearly all the content in the expansion is modular and can be used or not providing many ways to tailor the game to your liking.
From what I've read on this game. Some people compared it more to Barrage as both games are more focused towards the contracts fulfillment than Terra Mystica.
There’s information on that on the Kickstarter and BGG page, there’s an automa but I’m not sure what the win/loss condition is or if it’s beat your own score
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Great review, I've played over 500 games of Clans of Caledonia, it's my favorite game of all time, so here are my 2 cents. The game plays best at player count 3, the board gets a bit too crowded with 4. It's still quite good at 2 players but indeed some of the interaction is lost. The solo game is very good (you can play it on BGA it has a great implementation). About the 'negative' that was pointed out here (import goods being worth more or less points at the end depending on which was done more/less) everyone that starts playing this game feels that way. After some more plays you start to understand why it is really more interesting though, and you have more influence over it than you think at first glance.
I want to highlight one thing that makes this game so great: the market system, it is just brilliant and the elegance is unmatched.
If I must coin one negative (which has nothing to do with the gameplay): the board itself is too small for me. I get why they did this and it fits in a nice box, but man would I have loved the map to be like 30% bigger, it would make playing the game so much easier.
Nice for you to finally get this one to the table.
Timestamps are way off. Real Final Thoughts - 24:34. 😊
25:59 - Other Recommendations. 😊
Arrgghh! Fixing now!
Great review, btw! I look forward to trying this one out, too!
For those who like to jump to scores before listening to other parts of the video, 5/5 from Alex. Timestamps are messed up.
thanks😂
Arrgghh! Fixing now!
I will have backed 5 games(including expansions) this year and 3 of them came out close to each other: Clans of Caledonia, Vestige and the upcoming Cthulhu Death May Die Forbidden Reaches. What a end of the year for crowdfunding. I would have like to get Lands of Evershade but it felt in fourth place and I don't have the budget for more new games at his point.
This game looks soooo cozy
For me the 2 player game is great if you add in the variant that tightens up the board a bit. Plus I like to use the solo dice between each round to shift the marketplace randomly to add a bit more excitement. Without those changes I do agree with you though that 3 and 4 player is a better overall experience. However I would happily play this at any player count as I love this game
I don’t understand how you can rate this game higher than a 1 without dual layer player boards. Didn’t you see from the latest Kickstarter that the game is basically unplayable without them??
Seriously though, looking forward to finally being able to get this one!
lol, I actually do have double layer overlays :D
Having played this game for many years dual layer boards would be nice, but also entirely unnecessary. I have never had an issue with bumping the boards that isn't easily recoverable
Another recommendation possibly: Brass: Birmingham (with the networking/route-building). Agree or Disagree?!
What??
I think you made an excellent review, but I was very surprised that you picked out the export goods mechanism as your dislike. I think it's brilliant.
I'm a bit more skeptical about how balanced the clans are.
Ya, for me it felt that the puzzle of grabbing export goods based on value, felt like hot potato....chasing something that will constantly change...but that might just take more plays.
@@BoardGameCo I think Industria expansion handles this by exposing upcoming contracts, ,thus allowing you to plan for them. doesnt mean an opponent wont beat you to the one you want, but the surprise aspect will be gone. I am looking forward to this change.
@@jeffhiatt1682But you can play either way, right?
@@JJ_TheGreat I believe so. Seems nearly all the content in the expansion is modular and can be used or not providing many ways to tailor the game to your liking.
18:40 And the whisky makes it even better, right?!
Very timely review, convinced me not to back it. Thanks.
I was really looking forward to this game coming back to crowdfunding - because I had missed it the first time around! 😀
From what I've read on this game. Some people compared it more to Barrage as both games are more focused towards the contracts fulfillment than Terra Mystica.
Happy Thanksgiving, btw!!
20:47 What about the solo game? How does that work? Is it a “beat your own score” type of game 😕 - or is there an automa?
There’s information on that on the Kickstarter and BGG page, there’s an automa but I’m not sure what the win/loss condition is or if it’s beat your own score
I saw a play this not that with Mezo/Bloodrage and you can see COC in the bottom 😂. Then this video.
You set the main map up incorrectly, the 4 rocks within the water spaces need to meet in the middle.
Good catch!
Surprised this video doesn’t include a survey that will be ignored by karma games 😂
You move quick 😉
3:02 This is the Terra Mystica-like game!!! How do you like it compared to Terra Mystica??
Gotcha… You answered this in the video!