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I am very glad to hear it!

Hi @feijee8937, I’d summarise the differences as follows: The Isle of Cats Duel is a more interactive and competitive experience, whereas the original game is more passive. In The Isle of Cats, you’re generally focused on your own board, aiming to achieve the best score possible. In contrast, The Isle of Cats Duel emphasises “getting more points than your opponent,” which is a subtle but significant shift in focus. The core mechanic of moving the Oshax is as much about securing what you want as it is about denying your opponent. You’re not just playing for yourself but also influencing the options available to both players. This back-and-forth dynamic creates the “duel” experience. The game involves constant trade-offs-balancing what you want, what your opponent needs, and what you’re willing to let them have to gain access to something you value. Of course, Duel also offers the benefits of being smaller, faster, and more portable. Ultimately, I’d say that those wanting a more interactive, competitive game will enjoy The Isle of Cats Duel, while those who prefer a more passive, individual experience may favour the original. I hope this helps!

Thank you for your reply. I have a better idea now how to justify to myself and my wife why I also need this game. Just like I needed all the other games and expansions and big boxes in this universe. I love Isle of cats. ​@@CityofGamesHQ

Thank you Adrian!

Hi @nedeljkodukic7279, The Isle of Cats Duel and The Isle of Cats are designed to offer different experiences. If card drafting is a highlight for you, the original game may indeed be more enjoyable. The Isle of Cats Duel's board system focuses on being more deterministic and strategic, which might not suit everyone’s preferences. Regarding luck of the draw, The Isle of Cats Duel includes 45 cat tiles, and you’ll encounter at least 40 during a game, with cards offering chances to see even more. While specific colours may not appear every round, the game allows for more confident planning than the original game, as those colours are very likely to surface in later rounds. However, I would say adapting to what comes out can often lead to unexpected opportunities and exciting moments in the game. I hope you continue to enjoy The Isle of Cats, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

Thank you! Looking back I think you are correct! It would have filled the Dining Room, making up for not filling the Captain Room and in addition covered 2 rats and added to the family for another 5 points.

Thank you and I am happy to hear it - I hope you get to enjoy the game soon!

I completely understand, The Isle of Cats Duel wont be for everyone. The original The Isle of Cats game is perhaps a better fit for your group!

@CityofGamesHQ yes, we love the original in my group. So much that two of us own the game

Just buy the other two isle of cats games?????

Or buy multiple copies so you can accommodate sets of 2! 4, 6, 8...

So you wanted a game that already exists? Just play the regular one. This one is a duel.

I really hope you get a chance to soon, it is a lot of fun!

That is correct, after the initial wave of green banners, you will use orange for the rest of the game.

Hi @philomorph7, The playtime on the box is very much a realistic playtime that is based on significant playtesting and is designed to give a true representation of what to expect. I would anticipate the first play of 4-5 player games for most people will be close to the 2-hour mark, and this will normally reduce a little bit with multiple plays. I have seen plenty of 4-5 player games finish in 90-110 minutes and very few take longer than 130. While I am sure there will be some players who struggle significantly with analysis paralysis and will prove me wrong, it is not something I have noticed in playtesting Emberleaf with hundreds of people. In part, this is because there were some design decisions to help combat this. Primarily, on your turn you only perform one action, play or slide, and this is to create the shortest turns possible and allow as much pre-planning as possible. Emberleaf is a game of lots of small turns with the odd bigger one, rather than a game of a few larger turns. I would also highlight the playtime on videos such as this one is much less accurate as I’m providing an additional level of commentary and teach that wouldn't exist in a real play. I hope this helps!

@@CityofGamesHQ Thanks!

Hi Tanner, When you move a cat, it can move across connected squares of its own colour, moving left and right, up and down, but not diagonally. The "draw a line" comment is a way of trying to picture it, if you could draw a line across the squares moving just horizontally and vertically without touching another colour, then that is a valid path you can travel. I hope this helps!

Thank you James!

Hi @nassozeebo! On the fellowship board, the 3rd bonus under rats and the 3rd bonus under rabbits shows a scroll icon. This icon represents favour cards, and when you home a villager revealing that icon, the bonus you get for homing that villager is to take a favour card. These bonuses are all described at the back of the rulebook. So, at 31:34 what I'm saying is, you can get favour cards from homing the 3rd rabbit or 3rd rat, and you can also get them from taking the favour tokens around the board. I hope this helps!

Aaah. I get it. Thanks! :)

Hi Julio, I'm really glad you like the look of the game, and thank you for your feedback! I believe some of the issues you’re seeing are enhanced by the top-down view and looking at things in a smaller form (on screen rather than in real life). For example, the dangerous areas appear more blended from a top-down view than from a chair view, where you can see the edges and depth of the tiles better. Similarly, the numbers on the tiles are quite large; most text/numbers in the game are considerably larger than in most games for accessibility purposes, but the shrunk-down screen view can disrupt that perception. That said, accessibility and usability are key factors in my designs, and I consider them just as important as the gameplay and artwork. I’ll continue to review this through ongoing testing right up until the game is sent to print to ensure the concerns you mention don't impact the final game.

Hi Shay, great question! The primary purpose of trophies is to encourage player interaction and make other players' decisions matter. While focusing heavily on one area can be very rewarding, smaller contributions often feel less impactful. Trophies help balance this by increasing the value of those smaller actions, giving players a reason to venture into different clearings instead of sticking to their own. Think of it this way: if a small action is worth 2 points and a big action is worth 10, a 5-point trophy boosts that smaller action to 7, making it a much more viable choice. This keeps areas competitive rather than leaving nearly completed zones undesirable for everyone but the player who’s already dominated it. For players already focused on a specific area, it’s important to stay alert and track what others are doing. If you prefer to play it safe, you can strategise to build multiple buildings or clear multiple dangerous areas in a single turn. By monitoring other players or creating certain card combinations, you can always avoid losing a trophy if it’s crucial to your plan. From a design perspective, trophies add tension, pushing players to balance risk-taking with cautious play. Losing a trophy can sting thematically, but mechanically, it’s usually not devastating-especially if you’ve planned ahead. When it comes to clearing dangerous areas, beehives can be incredibly powerful. A single beehive (the row before the trophy) is often more valuable than the trophy itself. Personally, I often go for the second-to-last row over the trophy once the beehive trophy has been claimed! There are a lot of nuances to trophies, and I hope you’ll get the chance to discover them when you play the game. If you'd like me to expand on any of this further, please feel free to let me know!

@@CityofGamesHQ Thank you very much for your answer! It makes sense. I like interaction in board games, so this is a pleasant decision for me.

It's my pleasure!

I'm really happy to hear it! In the solo mode there is an additional rule around kittens to simulate a player taking kittens: "If your sister is the fastest player, then all 4 kittens should be removed from the kitten board and immediately replaced with 4 new kittens." This doesn't apply to the multiplayer mode. I hope this helps!

Thank you very much! I'm really enjoying playing with this style of solo mode and think it suits the game well - I hope you get to enjoy it soon!

Thank you!

It's my pleasure, I enjoy making these videos and also want people to know what my games are about prior to deciding if they want to buy them. I was particularly happy with this playthrough as that plan really was quite intense - It was hard to maintain myself for the video! I hope you enjoy the 2-player video and I am grateful for your ongoing support across my games!

@@CityofGamesHQ I'm glad to hear that, it's one of the refreshing reasons I'm able to so enthusiastically support your games beyond fundamentally enjoying their designs. Yes it's a great feeling to be able to not just show off the gameplay, but to realize you're getting to share the kind of highlight moments you hoped to give players directly. It's no wonder that would make it hard to try keep the pace going to progress the recording of the game naturally, I was happy enough from that perspective just watching. Getting to see that again from a different angle with the 2 player playthrough as you were juggling both players paths and their individual shifts in momentum throughout the game/through to the final scoring was just as great. Also achieving the kickstarter goal may be a natural expectation at this point but regardless congratulations on reaching it already, I can't wait to get it to the table. Good luck with the production and the growing nightmare that shipping has become.

Thank @@SwiftIllusionMT - I'm grateful to have funded and never take it for granted!

I really do appreciate your words and I will continue to do everything I can to maintain my track record. I genuinely love making games and poor my heart and soul into them, so I've no desires to sour the experience by running a bad campaign, miscommunicating, or failing to deliver to those who help me keep doing this.

Hi @piotrgwizdaa3570, that’s right-players can only recruit 4 additional heroes over the course of the game. One of the cool things about Emberleaf is that as you recruit new heroes, they also power up your existing ones. So, those original 6 cards you start with will evolve alongside the new ones, making them feel different depending on the choices you make. It’s a bit tricky to explain in words, but hopefully, you’ll get to experience it firsthand soon!

@@CityofGamesHQ Thanks for quick response :) It sounds really interesting :)

I'm really glad to hear it, thank you for checking out the game and I hope you get a chance to enjoy it in the not too distant future!

This is one of the reasons I wanted to start the series, to share more about how things connect. Right now the focus will be around Emberleaf as I'd love to share more about the direct game world, but we'll dive deep into the larger setting soonish! All Emberlings are born as Leafdwellers, so they will all be a Leafdweller at some point. When they have their naming day, they will completely change their name based on the path they have taken. For instance, if Bubbles was to give up life as a fisherman and become a warrior, he would pick a new name based on the Leafwardens naming conventions.

I'm really glad you like it! I spent far too much time trying to decide what to have behind me and I'm very happy with how it turned out, it's a joy to look at every morning as I go to my desk.

Thank you so much, this was a wonderful comment to wake up to. I've always loved The City of Kings and what it offers, and it still lives close to my heart. I certainly hope to one day to continue it and until then I'm glad it's still being enjoy by so many after all these years.

I hope you enjoy it!

Hi @pesto12601, In this video I am demonstrating the advanced version of the game with mutliple expansions, so there is a lot going on. You may prefer to check out the family version which can be found here: th-cam.com/video/GEHkUQqn-_Y/w-d-xo.html

@@CityofGamesHQ Thx.. will do!

Thank you Matt, I'm glad you have been enjoying them! I'm hoping to keep a nice flow of videos coming out on the channel moving forward.

Me too @kimklisiak6421 !

One other thought for clarity (sorry, I know you weren’t soliciting feedback, only mentioning because I know it’s technically a prototype) I feel like maybe the art in the right most slots for the building tiles that start there should be more faded so that once those buildings are built, those spots are very clearly available. I could see myself forgetting I have access to the right most slots because of the building art still being there. Again, you and your games are amazing :)

Thanks for the feedback @riddlesphinxx - It's not something that has ever come up in playtesting and I wonder in part whether this is because parts of the design are clearer on a table at full size (rather than on screen), but I'll keep an eye on it.

@@CityofGamesHQ that’s all I ask :) I’m perfectly willing to believe it’s just me and/or this view

Welcome aboard, I'm really glad this video helped with your decision!

I'm really glad to hear it @Zaloomination and I appreciate the kind words. I hope you get to enjoy playing with the kittens soon!

When an Emberling is born, its parents give it a birthname, usually based on its behavioural traits, appearance, or habits it adopts. As Emberlings grow older, they may choose a path, which is followed by a naming day ceremony where they are given a name reflecting that chosen path. However, Puck has not yet chosen a path and still has his birthname!

Thank you, I'm glad the video came across well!

Thank you! It is so nice to finally start sharing it with everyone!

My pleasure, I'm glad you are excited!

Sprout is wonderful!

Thank you @SwiftIllusionMT - I hope you don't trip on your first playthrough, dancing well is much harder than it looks!

@@CityofGamesHQ Haha, thank you for reminding me to remain aware of my feet and not be distracted by an overzealous attempt at a flourish, I'll do my best thank you :) .

I believe it is!

Me too Jason!

Hi Dorba, during the read lessons phase, you place your lesson cards face-down on the table next to you, this is counted as playing the cards. At the end of the game you reveal the played cards to see how many points you have. For the card you mentioned, you are discarding lesson cards you have placed on the table face-down. I hope this helps!

Often, storage boxes for games along with all their extras and referred to as big boxes, as they are bigger boxes than the one the game comes with. In this instance, the box is more than just a larger storage solution but also it focusses on being able to setup the game quickly (within 2 minutes). So the "big box" part refers to the box size, and the 2-minutes part refers to the time it takes to setup! When naming it, I simply preferred saying Big '2-minute' Box over 2-minute big box!

@@CityofGamesHQ LOL. I did get it, I was "playing on word games". I have a storage solution now (I use Token Silos in all of my games, and the BCW card storage boxes. The 500 card box holds all of them with room to spare, but not too much. It takes two token silos to hold all the ceepls and feeples. I have to store the bag o cat tiles in the Late Arrivals box. Are the miniatures in the expansion well suited for painting?

I thought that might be the case@@kitcarpo4745 but I always like to be careful with assuming things if people are potentially asking a question. The miniatures are suited for painting!

@@CityofGamesHQ I ordered a few items without however. I really like the wooden ceeples and saw no reason to replace them as they fit well with the fish. If they had started out with cardboard tokens (to save on initial cost of the product of course!) I would have. I also hesitate to think about painting the pre-colored figures. Go figure. Thanks.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the kind comment and I'm glad the video was helpful. I try to improve each time I record one of these videos and I'm really glad they are coming across well.

Thank you so much. It's certainly challenging to keep the flow going the entire time, but I really enjoy recording these videos!

It's my pleasure, thanks for watching!