This made me laugh as I played Feast for Odin last week for the first time and loved it. I also like push your luck elements in certain games and definitely themed as raising or hunting is never guaranteed. Not played LROA or D:I but you have peaked my interest with Lignum though. It’s good to hear what other people think about games even if you disagree which I do with my wife over certain games. Great channel and look forward to future reviews!!!
I enjoy push your luck in games that are much smaller, like Can't Stop, for instance. But in an epic game like this, I hate when a so much can depend on luck. However, to Rosenburg's credit, I like that you can take take some of your workers back if a hunt is unsuccessful. At least it's never a complete loss.
I can see that. As I was editing this, I thought, “if I were to simply change my tone of voice, this would sound like a positive review.” To that end, yeah, I do sort love “frustration”. I enjoy the challenge of facing obstacles. Such is the case in Agricola.
A feast for odin is so fun and chill, but scoring well is extremely hard. Great sandbox, whereas agricola is analysis of a hand of cards while being tight and forcing you to play wide to max score. I like both.
I’m way late to your channel, just want to say I love your one-take hot-take format. I’d never be able to keep my train of thought going for more than a few seconds at a time.
Lignum SOUNDS GREAT!!!! Looks and sounds EXACTLY like the game I like to play: A lot to PLAN and STRATEGIZE, manage your actions and NO luck factor, ALL strategy... AND CARDS, I NEED CARDS! Sounds like the right game for me! Thank You for that great suggestion! Will look into Small City as well!
One thing I'm questioning.... how much weight am I putting into 'table presence'. Since I (like most of us here probably) end up playing host/game master for family members that are not as invested, I'm nervous that if a game doesn't look good on the table, it will fall flat.... might need to start giving my game group more credit.
So true. And if that is what you are looking for, I would DEFINITELY not recommend Lignum or Small City. They are NOT “pretty” games. Arnak, on the other hand, is stunning! Maybe I should do a “most appealing games” video…
Like your channel and have agreed with mostly everything you put out. Regarding Feast for Odin, your dead wrong. I play it 2 player or solo, and it's fantastic.
Not only I don't agree, but I didn't understand from your comparison, why is Dune better than Arnak? Agree on Odin 100%, but even your reasoning for Dune doesn't make sense. I like Dune, but prefer Arnak for 3 simple reasons. Art and general look of the game. I love how Arnak develops in terms of places for workers. Two different what's to build your deck.
Haha. That’s great. I take that as a huge compliment, that my channel is enjoyable to one who even disagrees with my take. Arnak is, without a doubt, a better looking game. I would be the first to tell you that I am generally negligent of the quality of components in my reviews. To me, components are frosting and I only review cake. I rushed my review of Dune. Bottom line: I am claiming that is a lot of gameplay overlap, but the meaning of each action in D:I is more significant than LRoA. It enables me to feel more engaged by the theme, while LRoA feels abstract, by comparison.
Great video! I love the content. What would you consider a better alternative to GloomHaven and Mage Knight? These are both my favorite games (in an admittedly small collection) so I would love your opinion!
If you want MY opinion: I think there is a point where thematic and role playing elements go so far that “a board game” exits the category of “board game” and becomes something else. When that line is crossed, it leaves the only category I really care about. When I play games like these (I have not played Gloomhaven because I know it is such a game. I tried reading the rules but didn’t finish, exclaiming, “oh brother…”) my criticism is always the same: too much cinema, not enough game. But I would classify Mage Knight as a board game and I think Chvatil did an incredible job using the card mechanic to streamline an RPG-themed game. I love that there is greater clarity about what locations are available on the board. Correct me if I am wrong, but in Gloomhaven, I believe you discover rooms as you go? (Does it exercising on the scenario) Whenever a game is “full of surprises”, it is not for me.
Your comment is well timed though, I am planning on talking about Mage Knight possibly as soon as my next “avoid vs play” episodes. (Spoiler: Mage Knight will be the one you “play”)
Love your videos, but you really need to stop basing so much of your research on digital implementations of games, and play the actual game a number of times in real life. Digital implementations have lots of flaws, and using that for B-roll just proves it.
Dude. Yes. I know. I apologize. You are 1000% correct and I am compromising only because my channel is young and I don’t yet have the resources to invest as much as I should to give each game a fair chance. I hope you are willing to take the good with the bad. Thanks for the comment.
It's nice to see different views of a game, especially if you can't make up your mind to buy it, or not. In the end every review is just an opinion and that opinion is based what we like and don't like in a game. But we don't like all the same stuff. The games you talk about here, I haven't played any of them. I often see feast of odin and lost ruins of arnak as recommended, I just can't get myself to buy them. They seem too ehm, chaotic? to me. And what you told made me think even more that they are not for me. What you do recommended also don't really catch me to be honest. But I own around 20 boardgames, while I love to play a lot of them, almost all of them I miss something in. And I have no idea what I am looking for. I keep looking at reviews and playthroughs, but I still can't find the boardgame that totally pleases me. Closest is wingspan on my mobile, I love to play that to relax, I don't even mind losing. I just enjoy playing. It just has such a nice flow to it that I enjoy. But to be honest, I don't feel the need to have the physical version. Anyway thanks for this useful video and your honest opinion. I wish less people would feel assaulted if you have critism about a game they like. I think it is good we have many different opinions. Also I often find it interesting to hear an opinion which is different from my own especially if they can tell why they feel like that, it makes me look at things from a different angle, which can be interesting, even if I don't agree with it.
You made me smile...very entertaining, last game lignum is not available in Australia. But loved the options format video. What do you think about Autobahn board game? Saw the copy in my local shop.
If you have watched many of my videos and you usually like my preferences, Autobahn is a GREAT game. However, it isn’t for everyone. I did a full length review on it, which you can watch, but in summary: it is a complex game with a great deal to think about and many strategies that will depend heavily on what other players are doing. It is a complex, heavy, brilliant game. Expect about an hour to teach the rules to your friends and if your friends like that, you will have a great time with it.
I also do not care for Odin or Arnak, so I am interested in your alternatives. Small City and Lignum are now on my radar! A friend owns Dune, so if she asks to play I will no longer give an outright "no". Thanks!
Neither a feast for Odin nor Lost Ruins of Arnak interests me as a complex strategy game. The complexity that mainly lies upon more variables, such as x1 to x9, plus more layers of resource conversion, such as h(g(f(x))) doesn't really appeal to me. After all, no matter it is to pursue max (x+y), max (3x+2f(x)+2y+5f(y)) or how the complexity increase in terms of math, it is still "simple" math and couldn't represent the complexity enough in real world situation. And yet I won’t find any sense of achievement (other than vanity) in overcoming such challenge, using math at elementary school level. In Go, which I believe is the most complex board game, there’s only one kind of stone. Similarly, if a game can be simplified and still remain complex (and thematic), this is the beauty that I’d enjoy.
Oh man, you are speaking to my inner mathematician! Thank you!! It depends on what you mean when you say "complexity". I know from your explanation that we are referring to different ideas. I define "complexity" as something as simple as "how many rules there are to learn". As the length of a rulebook increases, the complexity score increases. That's probably not a very satisfying definition to you, but the reason it matters is because I review a lot of games for families and children and the complexity score relays whether or not a 5-year-old or a 10-year-old can learn and play the game. By this definition, Go is one of the simplest games ever made. What you are referring to, I call "strategy". But your point about Feast for Odin and LRoA still stands: these games have only scratched the surface of strategy because the clarity of a "good" decision boils down to comparing a bunch of conversion charts. In other words: you can "easily" program a computer to play FFO or LRoA perfectly: it amounts to calculating a bunch of expected values. (and perhaps comparing them agains the expected values for your opponents in order to estimate which moves will be "blocked" from you.) In reality, however, gamers aren't programmers and even if they were, they would not exercise the tedium of calculating such expected values. It is more fun to rely on one's "game sense" and just choose what feels best. In cases when several factors have to be considered, it still feels like "deep strategy." So - not to disagree with you - but I follow along with what's conventional and rate games accordingly. I think you would really like Lignum. In Lignum, you aren't playing a game against yourself (trying to identify the best "conversion rate") but truly playing against other players. You cannot play Lignum solo like the other games, it must be played against an opponent. Also, the best thematic, deeply strategic game I've played is Santorini. If you haven't tried it, take a look!
Seems to me that LACK OF INTERACTIVITY with other players is a big beef with you - as well as lack of clear purpose. Point salad multiplayer solitaire affairs do seem to be the ones that get the cool makeover & gain all the popularity. Very much in agreement with you on this - although I tend to prefer older less complex games that have plenty of interaction.
at some stage im planning to play most of the games he compares in few on his videos, i have an idea where other content creators stand on them, want to see which side i take, but the more i watch the more i have a feeling he is full of bs
Oh no... feast for Odin too? I only discovered your channel today and you've already crapped all over 3 of my favorite games. It's funny how people always say feast for Odin is a sandbox of unlimited options and yet I always find myself cursing that someone took the spot I wanted.
Yeah, I’m the worst. I guess I’m not a fan of “unlimited possibilities”. I was actually making a list of what I love most about my favorite games: “tightness” is toward the top of the list.
I hate planning games. It causes analysis paralysis in people who don't even suffer from it. I get frustrated because I feel like I'm holding a game up for other people and make a 'gut feeling' move instead. This also stifles interaction over the board and ends with every player playing their own version of solitaire. That's why I like GWT, even though it was one of the first games I ever purchased. My wife beats me most of the time these days but it's a good medium weight game that lasts 90 minutes or so and has enough strategy to hold our interest and feel like we've used our time wisely.
I love Lignum its in my top 5 games of all time - its one of the few game I champion. I am convinced that anyone who doesn't like it is either bad at the game, doesn't understand it, or both. Such a good game.
There's a lot of "IP games" which are clearly just thrown out there to cash in on some ongoing pop-culture hype. But there are also games which are really good games and really good at conveying the thematic part. The original Avalon Hill "Dune" is one example. Dune Imperium is a surprisingly good too (although nowhere new the original "Dune" wrt. theme). Other examples of good "IP games" are "Star Wars Rebellion", "War of the Ring", "Game of Thrones". Not sure any of the games discussed here comes close to 9-10 on a 10-point complexity scale though. That wouldn't leave much room for all the games which are orders of magnitudes more complex.
Exactly, I thought the same about Great Western Trails... it's not anything special!! I was kinda disappointed in it for being ranked this high! Blackout: Hong Kong is a way better game by the same game designer Alexander Pfister!! Just sad that Blackout: Hong Kong has no expansion, as it wasn't that hyped and not a lot of people got around to playing it!!! 😭😭😭 It's quite a complex game though!!
Funny that I just watched half a how to video of Feast... Asked myself why would I want to play this huge mess. Polyoninos, really? Keep that in my Isle of Cats. Push your luck in this type of games, really? I'll stick to Le Havre and Caverna.
SO MANY people think this game is amazing… I’ve had them explain it to me: it’s BECAUSE this game “has everything” that they like it so much. You know what else has everything? The dump.
Hello, i must say regarding Lroa I feel exactly the same. I like it for the looks and the mechanics but it feels.. somewhat disconnected to me, the resources swap is very abstract. I see this game appealing at first but on the long run i don't really see myself playing it as much as I would want to... Considering the dune variant you propose. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, appreciate it !
Lol, th-cam.com/video/-IfiJATZ_qc/w-d-xo.html This is just a criticism of every resource-based board game ever. The thematic idea is that the resources you find give clues to do all the archeological/adventure stuff. Also, love your scoring system.... but how does Arnak get a 4 for theme? it is one of the most thematic games I have ever seen.
I don’t think you understand what I am saying. The fact that the resources in LROA are vague symbols is exactly my point. Many games have more meaningful, even intuitive transactions. My favorite example is Agricola: it tastes four wood to make a square fence. It takes one grain to plant grain, etc. My rating system has changed a bit since I made this video. But I give games a low theme score when they are more about mechanics and less about meaning. What you are describing is a credit to its components. In general, euro games have this characteristic. I hardly ever give a euro game a 10. Maybe an 8. By my scale, 4 is average. Not remarkable, but not terrible.
@@theperfectboardgame I think I understand what you are saying. The tablet is basically interchangeable with the gem as far as the arbitrary assignment of value in the game. I think that is fair call. But I think the thematics arent as low as you suggest. The money buys you exploration gear, the compasses find you new land and "deciphering the artifacts" (spending them) let's you find clues to the temple at the end. I am sure there are games that are more thematic than this, like Viticulture maybe? But going for that level of theme blows the complexity of the resource through the roof and if that was done for an exploration game like LROA, I would say it would become unplayable
You are exactly correct and I agree with you, too. This is one of the reasons I revised my criteria in later videos. There is a lot of nuance in designing this criteria and what it should mean. I can’t go into depth in this comment. Suffice it to say: I appreciate you for trying to understand what I meant and I agree with you about the inadequacy of how I said it using numbers in this video.
Completely disagree with your A Feast for Odin rant lol, it just sounds like you've barely played it and got stuck on nitpicking the things you didn't like going into it.
Yeah, it happens. I played once (all the way through). You are right in that I was not enjoying myself before I finished playing. I played it out because of sheer determination. Towards the end, I hit a "I think I can see why some people might like this" moment, but it was definitely "OTHER people" who would like it. Not me.
I actually removed luck from being its own attribute in place of components. Now, when a game has high luck, it just caps the maximum possible strategy rating.
Agreed, but in this case, I was trying to compare games with deck builder mechanics. The best game I could come up to compare to Scythe was Root. I did a video about those two games a little while ago.
In my opinion Concordia is WAY better than Brass Birmingham!! The barrels just kill Brass for me, very limited possibilities!! In my opinion Concordia is what Brass is trying to be, but Concordia has much more elegant and intuitive rules and better action managment (I'm a sucker for good action managment games!!!)!!
Seems to me that LACK OF INTERACTIVITY with other players is a big beef with you - as well as lack of clear purpose. Point salad multiplayer solitaire affairs do seem to be the ones that get the cool makeover & gain all the popularity. Very much in agreement with you on this - although I tend to prefer older less complex games that have plenty of interaction.
This made me laugh as I played Feast for Odin last week for the first time and loved it. I also like push your luck elements in certain games and definitely themed as raising or hunting is never guaranteed.
Not played LROA or D:I but you have peaked my interest with Lignum though.
It’s good to hear what other people think about games even if you disagree which I do with my wife over certain games.
Great channel and look forward to future reviews!!!
I enjoy push your luck in games that are much smaller, like Can't Stop, for instance. But in an epic game like this, I hate when a so much can depend on luck. However, to Rosenburg's credit, I like that you can take take some of your workers back if a hunt is unsuccessful. At least it's never a complete loss.
Your description of A Feast for Odin is the reason I love it, such a superior game to Agricola. Unless you like frustration and tedium. haha
I can see that. As I was editing this, I thought, “if I were to simply change my tone of voice, this would sound like a positive review.”
To that end, yeah, I do sort love “frustration”. I enjoy the challenge of facing obstacles. Such is the case in Agricola.
A feast for odin is so fun and chill, but scoring well is extremely hard. Great sandbox, whereas agricola is analysis of a hand of cards while being tight and forcing you to play wide to max score. I like both.
I’m way late to your channel, just want to say I love your one-take hot-take format. I’d never be able to keep my train of thought going for more than a few seconds at a time.
Lignum SOUNDS GREAT!!!! Looks and sounds EXACTLY like the game I like to play: A lot to PLAN and STRATEGIZE, manage your actions and NO luck factor, ALL strategy... AND CARDS, I NEED CARDS! Sounds like the right game for me! Thank You for that great suggestion! Will look into Small City as well!
One thing I'm questioning.... how much weight am I putting into 'table presence'. Since I (like most of us here probably) end up playing host/game master for family members that are not as invested, I'm nervous that if a game doesn't look good on the table, it will fall flat.... might need to start giving my game group more credit.
So true. And if that is what you are looking for, I would DEFINITELY not recommend Lignum or Small City. They are NOT “pretty” games. Arnak, on the other hand, is stunning!
Maybe I should do a “most appealing games” video…
Like your channel and have agreed with mostly everything you put out. Regarding Feast for Odin, your dead wrong. I play it 2 player or solo, and it's fantastic.
If I said, “I don’t see how you could”, I would be lying.
Not only I don't agree, but I didn't understand from your comparison, why is Dune better than Arnak? Agree on Odin 100%, but even your reasoning for Dune doesn't make sense. I like Dune, but prefer Arnak for 3 simple reasons. Art and general look of the game. I love how Arnak develops in terms of places for workers. Two different what's to build your deck.
That being said... Your channel is addicting. I disagree with you a lot, but am watching one video after another. Keep up brilliant work.
Haha. That’s great. I take that as a huge compliment, that my channel is enjoyable to one who even disagrees with my take.
Arnak is, without a doubt, a better looking game. I would be the first to tell you that I am generally negligent of the quality of components in my reviews. To me, components are frosting and I only review cake.
I rushed my review of Dune. Bottom line: I am claiming that is a lot of gameplay overlap, but the meaning of each action in D:I is more significant than LRoA. It enables me to feel more engaged by the theme, while LRoA feels abstract, by comparison.
Great video! I love the content.
What would you consider a better alternative to GloomHaven and Mage Knight? These are both my favorite games (in an admittedly small collection) so I would love your opinion!
If you want MY opinion: I think there is a point where thematic and role playing elements go so far that “a board game” exits the category of “board game” and becomes something else. When that line is crossed, it leaves the only category I really care about. When I play games like these (I have not played Gloomhaven because I know it is such a game. I tried reading the rules but didn’t finish, exclaiming, “oh brother…”) my criticism is always the same: too much cinema, not enough game.
But I would classify Mage Knight as a board game and I think Chvatil did an incredible job using the card mechanic to streamline an RPG-themed game. I love that there is greater clarity about what locations are available on the board. Correct me if I am wrong, but in Gloomhaven, I believe you discover rooms as you go? (Does it exercising on the scenario) Whenever a game is “full of surprises”, it is not for me.
Your comment is well timed though, I am planning on talking about Mage Knight possibly as soon as my next “avoid vs play” episodes. (Spoiler: Mage Knight will be the one you “play”)
you should try Euthia, similar to mage knight but different vibe
This is the best comedy channel on TH-cam. Unbelievably funny and amusing. ❤
Love your videos, but you really need to stop basing so much of your research on digital implementations of games, and play the actual game a number of times in real life. Digital implementations have lots of flaws, and using that for B-roll just proves it.
Dude. Yes. I know. I apologize. You are 1000% correct and I am compromising only because my channel is young and I don’t yet have the resources to invest as much as I should to give each game a fair chance. I hope you are willing to take the good with the bad. Thanks for the comment.
@@theperfectboardgame I'm not going anywhere, I like your channel and your rating system, even if I don't agree completely.
It's nice to see different views of a game, especially if you can't make up your mind to buy it, or not.
In the end every review is just an opinion and that opinion is based what we like and don't like in a game. But we don't like all the same stuff.
The games you talk about here, I haven't played any of them.
I often see feast of odin and lost ruins of arnak as recommended, I just can't get myself to buy them.
They seem too ehm, chaotic? to me.
And what you told made me think even more that they are not for me.
What you do recommended also don't really catch me to be honest.
But I own around 20 boardgames, while I love to play a lot of them, almost all of them I miss something in.
And I have no idea what I am looking for.
I keep looking at reviews and playthroughs, but I still can't find the boardgame that totally pleases me.
Closest is wingspan on my mobile, I love to play that to relax, I don't even mind losing. I just enjoy playing.
It just has such a nice flow to it that I enjoy.
But to be honest, I don't feel the need to have the physical version.
Anyway thanks for this useful video and your honest opinion.
I wish less people would feel assaulted if you have critism about a game they like.
I think it is good we have many different opinions.
Also I often find it interesting to hear an opinion which is different from my own especially if they can tell why they feel like that, it makes me look at things from a different angle, which can be interesting, even if I don't agree with it.
You made me smile...very entertaining, last game lignum is not available in Australia. But loved the options format video. What do you think about Autobahn board game? Saw the copy in my local shop.
If you have watched many of my videos and you usually like my preferences, Autobahn is a GREAT game. However, it isn’t for everyone. I did a full length review on it, which you can watch, but in summary: it is a complex game with a great deal to think about and many strategies that will depend heavily on what other players are doing. It is a complex, heavy, brilliant game. Expect about an hour to teach the rules to your friends and if your friends like that, you will have a great time with it.
Gonna check out Lignum!
I also do not care for Odin or Arnak, so I am interested in your alternatives. Small City and Lignum are now on my radar! A friend owns Dune, so if she asks to play I will no longer give an outright "no". Thanks!
What I'd like to see is a comparison between Small City and World Wonders.
Once again love your analysis, looking forward trying some new games!
Neither a feast for Odin nor Lost Ruins of Arnak interests me as a complex strategy game.
The complexity that mainly lies upon more variables, such as x1 to x9, plus more layers of resource conversion, such as h(g(f(x))) doesn't really appeal to me. After all, no matter it is to pursue max (x+y), max (3x+2f(x)+2y+5f(y)) or how the complexity increase in terms of math, it is still "simple" math and couldn't represent the complexity enough in real world situation. And yet I won’t find any sense of achievement (other than vanity) in overcoming such challenge, using math at elementary school level.
In Go, which I believe is the most complex board game, there’s only one kind of stone. Similarly, if a game can be simplified and still remain complex (and thematic), this is the beauty that I’d enjoy.
Oh man, you are speaking to my inner mathematician! Thank you!!
It depends on what you mean when you say "complexity". I know from your explanation that we are referring to different ideas. I define "complexity" as something as simple as "how many rules there are to learn". As the length of a rulebook increases, the complexity score increases. That's probably not a very satisfying definition to you, but the reason it matters is because I review a lot of games for families and children and the complexity score relays whether or not a 5-year-old or a 10-year-old can learn and play the game. By this definition, Go is one of the simplest games ever made.
What you are referring to, I call "strategy". But your point about Feast for Odin and LRoA still stands: these games have only scratched the surface of strategy because the clarity of a "good" decision boils down to comparing a bunch of conversion charts. In other words: you can "easily" program a computer to play FFO or LRoA perfectly: it amounts to calculating a bunch of expected values. (and perhaps comparing them agains the expected values for your opponents in order to estimate which moves will be "blocked" from you.)
In reality, however, gamers aren't programmers and even if they were, they would not exercise the tedium of calculating such expected values. It is more fun to rely on one's "game sense" and just choose what feels best. In cases when several factors have to be considered, it still feels like "deep strategy." So - not to disagree with you - but I follow along with what's conventional and rate games accordingly.
I think you would really like Lignum. In Lignum, you aren't playing a game against yourself (trying to identify the best "conversion rate") but truly playing against other players. You cannot play Lignum solo like the other games, it must be played against an opponent.
Also, the best thematic, deeply strategic game I've played is Santorini. If you haven't tried it, take a look!
Seems to me that LACK OF INTERACTIVITY with other players is a big beef with you - as well as lack of clear purpose.
Point salad multiplayer solitaire affairs do seem to be the ones that get the cool makeover & gain all the popularity.
Very much in agreement with you on this - although I tend to prefer older less complex games that have plenty of interaction.
I thought this video was published on April 1st. The rant is almost impossible to bear. I have a feeling you haven’t played any of these games enough.
at some stage im planning to play most of the games he compares in few on his videos, i have an idea where other content creators stand on them, want to see which side i take, but the more i watch the more i have a feeling he is full of bs
Oh no... feast for Odin too? I only discovered your channel today and you've already crapped all over 3 of my favorite games. It's funny how people always say feast for Odin is a sandbox of unlimited options and yet I always find myself cursing that someone took the spot I wanted.
Yeah, I’m the worst.
I guess I’m not a fan of “unlimited possibilities”. I was actually making a list of what I love most about my favorite games: “tightness” is toward the top of the list.
Appreciate the honesty on why it sucked for you.
I hate planning games. It causes analysis paralysis in people who don't even suffer from it. I get frustrated because I feel like I'm holding a game up for other people and make a 'gut feeling' move instead. This also stifles interaction over the board and ends with every player playing their own version of solitaire.
That's why I like GWT, even though it was one of the first games I ever purchased. My wife beats me most of the time these days but it's a good medium weight game that lasts 90 minutes or so and has enough strategy to hold our interest and feel like we've used our time wisely.
I love Lignum its in my top 5 games of all time - its one of the few game I champion. I am convinced that anyone who doesn't like it is either bad at the game, doesn't understand it, or both. Such a good game.
I like the games you like! Please keep sharing your recommendations with me!
Have you played Barrage yet?
There's a lot of "IP games" which are clearly just thrown out there to cash in on some ongoing pop-culture hype.
But there are also games which are really good games and really good at conveying the thematic part.
The original Avalon Hill "Dune" is one example. Dune Imperium is a surprisingly good too (although nowhere new the original "Dune" wrt. theme).
Other examples of good "IP games" are "Star Wars Rebellion", "War of the Ring", "Game of Thrones".
Not sure any of the games discussed here comes close to 9-10 on a 10-point complexity scale though. That wouldn't leave much room for all the games which are orders of magnitudes more complex.
But Dune is highly rated , ,maybe more so than Lost Ruins of Arnak
On board game geek? That may be so now, but it was a new game when I made this video.
Exactly, I thought the same about Great Western Trails... it's not anything special!! I was kinda disappointed in it for being ranked this high! Blackout: Hong Kong is a way better game by the same game designer Alexander Pfister!! Just sad that Blackout: Hong Kong has no expansion, as it wasn't that hyped and not a lot of people got around to playing it!!! 😭😭😭 It's quite a complex game though!!
Not able to find your T-shirt from the link you provided
Thanks for letting me know! theperfectboardgame.myshopify.com
Feast and Western Trail are top 20 games of all time.. easy
Funny that I just watched half a how to video of Feast... Asked myself why would I want to play this huge mess. Polyoninos, really? Keep that in my Isle of Cats. Push your luck in this type of games, really? I'll stick to Le Havre and Caverna.
SO MANY people think this game is amazing… I’ve had them explain it to me: it’s BECAUSE this game “has everything” that they like it so much. You know what else has everything? The dump.
Hello, i must say regarding Lroa I feel exactly the same. I like it for the looks and the mechanics but it feels.. somewhat disconnected to me, the resources swap is very abstract. I see this game appealing at first but on the long run i don't really see myself playing it as much as I would want to... Considering the dune variant you propose. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, appreciate it !
Lol, th-cam.com/video/-IfiJATZ_qc/w-d-xo.html This is just a criticism of every resource-based board game ever. The thematic idea is that the resources you find give clues to do all the archeological/adventure stuff.
Also, love your scoring system.... but how does Arnak get a 4 for theme? it is one of the most thematic games I have ever seen.
I don’t think you understand what I am saying. The fact that the resources in LROA are vague symbols is exactly my point. Many games have more meaningful, even intuitive transactions. My favorite example is Agricola: it tastes four wood to make a square fence. It takes one grain to plant grain, etc.
My rating system has changed a bit since I made this video. But I give games a low theme score when they are more about mechanics and less about meaning. What you are describing is a credit to its components. In general, euro games have this characteristic. I hardly ever give a euro game a 10. Maybe an 8. By my scale, 4 is average. Not remarkable, but not terrible.
@@theperfectboardgame I think I understand what you are saying. The tablet is basically interchangeable with the gem as far as the arbitrary assignment of value in the game. I think that is fair call.
But I think the thematics arent as low as you suggest. The money buys you exploration gear, the compasses find you new land and "deciphering the artifacts" (spending them) let's you find clues to the temple at the end.
I am sure there are games that are more thematic than this, like Viticulture maybe? But going for that level of theme blows the complexity of the resource through the roof and if that was done for an exploration game like LROA, I would say it would become unplayable
You are exactly correct and I agree with you, too. This is one of the reasons I revised my criteria in later videos. There is a lot of nuance in designing this criteria and what it should mean. I can’t go into depth in this comment. Suffice it to say: I appreciate you for trying to understand what I meant and I agree with you about the inadequacy of how I said it using numbers in this video.
Completely disagree with your A Feast for Odin rant lol, it just sounds like you've barely played it and got stuck on nitpicking the things you didn't like going into it.
Yeah, it happens. I played once (all the way through). You are right in that I was not enjoying myself before I finished playing. I played it out because of sheer determination. Towards the end, I hit a "I think I can see why some people might like this" moment, but it was definitely "OTHER people" who would like it. Not me.
The Feast for Odin is more of a tedious activity than a game. I see several rank this game as their top 3. I really don't get it.
You need to turn around your luck scoring
No luck at 10 :)
I actually removed luck from being its own attribute in place of components. Now, when a game has high luck, it just caps the maximum possible strategy rating.
Agree with you on Arnak and Dune. Having said that, I prefer Scythe to both.
Agreed, but in this case, I was trying to compare games with deck builder mechanics. The best game I could come up to compare to Scythe was Root. I did a video about those two games a little while ago.
In my opinion Concordia is WAY better than Brass Birmingham!! The barrels just kill Brass for me, very limited possibilities!! In my opinion Concordia is what Brass is trying to be, but Concordia has much more elegant and intuitive rules and better action managment (I'm a sucker for good action managment games!!!)!!
I love how excited and strongly-opinioned you are about games. Thanks for dropping a few comments!
Hey, let's make a video being critical of games I've hardly played and other people hype a lot. The pitch of voice for the criticisms too... ouch
This video was thought provoking but not interesting.
Seems to me that LACK OF INTERACTIVITY with other players is a big beef with you - as well as lack of clear purpose.
Point salad multiplayer solitaire affairs do seem to be the ones that get the cool makeover & gain all the popularity.
Very much in agreement with you on this - although I tend to prefer older less complex games that have plenty of interaction.
Yep! That about sums it up! Thank you.