Completely agree with you on this being a solo game, the story cards are what makes it worth playing for me personally, without those it's a fairly standard engine builder with the pretty random element when the matches come around. Definitely keeping it for my collection, as I don't really have anything like it, but I'm someone who puts 100+ hours into football manager every year, so I feel like I'm biased in that regard.
Yes, it's some kind of solo-ish game like a lot of other Eurostyle games but I like playing Eleven with two players. Especially when we're adding a 7th round where we play against each other (hopefully for relegation or championship). I also talked to the designer and we changed a few more stuff, just for your interest. Never really tried it with more than two players, but we're playing a full game of Eleven within 2 hours. I understand your, and others, concerns about this game but I love the feeling of managing a football club like in old Commodore times. And that's why I don't have that big issues with the luck factor. Back in the days, after I crushed my opponent on the C64, a "stupid" algorithm made my star player be injured after the match (just as one example). That's what the "Match Consequences" table in Eleven does. All this puts me back to the good old days and I like it. So the game is for me more of a 7.4 than a 6 😁 And by the way, I still love the sport to death but I shouldn't talk about my oppinion about pro football, otherwise the FIFA will send some Hitmen to take care...
Thanks Luke, i am still happy i brought your copy. I am a huge football manager fan and really looking forward to playing this. Glad to have the solo expansion. Will likely look at getting other expansions as i play it more. Always refreshing to hear your honest comments and reviews
Football clubs are paid hundreds of millions by tv deals, through merchandising and through tickets and prize money. Do you think the footballers should be on minimum wage? Where would the hundreds of millions go? To shareholders? If your job was suddenly televised and tv channels paid your boss hundreds of millions to film you working, and millions of people bought a t-shirt with your name on it, do you not think YOU should be getting some of that money? Or would you keep working for your regular small salary, and then the profits go to the people who don't do the work?
This is a great review! I haven't played this one in a long time because of the time investment and the ultimate disappointment I felt. I was thinking about giving it another try, but I don't know if it's worth it. I was fine with the whole board decision and the rest of the week...until the actual match. I just do not understand it, no matter who many videos I watch. It is way too confusing and random. It's so frustrating, and I don't understand how some of the mistakes this game makes made it all the way through. That being said, there is enough here that it almost begs for a second edition.
Solid video man; my review goes up over the weekend and almost everything you said here lines up with where I landed. I played this solo, at 3p and 4p; the 4p game took three hours, and for a mostly solo experience, I'll stick with solo moving forward.
I have spent way too many hours playing football manager and EA's Fifa games. I would jump at a good football board game, especially as it is a subject not well served in the board game sphere, but sadly I am sure this is not the game to fill the gap. Oh well, one day. Thanks for the review, Luke.
Really agree with you, Luke, that this is a solo game. Portal should have taken the leap of faith like the designers from Final Girl, and just design a solo game. I love it as a solo, but it is not a 90 minute game. Maybe a way out would be play less matches and just rescale the goals. This might however hurt the scenarios.
Everyone is different, but as a football fan I'm still bemused by this game given the popularity of football manager and various copycats on pc and mobile - and the experience these games offer in terms of scale, tactics etc is far superior. I like Portal and Ignacy and wish them success but I can't imagine this being popular with football fans or gamers in large numbers... A bit of a mystery to me.
Thanks for the review. As a football fan I'm always interested in football themed games. Also as someone who mainly plays solo I think this game would suit me.However I am a little put off by the amount of luck which appears to be involved and the game looks to be a bit of a table hog too. On the other hand the fact you are not a football fan yet still gave it a strong 6 out of 10 goes in it's favour. Incidentally if people don't like football I prefer them to say so rather than pretend they do and try to bluff their way through, so 👍 there!
The mechanics are what bring it down for a 6, but theme wise it does the job. Incidentally I just got sent Superclub for review as well so can compare the two.
I don't think you mirror the sections when comparing, they just mirrored the example cards because they look in the same direction, but your team and the opposing look at each other. I think the rulebook's description with the left wings and right wings is confusing.
Great review Luke! It's not for me (particularly after my sour experience with Pret-A-Porter) but the genius of this game is it's guaranteed to do well based on theme alone. Thx!
I just got my copy and in my opinion the rulebook is "that bad." Note that I've played once and liked it, but the rules are atrocious. On BGG there is a 30 page "unofficial" FAQ. As for matchplay, you mention the left right confusion. That is because the example in the rulebook is NOT how the game is played. Because the opponents card is the reverse of your matchboard. You just compare each section together. Left to left, right to right, top, middle, bottom. The rulebook explicitly shows this as different but that is because for unknown reasons they are showing two opponent cards against each other.
Thanks for the video. I agree to most things you said but this game somehow speaks to me thematically so I rate it a fair bit higher. Also it sounds like you got the match part wrong but it's probably because of the rulebook. I was playing the matches wrong at start as well. I would still play this with two players using the player vs player rules available on BBG.
It sounded like you were doing mental gymnastics to figure out your left side vs the opponent’s right side. But your left side is naturally aligned with their right side(from their goalie’s perspective). They wrote the rules a bit confusing in that regard. Just look at all players, yours and theirs, down the left wing from your perspective and that’s a zone for pairings. Do the same with all players on the right wing and then the center zones which are more straightforward.
Yes. I used to enjoy football, but the endemic cheating that's long been accepted, plus the pantomime moaning by fans about 'the injustice of it all' has long since turned me off the game. The game hasn't recovered from Blatter's era of corruption. there's a lovely meme of a footballer rolling around in fake agony captioned "pretends he's injured", accompanied by an image of a cyclist (Alberto Contador IIRC) bloodied and with jersey and shorts torn with bare skinless flesh showing, alongside the caption "pretends he' ok".
[Update] Thanks for your review. I think you`ve played it in a wrong way as the cards in the rule book show only one orientation in contrast to your playerboard. In the example of the rulebook (p23 upper left) you have to turn e.g. the right card (= "Greytown Bulls") by 180° and compare the facing players on the cards directly so taht the left wing from your view (!) faces the right wing from the counterpart (whch is then from your view as well on the left side). In other words: In the example the cards face the same direction but ideally one card should be rotated by 180° in order to compare opposing values much better. This might most probably not change your opinion on the game but it´s clarrifying a situation where I think that you made an error
The fact you had to go to such extreme lengths of explanation to clarify the match rules proves how bad the rulebook was at explaining them in the first place. In any case simply knowing which way round to have the card doesn't affect the difficulty or luck factor of the match in any way so it would have zero bearing on the critiques.
@@TheBrokenMeeple ..no...I never use or used any rude words....why should I do that in this context? The fact that I had to go to "such extreme lengths of explanation to clarify the match rules" only proves that I´m not a native speaker and cannot find a way to clarrify my thoughts in just a few sentences to go for sure that you know what I mean. Additionally I´ve already said: "This might most probably not change your opinion on the game but it´s clarrifying a situation where I think that you made an error." My comment was meant for you or watchers to put a specific point in the right context. I was not expecting a change in your opinion on this game only based on this comment. Sorry that I used an "extreme long" explanation. I will avoid feedbacks in the future here..my fault...and will shorten my initial feedback in order to get the "extreme long" feedback shorter. It was not meant to offend you. Mea culpa.
@@TheBrokenMeeple yep. What can I say, I'm a fickle creature 😂🤣😂. Keep up the good work... Just never speak so of football again. Or there will be blood. Well maybe crying and diving?
Completely agree with you on this being a solo game, the story cards are what makes it worth playing for me personally, without those it's a fairly standard engine builder with the pretty random element when the matches come around. Definitely keeping it for my collection, as I don't really have anything like it, but I'm someone who puts 100+ hours into football manager every year, so I feel like I'm biased in that regard.
Oh god you're like my brother when we used to fight over the family PC in my teens. My World of Warcraft vs his Football Manager.
Yes, it's some kind of solo-ish game like a lot of other Eurostyle games but I like playing Eleven with two players. Especially when we're adding a 7th round where we play against each other (hopefully for relegation or championship). I also talked to the designer and we changed a few more stuff, just for your interest.
Never really tried it with more than two players, but we're playing a full game of Eleven within 2 hours.
I understand your, and others, concerns about this game but I love the feeling of managing a football club like in old Commodore times. And that's why I don't have that big issues with the luck factor. Back in the days, after I crushed my opponent on the C64, a "stupid" algorithm made my star player be injured after the match (just as one example). That's what the "Match Consequences" table in Eleven does. All this puts me back to the good old days and I like it.
So the game is for me more of a 7.4 than a 6 😁
And by the way, I still love the sport to death but I shouldn't talk about my oppinion about pro football, otherwise the FIFA will send some Hitmen to take care...
Yeah, good times. Miss my C128...
Fully understand how living in Portsmouth you have no interest in football 😂
Thanks Luke, i am still happy i brought your copy. I am a huge football manager fan and really looking forward to playing this. Glad to have the solo expansion. Will likely look at getting other expansions as i play it more. Always refreshing to hear your honest comments and reviews
Have fun I hope! :D
Thanks for the honest take! ...I try not to cry everytime I think of how much money players earn. It's ridiculous!
Football clubs are paid hundreds of millions by tv deals, through merchandising and through tickets and prize money. Do you think the footballers should be on minimum wage? Where would the hundreds of millions go? To shareholders?
If your job was suddenly televised and tv channels paid your boss hundreds of millions to film you working, and millions of people bought a t-shirt with your name on it, do you not think YOU should be getting some of that money? Or would you keep working for your regular small salary, and then the profits go to the people who don't do the work?
I don't like football, but i like football management game. I'm impatient to try this.
I was really hoping this game had a tournament style ending, that, and the length for a solo player...ugh. Thanks for the insight Luke!
Glad I could help!
This is a great review! I haven't played this one in a long time because of the time investment and the ultimate disappointment I felt. I was thinking about giving it another try, but I don't know if it's worth it. I was fine with the whole board decision and the rest of the week...until the actual match. I just do not understand it, no matter who many videos I watch. It is way too confusing and random. It's so frustrating, and I don't understand how some of the mistakes this game makes made it all the way through. That being said, there is enough here that it almost begs for a second edition.
I think it needed a different publisher to take control.
Solid video man; my review goes up over the weekend and almost everything you said here lines up with where I landed. I played this solo, at 3p and 4p; the 4p game took three hours, and for a mostly solo experience, I'll stick with solo moving forward.
Yeah please do, multiplayer is wasted here!
@@TheBrokenMeeple are you sure? Even with the advance rules where you can match and exchange members of the team with other players on the table??
I have spent way too many hours playing football manager and EA's Fifa games. I would jump at a good football board game, especially as it is a subject not well served in the board game sphere, but sadly I am sure this is not the game to fill the gap. Oh well, one day.
Thanks for the review, Luke.
No problem!: D
Really agree with you, Luke, that this is a solo game. Portal should have taken the leap of faith like the designers from Final Girl, and just design a solo game. I love it as a solo, but it is not a 90 minute game. Maybe a way out would be play less matches and just rescale the goals. This might however hurt the scenarios.
Even longer than 90 min at time if you have to check rules and including all the setup.
Everyone is different, but as a football fan I'm still bemused by this game given the popularity of football manager and various copycats on pc and mobile - and the experience these games offer in terms of scale, tactics etc is far superior. I like Portal and Ignacy and wish them success but I can't imagine this being popular with football fans or gamers in large numbers... A bit of a mystery to me.
Thanks for the review. As a football fan I'm always interested in football themed games. Also as someone who mainly plays solo I think this game would suit me.However I am a little put off by the amount of luck which appears to be involved and the game looks to be a bit of a table hog too.
On the other hand the fact you are not a football fan yet still gave it a strong 6 out of 10 goes in it's favour.
Incidentally if people don't like football I prefer them to say so rather than pretend they do and try to bluff their way through, so 👍 there!
The mechanics are what bring it down for a 6, but theme wise it does the job. Incidentally I just got sent Superclub for review as well so can compare the two.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Thanks. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about Superclub.
I don't think you mirror the sections when comparing, they just mirrored the example cards because they look in the same direction, but your team and the opposing look at each other. I think the rulebook's description with the left wings and right wings is confusing.
It's certainly confusing!
Great review Luke! It's not for me (particularly after my sour experience with Pret-A-Porter) but the genius of this game is it's guaranteed to do well based on theme alone. Thx!
Fair enough!
I did just order Basketboss, in which you abstractly manage a basketball team.
Sounds like fun 😀
I just got my copy and in my opinion the rulebook is "that bad." Note that I've played once and liked it, but the rules are atrocious. On BGG there is a 30 page "unofficial" FAQ.
As for matchplay, you mention the left right confusion. That is because the example in the rulebook is NOT how the game is played. Because the opponents card is the reverse of your matchboard. You just compare each section together. Left to left, right to right, top, middle, bottom. The rulebook explicitly shows this as different but that is because for unknown reasons they are showing two opponent cards against each other.
My kind probably filled in a few blanks but still it sucks that they still haven't upped their game.
Where did you get the insert from??
I don't believe this was an option during the campaign.
Never mind.. you answer my question.
Thanks for the video. I agree to most things you said but this game somehow speaks to me thematically so I rate it a fair bit higher. Also it sounds like you got the match part wrong but it's probably because of the rulebook. I was playing the matches wrong at start as well. I would still play this with two players using the player vs player rules available on BBG.
Why do you think I got the match part wrong? I know of the free goalkeeper you get.
It sounded like you were doing mental gymnastics to figure out your left side vs the opponent’s right side. But your left side is naturally aligned with their right side(from their goalie’s perspective). They wrote the rules a bit confusing in that regard. Just look at all players, yours and theirs, down the left wing from your perspective and that’s a zone for pairings. Do the same with all players on the right wing and then the center zones which are more straightforward.
in multiplayer, aren't you drawing from the same player of pools/staff? Aren't you on the same ranking conference?
Yes. But that is insignificant in terms of interaction.
Indeed, that's the barebone minimum of interaction and even then you've got very little to go on to see what card a player might take.
Thank you for this excellent and thorough review!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the great review
No problem 👍
Given who your local football team is, it's hardly surprising you don't like football. ;)
Ha ha those won't work on me 🤣
Yes. I used to enjoy football, but the endemic cheating that's long been accepted, plus the pantomime moaning by fans about 'the injustice of it all' has long since turned me off the game. The game hasn't recovered from Blatter's era of corruption.
there's a lovely meme of a footballer rolling around in fake agony captioned "pretends he's injured", accompanied by an image of a cyclist (Alberto Contador IIRC) bloodied and with jersey and shorts torn with bare skinless flesh showing, alongside the caption "pretends he' ok".
You only have to compare mens football to women's football to see the difference.
Luke.....I love this video...Not anything with the game itself.....but that you have said the truth.....soccer sucks.
😁 Someone has to be the person of truth 😅
I will watch almost any sport if it’s on, but I find soccer infuriating because you don’t know when it’s over.
@halifaxstar nope there is still referee time after the clock runs out
Thank you. Typical Kickstarter quality, long pass (pun intended).
Why is my comment always deleted? It´s referring to a sitution where I think you are doing it wrong?...last try...
[Update]
Thanks for your review. I think you`ve played it in a wrong way as the cards in the rule book show only one orientation in contrast to your playerboard. In the example of the rulebook (p23 upper left) you have to turn e.g. the right card (= "Greytown Bulls") by 180° and compare the facing players on the cards directly so taht the left wing from your view (!) faces the right wing from the counterpart (whch is then from your view as well on the left side). In other words: In the example the cards face the same direction but ideally one card should be rotated by 180° in order to compare opposing values much better.
This might most probably not change your opinion on the game but it´s clarrifying a situation where I think that you made an error
Did you use hash tags or links or any rude words? TH-cam gets sensitive over those, but it's showing at the moment.
The fact you had to go to such extreme lengths of explanation to clarify the match rules proves how bad the rulebook was at explaining them in the first place. In any case simply knowing which way round to have the card doesn't affect the difficulty or luck factor of the match in any way so it would have zero bearing on the critiques.
@@TheBrokenMeeple ..no...I never use or used any rude words....why should I do that in this context?
The fact that I had to go to "such extreme lengths of explanation to clarify the match rules" only proves that I´m not a native speaker and cannot find a way to clarrify my thoughts in just a few sentences to go for sure that you know what I mean.
Additionally I´ve already said: "This might most probably not change your opinion on the game but it´s clarrifying a situation where I think that you made an error."
My comment was meant for you or watchers to put a specific point in the right context. I was not expecting a change in your opinion on this game only based on this comment.
Sorry that I used an "extreme long" explanation. I will avoid feedbacks in the future here..my fault...and will shorten my initial feedback in order to get the "extreme long" feedback shorter. It was not meant to offend you. Mea culpa.
@@Braz__ Not offended at all, just wondering why TH-cam would flag it, but hey ho, least it's showing now and here to stay.
And I stop subscribing...
Because I don't like football? 😜
@@TheBrokenMeeple yep. What can I say, I'm a fickle creature 😂🤣😂. Keep up the good work... Just never speak so of football again. Or there will be blood. Well maybe crying and diving?