Another great example of a game that seems overly simple at first but after a round of playing you realize there is a lot of unexpected strategy hidden in it. Plays a lot faster than other resource management style games too allowing for multiple games to be played quickly. Great option to have for people who dont want to spend an entire game night playing only one game or for those who may have a friend or two who are not ready to jump into the deep end of heavy strategy/ resource gathering play. Would recommend!
The more I play games, the more I like those kind of games. Fast, simple to learn but it may takes some times to master it. Thank you for the video, it was great as usual 🙂.
This looks pretty interesting, although given the river setup, I was expecting there to be a mechanic where pieces would move down the river to the lake.
@@toweypat Yeah, I could imagine a number of interesting changes to make with this. For example, maybe only some number of pieces are put back in the lake when you take from it instead of totally refilling it, but pieces also flow 1 space downriver each turn, with those in the last river piece ending up in the lake. However, that might cause some problems with leaving the first space empty (since the game is designed to never leave spaces empty), so you could fix that by having anything that overfills the lake go to the first space, or just draw one or some number and put it in the first slice after they flow downriver. There’s a number of things you could do with that.
What a neat looking game! I'm such a sucker for games with shiny, pretty components, and this one seems like a fun little puzzle-solving tableau builder! I like it a lot, thanks for teaching me Rodney.
Hello. A question! Are you REQUIRED to play a piece on the board if it can be played on the board, or are you allowed to choose to put it in the overflow? For example, to avoid two columns being the same height, could I place one in the overflow to maximize column height score? I didn’t see this verified on the rule sheet. I suspect that if you can play on the board, it MUST be played on the board. Thank you.
Agreed! Just played this one on Thanksgiving weekend with my family and my gf and I thought it’d be similar to Azul too. Though this game is a bit harder to manage when it comes to planning both your board and endgame. We played twice and it was requested to be brought at Xmas too :)
Hi Rodney, great video per usual. Just had our first play through with my two daughters (10 and 12). Question - we are having a debate over what seems like a clear rule ... in this game my daughter's two tallest columns are tied and maxed out (20 and 25). Then she has a third column at another height (8). In this case, the tied columns are the _tallest_ column - a situation not outlined in the rules or your video (which shows a tie for the 2nd-3rd). Does scoring work the same way? In other words, should we take the lower of the two tallest columns (i.e. 20) and add the third (8), OR take the scores from just the two tallest columns (ignoring the third) - i.e. 20 + 25 = 45. The rules would imply the former but we need a non-familial, impartial judgement here :).
Happy to help. You'd score the two tallest columns (the one's with tied heights). The tie breaker is only used if you're only going to get "1" of the tied columns, like in the example of my video, where you're only going to get 1 of the remaining 2 tied columns (because you've already scored 1 that was higher). Hope that helps!
What happens if at the start of the round the first player reaches 17 pieces? That is the final turn or the turn ends and an additional turn is played 🧐
Played this game with one of my friends who likes fairly light-weight games and her mother (who is likely 60-70 years old). All three of us liked it at lot!
Another great example of a game that seems overly simple at first but after a round of playing you realize there is a lot of unexpected strategy hidden in it.
Plays a lot faster than other resource management style games too allowing for multiple games to be played quickly.
Great option to have for people who dont want to spend an entire game night playing only one game or for those who may have a friend or two who are not ready to jump into the deep end of heavy strategy/ resource gathering play.
Would recommend!
Very glad you've enjoyed it!
The more I play games, the more I like those kind of games. Fast, simple to learn but it may takes some times to master it. Thank you for the video, it was great as usual 🙂.
Glad you've found the joy in these games too!
This looks pretty interesting, although given the river setup, I was expecting there to be a mechanic where pieces would move down the river to the lake.
House rules :)
@@toweypat Yeah, I could imagine a number of interesting changes to make with this. For example, maybe only some number of pieces are put back in the lake when you take from it instead of totally refilling it, but pieces also flow 1 space downriver each turn, with those in the last river piece ending up in the lake.
However, that might cause some problems with leaving the first space empty (since the game is designed to never leave spaces empty), so you could fix that by having anything that overfills the lake go to the first space, or just draw one or some number and put it in the first slice after they flow downriver.
There’s a number of things you could do with that.
Nature is strange!
@@KnakuanaRka nice idea 👌
My copy just arrived so this is perfect timing! Can’t wait to play.
Have a fantastic time!
I was putting my kids to sleep and watched the video and now I am ready to play a game with my wife and have some quite time 🤣
I hope you both have a great time playing!
I just picked this up after watching this video. It's gorgeous and I can't wait to play!
Have a fantastic time :)
This seems like it would be a really good solo puzzle or two player game
Thanks for checking it out!
Great video! Looks like a cool game.
Thanks for checking it out Henri!
What a neat looking game! I'm such a sucker for games with shiny, pretty components, and this one seems like a fun little puzzle-solving tableau builder! I like it a lot, thanks for teaching me Rodney.
A pleasure to get to share it - thanks for the kind words!
Hello. A question! Are you REQUIRED to play a piece on the board if it can be played on the board, or are you allowed to choose to put it in the overflow? For example, to avoid two columns being the same height, could I place one in the overflow to maximize column height score? I didn’t see this verified on the rule sheet. I suspect that if you can play on the board, it MUST be played on the board. Thank you.
You've got it - you're required to place if you can.
Thanks for another fantastic teach. I just got mine yesterday! I’m excited to try it tonight
Have a great time playing!
This has a similar vibe to azul. Sounds like a treat to play!
Thanks for checking out the video!
Agreed! Just played this one on Thanksgiving weekend with my family and my gf and I thought it’d be similar to Azul too. Though this game is a bit harder to manage when it comes to planning both your board and endgame. We played twice and it was requested to be brought at Xmas too :)
Yep! It's like a mix of Azul and Racoon Tycoon!
Hi Rodney, great video per usual. Just had our first play through with my two daughters (10 and 12). Question - we are having a debate over what seems like a clear rule ... in this game my daughter's two tallest columns are tied and maxed out (20 and 25). Then she has a third column at another height (8). In this case, the tied columns are the _tallest_ column - a situation not outlined in the rules or your video (which shows a tie for the 2nd-3rd). Does scoring work the same way? In other words, should we take the lower of the two tallest columns (i.e. 20) and add the third (8), OR take the scores from just the two tallest columns (ignoring the third) - i.e. 20 + 25 = 45. The rules would imply the former but we need a non-familial, impartial judgement here :).
Happy to help. You'd score the two tallest columns (the one's with tied heights). The tie breaker is only used if you're only going to get "1" of the tied columns, like in the example of my video, where you're only going to get 1 of the remaining 2 tied columns (because you've already scored 1 that was higher). Hope that helps!
@ Thank you! Family crisis averted :).
What happens if at the start of the round the first player reaches 17 pieces? That is the final turn or the turn ends and an additional turn is played 🧐
You’ll find this covered in the video, so I have to direct you there.
Are you going to do one about Unconscious Mind? That would be awesome.
Thanks for the interest! I talk a bit about that here: th-cam.com/video/EdtDuvIUa6A/w-d-xo.html&t=342
Been waiting for this one!
Coming soon!
Really enjoyed playing this one on BGA! I'm sure I'd love it even more with the fantastic glass pieces! ☺ Thank you for the teach as always, Rodney!
Hey hey, hi Dave! Thanks for the kind words. I tried it first on BGA too :)
do different animals have different abilities
When playing in the solo mode they do.
Do you have to collect 4 pieces from the lake, could you take less or does it need to be 4?
Has to be 4
Exactly 4, since any excess pieces you collect go to the overflow space.
Yep, as others have said, must be four 😊
This game looks adorable :)
Thanks for checking it out!
Hoping this one gets here before thanksgiving in Canada
Fingers crossed!
Hey, I should be getting mine this Wednesday (living in Montreal). I hope you receive your soon.
@@pavelslavchev2000did you get yours? Don’t have a tracking or anything yet
Got mine last week
@RemisRandR hi, yup it indeed arrived last Wednesday 😀
Played this game with one of my friends who likes fairly light-weight games and her mother (who is likely 60-70 years old). All three of us liked it at lot!
So glad to hear you all had fun with it :)
Hey Rodney, will you ever make a video teaching players how to play chess?
Thanks for the interest! I talk a bit about that here: th-cam.com/video/EdtDuvIUa6A/w-d-xo.html&t=342