December 2020- now known in the Zee calendar as 0 AM (After Merv). All previous games and phases from this point are BM (Before Merv). Thus marked Zee’s transition to a heavy eurogamer
I know im asking randomly but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly forgot my account password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Anderson Iker Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Fully agreed. You don't notice it first because the atmosphere is very different for each "O'Tooled" game, yet you quickly reckon how it makes everything as clear as possible without any text on any material (and that's precious when you aren't playing with english-speaking gamers). This game by the way has flavours of Kanban EV in the way all locations are like mini-games and you have to have necessary resources to make everything as efficient as possible...
I just played my first 2 player game and had a blast! The teach wasn't the easiest, but not all games are. Once a couple turns went by it flowed really well. Lots of really fun paths to go down in this game and some HUGE turns which feel really satisfying to pull off. I'm looking forward to trying out different strategies in future games!
@@Carsten_de_1981 Hi Carsten. I'm definitely still happy and interested in this game. I just did my first solo the other day and had a good time with that. I've had a blast at all player counts and I'm glad this game is easy to set up and take down lol.
So I played this yesterday and I didn't have any of the problems with it that Zee had. This is quite a straight forward game. You position your meeple next to a row of tiles,, select one of the 5 tiles in that row, get resources and perform the action on that tile. There are only 6 actions in the entire game, far less than your run of the mill worker placement game. And those 6 actions are very simple, fast and clear, like build a wall, move up a track, or exchange cubes for goods. My point is this: This game isn't nearly as complex or hard to learn as Zee makes it out to be. If you like and play lots of medium complexity euro games, you should have little problem with this. I for one really enjoyed this game. One of the best of the year for sure.
I agree. I am a moron that happens to be in a group that plays many heavier games. Ex> Caylus 1303, Hans teutonica, Troyes, Brass etc. This was way easier than Hans and Troyes, (both in terms of rules and playing well) maybe about the same as Caylus and Brass. This was fun, and myself-the moron-was able to play competively. Maybe due to having equal game experience as other players. Very fun experience. Also I believe the 'soldiers' are more like 'mercenaries' and desert your property after the Mongols have invaded once. Therefore perhaps needing to be re-employed in the final year.
Hi Zee, you mention this year being a great year for mid/heavy euros. Do you have a short list in mind? I've had my head in other places than board games this year, looking for new distractions! Thanks :)
Not at all! I think it's strange seeing some folks on here talking about how they're canceling their pre-orders. I gave the game a positive review and I'm keeping a copy! :-)
I'm rubbish with rules but found the idea of teaching it was worse than it actually was in reality. Adults and kids don't think twice about playing management/strategy games that are far more complex. I found it easiest to just let people watch a game explaining fine points as you went.
In my mind this game was the spliced child of targi, five tribes and orleans. I had imagined this would be Zees game of the year as a result but I’m still super excited to get it to the table. On a side note Zee, with your target system I can see why people misjudged your enjoyment of the game since there are more negatives and neutrals than in most of the games you review that you praise. Perhaps it would be best to go through the target system without “+, - and blank” as a game could on the flip side have “+” across the board but just be a slightly above average game.
Great review Zee. Is it one for me? Not sure. Would I enjoy it - definitely, I like mid-heavy Euro's so it goes on my shortlist to consider but I can't play every good game out there! Which of 50 or so on my shortlist do I get?
I feel like if you’re going to play a game this complex with the great Ian O’Toole as the artist, you might as well go all the way in and play The Gallerist or Vinhos.
"this is not a rules video" Proceeds to teach 99% of the game. Honestly with a few touch ups from my friend, I could play this after watching this, nice work Zee, may be you can branch out !
@AjamlouBijan I agree that’s a solid plan, but what about the opportunity cost of missing out on portals? Or being behind the curve on winning some neutral achievements? Or doing a few early missions for bonuses to kickstart your engine? There’s lots of ways to skin that cat.
This is right on time, will have to cancel my pre-order. Too many glued together mini-games and too much complication for complication's sake, if it is such a pain to teach for Zee I can't imagine this will see a lot of actual play..
I recommend watching someone who is more into games of this type, like Rahdo, before cancelling. It's kind of presented in a negative light or its difficulty is a bit exaggerated here.
@@saintsalieri Good point, I did watch Rahdo and he seems overjoyed with it. I don't think it's necessarily a mechanically very difficult game, it's weight seems to come from the combination of many action possibilities and interactions. That is also what interested me in the first place, but it might be too much for many groups, as per Zee's teaching comment.
@@pjjpversteeg Yes, it could possibly be a lot for some groups. Though really, akin to a game like Trajan, it's a few different minigames that are simple in themselves and you just need your group to be willing to spend 5 minutes or so learning how they work. I think what was missed in Zee's review was its main selling point, which is the way that actions create positive opportunities for your competitors. It's a highly interactive Euro. These points were touched on in a very dry, unthematic way in this review, and as a result the conclusion sold it as a dry, unthematic Euro. I think many players will find it exciting and not have trouble seeing how the theme, though abstracted, informs the mechanics. (There's a fascinating designer diary on BGG by Lopiano that shows how the game was iterated and whittled down over time -- its abstraction is a feature not a bug). I often go back and forth on games depending on who I watch. Recently I have no idea what to think of Bonfire, for example!
@@saintsalieri Interactivity is a fair, positive point, which should be applauded in a game with such a large action space. I also disagree with Zee on theme, it might be common but all actions fit the game setting really well here. In addition I had no clue about the history of Merv, and it's importance, something that Rahdo correctly touched upon. I'll probably keep my order and test it out myself, can always pass it on.
I'm rubbish with rules, don't play many games that would be considered complex and I found this fine, a few fiddly bits that you might forget first time and don't pop out in the rule book but otherwise fine.
so i love heavy euros and this game makes no sense, i dont get how Zee likes this, everything is hyper colorful, the turn order is dependent on getting camels but if you're always last then you never get a chance to get camels, i dont get it
I don't understand Zee's idea of 'theme'. His scoring just seems subjective on whether he likes it or not. I think it should based on how thematic the turns and actions are as if the players, IRL, were actually their characters. As so, most card and simple abstracts would fail. RPGs and War games would have a high theme adaptation score.
I don't think it deserved a negative tick. Perhaps a neutral, as it's a mixed bag. The walls and house guard add to theme. I like the palace as well, because while I might earn favor, I must cash them in. The rest are pretty much mechanisms with the most appropriate ideas assigned, and are ok. Still, taken as a whole, I look at this as the city of Merv, with nice interaction between areas. Happy with my purchase.
December 2020- now known in the Zee calendar as 0 AM (After Merv). All previous games and phases from this point are BM (Before Merv). Thus marked Zee’s transition to a heavy eurogamer
I don't think this game understands how Mongols work.
"What! They put a guard in front of that building? Drats! Foiled again."
yeah Zee mentioned exactly that, its very abstracted
@Chandra Makin it’s crazy how you both joined a week ago and are both trying to promote some shitty scam. Shush 🤫
I know im asking randomly but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly forgot my account password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Benton Maverick Instablaster :)
@Anderson Iker Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Zee really earned his money for this review, that’s a lot of rules!
😂
I love the box cover for this game so very much. Ian O'Toole is ridic.
Fully agreed. You don't notice it first because the atmosphere is very different for each "O'Tooled" game, yet you quickly reckon how it makes everything as clear as possible without any text on any material (and that's precious when you aren't playing with english-speaking gamers).
This game by the way has flavours of Kanban EV in the way all locations are like mini-games and you have to have necessary resources to make everything as efficient as possible...
I just played my first 2 player game and had a blast! The teach wasn't the easiest, but not all games are. Once a couple turns went by it flowed really well. Lots of really fun paths to go down in this game and some HUGE turns which feel really satisfying to pull off. I'm looking forward to trying out different strategies in future games!
Are you still as happy or did you loose interest pretty quick?
@@Carsten_de_1981 Hi Carsten. I'm definitely still happy and interested in this game. I just did my first solo the other day and had a good time with that. I've had a blast at all player counts and I'm glad this game is easy to set up and take down lol.
So I played this yesterday and I didn't have any of the problems with it that Zee had. This is quite a straight forward game. You position your meeple next to a row of tiles,, select one of the 5 tiles in that row, get resources and perform the action on that tile. There are only 6 actions in the entire game, far less than your run of the mill worker placement game. And those 6 actions are very simple, fast and clear, like build a wall, move up a track, or exchange cubes for goods.
My point is this: This game isn't nearly as complex or hard to learn as Zee makes it out to be. If you like and play lots of medium complexity euro games, you should have little problem with this. I for one really enjoyed this game. One of the best of the year for sure.
we played it on the first day of 2021 and I completely agree with you. Great game and not so hard as Zee tries to make people believe it is.
I agree. I am a moron that happens to be in a group that plays many heavier games. Ex> Caylus 1303, Hans teutonica, Troyes, Brass etc. This was way easier than Hans and Troyes, (both in terms of rules and playing well) maybe about the same as Caylus and Brass.
This was fun, and myself-the moron-was able to play competively. Maybe due to having equal game experience as other players.
Very fun experience.
Also I believe the 'soldiers' are more like 'mercenaries' and desert your property after the Mongols have invaded once. Therefore perhaps needing to be re-employed in the final year.
Hell of a review, Zee you are a beast! On the fence for the game though..
Hi Zee, you mention this year being a great year for mid/heavy euros. Do you have a short list in mind? I've had my head in other places than board games this year, looking for new distractions! Thanks :)
Off the top of my head, I'll give you one: Beyond the Sun. It's an awesome, thinky tech tree of a game!
Otro excelente video de reseña. Gracias por tu excelente contenido Zee. Muchas felicidades en estas navidades.
Gracias, y muchas felicidades a usted!
Soldiers only protect from one attack of the mongols
It may be good, but if Zee, who teaches thousands of games, says it's a beast to teach, I'll pass.
Same
After all the complexity in the breakdown, I really expected Zee to come back and say he hated it afterwards.
Not at all! I think it's strange seeing some folks on here talking about how they're canceling their pre-orders. I gave the game a positive review and I'm keeping a copy! :-)
It would be nice if they made a printable player aid. I’m also not looking forward to teaching this to my game group.
BGG has one.
I'm rubbish with rules but found the idea of teaching it was worse than it actually was in reality. Adults and kids don't think twice about playing management/strategy games that are far more complex. I found it easiest to just let people watch a game explaining fine points as you went.
Saw this at the local pharmacy for 29.99 down from 75. Wasn't sure if it was good so I left it there.
In my mind this game was the spliced child of targi, five tribes and orleans. I had imagined this would be Zees game of the year as a result but I’m still super excited to get it to the table.
On a side note Zee, with your target system I can see why people misjudged your enjoyment of the game since there are more negatives and neutrals than in most of the games you review that you praise. Perhaps it would be best to go through the target system without “+, - and blank” as a game could on the flip side have “+” across the board but just be a slightly above average game.
Great review Zee. Is it one for me? Not sure. Would I enjoy it - definitely, I like mid-heavy Euro's so it goes on my shortlist to consider but I can't play every good game out there! Which of 50 or so on my shortlist do I get?
I feel like if you’re going to play a game this complex with the great Ian O’Toole as the artist, you might as well go all the way in and play The Gallerist or Vinhos.
Zee is it true that it's like a mix of Five Tribes and Coimbra?
Hmm. I could see that. It does have elements of both.
@@ZeeGarc But by your review, not as good as any of them. I had high hopes for Merv
Wonderful game! Like it a lot !
"this is not a rules video"
Proceeds to teach 99% of the game.
Honestly with a few touch ups from my friend, I could play this after watching this, nice work Zee, may be you can branch out !
Agreed. Based on this effort, I bought it 👍
This or Gugong...IYO?
Gugong. While I like this game, it took me a week of playing it to really appreciate it. Gugong is just a better experience
1000 x Merv. We found Gugong super dull. Merv is a fantastic, deep & clever Euro. One of the best of the year.
@AjamlouBijan with the Panjun expansion it takes the game to another level. They basically responded to feedback and created some interesting elements
@@Judge021979 I'd agree with that.
@AjamlouBijan I agree that’s a solid plan, but what about the opportunity cost of missing out on portals? Or being behind the curve on winning some neutral achievements? Or doing a few early missions for bonuses to kickstart your engine? There’s lots of ways to skin that cat.
agree, it is so gorgeous but something just doesn't feel right about it 🤔
Deeply disappointed this game didn't involve being a daytime talk show host.
This is right on time, will have to cancel my pre-order. Too many glued together mini-games and too much complication for complication's sake, if it is such a pain to teach for Zee I can't imagine this will see a lot of actual play..
I recommend watching someone who is more into games of this type, like Rahdo, before cancelling. It's kind of presented in a negative light or its difficulty is a bit exaggerated here.
@@saintsalieri Good point, I did watch Rahdo and he seems overjoyed with it. I don't think it's necessarily a mechanically very difficult game, it's weight seems to come from the combination of many action possibilities and interactions. That is also what interested me in the first place, but it might be too much for many groups, as per Zee's teaching comment.
@@pjjpversteeg Yes, it could possibly be a lot for some groups. Though really, akin to a game like Trajan, it's a few different minigames that are simple in themselves and you just need your group to be willing to spend 5 minutes or so learning how they work.
I think what was missed in Zee's review was its main selling point, which is the way that actions create positive opportunities for your competitors. It's a highly interactive Euro. These points were touched on in a very dry, unthematic way in this review, and as a result the conclusion sold it as a dry, unthematic Euro. I think many players will find it exciting and not have trouble seeing how the theme, though abstracted, informs the mechanics. (There's a fascinating designer diary on BGG by Lopiano that shows how the game was iterated and whittled down over time -- its abstraction is a feature not a bug).
I often go back and forth on games depending on who I watch. Recently I have no idea what to think of Bonfire, for example!
@@saintsalieri Interactivity is a fair, positive point, which should be applauded in a game with such a large action space.
I also disagree with Zee on theme, it might be common but all actions fit the game setting really well here. In addition I had no clue about the history of Merv, and it's importance, something that Rahdo correctly touched upon.
I'll probably keep my order and test it out myself, can always pass it on.
I'm rubbish with rules, don't play many games that would be considered complex and I found this fine, a few fiddly bits that you might forget first time and don't pop out in the rule book but otherwise fine.
so i love heavy euros and this game makes no sense, i dont get how Zee likes this, everything is hyper colorful, the turn order is dependent on getting camels but if you're always last then you never get a chance to get camels, i dont get it
First!
I don't understand Zee's idea of 'theme'. His scoring just seems subjective on whether he likes it or not. I think it should based on how thematic the turns and actions are as if the players, IRL, were actually their characters. As so, most card and simple abstracts would fail. RPGs and War games would have a high theme adaptation score.
Every assessment of theme is subjective just as all board game reviews are subjective.
I don't think it deserved a negative tick. Perhaps a neutral, as it's a mixed bag. The walls and house guard add to theme. I like the palace as well, because while I might earn favor, I must cash them in. The rest are pretty much mechanisms with the most appropriate ideas assigned, and are ok.
Still, taken as a whole, I look at this as the city of Merv, with nice interaction between areas. Happy with my purchase.