I used to own Santiago de Cuba. Not very similar to this Santiago at all, but a nice medium family strategy game. A bit of luck, a bit of planning. Maybe a bit too much luck for some hobbyists nowadays, but it didn't bother me. I liked it, but not enough to keep.
Love the switcharoo with the box cover. Lol. This game was on my list for awhile but I never have more than 3 players around to play any game so sadly, it’s a game I’ll probably never get a chance to play. Very cool to see you cover it though. Looking forward to next weeks Gem. Happy New Year!
You and I think so much alike. I have the same shelves and they are stuffed with classic Euros too. As for Santiago, I own it, and I LOVE IT. Thank you for covering this gem, and welcome to TH-cam! I subscribed and look forward to more of your videos and this channel's progression! Hello from beautiful Vancouver Island! I would love to see you cover San Marco!
This is from three (3!) years ago, but I watch it this week, and I realize this is possibly the best tournament game ever conceived. Purchased a copy on BGG just now.
Interesting, you think it too long for a two round tournament of an evening? I don't know much about real tournaments, but I've been inviting about 20 people over every couple of months to play two rounds of a game (Irish Gauge, Puerto Rico, Azul Summer Pavilion, Concordia) with just the right balance of euro-ness and interaction. This seems a good example. I defer to your vast expertise however. : > )@@BoardGems
If you're comparing to something like Puerto Rico and Concordia, if you play those games twice in an evening, then yup you could definitely do Santiago twice as well. It's a similar length or a bit shorter.
Great video! Just picked this one up. Can't wait to play it. I was looking through some of your other videos and they are excellent, keep up the great work. I am in search of games just like Santiago, specifically titles that are low complexity and have high player interaction. It seems like a lot of older German games followed this trend. Do you have any suggestions or specific videos of your that you could point me to? I watched your Oasis one and that one looked solid, thankfully lots of copies on the 2nd hand market just as you said. Thanks for the great content, really helps to highlight games people don't often talk about.
Thanks! Yup, Oasis fits the bill, as well as Carolus Magnus. I also personally enjoy Rheinländer and Kingdoms, by Reiner Knizia who has designed quite a few games of this type. I tend to not cover games with crazy-high BGG ratings (those games don't need me to sing their praises) but there are a lot of this type of game that are still highly regarded today! Knizia designed a number, games such as Samurai, Medici, Modern Art and Through the Desert. All of those games have had multiple printings and *shouldn't* be too, too hard to find. Cheers!
Just watched your video after buying the game today - it's been on my wishlist for many years. I'm wondering if you've played The Estates? Very similar mechanics, though different enough that I'd be interested in your opinion on one game vs the other. Also, have you played much 18xx? When you talk about the deeply interactive gameplay, playing the player and not the game etc. for me the 18xx genre represents the current pinnacle of that interactive ethos towards game design. I've subscribed btw... very well put together and in-depth video.
I'm familiar with The Estates, which feels much more brutal than Santiago. It's a game in which scores can swing wildly, including into the negatives if I remember correctly, but yes it's deeply interactive too! The Estates is a fascinatingly "pure" game, if that makes sense, but best played with people who won't get frustrated too easily! They're not too too similar, nothing wrong with having both. If you play Santiago and think, "Man, this is great, but I wish you could mess with people even more!" than definitely look at The Estates. :) 18XX is a genre I've been curious about, but the time commitment, even for a shorter 18XX game, is larger than I'm looking for. Still, I recently picked up Poseidon (18XX BC!) and hope that'll scratch a similar itch. Cheers!
Does your version come with the palm trees variant? If so, are you not a fan? I'm looking at buying the Trefl printing of this and it has a 2player mode and palm trees placed during setup!
Could you give and example on a modern game that is complex for without adding anding anything to the game? Just curious ✌️ Great channel. Looking forward to see more.
Hi! I'd guess you mean, complexity that comes from player interactions and not added mechanisms that increase the difficulty to learn? There are definitely some. For an extreme example, look at Northern Pacific (a game I have but haven't played, but heard good things about). EXTREMELY simple rules, but you have to look at what other players' motivations are and ideally predict their moves based on your own. There are games that are nicely interactive but are pretty simple, like Imhotep, Isle of Skye... Just make sure you're watching the other players! A game like Azul, if you're just playing your own game and not paying attention to what other players want (and don't want), you're missing out on half the game... The best half. 🙂 And, of course, many great classic golden-age games still get new releases these years, like Medici and Modern Art. Cheers!
This seems a bit too interactive for me but still looks like a good game. I am torn. I usually like the multiplayer solitaire style games and this one is definitely not that.
It is a fantastic game! I like some multiplayer solitaire games too, like *real* multiplayer solitaire like FITS, BITS and Cities which I've covered. But these are all short fillers. The modern euro, with little interaction but still every player has a wildly different game state, is deeply unsatisfying to me.
@@BoardGems He also helped with Shanghaien. One explanation could be that they've tried to create this really fundamental kind of game, which isn't easy. This game always reminds me of Wadi. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31803/wadi
@@upandawaygames I know of Wadi, also haven't played it. But my family loves Martyn F's Cities and that'll probably be in a future video. (I'm now wishing I kept Limes so I could do a video covering both.)
I've uploaded a Rating Rebuttal for this game! th-cam.com/video/M4ZLjvyoV0U/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for this review. I was wondering what is your opinion of a game with a similar name: Santiago de Cuba ?
I used to own Santiago de Cuba. Not very similar to this Santiago at all, but a nice medium family strategy game. A bit of luck, a bit of planning. Maybe a bit too much luck for some hobbyists nowadays, but it didn't bother me. I liked it, but not enough to keep.
I got to play this for the first time over the summer. A real gem.
This sounds like a fit for me! Thanks for the tip and I must say I love the music during the teach, catchy but doesnt distract
I agree. I made sure I snagged this. So innocent looking of a game but the corruption of Canal Overseer is key to keeping your crops going.
Love the switcharoo with the box cover. Lol.
This game was on my list for awhile but I never have more than 3 players around to play any game so sadly, it’s a game I’ll probably never get a chance to play. Very cool to see you cover it though. Looking forward to next weeks Gem. Happy New Year!
Thanks, you too!
You and I think so much alike. I have the same shelves and they are stuffed with classic Euros too. As for Santiago, I own it, and I LOVE IT. Thank you for covering this gem, and welcome to TH-cam! I subscribed and look forward to more of your videos and this channel's progression! Hello from beautiful Vancouver Island! I would love to see you cover San Marco!
Thank you! And San Marco is on the list. 🙂
Big fan of this game although its been collecting dust on my shelf. Thanks for the reminder :)
This is from three (3!) years ago, but I watch it this week, and I realize this is possibly the best tournament game ever conceived. Purchased a copy on BGG just now.
Don’t know about a tournament setting, but the game itself is absolutely phenomenal!
Interesting, you think it too long for a two round tournament of an evening? I don't know much about real tournaments, but I've been inviting about 20 people over every couple of months to play two rounds of a game (Irish Gauge, Puerto Rico, Azul Summer Pavilion, Concordia) with just the right balance of euro-ness and interaction. This seems a good example. I defer to your vast expertise however. : > )@@BoardGems
If you're comparing to something like Puerto Rico and Concordia, if you play those games twice in an evening, then yup you could definitely do Santiago twice as well. It's a similar length or a bit shorter.
Great video! Just picked this one up. Can't wait to play it. I was looking through some of your other videos and they are excellent, keep up the great work. I am in search of games just like Santiago, specifically titles that are low complexity and have high player interaction. It seems like a lot of older German games followed this trend. Do you have any suggestions or specific videos of your that you could point me to? I watched your Oasis one and that one looked solid, thankfully lots of copies on the 2nd hand market just as you said. Thanks for the great content, really helps to highlight games people don't often talk about.
Thanks! Yup, Oasis fits the bill, as well as Carolus Magnus. I also personally enjoy Rheinländer and Kingdoms, by Reiner Knizia who has designed quite a few games of this type.
I tend to not cover games with crazy-high BGG ratings (those games don't need me to sing their praises) but there are a lot of this type of game that are still highly regarded today! Knizia designed a number, games such as Samurai, Medici, Modern Art and Through the Desert. All of those games have had multiple printings and *shouldn't* be too, too hard to find. Cheers!
Just watched your video after buying the game today - it's been on my wishlist for many years. I'm wondering if you've played The Estates? Very similar mechanics, though different enough that I'd be interested in your opinion on one game vs the other.
Also, have you played much 18xx? When you talk about the deeply interactive gameplay, playing the player and not the game etc. for me the 18xx genre represents the current pinnacle of that interactive ethos towards game design.
I've subscribed btw... very well put together and in-depth video.
I'm familiar with The Estates, which feels much more brutal than Santiago. It's a game in which scores can swing wildly, including into the negatives if I remember correctly, but yes it's deeply interactive too! The Estates is a fascinatingly "pure" game, if that makes sense, but best played with people who won't get frustrated too easily! They're not too too similar, nothing wrong with having both. If you play Santiago and think, "Man, this is great, but I wish you could mess with people even more!" than definitely look at The Estates. :)
18XX is a genre I've been curious about, but the time commitment, even for a shorter 18XX game, is larger than I'm looking for. Still, I recently picked up Poseidon (18XX BC!) and hope that'll scratch a similar itch. Cheers!
Does your version come with the palm trees variant? If so, are you not a fan? I'm looking at buying the Trefl printing of this and it has a 2player mode and palm trees placed during setup!
Yes, palm trees are a variant in this version. They're fine, I can take or leave them. I can't imagine what a two-player mode would be like!
Could you give and example on a modern game that is complex for without adding anding anything to the game? Just curious ✌️ Great channel. Looking forward to see more.
Hi! I'd guess you mean, complexity that comes from player interactions and not added mechanisms that increase the difficulty to learn? There are definitely some. For an extreme example, look at Northern Pacific (a game I have but haven't played, but heard good things about). EXTREMELY simple rules, but you have to look at what other players' motivations are and ideally predict their moves based on your own. There are games that are nicely interactive but are pretty simple, like Imhotep, Isle of Skye... Just make sure you're watching the other players! A game like Azul, if you're just playing your own game and not paying attention to what other players want (and don't want), you're missing out on half the game... The best half. 🙂 And, of course, many great classic golden-age games still get new releases these years, like Medici and Modern Art. Cheers!
could you allow players scratch paper to track tiles in order to eliminate the memory aspect?
Oh sure. But it's really not that big of a deal to bother with. Just a small annoyance.
I got the game... but not gotten the chance to play it. Really seems like my type of game.
If you tend to like the type of games I cover on the channel, then this one is a no-brainer! One of my favourite experiences for 4 or 5 players.
@@BoardGems Yeah, I got the newest european edition. The 2017 Spanish edition, but it is language independent.
This seems a bit too interactive for me but still looks like a good game. I am torn. I usually like the multiplayer solitaire style games and this one is definitely not that.
It is a fantastic game! I like some multiplayer solitaire games too, like *real* multiplayer solitaire like FITS, BITS and Cities which I've covered. But these are all short fillers. The modern euro, with little interaction but still every player has a wildly different game state, is deeply unsatisfying to me.
Strangely the designers only did a couple more games after this.
Yup! I only know of Weinhändler, which I've never played.
@@BoardGems He also helped with Shanghaien. One explanation could be that they've tried to create this really fundamental kind of game, which isn't easy. This game always reminds me of Wadi. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31803/wadi
@@upandawaygames I know of Wadi, also haven't played it. But my family loves Martyn F's Cities and that'll probably be in a future video. (I'm now wishing I kept Limes so I could do a video covering both.)
@@BoardGems Yes, Cities is very good. Would have thought it counted as a hit, but I suppose not anymore.