If it wasn't for Tom this game would not have been successful. Their first Kickstarter campaign failed. It was Tom's initial review and praise for the game that helped their second Kickstarter reach the heights it did. Dice Tower truly had an impact and made a difference for these game designers and this game!
Dice tower has a huge influence in game sales IMHO. One negative review from anyone on the Dice tower, specially Tom would decrease the sales of that specific game. This holds more with Kickstarters.
Great review as always Tom! Hey this should be a game to be published in the "Dice tower essentials" series in a nice new edition! (with new art also) I don't know, maybe you can talk about this with the original designers/publishers, it could be very nice and I'm totally sure will capture the attention of the people! :D
The best thing about the new app is that if someone makes a wrong guess with the app they aren’t eliminated, they just take a penalty and can’t try to solve the next round. It fixes the only issue I could have potentially had with the game.
This is an excellent game... The thing with this game is that there is always some new info coming on each turn and you feel like the case is progressing... A lot of deduction games seem sluggish in comparison. It is not like you get all the info fast, it is more like you get small morsels of information fed to you pretty much constantly and I like that feel. Though we may have been over spamming this a little, but it is a very good game. You are playing more against the system than the other players... So you don't have that obsessive need to hang onto your cards until the end. That is nice too.
I Kickstarted the game purely because my last name is Walton lol but I really enjoyed my first Solo play of it. Quick rules question that I haven’t pieced together from the various videos: When trading with people, do you trade with one person, write everything down and then use those same cards to trade with someone else? Or do you only trade away cards you started the turn with?
wow, theres one on kickstarter right now that already over 100 bucks lol! with 9 days to go. Dang wish I backed a couple lol. anyword if this is coming to retail english?
greetings from Germany, i was finally able to purchase a german version of this brilliant game. I just want to point out (in the typical german way) that even if you check all 3 statements (2 witnesses and 1 from police) that it is a motive for the murder, but not necessarily the one for the solution of your case. At least that's what the german handbook says. Great video to a fantastic game. tc
That is true, but if you check the 3rd box from the police then that IS their Motive (again, it might not be them that murdered Mr Walton) whereas if 1 or both of the first two boxes are checked it COULD be their motive. Basically, you don’t need all 3 boxes, just the 3rd to confirm.
I actually got this on KS and played a few times with a group. Initially was excited but my main problem was that there wasn't any "Aha!" moments when you put 1+1 together and you get 3. Only slowly marking off clues till you felt that you know the answer or you felt that you had to act because somebody else will solve it on the nect turn. Sure it is a race of deduction but didn't have any real creative parts of piecing together information to get new ones reading between the lines if you know what I mean. The game felt like you had 30 checkboxes and each turn you checked a few of them till only 3 was left and that's the answer... :/ Maybe we were playing it wrong (doubt it) but it was rather dissapointing.
I have the exact same experience. The game is without a doubt my biggest disappointment this year - after the first game, I just can't get myself to bring it out again. It essentially Clue with a bit more control as to which boxes to check of, but it's not really deduction as in 'you do the deduction'.
Rasmus Helms I don’t agree with this at all, you can make a ton of deductions as you get more information. As certain rooms become unavailable you can cross off additional weapons in those rooms. Your line of questions will also shift as you begin to eliminate suspects/rooms the killer could have gone through. At the end of my games people talk about the clues they saw, the deductions they made, and you could see the lightbulbs going off in other people’s minds.
@@BassForever I can see your point. But something like the motives. How can you possibly deduce any motives by yourself? You are 100% dependent on the cards. I had hoped it would offer the same 'aha' moments as Alchemists and Think Str8 where you are given a single piece of information which you can use to deduce a whole ton of stuff. I didn't find that to be the case with Awkward Guests.
I think a critical part to this game is tracking and denying other players of critical information. There's a good amount of strategy involved in doing that.
ETA: Tom, thanks for this comprehensive overview of the game. Off to order it now! Macabre is pronounced mak-karb or it can be mak-karb-r (maybe it's French?!). Anywho, "Macrabay bet" made me smile, haha.
It says from 2-8 players. I would have liked to know how good/bad it does with 6 players, which is what my group is and most games these days are for 4 players.
So far I've played it with 2 and with 7. The 2 player game was fun but definitely lacking something as you only have one other person to trade info with (the two-player rules do help but even still it isn't at it's best). When I played with 7 the game was great but what we experienced was with so many people to trade with it becomes a lot harder to track what information everyone else has. Like, we ended up getting our own cards back a lot because we lost track of how they moved around and also it becomes a lot harder to try to deprive others of critical information because there are just so many people to trade with. Also, I don't think we ever once had a time when someone got to draw from the deck because no one offered info (which isn't really a problem). As a very small note too, my group gets a little loud when we have this many players and that can make this kind of thinky deduction game more difficult. Both 2 and 7 players were a lot of fun and I will be playing again at these counts; however I personally feel the hotspot for this game may be 4-5 players.
I’ve not personally played it but looking over the rules it seems like it would play fine. On your turn you ask the other player about 4 things instead of two, so the other player has more options for what they can choose to give you.
Two player is fun but does lack a bit compared to higher play counts. There are a few special rules for 2 players. Instead of pointing at 2 targets you want information on, you point at 4. There's a lot more drawing because no one offered you info, of course, and so you draw 2 instead of 3. It was definitely fun and I'll do it again but I would say that 4-5 players is the peak player count for the game.
It's weird the review came out now, but there's already a seal excellence on the box. I was super excited to give it a try, but it's hard to track down. Maybe Tom has inside information about a re-release or another kickstarter? Let's hope Vasel's Law helps us out!
This is a game that Tom actually reviewed twice. About a year ago, he reviewed the Spanish language version at around the time the Kickstarter launched for the English version.
There isn't much deduction in this game. Once you're told the evidence, you just mark it off, so it doesn't require much "deducing". That said, it is a good game for what it is.
Yeah, that's a real shame. Though the kickstarter was very successful and the game has gotten significant buzz. I guarantee you'll beget another opportunity to pick it up
When you calculate the possible amount of solutions (with an accomplice) there are 6480 possible solutions, without an accomplice there are 360 solutions.
@@Bunny2086 I see now I’ve made a small mistake in the calculation (counted the murderer also as a possible accomplice) but based on the possibilities (6 suspects with all 3 motives and 20 weapons + 5 accomplice’s with 3 motives) there are 5400 combinations possible (Who/Why/Weapon/Accomplice/A’s why) if the creators of the game has made for every combination a case there could be 5400 case’s
Here in Europe it's usually pronounced ma-kabr with a soft r on the end (like the r in hard). As long as people know what you mean in the place you live I don't suppose it matters, as long as you don't say micro-bay, which I think sells PC components.
Yeah... I don't think "pretty huge" really fits here. There were other errors with fulfillment and communication that we bigger than this minor error with the screen that I never look at anyways. It's pretty sad if this is the reason you were disappointed with the game.
@@ianh2787 I'm also disappointed they did not offer a way to buy corrected versions of those sheets. I'll try the game tomorrow the first time with my friends.
@@gabrielthornmusic, I agree I'm disappointed. I'm just saying that a small, non-game-breaking error is not a reason, for me, to be completely disappointed in the game as a whole. The company, the communication, sure, but the game is still completely intact.
Ummm...maybe give them a couple seconds. I mean, the game has one recently been arriving in homes. A whole new laminated print run will be expensive and wouldn’t even have time to be available yet even if it is affordable for the company. Not to mention it’s a bonus was of keeping track where the normal pad doesn’t have the error. It would be much better and more cost effective if they just incorporated it digitally into the app.
If it wasn't for Tom this game would not have been successful. Their first Kickstarter campaign failed. It was Tom's initial review and praise for the game that helped their second Kickstarter reach the heights it did. Dice Tower truly had an impact and made a difference for these game designers and this game!
Dice tower has a huge influence in game sales IMHO. One negative review from anyone on the Dice tower, specially Tom would decrease the sales of that specific game. This holds more with Kickstarters.
Love Tom's pronounciation of random words. 8:07 "mackrabay bet"
It really is like Clue, with a procedurally generated mystery but much more variability and no dice! Really the Clue killer.
Great review as always Tom! Hey this should be a game to be published in the "Dice tower essentials" series in a nice new edition! (with new art also) I don't know, maybe you can talk about this with the original designers/publishers, it could be very nice and I'm totally sure will capture the attention of the people! :D
So happy I listened to one of the podcasts where Tom mentioned this. Hopped on it as soon as the new ks came. Was so happy I did
The best thing about the new app is that if someone makes a wrong guess with the app they aren’t eliminated, they just take a penalty and can’t try to solve the next round. It fixes the only issue I could have potentially had with the game.
I showed it to a friend and his wife who both loved it, I hope it becomes available at retail soon.
I am dying to get this. I would love even another kickstarter.
macra-bay.
It's larger than a micro-bay.
This is an excellent game... The thing with this game is that there is always some new info coming on each turn and you feel like the case is progressing... A lot of deduction games seem sluggish in comparison. It is not like you get all the info fast, it is more like you get small morsels of information fed to you pretty much constantly and I like that feel.
Though we may have been over spamming this a little, but it is a very good game. You are playing more against the system than the other players... So you don't have that obsessive need to hang onto your cards until the end. That is nice too.
It was Tom, in the Dice Tower... with a Gavel!
Does not appear to be for sale, with the exception of kickstarter backers (Campaign is over). Hope they do a retail release.
Shaun Prince I think they’re re running their Kickstarter again.
@@69robtaylor Do you know when?
CJ91 no sorry I dont
Just bought this game. Can't wait to play it. Should I laminate the sheets as Tom suggested he'd do?
I Kickstarted the game purely because my last name is Walton lol but I really enjoyed my first Solo play of it. Quick rules question that I haven’t pieced together from the various videos:
When trading with people, do you trade with one person, write everything down and then use those same cards to trade with someone else? Or do you only trade away cards you started the turn with?
I think that you can trade them again if you want.
I want this immediately... when's the release date?
wow, theres one on kickstarter right now that already over 100 bucks lol! with 9 days to go. Dang wish I backed a couple lol. anyword if this is coming to retail english?
What intern is in charge of putting everything back together after the component drop? I already feel bad for them.
greetings from Germany, i was finally able to purchase a german version of this brilliant game. I just want to point out (in the typical german way) that even if you check all 3 statements (2 witnesses and 1 from police) that it is a motive for the murder, but not necessarily the one for the solution of your case. At least that's what the german handbook says.
Great video to a fantastic game. tc
That's correct, and I can also confirm it. Had a case where Mollow had a full motive, but they weren't the murderer.
That is true, but if you check the 3rd box from the police then that IS their Motive (again, it might not be them that murdered Mr Walton) whereas if 1 or both of the first two boxes are checked it COULD be their motive. Basically, you don’t need all 3 boxes, just the 3rd to confirm.
I actually got this on KS and played a few times with a group. Initially was excited but my main problem was that there wasn't any "Aha!" moments when you put 1+1 together and you get 3. Only slowly marking off clues till you felt that you know the answer or you felt that you had to act because somebody else will solve it on the nect turn. Sure it is a race of deduction but didn't have any real creative parts of piecing together information to get new ones reading between the lines if you know what I mean.
The game felt like you had 30 checkboxes and each turn you checked a few of them till only 3 was left and that's the answer... :/
Maybe we were playing it wrong (doubt it) but it was rather dissapointing.
I have the exact same experience. The game is without a doubt my biggest disappointment this year - after the first game, I just can't get myself to bring it out again. It essentially Clue with a bit more control as to which boxes to check of, but it's not really deduction as in 'you do the deduction'.
Rasmus Helms I don’t agree with this at all, you can make a ton of deductions as you get more information. As certain rooms become unavailable you can cross off additional weapons in those rooms. Your line of questions will also shift as you begin to eliminate suspects/rooms the killer could have gone through.
At the end of my games people talk about the clues they saw, the deductions they made, and you could see the lightbulbs going off in other people’s minds.
@@BassForever I can see your point. But something like the motives. How can you possibly deduce any motives by yourself? You are 100% dependent on the cards.
I had hoped it would offer the same 'aha' moments as Alchemists and Think Str8 where you are given a single piece of information which you can use to deduce a whole ton of stuff. I didn't find that to be the case with Awkward Guests.
I think a critical part to this game is tracking and denying other players of critical information. There's a good amount of strategy involved in doing that.
@@NickGotch strategic, sure. But is it deduction?
If I missed the kickstarter, where can I buy this game in Canada?
Boardgamebliss will have some
Tom you should try Cryptid then! Best deduction game ever for me. Zee loved it!
ETA: Tom, thanks for this comprehensive overview of the game. Off to order it now!
Macabre is pronounced mak-karb or it can be mak-karb-r (maybe it's French?!). Anywho, "Macrabay bet" made me smile, haha.
Thanks Tom, how is this one compared to Sleuth?
would love to get it but its not available unless kickstarter
Oh god, your intro is so brutal! This poor dice lost both his legs :0
Is this out yet? Has this reprint just come out? can't find it.
How would you compare it with Mystery of the Abbey?
Way better and more complex/skill-based. Myster of the Abbey is barely different than Clue
It says from 2-8 players. I would have liked to know how good/bad it does with 6 players, which is what my group is and most games these days are for 4 players.
Imo, bigger the group the better for this one. Means there are a lot of cards out there and many trading possibilities
Tom said it scales well
So far I've played it with 2 and with 7. The 2 player game was fun but definitely lacking something as you only have one other person to trade info with (the two-player rules do help but even still it isn't at it's best). When I played with 7 the game was great but what we experienced was with so many people to trade with it becomes a lot harder to track what information everyone else has. Like, we ended up getting our own cards back a lot because we lost track of how they moved around and also it becomes a lot harder to try to deprive others of critical information because there are just so many people to trade with. Also, I don't think we ever once had a time when someone got to draw from the deck because no one offered info (which isn't really a problem). As a very small note too, my group gets a little loud when we have this many players and that can make this kind of thinky deduction game more difficult.
Both 2 and 7 players were a lot of fun and I will be playing again at these counts; however I personally feel the hotspot for this game may be 4-5 players.
Man, I saw Toms earlier review and thought this looked great. I totally missed the boat on that last Kickstarter, hopefully I can track a copy down
mac cra bay...
😂
Hahaha came here to say this too
How does this game play with 2 people? Also, I can’t find where you can buy it?
At present, you can't beyond the secondary market sadly
Don't know how it plays with 2 tbh
I’ve not personally played it but looking over the rules it seems like it would play fine. On your turn you ask the other player about 4 things instead of two, so the other player has more options for what they can choose to give you.
Two player is fun but does lack a bit compared to higher play counts. There are a few special rules for 2 players. Instead of pointing at 2 targets you want information on, you point at 4. There's a lot more drawing because no one offered you info, of course, and so you draw 2 instead of 3. It was definitely fun and I'll do it again but I would say that 4-5 players is the peak player count for the game.
Is this still being printed? Cant seem to find one in the common online stores
It's weird the review came out now, but there's already a seal excellence on the box. I was super excited to give it a try, but it's hard to track down. Maybe Tom has inside information about a re-release or another kickstarter? Let's hope Vasel's Law helps us out!
This is a game that Tom actually reviewed twice. About a year ago, he reviewed the Spanish language version at around the time the Kickstarter launched for the English version.
There isn't much deduction in this game. Once you're told the evidence, you just mark it off, so it doesn't require much "deducing". That said, it is a good game for what it is.
This looks cool. I think my family would like it. But there's no way to buy it.
Yeah, that's a real shame. Though the kickstarter was very successful and the game has gotten significant buzz. I guarantee you'll beget another opportunity to pick it up
I thought it was too random. I played with four people and I couldn't think of anything I would do different
Can you use dry erase on the shield and not have to laminate the sheets?
you can but picking up the shield and writing on it is awkward
Trying to comment early for visibility. Where and when can we buy this in Europe (Nordic) now that the KS is over?
Not sure they will. Hope it happens someday. Ill be checking bgg forum regularly
Are there really 1,000s of murder scenarios? That sounds like endless fun, does anyone know how many there actually are?
At the moment the app has 973 cases.
@@Rob_W Ahhhh, so almost 1,000 😅
When you calculate the possible amount of solutions (with an accomplice) there are 6480 possible solutions, without an accomplice there are 360 solutions.
@@Svenmeijer570 There's 360 to 6,480 solutions to 973 cases?
@@Bunny2086 I see now I’ve made a small mistake in the calculation (counted the murderer also as a possible accomplice) but based on the possibilities (6 suspects with all 3 motives and 20 weapons + 5 accomplice’s with 3 motives) there are 5400 combinations possible (Who/Why/Weapon/Accomplice/A’s why) if the creators of the game has made for every combination a case there could be 5400 case’s
What's with leaving it out of your top 10 of the year?
It's an older game.
Mackabray?????? Who would DARE to make a bet so MACKABRAY!??
This just looks like a more awkward version of cluedo to me.
Just for future reference: Muh-cob
Brand_D this is my first time hearing it pronounced mak-ruh-bay
Here in Europe it's usually pronounced ma-kabr with a soft r on the end (like the r in hard). As long as people know what you mean in the place you live I don't suppose it matters, as long as you don't say micro-bay, which I think sells PC components.
@@ataru4 They specialize in power cords that look like spinal cords, monitors that occasionally flash images of zombies, etc....
8:20 rulebook clearly says it is not true what you say here
How was called in Spanish?
Incómodos Invitados
10:20 savage 😂
Would be interested to buy a copy off someone’s hands.
Best spanish game!!!!
Fantastic game
That app is so bad. Should have checked it out before putting it into the video
Why? What is wrong?
We all make mistakes, but this one made me laugh... th-cam.com/video/G-PU_m_Lc6U/w-d-xo.htmlm01s
There’s a pretty huge error on the player whiteboards. Shame they didn’t offer replacements. Very disappointed in this game.
I am not sure if the screens come with the retail edition?
They did make a diy fix available.
Yeah... I don't think "pretty huge" really fits here. There were other errors with fulfillment and communication that we bigger than this minor error with the screen that I never look at anyways. It's pretty sad if this is the reason you were disappointed with the game.
@@ianh2787 I'm also disappointed they did not offer a way to buy corrected versions of those sheets. I'll try the game tomorrow the first time with my friends.
@@gabrielthornmusic, I agree I'm disappointed. I'm just saying that a small, non-game-breaking error is not a reason, for me, to be completely disappointed in the game as a whole. The company, the communication, sure, but the game is still completely intact.
Ummm...maybe give them a couple seconds. I mean, the game has one recently been arriving in homes. A whole new laminated print run will be expensive and wouldn’t even have time to be available yet even if it is affordable for the company.
Not to mention it’s a bonus was of keeping track where the normal pad doesn’t have the error. It would be much better and more cost effective if they just incorporated it digitally into the app.