Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road - Why Own It? Mechanics & Theme Board Game Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- Merv was a city ruled by many nations, and you join at the peak of its popularity under Turkish rule, with a population of 1 million and a reputation as being the heart of the Silk Road. But what you don't know is that the city's ruin is just around the corner, and in three short years it will be mostly destroyed. You can't point salad your way out of the war, but at the end of the turmoil can you be the one left victorious?
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Theme overview (Themer)
02:19 Mechanics overview (Thinker)
09:45 Themer thoughts
12:43 Thinker thoughts
19:35 Solo gameplay (Themer)
22:20 Why own it?
Designer: Fabio Lopiano
Players: 1-4
Play time: 90min
Publisher: Osprey Games
For more game info: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3...
Thanks for stopping by for our mechanics & theme board game review of Merv. We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
Are you #teamthinker or #teamthemer? ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
Hi Amy and Maggie, thank you for this wonderful talk about Merv! Naveen and Monique from Before You Play suggested your channel, and what a great suggestion it was. Stay healthy during this pandemic and cheers from the Netherlands!
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, we are so grateful to Monique & Naveen, they have been so supportive and we could not believe they featured us in that video! Thank you for joining us we are very happy to have you here. Wishing you a safe and festive Christmas ☺🎄
Playing the CM is a great lesson and teaches you that every single decision of every turn is critical, you only have 12 turns so that's the clue that each turn is important. The CM has significant advantages over the player which forces you to consider more carefully how to disrupt other players strategies and basically how to win yourself.
In 2 player and especially 1 player how you play the HC is just as important as your own turn... you either get to select the row or the tile in that row so turn order "selecting" when to go first is very important. In 1 player if your not capping out the Mosque tree or getting most of the spices your probably going to get a severe beating.
The mechanics are extremely tight and if you get a single rule even slightly incorrect it has massive repercussions due to this so even though it's relatively simple you have to get them bang on.. due to this I personally think this demonstrates that the mechanical design is superb. The main game in the centre is great design IMO though I think the tiles are too busy visually making it hard to "see" and distinguish between tile types readily. I think you should have been able to stand at distance and still be able to determine the tile type grid layout and here even close up I'm scanning.
Not sure why your losing all of your buildings as the first Mongol attack is not until after turn 8 and you have 3 ways to protect them.. Walls, Soldiers or Spend a Resource of the tile type the building is on... yes you can tactically decide to let buildings go but generally it's a decision.
With 2 - 4 players who can all beat the CM regularly I could see it being a pretty viscous game though it could also be a good game for different abilities as early on new players will think they are doing well..
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed reply with your thoughts about the game! While we completely agree with this all *on paper*... it just didn't come together for us in the gameplay. The interconnectedness of each of the separate parts of the game felt, to us, fairly uninteresting / not fun in the multiplayer experience and perhaps its that feeling that leaves us thinking it is not that tight because we are not driven enough inherently to compete. But, as always this is just our personal opinions and every game has its gamer. We actually really loved hearing why it works for you so thank you for sharing your perspective. ☺
Thumbs up less than two minutes in. I am IN LOVE with your channel. The panning of the game, back to you talking, the information you deliver about the game, covering both the theme and the mechanic (duh)...it's SO good. Kudos and thanks!
17:30 "No matter what you're doing, you can get something done." I actually don't have a game like this in my collection so this is a perfect fit for me. I love the tension in Lost Ruins of Arnak for instance, but I ALWAYS end that game wanting to have done one more thing. :)
(I've heard that the colored cubes are to represent different colored silk. I've not played Merv yet, so I'm not sure. ;)
Thanks for the solo caveat at the end. That sealed the deal for me.
Looks quite interesting, and what a great review - love your approach to them!
Thanks so much Bill! Very much appreciate you taking the time to comment and the kind feedback :D
Great video! Amy, love the t-shirt! I will have to check Merv out for solo play. Happy Holidays!!
Yay thanks for noticing my shirt! 🥰 thanks for watching as always and wishing you & your family a safe and happy festive season 💕
Great video!
Thank you so much! ☺
Your reviews are sooooo good, I like that you put a Lot of effort into theme and mechanics with very unique comments. I am waiting for your review for Arnak...
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, that is lovely feedback. I know.... we need to get a copy of Arnak! It is on the list! Thanks again ☺
Thank you for breaking this game down. I thought the points you raised were unique relative to the other reviews I've seen. Great job!
Thanks Anne! It was a more difficult one for us to try to work out why it didn't quite mesh for us. Thanks for taking the time to comment ☺
Great review, great idea for a channel. Keep up the amazing content, cheers!
Thanks Casey! Glad you liked this video, thanks for commenting! 😃
@@ThinkerThemer can I ask a question? I am very interested in this game. But the fact that it might be some disconnected mini games has me a little worried. How would this compare to something like Gugong? I'm not a big fan of Gugong (because the whole game is just disconnected mini games), but I think if the Central City mechanic thing is cool enough I might still enjoy Merv.
@@caseypeterson5827 Hi Casey - in our personal opinion (as always) it did feel like mini games to us that seemed to have little interconnectivity... the middle puzzle generates resources that can be used for each of these puzzles but for us it didn't quite come together. Other people really have enjoyed it though but I think it does share that with gugong but on a much smaller scale... hope that helps!
Thank you for the review! Is there any chance the solo opponent could be included in the two player game to add tension, or is it not that kind of automa?
I've pre-ordered this game and am waiting for it to arrive, I'm looking forward to the solo game (as I play a lot of solo).
Great! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this one Andrew!
GREAT REVIEW, THANKS!! IVE DECIDED TO SKIP THIS ONE AS IM GROWING A BIT WORN OUT ON GAMES THAT ARE MOSTLY ABOUT GOING UP VARYING TRACKS FOR POINTS, BUT IT IS BEAUTIFUL.. ANYWAYS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR TIME AWAY. 😊 (...loud enough for you? Lol 😄)
Lol..! Thanks for noticing my tee 😁 I think if it wasn't for Maggie's desire to beat the game at solo we might’ve sold it on, like you said, plenty of other point track games in the sea (but also it isn't our favourite example of this). Wishing you a safe and festive Christmas Ken ☺
The game looks interesting and apparently a friend just got it, have to try it at 4/3 to see if those points you raised are still present. Great review!
Would love to hear what you think Sergio, please update us after your first play!
Thanks for the review. Would you compare this to Ark Nova? If so, which do you prefer?
You two are fun to watch, I like calimala quite a bit, which is why I’m interested in this one but they look like two very different games... we’ll see.
That's so lovely of you to say thanks Trebor! ☺
Good job girls! Btw I raised the cube name issue in bgg and I received an answer from Lopiano that said that, in short, we could think cubes as slik of different colours and qualities. Even though, this do not makes more sense. Just to lie our selves that cubes are sth else than cubes. Anyway, I'm waiting to get the game in the next days.
Hmmm I read this out to Maggie and she wasn't buying it lol.... thank you for sharing this though and for the lovely feedback. Would love to hear what you think of the game once you've had a chance to get it to the table. ☺
@@ThinkerThemer Yep this answer is not that convincing lol. Anyway I ll let you k no my thoughts. You ve got another subscriber.
Appreciate it, we are happy to have you here!
Thank you for the review, I thought wow Maggie has gone all in to give the history behind the game, then said it was in the rule book
Hahahaha yes she usually does have to do some research but the rule book is very well done here and the description of the historical events is really informative, even I (Amy) found it interesting to read!! Thanks Sean for taking the time to comment ☺
@@ThinkerThemer I think in the new year I may have to invest in this
First video I watched on your channel, great review! I like the different points of view you both bring to the table. Merv will be a pass for me, I prefer competative tight games as well. I do play solo, but I am not buying it just for that. I subscribed and will be checking out your content!
Thanks so much for the lovely feedback and we are very happy to have you here! Glad that we could help you decide about Merv.... we will see if it stands the test of time in our collection as it is also hard for us to hang onto something just for solo. Thanks again for the sub and for taking the time to comment ☺
From this review, I have to agree with Maggie that the thematic integration doesn't quite hit. The Mongol attacks seem like a neat idea, but "seeing most of your work/progress go up in smoke" doesn't sound like a theme that can be integrated in a fun way haha. Edit: and the Mongol attacks feel like the strongest thematic element!
Yes that centre puzzle really is quite abstract, especially with the cubes just being cubes. Lots of cool ideas here (including the theme) but it doesn't quite come together we want it to for our style.....
As you've probably discovered there are several ways to protect against the Mongol attacks which don't occur until turn 8 then turn 12 anyway, if your work/progress is going up in smoke you've made some fundamental tactical mistakes :) and in Solo you'll get crushed by the AI as a result.
In 4 player the Mongol attacks are even less of an issue as multiple people can build walls or deploy Soldiers that can help you and them.
However due to the minimal "luck" elements which boil down to who randomly goes first or potentially the spice card sequence it can suffer from new players have absolutely no chance against more experienced players.
Been waiting for you to cover this one!
Will you be looking at Beyond the Sun?
Hmmm not quite convinced yet that we'll get into the theme... have you played it??
@@ThinkerThemer I have not. I’m on the fence despite many positive reviews so far. I’m interested to see what you guys have to say about it.
Another great review, thank you. My attention keeps getting drawn back to this game and, because I'm in the UK, it's also available at a great price here
Thank you Stuart for taking the time to comment. The artwork is hard to ignore for sure...! We both really really wanted this one to work for us more than it did but others really enjoy it. Thank you for your continued support! Happy new year! 😊
Hey have you guys played beyond the sun yet and if so do you have any thoughts for it as to which is better compared to this? :)
Hi Saito, unfortunately we haven't played Beyond the Sun! It is not really a theme we would like but if it keeps getting good reviews we might buy a copy to try! Sorry we can't help more...
Thanks for the review. This is the recent release that most caught my eye, due to the row/column tile selection mechanism, and the artwork, of course. I’m a little worried, based on your experience, that it might not be tight enough for my group, so that’s good to know, though I’m curious if it tightens up a bit with more players. I’m with you on the theme not quite carrying through very well. It seems like it wouldn’t have been that much more effort to assign specific goods to the different colored cubes, though theme doesn’t usually concern me that much.
It is gorgeous! I saw that you found some others commenting about the multiplayer experience. I think for us our gaming group thrives a bit more on tense i-took-it-now-you-cant kind of games so our reaction to the positive player interaction is probably unique to us! If you do get a chance to play it would love to hear your thoughts Terrence. Thanks for taking the time to comment 😊
@@ThinkerThemer Yeah, my group can be like that too, to the point of ‘I don’t even really want this, but I’m not going to let you get it’ spite-drafting.
😂 highly relateable. Id love to know some of your groups favourite games that fit that style of play!
@@ThinkerThemer We play a bit of Dominant Species and Caverna, which can involve that kind of play. It happens a lot in Keyflower when you get outbid, but is usually less targeted due to color restrictions. But the game I always think of when it comes to spite drafting is Targi. I’m just learning Lorenzo, and it seems like that might be a game where it comes into play, but it’s hard to tell playing online.
@@ThinkerThemer There are some older auction games where it comes into play as well, like In the Year of the Dragon, Ra, and Goa.
What a beautiful game! :o
Sadly it looks as if, again, there are no asymmetric player powers, right (yes, I know I sound like a broken record at this point...)?
Usually in gaming I'm a very competitive person, but for some reason I don't seem to mind those euros that are a bit less tight and confrontational, just cruising along with lots of juicy actions to choose from seems to work for me! Will look into it a bit more, though Bonfire seemed more exciting, I think.
There are no assymetric player powers. I think if not for the solo challenge we might have moved this one along ... but bonfire we will keep for sure :) it is definitely beautiful though... Ian O'toole ... 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
What you said about no momentum really hit home. That seems to be more mainstream in order to artificially create tension. I just don't like that overall. Great review!
Thanks so much Ray, glad the review resonated and appreciate you taking the time to comment. Yes there is something here that just doesn't quite give us a sense of urgency... coupled with the destructive element it feels less satisfying than it could be, especially if you are someone who thrives on tension or competition. Thanks for watching! ☺
Great analysis! I think this game will suit me as I am more "care bear" like Rahdo, and I'm fine with the game not being so punishing. I guess I'm kind of a wimp :D
Hahahaha yes it turns out Maggie and I find it hard to get motivated in a game without the promise of throwing the winning punch 🤔 id be really keen to hear your thoughts on it if you do get it Luke! I really wish I was more into it 😔 it is so beautiful!
I listened to Paul Grogan @gamingrules talking about this one and it sounded neat but this is the first time I've actually seen it (I was busy shoveling over a meter of snow while listening to Paul haha). I really like the look and even though it isnt Ian's work the look reminds me a bit of Five Tribes ( my favorite game). Once you started running through I got very interested in this one for the same reason @terrencesoltz was, the grid mechanism. Targi definitely came to mind. I'm not sure what part of my group this will work with but I think it checks enough boxes it's going on my wishlist especially with what Maggie says about the solo mode. Thanks again for a clear and honest review!
Paul is wonderful! Ooo five tribes is so good, glad to hear you love it too. I wish Merv worked more for us because on paper it really should've (this and Praga this year really surprised us as I expected both to be in our instant love kind of category). I did like the grid but maybe because u can always activate someone else's buildings- giving them a small reward - you never feel locked out of actions which perhaps makes it feel less tightly competitive which is what Maggie and I like. Five Tribes is much more of a brain burner IMO but would love to know what you think once you've had a chance to play this, lots of people absolutely love it. Every game has its gamer! ☺
@@ThinkerThemer I wish I could get Five Tribes to the table more often. My family knows how to play it but my mom has terrible AP and my wife refuses to play anything that has turn order bidding in it (it's her #1 hated game mechanism). I love everything about it.
I also think it's funny that the praga and merv reviews were two of the first I targeted to watch as I'm catching up with your content and those were two the ended up not clicking quite the way you thought they would! The first one I watched was for Bonfire and ended up buying it shortly thereafter. It just arrived the other day so I'll be opening it up this weekend ☺️
Hahaha what a downer to start with those two but im glad they didn't turn you off too much (off the games and off the channel 😆). I get really bad AP with five tribes too, too many options lol. We are taking a break from the hotness this week and playing some classics and well loved games from our collection. Well, unless a parcel turns up 😅 happy gaming weekend ahead!
@@ThinkerThemer I've been getting old favorites to the table since the start of the year too! Thanks and you too!
I think the game looks great and reportely is fun to play. But man the generic resources also felt like a misstep to me. I know they don't really do anything different, but if they were named resources that made sense using they for the specific action they trigger, it would have brought things more to life.
But hey I guess this is just not that kind of game, plenty of others out there.
Great job on the channel by the way :)
We wished we had found it a little more fun... but the game is beautiful and there are some great ideas (both thematically and mechanically). Thanks so much for the kind words and very much appreciate you taking the time to comment! ☺
Do you think it would still feel that open at 4? Ragusa feels very different at 3 than 4 or 5, so I wonder if it's a similar experience here. Calimala (which I didn't like at all) seemed like it would be a bit slow with less than 4.
Different colors of silk or different spices don't change that the theme itself is...boring and overdone (minis the city attack). I'm so tired of trading spices lol, they might as well just be cube candies here. If the game didn't look great coupled with Fabio usually having great game streamlining, I wouldn't be looking forward to this much at all.
Action tension is definitely something that is difficult to balance. I don't like games that ate a struggle to do anything and I don't like when I feel like I can do anything, anytime. So, you have me slightly nervous from that view point.
Thanks for the review!
Hi Matthew! Mmm great question... when a game doesn't come together for you, or you just don't enjoy the experience as much, it's really hard to pinpoint the exact reason why you feel that way. And with Rahdo saying it was his number 1 game of the month and it having received other very positive reviews, it is clearly just something about it that doesn't work for us personally. I'm not sure I would enjoy it more at 4... we are usually quite good at gauging how it would play at 4 which is (usually) our most common player count. It might feel less open so I agree with that, but I'm still not sure we would feel super satisfied with the combination of mechanics overall (and Maggie is finding it very hard to look past the cube candies!) Again, we might be in the minority on this and every game has its gamer! If you do get to play it would love to know what you think. ☺
@@ThinkerThemer Well I played Merv and...you were right, meh! We played at 3 and the it felt like doing stuff in a mechanics factory. Nothing wrong with the game, but I don't think I need to play again. It's lacking a bit of excitement.
Ah sorry to hear that it didn't work for you either Matthew. It is a shame because on paper we thought it would be right for us too! Thanks for taking the time to come back and update us with your experience.
Loving the colors in the game (feels like a pandasauras game 😜). I love the game that has the freedom to do whatever the players want to and not forcing the players to follow a certain pattern. So I played just an opposite of this game this weekend called "Tidal Blades." First, I want to know from you that how do you figure out the rules of the complex games 🙄??. It took me and my friend to figure out 4 hours (several videos and one good read of the rulebook) and we still know that we did something wrong while playing 😜. Any recommendations on who does good playthroughs or explain the rules better for these complex games?
Ahh, yes usually we set the game up using the rule book, then watch 'watch it played' (rodney), jongetsgames or Nithrania (game in a nutshell), then come back to it and walk through the rule book. I need to read it but Maggie is pretty good with learning from hearing it explained so I will read it out usually.... there's no real trick to it but you do get quicker the more you do it. Nothing like reading a rule book with a cup of tea though... lol ☺ hope youre having a great weekend 💕 did u like tidal blades?
@@ThinkerThemer So Tidal blades have real clever mechanics, the game forces you to use each and every mechanic in some way or the other. So loved it. Loved the theme too.
It just took us forever so I thought I should pass onto this one then I ended up watching a 2 hour play through toward (a bit fast forward 😝) from Quackalope , guys did a fantastic job. So I’m thinking of giving it another go.
Hmm it didn't look like our style of game.. do you think we'd like it? :) sometimes you do need to see someone else play it for it to make sense!
@@ThinkerThemer it’s not something I can say for sure that you’d like it but I know you’ll like it from the mechanics point of view. I’m not sure if Maggie would be into the heroes of the reef kinda theme.
I wanted to somewhat break my genre and try something different. I would suggest you try out a retail version of this game (a lot cheaper) 😊
Different is good, we love to try things every now and then that mostly confirm our choices but sometimes are a surprise (looking at you pax pamir...). The full KS version was a beast... might just wait until someone else we know gets that one!
I've been playing a bunch of Merv lately and have enjoyed every game! The difference between two-player and three or four-player games is very striking. The two-player games are definitely a bit more open and less tension for sure. I can 100% say that I've been completely robbed by other players and had awful turns because of their placement on the centerboard lol. This whole game is a truly fun puzzle that will take me another half dozen plays to figure out. For the complexity of this game, thank goodness it's a breeze to set up lol.
That is great to hear Brian and thank you for sharing your experiences with the game. We know we are probably in the minority on this one 🙃 I am so glad it has found a good home with you and has created those amazing game experiences with friends that keep us all in the hobby 🥰
@@ThinkerThemer There are so many factors that come into how much I enjoy a game and I'm sure it's the same with you two. This is definitely one hobby where there are so many different opinions on every game and learning what kind of games you like personally can be a long journey, but hey you get to play some awesome games along the way and share some fun experiences with other people and that's all that matters =). I really like your videos by the way! Very entertaining.
Glad to hear that playing with a higher player count ups the tension a bit, as my group tends to enjoy tight, competitive games.
@@terrencesoltz8943 You can absolutely ruin someone's day at higher player counts, but that may make your turn (or later turns) not work out the way you want. A very deep game with every person only taking 12 turns, which is not very many in my opinion!
It’s too bad they didn’t put the solo AI into the multiplayer game so it’s more mean and crunchy of a game for 2-4 players
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I played this one in 4 players and didn't like it at all. The action selection mechanics is amazing but everything else is so basic and boring. I wish the action selection mechanics would be used in a more interesting game.