This is the best channel for pure game reviews, I find. It is organized, you can skip parts easily and most importantly (very important!), you are very upfront about negatives. I feel most reviewers don't touch on the negatives and just emphasize the positives, which can be very misleading if you are looking to buy a game. E.g. Rahdo's channel is the best for watching it being played, but he seems to absolutely love every single game he plays. Dice Tower reviews are good but disorganized, I end up just watching the top X lists.
This. Jon is super organized, content is clear, clean, and he's very professional. Love the breakdown at the end of the reviews. He's not trying to be funny or clever, he's trying to help you figure out of the game is for you.
I like it when people explain board games to me that I can relate to. Some reviewers are super hard nerds (which is fine) but I feel a bit odd watching them. Not so with you. I find it easy to relate to you.
Wow, very enthusiastic. I've only played the original, and even then only the full game once, but to me it just didn't do enough to distinguish itself from any other engine building game. It felt really generic; there were no unique mechanisms and the various systems didn't really come together in any clever or unexpected ways. It's one of the more linear games I've played (in terms of produce resources -> improve production -> get more resources -> get points). And I definitely don't mind long games in general, but they have to justify their length and this one just didn't for me, thanks to all of the above.
For me TTA itself had enough replayability, but now that i have the expansion (which not only adds new leaders, but also buffs and nerfs some things, for example weak before arenas) it is even more thinking about game strategy anyways great review
Great again Jon, top notch. Own both, played both. I really like how the game evolved aesthetically and how the over militarization has been reduced, military and VP engines have become more balanced. Only slight (mind you, very very slight) neutral comment I would add is that I preferred the one single main board over the now separate ones, but hands down "A Better Story of Civilization" for sure!
+Laurent Goedegebuure That is true, it feels abit more cluttered now with all the separate boards, I don't see why it was necessary but I suppose it means I can fit the game on a larger variety of table shapes :P
No negatives? One of the things that made me to follow you is that you were very accurate at your reviews and you were saying all the truth, despite of how big the game is. The thing that you have played the game at about 10 times for, lets say 3 or 4 years means that it is not so likley to hit the table. And I do assume that some of these 10 plays were even online. I respect your opinion anyway.
I'm not saying the game is perfect, I honestly wish it was abit shorter for instance, but if I can't find a negative to talk about then I won't try to force it. This has nothing to do with a personal bias towards the game or the publisher, I've been quite negative on some games from publishers I very much want to keep working with, it's just a statement on how well designed I think the game is :)
Hi Jon, Thanks for your review. I bought the old version of the game some weeks ago, do you think we should play with the changes on the new one, or we can go on with the game like it is?
+Carlos Alberto Michan Amado Unfortunately the only real change you can make to the old version is the sharing of Tactics, and even then the new version is balanced for this change and put a couple less tactics in the deck to compensate. If you tried to emulate the new production cycle the numbers of production cubes would need to be modified from the base boards of the old version. I think I'd recommend playing the old version with the old version rules only, it is still an exceptional game!
Great review, as always! This game feels right up my alley but I'm not sure I could convince my group to play a 3+ hour game. Given that you've played both the original version and now the revised version several times, I'm curious what you think of an idea I had while watching your video. Would you ever consider randomly removing X number of cards from each age? Seems like this would not only reduce playtime but also increase variability due to not every card coming up in every game.
My initial reaction is intrigue over the idea of a shorted game, but I don't like your actual idea much. The game is incredibly well balanced, and having a key card randomly not in the game could easily imbalance things. As a data point, I played recently and somehow accidentally forgot to put the second Constitutional Monarchy government card in the deck. I didn't realize this until the 3rd age when I was confused as to why I hadn't seen it come out, and this had drastic effects on my game. My not having access to those extra civil actions really constrained me and I think this was part of why I ended up loosing. I do like the idea of taking some cards out, at least to give it a shot. Perhaps you could pull one of each copy of the yellow action cards, and then compensate for the shorter game by having players only lose 1 yellow token instead of 2 at the end of each age. It's likely this would still cause problems since the yellow cards offer great ways to get the resources you need, but I think I'd try that over going random because losing even one tech from the deck can have huge ramifications as the game is currently balanced.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Your logic around the Constitutional Monarchy card makes a lot of sense so definitely building in some parameters for the card removal would be important. Or maybe this game just belongs in the 'epic' category and doesn't make it to the table as often, but when it does it feels big, dynamic, and wonderful. One last comment, for how highly-rated this game is, I can't seem to find anyone who owns it or wants to play it. Do you have any recommendations for local Meetups or FLGS in the Bay Area, or somewhere online, where I might be able to find some interested players?
While the game is amazing, it does require a good time investment which is likely why many don't spring up to get it played often IRL. I know there is an open game night at Victory Point Cafe in Berkeley every Monday night as well as the Euro Gaming League in San francisco on the same evening. It's likely you'd have better success getting it played at EGL, though you'd definitely want to plan it beforehand. They have a meetup page and you may have success going down that route. There are thousands of super active players on boardgaming-online.com, and I think it's pretty easy to pair up with some of them just by posting on the TTA BGG forums. I know it can also be played on Board Game Arena, but have no actual experience there. I've played around 20 games on Boardgaming-online and while it's a stark look, it's a solid interface for playing asycronized games. Good luck!
Appreciate the recommendations. I live in San Jose so meetups in Berkeley or SF might be difficult to attend. I like the online idea and will definitely check them out! Thanks again.
Sorry, I am not a native speaker so a question on the "or" you always spend to pay buildings etc. >> isn't it bronze??So what does "or" mean?Ok ... now I found it in a dictionary >> Or = gold ... ok - but in real ... it should be bronze :-) .One more question: In the new version, are there only 2 versions to play, a reduced 'beginner' and an 'expert' with all events and cards >>> or is there also something in between?
This did apply to your question because resources look like stones, so Jon used the word "ore". There are some variants in the back of the manual, such as peaceful variant (no war and aggression cards), and definitely you can remove some cards that you or your group don't like in order to have a better experience.
Sorry for completely missing this comment until just now. The reason I say "ore" is because what the token actually represents varies depending on what level of mining technology it is on. It is bronze at the first level, iron at the second, then coal and finally oil. I find it's simpler to say "I spend 8 ore" instead of "I spend 2 iron and 2 bronze". I honestly haven't looked into the alternate was to play the game since 100% of the time I play the complete game. If it now just has two ways instead of 3 this is likely an improvement to simplify what type less experienced or even first time players should try.
Hey Jon, love your channel! Will we be getting a playthrough of this game? Maybe not a whole playthrough, but at least a couple of rounds, to get the feeling of it?
Don't worry, I realized after commenting that you linked to the Gaming Rules! video where he covers the game turn by turn :) This game is definitely going to my wishlist!
Hey Jon, very good review, thanks for doing it. I just skipped through so i apologize if you address this somewhere and i missed it. The question is, is it worth it to buy this version if you already have the old one? Also factoring in that my group played this for maybe 5-7 straight game days and got burned out. Is the new version enough of an improvement to pull people back into the game? Thanks! P.S. Are you interested in reviewing indie prototypes? specifically @parallelcg ?
+John Parker My personal opinion is that the new version is a significant improvement over the old, and anyone who thinks they will play TTA in the future should consider upgrading. There are almost no new cards to the game however, it's more of a massive rebalancing, so if your friends are burned out on the game and then try this they may feel like it's more of the same even though it's a big improvement. One of the BEST aspects to this new version that I didn't even mention in the review is that CGE is now planning on supporting this new game with expansions, at least one this coming year I believe and hopefully more. So right now it's a way better version of the same game you know, but in a year or two hopefully a couple expansions will also help breathe more life into it for those who feel burned out. I have done previews for a few indie prototypes, though most that ask end up being turned down to a combination of lack of interest in the specific game or lack of time considering their crowdfunding plan. Feel free to email me at JonGetsGames@gmail.com to chat more about a specific game if you like :)
For the most part I have played at boardgaming-online.com , but I also know it's avaliable on Board Game Arena. It's apparently coming out for mobile phones and tablets in an app form next week, I am very excited to try that out.
JonGetsGames Yes, I can't wait for the app... the Boardgamearena version is the older version, and I am looking for the new one... I hope the app is good! Thanks for the awesome videos!
I suppose the only negative these days is that I generally find myself preferring to play something slightly lighter and slightly less mean like Nations.
Thanks for the review! Your fav game and you played it ~20 times in few years? That's quite sad.. The game surely may be amazing but the gameplay time seems way too long for it to hit the table :/
It actually isn't that much. A 2-player game usually takes about 2 hours, whilst a 3-player game usually takes about 4. You don't want to play this with 4 players, though.
This is the best channel for pure game reviews, I find. It is organized, you can skip parts easily and most importantly (very important!), you are very upfront about negatives. I feel most reviewers don't touch on the negatives and just emphasize the positives, which can be very misleading if you are looking to buy a game. E.g. Rahdo's channel is the best for watching it being played, but he seems to absolutely love every single game he plays. Dice Tower reviews are good but disorganized, I end up just watching the top X lists.
This. Jon is super organized, content is clear, clean, and he's very professional. Love the breakdown at the end of the reviews. He's not trying to be funny or clever, he's trying to help you figure out of the game is for you.
I like it when people explain board games to me that I can relate to. Some reviewers are super hard nerds (which is fine) but I feel a bit odd watching them. Not so with you. I find it easy to relate to you.
Jon, I know this was an older one but I got the game recently and went straight to your video to learn how to play.
Awesome, I hope you enjoy it! It's a classic, such a solid cutthroat game.
Wow, very enthusiastic. I've only played the original, and even then only the full game once, but to me it just didn't do enough to distinguish itself from any other engine building game. It felt really generic; there were no unique mechanisms and the various systems didn't really come together in any clever or unexpected ways. It's one of the more linear games I've played (in terms of produce resources -> improve production -> get more resources -> get points). And I definitely don't mind long games in general, but they have to justify their length and this one just didn't for me, thanks to all of the above.
Great video! I haven't played the first one, but the new one has been on my radar for a while. Now it's a must have :)
Great Review. Easy to listen. Thank you :-D
Greetings from Germany
For me TTA itself had enough replayability, but now that i have the expansion (which not only adds new leaders, but also buffs and nerfs some things, for example weak before arenas) it is even more thinking about game strategy
anyways great review
In the future do you think your ever gonna do something like a play through with friends of this?🙃
I hadn't thought about adding this to the list, but now I will think about it. THat'd be quite the undertaking, a very long video!
Hi Jon, great video as always. Did you ever get to try Nations? And what did you think of it as compared to this? All the best
Sounds a bit like you need a Phd in Game sciences to play it. :D
4 players is 7 hours, here. Downtime not that bad, enough to ponder over.
Great again Jon, top notch.
Own both, played both. I really like how the game evolved aesthetically and how the over militarization has been reduced, military and VP engines have become more balanced. Only slight (mind you, very very slight) neutral comment I would add is that I preferred the one single main board over the now separate ones, but hands down "A Better Story of Civilization" for sure!
+Laurent Goedegebuure That is true, it feels abit more cluttered now with all the separate boards, I don't see why it was necessary but I suppose it means I can fit the game on a larger variety of table shapes :P
No negatives? One of the things that made me to follow you is that you were very accurate at your reviews and you were saying all the truth, despite of how big the game is.
The thing that you have played the game at about 10 times for, lets say 3 or 4 years means that it is not so likley to hit the table. And I do assume that some of these 10 plays were even online.
I respect your opinion anyway.
I'm not saying the game is perfect, I honestly wish it was abit shorter for instance, but if I can't find a negative to talk about then I won't try to force it. This has nothing to do with a personal bias towards the game or the publisher, I've been quite negative on some games from publishers I very much want to keep working with, it's just a statement on how well designed I think the game is :)
So I take it you like the game Jon....😀
a super-cool review, thanks!
The card "War over Culture", isn't OP?
Hi Jon, Thanks for your review. I bought the old version of the game some weeks ago, do you think we should play with the changes on the new one, or we can go on with the game like it is?
+Carlos Alberto Michan Amado Unfortunately the only real change you can make to the old version is the sharing of Tactics, and even then the new version is balanced for this change and put a couple less tactics in the deck to compensate. If you tried to emulate the new production cycle the numbers of production cubes would need to be modified from the base boards of the old version.
I think I'd recommend playing the old version with the old version rules only, it is still an exceptional game!
+JonGetsGames Thank you Jon! Have a great day!
wonderful review
Great review, as always! This game feels right up my alley but I'm not sure I could convince my group to play a 3+ hour game. Given that you've played both the original version and now the revised version several times, I'm curious what you think of an idea I had while watching your video. Would you ever consider randomly removing X number of cards from each age? Seems like this would not only reduce playtime but also increase variability due to not every card coming up in every game.
My initial reaction is intrigue over the idea of a shorted game, but I don't like your actual idea much. The game is incredibly well balanced, and having a key card randomly not in the game could easily imbalance things. As a data point, I played recently and somehow accidentally forgot to put the second Constitutional Monarchy government card in the deck. I didn't realize this until the 3rd age when I was confused as to why I hadn't seen it come out, and this had drastic effects on my game. My not having access to those extra civil actions really constrained me and I think this was part of why I ended up loosing.
I do like the idea of taking some cards out, at least to give it a shot. Perhaps you could pull one of each copy of the yellow action cards, and then compensate for the shorter game by having players only lose 1 yellow token instead of 2 at the end of each age. It's likely this would still cause problems since the yellow cards offer great ways to get the resources you need, but I think I'd try that over going random because losing even one tech from the deck can have huge ramifications as the game is currently balanced.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Your logic around the Constitutional Monarchy card makes a lot of sense so definitely building in some parameters for the card removal would be important. Or maybe this game just belongs in the 'epic' category and doesn't make it to the table as often, but when it does it feels big, dynamic, and wonderful.
One last comment, for how highly-rated this game is, I can't seem to find anyone who owns it or wants to play it. Do you have any recommendations for local Meetups or FLGS in the Bay Area, or somewhere online, where I might be able to find some interested players?
While the game is amazing, it does require a good time investment which is likely why many don't spring up to get it played often IRL. I know there is an open game night at Victory Point Cafe in Berkeley every Monday night as well as the Euro Gaming League in San francisco on the same evening. It's likely you'd have better success getting it played at EGL, though you'd definitely want to plan it beforehand. They have a meetup page and you may have success going down that route.
There are thousands of super active players on boardgaming-online.com, and I think it's pretty easy to pair up with some of them just by posting on the TTA BGG forums. I know it can also be played on Board Game Arena, but have no actual experience there. I've played around 20 games on Boardgaming-online and while it's a stark look, it's a solid interface for playing asycronized games.
Good luck!
Appreciate the recommendations. I live in San Jose so meetups in Berkeley or SF might be difficult to attend. I like the online idea and will definitely check them out! Thanks again.
Sorry, I am not a native speaker so a question on the "or" you always spend to pay buildings etc. >> isn't it bronze??So what does "or" mean?Ok ... now I found it in a dictionary >> Or = gold ... ok - but in real ... it should be bronze :-) .One more question: In the new version, are there only 2 versions to play, a reduced 'beginner' and an 'expert' with all events and cards >>> or is there also something in between?
"Ore"
Thanks for this very long answer that does not really apply on my question, that I did not get answered on my own.
This did apply to your question because resources look like stones, so Jon used the word "ore".
There are some variants in the back of the manual, such as peaceful variant (no war and aggression cards), and definitely you can remove some cards that you or your group don't like in order to have a better experience.
Sorry for completely missing this comment until just now. The reason I say "ore" is because what the token actually represents varies depending on what level of mining technology it is on. It is bronze at the first level, iron at the second, then coal and finally oil. I find it's simpler to say "I spend 8 ore" instead of "I spend 2 iron and 2 bronze".
I honestly haven't looked into the alternate was to play the game since 100% of the time I play the complete game. If it now just has two ways instead of 3 this is likely an improvement to simplify what type less experienced or even first time players should try.
Hey Jon, love your channel! Will we be getting a playthrough of this game? Maybe not a whole playthrough, but at least a couple of rounds, to get the feeling of it?
I would LOVE to do this, but simply don't have the time and have other videos I really should get to first. Maybe someday :)
Don't worry, I realized after commenting that you linked to the Gaming Rules! video where he covers the game turn by turn :) This game is definitely going to my wishlist!
Completely agree with everything you said :)
So this can be played online? And it doesn't have to be played live in real-time?
+Steve Gale Yep, it can be played at boardgaming-online.com as well as I think Board Game Arena.
Awesome channel
Hey Jon, very good review, thanks for doing it. I just skipped through so i apologize if you address this somewhere and i missed it. The question is, is it worth it to buy this version if you already have the old one? Also factoring in that my group played this for maybe 5-7 straight game days and got burned out. Is the new version enough of an improvement to pull people back into the game?
Thanks!
P.S. Are you interested in reviewing indie prototypes? specifically @parallelcg ?
+John Parker My personal opinion is that the new version is a significant improvement over the old, and anyone who thinks they will play TTA in the future should consider upgrading. There are almost no new cards to the game however, it's more of a massive rebalancing, so if your friends are burned out on the game and then try this they may feel like it's more of the same even though it's a big improvement. One of the BEST aspects to this new version that I didn't even mention in the review is that CGE is now planning on supporting this new game with expansions, at least one this coming year I believe and hopefully more. So right now it's a way better version of the same game you know, but in a year or two hopefully a couple expansions will also help breathe more life into it for those who feel burned out.
I have done previews for a few indie prototypes, though most that ask end up being turned down to a combination of lack of interest in the specific game or lack of time considering their crowdfunding plan. Feel free to email me at JonGetsGames@gmail.com to chat more about a specific game if you like :)
Where is the best place to play this online? Thanks!
For the most part I have played at boardgaming-online.com , but I also know it's avaliable on Board Game Arena. It's apparently coming out for mobile phones and tablets in an app form next week, I am very excited to try that out.
JonGetsGames Yes, I can't wait for the app... the Boardgamearena version is the older version, and I am looking for the new one... I hope the app is good! Thanks for the awesome videos!
Do you still think this game has no negatives?? I think it does not hehe
I suppose the only negative these days is that I generally find myself preferring to play something slightly lighter and slightly less mean like Nations.
@@JonGetsGames hahaha the "mean" part
Thanks for the review! Your fav game and you played it ~20 times in few years? That's quite sad..
The game surely may be amazing but the gameplay time seems way too long for it to hit the table :/
It actually isn't that much. A 2-player game usually takes about 2 hours, whilst a 3-player game usually takes about 4. You don't want to play this with 4 players, though.
Is this the same guy from Comicstorian?!?!?!
Cool!!
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