I saw this vid a while ago and saw this pop up on a second hand market for just 15 euros. I bought it because of your warm recommendation. Just got home from my boardgame group and they loved it. Thanks for this vid, made me buy an amazing game.
Already love Samurai, just wanted to say that I always appreciate you taking the time to cover differences in versions. These older games it's always interesting to see what different publishers do, it's not always better.
Thing I am missing in new version (or at least from version available where I live) are the island names. I never remember which one's which, other than the biggest is Honsiu :D Thanks for the vid. I had my eye on that game but never decided to purchase it. Thanks to your quick rule explanation and review, I am adding it to my basket and if I get lucky, I am gonna play it this coming weekend :)
Amen, brother! Samurai is one of my favorite games, as well as being one of my very favorite Knizia's (of course). The game is elegant- wonderfully elegant! Special thanks for your "story" behind the win conditions. I sometimes struggled explaining this part and will use your explanation going forward. For me - and for what I want from a con and who I want to play with while there - Samurai is fantastic: the rules are simple, actions are clear, we're all interacting in a shared space, the game is tense and exciting. Love it! I agree that Fantasy Flight did nice work with their edition, the one that I have. Of that series, I think Ra is the only one that's a disappointment, with muted tile art that's nigh impossible to discern from across the table (the prompted me to hunt down an Uberplay edition). I also like the newer Babylonia a lot, but Samurai is special. Great discussion of this elegant gem. Thank you!
Great game by my favourite designer. I discovered during a two player game that the game ending condition of tiles getting removed must be increased to five. Our game ended after round two or something. Design flaw.
The downside to Babylonia is that it scores constantly throughout the game as opposed to the simple win/loss condition of Samurai. Babylonia is also slightly more complex. Its different mechanics can also create runaway leaders if players are not careful and attentive, which I suspect is less likely with Samurai.
I love this game... I only played it on the iPhone, back when the app version was out. Never had the board game, and unfortunately it is quite pricey to get a second hand copy online in October 2023... but honestly I love the game so much, I'm seriously thinking to pull the trigger on a copy so I can play it with my son, who I'm sure will love it as well since we both love tactical games with a war or war-esque feel to it. Could never understand why this game didn't get more love... I agree... its an absolute top tier legacy game, that should be on shelves for decades. One other note... My other game I recently fell in love with is War Chest... which is another clean and well done tactical gem. Some others might like to check that one out as well if you like abstract war-games, that have clean mechanics and lots of strategy baked into the simplicity. Cheers, and thank you for a great video!
Pls share your views on Caesar - Siege Rome in 20 min when compared with Samurai. The mechanics for both the games are almost same. One big difference i feel is that Caesar is 2 player only where Samurai can be played by 4 (scale well with 2 and 3 players). Would you suggest exploring Caesar in case Samurai seems not accessible.
I know of the game, but haven't played it. I don't play many new-ish two-player games. I mostly play 2p games with my wife and we tend to stick to favourites, mostly.
Soon? Probably not, the most recent edition from FFG/Z-man was maybe five years ago, and that one it is confirmed *won't* be reprinted. But the game *will* come back, someday, of that I have no doubt. There are probably tens of thousands of copies of the old edition (the one in the video), of various languages (which doesn't matter here) and many of those pop up on the aftermarket. A quick check on BGG shows current prices are a bit high, but if you don't mind a used copy and keep your eyes open, they pop up often and you may have luck. That's what I did!
Best.Game.Ever. (one of them atlest😀)
I like this direction with old great games 👍
I saw this vid a while ago and saw this pop up on a second hand market for just 15 euros. I bought it because of your warm recommendation. Just got home from my boardgame group and they loved it. Thanks for this vid, made me buy an amazing game.
Already love Samurai, just wanted to say that I always appreciate you taking the time to cover differences in versions. These older games it's always interesting to see what different publishers do, it's not always better.
I've been snagging all low price Knizia games in my area and praying to see Samurai one day. Still no luck, but I just got Reinlander for 10$
Thing I am missing in new version (or at least from version available where I live) are the island names. I never remember which one's which, other than the biggest is Honsiu :D Thanks for the vid. I had my eye on that game but never decided to purchase it. Thanks to your quick rule explanation and review, I am adding it to my basket and if I get lucky, I am gonna play it this coming weekend :)
Amen, brother! Samurai is one of my favorite games, as well as being one of my very favorite Knizia's (of course). The game is elegant- wonderfully elegant! Special thanks for your "story" behind the win conditions. I sometimes struggled explaining this part and will use your explanation going forward. For me - and for what I want from a con and who I want to play with while there - Samurai is fantastic: the rules are simple, actions are clear, we're all interacting in a shared space, the game is tense and exciting. Love it! I agree that Fantasy Flight did nice work with their edition, the one that I have. Of that series, I think Ra is the only one that's a disappointment, with muted tile art that's nigh impossible to discern from across the table (the prompted me to hunt down an Uberplay edition). I also like the newer Babylonia a lot, but Samurai is special. Great discussion of this elegant gem. Thank you!
One of my favorites
Great game by my favourite designer.
I discovered during a two player game that the game ending condition of tiles getting removed must be increased to five.
Our game ended after round two or something. Design flaw.
And I must ask what you think if Babylonia, thats very similiar to Samurai in some ways. Perhaps thats another video😃
I own it, based on the recommendations of a number of BGGeeks whose opinions I respect. I have yet to play it though!
Was going to ask that as well!
Given how similar the mechanics were, I was surprised how different Babylonia felt! Great game also IMO, one of his best.
The downside to Babylonia is that it scores constantly throughout the game as opposed to the simple win/loss condition of Samurai. Babylonia is also slightly more complex. Its different mechanics can also create runaway leaders if players are not careful and attentive, which I suspect is less likely with Samurai.
wonderful explanation!
I love this game... I only played it on the iPhone, back when the app version was out. Never had the board game, and unfortunately it is quite pricey to get a second hand copy online in October 2023... but honestly I love the game so much, I'm seriously thinking to pull the trigger on a copy so I can play it with my son, who I'm sure will love it as well since we both love tactical games with a war or war-esque feel to it. Could never understand why this game didn't get more love... I agree... its an absolute top tier legacy game, that should be on shelves for decades. One other note... My other game I recently fell in love with is War Chest... which is another clean and well done tactical gem. Some others might like to check that one out as well if you like abstract war-games, that have clean mechanics and lots of strategy baked into the simplicity. Cheers, and thank you for a great video!
Honestly I can't say I learned how to score this with this video 😅
I've had some success teaching it this way. Sorry it didn't work for you.
I really like the sex explanation. Wow voice to text. You know what I'm leaving it. Subscribed.
This games is pretty easy to teach even for younger children. My 6 years old likes it very much have beaten me already multiple times. :)
Pls share your views on Caesar - Siege Rome in 20 min when compared with Samurai. The mechanics for both the games are almost same. One big difference i feel is that Caesar is 2 player only where Samurai can be played by 4 (scale well with 2 and 3 players). Would you suggest exploring Caesar in case Samurai seems not accessible.
I know of the game, but haven't played it. I don't play many new-ish two-player games. I mostly play 2p games with my wife and we tend to stick to favourites, mostly.
Great video and thanks for your dedikation to the game 😊
Such a great game!
Do you think it will be reprinted sometime soon?
Soon? Probably not, the most recent edition from FFG/Z-man was maybe five years ago, and that one it is confirmed *won't* be reprinted. But the game *will* come back, someday, of that I have no doubt.
There are probably tens of thousands of copies of the old edition (the one in the video), of various languages (which doesn't matter here) and many of those pop up on the aftermarket. A quick check on BGG shows current prices are a bit high, but if you don't mind a used copy and keep your eyes open, they pop up often and you may have luck. That's what I did!