Haha. Oof! Hopefully, you enjoy it enough to justify that cost to you. Been debating on getting that game myself. I'm a completionist so I would want everything. However, I am not confident that my gaming group would enjoy it enough to justify the price.
@@RandomPerson-nd2ey oh I love it, it’s a little hard to get to the table because it needs 3 people minimum. I would say get the base game, play a few games with your group and if everyone enjoys it then get the expansions.
Thanks for a great year with great content! Looking forward to y'all's continued growth and hoping for some more Daniel screentime (his tastes seem to most align with mine). Hooray for Shelfside!
For scoring Brass there is a procedural way to make it streamlined and easy. For the links, have one person pick pieces off the board and call out the point value and another person move the marker up. Go player by player so the person moving the score marker only has to move one at a time. After you score the links, have everyone pick up their flipped industry tiles off the board and score their own points. If its the canal age, only pick up flipped level 1 tiles. And after you do that, score any remaining 2+ tiles by "tapping" them sideways while calling out their point value and having someone else move it, similar to the links.
Wow so glad to see that I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy Rising Sun, played it once a few yrs ago and was so turned off that I never felt the desire to play it again, Blood Rage is much better. And I totally agree with that The Godfather Corleone's Empire is so much fun, played with a new group the last time and one of them pretty much went out to buy a copy the next day! On the other hand, I just couldn't get into Brass at all, felt like I had no idea what I was doing the whole game :P Have you tried Barrage? Now that was an economic euro that I really loved and ended up being one of the best gaming experiences for 2021 for me! Happy new year!
It never fails to make me cackle when I hear the criticisms of Rising Sun. “I don’t like that my dragon can be taken hostage.” Then control the Take Hostage action, you goober. “Harvests are too powerful.” It’s an area control game. The point of the game is to control areas. “How is it a betrayal if you can screw over someone that isn’t your opponent?” Because the game is giving you agency instead of making you mindlessly break an alliance because it would be a dead draw otherwise.
Woo hoo! 2021 was better. I got to start playing games with friends again, but next I want things to get to the point of feeling safe for conventions again. Roll on 2022!
Continue to love your reviews! You guys have had a killer year! You've grown so much and put out such consistently great content. Here's to another great year!
Great video as usual! In terms of quality of course but this is also just an awesome idea for a vid as the year ends. Personally I'm looking forward to playing some Brass with my brother and dad over Christmas! Cheers
Thanks Kyle! Thought I'd wrap up the year a little early to get people some inspiration for the holidays, and for us to take a bit of a 'review' break (lots of vids still incoming don't worry). Cheers, and hope you can build many railroads in Brass :3 -Ashton
LoL I agree however, if you've ever played a full Dark Age to Future Civilization video game, 2 hours is a blitz for sure :P (games often go 6+, board game is probably similar).
I chuckled at this, aahaha its because its freaking civ!!!! On a table!!! Still blows my mind. Love that game so much, and I'll be seeing gandhi raise some nukes over the holidays -Ashton
@@lu7ky once we get it down, it's more like 4-5, and I've found that I actually really like the game at 3, even though mechanically its best at 4. But at 3, I can get way more games in ahaha. Cheers! -Ashton
Top 10 playing experiences this year for me: 1) Project Elite 2) Destinies 3) Mechs vs Minions 4) Unmatched 5) Flick of Faith 6) Pinball 4-Cade 7) Raptor 8) Catacombs 3E 9) Century Golem 10) Cube Quest Honorable mentions: Flip Ships, Regicide, King of Tokyo Dark Edition, Dice Throne, Sprawlopolis, Food Chain Island, Raiders of the North Sea, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, Smallworld Thanks for the great video!
Thanks for sharing! Got to play KoT Dark Edition for the first time this year and was great. Really need to pick up project elite one day, those real time games got me so so interested :) Ceers! -Ashton
Love the video! Thanks for your commitment with the War of the Ring video. Your little bits are hilarious. I think Root has climbed super high for both Max and I this year! Great asymmetric area control game!
Awesome! Great to see ya here, loved seeing ya guys freak out on the spicy chips a while back :) Daniel really really likes Root! Pretty sure its his most played board game of all time -Ashton
ahaha we've had it planned for quite some time, but its some more work to do for sure (and also will be super fun)! Will update on the channel when we get that rolling, cheers! -Ashton
I really like your Videos! I am completely new into board games. I have spirit island and I love it. I am thinking about getting TI4 next plus a third Game. Aß a third game I am thinking about Civ, 7 wonders or Brass. Maybe civ ist too similar to TI4? Maybe I should get get Civ instead of TI4? Or maybe something completely different?
awesome to hear that! Spirit island ia good one. TI4 is certainly an awesome jump to make into the hobby. In terms of civ, I heard the new one is great with the expansion, and while we have it, we have yet to play it! The older one is quite similar to TI4, yet feels more 'euro-y". 7 wonders is a very accessible option with tons of card drafting, would highly recommend at least trying out this mechanic to see if yo like it! 30 minute games too. Brass is the hardest to learn out of all of these, but is a personal favorite of mine. A little more brain-burny with the options and economy. Best of luck! -Ashton
havent gotten to play civ new dawn, but heard the expansion really helps it! My civilization copy just has continued to impress me every time I play it though -Ashton
Ankh definitely has some of the best looking components out there. Eye candy for sure. The extra effort was definitely seen on the War of the Ring video! Quality content as always!
Cheers man! That War of the Ring one was crraaazzzy, I've been thinking of doing a SW: Rebellion one if I get enough plays in :) Onwards to more gaming! -Ashton
Great video! As I am finding myself less able to meet up with my friends for s boardgame night. I am waiting for Mage Knight to be restocked. I can't wait to get into some heavy solo gaming!
ohh nice! Perhaps you may want to delve into Arkham Horror LCG that I've heard amazing things on the expansions? may be a little rough on your wallet though :) -Ashton
@@Shelfside thanks for the heads-up Ashton. I will have to wait a bit to get that. I'll put it on my list and I will come back for you in half a year when the Arkham Horror addiction is kicking in!
i actually went out and got Godfather after watching your review, literally within the hour I had secured a copy for myself. Gameplay was marred by a sore loser but I can't wait to get it out again without that player. Cheers to more content and gaming for 2022!
oh man, I had a game similar to that where someone wasn't too hot on the theme and it dragged it down a bit. Excited to hear what you have to say once you get further in! Really fun to mix and match the bid-able allies. -Ashton
Really enjoyed and appreciated the idea of best gaming experience! I find that more useful than simply "best game of 202X". Thanks, and keep up the great work!
@@Shelfside Was just about to comment about the same thing, just got CoC Monumental as a gift and from reading the rules, it feels so much like Civ! (The computer game, I haven't had the opportunity to try out the board game as it's so hard to find). Except that it stays in the ancient era and doesn't really progress to modern times. Lmk what you think of it if you ever get a chance to play Clash!
oh for sure! We got a copy sitting at Daniel's place, still haven't gotten around to playing it yet. The theme is pretty appealing to me though, I don't think I've ever played a game on clothing before. Cheers! -Ashton
thanks psychiclord! Haven't tried any of them. I am a HUGE fan of the Red Rising books, but am a bit skeptical on playing the game, since it doesn't look like it uses the theme very well. Cheers! -Ashton
It's something I've been playing around with, but just find myself stressed on time! Perhaps in the future when we have some assistance to produce it, or it'll be super sporadic uploads on the channel, or on patreon. Will keep ya guys posted -Ashton
Ooh, boy. I'd love to get my hands on Civ. Some of Kevin's designs in that one are genius. Old school Fantasy Flight did some real groundbreaking games back then. Forbidden Stars comes to mind as well from that time period. Such ambitious creativity! Certainly, not games for everyone - or for every occasion - but still stellar designs non-the-less.
I know right!!??? Feel like Kevin Wilson is underrated because of his varied success on game design. Android: complete flop but great idea. Descent: yessir, great work! Wish he would make some more stuff, or at least get that version of Civ reprinted somehow. Cheers! -Ashton
Rising Sun is probably my favorite "Dudes on the map" game. To address couple of points you brought up. I think you really missing the spirit of the game. It's all about Japanese culture 1) You are not taking the monster hostage. The monster agrees to become one. To prove this point, there is a card in the game called "Respect", that increases the hostages by 1. So, people respect you so much, that more people become your hostages. Very different connotation. 2) Same for Betray mandate. YOU are not betraying anyone. THEIR FIGURES betray their masters and become your figures. Yes, there is some wonkiness with monsters betraying and becoming different monsters, but I hope you see my point about different connotation. 3) Harvest mandate is definitely not the strongest in the game. Why won't you receive 4 points? Because there is a good chance this is one of the two (or the only one) mandate you play this season. Don't you want to build a stronghold, that enables you to recruit more the rest of the game? Don't you want to pick the card that provides you bonuses the rest of the game? Don't you want to recruit last and guarantee the spot on the temples that will provide you multiple benefits for the season? All of the above are much more powerful than 4 victory points, trust me. 4) 4 things to bid in the war phase may cause analysis paralysis, that's fair, but only in the first 2-3 games. After that it becomes "Ok, how much do I want this? I can guarantee this one thing, but I can't allow to give this opponent this many coins". It really balances itself out, depending on how much you want that region, these units killed, these coins spent, etc. Overall, it really feels like you have not played the game enough, but I understand that not everyone can think like me :)
Hey thanks for this writeup! I definitely still the game is really good for what it is- we'll have a full fledged review coming out at some point. I just personally disliked (and still do) a lot of the aspects of it. The massive amount of politics you can do ends up balancing out the weirdness for sure. Daniel really likes it! -Ashton
Man that is a tough one, and warning: both are a pain in the butt to learn (WoTR being harder of the 2). WoTR overall gives more consistent games, so while you don't have the massive tension from the game's objective being hidden information (rebel base), you can plan stronghold/fellowship routes a lot cleaner. I've found that the combat for WoTR is a lot more satisfying too, and I get a lot more in line with the characters (very cool to have Gandalf lead troops into battle, whereas in Rebellion the leaders feel slightly more abstracted). Let me know if you have any other questions! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Thanks for the reply. Another question. I think you mention that for Rebellion, you will only play the rebels. Do you feel that in the War of the RIngs? Only willing to play one side?
@@shinhangpyo5190 Good question! I really enjoy playing both sides on WoTR, but do have a bias for the good guys again. There's something immensely satisfying about moving hordes of orcs led by Nazgul into battle. In SW:R, I really like moving the death stars and imperial star destroyers, its just how the rebels WANT to constantly sabotage you, and that gets irritating. Plus, it can get really mind-melty for me with all the probe cards (location cards) to keep track of to find the hidden rebel base. It's almost like I need to use pen and paper ahaha. Also, playing as the Rebels is a super awesome premise, since the sneaking of the rebel base just adds inherent tension, and I like me an underdog x-wing story :) -Ashton
Love the Pandemic joke there. I totally agree with your choices of top games I want those 3 for myself especially TI4, though Brass Birmingham kind of scares me a bit. I'll need to wait for more stable cash flow coming in though. If you did not like the control monsters mechanic of Rising Sun I wonder how you would feel about Lords of Ragnarok, I backed that on Kickstarter and don't really know how it will play in person vs on TTS (free there). Lords of Hellas is the previous game in that series. I don't normally write a script when I was doing my videos but then again I just want to enjoy the game as opposed to taking things further (also I procrastinate so nothing would get finished in time). Overall this all just goes to show how much time and love you put into your videos yet you still manage to answer your comments, great work and keep the good work going. Still anticipating a Scythe and expansions review though but you do what you have time for and what you wish to do. Keep in mind though Scythe has a campaign that can be easily spoiled as its got a story and a rule book that tells you not to go beyond like page 3 or you will ruin the surprises!
Was fun grabbing the box for that pandemic joke for sure. Freaking pandemic!!! If you are a fellow Civ player (not sure if you've mentioned in the comments before) I applaud you!! Civ is so awesome, love it when other people enjoy it as well. Funny story on LoR, we're planning a review on it next year! But the story is that our friend who loves Rising Sun actually hates Lords of Hellas, so really curious how LoR will turn out. Appreciate the praise mate! We got a ton of awesome videos lined up for December, this is just the beginning of the iceberg! Daniel has a copy of scythe, and we are still planning on doing a review for it, just still not sure when. I've never played the game myself, it just gets overshadowed by other newer flashy stuff, or just our old classics (Brass ehehee, its worth the rulebook grind- play the starting game at first!) Cheers! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Oh cool, yes LoR is not out yet obviously so that would make sense. Scythe is great, I have all the expansions but have not gathered enough people to play the campaign through (8 2 hour games means I would like 4-5 consistent people).
awesome to hear! I just looked up obsession, never heard of it before, but victorian england with romance, sign me up :) Hopefully I get to try it! -Ashton
It looks that way but honestly I find the base game to be hilariously streamlined and simple. Your turns are super basic; the complexity comes from picking which techs and ships to get, but nothing has any complicated abilities (mostly different stats and slight boosts). -Daniel
There's a new Dominion expansion coming out!? I'll have to make some space for it in my apartment even if it means losing another piece of furniture :p all a person needs is a bed, table, and games right?
dominion is small enough to play on your bed, so you can sell your table to afford all the expansions! Real talk though, it'll be the first expansion we're officially owning and reviewing, super psyched! -Ashton
I played Rising Sun once, it was full player count, all expansions and it took hours. I have not played it again and will be ok if I never play it again.
So the first time I played it, I played with all the expansions, and the expansions definitely hurt the experience enormously. I remember Fox clan's ability being stupid to play around, and the monster bloat got REAL. For the games after, we played more controlled, using mostly base game stuff... and it was better... but yes I'm with ya, I will be very satisfied to not play RS again :) -Ashton
I like Dune: Imperium a lot too. I have a lot of games and enjoy deck builders, but DI feels unique to me. I have that same feeling with Rurik, another game I like a lot.
It is quite interesting, I've played more than 7 times and still see cool new card interactions constantly. Since the card buying is more limited, I feel like I really get to savor the cool abilities even more in a weird sense. Like especially for the characters (stilgar, Lady JEssica, chani, etc.) Working on a review, hope to drop it soon :) -Ashton
Huh I completely missed Dune: Imperium. I saw it at the store and just glossed over it thinking it was another reprint of the OG Dune game. I'll be awaiting your review. Also recently got Brass Birmingham to the table and can't wait to get back to it again. After the into game, I swept the table by focusing on getting as many tier 2+ buildings out on the first era...well that and the luck of drawing every brewery card in the second era. He who controls the beer, controls the Industrial Revolution.
Hey, just in case you don't get a reply from the source before you read this, the Dune game got it's review in the video before this one. th-cam.com/video/oreGAbSPX44/w-d-xo.html (this is a link to it from Shelfside)
I've been glossing over Dune Imperium a LOT too, and finally took the plunge, and man it was worth. On the surface... feels like there's nothing revolutionary, but everything just comes together really well. Brass is so awesome right! More BEER! Beer! Consume and railroad it up -Ashton
I did not get Rising Sun because the tea ceremony/yin yang thing when making an alliance felt pretty cringe. The rest of what you mentioned makes me steer farther from it.
ahahaha I really hated the yin/yang thing as well from just an aesthetic thing. Then as not mentioned in the video: the priest thing feels fiddly, monsters seem unbalanced (probably kickstarter bloat), fox clan is bs (more KS bloat), I don't like the connections between the territories, etc. etc. Down with the rising sun! -Ashton
@@Shelfside In all honesty, my petty ass also likes negative reviews of Blood Rage and Rising Sun because it makes me feel less guilty about the $400+ I dropped on Ankh and its custom inserts lol Also Egyptian mythology is just the coolest to me of all 3. Painting Ankh at the moment with a lot of black & gold. Its gonna look gangsta AF.
I think I played more board games this year than last year, had more people over. best games I played this year - a lot of these games didnt come out this year but I played for the first time this year: the crew, res arcana, oath, and arkham horror lcg (innsmouth conspiracy is what we played through and loved) special mention goes to cash n guns. its not a game id play with my core group, but it has been overperforming as the game I play with friends/family who have no interest in board games. they just point guns at each other and laugh. worst game I played this year was Xenoshyft dreadmire. On paper, it sounds great, sounds like something I'd love, but I bounced off pretty hard. Its like a tower defense deckbuilding game, but it never really quite felt like I was building a deck, just buying whatever I think I need for my hand. I really feel like they have a cool idea on their hands but it doesn't quite work right. Biggest problem I have with this game is that I like legendary encounters: alien so much more.
Thanks for sharing!You got a great variety of stuff there, trying oath is a great accomplishment for 2021 for sure. Cash N guns is an absolute party classic here, something about those orange foam guns right!!?? Lots of roleplay and scumbaggery backstabbing. Never heard of Xenoshyft, and will heed your warning :) -Ashton
Honestly did not enjoy this, no offense but I just find that your taste is so different than mine and I was excited to see what you thought, but I disagreed with everything you’ve said.
Taverns of Tiefenthal was a surprise hit for my wife and me. We also picked up Ticket to Ride for $25 and that was pretty fun too. We have Kohaku coming today and The Crew and Potion Explosion coming this week, so we'll see how those go.
Sweet! Ticket to Ride is always a pretty solid time, and The Crew is actually a coop that impressed me (I'm not too big of a fan of coops). Cheers, happy holidays! -Ashton
Hey, you and another person were talking about that game. I think he has (or at least he's unboxed it :P ) th-cam.com/video/ha_5rpkw8zA/w-d-xo.html (Shelfside vid I found when seeing if he had it.)
Dude, your takes on Rising Sun are so misleading to people who don't know the game. Units being taken held hostage usually just affects the one battle and then you get it back before the next rounds start. It's not that big a deal, though maybe your issue is more the weird flavor of kidnapping a kaiju. And yeah, the harvest action can be good but you have to get somewhat lucky for it to be really good and besides, 3 of your 4 action choices are handed to you by the previous player... so if they're not your ally then they'd have to hand you the harvest action... and money moving around from combat round to combat round is part of the point and you can often predict it a lot better than you're indicating. I'm not even that big of a fan of Rising Sun but this felt almost like a bad faith review because of a few bad plays of the game...
oooh that's an interesting one. Will want to get some games in of it next year, want to see how my tastes change after some initial disappointing experiences in HS -Ashton
Oh good I wasn't the only one who thought Rising Sun was blah. Sold mine within weeks after I got my Kickstarter. I barely see anyone play the game anymore.
Sheeesh, I still cannot believe how much some of our friends like it. First time I played I was MEGA turned off by the capture mechanic, and the more I played, the more I felt that the intricacies of season cards and money flow were not worth it. Game feels pooo poo bs to me, cheers mate! -Ashton
I think your best #1 says #3 again in the text below
oh man, how did I I miss that!!?!? Pinned your comment :3 -Ashton
“Rising Sun was the worst game I played this year.”
Me looking at the $500 I spent this year to get everything: Hmm, interesting.
Haha. Oof! Hopefully, you enjoy it enough to justify that cost to you.
Been debating on getting that game myself. I'm a completionist so I would want everything. However, I am not confident that my gaming group would enjoy it enough to justify the price.
@@RandomPerson-nd2ey oh I love it, it’s a little hard to get to the table because it needs 3 people minimum. I would say get the base game, play a few games with your group and if everyone enjoys it then get the expansions.
Rising sun is my favourite game.
Rising sun is that game that I am aware of its multiple flaws and still enjoy it a lot!
At least it has a pretty cover art
Thanks for a great year with great content! Looking forward to y'all's continued growth and hoping for some more Daniel screentime (his tastes seem to most align with mine). Hooray for Shelfside!
For scoring Brass there is a procedural way to make it streamlined and easy.
For the links, have one person pick pieces off the board and call out the point value and another person move the marker up. Go player by player so the person moving the score marker only has to move one at a time.
After you score the links, have everyone pick up their flipped industry tiles off the board and score their own points. If its the canal age, only pick up flipped level 1 tiles. And after you do that, score any remaining 2+ tiles by "tapping" them sideways while calling out their point value and having someone else move it, similar to the links.
thanks for sharing this! Will try it out next time, have recorded your scoring tips :) -Ashton
Your video on why you dislike a game makes me want to play it more! Not sure how you did that, but wow I'm sold!
ahaha, the curiosity can really take hold huh? Daniel was looking at the video and really wanted to play it again too afterwards x) -Ashton
Wow so glad to see that I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy Rising Sun, played it once a few yrs ago and was so turned off that I never felt the desire to play it again, Blood Rage is much better. And I totally agree with that The Godfather Corleone's Empire is so much fun, played with a new group the last time and one of them pretty much went out to buy a copy the next day! On the other hand, I just couldn't get into Brass at all, felt like I had no idea what I was doing the whole game :P Have you tried Barrage? Now that was an economic euro that I really loved and ended up being one of the best gaming experiences for 2021 for me! Happy new year!
It never fails to make me cackle when I hear the criticisms of Rising Sun.
“I don’t like that my dragon can be taken hostage.”
Then control the Take Hostage action, you goober.
“Harvests are too powerful.”
It’s an area control game. The point of the game is to control areas.
“How is it a betrayal if you can screw over someone that isn’t your opponent?”
Because the game is giving you agency instead of making you mindlessly break an alliance because it would be a dead draw otherwise.
Woo hoo! 2021 was better. I got to start playing games with friends again, but next I want things to get to the point of feeling safe for conventions again. Roll on 2022!
onwards to 2022 for sure! cheers Denis, hope ya get some unfathomable in -Ashton
Continue to love your reviews! You guys have had a killer year! You've grown so much and put out such consistently great content. Here's to another great year!
Thanks man!!! We got a lot of stuff coming, cheers to 2021! -Ashton
Great video as usual! In terms of quality of course but this is also just an awesome idea for a vid as the year ends. Personally I'm looking forward to playing some Brass with my brother and dad over Christmas! Cheers
Thanks Kyle! Thought I'd wrap up the year a little early to get people some inspiration for the holidays, and for us to take a bit of a 'review' break (lots of vids still incoming don't worry). Cheers, and hope you can build many railroads in Brass :3 -Ashton
"People can blitz wins.. in a couple of hours" 😂🤣😂
Such a blitz in a couple of hours
LoL I agree however, if you've ever played a full Dark Age to Future Civilization video game, 2 hours is a blitz for sure :P (games often go 6+, board game is probably similar).
I chuckled at this, aahaha its because its freaking civ!!!! On a table!!! Still blows my mind. Love that game so much, and I'll be seeing gandhi raise some nukes over the holidays -Ashton
@@lu7ky once we get it down, it's more like 4-5, and I've found that I actually really like the game at 3, even though mechanically its best at 4. But at 3, I can get way more games in ahaha. Cheers! -Ashton
Holy, sounds like the game for me! But jesus, can't even find people to play TI4 atm... Sad
@@lucaframba3730 awww man, I will say its do-able at 2, but you want at least 3 for the mechanics to shine! Cheers! -Ashton
Top 10 playing experiences this year for me:
1) Project Elite
2) Destinies
3) Mechs vs Minions
4) Unmatched
5) Flick of Faith
6) Pinball 4-Cade
7) Raptor
8) Catacombs 3E
9) Century Golem
10) Cube Quest
Honorable mentions:
Flip Ships, Regicide, King of Tokyo Dark Edition, Dice Throne, Sprawlopolis, Food Chain Island, Raiders of the North Sea, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, Smallworld
Thanks for the great video!
Thanks for sharing! Got to play KoT Dark Edition for the first time this year and was great. Really need to pick up project elite one day, those real time games got me so so interested :) Ceers! -Ashton
Personally picked up oath and pax pamir recently, excited to play both but muh covid lockdowns.
uuuugh yeah the darn pandemic. Both are crazy interesting times, Oath a little more wacky for sure. Cheers! -Ashton
Great video. Looking forward to what you do next year.
Thanks Robert! Got tons of stuff coming, appreciate it! -Ashton
Love the video! Thanks for your commitment with the War of the Ring video. Your little bits are hilarious.
I think Root has climbed super high for both Max and I this year! Great asymmetric area control game!
Awesome! Great to see ya here, loved seeing ya guys freak out on the spicy chips a while back :)
Daniel really really likes Root! Pretty sure its his most played board game of all time -Ashton
Wait, what? You have a podcast?? Do share please! Would love to listen to more of your content! And as always, awesome job!
ahaha we've had it planned for quite some time, but its some more work to do for sure (and also will be super fun)! Will update on the channel when we get that rolling, cheers! -Ashton
I really like your Videos! I am completely new into board games. I have spirit island and I love it.
I am thinking about getting TI4 next plus a third Game. Aß a third game I am thinking about Civ, 7 wonders or Brass. Maybe civ ist too similar to TI4? Maybe I should get get Civ instead of TI4?
Or maybe something completely different?
awesome to hear that! Spirit island ia good one.
TI4 is certainly an awesome jump to make into the hobby. In terms of civ, I heard the new one is great with the expansion, and while we have it, we have yet to play it! The older one is quite similar to TI4, yet feels more 'euro-y".
7 wonders is a very accessible option with tons of card drafting, would highly recommend at least trying out this mechanic to see if yo like it! 30 minute games too.
Brass is the hardest to learn out of all of these, but is a personal favorite of mine. A little more brain-burny with the options and economy. Best of luck! -Ashton
Great video.i am glad you liked brass :). Did you play civilization new dawn? How you compare that to civilization?
havent gotten to play civ new dawn, but heard the expansion really helps it! My civilization copy just has continued to impress me every time I play it though -Ashton
Ankh definitely has some of the best looking components out there. Eye candy for sure.
The extra effort was definitely seen on the War of the Ring video! Quality content as always!
Cheers man! That War of the Ring one was crraaazzzy, I've been thinking of doing a SW: Rebellion one if I get enough plays in :) Onwards to more gaming! -Ashton
Great video! As I am finding myself less able to meet up with my friends for s boardgame night. I am waiting for Mage Knight to be restocked. I can't wait to get into some heavy solo gaming!
ohh nice! Perhaps you may want to delve into Arkham Horror LCG that I've heard amazing things on the expansions? may be a little rough on your wallet though :) -Ashton
@@Shelfside thanks for the heads-up Ashton. I will have to wait a bit to get that. I'll put it on my list and I will come back for you in half a year when the Arkham Horror addiction is kicking in!
@@Shelfside I really appreciate your channel and the great videos that you guys make!
@@einarwestlund no problemo! More stuff on the way! -Ashton
i actually went out and got Godfather after watching your review, literally within the hour I had secured a copy for myself. Gameplay was marred by a sore loser but I can't wait to get it out again without that player.
Cheers to more content and gaming for 2022!
oh man, I had a game similar to that where someone wasn't too hot on the theme and it dragged it down a bit. Excited to hear what you have to say once you get further in! Really fun to mix and match the bid-able allies. -Ashton
That War of the Ring video is how I found (and subscribed) to this channel.
awesome! Glad to see ya here, can't wait to get more epic LoTR moments next year :) -Ashton
Really enjoyed and appreciated the idea of best gaming experience! I find that more useful than simply "best game of 202X". Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Cheers seth! Glad ya liked it, more stuff to come :) -Ashton
If you like Civ games you should try clash of cultures. They just came out with a reprint called monumental edition.
For real, been hearing lots on CoC Monumental! Perhaps our friend who is into these games will pick it up so I can have a go! Cheers! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Was just about to comment about the same thing, just got CoC Monumental as a gift and from reading the rules, it feels so much like Civ! (The computer game, I haven't had the opportunity to try out the board game as it's so hard to find). Except that it stays in the ancient era and doesn't really progress to modern times. Lmk what you think of it if you ever get a chance to play Clash!
Fantastic video. Your revelation with Brass was like me with Prett a Porter 3rd Edition. Would love to see your take on that if it interests you
oh for sure! We got a copy sitting at Daniel's place, still haven't gotten around to playing it yet. The theme is pretty appealing to me though, I don't think I've ever played a game on clothing before. Cheers! -Ashton
Brilliant video [again], have you tried 'Seize the Bean', 'Red Rising' or '1840: Vienna Tramways'?
thanks psychiclord! Haven't tried any of them. I am a HUGE fan of the Red Rising books, but am a bit skeptical on playing the game, since it doesn't look like it uses the theme very well. Cheers! -Ashton
Thanks for the thoughts. You mentioned podcast? Love to hear it.
It's something I've been playing around with, but just find myself stressed on time! Perhaps in the future when we have some assistance to produce it, or it'll be super sporadic uploads on the channel, or on patreon. Will keep ya guys posted -Ashton
got brass b. this last Christmas, really incredible. love it
Awesome!!! Such a well designed game, hope ya can enjoy it for many years to come! -Ashton
Shelfshide: rising sun is not the best game.
Me: Minis go Brrr
ohohoho those big fat grey monster minis are so so so good looking, godzilla yessir.
High quality video as always! :)
Thanks Marco! See ya around :) -Ashton
Ooh, boy. I'd love to get my hands on Civ. Some of Kevin's designs in that one are genius. Old school Fantasy Flight did some real groundbreaking games back then. Forbidden Stars comes to mind as well from that time period. Such ambitious creativity!
Certainly, not games for everyone - or for every occasion - but still stellar designs non-the-less.
I know right!!??? Feel like Kevin Wilson is underrated because of his varied success on game design. Android: complete flop but great idea. Descent: yessir, great work!
Wish he would make some more stuff, or at least get that version of Civ reprinted somehow. Cheers! -Ashton
Rising Sun is probably my favorite "Dudes on the map" game.
To address couple of points you brought up. I think you really missing the spirit of the game. It's all about Japanese culture
1) You are not taking the monster hostage. The monster agrees to become one. To prove this point, there is a card in the game called "Respect", that increases the hostages by 1. So, people respect you so much, that more people become your hostages. Very different connotation.
2) Same for Betray mandate. YOU are not betraying anyone. THEIR FIGURES betray their masters and become your figures. Yes, there is some wonkiness with monsters betraying and becoming different monsters, but I hope you see my point about different connotation.
3) Harvest mandate is definitely not the strongest in the game. Why won't you receive 4 points? Because there is a good chance this is one of the two (or the only one) mandate you play this season. Don't you want to build a stronghold, that enables you to recruit more the rest of the game? Don't you want to pick the card that provides you bonuses the rest of the game? Don't you want to recruit last and guarantee the spot on the temples that will provide you multiple benefits for the season? All of the above are much more powerful than 4 victory points, trust me.
4) 4 things to bid in the war phase may cause analysis paralysis, that's fair, but only in the first 2-3 games. After that it becomes "Ok, how much do I want this? I can guarantee this one thing, but I can't allow to give this opponent this many coins". It really balances itself out, depending on how much you want that region, these units killed, these coins spent, etc.
Overall, it really feels like you have not played the game enough, but I understand that not everyone can think like me :)
Hey thanks for this writeup! I definitely still the game is really good for what it is- we'll have a full fledged review coming out at some point. I just personally disliked (and still do) a lot of the aspects of it. The massive amount of politics you can do ends up balancing out the weirdness for sure. Daniel really likes it! -Ashton
Ashton, I don't know what it is - but that jacket looks great on you man. What is it?
whoa! Never would have expected to get a question on this- its an Iron and Resin trucker jacket I got a while back, thanks man! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Thanks! I'll let them know where to send the commission for my purchase ;)
@@WoodyTrombone ahaha no commission here for that, will let ya know if we ever get a clothing thing going -Ashton
If you had to choose War of the Rings or Star Wars Rebellion and you equally loved both themes, which game would you go with?
Man that is a tough one, and warning: both are a pain in the butt to learn (WoTR being harder of the 2).
WoTR overall gives more consistent games, so while you don't have the massive tension from the game's objective being hidden information (rebel base), you can plan stronghold/fellowship routes a lot cleaner. I've found that the combat for WoTR is a lot more satisfying too, and I get a lot more in line with the characters (very cool to have Gandalf lead troops into battle, whereas in Rebellion the leaders feel slightly more abstracted). Let me know if you have any other questions! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Thanks for the reply. Another question. I think you mention that for Rebellion, you will only play the rebels. Do you feel that in the War of the RIngs? Only willing to play one side?
@@shinhangpyo5190 Good question! I really enjoy playing both sides on WoTR, but do have a bias for the good guys again. There's something immensely satisfying about moving hordes of orcs led by Nazgul into battle.
In SW:R, I really like moving the death stars and imperial star destroyers, its just how the rebels WANT to constantly sabotage you, and that gets irritating. Plus, it can get really mind-melty for me with all the probe cards (location cards) to keep track of to find the hidden rebel base. It's almost like I need to use pen and paper ahaha. Also, playing as the Rebels is a super awesome premise, since the sneaking of the rebel base just adds inherent tension, and I like me an underdog x-wing story :) -Ashton
Love the Pandemic joke there. I totally agree with your choices of top games I want those 3 for myself especially TI4, though Brass Birmingham kind of scares me a bit. I'll need to wait for more stable cash flow coming in though.
If you did not like the control monsters mechanic of Rising Sun I wonder how you would feel about Lords of Ragnarok, I backed that on Kickstarter and don't really know how it will play in person vs on TTS (free there). Lords of Hellas is the previous game in that series.
I don't normally write a script when I was doing my videos but then again I just want to enjoy the game as opposed to taking things further (also I procrastinate so nothing would get finished in time). Overall this all just goes to show how much time and love you put into your videos yet you still manage to answer your comments, great work and keep the good work going.
Still anticipating a Scythe and expansions review though but you do what you have time for and what you wish to do. Keep in mind though Scythe has a campaign that can be easily spoiled as its got a story and a rule book that tells you not to go beyond like page 3 or you will ruin the surprises!
Was fun grabbing the box for that pandemic joke for sure. Freaking pandemic!!!
If you are a fellow Civ player (not sure if you've mentioned in the comments before) I applaud you!! Civ is so awesome, love it when other people enjoy it as well.
Funny story on LoR, we're planning a review on it next year! But the story is that our friend who loves Rising Sun actually hates Lords of Hellas, so really curious how LoR will turn out.
Appreciate the praise mate! We got a ton of awesome videos lined up for December, this is just the beginning of the iceberg! Daniel has a copy of scythe, and we are still planning on doing a review for it, just still not sure when. I've never played the game myself, it just gets overshadowed by other newer flashy stuff, or just our old classics (Brass ehehee, its worth the rulebook grind- play the starting game at first!) Cheers! -Ashton
@@Shelfside Oh cool, yes LoR is not out yet obviously so that would make sense. Scythe is great, I have all the expansions but have not gathered enough people to play the campaign through (8 2 hour games means I would like 4-5 consistent people).
@@lu7ky Can't wait to play scythe then! Likely early next year then :) -Ashton
@@Shelfside Cool, I will eagerly await that!
That civ game is awesome, definitely underrated.
review vid coming soon on it :) -Ashton
The behind the scenes for War of the Ring was hilarious. For me the best game I played this year is Obsession, it's a unique game for sure.
awesome to hear! I just looked up obsession, never heard of it before, but victorian england with romance, sign me up :) Hopefully I get to try it! -Ashton
Twilight Imperium looks so cool, yet so incredibly daunting to learn and overwhelming to play.
It looks that way but honestly I find the base game to be hilariously streamlined and simple. Your turns are super basic; the complexity comes from picking which techs and ships to get, but nothing has any complicated abilities (mostly different stats and slight boosts).
-Daniel
I subscribed because you said Blood Rage was bad :)
wait, blood rage? Or Rising Sun ahaha. I'm totally fine with blood rage, just don't have it in my top 10 anymore :) -Ashton
Definitely need to give POKs another try. TI4 is my number one game and PoKs for me is essential. I can't play without it now.
thanks for sharing! We got both lined up for this holiday season, can't wait to see the results :) -Ashton
There's a new Dominion expansion coming out!? I'll have to make some space for it in my apartment even if it means losing another piece of furniture :p all a person needs is a bed, table, and games right?
dominion is small enough to play on your bed, so you can sell your table to afford all the expansions!
Real talk though, it'll be the first expansion we're officially owning and reviewing, super psyched! -Ashton
Very sick
rising sun bad? 👀
hMmMmMmM
I played Rising Sun once, it was full player count, all expansions and it took hours. I have not played it again and will be ok if I never play it again.
So the first time I played it, I played with all the expansions, and the expansions definitely hurt the experience enormously. I remember Fox clan's ability being stupid to play around, and the monster bloat got REAL. For the games after, we played more controlled, using mostly base game stuff... and it was better... but yes I'm with ya, I will be very satisfied to not play RS again :) -Ashton
Kevin Wilson's Civ is one of my favorites, good pick. It's the best board game adaptation of Civ that isn't named Twilight Imperium.
Cheers man! That game hypes me up so much. Wish it got reprinted! -Ashton
15:56, bro you can only have 1 building with a star per city. 🤣
I like Dune: Imperium a lot too. I have a lot of games and enjoy deck builders, but DI feels unique to me. I have that same feeling with Rurik, another game I like a lot.
It is quite interesting, I've played more than 7 times and still see cool new card interactions constantly. Since the card buying is more limited, I feel like I really get to savor the cool abilities even more in a weird sense. Like especially for the characters (stilgar, Lady JEssica, chani, etc.) Working on a review, hope to drop it soon :) -Ashton
Awesome !
cheers! Onwards to 2022 for more gaming! -Ashton
I actually love riding sun. I house ruled the take hostage action for monsters and that’s it.
How you take monsters hostage is an interesting concept. Like how the hell do you take hostage that Godzilla size monstrosity?
Huh I completely missed Dune: Imperium. I saw it at the store and just glossed over it thinking it was another reprint of the OG Dune game. I'll be awaiting your review.
Also recently got Brass Birmingham to the table and can't wait to get back to it again. After the into game, I swept the table by focusing on getting as many tier 2+ buildings out on the first era...well that and the luck of drawing every brewery card in the second era. He who controls the beer, controls the Industrial Revolution.
Hey, just in case you don't get a reply from the source before you read this, the Dune game got it's review in the video before this one. th-cam.com/video/oreGAbSPX44/w-d-xo.html (this is a link to it from Shelfside)
I've been glossing over Dune Imperium a LOT too, and finally took the plunge, and man it was worth. On the surface... feels like there's nothing revolutionary, but everything just comes together really well.
Brass is so awesome right! More BEER! Beer! Consume and railroad it up -Ashton
cheers for sharing this! May the spice flow with you -Ashton
I did not get Rising Sun because the tea ceremony/yin yang thing when making an alliance felt pretty cringe. The rest of what you mentioned makes me steer farther from it.
ahahaha I really hated the yin/yang thing as well from just an aesthetic thing. Then as not mentioned in the video: the priest thing feels fiddly, monsters seem unbalanced (probably kickstarter bloat), fox clan is bs (more KS bloat), I don't like the connections between the territories, etc. etc.
Down with the rising sun! -Ashton
@@Shelfside In all honesty, my petty ass also likes negative reviews of Blood Rage and Rising Sun because it makes me feel less guilty about the $400+ I dropped on Ankh and its custom inserts lol
Also Egyptian mythology is just the coolest to me of all 3. Painting Ankh at the moment with a lot of black & gold. Its gonna look gangsta AF.
@@PablowingUrMind aaah, well enjoy the game! Have heard similar appreciation for Egyptian Mythology too! -Ashton
Rising Sun's 1st play is just auto for practice
I think I played more board games this year than last year, had more people over.
best games I played this year - a lot of these games didnt come out this year but I played for the first time this year:
the crew, res arcana, oath, and arkham horror lcg (innsmouth conspiracy is what we played through and loved)
special mention goes to cash n guns. its not a game id play with my core group, but it has been overperforming as the game I play with friends/family who have no interest in board games. they just point guns at each other and laugh.
worst game I played this year was Xenoshyft dreadmire. On paper, it sounds great, sounds like something I'd love, but I bounced off pretty hard. Its like a tower defense deckbuilding game, but it never really quite felt like I was building a deck, just buying whatever I think I need for my hand. I really feel like they have a cool idea on their hands but it doesn't quite work right. Biggest problem I have with this game is that I like legendary encounters: alien so much more.
Thanks for sharing!You got a great variety of stuff there, trying oath is a great accomplishment for 2021 for sure. Cash N guns is an absolute party classic here, something about those orange foam guns right!!?? Lots of roleplay and scumbaggery backstabbing. Never heard of Xenoshyft, and will heed your warning :) -Ashton
Honestly did not enjoy this, no offense but I just find that your taste is so different than mine and I was excited to see what you thought, but I disagreed with everything you’ve said.
thanks for sharing! What are some games you tend to gravitate towards? Cheers! -Ashton
Taverns of Tiefenthal was a surprise hit for my wife and me. We also picked up Ticket to Ride for $25 and that was pretty fun too. We have Kohaku coming today and The Crew and Potion Explosion coming this week, so we'll see how those go.
Sweet! Ticket to Ride is always a pretty solid time, and The Crew is actually a coop that impressed me (I'm not too big of a fan of coops). Cheers, happy holidays! -Ashton
I love rising sun!! lol
And the best game of 2021 is.... a game from 2012... WHAT? it has the same numbers! Is this a troll?
I didn't realize actually. The civilization conspiracy
Dammit, Ashton. You MADE me order War of the Ring. It had better be good.
the game is GOOD. The rulebook is not :) -Ashton
@@Shelfside BGG files, don't fail me now!
@@A._J_. there's a really good PDF that has example turns that REALLY helped me with my first game -ashton
@@Shelfside Harsh Rules videos give a good explanation. Less complicated than its spawn: FFG SW Rebellion.
@@A._J_. FFG SW rebellion was un-intuitive as HECK to play, but at least it had a tutorial mode ahaha. Rules videos all the way! -Ashton
Have you tried clash of cultures?
Hey, you and another person were talking about that game. I think he has (or at least he's unboxed it :P ) th-cam.com/video/ha_5rpkw8zA/w-d-xo.html (Shelfside vid I found when seeing if he had it.)
Yep, as lu7ky said, never tried it, gottten so many request, may cave one of these days. Civ still hits that category so well for me! -Ashton
Compare to 2017?
2017 games of best of my 2017? I don't recall doing that much gaming actually back in 2017, TI4 would probably be up there though :) -Ashton
Ok rrr to
Top3? You only played 3 games of 2021? :) Ok, let me take that back, you played 0
Admittedly, I don't get to play as many new games as I would like! Working to play more new games :) -Ashton
Yep, Rising Sun is great to look at but terrible to play
amen brother -Ashton
Poggers
cheers mate -Ashton
Dude, your takes on Rising Sun are so misleading to people who don't know the game. Units being taken held hostage usually just affects the one battle and then you get it back before the next rounds start. It's not that big a deal, though maybe your issue is more the weird flavor of kidnapping a kaiju. And yeah, the harvest action can be good but you have to get somewhat lucky for it to be really good and besides, 3 of your 4 action choices are handed to you by the previous player... so if they're not your ally then they'd have to hand you the harvest action... and money moving around from combat round to combat round is part of the point and you can often predict it a lot better than you're indicating. I'm not even that big of a fan of Rising Sun but this felt almost like a bad faith review because of a few bad plays of the game...
I can still guess - ti4 number one just like always 🤦🤦
For every category 🤣😭😭
not the worst game though :) -Ashton
I wish I had an Asian family to game with me all the time 😒
ahaha I mostly don't play with my blood related family. Mostly with the brothers I've found along the way! -Ashton
As all years , best gem this year was Cosmic encounter. Game is addicting once you have a good group
oooh that's an interesting one. Will want to get some games in of it next year, want to see how my tastes change after some initial disappointing experiences in HS -Ashton
This guy is high AF. Let me hate popular stuff because that makes me cool.
Oh good I wasn't the only one who thought Rising Sun was blah. Sold mine within weeks after I got my Kickstarter. I barely see anyone play the game anymore.
Sheeesh, I still cannot believe how much some of our friends like it. First time I played I was MEGA turned off by the capture mechanic, and the more I played, the more I felt that the intricacies of season cards and money flow were not worth it. Game feels pooo poo bs to me, cheers mate! -Ashton