Mike, try out the recently released new solo mode, created by a fan, but also professional solo mode designer Xavi Bordes Aymerich (Bitoku, 3 Ring Circus, Ironwood...)! It's now on BGG and makes the solo play a really great experience. The difficulty is adjusted in a much better way, and bot's behaviour is more dependant on the setup.
If I still had the game I definitely would! But y’all know how quickly I cull things unless I totally love them. But really glad to hear the community is coming to help with this game. There’s a lot of fun stuff in the box
COMPONENTS - The meeples, art, and components are all lovely. My copy's board had one section separating from the cardboard a bit, but I would guess that's a one-off issue and not a common problem. 0:00 - Introduction 0:44 - Overview of Play 2:49 Round 1 13:58 - Round 2 20:14 - Round 3 25:45 - Final Scoring 27:16 - Review 31:42 - Patreon Shout-Out
yes.. another great and fair review... honest as always.... for good and bad.. which is what most reviewers should try to do... congrats Mike... still one of the best out there..
I was the exact same way Jenna! I was thinking “guess I just suck!” Then I went on BGG and saw other posts complaining about the difficulty level and felt better 😅
@@OneStopCoopShop YEUP! I enjoyed the gameplay but my board game confidence was definitely at an all time low. I definitely think it will shine more in multiplayer.
This is great! Thank you for the solo run-through example! I'm looking to shoot a full all-in-one unboxing, playthrough, and first impressions video when my order comes in and this really helps!
My suggestion to make the automa a little easier is: 1. Automa only has 3 of each meeple (if they can't place a meeple at some point they get the usual impossible placement bonus). 2. Don't double up actions/cards when they can't place a dice. Just do the last card actions. You can add both the rules or 1 depending how hard you find it. After a few plays like this I was back to the standard ruleset and doing better. Great game. Thanks for the playthrough.
(nerd moment) This is such an elegant design. Lots of interesting things going on and lots of variability with the white/red/black tokens next to the action cards. A lot of simple mechanics that come together.
Agree fully. I don't have major complaints about the game except the extreme swinginess and poor balancing of the solo mode. In competitive I think it's great.
I agree with others, ditch the double action on the easy solo level. Alternatively, they can take the double action, but it costs all of their coin, your choice. I have this game, haven't tried it yet though. Thank you for filming this. What an excellent production!!!
So this is both encouraging and discouraging - because I thought I was doing something wrong with scoring. The automa always wins. Encouraging because I’m not alone. I thought your comment at the end about not wanting to go first was interesting. I had played multiple games at the hardest level and got really close to winning. But at the easiest level I was getting destroyed with the finally score.
Great play through. I appreciate your explanations and honesty. I’m looking for a chunkier solo game and I like the use of the dice in this one, but I would like to win at least once😂. I also recently viewed your Set a Watch solo play. Could you offer up some other solid recommendations? Thanks.
@@lizcohn7622 some of my favorites that play in that timeframe include: Bullet (Heart or Star set are both great starting points) Warp's Edge (this one is more lightweight than medium, but lots of fun) Resist!/Witchcraft! (same game system, different settings) I don't think you can go wrong with any of those.
Just played my first game, and it was solo tonight. I watched your video beforehand to kind of get an understanding of the game, but I am a tad confused about how you began round one with two Daimyo tokens and 4 coins already. I didn't read anything in the rulebook that we started with those, well, at least I don't think I did unless I missed it. I know the picture in the book shows the coins and tokens in place. Thanks for the awesome video!
@OneStopCoopShop , ahhhhh, okay. I think I totally forgot to do that part, so that's why it confused me, hahaha. I put my starting action card in its spot, and then my starting resource card I just put down in my lantern area, but never collected the resources on the back, haha. Thanks for the clarification and the video!
That was my first thought for a variant too. That would probably mean they’d resolve 3-4 fewer cards a game, which might make up the point deficit, and it wouldn’t discourage you from going first anymore
I always enjoyed your solo play-through videos. I spotted an error if you don't mind me pointing it out? The passage of time markers are placed on the heron to the left to start with, not the first spot on the track. I guess it doesn't really matter if everyone starts there. I tried the solo mode twice and even when I thought I'd done well I got my butt kicked and have looked elsewhere for a better way of playing solo mode.
Just in watching this, I would suggest not letting the automa take the last 2 actions if they can't get a dice. Instead, just let them flip till they get the dice and then take the action on the last card they flipped.
Thanks Mike. I have bought one competitive game (Viceroy) with a solo mode yonks ago and not backed one since. The White Castle isn't going to break the trend, even if it does look pretty lol
@@tmcd5049 My bad. Boomer memory bad! lol The game is Viceroy not Viscount. It's been a while since I played it, mainly because I don't care much for beat your own score games. FWI The game has a bidding system which is done pretty well for the solo mode, but I found the AI kept bidding for what I wanted and I had to conclude was cheating! 😂😂 Looks very pretty but the other problem was that I would either forget to put tokens in the bag or would put tokens in from the wrong pile. Otherwise decent enough, and I ought give it a few more tries, but when there are so many dedicated solo/coop games it's not a priority.
@@pencilpauli9442 Was it a hobby world game? With gem parts in the square card corners you'd combine to make a gem in a pyramid? I have this game! Probably why I asked you. I played it with my partner -she made the mistake of winning, probably by a lot, so I lost interest 😉. Didn't play it again, but that's because we got the co-op bug, what with Pandemic & Flash point, Yggdrasil and variants, and have so many games to try. Thanks for reminding me: it would be good for us to revisit that sorry scene again! 😂
@@tmcd5049 haha That's why I prefer solo/coop games! Well that and not having any friends! lol 🎻🎻 Yeah that's the one. I didn't get the add on upgrade to plastic gems because the cardboard tokens look better imho Secretly practice by playing Viceroy solo, and exact revenge! lol
@@pencilpauli9442 Great idea!!! BTW, my comments on the expansion seem to have disappeared: it was deemed to have improved on the swingingness of the original! Could be the cure to both our ills!
A quick variant I already thought of (and another commenter also mentioned) is cutting the whole "resolve 2 cards if they flip more than 1" thing. That might be enough to make it winnable ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop I like how he assumed you'd figure out a new solo mode... and of course was right! That's what I thought, as you ran through it. The double thing for the automa is baaad news. Plus, the 'who starts first' thing! Personally, I prefer co-ops, but this did pique my interest. Thanks Mike!
@@tmcd5049 yeah, enough people are seeing that as an easy fix that I could almost see it becoming an official variant if enough people raise a fuss on the game's forums :)
As a wise man living in a well once said: "Not every game can, needs or should adapt to a solo mode. Sometimes it is just ok to be excellent in one thing and excel therein." On a completely different topic, what watch are you wearing?
To be clear, I still enjoy the solo somewhat because it lets me play the game alone, and I enjoy the stuff I'm DOING during MY turn. It's just all the stuff the automa does is frustrating :) My watch is a Seiko my wife bought for me years ago.
@@OneStopCoopShop Beautiful watch. Your wife has great taste. 😁 You could replace the automa with yourself and play against yourself. Then you would doubly enjoy what you do on your turn. 😏
@@tmcd5049 When you play against yourself, it usually is the path and not the destininy that makes for the enjoyment. Take chess for example. Playing against yourself without favoring one of your selfs is an truely hard exercise but a revealing and fascinating one. The end result is of lesser relevance, seen in the greater whole.
Mike, try out the recently released new solo mode, created by a fan, but also professional solo mode designer Xavi Bordes Aymerich (Bitoku, 3 Ring Circus, Ironwood...)! It's now on BGG and makes the solo play a really great experience. The difficulty is adjusted in a much better way, and bot's behaviour is more dependant on the setup.
Great new solo mode. A much more balanced level of difficulty and less random behavior
Yes, try it please
If I still had the game I definitely would! But y’all know how quickly I cull things unless I totally love them.
But really glad to hear the community is coming to help with this game. There’s a lot of fun stuff in the box
Wich solo mode is that? The Gingkogawa clan?
@@johnjacobs5190yes, that’s the one!
COMPONENTS - The meeples, art, and components are all lovely. My copy's board had one section separating from the cardboard a bit, but I would guess that's a one-off issue and not a common problem.
0:00 - Introduction
0:44 - Overview of Play
2:49 Round 1
13:58 - Round 2
20:14 - Round 3
25:45 - Final Scoring
27:16 - Review
31:42 - Patreon Shout-Out
yes.. another great and fair review... honest as always.... for good and bad.. which is what most reviewers should try to do... congrats Mike... still one of the best out there..
Thanks!
This makes me feel A LOT better about my few plays of this so far! I’ve lost miserably every time. 🤣 Thanks Mike!
I was the exact same way Jenna! I was thinking “guess I just suck!” Then I went on BGG and saw other posts complaining about the difficulty level and felt better 😅
@@OneStopCoopShop YEUP! I enjoyed the gameplay but my board game confidence was definitely at an all time low. I definitely think it will shine more in multiplayer.
This is great! Thank you for the solo run-through example! I'm looking to shoot a full all-in-one unboxing, playthrough, and first impressions video when my order comes in and this really helps!
My suggestion to make the automa a little easier is:
1. Automa only has 3 of each meeple (if they can't place a meeple at some point they get the usual impossible placement bonus).
2. Don't double up actions/cards when they can't place a dice. Just do the last card actions.
You can add both the rules or 1 depending how hard you find it. After a few plays like this I was back to the standard ruleset and doing better. Great game. Thanks for the playthrough.
(nerd moment) This is such an elegant design. Lots of interesting things going on and lots of variability with the white/red/black tokens next to the action cards. A lot of simple mechanics that come together.
Agree fully. I don't have major complaints about the game except the extreme swinginess and poor balancing of the solo mode. In competitive I think it's great.
have you tried troyes?
@@WhatsDaveUpTo No, haven't played. Just watched a playthrough.. and wow. I see why people like it. Looks fun.
I agree with others, ditch the double action on the easy solo level. Alternatively, they can take the double action, but it costs all of their coin, your choice. I have this game, haven't tried it yet though. Thank you for filming this. What an excellent production!!!
Agree on all of that
So this is both encouraging and discouraging - because I thought I was doing something wrong with scoring. The automa always wins. Encouraging because I’m not alone.
I thought your comment at the end about not wanting to go first was interesting. I had played multiple games at the hardest level and got really close to winning. But at the easiest level I was getting destroyed with the finally score.
Great play through. I appreciate your explanations and honesty. I’m looking for a chunkier solo game and I like the use of the dice in this one, but I would like to win at least once😂. I also recently viewed your Set a Watch solo play. Could you offer up some other solid recommendations? Thanks.
So you are looking for a solo dice placement game? Cause besides the dice there is almost nothing in common between the games you named 😜
😂Sorry. Still learning. Just looking for a medium-ish weight, fun, solid solo game I could play in roughly 30 minutes. 😎
@@lizcohn7622 some of my favorites that play in that timeframe include:
Bullet (Heart or Star set are both great starting points)
Warp's Edge (this one is more lightweight than medium, but lots of fun)
Resist!/Witchcraft! (same game system, different settings)
I don't think you can go wrong with any of those.
Awesome! I have Warp’s Edge and Witchcraft/Resist have been on my radar. Thank you!
Has anybody tried playing it with a house rule that they don't get to resolve two cards if there's no dice?
Yeah, it worked well and made the difficulty feel more "correct", at least for my skill level.
Hi. at 9min46, shouldn't you place 1 gardener on each plot? I am French and in our rule it is written to place for each field, not just one
Just played my first game, and it was solo tonight. I watched your video beforehand to kind of get an understanding of the game, but I am a tad confused about how you began round one with two Daimyo tokens and 4 coins already. I didn't read anything in the rulebook that we started with those, well, at least I don't think I did unless I missed it. I know the picture in the book shows the coins and tokens in place. Thanks for the awesome video!
I think it was from my randomized starting card, right? Which is then flipped and goes under my board in the bottom row
@OneStopCoopShop , ahhhhh, okay. I think I totally forgot to do that part, so that's why it confused me, hahaha. I put my starting action card in its spot, and then my starting resource card I just put down in my lantern area, but never collected the resources on the back, haha. Thanks for the clarification and the video!
Nice honest review
Thanks for watching!
Do you think solo would run better if you only resolved one card instead of 2 if you have to go through several cards for dice placement?
That was my first thought for a variant too. That would probably mean they’d resolve 3-4 fewer cards a game, which might make up the point deficit, and it wouldn’t discourage you from going first anymore
Either this, or let the automa just get 1 point instead of “points equal to round number” for coins and gardener actions.
I always enjoyed your solo play-through videos. I spotted an error if you don't mind me pointing it out? The passage of time markers are placed on the heron to the left to start with, not the first spot on the track. I guess it doesn't really matter if everyone starts there. I tried the solo mode twice and even when I thought I'd done well I got my butt kicked and have looked elsewhere for a better way of playing solo mode.
The favorite one I’ve seen is just never resolving extra cards for the AI. They don’t need it!!
Just in watching this, I would suggest not letting the automa take the last 2 actions if they can't get a dice. Instead, just let them flip till they get the dice and then take the action on the last card they flipped.
Yeah, I think something like that is the easiest fix for their poor balancing of the automa
Thanks Mike.
I have bought one competitive game (Viceroy) with a solo mode yonks ago and not backed one since.
The White Castle isn't going to break the trend, even if it does look pretty lol
What did you think of Viscount? Is it so good you don't need another, or so bad you'd rather play co-op?
@@tmcd5049
My bad. Boomer memory bad! lol
The game is Viceroy not Viscount.
It's been a while since I played it, mainly because I don't care much for beat your own score games.
FWI The game has a bidding system which is done pretty well for the solo mode, but I found the AI kept bidding for what I wanted and I had to conclude was cheating! 😂😂
Looks very pretty but the other problem was that I would either forget to put tokens in the bag or would put tokens in from the wrong pile.
Otherwise decent enough, and I ought give it a few more tries, but when there are so many dedicated solo/coop games it's not a priority.
@@pencilpauli9442 Was it a hobby world game? With gem parts in the square card corners you'd combine to make a gem in a pyramid?
I have this game! Probably why I asked you. I played it with my partner -she made the mistake of winning, probably by a lot, so I lost interest 😉. Didn't play it again, but that's because we got the co-op bug, what with Pandemic & Flash point, Yggdrasil and variants, and have so many games to try. Thanks for reminding me: it would be good for us to revisit that sorry scene again! 😂
@@tmcd5049
haha That's why I prefer solo/coop games! Well that and not having any friends! lol
🎻🎻
Yeah that's the one.
I didn't get the add on upgrade to plastic gems because the cardboard tokens look better imho
Secretly practice by playing Viceroy solo, and exact revenge! lol
@@pencilpauli9442 Great idea!!!
BTW, my comments on the expansion seem to have disappeared: it was deemed to have improved on the swingingness of the original! Could be the cure to both our ills!
Haha the opening song in the video, i own the cd and use the music in my clinic lol
That’s a fun coincidence!
I think I’ll get this one when Mike draws up a better solo mode. I’ve enjoyed a couple so far
A quick variant I already thought of (and another commenter also mentioned) is cutting the whole "resolve 2 cards if they flip more than 1" thing. That might be enough to make it winnable ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop I like how he assumed you'd figure out a new solo mode... and of course was right!
That's what I thought, as you ran through it. The double thing for the automa is baaad news. Plus, the 'who starts first' thing!
Personally, I prefer co-ops, but this did pique my interest. Thanks Mike!
@@tmcd5049 yeah, enough people are seeing that as an easy fix that I could almost see it becoming an official variant if enough people raise a fuss on the game's forums :)
@@tmcd5049 No pressure...lol
As a wise man living in a well once said: "Not every game can, needs or should adapt to a solo mode. Sometimes it is just ok to be excellent in one thing and excel therein."
On a completely different topic, what watch are you wearing?
To be clear, I still enjoy the solo somewhat because it lets me play the game alone, and I enjoy the stuff I'm DOING during MY turn. It's just all the stuff the automa does is frustrating :)
My watch is a Seiko my wife bought for me years ago.
@@OneStopCoopShop Beautiful watch. Your wife has great taste. 😁
You could replace the automa with yourself and play against yourself. Then you would doubly enjoy what you do on your turn. 😏
@biodelic actually great point, since there’s no hidden information
@@Biodelic How do you then establish that you won? In a sense, you win every time, so where's the fun in that?
@@tmcd5049 When you play against yourself, it usually is the path and not the destininy that makes for the enjoyment.
Take chess for example. Playing against yourself without favoring one of your selfs is an truely hard exercise but a revealing and fascinating one. The end result is of lesser relevance, seen in the greater whole.