Just to clarify a technicality if anyone can help? 1). You need to be dominant on a map in order to buy building in phase 4, yes? Or if you're not dominant and both are alive (eg. sheriff mat), do you compete to see who gets to buy the building, or is it just simply by turn order, first come first serve? 2.) Who competes for the rewards against the house? Is it whomever is alive on the map & dominant? Or can all colours present at map compete against house for the reward, even though some has died? One thing I've added to my game, is gun-cards with power assigned to each. It makes the combat much more fun - "biggest gun in the west". You still throw the dice but add that power to the card. (Eg. Smith&wesson card =6 power + a 4 die = 10 max) vs (what ever the opponent has). Because the dice mechanic on it's own is flawed - the defender will always win if he/she has law to spend (and they usually do).
Tom, sense you are hung up on luck of the cards, here's a house rule you could try. Give every building a number, Roll the dice every round, the number you roll, that numbered building has reverse poker hand rankings. So the worst hand wins. now the game has more bluffing, you arnt hopeless if you get bum cards, and the path to victory isn't so obvious when the building you wanted to go to gets rolled for reverse poker value... not sure how to fix the duel to your liking. once I play more I might post another Idea.
I tried this tonight and quite enjoyed the house rule. duals I actually enjoy and those dice keep rolling so it's fun to watch them stop. if you save up law or power this determines how many bullets in a chamber you have so I dunno, it makes sense to me. maybe the loser shouldn't get a chance to participate in the poker hand unless his buddy Meeple comes over to support him thereby losing a chance on another spot. this way maybe that building is really worth buying so it's worth risking a Meeple to support a fallen cowboy.
I tried this tonight and quite enjoyed the house rule. duals I actually enjoy and those dice keep rolling so it's fun to watch them stop. if you save up law or power this determines how many bullets in a chamber you have so I dunno, it makes sense to me. maybe the loser shouldn't get a chance to participate in the poker hand unless his buddy Meeple comes over to support him thereby losing a chance on another spot. this way maybe that building is really worth buying so it's worth risking a Meeple to support a fallen cowboy.
Hi Jonathan, I have a question regarding your house rule: at which point in the round do you roll the dice? At the beginning, so that you already know in which building the worst hand wins, meaning you can incorporate this knowledge in your worker placement decision making, or at the end, to add a random unpredictable moment to the game?
I feel like some of the things tom dislike help keep the time of play down. The whole point of this games is to get the strategy and mechanics of a bigger game into something small that is quick and easy to play.
I love Old West theme games, and when Zee did an episode on that for Board Game Blender and it didn't seem popular, I loved it. So I was interested in this. However, it seems it was slightly disappointing here. I am not too familiar with Tiny Epic, except for watching Tom's reviews, I did do a quick search and see some of the previous ones had expansions. My question is, is it possible Tom's findings here can be fixed with an expansion? That is an expansion that gives more card manipulation and the other 1 or 2 things he said the game lacked in? If so, then the game has potential, right? Either way, I may like the game, but it may not rise highly in my favorites even within the theme. BTW (by the way), even though I do like Carson City more than Deadwood, Deadwood is still fun and it also has duels with worker placement.
I'm glad to see that Tom appears to be slowly lowering his distaste for the Tiny Epic Series. He still "rolled his eyes" during the Board Game Breakfast news of Tiny Epic Quest, but I was surprised to see him be a little more forgiving in this review. My only comment on the review is with the remark about "It's not like you can bluff in this game." Which was backed up by Jason's comment on simply giving up and going for a guaranteed resource spot. My thinking is that if you are placing your meeple on a poker hand bonus win, you are sublimely indicating to other players that you have a "good hand" and they should duel you (possibly causing them to reveal their card or giving up resources or losing the duel and forfeiting a spot)....several consequences for what I believe could be bluffing. I could also be talking nonsense : ) Thank you for reviewing this game.
He gave a quick review here of the other 3 Tiny Epics, and he didn't have distaste, he said he disliked 1, liked 1, and the other was ok, thus his view was all over.
I quite enjoy the game with a you tube comment house rule below. also thinking about a fun house rule to spice up the duals. it was a little brain burny at times for some weird reason and took a bit to get a flow of the game, but the theme is awesome imo. poker is the wild west fellas and three hand poker exists. manipulating the cards works well for doomtown but not sure how it would work in a smaller footprint game. thanks for the review!
Here are my favorites in order, the number represents it's place in my top 100: 4. Bang! the card game: I know a lot of people have abandoned this game, and the Dice Tower has mentioned it being replaced in previous years and videos. But if played with the right expansions, many complaints are fixed. Of coarse my set has lots of bling, including costume pieces. And I am still looking forward to learning and playing the newest expansion that came out only a year ago or so (played it only twice so far). 5. Colt Express: I love this game, and just got done blinging out my copy. I bought some metal 3D money bags and glued them onto washers with the random dollar amounts on the bottom, I also bought some brown lego briefcases, and some small gems from the BGG store. 30. Bang! the dice game: Many people prefer this over the card game. I do like it, but as you see it is somewhat lower for me, but still a great game at #30. I have replaced my cardboard arrows with some small metal ones. This works well with my family and as a filler for my game group. 34. Boomtown: recently featured in the 1st Throat Punch Lunch, and after a year of not getting played, I did finally play this about a month ago. And it went over well and quite enjoyed it. 35. Carson City: This was a game I had to play 3 times before I decided how much I like it. And I do quite like it, as it's #35. Unlike Sam and Zee I do think it's better than Deadwood, but both are great games. I almost kickstarted the new edition but decided to just keep playing the original I have but because of the kickstarter, the expansion for the original became more available and ended up with 2 copies of the expansion super cheap, and traded one for the next game... 42. Pony Express: A couple months back I was looking for some more Old West games and found the Dice Tower's pod cast on the theme, it was older but that was ok, and this game was listed on Tom's top 10 for Old West games. I then watched his review and wanted it. It has a small dexterity element but that is only a small portion of the game mechanics and play. It is mostly a race game. But then I find out, the game is OOP (Out of print), not a single copy was on Ebay and had to trade for this. But I did so and got it and loved it. Great game, love it. 45. Deadwood: A game that Sam and Zee both have said in the past replaces Carson City. Also it plays very similarly to Sons of Anarchy, although I have not played that. I also helped create a fan based expansion you can find on BGG and can order the deck of cards from Artscow I put together. A very fun game, and perhaps my 1st worker placement game. While I like Carson City more, this is still a fantastic game. You can find the game at Target. 71. High Noon Saloon: I think I watched an Undead Viking review on this one before buying it. I have only played it twice, and over a year ago and needs more plays. But it is basicly an old west Tavern brawl/shoot out. Perhaps the smallest game board ever too! More plays may move my rank higher. It recently was on sale for only $9.
We played this last night and it was awesome!! So much strategy in such a small package
Just to clarify a technicality if anyone can help?
1). You need to be dominant on a map in order to buy building in phase 4, yes? Or if you're not dominant and both are alive (eg. sheriff mat), do you compete to see who gets to buy the building, or is it just simply by turn order, first come first serve?
2.) Who competes for the rewards against the house? Is it whomever is alive on the map & dominant? Or can all colours present at map compete against house for the reward, even though some has died?
One thing I've added to my game, is gun-cards with power assigned to each. It makes the combat much more fun - "biggest gun in the west". You still throw the dice but add that power to the card. (Eg. Smith&wesson card =6 power + a 4 die = 10 max) vs (what ever the opponent has). Because the dice mechanic on it's own is flawed - the defender will always win if he/she has law to spend (and they usually do).
You just gave the designer an idea for a name for a new game - Tiny Epic Awesomeness :D
Tom, sense you are hung up on luck of the cards, here's a house rule you could try. Give every building a number, Roll the dice every round, the number you roll, that numbered building has reverse poker hand rankings. So the worst hand wins. now the game has more bluffing, you arnt hopeless if you get bum cards, and the path to victory isn't so obvious when the building you wanted to go to gets rolled for reverse poker value... not sure how to fix the duel to your liking. once I play more I might post another Idea.
I tried this tonight and quite enjoyed the house rule. duals I actually enjoy and those dice keep rolling so it's fun to watch them stop. if you save up law or power this determines how many bullets in a chamber you have so I dunno, it makes sense to me. maybe the loser shouldn't get a chance to participate in the poker hand unless his buddy Meeple comes over to support him thereby losing a chance on another spot. this way maybe that building is really worth buying so it's worth risking a Meeple to support a fallen cowboy.
I tried this tonight and quite enjoyed the house rule. duals I actually enjoy and those dice keep rolling so it's fun to watch them stop. if you save up law or power this determines how many bullets in a chamber you have so I dunno, it makes sense to me. maybe the loser shouldn't get a chance to participate in the poker hand unless his buddy Meeple comes over to support him thereby losing a chance on another spot. this way maybe that building is really worth buying so it's worth risking a Meeple to support a fallen cowboy.
Andy V nice to hear someone tried out my house rule. :D I really like the little extra decision making it creates.
Hi Jonathan, I have a question regarding your house rule: at which point in the round do you roll the dice? At the beginning, so that you already know in which building the worst hand wins, meaning you can incorporate this knowledge in your worker placement decision making, or at the end, to add a random unpredictable moment to the game?
Great review! Thanks!
I feel like some of the things tom dislike help keep the time of play down. The whole point of this games is to get the strategy and mechanics of a bigger game into something small that is quick and easy to play.
I love Old West theme games, and when Zee did an episode on that for Board Game Blender and it didn't seem popular, I loved it. So I was interested in this. However, it seems it was slightly disappointing here. I am not too familiar with Tiny Epic, except for watching Tom's reviews, I did do a quick search and see some of the previous ones had expansions.
My question is, is it possible Tom's findings here can be fixed with an expansion? That is an expansion that gives more card manipulation and the other 1 or 2 things he said the game lacked in?
If so, then the game has potential, right? Either way, I may like the game, but it may not rise highly in my favorites even within the theme.
BTW (by the way), even though I do like Carson City more than Deadwood, Deadwood is still fun and it also has duels with worker placement.
I'm glad to see that Tom appears to be slowly lowering his distaste for the Tiny Epic Series. He still "rolled his eyes" during the Board Game Breakfast news of Tiny Epic Quest, but I was surprised to see him be a little more forgiving in this review. My only comment on the review is with the remark about "It's not like you can bluff in this game." Which was backed up by Jason's comment on simply giving up and going for a guaranteed resource spot. My thinking is that if you are placing your meeple on a poker hand bonus win, you are sublimely indicating to other players that you have a "good hand" and they should duel you (possibly causing them to reveal their card or giving up resources or losing the duel and forfeiting a spot)....several consequences for what I believe could be bluffing. I could also be talking nonsense : ) Thank you for reviewing this game.
He gave a quick review here of the other 3 Tiny Epics, and he didn't have distaste, he said he disliked 1, liked 1, and the other was ok, thus his view was all over.
I quite enjoy the game with a you tube comment house rule below. also thinking about a fun house rule to spice up the duals. it was a little brain burny at times for some weird reason and took a bit to get a flow of the game, but the theme is awesome imo. poker is the wild west fellas and three hand poker exists. manipulating the cards works well for doomtown but not sure how it would work in a smaller footprint game. thanks for the review!
shadows of brimstone is a great western theme game
Here are my favorites in order, the number represents it's place in my top 100:
4. Bang! the card game: I know a lot of people have abandoned this game, and the Dice Tower has mentioned it being replaced in previous years and videos. But if played with the right expansions, many complaints are fixed. Of coarse my set has lots of bling, including costume pieces. And I am still looking forward to learning and playing the newest expansion that came out only a year ago or so (played it only twice so far).
5. Colt Express: I love this game, and just got done blinging out my copy. I bought some metal 3D money bags and glued them onto washers with the random dollar amounts on the bottom, I also bought some brown lego briefcases, and some small gems from the BGG store.
30. Bang! the dice game: Many people prefer this over the card game. I do like it, but as you see it is somewhat lower for me, but still a great game at #30. I have replaced my cardboard arrows with some small metal ones. This works well with my family and as a filler for my game group.
34. Boomtown: recently featured in the 1st Throat Punch Lunch, and after a year of not getting played, I did finally play this about a month ago. And it went over well and quite enjoyed it.
35. Carson City: This was a game I had to play 3 times before I decided how much I like it. And I do quite like it, as it's #35. Unlike Sam and Zee I do think it's better than Deadwood, but both are great games. I almost kickstarted the new edition but decided to just keep playing the original I have but because of the kickstarter, the expansion for the original became more available and ended up with 2 copies of the expansion super cheap, and traded one for the next game...
42. Pony Express: A couple months back I was looking for some more Old West games and found the Dice Tower's pod cast on the theme, it was older but that was ok, and this game was listed on Tom's top 10 for Old West games. I then watched his review and wanted it. It has a small dexterity element but that is only a small portion of the game mechanics and play. It is mostly a race game. But then I find out, the game is OOP (Out of print), not a single copy was on Ebay and had to trade for this. But I did so and got it and loved it. Great game, love it.
45. Deadwood: A game that Sam and Zee both have said in the past replaces Carson City. Also it plays very similarly to Sons of Anarchy, although I have not played that. I also helped create a fan based expansion you can find on BGG and can order the deck of cards from Artscow I put together. A very fun game, and perhaps my 1st worker placement game. While I like Carson City more, this is still a fantastic game. You can find the game at Target.
71. High Noon Saloon: I think I watched an Undead Viking review on this one before buying it. I have only played it twice, and over a year ago and needs more plays. But it is basicly an old west Tavern brawl/shoot out. Perhaps the smallest game board ever too! More plays may move my rank higher. It recently was on sale for only $9.
You ought to look at Spurs, my favorite Western game!
I have played the Bang! card game over 50 times easily with the same group of friends, so much fun
How is this a Jason Levine series, when Tom is talking most of the time?
Jason, is that a wicked farmers tan?
I think I will stick to Doomtown Reloaded.
I agree
Tfw you're really excited about getting a game and the reviews are pretty meh :(
Really? Most of the reviews I've seen have been pretty positive. Tom just doesn't get into Scott Almes' games as much, for whatever reason.
yes, and tom's review is pretty positive too.
I just ordered this through the Tiny Epic Galaxies expansion campaign on Kickstarter so I hope it's better than what these clowns just said.