I only discovered your channel recently and I have to say that it is such a breath of fresh air from all the channels that droning on about the games endless without any real unique style. I love the honest and bold approach with the humor, finally somebody who curses and doesn't promote an overly sanitized content that lacks any edge or character. It just feels far more authentic. I sincerely like your reviews and the way you explain the games. Hope to see more content in the future, cheers!
@@BoardGameBollocks Your reviews are the bee's knees. Your vids are well edited, to the point, and give not only the interesting bits, but also where the games fall flat. I found the pitfalls useful in determining if certain people in my group will endure the rougher parts. The rules summary is excellent in helping me determine if I would even bother with the game.
Thanks for the review! 🤠🤘 FYI Endless Winter was "done" before Arnak and Dune I came out. It just took way longer to hit the market due to KS and logistics issues. Any similarities are purely coincidental. But it is kinda shocking how all three games popped up around the same time. Emergence is strange like that...
Arnak and Dune Imperium released to retail (which means their development & playtesting was all completed) before Endless winter had even finished crowdfunding on Kickstarter and I've never seen a game hit Kickstarter that had completed its development, unless it's a reprint, so the similarities may be coincidental but I very much doubt that the devs didn't play Arnak & Dune before locking down Endless Winter development...too many similar mechanics to be coincidental (i.e. Eclipse etc).
@@UKDagnar I am the lead developer. I assure you none of the Fantasia team had played either, including me at the time. We heard things and comparisons about around the fall then Arnak was coming out, and so sought out copies to see first hand what similarities warranted the comparisons. But that was months after the KS of EW by the time we played either (given there was no Essen on 2020). The similarities are purely coincidental and we could show proof of the early EW prototype and TTS mods that predated the releases of the others. And this isn’t funny business. I’m friends with Paul Dennen and know a handful of folks at CGE. These games all sprung forward around the same time, developed in isolation (especially given the lockdowns). Plagiarism isn’t a word I take lightly, thus what prompted the comment. That’s all. No ill feelings.
So you’re saying none of the mechanics were lifted from other games? I find that hard to believe as nearly all of them have appeared in other titles. I don’t think I mentioned Arnak in the review tbf. Still made a decent game and we enjoy playing it quite a bit.
@@BoardGameBollocks “Lifted” is another fighting term, let’s say “inspired” or “influenced by.” As a music critic, saying the Beatles “stole” from Elvis who “stole” from (underrepresented) blues musicians is one way to look at it. Or complaining about hip hop songs sampling beats and riffs from obscure 70s funk as plagiarism-it creates contention. I prefer how Dizzy would say it about Louis Armstrong: “No him, no me.” We just gotta honor our influences, especially the pioneers of the craft. EW was certainly inspired and derived from some well known games before it. No Dominion, no deck building. No Stone Age/Caylus/Agricola, no worker placement. No Catan, no hex terrain map. There’s a ton of DNA from modern classic euro games in there. I just wanted to be clear that EW was not lifting ideas from the other two games it gets compared to all the time, Dune and Arnak-neither of them were influential on the design, despite some similarities. That’s all. It’s a common misconception due to the EW arriving in stores roughly two years after the others.
Not sure what you’re talking about mate. Caylus wasn’t the first worker placement game and Catan most certainly wasn’t the first Hex based game by a number of decades. Using a musical analogy to justify a board game related point is like using cheese to prove that God exists. The two things are completely unrelated. I can sense you’re getting increasingly irate so let’s just leave it there before you lose your rag.
own it - tried to play at 2 players, with unpacking, set up, and learning while we read the rules we were at an hour in before we were taking our first turns. decided to try again some other time. Note on designers "coming up with their own shit" that's a valid thing to wish for but I feel it's nearly impossible NOT to borrow somewhat from something that already exists at this stage of the hobby - A TRULY new mechs happen once every couple years, by and large, I think most designers are aiming for combinations, subversions or light notes of pre-existing mechanisms THEN trying to flawlessly pair it with an intuitive synergy of theme and rules to create a unique and memorable experience VS a new one. It's all a balancing act trying to properly scale components, art, theme, core mechanism, table presence, duration, player count, foot print, and costs - there is a lot. Love the video - we want to send you games.
I talked myself out of this one after watching a few playthroughs. I did end up backing Unconscious Minds as psychology is a passion of mine, but I'm concerned about the bloat in that one too. Fingers crossed.
I have to agree about the player count. The designers made the turn order maybe THE most important priority in the game. The more people are added to the game the more important that turn order becomes. So at 4 players it's knives out for that first player spot. Because if you're 4th you're losing. The setup is really rough. I have the expansions and haven't touched them. Because I'm tired by the time the base game is setup, and I don't want to deal with even more setup and rules overhead.
Avoiding like Ebola...Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Dude you're wild. Now în all honesty I was looking after an honest review and I bloody found it. I also don't have the stomach and age to spend hours to set up a game and the fact that mimics other games and occupy a giant table make me not buying this game so thank you for another brilliant, honest and hilarious review.
I was curious about the "Paleoamericans" thing, you learn something new everyday I guess. Paleo-Indians, Paleoindians or Paleo-Americans were the first peoples who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the Americas during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period.
@@BoardGameBollocks The Pleistocene, often referred to colloquially as the Ice Age is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. "And" A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Ok! that's all the learning my primitive brain can handle today, I'm out!
“Some people may accuse this of being just a soulless Eurogame..” - sorry did you call? Worker placement, endless tracks in sufficient profusion to imply many paths to victory, but little direct player interaction, garish and confusing iconography everywhere, mechanisms collected from older games and remixed as something new and a Kick$hitter product with eleven expansions released simultaneously. Nah, what’s not to like?
This is one of those games where I asked myself "how could a brand new game never before published have SO MUCH expansion content right out of the gate?" Seemed bloated on kickstarter and the considerable number of copies I saw being unloaded second hand online was a red flag to stay away from this shelf hog.
Lol, no! He is Steve Coogan, because he and Steve Coogan are both British. Sure thats the only similarity, but they are the same person! Dumbass chucklefuck.
Its interesting to me how people complain about the set up of the game - does it take any longer to set up than any other euro game ? Odin, Arnak, Viticulture ?? They are all similar... Everyone has their likes and dislikes - personally I think its a really good game in a pretty crowded genre of "meh" games....
Setup time in my opinion is quite a bit longer than Arnak, and similar time for a fully sorted Odin box. I do really like this game tho. My biggest thing was table space wowee.. i have a big table so we could fit it, however craning our necks to see the idol board and or the monument thingy.
I really like this game (including the expansions). That said, I am a huge fan of the T-series games, so this style of more point salad worker placement euro. Sure, if you are coming at this from a background of Risk-inspired "dudes on a board" games this will bore the tits off you, but then why would you do that to yourself in the first place?
I find that the area control is the most OP strategy there is. It’s unbalanced and there is just too much bloat which is made even worse with the expansions. I still have my copy for NOW but it will be unloaded in the future.
"if euro worker-placement games are your substitute for illegal drugs" - Yes, they are and they are even better when you are playing them under those same drugs xD
I only discovered your channel recently and I have to say that it is such a breath of fresh air from all the channels that droning on about the games endless without any real unique style. I love the honest and bold approach with the humor, finally somebody who curses and doesn't promote an overly sanitized content that lacks any edge or character. It just feels far more authentic. I sincerely like your reviews and the way you explain the games. Hope to see more content in the future, cheers!
Thanks for the kind words…you’re going to give me a big head
@@BoardGameBollocks Just keep doing you, great content. Greetings from Luxembourg
Jason Statham reviews boardgames.
I’m his stunt double
Same here. I’ve been binge watching ever since. Cheers 👍😎🇦🇺
Great channel, I'm binge watching all of the reviews.
Tell me what they’re like as I don’t watch my own stuff once it in the wild
@@BoardGameBollocks Your reviews are the bee's knees. Your vids are well edited, to the point, and give not only the interesting bits, but also where the games fall flat. I found the pitfalls useful in determining if certain people in my group will endure the rougher parts. The rules summary is excellent in helping me determine if I would even bother with the game.
Thanks for the review! 🤠🤘
FYI Endless Winter was "done" before Arnak and Dune I came out. It just took way longer to hit the market due to KS and logistics issues. Any similarities are purely coincidental. But it is kinda shocking how all three games popped up around the same time. Emergence is strange like that...
Arnak and Dune Imperium released to retail (which means their development & playtesting was all completed) before Endless winter had even finished crowdfunding on Kickstarter and I've never seen a game hit Kickstarter that had completed its development, unless it's a reprint, so the similarities may be coincidental but I very much doubt that the devs didn't play Arnak & Dune before locking down Endless Winter development...too many similar mechanics to be coincidental (i.e. Eclipse etc).
@@UKDagnar I am the lead developer. I assure you none of the Fantasia team had played either, including me at the time. We heard things and comparisons about around the fall then Arnak was coming out, and so sought out copies to see first hand what similarities warranted the comparisons. But that was months after the KS of EW by the time we played either (given there was no Essen on 2020). The similarities are purely coincidental and we could show proof of the early EW prototype and TTS mods that predated the releases of the others. And this isn’t funny business. I’m friends with Paul Dennen and know a handful of folks at CGE. These games all sprung forward around the same time, developed in isolation (especially given the lockdowns). Plagiarism isn’t a word I take lightly, thus what prompted the comment. That’s all. No ill feelings.
So you’re saying none of the mechanics were lifted from other games? I find that hard to believe as nearly all of them have appeared in other titles.
I don’t think I mentioned Arnak in the review tbf.
Still made a decent game and we enjoy playing it quite a bit.
@@BoardGameBollocks “Lifted” is another fighting term, let’s say “inspired” or “influenced by.” As a music critic, saying the Beatles “stole” from Elvis who “stole” from (underrepresented) blues musicians is one way to look at it. Or complaining about hip hop songs sampling beats and riffs from obscure 70s funk as plagiarism-it creates contention. I prefer how Dizzy would say it about Louis Armstrong: “No him, no me.” We just gotta honor our influences, especially the pioneers of the craft.
EW was certainly inspired and derived from some well known games before it. No Dominion, no deck building. No Stone Age/Caylus/Agricola, no worker placement. No Catan, no hex terrain map. There’s a ton of DNA from modern classic euro games in there. I just wanted to be clear that EW was not lifting ideas from the other two games it gets compared to all the time, Dune and Arnak-neither of them were influential on the design, despite some similarities. That’s all. It’s a common misconception due to the EW arriving in stores roughly two years after the others.
Not sure what you’re talking about mate. Caylus wasn’t the first worker placement game and Catan most certainly wasn’t the first Hex based game by a number of decades.
Using a musical analogy to justify a board game related point is like using cheese to prove that God exists. The two things are completely unrelated.
I can sense you’re getting increasingly irate so let’s just leave it there before you lose your rag.
I was also 21 a couple of years ago. Weird.
Would love to see ur comparison between those 3, Arnak, Dune Imperium and Endless Winter.
Here we enjoyed more Arnak!
Arnak wins…just…maybe
@@BoardGameBollocks hahaha Arnak wins, the expansion is a masterpiece
Waiting for the new expansion…more stuff is perfect for this
own it - tried to play at 2 players, with unpacking, set up, and learning while we read the rules we were at an hour in before we were taking our first turns. decided to try again some other time. Note on designers "coming up with their own shit" that's a valid thing to wish for but I feel it's nearly impossible NOT to borrow somewhat from something that already exists at this stage of the hobby - A TRULY new mechs happen once every couple years, by and large, I think most designers are aiming for combinations, subversions or light notes of pre-existing mechanisms THEN trying to flawlessly pair it with an intuitive synergy of theme and rules to create a unique and memorable experience VS a new one. It's all a balancing act trying to properly scale components, art, theme, core mechanism, table presence, duration, player count, foot print, and costs - there is a lot. Love the video - we want to send you games.
Tywin Lannister got a new job it seems😅
Live the smoldering intensity.
I find that this game shines when playing solo. No major upkeep and not easy to win.
Keep the great videos coming!
I'll wait for the paleoeuropean version.
Got the game and two expansions sitting on the table for like 3 months now
just bought it second end, can't wait to check it out and decide whether you are right or wrong :D
Comment form the back "You can't polish a turd" but "You can roll it in glitter".
This looks great, thank you. Worth it for two players?
Yea I think so
I talked myself out of this one after watching a few playthroughs. I did end up backing Unconscious Minds as psychology is a passion of mine, but I'm concerned about the bloat in that one too. Fingers crossed.
I have to agree about the player count. The designers made the turn order maybe THE most important priority in the game. The more people are added to the game the more important that turn order becomes. So at 4 players it's knives out for that first player spot. Because if you're 4th you're losing.
The setup is really rough. I have the expansions and haven't touched them. Because I'm tired by the time the base game is setup, and I don't want to deal with even more setup and rules overhead.
Avoiding like Ebola...Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Dude you're wild. Now în all honesty I was looking after an honest review and I bloody found it. I also don't have the stomach and age to spend hours to set up a game and the fact that mimics other games and occupy a giant table make me not buying this game so thank you for another brilliant, honest and hilarious review.
I just came here for the outro music 🤘
It seems to me that giving players a worker less in round 1 and 2 is a superior variant. It makes the game both tighter and shorter.
"You can't polish a turd" - Challenge accepted... brb
Waiting for the JPG
Hahaha
I was curious about the "Paleoamericans" thing, you learn something new everyday I guess. Paleo-Indians, Paleoindians or Paleo-Americans were the first peoples who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the Americas during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period.
Never heard of the Plasticine period
@@BoardGameBollocks The Pleistocene, often referred to colloquially as the Ice Age is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. "And" A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Ok! that's all the learning my primitive brain can handle today, I'm out!
Nice copy and paste 👍🏻
@@BoardGameBollocks Cheers! it was hard work.
“Some people may accuse this of being just a soulless Eurogame..” - sorry did you call?
Worker placement, endless tracks in sufficient profusion to imply many paths to victory, but little direct player interaction, garish and confusing iconography everywhere, mechanisms collected from older games and remixed as something new and a Kick$hitter product with eleven expansions released simultaneously.
Nah, what’s not to like?
“It’s like Greenland in here” - Vivian Withnail 1987
This is one of those games where I asked myself "how could a brand new game never before published have SO MUCH expansion content right out of the gate?" Seemed bloated on kickstarter and the considerable number of copies I saw being unloaded second hand online was a red flag to stay away from this shelf hog.
Yea I’m trying to sell mine. I like it honestly. BUT it’s just to easy to do everything.
I'm going to e-mail Putin to try to get his table - excellent idea and I bet no other twat's thought of doing it yet.
I have…didn’t get a reply
Charles Dance I didn't know you like board games
Who?
@@BoardGameBollocks famous British actor who plays tywin Lannister in game of thrones
Yea I’m joking…Charles is much more well spoken than I
Lol, no! He is Steve Coogan, because he and Steve Coogan are both British. Sure thats the only similarity, but they are the same person! Dumbass chucklefuck.
Its interesting to me how people complain about the set up of the game - does it take any longer to set up than any other euro game ? Odin, Arnak, Viticulture ?? They are all similar... Everyone has their likes and dislikes - personally I think its a really good game in a pretty crowded genre of "meh" games....
Setup time in my opinion is quite a bit longer than Arnak, and similar time for a fully sorted Odin box. I do really like this game tho. My biggest thing was table space wowee.. i have a big table so we could fit it, however craning our necks to see the idol board and or the monument thingy.
I really like this game (including the expansions). That said, I am a huge fan of the T-series games, so this style of more point salad worker placement euro. Sure, if you are coming at this from a background of Risk-inspired "dudes on a board" games this will bore the tits off you, but then why would you do that to yourself in the first place?
I find that the area control is the most OP strategy there is. It’s unbalanced and there is just too much bloat which is made even worse with the expansions. I still have my copy for NOW but it will be unloaded in the future.
"if euro worker-placement games are your substitute for illegal drugs" - Yes, they are and they are even better when you are playing them under those same drugs xD
Double whammy
Cyril smith!? That's one niche audience reference that gives your/my age away.
Larger than life mate
So Putin bought his table to play Euro-games? 🤔
I heard he’s bang into war games
@@BoardGameBollocks OMG that's shocking news 🫢 I hope he'll study and understand the rule books 😌
No Boy George? Well, why didn't you mention that at the very first? !!! I only watched in the hope that there would be a Boy George appearance. He He
Careful what you wish for…
Not a Boy George fan? Is it the buggery or his voice?
Not sure I understand mate
@@BoardGameBollocks I mean your dont like him obviously I was just asking was it his voice or him being a weirdo?
I simply don’t like his music…and he wore a lime green smock once. Not good for my colour blindness…