As someone who has played the vast majority of games on the BGG top 25 (and hundreds of other games) I'm pretty comfortable saying this is the best competitive board game ever made. One thing most people don't seem to realize is this is a strategy game with no luck and perfect information. There are no cards to draw, there are no dice. The only element of luck is turn order in the first round. Don't confuse luck with random elements however -- every setup is different leading to endless replayability. Terraforming Mars is currently the highest-ranked non-cooperative game on BGG, and while I do absolutely love that game, there is an enormous amount of luck involved making it less suitable for a competitive board game group. Even using the alternate rules and drafting cards rather than drawing them (which should honestly be the base way the game is played, not a recommended "variant") has large elements of luck. The game ranked right behind it, Through the Ages, is even more luck heavy. Terra Mystica has the same no luck, perfect information philosophy and there is a thriving online competitive community that plays in a full promotion-relegation league. Gaia Project will one day take over as it gains in popularity. For me, Gaia Project is the modern day chess, made better by randomized setups (meaning strategy rather than memorization is what matters). If you have a board game group that is serious about competitive games this game is THE must own game.
I have also played the vast majority of games on the BGG top 25 (and thousands of other games), but I don't think that means that this is the best game ever made. I'm glad you enjoy it, though!!!
I said best competitive board game, not best board game. There is a big difference, as I know lots of people who are into things like Cards Against Humanity that would hate Gaia Project. But I am confident saying, after hundreds of games of Gaia and dozens of games of Through the Ages and Terraforming Mars that Gaia is a better competitive game. I see Brass: Birmingham has now overtaken both as the top competitive game on the list, and I don't have enough plays of it yet to form a strong opinion, but early impression is that it doesn't touch Gaia for competitive play. Since my post I found an new online community playing an online version of Gaia. I anticipate it won't be long at all before it overtakes Terra Mystica as the top online modern board game played competitively. Of course thanks to Hikaru's Twitch channel chess is also seeing a renaissance online!
I fully agree with that assesment. The game has a incredible depth starting with the faction picking based on the setup (which has more than 10 to the power of 25 possibilities..). I have played close to a hundred games and still love every play of it. Interesting fact: After the success of the AlphaGo and AlphaZero systems they tried to tackle this game with similar deep learning approaches. And they failed. They did not get it to work. It is a pity that it is not more popular since it could be the next frontiert in a game with perfect information where mankind beats the AIs after Chess and Go were lost...
Tom's wrong about the genius design of the power system, but otherwise I'm glad GP made the system more intuitive so he can sense how great it truly is.
I understood the power system better and liked it's implementation and optionality described and deployed here, it does seems like a unique system that forces hard choices and planning.
I adore this game, and I kind of wish they'd had Ryan Metzler do the review (or maybe an "Every Game is Awesome" with Jason); but, of the 3 (Tom, Zee, and Sam), I'm glad it was Tom. Rules mistakes aside, he was very fair to the game.
I think Ryan and Jason do reviews now on their own prerogative. Jason lives too far away from the office, I don't expect to really see "Every Game is Awesome" much anymore.
oh, i knew factions could be automated, but i didn't know you could play it completely solo... interesting ... a lot of games are going that way it seems
Just played this tonight (had never played terra mystica). Tie for 1st between two very different strategies. 2nd and 3rd had decent spacing behind. I liked that result. Wasn't a score with razor thin margins between all players like you sometimes get with dense euros. 2 other players had some experience with TM but it had been a while.
Honestly, Terra Mystica offers most of these elements that you like in Gaia Project. And Helge told me that there is a new Terra Mystica expansion coming. I bet it will feature many of the new design choices in Gaia Project. You could easily paste the Terra Mystica theme onto Gaia Project.
Well, the tech tree beats the "race for points" church tracks hands down, and the modular board - unless TM "retrofits" both of those, GP will remain better.
Had my first game of this tonight and then watched this review. I definitely felt the point of trying to figure out the timing. I had a plan and then would sit there trying to remember the order i had to do it all in to execute correctly
I've been so torn over whether to get this or Terra Mystica. Would love if someone from Dice Tower did a comparison video! Thanks so much for all your awesome reviews- they help me so much :)
Thanks :) Out of curiosity, are they different enough to warrant having both? I've read a lot of reviews and comments, and I think I just ended up more torn than I was beforehand.
Kit Rose Personally yes, I will probably keep both (after thinking about it) as sometimes I’m in a sci-fi “mood” and sometimes I prefer a fantasy game - and Gaia isn’t just a direct reskin, it does have different tactics and ideas, mainly due to how spaced out the planets are. I’m playing again tonight with a larger group so will see how different it is then. Oh and Gaia is soloable, as it has an automa system in the box - and it’s hard but fun
To me they are about equal if you have the Terra Mystica expansions. I'm hoping that Gaia Project gets an expansion with more stuff as the races don't feel different enough in my eyes.
Hmm, well I just bought Gloomhaven so I'm a bit tapped financially now anyways. I'll see if I can get a chance to play them or at least watch a comparison video. I will say the board looks nicer for Gaia Project and I've heard that there's more replayability. Though I was also drawn to the tactics needed in Terra Mystica due to territories being directly next to each other, but I haven't heard much about how the spacing changes that. As long as both are just as strategic I may go for Gaia Project. Thanks for your help :)
@2:10 these are swamp planets, not dead planets. (Ambas & Taklon home Planets) Transdim Planets are required to be Gaia-formed prior to becoming active. @9:30 as Ivits, satellites cost 1 Q.I.C. Gaia Project is one of the best board games ever designed.
I feel this is much more accessible, just talking as an informed bystander, than terra mystica ... less area control, and overall more approachable, and i enjoy the themeage
Review coming out next week - it's very enjoyable and beats the original TM - however it is basically TM 1.5 - it's so similar that I can't recommend that people sell the original just to get this one unless you're made of money. But if you're new to TM, then go for it!
If you didn't really like TM because it felt like the goals and race combo determined how you had to play too much, is GP likely to change that opinion?
I think the goals don't, but as a particular race you should at least aim to make the most of your racial ability or board setup economy wise. The tech tracks do allow for more variation though as it's hard to level them all up.
Fantastic review! but I still need to dive into Pulsar 2849 before buying any other space games. I say this tying to convince myself I wont but another game.
I got to disagree with you Tom. The power recycle is one of the best mechanics in games ever. It makes the game demanding and hard to calculate. The point of Gaia Project is that EVERY player can have fun even if they constantly lose. You learn new things in every game, since there are countless options. Even if you play the same race back to back, you will notice that no two plays are ever the same.
See, for me I felt the races were largely very bland in comparison to Terra Mystica ones. I'm hoping that an expansion for Gaia Project will push it into more crazy stuff and then it will take over Terra Mystica in my eyes. Right now Terra Mystica + expansion is equal to Gaia Project. But if Gaia Project got *just a little bit more* then I could see it becoming even better.
The art in this game - especially on the player boards at say 4:02 - remind me of Terraforming Mars. Unfortunately, that's not a good thing, IMO. Look at those giant red boxes on the board, with only a hint of bezel around the edges. They could have easily applied a texture, say the appearance of metal grain, to those inlays and given the game a more modern feel at almost zero additional cost (ie, about 5 minutes on Photoshop...) Even the font is boring and unimaginative, and the simple depictions of squares/hexes/circles with the numbers in them - just looking at the player board gives me no desire to actually play the game. Artwork is important, folks...
Functionality is important too. I'll take a clean design over something "pretty" but less grokable any day. Also, to each his own, but you are incredibly picky if a lack of bezels is keeping you away from a game.
I may be in the few minority that feel that Terraforming Mars Artwork "works" for the game. It isn't ground breaking but it's functional. Here I feel the same way to an extent but I like it less here. Still this isn't any where near the worst artwork I've seen for a board game
Toms still is wrong on the "power cycle speed": no matter how many tokens you have, the tokens do not move slower or faste, see boardgamegeek.com/thread/1172698/effect-token-sacrifice-your-power-engine-speed.
Simon Villar did you mean "as time goes by"? Because yes, I'd appreciate the around 20 bucks. I don't know if Tom will see this and I am probably being picky but it is frustrating to hear a phrase over and over again (like when Sam was stuck in his "and so on and so forth" rut. Since I'm being a big mouth I haven't appreciated (though I've tried to think of both sides) Tom's apparent decision since last year to always say a game 'was' in past tense. Like 'Clank was a deck-builder that.. '. These games all still exist and it just sounds wrong for several reasons.
This game is definetely the Holy Grail of boardgaming! The only game you could prefer is Terra Mystica. No discussion about that, because this would be blasphemy! :D
Was terrified once friend announced this for game night and I looked over the game play. Went in trying to enjoy it, didn't, and knew I wouldn't. Game was super dry for my tastes, could never really get into it.
Essentially the same as Terra Mystica with a space theme and a few tweaks then. Was amazed at how much I disliked playing TM so will give this a pass. It does look better though.
Watch Zee's Board Game Blender "Under the Radar" segments for a ton of them.
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Those are just games without attention :) The word 'overrated' is meaningless without explaining it. It's the same like saying 'Terra Mystica is sh*t', but less rude. Sorry, I just wanted to explain how much I hate this word, when used as a criticism.
I own and like TM well enough. As for GP that's why I'm here watching this review to see if it's different enough to warrant consideration. The art was one of my only major detractions of TM and this appears to be a step back. Many of the "differences" appear tacked on. Just stating an opinion.
I have played both and like both, and there is value to GP if you want more TM with a spin on it. I agree with Tom that the technology track feels more meaningful in GP than the cult track in TM, as it can grant bonuses that add a nice extra layer of decisions. That said, I agree that the game is ugly. TM might not be the prettiest belle on the block, but the visual theme is consistent and comes together well enough. To me, the boards and the graphic design in GP just look... cheap. I am usually not a wood snob, but I actually strongly prefer TM's wooden pieces to the plastic pieces in GP, as well. The game is $100 MSRP, so I will just wait for it to go on sale before I grab it. It has enough for me to be different from TM, but I can play TM in the meantime until the price calms down a little.
sorry man. I love your channel, your crew and your video's but this one gave me a 'monday morning' feeling. The reference card you mention is actually an automa card, no blue tech tiles on the board, the function of the federation tokens???,... Still love you guys
A bizarre comment amongst bizarre comments on TH-cam. If I thought a reviewer would ever pretend to play a game and then post a review of it, I would never even go to their channel.
Ugh. Great review, Tom ;), but this is basicallly Terra Mystica. All. Over. Again. Terrible game then, terrible game now. Couldn't believe the hype then, can't now.
Seeing the way Tom treats components between the component drops and the way he tosses boards around still makes me twitchy...
His game, he does whatever he wants with it
@@lpdude72 yeah, note to self, don’t let Tom play with your games!
Takes up a lot of space on the table... stellar production...
I see you.
As someone who has played the vast majority of games on the BGG top 25 (and hundreds of other games) I'm pretty comfortable saying this is the best competitive board game ever made. One thing most people don't seem to realize is this is a strategy game with no luck and perfect information. There are no cards to draw, there are no dice. The only element of luck is turn order in the first round. Don't confuse luck with random elements however -- every setup is different leading to endless replayability.
Terraforming Mars is currently the highest-ranked non-cooperative game on BGG, and while I do absolutely love that game, there is an enormous amount of luck involved making it less suitable for a competitive board game group. Even using the alternate rules and drafting cards rather than drawing them (which should honestly be the base way the game is played, not a recommended "variant") has large elements of luck. The game ranked right behind it, Through the Ages, is even more luck heavy.
Terra Mystica has the same no luck, perfect information philosophy and there is a thriving online competitive community that plays in a full promotion-relegation league. Gaia Project will one day take over as it gains in popularity. For me, Gaia Project is the modern day chess, made better by randomized setups (meaning strategy rather than memorization is what matters).
If you have a board game group that is serious about competitive games this game is THE must own game.
I have also played the vast majority of games on the BGG top 25 (and thousands of other games), but I don't think that means that this is the best game ever made. I'm glad you enjoy it, though!!!
I said best competitive board game, not best board game. There is a big difference, as I know lots of people who are into things like Cards Against Humanity that would hate Gaia Project. But I am confident saying, after hundreds of games of Gaia and dozens of games of Through the Ages and Terraforming Mars that Gaia is a better competitive game. I see Brass: Birmingham has now overtaken both as the top competitive game on the list, and I don't have enough plays of it yet to form a strong opinion, but early impression is that it doesn't touch Gaia for competitive play.
Since my post I found an new online community playing an online version of Gaia. I anticipate it won't be long at all before it overtakes Terra Mystica as the top online modern board game played competitively. Of course thanks to Hikaru's Twitch channel chess is also seeing a renaissance online!
I fully agree with that assesment. The game has a incredible depth starting with the faction picking based on the setup (which has more than 10 to the power of 25 possibilities..). I have played close to a hundred games and still love every play of it. Interesting fact: After the success of the AlphaGo and AlphaZero systems they tried to tackle this game with similar deep learning approaches. And they failed. They did not get it to work. It is a pity that it is not more popular since it could be the next frontiert in a game with perfect information where mankind beats the AIs after Chess and Go were lost...
Tom's wrong about the genius design of the power system, but otherwise I'm glad GP made the system more intuitive so he can sense how great it truly is.
I understood the power system better and liked it's implementation and optionality described and deployed here, it does seems like a unique system that forces hard choices and planning.
I adore this game, and I kind of wish they'd had Ryan Metzler do the review (or maybe an "Every Game is Awesome" with Jason); but, of the 3 (Tom, Zee, and Sam), I'm glad it was Tom. Rules mistakes aside, he was very fair to the game.
I think Ryan and Jason do reviews now on their own prerogative. Jason lives too far away from the office, I don't expect to really see "Every Game is Awesome" much anymore.
I bought it because of the artwork ;) i like it very much espacialy the solomode.
oh, i knew factions could be automated, but i didn't know you could play it completely solo... interesting ... a lot of games are going that way it seems
Loving this game - 3 plays now and it gets better each time.
This definitely deserves more than just a Seal of Approval. It is an excellent game.
@@jcatterwaul A lie.
Just played this tonight (had never played terra mystica). Tie for 1st between two very different strategies. 2nd and 3rd had decent spacing behind. I liked that result. Wasn't a score with razor thin margins between all players like you sometimes get with dense euros. 2 other players had some experience with TM but it had been a while.
Honestly, Terra Mystica offers most of these elements that you like in Gaia Project. And Helge told me that there is a new Terra Mystica expansion coming. I bet it will feature many of the new design choices in Gaia Project. You could easily paste the Terra Mystica theme onto Gaia Project.
Well, the tech tree beats the "race for points" church tracks hands down, and the modular board - unless TM "retrofits" both of those, GP will remain better.
Plus, the theme fits better, IMHO
Had my first game of this tonight and then watched this review. I definitely felt the point of trying to figure out the timing. I had a plan and then would sit there trying to remember the order i had to do it all in to execute correctly
timing seems key ... possibly merciless, not sure
I've been so torn over whether to get this or Terra Mystica. Would love if someone from Dice Tower did a comparison video! Thanks so much for all your awesome reviews- they help me so much :)
Get this one - as an owner of both this is hands down better. Better rules, better feel.
Thanks :) Out of curiosity, are they different enough to warrant having both? I've read a lot of reviews and comments, and I think I just ended up more torn than I was beforehand.
Kit Rose Personally yes, I will probably keep both (after thinking about it) as sometimes I’m in a sci-fi “mood” and sometimes I prefer a fantasy game - and Gaia isn’t just a direct reskin, it does have different tactics and ideas, mainly due to how spaced out the planets are. I’m playing again tonight with a larger group so will see how different it is then.
Oh and Gaia is soloable, as it has an automa system in the box - and it’s hard but fun
To me they are about equal if you have the Terra Mystica expansions. I'm hoping that Gaia Project gets an expansion with more stuff as the races don't feel different enough in my eyes.
Hmm, well I just bought Gloomhaven so I'm a bit tapped financially now anyways. I'll see if I can get a chance to play them or at least watch a comparison video. I will say the board looks nicer for Gaia Project and I've heard that there's more replayability. Though I was also drawn to the tactics needed in Terra Mystica due to territories being directly next to each other, but I haven't heard much about how the spacing changes that. As long as both are just as strategic I may go for Gaia Project. Thanks for your help :)
Being that in his Clans of Caledonia review he compared it to Terra Mystica, I was hoping to hear a comparison of Gaia Project to Caledonia.
Yeah, a few thoughts or comments comparing these two would be fantastic.
me too. i am interested in both of them - not sure which one to get, or if they feel different enough to own both of them.
@2:10 these are swamp planets, not dead planets.
(Ambas & Taklon home Planets)
Transdim Planets are required to be Gaia-formed prior to becoming active.
@9:30 as Ivits, satellites cost 1 Q.I.C.
Gaia Project is one of the best board games ever designed.
I feel this is much more accessible, just talking as an informed bystander, than terra mystica ... less area control, and overall more approachable, and i enjoy the themeage
The review I've been waiting for!
Review coming out next week - it's very enjoyable and beats the original TM - however it is basically TM 1.5 - it's so similar that I can't recommend that people sell the original just to get this one unless you're made of money. But if you're new to TM, then go for it!
If you didn't really like TM because it felt like the goals and race combo determined how you had to play too much, is GP likely to change that opinion?
I think the goals don't, but as a particular race you should at least aim to make the most of your racial ability or board setup economy wise. The tech tracks do allow for more variation though as it's hard to level them all up.
this game seems more approachable and friendly to me
Fantastic review! but I still need to dive into Pulsar 2849 before buying any other space games. I say this tying to convince myself I wont but another game.
Were you able to maintain this self-inflicted rule?
I've tried (and failed) with similar rules for myself.
Thus curious.
Any chance you or Jason could do a video comparing and contrasting this game to Terra Mystica?
I'd also be happy with Zee or Sam.
Zee playing this or Terra Mystica? Fat chance. This has Jason written all over it though.
This made me think of the game Eclipse.
I'll probably pick it up. I adore Terra Mystica but you gotta play it with nerds otherwise it feels like doing taxes
I got to disagree with you Tom. The power recycle is one of the best mechanics in games ever. It makes the game demanding and hard to calculate. The point of Gaia Project is that EVERY player can have fun even if they constantly lose. You learn new things in every game, since there are countless options. Even if you play the same race back to back, you will notice that no two plays are ever the same.
interesting description... kind of reminds me of a vital lacerda type game, except i find his games too dry (from my bystander assessment).
Taklons crying when Tom points to their home planet and calls it dead :(
See, for me I felt the races were largely very bland in comparison to Terra Mystica ones. I'm hoping that an expansion for Gaia Project will push it into more crazy stuff and then it will take over Terra Mystica in my eyes. Right now Terra Mystica + expansion is equal to Gaia Project. But if Gaia Project got *just a little bit more* then I could see it becoming even better.
It's not a point salad game at all. You can do a lot of stuff, and score crap for points.
interesting, yes, looks like you have to be strategic what you engage in (strategize for) and where you place
11:44 That's the terraform step for automa in the solo game, don't use it in multiplayers.
thanks for clarifying
The art in this game - especially on the player boards at say 4:02 - remind me of Terraforming Mars. Unfortunately, that's not a good thing, IMO. Look at those giant red boxes on the board, with only a hint of bezel around the edges. They could have easily applied a texture, say the appearance of metal grain, to those inlays and given the game a more modern feel at almost zero additional cost (ie, about 5 minutes on Photoshop...) Even the font is boring and unimaginative, and the simple depictions of squares/hexes/circles with the numbers in them - just looking at the player board gives me no desire to actually play the game. Artwork is important, folks...
Functionality is important too. I'll take a clean design over something "pretty" but less grokable any day.
Also, to each his own, but you are incredibly picky if a lack of bezels is keeping you away from a game.
I may be in the few minority that feel that Terraforming Mars Artwork "works" for the game. It isn't ground breaking but it's functional. Here I feel the same way to an extent but I like it less here. Still this isn't any where near the worst artwork I've seen for a board game
10/10, one of the best games with the greatest solo mode for Euro games I have tried.
1:09 It should go without saying review =/= rules overview.
best game of 2017 walalalA
Toms still is wrong on the "power cycle speed": no matter how many tokens you have, the tokens do not move slower or faste, see boardgamegeek.com/thread/1172698/effect-token-sacrifice-your-power-engine-speed.
Can I have a buck for every time Tom says "grandiose"? pls haha jk Tom, love you, and the channel content, keep it up
Simon Villar did you mean "as time goes by"? Because yes, I'd appreciate the around 20 bucks.
I don't know if Tom will see this and I am probably being picky but it is frustrating to hear a phrase over and over again (like when Sam was stuck in his "and so on and so forth" rut.
Since I'm being a big mouth I haven't appreciated (though I've tried to think of both sides) Tom's apparent decision since last year to always say a game 'was' in past tense. Like 'Clank was a deck-builder that.. '. These games all still exist and it just sounds wrong for several reasons.
TM is my top rated game. This looks very 'busy' to me, not a fan of the look of the game, and too similar to TM for me to want to buy it.
This game is definetely the Holy Grail of boardgaming! The only game you could prefer is Terra Mystica. No discussion about that, because this would be blasphemy! :D
high praise
Was terrified once friend announced this for game night and I looked over the game play. Went in trying to enjoy it, didn't, and knew I wouldn't. Game was super dry for my tastes, could never really get into it.
Anyone else get twilight emperium vibes?
Essentially the same as Terra Mystica with a space theme and a few tweaks then. Was amazed at how much I disliked playing TM so will give this a pass.
It does look better though.
I'm with Tom, Terra Mystica is very overrated imho.
Agree...mechanisms for mechanisms sake..
show me a non-overrated game please
Watch Zee's Board Game Blender "Under the Radar" segments for a ton of them.
Those are just games without attention :)
The word 'overrated' is meaningless without explaining it. It's the same like saying 'Terra Mystica is sh*t', but less rude. Sorry, I just wanted to explain how much I hate this word, when used as a criticism.
Under the Radar = underrated, deserving more attention because they are good games but no one talks about them (ie not overrated/over-hyped).
Essentially the same game as TM, but far uglier and fiddlier
Have you played it? Does not sound like you have since you cannot see the major differences.
I own and like TM well enough. As for GP that's why I'm here watching this review to see if it's different enough to warrant consideration. The art was one of my only major detractions of TM and this appears to be a step back. Many of the "differences" appear tacked on. Just stating an opinion.
I have played both and like both, and there is value to GP if you want more TM with a spin on it. I agree with Tom that the technology track feels more meaningful in GP than the cult track in TM, as it can grant bonuses that add a nice extra layer of decisions.
That said, I agree that the game is ugly. TM might not be the prettiest belle on the block, but the visual theme is consistent and comes together well enough. To me, the boards and the graphic design in GP just look... cheap. I am usually not a wood snob, but I actually strongly prefer TM's wooden pieces to the plastic pieces in GP, as well.
The game is $100 MSRP, so I will just wait for it to go on sale before I grab it. It has enough for me to be different from TM, but I can play TM in the meantime until the price calms down a little.
this is a good introduction video but, sorry to say, my doubts Tom really played the game.
I'm sorry to hear you think I'm a liar.
sorry man. I love your channel, your crew and your video's but this one gave me a 'monday morning' feeling. The reference card you mention is actually an automa card, no blue tech tiles on the board, the function of the federation tokens???,...
Still love you guys
🤤
A bizarre comment amongst bizarre comments on TH-cam. If I thought a reviewer would ever pretend to play a game and then post a review of it, I would never even go to their channel.
Ugh. Great review, Tom ;), but this is basicallly Terra Mystica.
All.
Over.
Again.
Terrible game then, terrible game now. Couldn't believe the hype then, can't now.
TM is the greatest game ever made
extremely overrated game. Not as strategical as the fiddliness suggests. Boring mechanichs.
Play Brass instead