I was wondering what a person so heavily invested in 51 state and IS will think about this game. It's great that you like it even more, it means it lives up to expectation and it's a great evolution of the series ;)
Thank you Zee for a great review, especially the rules and gameplay explanation part. It gives a very strong feeling what the game will be like. I pre-ordered Empires of the North a while ago, and was eagerly waiting for _any_ review, and I'm glad you did it first, now I just can't wait for my copy to arrive.
This video resulted in me buying Empires of The North! I'm into dystopian games, loved Zee's review of The Last Aurora (Awesome game!), and really want to buy 51st State, which is a bit pricey. So, I settled for Empires of The North to start with, and know it's going to be a great game night with this on the table!
Did you play with a different amount of players? I love Imperial Settlers with 2-3 but will never play with 4. This game looks like it will play with max player count much better.
I love the world of Neuroshima and may favor 51st over Imperial Settlers based on theme alone. I think the Imperial Settlers theme is much more mainstream and appealing to more people so I totally understand the shift to Imperial Settlers. All that being said, this is a great game. I love the flow. I love the factions and how different they play without using completely new rule sets but being very unique. I love the fact that the action donut (put a couple of fish in it and go ice fishing) is modular... the order of the actions make a change in tactics. I think the theme comes out more than ever and makes me take a second to actually read the card titles instead of just the powers. It is easier to teach and learn (subtleties aside). It also scales well because most actions are short. If everyone stays engaged, 4 players is not a problem. I personally love sailing and conquering the islands with a huge fleet of ships if I can pull it off.
Well you convinced me to look into this one. I had given up on Imperial Settlers because whenever I played it, I felt like I could never get my engine running before my opponent pulled away making it difficult to catch him.
Wooo! Haven't Imperial Settlers / 51st State been right up there at the top of Zee's list of favorite games? That speaks very well of Empires of the North; I mean, in addition to the glowing review. :)
Beautiful video!! Just a question.... i dont understand how works the card #176 in the Glenn Clan deck. It shows to be played either as a food field or as an upgrade to a food field, but since there are no other food field cards in thst whole deck i wonder when you would be able to use the upgrade ability. How does thid card work?
Been waiting for this review since I saw the title announcement; no better pulse check for me than if Zee likes a reimagination of one of his favorites. Now we get to watch Portal milk more money by releasing “new” factions.
So this game is a new game, its not an expansion? I mean you can play the original one with this at the same time? If so, which game you preffer? orignal or Empires of north?
Eh, Zee. I can understand that you love it, but your argument about interaction makes no sense. In North, using resources to just 'tap' opponents card seems by far the softest interaction possible. You would always find better use for axes on the sea. The player gets their card back anyway. In Settlers and 51st State there's actual interaction. The card is gone for good. Sure they get a foundation layer for further building, but it's a little thing compared to losing an effective cog in your machine for good.
Thanks for the review. As much as I like imperial settlers, it hasn't been getting to the table often. Mostly due to other games getting their time. I bought it mostly for the solo option and the campaign you can download makes it more interesting. This will likely be on my wish list. I have too much on my plate with the Dice Throne adventures KS, and I backed Roll Player expansion and am interested in margraves of valeria.
You should realize that the whole theme of the original is; “what if these despondent nations all tried to settle a foreign country at once” right? Thanks for the review Zee.
It looks like a designer developed North, added bunch of side mechanisms for the sake of it. And then developed a more thematic and elegant Settlers. And then finished with a deeper, more niche 51st State as magnum opus. But for some reason it's the other way around here. North seems to remove much of the depth for the sake of doing stuff differently. Less interaction, less elegant. Why?
Playing a solo game is just like playing a jigsaw puzzle. It's annoying to find people who consider this activity so embarrassing. It feels like they were trying to impose a taboo or a ban against others' free personal choices.
I was wondering if I'd like it, and it turns out it really bombed for me. I like the original much better, because of how raid works, and because it feels much tighter (yes, due to some non-thematic rules as well, but it works).
finds this game to be better because its newer … but there is clearly less options and less things to do in this gamve vs IMPERIAL SETTLERS ... you cant compare those two because they are REALLY different
Wow, he liked it better than regular Imperial Settlers, that's something coming from Zee. Just by that it was obvious he would give it a 10.
So glad he mentioned his thoughts on the solo mode! 👍
I was wondering what a person so heavily invested in 51 state and IS will think about this game. It's great that you like it even more, it means it lives up to expectation and it's a great evolution of the series ;)
Hey Zee, thanks for the great review! Does it replace Imperial Settlers for you or is the experience different enough to let them exist side by side?
Thank you Zee for a great review, especially the rules and gameplay explanation part. It gives a very strong feeling what the game will be like. I pre-ordered Empires of the North a while ago, and was eagerly waiting for _any_ review, and I'm glad you did it first, now I just can't wait for my copy to arrive.
Friend just picked this up for me at GenCon. I couldn't be more excited to get it and start playing. Love me a good engine builder.
This video resulted in me buying Empires of The North! I'm into dystopian games, loved Zee's review of The Last Aurora (Awesome game!), and really want to buy 51st State, which is a bit pricey. So, I settled for Empires of The North to start with, and know it's going to be a great game night with this on the table!
Did you play with a different amount of players? I love Imperial Settlers with 2-3 but will never play with 4. This game looks like it will play with max player count much better.
Could please someone answer that. That is also teh big question for me and the reason I got rid of Imperial Settlers.
I love the world of Neuroshima and may favor 51st over Imperial Settlers based on theme alone. I think the Imperial Settlers theme is much more mainstream and appealing to more people so I totally understand the shift to Imperial Settlers. All that being said, this is a great game. I love the flow. I love the factions and how different they play without using completely new rule sets but being very unique. I love the fact that the action donut (put a couple of fish in it and go ice fishing) is modular... the order of the actions make a change in tactics. I think the theme comes out more than ever and makes me take a second to actually read the card titles instead of just the powers. It is easier to teach and learn (subtleties aside). It also scales well because most actions are short. If everyone stays engaged, 4 players is not a problem. I personally love sailing and conquering the islands with a huge fleet of ships if I can pull it off.
Great vídeo! In your opinion its play better solo than 51 state master?
Well you convinced me to look into this one. I had given up on Imperial Settlers because whenever I played it, I felt like I could never get my engine running before my opponent pulled away making it difficult to catch him.
Is there going to be a live play through of this? I would love to see the game in action.
I saw your video and ordered the game. I‘m looking forward to the first game. I like your reviews 😊. Greetings from Germany. Stay healthy 🙋♀️
Have not played the earlier games so will pass on those and get this one. Thanks for the great review Zee!
Even Sam might like it because there are Vikings ! ahah
How does this compare to 51st State Master Set? I just got it yesterday.
Great review! Grats to Portal Games ;). I'm happy that I preordered this one.
Awesome Review Zee! Detailed & well articulated. Very much appreciated.
At least they printed the font bigger this time
Wooo! Haven't Imperial Settlers / 51st State been right up there at the top of Zee's list of favorite games? That speaks very well of Empires of the North; I mean, in addition to the glowing review. :)
i really liked imperial settlers it's one of my most played games aswel so i'm really excited to play this one.
As for artwork, I love it but as you said, when I first saw it I thought it was a "Imperial Settlers for kids"!
Wow. 10 ? Nice.
Beautiful video!! Just a question.... i dont understand how works the card #176 in the Glenn Clan deck. It shows to be played either as a food field or as an upgrade to a food field, but since there are no other food field cards in thst whole deck i wonder when you would be able to use the upgrade ability. How does thid card work?
Hi can someone tell me what that black box behind him is, what game is that ???
Great review! This one is definitely on my buy list.
Have they improved the font size?
Awesome!! I really liked Imperial Settlers, but this looks fantastic. Thank you Zee! I'm super excited to get this.
Looks great, has a lot of things I have been looking for in a game.
But $60?
That's MSRP, you'll get it for less. $42 at coolstuff
Been waiting for this review since I saw the title announcement; no better pulse check for me than if Zee likes a reimagination of one of his favorites.
Now we get to watch Portal milk more money by releasing “new” factions.
Wow if Zee gives this a green light that makes it a must buy!
at about 16:00 Zee calls three of the first four expansions ;)
Holy cow, a 10/10??? I never played imperial settlers because of the attacking
So this game is a new game, its not an expansion? I mean you can play the original one with this at the same time? If so, which game you preffer? orignal or Empires of north?
Funny, I didn't watch this until after I saw the week in review... because it looked like a cartoony kids game. Now I'm moderately intrigued.
Looks like a great one!
How does it play with the different player counts? Does this replace Imperial Settlers for you or are you keeping both in your collection?
I much prefer a set number of rounds to a race for 25 points. More variety in strategy.
Wow! Nice. Thanks.
Can’t wait for this!
Eh, Zee. I can understand that you love it, but your argument about interaction makes no sense. In North, using resources to just 'tap' opponents card seems by far the softest interaction possible. You would always find better use for axes on the sea. The player gets their card back anyway.
In Settlers and 51st State there's actual interaction. The card is gone for good. Sure they get a foundation layer for further building, but it's a little thing compared to losing an effective cog in your machine for good.
Pillage or R - Conquer eh?
Great review thank you
Thanks for the review. As much as I like imperial settlers, it hasn't been getting to the table often. Mostly due to other games getting their time. I bought it mostly for the solo option and the campaign you can download makes it more interesting. This will likely be on my wish list. I have too much on my plate with the Dice Throne adventures KS, and I backed Roll Player expansion and am interested in margraves of valeria.
That confirms it. Original Imperial Settlers is dead in the water.
You should realize that the whole theme of the original is; “what if these despondent nations all tried to settle a foreign country at once” right? Thanks for the review Zee.
It looks like a designer developed North, added bunch of side mechanisms for the sake of it. And then developed a more thematic and elegant Settlers. And then finished with a deeper, more niche 51st State as magnum opus. But for some reason it's the other way around here.
North seems to remove much of the depth for the sake of doing stuff differently. Less interaction, less elegant. Why?
Playing a solo game is just like playing a jigsaw puzzle. It's annoying to find people who consider this activity so embarrassing. It feels like they were trying to impose a taboo or a ban against others' free personal choices.
I was wondering if I'd like it, and it turns out it really bombed for me. I like the original much better, because of how raid works, and because it feels much tighter (yes, due to some non-thematic rules as well, but it works).
They didn't improve iconography, still tiny and hard to read. This sucks the joy out of the game.
I'm definitely afraid of card games...
finds this game to be better because its newer … but there is clearly less options and less things to do in this gamve vs IMPERIAL SETTLERS ... you cant compare those two because they are REALLY different