I like Fractured Sky because I think it is simple enough to get my family to play. Sure, complexity makes it more interesting for dedicated gamers and adds to the variability and long-term shelf life. But that complexity often becomes overwhelming for people who only dabble in the genre. The complexity in Fractured Sky for me is guessing where to go based on available information and reading into other players intentions rather than the game itself providing that mechanical complexity.
If you had to choose between Skyrise (Roxley) and Fractured Sky, which would you lean towards? Amusingly you gave them both a 4 and mentioned the same lack of variety as a con for both. I'm interested in this game but a lack of variety does seem like a bummer
All of the mentioned negatives are actually positives for me. My wife and I watched a playthrough and felt its rules are just heavy enough to possibly play this with family and friends. Our biggest negatives are the board design being hard to read the connecting lines to hex spots and of course how expensive the deluxe version is.
I had a similar feel, but with more going on in "Lock-Up". Some hidden area control, but not all hidden info, you choose the hidden components. I would label this one as a light to med-light game that I could teach almost anybody. Same weight as Astra, but gamers can elevate this with the bluffing and misdirection. For me there is just not enough going on to hold my attention.
I’m not too familiar with Lock Up but I’m curious now. I was comparing this to Blood Rage, Dune Imperium, Wonderlands War, and Andromeda’s Edge. But maybe it’s more similar to these other games.
Not that this is a bad thing, but I’ve yet too see a crowdfunding game put so much into advertising. Hah. I’ve seen more promotions, adds and play throughs show up on my feed than a new marvel movie.😂
This is what IV Studios does... nothing but a hype machine. They pay out of the ass for advertising and then expect their customers to pay for it. None of their games are worth the money they're asking for. Moonrakers is basically a color matching game with a Munchkin scoring system. Never even wanted to play Veiled Fate and Mythic Mischief is just an overpriced abstract game, although it is certainly their best game. Just not even remotely worth the cost. If they would just come down from their high horses, I think that would significantly help them out. I am clearly in the minority... but I am absolutely always willing to talk shit about IV, I see through their facade.
They really have gone hard on advertising. It's everywhere and seems to be with all the various influencers. I go on any social media or TH-cam and I can't scroll far without seeing it. It's got to the point I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.
@@7H3541N7 Yup. Can't be cheap to fly people out to your studio just to play your game. Of course, they will all have positive things to say after being treated like royalty. Seems like poor business ethics to me.
The thing about "replayability" of games that we boardgamer speaks of so much and hold so dearly. I am like you, I love variations in powers, set ups etc which spice things up but then again there is Chess, Go, Backgammon. It has been the same for quite some time and people play them again and again and again. So what is actually replayability when it comes down to it? I would say how engaging the game is and if you feel you either get pure joy from it or feel you can constantly challange yourself and have tight interesting games with friends. Just a few thoughts about replayability. =) In this game I think I do not need special powers ets cause the game is about outwitting your players. And yes it would be annoying to fall because someone else makes a bad call but that is part of the experience imo. Have a nice day! Great review!
The game seems appealing, but it's also missing something for me. I like the simplicity for sure... When getting into the hobby, I had a phase of adding more complex games in my librairy, which is great for a while, but when you collections gets bigger, it's harder to pull an old timer as you will likely need a big rule refresher. Now I try to aim for medium weight game if possible. Still, I would love if there was some asymmetric races and if the board was modular in some capacity. Seems that would add just enough variability to be more interesting.
As someone who has purchased veiled fate, moonrakers, and mythic mischief, I feel like it would be dishonorable not to get this game. IV’s quality, top tier customer service, as well as their excellent shipment timing is more than a reason that I’m sold on essentially anything they pump out! How is this game at 2players?
IV typically designs for larger player counts, except Mythic Mischief which is designed for two. This will require an automata player at two, and won't be as good at two.
If it's not the cost of the game, it's the vat and postage afterwards too. I know costs have gone up, but not to the degree that we're seeing right now with games.
Alex, have you played "Battle for Rokugan"? The hidden action and area control give me a similar feeling. There are more elements that differentiate Fractured Sky from thats one, but I feel like there is a similar tactile feeling between both games. Would you say it's close or not? (of course if you haven't played the former, naturally you don't have a point of comparison 😅)
Doesn’t play 6 players, doesn’t seem to have enough variability, and too expensive. I should have grabbed battle for rokugan before it went out of print. City of spies didn’t seem to get good reviews from what I remember. I was more comparing this one to blood rage, wonderlands war, dune imperium, and andromedas edge. Maybe that’s wrong though?
Wow.. super pricey for a game that you're looking for expansions before it's even released. I watched the playthru with tom/zee/paula and it feels like I'd not touch it again after a play or two. After seeing what the price point for the game is gunna be for me for delux this is gonna be a hard pass.
They actually define different personalities for the different factions, but mechanically they don't seem to have much impact if any at all. I wonder if that's a stretch goal or if they will launch it as an expansion or what are they planning? It's an odd decision to give such detailed personalities to each one faction and not use it on the game play nowadays
@rpwn_kt @BoardGameCo I asked on kickstarter apparently they didn't want to make it to complex, but with how much lore they wrote, if there are no gameplay mechanics around the fractions it doesn't matter. They are not going to put it in this kickstarter. Probably will be module in a second kickstarter like moonrakers titan or expansions for Mystic mischief in September
Maybe they should spend a bit less on making it pretty and marketing the hell out of it and instead spend a bit more on refining the gameplay. Also Alex this didn’t sound like a 4/5. You are being very polite. You made it sound like a 3/5
I hate the direction these board game reviews are going. All reviews tend to be on delux versions, and you can almost never find a proper review of the version I would be able to actually buy.
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I like Fractured Sky because I think it is simple enough to get my family to play. Sure, complexity makes it more interesting for dedicated gamers and adds to the variability and long-term shelf life. But that complexity often becomes overwhelming for people who only dabble in the genre. The complexity in Fractured Sky for me is guessing where to go based on available information and reading into other players intentions rather than the game itself providing that mechanical complexity.
If you had to choose between Skyrise (Roxley) and Fractured Sky, which would you lean towards? Amusingly you gave them both a 4 and mentioned the same lack of variety as a con for both. I'm interested in this game but a lack of variety does seem like a bummer
All of the mentioned negatives are actually positives for me. My wife and I watched a playthrough and felt its rules are just heavy enough to possibly play this with family and friends. Our biggest negatives are the board design being hard to read the connecting lines to hex spots and of course how expensive the deluxe version is.
Glad it was informative!
I had a similar feel, but with more going on in "Lock-Up". Some hidden area control, but not all hidden info, you choose the hidden components. I would label this one as a light to med-light game that I could teach almost anybody. Same weight as Astra, but gamers can elevate this with the bluffing and misdirection. For me there is just not enough going on to hold my attention.
I’m not too familiar with Lock Up but I’m curious now. I was comparing this to Blood Rage, Dune Imperium, Wonderlands War, and Andromeda’s Edge. But maybe it’s more similar to these other games.
Not that this is a bad thing, but I’ve yet too see a crowdfunding game put so much into advertising. Hah. I’ve seen more promotions, adds and play throughs show up on my feed than a new marvel movie.😂
They spent all their budget on advertisement so now they are charging $129+shipping for what it looks like $70-$80 worth of components at best.
This is what IV Studios does... nothing but a hype machine. They pay out of the ass for advertising and then expect their customers to pay for it. None of their games are worth the money they're asking for. Moonrakers is basically a color matching game with a Munchkin scoring system. Never even wanted to play Veiled Fate and Mythic Mischief is just an overpriced abstract game, although it is certainly their best game. Just not even remotely worth the cost. If they would just come down from their high horses, I think that would significantly help them out. I am clearly in the minority... but I am absolutely always willing to talk shit about IV, I see through their facade.
They really have gone hard on advertising. It's everywhere and seems to be with all the various influencers. I go on any social media or TH-cam and I can't scroll far without seeing it. It's got to the point I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.
@@7H3541N7 Yup. Can't be cheap to fly people out to your studio just to play your game. Of course, they will all have positive things to say after being treated like royalty. Seems like poor business ethics to me.
The thing about "replayability" of games that we boardgamer speaks of so much and hold so dearly. I am like you, I love variations in powers, set ups etc which spice things up but then again there is Chess, Go, Backgammon. It has been the same for quite some time and people play them again and again and again. So what is actually replayability when it comes down to it?
I would say how engaging the game is and if you feel you either get pure joy from it or feel you can constantly challange yourself and have tight interesting games with friends.
Just a few thoughts about replayability. =)
In this game I think I do not need special powers ets cause the game is about outwitting your players. And yes it would be annoying to fall because someone else makes a bad call but that is part of the experience imo.
Have a nice day! Great review!
The game seems appealing, but it's also missing something for me. I like the simplicity for sure... When getting into the hobby, I had a phase of adding more complex games in my librairy, which is great for a while, but when you collections gets bigger, it's harder to pull an old timer as you will likely need a big rule refresher. Now I try to aim for medium weight game if possible. Still, I would love if there was some asymmetric races and if the board was modular in some capacity. Seems that would add just enough variability to be more interesting.
As someone who has purchased veiled fate, moonrakers, and mythic mischief, I feel like it would be dishonorable not to get this game. IV’s quality, top tier customer service, as well as their excellent shipment timing is more than a reason that I’m sold on essentially anything they pump out!
How is this game at 2players?
I realy like the comparison to other games in the end! ❤
Glad you do!
Man, I've been very excited about this one! It looks like great fun! I'm ALL IN :)
If your were to rate the four IV games. What order would they be Alex?
I do that in this week in review :)
Any thoughts on the 2P experience?
IV typically designs for larger player counts, except Mythic Mischief which is designed for two. This will require an automata player at two, and won't be as good at two.
Zack said on the live stream that they are still tuning the two player right now.
The price killed it for me, all board games are getting too deluxe and too expenses. I will wait for retail and the inevitable sale at retail.
Totally get that
If it's not the cost of the game, it's the vat and postage afterwards too. I know costs have gone up, but not to the degree that we're seeing right now with games.
How would you compare this to Lockup: A Roll Player Tale?
Good question! Definitely some similarities.
Backed the super delux. Sweet looking high quality stuff
Alex, have you played "Battle for Rokugan"?
The hidden action and area control give me a similar feeling.
There are more elements that differentiate Fractured Sky from thats one, but I feel like there is a similar tactile feeling between both games.
Would you say it's close or not? (of course if you haven't played the former, naturally you don't have a point of comparison 😅)
Too bad Rokugan is permanently oop, last I heard. I never got to try it
what about the price tag? I mean &129 is a bit high for this game in my opinion just for the upgraded components.
I talk about it in my to back or not to back
Doesn’t play 6 players, doesn’t seem to have enough variability, and too expensive. I should have grabbed battle for rokugan before it went out of print. City of spies didn’t seem to get good reviews from what I remember.
I was more comparing this one to blood rage, wonderlands war, dune imperium, and andromedas edge. Maybe that’s wrong though?
That title made me chuckle! Very clever!
Wow.. super pricey for a game that you're looking for expansions before it's even released. I watched the playthru with tom/zee/paula and it feels like I'd not touch it again after a play or two. After seeing what the price point for the game is gunna be for me for delux this is gonna be a hard pass.
I really wish they had the option for asymmetrical characters.
Ya, it would be fun :)
They actually define different personalities for the different factions, but mechanically they don't seem to have much impact if any at all.
I wonder if that's a stretch goal or if they will launch it as an expansion or what are they planning?
It's an odd decision to give such detailed personalities to each one faction and not use it on the game play nowadays
@rpwn_kt @BoardGameCo
I asked on kickstarter apparently they didn't want to make it to complex, but with how much lore they wrote, if there are no gameplay mechanics around the fractions it doesn't matter. They are not going to put it in this kickstarter. Probably will be module in a second kickstarter like moonrakers titan or expansions for Mystic mischief in September
Is it too similar to Scythe?
I found the game longer than it should be for what it is.
I felt that way after the first game but it got quicker.
Lol @ the title 😆
Glad you appreciated it :)
MARTHA!! MARTHA!! Why did you say that name! 😂 it will make sense someday.
Lol yep :)
lol. I finished that video and then it disappeared! :) I wonder if the announcement was not supposed to be announced...yet.
Wow.. the things you don't like are reasons I love it.
IV Games sure has a gameplay style.
Yep :)
What happened to the monster hunter video?
Coming back in 5 minutes :)
Noooooo! Come back unboxing vid. I didn't get to watch you
Coming back in 5 minutes :)
Maybe they should spend a bit less on making it pretty and marketing the hell out of it and instead spend a bit more on refining the gameplay.
Also Alex this didn’t sound like a 4/5. You are being very polite. You made it sound like a 3/5
I love it when people tell me what I really mean.
@@BoardGameCo I told you what you sounded like. Of course only you know what you meant
I hate the direction these board game reviews are going. All reviews tend to be on delux versions, and you can almost never find a proper review of the version I would be able to actually buy.
Huge Price Tag for a Deluxe Game OUCH
D.E.I. or this?