I never played the original Shipwrights, so this game is all new to me. And yeah, its a refreshingly simple and straight forward drafting and engine building game, which is a nice change of pace as the Garphill 4 corners trilogies grow increasingly byzantine. One can only imagine what the east series in Byztantium will be like. But for now, we are back to the north with a game thats fresh and friendly.
Played this at Wellycon with Shem teaching. Love how all these games share icons, some mechanics and artistic theme, while also being quite different in overall game design. I did find this one quite solo in nature, focused mainly on your own board, but I was pretty game drained from my first bg con so i may not be remembering it clearly! Overall very impressed.
Not to be confused with that similarly name game about eating lots of fibre and staying regular. :P Glad to see a break from their trend of getting heavier and more complex with every title. I love their heavier games, I've got enough of their heavier games in the pipeline to keep me busy for years, and it will be nice to have something other than Architects of the West Kingdom for new players.
@@007Kiristo Thanks for the advice. I have Raiders of Scythia, which I believe is a little heavier due to it incorporating RotNS expansion elements. I feel it's significantly heavier than AotWK, as optimising is much harder, getting the raiding strength and costs right is trickier, and there are too many traps to fall in like taking the wrong coloured worker. Base RotNS might be lighter, but with the prodigious rate that Garphill puts out games, I can't justify essentially doubling up on the same game when that money could go towards...Shipwrights perhaps? :)
How does this game play at playercounts? Specifically 2 players because I know simultaneous drafting games tend to lend themselves at higher playercounts
They have special rules for 2 player for drafting, but we didnt try them. I played it at 3 and 4. In general, even with special rules i have no interest in playing 2 player drafting games. Sorry i couldn't be more helpful
@@3MBG In interviews Shem has expressed some chagrin that Explorers does not get more love and attention. It seemed to get sandwiched and thus lost between the very popular Raiders and the original Shipwrights, which was a first major game and one that many felt needed some fixing (thus the redo). It is a shame; Explorers is a great game, and also a less heavy entry into Garphill. I really like it.
I never played the original Shipwrights, so this game is all new to me. And yeah, its a refreshingly simple and straight forward drafting and engine building game, which is a nice change of pace as the Garphill 4 corners trilogies grow increasingly byzantine. One can only imagine what the east series in Byztantium will be like. But for now, we are back to the north with a game thats fresh and friendly.
Played this at Wellycon with Shem teaching. Love how all these games share icons, some mechanics and artistic theme, while also being quite different in overall game design. I did find this one quite solo in nature, focused mainly on your own board, but I was pretty game drained from my first bg con so i may not be remembering it clearly! Overall very impressed.
“Six Months in a Leaky Boat” - NICE! ❤
That really gave me 7 wonders vibes, am I nuts? with that ship expansion... it gives you tracks.
I mean, 7 wonders is a drafting game, so i totally get it.
Enjoyed learning this at Wellycon. Great video, love how you keep it kiwi as! 🙌🏽😂
Love me some Garphill. I hope they do some expansions for this as well! Cant wait to get my hands on this
This might be one of their only recent games I'm not dying to try.
Not to be confused with that similarly name game about eating lots of fibre and staying regular. :P
Glad to see a break from their trend of getting heavier and more complex with every title. I love their heavier games, I've got enough of their heavier games in the pipeline to keep me busy for years, and it will be nice to have something other than Architects of the West Kingdom for new players.
Raiders of the North Sea is quite simple, great for new players. Simpler than Architects.
@@007Kiristo Thanks for the advice. I have Raiders of Scythia, which I believe is a little heavier due to it incorporating RotNS expansion elements. I feel it's significantly heavier than AotWK, as optimising is much harder, getting the raiding strength and costs right is trickier, and there are too many traps to fall in like taking the wrong coloured worker.
Base RotNS might be lighter, but with the prodigious rate that Garphill puts out games, I can't justify essentially doubling up on the same game when that money could go towards...Shipwrights perhaps? :)
How does this game play at playercounts? Specifically 2 players because I know simultaneous drafting games tend to lend themselves at higher playercounts
They have special rules for 2 player for drafting, but we didnt try them. I played it at 3 and 4. In general, even with special rules i have no interest in playing 2 player drafting games. Sorry i couldn't be more helpful
Isn't 'It's a Wonderful World' a simplier and more straight forward game?
Maybe? I mean, it has a lot of cubes in it. And a pretty complex scoring system. I would say its a little simpler but not by much
This one has been on my radar. I investigated the original game, but it looked lackluster. This reimplementation seems much better.
Same. A few years ago I had to decide on the original and Raiders. I went with Raiders
@@dave3805 I think that was the right choice. 👍
So there's Raiders and Shipwrights ... what's the other 'North Sea' game?
Explorers of the north sea is the 3rd game in the trilogy. It's one we have not covered on the channel to date.
@@3MBG In interviews Shem has expressed some chagrin that Explorers does not get more love and attention. It seemed to get sandwiched and thus lost between the very popular Raiders and the original Shipwrights, which was a first major game and one that many felt needed some fixing (thus the redo). It is a shame; Explorers is a great game, and also a less heavy entry into Garphill. I really like it.
I’m just writing something to be the first comment. I should really play a Garphill game one day. Love the art and met Shem at Wellycon.
This one is a pretty good place to start to be honest. Or raiders of the north sea, or Architects of the west. Probably the best 3 kick off points.
@@3MBG Shem had a very funny slide, “Something of the south something,” which was his placeholder name for the next one.