"I'd rather fully commit to a light game than half commit to a heavy one." This is the perfect encapsulation of my gaming habits and the reason I love/relate to this channel so much
As much as I love heavy games... lighter ones are easier to get out and play. Cascadia, istanbul, heat, photosynthesis... But i Neen On mars every now and then :)
Funny how British people hate foxes so much, whereas here in the US they are well regarded as beautiful, intelligent creatures that we rarely ever have the chance to see.
Its mostly upper class people who think its okay to torture them to death, everyone else is either ill informed, has never seen one, or loves them as part of our failing ecosystem.
Lot's of the multiplayer solitaire games seem to work great for us when I play with my wife... we play most of the evenings a game together, but at that point (winding down from a buzzy day or...) we do not need a highly interactive experience. It is relaxing to work on a puzzle, knowing that your significant other is doing the same thing, enjoying it as much as yourself... I think if you look through this perspective then you can see why there's such a big boost in relaxing/puzzely/multiplayer solitaire games...
Good review. I agree completely. It’s also nice you aren’t sucked into the cult of the complex. The way to get a game in BGG top 10 is to create a game that takes 10 hours to read the rule book; 2 hours to teach; 1 hour of rules look-up during play and 4 hours to play - each time it hits the table! Then, anyone trying to pass themselves off as an intellectual will rate it a 10. I love some heavy 18xx and war games so no stranger, but mostly, give me a thinky but simple game that’s enjoyed in around an hour and picked up and played without fuss. Just subscribed.
Cool story man. I wonder why a website called "boardgame geek" would tend to satiate gamers who play heavier games, rather than casual ones? What a mystery! Make everything for everybody, I say. Why should anybody want a deep, complex, engrossing experience with progression and narrative, when they can goof off for an hour instead with no risk of long term involvement? If only everybody thought the same as you!
@@leadbones if you want narrative read a damn book i wanna play a damn game and most normal humans prefer to know how to play a game in less than 3 hours
@Nikola Manojlovic Coming from a person who literally can not handle complexity, your insult is ineffective and meaningless. Y'all are literally complaining that you aren't smart enough for some board games, so they shouldn't exist since they make you feel inferior. Just get used to that feeling.
Great review! Although there's minimal interaction in terms of 'take-that' mechanics, watching the other players expand their boards or at the end totaling up your matching environments, everyone is comparing their landscapes to the other players. There's a unique satisfaction about having no rules against putting any tile side-by-side another and just building out a specific terrain like a big mountain range, a long river, etc. Easy to teach, fun to play and enough variety through the different animal cards/rules. Also, the wooden pieces for the animals feel great in the bag compared to something cheaper they could have used like punch-board.
What an incredible review! From the video quality to the content talked about. Not too serious but not over the top with jokes. You hit all the marks! I just bought this game yesterday based solely on your review and I have zero regrets! I finally got my wife into board gaming! She loves how approachable and simplistically puzzly it is. Definitely staying in my collection. It's a nice break from the crazy euro encyclopedia size rulebook games I play.
Playing a game on a table made of slabs with a half inch gap? You, sir, are as mad as they come. Certifiable. Cascadia is for sure in my playlist but I think I shall get Calaco first. But that’s just me knowing the group I play with.
I was hesitant about the Kickstarter at first, you know, how many family weight tile games do we really need? But then I tried their online app which was a brilliant marketing decision (it was way easier then trying to figure out tabletopia or other board game simulator) and I saw what a simple and addicting game this would be. I was not disappointed and this will be a staple in my collection
5:07 "It's a brilliant system because you always get one thing you want, and then you're lumbered with something annoying, like inviting your friend out to play and they bring their little brother with."
If you like the videos I've been making the last few months with Bart, please become a patron of the channel so we can keep making them: patreon.com/actualol
I'm sure Bart is a nice guy but I prefer your old videos. It is about the games, not about the camera work, the lighting or the annoying slow motion cuts.
I think this style of video is really making you stand out. Really good pacing with just the right depth of content along the background music to keep it interesting.
Thank you for recommending this game - I am really pleased with it. There are many great aspects to it as you have pointed out. But one element that I wish more game designers would incorporate is several scoring variants that make the game more flexible depending on your group. I can play the family variant when my young grandson is here, the intermediate variant with my husband, the most complex variant with my strategist son, and when I don't have company I can play solo. This gives me so much more bang for my buck. Love your videos!
Thanks for this informative, relatable and yet concise video! I've been waiting for a good take on what you describe as the 'multiplayer solitaire' issue, and I think you were spot on with the different perspectives on it. I actually loved my few games of Calico (gifted it to a cat person) so it sounds like this could be a perfect game for my own collection.
I hate when people say "its just a load of stuff from other games" that's true of nearly all games. It's Simpsons did it syndrome, there's no new ideas left, what really matters is reimplimenting ideas in different ways with interesting themes, hell if we never re-implimented anything we would all still be playing carcassone and dominion in the same way our parents played monopoly, scrabble and cluedo for years on end.
I find cascadia perfectly fits in the category he described at the beginning. It's a multiplayer solitaire game. I look at my opponent's boards solely to count their terrain scores and sometimes if none of the animals are what I want, I'll take what the person after me wants. I think Cascadia is fine, but I'd much rather play a euro that forces a bit more interaction. Even just worker placement has more interaction.
Agree completely. And after that, I am kind of missing the connection as to how this game rates highly when you do seem to be mostly concerned with puzzling with your own growing hexagon grid. It seems to me, the argument is, “ this one is great because it’s so easy it leaves plenty of (brain) room for chat”. If I am phrasing this incorrectly I apologize, but if this is the case, well… guess what, I’d rather just chat in that case. Also how does this make the game good? I guess because the puzzle you’re able to multitask whilst chatting is more satisfying than filling in a Yahtzee scoresheet in that time. Well ok, but for my personal preference I go back to the video’s original point of, “when I play a game I want to be involved with what’s happening in the middle of the table”, and for me that doesn’t even have to be more on the heavy euro side than figuring out what my opponent is planning to do with those two wood dice in Stone Age. That’s interaction, and that’s why I play games, and that’s what Cascadia doesn’t seem to offer.
Thanks for sharing! Added this one to our list of games to try out soon. And fantastic explanation of the multiplayer solitaire genre! While we love a good puzzle challenge, definitely with you about being present with friends while playing as opposed to being focused on beating the game while friends are in the room!
I too was wrong about my first impressions of Cascadia, but perhaps in a different way. As someone who lives in Cascadia and is also a massive Beth Sobel fan, I was expecting an instant love affair. The art is indeed incredible, and I like how you can mix up the scoring schemes for some replayability. But ultimately in this game, you place a habitat tile, place an animal token, and end your turn. You do this a few dozen times until eventually you run out of tiles and count the scores. I don’t find anything particularly exciting or strategic about this game, so I get pretty bored by it because it seems to outstay its welcome after the first 20 minutes or so. Say what you will about Calico-and that’s not one of my favourite games either-but at least there’s some tension about whether you’ll find the tile you need. Cascadia has practically no tension, and the tile distribution is random so there’s not much strategy either. I don’t hate Cascadia; it’s fine. I wouldn’t refuse to play it but I also wouldn’t pick it off a shelf if there were other options available. By the way, you raise an interesting point about how many modern games lean towards multiplayer solitaire. I daresay that multiplayer solitaire actually improves the social experience, because it’s harder to screw over your opponents and it’s easier for you to help them without harming yourself. The more decentralised a game is, the less vicious it becomes (generally), which leads to more players having good experiences.
Bravo on hiring someone for the skill they have honed and crafted not unlike yourself. If I hear one more person say, "Any monkey with a cellphone...." ugh I mean great video, fantastic review and that lighting. Cheers!
Very good show. Like you multiplayer solitaire held little appeal to me. After staying away from it for the reasons you mentioned I bought Wingspan and I love the game. True the is little interaction between players and you have no idea how well they (or you) are doing, the design and mechanics are great. Cascadia is on a short list (I'm cutting back on my board game habit) of games I want to try. I just subscribed to your channel.
Fantastic stuff, I’ve heard a few reviews of this but this has been the swinging one - mainly due to your explanation of your bias against these types of games. Thanks, Jon, great video 👍
My wife and I tried this at the bg Cafe in town last night. Picked up pretty quick how much fun it was to ruin my wife's carefully laid plans by taking the salmon I knew she wanted. Definitely a game I'd buy. Living in the pacific north west is nice too and gives me bonus affinity for the game
Great video. I love this game for the same reasons you described, plus it's the most Pacific Northwest feeling game I've ever played (the most beautiful place in the world and incidentally where I live).
Totes agree. I bought this as a good gateway game for visitors and an occasional game for my wife and I and was surprised by how often we enjoy playing it. It is so very satisfying.
I love all of your videos! The old and the new! Keep it up. My “problem” 😋 with you is that you make me want to buy and play ALL. THE. GAMES. because my taste in games is very similar to yours. Your sense of humor is fantastic and fun!
Impressive stuff. Haven’t watch Actualol since since well something something song. And now this? Epic production. And the intro about there or here. Soooo good. Very impressive. You gave a new subscriber.
After thinking on this I decided Cascadia is pretty much the same as Wingspan. Instead of the four rows buy a bird, forest, grassland and marsh you have bears, foxes, salmon and eagles. The cards you take to score points with different configurations each time is just like the different bonus conditions for the end of each round in Wingspan. The fact you have to try and select the best (but never the optimum) tiles (cards in Wingspan) is pretty much the same also. And as you pointed out everyone is 80% playing solitaire. I was considering this but I already have and enjoy Wingspan.
I bought this for our homeschool. I thought it looks like a good family game or gateway game. We played it with some card players and it went great! They’d definitely play again.
I agree with your assessment of Cascadia v. Calico. Most people I see love Calico more (especially solo) but I definitely prefer Cascadia to it both 2p and solo and for the reasons you stated.
Initially, the game didn't see a lot of play because it was too simple (expansion is coming out to fix that). But now I am more weary of multiplayer solitaire. I think I will focus more on games that involve the table to interact.
Great analysis. I love Cascadia as it works so well with casual and more experienced gamers alike. You points about the stress of ‘brain burning’ multiplayer solitaire games being less social are good ones. Project L is another game with some similar attributes that we love.
I don't know why, but I had the exact same pre-conceptions to Cascadia as you did. For some reason, only your video made me think "actually, this sounds like quite a good game"!
I've been researching new games and I love the simplicity of this one! Purchased it today and look forward to playing. So many top popular games I've researched sound sooo complicated and while I like more complex games to a point when there are so many rules to learn it becomes a pain! I'd love to see a review of Trekking National Parks vs Parks!
Cascadia is exactly fine. It has a disappointingly low skill cap, but it is very easy to teach. It is a pleasant family game that more or less forces final scores to be close which is nice when there are players of different skill levels.
We were playing Cascadia tonight and had to Shazam the music in your video. We loved listening to Blacklake Waters while we played. How do you pick the music for your videos? This was a perfect music choice!
That's so cool that you found the music and listened to it! I use a service called Epidemic Sound and I just tried to find something that fit the theme. Blacklake Waters was under American Roots Rock, and the others were under Folk. Here are the track titles: Northside - Blacklake Waters By The Riverside - Lindsey Abraham It Used To Be Us - Many Moons Ago Step and Stomp - View Points
absolutely brother! I feel the same way after the last few months of board gaming. I thought I was taking crazy pills. At least I know I am not alone. I need to have player interaction for a board game to be enjoyable.
As someone born and raised in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, along with being an ecologist,I just have to OWN this game. Also, even though you may not like foxes, they are a keystone creature in a lot of forested areas in Europe.
Recently I figured out that I also want to play with a lot of communication. That's why I removed viticulture, wingspan and azul from my wishlist. They just won't provide the amount of interaction I want
Great stuff, John. I'm a sort of new subscriber, watched a few of your videos, and they're so nice, informative and entertaining. I was going to say something else, now, what was it..? Oh, right, the game. Yeah, so... Cascadia. I'm not keen on "group solitaire" games either. But this one's really tempting. It seems very simple in terms of mechanics (which is a boon), and, well, of course, it's beautiful. Only problem I have with it (which so far is theoretical, haven't played it) is... The scorepad. I know there's plenty, but why do games have to come with disposable components? They should've made dry-erase versions of those, clearly...although pens would still be disposable, but I'm sure we could buy more of those. Anyways, great review, great channel, upvo-- I mean, liked!
thank you for your great contributions and insightful reviews and opinions! i love your efforts to upgrade your production, i must say though that i am allergic to SLOW-motion "cinematic "overklill. it is such a tremendously overused editing technique that i find even less appealing in regards to board games. i know this comes down to personal preference, but please consider staying real time
The fun in personal area games is hate drafting... taking something not because you need it, but because you know it will screw with your opponent's plans. mwahahaha. If your entire group plays this way, the game becomes such a fun mess that it's no longer about who can score the highest points, but who can be prevented from scoring the most points, and putting yourself in a situation where you can be the least blocked. Therein, my group of friends loves these games (7 wonders, Azul, Kingdomino, Sushi Go, ... ). I'll add this one to my wish list.
I REALLY like your reviews because I relate so much about everything you says about solitary games, complexes euro, etc. I finally found a channel I can relate to. :)
@@actualol You're definitely not a lone voice, believe me. I related to you when you described the feeling of been surprised to love the game so much despite not been a genre you normally like. I felt the same when I first played Five Tribes. It's the only euro game I really was excited to play every time my friend proposed it to me. I am really looking forward to play Cascadia in the near future! It's on my list of 'Must buy'. Thanks to you :)
I was on the fence about getting this one. Being a Calico fan, it looks like an upgraded version! I'm also curious about your toughts on Wingspan. My favorite multiplayer solitaire game. I like the fact that those types of games can be played alone. Great video as always!
Just this evening I received an email from BGG saying that they'd added it to their shop. Edit: Oh, they don't ship to Canada for some reason. Well, hopefully there's a distributer up there that's getting it soon.
Thanks for the review, I might look into it more. Funny comment about the fox. Here in Canada (we live in the bush), a fox sighting is rarer cause we have all those expense of forests around us. And I think Cascadia is based on that very fact. It's not based in England. Foxes are always appreciated when you see them (unless you raise small animals but you are still in their territory so you should have known better ;). Once a fox just stopped by in front of our house, and in 6 years living here in the boonies we have not seen another one though there are many in the woods. Only where there are too much human development and habitat destruction do they become easy to see.
As a PNW native watching to decide if I want to carry this game in my Specialty Toy Store in Cascadia, I got stuck for too long on the fox comment. ;D Thank you for making this comment so I could focus 😏
It is so weird and interesting that foxes are common to you. Most cities don't have foxes. You live in London? There are foxes in the "wild" in the US, but they're hunted to invisible rarity in my neck of the woods.
I had the same thought. Foxes must be a lot more common in the UK than they are in the US - at least the intermountain west where I live. We have lots of stray cats, some deer and elk, and the occasional moose, mountain lion (cougar/puma), and bear, but I’ve never seen a fox 🤷🏼♀️ Come to think of it, we don’t really have rats, either, or mice, at least not to the point of noticeability - Probably because of the cats 😂
Yes, we have plenty of foxes here in London and elsewhere in the UK. I see them late at night roaming the streets when it's quiet, probably see them more than rats but that's because rats hide better. Foxes are famous for rummaging through people's rubbish bins. And around by us they have scream really loudly at 4am. See this video for a good example: th-cam.com/video/tYYHrG6UC4U/w-d-xo.html
Ironically, this review made me go ahead and get this game....and I love it solo when my kids just aren't in the mood to play anything. Thanks for the review!
FYI, While there are numerous species of native foxes in North America, foxes are quite a bit rarer to see in the United States than they seem to be in the UK. I suspect we did a pretty good job of killing them off in much of the US because I can count all the foxes I've ever seen on one hand with a surplus finger or two, even though I've been to 43 states and I've spent hundreds of days fishing, hiking, camping or hunting in the outdoors.
Not sure if mentioned, but Kingdomino's is a popular game in the same vein as this. Quite a bit simpler I think? But highly regarded as good. I received from my Uncle for christmas last year and had a lot of fun with it.
This is a perceptive review and it’s interesting to hear your take on the trend towards increasingly complex and solitaire games. As it happens I am quite an unsociable bastard and like this type of game a lot. But yeah I get that a lot of people want to socialise on board game nites
Thanks for the video. It reminded me of God Loves Dinosaurs and Tiny Town combined, two games I really enjoy. I guess I'll increase my patreon level to get more awesome videos!
I hear it’s great but I already have those other games with these mechanisms. My biggest gripe with these types of games isn’t the solitaire part but I don’t like games with a lot of point tallying at the end to see who won
Great video, and it might sound superficial, but I have to know what the name of the you wall paint is. I have been obsessing over it the last few videos and I want to put it up in my office.
Late commenting, because I just got a copy of the game..... mainly due to your recommendation. Excellent review. I agree with all of your points. I like Cascadia a lot. I'm like you, I enjoy the quick set up and simple rule set. Maybe it isn't original, but that doesn't bother me. Especially if the game is fun!
Nice review so subscribed. Wander what you think of Furnace if you’ve played it - as looks like it could be an interesting mix of a shared (eyes of all players on centre) phase and a solo phase (eyes on own tableau). Plus not too many rules and fairly short.
I liked Furnace a lot. The auction mechanism is really clever. But I found the solo engine building phase to become too long and complicated later on in the game when you've got loads of cards and so much to think about. It definitely stood out as different (and light rules as you say) but I couldn't quite recommend it. I do like his other game, "Smartphone Inc" and look forward to his future designs.
AmI the only one that feels like this game is veeymwh. Like not very exciting, placing tiles down with animals and nextthing you know it's over. And your like ok, tjay was cascadia not like WOW that was AWESOME! Let's play it AGAIN!!
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wPd7VFfWHIA/mqdefault.jpg)
"I'd rather fully commit to a light game than half commit to a heavy one."
This is the perfect encapsulation of my gaming habits and the reason I love/relate to this channel so much
As much as I love heavy games... lighter ones are easier to get out and play.
Cascadia, istanbul, heat, photosynthesis...
But i Neen On mars every now and then :)
Funny how British people hate foxes so much, whereas here in the US they are well regarded as beautiful, intelligent creatures that we rarely ever have the chance to see.
Nah, loads of people in the uk like foxes
They are like your racoons, vermin to a lot of people. I personally like them but they make horrible noises
We love them, nice to glimpse one now and again
Its mostly upper class people who think its okay to torture them to death, everyone else is either ill informed, has never seen one, or loves them as part of our failing ecosystem.
I raise you : badgers
America has some feral muder hobos, while the UK has some pretty chill dudes
Lot's of the multiplayer solitaire games seem to work great for us when I play with my wife... we play most of the evenings a game together, but at that point (winding down from a buzzy day or...)
we do not need a highly interactive experience. It is relaxing to work on a puzzle, knowing that your significant other is doing the same thing, enjoying it as much as yourself... I think if you look through this perspective then you can see why there's such a big boost in relaxing/puzzely/multiplayer solitaire games...
Yeah that makes sense! Thanks for your perspective.
Good review. I agree completely. It’s also nice you aren’t sucked into the cult of the complex. The way to get a game in BGG top 10 is to create a game that takes 10 hours to read the rule book; 2 hours to teach; 1 hour of rules look-up during play and 4 hours to play - each time it hits the table! Then, anyone trying to pass themselves off as an intellectual will rate it a 10. I love some heavy 18xx and war games so no stranger, but mostly, give me a thinky but simple game that’s enjoyed in around an hour and picked up and played without fuss. Just subscribed.
Cool story man. I wonder why a website called "boardgame geek" would tend to satiate gamers who play heavier games, rather than casual ones? What a mystery! Make everything for everybody, I say. Why should anybody want a deep, complex, engrossing experience with progression and narrative, when they can goof off for an hour instead with no risk of long term involvement? If only everybody thought the same as you!
@@leadbones if you want narrative read a damn book i wanna play a damn game and most normal humans prefer to know how to play a game in less than 3 hours
Gee... imagine getting so worked up over board games
@@leadbones smooth brain take
@Nikola Manojlovic Coming from a person who literally can not handle complexity, your insult is ineffective and meaningless. Y'all are literally complaining that you aren't smart enough for some board games, so they shouldn't exist since they make you feel inferior. Just get used to that feeling.
Great review! Although there's minimal interaction in terms of 'take-that' mechanics, watching the other players expand their boards or at the end totaling up your matching environments, everyone is comparing their landscapes to the other players. There's a unique satisfaction about having no rules against putting any tile side-by-side another and just building out a specific terrain like a big mountain range, a long river, etc. Easy to teach, fun to play and enough variety through the different animal cards/rules. Also, the wooden pieces for the animals feel great in the bag compared to something cheaper they could have used like punch-board.
What an incredible review! From the video quality to the content talked about. Not too serious but not over the top with jokes. You hit all the marks! I just bought this game yesterday based solely on your review and I have zero regrets! I finally got my wife into board gaming! She loves how approachable and simplistically puzzly it is. Definitely staying in my collection. It's a nice break from the crazy euro encyclopedia size rulebook games I play.
"Slaved over a hot pizza order..." Jon, you kill me.
Another excellent video. Keep it up!!
Loving the camera work and production here. So great. Also have a copy of Cascadia on my shelf, its a beaut
Playing a game on a table made of slabs with a half inch gap? You, sir, are as mad as they come. Certifiable.
Cascadia is for sure in my playlist but I think I shall get Calaco first. But that’s just me knowing the group I play with.
You do look to be a cat, so that makes sense. And yes, I get many complaints about my table gaps from my gaming friends! 😂
I see a Table Topper in your future! 😎
I was hesitant about the Kickstarter at first, you know, how many family weight tile games do we really need? But then I tried their online app which was a brilliant marketing decision (it was way easier then trying to figure out tabletopia or other board game simulator) and I saw what a simple and addicting game this would be. I was not disappointed and this will be a staple in my collection
5:07 "It's a brilliant system because you always get one thing you want, and then you're lumbered with something annoying, like inviting your friend out to play and they bring their little brother with."
If you like the videos I've been making the last few months with Bart, please become a patron of the channel so we can keep making them: patreon.com/actualol
I'm sure Bart is a nice guy but I prefer your old videos. It is about the games, not about the camera work, the lighting or the annoying slow motion cuts.
I think this style of video is really making you stand out. Really good pacing with just the right depth of content along the background music to keep it interesting.
Thank you for recommending this game - I am really pleased with it. There are many great aspects to it as you have pointed out. But one element that I wish more game designers would incorporate is several scoring variants that make the game more flexible depending on your group. I can play the family variant when my young grandson is here, the intermediate variant with my husband, the most complex variant with my strategist son, and when I don't have company I can play solo. This gives me so much more bang for my buck. Love your videos!
"I'd rather fully commit to a light game than half-commit to a heavy one" couldn't have put it better myself
False dichotomy
@@KXC42069 on one sitting
Thanks for this informative, relatable and yet concise video! I've been waiting for a good take on what you describe as the 'multiplayer solitaire' issue, and I think you were spot on with the different perspectives on it. I actually loved my few games of Calico (gifted it to a cat person) so it sounds like this could be a perfect game for my own collection.
I hate when people say "its just a load of stuff from other games" that's true of nearly all games. It's Simpsons did it syndrome, there's no new ideas left, what really matters is reimplimenting ideas in different ways with interesting themes, hell if we never re-implimented anything we would all still be playing carcassone and dominion in the same way our parents played monopoly, scrabble and cluedo for years on end.
I find cascadia perfectly fits in the category he described at the beginning. It's a multiplayer solitaire game. I look at my opponent's boards solely to count their terrain scores and sometimes if none of the animals are what I want, I'll take what the person after me wants.
I think Cascadia is fine, but I'd much rather play a euro that forces a bit more interaction. Even just worker placement has more interaction.
Agree completely.
And after that, I am kind of missing the connection as to how this game rates highly when you do seem to be mostly concerned with puzzling with your own growing hexagon grid. It seems to me, the argument is, “ this one is great because it’s so easy it leaves plenty of (brain) room for chat”. If I am phrasing this incorrectly I apologize, but if this is the case, well… guess what, I’d rather just chat in that case. Also how does this make the game good? I guess because the puzzle you’re able to multitask whilst chatting is more satisfying than filling in a Yahtzee scoresheet in that time. Well ok, but for my personal preference I go back to the video’s original point of, “when I play a game I want to be involved with what’s happening in the middle of the table”, and for me that doesn’t even have to be more on the heavy euro side than figuring out what my opponent is planning to do with those two wood dice in Stone Age. That’s interaction, and that’s why I play games, and that’s what Cascadia doesn’t seem to offer.
Thanks for sharing! Added this one to our list of games to try out soon. And fantastic explanation of the multiplayer solitaire genre! While we love a good puzzle challenge, definitely with you about being present with friends while playing as opposed to being focused on beating the game while friends are in the room!
What a beautiful room you have to shoot and play boardgames in! That table is BEAUTIFUL.
I too was wrong about my first impressions of Cascadia, but perhaps in a different way. As someone who lives in Cascadia and is also a massive Beth Sobel fan, I was expecting an instant love affair. The art is indeed incredible, and I like how you can mix up the scoring schemes for some replayability. But ultimately in this game, you place a habitat tile, place an animal token, and end your turn. You do this a few dozen times until eventually you run out of tiles and count the scores. I don’t find anything particularly exciting or strategic about this game, so I get pretty bored by it because it seems to outstay its welcome after the first 20 minutes or so.
Say what you will about Calico-and that’s not one of my favourite games either-but at least there’s some tension about whether you’ll find the tile you need. Cascadia has practically no tension, and the tile distribution is random so there’s not much strategy either.
I don’t hate Cascadia; it’s fine. I wouldn’t refuse to play it but I also wouldn’t pick it off a shelf if there were other options available.
By the way, you raise an interesting point about how many modern games lean towards multiplayer solitaire. I daresay that multiplayer solitaire actually improves the social experience, because it’s harder to screw over your opponents and it’s easier for you to help them without harming yourself. The more decentralised a game is, the less vicious it becomes (generally), which leads to more players having good experiences.
Bravo on hiring someone for the skill they have honed and crafted not unlike yourself. If I hear one more person say, "Any monkey with a cellphone...." ugh I mean great video, fantastic review and that lighting. Cheers!
Very good show. Like you multiplayer solitaire held little appeal to me. After staying away from it for the reasons you mentioned I bought Wingspan and I love the game. True the is little interaction between players and you have no idea how well they (or you) are doing, the design and mechanics are great. Cascadia is on a short list (I'm cutting back on my board game habit) of games I want to try. I just subscribed to your channel.
Fantastic stuff, I’ve heard a few reviews of this but this has been the swinging one - mainly due to your explanation of your bias against these types of games. Thanks, Jon, great video 👍
My wife and I tried this at the bg Cafe in town last night. Picked up pretty quick how much fun it was to ruin my wife's carefully laid plans by taking the salmon I knew she wanted. Definitely a game I'd buy. Living in the pacific north west is nice too and gives me bonus affinity for the game
Great video. I love this game for the same reasons you described, plus it's the most Pacific Northwest feeling game I've ever played (the most beautiful place in the world and incidentally where I live).
So jealous of you 🥲
Digging the music. Think we might pick up this game next time we go stay the weekend in the mountains.
Likewise. Who's the artist?
Totes agree. I bought this as a good gateway game for visitors and an occasional game for my wife and I and was surprised by how often we enjoy playing it. It is so very satisfying.
I love all of your videos! The old and the new! Keep it up.
My “problem” 😋 with you is that you make me want to buy and play ALL. THE. GAMES. because my taste in games is very similar to yours.
Your sense of humor is fantastic and fun!
I keep deciding not to add this to my wish list, and then I keep re adding it.
Impressive stuff. Haven’t watch Actualol since since well something something song. And now this? Epic production. And the intro about there or here. Soooo good. Very impressive. You gave a new subscriber.
Great vid as always! Lovely camera work, music and aethsetic. Just bought Cascadia. Can’t wait to jump in.
I always piss on my personal area, to mark my territory.
Usually after I lose.
Ugh, Jon. I had written this game off too for the same reasons, and now you're making me rethink it!
Just get Qwinto instead 😛
After thinking on this I decided Cascadia is pretty much the same as Wingspan. Instead of the four rows buy a bird, forest, grassland and marsh you have bears, foxes, salmon and eagles. The cards you take to score points with different configurations each time is just like the different bonus conditions for the end of each round in Wingspan. The fact you have to try and select the best (but never the optimum) tiles (cards in Wingspan) is pretty much the same also. And as you pointed out everyone is 80% playing solitaire. I was considering this but I already have and enjoy Wingspan.
I bought this for our homeschool. I thought it looks like a good family game or gateway game. We played it with some card players and it went great! They’d definitely play again.
I agree with your assessment of Cascadia v. Calico. Most people I see love Calico more (especially solo) but I definitely prefer Cascadia to it both 2p and solo and for the reasons you stated.
It sounds like Cascadia does little new compared to e.g. Calico, Reef, or Sagrada. It's the same. But different. But the same.
This is a top 5 game of 2021. Glad you realized your mistake.
Fantastic review. Thanks for sharing more than just your thoughts on the game itself, but also your own personal wider context.
Initially, the game didn't see a lot of play because it was too simple (expansion is coming out to fix that). But now I am more weary of multiplayer solitaire. I think I will focus more on games that involve the table to interact.
Putting the Pictures aside, I very much liked the sound track. It really throwing you right into the environment
I was happy with that music, for sure. Not every game is so easy to find music to pair with it.
I wasn't planning on buying another new board game this year.....there goes that plan :)
Great analysis. I love Cascadia as it works so well with casual and more experienced gamers alike. You points about the stress of ‘brain burning’ multiplayer solitaire games being less social are good ones. Project L is another game with some similar attributes that we love.
I don't know why, but I had the exact same pre-conceptions to Cascadia as you did. For some reason, only your video made me think "actually, this sounds like quite a good game"!
I've been researching new games and I love the simplicity of this one! Purchased it today and look forward to playing. So many top popular games I've researched sound sooo complicated and while I like more complex games to a point when there are so many rules to learn it becomes a pain! I'd love to see a review of Trekking National Parks vs Parks!
Cascadia is exactly fine. It has a disappointingly low skill cap, but it is very easy to teach.
It is a pleasant family game that more or less forces final scores to be close which is nice when there are players of different skill levels.
We were playing Cascadia tonight and had to Shazam the music in your video. We loved listening to Blacklake Waters while we played. How do you pick the music for your videos? This was a perfect music choice!
That's so cool that you found the music and listened to it!
I use a service called Epidemic Sound and I just tried to find something that fit the theme. Blacklake Waters was under American Roots Rock, and the others were under Folk. Here are the track titles:
Northside - Blacklake Waters
By The Riverside - Lindsey Abraham
It Used To Be Us - Many Moons Ago
Step and Stomp - View Points
absolutely brother! I feel the same way after the last few months of board gaming. I thought I was taking crazy pills. At least I know I am not alone. I need to have player interaction for a board game to be enjoyable.
As someone born and raised in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, along with being an ecologist,I just have to OWN this game. Also, even though you may not like foxes, they are a keystone creature in a lot of forested areas in Europe.
Recently I figured out that I also want to play with a lot of communication.
That's why I removed viticulture, wingspan and azul from my wishlist. They just won't provide the amount of interaction I want
Great stuff, John. I'm a sort of new subscriber, watched a few of your videos, and they're so nice, informative and entertaining. I was going to say something else, now, what was it..? Oh, right, the game.
Yeah, so... Cascadia. I'm not keen on "group solitaire" games either. But this one's really tempting. It seems very simple in terms of mechanics (which is a boon), and, well, of course, it's beautiful.
Only problem I have with it (which so far is theoretical, haven't played it) is... The scorepad. I know there's plenty, but why do games have to come with disposable components? They should've made dry-erase versions of those, clearly...although pens would still be disposable, but I'm sure we could buy more of those.
Anyways, great review, great channel, upvo-- I mean, liked!
Paper is better and more renewable than plastic for dry erase.
thank you for your great contributions and insightful reviews and opinions! i love your efforts to upgrade your production, i must say though that i am allergic to SLOW-motion "cinematic "overklill. it is such a tremendously overused editing technique that i find even less appealing in regards to board games. i know this comes down to personal preference, but please consider staying real time
Cascadia sounds suspiciously like chiller PNW-themed Bananagrams
This one won "game of the year" in germany, which is why i got it.
This is a really neat one, can recommend.
The fun in personal area games is hate drafting... taking something not because you need it, but because you know it will screw with your opponent's plans. mwahahaha. If your entire group plays this way, the game becomes such a fun mess that it's no longer about who can score the highest points, but who can be prevented from scoring the most points, and putting yourself in a situation where you can be the least blocked. Therein, my group of friends loves these games (7 wonders, Azul, Kingdomino, Sushi Go, ... ). I'll add this one to my wish list.
Dad?
I REALLY like your reviews because I relate so much about everything you says about solitary games, complexes euro, etc. I finally found a channel I can relate to. :)
That's great to hear, because sometimes I feel like a lone voice that no-one else agrees with!
@@actualol You're definitely not a lone voice, believe me.
I related to you when you described the feeling of been surprised to love the game so much despite not been a genre you normally like. I felt the same when I first played Five Tribes. It's the only euro game I really was excited to play every time my friend proposed it to me.
I am really looking forward to play Cascadia in the near future! It's on my list of 'Must buy'.
Thanks to you :)
I was on the fence about getting this one. Being a Calico fan, it looks like an upgraded version! I'm also curious about your toughts on Wingspan. My favorite multiplayer solitaire game. I like the fact that those types of games can be played alone.
Great video as always!
I'm afraid I'm not keen on Wingspan - that is too much of a "personal area" game for me.
Wife & I found this pretty underwhelming, TBH. It’s dry, too abstract (the theme could be anything) and just lacking FUN.
Unfortunately here in Canada this game is not easily available, which is a huge shame.
It only came out in the UK this week, so it's still pretty new and will hopefully become available elsewhere eventually.
Just this evening I received an email from BGG saying that they'd added it to their shop. Edit: Oh, they don't ship to Canada for some reason. Well, hopefully there's a distributer up there that's getting it soon.
We live in Canada and we have had this game since the summer of 2021. It was a Kickstarter game.
I live in the PNW and out of the animals in this game, a fox is the only one I’ve never seen in the wild, making it the most exotic!
Thanks for the review, I might look into it more. Funny comment about the fox. Here in Canada (we live in the bush), a fox sighting is rarer cause we have all those expense of forests around us. And I think Cascadia is based on that very fact. It's not based in England. Foxes are always appreciated when you see them (unless you raise small animals but you are still in their territory so you should have known better ;). Once a fox just stopped by in front of our house, and in 6 years living here in the boonies we have not seen another one though there are many in the woods. Only where there are too much human development and habitat destruction do they become easy to see.
Yes, it's quite the opposite here! I see them whenever I'm walking the streets late at night.
As a PNW native watching to decide if I want to carry this game in my Specialty Toy Store in Cascadia, I got stuck for too long on the fox comment. ;D Thank you for making this comment so I could focus 😏
@@actualol also in Canada but in the city (unfortunately). Very rare to see a fox. But we do have coyotes.
This interested me at first, but your review convinced me to just play Suburbia more.
It is so weird and interesting that foxes are common to you. Most cities don't have foxes. You live in London?
There are foxes in the "wild" in the US, but they're hunted to invisible rarity in my neck of the woods.
I had the same thought. Foxes must be a lot more common in the UK than they are in the US - at least the intermountain west where I live. We have lots of stray cats, some deer and elk, and the occasional moose, mountain lion (cougar/puma), and bear, but I’ve never seen a fox 🤷🏼♀️
Come to think of it, we don’t really have rats, either, or mice, at least not to the point of noticeability - Probably because of the cats 😂
Yes, we have plenty of foxes here in London and elsewhere in the UK. I see them late at night roaming the streets when it's quiet, probably see them more than rats but that's because rats hide better. Foxes are famous for rummaging through people's rubbish bins. And around by us they have scream really loudly at 4am. See this video for a good example: th-cam.com/video/tYYHrG6UC4U/w-d-xo.html
@@actualol Holy crap, that’s terrifying! And LOUD! Ha, what does the fox say? It doesn’t just say - it screams like a banshee!!!
Ironically, this review made me go ahead and get this game....and I love it solo when my kids just aren't in the mood to play anything. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the review, very helpful and funny! Good editing and filming quality too!
Amazing looking video! 🤩 Also, amazing review! Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the game 🥳 Missed you at Spiel this year! Hope we’ll see you soon!
See you at next Spiel for sure!
What's the spiel?
Love this deep-dive stuff lately. Keep up the great work!
FYI, While there are numerous species of native foxes in North America, foxes are quite a bit rarer to see in the United States than they seem to be in the UK. I suspect we did a pretty good job of killing them off in much of the US because I can count all the foxes I've ever seen on one hand with a surplus finger or two, even though I've been to 43 states and I've spent hundreds of days fishing, hiking, camping or hunting in the outdoors.
Not sure if mentioned, but Kingdomino's is a popular game in the same vein as this. Quite a bit simpler I think? But highly regarded as good. I received from my Uncle for christmas last year and had a lot of fun with it.
Great review. I love "euro-games", such as Scythe, but I do understand the fatigue of those games. I bought Cascadia, looks like fun with the wife.
Mine arrived at the weekend and we love it, great game
This is on my list of games I'd like to buy, I think it would be a good family game to play with our two boys (10 and 7)
This is a perceptive review and it’s interesting to hear your take on the trend towards increasingly complex and solitaire games. As it happens I am quite an unsociable bastard and like this type of game a lot. But yeah I get that a lot of people want to socialise on board game nites
Thanks for the video. It reminded me of God Loves Dinosaurs and Tiny Town combined, two games I really enjoy.
I guess I'll increase my patreon level to get more awesome videos!
I hear it’s great but I already have those other games with these mechanisms. My biggest gripe with these types of games isn’t the solitaire part but I don’t like games with a lot of point tallying at the end to see who won
Great video, and it might sound superficial, but I have to know what the name of the you wall paint is. I have been obsessing over it the last few videos and I want to put it up in my office.
I totally understand! The colour is called Blue 07 from a company called Lick.
I've wondered the same thing about this game. Thanks for the video
Late commenting, because I just got a copy of the game..... mainly due to your recommendation. Excellent review. I agree with all of your points. I like Cascadia a lot. I'm like you, I enjoy the quick set up and simple rule set. Maybe it isn't original, but that doesn't bother me. Especially if the game is fun!
But when does it end?
Bears in pears?!
+5 pts for the Lamy Safari shown while scoring.
Good spot! 👌
Thank you, actualol. Another game for the list.
Your puns never cease to amaze me. Keep them coming!
You convinced me. I'm trying out this game!
Nice review so subscribed. Wander what you think of Furnace if you’ve played it - as looks like it could be an interesting mix of a shared (eyes of all players on centre) phase and a solo phase (eyes on own tableau). Plus not too many rules and fairly short.
I liked Furnace a lot. The auction mechanism is really clever. But I found the solo engine building phase to become too long and complicated later on in the game when you've got loads of cards and so much to think about. It definitely stood out as different (and light rules as you say) but I couldn't quite recommend it. I do like his other game, "Smartphone Inc" and look forward to his future designs.
@@actualol thanks for insight
Good review, sounds like you're talking over a bluesgrass band just off camera you're too polite to ask to leave though. Sounds good
.
Good review!! Also I have that same ikea lamp lol
It's a classic!
Nice video and review also. Keep it up. Please review Overboss next. 😁
love the new look to your videos, it feels way more homy.
“Slaved over a hot pizza order” 😂😂😂
AmI the only one that feels like this game is veeymwh. Like not very exciting, placing tiles down with animals and nextthing you know it's over. And your like ok, tjay was cascadia not like WOW that was AWESOME! Let's play it AGAIN!!
Senpai noticed me.
But for real, another fantastic effort.
Curse you, Jon! You’re making my wish list grow again! 😉
I’ve been put off this one after not liking Calico at all. Maybe I’ll have to join the change of mind club.
There is no club because we all changed our minds about joining.
I love this game. It is very satisfying. What happens if you take a token and tile but you can’t place the token. Oops.
The video quality is really better, but I'd really hate to actually play anything on that table :-P
Haha, yeah my friends hate it too 😂
I want to get one abstract game and i am struggling between Cascadia, Azul and Sagrada. May i have any advice from you, bro?
I'd go for Cascadia. But to give you some info in a oversimplistic way:
Sagrada - Most puzzly
Cascadia - Most variety
Azul - Simplest
@@actualol thx bro, i am also interested in the “two-layer” mechanism of Cascadia, i think i am gonna give it a shot!
Yes, On Tour rocks.
Hi, just to say , you'r review helped me decide to get this game. Which is a great game.
Great! I'm glad you're enjoying it 😀
Video for the expansion?
A great video, thoughtful and entertaining! If I had any room, I’d buy the game!
So it's just calico but with more animals than cats