Thanks for another great video. You are a maniac. So much content. I really appreciate it. I've moved your site to my #1 position for sites associated with board games. Main reason is you focus on solo, and I play 95% of my games solo. Reason #2, you are very knowledgeable about board games. Reason #3 - uncut videos. Reason #4 - you clearly enjoy playing these games. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so very much. You totally hit the nail on the head as far as what I’m going for. I do love playing these games, and only a solo maniac like me could play them as much as I want too! I am greatly looking forward to reviewing some of the great titles that released at Essen this year. I need to get my hands on them first 😉!
Hi John, and thank you for another great solo play through. I really enjoy your videos as sometimes I can get right to playing without completely reading/studying the rules.
That’s great to hear! While I don’t pretend to teach all of the rules, I certainly try to convey how the solo game flows so people can make the most of the rules they have read and get to playing quickly!
I agree with John - love the passion and enthusiasm and the pragmatism with which you review and share the games. The No Fluff is right and I like it! I also like that there is not a ton of constant editing shifts (these drive me crazy!) because I feel like this is what you would say if we met a a con or were chatting in general. Keep up the amazing videos! (Not sure yet on this one but that's ok - I've purchased many lately that you enjoyed and shared!
Thanks! I always do a single take with no editing. That’s part of the no fluff. Just my honest feelings and thoughts as they come to me. Happy New Year!
Just cracked this one open. Will it end up like Carnegie in the sale pile for me? We'll see as I go through the rules and make my own cheat sheets. In any case, I found some official solo mode rules changes that I'm sure you don't know about. Here they are: Rules changes for Broichan (Oak solo mode) p13 change "Broichan can upgrade druids to elder druids during the game, but he will never use their abilities." to: Broichan can upgrade druids to elder druids during the game, but he will never use their abilities. When his moot cards instruct Broichan to place a druid on a temple, he will use an available elder druid whenever possible. When climbing the Oak branches, he will always use normal druids if possible. The first time he has to place an elder druid on a temple, he instead places his elder druid on the menhir building space of his player colour. Ignore the action on his moot card. Instead, Broichan gains a menhir card (and subsequently, he gains 6 VP). p14 change "If you pass, Broichan will automatically pass on his next turn." to: If you pass, remove up to 3 of Broichan's druids from the roots. Broichan will take turns as long as he has druids on the roots. The removed druids are returned at the start of the next round. Making Broichan more challenging If you want a more challenging solo game, you might want to add one or more of the following upgrades for Broichan: - Epic stories: When Broichan plays the Storytelling moot card, he only loses 2 VP. - Grant Ritual: When Broichan plays the Ritual moot card, he always builds the 4 VP shrine. - Rare Herbs: When gathering ingredients, instead of the normal rule, Broichan discards the ingredient he would normally take and searches the crane bag for an ingredient of his choice. He will always try to get as many different ingredients as possible. If he already has 5 different ingredients, he just keeps the discarded ingredient. - Oak Affinity: on p 14, under Oak Branches, delete the following "(ignore locked branches)". Add "Broichan's druids can always go to the last spot on the Oak branches, even if they are locked." - Fickle Sickle: Broichan returns all cards used this round to his deck and reshuffles at the end of each round. Clarification If Broichan cannot perform the Storytelling moot card because he has less than 4 VP, he cannot perform the action - as per the core rules - and will perform an Oak action.
Thank you very much for the heads up here! I would not have seen this otherwise! This should help the solo bot be a bit more challenging to beat as he was a bit easy in the published rules.
@@JohnLaRuffa I'm ready to play my first game. I really like the rules, so this should be better than Carnegie for me. How did you find the bot to be easy? Was there a certain strategy you always did? Pretty sure you can also "game" the bot cards by writing down the cards that have come out, and then use process of elimination to plan your turn out. The rules changes are found in the Oak forums section under "Improving Broichan: building a better solo mode (official)." There are 2 pages in that article, and it seems like things should be tweaked a bit more, from what people are saying. An expansion is planned for next year too.
@realdealastrology9 I don’t quite remember why I thought the AI was easier to beat. I may be remembering it wrong but it seems like I beat them on my first or second play. It’s been a year since I have played this game so it’s a bit fuzzy.
@@JohnLaRuffa Unfortunately, Oak is another sell for me. Mannn, I've been on a solo sell streak lately! Oak is better than Carnegie, in my opinion, but it still fell flat for me, basically because it doesn't do anything really novel (go up tracks, upgrade, get cards or tiles, etc.). Same ol', same ol'. I'm probably turning into a solo snob lol. I know what types of games I like, and I'm going to forever avoid solo games where the designers are new or unheard of. I'm just going to stay with trusted solo designers like Turczi, Tascini, Luciani, Feld, Pfister, Stonemaier's stuff (although I sold Viticulture...didn't like that one), the older FFG games (Mansions of Madness, Lord of the Rings LCG and Journeys in middle earth, Arkham Horror board games, etc.), deckbuilders, and various dungeon crawlers. That's it.
The more I play this one, the more I like it. Still scoring in the low 50’s with the bot in the mid to high 60’s. I have some ideas for next time though.
Have you played Oak a few times since this video? Just learning and playing it now. Don't you and the bot take alternating turns taking ingredients when you pass? (Top of page 12) Day phase ends when all players pass AND *all ingredients* are gone from the forest *OR* there are no druids on the roots of the Oak. The case showing in your video, wouldn't you and the bot take turns taking ingredients until they are all gone? Is that a possible mistake on your part?
I personally found the pass rule where you alternate taking ingredients to be very dull. There should be other ways to take ingredients from the board. There *are* ways to take ingredients of your choice from the bag from certain cards or actions, but you can only take them from the board during a pass action. This game could have been so much better, but it fell flat for me. Nothing we haven't seen before.
I just played mine for the first time yesterday. I only beat the bot by a few points. Seems like a good puzzle solo, and am curious how it'll do at higher player counts
Another great review. Thank you! Are you in Patreon? Also have you played Red Outpost? I found the theme and mechanics quite interesting-and the solo mode incomprehensible haha. Keep up the great work, Patreon or no Im really enjoying your straight to the point approach, it’s refreshing in a frankly bloated landscape of reviewers and reviews.
Thanks for the compliments on my work. I am not in Patreon and will not be going in that direction. My hope is just to make a little cash on the side from add revenue but not ever ask for anyone’s money directly. I have never played Red Outpost unfortunately. I feel like I have looked at it several times, but never pulled the trigger. Sorry to hear the solo mode is impossible to understand!
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Thanks for another great video. You are a maniac. So much content. I really appreciate it. I've moved your site to my #1 position for sites associated with board games. Main reason is you focus on solo, and I play 95% of my games solo. Reason #2, you are very knowledgeable about board games. Reason #3 - uncut videos. Reason #4 - you clearly enjoy playing these games. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so very much. You totally hit the nail on the head as far as what I’m going for. I do love playing these games, and only a solo maniac like me could play them as much as I want too! I am greatly looking forward to reviewing some of the great titles that released at Essen this year. I need to get my hands on them first 😉!
Hi John, and thank you for another great solo play through.
I really enjoy your videos as sometimes I can get right to playing without completely reading/studying the rules.
That’s great to hear! While I don’t pretend to teach all of the rules, I certainly try to convey how the solo game flows so people can make the most of the rules they have read and get to playing quickly!
I agree with John - love the passion and enthusiasm and the pragmatism with which you review and share the games. The No Fluff is right and I like it! I also like that there is not a ton of constant editing shifts (these drive me crazy!) because I feel like this is what you would say if we met a a con or were chatting in general. Keep up the amazing videos! (Not sure yet on this one but that's ok - I've purchased many lately that you enjoyed and shared!
Thanks! I always do a single take with no editing. That’s part of the no fluff. Just my honest feelings and thoughts as they come to me. Happy New Year!
Just cracked this one open. Will it end up like Carnegie in the sale pile for me? We'll see as I go through the rules and make my own cheat sheets. In any case, I found some official solo mode rules changes that I'm sure you don't know about. Here they are:
Rules changes for Broichan (Oak solo mode)
p13 change "Broichan can upgrade druids to elder druids during the game, but he will never use their abilities." to:
Broichan can upgrade druids to elder druids during the game, but he will never use their abilities. When his moot cards instruct Broichan to place a druid on a temple, he will use an available elder druid whenever possible. When climbing the Oak branches, he will always use normal druids if possible. The first time he has to place an elder druid on a temple, he instead places his elder druid on the menhir building space of his player colour. Ignore the action on his moot card. Instead, Broichan gains a menhir card (and subsequently, he gains 6 VP).
p14 change "If you pass, Broichan will automatically pass on his next turn." to:
If you pass, remove up to 3 of Broichan's druids from the roots. Broichan will take turns as long as he has druids on the roots. The removed druids are returned at the start of the next round.
Making Broichan more challenging
If you want a more challenging solo game, you might want to add one or more of the following upgrades for Broichan:
- Epic stories: When Broichan plays the Storytelling moot card, he only loses 2 VP.
- Grant Ritual: When Broichan plays the Ritual moot card, he always builds the 4 VP shrine.
- Rare Herbs: When gathering ingredients, instead of the normal rule, Broichan discards the ingredient he would normally take and searches the crane bag for an ingredient of his choice. He will always try to get as many different ingredients as possible. If he already has 5 different ingredients, he just keeps the discarded ingredient.
- Oak Affinity: on p 14, under Oak Branches, delete the following "(ignore locked branches)". Add "Broichan's druids can always go to the last spot on the Oak branches, even if they are locked."
- Fickle Sickle: Broichan returns all cards used this round to his deck and reshuffles at the end of each round.
Clarification
If Broichan cannot perform the Storytelling moot card because he has less than 4 VP, he cannot perform the action - as per the core rules - and will perform an Oak action.
Thank you very much for the heads up here! I would not have seen this otherwise! This should help the solo bot be a bit more challenging to beat as he was a bit easy in the published rules.
@@JohnLaRuffa I'm ready to play my first game. I really like the rules, so this should be better than Carnegie for me. How did you find the bot to be easy? Was there a certain strategy you always did? Pretty sure you can also "game" the bot cards by writing down the cards that have come out, and then use process of elimination to plan your turn out.
The rules changes are found in the Oak forums section under "Improving Broichan: building a better solo mode (official)." There are 2 pages in that article, and it seems like things should be tweaked a bit more, from what people are saying. An expansion is planned for next year too.
@realdealastrology9 I don’t quite remember why I thought the AI was easier to beat. I may be remembering it wrong but it seems like I beat them on my first or second play. It’s been a year since I have played this game so it’s a bit fuzzy.
@@JohnLaRuffa Unfortunately, Oak is another sell for me. Mannn, I've been on a solo sell streak lately! Oak is better than Carnegie, in my opinion, but it still fell flat for me, basically because it doesn't do anything really novel (go up tracks, upgrade, get cards or tiles, etc.). Same ol', same ol'.
I'm probably turning into a solo snob lol. I know what types of games I like, and I'm going to forever avoid solo games where the designers are new or unheard of. I'm just going to stay with trusted solo designers like Turczi, Tascini, Luciani, Feld, Pfister, Stonemaier's stuff (although I sold Viticulture...didn't like that one), the older FFG games (Mansions of Madness, Lord of the Rings LCG and Journeys in middle earth, Arkham Horror board games, etc.), deckbuilders, and various dungeon crawlers. That's it.
@realdealastrology9 well at least you are wielding down your collection and honing in on what you really enjoy.
Thanks for another great review, really like the flow (can't say why, just looks very enjoyable).
The more I play this one, the more I like it. Still scoring in the low 50’s with the bot in the mid to high 60’s. I have some ideas for next time though.
Have you played Oak a few times since this video? Just learning and playing it now. Don't you and the bot take alternating turns taking ingredients when you pass? (Top of page 12) Day phase ends when all players pass AND *all ingredients* are gone from the forest *OR* there are no druids on the roots of the Oak. The case showing in your video, wouldn't you and the bot take turns taking ingredients until they are all gone? Is that a possible mistake on your part?
Yes. I missed the AND in the rules and was playing it like an OR. Sorry about the mistake!
I personally found the pass rule where you alternate taking ingredients to be very dull. There should be other ways to take ingredients from the board. There *are* ways to take ingredients of your choice from the bag from certain cards or actions, but you can only take them from the board during a pass action. This game could have been so much better, but it fell flat for me. Nothing we haven't seen before.
There's a creature that lets you take one from the board, just played and had it.@@realdealastrology9
I just played mine for the first time yesterday. I only beat the bot by a few points. Seems like a good puzzle solo, and am curious how it'll do at higher player counts
Nice work. Did you play with the eclipse variant?
@@JohnLaRuffa just the base game so far.
@@morgaknightgames Gotcha. Good work!
Another great review. Thank you! Are you in Patreon?
Also have you played Red Outpost? I found the theme and mechanics quite interesting-and the solo mode incomprehensible haha.
Keep up the great work, Patreon or no Im really enjoying your straight to the point approach, it’s refreshing in a frankly bloated landscape of reviewers and reviews.
Thanks for the compliments on my work. I am not in Patreon and will not be going in that direction. My hope is just to make a little cash on the side from add revenue but not ever ask for anyone’s money directly. I have never played Red Outpost unfortunately. I feel like I have looked at it several times, but never pulled the trigger. Sorry to hear the solo mode is impossible to understand!