Thanks very much for the review Jeremy, I really appreciate your thoughts. We've definitely heard the feedback about downtime and general game length, and are offering a new variant, Continuous Play, in the new Kickstarter that will hopefully alleviate this problem and elevate the game even further!
Is the rules variant going to be published before all of the Kickstarter production stuff is done? It would be nice to get it as a print and play for those of us who backed this game in 2018.
Thanks for dropping by Matthew, very much look forward to what you do with the Continuous Play system! There is a lot to like in Monumental, I hope I was fair in my assertions and will be watching the Kickstarter closely for sure!
Thank you! I’ll personally be spending a lot more time on all of my reviews as I feel like they are an area that I’ve failed to concentrate on in the past, especially in comparison to my older Drakkenstrike’s Components Breakdown videos. I appreciate the encouragement!
I really really love these new videos where you talk about a game but because you are not paid you give honest opinion on it. This is really great video, let's hope they fix these issues with the new expansion :-)
by the way i played it once and will do again tomorrow, so far my only big issue is: you can do everything in 1 play (you can develop all your culture cards AND do Wonders AND blue cards AND conquer) so if I play again with the same civilization I suppose it will not vary too much from previous play... I will try tomorrow again and check this. I do love when you cannot do all in a game so at the end you are frustrated and want to play again right away and say: this time i will build more wonders etc
@@woniepom Boom - you basically said my feelings to the tee. I DON'T want to do everything in one game...I want to have to make hard decisions on how I score my points, where I excel in some but falter deeply in others. This is what makes games great for me personally. Nailed it Floriane!
@@meeple so yesterday I had second game with Egyptians, and it was even worse cause i knew how to play, I did everything and well even with 2 monsters attacking only me i was able to do my 6 Political cards and 8 wonders and 8 blue cards (wining majorities on the 3) and conquer nicely. Let see what the expansion add or fix on the 15th of June :-)
Totally agree as we had the same issues, but it sucks, because the gameplay is excellent, if they could just tweak the scoring, map size, and implement player actions that go back and worth within a round, like terraforming Mars, this would be one of my favourite games. I’ve heard the new Kickstarter will be making such changes, so I think this could be a 10/10 game if they make some tweaks to address these limitations.
Agreed - the scoring is a real bummer for me - it stresses the need to at least formulate the same types of strategy every game, just using a different set of cards to do so. I think this is the real focal point of my disappointment. I can get over the downtime, but I want to be able to approach my goals and scoring from a variety of unique ways when I play games.
I've gotten 24 plays in so far, but I've only played the game solo or with 2 players. Two of my 2 player games only lasted a little over an hour, while another two of them went 3 hrs. Most games have lasted about 90 minutes. I've noticed the game length, (and down time) is totally dependent upon who is playing. I totally agree the game bogs down if a player drags out their decision making, the 3 hr games were tedious. BUT, if the players are pretty quick, the down time is fine.
Holy cow - 24 plays? That's incredible. Agreed - avoid playing this with friends who AP....you may not be friends with them after :). It's kind of true of ALL games but I agree with you point.
Wow I was not expecting this. Most reviewers are raving about this game. But you actually highlighted everything that made me not walk away but run away from this game during KS. A friend had recommended it after a play at UKGE and the KS campaign did look pretty. But after a bit of research. I was really turned off by several things you brought up. If there is every a second ed of this game I would recommend too fairly big changes. Burning cards has to be easier. Players have to be encouraged to really build there own deck mold their civ over the course of the game. The other big change would be to let players simultaneously select the 5 cards they are activating for the round gather the resources they generated and then take turns doing 1 action at a time. These two things from the outside looking in would speed up the game and dramatically reduce downtime. One other thing I would also like to see would be an additional end game scoring element a type of set collection. Where at the end of the game you lay out your deck in a series of sets based on symbols you have collected throughout the game this to seem to encourage deck culling and card purchases. But that's just my thoughts.
Hope you enjoyed the review! I too have thoughts about what could smooth out the downtime and look forward to what Matthew and their team does with the upcoming KS Expansion content to help alleviate these issues for me. As mentioned, there is a lot to love about the game as well.
A Kickstarter campaign for the new expansion (African Empires) will be held this mid June with a new Continuous Play mode which will shorten the waiting time. Please do a re-review on the game and see if your rating for it will change. Thanks.
It has already been said in this thread, but I really appreciate the effort to describe what you liked and what you didn't like. It really drives the point home that you love this style of game and helps to illustrate your understanding, analysis, and reasoning behind why you feel this one just narrowly misses for you. I also love that you have responded to every response so far. That shows dedication to supporting and interacting with the community you serve with your content.
Thank you Jason for noticing! I am trying to make sure that I take back control of the things I love about creating content and being involved with my work rather than just shooting and editing a video and moving onto the next without any type of reflection from our audience. It's equally important that I take the time to be overtly honest about a game, good or bad, and then listen and respond to others opinions as well - so thank you again for noticing!
Great content, well reasoned, and appropriate to the type of game. Sometimes reviewers place a game in a void, while you really can't do that with the amount of options that are available in this day and age. You even point towards the particular flaws, and the game designers/developers would do well in taking the feedback from an experienced gamer/reviewer like you. Thanks again
I agree with all your criticisms and it was something I worried about during the campaign. I tried the continuous play mentioned in the upcoming expansion with a few tweaks, instead of just 1 turn per player, I changed it to 1-2 and for military movement I required all the required units to be adjacent already before a conquer but the cost of doing said conquer is just 1. It slows down the map exploration and allows for some really exciting combat. Doing this bumped the game from a 6 to a 9 for me.
Thank you for the review. I love 4x games, too. I really love the review score. With so many games coming out every year, it's hard to determine what to get on just a binary scoring system. Keep up the great work!!
Great review. I also think that downtime with more players is an issue, especially later in the game when you're engine is running. Besides that, in a 2 player game you can't keep attacking each other. At some point your spread out to thin and you can defend easily with towers and monuments. I really hope you'll do a similar review with Dark Ages. I think this 4x game wil run smoother as it comes out somewhere next year.
I've played Momumental including the original expansion 6 times now and love playing this. I feel like it is easy to teach and have played with 2 to 4 players. I like it most with 3 players and like with many games, it can get a little long between turns if you are playing with slower players. If you play with players that dont suffer from AP as much....the learning curve is fast and I get a strong feeling of progress in this game much faster than most other 4x games. It's a light to medium 4x and should be played a little more briskly by deciding mostly what to do in advance of your turn. If you know that going in...the play is rich and exciting and the downtime is used to think. A great production for sure and sometimes it's important to just accept certain game characteristics as they are and not get too fickle about them. I recall playing other 4x games like TI4....Clash of Cultures...Mega Civ...and playing for literally hours to have the feeling of getting almost nowhere....that has never happened in Monumental for our group.
I have played three or four games also. One 3 player, the rest two player. I have found myself asking the same questions as you. So far I think I am going with I still enjoy it, but I completely understand where you are coming from and will probably keep all of this in mind when I play next. I really need to try nations.
In 2 player game we didn't have problems about exploration. We didn't cover map so fast. But then we found that there wasn't so many battles. So might that map is to big for 2 players but small for 4. Otherwise great game
Thanks Tadej! I am glad your experience was different than mine, shows that not all games play out the same. Maybe our play styles are just different? Anyways thanks for chiming in!
I am looking forward to playing it now that restrictions on gatherings are lifting. Good to hear your thoughts. Have you considered recording one for Black Angel?
I have considered it but Black Angel is now a year old and there is so much newer content that we have to cover. Currently I have several games in the process of reviewing myself.
HI Jeremy, I ove your insight, but must disagree a bit, Monumental in a perhaps wierd solo way, could be on my table every night, but I know that I love solo, so no downtime, and indeed at some point you cant no more invade the others due to the limit of keeping at least 1 soldier per province... but I agree too that it is a first iteration and it is really easy to home rule certaint things like to alleviate this thing... or simultaneous play and resolve only invasion in the right order... I agree too that the next kickstarter will be auto back cause of some really new things added... But deckbuilder is my thing and it is the first DB that mix with control territory so
Great comments. I hope people don't think I hated the game as I was very careful in voicing my frustrations while also pointing out the things I truly enjoy about it as well. There is a lot to like and I look forward to the KS as well!
Well done. The game looks amazing but I'm glad I held off on backing as the game length would have been a problem for me. Check out Dominations if you haven't already....that might find itself on your shelf as a great civ game.
What do you think of Clash of Cultures? I’m surprised that I never hear you talk about it because it’s always mentioned as one of the better 4x civ games.
You make some valid points.Monumental like some other card games can have you sitting there forever waiting for your turn as you watch other players activate card after card. I'll be a little more charitable than you and give it a 7 out of 10. I think the biggest issue for me is the rule book. I don't think it was well thought out and I found myself looking at tutorial videos to clarify rules
I've played Monumental about 10 times now and really enjoy the game (I have only played 2 player and solo though). I like how the different civilisations play differently and have unique abilities. The game is long though, and as the game progresses, a players turn gets even longer. Despite these flaws my family think it is a great game. My main criticism of the game is probably the table space it takes up. The map and miniatures are fairly superfluous and could have been significantly reduced in size making the game much more affordable.
I like the variety in Civilizations as well - its also the main reason why I really want more end game goals than just the 4, so each can approach objectives in unique and different types of ways. Small quibble on my part for sure.
I really loved this review. It was super helpful. I'm curious if you've tried the game with the new continuous play rule available through their KS campaign. Does it help enough with the downtime? Is that enough to improve the game, or does the scoring system still leave the game too one dimensional?
I feel quite the same way as you do, except even the production quality has its flaws imho. the insert of the non-mini version missed a separation between two card stacks, the sleeved cards don‘t fit into the same insert and the rulebook misses a visualized components list (which made it hard to get to know all components..). and the solo mode is patched-on and you realize it quite fast. they even did not include sleeves for solo mode cards to begin with. I am quite disappointed..
Solo mode (which I played) missed the mark for me. I didn't mention that in the review, but it played out in the same way where the map was just totally discovered in almost no time. Maybe I just rush the map too quickly? I don't know but yes, I didn't really love the solo game. It's probably best at 3p.....4p is looooooong.
the best thing about this game is the card activation mechanic, combined with deck building. the rest is sadly just meh! the art and game components are awesome, this could have been a really nice medium or even medium to heavy game, but for me it turned out to be a mediocre light game. even the heroes/monsters and lost kingdoms expansion did not change much. they did not think about what to do with explorers once the map is cleared. there are only four simple ways of getting VP. and the rulebook is quite bad, to be honest. I am thinking about selling this game but probably will lose a lot of money doing so, because on top of all its flaws it was quite expensive! so, not sure if I won't keep it anyway, maybe need to play it 3-player to see if that changes my mind?
Not familiar with this game, but it sounded good until you explained the extended downtime for each player. Two possibilities... (1). Can the play length be helped by ensuring a card on the development deck(s) gets discarded at the end of every round/turn even if players don't do something with their tableauxs? (2). Could the downtime be mitigated by having each player do 1 action in turn once they've activated their row and column for that turn? I don't know the intricacies of this game of course, but this is a suggested variant that seems to work well in Star Trek: Ascension...?
Your Nr. 1 point is how the game should be played. The rules clearly says that if you don't acquired any cards on your turn, the last card in the display should be discarded. Also when playing only 2 players the display should be made up with 2 lines of cards instead of 1. That means discarding one card from each line if no cards was acquired that turn. Not sure if Jeremy missed that rule or not. Me and my friend played our first game in about 90min. Not that bad of a downtime if you ask me, but never played more then 2.
@@Scitzzo6 Indeed, I was surprised when he talked about the length being dependent on players buying cards...cards get removed from the display if nobody buys anything.
@@aonline_abridged Nope we played by this rule in every game played......it's a temp thing that's completely player controlled. The issue becomes even more apparent as the player count decreases in number as well.
@@meeple Sorry, I am now confused, are you saying my interpretation of the rule is wrong or that it is correct but you stand by it being player dependent? If the last card(s) get removed if nobody buys anything, how would depletion of the deck be completely player controlled? At least 1 new card comes into play even if nothing happens...in a 2 player game, that is 2 cards each turn. I am selling my copy, but was curious to see your review so this is why I watched.
@@meeple Currently watching, so I don't know if you got to it, but when a player DOES NOT buy a Card from the available ones, you discard the last ones in the lineup.
Leeroy Porkins yep, very aware of that rule. Removing a single card from the display though doesn’t expedite the game fast enough though, at least not in my experiences with the game thus far.
Although i agree that the downtime is significant and the scoring needs more variety, the mechanisms of the game are enough for me to still enjoy it. Max 3 players of course😜
Hahaha. Agreed, I like a lot of it as well, and I hope I made that apparent throughout. However the parts that I mentioned that I have negative thoughts on really spoil the best things about the game for me.
@@meeple Can't wait for you to comment on their tweaks made for the latest KS 2020. :) A video on the changes made that you believe will address the concerns listed here will be Fantastic! It will also certainly help the company to sell more games if they improved on the rules and gameplay and downtime.
@@meeple Do alert us if your professional assessment is that the latest KS has drastically IMPROVE on the gameplay and downtime. :) As of now, holding back from backing it. Thanks for the heads up! Always a FAN!
Haven't played, but saw Dice Tower review as well as yours. Knowing my own gaming group, I probably won't be buying this game. Games this long I usually reserve for co-op games so that everyone can truly be involved.
I watched Tom's video a few days ago after posting this - and to be honest this is what I love about bored games. I am honestly GLAD that he really like the game because it shows that every game has an audience - as some people's flaws are other people's gems. Example: I can't stand Mysterium but I am eternally grateful that people love it because that only means more people enjoying board games in the end!
There is a very interesting post on board game geek that introduces a variant that you might be willing to try in order to turn the game into something more resembling Terraforming Mars play structure. Credit to all that have been commenting in that post and playtesting it. boardgamegeek.com/thread/2386074/breaking-down-turns-reduce-downtime-some-considera/page/1
@@meeple It is purely everyones effort in that thread, them and their gaming groups deserve all the credit. Hopefully we will see their idea become reality or at least and inspiration in the June kickstarter relaunch.
This game look great. But price tag is out of many gamers price range. I will like it alot but I think I never get chance to play it due to price. 250 quid !!!!it too much .
Thanks very much for the review Jeremy, I really appreciate your thoughts. We've definitely heard the feedback about downtime and general game length, and are offering a new variant, Continuous Play, in the new Kickstarter that will hopefully alleviate this problem and elevate the game even further!
Is the rules variant going to be published before all of the Kickstarter production stuff is done? It would be nice to get it as a print and play for those of us who backed this game in 2018.
Thanks for dropping by Matthew, very much look forward to what you do with the Continuous Play system! There is a lot to like in Monumental, I hope I was fair in my assertions and will be watching the Kickstarter closely for sure!
Digging these videos and appreciate sidestepping the how-to-play section in favor of more analysis.
I really appreciate this - I also find this format to fall very much in my personal wheelhouse of how I like to truly approach games.
Very well thought-out and clearly articulated! This is an excellent review. I'm really enjoying the content that you are putting out recently. Thanks!
Thank you! I’ll personally be spending a lot more time on all of my reviews as I feel like they are an area that I’ve failed to concentrate on in the past, especially in comparison to my older Drakkenstrike’s Components Breakdown videos. I appreciate the encouragement!
I really really love these new videos where you talk about a game but because you are not paid you give honest opinion on it. This is really great video, let's hope they fix these issues with the new expansion :-)
by the way i played it once and will do again tomorrow, so far my only big issue is: you can do everything in 1 play (you can develop all your culture cards AND do Wonders AND blue cards AND conquer) so if I play again with the same civilization I suppose it will not vary too much from previous play... I will try tomorrow again and check this. I do love when you cannot do all in a game so at the end you are frustrated and want to play again right away and say: this time i will build more wonders etc
@@woniepom Boom - you basically said my feelings to the tee. I DON'T want to do everything in one game...I want to have to make hard decisions on how I score my points, where I excel in some but falter deeply in others. This is what makes games great for me personally. Nailed it Floriane!
@@meeple so yesterday I had second game with Egyptians, and it was even worse cause i knew how to play, I did everything and well even with 2 monsters attacking only me i was able to do my 6 Political cards and 8 wonders and 8 blue cards (wining majorities on the 3) and conquer nicely. Let see what the expansion add or fix on the 15th of June :-)
Floriane Pommier excites to find out as well. I’ve not seen anything about the expansion or changes so I’m interested in finding out more.
Really appreciate the balanced approach that leaves the audience to judge for themselves what they like and could dislike. Great work!
Thank you very much Jonathan!
Totally agree as we had the same issues, but it sucks, because the gameplay is excellent, if they could just tweak the scoring, map size, and implement player actions that go back and worth within a round, like terraforming Mars, this would be one of my favourite games. I’ve heard the new Kickstarter will be making such changes, so I think this could be a 10/10 game if they make some tweaks to address these limitations.
Agreed - the scoring is a real bummer for me - it stresses the need to at least formulate the same types of strategy every game, just using a different set of cards to do so. I think this is the real focal point of my disappointment. I can get over the downtime, but I want to be able to approach my goals and scoring from a variety of unique ways when I play games.
@@meeple any clues if they are correcting it in their next KS?
Where did you hear they're changing it? I thought the core game was getting a straight reprint and then it was African empires as new content?
I've gotten 24 plays in so far, but I've only played the game solo or with 2 players. Two of my 2 player games only lasted a little over an hour, while another two of them went 3 hrs. Most games have lasted about 90 minutes. I've noticed the game length, (and down time) is totally dependent upon who is playing. I totally agree the game bogs down if a player drags out their decision making, the 3 hr games were tedious. BUT, if the players are pretty quick, the down time is fine.
Holy cow - 24 plays? That's incredible. Agreed - avoid playing this with friends who AP....you may not be friends with them after :). It's kind of true of ALL games but I agree with you point.
Wow I was not expecting this. Most reviewers are raving about this game. But you actually highlighted everything that made me not walk away but run away from this game during KS. A friend had recommended it after a play at UKGE and the KS campaign did look pretty. But after a bit of research. I was really turned off by several things you brought up.
If there is every a second ed of this game I would recommend too fairly big changes. Burning cards has to be easier. Players have to be encouraged to really build there own deck mold their civ over the course of the game. The other big change would be to let players simultaneously select the 5 cards they are activating for the round gather the resources they generated and then take turns doing 1 action at a time.
These two things from the outside looking in would speed up the game and dramatically reduce downtime. One other thing I would also like to see would be an additional end game scoring element a type of set collection. Where at the end of the game you lay out your deck in a series of sets based on symbols you have collected throughout the game this to seem to encourage deck culling and card purchases. But that's just my thoughts.
Hope you enjoyed the review! I too have thoughts about what could smooth out the downtime and look forward to what Matthew and their team does with the upcoming KS Expansion content to help alleviate these issues for me. As mentioned, there is a lot to love about the game as well.
Oh for sure I hope to see more DB games use a similar tableau building and activating system
A Kickstarter campaign for the new expansion (African Empires) will be held this mid June with a new Continuous Play mode which will shorten the waiting time. Please do a re-review on the game and see if your rating for it will change. Thanks.
I am very interested in this mode and look forward to seeing what it brings to the table! Thanks for letting the viewers know!
It has already been said in this thread, but I really appreciate the effort to describe what you liked and what you didn't like. It really drives the point home that you love this style of game and helps to illustrate your understanding, analysis, and reasoning behind why you feel this one just narrowly misses for you. I also love that you have responded to every response so far. That shows dedication to supporting and interacting with the community you serve with your content.
Thank you Jason for noticing! I am trying to make sure that I take back control of the things I love about creating content and being involved with my work rather than just shooting and editing a video and moving onto the next without any type of reflection from our audience. It's equally important that I take the time to be overtly honest about a game, good or bad, and then listen and respond to others opinions as well - so thank you again for noticing!
@@meeple, keep it up! Not just a creator but a community leader. :D
Great content, well reasoned, and appropriate to the type of game. Sometimes reviewers place a game in a void, while you really can't do that with the amount of options that are available in this day and age. You even point towards the particular flaws, and the game designers/developers would do well in taking the feedback from an experienced gamer/reviewer like you.
Thanks again
Thank you Yannis for the comments, much appreciated!
Great review, this is the best part of this channel. Jeremy hats off
Ahhhhhhhh - Thank you Loki! Much appreciated!
I love your honest reviews and the way you clearly preface the difference between a paid and non-paid video. Keep it up!
I agree with all your criticisms and it was something I worried about during the campaign. I tried the continuous play mentioned in the upcoming expansion with a few tweaks, instead of just 1 turn per player, I changed it to 1-2 and for military movement I required all the required units to be adjacent already before a conquer but the cost of doing said conquer is just 1. It slows down the map exploration and allows for some really exciting combat. Doing this bumped the game from a 6 to a 9 for me.
Great review Jeremy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm really enjoying your last videos, with your personal opinions.
Thank you Lucas - Much appreciated!
Thank you for the review. I love 4x games, too.
I really love the review score. With so many games coming out every year, it's hard to determine what to get on just a binary scoring system. Keep up the great work!!
Thank you Jerry! Much appreciated!
Excellent critique and review. Thanks!
Thanks Zac - much appreciated!!
Great review. I also think that downtime with more players is an issue, especially later in the game when you're engine is running. Besides that, in a 2 player game you can't keep attacking each other. At some point your spread out to thin and you can defend easily with towers and monuments. I really hope you'll do a similar review with Dark Ages. I think this 4x game wil run smoother as it comes out somewhere next year.
I've really enjoyed Dark Ages both times I've played it. A VERY different game that is very Euro centric in its gameplay.
I've played Momumental including the original expansion 6 times now and love playing this. I feel like it is easy to teach and have played with 2 to 4 players. I like it most with 3 players and like with many games, it can get a little long between turns if you are playing with slower players. If you play with players that dont suffer from AP as much....the learning curve is fast and I get a strong feeling of progress in this game much faster than most other 4x games. It's a light to medium 4x and should be played a little more briskly by deciding mostly what to do in advance of your turn. If you know that going in...the play is rich and exciting and the downtime is used to think. A great production for sure and sometimes it's important to just accept certain game characteristics as they are and not get too fickle about them. I recall playing other 4x games like TI4....Clash of Cultures...Mega Civ...and playing for literally hours to have the feeling of getting almost nowhere....that has never happened in Monumental for our group.
TI4 doesn't feel that way to me, nor does Clash, but they certainly do last a bit longer than Monumental in terms of time at the table.
It seems alot of those issues MUST have come out through playtesting?
I have played three or four games also. One 3 player, the rest two player. I have found myself asking the same questions as you. So far I think I am going with I still enjoy it, but I completely understand where you are coming from and will probably keep all of this in mind when I play next. I really need to try nations.
You absolutely, 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt need to play Nations! Live near Indiana? I'll teach you!
ManVsMeeple no, Virginia here
But thanks for the offer!
Thanks for this review Jeremy! It was very informative, and well structured.
Thank you for the kind comments! Much appreciated!
Your experience and opinion mirrored mine EXACTLY!
Thank you Russell - much appreciated!
In 2 player game we didn't have problems about exploration. We didn't cover map so fast. But then we found that there wasn't so many battles. So might that map is to big for 2 players but small for 4. Otherwise great game
Thanks Tadej! I am glad your experience was different than mine, shows that not all games play out the same. Maybe our play styles are just different? Anyways thanks for chiming in!
I am looking forward to playing it now that restrictions on gatherings are lifting. Good to hear your thoughts. Have you considered recording one for Black Angel?
I have considered it but Black Angel is now a year old and there is so much newer content that we have to cover. Currently I have several games in the process of reviewing myself.
4:10 "you want to play with quality components that set the proper mood and tone". As a fellow fan of Nations, how I wish that were true of THAT game.
Then get ready to be happy........
ManVsMeeple whaaaat? Anything you can share ?
@@Vypper7 Hmmmmmmm......not right now but hmmmmm. I know you should be happy for 2021.
HI Jeremy, I ove your insight, but must disagree a bit, Monumental in a perhaps wierd solo way, could be on my table every night, but I know that I love solo, so no downtime, and indeed at some point you cant no more invade the others due to the limit of keeping at least 1 soldier per province... but I agree too that it is a first iteration and it is really easy to home rule certaint things like to alleviate this thing... or simultaneous play and resolve only invasion in the right order... I agree too that the next kickstarter will be auto back cause of some really new things added... But deckbuilder is my thing and it is the first DB that mix with control territory so
Great comments. I hope people don't think I hated the game as I was very careful in voicing my frustrations while also pointing out the things I truly enjoy about it as well. There is a lot to like and I look forward to the KS as well!
Well done. The game looks amazing but I'm glad I held off on backing as the game length would have been a problem for me.
Check out Dominations if you haven't already....that might find itself on your shelf as a great civ game.
We actually covered Dominations as well - I liked it!
The KS curse lol. Yet another undertested game... phew...
Great to hear balanced views, not every game has to be great.
Thanks Karl! Much appreciated!
What do you think of Clash of Cultures? I’m surprised that I never hear you talk about it because it’s always mentioned as one of the better 4x civ games.
I really like Clash of Cultures as well.....its a little Loooooong but the gameplay is solid. Very excited for the new edition by Wizkids this year!
You make some valid points.Monumental like some other card games can have you sitting there forever waiting for your turn as you watch other players activate card after card. I'll be a little more charitable than you and give it a 7 out of 10. I think the biggest issue for me is the rule book. I don't think it was well thought out and I found myself looking at tutorial videos to clarify rules
Thanks for watching!
Great video. Now if only I could find a copy of this game to buy
There will be a KS campaign for an expansion and there will be the basic game content too (with the previous sgs).
I've played Monumental about 10 times now and really enjoy the game (I have only played 2 player and solo though). I like how the different civilisations play differently and have unique abilities. The game is long though, and as the game progresses, a players turn gets even longer. Despite these flaws my family think it is a great game. My main criticism of the game is probably the table space it takes up. The map and miniatures are fairly superfluous and could have been significantly reduced in size making the game much more affordable.
I like the variety in Civilizations as well - its also the main reason why I really want more end game goals than just the 4, so each can approach objectives in unique and different types of ways. Small quibble on my part for sure.
Great review. Thanks!
Randy Jones thank you Randy!
I really loved this review. It was super helpful. I'm curious if you've tried the game with the new continuous play rule available through their KS campaign. Does it help enough with the downtime? Is that enough to improve the game, or does the scoring system still leave the game too one dimensional?
Miss ya Jeremy!
I feel quite the same way as you do, except even the production quality has its flaws imho. the insert of the non-mini version missed a separation between two card stacks, the sleeved cards don‘t fit into the same insert and the rulebook misses a visualized components list (which made it hard to get to know all components..). and the solo mode is patched-on and you realize it quite fast. they even did not include sleeves for solo mode cards to begin with. I am quite disappointed..
Solo mode (which I played) missed the mark for me. I didn't mention that in the review, but it played out in the same way where the map was just totally discovered in almost no time. Maybe I just rush the map too quickly? I don't know but yes, I didn't really love the solo game. It's probably best at 3p.....4p is looooooong.
the best thing about this game is the card activation mechanic, combined with deck building. the rest is sadly just meh! the art and game components are awesome, this could have been a really nice medium or even medium to heavy game, but for me it turned out to be a mediocre light game. even the heroes/monsters and lost kingdoms expansion did not change much. they did not think about what to do with explorers once the map is cleared. there are only four simple ways of getting VP. and the rulebook is quite bad, to be honest. I am thinking about selling this game but probably will lose a lot of money doing so, because on top of all its flaws it was quite expensive! so, not sure if I won't keep it anyway, maybe need to play it 3-player to see if that changes my mind?
@@wicked8576 Pretty much my sentiments as well. I look forward to the upcoming KS and hope they address some of these complaints as well!
Not familiar with this game, but it sounded good until you explained the extended downtime for each player. Two possibilities... (1). Can the play length be helped by ensuring a card on the development deck(s) gets discarded at the end of every round/turn even if players don't do something with their tableauxs? (2). Could the downtime be mitigated by having each player do 1 action in turn once they've activated their row and column for that turn? I don't know the intricacies of this game of course, but this is a suggested variant that seems to work well in Star Trek: Ascension...?
Your Nr. 1 point is how the game should be played. The rules clearly says that if you don't acquired any cards on your turn, the last card in the display should be discarded. Also when playing only 2 players the display should be made up with 2 lines of cards instead of 1. That means discarding one card from each line if no cards was acquired that turn. Not sure if Jeremy missed that rule or not. Me and my friend played our first game in about 90min. Not that bad of a downtime if you ask me, but never played more then 2.
@@Scitzzo6 Indeed, I was surprised when he talked about the length being dependent on players buying cards...cards get removed from the display if nobody buys anything.
@@aonline_abridged Nope we played by this rule in every game played......it's a temp thing that's completely player controlled. The issue becomes even more apparent as the player count decreases in number as well.
@@meeple Sorry, I am now confused, are you saying my interpretation of the rule is wrong or that it is correct but you stand by it being player dependent? If the last card(s) get removed if nobody buys anything, how would depletion of the deck be completely player controlled? At least 1 new card comes into play even if nothing happens...in a 2 player game, that is 2 cards each turn. I am selling my copy, but was curious to see your review so this is why I watched.
Monumental replaced Heroes of Land Air and Sea for me. Will I sell HoLAaS? No, I still enjoy it. Now I'm currently waiting for Dwellings of Eldervale.
Leeroy Porkins Dwellings is pretty good, it has much more of a euro feel to it than traditional games of that style.
I am so hyped for Dwellings of Eldervale.
@@meeple Currently watching, so I don't know if you got to it, but when a player DOES NOT buy a Card from the available ones, you discard the last ones in the lineup.
Leeroy Porkins yep, very aware of that rule. Removing a single card from the display though doesn’t expedite the game fast enough though, at least not in my experiences with the game thus far.
@@meeple Now that I think about it, it might be two cards.
Jeremy could you give me a score for nations so I can compare? Trying how too out if I should back the kickstarter or not :) thanks!
I think Nations is a 9. With a nice graphical update and a few minor tweaks to the gameplay it could be a 10 for me....I like Nations that much.
@@meeple Thanks for getting back to me! Looks like I'll maybe just waiting until 2021 then ;)
excellent analysis. Upvoted.
I really wanted to back this but it was really expensive, and FunForge really soured me on the Tokaido campaign so I passed on it.
I'm not familiar with the Tokaido expansion but yes, Monumental can be expensive - but the production value is fantastic!
Although i agree that the downtime is significant and the scoring needs more variety, the mechanisms of the game are enough for me to still enjoy it. Max 3 players of course😜
Hahaha. Agreed, I like a lot of it as well, and I hope I made that apparent throughout. However the parts that I mentioned that I have negative thoughts on really spoil the best things about the game for me.
hopefully, they will correct these problems in their next KS
:)
Agreed - I am keeping the game until then, I definitely want to play with the new variant rules and content!
@@meeple Can't wait for you to comment on their tweaks made for the latest KS 2020. :) A video on the changes made that you believe will address the concerns listed here will be Fantastic! It will also certainly help the company to sell more games if they improved on the rules and gameplay and downtime.
@@meeple Do alert us if your professional assessment is that the latest KS has drastically IMPROVE on the gameplay and downtime. :) As of now, holding back from backing it. Thanks for the heads up! Always a FAN!
(me pausing the video to see if I have missed any games in Jeremy's collection)
I haven't even shown the cabinets below hahahaha
Haven't played, but saw Dice Tower review as well as yours. Knowing my own gaming group, I probably won't be buying this game. Games this long I usually reserve for co-op games so that everyone can truly be involved.
I watched Tom's video a few days ago after posting this - and to be honest this is what I love about bored games. I am honestly GLAD that he really like the game because it shows that every game has an audience - as some people's flaws are other people's gems. Example: I can't stand Mysterium but I am eternally grateful that people love it because that only means more people enjoying board games in the end!
I was super hyped for this but have yet to play it. Funforge are such a nightmare that they ruined all my enjoyment for this.
You should at least give it a try, especially if someone in your local area has a copy to play!
There is a very interesting post on board game geek that introduces a variant that you might be willing to try in order to turn the game into something more resembling Terraforming Mars play structure. Credit to all that have been commenting in that post and playtesting it. boardgamegeek.com/thread/2386074/breaking-down-turns-reduce-downtime-some-considera/page/1
Great thread! Thank you!
@@meeple It is purely everyones effort in that thread, them and their gaming groups deserve all the credit. Hopefully we will see their idea become reality or at least and inspiration in the June kickstarter relaunch.
Great video. Thnx for the honest review. Me and my wallet ty. Keep up.
You are very welcome John!
This game look great. But price tag is out of many gamers price range. I will like it alot but I think I never get chance to play it due to price. 250 quid !!!!it too much .
So... Western Empires review? It is literally THE Civ game.
Good call.........:)