Via Magica and Augustus Comparison - with Zee Garcia

Join Zee as he takes a look at Rise of Augustus and its new reprint/retheme, Via Magica, side-by-side!
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[@leshrac369]

Honestly I would just house rule the resolution if you don't like the shout out. Id just declare it goes in clockwise order from the person holding the bag.

[@bornofashes]

Magic theme and art/usability is way more appealing to me. The tiebreaker I don’t mind because the game is so light to begin with, I wouldn’t be playing with hardcore gamers anyway. Smaller box is also a huge bonus.

[@TheLimestoneCowboy]

I love the detailed and thoughtful comparisons! I’m a component guy. Keep’em coming Z!

[@TheLimestoneCowboy]

Now that I think of it... does anyone know if “Zee” is his real name?

[@cthulwho8197]

I prefer Ecos 😁

[@wolflarson71]

Amazed this game never had an expansion.

[@ramonosuke]

Paolo Mori doesn't believe in expanding any of his popular games(Ethnos, Rise of Augustus, Libertalia, Batman Gotham City) for some reason.

[@gamingpond]

@@ramonosuke He does, he has stated that he has expansions designed for several of those examples, it's rather that his publishers don't usually want them.

[@wetwillyccma]

I will stick with Augustus. Looks better and that last rule you showed was a deal breaker. Too many times we have 2 people finish at the same time. The numbers keep it from having disputes. Stupid decision not to put numbers on the cards from the designers. Oh well, their loss.

[@yorgoskus]

When we play Via Magica we just resolve ties clockwise from the player holding the bag

[@dromadrosis]

My family loves Augustus!!!

[@nshaw1299]

how did the numbers that determined order worked in Augustus?
Stronger cards went first or vice versa?

[@Aaron.Rants.Reviews]

I'm not familiar with Rise of Agustus but I'm always a fan of new editions getting boxes that are proportional to their contents. I do like the Via Magica art better. It does look like that final rule change makes it a worse game.

[@hypnoticsorin8016]

Seriously sick of publishers using those Ascension “gems” for literally every game. Come up with a new component already

[@woehrle17]

Ty so much for this. I was totally sold on replacing my copy of Augustus up until that last point about having to race to shout the phrase. That's a deal breaker for me unfortunately. I really wish they had still included the numbers as an optional variant.

[@TheDarkever]

I assume you can still use the "element value" to determine the number when resolving ties, since if I'm not mistaken in Augustus the cheaper cards have a lower number. Air=1, Water=2, etcetera. You may have to sum all the elements when the result is not clear at glance, but it's doable.

[@dbungart3044]

Might seem silly, but those gems instead of meeples is pretty bad and pretty close to a deal breaker. I like the theme better though.

[@Skarpo89]

Well, I really like Via's art waaaay better, Augustus just seems old to me, but that last rule change specially really make it the lesser game unfortunately, maybe I'll just house rule it so whomever had the most elements in their last card gets the extra points, and in case of a tie just split them.

[@jasonjoyce2177]

Just handle it like the superior game Ecos does. Whoever is pulling from the bag gets priority, then go clockwise.
But seriously though, just get Ecos. Much much better game than either of these.

[@2bkhoyo]

I've bought Via Magica. Not played yet. - I think I don't like how they handle it when both players complete a card at the same time. At the same time I don't like this sort of constructed player interaction/fights for the cards in the middle. Everyone should get their points at the end of the game on how much cards and which cards they finished or at least get just 1 point less for completing second. Shouting problem solved. Yes it's no more player interaction... Perhaps it'll be too short to bother me. We'll see. Typically something like this bothers me.

[@SuperboyReborn]

Because of the theme and I typically play with young or new gamers, I’m going to have to go with Via. Although, I like the look of Rise more

[@myoman1977]

Wow they made it worse

[@dangerousbeans2907]

Augustus is one of the worst culprits of way way way too much box for a sandwich baggie worth of components. The game can be won almost every time with a particular strategy as well; for that reason alone I got rid of it.
Get Ecos. Similar mechanics with a ton more game and theme to it. Way better.