I’m glad you have reviewed this. I have been looking for a new good fun game to play at our family Christmas gathering. Wits and Wagers, Telestrations, Colour Brain, and No thanks have been previous favourites and I think this game will fit the bill perfectly.
Fair enough. I was really excited about this one and then tried my friend's company. It was still fun but not quite as amazing as I had hoped. The best part is when the race is about to end and everyone is biting their nails to see the winner. Until then not much is happening because it's impossible to make an educated bet. Like the lottery it can be exhilarating when you pull off a hail mary bet and make a lot of money. But I admit it's completely random and any bets you make at the beginning are just shots in the dark. Best probably for big family get-togethers as you said.
I should add such a horse-racing themed game to my collection. In Ready Set Bet, it seems players have no agency to manipulate the dice rolls. Does anyone have a preference between Winners Circle (Knizia) and Long Shot?
This is an interesting one for me. In general, I hate real-time games, I strongly dislike games with a large amount of luck, and in real life, gambling bores me senseless. I actually fell asleep at a family visit to a race track! However, given all that, I found this game to be a great experience. It's definitely not a game I am going to play for a heavy strategy fix, but in the two games I've played so far, it's been just plain fun. I'm looking forward to playing it a higher player count since the chaos that will ensue seems like it will be a riot. While I understand some of your cons, the one that doesn't make sense to me is the ability to influence the race. I don't think this is trying to be anything but a board game representation of a horse race, and you can't influence the horses there so it would seem out of place here. There is more of a strategy component to the other games you mention (Camel Up, Long Shot), and that is the very thing that I see making Ready Set Bet easier to get to the table than those.
I probably like this game more than you do. But my problem with this review is how you kinda sweep RSB into the "highly accessible" category and therefore more suited for non-gamers. My characterisation of RSB is that it is a "real time, worker placement game with push your luck mechanics". It plays well as multiple player count and is something both gamer and non-gamer can play. Also very thematic too. Components aside, I dont see how camel up is better than this one. Camel Up provides players with an "illusion of choice". + "influence the outcome of the race"? that's a bit naive. What is it that you can do in Camel up? placing a tile to move the camel back and forth? Ok how many times do you get to perform that action in a game? how often do camels land there? At the end of the day it's all at the mercy of the dice. + probability: it's strange how you rule that there is more probability in camel up vs this one ("complete shot in the dark" smh). Sir every square on the betting board has a payout table with a well calculated probability attached to it. Just like the probability of poker hands as there are more information. If anyone wants to approach the game from a mathy angle, it would be completely possible. + Pacing of this game is actually good. If you use the app and crank up the speed to 0.5s/roll, a race should expect to finish in 3 minutes. 3 minutes! Some of my group mate take just as long to make ONE move on camel up lol. To say that there is "down time" is a bit of an unfair statement + Replayability is where I kinda agree with you. Just because of how mathy this game could be. That the meta would be quite predictable and there are slots that everyone would be at the ready to claim. But then, the 3 minute and the VIP + prop bets components should give more variability to the game
I'm praising this game for being highly accessible. I'm not the biggest fan of Camel Up either but I definitely think the probability variables are way more interesting because you can't keep rolling the same die again and again. The piggyback mechanism makes it quirkier and more interesting imo. Long Shot smashes the other two into oblivion though.
I’m glad you have reviewed this. I have been looking for a new good fun game to play at our family Christmas gathering. Wits and Wagers, Telestrations, Colour Brain, and No thanks have been previous favourites and I think this game will fit the bill perfectly.
Fair enough. I was really excited about this one and then tried my friend's company. It was still fun but not quite as amazing as I had hoped. The best part is when the race is about to end and everyone is biting their nails to see the winner. Until then not much is happening because it's impossible to make an educated bet. Like the lottery it can be exhilarating when you pull off a hail mary bet and make a lot of money. But I admit it's completely random and any bets you make at the beginning are just shots in the dark. Best probably for big family get-togethers as you said.
I should add such a horse-racing themed game to my collection. In Ready Set Bet, it seems players have no agency to manipulate the dice rolls. Does anyone have a preference between Winners Circle (Knizia) and Long Shot?
This is an interesting one for me. In general, I hate real-time games, I strongly dislike games with a large amount of luck, and in real life, gambling bores me senseless. I actually fell asleep at a family visit to a race track! However, given all that, I found this game to be a great experience. It's definitely not a game I am going to play for a heavy strategy fix, but in the two games I've played so far, it's been just plain fun. I'm looking forward to playing it a higher player count since the chaos that will ensue seems like it will be a riot. While I understand some of your cons, the one that doesn't make sense to me is the ability to influence the race. I don't think this is trying to be anything but a board game representation of a horse race, and you can't influence the horses there so it would seem out of place here. There is more of a strategy component to the other games you mention (Camel Up, Long Shot), and that is the very thing that I see making Ready Set Bet easier to get to the table than those.
I was tempted to purchase this over Camel Up, but not anymore. Thanks!
Check out Long Shot The Dice Game too if you're not familiar. It's even better than Camel Up in my opinion.
@@ChairmanoftheBoard Funny you mention that as it was also in consideration. Thanks!
I probably like this game more than you do. But my problem with this review is how you kinda sweep RSB into the "highly accessible" category and therefore more suited for non-gamers. My characterisation of RSB is that it is a "real time, worker placement game with push your luck mechanics". It plays well as multiple player count and is something both gamer and non-gamer can play. Also very thematic too.
Components aside, I dont see how camel up is better than this one. Camel Up provides players with an "illusion of choice".
+ "influence the outcome of the race"? that's a bit naive. What is it that you can do in Camel up? placing a tile to move the camel back and forth? Ok how many times do you get to perform that action in a game? how often do camels land there? At the end of the day it's all at the mercy of the dice.
+ probability: it's strange how you rule that there is more probability in camel up vs this one ("complete shot in the dark" smh). Sir every square on the betting board has a payout table with a well calculated probability attached to it. Just like the probability of poker hands as there are more information. If anyone wants to approach the game from a mathy angle, it would be completely possible.
+ Pacing of this game is actually good. If you use the app and crank up the speed to 0.5s/roll, a race should expect to finish in 3 minutes. 3 minutes! Some of my group mate take just as long to make ONE move on camel up lol. To say that there is "down time" is a bit of an unfair statement
+ Replayability is where I kinda agree with you. Just because of how mathy this game could be. That the meta would be quite predictable and there are slots that everyone would be at the ready to claim. But then, the 3 minute and the VIP + prop bets components should give more variability to the game
I'm praising this game for being highly accessible. I'm not the biggest fan of Camel Up either but I definitely think the probability variables are way more interesting because you can't keep rolling the same die again and again. The piggyback mechanism makes it quirkier and more interesting imo. Long Shot smashes the other two into oblivion though.
Camel up is better than this bidding game. But since i like Formula One Racing my favourite bidding game is Down Force. ❤😊
You are in my top 5 most interesting channels to watch regarding board games. Keep up the good work! I plan to skip bying this game.