Metro, Tsuro and Indigo are some of my favourite games based on a similar mechanics with 3 different uses of it. Tantrix would be also a variant use of the same idea. Regarding the artwork and design of Metro, I disagree but I am a Parisian so I am biased! They really made an effort regarding the design and calligraphy of the early Paris metro stations. Also all the metro stations names are accurate. So, well done ! I recommend that game very much.
Manoeuvre, Hansa, Beowulf (the movie: the board game) - those are some "gems" indeed. I loved Beowulf when I used to own it. Always preferred that version to Knizia's original Kingdom. Great video btw, I appreciated your analysis.
By the way, regarding the absence of wooden trains in the new Metro version, spielmaterial has a set of wooden trains for Metro. I bought it and it is fantastic!
I almost bought Cable Car last year. I rarely see it in the second hand market lately. It certainly looks like a gem. I remember it being inexpensive on the second hand market. Great review of a game that should get more attention.
Yeah Metro is still quite easy to get; it's Cable Car that may be a bit hard to find. Cable Car is probably my favourite, if not for the giant box size. The new-ish 2017 Metro is not bad (still a big box though), it just doesn't have wooden trains. I'd still probably prefer that over the new one they had on KS. Cheers!
Hello Board Gem, When a track is complete: Is the train placed (rotated 90°) at the end station (or the beginning)? We played it at the end so that the station is blocked from being used again, except if the tile can't be placed any other place (then the next train is also allowed to score). Why else would you need to rotate it, since like you said you could else just remove it from the board. Also when you choose to redraw, we thought we needed to burn the 'current' tile and reshuffle the burned tiles at the end, instead of having to play the same tile again next turn? (Else you would not have the ability to trully repick until it's played).
Hi there! 1. I'm not sure what you mean in this first question. Once a line is complete, that's it, neither its start or end point will ever be used again, so you don't need to "block" it. It doesn't matter whether you rotate the train piece or remove it, so long as it's clear that that line is done. 2. Nope, if you choose to draw a second tile, you don't discard the first, you keep it for your next turn. On your next turn you can make that same decision again, play it or draw a random and play that instead. Hope that helps!
@@BoardGems in the center each station has 2 lines. When 1 of them is completed, the other line to the same station could still be used of you choose to remove the carts
@TQwan By station, do you mean tile? Yes, it has two tracks, but only one will ever be used. The tiles are designed so that, on each side, one track is always "coming" and one track is always "going". This is why lines never combine. So for the centre tiles, only the "coming" track (going into the tile) will be used. Lines don't start in the centre so the other track will never be needed.
haha.. I checked the link, and not only had seen your video, but also had left a comment there and totally forgot. ... it is only from few months ago, I think I need to check my Alzeheimer's medication again.
It wouldn’t be authentic Tsuro, for what it’s worth. In Tsuro it’s possible for two stones to collide. The way Metro tiles are set up, that would never happen.
Looking forward to new board gem videos once you get back from your real job sabattical! On this particular video, I'm quite sure you conveyed the "How to Play" part fine, but exactly why it's a "Board Gem" doesn't quite come across. In fact, reading thru the comments what I see is "It's just OK". To me, I expect an older game described as a "gem" needs to be better than "just OK". i understand each person decides what they consider a gem to be but It just sounds like the game does not actually qualify as a board game gem to you....unless you define an older gem as just an OK game.
Fair point, thanks. Metro wasn't on my radar to cover at the time but a deluxe version was just coming out on Kickstarter so I thought I'd cover it, and the video was a bit rushed, apologies. I do get quite a few requests to cover older games, and some of them are just okay or would only be gems to certain people. I need a way to cover those, too, without giving the impression everything I cover is a recommendation for everyone. At least I can try to say why this might be a gem for someone, which maybe I failed to do here. Conclusion: Metro is a good game, but you absolutely don't need a deluxe edition!
Didn't care for it. Always became too much about screwing over other players. The "stocks" expansion might help that some, so that looks good. Yes, Dirk Henn has a lot of good designs. I have Timbuktu and Yukon & Co. in the db-Spiele versions. Texas is also excellent. I preferred Alhambra when it was Stimmt So and didn't have the Tetris-like aspect. Wonder what the back story was on SF Cable Car edition box. Maybe they had reserved with the manufacturer a bunch of big boxes for some other game that fell through so they decided to shift gears and reprint Metro instead?
Metro is just okay for me, but I could see why some people may love it. Still, I can't imagine paying 100 USD for a deluxe edition of Metro with acrylic tiles! Yes, the shares expansion does help - you're screwing over lines, not players directly, and you don't even know who if anyone owns shares in those lines. (I neglected to mention in the video that shares are hidden.) Texas is The Rose King, which I did an early video on, because it's probably my favourite two-player game! th-cam.com/video/LmMyAbvRcIM/w-d-xo.html Some hobbyists out there might be more familiar with Stimmt So as Alhambra: The Card Game. Probably many would assume the card game was made to be a simplified version of the board game, when it actually went in the other direction!
Haha, good point on the card game! Alhambra just appeared on theboardgamearena site, but as a board game it seemed to have too many expansions and spinoffs. Got the impression it was Queen's number one moneymaker for quite some time, and they milked it for all it was worth.
Metro, Tsuro and Indigo are some of my favourite games based on a similar mechanics with 3 different uses of it. Tantrix would be also a variant use of the same idea. Regarding the artwork and design of Metro, I disagree but I am a Parisian so I am biased! They really made an effort regarding the design and calligraphy of the early Paris metro stations. Also all the metro stations names are accurate. So, well done ! I recommend that game very much.
Manoeuvre, Hansa, Beowulf (the movie: the board game) - those are some "gems" indeed. I loved Beowulf when I used to own it. Always preferred that version to Knizia's original Kingdom. Great video btw, I appreciated your analysis.
Thanks! I really need to try the Beowulf version. We love Kingdoms.
By the way, regarding the absence of wooden trains in the new Metro version, spielmaterial has a set of wooden trains for Metro. I bought it and it is fantastic!
I almost bought Cable Car last year. I rarely see it in the second hand market lately. It certainly looks like a gem. I remember it being inexpensive on the second hand market.
Great review of a game that should get more attention.
Yeah Metro is still quite easy to get; it's Cable Car that may be a bit hard to find. Cable Car is probably my favourite, if not for the giant box size. The new-ish 2017 Metro is not bad (still a big box though), it just doesn't have wooden trains. I'd still probably prefer that over the new one they had on KS. Cheers!
Hello Board Gem,
When a track is complete:
Is the train placed (rotated 90°) at the end station (or the beginning)? We played it at the end so that the station is blocked from being used again, except if the tile can't be placed any other place (then the next train is also allowed to score).
Why else would you need to rotate it, since like you said you could else just remove it from the board.
Also when you choose to redraw, we thought we needed to burn the 'current' tile and reshuffle the burned tiles at the end, instead of having to play the same tile again next turn? (Else you would not have the ability to trully repick until it's played).
Hi there!
1. I'm not sure what you mean in this first question. Once a line is complete, that's it, neither its start or end point will ever be used again, so you don't need to "block" it. It doesn't matter whether you rotate the train piece or remove it, so long as it's clear that that line is done.
2. Nope, if you choose to draw a second tile, you don't discard the first, you keep it for your next turn. On your next turn you can make that same decision again, play it or draw a random and play that instead.
Hope that helps!
@@BoardGems in the center each station has 2 lines. When 1 of them is completed, the other line to the same station could still be used of you choose to remove the carts
@TQwan By station, do you mean tile? Yes, it has two tracks, but only one will ever be used. The tiles are designed so that, on each side, one track is always "coming" and one track is always "going". This is why lines never combine. So for the centre tiles, only the "coming" track (going into the tile) will be used. Lines don't start in the centre so the other track will never be needed.
I don't have this one. I have a very similar one , you probably also know. LINEI 1 aka Streetcar by Stefan Dorra.
Indeed I do know Linie 1! I did a video on that one: th-cam.com/video/7LVxmV8d364/w-d-xo.html
For what it's worth, I like Linie 1 more.
haha.. I checked the link, and not only had seen your video, but also had left a comment there and totally forgot. ... it is only from few months ago, I think I need to check my Alzeheimer's medication again.
Are you able to play Tsuro using the tiles ?
It wouldn’t be authentic Tsuro, for what it’s worth. In Tsuro it’s possible for two stones to collide. The way Metro tiles are set up, that would never happen.
Looking forward to new board gem videos once you get back from your real job sabattical! On this particular video, I'm quite sure you conveyed the "How to Play" part fine, but exactly why it's a "Board Gem" doesn't quite come across. In fact, reading thru the comments what I see is "It's just OK". To me, I expect an older game described as a "gem" needs to be better than "just OK". i understand each person decides what they consider a gem to be but It just sounds like the game does not actually qualify as a board game gem to you....unless you define an older gem as just an OK game.
Fair point, thanks. Metro wasn't on my radar to cover at the time but a deluxe version was just coming out on Kickstarter so I thought I'd cover it, and the video was a bit rushed, apologies. I do get quite a few requests to cover older games, and some of them are just okay or would only be gems to certain people. I need a way to cover those, too, without giving the impression everything I cover is a recommendation for everyone. At least I can try to say why this might be a gem for someone, which maybe I failed to do here. Conclusion: Metro is a good game, but you absolutely don't need a deluxe edition!
@@BoardGems oh no need to apologize, I really enjoy this series on your channel & I hope you can find a way to continue it going forward. Thanks!
Didn't care for it. Always became too much about screwing over other players.
The "stocks" expansion might help that some, so that looks good.
Yes, Dirk Henn has a lot of good designs. I have Timbuktu and Yukon & Co. in the db-Spiele versions. Texas is also excellent. I preferred Alhambra when it was Stimmt So and didn't have the Tetris-like aspect.
Wonder what the back story was on SF Cable Car edition box. Maybe they had reserved with the manufacturer a bunch of big boxes for some other game that fell through so they decided to shift gears and reprint Metro instead?
Metro is just okay for me, but I could see why some people may love it. Still, I can't imagine paying 100 USD for a deluxe edition of Metro with acrylic tiles!
Yes, the shares expansion does help - you're screwing over lines, not players directly, and you don't even know who if anyone owns shares in those lines. (I neglected to mention in the video that shares are hidden.)
Texas is The Rose King, which I did an early video on, because it's probably my favourite two-player game! th-cam.com/video/LmMyAbvRcIM/w-d-xo.html
Some hobbyists out there might be more familiar with Stimmt So as Alhambra: The Card Game. Probably many would assume the card game was made to be a simplified version of the board game, when it actually went in the other direction!
Haha, good point on the card game!
Alhambra just appeared on theboardgamearena site, but as a board game it seemed to have too many expansions and spinoffs. Got the impression it was Queen's number one moneymaker for quite some time, and they milked it for all it was worth.
Ta Yu as another one of these connection type games.
@@BoardGems By the way, Happy National Pizza Day (2/9)!
Heh, thanks! We... don't really do all that much for that day. For us, every day is pizza day! 🙂