I'm reluctant to want to learn new games anymore, but I like the theme and concept of Perch. Birds are ruthless. I can't tell you how many hours I've watched the bluejays in my backyard harassing every other bird that is even in the area. And it's hardly just the bluejays. Every last sitting spot is hotly contested. I guess I'm a sucker for games that simulate interesting real-life mechanics.
I have a bit of a different perspective on Gnome Hollow. I actually find it can be fairly interactive with the tile placement, and I've had some games of it be downright brutal! While you can't add a tile to a ring that another player has a gnome on, you can place tiles in nearby spots to make it more difficult for them to finish their rings. In my games we usually wind up having to abandon rings pretty often for this reason. Also because you only have a couple of gnomes and you are incentivized to move one at the end of your turn, it's pretty common for one player to begin working on a ring just for another player to swoop in and steal it out from under them. You can't be everywhere at once. So while you can't prolong the path a player has already claimed without their permission, there definitely are other ways in which you can foil other people's plans in the tile placement.
Hi Carly! Not every game is for everyone. You the fantastic job of giving us your opinion on the positives and negatives of each game using us a chance to decide for ourselves if we would like them or not. Nicely done. Thank you and enjoy your holidays!
Totally understand. It’s ok to not like EVERY Board game title. Everyone enjoys different games and mechanics differently. The most important thing is to try the game at least once before giving an opinion. Anyways, continue being awesome and happy gaming!
We love Gnome Hollow. I don’t mind that there isn’t much interaction. My wife is the ‘non-gamer gamer’ in our house and our TH-cam channel. We enjoy the coziness of it. I personally love the mechanics of the game. And any game that my wife enjoys to play as well is always a winner for us. But that’s what’s great about gaming. Not every game is for everyone but there are games out there for everyone. While the finishing an opponents circle without asking for permission is weird and probably not used you can always make it tougher for them to complete rings by putting other tiles near them requiring them to have more matching sides in order to complete things.
I’ve almost picked up Gnome Hollow so many times based on how adorable the theme is 😂 I think I’d feel the same way you do about it though. Great video - very fair criticisms of these games.
I really enjoy Gnome Hollow on BGA in turn-based games but I have no desire to play this one in person for all the reasons you listed. I haven't even heard of the other 2 before!
Mercurial looks so pretty, if the price drops to cheap i might get it to just use as components and see if I can make the Lite game ruleset even if it is just solo variant. The magnetic boards in Gnome Hollow is great step forward, hope it catches on. Only one of these was still on my look into list. Thanks for your thoughts. Not every game is for every player.
Thank you for this video Carly!! I was curious of Gnome Hollow given the giant sign at PAXU, but the points you brought up are things I definitely wouldn’t like about it too. It’s actually the reason I didn’t vibe with Creature Comforts either- I need some player interaction!!
Do you think it would work to omit the rule about asking permission in Gnome Hollow or even make up house rules to make it more interactive? We already bought this game for Christmas bc our family loves Carcassonne and tile laying. One of our fav parts is trying to sabotage each other though. Now I'm worried we won't like Gnome Hollow!
It sounds like these games would all be misses for me, too. That's okay, though. Not every game will hit for every gamer. There are more than enough good games out there to find ones you love, and pass on the ones you don't.
Just FYI you're technically talking into your Blue Yeti wrong the logo should be towards you and I would recommend the cardoid pattern ( it looks like a heart ) that pattern is geared for sound coming directly in front of it.
Another fun video! Thanks Carly. I have a question, but it's not related to the video. Where did you buy that game shelf? My collection has grown to the point where I have to buy a new shelf, and it's the first time I've had to buy one specifically for board games. People have recommended a kallaxe by IKEA, but many of my games are too long to fit into the 1' x 1' spaces.
End of year cull!!!! I feel like some games are only good in certain moods, and some games are only good when a someone demos the game for you so you understand what vibe the game is going for (shenanigans, gunning for the win, playful banter) I like how Shelfside does their ratings, recommender’s score and personal score. Some times you just know when a board game doesn’t click with you, but there are subsections of the board game community the game would definitely click with!! Like rahdo prioritizes carebear games. 😅
Gnome hollow wasn’t a game for me because of analysis paralysis. We had a ton of interaction at 4 players and even though you can’t use an opponents path you can cause it to dead in by building to get in there way or… teaming up to cut off someone who looks like they are in the lead.
I'm only familiar with Gnome Hollow, but I could see what I would not like about it a mile away. It was hard to ignore the hype, but I had to keep reminding myself it was not for me. Now the hype has passed, so I don't think about it anymore.
100% agree on Gnome Hollow ... It was one of my Top 3 anticipated games and ended up being the biggest "Oof!!" of 2024. There is a really good game somewhere in there but in it's current state, it's very dull (3/10). Great video.
I played Dune Imperium the other and it was.... Not a good experience. Both players got high council turn 1. I lost 3 xombats to having non combat intrigue cards, and the dinal battle for 2vp i lost becsuse i had one that 2 spice for four power and the opponent had one that cost 2 spice for 6 power (or something like that). Also took forever to play the 3p game. Never been so disappointed in my life
@@boardgame_buzzz Just feelsbadman when you both maneuver to get intrigue cards and try to win the combats, to then lose them to someone with less troops because their card was more valuable at that time. Then losing the final battle because they drew a just straight up better card feels bad as well.
I'm reluctant to want to learn new games anymore, but I like the theme and concept of Perch. Birds are ruthless. I can't tell you how many hours I've watched the bluejays in my backyard harassing every other bird that is even in the area. And it's hardly just the bluejays. Every last sitting spot is hotly contested. I guess I'm a sucker for games that simulate interesting real-life mechanics.
I have a bit of a different perspective on Gnome Hollow. I actually find it can be fairly interactive with the tile placement, and I've had some games of it be downright brutal! While you can't add a tile to a ring that another player has a gnome on, you can place tiles in nearby spots to make it more difficult for them to finish their rings. In my games we usually wind up having to abandon rings pretty often for this reason. Also because you only have a couple of gnomes and you are incentivized to move one at the end of your turn, it's pretty common for one player to begin working on a ring just for another player to swoop in and steal it out from under them. You can't be everywhere at once.
So while you can't prolong the path a player has already claimed without their permission, there definitely are other ways in which you can foil other people's plans in the tile placement.
I LOVE THAT PERSPECTIVE!! I just found that hard to do while also trying to complete my own rings. But maybe I need to play it more!! ❤️❤️❤️
Hi Carly! Not every game is for everyone. You the fantastic job of giving us your opinion on the positives and negatives of each game using us a chance to decide for ourselves if we would like them or not.
Nicely done. Thank you and enjoy your holidays!
Thank you so much! That means a lot! ❤️
Totally understand. It’s ok to not like EVERY Board game title. Everyone enjoys different games and mechanics differently. The most important thing is to try the game at least once before giving an opinion. Anyways, continue being awesome and happy gaming!
Thanks! It's important to try everything once!
We love Gnome Hollow. I don’t mind that there isn’t much interaction. My wife is the ‘non-gamer gamer’ in our house and our TH-cam channel. We enjoy the coziness of it. I personally love the mechanics of the game. And any game that my wife enjoys to play as well is always a winner for us.
But that’s what’s great about gaming. Not every game is for everyone but there are games out there for everyone.
While the finishing an opponents circle without asking for permission is weird and probably not used you can always make it tougher for them to complete rings by putting other tiles near them requiring them to have more matching sides in order to complete things.
I am so glad you have found a game you both love! It is so hard to find a game that fits everyone's style! And yes I totally agree! ❤️
When she said, "This game has no interaction." I immediately thought, "I should check that out!"
I’ve almost picked up Gnome Hollow so many times based on how adorable the theme is 😂
I think I’d feel the same way you do about it though.
Great video - very fair criticisms of these games.
It’s so cute and I really wanted to love it!! 😭😭😭
I really enjoy Gnome Hollow on BGA in turn-based games but I have no desire to play this one in person for all the reasons you listed. I haven't even heard of the other 2 before!
Mercurial looks so pretty, if the price drops to cheap i might get it to just use as components and see if I can make the Lite game ruleset even if it is just solo variant. The magnetic boards in Gnome Hollow is great step forward, hope it catches on. Only one of these was still on my look into list. Thanks for your thoughts. Not every game is for every player.
Thank you for this video Carly!! I was curious of Gnome Hollow given the giant sign at PAXU, but the points you brought up are things I definitely wouldn’t like about it too. It’s actually the reason I didn’t vibe with Creature Comforts either- I need some player interaction!!
Do you think it would work to omit the rule about asking permission in Gnome Hollow or even make up house rules to make it more interactive? We already bought this game for Christmas bc our family loves Carcassonne and tile laying. One of our fav parts is trying to sabotage each other though. Now I'm worried we won't like Gnome Hollow!
YES! I have actually been meaning to try playing the game this way! I think you should try it!
It sounds like these games would all be misses for me, too. That's okay, though. Not every game will hit for every gamer. There are more than enough good games out there to find ones you love, and pass on the ones you don't.
Just FYI you're technically talking into your Blue Yeti wrong the logo should be towards you and I would recommend the cardoid pattern ( it looks like a heart ) that pattern is geared for sound coming directly in front of it.
Thanks for the info! So I know it’s backwards… but when I turn it around the audio flips weird!!! Do you know what would cause that? Hahahaha
Another fun video! Thanks Carly. I have a question, but it's not related to the video. Where did you buy that game shelf? My collection has grown to the point where I have to buy a new shelf, and it's the first time I've had to buy one specifically for board games. People have recommended a kallaxe by IKEA, but many of my games are too long to fit into the 1' x 1' spaces.
End of year cull!!!!
I feel like some games are only good in certain moods, and some games are only good when a someone demos the game for you so you understand what vibe the game is going for (shenanigans, gunning for the win, playful banter)
I like how Shelfside does their ratings, recommender’s score and personal score. Some times you just know when a board game doesn’t click with you, but there are subsections of the board game community the game would definitely click with!!
Like rahdo prioritizes carebear games. 😅
Slightly relieved to hear your thoughts on Perch - I didn’t back it and am feeling justified in that choice with each review I’m hearing
Thanks! Saved me some money of Gnome Hollow.
No problem!
Gnome hollow wasn’t a game for me because of analysis paralysis. We had a ton of interaction at 4 players and even though you can’t use an opponents path you can cause it to dead in by building to get in there way or… teaming up to cut off someone who looks like they are in the lead.
I'm only familiar with Gnome Hollow, but I could see what I would not like about it a mile away. It was hard to ignore the hype, but I had to keep reminding myself it was not for me. Now the hype has passed, so I don't think about it anymore.
Yeaaaa… I really wanted to love it!!!
Do you plan on giving them another try or culling them so someone else can try them out?
100% agree on Gnome Hollow ... It was one of my Top 3 anticipated games and ended up being the biggest "Oof!!" of 2024. There is a really good game somewhere in there but in it's current state, it's very dull (3/10). Great video.
😍😍😍
I played Dune Imperium the other and it was.... Not a good experience. Both players got high council turn 1. I lost 3 xombats to having non combat intrigue cards, and the dinal battle for 2vp i lost becsuse i had one that 2 spice for four power and the opponent had one that cost 2 spice for 6 power (or something like that). Also took forever to play the 3p game. Never been so disappointed in my life
Awwww MAN! A bad play can really ruin a game sometimes! 😭😭😭
@@boardgame_buzzz Just feelsbadman when you both maneuver to get intrigue cards and try to win the combats, to then lose them to someone with less troops because their card was more valuable at that time. Then losing the final battle because they drew a just straight up better card feels bad as well.