Full disclosure I backed this on kickstarter. I think it is a really fun adventure. I will say the playmat really helps organize things. I have played it a few times and had totally different outcomes, and even though the 2 player is essentially a little brother mode there are a few different cards you don't get in single player. The combat can go a little long and be a bit random but for me it's about how the adventure unfolds. "Winning" the dice check wasn't always the best outcome. I don't know how many outcomes there are, but I will be playing it multiple times, though as I get further I may "save" my game so I don't have to play through the first 2 decks to get to the others. For me it's an 8.
I agree, the playmat is a must, and this is a solid 9/10 for me, I love the meaningful choices with real consequences in this choose-your-own adventure dice and card game!
The metamorphosis which Tom has been through as a gamer, by giving a fair chance to solo-only games is really not something thay I take for granted... Thanks for the review!
I backed the kickstarter and just recently got my game and played the first chapter. I think it is the perfect fit for the type of game you roll out on the table with a cup of tea and enjoy.
I backed the first one on kickstarter and this one. We play the first one together with my wife, and actually love it. She likes simple easy quick games, which they are. Easy and fast to set up, no complicated rules. And actually playing with two people it quite easy, because playing alone you have more than one character card, so the other person just plays as that other character. Very easy integration I would say. So I don’t know if you know what you getting in these games, awesome illustrations, good story elements, lots of choices which mean rolling dice a lot of the times. You can save the game stare very easily, by just sliding your character card into the deck where you currently are, boom saved game. So if you need a game that can be set up fast, played for any amount of time quick sessions, long. You might wanna check these out. I love playing games like Brass, but for my wife she wants easier games and these were perfect. I am a big fan of both.
Purchased and played a half dozen times and I agree with all the criticisms. I so wish I enjoyed it more, but the dice check system was not as fun as I thought it was going to be. I would add that I really enjoyed the creativity in not only the art, but also the various card layouts through the story. I'm debating on some house rules to make the dice mechanic more satisfying for me.
I'm right there with you. It's definitely not for everyone, but if it's anything like the original...and it looks to be...then those that like it will reaaaaly like it.
I LOVE the dice rolling in this game, and the odds are pretty easy to figure out. Each face of the die is unique. That means that you have a 1/6 chance of rolling each face on the dice. Blank, half circle, full circle, half black bullseye, half white bullseye, dot. This makes it incredibly easy to figure out what you should lock in and what you should "finesse". The changing faces of the die allows the changing of the odds, and the changing of what you should lock in and what you should finesse, it works really well, and is very enjoyable to me. I love that these are beautiful unique dice, and I love that you are rolling for bullseyes, which fits perfect with the theme and for the choices that you make desiring to aim true. I REALLY wish you would've had the playmet to review this with. It adds places for the black cubes to be placed to keep track of sets, and a place for each deck of cards, and place for the bullseye for each encounter. I would HIGHLY recommend everyone get the playmat. I am really disappointed that this didn't sit better with Tom, because this is a solid 9/10 for me, well done Favro, well done!
_Each face of the die is unique. That means that you have a 1/6 chance of rolling each face on the dice. Blank, half circle, full circle, half black bullseye, half white bullseye, dot. This makes it incredibly easy to figure out what you should lock in and what you should "finesse"._ That is an essential addition that was not really touched upon in the review other than Tom saying he has no idea about the odds. Tom, I love your reviews and usually love your criticisms, but this time you may have been a tad too superficial on the combat and dice rolling. Also; it is connected to Spire's End, I found out with a quick scan on the game page on BGG, so there's that bit cleared up as well. For me it's a definite candidate for a purchase: awesome art, proper story (connected to Spire's End), dice combat with luck mitigation. Short shelf life is not a minus for me; I'll sell it in the end so it doesn't take up space.
Surprised you guys didn't like this more. It's a gorgeous, top-notch production. I feel the artwork and the story do most of the heavy lifting here, and I would have liked more commentary on whether or not you liked the story and found it compelling. In terms of mechanisms, I agree it probably would be better as an iPad app, but not everyone wants that kind of experience and the cost to hire a programmer to develop such an app would be prohibitive.
@@RolandIronfist13 Well, the Kickstarter funding minimum for this project was $15,000. Hiring an experienced app programmer or a team of programmers would run at least $100,000, I guesstimate, probably $200,000. (Fwiw, I'm a professional programmer, but I don't write apps. I am close friends with programmers who do, however.)
I agree with all the criticisms and still enjoy the game. It's good for when you want something light, charming and short. Replayability isn't there beyond a couple of run-throughs but the game is only $40 and easy enough to resell.
Was tempted by this Kickstarter... have to agree that the art is amazing. I would have liked to see a combat system with more "fun" interesting choices. It seems like it's mostly about checking to see what happens, rather than being able to manipulate the odds in your favour through skillful decision making. Some randomness is nice, but seems a tad too boring here. Really appreciated the review!
Great stuff and very helpful! Just getting started with my copy. Where did you get your reference card if I may ask? Pulled card 1 and collected 88,89 and 90 but don't see a reference for that one.
I say this as someone who really likes dice-rolling (I started as a roleplaying gamer long before board games) there is too much dice-rolling in this. I watched that first example of combat I'm thinking "this seems kinda hard to track and like every one of these is gonna take several minutes."
I’ve only had time to play through chapter 1 but I totally agree that mechanically it’s very underwhelming. Especially disappointing given that I really loved Spire’s End, which had an extremely clever action selection system where the points were your health points and it had a really nice push your luck element. Hoping the story is strong enough to warrant me to keep playing through because it’s been a dud so far.
As someone who finished the game and all branches, meh. The game requires hard save scumming to enjoy if you're a completionist. Some of the branching decisions don't make sense. Dice can ruin you if you play fairly.
Echoed everything I saw in previews before the KS. The dice rolling was excruciatingly boring and the artwork in the game is worthy of a far more compelling game experience that isn't here.
Maybe it wa because I felt sick with flu, but mid way Mike’s explanation I lost interest. Too convoluted for my taste. It looks brilliant, but I need the game now to be good as well.
Full disclosure I backed this on kickstarter. I think it is a really fun adventure. I will say the playmat really helps organize things. I have played it a few times and had totally different outcomes, and even though the 2 player is essentially a little brother mode there are a few different cards you don't get in single player. The combat can go a little long and be a bit random but for me it's about how the adventure unfolds. "Winning" the dice check wasn't always the best outcome. I don't know how many outcomes there are, but I will be playing it multiple times, though as I get further I may "save" my game so I don't have to play through the first 2 decks to get to the others. For me it's an 8.
I agree, the playmat is a must, and this is a solid 9/10 for me, I love the meaningful choices with real consequences in this choose-your-own adventure dice and card game!
The metamorphosis which Tom has been through as a gamer, by giving a fair chance to solo-only games is really not something thay I take for granted...
Thanks for the review!
I backed the kickstarter and just recently got my game and played the first chapter. I think it is the perfect fit for the type of game you roll out on the table with a cup of tea and enjoy.
I backed the first one on kickstarter and this one. We play the first one together with my wife, and actually love it. She likes simple easy quick games, which they are. Easy and fast to set up, no complicated rules. And actually playing with two people it quite easy, because playing alone you have more than one character card, so the other person just plays as that other character. Very easy integration I would say. So I don’t know if you know what you getting in these games, awesome illustrations, good story elements, lots of choices which mean rolling dice a lot of the times. You can save the game stare very easily, by just sliding your character card into the deck where you currently are, boom saved game. So if you need a game that can be set up fast, played for any amount of time quick sessions, long. You
might wanna check these out. I love playing games like Brass, but for my wife she wants easier games and these were perfect. I am a big fan of both.
Purchased and played a half dozen times and I agree with all the criticisms. I so wish I enjoyed it more, but the dice check system was not as fun as I thought it was going to be. I would add that I really enjoyed the creativity in not only the art, but also the various card layouts through the story. I'm debating on some house rules to make the dice mechanic more satisfying for me.
I am actually super excited, even tho it is not a recommend from you guys. It should get top me on Monday, still really waiting for this
Same
It's great. But they guys are right it's not for everyone.
@@mitchstanek7809 indeed. But I don’t know a single game in the entire known universe that is for everyone.
I'm right there with you. It's definitely not for everyone, but if it's anything like the original...and it looks to be...then those that like it will reaaaaly like it.
Kickstartered this but haven't managed to get it to the table yet ... thank you for a spoiler-free review :)
I LOVE the dice rolling in this game, and the odds are pretty easy to figure out. Each face of the die is unique. That means that you have a 1/6 chance of rolling each face on the dice. Blank, half circle, full circle, half black bullseye, half white bullseye, dot. This makes it incredibly easy to figure out what you should lock in and what you should "finesse". The changing faces of the die allows the changing of the odds, and the changing of what you should lock in and what you should finesse, it works really well, and is very enjoyable to me. I love that these are beautiful unique dice, and I love that you are rolling for bullseyes, which fits perfect with the theme and for the choices that you make desiring to aim true.
I REALLY wish you would've had the playmet to review this with. It adds places for the black cubes to be placed to keep track of sets, and a place for each deck of cards, and place for the bullseye for each encounter. I would HIGHLY recommend everyone get the playmat. I am really disappointed that this didn't sit better with Tom, because this is a solid 9/10 for me, well done Favro, well done!
_Each face of the die is unique. That means that you have a 1/6 chance of rolling each face on the dice. Blank, half circle, full circle, half black bullseye, half white bullseye, dot. This makes it incredibly easy to figure out what you should lock in and what you should "finesse"._
That is an essential addition that was not really touched upon in the review other than Tom saying he has no idea about the odds. Tom, I love your reviews and usually love your criticisms, but this time you may have been a tad too superficial on the combat and dice rolling.
Also; it is connected to Spire's End, I found out with a quick scan on the game page on BGG, so there's that bit cleared up as well.
For me it's a definite candidate for a purchase: awesome art, proper story (connected to Spire's End), dice combat with luck mitigation. Short shelf life is not a minus for me; I'll sell it in the end so it doesn't take up space.
Surprised you guys didn't like this more. It's a gorgeous, top-notch production. I feel the artwork and the story do most of the heavy lifting here, and I would have liked more commentary on whether or not you liked the story and found it compelling. In terms of mechanisms, I agree it probably would be better as an iPad app, but not everyone wants that kind of experience and the cost to hire a programmer to develop such an app would be prohibitive.
Would the development of an app be more expensive than manufacturing and shipping?
@@RolandIronfist13 Well, the Kickstarter funding minimum for this project was $15,000. Hiring an experienced app programmer or a team of programmers would run at least $100,000, I guesstimate, probably $200,000. (Fwiw, I'm a professional programmer, but I don't write apps. I am close friends with programmers who do, however.)
I agree with all the criticisms and still enjoy the game. It's good for when you want something light, charming and short. Replayability isn't there beyond a couple of run-throughs but the game is only $40 and easy enough to resell.
Really hope this gets UK release.
Great and very thorough. Thanks!
I’m having a lot of fun with this game and the co-op is an easy way to spend time with my daughters.
Was tempted by this Kickstarter... have to agree that the art is amazing. I would have liked to see a combat system with more "fun" interesting choices. It seems like it's mostly about checking to see what happens, rather than being able to manipulate the odds in your favour through skillful decision making. Some randomness is nice, but seems a tad too boring here. Really appreciated the review!
Great stuff and very helpful! Just getting started with my copy. Where did you get your reference card if I may ask?
Pulled card 1 and collected 88,89 and 90 but don't see a reference for that one.
Got it! Back of chapter 4 deck
I say this as someone who really likes dice-rolling (I started as a roleplaying gamer long before board games) there is too much dice-rolling in this. I watched that first example of combat I'm thinking "this seems kinda hard to track and like every one of these is gonna take several minutes."
I’ve only had time to play through chapter 1 but I totally agree that mechanically it’s very underwhelming. Especially disappointing given that I really loved Spire’s End, which had an extremely clever action selection system where the points were your health points and it had a really nice push your luck element.
Hoping the story is strong enough to warrant me to keep playing through because it’s been a dud so far.
I agree with all their criticisms but it's still a fun and unique game and I'm enjoying it.
Tom looking extra stylish 💁🏻♀️✨
That's a lot of rolls to determine whether the character knocks a flower pot off a ledge
Price seems high for a limited replayability with clunky mechanics solo game. Thanks for the review! I will pass on this one.
is tedious to watch. But I probably would enjoy it.
hey man, that's really self aware. are there other games like that for you?
@@gordo6908 Monopoly.
As someone who finished the game and all branches, meh. The game requires hard save scumming to enjoy if you're a completionist. Some of the branching decisions don't make sense. Dice can ruin you if you play fairly.
Echoed everything I saw in previews before the KS. The dice rolling was excruciatingly boring and the artwork in the game is worthy of a far more compelling game experience that isn't here.
Maybe it wa because I felt sick with flu, but mid way Mike’s explanation I lost interest. Too convoluted for my taste. It looks brilliant, but I need the game now to be good as well.
Sold this after 5 plays. Tear down is rough and replayability is low