Wayfarers of the South Tigris - REVIEW
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ต.ค. 2024
- Does Wayfarers of the South Tigris continue the great ride Garphill Games has taken us on for the last several years? Does it do anything new and innovative, or have you played games like this before?
Find out in our full review, as David and Ryan share their thoughts on what you can expect, and give their scores for the first game in a new trilogy.
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Thanks David and Ryan for the review! Really appreciate you covering this game and I think you 'got' the game. What you said was super fair :) Have a good one!
Thanks Sam! Appreciate you dropping in to check out our video too. Congrats on the game, and of course, always looking forward to your next one.
Great review, favorite design by him that I have played I think. I still haven't got used to trying to constantly journal more than once in one action. really enjoy how versatile the cards are in conjunction with the worker placement/tableau building as well, especially concerning the constellation cards and scoring.
Thanks! And I cannot resist trying to journal twice whenever possible. I love trying to rush the game along to see if I can catch everyone else off guard.
I think 8 is about right and I agree with your points. When I taught it, I had them do some turns until a rest so they could see how it plays. Then we reset and started over so they had an idea of how it works before playing a full game.
Solid approach to the teach! I try that sometimes, but it takes a willing group of players I've found. 😉
Halfway through the first game I was just exhausted. Too many things to constantly be thinking about. I love heavy games but this just felt like a bunch of competing mechanisms not a game. While there are a lot of decisions to consider, none of them felt super impactful - if I get this harbor card it gives me a new action space that does the same as the last but slightly cheaper, or if I get this space card it’s worth one point to me now and I have to hope the other cards I need come up, and I can get them, to make it meaningful. For now I’ll stay in the North Sea and West Kingdom while I wait for the next entry in the South Tigris.
My first game was a bit rough too, and it was at 4-players. I'm not sure what my stance is on whether a game needs (or at least benefits from) multiple plays before it clicks, but it did indeed click with me on my second play. Many of the decisions do feel more like a battle of inches than big swingy differences, but I ultimately enjoyed how it came together.
One thing I did fail to mention in our video was the fact that many of those I've played with would have liked to see some sort of increased method of cycling the card displays--particularly the Space cards. Those are what they are unless someone acquires one, which can be frustrating when hunting for meteors.
I am loving this game. Happy to hear you like it too.
Completely agree about getting a game under your belt, but it's worth it imo.
I've had that experience twice this year, and honestly, I'm going to have the attitude of giving second plays the priority in general I think. With both this and Revive, my attitude toward the game shifted quite a bit after my second play.
I love this game SO much! Super fun. The whole thing is just a well-oiled machine, it just flows. Thanks for the review!
"Well-oiled machine" is a good descriptor--one with SO many moving parts. 😉
Great review. I ordered this one (it was just $35) and am waiting for it to arrive. Bit nervous though, as the most complex games we’ve played are Scythe and Obsession. The art and dice and worker placement aspects drew me in but worried that we won’t be able to gronk it or it will feel more like work than fun. :/
The icons can be overwhelming for sure, but I'm hopeful that you'll bee able to tackle it based on your experience with other games. JUST REMEMBER TO PLAN OUT YOUR ROUTE ON THAT JOURNAL TRACK!
Thank you for this. I have the game but haven’t played it yet. I am a big fan of Paladins and Viscounts so I have high hopes that I will love this, too. And the tableaux look so pretty!
That tableau is quite nice to look at. Once you have a chance to play, be sure to check back in here to share what you think.
@@meeple will do!
Another great game from Garphill with Shem and Sam at the helm. My only gripe is the scoring of the inspiration cards. They are a bit confusing. That said, it took me longer to get a handle on what to do here than Viscounts. After a few plays, I can see how great the decision space is.
At first, I thought journeying to finish quickly would be the best strat but that's not the case. Scoring from your tableau is equally important, especially getting harbors, cities, mountains, and open sea icons.
Primarily a solo player on this one. The AI is tough to beat right now but I think that will change once I get a handle on the combos in scoring. On top of that, there are 4 different AIs that focus n different things. Much like Viscounts and the recent expansion for Architects. Looking forward to Scholars from which I've read that that one is definitely different.
I've been very lax with getting Paladins or Viscounts played. For some reason, I was just never at the table when we got them played for the channel. If I had to pick one of those to try, do you have a recommendation?
I agree regarding the journaling vs the tableau scoring, but I just can resist trying the push that game end as fast as I can.
@@meeple "... but I just can't resist trying the push that game end as fast as I can."
I prefer to think of it as maintaining control of the game end. It will end when I want it to 😆
Viscounts AI is the cleanest and fastest to run. It just flows so well and doesn't have a lot of extra steps
This looks like it would be a great solo game. I hope Jeremy does a playthrough.
Phillips played solo on his channel alredy so you can check it out.
It is in fact a great solo game - the AI turns take just a few seconds once you get used to how they play
I'll pass along the request. 😉
The game has 4 different solo AI, they all work the same way, they just focus on different actions and present different challenges to overcome.
I've played it once at 4 players. I pushed up the scroll track twice as fast as the others. It did not go well for me at scoring. I'd probably rate it an 7.5, but I can see it going higher with more plays if the puzzle starts to pay off in a satisfying way.
Pushing up the journal track is one of the first longer-term puzzles I've enjoyed in gaming--and that's after a first game where I completely failed to do so. 😆
This game looks beautiful and some really good mechanics at play here, I agree there is maybe one too many though. It might be familiar for some but this is my entry into the series and I was playing solo. As positive as I want to be the rulebook really doesn't work with it's layout currently, also on the page that explains all the icons they have missed some off, in the plays I have so far I am spending a fair bit off time online looking for rules clarifications rather than playing which is a shame. Will come back and give it a few more plays as really want to like this but may pass it on with the rulebook in it's current guise.
I'm looking at that back page of the rules now. It's a lot for sure. It may have been a nice touch if they'd grouped the icons with brief headers to group them a bit. I always find that visual compartmentalization is often a big help in digesting this type of information.
I think the Rulebook kind of had to give high level overviews first, to explain concepts that one would find confusing if explained linearly. The game's mechanics are so interwoven that you might find it harder to learn/teach one part of the game without touching on 1 or 2 topics you haven't read about yet. So hi level discussion of the Caravan, Influence and Journaling help clarify things when explaining how placing Meeples works, or the Bonuses on the Caravans, or the Dice Placement Actions on Cards, or how to acquire cards, or how to acquire Tiles.
Notably absent from the back page icons is the Land/Water card triplet that allows for taking the top 3 cards, choosing one and returning the remaining 2 to the bottom of the deck. One of the more inscrutable actions in the game, it should have its own section on the back page.
Since I got this game I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s my first Garphill game and I absolutely love it. It’s one of those games where on every turn I question my choices after I’ve made my move. It’s just sooooo good 👍
Awesome! Amazing that this is your first Garphill game too! Do you prefer heavier games in general. If you ever want more medium fare, and enjoyed this one, you'll definitely want to try their other games.
@@meeple which other ones would you recommend?
I'm intruiged to see what the next in the South series is like.
@@shinyhappymeeple Well Raiders of the North Sea was the original, and I really still like that one quite a bit--especially with the expansions for it. But really, you can't go too wrong with any of the West Kingdom games (based on popular opinion). The next game in the South series does look intriguing to me. The description and the board are on BGG, and it looks to be more character card-centric, but still familiar looking if you've played Wayfarers.
@@meeple I think I'll have fun with Wayfarers and then wait to see what the next South game is like. I'm sure you'll be doing a preview 😉
@@shinyhappymeeple Maybe...hopefully. Sometimes it's a challenge for Garphill to get prototypes out across the globe in time. We'll see.
The shared Meeple pool on the board reminds me of Keyper, a game I really enjoy. Thanks for the review!
Yeah all the Keyflower games have elements of that
@@meeple oh yeah, I totally forgot about Keyflower, one of my favorite games of all time. It’s a good mechanism, so I am glad to see it being in new and interesting ways.
Have spent an hour a day for 3 weeks trying to learn the game and the solo AI. Still cant get through a turn without being frustrated trying to get an answer to a rules question. But sticking with it till I get it.
Your overview of the game really helped. Thanks very much for this.
Curious, what is the question you're running into?
Great review and finally a review that mentions it is frustrating to teach to first time players to the series.
As mentioned by others, I was actually very exhausted after my first play of this, not only did it frustrate all 4 seasoned veteran board gamers whom have experience playing heavy games , it didn't feel impactful at all throughout the game. It kinda felt robotic with me spending one action to get provision then next action spend to get card and rinse and repeat.
Also the villagers don't really add much as we didn't get the ones with resting powers till the end.. and we ended up having 3 players fight for space cards and there were many times I had many workers but didn't feel like using them could help in any way.
Overall I hope he adds expansions to really help this game.
The game does not need an expansion to “help” this game. It’s not broken. I think you need to play it more. Just one game played is not enough to learn and appreciate this game. Even less to say that is need help or fix.
I’ve only played it once but it truly felt complex for complexities sake. It was a bit too much for me. We’ll see how I feel on the next playthrough!
Fair point, certainly after the first play. I'm not a fan of heavy games generally speaking, but I came around quite a bit after my second play.
I might have to pick this one up. Is there a player icon sheet for everyone?
Just the back of the rulebook
Not sure why you kept mentioning teaching this to a new gamer...why on earth would anyone ever do that hahaha. Fantastic game as per usual. Shem and Sam doing their thing again.
We mostly meant "new" to this game, but we also play often with less enthusiast gamers who are often willing to try heavier games. This is one of those boards that can really scare them. Plus, I always keep a wide variety of gamers in mind when I consider my review of a game. For me personally, it's a significant factor is why I like a game.
@@meeple oh I get you now. I'll allow it then hahaha.
To be honest, while I enjoy the Garphill games (Raiders + West Kingdom), I have tons of expansion content I haven't even tried yet thanks to lack of games during the pandemic. Thus, I skipped backing this one. Personally, I think too many expansions and games in this universe came out too close to one another (as far as the consumer goes).
I would generally have that same perspective, but Garphill kind of bucks the trend on that front. Curious, have you played Raiders with both expansions? They both make that game a lot better, even though the base game is still quite good.
@@meeple Yes, I have all content for Raiders (as well as West Kingdom). But they haven't gotten enough plays, hence my OP.
Looks like a great game for me... like amazing.
BUZZZZZ. You can't put a Meeple worker on a Space Card.
Ha! So true. If we implied that, we certainly did so by mistake. Good thing this isn't a how to play. 🤣
@@meeple in the video, there were circles being flashed on the Space Cards when you guys were discussing Meeple placement. 🙂 Still a well done review, captured the nature of the game quite well
@@Girruuth That'll teach me for adding graphics. 🤣 Thanks for watching (so closely). 😉
Also need to stress: Being First to the end of the Journal Track *does not* win you the game. There are no vp on the Journal track
100% Agreed. A player can rush it, but it doesn't ensure victory in the least. Also, I think Ryan may have meant that progress on the track will likely go hand in hand with doing well otherwise when it comes to your collection of icons, and potentially the influence you have in one or more of the guilds. Good point though.
One big downside for me is ugly game board. art of this "tech tree" or track field with ink stains feels like someone did not put much efort into it (i am not saying thay didnt, but it feels like it for me). Just random black stains and squares. I think good example how to done it right is Arnak. There is similar track and it looks way better.
The Arnak track is definitely a nice design, but this one felt alright to me as well. I would say though that there are some spaces in the middle where you have to closely note which "gates" you have ahead of you because of their staggered positioning.
One look at that board, and I know this game isn't for me.
I think that will be the reaction of many people, and it is a bit daunting with all those icons staring you in the face.