Tom, I have the pleasure of sharing a relationship with this game’s creator, and this review was the absolute funniest thing to experience. Cathartic almost. You’ve expressed every sentiment I’ve had about the game (and the creator)
I dont mean to be so offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot the password. I appreciate any help you can offer me
This is, perhaps, the best review that Tom has ever done. Period. At the end where he loses it and throws the box, I could just watch that and it would still be the Best. Review. Ever. I know you wasted your time Tom but, it was worth it for us :)
I assumed that the whole game was designed to be an anti-capitalist parable, and intentionally knocked-off Monopoly as a meta joke in reference to its inspiration, The Landlord's Game, which was itself created to teach about the dangers of monopolization. But then I read the website and realized none of that's true.
While I'm not a fan of 'politically correct' censorship, at this point I tend to have a worse view of anti-pc whiners. Nobody's making anybody be politically correct. You're just going to be judged if you don't do it. That's life. deal with it.
@@llyrghmnghyll A literal quote form the game's website and one I agree having read the page and listened to Tom's review: "I've been called recalcitrant, incorrigible, fatuous, and sophomoronic (as well as other unprintable adjectives) - with good reason."
Can't believe there was a successful Kickstarter campaign for this project. In the appeal video, the designer leads off with "You look at all the games out there, and they're all politically correct ... there's no winners and losers." I don't even know where to start with that one.
7 years later. Now, to be fair, if you ignore the outliers in the game market that include winners and losers(which is literally EVERY GAME IN EXISTENCE) there would be no games that have winners and losers.
I don't know why everyone is trying to defend the designer in these comments. This guy sent Tom the game to get it reviewed, its not like this was the designers private game design that he only plays with his friends and then Tom went and acquired a copy of it with the sole purpose of calling the designer a moron. He willingly put his design up for public scrutiny, and scrutiny was given.
I always come back to watch this video Tom, cause since i saw it i thought i can do better than that, and i ve been trying in my spare time to do it. I am testing my game today i hope it does well thank you for this video and all your effort, its the passion that you had in this video that inspired me. thank you.
I've been working on a game myself. At the moment, it's still in rough draft/test play phase. And by rough draft test play phase, I mean that I have been using playing cards in sleeves with Post It notes for the new information. From what I have seen of Oneupmanship, those Post It notes are a massive step up. I have to admit that I'm glad that Tom reviewed this if only so it can serve as a lesson to game designers out there about what not to do.
but reviewing a SELF PUBLISHED game is far different from reviewing a game from an established publisher Want to know why games have well designed boxes and components? Because its been financed, its been invested in - a tiny self financed game CANNOT compete in terms of presentation - simple fact
skyblaze eterno A well-designed game does not mean a nice box and wooden components all over the place. Mechanisms are the be-all-end-all of board games, components come only after. Once you understand this, your designs might get better in the future.
skyblaze eterno "it's self published, it's self published, it's self published" so fucking what? We should make exceptions when a self published "game" like this essentially plagiarizes a game from the 70's? If that's your argument then here's my rebuttal, piss off.
I'm so confused, why are there a good amount of people defending this game in the comments? I don't even play board games, but it doesn't take much more than basic logic and thinking skills to see how absurdly broken and unbalanced this game is. It doesn't matter if its self published, a poorly designed piece of garbage that isn't worth your time is a poorly designed piece of garbage that isn't worth your time. It doesn't matter how hard someone tried in the slightest if this is the end result.
"Pay $1,000 fine or do 25 pushups as a penance. I guess I'll pay the money." Classic Vasel quote. On par with "You challenge me to a game of knuckles, you automatically win, buddy."
you shouldnt really be approving of someone who isnt capable of doing that physical feat - sorry but all the Dicetower nerds need to go outside and do something PHYSICAL for a while rather than dissing someones attempt at a game
@@skyblazeeterno You're comment is pretty pathetic to be honest. Taking shots at "nerds" because you have a problem with the fact that this game is thought of as absolutely terrible? There are plenty of non-"nerds" who could probably use some more exercise if they want to be the pinnacle of health. Though no one needs to be that so long as they are healthy overall, do they? Beside that, however, this game is very, very bad and says very bad things about people and what is considered funny. I hate the type of jokes that this game goes for, they are disgusting and far from funny, and they deserve to be called out for what they are. Trash. Tom has every right to be mad at it, and much of his video was for comedic purposes, even if he does truly hate the game.
It's so odd. I don't think I've ever seen a product made by someone that exposes so much about the kind of person they are and the values have without providing at least a scrap of something to empathize with. I genuinely can't look at this game and feel anything but mild distaste for the game and its creator. Like, this game has a rule that means that the game only ends when people give up and don't want to play anymore, and most of the mechanics are indirectly based around the desire for domination and power over others. It's brutish, cruel, and extremely afraid of the idea of being vulnerable while in a position of power. I really, really dislike the implications of the victor being determined by who gets tired of being in the environment that this game puts you in last. Also, this game was recently featured in a youtube video by an account named Kam Sandwich, who is running a tournament for bad boardgames; your video here is one of the few sources of information on the game that I can find.
some of those cards would be considered hazing on most college campuses, some raw bully sounding stuff too! I am glad you let them have it Tom, the game designer really needs to get out more. sounds like monopoly and cut throat caverns had a baby and Burnie Madoff was the play tester/publisher.
Excellent video Tom. I love that Tom said several times he wasn't kidding about the rules. I thought he was kidding a few times before I remembered. Steal someone's stocks! Buy as much as you want for the lowest and KEEP THE CARD! Bankrupt to make other player get bankrupt!? I was also frightened by your anger at the end. I can't imagine how angry my friends and I would be if we had played this game. I've only gotten mad at 2 games ever and it was something similar to "if this one thing happens, you win the entire game".
KamSandwich, a UA-camr who reviews bad board games, recently reviewed version 2.0 of this game and it has dramatically improved, ultimately being classified by him as "pretty okay". Among other things, it can now end (only one bitter pill per player and the effects are less dramatic), there are no physical pills, and the component quality is somewhat better. Still balance issues with the cards and dubious humor though.
I would argue that Oregon Trail Card Game is moreso the Big Rigs of boardgames since that game can be at least enjoyably bad for like one or two plays.
skyblaze eterno Oh, you would be surprised, how much effort it takes to find precious time to review a CRAP game between other good ones, you could have done instead, and invest time and energy into its editing etc.
skyblaze eterno Even if the is no effort to standing in front of a camera and talking about a game, Vasel still put more effort into the review than Timmy did making this turd. I've noticed your comments all over this video. You're either Mr. Cataldo himself or someone close to him. Which is it?
The fact that this game was produced gives me a lot of hope that one of my ideas may be a real game someday. If that guys publisher needs something to make up for this one, tell them to give me a call.
Michael Murphy thats what I hate about this review - Tom is basically dissing the presentaion - which is admittedly a bit crap - I'd like to see OTHER people publish a game for that low amount - Its SELF PUBLISHED FFS - you want decent non copyrighted artwork - you have to pay for it - you want decent mone/notes again you have to pay for it
skyblaze eterno There are free art programs like GIMP and Inkscape, in which one could at least design a decent looking game, and not something that was lazily made in one hour.
I could probably design something better in Excel and print it out on my $30 photo printer. Actually I kind of have done that. Just didn't print on quality card stock. Shoved the plain paper into sleeves for a prototype.
+skyblaze eterno One he took others money to put this out two the game is still bad in all ways and 3 self made does not mean lack of art 50 shades got some stander art so why not this
Read in AVGN music tone :He rather have monopoly, playing checks with thumbtacks into his ears, he is the angriest boardgamer you've ever heard, he is the angry monopoly nerd, he is the angry boardgame nerd!
I am seriously stunned here. Someone actually may of topped my attempt at coming up with the World's Worst Boardgame (W.W.B), at having something worse. I am not sure what else can be said here about it.
They want $50 for that POS?!?!? I mean you can buy monopoly all day long for less than $15. You can buy Agricola, Puerto Rico, Dominion, etc. for less than what they want for this! The sad thing is this is what $5,000 from kickstarter bought you! REALLY!!!!! $5,000!!!!! OMG!!!! What did he spend the $5,000 on?!?!? Hey bottom line, just because it sounds cool on kickstarter doesn't mean it's going to be cool! Only contribute to time tested kickstarters, like....oh....IKD.......DICETOWER! Thanks again Tom for a honest review.
Just an overall feeling of sadness for this guy. More importantly I feel so bad for his wife, kids and family who he forces this game on unable to accept that it's a pile of garbage while they have to pretend to be having fun. Let it go man, play good games. Don't torture those you love.
The stockmarket slider mechanic, complete with stocks that go up and stocks that go down indifferent directions, is direct from John Sands "Stock Market Game."
The best part is that "forever" is not hyperbole, that is granting that the players are "playing to win" (which I suspect few actual players would bother to by the point it matters, if they even get there)
I'm sure there is a serious health code violation with including those "bitter pills". Not to mention I didn't see a single choaking hazard label for the dice and other small objects in the game. This is not only the worst game ever but a lawsuit just waiting to happen. What makes me think he didn't incorporate before releasing this game?
VisionThing did it occur to you while writing your comment that an unmarked prescription bottle in a game sets a bad precedent for children? Or that, maybe, it's a BAD IDEA IN GENERAL?!
Games like this actually hurts this hobby more than you think. I'm pretty sure that games like this probably will end up in an office or something. And all non gamer people is going to think that boardgames haven't progressed at all. I hate this kind of games! They hurt the hobby so so much!
These games don't hurt the hobby. They won't even get much past his local town for sales. They will just take up garage space in the guys garage. That would be like saying bad movies hurt the movie industry. A ton of bad movies have been made but they still make good ones and people still go see them.
17:11 Even the newer video games that are retro styled to look like they're from an 8 bit or 16 bit console apply modern game design. The good ones, at least.
Hahaha that was terrible. Not the review, but the game! I think doing the review was a great move and made so many good points that I could not even count them. These lessons are occasionally needed.
HAHAHA. Ahhh Just came across this video. Tom, I have seen a lot of your videos over the years (although I missed this one) and asides from being very entertaining, informative and an inspiration to have turned your own passion into a lifestyle and livelihood, the things you say actually influence me in the way I try to run my games website. I also recently made a game called Sixzee. One of the main things I kept in mind was to give players interesting choices throughout the game. This is something you often talk about. Give players interesting choices. So I want to say thank you: thanks!
Even the money and cards in Monopoly's WWII pack looked nicer than the ones here, and _those_ were plain and cheap _on purpose_ because of the war shortages.
I clicked on this because of the subtitle. Was not disappointed. Then out of curiosity I checked to see if this was still on Amazon. One copy available from a third party. Asking $99.
wait: This deluxe version includes 4 custom pawns, a Scarlet Letter "B" pin, and a vial of "Bitter Pills". Nice package. Wait a sec... we're also going to throw in a limited-edition "Man Up." t-shirt. Deluxe edition. It's a deluxe edition... oh god.
flaming tomtato for those who read this comment and wonder what the custom pawns are, they are as follows: A plastic soldier A shell casing from a bullet A bottle cap A rock
Umm, Tom... Did you really play this with Sam? I... would like to hear his opinion on this "game" too. Please. I consider offering a payment. Please :O
He needs to review it. How about we all just assume he likes it better that Twilight Imperium unless he does review it. That might push him into reviewing this thing :)
Gamers Grind Although the idea is funny, it might be too crass and laughably to take serious. We have to think of something better.... Every day he doesn't review it we buy one copy of the game to feed the designer money? Of course we use it for the chimney, not actually play it...
Only reason to get that game is if you get into a debate with someone on what a horrible game is and you can pull this one out as proof of what a truly horrible game is like.
"Stop playing this game, go play poker, and then come back." Okay, rule #1 for game designers: Don't require your players to go play a different game in the middle of this one! If they wanted to be playing poker, THEY WOULD ALREADY BE PLAYING POKER!
You wouldn't believe the intro to this game in their website: "ONEUPMANSHIP is a beautifully-designed grownup board game that's not only wicked, cutthroat fun, it's also a witty and irreverent lifestyle accessory/wry political statement." "Beautifully-designed"? Hahahahahaha.......
I thought Tom was going to go all Incredible Hulk and flip his table after getting so angry after this game. This was great to see, if only because not only was it entertaining but hopefully educational to others, the only thing that could've made this even better were Sam and Zee getting in on this review.
At first I thought it looked like a cheap monopoly clone then when I saw the components I thought I was caught in a time loop back to the 1970's - shudder
it was a terrible review as Tom was NOT objective - he was reviewing a self published game for a start - The y cannot be reviewed in the same context as other games - Toms obvious hatred for Monpoly seeped in too much - lets face facts if it had better components it would have got an average review...and as for Toms bizarre nonsense about not including humour in rules gtfo - Steve jackson did it all the time
skyblaze eterno Just remember, the game designers sent him the copy of the game for review, he did not go out of his way to get it. That being said, he has to treat all games he reviews equally. If he gives special treatment for 1, then he has to do it for them all. Also, if you examine the kickstarter page for this game, it clearly is a parody of the theme (wall street economics). The game design is not a parody, they genuinely thought they created a good game. Even ignoring the humor, who creates a game that has a reset option that applies to everyone (and only one person gets to make that call)?
Iuri Bachnivsky the point I made clearly was that Vasel was not objective and you are foolishly insane to think ANY person can be objective "they genuinely thought they created a good game. " You are claiming to know what the designer was thinking-- So somehow you have mind reading powers Sop slavishly worshipping Vasel and grow some balls
skyblaze eterno "the point I made clearly was that Vasel was not objective". "you are foolishly insane to think ANY person can be objective" If no person can be objective, what the fuck is the point in trying to make the point that someone isn't being objective? Perhaps you'd like to make the point that Tom Vasel has lungs next? Try to think before saying something so asinine and meaningless as "hey, this human is exhibiting a trait which is universal among humans!!!"
JoeyjojoShabadoo7 actually I think thats poor advice....there IS a reason why modern gamers HATE Monopoly...its been HYPER successful...oh they can bleat about game design and original mechanics...but NOTHING new has shifted units like Monopoly - despite its flaws still has many features that game designers SHOULD emulate...near universal appeal, simple to understand goal, cutesy components...zero reliance on some nerd sub-culture threme
JoeyjojoShabadoo7 but thats only YOUR opinion and its not even a constructed argument at all (hardly surprising) - if Monopoly was soooo bad it would NEVER have shifted so many units Here is WHY Monopoly has sold and done so well - 1 - universal theme which ironically gets specialised for countries and regions and even other licenses 2- it has a simple to understand objective...monopolise the board and grind your opponents bankrupt 3 - cutesy pieces there IS something about the pieces the houses and hotels... 4 - its simple to grasp...so simple its at brain dead level 5 - it cuts across all age groups so it has a roll and move mechanic - big deal - its a GAME ffs - part of a game is accepting the randomness of it Now if you look at modern games which have been big too thats only Catan and Ticket To Ride they have similar aspects Hate Monopoly all you want its probably going to be around for another 100 years while the current hip flavour of the month has disappeared into further obscurity
Wow...sorry to offend LOL...take it easy. I'll have to respectfully disagree, however. Monopoly is outdated. Plain and simple. So many better games nowadays. The only reason people still play it is because of its past success, or because they are young, or because they haven't been introduced to better, more complex strategy games yet (or some combination of these).
Also, the point Tom was trying to make, and that I agree with, wasn't necessarily that Monopoly is a bad game (though I think it's boring and simple), but rather that this creator essentially mimicked Monopoly almost entirely in every way, with a bunch of new (and terrible) rules added.
Great review, with one disagreement. I think the minimalist design of the box is actually alright, it works for a dark-humored party game theme. However, everything inside of the box is embarrassingly awful. Terrible gameplay, sprinkled with lowbrow d-bag humor that I suspect might appeal to the Duck Dynasty audience.
For a few minutes I thought it must be April Fools and Tom is playing an elaborate joke. I can't believe someone would find this game enjoyable in the slightest. I wouldn't even give it to someone I don't like for fear they might want to play it with me someday.
Looking the website now, in 2021 and looka like they have 2 brand new games: wise up and one up. Looks like they are recomended for solving "cabin fever" and "social isolation" problems due to covid. We need an Miami Dice about that!
This is such a messed up industry when the most popular game of all is more than 100 years old, and some new clueless designers try to emulate that terrible 100 years old game. The equivalent would be filmmakers trying to make a career with black and white slapstick films in 2014.
The game you're referring to isn't terrible. It's antiquated, sure, but there's a solid, and fun, trading game core to it that's simply within a rusty framework. And if you don't play with house rules it's broadly balanced in such a way that the game drifts towards the end condition of it's own occord. I wouldn't say it's good, but, certainly not terrible, and I'd hesitate to even say it's bad. This one, on the other hand? Based on that review... Yeah, no.
At least the look is very, very consistent. Limited color palette, eveything recilinear, same typeface, no unnecessary visual cluter .... managed to avoid many of the sterotypical amateurish design mistakes ... and yet still look awful.
Thank you for making this video. The game really seams terrible. Some people are defending it, but anyone can enjoy a game even if it is terrible. I would rather play Monopoly even though that isn't a good game either. I enjoyed how the video was turned into a what not to do video. Keep up the good work.
HA HA HA!! I love it when you go to town on a bad game. Every 10 seconds there's a line from you that rips on the game! I'm impressed that you used it as an opportunity to teach game designers so you turned a bad thing into a good thing! I think you should keep this game though and use it as a forfeit for teams that lose in a challenge when you're playing team games! :-)
I had to google this game to see if Tom got trolled or not but no he has a full website. The one positive review he quoted was from apparently is local town paper. which plugged a special discount coupon code so it smelled more of an infomercial of a sort. But a lot of great games came out of the 70s including Cosmic Encounter among others. I doubt this thing would have done well in the 70s either.
on the insanely rare chance this comment appears near the top: i should note, the game got a MASSIVE redo, and many of the awful mechanics have been (decently) fixed, and is now semi-good. just puting this so everyone knows the game isnt THIS awful anymore. Source: this video: ua-cam.com/video/94QOgwgrPAo/v-deo.html
"Get the humour?" ... ... Um ... ... No. This reminds me of one good piece of humour, though, on the back of the box for Dominion. It says, "Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents, on your mother's side, would be delighted."
Thank You for this one. And I thought after the California vacation kickstarter it could not get worse, but it did. Very funny to watch but a shame that people think they could drop such a thing into the marked, That is actually very saddening.
I do have to ask: Are the bitter pills actually a physical good included with the game? I've seen conflicting evidence about this and I find it utterly fascinating. I have no intention of trying to buy the game for myself to find out for reasons this video makes abundantly clear, but I am intrigued nonetheless.
The legend says it was Tom himself that designed this game, then trashed it so much in this video to give it infamous cult status, then watch the price go up and sell it at auctions while twirling his mustache (I'm kidding of course)
Oh dear...at first I thought this was a clever bit of trolling...but he has a website. "Seriously, we believe that no one should have a monopoly on fun, and we're going to do our best to make ONEUPMANSHIP the new board-game gold standard, the giant slayer, the literal game-changer." It said that.
![1 Orc vs 7 Computers [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7BWNchvzG1Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Tom, I have the pleasure of sharing a relationship with this game’s creator, and this review was the absolute funniest thing to experience. Cathartic almost. You’ve expressed every sentiment I’ve had about the game (and the creator)
He’s a total “bro” isn’t he? Lol
@@caseydraven not saying that I would, but doesn't his face seem punchable?
Oof. Scathing.
thanks
sad people were insulting his wife and kids though. (or so he says)
We're coming up on 10 years since this was published, meaning Tom will have to talk about this game again in his Lookback videos...
10 year loockback on this game just dropped
Oh hi Tom! This is "The Room" of boardgames. This is tearing me apart.
That actually made me lol. Good job.
I was already smirking during the video, but this totally got me. =D
I am really glad you did this review. It has brought me such joy over the years. I watch it at least once a week.
Steven Loomis LOL!
As far as I’m concerned this is a UA-cam classic.
Kinda torn here, I like me some good box inserts.
I dont mean to be so offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account??
I was dumb forgot the password. I appreciate any help you can offer me
😂😂😂
@misaelzahir75 Fake comment scam lol.
This was one of the actual oneupmanship Kickstarter Stretch Goals:
"At $10,000 - Are you kidding me? We'll take the money and run!"
I actually hope they had done that rather than making something like this...
So that's where all the humor went! The poor guy didn't have any left for the actual game.
Genius
This is, perhaps, the best review that Tom has ever done. Period. At the end where he loses it and throws the box, I could just watch that and it would still be the Best. Review. Ever. I know you wasted your time Tom but, it was worth it for us :)
The pill bottle was just the icing on the cake.
I assumed that the whole game was designed to be an anti-capitalist parable, and intentionally knocked-off Monopoly as a meta joke in reference to its inspiration, The Landlord's Game, which was itself created to teach about the dangers of monopolization.
But then I read the website and realized none of that's true.
+David Andersson That website gives d-bags a bad name.
I saw a video featuring the creator. apparently, he got tired of the "politically correct, water down games" out in the market now.
While I'm not a fan of 'politically correct' censorship, at this point I tend to have a worse view of anti-pc whiners. Nobody's making anybody be politically correct. You're just going to be judged if you don't do it. That's life. deal with it.
@@llyrghmnghyll A literal quote form the game's website and one I agree having read the page and listened to Tom's review:
"I've been called recalcitrant, incorrigible, fatuous, and sophomoronic (as well as other unprintable adjectives) - with good reason."
@@llyrghmnghyll The judgement that forces people to do it is REALLY bad now.
"The only winning move is not to play."
The stock price mechanic is lifted straight from the Stock Market Game from the 1960s. The stock price movement squares even look the same.
Can't believe there was a successful Kickstarter campaign for this project. In the appeal video, the designer leads off with "You look at all the games out there, and they're all politically correct ... there's no winners and losers." I don't even know where to start with that one.
7 years later. Now, to be fair, if you ignore the outliers in the game market that include winners and losers(which is literally EVERY GAME IN EXISTENCE) there would be no games that have winners and losers.
Dude's clearly never played a game of Red Dragon Inn with my family we get RUTHLESS
I think they still make games with winners in them lmao
gg was a thing at the time
I don't know why everyone is trying to defend the designer in these comments. This guy sent Tom the game to get it reviewed, its not like this was the designers private game design that he only plays with his friends and then Tom went and acquired a copy of it with the sole purpose of calling the designer a moron. He willingly put his design up for public scrutiny, and scrutiny was given.
Because the designer is a genius.
I always come back to watch this video Tom, cause since i saw it i thought i can do better than that, and i ve been trying in my spare time to do it. I am testing my game today i hope it does well thank you for this video and all your effort, its the passion that you had in this video that inspired me. thank you.
Yay, go man. It's been 2 years now but follow your passion!
I've been working on a game myself. At the moment, it's still in rough draft/test play phase. And by rough draft test play phase, I mean that I have been using playing cards in sleeves with Post It notes for the new information. From what I have seen of Oneupmanship, those Post It notes are a massive step up.
I have to admit that I'm glad that Tom reviewed this if only so it can serve as a lesson to game designers out there about what not to do.
but reviewing a SELF PUBLISHED game is far different from reviewing a game from an established publisher
Want to know why games have well designed boxes and components? Because its been financed, its been invested in - a tiny self financed game CANNOT compete in terms of presentation - simple fact
skyblaze eterno A well-designed game does not mean a nice box and wooden components all over the place. Mechanisms are the be-all-end-all of board games, components come only after. Once you understand this, your designs might get better in the future.
skyblaze eterno "it's self published, it's self published, it's self published" so fucking what? We should make exceptions when a self published "game" like this essentially plagiarizes a game from the 70's? If that's your argument then here's my rebuttal, piss off.
Whenever I’m working a game design and get stuck or frustrated, I watch this review.
The tone of your voice when you said "I won't do that" about swallowing the mystery pill had me laughing. Great review!
I'm so confused, why are there a good amount of people defending this game in the comments? I don't even play board games, but it doesn't take much more than basic logic and thinking skills to see how absurdly broken and unbalanced this game is. It doesn't matter if its self published, a poorly designed piece of garbage that isn't worth your time is a poorly designed piece of garbage that isn't worth your time. It doesn't matter how hard someone tried in the slightest if this is the end result.
"Pay $1,000 fine or do 25 pushups as a penance. I guess I'll pay the money." Classic Vasel quote. On par with "You challenge me to a game of knuckles, you automatically win, buddy."
you shouldnt really be approving of someone who isnt capable of doing that physical feat - sorry but all the Dicetower nerds need to go outside and do something PHYSICAL for a while rather than dissing someones attempt at a game
skyblaze eterno
Chill out bro.
skyblaze eterno lol you seem to be supporting this game. Are you the designer by any chance? :P
skyblaze eterno the key word here being "attempt". Timmy boy failed HORRIBLY at his attempt.
@@skyblazeeterno You're comment is pretty pathetic to be honest. Taking shots at "nerds" because you have a problem with the fact that this game is thought of as absolutely terrible? There are plenty of non-"nerds" who could probably use some more exercise if they want to be the pinnacle of health. Though no one needs to be that so long as they are healthy overall, do they?
Beside that, however, this game is very, very bad and says very bad things about people and what is considered funny. I hate the type of jokes that this game goes for, they are disgusting and far from funny, and they deserve to be called out for what they are. Trash. Tom has every right to be mad at it, and much of his video was for comedic purposes, even if he does truly hate the game.
It's so odd. I don't think I've ever seen a product made by someone that exposes so much about the kind of person they are and the values have without providing at least a scrap of something to empathize with. I genuinely can't look at this game and feel anything but mild distaste for the game and its creator. Like, this game has a rule that means that the game only ends when people give up and don't want to play anymore, and most of the mechanics are indirectly based around the desire for domination and power over others. It's brutish, cruel, and extremely afraid of the idea of being vulnerable while in a position of power.
I really, really dislike the implications of the victor being determined by who gets tired of being in the environment that this game puts you in last.
Also, this game was recently featured in a youtube video by an account named Kam Sandwich, who is running a tournament for bad boardgames; your video here is one of the few sources of information on the game that I can find.
Don't know if you saw the latest video, but kam just played an updated version and actually had a pretty good time with it. To each their own, I guess
Wow, angry Tom at the end there! I felt genuine fear then! :P
Loved the energy. Nice one Tom!
some of those cards would be considered hazing on most college campuses, some raw bully sounding stuff too! I am glad you let them have it Tom, the game designer really needs to get out more. sounds like monopoly and cut throat caverns had a baby and Burnie Madoff was the play tester/publisher.
no if he gets out more then more folks will have to deal with him
Excellent video Tom.
I love that Tom said several times he wasn't kidding about the rules. I thought he was kidding a few times before I remembered. Steal someone's stocks! Buy as much as you want for the lowest and KEEP THE CARD! Bankrupt to make other player get bankrupt!?
I was also frightened by your anger at the end. I can't imagine how angry my friends and I would be if we had played this game. I've only gotten mad at 2 games ever and it was something similar to "if this one thing happens, you win the entire game".
why get angry? its only a boardgame after all
skyblaze eterno The problem is that it's not a "boardgame".
Gatomon41 in what way is the game NOT a boardgame? just curious
Is it OK that I'm more looking forward to these reviews from Tom than the ones of actual games? :P
Tom, what have you done! This review could turn this game into a cult success. Like an Ed Wood movie. It's so bad you have to play it once.
Usually I would agree, but this is bad-bad, not B movie bad.
Derrick Marais who is Ed Wood?
He was a movie writer and director with more passion than ability. Or budget. Search out "Plan 9 from Outer Space".
Tor Iver Wilhelmsen good god, just the NAME sounds atrocious.
So right, part of me wants to buy this game now, Damn you Tom and your passionate rage making this game so alluring!
17:50... worth watching for that moment Vasel. Wow
Why couldn't this have been a Miami Dice review? Sam would have reached through the camera and strangled the designers.
KamSandwich, a UA-camr who reviews bad board games, recently reviewed version 2.0 of this game and it has dramatically improved, ultimately being classified by him as "pretty okay". Among other things, it can now end (only one bitter pill per player and the effects are less dramatic), there are no physical pills, and the component quality is somewhat better. Still balance issues with the cards and dubious humor though.
This is the Big Rigs of boardgames.
that damn fly though.
What happens when you go in reverse?
IUnderstoodThatReference.gif
themaster408 i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif but did you?
I would argue that Oregon Trail Card Game is moreso the Big Rigs of boardgames since that game can be at least enjoyably bad for like one or two plays.
I love how much effort you put into this review, especially the component drop. Still, you put more effort in than the designer.
I dont think standing in front of a camera for 20 minutes dissing a SELF PUBLISHED game requires any effort
skyblaze eterno Oh, you would be surprised, how much effort it takes to find precious time to review a CRAP game between other good ones, you could have done instead, and invest time and energy into its editing etc.
skyblaze eterno Even if the is no effort to standing in front of a camera and talking about a game, Vasel still put more effort into the review than Timmy did making this turd. I've noticed your comments all over this video. You're either Mr. Cataldo himself or someone close to him. Which is it?
The fact that this game was produced gives me a lot of hope that one of my ideas may be a real game someday. If that guys publisher needs something to make up for this one, tell them to give me a call.
I think itwas a $1000 kickstarter. Not that much considering friends and family.
Michael Murphy
thats what I hate about this review - Tom is basically dissing the presentaion - which is admittedly a bit crap - I'd like to see OTHER people publish a game for that low amount - Its SELF PUBLISHED FFS - you want decent non copyrighted artwork - you have to pay for it - you want decent mone/notes again you have to pay for it
skyblaze eterno There are free art programs like GIMP and Inkscape, in which one could at least design a decent looking game, and not something that was lazily made in one hour.
I could probably design something better in Excel and print it out on my $30 photo printer. Actually I kind of have done that. Just didn't print on quality card stock. Shoved the plain paper into sleeves for a prototype.
+skyblaze eterno One he took others money to put this out two the game is still bad in all ways and 3 self made does not mean lack of art 50 shades got some stander art so why not this
Hey, wussy doesn't start with p.....ohhhhhh...
Read in AVGN music tone :He rather have monopoly, playing checks with thumbtacks into his ears, he is the angriest boardgamer you've ever heard, he is the angry monopoly nerd, he is the angry boardgame nerd!
I am seriously stunned here. Someone actually may of topped my attempt at coming up with the World's Worst Boardgame (W.W.B), at having something worse. I am not sure what else can be said here about it.
They want $50 for that POS?!?!? I mean you can buy monopoly all day long for less than $15. You can buy Agricola, Puerto Rico, Dominion, etc. for less than what they want for this! The sad thing is this is what $5,000 from kickstarter bought you! REALLY!!!!! $5,000!!!!! OMG!!!! What did he spend the $5,000 on?!?!?
Hey bottom line, just because it sounds cool on kickstarter doesn't mean it's going to be cool! Only contribute to time tested kickstarters, like....oh....IKD.......DICETOWER! Thanks again Tom for a honest review.
afk9dude WARNING: TAKE A SEAT. FINAL WARNING.
The official website... is charging $99.
Whenever I have a bad day I come back & watch this review (As well the Bearded Bard's review of Heroquest) to make myself feel better!
Just an overall feeling of sadness for this guy. More importantly I feel so bad for his wife, kids and family who he forces this game on unable to accept that it's a pile of garbage while they have to pretend to be having fun. Let it go man, play good games. Don't torture those you love.
The stockmarket slider mechanic, complete with stocks that go up and stocks that go down indifferent directions, is direct from John Sands "Stock Market Game."
so essentially, Timothy Cataldo, the "creator" of this "game" stole ideas from others and threw it in a toilet to see what would happen?
7 dislikes from the designer and family lol
And now we don't even get to see them... thanks UA-cam
Time: forever
Gametype: Not
LOL that is great!
The best part is that "forever" is not hyperbole, that is granting that the players are "playing to win" (which I suspect few actual players would bother to by the point it matters, if they even get there)
I'm sure there is a serious health code violation with including those "bitter pills". Not to mention I didn't see a single choaking hazard label for the dice and other small objects in the game. This is not only the worst game ever but a lawsuit just waiting to happen. What makes me think he didn't incorporate before releasing this game?
James Mathe Watch out so you won't choke on the dice or die of the pills! Dangerous world.
VisionThing did it occur to you while writing your comment that an unmarked prescription bottle in a game sets a bad precedent for children? Or that, maybe, it's a BAD IDEA IN GENERAL?!
This is my favorite game, I play it 12 times a day, 12 days a week. So much fun! Great component quality!
Laziest troll ever.
Gamers Grind I'm so confused by your comment. Carl Frodge is literally just joking. Like... it's literally just a joke...
YakovPetrovich
Are you new to the internet? You should look up "troll"
The only troll I know about got outsmarted by 3 Billy Goats.
Niclas Lam There's a difference between a blatantly ridiculous joke (12 days a week... come on) and trolling. Stop being so sensitive.
Don't confuse the designer's sociopathic and twisted values for attempts at humor.
Games like this actually hurts this hobby more than you think. I'm pretty sure that games like this probably will end up in an office or something. And all non gamer people is going to think that boardgames haven't progressed at all. I hate this kind of games! They hurt the hobby so so much!
These games don't hurt the hobby. They won't even get much past his local town for sales. They will just take up garage space in the guys garage. That would be like saying bad movies hurt the movie industry. A ton of bad movies have been made but they still make good ones and people still go see them.
17:11 Even the newer video games that are retro styled to look like they're from an 8 bit or 16 bit console apply modern game design. The good ones, at least.
I hope to see this game in the intro to the next "Board Game Breakfast" ....being placed in the toaster....or microwave.
Hahaha that was terrible. Not the review, but the game! I think doing the review was a great move and made so many good points that I could not even count them. These lessons are occasionally needed.
not really its like comparing a go-kart made by an individual to a Rolls Royce
skyblaze eterno Wrong analogy. In both of those vehicles you can have fun. However in this game... mostly improbable.
HAHAHA. Ahhh Just came across this video. Tom, I have seen a lot of your videos over the years (although I missed this one) and asides from being very entertaining, informative and an inspiration to have turned your own passion into a lifestyle and livelihood, the things you say actually influence me in the way I try to run my games website. I also recently made a game called Sixzee. One of the main things I kept in mind was to give players interesting choices throughout the game. This is something you often talk about. Give players interesting choices. So I want to say thank you: thanks!
I watch this review a couple times a year I love it so much.
I feel like the designer was trying to make Wolf of Wall Street into a board game that would appeal to the most bro of frat guys and failed horribly.
That was epic. Great to watch.
Even the money and cards in Monopoly's WWII pack looked nicer than the ones here, and _those_ were plain and cheap _on purpose_ because of the war shortages.
I clicked on this because of the subtitle. Was not disappointed. Then out of curiosity I checked to see if this was still on Amazon. One copy available from a third party. Asking $99.
Hmmm, price is down to $30 on amazon. Was $50. Could it be time to buy this before it goes out of print?!
Dan Shuman I must own this !!!
No
The "official website" is selling this for $99. How about... piss off with that price. Here's 10, that just about covers the budget and then some.
@@Lugo428 I wouldn't take this game unless you paid me. Then I'd just turn around and toss it in the recycling bin.
@@Alittlefruitgoesalongway recycling? Screw that. Trash it.
Come on Vasel. Tell us how you really feel!
If you read between the lines, you can see that he LOVED this game.
Best
Review
Ever
(but actually, I quite like the box....)
I like it to... If the game was a serious skill game with elegant design it might fit....
Excellent review, Tom. I needed a laugh today and this was perfect.
wait: This deluxe version includes 4 custom pawns, a Scarlet Letter "B" pin, and a vial of "Bitter Pills". Nice package. Wait a sec... we're also going to throw in a limited-edition "Man Up." t-shirt. Deluxe edition. It's a deluxe edition... oh god.
flaming tomtato for those who read this comment and wonder what the custom pawns are, they are as follows:
A plastic soldier
A shell casing from a bullet
A bottle cap
A rock
I laughed the entire way through this video. Especially towards the end where Tom starts losing it... and the Pacman line? Haha gold!
Length: Forever
Game Type: Not
Best part by far.
Nice, I missed that :)
No way of really knowing, but I almost think it was made just to troll Tom. Made for an excellent show either way though.
Umm, Tom... Did you really play this with Sam?
I... would like to hear his opinion on this "game" too. Please. I consider offering a payment. Please :O
OMG Sam's reaction would been pure gold if Tom got this angry at a game.
Yessssss. Please, Sam, tell us what you think about this game :o
He needs to review it. How about we all just assume he likes it better that Twilight Imperium unless he does review it. That might push him into reviewing this thing :)
Gamers Grind Although the idea is funny, it might be too crass and laughably to take serious. We have to think of something better.... Every day he doesn't review it we buy one copy of the game to feed the designer money? Of course we use it for the chimney, not actually play it...
Only reason to get that game is if you get into a debate with someone on what a horrible game is and you can pull this one out as proof of what a truly horrible game is like.
"Stop playing this game, go play poker, and then come back." Okay, rule #1 for game designers: Don't require your players to go play a different game in the middle of this one! If they wanted to be playing poker, THEY WOULD ALREADY BE PLAYING POKER!
This was absolutely brilliant.
How to annihilate something in a review without coming across a dick head. Well done :).
You wouldn't believe the intro to this game in their website:
"ONEUPMANSHIP is a beautifully-designed grownup board game that's not only wicked, cutthroat fun, it's also a witty and irreverent lifestyle accessory/wry political statement."
"Beautifully-designed"? Hahahahahaha.......
Yeah and on the kickstarter page it says: "ONEUPMANSHIP is a completely original board game..."
Frédéric Méthot that's probably the funniest part of this board game abortion.
Tom, I think you held back on that review a bit. Please tell us what you really think!
I thought Tom was going to go all Incredible Hulk and flip his table after getting so angry after this game. This was great to see, if only because not only was it entertaining but hopefully educational to others, the only thing that could've made this even better were Sam and Zee getting in on this review.
At first I thought it looked like a cheap monopoly clone then when I saw the components I thought I was caught in a time loop back to the 1970's - shudder
Not even worth proper component drop...
Best review ever!!!!! This really made my day.
it was a terrible review as Tom was NOT objective - he was reviewing a self published game for a start - The y cannot be reviewed in the same context as other games - Toms obvious hatred for Monpoly seeped in too much - lets face facts if it had better components it would have got an average review...and as for Toms bizarre nonsense about not including humour in rules gtfo - Steve jackson did it all the time
skyblaze eterno Just remember, the game designers sent him the copy of the game for review, he did not go out of his way to get it. That being said, he has to treat all games he reviews equally. If he gives special treatment for 1, then he has to do it for them all. Also, if you examine the kickstarter page for this game, it clearly is a parody of the theme (wall street economics). The game design is not a parody, they genuinely thought they created a good game. Even ignoring the humor, who creates a game that has a reset option that applies to everyone (and only one person gets to make that call)?
Iuri Bachnivsky
the point I made clearly was that Vasel was not objective and you are foolishly insane to think ANY person can be objective
"they genuinely thought they created a good game. "
You are claiming to know what the designer was thinking-- So somehow you have mind reading powers
Sop slavishly worshipping Vasel and grow some balls
skyblaze eterno
"the point I made clearly was that Vasel was not objective".
"you are foolishly insane to think ANY person can be objective"
If no person can be objective, what the fuck is the point in trying to make the point that someone isn't being objective? Perhaps you'd like to make the point that Tom Vasel has lungs next? Try to think before saying something so asinine and meaningless as "hey, this human is exhibiting a trait which is universal among humans!!!"
+skyblaze eterno Nothing you have said throughout this entire comments page has been clear or logical.
"Next hint for game designers: DON'T COPY MONOPOLY."
LOL!!!!!!!!!! So good...thanks Tom :D
JoeyjojoShabadoo7 actually I think thats poor advice....there IS a reason why modern gamers HATE Monopoly...its been HYPER successful...oh they can bleat about game design and original mechanics...but NOTHING new has shifted units like Monopoly - despite its flaws still has many features that game designers SHOULD emulate...near universal appeal, simple to understand goal, cutesy components...zero reliance on some nerd sub-culture threme
Sorry...I have to disagree. Monopoly is just BORING. Old and outdated, imo.
JoeyjojoShabadoo7 but thats only YOUR opinion and its not even a constructed argument at all (hardly surprising) - if Monopoly was soooo bad it would NEVER have shifted so many units
Here is WHY Monopoly has sold and done so well - 1 - universal theme which ironically gets specialised for countries and regions and even other licenses 2- it has a simple to understand objective...monopolise the board and grind your opponents bankrupt 3 - cutesy pieces there IS something about the pieces the houses and hotels... 4 - its simple to grasp...so simple its at brain dead level 5 - it cuts across all age groups
so it has a roll and move mechanic - big deal - its a GAME ffs - part of a game is accepting the randomness of it
Now if you look at modern games which have been big too thats only Catan and Ticket To Ride they have similar aspects
Hate Monopoly all you want its probably going to be around for another 100 years while the current hip flavour of the month has disappeared into further obscurity
Wow...sorry to offend LOL...take it easy. I'll have to respectfully disagree, however. Monopoly is outdated. Plain and simple. So many better games nowadays. The only reason people still play it is because of its past success, or because they are young, or because they haven't been introduced to better, more complex strategy games yet (or some combination of these).
Also, the point Tom was trying to make, and that I agree with, wasn't necessarily that Monopoly is a bad game (though I think it's boring and simple), but rather that this creator essentially mimicked Monopoly almost entirely in every way, with a bunch of new (and terrible) rules added.
Great review, with one disagreement. I think the minimalist design of the box is actually alright, it works for a dark-humored party game theme.
However, everything inside of the box is embarrassingly awful. Terrible gameplay, sprinkled with lowbrow d-bag humor that I suspect might appeal to the Duck Dynasty audience.
Pills? ...PILLS?! How did this game even make it past the FDA, let alone a publishing house!
For a few minutes I thought it must be April Fools and Tom is playing an elaborate joke. I can't believe someone would find this game enjoyable in the slightest. I wouldn't even give it to someone I don't like for fear they might want to play it with me someday.
This game has a similar feel to a piece of art that was paint spat on a canvas and costs $100,000... and people will buy it. Oh the humanity!
the component quality is somewhat like splotter. looking good.
Every so often I come back to this video and have a laugh.
Looking the website now, in 2021 and looka like they have 2 brand new games: wise up and one up.
Looks like they are recomended for solving "cabin fever" and "social isolation" problems due to covid.
We need an Miami Dice about that!
This is such a messed up industry when the most popular game of all is more than 100 years old, and some new clueless designers try to emulate that terrible 100 years old game. The equivalent would be filmmakers trying to make a career with black and white slapstick films in 2014.
The game you're referring to isn't terrible. It's antiquated, sure, but there's a solid, and fun, trading game core to it that's simply within a rusty framework. And if you don't play with house rules it's broadly balanced in such a way that the game drifts towards the end condition of it's own occord. I wouldn't say it's good, but, certainly not terrible, and I'd hesitate to even say it's bad.
This one, on the other hand? Based on that review... Yeah, no.
At least the look is very, very consistent. Limited color palette, eveything recilinear, same typeface, no unnecessary visual cluter .... managed to avoid many of the sterotypical amateurish design mistakes ... and yet still look awful.
That freak out at the end. Beautiful.
Thanks Tom! This was the most entertaining review I've seen in a while.
Thank you for making this video. The game really seams terrible. Some people are defending it, but anyone can enjoy a game even if it is terrible. I would rather play Monopoly even though that isn't a good game either. I enjoyed how the video was turned into a what not to do video. Keep up the good work.
I REALLY wanna become a Board/Card game designer so bad when I get older so thanks for this kind of warning video!
Tom lays the smack down. Always love these type of reviews. :)
I think the creator is a guy named Andy Rick, cuz he's the only guy who is a fan on BGG
Apparently at least four people were involved with the making of this game considering the thumbs down votes.
HA HA HA!! I love it when you go to town on a bad game. Every 10 seconds there's a line from you that rips on the game!
I'm impressed that you used it as an opportunity to teach game designers so you turned a bad thing into a good thing!
I think you should keep this game though and use it as a forfeit for teams that lose in a challenge when you're playing team games! :-)
I had to google this game to see if Tom got trolled or not but no he has a full website. The one positive review he quoted was from apparently is local town paper. which plugged a special discount coupon code so it smelled more of an infomercial of a sort.
But a lot of great games came out of the 70s including Cosmic Encounter among others. I doubt this thing would have done well in the 70s either.
on the insanely rare chance this comment appears near the top: i should note, the game got a MASSIVE redo, and many of the awful mechanics have been (decently) fixed, and is now semi-good. just puting this so everyone knows the game isnt THIS awful anymore. Source: this video: ua-cam.com/video/94QOgwgrPAo/v-deo.html
Thanks, KamSandwich
best component drop ever
"Get the humour?" ... ... Um ... ... No. This reminds me of one good piece of humour, though, on the back of the box for Dominion. It says, "Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents, on your mother's side, would be delighted."
Thank You for this one. And I thought after the California vacation kickstarter it could not get worse, but it did. Very funny to watch but a shame that people think they could drop such a thing into the marked, That is actually very saddening.
I do have to ask: Are the bitter pills actually a physical good included with the game? I've seen conflicting evidence about this and I find it utterly fascinating. I have no intention of trying to buy the game for myself to find out for reasons this video makes abundantly clear, but I am intrigued nonetheless.
The legend says it was Tom himself that designed this game, then trashed it so much in this video to give it infamous cult status, then watch the price go up and sell it at auctions while twirling his mustache (I'm kidding of course)
Oh dear...at first I thought this was a clever bit of trolling...but he has a website.
"Seriously, we believe that no one should have a monopoly on fun, and we're going to do our best to make ONEUPMANSHIP the new board-game gold standard, the giant slayer, the literal game-changer."
It said that.
It is the gold standard. The giant slayer. The literal game changer...
It sets the standard on how never to make a game.
So, did they even bother to change the stock values for the game they ripped off. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3887/stock-market-game
Worth buying so you can put your favourite shirt in the box