*PLEASE NOTE: This video was filmed with a pre-production prototype copy of the game which may/may not have differences with the final copy of the game. This could include rules changes. Please do not use this video as an official how-to-play. Enjoy!
I don't think you can gain more shields then your current defense level 54:24. This playthrough was the best on UA-cam! great job showing off this awesome game guys! :)
I love how much you guys have grown more comfortable in front of the camera and explaining the rules to games over the last year. Just watched an older video of yours and can definitely see the difference. Wasn’t even interested in this game as much but still had to watch just to hear and see you guys play a game.
Wow. Just want to say that you two are producing some of the best gameplay video out there. I really like how you explain the actions your taking and how it works every step in the game. It makes learning a game from you really smooth. I also really like the camera angle you are showing us. It's super easy to follow your every move this way. Keep up the great work! I'm glad I discovered your channel (I think it was when I was watching Red Rising content) ;)
100%, specific monsters need their sort of special cards that represent them in fight, that would easily elevate their uniqueness and help make those monster battles more different from each other, rather then just bite and charge, otherwise looks good, can't wait to get my hands on it!.
I backed the Kickstarter after watching your playthrough as the story driven adventure type stuff sounds really interesting and the way the card combos work looks great. I also find the pace of your playthroughs spot on as they are easy to follow but well edited so that there is never any down time. What I like most about your videos though is that you both do a great job of explaining what you are doing throughout the entire video so as a viewer we kinda learn the rules without even realising. Keep up the great work!
Thank you thank you! Everything you said is our complete intent when we make our videos. We want it to be the most enjoyable experience possible with a strong emphasis on teaching the game. We hope you enjoy the game... next year hahaha! jkjk :-)
Story driven? How? None of the story matters at all. No choices have an impact past the card. I’m disappointed in exactly that. It should be story driven, but isn’t. 🙁
You guys are doing my favorite play throughs in board games right now. They really help teach the game but also give me a good feel for if the game is a good fit for my husband & I. Thanks for all the great content!
That only happens if you lose and the monster is left with 0-1 cards. With 2+ cards they remain and you gain a “trail” token for them so if you fight them a 2nd time, you get to attack 1st.
Played all, read all, honestly my favourite IP. Fingers crossed for a good and complete game. My other wish would be to have a great Mass effect board game.
The card mechanics - where you use the cards for movement, health, combat, or their actions is the same as Corey Konieczka's Middle-Earth Quest... but not many people have played that! It's a great mechanic.
Ahh, haven't heard of that game. We really like the hand management aspect. It can sometimes make you feel like you are in a tight box (but in a good way lol).
Alex!! Thanks you so much, you're the best and always so encouraging 😀 We specifically avoided watching your interview with Lukasz (😔) so it wouldn't sway our opinion. Looking forward to listening to it on my (Naveen's) commute home today!
My all in package just delivered today. This was a very good explanation on how I can play the game. The last complex tabletop game it took 5 hours to do because every single card and movement on the board we kept having to refer back to the rulebook. This makes learning it so much more attainable in memory.
@Before You Play it appears cosmetics are the only things that have changed. Read the rulebook and it's all virtually the same as demonstrated in your video. Items/tokens/cards have different skins/themes to them than in your prototype version but it was still a super fun game.
Fantastic job with the play through and review!!! It was great that both of you prepared and knew the rules really well. Also, great job of editing to condense what was probably a longer session. I hope you do more play throughs. As for the game, it’s very close to the style of games I like, but there are too many 50/50 chances in the game: dice poker, exploration cards and monster combat cards. My group would probably speed the game up by singing “Toss a coin to your Witcher,” flip a coin for the result and move on. Still, they did a good job with the game and I hope it does well.
I'm a huge fan of Witcher 3, Gwent and I'm also in the middle of reading the books! This looks so much fun! Love the quest cards bringing a bit of DnD vibe and the monster combat feels like a great balance of skill and luck!
Wow was not expecting you guys to cover this, but excited you did as you are IMO the best play through reviews out there. This one has me very hyped despite not being a huge fan of the witcher franchise.
Thanks for sharing. I like the preview play aspect. It's extremely helpful when it comes to deciding to back or not back a KS. The play through was very well done. Very informative. As always, your videos are great! I'm excited about this one.
When reading a city/wild card for the active player, i think it is best to just read directly from the card and not give any additional insights or reaction. The reader (opponent) can directly see the consequences of the options when selected, and thus, could influence the active player (the one answering) to choose the worse consequence. Just my thoughts.
Great review, big fan of the ip looking forward to getting my copy even more now. First video I've watched with you guys and will def what more explained really well. Thank you
at 43:15, weren't you only allowed to level the other 2 attributes because your level was 2 so you could level skills from 2 to 3? Or was it a location-specific power?
In that particular location you can pay to upgrade any attribute. The cost to upgrade is equal to the level in coins. Other spots behave in the manner you were confused about (free spots). Hope that helps!
Your video is very cool, I wish you had more bookmarks for specific phases and rules (example: fight a monster, fight a Witcher, get a trophy, etc.). Thanks a lot for your work!
Awesome video! I was pleasantly surprised to see you guys do a PT&R for Witcher. I was worried I was not going to be able to get a thorough play-through and feel for it but was so happy and relieved to see this! Anyways, great content as always. Cheers!
Hi this is done because there is a hard stop to the game. Meaning there isn't a set number of turns/rounds. The game is a race to 4 trophies so 1st player has a competitive advantage by potentially having an extra turn. Hope that helps!
I love the quest cards. They really add a lot of flavor and personality. This ensures your characters aren't just cards and a board. Helps to give them life. I also love how players always have something to do, to keep them from getting bored when it's not their turn.
Thanks for this, I am looking forward to this game, so your video comes exactly at the right time! :) I love the IP, I have read all the books (some are short-story collections) and I love the video games, so this is right up my alley. I wish you had read the flavour text, as I hear it is quite in tune with the games and novels, but I understand it might not be for everyone and that it extends game time a lot. I for one got into RPGs before I got into board games, so I love the game has that aspect to it. What I see as a potential weakness is not enough flavour among monsters. They do get their own ability, but I would love if they got their unique battle cards as well, like getting as many unique cards as their level (so it’s not only about a big health pool). I also agree on the luck part; one way to handle it could be through potions (as it happens in the books and games), so there may be a potion (called Swallow in the games) that lets you bring back cards from your discard pile to your draw pile, for instance. Or from high-level cards that do the same, some Quen (i.e. yellow) effects do that in the games. A side note here - the cards are colour-coded the same as are the five witcher signs in the games. In the games, you have Igni (red), which is fire (so damage), Quen (yellow), giving you a defensive shield (like a force field in Star Wars), Aard (blue), which is usually some kind of push and/or stun, Yrden (purple), which traps your enemies (or makes wraiths and the like corporeal), and Axii (green), which is a charm/confusion effect on your enemies. From what I saw, they have tried to preserve this to some extent. Just out of curiosity, could you look through the deck and see if there are similar abilities as I described for blue, purple and green cards? It would be nice if you could make a monster skip a turn by confusing it (or make it deal reduced damage). Oh, by the way, the dice poker mini game is taken directly from the first two video games and it is literally the same. I remember I did a save before playing this, due to all the randomness (it’s technically cheating, I know), but it says much about how (un)appealing it was. There were some quests related to it, though, which is why I did it. They replaced this with Gwent in The Witcher 3, which was a vast improvement, and a proper card game in its own right, though I like the video game version much more than the standalone one (it’s digital only). A final question - how about player count, do you see it better at three, four or five players? I suppose the map will become tighter at four or five, so maybe three players looks like the sweet spot? Anyway, I think I will back this, as I love the story elements and the card combos. Hopefully, there will be stretch goals that may remedy some of my concerns about game mechanics. Also, a Witcher 3 version of Gwent instead of dice poker would be nice as an add-on :) but I doubt they will ever do it, given that they have it as a digital game already …
Hi Zhivko! Many good questions and points in you comment. I'll try and address as much as I can. 😀 - So glad you are a fan of the IP! We are only familiar with the video games and the first few episodes of the TV show. We wanted to summarize like you said to reduce screen time and also to avoid spoilers for those with GREAT memory haha. - We agree with the monsters not having enough uniqueness, I believe they are playing with the idea of incorporating the suggestion Naveen mentioned in the review section. The monsters will have unique cards that get shuffled into the monster attack deck. (So far nothing official from what we've seen). - The cards colors do follow a similar pattern. Green is more shields/defense, yellow allows you to draw more cards into your hand, blue is more slash attacks, etc. - That's hilarious for the dice poker save haha! - For player count we think the 2-3 player game seems the right number (we've only played 2-P). With all the stoppages for quests and battle we think the game might crawl, but the board would be tighter and there would be more competition to slay the available monsters. Would love to see a 2v2 mode with 4 players!
@@BeforeYouPlay Thanks a lot for the quick response. I came across some comments of the designer on the BGG forums as well, it appears they are already thinking about the points I listed here. Besides, the Kickstarter campaign is going better than many people anticipated, as it has almost hit the 2 million threshold, or eight times the original amount the designers asked for. Regarding the IP, it just has a special place in my heart, as it is very rare that a setting with distinctly Eastern European flavour becomes so popular. While we are still Europeans, we are pretty diverse, but somehow us Eastern Europeans get swooped in with the rest of Europe. I don’t mind it in most cases, as Western Europe is still much closer culture-wise than any other region, but it is nice to see people who look a lot like us, as well as music that sounds familiar (one of the songs in The Witcher 3, “Steel for Humans”, is based on a Bulgarian folk song, by the way), or nature that looks like home - those broadleaf forests in The Witcher 3 make me feel very much at home.
Another great video as always!. The game looks pretty fun, but also time consuming as you say. I can't imagine how long the downtime is during a 4 player game. Even if you are active reading the cards or taking the monster cards during battle. Agree on Naveen on the monsters not having a couple of cards of their own which would really help with making each battle feel unique. I did spot one mistake when Monique at 47:45 takes the card from the event. It should have gone to the discard pile and not her hand, but it ends up not mattering as she discards is afterward to draw 3 new card.
I believe there are places where you can level up for free, as long as the attribute you are leveling up is lower than or equal to your level. And then there are places where you need to pay an amount of gold equal to the level you are raising an attribute to (from 2 to 3 means paying 3 gold). Not sure though, but this is what I gathered from multiple playthrough videos.
They could put a poker reference on what beats what, on the map in the bottom right. There is blank space there and it’s a round 1 activity. This also looks like a table Hog.
can you take the location action AND play dice poker at the same time at the same location? monique isn't very lucky with playing poker, it seems.. at least within the first 30 minutes.. :-/
Yes! It's an old video but very good. Just bought the game about a week ago and I will play it soon with my partner. Quick question... did you make a video of nemesis lockdown? I have looked in your channel but I didn't see it. Would you do a video at some point? I, personally, would be very interested seeing you both doing a play of the game. Thank you very much.
Great play through video once again. I like the deck building mechanics. However, the playtime could be a deal breaker for me especially since my group is always set at four players. Thanks again for the review
Just got my KS delivered! Any idea if there have been any rule changes since your video? really love your content, i find your explanations super helpful :)
Just copy pasting my comment on a similar question in this comment section here: I think this is something that is hard to avoid for games who want to emphasize lore so much, but I also think it will be hard to memorize all cards and outcomes. If I'm reading the ks page correctly, these are the number of event/exploration cards (at this moment): Base game: 56 event, 72 exploration cards. Adventure pack*: 75 event, 93 exploration (*168 in total, its not known what the exact ratio will be so the ratio is my guess). Wild hunt: 30 event, 30 exploration. That's 161 event cards and 195 exploration cards. Of course its possible that not all expansions can be used together in the same game, but I assume you will always be able to combine the base game + one expansion at the least. This leaves a lot of cards to go through, which I think makes it really hard to remember all of their outcomes. On top of that, the exploration cards have 2 options to choose from, which doubles the amount of choices you would have to remember. And on top of that, some refer to events (quests), which by the looks of it have 3 different outcomes based on the number of dice you roll (though these outcomes seem to be in the same category most of the times: 'gain 1, 2 or 3 of X'). More adventure packs would be an easy way to make sure no one memorizes all options (easy to make and easy money for them too). On my first game I'll add to the game as much of the event and exploration cards as possible, and put the ones we are using during the first game aside, so for the second game we will only have the ones left we haven't seen yet!
Great video, congratulations. I think I will cancel my contribution on Kickstarter. I don't see this is a game where you make interesting tactical and strategic decisions. The combat with the monsters seems to repetitive and with little flavor. At the end, it's all about discarding cards making combos, but you never die if monsters wins the battles. Going from location to location to improve your character's stats, looks very tedious and time consuming. I don't see the game forcing you to complete quests without punishing you for not completing quickly (What is the real motivation for a mage to hunt monsters?), in other words, I don't think the game reaches the levels of stress needed to make it more interesting. Nor I saw any real motivation for the mages to fight each other. In short, it seems to me a very light game. Maybe Im wrong.
How is the replayability? All those AorB Cards might be fun, when you first read them, but after a few plays you know what outcomes they will give you, right?
I was thinking the same, but with the potential for card chaining, and each individual card having dice/skill checks for various outcomes, it seems like you'd have to play through the game an awful lot of times to know/remember the exact outcome of each choice. That all goes without saying that even IF you knew the outcomes of each card, that doesn't mean you're prepared to qualify for the best outcome, so even if you interact with the same card two or three times over various games, you may get different results each time. Story card boosters will also likely be a primary focus of future expansions, if I had to wager a guess.
I think this is something that is hard to avoid for games who want to emphasize lore so much, but I also think it will be hard to memorize all cards and outcomes. If I'm reading the ks page correctly, these are the number of event/exploration cards (at this moment): Base game: 56 event, 72 exploration cards. Adventure pack*: 75 event, 93 exploration (*168 in total, its not known what the exact ratio will be so the ratio is my guess). Wild hunt: 30 event, 30 exploration. That's 161 event cards and 195 exploration cards. Of course its possible that not all expansions can be used together in the same game, but I assume you will always be able to combine the base game + one expansion at the least. This leaves a lot of cards to go through, which I think makes it really hard to remember all of their outcomes. On top of that, the exploration cards have 2 options to choose from, which doubles the amount of choices you would have to remember. And on top of that, some refer to events (quests), which by the looks of it have 3 different outcomes based on the number of dice you roll (though these outcomes seem to be in the same category most of the times: 'gain 1, 2 or 3 of X'). As mentioned in the comment above, more adventure packs would be an easy way to make sure no one memorizes all options (easy to make and easy money for them too). On my first game I'll add to the game as much of the event and exploration cards as possible, and put the ones we are using during the first game aside, so for the second game we will only have the ones left we haven't seen yet!
@@cobtyrannon2479 And I'm sure this will happen in this game as well, if you play it a lot. And if you have a great memory, you will eventually memorize some, or many of the cards. In the end it just comes down to the question whether that makes you feel the game is worth buying or not. I (unfortunately) have never played Gloomhaven, but in a game like LOTR Journeys in Middle-Earth, there are also (semi-) randomized side quests that you will see multiple times when playing through different campaigns (perhaps even in the same campaign). And the story of each campaign doesn't change when you replay it, so you could already know some stuff and play into/prepare for that. But that doesn't bother me personally as I'm having such a great time with 4 friends spending 30-ish hours on every campaign, and not playing that often. So to me that made it totally worth to have bought that game. I just think for this game it will be hard (for me) to memorize these cards and outcomes, when you don't play it too often. But then again, this is not a campaign game of course, like Gloomhaven or JIME. It's a competitive game which 'only' takes 2 hours or so, and it has cards which bring the lore aspect into it, there is no bigger campaign story. If you're looking for a story-rich game and/or a game you can play a full day every week, this might not be it, as I can imagine it could get repetitive. But if you like the Witcher style, deck-building and playing such a game once or twice every now and then, you could consider buying it. Your choice in the end of course, just trying to clarify my view on the game and it's replayability ;)
Alright I am hearing about a mages/witches expansion.. so does anyone have a clue if that expansion is going to be unlocked with a next tire goal or sold separately?
Apparently they did indeed confirm that there will be a mage 'pack', or maybe expansion. I dont think it will be added as a stretch goal. If they would add them now I'm also afraid they would just be the same as the witchers. Would be cool if they take some more time for those and actually make them play differently from the witchers imo.
It’s a prototype so things may change. But by eyeballing it, it looks like a standard 12x12x4. I think there will be a standard/deluxe edition which may change things up. Hope that helps!
Is anyone besides me concerned about Monique's Dice Poker addiction?!?! :D Great video !!! These Kickstarter Playthrough & Review videos, especially the play-through component, are indispensable for helping me decide which Kickstarters have the highest chance of being enjoyed by myself and those I play with!! TYTYTYTYTYTY!!!
Nice play through. wasnt interested in this game, but i like the adventure nature of it. my wallet thanks you. at 1:18:30 when Naveen enters last round of combat with no cards in draw deck, doesnt his combat award (for being level 5) deal one damage automatically? i might have misunderstood how it worked.
Hi Jeff, yep you are right. We actually discovered that as we were cleaning up the game and had the cameras off. Naveen would have still gotten destroyed that battle though hahahaha!
I havent played many deck building games. Can someone please explain whats the concept behind this particular approach? My main question is why during the battle all ur cards are flipped and you pulling them randomly? Wouldnt you like to be able to look at all your cards and very strategically plan out best combos etc…thanks
Good playthrough, but I'm afraid game lacks replayability and suffers from unimaginative battle system. I think, i am going to pass on that one. Plus the price tag is steep. You guys were awesome, I'm enjoying your playthroughs.
Awesome play through! The company could not have picked a better channel to showcase this game. This is the most frustrating part of Kickstarter...this game looks retail ready as is but backers will end up waiting 12 to 18 months before delivery. Sad faces 😢
When you pull a card from the monsters life pool to do either bite or charge, does that get discarded as though it's a hit? Or does it remain in the life pool? I see that after pulling the card you're discarding it as if it's a hit.
Great playthrough as always. Tons of clever card play and multi-use cards. This seems like it would be a slog at higher player counts, since so much interaction is only with two people.
Thanks. I've been wondering how this plays so glad to see folks I enjoy show it off. Off topic question, how do you decide if a playthrough goes on your channel or Watch It Played?
Hi Scott! Thank you so much. Good question! Anything having to do with Watch It Played goes through Rodney, but we primarily play games on his channel that he has already made a tutorial for. Playthrough selection on our channel takes into consideration a few factors since they are very time-consuming.
*PLEASE NOTE: This video was filmed with a pre-production prototype copy of the game which may/may not have differences with the final copy of the game. This could include rules changes. Please do not use this video as an official how-to-play. Enjoy!
Do you have any recommendations for an up to date play through guide? I've been looking since I received my game a few days ago
are there any changes from the rules now that the game is finally available as of june 2023?
The roads here are really visible, but in my copy its really hard to see where roads lead...
I don't think you can gain more shields then your current defense level 54:24. This playthrough was the best on UA-cam! great job showing off this awesome game guys! :)
I love how much you guys have grown more comfortable in front of the camera and explaining the rules to games over the last year. Just watched an older video of yours and can definitely see the difference.
Wasn’t even interested in this game as much but still had to watch just to hear and see you guys play a game.
Wow. Just want to say that you two are producing some of the best gameplay video out there. I really like how you explain the actions your taking and how it works every step in the game. It makes learning a game from you really smooth. I also really like the camera angle you are showing us. It's super easy to follow your every move this way. Keep up the great work! I'm glad I discovered your channel (I think it was when I was watching Red Rising content) ;)
As a tabletop amateur, I really appreciated the detailed explanation in the beginning! And great gameplay demonstration. Thank you!
Not to mention the game has a lot going on. I got the edition with all the add ons and it is stressful to think about setting up haha
Awesome, glad that you enjoyed it!
Special Monster Combat Cards - agreed :)
You're a true professional! We had such a great time with this. We are really excited for you and all those involved in the campaign
100%, specific monsters need their sort of special cards that represent them in fight, that would easily elevate their uniqueness and help make those monster battles more different from each other, rather then just bite and charge, otherwise looks good, can't wait to get my hands on it!.
I backed the Kickstarter after watching your playthrough as the story driven adventure type stuff sounds really interesting and the way the card combos work looks great. I also find the pace of your playthroughs spot on as they are easy to follow but well edited so that there is never any down time. What I like most about your videos though is that you both do a great job of explaining what you are doing throughout the entire video so as a viewer we kinda learn the rules without even realising. Keep up the great work!
Thank you thank you! Everything you said is our complete intent when we make our videos. We want it to be the most enjoyable experience possible with a strong emphasis on teaching the game. We hope you enjoy the game... next year hahaha! jkjk :-)
Story driven? How? None of the story matters at all. No choices have an impact past the card. I’m disappointed in exactly that. It should be story driven, but isn’t. 🙁
Same from me, v good job, i subscribed :)
You guys are doing my favorite play throughs in board games right now. They really help teach the game but also give me a good feel for if the game is a good fit for my husband & I. Thanks for all the great content!
Waaaaa?! A playthrough! I bet a whole lot of people did not expect this XD What a wonderful surprise
Yeah, we were really excited to get to learn this one!
I'm so happy for you guys that publishers are recognizing you more! Thanks for the content as always.
Thank you so much for the compliment! BTW we LOVE Toronto! ;-)
Have you played The Witcher? Let us know if you have any questions!
if you fight a monster and lose, you scare the monster away technically the griffin would have to be replaced if im correct no?
That only happens if you lose and the monster is left with 0-1 cards. With 2+ cards they remain and you gain a “trail” token for them so if you fight them a 2nd time, you get to attack 1st.
@@BeforeYouPlay thats great to know, i wasnt sure so appreciate the correction makes it alot more focused and give you a benefit thats nice !
Played all, read all, honestly my favourite IP. Fingers crossed for a good and complete game.
My other wish would be to have a great Mass effect board game.
What are the recommended amount of players for this? Nice playthrough!
The play through is very clear and easy to comprehend ,looking forward for the next great work!!
The card mechanics - where you use the cards for movement, health, combat, or their actions is the same as Corey Konieczka's Middle-Earth Quest... but not many people have played that! It's a great mechanic.
Ahh, haven't heard of that game. We really like the hand management aspect. It can sometimes make you feel like you are in a tight box (but in a good way lol).
Middle-Earth Quest is such an awesome game.....decent playtime if you have a group that knows what they are doing.....
A bit like Mage Knight too.
Everyone is always praising the cars combat but aren't you just playing color match when you ate battling a monster
rarely i saw a higher quality of explanation of game rules: Moni brava!
Nice! Excited to see you guys getting this one :) Such a fun game.
Alex!! Thanks you so much, you're the best and always so encouraging 😀
We specifically avoided watching your interview with Lukasz (😔) so it wouldn't sway our opinion. Looking forward to listening to it on my (Naveen's) commute home today!
My all in package just delivered today. This was a very good explanation on how I can play the game. The last complex tabletop game it took 5 hours to do because every single card and movement on the board we kept having to refer back to the rulebook. This makes learning it so much more attainable in memory.
Hope the video will be a help! Not sure how much has changed in the final production vs in this prototype.
@Before You Play it appears cosmetics are the only things that have changed. Read the rulebook and it's all virtually the same as demonstrated in your video. Items/tokens/cards have different skins/themes to them than in your prototype version but it was still a super fun game.
Fantastic job with the play through and review!!! It was great that both of you prepared and knew the rules really well. Also, great job of editing to condense what was probably a longer session. I hope you do more play throughs.
As for the game, it’s very close to the style of games I like, but there are too many 50/50 chances in the game: dice poker, exploration cards and monster combat cards. My group would probably speed the game up by singing “Toss a coin to your Witcher,” flip a coin for the result and move on. Still, they did a good job with the game and I hope it does well.
Thanks for doing this video. It plays so well at 2 so I am for sure going to back it now.
Hi Adrian, we had a lot of fun covering this one. Thanks for checking out the video!
I'm a huge fan of Witcher 3, Gwent and I'm also in the middle of reading the books! This looks so much fun! Love the quest cards bringing a bit of DnD vibe and the monster combat feels like a great balance of skill and luck!
Yeah exactly, as you build up your deck you can weather a difficult and challenging monster fight.
Great explanation. This is becoming one of my favorite channels.
I posted a couple of play throughs with the core set on my channel. ua-cam.com/video/gbqsuIQdrHw/v-deo.html
Very good presentation of the gameplay. All is clear and visible. Thank you!
Can you explain the Monster Trails ? What are the different methods on obtaining trails?
ua-cam.com/video/gbqsuIQdrHw/v-deo.html
It's so weird that what I wanted in a video game someone made into a board game for this setting lol. Great video as always
No way you guys got this!!! Have been waiting for this to come out so excited to watch this! AWESOMEEE
Yeah we were really excited to cover this one!
o wow. I am so happy that you guys just review this one !
Even though I'm still on the fence about backing this (because life), this is still an entertaining playthrough. Thanks!
Thanks for checking it out Dennis!
Wow was not expecting you guys to cover this, but excited you did as you are IMO the best play through reviews out there. This one has me very hyped despite not being a huge fan of the witcher franchise.
Man I can't wait to receive my Big Box All-in! This game looks so cool!
Thanks for sharing. I like the preview play aspect. It's extremely helpful when it comes to deciding to back or not back a KS. The play through was very well done. Very informative. As always, your videos are great! I'm excited about this one.
When reading a city/wild card for the active player, i think it is best to just read directly from the card and not give any additional insights or reaction. The reader (opponent) can directly see the consequences of the options when selected, and thus, could influence the active player (the one answering) to choose the worse consequence. Just my thoughts.
You two do such a great job explaining things.
Great review, big fan of the ip looking forward to getting my copy even more now. First video I've watched with you guys and will def what more explained really well. Thank you
I backed this and just received it the other day. Can't wait to get it to the table!!
at 43:15, weren't you only allowed to level the other 2 attributes because your level was 2 so you could level skills from 2 to 3? Or was it a location-specific power?
In that particular location you can pay to upgrade any attribute. The cost to upgrade is equal to the level in coins. Other spots behave in the manner you were confused about (free spots). Hope that helps!
This channel is amazing. Thank you for all your hard work.
Your video is very cool, I wish you had more bookmarks for specific phases and rules (example: fight a monster, fight a Witcher, get a trophy, etc.).
Thanks a lot for your work!
Thank you so much for uploading this playthrough....just love your vids of playthrough and review....
Awesome video! I was pleasantly surprised to see you guys do a PT&R for Witcher. I was worried I was not going to be able to get a thorough play-through and feel for it but was so happy and relieved to see this! Anyways, great content as always. Cheers!
So hyped! Can’t wait to back this.
Hope the video is/was helpful to you!
@@BeforeYouPlay totally helpful. I recently discovered y’all and I really enjoy the content.
@jensmash Sweet! Glad you found us 😃
Thank you very much for your video, now i have a decision for the KS ;)
Glad we could help!
btw, I am not sure why the second player gets two more cards and two more gold to start with..? do you know why?
Hi this is done because there is a hard stop to the game. Meaning there isn't a set number of turns/rounds. The game is a race to 4 trophies so 1st player has a competitive advantage by potentially having an extra turn. Hope that helps!
I love the quest cards. They really add a lot of flavor and personality. This ensures your characters aren't just cards and a board. Helps to give them life. I also love how players always have something to do, to keep them from getting bored when it's not their turn.
Very interested in this one! I thought you mainly focused on Eurogames, but this video makes me happy!
We primarily do, but are first fans of board games. We like to dabble from time to time ;-)
Awesome video, really like how you both cover games. This game looks really interesting, will check out the kickstarter for sure.
Hi Michael, thank you for the compliment!
Great explanation and playthrough. Nice, how you forecasted the Monster Trail expansion pretty detailed. ;-)
Thank you!
Thank you all
You're welcome Thomas!
Thanks for this, I am looking forward to this game, so your video comes exactly at the right time! :) I love the IP, I have read all the books (some are short-story collections) and I love the video games, so this is right up my alley. I wish you had read the flavour text, as I hear it is quite in tune with the games and novels, but I understand it might not be for everyone and that it extends game time a lot. I for one got into RPGs before I got into board games, so I love the game has that aspect to it.
What I see as a potential weakness is not enough flavour among monsters. They do get their own ability, but I would love if they got their unique battle cards as well, like getting as many unique cards as their level (so it’s not only about a big health pool). I also agree on the luck part; one way to handle it could be through potions (as it happens in the books and games), so there may be a potion (called Swallow in the games) that lets you bring back cards from your discard pile to your draw pile, for instance. Or from high-level cards that do the same, some Quen (i.e. yellow) effects do that in the games.
A side note here - the cards are colour-coded the same as are the five witcher signs in the games. In the games, you have Igni (red), which is fire (so damage), Quen (yellow), giving you a defensive shield (like a force field in Star Wars), Aard (blue), which is usually some kind of push and/or stun, Yrden (purple), which traps your enemies (or makes wraiths and the like corporeal), and Axii (green), which is a charm/confusion effect on your enemies. From what I saw, they have tried to preserve this to some extent. Just out of curiosity, could you look through the deck and see if there are similar abilities as I described for blue, purple and green cards? It would be nice if you could make a monster skip a turn by confusing it (or make it deal reduced damage).
Oh, by the way, the dice poker mini game is taken directly from the first two video games and it is literally the same. I remember I did a save before playing this, due to all the randomness (it’s technically cheating, I know), but it says much about how (un)appealing it was. There were some quests related to it, though, which is why I did it. They replaced this with Gwent in The Witcher 3, which was a vast improvement, and a proper card game in its own right, though I like the video game version much more than the standalone one (it’s digital only).
A final question - how about player count, do you see it better at three, four or five players? I suppose the map will become tighter at four or five, so maybe three players looks like the sweet spot? Anyway, I think I will back this, as I love the story elements and the card combos. Hopefully, there will be stretch goals that may remedy some of my concerns about game mechanics. Also, a Witcher 3 version of Gwent instead of dice poker would be nice as an add-on :) but I doubt they will ever do it, given that they have it as a digital game already …
Hi Zhivko! Many good questions and points in you comment. I'll try and address as much as I can. 😀
- So glad you are a fan of the IP! We are only familiar with the video games and the first few episodes of the TV show. We wanted to summarize like you said to reduce screen time and also to avoid spoilers for those with GREAT memory haha.
- We agree with the monsters not having enough uniqueness, I believe they are playing with the idea of incorporating the suggestion Naveen mentioned in the review section. The monsters will have unique cards that get shuffled into the monster attack deck. (So far nothing official from what we've seen).
- The cards colors do follow a similar pattern. Green is more shields/defense, yellow allows you to draw more cards into your hand, blue is more slash attacks, etc.
- That's hilarious for the dice poker save haha!
- For player count we think the 2-3 player game seems the right number (we've only played 2-P). With all the stoppages for quests and battle we think the game might crawl, but the board would be tighter and there would be more competition to slay the available monsters. Would love to see a 2v2 mode with 4 players!
@@BeforeYouPlay Thanks a lot for the quick response. I came across some comments of the designer on the BGG forums as well, it appears they are already thinking about the points I listed here. Besides, the Kickstarter campaign is going better than many people anticipated, as it has almost hit the 2 million threshold, or eight times the original amount the designers asked for.
Regarding the IP, it just has a special place in my heart, as it is very rare that a setting with distinctly Eastern European flavour becomes so popular. While we are still Europeans, we are pretty diverse, but somehow us Eastern Europeans get swooped in with the rest of Europe. I don’t mind it in most cases, as Western Europe is still much closer culture-wise than any other region, but it is nice to see people who look a lot like us, as well as music that sounds familiar (one of the songs in The Witcher 3, “Steel for Humans”, is based on a Bulgarian folk song, by the way), or nature that looks like home - those broadleaf forests in The Witcher 3 make me feel very much at home.
Nice surprise to see this up! I have played all the Witcher games (a lot) and love the world so very interested to see what this is like.
We hope you enjoy the playthrough!
great vid, nice to watch. at some point naveen forgot to deal 1 dmg to monster from attk trophee bonus because no cards remains to draw...
Really useful rundown, thanks peeps!
Hi. I thoroughly enjoyed this playthrough! Great work!
Hey, thanks Tony!
Watching this playthrough in April 21 2022 made me feel certain I did a good thing by going all in.. ;)
Ah! I cant believe I missed out for backing this!
Another great video as always!.
The game looks pretty fun, but also time consuming as you say. I can't imagine how long the downtime is during a 4 player game. Even if you are active reading the cards or taking the monster cards during battle. Agree on Naveen on the monsters not having a couple of cards of their own which would really help with making each battle feel unique.
I did spot one mistake when Monique at 47:45 takes the card from the event. It should have gone to the discard pile and not her hand, but it ends up not mattering as she discards is afterward to draw 3 new card.
43:30
Should you have been able to level up combat? I understood from earlier that you could only level up an attribute that was equal to your level?
I believe there are places where you can level up for free, as long as the attribute you are leveling up is lower than or equal to your level. And then there are places where you need to pay an amount of gold equal to the level you are raising an attribute to (from 2 to 3 means paying 3 gold). Not sure though, but this is what I gathered from multiple playthrough videos.
Just got my copy. Are there any rules you guys know of that have changed since you filmed this playthrough?
Unfortunately no, we haven’t received our copy yet. From what I understand they continued to develop the game after this was filmed.
I got you covered ua-cam.com/video/gbqsuIQdrHw/v-deo.html
This is such a good runthrough! Thank you 🙂
Thanks for the content. The game looks wicked fun and I've decided to back them!
I just backed this today on Kickstarter. Looks fun.
Thank you for trying it out guys
You're welcome! Thanks for checking out our video!
Your videos are absolutely relaxing and informative. Congratulations on the great job. And the game itself is already guaranteed purchase XD
Actually, Now if you draw a terrain location you are already on, you draw a new one ...Great video thanks
Nice playthrough. Haven't played this boardgame but huge fan of the IP. Would try the board game if I get a chance :)
Really nice video. Love analysis approach. I'm interested, but will probably wait until retail or next campaign. Budget blown already - haha.
They could put a poker reference on what beats what, on the map in the bottom right. There is blank space there and it’s a round 1 activity.
This also looks like a table Hog.
Hi nice content and game. I was curious, how big is the box? Thanks!
This is a prototype so things may change, but our box was roughly 12x12x4". Hope that helps!
can you take the location action AND play dice poker at the same time at the same location? monique isn't very lucky with playing poker, it seems.. at least within the first 30 minutes.. :-/
Hi, yes you can if there is a Witcher present you can play against them and then take the location action.
Great video guys
Thanks so much!
Very nice game play!!
Thanks you! This feels like such a long time ago now 😊.
Yes! It's an old video but very good.
Just bought the game about a week ago and I will play it soon with my partner.
Quick question... did you make a video of nemesis lockdown?
I have looked in your channel but I didn't see it.
Would you do a video at some point?
I, personally, would be very interested seeing you both doing a play of the game.
Thank you very much.
hi, thx for the video - would you say you miss a lot playing without monsters figures ?
Technically no, but the figures just look so damn cool!
They also just about doubled the number of each of those cards as well via a stretch goal.
Great play through video once again. I like the deck building mechanics. However, the playtime could be a deal breaker for me especially since my group is always set at four players. Thanks again for the review
Just got my KS delivered! Any idea if there have been any rule changes since your video? really love your content, i find your explanations super helpful :)
These discover (city or wild) cards are cool, but i'm concerned about replayability, because after a few plays you will know what each quest brings...
Technically yes, but there are about 60-70 per stack. It would take many plays to memorize them.
Just copy pasting my comment on a similar question in this comment section here:
I think this is something that is hard to avoid for games who want to emphasize lore so much, but I also think it will be hard to memorize all cards and outcomes. If I'm reading the ks page correctly, these are the number of event/exploration cards (at this moment):
Base game: 56 event, 72 exploration cards.
Adventure pack*: 75 event, 93 exploration (*168 in total, its not known what the exact ratio will be so the ratio is my guess).
Wild hunt: 30 event, 30 exploration.
That's 161 event cards and 195 exploration cards. Of course its possible that not all expansions can be used together in the same game, but I assume you will always be able to combine the base game + one expansion at the least. This leaves a lot of cards to go through, which I think makes it really hard to remember all of their outcomes. On top of that, the exploration cards have 2 options to choose from, which doubles the amount of choices you would have to remember. And on top of that, some refer to events (quests), which by the looks of it have 3 different outcomes based on the number of dice you roll (though these outcomes seem to be in the same category most of the times: 'gain 1, 2 or 3 of X').
More adventure packs would be an easy way to make sure no one memorizes all options (easy to make and easy money for them too).
On my first game I'll add to the game as much of the event and exploration cards as possible, and put the ones we are using during the first game aside, so for the second game we will only have the ones left we haven't seen yet!
That was my concern, exactly. I am interested in the game but I was thinking after a while you'd definitely know the outcomes.
Great video, congratulations. I think I will cancel my contribution on Kickstarter. I don't see this is a game where you make interesting tactical and strategic decisions. The combat with the monsters seems to repetitive and with little flavor. At the end, it's all about discarding cards making combos, but you never die if monsters wins the battles. Going from location to location to improve your character's stats, looks very tedious and time consuming. I don't see the game forcing you to complete quests without punishing you for not completing quickly (What is the real motivation for a mage to hunt monsters?), in other words, I don't think the game reaches the levels of stress needed to make it more interesting. Nor I saw any real motivation for the mages to fight each other. In short, it seems to me a very light game. Maybe Im wrong.
Awesome playthrough 🙂👍
Thanks for watching!!
How is the replayability?
All those AorB Cards might be fun, when you first read them, but after a few plays you know what outcomes they will give you, right?
I was thinking the same, but with the potential for card chaining, and each individual card having dice/skill checks for various outcomes, it seems like you'd have to play through the game an awful lot of times to know/remember the exact outcome of each choice. That all goes without saying that even IF you knew the outcomes of each card, that doesn't mean you're prepared to qualify for the best outcome, so even if you interact with the same card two or three times over various games, you may get different results each time. Story card boosters will also likely be a primary focus of future expansions, if I had to wager a guess.
I think this is something that is hard to avoid for games who want to emphasize lore so much, but I also think it will be hard to memorize all cards and outcomes. If I'm reading the ks page correctly, these are the number of event/exploration cards (at this moment):
Base game: 56 event, 72 exploration cards.
Adventure pack*: 75 event, 93 exploration (*168 in total, its not known what the exact ratio will be so the ratio is my guess).
Wild hunt: 30 event, 30 exploration.
That's 161 event cards and 195 exploration cards. Of course its possible that not all expansions can be used together in the same game, but I assume you will always be able to combine the base game + one expansion at the least. This leaves a lot of cards to go through, which I think makes it really hard to remember all of their outcomes. On top of that, the exploration cards have 2 options to choose from, which doubles the amount of choices you would have to remember. And on top of that, some refer to events (quests), which by the looks of it have 3 different outcomes based on the number of dice you roll (though these outcomes seem to be in the same category most of the times: 'gain 1, 2 or 3 of X').
As mentioned in the comment above, more adventure packs would be an easy way to make sure no one memorizes all options (easy to make and easy money for them too).
On my first game I'll add to the game as much of the event and exploration cards as possible, and put the ones we are using during the first game aside, so for the second game we will only have the ones left we haven't seen yet!
@@JV-jz6sj Thats close to the amount of cards in gloomhaven. And we manage to hit some of the cards more than once quite often...
@@cobtyrannon2479 And I'm sure this will happen in this game as well, if you play it a lot. And if you have a great memory, you will eventually memorize some, or many of the cards. In the end it just comes down to the question whether that makes you feel the game is worth buying or not. I (unfortunately) have never played Gloomhaven, but in a game like LOTR Journeys in Middle-Earth, there are also (semi-) randomized side quests that you will see multiple times when playing through different campaigns (perhaps even in the same campaign). And the story of each campaign doesn't change when you replay it, so you could already know some stuff and play into/prepare for that. But that doesn't bother me personally as I'm having such a great time with 4 friends spending 30-ish hours on every campaign, and not playing that often. So to me that made it totally worth to have bought that game. I just think for this game it will be hard (for me) to memorize these cards and outcomes, when you don't play it too often. But then again, this is not a campaign game of course, like Gloomhaven or JIME. It's a competitive game which 'only' takes 2 hours or so, and it has cards which bring the lore aspect into it, there is no bigger campaign story. If you're looking for a story-rich game and/or a game you can play a full day every week, this might not be it, as I can imagine it could get repetitive. But if you like the Witcher style, deck-building and playing such a game once or twice every now and then, you could consider buying it. Your choice in the end of course, just trying to clarify my view on the game and it's replayability ;)
Alright I am hearing about a mages/witches expansion.. so does anyone have a clue if that expansion is going to be unlocked with a next tire goal or sold separately?
Apparently they did indeed confirm that there will be a mage 'pack', or maybe expansion. I dont think it will be added as a stretch goal. If they would add them now I'm also afraid they would just be the same as the witchers. Would be cool if they take some more time for those and actually make them play differently from the witchers imo.
You make a great team!
This game looks so cool, I can't wait to play it
What is the size of the main board, what are its dimensions?
It’s a prototype so things may change. But by eyeballing it, it looks like a standard 12x12x4. I think there will be a standard/deluxe edition which may change things up. Hope that helps!
It would be awesome to see you guys play a game of Middle Earth Quest.
Question is this gameplay similair to lands of galzyr?
We haven't played that game, unfortunately.
Спасибо за видео, очень здорово сыграли, жду свою игру)
Have YOU played the Witcher?? :)
Haha just the 1st and 2nd video game.
Are there any cooperative variants or elements or is the game purely adversarial?
Very interesting game, but the downtime for a 5 player game must be insane!
Is anyone besides me concerned about Monique's Dice Poker addiction?!?! :D
Great video !!! These Kickstarter Playthrough & Review videos, especially the play-through component, are indispensable for helping me decide which Kickstarters have the highest chance of being enjoyed by myself and those I play with!!
TYTYTYTYTYTY!!!
Nice play through. wasnt interested in this game, but i like the adventure nature of it. my wallet thanks you.
at 1:18:30 when Naveen enters last round of combat with no cards in draw deck, doesnt his combat award (for being level 5) deal one damage automatically? i might have misunderstood how it worked.
Hi Jeff, yep you are right. We actually discovered that as we were cleaning up the game and had the cameras off. Naveen would have still gotten destroyed that battle though hahahaha!
I havent played many deck building games. Can someone please explain whats the concept behind this particular approach? My main question is why during the battle all ur cards are flipped and you pulling them randomly? Wouldnt you like to be able to look at all your cards and very strategically plan out best combos etc…thanks
Good playthrough, but I'm afraid game lacks replayability and suffers from unimaginative battle system. I think, i am going to pass on that one. Plus the price tag is steep. You guys were awesome, I'm enjoying your playthroughs.
Is there any difference between the City and Wilderness exploration gameplay-wise? E.g. the wilderness is more dangerous?
Awesome play through! The company could not have picked a better channel to showcase this game. This is the most frustrating part of Kickstarter...this game looks retail ready as is but backers will end up waiting 12 to 18 months before delivery. Sad faces 😢
When you pull a card from the monsters life pool to do either bite or charge, does that get discarded as though it's a hit? Or does it remain in the life pool? I see that after pulling the card you're discarding it as if it's a hit.
I show this in my play through ua-cam.com/video/gbqsuIQdrHw/v-deo.html
do debuffs go below your current level?
Great playthrough as always.
Tons of clever card play and multi-use cards.
This seems like it would be a slog at higher player counts, since so much interaction is only with two people.
love this!
TY!!
Thanks. I've been wondering how this plays so glad to see folks I enjoy show it off. Off topic question, how do you decide if a playthrough goes on your channel or Watch It Played?
Hi Scott! Thank you so much. Good question! Anything having to do with Watch It Played goes through Rodney, but we primarily play games on his channel that he has already made a tutorial for. Playthrough selection on our channel takes into consideration a few factors since they are very time-consuming.
Thank you for the playthrough. I have a better Idea if I KS it
You're welcome Michael! Hope you are having a great day!!
Hey wheres my copy. Looking to forward to playing this.
Seems like the combat mechanism with cards is limited to fighting one monster at a time and would be difficult to work with coop fighting.