Just a quick note about the sacrifice to the Kraken. It's not a vote. The Captain can ask everyone who to sacrifice but in the end he is the only one to chose
This is one review that I would have said that another opinion from someone other than Chris or Wendy would have been helpful. Out of these three reviewers, the only person I would expect to enjoy this game would be Tom. Even then, I would expect him to judge this against Werewolf, which I would anticipate him to like more since he's played that game for so long. Helpful review, but it felt like there may be a type of viewpoint missing.
Totally agree with this - someone who actually likes social deduction was definitely needed for this review. Slightly unfair to the game as the scores from this channel hold a lot of weight
Exactly, try to get some unbiased reviewers lol... the first thing that comes out of the reviewers mouthes are : ''a genre that i'm tired of'' ''a genre that I never really liked'' lmao. why do we even need this review?
I've been liking the change in direction and format for the Dice Tower in recent months. The only criticism I have is the inconsistency in editing. Sometimes you guys use a different intro. Sometimes the format of the numeric ratings are different. I feel like you should just lock into one consistent pattern to establish your brand. Other than that, nice work! Oh yeah... and get Camilla and Roy in more videos. :)
Hmm... a panel for a social deduction game on which two people state from the start that they don't like that type of game? Obviously, the Defence should have objected, but since it didn't, there should have been a bonus point at the end :-)
We've only played this three times so far, but had a raucous good time. By the second game we were comfortable with the rules and the games moved with pace. Great fun. Definitely suits the higher player count more than the minimum 5 players.
I’ve played this with 5, 8, and 11 people. I really don’t want to play this with less than eight as you have to use the short voyage map which leaves out some fun spots to land on; plus the more players the harder it is to figure out who is who. The eight and eleven person games were some of the most fun board game moments I have ever had - cultists won both times by the captain picking the wrong person to throw overboard. 5-7 players would be an 8 rating for me. 8-11 players is at least an 8.5 or 9.
My gaming group played this one online with the publishers a couple of times during the pandemic (we all love social deduction games). We had aa couple of quibbles with it at the time, but it looks like the gameplay has been refined somewhat during playtesting. I will say that the publishers were clearly passionate about the project and I'm not surprised by the quality of the final production. Hope to try it again soon around a table!
Looking forward to giving this one a try. Picked up the deluxe version this year, and it's on my special shelf. I think my nephew will really like it! Thanks Dice Tower!
The key to limiting Cultists' power is not allowing yellow directions even if you have to choose another side, because you never know who the Cult leader chooses.
In my humble opinion, it's the production of this game that I feel like should've carried it into Excellence status. Every piece feels like it was meaningfully crafted - the Kraken minis are scary if you're not a Cult member, the faction chips with bags are my new need in an SD game, and the ship feels great to sail. Funtails got an A++ from me on production. As for gameplay, I get that it doesn't exactly re-invent the wheel; it clearly takes notes from the books of Werewolf, Secret Hitler and Avalon, but it takes what those games have done and *refines* it which I believe they've done beautifully. I typically play SD games with close family and friends - people who I know well and we can have a good laugh watching people squirm under pressure (especially if they're trying to hide their identity). For me, the Cult team is the *best* to play as. It's literally the Tanner team (for the Werewolf crowd) and people who you were trusting all game long could up and be your foe quite suddenly and I cannot stress how wonderfully that is done here. The team balance I agree on - it feels like no team is inherently overwhelmingly going to win. Because of the balance this game has, the clear love and passion the team had bringing it to life (especially fighting through all the pandemic delays with a pretty steady stream of updates) and the excellent quality of the final product, I would've pushed this to a 9 or 9.5/10. Hire me, Tom, for like 10 seconds so I can put the gold seal on this gem!
Sounds like this deserved a seal of excellence! Balanced factions, excellent art and components, streamlined gameplay, quick sessions, including a title of top tier social deduction game! Lots of positive things about feed the kraken in this review, even from Wendy who sounds like has found the only social deduction game she enjoys. Maybe the only thing keeping it out of 8.5 territory or above is the genre?
Just ordered the deluxe version about one hour before you posted that video so I was a bit anxious about what you were going to say 😱 Not that I would have changed my mind if your review had been bad but I feel relieved that it's not 😅
This is probably my fave deduction game. The reason is because there is a lot more "game" in there than some deduction games. Further, simply keeping your role hidden ISN'T ENOUGH - you need to *not only* remain hidden if you are not crew, but you need to exploit this uncertainty to achieve something. Much harder if you are a Pirate or Cultist, yes - but it's just way more compelling than the more simplistic objective of "make sure nobody knows".
This is the absolute best SD game out there, it really perfects the genre and I will rarely play anything else now for a SD experience. So glad I got the neoprene mat optional by, huge upgrade for the game!
The required player count is the only thing that keeps me from getting this. Unlike this DT panel, apparently, I really enjoy good social deduction. (I just almost never can assemble enough people.) This looks like one of the genre's best to me. Two questions: 1) Is it a good idea to have people who dislike a particular game genre review that same genre? 2) Even based on this video's review I would've expected a seal of excellence. Tom said it was a "top-tier" SD game. So why didn't it qualify?
Suppose the Cult Leader recruits a new Cultist. Nobody else knows who was recruited. Now the recruit knows who their Leader is, so that if the recruit becomes Captain and gets the opportunity to throw somebody overboard to the Kraken, they will simply choose their Leader, to ensure that the game ends immediately and that they are part of the winning team (Cultists). Is the fact that the other players lack the knowledge to prevent this (e.g. by causing a mutiny) a flaw in the rules, or am I missing something?
Skipped to the review part. Though this was about "Davy Jones Locker game" and was so confused when you started talking about social deduction. They look pretty similar!
We played it around a dozen of times, and the only reason we can go back to Secret Him is if the size of the box is critical. Kraken is superior in most ways, more fun (threatening with cutting a tongue or turning cultists is pure fun), more to do, and looks amazing. One-time abilities add some spice, but the biggest change is the guns and their management - several games were decided just because the "good guys" (those on your team) ran out of guns early and the "bad guys" (those not on your team) had more.
This is my second favourite social deduction. Really sounds like more people should try quest. Maffia and werewolf evolved to resistance. Resistance evolved into secret.. ,kraken and quest. All good games and better than their predessesor but quest sure is one of a kind. A smaller box and it would be an 11. 😊
This game is 80% the same as Secret hitler. It worked better for us with 8-9 players than with 10-12. and for us yes it is overproduced for what the game really is. The miniature in pieces of the kraken and the plastic markers toys with a rudder are nonsense.Other games like The Thing worked better for us
100% agree, though you should mention the 3rd party, which differentiate this from SH. But yes, the added 20% are hit & miss and sometimes more clunky than it needs to be
So a box that is only used to shuffle cards (that could potentially damage them) is not overproduced? To me is an overcomplicated party game. Also, if a rulebook is telling me not to play in a certain way then is not a good game. a game should consider differentn game styles and mitakes a player makes
Agree with @jokeres1167. Why is Mr. and Mrs. Stick-in-the-mud who both hate social deduction (shocker) reviewing the social deduction game. Very little thought put into this video. Do you hate the company? Clicked away fast.
We usually remove comments that have personal insults in them, but I wanted to take a minute and reply. I'm confused by your comment, did you find that there was very little thought put into the video or did you click away fast? If you actually watched the video, you might find that we all had thoughtful things to say about the game. If you click away fast because your'e being judgmental, then you're the one missing out. Tom typically enjoys social deduction games far more than me, but we came down on the same rating with a lot of praise for the game. There's value in having people with different tastes stating that they enjoyed a game. Refrain from personal insults in the future, even if you dislike me.
@MarkDeibert Thanks for the apology, Mark. I really did enjoy the game a lot and had a lot of positive to say, so I was hoping to make a point that other people who might be like me could still find this one worth looking into. Glad it's one you enjoy!
Just a quick note about the sacrifice to the Kraken. It's not a vote. The Captain can ask everyone who to sacrifice but in the end he is the only one to chose
This is one review that I would have said that another opinion from someone other than Chris or Wendy would have been helpful. Out of these three reviewers, the only person I would expect to enjoy this game would be Tom. Even then, I would expect him to judge this against Werewolf, which I would anticipate him to like more since he's played that game for so long.
Helpful review, but it felt like there may be a type of viewpoint missing.
Couldnt have said it better
Totally agree with this - someone who actually likes social deduction was definitely needed for this review. Slightly unfair to the game as the scores from this channel hold a lot of weight
Totally agree!
Such an odd panel choice for this review.
Exactly, try to get some unbiased reviewers lol... the first thing that comes out of the reviewers mouthes are : ''a genre that i'm tired of'' ''a genre that I never really liked'' lmao. why do we even need this review?
I've been liking the change in direction and format for the Dice Tower in recent months. The only criticism I have is the inconsistency in editing. Sometimes you guys use a different intro. Sometimes the format of the numeric ratings are different. I feel like you should just lock into one consistent pattern to establish your brand. Other than that, nice work!
Oh yeah... and get Camilla and Roy in more videos. :)
Hmm... a panel for a social deduction game on which two people state from the start that they don't like that type of game? Obviously, the Defence should have objected, but since it didn't, there should have been a bonus point at the end :-)
I can’t wait to play this weekend as my copy arrived yesterday
We've only played this three times so far, but had a raucous good time. By the second game we were comfortable with the rules and the games moved with pace. Great fun. Definitely suits the higher player count more than the minimum 5 players.
I’ve played this with 5, 8, and 11 people. I really don’t want to play this with less than eight as you have to use the short voyage map which leaves out some fun spots to land on; plus the more players the harder it is to figure out who is who. The eight and eleven person games were some of the most fun board game moments I have ever had - cultists won both times by the captain picking the wrong person to throw overboard. 5-7 players would be an 8 rating for me. 8-11 players is at least an 8.5 or 9.
My gaming group played this one online with the publishers a couple of times during the pandemic (we all love social deduction games). We had aa couple of quibbles with it at the time, but it looks like the gameplay has been refined somewhat during playtesting. I will say that the publishers were clearly passionate about the project and I'm not surprised by the quality of the final production. Hope to try it again soon around a table!
Looking forward to giving this one a try. Picked up the deluxe version this year, and it's on my special shelf. I think my nephew will really like it! Thanks Dice Tower!
Social deduction games have been overly done? Lol, nobody ever complains how much Eurogames have been done...xD
They this often, critize a game because they dont like The genre
I really like this game. 12 games of Feed the Kraken played so far and most of the time, the Cultists won ! Surprise :)
The key to limiting Cultists' power is not allowing yellow directions even if you have to choose another side, because you never know who the Cult leader chooses.
In my humble opinion, it's the production of this game that I feel like should've carried it into Excellence status. Every piece feels like it was meaningfully crafted - the Kraken minis are scary if you're not a Cult member, the faction chips with bags are my new need in an SD game, and the ship feels great to sail. Funtails got an A++ from me on production.
As for gameplay, I get that it doesn't exactly re-invent the wheel; it clearly takes notes from the books of Werewolf, Secret Hitler and Avalon, but it takes what those games have done and *refines* it which I believe they've done beautifully. I typically play SD games with close family and friends - people who I know well and we can have a good laugh watching people squirm under pressure (especially if they're trying to hide their identity). For me, the Cult team is the *best* to play as. It's literally the Tanner team (for the Werewolf crowd) and people who you were trusting all game long could up and be your foe quite suddenly and I cannot stress how wonderfully that is done here. The team balance I agree on - it feels like no team is inherently overwhelmingly going to win.
Because of the balance this game has, the clear love and passion the team had bringing it to life (especially fighting through all the pandemic delays with a pretty steady stream of updates) and the excellent quality of the final product, I would've pushed this to a 9 or 9.5/10. Hire me, Tom, for like 10 seconds so I can put the gold seal on this gem!
Sounds like this deserved a seal of excellence! Balanced factions, excellent art and components, streamlined gameplay, quick sessions, including a title of top tier social deduction game! Lots of positive things about feed the kraken in this review, even from Wendy who sounds like has found the only social deduction game she enjoys. Maybe the only thing keeping it out of 8.5 territory or above is the genre?
Or maybe we just give a game a rating on how much we enjoy it? For me it's an "8", which is pretty high!
I think scores of 7 & 8 from people who don't even like social deduction mean that for those who do it's a 9+ game.
An excellent game. One of my groups favorites.!
Just ordered the deluxe version about one hour before you posted that video so I was a bit anxious about what you were going to say 😱 Not that I would have changed my mind if your review had been bad but I feel relieved that it's not 😅
This is probably my fave deduction game. The reason is because there is a lot more "game" in there than some deduction games.
Further, simply keeping your role hidden ISN'T ENOUGH - you need to *not only* remain hidden if you are not crew, but you need to exploit this uncertainty to achieve something. Much harder if you are a Pirate or Cultist, yes - but it's just way more compelling than the more simplistic objective of "make sure nobody knows".
This is the absolute best SD game out there, it really perfects the genre and I will rarely play anything else now for a SD experience. So glad I got the neoprene mat optional by, huge upgrade for the game!
"It's hard to do night time stuff without accidental cheating." Tom Vasel, 2022.
AHAHAHAHAHA
I love this game so freaking much!
My question is: Is there a Social deduction game they rate higher than this one?
I would only rate Deception MIHK higher honestly
The Resistance was my favourite social deduction for years until I played this. It's now my 2nd favourite SD game.
The required player count is the only thing that keeps me from getting this. Unlike this DT panel, apparently, I really enjoy good social deduction. (I just almost never can assemble enough people.) This looks like one of the genre's best to me. Two questions: 1) Is it a good idea to have people who dislike a particular game genre review that same genre? 2) Even based on this video's review I would've expected a seal of excellence. Tom said it was a "top-tier" SD game. So why didn't it qualify?
Its a fantastic game and stands above most
Suppose the Cult Leader recruits a new Cultist. Nobody else knows who was recruited. Now the recruit knows who their Leader is, so that if the recruit becomes Captain and gets the opportunity to throw somebody overboard to the Kraken, they will simply choose their Leader, to ensure that the game ends immediately and that they are part of the winning team (Cultists). Is the fact that the other players lack the knowledge to prevent this (e.g. by causing a mutiny) a flaw in the rules, or am I missing something?
Skipped to the review part. Though this was about "Davy Jones Locker game" and was so confused when you started talking about social deduction. They look pretty similar!
This seems like a nice riff on Secret He Who Must Not Be Named.
I agree
We played it around a dozen of times, and the only reason we can go back to Secret Him is if the size of the box is critical.
Kraken is superior in most ways, more fun (threatening with cutting a tongue or turning cultists is pure fun), more to do, and looks amazing. One-time abilities add some spice, but the biggest change is the guns and their management - several games were decided just because the "good guys" (those on your team) ran out of guns early and the "bad guys" (those not on your team) had more.
This is my second favourite social deduction. Really sounds like more people should try quest. Maffia and werewolf evolved to resistance. Resistance evolved into secret.. ,kraken and quest. All good games and better than their predessesor but quest sure is one of a kind. A smaller box and it would be an 11. 😊
what's your favorite?
@@sammor9 quest? The director's cut is a really nice twist on the base game.
Looks a lot like Secret Hitler but with positioning on a board. Looks good!
Basically everything Secret Hitler does, this does it better. With this in the collection, I never feel the need to play Secret Hitler ever again.
How does this compare to Tortuga 1667?
Choked on ‘banging a dead horse’
Seems like a friendly-er version of Battlestar
Seems like an overly done takeoff on Werewolf. Looks very nice but not something I’d enjoy.
This game is 80% the same as Secret hitler. It worked better for us with 8-9 players than with 10-12. and for us yes it is overproduced for what the game really is. The miniature in pieces of the kraken and the plastic markers toys with a rudder are nonsense.Other games like The Thing worked better for us
100% agree, though you should mention the 3rd party, which differentiate this from SH. But yes, the added 20% are hit & miss and sometimes more clunky than it needs to be
So a box that is only used to shuffle cards (that could potentially damage them) is not overproduced? To me is an overcomplicated party game. Also, if a rulebook is telling me not to play in a certain way then is not a good game. a game should consider differentn game styles and mitakes a player makes
Agree with @jokeres1167. Why is Mr. and Mrs. Stick-in-the-mud who both hate social deduction (shocker) reviewing the social deduction game. Very little thought put into this video. Do you hate the company? Clicked away fast.
We usually remove comments that have personal insults in them, but I wanted to take a minute and reply. I'm confused by your comment, did you find that there was very little thought put into the video or did you click away fast? If you actually watched the video, you might find that we all had thoughtful things to say about the game. If you click away fast because your'e being judgmental, then you're the one missing out. Tom typically enjoys social deduction games far more than me, but we came down on the same rating with a lot of praise for the game. There's value in having people with different tastes stating that they enjoyed a game. Refrain from personal insults in the future, even if you dislike me.
@@DTChrisYi Fair enough. I shouldn't have worded it like that. I really love this game so was upset right at start. Apology for bad wording and tone
@MarkDeibert Thanks for the apology, Mark. I really did enjoy the game a lot and had a lot of positive to say, so I was hoping to make a point that other people who might be like me could still find this one worth looking into. Glad it's one you enjoy!
Isn't this just a re-theming of Battlestar Galactica?
I just tried to play this for my birthday this past weekend but failed to have 5 people 🥲
😓