Spoiler alert, i love this game. And am planning on following up with 2 more videos. An extra time segment and a video on the expansion. So, what's been the best "new to you" game of the year?
Nice to hear you are gonna mention the expansion, have heard very very good things about it (plus dual-layerd player boards preventing a Rapture level underwater calamity everytime you breath near the base games boards). Best new game....probably Gaia Project (until Viscounts of the West Kingdom arrives anyways).
Some great games here. Not played Project Elite. But Rurik and Gaia Project got the gold medal from me. Barrage is on my "to review" shelf as i got the collectors KS version super cheap. Played it once and enjoyed it, a little bit Gaia Project meets power grid.
Played it at Origins last year -- I was already a fan of Succhi's game Shipyard (which I'm terrible at), and found this had a lot to enjoy (and I was also terrible at it). Hope that when the dang pandemic's over I can find someone to bring this to game night for another try!
The expansion is definitely worth it. Besides the dual layer playerboards, the different starting agents and starting resources are great and i like the discoveries you get with the museum variant. Only downside is the playing time, that’s why i only played it 1-2 player. But all in all a great game!
TheLuminousCleric If you’ve read the book series the game was inspired by it also has three eras: red, green and blue. I actually did a hack to create 3 decks and it did work but it was a bit clunky.
Love this game solo. Not a lot of games give me AP but this game does. Many agonizing decisions. Player boards from the expansion is a must plus some 3d printed submarines.BGG sells a Geek up bit set for the resources as well.
I have heard this compared to Terraforming Mars a lot, which intrigues me as TM is one of my top 10 favorite games and I've played that around 300 times (if you include the app, but still a significant amount in person). Is this something that would be worth being in the same collection as TM? Or do they cover pretty similar ground?
Weirdly, they are a lot alike while being very different. Both are engine builders that involving placing cities and improving production. But TM encourages you to sprawl and get many extra actions each turn. UC remains 30 actions, every single game. UC is tighter, TM allows for more sprawling and wacky plays. So they have very different pressures. I think if you love TM you will almost certainly enjoy UC. But they are different enough to have both.
I haven't played this game and I really want to like it because the theme really interests me but I have heard it compared to Terraforming Mars which I absolutely despised so I have avoided it since then. How do you feel it compares to Terraforming Mars?
I suspect its because i recorded this one first thing in the morning, so my vocal chords are relaxed and my voice is a few semi-tones lower. That's probably the difference.
@@alejandrorivas4585 "Plasteel" goes back at least to 1965, having been used in Frank Herbert's DUNE. But it has also seen use in the Star Wars extended universe and many other sci-fi worlds.
Who said it was boring? My recaps are to help inform people of whether a game would be for them. Which is why all my reviews have positives and negatives. The game is long and complex. Its good people know that before buying it. I like complex games
@@3MBG Sorry for being a bit crass and facetious. "A heavy euro game for those who like that sort of thing," felt like a negative comment and so the sudden revelation that you not only liked but actually loved the game surprised me. I mean, if the best thing you can say about the game is that the designers chose a good point in the round order for players to discard cards, that hardly sounds like a particularly hearty recommendation.
Ah, right. You underestimate how much waiting for people to discard cards at the end of their turn annoys the hell out of me :) Its a pet hate of me and this was a legit "oh gawds this a good idea" moment for me
Hmmm, you know people around the world have different accents. And making comments on peoples pronunciation that is different to your own, just makes you sound like a tool. This is how people from Aotearoa talk. Don't like it, too bad.
For the next 2 weeks, we are running a giveaway for Underwater cities, along with Board game atlas, here. t.co/y7ctDawqsy?amp=1
Spoiler alert, i love this game. And am planning on following up with 2 more videos. An extra time segment and a video on the expansion. So, what's been the best "new to you" game of the year?
Rurik
I'm loving Project Elite.
Nice to hear you are gonna mention the expansion, have heard very very good things about it (plus dual-layerd player boards preventing a Rapture level underwater calamity everytime you breath near the base games boards).
Best new game....probably Gaia Project (until Viscounts of the West Kingdom arrives anyways).
I'am eager to play this one. Shall do so soon. As for the best "new to me" games this year, I would say Teotihuacan and Barrage.
Some great games here. Not played Project Elite. But Rurik and Gaia Project got the gold medal from me. Barrage is on my "to review" shelf as i got the collectors KS version super cheap. Played it once and enjoyed it, a little bit Gaia Project meets power grid.
Played it at Origins last year -- I was already a fan of Succhi's game Shipyard (which I'm terrible at), and found this had a lot to enjoy (and I was also terrible at it). Hope that when the dang pandemic's over I can find someone to bring this to game night for another try!
The expansion is definitely worth it. Besides the dual layer playerboards, the different starting agents and starting resources are great and i like the discoveries you get with the museum variant.
Only downside is the playing time, that’s why i only played it 1-2 player. But all in all a great game!
Got an expansion review vid coming out tomorrow
The separate decks sounds good, something I would have liked in Terraforming Mars: a red mars deck, a green mars deck and a blue mars deck.
How would that work in Terraforming Mars? Here you have three different Eras. It makes sense.
TheLuminousCleric If you’ve read the book series the game was inspired by it also has three eras: red, green and blue. I actually did a hack to create 3 decks and it did work but it was a bit clunky.
Played it solo about 7-9 times. Wife refused to play it with me. Sold without regret. Keep playing Terraforming Mars.🤷♂️
Love this game solo. Not a lot of games give me AP but this game does. Many agonizing decisions. Player boards from the expansion is a must plus some 3d printed submarines.BGG sells a Geek up bit set for the resources as well.
What do you use the submarines for?
I have heard this compared to Terraforming Mars a lot, which intrigues me as TM is one of my top 10 favorite games and I've played that around 300 times (if you include the app, but still a significant amount in person).
Is this something that would be worth being in the same collection as TM? Or do they cover pretty similar ground?
Weirdly, they are a lot alike while being very different. Both are engine builders that involving placing cities and improving production. But TM encourages you to sprawl and get many extra actions each turn. UC remains 30 actions, every single game. UC is tighter, TM allows for more sprawling and wacky plays.
So they have very different pressures. I think if you love TM you will almost certainly enjoy UC. But they are different enough to have both.
@@3MBG great! Thanks for the rundown and reply. That makes sense.
@@3MBG is similar between the two? (2 player TM takes about 3 hrs for us)
It's definitely similar. If you like TM you'll like UC. The decisions are different for each game. I have both
Play time is similar, for my groups its about 2 1/2 hours for a 4 player game of both.
Thanks for sharing. Well done!
Is it a simultaneous solitaire game? i.e. not much player interaction.
The interaction is very much over the spots on the board, like most worker placement.
@@3MBG gotcha, thanks!
What exactly do you say at the beginning of every video? (I hear kyorakoto.) In what language? What does it mean?
Kia ora Koutou. Welcome all in Te Reo Maori. One of the official languages of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Looks cool! How replayable is it? Like three games in a row or once and done?
3 games in a row would be a long day. I like it and its definitely replayable
I haven't played this game and I really want to like it because the theme really interests me but I have heard it compared to Terraforming Mars which I absolutely despised so I have avoided it since then. How do you feel it compares to Terraforming Mars?
I go into detail on that in the "extra time" video
@@3MBG Thanks! Yes I hadn't spotted that one - just the one discussing the expansion - so I'll check it out cheers!
I should really like this
Great game, played it last week the first time. Still would rank Terraforming Mars over it.
Me too. But i ranked TM very very highly
You doing alright you sounded significantly less enthusiastic, even if it's a board game you say you loved?
I suspect its because i recorded this one first thing in the morning, so my vocal chords are relaxed and my voice is a few semi-tones lower. That's probably the difference.
@@3MBG That's good to hear, was afraid you might have been feeling burnout or something worse. Keep up the awesome content!
I have been a little under the weather, but that was before i recorded this. I suspect its just doing it while still waking up, lol :)
I also call it the plainly improved name "plasteel", as my mouth refuses to form the word "steelplast".
Oh yeah, lol, it is steelplast. Hahahahaha, oops.
@@3MBG Plasteel armor was mentioned in a track on Deltron 3030 and it's the only way my brain can remember it.
@@twentysides pretty sure thats a 40k reference. Plasteel being a common material there.
@@alejandrorivas4585 "Plasteel" goes back at least to 1965, having been used in Frank Herbert's DUNE. But it has also seen use in the Star Wars extended universe and many other sci-fi worlds.
@@matthewbarker9134 O God that's embarrassing, I consider myself with dune fan and yet I still didn't put that together. Whoops! good catch
Nice video. The art in the board looks weak.
Yeah, its not stellar. But gameplay for me is much more important than art
Long, complex and boring.... the best game I've played this year. Sorry what?
Who said it was boring? My recaps are to help inform people of whether a game would be for them. Which is why all my reviews have positives and negatives. The game is long and complex. Its good people know that before buying it. I like complex games
@@3MBG Sorry for being a bit crass and facetious. "A heavy euro game for those who like that sort of thing," felt like a negative comment and so the sudden revelation that you not only liked but actually loved the game surprised me. I mean, if the best thing you can say about the game is that the designers chose a good point in the round order for players to discard cards, that hardly sounds like a particularly hearty recommendation.
Ah, right. You underestimate how much waiting for people to discard cards at the end of their turn annoys the hell out of me :) Its a pet hate of me and this was a legit "oh gawds this a good idea" moment for me
There is no "z" in the word resources!!
Hmmm, you know people around the world have different accents. And making comments on peoples pronunciation that is different to your own, just makes you sound like a tool. This is how people from Aotearoa talk. Don't like it, too bad.
So you choose... death.
There's no z in the word "is" but I'm pretty sure you pronounce it that way