Much appreciated! I'm trying to find a way to streamline that section - this one took a fair while because of the ruleset, but knowing the arrows worked and I didn't have to do a ton of b-roll footage might help!
Great video, Luke! A word about the components that might be helpful. There was a lot of intentionality that went into the design choices here. The invaders are white, angular, and plastic because they are not natural in the environment. The blight is this plastic component that looks out of place on purpose. And, finally, the dahan are curvy, wooden, and brown as the natural inhabitants of the island, while the island boards are colorful and have a natural flow to them. All of that was on purpose! Meanwhile, I’m legit excited for you to get Jagged Earth. 🙂 IMO, it’s the greatest expansion ever released and it’s incredibly well executed across the board - what Reuss did with some of the new spirits still boggles my mind!!
Yeah it's a nice touch wrt materials of construction. I personally thought the Dahan models represented typical tribal thatched Huts?.. Google "tribal Hut images" which is basically lots of images of the Dahan models? Yeah I thought it didn't get any better than Jagged Earth as an expansion but "Free" Jagged Earth is actually better :P Myself personally I would have liked each of the Invaders/Towns/Cities in different colour plastic.. but the all bone white lack of colour is probably deliberate. Different colours would be a nice QOL feature and help with visualisation IMO. The Premium Tokens are pretty nice but for some reason it doesn't upgrade all the tokens and the Turn Effect Tokens are not upgraded. Still what they do replace is a nice upgrade. Solo Playthroughs is a great channel btw and how I found out about the official rules change wrt blight.
@@SoloPlaythroughs Something which I never noticed and it's so obvious is that the Town models have 2 buildings on them and the Cities have 3.. so the model represents the HP/AP visually. Got a new 3D resin printer so am going to knock up some new Town and City models so only just realised when i actually really inspected the originals. I don't paint so going to use Grey resin for the cities and Beige resin for the Towns to keep the theme as lacking colour but still have better overall visualisation.
@RocketMagnetUK It's actually even more than that. When the cities take 1 damage and you flip it on its side, the 3D sculpt then shows 2 building standing (2HP left). With 2 damage assigned you flip it so there's 1 building standing (1HP left). Towns are the same way; 2 buildings normally but when flipped on its side 1 building will be left standing (showing 1HP). People knock the plastic components but personally I think they're very practical
I'm glad you like it. It's one of my favorite games. I have all the expansions for it too. I was thinking to myself , if you don't like spirit island, I'm not sure I can keep watching your reviews. You've been pretty critical of some games i thought were good, but spirit island is tops for me . Glad you like it, great review. I think you explained it well. 🙂
Thank you Luke. I added Spirit Island to my wishlist a couple of weeks ago but was still uncertain about getting it or not. Your review convinced me to part with my hard earned money :)
So glad you finally gave it a second try! Jagged Earth is such an amazing expansion. Doubles the content effectively without really changing the already excellent base game (with the tokens and events) at all. Can't wait to hear your reaction once you receive it. :)
Wow 10/10. you sold me. Going to have to pick this up for the solo at least. I have been looking for another solo that isn't flip a card and do this type of game. The puzzle aspect and variability of the game has me thinking yes. Thanks
Congratulations! welcome to the party. This one has been in my top 3 for a couple years now. Started digging into Jagged earth and woo doggy! lots of new twists and turns with the new spirits and new content. Enjoy Luke.
Yeah I've seen the spirits and experienced a couple in action by other players, just haven't got Jagged Earth yet, have to resort to TTS if i want to use them.
It's definitely a great game, in fact it's set up on my table right now! The thing that just stops it being a 10 for me for solo is that I like playing 2 spirits because the interactions between them are so interesting, but then it just takes so long and gets sooooooo much more thinky. Maybe I need to give one spirit games another chance.
Glad to see this get covered by you, as popular as spirit island is I still think in terms of board game critics it is oddly kind of not covered as much as you might expect it to be. It's an incredible game with an absurd amount of replayability.
This is probably your best review video yet. You swept through the rules nicely and made a fairly complex game seem approachable (the photos w/ arrows helped a ton), and I also don't think I've ever seen you this passionate about a game (I was laughing as your excitement escalated to level 11 in those last 3 minutes haha)! I agree that it is a highly interactive coop with virtually zero alpha-gamer problems, but I have found that 4p games don't last more than about 2 hours once everyone has 3-4 games under their belt. Looking forward to your coverage of the expansions! (...and I still think you and One Pip Wonder should collaborate to make a Spirit Tier Ranking list!)
Ha ha that would be good fun, but shes had experience with all the Jagged Earth spirits which I've yet to yet to try out. Last time I got that excited was the Whistle Mountain review. I'm glad also that the arrows worked, they are much easier for me to edit then movie b-roll footage.
Thanks for this review. I always heard about this game but couldn’t find it for a while and kinda gave up. Upon hearing from you and others though about it being great in solo I had to get it and I love it, was pretty complex though :D
I tend to solo play three player games. Trying the different spirit combinations (including Branch and Jagged Earth) makes for such interesting thematic games.
11:40 @TheBrokenMeeple - Did you know that the Invaders are plastic and the Dahan/Spirit tokens are wood, because it was a statement between the industrial world and the natural one?
There should be mention of the anti climatic ending and the short amount of cards without expansions. I found it strange, too, that you consider SI thematic but not Mage Knight, both being rules-thematic games (and puzzly too).
Mage Knight bogs down too much in the complexity using mechanics like deck building which can't carry the theme by their nature. It's also incredibly long to play.
@@TheBrokenMeeple The deckbuilding its very minor. Its a level up mechanic much like SI. You add one card you like as either prize or level up. You might add 5 to 8 new cards per game. Plus, if you play 10 games or more of MK it plays as quickly as a SI scenario. Like any other game, it get quicker with practice. MK its harder to play multiplayer tho, and much less cooperative.
Really wonderful review of one of my favorite games! I hope you'll review the app too... It's a wonderful app with even amazingly unique music. At this moment I only play it on the app, I was wondering if I should buy the physical version too, what do you think? Looking forward to your next review, like always 👍
I am legit scared with some of the card illustrations in Spirit Island but your review makes me want to experience the solo mode 😂😭 Ugh! Thank you for great review.
Soon to have 4 weeks of quarantine by myself in a hotel room (2 weeks each way with 6-8 week of work in between). I've got room to pack 1 big box game, thinking this might be the perfect game to pick.
Great review. I heard the rule book was bad; thank you clearing that up. I think the game may be to complex for me (and certainly for the people I play games with). If I had the time then maybe I would try and get it as a solo game. It goes on the wanted list but at the very bottom. Thank you
Glad you liked it. I just wish it had a competitive mode, maybe one set before colonialism back when spirits battled to have the most worshippers. I look forward to your review of the expansions, heard good things, but still need to get them.
I don’t know this game, but Dead of Winter coop feels to me as being in the same space regarding the player interaction. Would you agree? I like DoW and I’m wondering whether I would like this, so I will check out a few playthroughs. Thanks for the review; so funny.
Thanks! Both games have simultaneous discussion I guess, but other than being co-ops, they are very different feeling games. One is more a puzzle, the other more a story with traitors.
It is pretty complex, a heavy game for sure. Take your time with it, or consider getting horizons of spirit island which is a bit like the entry point.
They must not know what that term means then. If you don't communicate and cooperate in SI then you'll likely loose. You're all on the same team, not playing the game in your own bubble (that's what solitare implies)
@@Wealtharch Yes! Or more (I usually play 4 spirits). True solo is a bit swingy. Adding together multiple Spirits let's you see synergies so you can play to each of their strengths vs having to prioritize the current threat and hoping for a lucky draw on the next explore phase
This is the perfect way to do "gameplay overview" for a review video. Very nice job!
Much appreciated! I'm trying to find a way to streamline that section - this one took a fair while because of the ruleset, but knowing the arrows worked and I didn't have to do a ton of b-roll footage might help!
Top 10 game for sure! It took my top co-op spot and well deserving of it.
Can see why!
Great video, Luke!
A word about the components that might be helpful. There was a lot of intentionality that went into the design choices here. The invaders are white, angular, and plastic because they are not natural in the environment. The blight is this plastic component that looks out of place on purpose. And, finally, the dahan are curvy, wooden, and brown as the natural inhabitants of the island, while the island boards are colorful and have a natural flow to them. All of that was on purpose!
Meanwhile, I’m legit excited for you to get Jagged Earth. 🙂 IMO, it’s the greatest expansion ever released and it’s incredibly well executed across the board - what Reuss did with some of the new spirits still boggles my mind!!
Yeah what I've seen so far has been great - hoping Greater Than Games sent out that care package! :D
Yeah it's a nice touch wrt materials of construction. I personally thought the Dahan models represented typical tribal thatched Huts?.. Google "tribal Hut images" which is basically lots of images of the Dahan models?
Yeah I thought it didn't get any better than Jagged Earth as an expansion but "Free" Jagged Earth is actually better :P
Myself personally I would have liked each of the Invaders/Towns/Cities in different colour plastic.. but the all bone white lack of colour is probably deliberate. Different colours would be a nice QOL feature and help with visualisation IMO.
The Premium Tokens are pretty nice but for some reason it doesn't upgrade all the tokens and the Turn Effect Tokens are not upgraded. Still what they do replace is a nice upgrade.
Solo Playthroughs is a great channel btw and how I found out about the official rules change wrt blight.
@@RocketMagnetUK Thanks for the kind words! And yeah - I agree that the white seems pretty intentional. 🙂
@@SoloPlaythroughs Something which I never noticed and it's so obvious is that the Town models have 2 buildings on them and the Cities have 3.. so the model represents the HP/AP visually.
Got a new 3D resin printer so am going to knock up some new Town and City models so only just realised when i actually really inspected the originals. I don't paint so going to use Grey resin for the cities and Beige resin for the Towns to keep the theme as lacking colour but still have better overall visualisation.
@RocketMagnetUK It's actually even more than that. When the cities take 1 damage and you flip it on its side, the 3D sculpt then shows 2 building standing (2HP left). With 2 damage assigned you flip it so there's 1 building standing (1HP left). Towns are the same way; 2 buildings normally but when flipped on its side 1 building will be left standing (showing 1HP). People knock the plastic components but personally I think they're very practical
So glad you enjoy it this much!
I love it!
I'm glad you like it. It's one of my favorite games. I have all the expansions for it too. I was thinking to myself , if you don't like spirit island, I'm not sure I can keep watching your reviews. You've been pretty critical of some games i thought were good, but spirit island is tops for me . Glad you like it, great review. I think you explained it well. 🙂
I love it! And even though I do love it, I can still critique its flaws or warn some players away!
Thank you Luke. I added Spirit Island to my wishlist a couple of weeks ago but was still uncertain about getting it or not. Your review convinced me to part with my hard earned money :)
Sweet, hope it works out the same for you!
Great review! Very thorough!!! Quite few people should use this as example how to do review properly! Well done Luke!
Thanks a ton!! :D
So glad you finally gave it a second try! Jagged Earth is such an amazing expansion. Doubles the content effectively without really changing the already excellent base game (with the tokens and events) at all. Can't wait to hear your reaction once you receive it. :)
Well I've experienced the expansion from friends with it.
Wow 10/10. you sold me. Going to have to pick this up for the solo at least. I have been looking for another solo that isn't flip a card and do this type of game. The puzzle aspect and variability of the game has me thinking yes. Thanks
Rock on!
Congratulations! welcome to the party. This one has been in my top 3 for a couple years now. Started digging into Jagged earth and woo doggy! lots of new twists and turns with the new spirits and new content. Enjoy Luke.
Yeah I've seen the spirits and experienced a couple in action by other players, just haven't got Jagged Earth yet, have to resort to TTS if i want to use them.
Might get a copy myself after seeing your review. Good job, you've got great energy and flow in these videos!
Thanks!! :D Appreciate it!
It's definitely a great game, in fact it's set up on my table right now! The thing that just stops it being a 10 for me for solo is that I like playing 2 spirits because the interactions between them are so interesting, but then it just takes so long and gets sooooooo much more thinky. Maybe I need to give one spirit games another chance.
Glad to see this get covered by you, as popular as spirit island is I still think in terms of board game critics it is oddly kind of not covered as much as you might expect it to be.
It's an incredible game with an absurd amount of replayability.
Many get put off but once I tried it properly I had to cover it in full. Plus Greater Than Games were very generous to assist.
This is probably your best review video yet. You swept through the rules nicely and made a fairly complex game seem approachable (the photos w/ arrows helped a ton), and I also don't think I've ever seen you this passionate about a game (I was laughing as your excitement escalated to level 11 in those last 3 minutes haha)!
I agree that it is a highly interactive coop with virtually zero alpha-gamer problems, but I have found that 4p games don't last more than about 2 hours once everyone has 3-4 games under their belt.
Looking forward to your coverage of the expansions!
(...and I still think you and One Pip Wonder should collaborate to make a Spirit Tier Ranking list!)
Ha ha that would be good fun, but shes had experience with all the Jagged Earth spirits which I've yet to yet to try out.
Last time I got that excited was the Whistle Mountain review. I'm glad also that the arrows worked, they are much easier for me to edit then movie b-roll footage.
great stuff sir, glad you loved the game, that speaks highly of the game
Glad it carries weight! 😅
@@TheBrokenMeeple Definitivo.
Glad that you like it. Welcome to the dark side.
FCM next? ;)
Ha ha that had its chance...... 😁
Thanks for this review. I always heard about this game but couldn’t find it for a while and kinda gave up. Upon hearing from you and others though about it being great in solo I had to get it and I love it, was pretty complex though :D
Yes, it's a learning curve and even I get stuff mixed up with the high complexity stuff at times, but it's so good!
Soooo very happy for you Luke. It's a awesome game!
many people have this as their number 1 solo,it has not appealed to me in any way, but I guess I'll have to test it out
been waiting for this one :)
Bet you have, Jona also!
Wanna know how crazy addicting this game is? I play solo with three spirits.
I haven't even tried two, 😉
@@TheBrokenMeeple It's not as bothersome as it seems, and it's great fun! :)
@@КирилЦанков-в2з It's soon to happen honestly.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Well with 2handing you get to see the synergy between spirits. Whole different game my friend
Oh yeah I can imagine, just not quite the expert yet!, 😁
I tend to solo play three player games. Trying the different spirit combinations (including Branch and Jagged Earth) makes for such interesting thematic games.
Three spirits! Wow, my nose bleeds with two…..
@@Apeshower my brother does six solo
11:40 @TheBrokenMeeple - Did you know that the Invaders are plastic and the Dahan/Spirit tokens are wood, because it was a statement between the industrial world and the natural one?
Is that right? Cool if that's the case!
There should be mention of the anti climatic ending and the short amount of cards without expansions. I found it strange, too, that you consider SI thematic but not Mage Knight, both being rules-thematic games (and puzzly too).
Mage Knight bogs down too much in the complexity using mechanics like deck building which can't carry the theme by their nature. It's also incredibly long to play.
@@TheBrokenMeeple The deckbuilding its very minor. Its a level up mechanic much like SI. You add one card you like as either prize or level up. You might add 5 to 8 new cards per game. Plus, if you play 10 games or more of MK it plays as quickly as a SI scenario. Like any other game, it get quicker with practice. MK its harder to play multiplayer tho, and much less cooperative.
Very cool the topics! Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm calling this could make your top 10 or top 25 eventually.
I would be confident of that.
Really wonderful review of one of my favorite games!
I hope you'll review the app too... It's a wonderful app with even amazingly unique music. At this moment I only play it on the app, I was wondering if I should buy the physical version too, what do you think?
Looking forward to your next review, like always 👍
I bought physical first, then app, can't do multiplayer on app.
Glad you finally enjoy this game. Now it’s time to give Gaia Project it’s fair crack again. 😉
Ha ha I used to have that, it's had its chances, I still like it OK just not as much as others!
Spirit island is my #1. Sentinels is my #2. Good job Greater than Games
Two games that are just so good!
I am legit scared with some of the card illustrations in Spirit Island but your review makes me want to experience the solo mode 😂😭 Ugh! Thank you for great review.
Go for it! Why do the illustrations scare you? Complexity?
@@TheBrokenMeeple Nope, the illustration itself like Dreams of the Dahan and The Call of Midnight's Dream card. 😂
Great review thank you.
Soon to have 4 weeks of quarantine by myself in a hotel room (2 weeks each way with 6-8 week of work in between). I've got room to pack 1 big box game, thinking this might be the perfect game to pick.
Ouch, don't like the sound of that..... The quarantine I mean, Spirit Island on the other hand is perfect!! 😂
@@TheBrokenMeeple steam library loaded, Netflix etc at the ready, spirit island. Got this 💪 Haha!
Great review. I heard the rule book was bad; thank you clearing that up. I think the game may be to complex for me (and certainly for the people I play games with). If I had the time then maybe I would try and get it as a solo game. It goes on the wanted list but at the very bottom. Thank you
Glad it helped!
Very impressive review great work
Thank you kindly!
Luke. That's too late. Everyone knows how great Spirit Island is for years.
Maybe some were hesitant to believe it like me ;-)
Waiting for stocks in the UK to pull the trigger!
DEFINITELY!
Glad you liked it. I just wish it had a competitive mode, maybe one set before colonialism back when spirits battled to have the most worshippers.
I look forward to your review of the expansions, heard good things, but still need to get them.
Not a bad idea!
There is a point system in this game. You can compete with your friends to see who is the better player.
I don’t know this game, but Dead of Winter coop feels to me as being in the same space regarding the player interaction. Would you agree? I like DoW and I’m wondering whether I would like this, so I will check out a few playthroughs. Thanks for the review; so funny.
Thanks! Both games have simultaneous discussion I guess, but other than being co-ops, they are very different feeling games. One is more a puzzle, the other more a story with traitors.
I will give it a second play. I trust you Luke.
"Gonna review base game only!" *Immediately shows two spirits that are not part of the base game*
But did I give any details on those 2 spirits or mention their abilities? ;-)
I love everything about the game except the event cards. It takes away the thinking 3 turn ahead vibe too much for me. Great game though.
I love the event cards, I like that little bit of unexpectedness that can occur.
I knew you would see the light 😎
Hee hee I knew you would be happy! :D
Haven't watched the video yet, but I'm going to take a guess you loved it. 😁
I'm biased, I love this game.
I like it but how much? 😉
@@TheBrokenMeeple You have seen the light! You're one of us now. 😂🤣
It's a good club to be in!
Is it complex for beginners? Cause i want to play it in solo but im just a beginner in playing boardgames😅
It is pretty complex, a heavy game for sure. Take your time with it, or consider getting horizons of spirit island which is a bit like the entry point.
Your new look is good.
Mainly it's just a haircut! :P Though I have reduced the beard length back to stubble which i prefer.
Fantastic shirt!
Thanks! Not the best at keeping me cool when it's hot, but it looks smarter. In the summer it might be hard to wear that under studio lighting. . . .
It's not "should you buy it?" The question should be "Why don't you freaking already own Spirit Island?!"
Ha ha, in a way! :P
I heard people complain that SI is multiplayer solitaire :D
That's crazy!! That's a fault of the group then! 😁
They must not know what that term means then. If you don't communicate and cooperate in SI then you'll likely loose. You're all on the same team, not playing the game in your own bubble (that's what solitare implies)
@@G0F15H They claim that they just focus on their own board, don't interact at all and still win (if I remember correctly).
Then they aren't playing it right or are on the most basic difficulty. There's no way that's true, ask anyone in the Spirit Island Facebook group.
For solo, do you recommend playing with 2 spirits?
You can do either, it's possible to win solo with all.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Thanks so much Luke!
@@Wealtharch Yes! Or more (I usually play 4 spirits). True solo is a bit swingy. Adding together multiple Spirits let's you see synergies so you can play to each of their strengths vs having to prioritize the current threat and hoping for a lucky draw on the next explore phase
@@G0F15H Thanks for your insights.
Spaceballs!
ALWAYS! :D
Hair bad!
I hate brushing it forward - going to go back to my normal look after next haircut.
1st comment
Gratz!
I don't like this game. Feels to much like work... I never had a fun time with it.
That's fair enough, it's a niche title for sure.