I own both Cyclades and Kemet and Kemet makes it to the table much more often. It appeals to my friends that like a game with very little hidden information / stochastic elements. It is also one of the best 2 player experiences I own. I have to agree with a lot of the commenters that Ta Seti is a good upgrade for the black power tiles as it shifts up the puzzle of the game in an interesting way. Its the expansion you want when (if) your friends know the base game well enough not to need the winelist.
I don't even play boardgames really. (I own Gloomhaven by SU&SD's recommendation but only get to play like once a month with my girlfriend.) But man, you guys just make awesome videos. Not only are they entertaining, but as someone who plays/DMs D&D and also creates music, the way you guys take apart the mechanics and package of a boardgame really gives me perspective on things. Like in this vid you mention the main concept of how many boardgames today have a poor juxtaposition between their appearance and their mechanics. That is a concept that is important, goes beyond boardgames, and I never really thought about it deeply before. And seeing it discussed in the context of boardgames as well as you did just gets my head whirring in a really awesome way. All this to say I'm a fan of you guys and love your work!
I only have the ta-seti expansion, and only use the black pyramids and tiles from it. I agree about the priests being unnecessary. We also have a house rule, where four tiles of each colour (one from each level) are removed randomly before the game. This adds more variety, and also stops the game hogging the table as there are the same amount of tiles out as in the base game. It's great, sometimes Kevin and his monster pals are absent, and sometimes it's a beast-fest!
The "Wine" list... so true! Most of our Kemet games we ask for the "Menu" or try to find it, only to discover someone's been sitting on it the whole time.
Yesssss, I love this game so much and I am so grateful for more coverage. Ta-Seti on the whole was kind of eh, but I love the black tiles and can't think of the game without them. I've played with Seth one time with a group of four who was really experienced with the game and we had a blast, but I definitely don't recommend it for the faint of heart. It's definitely much tighter and more dread-filled when everyone basically has the powers memorized. Which is a lot to ask of people, haha. Kemet can be a little hard to get to the table and it can be obtuse in some ways, but it is one of my absolute favorites and the game in my collection that has rewarded me the most for sticking with it. Inis and Cyclades are both amazing, and all three have a special place in my collection, but Kemet has a special, bloody place in my heart.
I noticed you have some sound proofing in you wardrobe. Matt do you stand in your wardrobe doing recordings? Do you and Quentin stand in your wardrobe to do the podcast?
Really awesome review! The editing, camera work, and script is top notch! Not only do you get a sense of the Kemet expansions but also how this game stands up to more recent dudes on a map games. Thanks!
I think Ta-Seti is a must have expansion only for the black pyramid and extra battle cards. I always play with both the black power tiles and the new cards, even when introducing the game to new players, those two modules make the game more balanced and give more strategic options. The other modules in Ta-Seti make the game too complicated and not fun.
I haven't played with a path module as it indeed seems to be tacked on. Priests' unique abilities are interesting, but unfortunately adding all those little rules may harm the base game's elegance. But I disagree about the dawn module. It's not really complicated and it fixes the issue with the last player advantage. It adds strategic depth without any fiddly rules and makes final rounds much more fair.
With a bigger group the black pyramid and cards fleshes out the game and makes it more fun - with a bigger group we’ve found the 3 pyramids makes more of a disbalance of powers
Ta-Seti is on special here.. If I bought it, it would be for the black tiles and new battle cards alone, do you think it's worth bothering about? I'm trying to introduce the game to more people (So I have more people to play with) but don't want to overwhelm them with a table full of tiles (the base game has a tonne as it is!).
@@trojan403 If you are playing with seasoned board game players, add the black pyramids and extra battle cards even if it is the first time they play the game, these few additions add a lot of strategic choice and balance the game a lot. If you play with casual players, I suggest you play vanilla Kemet, and if they like the game, then you can add the other stuff for the second session or so, but casual players usually do not like Kemet. Kemet is an amazing game, it is the best Light War Strategy (Dudes on a Map) game, but it is not a game for everyone, it really is a gamer's game and one with too much conflict going on.
20:00 The different victory point tokens are important. They help correcting mistakes. If you bought a power tile and forgot to take the victory points you can see that later and correct ist, because you have none such special victory point token. And the circle tokens are only temporary and very often you forget to put them back. Counting temples and circle tokens you easy find out which player has to give one victory token back.
Thank you as well for being commited to your reviews over such a length of time as well! Love the stuff you guys have been doing! -- p.s. if there's ever a possibility of seeing Paul again, even as a one-off appearance, I would love to see him back
This review was very helpful for me, I had seen a few Kemet expansion boxes recently, but I had never seen the base game and knew very little about it. It looked very interesting as a small group game, and I think I'll be picking it up. Thanks. For all of the modern oddness of games including "slaves"... I honestly don't understand the uproar about it. Not trying to start some big political discussion or be insensitive, but games that reflect periods where slavery "was a thing" seem, to me at least, just be that; "reflections of a period". I think a lot of people get so wrapped up in modern politics that they forget slavery has occurred throughout history to literally every group of people. It was common for the winners of battles to take slaves from the survivors of their enemy. Slavery in Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia were demonstrations of military power, economics, and quite frankly, pragmatism. If you go to war with a neighboring tribe and defeat their warriors, you really only had two options: kill all the survivors to prevent retribution, or enslave them and gain a workforce and lower-class to perform undesirable tasks. This has repeated itself throughout history, but from my perspective people seem fixated on American slavery of Africans as if it was the only time it ever happened because it has carved deep trauma into our collective cultural memory. Conflating modern injustices, racial inequality, and racism itself with a board game trying to represent that yes, in fact, slavery happened and was pretty common, and being offended feels like an out of place reaction to me. I know that "Tabletop" had a big issue with 'Five Tribes' having slaves in the game as well. That game is also a tribal themed old-world reflection, and again slaves at that time were literally anyone who was taken captive during battles, or so poor that they fell into debt, or were born to prior slaves. Injustice and terrible things have happened throughout our history, but in the end calling the slaves "workers" is tantamount to willful ignorance of the plight of those peoples. I feel we keep sliding into a mentality that this is tied directly to race, or modern injustices. It is just a board game that loosely represent an older culture. What I find interesting is that the more we as a global culture frown on "insensitive" representations of things like slavery, the easier it is to forget that it happened. If it doesn't show up in writing, board games, videos, music, etc. how can we as a culture acknowledge that we all did bad things to one another in the past and try to make sure stuff like that never happens again? It doesn't make sense to pretend it didn't exist, or to omit it from art/games/literature about cultures where it was a core part of the civilization. In the cases where we sweep this under the rug because it makes us "feel awkward" we are doing a disservice to the peoples who lived through those times in those conditions, we diminish that memory and slowly allow it to fade into nonexistence. I'll admit, having that particular card under a category of "white power" choices, is unfortunate. To be honest, I feel like the different "colors" of power should have had thematic names instead of just power.
A cracking review, Matt’s solo form is so confident and self assured, I really feel the Gloomhaven review was.a real watershed. Love SU&SD going back to stuff they’ve covered before 🙂
I think Ta-Seti is totally worth it for the black tiles. Just print out better reference sheets from BGG with all tiles included and enough for every player to avoid the (silly) complaint about having to pass the reference around. However I agree that the side board mechanic is not worth it. Seth is probably fun for those that play Kemet a ton, but that is not the case for me so I passed on it entirely.
Ta-Seti is on special here.. If I bought it, it would be for the black tiles and new battle cards alone, do you think it's worth bothering about? I'm trying to introduce the game to more people (So I have more people to play with) but don't want to overwhelm them with a table full of tiles (the base game has a tonne as it is!).
@@trojan403 The black tiles are perfectly doable for beginners too. I honestly can not imagine of playing again without the black tiles, it's so much better! :)
Great review! To all the people commenting about how you can print out power leaflets, player guides, make copies, etc., keep in mind that SUSD always keeps the focus on what comes in the box. Yes, extra stuff and extra work is an option but the game doesn't come with them.
The sound design in this episode is extraordinary! I genuinely felt like a folley artist had been used until I saw the movements and actions on screen.
What a well done review Matt! Not always a fan of SUSD's stuff, but this one was A+ for me. Also your "wine list" analogy reminded me so much of the same issue with Small World. Which I love actually. So maybe I will have to check out Kemet.
I think it's a bit childish thing to say that being able to buy slaves in a game about ancient Egypt (even if a fantasy mythological version) is unsensitive or just bad, since slavery happend in Egypt. Also it's just a game. Appart from that great review as always.
@@aminzarei8078 that seems a hard bet considering there are still nation's that enslave people. Also did the British enslave people or purchase slaves from nation's that had enslaved people?
@@aminzarei8078 okay... Yes a lot of colonising nation's also had slaves. Then again basically every nation used slaves. So is there a country you think did it better than England? After all, they were also the ones to effectively end the slave trade.
I've been thinking about it for years since I saw your first review of the base game but man, this really just reminded me that I need to get Kemet. Knowing that the core experience still holds up in modernity is great. Like you say, a solid delivery on the "dudes on a map" experience is something I very much crave.
To dismiss Ta Seti without mentioning the 2 additional battle cards each player gets makes me sad. It sounds so little but it REALLY opens up the combat possibilities if you know that your enemy can suicide attack at any point just to win the combat. All the parts are modular so while it is wasteful that most of the priest thing can be ignored, I always start new players off with a few of the modules.
How do you mean you start off new players with a few modules? Are modules the priest powers/add ons? (I have the base game - haven't played Ta-Seti yet)
@@trojan403 The modules are the different components and mechanics that the expansion brings. The expansion is made that they are all optional and can operate independently of each other so you select the ones you like the best for any particular game. I would suggest ALWAYS using the extra 2 battle cards module and for 4 or more players who have played before, playing with the black technology tiles.
Inis is definitely the best of the Matagot Holy Trinity ™️, but Kemet is still a sarcophagus full of loosely Egyptian-themed fun! Looking forward to your review of the Seasons of Inis expansion SU&SD!
It's 2024, and i found out Kemet, the original one, existed about two weeks ago. I bought it, played it, and I think its my favorite boardgame of all time. Fantastic game.
I know I've been binge watching too much SU&SD when I wake up having dreamt about Quinns in my sleep (in which he bizarrely had no money, lived in a ramshackle hostel community building, and survived on charity food banks)
Wonderful video, but I just have to point out slavery was a (semi) essential part of the operation of the Egyptian state. Crusades (not the way we think of them) were also common, expeditions to punt or the Levant were a commonish occurrence, and of course it was an odd reign when they didn’t go into Kush
I miss waegames like this that are so pure in their purpose and intent and not needlessly uber complicated. I love Kemet for a lot of the same reasons I love Cthulhu Wars.
Kemet is having a V1.5!! Skimming through the rules Matagot has fixed most of the concerns you mentioned in this video. would love to hear your opinion about it Matt :)
@@shutupandsitdown SUSD answered to me a question, I feel like talking to a hollywood star. Thank you for the answer ! ;) I live abroad my country and sometimes I have to pick the game according to which of my friends are playing, because of language dependencies.
@@shutupandsitdown Hello again Shut Up & Sit Down. In the end you convinced me of buying all 3. Amazing games. Im infinitely grateful towards you! haha
There's something here I don't understand. These games deal with WAR. WAR - much worse than and, in them thar days, often the cause of slavery. If you're going to warn people about slavery, as if it's some great no-no, what about all the games based on conflict--including this one--where you seem to celebrate the death and destruction (and r@pe, mutilation, horror, torture etc that goes along with it)?
Slavery's presence in the game seems justified given the theme, it was a powerful economic advantage and the game isn't trying to excuse ... oh it's listed under white power. Oh. Um. Huh.
Kemet is my favourite dudes on the map game :) For me each of the expansions serves different purpose. Ta-Seti is for black tiles (never use priests) which give more options to chose from for players who are later in the turn order. I use black tiles even when introducing new players to the game. Seth adresses the issue where players who have experience will always beat the new players as the tile buying decisions are important from first action. Seth allows a shared experience that ends up being quite close. Which means it is more enjoyable and you are more likely to get a repeat play from people. In terms of booklet count - I 3D printed the tile holders from thingyverse for fast tile set up/tear down - printing few sheets with decriptions was done in first 3 minutes after aquiring the game ;)
I was wondering how new players would go with the black tiles (LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM)... Maybe It's not that big of an issue to have more to choose from?...
@@trojan403 I prefer playing without black tiles with new players. As he says buying decisiions are important from first action. Avoid the risk new player throw their game during the first turn. They should have an overview and that's already hard with base game only. I always don't only explain the rules, I explain buying strategys and which tiles are popular and which are good in which game situation.
I have first edition. Had it for years. It's only hit the table 4-5 times for me, and I'd like to do it more. Was looking at getting the expansions. Thanks for the honest review. As for the "wine list". That's a great way to put it, I'm taking that one lol.... Also, there's a solution. Just send a .pdf to everyone before the game. Everyone has a phone these days. You're right though.... a lot of time is spent browsing the wine list.
Just bought the base game of Kemet and was considering the expansions! What are the odds? Thanks for all the honest and straightforward information that us common boardgamers need. Much love.
I honestly think the black tiles add quite a bit to the game. If you find you are playing the base game enough I definitely think it is a good buy. His concerns about priests going along the path is modular and does not have to be used. The underrated part of the ta seti expansion to me is actually the additional 2 battle cards that everyone gets that increases meaningful decisions quite a bit. His concern about needing to look at reference sheets definitely continue to be a problem though. I probably would not suggest Seth unless your group plays a ton. (mine does and though it is flawed I was grinning the entire time)
The Ta-Seti path is really clubersome, but it does add something important to the game. On the base game, usually it's WAY better to hold your atacks for your last actions, and whoever moves last has a huge advantage. But with the path, there's a reason to move first, as you get the bônus before someone else does. And the black pyramids add a LOT to the game. They make the blue strategy viable, wich it isn't on the base game. And not only that, but simply adding a forth color but still restricting people to 3 pyramids not only add a great laywer of strategy, but also gives more importance to the fact that you can invade other people's districts to use their pyramids. PS: You're playing as an EGYTIAN GOD, If there was no slavery involved I'd consider that weird...
The Black pyramids are great, no real downside to that. I play with lowest VP chosing their turn order, then the layer with second less, third less etc. Ties = the one who moved first last time decides. It does help with many players so that it makes a differcne being nr 2-4 out of 5.
@@MrKlebeband Sorry for the delay, I haven't saw your message until I returned to this video hahaha One of the most important tiles for a blue strategy, is the mercenary one. It allows you to make 2 armys with 7 soldiers each combining with the blue Legion. Enforcement recruitment is also verry important, as it allows you to refil your armys if someone attack you just to bleed. And that combines verry well with Honor in battle. Deadly trap also makes you a lot more defensive, as it effectivaly is a +1 strengh in defense.
Love your work :) I expect one day i will have Kemet and Inis join Cyclades & Titans. Your discussions of each has really helped me decide which parts i want or not
I was fence-sitting on Seth for all the reasons you brought to this review, so I'm glad I waited. Still, it looks incredible for any group that has played Kemet so much that just about anything new is justification enough for an insta-buy. Also, it should be underscored that Ta-Seti's components are absolutely MODULAR. So typically I have my cake (black tiles/pyramids) but don't end up eating it too (priest track).
The switch to handheld footage at 4:42 is a little jarring, but overall, it's incredible to see how far your production values have come, especially looking at this review compared to the previous Kemet review.
I know you guys don't like big, gaudy, kickstarter, miniature games, but I kinda wish you guys would do a review of Cthulhu Wars. Is it all of those things I listed that you guys don't like? Yeah. But it's also possibly the best dudes on a map game I've played. And I say this as someone who really likes dudes on a map games... Perhaps if/when it goes into regular retail production, you guys will take a look at it.
I never comment, but i just wanna say. Matt, I love your reviews. Whenever one pops up in my subscription list I am so happy to the point of unintentionaly grinning so much my cheeks hurt. Thank you SUSD, you guys make my life that litte bit more quirky
Kemet is great! I love that you cannot turtle in this game and win. Concerning the "wine list", when I got this game a few years ago, the first thing I did was make copies of the power tiles list. Great review!
I'm very late to this video, just rewatching because I was looking at the Seth expansion. They could have totally gone a different direction regarding how the priests worked. Make them two buyable black/onyx power tiles with a gold action token and a priest monster each. Then, instead of a separate board, make a deck of random monster powers (simple modifiers for your priests, this would effectively replace the tiles on the separate Path to Ta-Seti). Each turn, you could use your gold action token to draw from the modifier deck, and then add (from your already existing hand, not the new one you just grabbed), one at a time, to a maximum perhaps of two or three total active modifiers for your priest power. This could range from an extra victory point like the sphinx (maybe make it only count as long as the priest is on the board? And make the player have to rebuild their active powers if their priest dies 🤔), to a +2 battle power (maybe add a prayer cost when activating, like Divine intervention cards🤔🤔) In hindsight, from what I see the main reason anyone buys Ta-Seti at this point is for the added color power tiles, so instead of adding a whole new added mechanic of a separate board, they could have partially downsized the expansion, and made the changes revolve around the power tiles themselves (hence the priests becoming two exclusive black/onyx power tiles). It would be cool to see an expansion that adds a completely separate board with different mechanics that a new color could play on. Nothing game breaking that makes everyone HAVE to grab it... but red deals with offense, blue defense, and so on; Why not add a color that deals with the surroundings themselves?. Affect the movement speed of rival armies, place a tile in a certain area that emits a nauseous miasma that negates their defensive shields played or whatnot. That could open a wider range of possible strategies. I know this is a ramble, I get on a roll and can't help express my thoughts. I love this game, it was the first one I bought that wasn't a grocery store game (Monopoly, Risk, Life, Sorry, etc.), and it opened my eyes to a whole range of games I didn't know exsisted.
We have enjoyed Kemet. We use only the black power tiles from Ta-Seti, for variety. Have yet to play with Seth. Agree they are not required for a great game of Kemet.
Would absolutely love a Cyclades expansion where Egyptian/Cretan forces invade an island with their seperate cultures, buildings, gods, units, etc. Like the C3K crossover
I must say I really fail to see how "wage murderous war against cities who worship a different god" (which is the premise of the entire game) is fine, but "crusade" is somehow taboo, even though it means exactly the same thing.
I love how Matt and Quinns (and especially Paul), has their own video review writing and editing styles. And you can see them learn and evolve and even cross-pollinate over the span of their videos. I felt the Paul Dean minis-eye-view shots in this, but Matt's delivery is so unique and compelling.
Oh no, Matt, you put the Classic Shut Up And Sit Down Mid-Review Turnaround at the beginning of the review! I certainly hope there's some sort of End-Of-Review Turnaround to balance things out...
I for one love Kemet. I would chose it over Cyclades every single time (provided that the people I play with will not be overwhelmed by it... Kemet can do that to you). And I love that Rising Sun is brought up in the review,because playing it enforced the feeling. When I played Rising Sun I was very disappointed. It wasn't a bad game, but it had a lot of things I found clunky and not fun. After couple of days I sat down to think about it why did I not enjoyed it so much, and after a moment, Kemet came to my mind. It basically does the same things, but every thing that Rising Sun does... Kemet does it better.
“It’s fast, fun, and simple, like a clown on roller-skates that’s been hit in the face with a shovel.”
Please never change, SUSD.
This doesn't often happen to me, but I had to stop the video so I could finish laughing when he said this.
@@ibrahimakay728 Well, thank goodness I wasn't the only one.
OMG THAT LINE KILLED ME
that Top Gear reference :)
I own both Cyclades and Kemet and Kemet makes it to the table much more often. It appeals to my friends that like a game with very little hidden information / stochastic elements. It is also one of the best 2 player experiences I own. I have to agree with a lot of the commenters that Ta Seti is a good upgrade for the black power tiles as it shifts up the puzzle of the game in an interesting way. Its the expansion you want when (if) your friends know the base game well enough not to need the winelist.
I don't even play boardgames really. (I own Gloomhaven by SU&SD's recommendation but only get to play like once a month with my girlfriend.) But man, you guys just make awesome videos. Not only are they entertaining, but as someone who plays/DMs D&D and also creates music, the way you guys take apart the mechanics and package of a boardgame really gives me perspective on things.
Like in this vid you mention the main concept of how many boardgames today have a poor juxtaposition between their appearance and their mechanics. That is a concept that is important, goes beyond boardgames, and I never really thought about it deeply before. And seeing it discussed in the context of boardgames as well as you did just gets my head whirring in a really awesome way.
All this to say I'm a fan of you guys and love your work!
"I don't play boardgames really" - man who owns Gloomhaven
Lol jk just seemed funny that that's your one game haha
I only have the ta-seti expansion, and only use the black pyramids and tiles from it. I agree about the priests being unnecessary. We also have a house rule, where four tiles of each colour (one from each level) are removed randomly before the game. This adds more variety, and also stops the game hogging the table as there are the same amount of tiles out as in the base game. It's great, sometimes Kevin and his monster pals are absent, and sometimes it's a beast-fest!
The "Wine" list... so true! Most of our Kemet games we ask for the "Menu" or try to find it, only to discover someone's been sitting on it the whole time.
Yesssss, I love this game so much and I am so grateful for more coverage.
Ta-Seti on the whole was kind of eh, but I love the black tiles and can't think of the game without them. I've played with Seth one time with a group of four who was really experienced with the game and we had a blast, but I definitely don't recommend it for the faint of heart. It's definitely much tighter and more dread-filled when everyone basically has the powers memorized.
Which is a lot to ask of people, haha. Kemet can be a little hard to get to the table and it can be obtuse in some ways, but it is one of my absolute favorites and the game in my collection that has rewarded me the most for sticking with it. Inis and Cyclades are both amazing, and all three have a special place in my collection, but Kemet has a special, bloody place in my heart.
I noticed you have some sound proofing in you wardrobe.
Matt do you stand in your wardrobe doing recordings?
Do you and Quentin stand in your wardrobe to do the podcast?
Nah, that's to drown out the Sage's ramblings.
Lions and witches can be quite noisy at times.
Unironically yes. Wardrobes are amazing for sound recording
Really awesome review! The editing, camera work, and script is top notch! Not only do you get a sense of the Kemet expansions but also how this game stands up to more recent dudes on a map games. Thanks!
I think Ta-Seti is a must have expansion only for the black pyramid and extra battle cards.
I always play with both the black power tiles and the new cards, even when introducing the game to new players, those two modules make the game more balanced and give more strategic options.
The other modules in Ta-Seti make the game too complicated and not fun.
Agreed, I never play with the path module as it feels disconnected with the rest of the game.
I haven't played with a path module as it indeed seems to be tacked on. Priests' unique abilities are interesting, but unfortunately adding all those little rules may harm the base game's elegance.
But I disagree about the dawn module. It's not really complicated and it fixes the issue with the last player advantage. It adds strategic depth without any fiddly rules and makes final rounds much more fair.
With a bigger group the black pyramid and cards fleshes out the game and makes it more fun - with a bigger group we’ve found the 3 pyramids makes more of a disbalance of powers
Ta-Seti is on special here.. If I bought it, it would be for the black tiles and new battle cards alone, do you think it's worth bothering about? I'm trying to introduce the game to more people (So I have more people to play with) but don't want to overwhelm them with a table full of tiles (the base game has a tonne as it is!).
@@trojan403 If you are playing with seasoned board game players, add the black pyramids and extra battle cards even if it is the first time they play the game, these few additions add a lot of strategic choice and balance the game a lot. If you play with casual players, I suggest you play vanilla Kemet, and if they like the game, then you can add the other stuff for the second session or so, but casual players usually do not like Kemet. Kemet is an amazing game, it is the best Light War Strategy (Dudes on a Map) game, but it is not a game for everyone, it really is a gamer's game and one with too much conflict going on.
20:00 The different victory point tokens are important. They help correcting mistakes. If you bought a power tile and forgot to take the victory points you can see that later and correct ist, because you have none such special victory point token. And the circle tokens are only temporary and very often you forget to put them back. Counting temples and circle tokens you easy find out which player has to give one victory token back.
Kemet, the best a man can get.
Innis has now an expansion to, would love to hear your opinion about it :)
Quality top gear reference at 3:52, you can hear the theme in the background
You mentioning it made me pay attention. They did a great job, from the way he talks to what he says to how it is presented. Thanks for the pointer
Thank you as well for being commited to your reviews over such a length of time as well!
Love the stuff you guys have been doing!
-- p.s. if there's ever a possibility of seeing Paul again, even as a one-off appearance, I would love to see him back
This review was very helpful for me, I had seen a few Kemet expansion boxes recently, but I had never seen the base game and knew very little about it. It looked very interesting as a small group game, and I think I'll be picking it up. Thanks.
For all of the modern oddness of games including "slaves"... I honestly don't understand the uproar about it. Not trying to start some big political discussion or be insensitive, but games that reflect periods where slavery "was a thing" seem, to me at least, just be that; "reflections of a period". I think a lot of people get so wrapped up in modern politics that they forget slavery has occurred throughout history to literally every group of people. It was common for the winners of battles to take slaves from the survivors of their enemy. Slavery in Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia were demonstrations of military power, economics, and quite frankly, pragmatism. If you go to war with a neighboring tribe and defeat their warriors, you really only had two options: kill all the survivors to prevent retribution, or enslave them and gain a workforce and lower-class to perform undesirable tasks. This has repeated itself throughout history, but from my perspective people seem fixated on American slavery of Africans as if it was the only time it ever happened because it has carved deep trauma into our collective cultural memory. Conflating modern injustices, racial inequality, and racism itself with a board game trying to represent that yes, in fact, slavery happened and was pretty common, and being offended feels like an out of place reaction to me.
I know that "Tabletop" had a big issue with 'Five Tribes' having slaves in the game as well. That game is also a tribal themed old-world reflection, and again slaves at that time were literally anyone who was taken captive during battles, or so poor that they fell into debt, or were born to prior slaves. Injustice and terrible things have happened throughout our history, but in the end calling the slaves "workers" is tantamount to willful ignorance of the plight of those peoples. I feel we keep sliding into a mentality that this is tied directly to race, or modern injustices. It is just a board game that loosely represent an older culture.
What I find interesting is that the more we as a global culture frown on "insensitive" representations of things like slavery, the easier it is to forget that it happened. If it doesn't show up in writing, board games, videos, music, etc. how can we as a culture acknowledge that we all did bad things to one another in the past and try to make sure stuff like that never happens again? It doesn't make sense to pretend it didn't exist, or to omit it from art/games/literature about cultures where it was a core part of the civilization. In the cases where we sweep this under the rug because it makes us "feel awkward" we are doing a disservice to the peoples who lived through those times in those conditions, we diminish that memory and slowly allow it to fade into nonexistence.
I'll admit, having that particular card under a category of "white power" choices, is unfortunate. To be honest, I feel like the different "colors" of power should have had thematic names instead of just power.
All in for any talk of Stargate.
I just realized why I love this channel so much.
It's like the Top Gear of board games.
I see what you did there...
I still can’t see a Matt review without expecting a frittata to follow...
A cracking review, Matt’s solo form is so confident and self assured, I really feel the Gloomhaven review was.a real watershed.
Love SU&SD going back to stuff they’ve covered before 🙂
I think Ta-Seti is totally worth it for the black tiles. Just print out better reference sheets from BGG with all tiles included and enough for every player to avoid the (silly) complaint about having to pass the reference around. However I agree that the side board mechanic is not worth it. Seth is probably fun for those that play Kemet a ton, but that is not the case for me so I passed on it entirely.
That is precisely how i feel as well... I love the black tiles but not the priest board. And the 1vAll holds no value for me.
Ta-Seti is on special here.. If I bought it, it would be for the black tiles and new battle cards alone, do you think it's worth bothering about? I'm trying to introduce the game to more people (So I have more people to play with) but don't want to overwhelm them with a table full of tiles (the base game has a tonne as it is!).
@@trojan403 The black tiles are perfectly doable for beginners too. I honestly can not imagine of playing again without the black tiles, it's so much better! :)
Luzz Bightyear Brillaint! Thank you, I think you’ve sold me :)
@@luzzbightyear6665 Cheers, you've helped me to pull the trigger. I've just ordered it :D
I do love D4s as pyramids. Such a clever idea. Buy the core or the whole Seth if you love it
@Treasures of Distraction but it's also a glorified candyland. It's a simplistic race for the finish
But they're not pyramids, they're tetrahedrons!
What a great little transition at 4:08!
The CONSTANT mention of "wine lists" had me cracking up all the damn time :D
Great review!
To all the people commenting about how you can print out power leaflets, player guides, make copies, etc., keep in mind that SUSD always keeps the focus on what comes in the box. Yes, extra stuff and extra work is an option but the game doesn't come with them.
In my box there were multiple leaflets for German, French, Dutch, Spanish... In most rounds that meant having 2 or 3 of them available.
The sound design in this episode is extraordinary! I genuinely felt like a folley artist had been used until I saw the movements and actions on screen.
What a well done review Matt! Not always a fan of SUSD's stuff, but this one was A+ for me.
Also your "wine list" analogy reminded me so much of the same issue with Small World. Which I love actually. So maybe I will have to check out Kemet.
That little “Jessica” overlay and and bad Jeremy Clarkson voice bit was just *mwah* 😙👌🏼
Bonus points if you noticed the chiptune "Grease" theme when he mentioned Cyclades.
I think it's a bit childish thing to say that being able to buy slaves in a game about ancient Egypt (even if a fantasy mythological version) is unsensitive or just bad, since slavery happend in Egypt. Also it's just a game.
Appart from that great review as always.
Yeah, and his beef with the word crusade in there... seems kinda weird.
@@aminzarei8078 that seems a hard bet considering there are still nation's that enslave people. Also did the British enslave people or purchase slaves from nation's that had enslaved people?
@@aminzarei8078 okay... Yes a lot of colonising nation's also had slaves. Then again basically every nation used slaves. So is there a country you think did it better than England? After all, they were also the ones to effectively end the slave trade.
@@aminzarei8078 that's nice, but you seem to be ignoring my other questions.
@@aminzarei8078 okay, so England was the biggest colonizer, therefore it was the most evil? How do you measure colonization out of curiosity.
I don’t know what this video’s editing was, but I dig it.
I've been thinking about it for years since I saw your first review of the base game but man, this really just reminded me that I need to get Kemet. Knowing that the core experience still holds up in modernity is great. Like you say, a solid delivery on the "dudes on a map" experience is something I very much crave.
It's a terrific game, go for it. It offers a great deal of depth strategy wise, so much fun
@@fazzi4019 I concur!
To dismiss Ta Seti without mentioning the 2 additional battle cards each player gets makes me sad. It sounds so little but it REALLY opens up the combat possibilities if you know that your enemy can suicide attack at any point just to win the combat. All the parts are modular so while it is wasteful that most of the priest thing can be ignored, I always start new players off with a few of the modules.
How do you mean you start off new players with a few modules? Are modules the priest powers/add ons? (I have the base game - haven't played Ta-Seti yet)
@@trojan403 The modules are the different components and mechanics that the expansion brings. The expansion is made that they are all optional and can operate independently of each other so you select the ones you like the best for any particular game. I would suggest ALWAYS using the extra 2 battle cards module and for 4 or more players who have played before, playing with the black technology tiles.
Inis is definitely the best of the Matagot Holy Trinity ™️, but Kemet is still a sarcophagus full of loosely Egyptian-themed fun! Looking forward to your review of the Seasons of Inis expansion SU&SD!
It's 2024, and i found out Kemet, the original one, existed about two weeks ago. I bought it, played it, and I think its my favorite boardgame of all time. Fantastic game.
I know I've been binge watching too much SU&SD when I wake up having dreamt about Quinns in my sleep (in which he bizarrely had no money, lived in a ramshackle hostel community building, and survived on charity food banks)
What do you mean bizarre, that's how it is in real life after leaving home in the Concordia review :V
Are you going to do an update for Blood and Sand / Book of the Dead?
I think this is the first time I'm blown away by the quality of the miniatures.
Wonderful video, but I just have to point out slavery was a (semi) essential part of the operation of the Egyptian state. Crusades (not the way we think of them) were also common, expeditions to punt or the Levant were a commonish occurrence, and of course it was an odd reign when they didn’t go into Kush
I miss waegames like this that are so pure in their purpose and intent and not needlessly uber complicated. I love Kemet for a lot of the same reasons I love Cthulhu Wars.
Kemet is having a V1.5!! Skimming through the rules Matagot has fixed most of the concerns you mentioned in this video. would love to hear your opinion about it Matt :)
Jesus thank you so much for explaining your pun at 01:33, I would never have figured it out by myself.
4:08 most effective transition in nonfiction video history
Between Cyclades, Kemet and Inis, which one is less language-dependent?
Cyclades
@@shutupandsitdown SUSD answered to me a question, I feel like talking to a hollywood star.
Thank you for the answer ! ;) I live abroad my country and sometimes I have to pick the game according to which of my friends are playing, because of language dependencies.
@@shutupandsitdown Hello again Shut Up & Sit Down. In the end you convinced me of buying all 3. Amazing games. Im infinitely grateful towards you! haha
There's something here I don't understand. These games deal with WAR. WAR - much worse than and, in them thar days, often the cause of slavery. If you're going to warn people about slavery, as if it's some great no-no, what about all the games based on conflict--including this one--where you seem to celebrate the death and destruction (and r@pe, mutilation, horror, torture etc that goes along with it)?
what an excellent, EXCELLENT video.
Unfailingly entertaining reviews!
Oh my... Stargate. I miss Stargate.
Thanks Matt. You have a lovely day too.
Slavery's presence in the game seems justified given the theme, it was a powerful economic advantage and the game isn't trying to excuse ... oh it's listed under white power. Oh. Um. Huh.
yeah lol wtf did someone proof read that?
@@rav3style Didn't realized it before the video because I know that it's about white tiles and therefore I read what I expect.
Wow! Well said. Excellent review!
Kemet is my favourite dudes on the map game :) For me each of the expansions serves different purpose.
Ta-Seti is for black tiles (never use priests) which give more options to chose from for players who are later in the turn order. I use black tiles even when introducing new players to the game.
Seth adresses the issue where players who have experience will always beat the new players as the tile buying decisions are important from first action. Seth allows a shared experience that ends up being quite close. Which means it is more enjoyable and you are more likely to get a repeat play from people.
In terms of booklet count - I 3D printed the tile holders from thingyverse for fast tile set up/tear down - printing few sheets with decriptions was done in first 3 minutes after aquiring the game ;)
I was wondering how new players would go with the black tiles (LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM)... Maybe It's not that big of an issue to have more to choose from?...
@@trojan403 I prefer playing without black tiles with new players. As he says buying decisiions are important from first action. Avoid the risk new player throw their game during the first turn. They should have an overview and that's already hard with base game only. I always don't only explain the rules, I explain buying strategys and which tiles are popular and which are good in which game situation.
Thanks for this highly entertaining review I’ve watched thousands and this is so refined.
What a great review! You just saved me 100 bucks :) I will stick to the core box :) Thanks
I have first edition. Had it for years. It's only hit the table 4-5 times for me, and I'd like to do it more. Was looking at getting the expansions. Thanks for the honest review.
As for the "wine list". That's a great way to put it, I'm taking that one lol.... Also, there's a solution. Just send a .pdf to everyone before the game. Everyone has a phone these days. You're right though.... a lot of time is spent browsing the wine list.
Just bought the base game of Kemet and was considering the expansions! What are the odds? Thanks for all the honest and straightforward information that us common boardgamers need. Much love.
I honestly think the black tiles add quite a bit to the game. If you find you are playing the base game enough I definitely think it is a good buy. His concerns about priests going along the path is modular and does not have to be used. The underrated part of the ta seti expansion to me is actually the additional 2 battle cards that everyone gets that increases meaningful decisions quite a bit. His concern about needing to look at reference sheets definitely continue to be a problem though. I probably would not suggest Seth unless your group plays a ton. (mine does and though it is flawed I was grinning the entire time)
The Ta-Seti path is really clubersome, but it does add something important to the game. On the base game, usually it's WAY better to hold your atacks for your last actions, and whoever moves last has a huge advantage. But with the path, there's a reason to move first, as you get the bônus before someone else does.
And the black pyramids add a LOT to the game. They make the blue strategy viable, wich it isn't on the base game. And not only that, but simply adding a forth color but still restricting people to 3 pyramids not only add a great laywer of strategy, but also gives more importance to the fact that you can invade other people's districts to use their pyramids.
PS: You're playing as an EGYTIAN GOD, If there was no slavery involved I'd consider that weird...
The Black pyramids are great, no real downside to that. I play with lowest VP chosing their turn order, then the layer with second less, third less etc. Ties = the one who moved first last time decides. It does help with many players so that it makes a differcne being nr 2-4 out of 5.
@@PMMagro I play with the same rule, instead of the one of the least points choosing for everyone.
Exactly our experience. Greetings from Poland
How makes black the blue strategy viable? (I know the tiles.)
@@MrKlebeband Sorry for the delay, I haven't saw your message until I returned to this video hahaha
One of the most important tiles for a blue strategy, is the mercenary one. It allows you to make 2 armys with 7 soldiers each combining with the blue Legion.
Enforcement recruitment is also verry important, as it allows you to refil your armys if someone attack you just to bleed. And that combines verry well with Honor in battle.
Deadly trap also makes you a lot more defensive, as it effectivaly is a +1 strengh in defense.
Love your work :) I expect one day i will have Kemet and Inis join Cyclades & Titans. Your discussions of each has really helped me decide which parts i want or not
3:00 Okaaaaaayyyyy 😂😂😂
If you have a problem with slaves being in a game about ancient Egypt, maybe not play historic games.
I was fence-sitting on Seth for all the reasons you brought to this review, so I'm glad I waited. Still, it looks incredible for any group that has played Kemet so much that just about anything new is justification enough for an insta-buy. Also, it should be underscored that Ta-Seti's components are absolutely MODULAR. So typically I have my cake (black tiles/pyramids) but don't end up eating it too (priest track).
Love love love susd
The switch to handheld footage at 4:42 is a little jarring, but overall, it's incredible to see how far your production values have come, especially looking at this review compared to the previous Kemet review.
wait why does your closet has sound proofing foam?
Why is slavery or crusade upgrades a yikes? Surly a game set in ancient Egypt they would be appropriate.
Matt. This review is brilliant. And Kemet is still dope. That is all.
I know you guys don't like big, gaudy, kickstarter, miniature games, but I kinda wish you guys would do a review of Cthulhu Wars. Is it all of those things I listed that you guys don't like? Yeah. But it's also possibly the best dudes on a map game I've played. And I say this as someone who really likes dudes on a map games... Perhaps if/when it goes into regular retail production, you guys will take a look at it.
I never comment, but i just wanna say. Matt, I love your reviews. Whenever one pops up in my subscription list I am so happy to the point of unintentionaly grinning so much my cheeks hurt.
Thank you SUSD, you guys make my life that litte bit more quirky
Kemet is great! I love that you cannot turtle in this game and win.
Concerning the "wine list", when I got this game a few years ago, the first thing I did was make copies of the power tiles list. Great review!
Yeah me too... It's a pretty simple fix!
Really enjoyed this review, lots of Garth Marenghi-esque monologues which were awesome. Makes me wish I could get into these types of games.
I'm very late to this video, just rewatching because I was looking at the Seth expansion.
They could have totally gone a different direction regarding how the priests worked. Make them two buyable black/onyx power tiles with a gold action token and a priest monster each. Then, instead of a separate board, make a deck of random monster powers (simple modifiers for your priests, this would effectively replace the tiles on the separate Path to Ta-Seti). Each turn, you could use your gold action token to draw from the modifier deck, and then add (from your already existing hand, not the new one you just grabbed), one at a time, to a maximum perhaps of two or three total active modifiers for your priest power. This could range from an extra victory point like the sphinx (maybe make it only count as long as the priest is on the board? And make the player have to rebuild their active powers if their priest dies 🤔), to a +2 battle power (maybe add a prayer cost when activating, like Divine intervention cards🤔🤔)
In hindsight, from what I see the main reason anyone buys Ta-Seti at this point is for the added color power tiles, so instead of adding a whole new added mechanic of a separate board, they could have partially downsized the expansion, and made the changes revolve around the power tiles themselves (hence the priests becoming two exclusive black/onyx power tiles).
It would be cool to see an expansion that adds a completely separate board with different mechanics that a new color could play on. Nothing game breaking that makes everyone HAVE to grab it... but red deals with offense, blue defense, and so on; Why not add a color that deals with the surroundings themselves?. Affect the movement speed of rival armies, place a tile in a certain area that emits a nauseous miasma that negates their defensive shields played or whatnot. That could open a wider range of possible strategies.
I know this is a ramble, I get on a roll and can't help express my thoughts. I love this game, it was the first one I bought that wasn't a grocery store game (Monopoly, Risk, Life, Sorry, etc.), and it opened my eyes to a whole range of games I didn't know exsisted.
I tried to order all three over the phone and accidently sent my soul to the underworld
I need the Sage of Bitty Rules Queries for my games.
Hey, if you want to be the one to tell Kratos he's been walking around with a candy stuck to his face, be my guest.
Great review! Are we going to see a Seasons of Inis review sometime?
Which house rules do you recommend for the turn order and victory condition?
We have enjoyed Kemet. We use only the black power tiles from Ta-Seti, for variety. Have yet to play with Seth. Agree they are not required for a great game of Kemet.
Check out the v 2.0 kickstarter that keeps black pyramids and ditches the rest
You awesomely awesome my day of awesomeness, thanks a lot :)
Great review as always!
You, did feed the sage eventually, right?
Great episode! A massive jump in a quality of "story telling" for the review. Great work guys!
Kemet is a great game!! Love the minis.
Would absolutely love a Cyclades expansion where Egyptian/Cretan forces invade an island with their seperate cultures, buildings, gods, units, etc. Like the C3K crossover
Solid writing on this one guys, you made me burst out with laughter many times. 10/10
I misread the title as Kermit. I was hoping for a Muppet game. Welp I guess I will still watch the review regardless...
tbh, the 'wine list' is there in a couple languages. In Belgium we speak enough languages to all use a different booklet :p
Finally someone mentions stargate! The tv show was fantastic!
I liked the review as always but the last few bits seemed to sum it all up very well. Thanks!
I thought at 19:50 you were going to do another cooking recipe I could follow. I guess I will have to dream on .
I must say I really fail to see how "wage murderous war against cities who worship a different god" (which is the premise of the entire game) is fine, but "crusade" is somehow taboo, even though it means exactly the same thing.
I love how Matt and Quinns (and especially Paul), has their own video review writing and editing styles. And you can see them learn and evolve and even cross-pollinate over the span of their videos. I felt the Paul Dean minis-eye-view shots in this, but Matt's delivery is so unique and compelling.
I like how the crusades and slavery were mentioned but somehow you missed the white power tiles:D
Opps, should have watched to the end.
They are called diamond powers as of version 1.5.
I need that They Live t-shirt your friend was wearing. Where can I get it?
thank you Matt.
I think we can all agree that Chocolate Coin Head provided his most seminal performance as Kratos in God of War 2018.
Indeed.
Oh no, Matt, you put the Classic Shut Up And Sit Down Mid-Review Turnaround at the beginning of the review! I certainly hope there's some sort of End-Of-Review Turnaround to balance things out...
Same day as Eric Lang reveals Anhk! You guys must know something! Are you illuminati?
I for one love Kemet. I would chose it over Cyclades every single time (provided that the people I play with will not be overwhelmed by it... Kemet can do that to you).
And I love that Rising Sun is brought up in the review,because playing it enforced the feeling. When I played Rising Sun I was very disappointed. It wasn't a bad game, but it had a lot of things I found clunky and not fun. After couple of days I sat down to think about it why did I not enjoyed it so much, and after a moment, Kemet came to my mind. It basically does the same things, but every thing that Rising Sun does... Kemet does it better.
Bless you and your Stargate enthusiasm Matthew
Care to weigh in on Blood & Sand?