I added this game to my collection a few days ago and wow it is already one of my families favourite games! Pulling off big combo's is so satisfying. I really appreciate the thematic ties in this game, the different suits and how they interact is thematically ingenious. Every game we play brings new wow moments. An easy game to teach (wild cards can be confusing however) and easy to get to the table for most play groups. I have a great "small game" stash including Silver & Gold, Archaeology: The New Expedition, Hero Realms and now Fantasy Realms. Thoroughly recommend all these games. Thank you for the insights Jamie.
Jamey! I had to come back to this video and comment...THANK YOU for introducing me to this little game. I recently got it to the table with a group of friends that I frequently game with and we LOVE it! Thanks again man!
Such a wonderful little filler. I very much appreciate that the rules overhead is pretty low, but there's a lot to discover in terms of the combos that emerge. The more often you play, the more you see what types of plays are possible, what are more likely to come up, and what is worth it to go after. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the two player rules variant. I find it to be more interesting than the higher player counts, especially 6, because of the increased control you have over the length and flow of the game.
I have a game where you score huge amounts of points that you might like, it's called Red Rising. I'm pretty sure a good score in that game is like 300+ so when it releases you should definitely check it out. I'm pretty sure it also has a similar mechanism where you are placing and picking up cards to build the best combos. It definitely seems like a game right up your alley.
Indeed, Red Rising was directly inspired by Fantasy Realms. There are a number of differences between the two, but the foundation was built on my love of Fantasy Realms.
@@jameystegmaier I can't tell if your comment is sarcastic as well but I was totally being sarcastic. I just got recommended this video now, in the middle of all the Red Rising hype, which I thought was pretty ironic. Love the series to death and couldn't be more excited!
Phase 10 also gives you the choice of the draw pile card or discarded card and the advanced part is similar as well where you are watching what your opponents may need. It's a go-to, simple numbers/colors game for the family. I'll have to grab fantasy realms to add that extra depth of combos to this type of card game.
Most rummy style games (including Phase 10) have the same "choose top card of either deck or discard" The difference here is that you can choose ANY card discarded in Fantasy Realms, not just the top card. All previously discarded cards are available to choose.
This game is really fun, especially if you can play it multiple times so your group gets familiar with the cards/combos. When I played it the first time it was a group of 6 who all went in blind and some of the other players didn't quite "get" how the combos worked and it allowed me (I had been dealt a bunch of weather cards) to really get a wild score. I think I finished close to 400 and the next closest was around half that. It was sweet victory to be sure, as I thought everyone else would have similar scores!
This is perhaps only one of 2 or 3 games I have actually sleeved because I'm afraid I'll wear the cards out too quickly from multiple plays. It's so playable anywhere, too, like restaurants while waiting for food, etc. (which is another reason for the sleeves in addition to the fact that the cards perhaps aren't the best quality...) I recently played London for the first time and that has the same "I discard, you or I can potentially pick it up later" mechanism that makes this so interesting.
My girlfriend and I play it on occasion 2 player. We enjoy it. It gives you the opportunity to draft up to your hand. You can really hone in your hand to a certain combo.
This mechanism reminds me of kemps, card game, in which you draw and discard cards from and to a common pool and try to have four suits of the same number. Regarding your question, in the last round of Russian Railroads you can earn a ton of points. Really satisfying how the engine you built during the game brings so many points.
This game is so cool, the balance between what to hold on, what to keep depending on what other players are selecting from the common area...i have houseruled instead of ten card discard row making it a 12 card row...we find this gives you a little more time to build up,your combo or your hand....i still prefer viticulture though
I love you for giving this little game some due credit. I don't know why wizkids isn't supporting it more. Same for DUNGEON DRAFT by Upperdeck. Totally underrated and indersupported
It's not really the same, but Azul gives me such snowball effect during the game. At the very first round you earn 3-6 points but closer to the end you can manage to get 20+ points easily per round. The score board is limited to 100 though, but it's really satisfying, esp. with end game bonuses like +7 or even +10
The card game my family played while I was growing up was "conqian" Its 90% the same game, so my family quickly picked it up. One of the few games I can get most of my family to play.
I can just imagine the mind games I'd do in this game :) and just worrying about my points before the game ends. The stories you could tell from this game: "Remember the time you got 267 points!" I can't think of any games from the top of my head that gives you huge scores like over 200.
I love this game so much. I hadn’t been able to convince my twin brother to play it no matter how often I raved about it. Well, he worships you. So now he wants to play it 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I played about 8-10 times, and card "Gem of Order (Diamond)" seems to be OP. It is too easy to collect low value cards in a row which doesn't have penalties, and which also add some other combo points. You could easily collect 6-7 card run card which will grant you 100-150 points, and also this cards would easily grant you another 150 points on combos with no penalties. I like the concept and drafting system, but every time I play this game, winner is usually a player who has this card.
I have won with that card and strategy, and beaten people using it as well. It can be so impactful, that it is one of the cards I pull out when explaining the game. On the other hand a lot of the low base power cards you would use for Gem can be very powerful in other combos. I don't see it as overpowered unless you are playing against newer people.
I was thinking about that, but it would probably unbalance the game, because every suit has 5 cards, and "Artifact" suit would than have 4 cards. Also there are multiple cards with base strength (2,3,4,5,6,7,8) which makes job of collecting 6-7 card run lot easier.
Reminds me a little of _Fairy Tale_ in terms of high scoring and seeing other people's cards. _Fantasy Realms_ looks a lot better, both in terms of art and mechanics though. Might have to trade up! (After a trial run at the local game store, of course.)
Jamey Stegmaier I know, just putting emphasis out there for the days where maybe the inner critic comes out. Don't listen and design! Also, really looking forward to the game you working on in the dark over there. :) :)
Looking here after the “Gold”/Red Rising reveal. Definitely interesting mechanism. Thanks!
Me too!
I added this game to my collection a few days ago and wow it is already one of my families favourite games! Pulling off big combo's is so satisfying. I really appreciate the thematic ties in this game, the different suits and how they interact is thematically ingenious. Every game we play brings new wow moments. An easy game to teach (wild cards can be confusing however) and easy to get to the table for most play groups. I have a great "small game" stash including Silver & Gold, Archaeology: The New Expedition, Hero Realms and now Fantasy Realms. Thoroughly recommend all these games. Thank you for the insights Jamie.
I appologise for the name misspelling, thank you Jamey.
@@garryknox1614 I'm glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it, Garry! I enjoy those other games you mentioned too.
Found out that a Star Trek version of this, Star Trek: Missions, will be in stores soon. Could not be more excited!!
Jamey! I had to come back to this video and comment...THANK YOU for introducing me to this little game. I recently got it to the table with a group of friends that I frequently game with and we LOVE it! Thanks again man!
Thanks Dave! I still enjoy playing it, and I'm glad you do too!
Saw this in your top 10 and then watched this video as well. It’s on its way now and I’ll tell you about our first plays 👍
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. :)
Such a wonderful little filler. I very much appreciate that the rules overhead is pretty low, but there's a lot to discover in terms of the combos that emerge. The more often you play, the more you see what types of plays are possible, what are more likely to come up, and what is worth it to go after. I'm curious what your thoughts are on the two player rules variant. I find it to be more interesting than the higher player counts, especially 6, because of the increased control you have over the length and flow of the game.
I haven't played it with 2 players, but now I'm curious!
I have a game where you score huge amounts of points that you might like, it's called Red Rising. I'm pretty sure a good score in that game is like 300+ so when it releases you should definitely check it out. I'm pretty sure it also has a similar mechanism where you are placing and picking up cards to build the best combos. It definitely seems like a game right up your alley.
Indeed, Red Rising was directly inspired by Fantasy Realms. There are a number of differences between the two, but the foundation was built on my love of Fantasy Realms.
@@jameystegmaier I can't tell if your comment is sarcastic as well but I was totally being sarcastic. I just got recommended this video now, in the middle of all the Red Rising hype, which I thought was pretty ironic. Love the series to death and couldn't be more excited!
@@lukeshumway7274 My reply is 100% genuine. I love Fantasy Realms, and I’m fortunate for the inspiration it gave me for Red Rising.
Phase 10 also gives you the choice of the draw pile card or discarded card and the advanced part is similar as well where you are watching what your opponents may need. It's a go-to, simple numbers/colors game for the family. I'll have to grab fantasy realms to add that extra depth of combos to this type of card game.
Most rummy style games (including Phase 10) have the same "choose top card of either deck or discard" The difference here is that you can choose ANY card discarded in Fantasy Realms, not just the top card. All previously discarded cards are available to choose.
This game is really fun, especially if you can play it multiple times so your group gets familiar with the cards/combos. When I played it the first time it was a group of 6 who all went in blind and some of the other players didn't quite "get" how the combos worked and it allowed me (I had been dealt a bunch of weather cards) to really get a wild score. I think I finished close to 400 and the next closest was around half that. It was sweet victory to be sure, as I thought everyone else would have similar scores!
This is perhaps only one of 2 or 3 games I have actually sleeved because I'm afraid I'll wear the cards out too quickly from multiple plays. It's so playable anywhere, too, like restaurants while waiting for food, etc. (which is another reason for the sleeves in addition to the fact that the cards perhaps aren't the best quality...)
I recently played London for the first time and that has the same "I discard, you or I can potentially pick it up later" mechanism that makes this so interesting.
Have you played it 2-player? I'm curious to see if it's any good with lower player counts.
My girlfriend and I play it on occasion 2 player. We enjoy it. It gives you the opportunity to draft up to your hand. You can really hone in your hand to a certain combo.
This mechanism reminds me of kemps, card game, in which you draw and discard cards from and to a common pool and try to have four suits of the same number.
Regarding your question, in the last round of Russian Railroads you can earn a ton of points. Really satisfying how the engine you built during the game brings so many points.
Ali: Russian Railroads came to mind for me too. It feels awesome in that game to gain 100+ points in the final round.
This game is so cool, the balance between what to hold on, what to keep depending on what other players are selecting from the common area...i have houseruled instead of ten card discard row making it a 12 card row...we find this gives you a little more time to build up,your combo or your hand....i still prefer viticulture though
I love you for giving this little game some due credit. I don't know why wizkids isn't supporting it more. Same for DUNGEON DRAFT by Upperdeck. Totally underrated and indersupported
I like that it feels like a classic game even though it's quite new--apparently it just came out last year!
It's not really the same, but Azul gives me such snowball effect during the game. At the very first round you earn 3-6 points but closer to the end you can manage to get 20+ points easily per round. The score board is limited to 100 though, but it's really satisfying, esp. with end game bonuses like +7 or even +10
I now see the use of the mechanism in red rising
Looking forward to the Marvel version of this called Marvel: Remix!
The card game my family played while I was growing up was "conqian"
Its 90% the same game, so my family quickly picked it up.
One of the few games I can get most of my family to play.
I can just imagine the mind games I'd do in this game :) and just worrying about my points before the game ends. The stories you could tell from this game: "Remember the time you got 267 points!"
I can't think of any games from the top of my head that gives you huge scores like over 200.
FMarteen I completely agree! There's just something about a game that is so simple that can bring complex ways of thinking.
I love this game so much. I hadn’t been able to convince my twin brother to play it no matter how often I raved about it. Well, he worships you. So now he wants to play it 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Whatever it takes for him to give it a try! :)
Is that him there in the photo with you?
@@ballsmckinley2443 what are you talking about
@@kubrickfan101 You mentioned your twin brother. That is the two of you pictured there, correct?
@@ballsmckinley2443 nope.
I played about 8-10 times, and card "Gem of Order (Diamond)" seems to be OP. It is too easy to collect low value cards in a row which doesn't have penalties, and which also add some other combo points. You could easily collect 6-7 card run card which will grant you 100-150 points, and also this cards would easily grant you another 150 points on combos with no penalties. I like the concept and drafting system, but every time I play this game, winner is usually a player who has this card.
I haven't found that, but I think there are enough cards that you could simply remove that one.
I have won with that card and strategy, and beaten people using it as well. It can be so impactful, that it is one of the cards I pull out when explaining the game. On the other hand a lot of the low base power cards you would use for Gem can be very powerful in other combos. I don't see it as overpowered unless you are playing against newer people.
I was thinking about that, but it would probably unbalance the game, because every suit has 5 cards, and "Artifact" suit would than have 4 cards. Also there are multiple cards with base strength (2,3,4,5,6,7,8) which makes job of collecting 6-7 card run lot easier.
Reminds me a little of _Fairy Tale_ in terms of high scoring and seeing other people's cards. _Fantasy Realms_ looks a lot better, both in terms of art and mechanics though. Might have to trade up! (After a trial run at the local game store, of course.)
First comment and wanted to say Jamey, you are a phenomenal designer!
Thanks! Though I didn't design Fantasy Realms. :)
Jamey Stegmaier I know, just putting emphasis out there for the days where maybe the inner critic comes out. Don't listen and design! Also, really looking forward to the game you working on in the dark over there. :) :)