What I really like about your reviews is this: Instead of just trying to explain how to play the game, you actually play the game. That seems to be the most efficient way to understand games like this. I appreciate that.
I've seen a lot of Small World videos but I have never understood the whole "redistribute" thing at the end of your turn and the collect troops and redeploy at the beginning of your next turn. So glad I watched this video. Very informative, concise, and thorough. With this being one of your favorite games I'm surprised you do not own the collector's edition.
Its interesting looking at Sam's collection and comparing it to Tom's and Zee's. Can't wait to see Jason's, which will be the collection to end all collections is the whisper's are to be believed. Great review, Sam
pad92011 Yeah, imagine him showing an example of 3 turns for 5 players :) This can turn into a 24 hour marathon review :D I'm joking, but i agree that this is more a review and i know this game very well already. So i'm waiting for his reviews of new games. But it would be interesting to see a playthrough of TI3 as i haven't played it or seen it being played.
Thanks for very enjoyable overview! I like that you have your own style and feel of video review. Keep it up! Looking forward to more reviews from you. By the way, a review of Tannhauser from Sam Healey would be very appreciated
You're totally right about the base game. But I do like some of those abilities and different types of units. I bought this game last year and I really like it. Kudos as always for your review! :D
Cest82pr The one with the 5 races and 5 powers is a bigger one (Be Not Afraid.. and it comes with a Necromancer Island play mode, which i haven't tried). Those races and powers are interesting enough. Other two are smaller, just 2-3 races and 3-5 powers (Cursed! and Grand Dames). Some races and powers in them are neat. All these expansions were rather cheap when they were released. But you will run into problems of storing everything. There is also a Legends and Tales expansion. Which introduces cards with events for every turn (changing rules). But it increases the downtime and makes it even more chaotic game. But it may spice up a game a bit for those who play SW too much.
Sam Healey Thanks for the commentary, Sam. I thought I would be alone in some of my sentiments about Dark Moon, but you mirrored them with some exactitude. I too would have preferred an alien parasite theme akin to The Thing. It made sense in the The Thing that it wanted to destroy the life support systems in the arctic base, because it would be able to survive. Here, I guess the infection makes a person want to kill themselves and everyone around them, even though they're able to pass themselves off as possessing their full mental faculties? Seems less coherent, and loses that explosive element of BSG where the traitor gets to reveal itself as something inhuman and drop that super-crisis card. Tom said he couldn't think of anything from BSG that was missing in this experience, and it sounds like that's one right there. I think this video once again stresses that Tom and Zee let the length of a game have an extreme and decisive impact on their preferences, so epic games will just never fare well with them. I'm very glad to have Sam around to represent the deluxe, porterhouse experience a game can deliver.
Had my eyes on this game since the first time I saw you guys play the designers edition. This review just makes me want to get it even more. A great review as always.
Sam, you will have such an organized box content only if you always carry it as a pizza :) As i carry games in a bag, all those tokesn, money, everything without a lid is mess.. And those trays are PAIN. The one from the expansion is a bit better (curved bottom), but i often think about getting rid of them and even just bagging them all :D
It is just for visual consistency regarding tokens vs required attacking strength. Kinda stupid and confusing at first, looking thru the rules for what to do with them after placing and finding nothing.
Thanks so much for this, Sam, it's so good to see these "retro" reviews on games that worth to be remembered. I was wondering if you were planning to do some reviews on the Firefly expansions? I know that you like the base game, but based on your top 100 you have not had a chance yet to play with the expansions - which actually elevated a game which I like to a game which I love. I know that Tom does not like the game, but with you on board it would be great to see some coverage of the game on the Dice Tower. Thanks for your consideration. :)
This is really not so much a review as an overview. The rules explanation takes up about 19 minutes by itself. Sam states that he likes the game in the first and last minute, but doesn't actually critique what he likes and dislikes about it.
Steve Gale I see what you're saying. I would say that it's part play through, and part review. I actually liked the thorough approach in this case. I disagree with you about his critique: He commented on the quality of the manual, the review sheet, the insert, the dangers of large group play, and the whimsical nature of the race/class combinations.
Mr E I made a similar comment months ago about having to sit through an entire video to discover if it was worth my time, or not. In the end, it's easy enough to skip to the last minute, and then decide on whether or not to watch the whole thing. Sadly, a lot of games these days aren't anything special.
thegrimjester Commenting on the components is not talking about the game at much more than a superficial level. There's little to no discussion about what's good or bad about actually playing the game. As for skipping to the last minute, what does that really get you in this case?
Steve Gale In this case, nothing, because I'm already a fan of the game. I simply wanted to see how he reviews. If SW was new to me, I wouldn't have to skip to the end, because he said that he liked it from the start. What would you have added?
I don't think you mentioned how good a war game this is :p. I'd say it's a fairly abstract strategy game (in terms of feel). A lighter version of Five Tribes perhaps; dropping down units in a efficient way to gain areas, and you have abilities which help you do that and get points.
Why do you hate it? I introduced it to my family and its now their #1 go to. Not to mention its now my favorite board game of all time! I'll never play risk again
There's a definite early-player bias in this game, evident a little in the first turn and significantly in the last turn. Still, this remains a guilty pleasure for me.
Steve Gale I've been playing this a lot more on Steam, so I get what you're saying, but is this mitigated when you have more players to gang up on the top dog?
thegrimjester In the first turn of the game, players usually don't go after each other strongly, as it's more advantageous to spread out into the more-easily-conquered neutral areas. On the other hand, on the last turn of the game, players are usually seeking to inflict as much damage as they can, but they can only attack players who haven't gone yet. In both cases, the early player enjoys a notable advantage. Yes, the (apparent) top dog should be the preferred target of opportunity, but generally a player's top priority is to take advantage of his race/class combo, and that often means you only go after players specifically as targets of opportunity.
Steve Gale I've never heard of a rule that says they can only attack player that haven't gone yet on the last turn. If that was a rule how could the last player attack anyone?
RutgersKev Sorry if I was unclear. You can certainly attack a player who has already taken his final turn, but of course this means nothing to them since they have already scored all their points for the game. Far better to attack those who haven't taken their final turn, because you will deny them points in doing so.
Well im trying to sell this game after few plays. Some of my friends like it, but they just cant force me to play it. Too much downtime, boring combat system, unbalanced races, first player have advantage, you waste soo much time to clean up table after game. Race and abbility system is cool, but that's about it.
What I really like about your reviews is this: Instead of just trying to explain how to play the game, you actually play the game. That seems to be the most efficient way to understand games like this. I appreciate that.
More Sam, more. I love that you are covering some favorite classics!
Sam, I like how you interact with Tom and Zee, but as it turns out, I also like your presentation style solo. Do more.
Sam, I am loving your reviews! Great job and I'm so glad to see more content from you.
I've seen a lot of Small World videos but I have never understood the whole "redistribute" thing at the end of your turn and the collect troops and redeploy at the beginning of your next turn. So glad I watched this video. Very informative, concise, and thorough. With this being one of your favorite games I'm surprised you do not own the collector's edition.
Very well done Sam! I will be adding this game to my collection soon!
Great instructions on how to play this game - thank you!
Its interesting looking at Sam's collection and comparing it to Tom's and Zee's. Can't wait to see Jason's, which will be the collection to end all collections is the whisper's are to be believed. Great review, Sam
Sam, when are we going to see a rules explanation and play through of twilight imperium III?
pad92011 Yeah, imagine him showing an example of 3 turns for 5 players :) This can turn into a 24 hour marathon review :D I'm joking, but i agree that this is more a review and i know this game very well already. So i'm waiting for his reviews of new games. But it would be interesting to see a playthrough of TI3 as i haven't played it or seen it being played.
Yeah, there are some older videos. But a good quality TI3 explanation and run through...
Nice one Sam. I hope you have a Shadows over Camelot review in the pipeline!
Thanks for very enjoyable overview! I like that you have your own style and feel of video review. Keep it up! Looking forward to more reviews from you. By the way, a review of Tannhauser from Sam Healey would be very appreciated
Possibly my favorite game of all times.
Did they change the insert? Mine was crap. Nothing ever fit well. I finally threw it away and got a plano box.
You're totally right about the base game. But I do like some of those abilities and different types of units. I bought this game last year and I really like it. Kudos as always for your review! :D
I currently purchased the game andenjoy it immensely but i was curious as to which expansions do you or anyone else who likes the game suggest?
Cest82pr The one with the 5 races and 5 powers is a bigger one (Be Not Afraid.. and it comes with a Necromancer Island play mode, which i haven't tried). Those races and powers are interesting enough. Other two are smaller, just 2-3 races and 3-5 powers (Cursed! and Grand Dames). Some races and powers in them are neat. All these expansions were rather cheap when they were released. But you will run into problems of storing everything. There is also a Legends and Tales expansion. Which introduces cards with events for every turn (changing rules). But it increases the downtime and makes it even more chaotic game. But it may spice up a game a bit for those who play SW too much.
Sam Healey Thanks for the commentary, Sam. I thought I would be alone in some of my sentiments about Dark Moon, but you mirrored them with some exactitude. I too would have preferred an alien parasite theme akin to The Thing. It made sense in the The Thing that it wanted to destroy the life support systems in the arctic base, because it would be able to survive. Here, I guess the infection makes a person want to kill themselves and everyone around them, even though they're able to pass themselves off as possessing their full mental faculties? Seems less coherent, and loses that explosive element of BSG where the traitor gets to reveal itself as something inhuman and drop that super-crisis card. Tom said he couldn't think of anything from BSG that was missing in this experience, and it sounds like that's one right there.
I think this video once again stresses that Tom and Zee let the length of a game have an extreme and decisive impact on their preferences, so epic games will just never fare well with them. I'm very glad to have Sam around to represent the deluxe, porterhouse experience a game can deliver.
wow sam, you sound so at peace when tom and zee aren't around.
Small World can be played in 5 minutes on the Steam app. Real life - 1-2 hours. That tells you how much playing you're actually doing.
Had my eyes on this game since the first time I saw you guys play the designers edition. This review just makes me want to get it even more. A great review as always.
Sam, you will have such an organized box content only if you always carry it as a pizza :) As i carry games in a bag, all those tokesn, money, everything without a lid is mess.. And those trays are PAIN. The one from the expansion is a bit better (curved bottom), but i often think about getting rid of them and even just bagging them all :D
WHAT!!! is the purpose of the mountain tokens????? Why even have them
I was thinking the same, but my guess is that territories with tokens have 1+ unit requirement. So a mountain requires 3 units instead of 2.
It is just for visual consistency regarding tokens vs required attacking strength. Kinda stupid and confusing at first, looking thru the rules for what to do with them after placing and finding nothing.
Thanks so much for this, Sam, it's so good to see these "retro" reviews on games that worth to be remembered. I was wondering if you were planning to do some reviews on the Firefly expansions? I know that you like the base game, but based on your top 100 you have not had a chance yet to play with the expansions - which actually elevated a game which I like to a game which I love. I know that Tom does not like the game, but with you on board it would be great to see some coverage of the game on the Dice Tower. Thanks for your consideration. :)
My love for this game can fuel many hearts
This is really not so much a review as an overview. The rules explanation takes up about 19 minutes by itself. Sam states that he likes the game in the first and last minute, but doesn't actually critique what he likes and dislikes about it.
Steve Gale This is seeming more the case on the channel lately; I'm having to skip over about 80% of a video just to hear some thoughts.
Steve Gale I see what you're saying. I would say that it's part play through, and part review. I actually liked the thorough approach in this case. I disagree with you about his critique: He commented on the quality of the manual, the review sheet, the insert, the dangers of large group play, and the whimsical nature of the race/class combinations.
Mr E I made a similar comment months ago about having to sit through an entire video to discover if it was worth my time, or not. In the end, it's easy enough to skip to the last minute, and then decide on whether or not to watch the whole thing.
Sadly, a lot of games these days aren't anything special.
thegrimjester Commenting on the components is not talking about the game at much more than a superficial level. There's little to no discussion about what's good or bad about actually playing the game. As for skipping to the last minute, what does that really get you in this case?
Steve Gale In this case, nothing, because I'm already a fan of the game. I simply wanted to see how he reviews. If SW was new to me, I wouldn't have to skip to the end, because he said that he liked it from the start.
What would you have added?
I don't think you mentioned how good a war game this is :p. I'd say it's a fairly abstract strategy game (in terms of feel). A lighter version of Five Tribes perhaps; dropping down units in a efficient way to gain areas, and you have abilities which help you do that and get points.
My hatred towards this game can fuel many suns.
same here
Why do you hate it? I introduced it to my family and its now their #1 go to. Not to mention its now my favorite board game of all time! I'll never play risk again
There's a definite early-player bias in this game, evident a little in the first turn and significantly in the last turn. Still, this remains a guilty pleasure for me.
Steve Gale I've been playing this a lot more on Steam, so I get what you're saying, but is this mitigated when you have more players to gang up on the top dog?
thegrimjester In the first turn of the game, players usually don't go after each other strongly, as it's more advantageous to spread out into the more-easily-conquered neutral areas. On the other hand, on the last turn of the game, players are usually seeking to inflict as much damage as they can, but they can only attack players who haven't gone yet. In both cases, the early player enjoys a notable advantage. Yes, the (apparent) top dog should be the preferred target of opportunity, but generally a player's top priority is to take advantage of his race/class combo, and that often means you only go after players specifically as targets of opportunity.
Steve Gale I've never heard of a rule that says they can only attack player that haven't gone yet on the last turn. If that was a rule how could the last player attack anyone?
RutgersKev Sorry if I was unclear. You can certainly attack a player who has already taken his final turn, but of course this means nothing to them since they have already scored all their points for the game. Far better to attack those who haven't taken their final turn, because you will deny them points in doing so.
13:53 sure you did suuuuuure you did ;)
Well im trying to sell this game after few plays. Some of my friends like it, but they just cant force me to play it. Too much downtime, boring combat system, unbalanced races, first player have advantage, you waste soo much time to clean up table after game. Race and abbility system is cool, but that's about it.
Higher up races...
I'll buy the aryans
eminent domain and small world the worst two games i played, so boring