Been watching tons of Board game reviews channels for me, this Channel is #1 this guy has the teaching skills, explains so organized, profesional and clear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good timing Jon and a great review as always! :) I love this game and it was actually one of my most anticipated games from Essen last year as I love tile laying and Augustus! It didn't dissapoint and I have played it 22 times already...:D It is currently top of the rotation in the filler/lightish category with Augustus and Splendor at my house.
+Jonezy1977 I missed the memo on this one and didn't even hear about it until March or so of this year. Obviously I'm happy I got a copy, looks like it's going to get much more attention now that it has an SDJ nomination :)
I just discovered this game, and played like 5 games yesterday haha. It is addictive like the rulebook says, it's quick, and it's simple but deep. Love this game :)
Great review. Love this game. You mention that "one person gets lucky. They just randomize their tiles" while everyone else has to sort them. I find it is actually unlucky to be that person. Most people I play with sort by the number of exits on the tile so they can quickly calculate how their movement flexibility remaining (as well as the cost in terms of gold/crystal on those tiles). As the "randomized" person, you have to look over at other peoples stuff to get that count of movement left and what shapes are left to fill in your key spots. That can be uncomfortable. People start wondering if you are trying looking at their board because you intend to race them and it adds a bit of tension between you and the player you peeked on for no real reason. This is easily solved with a randomizer app though. I don't know if there is one specific to Karuba, but I have one that allows you to select the number range and it will pick numbers from that range only once until they are all gone.
+David Flowers This is true, I haven't had a problem leaning over and seeing what options are still out there but you do make a good point that a 1-36 random number generator that took out picked past numbers would be ideal for playing the game on a fully even playingfield
Jon, it seems it might be easy to determine about 2/3 of the way through the game that who has a shot at victory and who is too far out of it to compete. Have you found this lack of hidden score information to be an issue?
I haven't, mostly because the game involves spending 95% of your time staring at your own board. It's true that you could count your points, and count each of your opponents points at any time during the game but I really don't recommend it and the game itself doesn't seem to incentivize this. The only reason to look at opponents boards is to get a glimpse of how close a specific explorer is to their temple, so I'd suggest just forcing yourself not to look and let the end be a surprise.
Thanks for the response. I agree about not doing this- I try to avoid this in all games but some players have a hard time not doing the math when they can see it! But I can see how having your own board in front of you might keep your brain busy enough.
One negative about the game that I've read in the BGG forums is that some players might choose to wait until other people have placed/discarded their tiles before placing/discarding themselves. That way, they gain more information before deciding their action. Did you run into that problem?
I haven't, and to me that feels like more of a group problem than a game one. Sure you could wait to see if an opponent moves a pawn closer to a temple to know if it's worth racing there as well, but I'd say that if we ran into that I'd stipulate that you have to make your decision before looking around. I'd hope to play with people who would respect the game space that is implied with the simultaneous nature of the tile placement.
I chose to sell my copy. Why? Each players board has to be openly viewed by all, so in theory a player can copy the more experienced one. At 4 player game its hard to track all data from all the boards. Yes, it's a challenge to chose the smartest actions, but so many games does it better. Would rather recommend Tikal if you want jungle action.
+Board, Deck & Dice I haven't had the oportunity, though I don't see why it wouldn't work with a couple DIY victory point markers maybe for the temple race.
+Board, Deck & Dice Oh yeah, absolutely. May need abit of moderation so that they don't rotate the tiles, but it really is a super simple game to teach.
Either that, or you just have it so that the first four for each color to reach their temples are the only ones who get bonus points. It would change strategy a bit, I would think.
Been watching tons of Board game reviews channels
for me,
this Channel is #1
this guy has the teaching skills, explains so organized, profesional and clear
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love the format of these reviews! Very well thought out and clear. Congrats, and please keep it up! Love them
Well timed with today's Spiel des Jahres nominations! Great review as always.
Good timing Jon and a great review as always! :) I love this game and it was actually one of my most anticipated games from Essen last year as I love tile laying and Augustus! It didn't dissapoint and I have played it 22 times already...:D It is currently top of the rotation in the filler/lightish category with Augustus and Splendor at my house.
+Jonezy1977 I missed the memo on this one and didn't even hear about it until March or so of this year. Obviously I'm happy I got a copy, looks like it's going to get much more attention now that it has an SDJ nomination :)
Great review as always. This game definitely caught my attention!
Great review, Jon!
I just discovered this game, and played like 5 games yesterday haha. It is addictive like the rulebook says, it's quick, and it's simple but deep. Love this game :)
Excellent work
Great review. Love this game. You mention that "one person gets lucky. They just randomize their tiles" while everyone else has to sort them. I find it is actually unlucky to be that person. Most people I play with sort by the number of exits on the tile so they can quickly calculate how their movement flexibility remaining (as well as the cost in terms of gold/crystal on those tiles). As the "randomized" person, you have to look over at other peoples stuff to get that count of movement left and what shapes are left to fill in your key spots. That can be uncomfortable. People start wondering if you are trying looking at their board because you intend to race them and it adds a bit of tension between you and the player you peeked on for no real reason. This is easily solved with a randomizer app though. I don't know if there is one specific to Karuba, but I have one that allows you to select the number range and it will pick numbers from that range only once until they are all gone.
+David Flowers This is true, I haven't had a problem leaning over and seeing what options are still out there but you do make a good point that a 1-36 random number generator that took out picked past numbers would be ideal for playing the game on a fully even playingfield
Very informative, thank you!
Would it work if each player had their own independent stack of randomized tiles? In that way every turn everybody lays down a different tile
I imagine it would "work", but some of the charm would be lost IMO.
Jon, it seems it might be easy to determine about 2/3 of the way through the game that who has a shot at victory and who is too far out of it to compete. Have you found this lack of hidden score information to be an issue?
I haven't, mostly because the game involves spending 95% of your time staring at your own board. It's true that you could count your points, and count each of your opponents points at any time during the game but I really don't recommend it and the game itself doesn't seem to incentivize this. The only reason to look at opponents boards is to get a glimpse of how close a specific explorer is to their temple, so I'd suggest just forcing yourself not to look and let the end be a surprise.
Thanks for the response. I agree about not doing this- I try to avoid this in all games but some players have a hard time not doing the math when they can see it! But I can see how having your own board in front of you might keep your brain busy enough.
One negative about the game that I've read in the BGG forums is that some players might choose to wait until other people have placed/discarded their tiles before placing/discarding themselves. That way, they gain more information before deciding their action. Did you run into that problem?
I haven't, and to me that feels like more of a group problem than a game one. Sure you could wait to see if an opponent moves a pawn closer to a temple to know if it's worth racing there as well, but I'd say that if we ran into that I'd stipulate that you have to make your decision before looking around. I'd hope to play with people who would respect the game space that is implied with the simultaneous nature of the tile placement.
fantastic game
I chose to sell my copy. Why? Each players board has to be openly viewed by all, so in theory a player can copy the more experienced one. At 4 player game its hard to track all data from all the boards. Yes, it's a challenge to chose the smartest actions, but so many games does it better. Would rather recommend Tikal if you want jungle action.
Have you tried more players with two copies?
+Board, Deck & Dice I haven't had the oportunity, though I don't see why it wouldn't work with a couple DIY victory point markers maybe for the temple race.
+JonGetsGames great! I'm setting up a after school board game club for 8-10year olds and I think this would be perfect!
+Board, Deck & Dice Oh yeah, absolutely. May need abit of moderation so that they don't rotate the tiles, but it really is a super simple game to teach.
Either that, or you just have it so that the first four for each color to reach their temples are the only ones who get bonus points. It would change strategy a bit, I would think.