Before watching I thought, "here we go with an obligatory positive review for a launching Kickstarter game" and instead got what appears to be your completely honest feedback. I appreciate that, thanks Alex. Great review
@@BoardGameCo Ha - yes of course. A mixture is what I would expect from an honest reviewer, and that's what you present. There are some others that I've found to give nothing but positive reviews on these kickstarter/gamefound launch "reviews".... I can empathize with the pressure to say nothing but positives, but I've also stopped watching their content as the practice is dishonest. I have no issue with clearly labeled promotions. So again, thanks for being honest :]
@@BoardGameCo After reading MANY replies to your vid, people keep saying thanks for the "HONEST" review - I'm not the only one recognizing the many fake positive reviews out there for KS/GF launch games. In fact, there's a group of reviewers doing this kind of review, yet you're the only one I'm still watching. I think the practice is problematic, overall. But what do I know, I'm a random internet commenter ;)
@@Sporkedphro I had to stop watching Rahdo content for this very reason, He is just an industry shill pimping out board games as far as I am concerned. His self-righteous attitude was always extremely off-putting as well. But like you said: What do I know, I'm (also) a random internet commenter.
Thank you, Alex! This is one of your best reviews - you explained a lot about the game, and what worked - and what didn’t work for you! I respect that. Thank you for your service!
It's interesting about the heavy teach. As someone who watched quite a bit of videos on it I fully understand the rules to the point where I can play it off the bat. So while there's a lot to learn, it feels like it makes sense contextually (in my head anyway) to the point where I don't have to constantly ask questions about various rules while playing. And if they really are introducing more rules as you play, then I assume you can pick and choose which ones are most suitable for the gaming group you're playing with. Also in terms of combat you can midigate a lot of the rolls with potions that you stash which you acquire through naturally exploring the world. I usually don't like dice combat but with this I can see it adding tension and gives more depth into leaning more into the combat pathway.
Thanks for such an honest review. This is a game I would’ve definitely purchased, but with some of the things you mentioned, it would’ve probably sat on my shelf forever. Although I do love pretty games, even if I don’t get to play them, I appreciate you letting me know what to expect
They mentioned what PIKA was trying to do on BGG and in some recent live videos. It's more that the themes will be lighter and more Disney/Pixar like for kids. That doesn't mean the complexity would be there. They also said PIKA was going for lower than 3/5 on the BGG weight scale, while Fantasia games was shooting for above 3/5 on that scale.
I think my main problem is that this had the rules complexity of a Fantasia games title but not the depths of play. And my personal instinct is that if you're going to have complicated rules, the game should feel more rewarding to play
To be fair, I got the impression they were surprised and they admitted this isn’t their type of game normally. But it was clear that it was the exploration of discovering fun things that made it fun for them, with enough competition to keep Amy happy. At the end they kept saying, it needs more more and more content (as in cards, not mechanisms) so clearly it was the exploration that they liked the most.
Thank you for your review. I do not have sinilar view after watching the playthroughs and I am backer, but it is good to have different views and there can be lot of people who feel this has too much. It is good to be informed and if you are looking for simple and contained, this is probably not it. But I did not feel it had too much, but I am a person who enjoys Kanban EV, so.. There is a lot, but those are not very complicated things and I think they are thematic. One thing that I found bit confusing was exploring the map - whoch part belong to where and what familiar can take, but after 2 playthroughs it was clear. Brother's Murphy explained this better than Rahdo. :)
Interesting that you felt it was a lot of different mechanics mash together, as that was our biggest issue with Endless Winter. Is this a Fantasia-Pika trend? Endless Winter fell flat to us when compared to other deck builders. Trying to do a lot, but not really coming together smoothly.
We felt the same about Endless Winter. However I don't get the feeling with this one. Probably because it seems a bit more thematic with the whole exploration part.
This is a great review! The like / don't like parts are so full of precious informations and opinions, you really give a great service to the community and it's nice to have a review by someone who evidently truly spent time playing the game in depth instead of just getting quick and shallow idea out of it.
I honestly don’t love your review format but this in my opinion was one of your greatest and clearest reviews. This felt way more real than what we normally get on a Kickstarter like this. This sounds like how I felt about Wonderland’s War. So much tacked on and not intuitive and so much work for the fun. I always say for that one-juice not worth the squeeze.
I’m definitely backing after watching some playthrough videos. I do appreciate your take on this game and others. I happen to feel like the game isn’t as complex as it’s being made out to be. I feel like I understand the rules and options in the game pretty clearly after watching a few videos. Perhaps I’m wrong and there are things I would get incorrect but it felt pretty intuitive to me. Appreciate your honest and nuanced critique and thanks for providing an in-depth review.
Great review. I got excited after the ThinkerThemer video but then saw that Rahdo had similar issues as you in terms of complexity and too many mechanisms thrown in. I am glad to see you validate that concern is real. Will monitor campaign but I suspect that typical KS bloat will make it worse and not better. I will stick to Vindication and Witcher Old World for my euro-game adventure fix!
Alex, thank you for the great review. You have become my go-to reviewer when I am considering a Kickstarter because when you are enthusiastic I can trust that, and when you are not you will go deep into the reasons why. This is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for when I check out reviews of a game. Keep up the great work!
Of course! Although usual reminder that positive reviews are often honest too...I've given Fantasia games 2 5 out of 5's....those also reflect how I really feel :)
@@BoardGameCo Great point about the positive reviews are often honest, but putting out content that isn't as positive usually encounters some negative commenters, so it takes a constant thick skin and guts to do it. Plus sometimes, publishers will subconsciously be less inclined to have you preview games. So I appreciate you are willing to put this video out. You could have easily not published this.
Watched Chris over at LiegeofGames and now you and going to listen to Thinker Themer. I am in the same boat as you, I really wanted to like it and it looks very interesting. I was under the impression it was easier than their other games to jump in to but a 63 page rule book is a bit steep!
Yeah it's not a proper rule book just and lot of text and blank space that is a working document, I doubt the rules will be anywhere near that long in the end
I was super excited with all this hype but this review put some cold water of reality into the decision process. It sounds like it could be an awesome action RPG video game with all the level up and familiar elements along with cute artwork. I guess I'll have to wait for another review to break the tie😅
I decided not to do crowdfunding anymore, but with caveat that some games (like this, maybe ICE Unlimited and a few more, including Signal and (now - from yesterday) Lands of Evershade and Grimcoven...) could have "broken" this promise. But I feared that it would not have been what it promised to be. And this looks like the case, I wasn't expecting a game like this, not in this complete shape. And I fear that "too much" to do can hinder pleasure if not blended together to perfection. Maybe I should wait for retail version. No, I WILL wait for retail version, hoping to the chance of trying it before buying. Thanks Alex, for your honest and mild take on this game
This looks like another Endless Winter where you do buch of stuff, but at the end it doesn't matter because the gameplay is not that tight and there are no new avenues to pursue once you play it 2-3 times.
@@BoardGameCo It's a lovely game. And the art is fantastic. But it is a table hog. Does not know what it wants to be. And there ate abundance of points, so when you are playing you achieve everything, everything is done, everything is explored and you do everything, you don't chose a path that leads to victory, you do everything. Unlike Dune Imperium or Lost Ruins of Arnak that this game is usually compared, where you always want to do something different. In our playgroup we played this 3 times, we've seen what is there to see, and we moved on. Arnak, after 20-25 plays, I always come back to.
Ugh…gotta say… I’m very torn on whether to back this now. I was very excited after watching Thinker Themer’s review, but I also respect your opinion. What to do…🤔
Really enjoyed the entire review --- a lot of people have talked about the enjoyment of exploring, unlocking, leveling, etc., but I'm not enthused by the battery of mechanics, rule learning, and how those seem to frustrate exploring with ease/freedom. Every game requires learning rules, but "fiddly" and "not worth it" are also words that came to mind. The wind up of the game hasn't been fun to watch during playthroughs as opposed to others I've seen.
i thought the same as you Alex, that this company was supposed to be the lighter side of gaming. i even made that comment during a stream, and the company didnt respond and a fan stated that no, just lighter themed, was the intention. i dont remember it that way at all and thought i see a lot of stuff so maybe. so thanks for clarifying in my mind im not just getting old and crazy, just old lol.
On BGG they responded to someone saying essentially the same as this that PUKA would have lighter themes, but they also said that the design of Floe had evolved to be a bit heavier than originally conceived so they understood why people might be confused.
All of the praise people are giving Alex for his “honest” review because he rated it 3/5 is ridiculous! A 3/5 is an above average rating, not a negative rating at all! Every point he made that was slightly negative he caveats with a back peddle. I dare anyone to show me a board game reviewer that ACTUALLY gives a negative review sometimes to balance their ratings and reviews to truly show honesty. Show me a 1/5 on a game review! I’ll wait… and if I am wrong I will own it, but will double down on Alex and dare you to show me Alex giving any game a 1/5!
Check out my coverage on epic 7. And I feel like you missed the entire point of the video... Most games are good. If you're rating a lot of games a one out of five, then you're either actively negative in the way you view things or you're very bad at picking games.
A shame, I liked the initial pitch and concept, but reviews have been too mixed for my liking. I backed Stonesaga, I think this will fill a similar niche and I prefer cooperative anyway. Thanks Alex for a very helpful review😀
Since I'm still waiting for Unconscious Mind (which I'm still very excited for), I think I'll pass on this one. Floe somehow didn't make much sense to me even after watching two how-to-play/playthrough videos. The art is certainly lovely but this somehow wasn't the game I thought it was going to be and the theme wasn't enough to get me push past whatever mental hurdle I have with this one.
I was looking forward to this game, but it is seeming very much like their other game, Endless Winter. A fairly good game, but one that is a beast to set up, takes up a ton of space on the table and has way too much going on. Almost, complexity for the sake of complexity. I never get that to the table anymore and I think this will end up being the same thing. I think they need to pull back on the mechanisms in their games and not try to over-develop their games.
I love the look of this game. But… I didn’t like endless winter because it had too many mechanisms and stuff to do, but that meant too many things to learn. I’m concerned this is similar, maybe even worse. It genuinely looks quite fun, but I hate games with too many rules, and the table space required is crazy. Dinosaur island was another game that looks cool, and is fun to a point, but it’s a hodge podge of mechanisms with no depth to it at all. This might be similar. I’ll see how the campaign goes.
I also didn't love Endless Winter as it felt not focused enough having too many things, apparently just to have more things going on. I felt too me as it was just complex for nothing. I was also really hype for this one, but it also feels too complex for nothing, not bringing that much to the decision space for this added complexity. This is sad as I would love to love Fantasia Games but so far, they all seems like miss for me ( I'm obviously waiting for Unconscious Mind, but this one felt better on the depth to complexity scale, at least to me).
@@BoardGameCo Say what you will about Alex, but he feels genuinely kind, yet honest. I love how much it pains him to say negative things about games and how he checks himself and opens the world to other points of view. Remarkable.
From the way you gave the overview it seems you might not have picked up the flow of the game or tried to pick up a complete understanding with only a single read of the rules. I disagree, to me the different mechanics feel very thematic and incredibly deep. I can agree that many people could get overwhelmed by this game.
I found the core game of Floe pretty weak, almost like a kid's game, essentially just simple resource management and conversion, almost no player interaction, most decisions obvious. And that core game is inflated by some convoluted mechanics to make it seem like a complex game at first glance, but it isn't. Also, a lot of randomness. Sure, the artworks look nice, but too cute and too childish. And very fiddly setup.
This game bothers me so much -- unnerves me, really; the presentation is overwhelmingly Lands of Galzyr or Sleeping Gods, which draws me to it, but then all the actual mechanisms remind me of Lost Ruins of Arnak, which gives me hives, I utterly cannot stand euros. So when I look at it, I'm in this constant push-pull of being drawn in and repulsed at the same time. Pretty sure that means I shouldn't back it but I'm still on the fence.
I wouldn't be surprised if they cancel the game to re-work it. After the era of virtue signaling cancel craze, I unsubscribed from just about every reviewer, including Dice Tower after Tom refused to review Fishing Tournament bowing down to race-baiting Suzanne Sheldon, yours is the only one I listened to anymore. After pledging $468 of game yesterday, I was done but last night in bed I saw the Floe advertisement again and took a better look and was about to back but decided to wait until morning to check out reviews. I'm going to pass on this because it seems to be cartoon slapped over Nemesis or Robinson Crusoe. They, too, are complex rules games but they are rewarding to play. Thanks for the review.
We're not canceling. The game is still in dev, not final, and we've been clear about this. We will continue to improve and streamline it, as we did with Unconscious Mind and other titles made by this team.
@@jonnypac Yeah, that was a little brash of me. I usually give the benefit of the doubt that a lot of designers do pay attention to reviewers and consider their recommendations and critiques.
It seems like overly worked/bloated games get the Kickstarter attention but in terms of a lasting playable game that stands the test of time and repeatedly hits table after table-a more streamlined to the core excellence is what really makes a game top tier. But again, that may not get the Kickstarter attention. I personally do not like or get adding all these modules and expansions upon game launch. Just give me your best core game, not all the things that seem neat. Kill your precious, as they say. Imagine if Ark Nova had come out with all of these modules and expansions early on. Don’t dilute the core game, unless that’s not excellent as a standalone.
i can't see what can be taken out. everything feels like part of the core game. if you take out the monsters and the cave, it feels like half a game. it's no fun just going around iceberg collecting items. it needs to be waay more streamlined though. there's just too many tokens, too many levers to pull, etc etc. it seems like a hassle just to set everything up.
Sad. After T&T's review I was very stoked about this one, but now I'm having second thoughts. Theme-wise, this is absolutely my kind of game, and the idea of a Euro/adventure game sounded very fun, but I dunno whether I wanna spend $80 plus shipping on a gamble 🥲
Before watching I thought, "here we go with an obligatory positive review for a launching Kickstarter game" and instead got what appears to be your completely honest feedback. I appreciate that, thanks Alex. Great review
Thank you, although as usual, obligatory reminder that positive reviews are often honest too.
@@BoardGameCo Ha - yes of course. A mixture is what I would expect from an honest reviewer, and that's what you present. There are some others that I've found to give nothing but positive reviews on these kickstarter/gamefound launch "reviews".... I can empathize with the pressure to say nothing but positives, but I've also stopped watching their content as the practice is dishonest. I have no issue with clearly labeled promotions. So again, thanks for being honest :]
@@BoardGameCo After reading MANY replies to your vid, people keep saying thanks for the "HONEST" review - I'm not the only one recognizing the many fake positive reviews out there for KS/GF launch games. In fact, there's a group of reviewers doing this kind of review, yet you're the only one I'm still watching. I think the practice is problematic, overall. But what do I know, I'm a random internet commenter ;)
@@Sporkedphro I had to stop watching Rahdo content for this very reason, He is just an industry shill pimping out board games as far as I am concerned. His self-righteous attitude was always extremely off-putting as well. But like you said: What do I know, I'm (also) a random internet commenter.
Me too@@TheAmazingYeti
Thank you, Alex! This is one of your best reviews - you explained a lot about the game, and what worked - and what didn’t work for you! I respect that. Thank you for your service!
I appreciate it JJ
It's interesting about the heavy teach. As someone who watched quite a bit of videos on it I fully understand the rules to the point where I can play it off the bat. So while there's a lot to learn, it feels like it makes sense contextually (in my head anyway) to the point where I don't have to constantly ask questions about various rules while playing. And if they really are introducing more rules as you play, then I assume you can pick and choose which ones are most suitable for the gaming group you're playing with. Also in terms of combat you can midigate a lot of the rolls with potions that you stash which you acquire through naturally exploring the world. I usually don't like dice combat but with this I can see it adding tension and gives more depth into leaning more into the combat pathway.
Good! I'm glad you have a good sense of it already.
I backed it after listening a few videos. Was not sure at first but it's right up my alley. Adventure and Euro mix, that's always interesting!
Enjoy it :)
Thanks for such an honest review. This is a game I would’ve definitely purchased, but with some of the things you mentioned, it would’ve probably sat on my shelf forever. Although I do love pretty games, even if I don’t get to play them, I appreciate you letting me know what to expect
What a great review, thanks Alex
Absolutely!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one. I'm definitely super curious about this game.
They mentioned what PIKA was trying to do on BGG and in some recent live videos. It's more that the themes will be lighter and more Disney/Pixar like for kids. That doesn't mean the complexity would be there. They also said PIKA was going for lower than 3/5 on the BGG weight scale, while Fantasia games was shooting for above 3/5 on that scale.
I think my main problem is that this had the rules complexity of a Fantasia games title but not the depths of play. And my personal instinct is that if you're going to have complicated rules, the game should feel more rewarding to play
@@BoardGameCoAbsolutely agree. I'm in for a dollar on the Kickstarter so we'll see how it grows over the next year and a half.
Feel better Alex - the Thinker Themer review was solid - appreciate your comparison view
Thank you! And ya, I called them out specifically because I do wonder if it's just me...Amy in particular I often align with.
To be fair, I got the impression they were surprised and they admitted this isn’t their type of game normally. But it was clear that it was the exploration of discovering fun things that made it fun for them, with enough competition to keep Amy happy. At the end they kept saying, it needs more more and more content (as in cards, not mechanisms) so clearly it was the exploration that they liked the most.
@@Rik77I got the same surprised feeling from them too but plenty of excitement
@@BoardGameCoRahdo had similar thoughts as you about complexity and mechanism bloat.
Thank you for your review. I do not have sinilar view after watching the playthroughs and I am backer, but it is good to have different views and there can be lot of people who feel this has too much. It is good to be informed and if you are looking for simple and contained, this is probably not it.
But I did not feel it had too much, but I am a person who enjoys Kanban EV, so..
There is a lot, but those are not very complicated things and I think they are thematic. One thing that I found bit confusing was exploring the map - whoch part belong to where and what familiar can take, but after 2 playthroughs it was clear. Brother's Murphy explained this better than Rahdo. :)
I never comment on UA-cam videos but I want you to know how much I appreciate an honest review with valid criticisms.
Thank you! Although usual reminder that critical content is not inherently more honest.
Interesting that you felt it was a lot of different mechanics mash together, as that was our biggest issue with Endless Winter.
Is this a Fantasia-Pika trend?
Endless Winter fell flat to us when compared to other deck builders. Trying to do a lot, but not really coming together smoothly.
Yeah I thought the same.
We felt the same about Endless Winter. However I don't get the feeling with this one. Probably because it seems a bit more thematic with the whole exploration part.
For me Endless Winter had the strategic payoff to be completely worth it.
I appreciate the honest review out of all the hype on youtube
Doing what I can
Wonderful review, thank you!
Glad you found it helpful
Looking forward to your new 10 point gaming review system. :)
Lol I was at least self aware
First step in recovery!@@BoardGameCo
This is a great review! The like / don't like parts are so full of precious informations and opinions, you really give a great service to the community and it's nice to have a review by someone who evidently truly spent time playing the game in depth instead of just getting quick and shallow idea out of it.
I appreciate it 🙂 thank you for the kind words
Thanks man, super honest review... and get well soon :P
Thank you! Although never conflate critical with honest...I love many games just as honestly :)
As others said, i was like, here goes Alex praising another game ...
And i got something that felt way more genuine! Thanks for the review!
I honestly don’t love your review format but this in my opinion was one of your greatest and clearest reviews. This felt way more real than what we normally get on a Kickstarter like this. This sounds like how I felt about Wonderland’s War. So much tacked on and not intuitive and so much work for the fun. I always say for that one-juice not worth the squeeze.
Wonderlands War is an interesting one...I love that game but it's also a bit longer than I'd like.
So this is what would happen if Vital Lacerda was on the development team for Champions of Midgard?
Lol perhaps
I’m definitely backing after watching some playthrough videos.
I do appreciate your take on this game and others. I happen to feel like the game isn’t as complex as it’s being made out to be. I feel like I understand the rules and options in the game pretty clearly after watching a few videos. Perhaps I’m wrong and there are things I would get incorrect but it felt pretty intuitive to me.
Appreciate your honest and nuanced critique and thanks for providing an in-depth review.
I don't think it's the most complicated, I do think it's very rules heavy relative to the actual game decisions.
@@BoardGameCo That’s interesting. I’ll have to look at the rulebook to see what you mean more clearly. Thank you for your reply.
Great, honest review. Thank you. 👍
Thanks! Although obligatory reminder that critical reviews aren't inherently more honest.
Great review. I got excited after the ThinkerThemer video but then saw that Rahdo had similar issues as you in terms of complexity and too many mechanisms thrown in. I am glad to see you validate that concern is real. Will monitor campaign but I suspect that typical KS bloat will make it worse and not better. I will stick to Vindication and Witcher Old World for my euro-game adventure fix!
Vindication is sooo good
Alex, thank you for the great review. You have become my go-to reviewer when I am considering a Kickstarter because when you are enthusiastic I can trust that, and when you are not you will go deep into the reasons why. This is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for when I check out reviews of a game. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for your honesty. I was torn on this too. From the videos, it seemed like Endless Winter and Champions of Midgard seemed more fun
Of course! Although usual reminder that positive reviews are often honest too...I've given Fantasia games 2 5 out of 5's....those also reflect how I really feel :)
@@BoardGameCo Great point about the positive reviews are often honest, but putting out content that isn't as positive usually encounters some negative commenters, so it takes a constant thick skin and guts to do it. Plus sometimes, publishers will subconsciously be less inclined to have you preview games. So I appreciate you are willing to put this video out. You could have easily not published this.
Actually European reviews aren’t overly positive 😂 we Germans are hard asses when reviewing games !
I have the same feeling with Last light.
Interesting, for me personally. Last light is such an easy game to teach end table
always appreciate your reviews Alex. a lot of reviewers are so disingenuous and shallow.
Thank you, I appreciate it
Watched Chris over at LiegeofGames and now you and going to listen to Thinker Themer. I am in the same boat as you, I really wanted to like it and it looks very interesting. I was under the impression it was easier than their other games to jump in to but a 63 page rule book is a bit steep!
Tbf the rules are on the KS and most of the pages are taken up with images and large white space. It's not really condensed in any way.
Yeah it's not a proper rule book just and lot of text and blank space that is a working document, I doubt the rules will be anywhere near that long in the end
I still hope the final game comes together for me.
I was super excited with all this hype but this review put some cold water of reality into the decision process. It sounds like it could be an awesome action RPG video game with all the level up and familiar elements along with cute artwork. I guess I'll have to wait for another review to break the tie😅
I would recommend watching a playthrough, ie. Brothers Murphy or Gaming Rules one. Murphys are more entertaining.
The brothers murph are fantastic...then again so is gaming rules...one more rules focused one more fun focused
I decided not to do crowdfunding anymore, but with caveat that some games (like this, maybe ICE Unlimited and a few more, including Signal and (now - from yesterday) Lands of Evershade and Grimcoven...) could have "broken" this promise. But I feared that it would not have been what it promised to be. And this looks like the case, I wasn't expecting a game like this, not in this complete shape. And I fear that "too much" to do can hinder pleasure if not blended together to perfection. Maybe I should wait for retail version. No, I WILL wait for retail version, hoping to the chance of trying it before buying.
Thanks Alex, for your honest and mild take on this game
This looks like another Endless Winter where you do buch of stuff, but at the end it doesn't matter because the gameplay is not that tight and there are no new avenues to pursue once you play it 2-3 times.
Oh wow, I love Endless winter.
@@BoardGameCo It's a lovely game. And the art is fantastic.
But it is a table hog. Does not know what it wants to be. And there ate abundance of points, so when you are playing you achieve everything, everything is done, everything is explored and you do everything, you don't chose a path that leads to victory, you do everything.
Unlike Dune Imperium or Lost Ruins of Arnak that this game is usually compared, where you always want to do something different.
In our playgroup we played this 3 times, we've seen what is there to see, and we moved on. Arnak, after 20-25 plays, I always come back to.
Ugh…gotta say… I’m very torn on whether to back this now. I was very excited after watching Thinker Themer’s review, but I also respect your opinion. What to do…🤔
I would suggest watching a playthrough.
A playthrough is a good idea!
Sounding rough dude, take a rest and get well soon.
Thanks, starting to feel better already.
10:11 Wow, thanks for the counter opinion to Liege of Games - who feels that everything seems to meld together naturally!
I'm glad he enjoyed it
Really enjoyed the entire review --- a lot of people have talked about the enjoyment of exploring, unlocking, leveling, etc., but I'm not enthused by the battery of mechanics, rule learning, and how those seem to frustrate exploring with ease/freedom. Every game requires learning rules, but "fiddly" and "not worth it" are also words that came to mind. The wind up of the game hasn't been fun to watch during playthroughs as opposed to others I've seen.
Yeah, I don't mind a complicated game, but there has to be a payoff in the strategic depth of play.
i thought the same as you Alex, that this company was supposed to be the lighter side of gaming. i even made that comment during a stream, and the company didnt respond and a fan stated that no, just lighter themed, was the intention. i dont remember it that way at all and thought i see a lot of stuff so maybe. so thanks for clarifying in my mind im not just getting old and crazy, just old lol.
On BGG they responded to someone saying essentially the same as this that PUKA would have lighter themes, but they also said that the design of Floe had evolved to be a bit heavier than originally conceived so they understood why people might be confused.
All of the praise people are giving Alex for his “honest” review because he rated it 3/5 is ridiculous! A 3/5 is an above average rating, not a negative rating at all! Every point he made that was slightly negative he caveats with a back peddle. I dare anyone to show me a board game reviewer that ACTUALLY gives a negative review sometimes to balance their ratings and reviews to truly show honesty. Show me a 1/5 on a game review! I’ll wait… and if I am wrong I will own it, but will double down on Alex and dare you to show me Alex giving any game a 1/5!
Check out my coverage on epic 7.
And I feel like you missed the entire point of the video... Most games are good. If you're rating a lot of games a one out of five, then you're either actively negative in the way you view things or you're very bad at picking games.
And again that word...honesty.
A shame, I liked the initial pitch and concept, but reviews have been too mixed for my liking. I backed Stonesaga, I think this will fill a similar niche and I prefer cooperative anyway. Thanks Alex for a very helpful review😀
Stonesaga was interesting...I both like it a lot but wonder if the full game will hold up
@@BoardGameCo Yes, agree to be determined
Since I'm still waiting for Unconscious Mind (which I'm still very excited for), I think I'll pass on this one. Floe somehow didn't make much sense to me even after watching two how-to-play/playthrough videos. The art is certainly lovely but this somehow wasn't the game I thought it was going to be and the theme wasn't enough to get me push past whatever mental hurdle I have with this one.
I was looking forward to this game, but it is seeming very much like their other game, Endless Winter. A fairly good game, but one that is a beast to set up, takes up a ton of space on the table and has way too much going on. Almost, complexity for the sake of complexity. I never get that to the table anymore and I think this will end up being the same thing. I think they need to pull back on the mechanisms in their games and not try to over-develop their games.
Hey lad, is this playable/works in 2p, we are mostly 2p and this game looks absolutly adorable. Thanks :)
This definitely works at two 🙂
@@BoardGameCo Thanks you Alex for reply, backed! :) have a nice day and once again, thanks.
I love the look of this game. But… I didn’t like endless winter because it had too many mechanisms and stuff to do, but that meant too many things to learn. I’m concerned this is similar, maybe even worse. It genuinely looks quite fun, but I hate games with too many rules, and the table space required is crazy. Dinosaur island was another game that looks cool, and is fun to a point, but it’s a hodge podge of mechanisms with no depth to it at all. This might be similar. I’ll see how the campaign goes.
I also didn't love Endless Winter as it felt not focused enough having too many things, apparently just to have more things going on. I felt too me as it was just complex for nothing. I was also really hype for this one, but it also feels too complex for nothing, not bringing that much to the decision space for this added complexity. This is sad as I would love to love Fantasia Games but so far, they all seems like miss for me ( I'm obviously waiting for Unconscious Mind, but this one felt better on the depth to complexity scale, at least to me).
Seems like Vindication in Arctic… No?
Not sure I see that personally
Don’t mince words Alex, tell us what you really think.
Lol I think I did
@@BoardGameCo Say what you will about Alex, but he feels genuinely kind, yet honest. I love how much it pains him to say negative things about games and how he checks himself and opens the world to other points of view. Remarkable.
Was gonna go all in but I think I’ll pass now. Thank you!
63 page rulebook?!?!?
To be very clear, that's a prototype situation so I have no idea what the final one would be
It's a word doc. In real format, the rules will be under 24 pages, including big examples and an appendix.
From the way you gave the overview it seems you might not have picked up the flow of the game or tried to pick up a complete understanding with only a single read of the rules. I disagree, to me the different mechanics feel very thematic and incredibly deep. I can agree that many people could get overwhelmed by this game.
I mean...playing it certainly helped with the flow of the game...so I'm not entirely sure what you mean.
this game is basically near and far minus the story stuff and plus more heavy gameplay and combos
man, i had high hope for this. no 1 on my list of games i'm most looking forward to. bummer.. 😟
unconscious mind? be nice if we could actually get it....this game was too cute for me...
I love Unconcious Mind
You're sounding a bit raspy and stuffed up. I hope you're not under the weather. Take care.
I'm definitely under the weather :)
I found the core game of Floe pretty weak, almost like a kid's game, essentially just simple resource management and conversion, almost no player interaction, most decisions obvious. And that core game is inflated by some convoluted mechanics to make it seem like a complex game at first glance, but it isn't. Also, a lot of randomness.
Sure, the artworks look nice, but too cute and too childish.
And very fiddly setup.
Some other testplayer agree with you. The game is much too fiddly and doesn`t deliver an enough good game experience. A definite skip for me!
Interesting, what test players?
@@BoardGameCo there's a post from somebody on BGG at the FLOE Game page. I assumed he's a playtester cause of the detailed post of pros and cons.
pass
I respect that
This game bothers me so much -- unnerves me, really; the presentation is overwhelmingly Lands of Galzyr or Sleeping Gods, which draws me to it, but then all the actual mechanisms remind me of Lost Ruins of Arnak, which gives me hives, I utterly cannot stand euros. So when I look at it, I'm in this constant push-pull of being drawn in and repulsed at the same time. Pretty sure that means I shouldn't back it but I'm still on the fence.
I wouldn't be surprised if they cancel the game to re-work it. After the era of virtue signaling cancel craze, I unsubscribed from just about every reviewer, including Dice Tower after Tom refused to review Fishing Tournament bowing down to race-baiting Suzanne Sheldon, yours is the only one I listened to anymore. After pledging $468 of game yesterday, I was done but last night in bed I saw the Floe advertisement again and took a better look and was about to back but decided to wait until morning to check out reviews. I'm going to pass on this because it seems to be cartoon slapped over Nemesis or Robinson Crusoe. They, too, are complex rules games but they are rewarding to play. Thanks for the review.
We're not canceling. The game is still in dev, not final, and we've been clear about this. We will continue to improve and streamline it, as we did with Unconscious Mind and other titles made by this team.
@@jonnypac Yeah, that was a little brash of me. I usually give the benefit of the doubt that a lot of designers do pay attention to reviewers and consider their recommendations and critiques.
It seems like overly worked/bloated games get the Kickstarter attention but in terms of a lasting playable game that stands the test of time and repeatedly hits table after table-a more streamlined to the core excellence is what really makes a game top tier. But again, that may not get the Kickstarter attention. I personally do not like or get adding all these modules and expansions upon game launch. Just give me your best core game, not all the things that seem neat. Kill your precious, as they say. Imagine if Ark Nova had come out with all of these modules and expansions early on. Don’t dilute the core game, unless that’s not excellent as a standalone.
i can't see what can be taken out. everything feels like part of the core game. if you take out the monsters and the cave, it feels like half a game. it's no fun just going around iceberg collecting items.
it needs to be waay more streamlined though. there's just too many tokens, too many levers to pull, etc etc. it seems like a hassle just to set everything up.
Sad. After T&T's review I was very stoked about this one, but now I'm having second thoughts. Theme-wise, this is absolutely my kind of game, and the idea of a Euro/adventure game sounded very fun, but I dunno whether I wanna spend $80 plus shipping on a gamble 🥲
It's a weird situation, The reason I specifically called out thinker themer s review is because I usually actually share opinions with Amy.