Druids expansion makes 2 player game much better because it becomes a more stratigic game with more tiles and even if the other player keeps buying from you, you get some options so the lther player should think if he wants to give you those options
I love this game, it is a 10/10 for me. Little setup, quick play, interesting decisions, and lots of variability through the round scoring mechanism. I mostly play 2-player and disagree completely about that this would be better at the higher player count. The sweet spot is probably 3-player, but 2-player is great. The economy is just different, and you're really playing your opponent, so you price differently than with higher player-counts. I would not want to play with the 2-player variant, because that fixed price (round +1) really doesn't fit in with the normal economy in a 2-player game. It is a great game even with the official 2-player rules, and doesn't need a variant i.m.o. You both mention quite strongly that it is "way better" at the high player counts, but I can't stress enough how much I disagree with that. Sorry. :)
@@geertdijkstra6903 I have to agree w/ you, it plays just fine w/ 2. I think people who are used to playing w/ a big group, those are the ones who find the game lacking w/ the lower player count. And imho it is without a doubt better than just "playable", which was the adjective used to describe it in the video. And I love BeforeYouPlay, but tend to disagree w/ them here as well. I also don't think the overwhelming majority agrees w/ them either....taking a good look at some other content providers opinions will bear that out.
Useful tutorial for this fun boardgame, esp. to show examples of scoring. And I like this variant for two players, the "dummy" third player hand. Don't overlook, however, that some tiles contain Completed areas that are just one tile -- a single enclosed loch, for example, or an isolated pasture.
I just bought this game 2 months ago as it looked very fun. In fact, I just finished making an inset for it as it did not come with one. It is my first game with a bidding element and Ive only played it so far with 2. I really like the variant you showed. I had not heard of it before so thanks for letting us know about it. My next 2 player will defiantly use it. Thanks for the walkthrough!
Glad you enjoyed it! The 2 Player game is definitely lacking without some sort of alternations. This variant was the best we saw proposed out there, hoping in the future the designers will release an official 2P variant. :)
I enjoy Isle of Skye but don't necessarily love it, however I think it is a genius design. The mechanics of setting prices for your tiles, axing tiles and buying tiles from each other, and then having 4 scoring tiles that trigger after certain rounds are all ideas that amazed me when I first learned of this game.
Yeah all those elements combined make a very enjoyable experience for us. We also like it as a step-up from gateway games when playing with family and friends.
Isle of Skye has been on my wish list for a LONG time. It seems like a game that would work well for us, but other games leapfrog it into our collection. Love your playthroughs by the way! Thanks for all the effort you guys put in!
Thanks for this video. Watched the whole thing and I appreciate that you guys cut out the AP with quick cuts and the different angle were great. I also liked the table talk at the end covering thoughts on the game. Subbed. :D
I'm not a fan of bidding games, but heard a lot of good words about Isle of Skye from various of people :) BTW would like to thank you for your gameplay of Tang Garden. Thanks to that we bought it and love it from the first play! also thanks to your gameplay it was so much easier to play and obey all the rules :)
We think it's really fun at 4 players, lots of options and the bidding/pricing of tiles becomes very interesting. Glad you liked our Tang Garden video! Thanks for your support :)
No problem! I wish there was an official variant that was sussed out, for all we know this variant may be mathematically flawed due to $$ being taken out of the economy. Oh well :)
2P against an AI is weak, but will be much better if you play against an actual opponent. The AI is very weak in setting prices and also deciding when to buy or not to buy. In the physical game the 2-player count is actually quite tight, and in pricing you are not only considering the tile itself but also the pricing strategy and willingness to buy of your opponent. I completely disagree about the 2-player game not being good, but I can see how you get that idea from the app. It is a great game and a 10/10 for me even though I mostly play with two.
Played this game yesterday and it gave me a very close vibe to Keyflower, but this one is much more streamline, I found, IMO, and this I liked it more. Plays in a short time for what it is. Great vid
Great video as always! I think you guys should try Cartographers, its a game that almost won spiel this year, it works great for 2 players and has the same type of scoring as Isle of Skye (kinda).
Good explanation of how to play and love to hear about the variant for 2-players. My favorite part of the video is when Naveen realizes how many points Monique is getting from her scrolls and realizes he's hosed! 😂 I laugh because I know that pain! Also really enjoyed your thoughts on the game after the play through. I've only played this once but liked it so much it went on my wish list but I haven't opened yet since getting it earlier this year - mostly because of the Pandemic limits me to 2 players and I didn't think it would work well with 2. But now that I know the variant, I am hoping to break it out. So thanks for the fun video!
Official 2-player rules are fine, it is a great game and doesn't need the variant imo. The game gets better with repeated plays however, because in you first games it is difficult to price the tiles. You will get a better feel for that once you play more (and get to know your opponents pricing strategy better as well).
@@BeforeYouPlay Simple choices but they always feel like they are a little tough. High strategy with easy rules, very much a great recipe for a fantastic game.
Nice review. We also own and enjoy this game. We have the Journeyman expansion as well. It definitely ramps up the complexity and also increases the play time (at least for us). Sometimes we play just the base game and sometimes with the expansion as they feel very different. What are your thoughts on the expansion? I really like the added tracks you can move down plus the planning with placing tiles and moving your journeyman. And the final powers at the end of the tracks really impact the auctions on the last turn or two.
Personally I like the base game on its own the most. The expansions are good, but detract from the things I love about the base game: little setup and short playtime. I rate the base game 10/10, the Druids expansion 9/10 and the Journeyman expansion 8/10. Druids for me is the better expansion as it just adds a bit to the base game without changing too much. Journeyman is a fun expansion but it makes the game much longer and more complicated. As I said, I feel it then looses the things I really love about the base game. You can also just use some of the Scoring Tiles from either expansion to add some variability to the base game.
I love this game, but I have actually never won a single play of this game. But that doesn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the game. I have both expansions and really love the Journeyman expansion, but haven't gotten the Druids expansion to the table yet.
Thanks Roy! We are also shrouded in mystery when it comes to CloudAge. We've been in talks with the publisher about getting a review copy since we are doing the Pfister series :)
Hello Before You Play, Your excellent video peaked my interest, so I bought Isle of Skye. After reading the rules, I noticed on the last page (Page 6) in the Scoring Tile Summary, there is a tile that says, "5 VPs for the player with the most gold, and 2 VPs for the player with the second most gold." I was somewhat confused, since I thought during the game each player was trying to keep their amount of gold a secret from the other players. Is there something I am misinterpreting or missing? Thank you, Stan
We won't be doing the expansions unfortunately, but we will be continuing our Alexander Pfister Series. So far we have done Port Royal, Oh My Goods! and this one. :)
@@BeforeYouPlay That's too bad but understandable. The reason I asked is because I own Isle of Skye but don't own either of the epansions. I know about your Pfister's series and I am enjoying it. In my question I meant expansions for Pfister's other games, sorry about the confusion.
For my wife and I, we love the 2 player game as it is without the variant! It's so tight that every decision matters. We tried the Journeyman expansion but didn't really enjoy it. We got this a few years ago at the UK games expo and played it about 6 times that night 2 player!
Jonny W yeah Journeyman really changes the feel of the game. Druids has very low rules overhead. Basically it just adds another way to buy tiles, which gives more much needed options when playing with 2 players.
@@SamiPaju yeah sounds pretty cool. I wouldn't mind trying it to be fair. For me, I think the game is great for 2 as is though. Every pricing decision really matters, and the game is really tight. I know I'm in the minority with this though!
I've played it with 4 and 5p and don't want to play it again, at least not at that player count. The reason is the pure luck of drawing tiles: if you draw good tiles all will be bought and even though you get much money you only get half the tiles as other players.
What are your thoughts on Isle of Skye? Also, what do you guys think of this user generated 2-player variant?
This is a great game. I've never tried the two player variant but that might get it to the table a bit more often
It's super unofficial, but hey what else can we do right?!?
Druids expansion makes 2 player game much better because it becomes a more stratigic game with more tiles and even if the other player keeps buying from you, you get some options so the lther player should think if he wants to give you those options
I love this game, it is a 10/10 for me. Little setup, quick play, interesting decisions, and lots of variability through the round scoring mechanism. I mostly play 2-player and disagree completely about that this would be better at the higher player count. The sweet spot is probably 3-player, but 2-player is great. The economy is just different, and you're really playing your opponent, so you price differently than with higher player-counts. I would not want to play with the 2-player variant, because that fixed price (round +1) really doesn't fit in with the normal economy in a 2-player game. It is a great game even with the official 2-player rules, and doesn't need a variant i.m.o.
You both mention quite strongly that it is "way better" at the high player counts, but I can't stress enough how much I disagree with that. Sorry. :)
@@geertdijkstra6903 I have to agree w/ you, it plays just fine w/ 2. I think people who are used to playing w/ a big group, those are the ones who find the game lacking w/ the lower player count. And imho it is without a doubt better than just "playable", which was the adjective used to describe it in the video. And I love BeforeYouPlay, but tend to disagree w/ them here as well. I also don't think the overwhelming majority agrees w/ them either....taking a good look at some other content providers opinions will bear that out.
These designer series are just great. Thanks!
Glad you enjoy them!
@@BeforeYouPlay I agree wholeheartedly with the designer series.
Useful tutorial for this fun boardgame, esp. to show examples of scoring. And I like this variant for two players, the "dummy" third player hand. Don't overlook, however, that some tiles contain Completed areas that are just one tile -- a single enclosed loch, for example, or an isolated pasture.
Glad you enjoyed it! :-)
I just bought this game 2 months ago as it looked very fun. In fact, I just finished making an inset for it as it did not come with one. It is my first game with a bidding element and Ive only played it so far with 2. I really like the variant you showed. I had not heard of it before so thanks for letting us know about it. My next 2 player will defiantly use it. Thanks for the walkthrough!
Glad you enjoyed it! The 2 Player game is definitely lacking without some sort of alternations. This variant was the best we saw proposed out there, hoping in the future the designers will release an official 2P variant. :)
I enjoy Isle of Skye but don't necessarily love it, however I think it is a genius design. The mechanics of setting prices for your tiles, axing tiles and buying tiles from each other, and then having 4 scoring tiles that trigger after certain rounds are all ideas that amazed me when I first learned of this game.
Yeah all those elements combined make a very enjoyable experience for us. We also like it as a step-up from gateway games when playing with family and friends.
Isle of Skye has been on my wish list for a LONG time. It seems like a game that would work well for us, but other games leapfrog it into our collection. Love your playthroughs by the way! Thanks for all the effort you guys put in!
Thanks for this video. Watched the whole thing and I appreciate that you guys cut out the AP with quick cuts and the different angle were great. I also liked the table talk at the end covering thoughts on the game. Subbed. :D
was just looking this up because it won awards in 2016. looking forward to getting this one after i play the 8 unplayed games on my shelf first.
Lol that's hilarious, we totally feel you on that!
Amazing playthrough, as always.
Played this once at a game night and had to own it! good game.
It was the same way for us too! :)
I'm not a fan of bidding games, but heard a lot of good words about Isle of Skye from various of people :) BTW would like to thank you for your gameplay of Tang Garden. Thanks to that we bought it and love it from the first play! also thanks to your gameplay it was so much easier to play and obey all the rules :)
We think it's really fun at 4 players, lots of options and the bidding/pricing of tiles becomes very interesting. Glad you liked our Tang Garden video! Thanks for your support :)
Congratz on your channel very well done. We played a few times at the Whittier Board game meet-up. Look forward to seeing more content.
Thanks Raul!! We miss board game meetups :(
Great Video! Thank you for showing the two player variant. Will use now.
No problem! I wish there was an official variant that was sussed out, for all we know this variant may be mathematically flawed due to $$ being taken out of the economy. Oh well :)
Thanks for showcasing the 2p variant! I have only played this on the app, and have avoided purchasing a physical copy due to the weakness at 2p.
Glad we could help! I hope this video inspires Pfister and Pelikan to make an official 2P variant :)
2P against an AI is weak, but will be much better if you play against an actual opponent. The AI is very weak in setting prices and also deciding when to buy or not to buy. In the physical game the 2-player count is actually quite tight, and in pricing you are not only considering the tile itself but also the pricing strategy and willingness to buy of your opponent. I completely disagree about the 2-player game not being good, but I can see how you get that idea from the app. It is a great game and a 10/10 for me even though I mostly play with two.
Fun game. A family favorite. 😁❤❤
It's a great family weight game that hardcore gamers can really get into!
Played this game yesterday and it gave me a very close vibe to Keyflower, but this one is much more streamline, I found, IMO, and this I liked it more.
Plays in a short time for what it is.
Great vid
Great video as always! I think you guys should try Cartographers, its a game that almost won spiel this year, it works great for 2 players and has the same type of scoring as Isle of Skye (kinda).
We've played it a few times, totally forgot about the way scoring works and how similar it is to this game! We think its a super solid roll & write!
Good explanation of how to play and love to hear about the variant for 2-players. My favorite part of the video is when Naveen realizes how many points Monique is getting from her scrolls and realizes he's hosed! 😂 I laugh because I know that pain! Also really enjoyed your thoughts on the game after the play through. I've only played this once but liked it so much it went on my wish list but I haven't opened yet since getting it earlier this year - mostly because of the Pandemic limits me to 2 players and I didn't think it would work well with 2. But now that I know the variant, I am hoping to break it out. So thanks for the fun video!
Official 2-player rules are fine, it is a great game and doesn't need the variant imo. The game gets better with repeated plays however, because in you first games it is difficult to price the tiles. You will get a better feel for that once you play more (and get to know your opponents pricing strategy better as well).
Finally I understood the game... 🎉❤
Picked up the digital edition on Steam a little while back for
My favorite Alexander Pfister game. I like the light quick feel of the game.
We both loved it the first time we played it, we feel it stands the test of time (5 year lol!!)
@@BeforeYouPlay Simple choices but they always feel like they are a little tough. High strategy with easy rules, very much a great recipe for a fantastic game.
Makes me interested in the game. Great Job
Thanks Joe! The game really shines at 3+ :)
Nice review. We also own and enjoy this game. We have the Journeyman expansion as well. It definitely ramps up the complexity and also increases the play time (at least for us). Sometimes we play just the base game and sometimes with the expansion as they feel very different. What are your thoughts on the expansion? I really like the added tracks you can move down plus the planning with placing tiles and moving your journeyman. And the final powers at the end of the tracks really impact the auctions on the last turn or two.
Personally I like the base game on its own the most. The expansions are good, but detract from the things I love about the base game: little setup and short playtime. I rate the base game 10/10, the Druids expansion 9/10 and the Journeyman expansion 8/10. Druids for me is the better expansion as it just adds a bit to the base game without changing too much. Journeyman is a fun expansion but it makes the game much longer and more complicated. As I said, I feel it then looses the things I really love about the base game. You can also just use some of the Scoring Tiles from either expansion to add some variability to the base game.
Thanks again for the nice video. Do you recommend any of the two expansions?
I love this game, but I have actually never won a single play of this game. But that doesn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the game. I have both expansions and really love the Journeyman expansion, but haven't gotten the Druids expansion to the table yet.
Love this series and all your content. What do you think about CloudAge? Did you pre-order or will be doing any review/playthrough of it?
Thanks Roy! We are also shrouded in mystery when it comes to CloudAge. We've been in talks with the publisher about getting a review copy since we are doing the Pfister series :)
Hello Before You Play, Your excellent video peaked my interest, so I bought Isle of Skye. After reading the rules, I noticed on the last page (Page 6) in the Scoring Tile Summary, there is a tile that says, "5 VPs for the player with the most gold, and 2 VPs for the player with the second most gold." I was somewhat confused, since I thought during the game each player was trying to keep their amount of gold a secret from the other players. Is there something I am misinterpreting or missing? Thank you, Stan
Thanks for the video, will you be showcasing any of the expansions for this game, or any of the Pfister's other games?
We won't be doing the expansions unfortunately, but we will be continuing our Alexander Pfister Series. So far we have done Port Royal, Oh My Goods! and this one. :)
@@BeforeYouPlay That's too bad but understandable. The reason I asked is because I own Isle of Skye but don't own either of the epansions.
I know about your Pfister's series and I am enjoying it. In my question I meant expansions for Pfister's other games, sorry about the confusion.
Great analysis and discussion! Is there a link available to the variant rules you used?
I'll try and put a link in the description ASAP! 😀
does the tiles are the same sizes with carcassonne? thanks in advance
I adore this game! But it's unfortunately pretty hard to get on the table. Also, a 2-player game really needs the Druid expansion to work properly.
Looks like we need to pick up the expansion lol!
For my wife and I, we love the 2 player game as it is without the variant! It's so tight that every decision matters. We tried the Journeyman expansion but didn't really enjoy it. We got this a few years ago at the UK games expo and played it about 6 times that night 2 player!
Jonny W yeah Journeyman really changes the feel of the game. Druids has very low rules overhead. Basically it just adds another way to buy tiles, which gives more much needed options when playing with 2 players.
@@SamiPaju yeah sounds pretty cool. I wouldn't mind trying it to be fair. For me, I think the game is great for 2 as is though. Every pricing decision really matters, and the game is really tight. I know I'm in the minority with this though!
Druids expansion really makes this game a much better 2p game. I wouldnt play it 2p withtout this expansion.
I have only played the app but it is an awesome game
So cool! How is the computer AI?
@@BeforeYouPlay i play on my phone, and it is quite hard to win. Also it plays online against others (not in real time).
Monique's score after round 4 it should have been 22 instead of 21, she had 16 and added 6 for the completed lake and should be at 22 instead of 21
Ooooh! Good catch! 😜
I've played it with 4 and 5p and don't want to play it again, at least not at that player count. The reason is the pure luck of drawing tiles: if you draw good tiles all will be bought and even though you get much money you only get half the tiles as other players.
I almost didnt recognize Naveen.
lol the skin must breathe from time to time ;)
At the beginning I thought for a second that she said turn on your Klingon subtitles. o.O
Didn't she say that? :))