So glad to hear your review of this one. I picked it up on Kickstarter as I wanted another worker placement to go alongside Lords of Waterdeep (which I love). You're right in that it's a good entry to it. I like the small flavour of pickup and deliver, and I think the connections mechanic is really clever. One of the things I really like is how everyone starts the game with the same "powers", but these gradually get more and more asymmetric as the game goes on, initially with when you get your first ship, and then with the connections. Oh, and (unless I'm reading the rules wrong) for a 3 player game you should have 4 Trobils available for capture. (It's [number of players+1])
After reading about the process of designing the game, I'm in the camp of liking it. Understanding the choice to make it all orange and all that. I still haven't played the game, but I'd really like to try it.
I like the look of this game a lot. As someone who always has to pitch (or beg) non-gamers to play a boardgame, it doesn't come across as too daunting and has humour thrown in, which always helps. I love the art. But you are right Zee, I probably wouldn't play the white side.
This was my first try at kickstarting a game. I was very pleased with the finished product. The game is very punny and I love building the custom spots with what resources I want for that spot. That really is a great idea. This made me excited to kickstart another. I chose Orleans next and after playing a copy at Gameorama in the ATL, I can't wait to get my hands on the upgraded TMG version.
I attended Origins over the weekend and was surprised to find some copies of Trobils for sale, as I'd heard the stock was running low. The price was a little high for my liking when I first went by the booth. But after making my way through the rest of the hall and getting a nice deal on a couple other games (including a good price from Cool Stuff Inc, I might add), I decided to return to Trobils and pull the trigger. And this video definitely inspired me to make the purchase. And after getting out home and taking a good look through the box and its contents, I'm glad I did. The colors still really appeal to me and I find the friendly tone and unique art to be quite endearing, especially for a space-themed game. While the box is surprisingly heavy, the tone is refreshingly light and approachable. I specifically enjoy the knods to well known sci-fi properties (especially the ships and the "Han Solo" riff raff alien). Everything looks really nice and components and board fit nicely into the box insert. And cleverly, the slot for the card deck is double sided, with a slightly larger slot inset in the same space, allowing for the cards to be sleeved and still fit cleanly into the box. I haven't had a chance to play yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
I think it looks quite nice. The orange/blue/white combination has always been a very interesting color combination to me, for whatever reason. I enjoy the art and overall look of the game. I'm not into euros or worker placement in general, but as Zee said, this seems like a good intro to that sort of thing. I just might have to check this out! As for the length of the game, it seems like this could be mitigated easily by just taking some of the creature cards out of the deck.
This was reviewed 2 years ago but just played this game last weekend. I think this has a first player advantage? Usual worker placement games gives players a way to get the first player token for the next round but this one doesn't so going last is forever. There is a bump option but if you bump the first player, that just gives them an extra action. You can say that you can be first getting an extra ship, but players usually get that first as well and you would have to bump people in order to get required resource. If someone bumps you then good, you get extra action but that requires "mercy/desperation" from other players. This makes the last player required to predict what the first players will do. Can someone disprove this?
I love the look... especially the white side honestly! I which the box was white like it was supposed to be originally. I certainly like this more than photos of community theater actors in costumes or anime style art... To each their own. Is this kickstarter in stores any where?
HarfangX Thanks! The game is only available on our site (www.krakengames.com) or at specific cons in limited quantities. We only have about 145 left, so distribution doesn't make sense at this point.
HarfangX I also (slightly) prefer the white side. To me, the dark blue + orange-red creates that red+blue "vibration" that is a traditional "no no" in graphical design. It is very hard on the eyes. Ideally, I would prefer far more variety in color in the components as well as on the board (and I would like more subdued colors - I am not a fan of using bright and/or primary colors in game design). It seems it would be far easier to remember "I am Blue-Grey" than "I am the Enterprise-y-looking ship." :-)
I liked the review, can't say I'm a fan of the game though. Repetitive is the key word. Our game dragged on past the 2 hour mark which is silly for a game this simplistic. I would recommend house ruling to allow each player to grab a couple of those upgrades of their choice at the start just to minimize some of the early game ramping up which takes too long, frankly. That simple change can cut almost 30 minutes of pretty automatic feeling choices out of the game and get you nabbing those trobils all the faster.
Stephen Cotter 2 hours!? We've never reached that, not even with 7 players and teaching and hundreds of plays. I hope everything was played correctly. If you do want to make a shorter game, the best way is to follow the 2 player setup with the Trobil cards and removed the appropriately marked cards to maintain balance.
So glad to hear your review of this one. I picked it up on Kickstarter as I wanted another worker placement to go alongside Lords of Waterdeep (which I love). You're right in that it's a good entry to it. I like the small flavour of pickup and deliver, and I think the connections mechanic is really clever.
One of the things I really like is how everyone starts the game with the same "powers", but these gradually get more and more asymmetric as the game goes on, initially with when you get your first ship, and then with the connections.
Oh, and (unless I'm reading the rules wrong) for a 3 player game you should have 4 Trobils available for capture. (It's [number of players+1])
After reading about the process of designing the game, I'm in the camp of liking it. Understanding the choice to make it all orange and all that. I still haven't played the game, but I'd really like to try it.
I like the look of this game a lot. As someone who always has to pitch (or beg) non-gamers to play a boardgame, it doesn't come across as too daunting and has humour thrown in, which always helps. I love the art. But you are right Zee, I probably wouldn't play the white side.
I first noticed the little "enterprises". Hmmm. And the placing/removing mechanism reminds me of Tzolk'in
I've played it 3 times and everyone's enjoyed it so far. 90 mins was longest game, 60 was shortest. It's my new favorite worker placement game
This was my first try at kickstarting a game. I was very pleased with the finished product. The game is very punny and I love building the custom spots with what resources I want for that spot. That really is a great idea. This made me excited to kickstart another. I chose Orleans next and after playing a copy at Gameorama in the ATL, I can't wait to get my hands on the upgraded TMG version.
I attended Origins over the weekend and was surprised to find some copies of Trobils for sale, as I'd heard the stock was running low.
The price was a little high for my liking when I first went by the booth. But after making my way through the rest of the hall and getting a nice deal on a couple other games (including a good price from Cool Stuff Inc, I might add), I decided to return to Trobils and pull the trigger. And this video definitely inspired me to make the purchase.
And after getting out home and taking a good look through the box and its contents, I'm glad I did. The colors still really appeal to me and I find the friendly tone and unique art to be quite endearing, especially for a space-themed game. While the box is surprisingly heavy, the tone is refreshingly light and approachable. I specifically enjoy the knods to well known sci-fi properties (especially the ships and the "Han Solo" riff raff alien).
Everything looks really nice and components and board fit nicely into the box insert. And cleverly, the slot for the card deck is double sided, with a slightly larger slot inset in the same space, allowing for the cards to be sleeved and still fit cleanly into the box.
I haven't had a chance to play yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
I think it looks quite nice. The orange/blue/white combination has always been a very interesting color combination to me, for whatever reason. I enjoy the art and overall look of the game. I'm not into euros or worker placement in general, but as Zee said, this seems like a good intro to that sort of thing. I just might have to check this out!
As for the length of the game, it seems like this could be mitigated easily by just taking some of the creature cards out of the deck.
I absolute love the artwork :D
What an interesting game !
Great review! I saw this one on a lot of tables at BGG FAM.
good to hear a positive review on this, i like the theme/mechanics.
This was reviewed 2 years ago but just played this game last weekend. I think this has a first player advantage? Usual worker placement games gives players a way to get the first player token for the next round but this one doesn't so going last is forever. There is a bump option but if you bump the first player, that just gives them an extra action. You can say that you can be first getting an extra ship, but players usually get that first as well and you would have to bump people in order to get required resource. If someone bumps you then good, you get extra action but that requires "mercy/desperation" from other players. This makes the last player required to predict what the first players will do. Can someone disprove this?
I love the look... especially the white side honestly! I which the box was white like it was supposed to be originally.
I certainly like this more than photos of community theater actors in costumes or anime style art...
To each their own.
Is this kickstarter in stores any where?
HarfangX Thanks! The game is only available on our site (www.krakengames.com) or at specific cons in limited quantities. We only have about 145 left, so distribution doesn't make sense at this point.
HarfangX I also (slightly) prefer the white side. To me, the dark blue + orange-red creates that red+blue "vibration" that is a traditional "no no" in graphical design. It is very hard on the eyes. Ideally, I would prefer far more variety in color in the components as well as on the board (and I would like more subdued colors - I am not a fan of using bright and/or primary colors in game design). It seems it would be far easier to remember "I am Blue-Grey" than "I am the Enterprise-y-looking ship." :-)
+HarfangX Ugh, even the thought of photos of theater actors in costumes as game components makes me shiver...
I like the look. Some gamers r just really stuck in their ways
wow, by how it started I thought Zee was going to say that he hated the game.
7 players max. is not bad but we teachers need more for our classes, 10 would be ideal.
The game reminds me of Stone Age, in many respects.
I like the cartoony-alien look of it but blue and red are not great for eyestrain.,..
I liked the review, can't say I'm a fan of the game though. Repetitive is the key word. Our game dragged on past the 2 hour mark which is silly for a game this simplistic. I would recommend house ruling to allow each player to grab a couple of those upgrades of their choice at the start just to minimize some of the early game ramping up which takes too long, frankly. That simple change can cut almost 30 minutes of pretty automatic feeling choices out of the game and get you nabbing those trobils all the faster.
Stephen Cotter 2 hours!? We've never reached that, not even with 7 players and teaching and hundreds of plays. I hope everything was played correctly. If you do want to make a shorter game, the best way is to follow the 2 player setup with the Trobil cards and removed the appropriately marked cards to maintain balance.
that was the most tepid thumbs up ever lol
Looks like it is 65 bucks plus S&H, far too expensive for this kind of game.
Maybe I'll find it at some convetion or fair.
It's like he stole the orange/teal thing from movies without understanding why it's useful for film.