Mechs vs Minions | Rahdo's Final Thoughts
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Help Rahdo Run: / rahdo ❤️ Code of conduct: conduct.rahdo.com 🙂 And now...
A video outlining gameplay for the boardgame Mechs vs Minions.
For more game info, www.mechsvsmini...
Part I: Unboxing
• Mechs vs Minions Unboxing
Part II: Gameplay Runthrough
• Mechs vs Minions Gamep...
• (static cam) Mechs vs ... (Static)
Part III: Extended Gameplay
• Mechs vs Minions Exten...
• (static cam) Mechs vs ... (Static)
Part IV: Final Thoughts
• Mechs vs Minions | Rah...
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Rahdo, I've started to screen your final thoughts based on the twinkle in your eye and the accumulated abdominal pressure that strains to exclaim "Wow!" - those are the games I'm looking for.
Looks like I've got one to take a hard look at. ;)
Thank you so much for the unboxing, gameplay, and thoughts, Rahdo! For what it's worth, when all of you UA-cam content creator's videos popped up, yours was the first that I clicked on. I'll definitely go watch the others, of course! Super excited to see that you are pretty thrilled with this game. Taking a peek over at Riot's channel, specifically the tutorial for this game, you'd think Riot had done something wrong. A large portion of LoL fans in the comments are not only disappointed with a physical board game, but actually upset that Riot would allocate funds to this instead of more digital content. That makes me feel a little bit better about my chances of snagging a copy when the flood gates open Oct. 13th. I am seriously concerned of a sell-out in seconds followed by aftermarket markup. I hope I'm wrong!!
Love the big box so much. Love the plastic inserts. I'm so glad they took such care to include all the great packing.
i like big boxes and i cannot lie :-)
you other yordles can't deny!
Dominik Kanzian OK Sir Game A Lot😀
Thanks Richard. This looks like a winner for a fantastic co-op, as you can tell from hearing you talk about it. I'm in the same boat (albeit on a smaller scale) for the shelf space issue. It'll have to join the top shelf with Scythe and Gloomhaven's monstrosity of a box. I might have to stack them though rather than display them just to fit it all.
The more I see about this game, makes me happier I have it coming in the second wave. And honestly I would say it is even a further testament to the game when the biggest gripe you have... Is the box size! No game mechanics... Just box size. Personally I am of the thought that a well designed game can be ruined by poor packaging/storage... So that everything has a place to go back to and look nice, stack nice, and not get tossed around.. I'm all for it. And since I do a lot of travelling with my games to family functions or friendly gatherings... Having something I know won't make me have to constantly sort everything out when I open it each time... Makes me all the happier for a game with as much as it has inside.
Excellent review! A couple of comments:
1) I agree with Jen, would prefer not to have timer and just take the time to plan things out.
2) The trays are more important for people that want to paint all the minions. A big bag of minis would damage the paint.
oh i'm not saying get rid of the minis trays, just rejigger thema bit so that they'd be inside the box that's inside the box :)
The timer is to keep the game playable within a reasonable time limit. I know many players that would turn a 60 minute scenario of MvM into a 4 hour slog by analyzing every card. You pick what you can and go with it. If you cant, you still get a card, just randomly. I think it makes a lot of sense. I honestly wouldn't play this game with someone that wanted to analyze how every card was going to effect every Mech over the next series of turns. Out side of a solo game it would be a living nightmare.
you don't HAVE to use timer, its for those who want to make things a little more chaotic and quicker maybe.. just play without it, aslong as u have fun who cares about rules
One of my groups favourite games is Space Alert and i think this is a good fresh option that kinda scratches the same itch :D
Dang, seeing you replying to everyone is pretty cool. I wish I saw UA-camrs do that more.
One thing I didn't really see as a suggestion was just instead of a timer, plan ahead and then flip the cards. Or use the timer, but going over is fine. This way you're still only taking a couple minutes max and without having to plan every single card out. I say this because taking 10 minutes to go over every situation is definitely a little overkill.
Really the timer is fine, but it's personally too much for me. Maybe it makes it too stressful.
Thanks for the runthrough as always!
P.S. Ignore trolls like BoBo. They're not worth your time!
remember, the timer is only used for a tiny portion of the game, and stricktly speaking, it's long enough to make the decisions without too much pressure. it's just there to keep things a bit more exciting and engaging :)
$75 for all of that ? they must be subsidising it, I wonder if they are breaking even with a view to future expansions.. I'd better get the itchy trigger finger on that online order site ... when it's released..
They can do it largely because of self distribution. Most games have a distributor markup and then a retail markup on top of that.
hopefully shipping should be 5-10 Euros then with no import tax to EU countries. I think I read a rumour about this in the Riot Games comments about this game.
My stomach sank a little when you were talking about putting all the minis in a...in a....bag! 😱😨😨
why, they're incredible tough, unless you're going to paint them there's no reason not to
Yes I'm a painter. I heard the Riot guys say they wanted to create a fantastic unboxing experience. I can really appreciate that! I understand where you're coming from with the limited space issue.
i have to admit, i'm seriously considering contacting someone to get these painted... :)
Great job overall. I have to disagree about the box and packaging however.
While I like some uniformity to my board game shelf, I have taken in plenty of over-sized boxes through the years (Scythe, Descent, TI3, Galaxy Trucker Anniversary, Myth, Mage Wars, Carcassonne Big Box, etc) along with many smaller games that have much more underutilized space. The miniature trays included in this game are more clever and well thought out than entire board games that I've played. The fact that the different molded minions can fit in any slot is genius alone. I have no doubt that many people will be painting the minions and are going to be thankful for those inserts. Not only that, but being able to tip the box on its side and not have every piece banging around in the box is a huge plus to me as well - and you couldn't do that with all the minis in a bag.
Ugh, I physically cringed when I heard you say you would have preferred them in a plastic bag. You can still do that! And make a smaller box for the game with a little bit of cutting and gluing. I've seen it done with many games on BGG if that's what you want to do. But I'd prefer not to send that kind of message to publishers - ie. All that work put into the insert is a waste of space and effort. I work hard enough as it is creating my own inserts to get rid of all the plastic bags shipped with most games.
hehe, arts & crafts aren't really my bag. and i'm not denying how lovely the inserts are, but considering how much Riotgames was willing to throw into this production, I could have seen them easily have the "box within a box" while still keeping all the inserts working fine. Though TBH if they wanted to sell a regular sized box on the side, i'd likely buy it! :)
It is definitely a shame to think you'll have to get rid of a beautiful game because you don't have the space for it. At the same time, the box within a box would not only have been a waste of space and packaging materials on me and anyone else that wants to keep the inserts, but it would have had to have been incorporated into the already large box somewhere, probably making it even bigger, possible shipping issue, and also - empty space when people like me wouldn't have used it. But I can see your point for sure.
Maybe your wife knows some crafty people that can help?
I really liked The playthrough ! Do u think u are gonna upload some more missions? Watching others play relaxes me ! Thumbs up!
Rahdo, can see how impressed you were with components to do unboxing video! $75 seems crazy but then considering they skipping retail and have a large print run, plus having 100 million video game fans (Dark Souls had over 30k pledges, a much smaller fanbase) not to mention game also being printed in Chinese means this is still very profitable for them. Plus it finally makes a reason why they can be called Riot Games (only their 2nd ever game!).
Actually it is their 6th game. Apart from League of Legends there is Astro Teemo, Chogath eats the World and Pixel Poro (all 3 browser flash games), Blitzcranks Poro roundup (mobile game) and finally Mechs vs Minions. Captain out
Just ordered and the second group of shipping is mid December.
game of the year contender
Hm would you rather play this or Project ELITE? Sorry if the games are not too comparable - but I only have room in my collection for one of the two.
hmm, that's a *really* good question. P:E is a simpler to get into, more streamlined game, while MvM is a bit more cerebral. MvM has higher production quality, but P:E has a box that will actually fit on my shelves. MvM has deeper gameplay, but I suspect P:E has more replay value. P:E is has better player scaling, while MvM has stronger storytelling.
it's a really tough choice TBH. if I was forced to chose one, I think on the whole I'd go with P:E, though it's hard to say 100% for sure because I won't be picking up my retail copy of P:E until essen next month...
You sold Race! Formula 90 to me (which is incredible btw) and you have now sold this to me :D
Hi Rahdo. Thanks for this video.
Do you think this game is solo-friendly (playing with one or several mechs)? Would it be manageable or would it use too much brain power?
If played solo WITHOUT the timer, would it work (by work, I mean being not too easy and not too hard).
When I play alone, Analysis paralysis is not an issue and I don't like to be rushed when I play.
I know it's a question a lot of solo gamers are asking right now on BGG...
i think this would be totally playable as a solo with 2 mechs running around. after all, that's exactly what i did to film this runthrough :)
***** Yes, of course but this is one scenario. I don't know if it would remain manageable in the long run with the next scenarios. Thank you for your answer, you rock.
I think you kind of did an unboxing for Sylvion, although not as a separate video.
ah good point!
Hi!
Do you know how much the box weighs?
11.8 lbs, but i took out all the inserts, so i guess close to 12lbs :)
***** Thanks!
So if I understand the mechanisms correctly, am I right to assume this game, contrary to many other coops, is actually harder with fewer players? (because less total actions performed for the same number of minions activation).
yes, we found it significantly tougher with 2 than with more. at 4p, the double draft at the beginning means that 8 cards are distributed amongst all the players... in 2p, only 4 are, making your team literally half as powerful.
Not sure how it's better, with regards to drafting? You're always drafting the same number of cards regardless of player size, 5 cards (10 in the first round of a mission), and you're always taking exactly 4 cards in total (2x number of players in the first round). It may be better in terms of having more actions but I suspect that you'll have more minions to deal with as the number of players scale up. Full disclosure: I've only read the rule handbook on the riot games site.
Rahdo, I'm thinking on getting this game, Did you played more of Mechs vs Minions? Do you still thinking the same about it? any problem? any let down?
haven't played any more since the video (always having to move on to the next thing) but really my only issue iwth the game is that it's significantly harder with only 2 than it is with 4, and the insane box size (which might yet force me to get rid of it)
Well, you could always use a House rule to make it easier for 2
Ultimately, if you decide to sell it I might want it (*wink* *wink*)
Does "ignoring" the timer and allow leisure time to evaluate and ponder the moves makes the game "too" easy to find a "best solution"?
we didin't find that to be the case, but if you do, you can always increase the difficulty :)
Robert Yee Nice "use" of "quotes".
DONT YOU DARE PUT THE MINIATURES IN A BAG! NO!......NO! DONT YOU DARE!
already done!
are there different minions? except for the big guy.
3 different models of minion, though functionally they're all the same. plus the big guy. the minions behave slightly differently from mission to mission
4 different models of minions, I believe (certainly that's what it says at BGG and on Riot games's website). 25 of each.
I won't lie, I'm shocked that you loved this game so much. You were my eurogame oasis in a sea of people who like blowing stuff up and killing things. The first time my friend showed it to me I thought "God no. This is the worst kind of ameritrash there is" but now I'll have to consider giving it a chance because you and I have the same taste in games (except for fury of Dracula). Ironically I love playing actual LoL.
Of course you are shocked. If enough "convincing arguments" are given, Rahdo will promote any game. He will just call it "Euro-ish", from Monopoly to Stratego if you would like.
Apparently GMT is not giving enough arguments to evaluate Twilight Struggle, a game that stood 10 years on number one on BGG...
TS is a fantastic game, every big deserving of its modern classic status,. There, am I now a shill for GMT too? (nevermind that i've done videos for other GMT games in the past - Dominat Species, Urban Sprawl, Welcome to Centerville).
so, what is your problem with me, exactly? you seem to be calling me a liar here... where/when exactly have I lied about anything? why don't you just try to open a dialog with me, rather than slandering my character?
So I guess we're done with my thing? OK have at it people. I don't know what GMT or TS is I just know Americans use way too many acronyms.
no, i liked your thing a lot more! :) (also, fury of drac is pretty cool, i mostly just don't like how in 2p one player is forced to control *all* hunters).
GMT is a publisher of mostly wargames, and TS is Twilight Struggle, their most popular and successful game to date. BGG is boardgamegeek.com :)
According to you just a few weeks ago you mentioned you were not impressed by TS at all. Perhaps you better reread what you talk and write about on the internet. As a matter of fact you refused to review TS, a game that stood almost 10 years at number one overall on BGG. It says a lot about Mr Rahdo really... Come back when you dare to review a COIN game or Butterfield design. Then you will start to have an idea "how dice are meaningless" ... Silly arguments btw... Go play DDay at Omaha Beach and then come back to your comments on these American thematic games. These simulations existed before you were even born, let alone started playing. And to make things complicated ... the DDay series don't even use .... dice :)
It's been several months. Do you still bring this out to play even now or has the novelty worn off? Great review by the way.
i would love to, but the nature of my show means i never bring anything back out to the table, because i'm always having to learn and play new games to film
@@rahdo oh man, this is soooo sad! I'd hate falling in love with a game and never playing it again... 😢 So I really do hope this was only an exaggeration on your part.
Link to the website does not work
yeah, their website was supposed to go live at 8pm malta time, and then press embargo was supposed to end at 830. looks like something went wrong on their side, but they didn't write to say hold the embargo, so here we are. I expect someone's frantically working on getting it fixed even as we type :)
It works now.
I would imagine the packaging is maybe for those who want to paint the miniatures.
At least you can paint them all red! :D
It is up now release date is 13 October ohhh that hurts at Essen time and it is only possible to get through Riot i wonder what the p&p will be to Germany
I think the postage to Germany will still be a half of what it'll cost to send the game to Czech Republic. :-/
This is from the description of the " Watch it Played" Video for the Game.
Shipping costs for the game:
• US: ~$8
• EU: ~€5-€10 varies by country
• CAN: ~$30
• AUS: ~$60
• NZ: ~$62
• EU: ~€5-€10? Really? Wow... If that's true, the price is once again incredibly low for a big heavy box like this. Impressive.
+K Wilky I don't think it is a coincidence that release date is after first day of Essen. Do they have a secret (so far) booth planned there?
The game is not listed on the official SPIEL's page. There is a list of new releases and where each company has it's booth and there is no mention of Mechs vs Minions nor Riot Games.
Posted earlier to the Man vs Meeple video review of M&M:
You guys eluded to the price point, but this can't be overstated. This
game, from a component standpoint, is revolutionary. I'm not sure, but
this seems to be a Riot Games loss leader venture. The game may be
great, but this is setting the bar artificially high in the industry.
I'm really conflicted on the long term impact of this game and the
impact on the industry as a whole. I would really like to hear from
someone like Jamey Stonemaier or owners of other companies, like CMON,
who are pushing to have deluxe components, but not in retail editions. I
was listening to the Miami Dice group, and Sam states, "See industry,
look here at M&M, it can be done!" It can be? Really? I'm calling
BS. It can't be done, or it would have been done already. Riot Games
was able to produce this game because they have the resources to take a
hit on this. M&M is a pure marketing ploy to draw people into their
video game product. Love to hear some feedback and whether I'm way off
base here.
true true. no boardgame company can claim "money is no object" in the development of their title, but Riot Games, which clears hundreds of millions in profit every year for LoL, can do exactly that.
I have no first hand knowledge whether they're taking a loss, but I guess preorders are open for 30,000 copies of the game? that kind of volume I imagine can get a lot of discounts, and they're selling them directly cutting out all distribution, etc. these are things that the fantasy flights and CMON's of the world can not compete with.
all that said, I expect this is a passion project for Riot and it's not like they're going to be moving in and driving everyone else out of business. yes, this price point will likely create unrealistic expectations amongst some gamers, but I think it'll still be a blip. not everyone is going to like this game... in fact, i think a lot of ameritrash fans will be taken aback by how euro-ey it is :)
I understand that eliminating distribution channels will cut the price point way down, but down to $75 for this game? Not hardly. This is easy $250-300 in a CMON Kickstarter campaign. Not sure how mini-based board game companies will ever be able to compete with this if other big money interests jump into the fray.
i doubt there's many big budget money interests willing to take a loss on passion projects...:)
You call it a passion project; I call it a slick marketing ploy. Who knows.
oh, i'd say it's undeniable it's a passion project. they're making hundreds of millions already. they're richer than god already. they don't need to make this project... no matter how successful it might be, it will always be a tiny tiny drop in the bucket to them. considering there's a huge boardgamer community inside the company, there's really no other way to look at this than passion project IMO. nothing else makes sense :)
Great review!
@rahdo i saw lots of free space on top of your shelves in some recent videos?
clearing stuff out to make room for new games picked up at essen :)
Scrap the home entertainment system and put up more shelves! Who needs a tv when you have 400 games, lol.
Hi rahdo, recent subscriber, ever played Robo Rally? That's one many times taped together box on my shelf.
played it once years ago. thought it was clever, but not my cup of tea
A few pieces of this Mechs vs Minions are derived from it. I'm enjoying your videos, Thanks for making them.
great review
This looks fantastic, but why did they have to open sales for this sucker the same evening as Essen? Argh? Arghhh!
apparently the preorders will open up at 8pm German time, so if you've got Wifi you should be okay :)
OOOOOOHH JEREMY CORBYN 🕪🎵😎
League of Legends board game!!!!!!!! Needs it!!!!!!m
Is he going to play the game?
who?
Just... wow.
What a strange conclusion to make: time limit? programming? bad programming because of time limit that screws your whole hour long game?
Such things got called out for _"being bad"_ in every other board game that had it, but when RIOT Games, known for manipulating their public image as strict as possible, does that, its a good thing all of a sudden? Also repeating _"They know what they are doing!"_ over and over again when its their very first board game they ever made?
Yeah well...no...Im not buying any of this shit.
your loss.... :)
Yatsura2 You can just play without the timer.
wow, a vomit of videos on this game. oct 13th, it drops and their site will break.
They have 100 millions of monthly users, I think they know how to scale servers.
But have they anticipated demand? I fear the dreaded 'sell out in seconds' and then the skyrocketing eBay aftermarket prices. I hope I'm wrong!!
The funny thing is, taking a peek at Riot's trailer for this game you'd think they had let the air out of the LoL fan base's balloon. A great majority of them are not only dismissing a board game, but actually are upset Riot allocated funds to a physical game instead of more digital content.
I think I read somewhere that should it be a huge success (re: sellout super quick) then a reprint could happen relatively quickly. Shouldn't have to worry about price gouging.
When the world championship tickets were out on sale 1 second later the site broke.
They have 30,000 first prints on these and they even stated they have second prints install if the first print sells out
looks expensive
$75 from publisher
Dude! IF you, admittedly, can't deal out any pain on a game board... how can you commit this game to virtual "Sainthood"????? As a comic said about Oprah... "Fat Oprah" or "Skinny Oprah"... PICK ONE!? You are a clearly intelligent gamer who has some insight, but it's very difficult to follow you consistently...
hmm, i'm thinking you didn't actually watch the other video then if this is what you took away from it
rahdo When I read Mr. Smith's comment, I had the same response.
(+) material&miniatures / diceless / levelling
(-) downtime / only 10 plays / I don't like the timer / Game takes very long / board setup takes up too much space (w/4p) / box too big indeed so needs me making my own box / it's based on Robo rally which was superb / monster AI is stupid.
Rahdo first impressions I get, but you got it for free, but you really should consider the price and replayability.
Timer with sound the last 10 seconds would be better, or else you cannot play solo. The timer is a weak and cheap gimmick to suppress AP criticism.
Roborally programming was far better than this, MvM programming is not really programming at all, it's like limiting yourself to some actions on each phase.
Given the +/- balance I'll pass on this one.
It game lol
Each time this guy promotes a typical American styled thematic game, he claims it to be Euro like. LOL.
Mechs vs Min is so Am stylish you get the plastic and dice and big box as usual, but I guess the deep money pockets of Chinese owned Riot Games were deep enough to buy the promotion video of the number one Euro trash seller.
The theme of this game is as hollow as the usual Blizzard - sorry copycat Warcraft 3 RTS riot games - and so I will pass up the franchize and artificial hype with ease. What are you even playing here as a "theme"
Robot players vs creatures ? How hollow can that be ?
I will stay with my simulation gaming - like COIN and wargames - and great story telling games like Eldritch Horror, thank you.
To all those buying into the hype: good luck, it is just another 75 dollars exclusive shipping costs. Put it with the others in the closets.
"Each time this guy promotes a typical American styled thematic game, he claims it to be Euro like."
When they are I do, like this game, Gloomhaven or Perdition's Mouth. But I certainly didn't claim that sort of thing for Descent or Mice & Mystics or Eldritch Horror...
Also, I don't accept any money for any video I do. So i'm not sure where you're getting the assumption of my corrupt nature from. Go figure...
This video is "sales man " written all over it. No denying. And the fact within 48 hours its reviews flood UA-cam and the internet simply shows a well orchestred PR Campaign. As a Euro fanatic you are not even supposed to open that massive box with plastic and dice, so it is quite obvious why we had to endure 30 minutes of wow-wow-fantastic sales talk. Ok ?
none of what you're saying makes any sense to me at all. yes, there was a press embargo...several reviewers got the game ahead of time, played it, recorded video impressions, and then had to hold them until the embargo was lifted. you seem to think this is a bad thing, but i have no idea why.
why am i not supposed to enjoy games with plastic and dice? some of my top 10 fave games of all time feature dice heavily (troyes, castles of burgundy). never mind the fact that if you actually watched the video (I assume you haven't) you'd see that dice play almost no role in the game at all.
why shouldn't i like plastic minis? I've often talked in many runthrough videos about how I love them... anachrony, drako, runebound, vengenace, space cadets away missions, project elite, pandemic reign of cthulhu, the list goes on.
again, you've left me very confused as to your spite and hatred for me, accusing me of being corrupt and accepting bribes to lie about games. that's very rude... is this how you would talk to me if we met in real life? if so, then I can only say I'm sad for you that you're such an angry person who lashes out at people for no good reason.
I never quiet understood what drives ppl such as you are to write these aggressive hateful comments. The sheer fact that noone really cares what you think makes it just a big waste of time. Stay with whatever you like to play and if, in your opinion, it is any better go ahead and promote it rather than shitpost on something you dislike.
Succes.I'm pretty sure he's more hateful at riot than at rahdo.And because rahdo likes the game he hates rahdo. Just by this sentence :
"The theme of this game is as hollow as the usual Blizzard - sorry copycat Warcraft 3 RTS riot games"
you can see he doesn't like Riot and just came here to make an negative comment.Some Blizzard fan are really hateful because Lol is more popular than dota 2(the "rival" game and the secquel of dota the precursor of this kind of game).He talk more about riot that the boardgame itself.
Could have been another boardgame youtuber it will be the same.I really think rahdo shouldn't take that personnally.
The only problem i see with this game is supporting RIOT, which has a pretty awful relationship with their client/fan base.
well, they have an awful relationship with a small portion of their client/fan base, which is to be expected when you've got literally tens of millions of regular players :)
Well, "amazingly well designed game" is DotA allstars, LoL just copied it with WIP heroes from the forum and put into installer that does not require much body movement like installing warcraft 3 and putting map in the certain folder every time it updates, ect.
But i will not bitch and moan here, and it have nothing with boardgame anyway.
The Last Phoenix One problem with this is the core designer and major community organizer for DotA Allstars were part of Riot’s founding team for LoL. So other than the trademark and some of the early copyrighted IP, LoL is more of a direct descendant to Dota Allstars than DotA 2 is, which is closer to being descended from DotA, not Dota allstars.
It’s all good, video game design should not necessarily translate to good board game design. MvM had the akismet of having an aspiring board game designer with his own game join around the time their company leadership was getting back into board gaming.