I have been playing Acquire since the 1976 Avalon Hill bookshelf edition and absolutely love it. We have played it with my wife and teenage kids, and they like it as well. My version has hotels as well. Happy to see it still getting some love. I am about to buy a used copy of Ark Nova. I hope I can get it to the table. As others have said, I love your relaxed and natural delivery while still being informative. You do a great job explaining the characteristics of the games whether you like them or not so we can decide what might work for us. Keep up the great content.🎉😊
I really like your style: unscripted and authentic, opinionated yet charming, a bit like listening to a good friend talk about something they are passionate about. Hope you can manage to keep this vibe alive even after many successful years of running this channel! :) Oh and you absolutely had me laughing out loud when you spoke about Arboretum saying "people either LOVE it or HATE it, there's NO INBETWEEN. I don't love it but that doesn't mean I ha- ...hm". Absolutely delightful :D
That is so kind of you to say! I hope I can always maintain that vibe as my channel grows as well. I just want to make games feel approachable and relatable for everyone! With the occasional bit of dry humor ;P
Let's go! Ark Nova is my #1 - glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was just talking to my girlfriend about Canvas, too. I don't know if I need it in my collection right now, but it looks gorgeous. Keep up the solid videos
We have played Bargain Quest and Canvas and love them both, especially with some of the heaver setup that our other games take. We got some card expansions and one larger expansion for Bargain Quest thay we have enjoyed, but I did not know that Canvas had any. Love your videos, especially since we are also a mostly two-player board game family 😊
I love Ark Nova but it took me 3 phases to get to that point. Game 1 - Hold on for dear life making sure we don’t miss anything. Game 2 - This is much faster and easier. I’ll focus on good piece placement and streamline action card decisions. Game 3 - Now I will focus on better synergy with all my animal cards. After that I tamed the mighty beast called “winning Ark Nova.”
I am glad you got Ark Nova to the table and that you enjoyed it. My wife and I really enjoy this game as well. We own the Marine expansion, but we have not played it yet.
I think youll like the marine expansion. i think it helps with some of the hiccups the game has and really elevates it (already great to begin with though)
I played Arboretum for the first time this week. And I'm not actually sure how I feel about it yet! I was drawn in by the beautiful box and artwork. But, you're right, it is vicous! I was looking forward to building a beautiful arboretum and scoring lots of points for having all of the same species. But that is definitely not how you win the game. I lost spectacularly, haha (but my arboretum was beautiful. I just didn't score any points for it). The only way to win seems to be prioritising sabotaging your opponent over creating a beautiful arboretum. I definitely want to play Ark Nova ☺
I still love light games! It's almost just like when you listen to really loud music and then the next song is a quiet one. It's a little jarring at first, but it doesn't necessarily mean either game/song is a bad choice! :)
Ark Nova is also in that weird spot for me. I'd never recommend it or teach but I got obsessed trying to beat every map solo and got a ton of plays of this and would still only rate it like a 7.5 despite how much I play it
This video has now added an extra 4 games to my list... Bargain Quest and Canvas, Century: Golem edition, and because I saw it in the background and got curious, Living Forest too 😅 What's your thoughts on LF? Worth playing?
Haha no. Unfortunately the idea of the name for the channel predated my knowledge of the game. I chose to name the channel After Evenfall because that is the time of day when the rest of my life can be put to bed and I can get around to the more fantastical things (like playing immersive board games or reading epic stories). It's the most magical time of day for me and I wanted to share that with others!
Great list and video. I have zero interest to seek out Ark Nova because of the theme 😂 - I received Arboretum as a gift and haven’t tried it yet. When games are already mean, I tend to put my boot on people’s throats so it’s probably best that I don’t play it with family 😬😆
I would love to get a boardgaming daughter like you (yes, I'm old). Our daughter is 18 and brilliant, competitive, detail oriented, accomplished, and often wins even the first time she plays new games, but she just doesn't like playing board games. Maybe it's because we always played 4 player with the whole family and the games took too long. I need to see if I can get her into shorter two player games.
I have been playing Acquire since the 1976 Avalon Hill bookshelf edition and absolutely love it. We have played it with my wife and teenage kids, and they like it as well. My version has hotels as well. Happy to see it still getting some love.
I am about to buy a used copy of Ark Nova. I hope I can get it to the table.
As others have said, I love your relaxed and natural delivery while still being informative. You do a great job explaining the characteristics of the games whether you like them or not so we can decide what might work for us.
Keep up the great content.🎉😊
Thank you so much, that means a ton to me!
I really like your style: unscripted and authentic, opinionated yet charming, a bit like listening to a good friend talk about something they are passionate about. Hope you can manage to keep this vibe alive even after many successful years of running this channel! :)
Oh and you absolutely had me laughing out loud when you spoke about Arboretum saying "people either LOVE it or HATE it, there's NO INBETWEEN. I don't love it but that doesn't mean I ha- ...hm". Absolutely delightful :D
That is so kind of you to say! I hope I can always maintain that vibe as my channel grows as well. I just want to make games feel approachable and relatable for everyone! With the occasional bit of dry humor ;P
Let's go! Ark Nova is my #1 - glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was just talking to my girlfriend about Canvas, too. I don't know if I need it in my collection right now, but it looks gorgeous. Keep up the solid videos
We have played Bargain Quest and Canvas and love them both, especially with some of the heaver setup that our other games take. We got some card expansions and one larger expansion for Bargain Quest thay we have enjoyed, but I did not know that Canvas had any. Love your videos, especially since we are also a mostly two-player board game family 😊
Thank you so much, that means a ton to me!
Hope I'm not repeating someone else with this, but if you like the sleeve card building element, you might want to try Mystic Vale.
What a great video. You are and always have been blessed with amazing talents. So proud of you. 🙂
I love Ark Nova but it took me 3 phases to get to that point. Game 1 - Hold on for dear life making sure we don’t miss anything. Game 2 - This is much faster and easier. I’ll focus on good piece placement and streamline action card decisions. Game 3 - Now I will focus on better synergy with all my animal cards. After that I tamed the mighty beast called “winning Ark Nova.”
Haha I'm three games in and still haven't won, but I'm still having a good time and that's all that matters! :)
I am glad you got Ark Nova to the table and that you enjoyed it. My wife and I really enjoy this game as well. We own the Marine expansion, but we have not played it yet.
You'll have to let me know what you think of the expansion once you've played it! :)
I think youll like the marine expansion. i think it helps with some of the hiccups the game has and really elevates it (already great to begin with though)
Haha I just need to get it out!
I played Arboretum for the first time this week. And I'm not actually sure how I feel about it yet! I was drawn in by the beautiful box and artwork. But, you're right, it is vicous! I was looking forward to building a beautiful arboretum and scoring lots of points for having all of the same species. But that is definitely not how you win the game. I lost spectacularly, haha (but my arboretum was beautiful. I just didn't score any points for it). The only way to win seems to be prioritising sabotaging your opponent over creating a beautiful arboretum. I definitely want to play Ark Nova ☺
You should play Ark Nova! It's really fun! And as for arboretum, I totally agree, I feel like it's always "meanest player wins"!
Rise up, fellow video learners! Rodney is the man.
I feel the SAME about Ark nova, appreciate your channel!
I'm glad I'm not the only one! Thank you!
I love heavy games, they are my favorite. But I'm still able to enjoy light games, even party games.
I still love light games! It's almost just like when you listen to really loud music and then the next song is a quiet one. It's a little jarring at first, but it doesn't necessarily mean either game/song is a bad choice! :)
yeah :D!@@AfterEvenfall
We just played Ark Nova and love it! ❤
Ark Nova is also in that weird spot for me. I'd never recommend it or teach but I got obsessed trying to beat every map solo and got a ton of plays of this and would still only rate it like a 7.5 despite how much I play it
That totally makes sense. It is such a beast to teach to anyone else, but I feel like it is a solid game for BGA or to play solo.
This video has now added an extra 4 games to my list... Bargain Quest and Canvas, Century: Golem edition, and because I saw it in the background and got curious, Living Forest too 😅
What's your thoughts on LF? Worth playing?
Living forest is a great game with horrible storage 😉. I'm glad I could help add some games to your list!!!
Just got Ark Nova! Can’t wait to try
It's super fun, just be ready for a bit of a learning curve! :)
Great video; I have to ask, why is the channel name After Evenfall? Anything at all to do with the game?
Haha no. Unfortunately the idea of the name for the channel predated my knowledge of the game. I chose to name the channel After Evenfall because that is the time of day when the rest of my life can be put to bed and I can get around to the more fantastical things (like playing immersive board games or reading epic stories). It's the most magical time of day for me and I wanted to share that with others!
much better!
Great list and video. I have zero interest to seek out Ark Nova because of the theme 😂 - I received Arboretum as a gift and haven’t tried it yet. When games are already mean, I tend to put my boot on people’s throats so it’s probably best that I don’t play it with family 😬😆
I feel ya on Ark Nova's theme, but the gameplay turned out to be pretty fun!
Arboretum looks good, but gives you a headache 😂
Any tips on how/where to get a boardgaming mother?
Haha you can always search your friendly local gaming store ;)
I would love to get a boardgaming daughter like you (yes, I'm old).
Our daughter is 18 and brilliant, competitive, detail oriented, accomplished, and often wins even the first time she plays new games, but she just doesn't like playing board games. Maybe it's because we always played 4 player with the whole family and the games took too long. I need to see if I can get her into shorter two player games.