Definitely seems like a much more abstracted and simpler experience. Certainly not what you'd like to see from Civilization game. I think it probably is enjoyable enough, but not enough to warrant getting a copy myself. The previous FFG Civ game should be the first port of call for anyone looking to get a Civ board game (or even if you are deciding which of the two to get)
Your description is right on the money in my opinion. Although this game appeals to me personally a bit more, as I enjoy the abstracted/streamlined approach.
This is the civilization game I've been waiting for! I was so excited when I first read about the focus bar mechanism; it's so simple and clever, just the kind of thing this genre needed.
@ManVsMeeple - Have you guy ever played Clash of Cultures? Even without the expansion I think it makes for a great "Civ-like" experience. The tech tree keeps you in the bronze age, but the mechanics they use for cities, tech, and combat are solid. Adding the expansion makes it so much better with variable player powers, specialized tech, and even some specialized combat units. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you've never had the chance to play it!
Clash of Cultures is one of my absolute favorites. In my experience though, there are very few fans of both, people seem to really gravitate towards one or the other. Clash is much more combat focused with dice-based combat, so Euro players tend to far prefer Civ.
This looks quite interesting and quite attractive. I guess because of my limited experience with it as a computer game it kind of sits it outside what I'd like to pursue in the tabletop format, or that I've already had this type of experience. Thanks for taking the time to explain the basics.
Assault Of The Giants from Wiz Kidz has a similar action selection mechanic and is a pretty sweet game as well! I ordered Civ today, can't wait to give it a try!
This streamlined version has suddenly become very attractive to me precisely because it has become way more accessible. The focus bar mechanic is really cool and while I LOVED the computer games boardgames are a different beast altogether and this one works way better as a boardgame for today's time strapped era than a straight up port of the video game.
@ManVSMeeple thanks for the review! That's certainly helpful to get an understanding of the game. However, could you go more in depth of how it compares to the initial Civilization offering from FFG? I know it's in the top 10 for Jeremy, it's just a largely under-reviewed and under-talked about board game. I guess I'd enjoy a full fledged review of it and the expansions to help me make a decision on which to get as they both look great :)
We will perhaps get to that sometime in the near future. We have so many Essen games coming hitting our table in the next couple weeks, it's going to be a challenge to get much of anything else played. Should be fun trying though.
@David, have you played the Conan board game? I have not but if memory serves from watching them play the game the action cards in that game worked similar to this. @Jeremy, Seems like you are a fan of civ development games, have you played Nations? What are your thoughts on that one?
We did play Conan a couple times, and I remember that mechanism. I don't remember it working like this one though. This one feels like you're letting actions ripen, and using them when you best can. Wasn't Conan more of a chronological turn order mechanism?
Good to know about the comparison, Jeremy. No 'exploration is a fairly heavy negative against this game for me though. Also, is the printed time of 60-120min reasonably accurate?
I'd considered that same thing, but the tiles are largely double-sided, so there really didn't seem to be a simple way of injecting the "discovery" element back into it.
Seems this one quite deviates from some perceived core mechanics of Civ, i.e. explore plus tactical unit movement plus tech tree. But while that feels less Civ-Like to me (played all Video Games a lot), this game looks intriguing Boardgame wise, with a well known franchise beautifully layed out. The original board game I played only once and felt it captured the spirit of the Video Game really well, so more of the same doesn't really seem to be called for here, and a mechanically different board game seems to add more to the table. Good thing board games don't age as video games do: Now we have two Civ games that would possibly make sense to own/play both without anyone superseding the other.
Thanks for the great video! Very informative - Can I ask how long your first playthrough was, how many people played, and if it included rules explanation, please? Like Jeremy, I'm a huge fan of the previous Civ game, but that beast can take many hours with my group. Is this considerably shorter?
The focus mechanic in this game reminds me of the action mechanic for the overlord player in Conan. Have not played Conan but have seen a review of it.
That's good to hear. We've had a copy of King's Will for quite a while, and still haven't gotten it to the table. You just gave us one more reason to get it played.
It doesn't seem like they researched it thst much... this isnt meant to replace the old Civ game, ffg made it as am alternative and they are supporting both
We were just comparing it because that's what many gamers will do when considering this game. I think it's fair to say that there are some who will prefer this game, and many who will prefer to play the older game. While they're different games, I don't think many people will actively play both a lot.
Does the game field deliberately watered down because Fantasy Flight is going to release expansions? I can see many expansions coming down the road for this... I think I'm going to hold off until Fantasy Flight lets us know what it's going to do because right now the game doesn't look very flesh out
I would say, maybe. The game is good in and of itself as a streamlined experience, but we couldn't help but think that an expansion or two are certainly possible. I would love to see the idea of discovery/exploration get layered on to this game.
Ok here below someone says ffg is supporting the older version of the game.... so I say were are new expansions of the older game.... just 2 expansions .... mmmhh I'm going to make them on my own .... the best thing are the exagons here that make me think of the video games
90 mins average? Nice since when we play the original civilization board game with 6+ player it takes around 13+ hour to finish the game. 2 hour games feels so....casual :D
Yep. Just last weekend we played the Eagle one from 2002. Took more than a half of the day. We started maybe hour before lunch and ended 4 hours after midnight.
A little annoying not to have the original Civilization board game acknowledged by this review. That game was designed by Frances Tresham and came out before the computer game. It's nearly certain that Sid Meir played that game before designing the computer game. Note that Sid Meier denies this. Also know that there was litigation between Sid Meir's company and Avalon Hill over the name Civilization which could be the basis of Sid Meir's denial. At any rate the board game roots of this genre are certainly apparent.
David Waybright 'annoyed' was probably too strong. But really Tresham's influence is not acknowledged anymore on today's strategy scene in both genres. Met my to-be husband playing Civilization the board game and I'm on the design team for the Advanced Civilization game that is generally recognized as superior to the original.
I wish they were more objective. Like a number out of ten. Saying you liked it doesn't mean anything when you play the amount of games you do. Give me some meaty opinions, ones that are measurable to your other opinions please. Surely others have brought this up before.
They have, and we understand that perspective for sure. Numbers can be so tricky though. Once anyone have a large catalog of reviews with numbers, then those also start to become kind of gray when many fall within the 7.0-8.5 range. Our hope is that viewers get a sense for our tastes, and can relate to our opinions or not. Don't tell anyone else, but I'd probably give this game an 8.0 if I had to assign a number. ;)
So was I the only person hearing references to "the original" and getting miffed they didn't mean the Avalon Hill / Gibson Games version? (Still it does look fun and I'm a massive fan of FFG's first iteration AND the Gibson Games edition.)
I came down to the comments just to see if anyone else mentioned this same thing! It was a bit annoying to constantly hear the 2010 version called the original when there are MULTIPLE other versions before that one. I myself have the Eagle Games 2002 version which is called Sid Meier's Civilization the Boardgame, so even if you want to limit it to Sid Meier's versions there was another earlier one. ;)
We kind of meant a general "previous versions", but we related it to the 2010 version because that's what we're most familiar with. The core point is that this one is more streamlined than any of those likely are. It's like Civ Revolution verses the core Civ games on PC.
No exploration no good game for me expecially for a civilization game... I prefer the older version then.... ffg made a mistake there... see you in the future
Man your production quality on this show is great! Enjoyed this vid and subbed to you guys!
Might be good but they should make it something else, this is not a civ game. Especially Sid Meier's style
Definitely seems like a much more abstracted and simpler experience. Certainly not what you'd like to see from Civilization game. I think it probably is enjoyable enough, but not enough to warrant getting a copy myself. The previous FFG Civ game should be the first port of call for anyone looking to get a Civ board game (or even if you are deciding which of the two to get)
Your description is right on the money in my opinion. Although this game appeals to me personally a bit more, as I enjoy the abstracted/streamlined approach.
This is the civilization game I've been waiting for! I was so excited when I first read about the focus bar mechanism; it's so simple and clever, just the kind of thing this genre needed.
@ManVsMeeple - Have you guy ever played Clash of Cultures? Even without the expansion I think it makes for a great "Civ-like" experience. The tech tree keeps you in the bronze age, but the mechanics they use for cities, tech, and combat are solid. Adding the expansion makes it so much better with variable player powers, specialized tech, and even some specialized combat units. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you've never had the chance to play it!
I'm not sure about Jeremy, but I've never played it. We'll have to check it out. Thanks.
David Waybright I have it with the expansion if you want to play sometime!
Clash of Cultures is one of my absolute favorites. In my experience though, there are very few fans of both, people seem to really gravitate towards one or the other. Clash is much more combat focused with dice-based combat, so Euro players tend to far prefer Civ.
This looks quite interesting and quite attractive. I guess because of my limited experience with it as a computer game it kind of sits it outside what I'd like to pursue in the tabletop format, or that I've already had this type of experience. Thanks for taking the time to explain the basics.
Assault Of The Giants from Wiz Kidz has a similar action selection mechanic and is a pretty sweet game as well! I ordered Civ today, can't wait to give it a try!
Loved this on the computer... think I'll keep it as a fond video game memory.
This streamlined version has suddenly become very attractive to me precisely because it has become way more accessible. The focus bar mechanic is really cool and while I LOVED the computer games boardgames are a different beast altogether and this one works way better as a boardgame for today's time strapped era than a straight up port of the video game.
@ManVSMeeple thanks for the review! That's certainly helpful to get an understanding of the game. However, could you go more in depth of how it compares to the initial Civilization offering from FFG? I know it's in the top 10 for Jeremy, it's just a largely under-reviewed and under-talked about board game. I guess I'd enjoy a full fledged review of it and the expansions to help me make a decision on which to get as they both look great :)
Seeing the Fallout board game in the background... can't wait for that review!
We will perhaps get to that sometime in the near future. We have so many Essen games coming hitting our table in the next couple weeks, it's going to be a challenge to get much of anything else played. Should be fun trying though.
Have to agree on that. Get the Fallout Board game reciew coming :)
The raising of power by the focus bar is similar to how Tzol'kin works, though they use 5(!) cog wheels instead.
Cannot wait for Fallout coverage from you guys!!
@David, have you played the Conan board game? I have not but if memory serves from watching them play the game the action cards in that game worked similar to this.
@Jeremy, Seems like you are a fan of civ development games, have you played Nations? What are your thoughts on that one?
You're absolutely correct Neil. The Overlord in Conan the boardgame uses a similar sliding action mechanic to activate enemy models.
We did play Conan a couple times, and I remember that mechanism. I don't remember it working like this one though. This one feels like you're letting actions ripen, and using them when you best can. Wasn't Conan more of a chronological turn order mechanism?
Good to know about the comparison, Jeremy. No 'exploration is a fairly heavy negative against this game for me though.
Also, is the printed time of 60-120min reasonably accurate?
Yeah - our first game was ~:90 minutes. This game's length of play (like the original Civ) completely driven by the players, so your mileage may vary.
Can't you just house rules it by keeping some tiles upside down ?
I'd considered that same thing, but the tiles are largely double-sided, so there really didn't seem to be a simple way of injecting the "discovery" element back into it.
Hmm maybe you can cut out paper or print tiles to cover up specific tiles!
I see no exploration no interest in the game.... sorry they have failed this time ffg has made a misstep this time
That action card mechanic, uh, thing reminds me a lot of a similar system used in Runewars, only nowhere near as messy.
Seems this one quite deviates from some perceived core mechanics of Civ, i.e. explore plus tactical unit movement plus tech tree.
But while that feels less Civ-Like to me (played all Video Games a lot), this game looks intriguing Boardgame wise, with a well known franchise beautifully layed out. The original board game I played only once and felt it captured the spirit of the Video Game really well, so more of the same doesn't really seem to be called for here, and a mechanically different board game seems to add more to the table.
Good thing board games don't age as video games do: Now we have two Civ games that would possibly make sense to own/play both without anyone superseding the other.
Great review! BTW could you please tell us how to get that awesome eclipse poster on the back? Thanks!
Thanks for the great video! Very informative - Can I ask how long your first playthrough was, how many people played, and if it included rules explanation, please? Like Jeremy, I'm a huge fan of the previous Civ game, but that beast can take many hours with my group. Is this considerably shorter?
Don’t know why no one answered you - this game takes 1-2 hours at most
The focus mechanic in this game reminds me of the action mechanic for the overlord player in Conan. Have not played Conan but have seen a review of it.
Kevin Kingmaker Agreed. Very similar.
Just picked this up today. Sorted and bagged. Looking forward to getting into this weekend. This looks to be right up my alley.
Let us know what you think of it.
Assault of the Giants has a similar mechanic with the cards.
Really?! I still haven't had a chance to play that one. Good?
I like it a lot. It's not at all what you expect... Light area control, variable powers and goals. Very clever game.
@ManVsMeeple - how long did your first game take?
~:90.
@ David - King's Will has something like the focus bar mixed with Puerto Rico style roles. You might find the game interesting.
That's good to hear. We've had a copy of King's Will for quite a while, and still haven't gotten it to the table. You just gave us one more reason to get it played.
Otys uses a similar mechanic for timing actions, theme is pretty weak though.
It doesn't seem like they researched it thst much... this isnt meant to replace the old Civ game, ffg made it as am alternative and they are supporting both
We were just comparing it because that's what many gamers will do when considering this game. I think it's fair to say that there are some who will prefer this game, and many who will prefer to play the older game. While they're different games, I don't think many people will actively play both a lot.
Great review! How is this game at 2 players? Seems like trade would be a little less significant? Is this a game that scales well?
It's not great at 2 players. Very little interaction
Does the game field deliberately watered down because Fantasy Flight is going to release expansions? I can see many expansions coming down the road for this... I think I'm going to hold off until Fantasy Flight lets us know what it's going to do because right now the game doesn't look very flesh out
I would say, maybe. The game is good in and of itself as a streamlined experience, but we couldn't help but think that an expansion or two are certainly possible. I would love to see the idea of discovery/exploration get layered on to this game.
Without exploration I'm not supportin the game at all
Ok here below someone says ffg is supporting the older version of the game.... so I say were are new expansions of the older game.... just 2 expansions .... mmmhh I'm going to make them on my own .... the best thing are the exagons here that make me think of the video games
Got my copy this week... Cant wait to play it! Will it play well with 2 players?
Now you're just teasing us with that fallout box
Hopefully by now, you've seen our Fallout review. If not, it's up on the channel.
I'm calling this game "Euro Civ", it's a compliment.
Love it!
The red token looks like the flag of Hong Kong...
90 mins average? Nice since when we play the original civilization board game with 6+ player it takes around 13+ hour to finish the game. 2 hour games feels so....casual :D
This is definitely a streamlined sort of experience.
Yep. Just last weekend we played the Eagle one from 2002. Took more than a half of the day. We started maybe hour before lunch and ended 4 hours after midnight.
Like your stuff .. BUT your intro "boom" is too loud
I've been thinking that too lately. Might adjust that, although we do like to grab viewers attention. ;)
Great a new game for my five year old daughter
I think 5-year old daughters was the demographic they were going for with this game, so PERFECT! ;)
David Waybright thats right :)
A little annoying not to have the original Civilization board game acknowledged by this review. That game was designed by Frances Tresham and came out before the computer game. It's nearly certain that Sid Meir played that game before designing the computer game. Note that Sid Meier denies this. Also know that there was litigation between Sid Meir's company and Avalon Hill over the name Civilization which could be the basis of Sid Meir's denial. At any rate the board game roots of this genre are certainly apparent.
Wow! I wasn't aware of most of that. Our experience started with the computer games, right of wrong, so that's the perspective we had on the game.
David Waybright 'annoyed' was probably too strong. But really Tresham's influence is not acknowledged anymore on today's strategy scene in both genres. Met my to-be husband playing Civilization the board game and I'm on the design team for the Advanced Civilization game that is generally recognized as superior to the original.
Well you've definitely got me interested in looking back into the history a little bit more--just for my own curiosity. Thanks for watching.
I wish they were more objective. Like a number out of ten. Saying you liked it doesn't mean anything when you play the amount of games you do. Give me some meaty opinions, ones that are measurable to your other opinions please. Surely others have brought this up before.
They have, and we understand that perspective for sure. Numbers can be so tricky though. Once anyone have a large catalog of reviews with numbers, then those also start to become kind of gray when many fall within the 7.0-8.5 range. Our hope is that viewers get a sense for our tastes, and can relate to our opinions or not. Don't tell anyone else, but I'd probably give this game an 8.0 if I had to assign a number. ;)
David Waybright I appreciate the response and understand your rationale. Thanks and keep up what you guys do.
So was I the only person hearing references to "the original" and getting miffed they didn't mean the Avalon Hill / Gibson Games version? (Still it does look fun and I'm a massive fan of FFG's first iteration AND the Gibson Games edition.)
I came down to the comments just to see if anyone else mentioned this same thing! It was a bit annoying to constantly hear the 2010 version called the original when there are MULTIPLE other versions before that one. I myself have the Eagle Games 2002 version which is called Sid Meier's Civilization the Boardgame, so even if you want to limit it to Sid Meier's versions there was another earlier one. ;)
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177/advanced-civilization
We kind of meant a general "previous versions", but we related it to the 2010 version because that's what we're most familiar with. The core point is that this one is more streamlined than any of those likely are. It's like Civ Revolution verses the core Civ games on PC.
YOu know the 'G' in FFG is for Games, right?
No exploration no good game for me expecially for a civilization game... I prefer the older version then.... ffg made a mistake there... see you in the future
20:04 'either going to like it or not like it' very insightful comment.
You think that's insightful, listen carefully to what the goofy one with the glasses says at the 20:43 mark!
I was looking and looking......