Nice review. I like that you edited in some updated thoughts about it. I have played this game myself and disagree with the reddit post you cited. To me this game's dominant mechanic is deck building. The actions on the board matter, but the value of these actions more or less even out between the players. The ability to get a strong deck is where you win the game because it is an advantage you lord over your opponents every turn. What makes a deck strong is also not simple, so there is some depth in that decision making.
Great review! You might want to check out the expansion that is coming soon as it will contain an Epic mode variant which is supposedly longer and more intense. Thanks for the video.
Yeah, I ordered the upgrade kit from them for all the components and it's now expected to arrive in the next couple weeks. Stoked to play it with the upgraded components. The expansion I've got on order, too, but shipping wise, not sure when we'll see it.
You should really play (and review) the original Dune board game. It's a classic (first published in 1979, it was out of print for years, but recently republished) and it's probably *the* game that most successfully evokes the source material it's based on. It will also satisfy deep strategy cravings, largely because of how wildly different (and ridiculously powerful, in different ways) each player faction is. Given you have an entire "Dune" channel, it seems like a "must do" for you. :)
I'm working my way through the first 3 Dune books (I'm nearly finished Messiah) and I've watched the new movie, so the theme definitely intrigues me. I appreciated your sidebar about the Reddit thread because it provided some other opinions and helped to put the mechanisms into perspective.
My biggest complaint is that the deck building is almost a distraction from the main game, which i also felt was more worker placement. When i was trying to teach the game to two others, it was very hard for them to understand and they did not pick it up easily. It wasn't until i framed it as "Each turn, you're competing for the rewards on the conflict cards. You compete by adding solidiers. You add soldiers based on where you place your agents, and you place your agents based on the cards in your hand." as the main round purpose. Once they fully grasped that there was the conversation of "You're not actually only competing for the rewards, in fact, you can ignore them if you'd like to, but these are all the ways you can earn points." and explained faction alliances, loyalty, swordmaster, intrigue cards... So while i really enjoy that the "goal" is ambiguous, and its really up to what the player chooses to do, it was hard for my other players to make a decision each turn because they didn't know what to do. Then the deck buidling aspect was either ignored or focused on too much. I had one player who basically ignored the deck building aspects (who won the game by a long shot) and another player who built a very good and streamlined deck, but came in last place, by a long shot. So as much as it is thematically very fun and the scheming and tactics get complex, the deck building aspect could be discarded or replaced with some other mechanic for moving workers and i think the game would function better. It has the potential to be as fun a Scythe IMO, but the deck distracts from the main game mechanics.
I definitely think I want to read more of doom but I also want to play this I think it would be a lot of fun multiple times. I also love the little water droplets lol
I want to play this game. I know I will like the gameplay. I know I like the theme. But the board (graphics) looks empty for me. Normally, it's not advisable to inundate the eyes with overwhelming amount of stuff, but for this I want more Dune related art on those empty spaces. The cubes are ok, but the upgrade pack obviously says it could be better.
Great review Ali! I’ve been wanting to pick this game up, and the first Dune game as well.
Nice review. I like that you edited in some updated thoughts about it. I have played this game myself and disagree with the reddit post you cited. To me this game's dominant mechanic is deck building. The actions on the board matter, but the value of these actions more or less even out between the players. The ability to get a strong deck is where you win the game because it is an advantage you lord over your opponents every turn. What makes a deck strong is also not simple, so there is some depth in that decision making.
Great review! You might want to check out the expansion that is coming soon as it will contain an Epic mode variant which is supposedly longer and more intense. Thanks for the video.
Sounds cool!
Yeah, I ordered the upgrade kit from them for all the components and it's now expected to arrive in the next couple weeks. Stoked to play it with the upgraded components.
The expansion I've got on order, too, but shipping wise, not sure when we'll see it.
You should really play (and review) the original Dune board game. It's a classic (first published in 1979, it was out of print for years, but recently republished) and it's probably *the* game that most successfully evokes the source material it's based on. It will also satisfy deep strategy cravings, largely because of how wildly different (and ridiculously powerful, in different ways) each player faction is. Given you have an entire "Dune" channel, it seems like a "must do" for you. :)
I'm working my way through the first 3 Dune books (I'm nearly finished Messiah) and I've watched the new movie, so the theme definitely intrigues me. I appreciated your sidebar about the Reddit thread because it provided some other opinions and helped to put the mechanisms into perspective.
My biggest complaint is that the deck building is almost a distraction from the main game, which i also felt was more worker placement. When i was trying to teach the game to two others, it was very hard for them to understand and they did not pick it up easily. It wasn't until i framed it as "Each turn, you're competing for the rewards on the conflict cards. You compete by adding solidiers. You add soldiers based on where you place your agents, and you place your agents based on the cards in your hand." as the main round purpose. Once they fully grasped that there was the conversation of "You're not actually only competing for the rewards, in fact, you can ignore them if you'd like to, but these are all the ways you can earn points." and explained faction alliances, loyalty, swordmaster, intrigue cards... So while i really enjoy that the "goal" is ambiguous, and its really up to what the player chooses to do, it was hard for my other players to make a decision each turn because they didn't know what to do. Then the deck buidling aspect was either ignored or focused on too much. I had one player who basically ignored the deck building aspects (who won the game by a long shot) and another player who built a very good and streamlined deck, but came in last place, by a long shot. So as much as it is thematically very fun and the scheming and tactics get complex, the deck building aspect could be discarded or replaced with some other mechanic for moving workers and i think the game would function better. It has the potential to be as fun a Scythe IMO, but the deck distracts from the main game mechanics.
I definitely think I want to read more of doom but I also want to play this I think it would be a lot of fun multiple times. I also love the little water droplets lol
I want to play this game. I know I will like the gameplay. I know I like the theme.
But the board (graphics) looks empty for me. Normally, it's not advisable to inundate the eyes with overwhelming amount of stuff, but for this I want more Dune related art on those empty spaces. The cubes are ok, but the upgrade pack obviously says it could be better.
I agree with your initial view, it feels 5-6 rounds too short
Best game ever