Tom's entitled to his opinion and I love him and his reviews anyway, even if Contagion isn't his cup of tea. You can't please everyone. Contagion was meant to be a light-filler, not intense like it's big brother. Thinking back, when Pandemic first came out, like everyone else, I played the hell of it. While it inspired me to create Contagion, I never dreamed it would actually fall into the Pandemic family. What can I say? I got lucky.
You seemed pretty bitter about Tom's review of your game when you suggested (in the BGG forums) that his review was tainted by "righteous indignation" -- as was his review of Chaos in the Old World. But your assertion was baseless. In his CitOW review he was clearly offended by the theme, and frankly admitted as much. He said the game was very well done, but personally he disliked the theme. But here, in your game, it was not the darkness or evilness of the theme that Tom criticized, but rather the superficiality of it. As he explained in his review, it felt like the Pandemic theme was simply tacked on to capitalize on the success of the Pandemic brand. This was a valid critique considering he did not even feel bad about killing children because it felt like he was just scoring points. In other words, the theme was so shallow that he did not have any emotional reaction to it, let alone righteous indignation.
Thanks very much for your views on the matter. I stand by my previous comment: Tom's entitled to his opinion. Sorry if I said those bitter words. It was a different time. But honestly, I don't remember writing that. Not saying I didn't, but please point me to the post so I can update it. It does sound pretty bitter.
Sorry I was slow getting back to you. I was just now linking the citation for you but it looks like you already found it. I appreciate your response, but now I kinda feel like a jerk for bringing up something from a year ago. Of course, it was new to me since I just stumbled onto it yesterday. (Internet postings kind of have a way of living on forever.) I absolutely agree with your sentiment that you can't please everyone. It's always interesting to me how vastly different people's opinions can be on the same game. (I feel like my family and I are the only people in the world that did not like King of Tokyo.) That's why I really appreciate that the Dice Tower network has a lot of different people doing reviews. If one reviewer loves a game and another dislikes it, I can listen to their explanations and get a better feel for whether I will like it. For example, I noted that while Tom thought the Contagion theme was superficial, other Dice Tower reviewers thought it was very well done. (Personally, I didn't love the original Pandemic enough to try any other Pandemic games or expansions.) My tastes tend to be pretty different from Tom's, but he does a good job explaining his negatives, which helps me decide whether his negatives would detract from my enjoyment of the game.
It just dawned on me. The fact that this game doesn't feel all that much like you're eradicating all humans but instead earning points actually kind of makes thematic sense. The viruses don't exactly have bad intentions, in fact they don't have any intentions at all so of course killing is like earning points, feels dispassionate. The lack of theme actually is the theme. That's kind of brilliant.
I haven't played the game but from the description I have a feeling, that the game principles are not connected to the theme enough to raise the "right" mood. I would add some simple rules that would make it feel more like you are playing a disease. Like if you infect certain continent it would be easier to infect another city on that continent. Or the most spread disease would get more initiative but would be exposed to higher attention from the human kind. The strategy to win this game would really go through initial increase of incubation. Increasing other disease stats should lead to some bonuses or cool new features that would compensate for the low card draw.
Thanks for the review, Tom. It was funny watching you try to get excited about this game... "it was ok, people will enjoy it, it will fade from memory..." etc... Funny.
+Silver Fang So how does it play with 2? Most of my games of this probably WOULD be with 2 since if I have 3-5 players and wanted something a little quicker/lighter than straight Pandemic I would probably grab for The Cure.
+Jonathan Grant Once we knew the rules, an average game lasted about twenty minutes as there are only 12 event cards that will get played in a game. You have to pay attention to the dummy player and block him or he will run away with points. Love the components. Doesn't take up much room on the table. All this being said, Pandemic: The Cure is probably my favorite game of the 200 I own, lol.
Hmmm...dummy player may kill it for me. HATE dummy players, probably my least favorite mechanic. I've been thinking about culling some of my smaller fillers though so I might pick it up after that. Thanks!
My local boardgame shop was unusually busy today when I went to pick up an expansion for Pandemic, got this thinking it was On the Brink for some reason. Oh well, might be fun anyway. Now I just have to somehow tell the wife I bought an entirely new game instead.
The whole time I thought Zee was going to steal Tom's copy at the end. Then when Tom looked off camera at the end I thought here it comes, then roll credits. :(
For fans of plaque inc and smash up..and for the price of 10$..its worth it..not compareable to big games like original pandemic. Good for a quick play..about 30min playtime. Plus its easy to learn..not as komplex as pandemic.
Strangely they have 2 sets that are the same price.96 tokens for $40, and 120 tokens for $40. The only difference is that one set comes with the purple tokens and the other doesn't.
Really unfortunate that it doesn’t have just a tad more gameplay, the basic idea is perfect for a quick & easy 5-player game, but yeah as is it looks extremely luck-based.
They should put that on the box as a quote. "I didn't feel bad that I was killing children, I was just getting points." - Tom Vassel
Tom's entitled to his opinion and I love him and his reviews anyway, even if Contagion isn't his cup of tea. You can't please everyone. Contagion was meant to be a light-filler, not intense like it's big brother. Thinking back, when Pandemic first came out, like everyone else, I played the hell of it. While it inspired me to create Contagion, I never dreamed it would actually fall into the Pandemic family. What can I say? I got lucky.
You seemed pretty bitter about Tom's review of your game when you suggested (in the BGG forums) that his review was tainted by "righteous indignation" -- as was his review of Chaos in the Old World. But your assertion was baseless. In his CitOW review he was clearly offended by the theme, and frankly admitted as much. He said the game was very well done, but personally he disliked the theme.
But here, in your game, it was not the darkness or evilness of the theme that Tom criticized, but rather the superficiality of it. As he explained in his review, it felt like the Pandemic theme was simply tacked on to capitalize on the success of the Pandemic brand. This was a valid critique considering he did not even feel bad about killing children because it felt like he was just scoring points. In other words, the theme was so shallow that he did not have any emotional reaction to it, let alone righteous indignation.
Thanks very much for your views on the matter. I stand by my previous comment: Tom's entitled to his opinion. Sorry if I said those bitter words. It was a different time. But honestly, I don't remember writing that. Not saying I didn't, but please point me to the post so I can update it. It does sound pretty bitter.
Sorry I was slow getting back to you. I was just now linking the citation for you but it looks like you already found it. I appreciate your response, but now I kinda feel like a jerk for bringing up something from a year ago. Of course, it was new to me since I just stumbled onto it yesterday. (Internet postings kind of have a way of living on forever.)
I absolutely agree with your sentiment that you can't please everyone. It's always interesting to me how vastly different people's opinions can be on the same game. (I feel like my family and I are the only people in the world that did not like King of Tokyo.) That's why I really appreciate that the Dice Tower network has a lot of different people doing reviews. If one reviewer loves a game and another dislikes it, I can listen to their explanations and get a better feel for whether I will like it.
For example, I noted that while Tom thought the Contagion theme was superficial, other Dice Tower reviewers thought it was very well done. (Personally, I didn't love the original Pandemic enough to try any other Pandemic games or expansions.) My tastes tend to be pretty different from Tom's, but he does a good job explaining his negatives, which helps me decide whether his negatives would detract from my enjoyment of the game.
for what it's worth I love that there is a card based Pandemic. so thank you :)
It just dawned on me. The fact that this game doesn't feel all that much like you're eradicating all humans but instead earning points actually kind of makes thematic sense. The viruses don't exactly have bad intentions, in fact they don't have any intentions at all so of course killing is like earning points, feels dispassionate. The lack of theme actually is the theme. That's kind of brilliant.
Yeah, that does make a lot of sense.
Yes for small boxes! Most people don't have a gaming room :P
omg that black cube did not properly go in the square hole!
The theme not being emotional has a whole new level after 2020
I haven't played the game but from the description I have a feeling, that the game principles are not connected to the theme enough to raise the "right" mood. I would add some simple rules that would make it feel more like you are playing a disease. Like if you infect certain continent it would be easier to infect another city on that continent. Or the most spread disease would get more initiative but would be exposed to higher attention from the human kind. The strategy to win this game would really go through initial increase of incubation. Increasing other disease stats should lead to some bonuses or cool new features that would compensate for the low card draw.
So basically a light version of Plague Inc. meets Vegas Dice.
Reminds me of Plague Inc app.
basically a stripped down version of it.
Thanks for the review, Tom. It was funny watching you try to get excited about this game... "it was ok, people will enjoy it, it will fade from memory..." etc... Funny.
Placing stuff till the breakpoint of the card? Smash Up? Dragon's Gold?
@8:30"...with two people,...oh my goodness..."
This game looks fun to me, but I only play with my spouse. Should I scratch this one off the list?
+Silver Fang Well. I finally took the chance and bought it, and.... we LOVE it!
+Silver Fang So how does it play with 2?
Most of my games of this probably WOULD be with 2 since if I have 3-5 players and wanted something a little quicker/lighter than straight Pandemic I would probably grab for The Cure.
+Jonathan Grant Once we knew the rules, an average game lasted about twenty minutes as there are only 12 event cards that will get played in a game. You have to pay attention to the dummy player and block him or he will run away with points. Love the components. Doesn't take up much room on the table. All this being said, Pandemic: The Cure is probably my favorite game of the 200 I own, lol.
Hmmm...dummy player may kill it for me. HATE dummy players, probably my least favorite mechanic. I've been thinking about culling some of my smaller fillers though so I might pick it up after that.
Thanks!
My local boardgame shop was unusually busy today when I went to pick up an expansion for Pandemic, got this thinking it was On the Brink for some reason.
Oh well, might be fun anyway. Now I just have to somehow tell the wife I bought an entirely new game instead.
Just got it tonight... family, me included, loves it!
Thanks for the review. I've been waiting for a review of Contagion.
It's clear it's not my cup of tea.
The whole time I thought Zee was going to steal Tom's copy at the end. Then when Tom looked off camera at the end I thought here it comes, then roll credits. :(
What does Zee think?
Probably doesn't matter. The reasons he loves pandemic don't really cross over to this game.
So basically Pandemic: Alhambra?
Tom as Ron Burgundy (San Diago). :)
Haha I was wondering why? Then I heard him say San Diago! Made laugh so hard
LOL exactly
I'm thinking he was saying Santiago, since that was in the original game, but it really does sound like he was saying both of those weirdly.
For fans of plaque inc and smash up..and for the price of 10$..its worth it..not compareable to big games like original pandemic. Good for a quick play..about 30min playtime. Plus its easy to learn..not as komplex as pandemic.
Just distcovered the Litko virus tokens, they're super cool... But freaking expensive! :O
it's 40$ for a token set for Pandemic
Strangely they have 2 sets that are the same price.96 tokens for $40, and 120 tokens for $40. The only difference is that one set comes with the purple tokens and the other doesn't.
Seems like Smash Up.
With cubes!
Jason Sundin boardgamegeek.com/thread/1238889/why-should-i-bother-if-i-have-smash
.
Really unfortunate that it doesn’t have just a tad more gameplay, the basic idea is perfect for a quick & easy 5-player game, but yeah as is it looks extremely luck-based.
Bad Week, Mr. Vasel? lol
8:05 talk about morbidly funny out of context phrases...
“I didn’t feel bad I was killing children, I just was getting points”😂😂
Sooooooo, Pandemic + Smash Up?
Somewhat yeah. You level up, and try to send the most viruses on the most places at the right time.
+abstract+bland artwork+forgettable
"I didn't feel bad that I was killing children." :D
Game play reminds me somewhat of Compounded, from Dice Hate Me Games. But I think this doesn't look as interesting as Compounded.
No mention of Zee for Z-man? Sacrilege!
😬
Not first!
Yeah, the theme really puts me off. Pass. Looking forward to Legacy though!