I'm glad Rahdo addressed the point about technologies not being in the same order we experienced in reality. I think I can be creative imagining a history different from my own.
Thank you for the review, I am super relieved to find out your final thoughts on Tapestry. Over the years most of my collection has been influenced by Rahdo Runs Through, and I guess this game will follow suit!
Alright, alright, I preordered it! ;-) And I added 4 sets of metal mechs for Scythe because I happened to have my birthday yesterday and I thought "Treat yo self!"
With all the hype and praise I feel like I might be the problem here, but I really think like that visually this game mostly looks like unrelated art elements thrown together and most of the board looks like it was made in Windows 95. I don't see great art or graphic design except maybe on some cards? Don't think I can bring myself to get this to my table :/
I love it when the progression of technologies is all out of order, it's one of my favourite things when I play Progress: Evolution of Technology. You build a library and then half an hour later you're like "well, I guess I should research this 'alphabet' thing that everyone is going on about"
would love to hear your thoughts after time/a few more playthroughs (if you ever can get to them between the hundreds of other games you have on your deck).
While I take to heart your recommendation to watch the play through and make my own opinion based off the gameplay, it's fun to see you get so enthusiastic about a game. I could tell 5 mins into your Terraforming Mars runthrough that I'd like it and it's my #2 game, whilst you did not enjoy it ultimately. Tapestry doesn't look like my jam (Through The Ages is my #1 game), but I'm sure a lot of people will love it, and clearly you're one of them. Thanks for doing these runthroughs, they're a great source when deciding if a game is a good fit.
It was great to hear all those insights to how the mechanisms feel. Top 10. Wow. So it's better than 7 Wonders. P.S. Someone somewhere mentioned that today is the official day that the Roman Empire collapsed. It checks out, September 4, 476.
i've played the game a couple times since recording a few weeks ago, and at the moment, it's actually sitting at #14 on my overall ranked list. but i'd love to play it some more to see if it climbs higher :)
they have kind of a slightly soft plastic feel (or very hard rubber, i suppose). they're not very heavy... average big building is around 20 grams, and the tiny little huts are 2 grams :)
i wouldn't recommend it, as i stay away from house rules. but i suspect it would work fine :) another way to go would be to start with a couple extra tap card in hand before the first income turn, so you've got the makings of a more long term strategy you can follow from the beginning. though you'd then have to change the threshhold for the "convert tap cards into points" spaces :)
After watching Tom's review of this, I think a balance is reached for me. This game is not for me, too expensive, thanks to the superflous minis that fit awkwardly on the board, the theme is minimal. I think that discovering time travel in the stone age is too bizarre to be credible, even with the best of imaginations. I do think this is an engine building game, not a civ game or a 4x game. Often times our tastes do not align Rahdo, but it's always great to check your thoughts on a game!
hey calvin, just wanted to say thanks for how you ended the discussion on the other thread! i really appreciate it... you are a stand up dude and i'm glad to still have you as a subscriber! and wow, you actually got 'calvin' as a username! you must have been on YT since day one! :)
Absolutely wonderful review! As I had the distinct pleasure of playtesting this game several dozen times as both a multiplayer game and for Morten's Automa Factory in the solo mode, I was over the moon for this one, and I too love Nations.
Now that it has been two weeks, have you found any balance issues or major/minor glaring issues since the initial Final Thoughts? I watched the Dice Tower review and Tom mentioned that certain civ and tap combos plus certain taps can make the game swingy. How do you feel about that? Thanks for the final thoughts btw!
Potential Top 10 of all time. Right on the cusp. I'm curious if this would even make your top 10 of 2019? If it does, you'd be the first I've seen with all these Best of 19 videos out there.
Way to go my friend, thank you for the final thoughts. At least i hope now the real forum wars about the game stop, and we just way for the game to be released and enjoy it. Of course the real strength of boardgaming is the thousand different tastes in games, and that is what fuels it. thanks!
How does this compare to The Golden Ages? Also what about luck of the draw & the Tapestry cards? How balanced are they? Aren't the "this age" ones almost always better than the one shot ones?
it's been so long since i played golden ages, i'm sorry to say i don't remember it as well. one thing i can say is tap has a lot more variability built in, and it's terrain conquering is more to our tastes. re: tap cards... i've played the game 8 times and haven't found any real balance issues. ALL tap cards are super powerful, and the one shot ones are insane what they can pull off, and they're generally easier to leverage to full effect, while the era ones make you work are to get peak effeciency out of them :)
Still waiting to buy my first Stonemaier game. Mind you, all of their games are impressively designed, strategically pigeon holed (Viticulture = worker placement, Scythe = area control, Charterstone = legacy) and gorgeously produced but a civ game just does not speak to me. I guess I'm still waiting for my exploration/sandbox/story game - so, who knows? Maybe the next project (Sand or Clay as the working title goes?) will be it. In the meantime, have fun 'civing' away!
He has a game in the works, codename "Wild" and he got the idea from the Zelda Breath of the Wild. It's going to be a sandbox exploration type game. I'm not sure about the story part but, maybe.
Hi Rahdo, in the Black Angel final thoughts you shared your impressions on how it compares vs Troyes. I was kind of hoping you would do the same with Nations, since they are both civ games. Could you share some thoughts on Tapestry vs Nations from your perspective? Thanks!
well i only drew parallels between BA and T because they're from the same designers :) nat v tap... tap is faster, has actual map conquering as a big part of the game, has more 'far out' unique player abilities. nat has more 'personality' and is less abstract, provides a "bigger" experience
i talked with jamey (designer) and he felt that we wouldn't enjoy it because of the (very light) player vs player mech suit stuff. so i'll probably never give it a go BUT there is a good chance it will still appear on my channel this year in runthrough form
I actually was so afraid to buy this game. I heard so many bad reviews. In the end your review one me over. I played it and i love it. I feel like i am building a civ. Are there games that feel more like building a civ probably but this was enough for me to enjoy it. Is it unbalanced.... i don't care its fun.... is it over produced... maybe but i don't care its fun! Thanks for your reviews you have convinced me on a few games i love
I too was afraid. Not because of all the negativity in terms of it not being a true civ game, but instead I was intimidated by this games overall presence. After getting it, and finally playing it, I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it.
Rahdo, I heard that in this game, one player's game could end at a different time (before or after) other players - causing the faster players to have to wait around to see if they win. This is because each player could be in a different "era" or stage of the game. I was wondering whether you experienced this, and if so, whether this was an issue for you (or even if you do not mind / even like that aspect of this game). What are your thoughts about playing in different eras of the game? Thanks.
it's true that players won't end at the same time, but one player might get a turn or two more. but it all comes out in the wash. if you play more turns than me, it means you collected more resources to keep going longer, but probably fewer points along the way. we didn't see in our games that someone who finished sooner or later had an implicit advantage. it all evens out :)
How do you feel about the tapestry cards being very situational? I have implemented a row of cards to choose from and sometimes draw 2 pick one. Any thoughts?
the game gives you many chances to get cards, i haven't had a problem with it. but yeah, i don't think there's anything wrong with draw 2/pick 1, or have the top few on display so you don't draw blind, if one wants :)
yes, i've only played it solo and 2p, and the 2p 'shadow kingdom' does a great job of replicating the pressure you'd see from a third player following their own agenda, without being burdensome during play :)
I agree. If the entire point was to prevent opinions before having played the game thoroughly, Richard had already recorded final thoughts beforehand and was just sitting on them until after the embargo was up. What is to say that the other reviewers did not do exactly the same thing???
@@rahdo I know how you feel. Me and my spouse's taste in games are really close to yours and Gen's. She (my spouse) doesn't like to much "take that" in games, especially while playing directly against me. We prefer coop or "friendly" competitive games. That said, Sid Meyer's Civ the board game battles can be brutal and utterly devastating. You can lose as much as an entire city which you invested turns building up, ripping a full, extremely useful action off of your hands (one action per city) which makes you fall behind others, making it very difficult to catch up, and the game is basically a race. She got angry once because i blew up one of her cities though i didn't really had to, but it was left unprotected; she had few unit cards since she doesn't have a militaristic play style (i do). Since then, we don't play that game as much anymore, FFG's Civ - A New Dawn - was a bit of a bust for us and our friends (snowballs too much), so Tapestry might be the answer to our severe Civ game itch. It looks amazing. Thanks for your great review!
@@catwizard545 Tell me more! What do you mean that Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn "snowballs too much"? I am trying to decide between Civ: A New Dawn and Tapestry. I just got the epic 2010 Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game, but am looking for an alternative which I can play in around 2 hours. Is there a place for both Tapestry and Civ: A New Dawn? Thanks.
@@JJ_TheGreat New Dawn features an interesting system which allows one to "charge" his actions up to a certain strength (1 to 5), then execute the action. The longer you wait to use it, the more efficient it'll be. With the tech action, it allows you to research multiple technologies all at once, which basically means to upgrade your 5 action cards; if you wait for a stronger action, add other bonuses from resources, wonders and so on, it allows a player to jump from stone spears to hypersonic missiles in one single turn (!!), causing your opponent to not being able to react fast enough and suffocate under your sudden boost in superiority, hence the snowball effect. This is more apparent when playing with only two, so i would recommend 3 or 4 players so someone in the middle can change the balance. My friend who enjoys conflicts in games found it a bit frustrating and unfair, so we looked at the rule book to make sure we weren't cheating. You could easily house rule it so you can't jump to more than one or two tech steps in one turn, but we never tried it. I feel like Tapestry has a less drastic rise in superiority in tech so others catch catch up more easily. That said, New Dawn is a good Civ game, the actions "charging" system is cool, first to 3 objectives makes it fast, fully modular map, nice wonders, etc., but i can't really compare since i haven't played Tapestry yet. Perhaps i should give New Dawn another try before this gem gets delivered =) Hope this helps.
I've seen some reviewers mention that certain tracks are better than others and are just necessary. This seems to be a euphemism for unbalanced, did you find this at all?
i haven't seen that. which vids and i'll check them out to see if i agree. i've played the game 8 times, and i don't think any track is implicitly better than any other, but some can be situationally better than others depending on what your civ and tapestry cards say...
@@jerryboy0422 ah yes i see. i did watch their video but thought it was more about "skilled players will destroy novice players". one thing to bear in mind, over at MVM, jeremy is a super experienced civ gamer, and i think no one else has much experience at all. so he might have run roughshod over them, maybe informing their perspective. in spite of my constant whining about jen always beating me, we are actually fairly well matched opponents, so we haven't seen the problem :)
@@rahdo my fear is it might be a game where it seems balanced till a dominant strategy emerges, or a dominant set of tech, and then the game becomes flat. Seems MvM didn't take long to find that out
@@Vascariz doesn't that imply that maybe because they almost immediately discovered a potential fault with the game in the space of a couple weeks which literally thousands of hours of testing didn't reveal, that maybe their limited exposure to the game is less definitive? considering that when most games come out, there's always concerns about strategy X or Y or Z being overpowered, which ultimately turn out to be unfounded, my bet is that Tapestry is probably fairly well balanced. of course, i can only speak to my own experience here, but that experience includes seeing this drama play out over and over and over (including with scythe, wingspan and probably viticulture and euphoria as well) :)
I too have my own Jen and we are care-bears, maybe a little more than you two :) Any game that is taking or in rare cases blocking isnt something we enjoy. Everything about this game is great but still so skeptical about conquering someones tile. It just seems like a big finger to your opponent. Is this a game you can ignore conquering completely and still enjoy its full worth? Or will you find yourself later at end of game behind and feeling like you need to break your treaty to catch up?
yes, i've only played it solo and 2p, and the 2p 'shadow kingdom' does a great job of replicating the pressure you'd see from a third player following their own agenda, without being burdensome during play :)
Rahdo, with the way you talk about warfare here you really should play Scythe, just once. Trust Jamey! Especially with the Rise of Fenris expansion, with its excellent campaign, perfectly fine co-op mode, and completely customizable objectives area that can totally deprioritize combat if you need to.
Terraforming Mars is over the top escalation. I don't think there is an engine building game that has a better progression system than that. Doubt this game will top that.
As i watch this, I wonder if you might actually enjoy Scythe. The game lends itself quite well to that euro kind of gameplay in a way that you might enjoy. Even if it was just more for in a similar manner in which you reviewed Root, which I assume was more for you to take a look at something from the hotness then it being something you thought you'd keep in your collection. This game looks pretty great though! I only wonder about how that little capital building mini-game will hold up over multiple plays. I've read that it doesn't really integrate that well strategically (at least in combination with the other mechanisms of the game that you'll generally want to be doing)
i'd disagree with that. getting extra resources is the most important thing you can do in the game because it means extra turns, and it lets you choose what resources you get, unlike most other income forms. and i've had games where i've scores over a 1/3rd of my total points in the end, due to completed rows and columns.
@@rahdo aha! I'm wondering if I might've just had a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game works. Maybe it was just the significance of the rows/columns filling mechanic that was in question? Great videos though! I'm liking all the spiffy little effects that you're employing (the card close ups are nice!)
@@anjovimusic yeah, it's definiltey something that players can underestimate (how powerful getting extra resources is, and how many points can be scored with the right combination of techs/tapestries and the capital). this is definitely a game that rewards more and more plays :)
Do you think that with the actions on the 4 different tracks being on a pre-established order breaks replayability or conditions your strategy in a negative way?
nope. one of the greatest strengths of the game is the fact that you almost always end up pivoting from your original plans because of the new tapestry cards that become available over the course of the game, and that's one of the things we love most about the game.
*watches first 3 minutes* Ok I'm sold! *adds on Essen list* *will be first stand to go to* Listening to him it sounds like this is the holy grail of boardgames Oo
Excellent review Rahdo. Jamey Stegmaier is clearly one of the greatest boardgame designers of our time. Tapestry looks great but I am currently turned off big games with big price tags and long play times. Im drawn more to small box card games that last about 20- 60 minutes and cost no more than $25.
You know what? I like and agree on the point about contextualizing the technologies one develops to the age they are in, but, at the same time, I think that the art on the cards works against that concept. I get the example about the glasses meaning "vision enhancement" in a wider sense, but the card's art still only shows an old, boring pair of glasses; I mean: for me, they could've gone with more ambitious illustrations where, keeping the same example, spectacles are shown on a side/corner and, say, an AR visor is shown on the other, with a dinamic background hinting the correlation/derivation/evolution of one from the other.
LoL. Rahdo is selling me an opinion he loves... that must be a first. Seriously, I liked Viticulture solo, although it was way too easy to beat and it will all depend on the solo mechanics...
I'm probably getting the game anyway, and good for you that you love it, but I'm still not sold on that technology thing, and the "you can imagine" thing is ... well, weak as hell. I can imagine a lot of things - my imagination is not part of the game design. And as it is, it is jarring to be "discovering oil" in ancient times or eyeglasses in the future. I know that it fits what they are going for - as usual, their games are kinda exploring a design space that is half abstract euro half more "simulation" stuff, and I really cant fault them for that, is their trademark at this point and an interesting choice... but still here it rubs me the wrong way, because it ends making things too abstract (you researched something, get the benefit). Anyway, still looks very interesting. Which means I probably should start saving money :P
well, having played it a bit more over the weeks since i filmed this, i ultimately ended up putting it at #14 on my overall ranked list, so in the end, it didn't *quite* make top10 of all time, but top14 is still pretty good :)
Great to know that you enjoyed this game! Maybe it will inspire you to give another of Jamey’s games, Scythe, another try :-) Originally, because of the miniatures, I had thought that was a wargame, but it is actually a resource generation game - and although it has fights, imo, the game kind of discourages too much aggressive fighting because both players could end up losing their resources. Have you tried it?
Cool, thanks. I somehow missed that video. I didn’t see you mention if you actually use the adjustments or not though. You just say they are there and you appreciated them including them.
@@greglott4977 ah, i havne't retroactively tried the adjustments, because when we got the expansion we used those civs. but if i had more of a chance to play the game, i would certainly use the updated tweaks :)
There are evangelical Christians who believe in creation & and an OLD earth so 20,000 years ago is nothing. How do you know Tom V. Isn’t an old earth creationist? 😀
The ratings are weighted towards a mediocre value - effectively every game has a few thousand votes at around 5.0 (They haven't openly stated the exact rules). There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly so that games with one rating at 10 aren't ranked as the best game ever. And secondly, to mitigate some users trying to game rankings, which used to happen far more - and far more effectively - than it does now.
isaac beat me to the punch. i would just add that you'll need to wait a year or so for the game to normalize after hundreds or thousands of users have rated it, to offset the thousands of "invisible" votes it already has.
Rahdo Civilization game where radio technology appears in Age 1 from 5 while fire can be discovered in Age 5, where territory explorations and fights are static puzzles and make no thematic sense - they are not natural, also science is just dice rolling where move on tracks - theme!? Not to mention those houses have zero theme integrated and minigame with capital city is just score engine puzzle... I do not see much theme in this game...
re: radios in ancient egypt: see 8:54 in this very video explore, find resources. fight, claim territory. just because the game doesn't go into hyper detail (because that detail is lost against the tapestry of human history) doesn't mean the basics aren't there. the pursuit of science leading to unexpected discoveries = the story of scientific breakthroughs throughout human history. very thematic, not sure how you can say otherwise. the capital is an abstraction of the development of an entire civilization, not a representation of one specific city. the individual buildings represent progression in the status and prosperity of the society. also, 'i do not see much theme' ≠ and abstract game. if you see some theme, which you do by your own words, then it's not an abstract (/end pedantic mode) :)
@@rahdo I say Tapestry is strategy euro-style game with pasted on civilization theme and in no way it is civilization game, I hate that misleading title. I told my arguments, there are no way radio is invented before civilization learned how to ignite fire (!?) or collect some random Tapestry cards, which I still hardly see any theme at all... Yes, it is euro game, yes, it has pasted on theme, but I just find subtitle "Civilization game" kinda misleading... It is a good game still!
@@JesusIsTruthAndWayAndLife indeed, radios were not invented in the era of antiquities, as i explained in the video itself :) the game doesn't claim this. glad you like it though. to me, it's 100% a civilization game because it's a gamewhere i build and direct the advancement of a civilization over multiple eras, exploring expanding exploiting and even exterminating occasionally. ymmv, hopefully the runthrough makes clear exactly what the game feels like to play :)
I can't remember the last time I've played a game so unbalanced. Look, it's fun to play, but balance in this game is over the roof. Futurist for example is so broken Civ, ability to jump to level 4 is beyond powerful. I just can't believe that he likes Tapestry and Black Angel. I think he got money from developers to say that :D
@@rahdo Dont worry, you just play and like what you want. I learned so much about board games from you and learned to play games because of you without reading rulebooks. So....yeah. Not all heroes wears capes ;)
"This is potential top ten of all time..." -- file under 'words that will haunt you'? Rahdo, wouldn't it feel so much better to just be 100% honest all the time? Free yourself!
different strokes. if folks are really on the fence, i'd suggest they listen to neither of us and wait a few months until the ratings stabilize on bgg :) that said, flynryan is cray cray! :)
rahdo I totally agree. I can see why this game is not for everyone, but to me, it is so fulfilling and rich. I think the rating on BGG will eventually reflect what a great game this is. It’s really polarizing right now, mostly because people want to show they aren’t “falling into the hype” (even if they haven’t even played it). But I’m a believer :P
stonemaier does not pay for review content, and i don't accept payment for anything other than kickstarter previews, so the answer to your question is zero.
Did you have to buy the game or was it sent or you to keep so you could review it? I don’t care either way, I trust your playthroughs and genuine reactions, my favorite reviewer by far, I’m just curious.
@@gambit82283 do you believe it would matter at all if he kept the game "free" or not? Any idea how long it takes to make a game review like this? The most unethical person in the world wouldn't take you up on that horrible value proposition.
No, it’s doesn’t matter for the review, as I stated, I trust Rahdo’s reviews wholeheartedly and always have, I was simply curious, and made no proposition of any kind. I think you decided to read into my comment something that was literally not even close to what I had posted.
This makes the BGG satire thread speculating "Rahdo Hated Tapestry?" based on your pained expressions from the embargo video even funnier.
Shannon Berry I’m not sure to what you refer (embargo video)
I'm glad Rahdo addressed the point about technologies not being in the same order we experienced in reality. I think I can be creative imagining a history different from my own.
Thank you for the review, I am super relieved to find out your final thoughts on Tapestry. Over the years most of my collection has been influenced by Rahdo Runs Through, and I guess this game will follow suit!
Alright, alright, I preordered it! ;-) And I added 4 sets of metal mechs for Scythe because I happened to have my birthday yesterday and I thought "Treat yo self!"
Happy Birffday! I said GOODDAY SIR!!
My fun $ was spent and I wasn't going to buy Tapestry. I shouldn't have watched this.
This is a great summary, Radho. You know what you're talking about, and I value your comments. Thank you.
I found myself checking if the video was at 1.25x speed 2 times. That's real enthusiasm!
i always watch at 2x
You had me at hello.
it's "hey" tho :D
When playing solo and during the bot's income turn their favorite changes. Does the civilization card on the income mat changes also?
civ card in the income mat? you mean the player's civilizations?
@@rahdo yes but for the automa
oh those. nope they dont change
With all the hype and praise I feel like I might be the problem here, but I really think like that visually this game mostly looks like unrelated art elements thrown together and most of the board looks like it was made in Windows 95. I don't see great art or graphic design except maybe on some cards? Don't think I can bring myself to get this to my table :/
And the models looks like cake decorations :)
Yes artwork sucks .... come on totally awful
I think the art work looks fine. On the cards etc. But I don't like the big buildings. Looks like something made by clay of some kid.
I love it when the progression of technologies is all out of order, it's one of my favourite things when I play Progress: Evolution of Technology. You build a library and then half an hour later you're like "well, I guess I should research this 'alphabet' thing that everyone is going on about"
abc, easy as 123
would love to hear your thoughts after time/a few more playthroughs (if you ever can get to them between the hundreds of other games you have on your deck).
While I take to heart your recommendation to watch the play through and make my own opinion based off the gameplay, it's fun to see you get so enthusiastic about a game. I could tell 5 mins into your Terraforming Mars runthrough that I'd like it and it's my #2 game, whilst you did not enjoy it ultimately. Tapestry doesn't look like my jam (Through The Ages is my #1 game), but I'm sure a lot of people will love it, and clearly you're one of them. Thanks for doing these runthroughs, they're a great source when deciding if a game is a good fit.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Pre ordered and can’t wait to play it.
It was great to hear all those insights to how the mechanisms feel. Top 10. Wow. So it's better than 7 Wonders.
P.S. Someone somewhere mentioned that today is the official day that the Roman Empire collapsed. It checks out, September 4, 476.
i've played the game a couple times since recording a few weeks ago, and at the moment, it's actually sitting at #14 on my overall ranked list. but i'd love to play it some more to see if it climbs higher :)
Never had a game with minis, what do they feel like? What about the income buildings? Are they very light
they have kind of a slightly soft plastic feel (or very hard rubber, i suppose). they're not very heavy... average big building is around 20 grams, and the tiny little huts are 2 grams :)
I was hesitantly optimistic after the run through now I am truly giddy about this game.
Would you reccomend playing with the pick two choose one varient for every time someone draws Tapestry cards for a less random game?
i wouldn't recommend it, as i stay away from house rules. but i suspect it would work fine :)
another way to go would be to start with a couple extra tap card in hand before the first income turn, so you've got the makings of a more long term strategy you can follow from the beginning. though you'd then have to change the threshhold for the "convert tap cards into points" spaces :)
After watching Tom's review of this, I think a balance is reached for me.
This game is not for me, too expensive, thanks to the superflous minis that fit awkwardly on the board, the theme is minimal. I think that discovering time travel in the stone age is too bizarre to be credible, even with the best of imaginations.
I do think this is an engine building game, not a civ game or a 4x game.
Often times our tastes do not align Rahdo, but it's always great to check your thoughts on a game!
Great.... (digs into every cushion to find enough extra money to buy something i wasn't planning on)
hey calvin, just wanted to say thanks for how you ended the discussion on the other thread! i really appreciate it... you are a stand up dude and i'm glad to still have you as a subscriber! and wow, you actually got 'calvin' as a username! you must have been on YT since day one! :)
Thanks for the great review! Looking forward to playing it!
If you do wanna get into a bit of “rock’em, sock’em”... I love the way you bring across your feelings. Please keep it up! 🤩
Absolutely wonderful review! As I had the distinct pleasure of playtesting this game several dozen times as both a multiplayer game and for Morten's Automa Factory in the solo mode, I was over the moon for this one, and I too love Nations.
Now that it has been two weeks, have you found any balance issues or major/minor glaring issues since the initial Final Thoughts? I watched the Dice Tower review and Tom mentioned that certain civ and tap combos plus certain taps can make the game swingy. How do you feel about that? Thanks for the final thoughts btw!
www.boardgamegeek.com/video/229824?commentid=9045027#comment9045027 :)
@@rahdo duly noted! Thanks!
Your videos are great! Love your work
Potential Top 10 of all time. Right on the cusp. I'm curious if this would even make your top 10 of 2019? If it does, you'd be the first I've seen with all these Best of 19 videos out there.
ua-cam.com/video/EwnyjonNDI0/v-deo.html :)
Way to go my friend, thank you for the final thoughts. At least i hope now the real forum wars about the game stop, and we just way for the game to be released and enjoy it. Of course the real strength of boardgaming is the thousand different tastes in games, and that is what fuels it.
thanks!
Great Review!
So you loved the game!
Preordered, can’t wait!
How does this compare to The Golden Ages?
Also what about luck of the draw & the Tapestry cards?
How balanced are they?
Aren't the "this age" ones almost always better than the one shot ones?
it's been so long since i played golden ages, i'm sorry to say i don't remember it as well. one thing i can say is tap has a lot more variability built in, and it's terrain conquering is more to our tastes.
re: tap cards... i've played the game 8 times and haven't found any real balance issues. ALL tap cards are super powerful, and the one shot ones are insane what they can pull off, and they're generally easier to leverage to full effect, while the era ones make you work are to get peak effeciency out of them :)
Still waiting to buy my first Stonemaier game. Mind you, all of their games are impressively designed, strategically pigeon holed (Viticulture = worker placement, Scythe = area control, Charterstone = legacy) and gorgeously produced but a civ game just does not speak to me. I guess I'm still waiting for my exploration/sandbox/story game - so, who knows? Maybe the next project (Sand or Clay as the working title goes?) will be it. In the meantime, have fun 'civing' away!
He has a game in the works, codename "Wild" and he got the idea from the Zelda Breath of the Wild. It's going to be a sandbox exploration type game. I'm not sure about the story part but, maybe.
@@kylek7668 Ah, that's the one I meant. Yeah, I'll keep my beady little adventuring eyes peeled for that one. Thanks!
Looks super fun and was definitely on board till I saw the price tag. Would love a less deluxe version option.
Hi Rahdo, in the Black Angel final thoughts you shared your impressions on how it compares vs Troyes. I was kind of hoping you would do the same with Nations, since they are both civ games. Could you share some thoughts on Tapestry vs Nations from your perspective? Thanks!
well i only drew parallels between BA and T because they're from the same designers :)
nat v tap... tap is faster, has actual map conquering as a big part of the game, has more 'far out' unique player abilities. nat has more 'personality' and is less abstract, provides a "bigger" experience
Awesome review!
PS: But does anyone knows why Rahdo never reviews Scythe?
i talked with jamey (designer) and he felt that we wouldn't enjoy it because of the (very light) player vs player mech suit stuff. so i'll probably never give it a go BUT there is a good chance it will still appear on my channel this year in runthrough form
@@rahdo looking forward to it! Thanks for the reply.
I actually was so afraid to buy this game. I heard so many bad reviews. In the end your review one me over. I played it and i love it. I feel like i am building a civ. Are there games that feel more like building a civ probably but this was enough for me to enjoy it. Is it unbalanced.... i don't care its fun.... is it over produced... maybe but i don't care its fun!
Thanks for your reviews you have convinced me on a few games i love
I too was afraid. Not because of all the negativity in terms of it not being a true civ game, but instead I was intimidated by this games overall presence. After getting it, and finally playing it, I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it.
did you play tsukuyumi? ?
nope have not played that one
Rahdo, I heard that in this game, one player's game could end at a different time (before or after) other players - causing the faster players to have to wait around to see if they win. This is because each player could be in a different "era" or stage of the game.
I was wondering whether you experienced this, and if so, whether this was an issue for you (or even if you do not mind / even like that aspect of this game). What are your thoughts about playing in different eras of the game?
Thanks.
it's true that players won't end at the same time, but one player might get a turn or two more. but it all comes out in the wash. if you play more turns than me, it means you collected more resources to keep going longer, but probably fewer points along the way. we didn't see in our games that someone who finished sooner or later had an implicit advantage. it all evens out :)
I wonder how “Monumental” will compare once the KS ships?
How do you feel about the tapestry cards being very situational? I have implemented a row of cards to choose from and sometimes draw 2 pick one. Any thoughts?
the game gives you many chances to get cards, i haven't had a problem with it. but yeah, i don't think there's anything wrong with draw 2/pick 1, or have the top few on display so you don't draw blind, if one wants :)
Most 4x games don't really work well 2 player, so you support this as a 2 player experience?
yes, i've only played it solo and 2p, and the 2p 'shadow kingdom' does a great job of replicating the pressure you'd see from a third player following their own agenda, without being burdensome during play :)
Rahdo 8
Where can I found your top ten of all time anyway? Love your reviews!
ranked.rahdo.com
Still not sold on it. Still hoping I'm wrong though.
Depth vs. rules length ... nothing beats SHOBU.
Great review Rahdo, made a subscriber out of me. Ours is comingin shortly. I'm excited for another good streamlined civ game. Thanks brother.
They may regret not letting you give your final thoughts before ... :)
I agree. If the entire point was to prevent opinions before having played the game thoroughly, Richard had already recorded final thoughts beforehand and was just sitting on them until after the embargo was up. What is to say that the other reviewers did not do exactly the same thing???
Did you ever played Sid Meyers Civ the Board Game?
nope, too much warfare for our tastes
@@rahdo Would you compare the warfare/interaction of Tapestry with games like Dominion?
@@rahdo I know how you feel. Me and my spouse's taste in games are really close to yours and Gen's. She (my spouse) doesn't like to much "take that" in games, especially while playing directly against me. We prefer coop or "friendly" competitive games. That said, Sid Meyer's Civ the board game battles can be brutal and utterly devastating. You can lose as much as an entire city which you invested turns building up, ripping a full, extremely useful action off of your hands (one action per city) which makes you fall behind others, making it very difficult to catch up, and the game is basically a race. She got angry once because i blew up one of her cities though i didn't really had to, but it was left unprotected; she had few unit cards since she doesn't have a militaristic play style (i do). Since then, we don't play that game as much anymore, FFG's Civ - A New Dawn - was a bit of a bust for us and our friends (snowballs too much), so Tapestry might be the answer to our severe Civ game itch. It looks amazing. Thanks for your great review!
@@catwizard545 Tell me more! What do you mean that Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn "snowballs too much"? I am trying to decide between Civ: A New Dawn and Tapestry. I just got the epic 2010 Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game, but am looking for an alternative which I can play in around 2 hours. Is there a place for both Tapestry and Civ: A New Dawn?
Thanks.
@@JJ_TheGreat New Dawn features an interesting system which allows one to "charge" his actions up to a certain strength (1 to 5), then execute the action. The longer you wait to use it, the more efficient it'll be. With the tech action, it allows you to research multiple technologies all at once, which basically means to upgrade your 5 action cards; if you wait for a stronger action, add other bonuses from resources, wonders and so on, it allows a player to jump from stone spears to hypersonic missiles in one single turn (!!), causing your opponent to not being able to react fast enough and suffocate under your sudden boost in superiority, hence the snowball effect. This is more apparent when playing with only two, so i would recommend 3 or 4 players so someone in the middle can change the balance. My friend who enjoys conflicts in games found it a bit frustrating and unfair, so we looked at the rule book to make sure we weren't cheating. You could easily house rule it so you can't jump to more than one or two tech steps in one turn, but we never tried it. I feel like Tapestry has a less drastic rise in superiority in tech so others catch catch up more easily. That said, New Dawn is a good Civ game, the actions "charging" system is cool, first to 3 objectives makes it fast, fully modular map, nice wonders, etc., but i can't really compare since i haven't played Tapestry yet. Perhaps i should give New Dawn another try before this gem gets delivered =)
Hope this helps.
I wonder how Jen in the other room has listened to Richard for years of filming his reviews. LOL
matthlowder 😂
I've seen some reviewers mention that certain tracks are better than others and are just necessary. This seems to be a euphemism for unbalanced, did you find this at all?
i haven't seen that. which vids and i'll check them out to see if i agree.
i've played the game 8 times, and i don't think any track is implicitly better than any other, but some can be situationally better than others depending on what your civ and tapestry cards say...
@@jerryboy0422 ah yes i see. i did watch their video but thought it was more about "skilled players will destroy novice players". one thing to bear in mind, over at MVM, jeremy is a super experienced civ gamer, and i think no one else has much experience at all. so he might have run roughshod over them, maybe informing their perspective.
in spite of my constant whining about jen always beating me, we are actually fairly well matched opponents, so we haven't seen the problem :)
@@rahdo my fear is it might be a game where it seems balanced till a dominant strategy emerges, or a dominant set of tech, and then the game becomes flat. Seems MvM didn't take long to find that out
@@Vascariz doesn't that imply that maybe because they almost immediately discovered a potential fault with the game in the space of a couple weeks which literally thousands of hours of testing didn't reveal, that maybe their limited exposure to the game is less definitive? considering that when most games come out, there's always concerns about strategy X or Y or Z being overpowered, which ultimately turn out to be unfounded, my bet is that Tapestry is probably fairly well balanced. of course, i can only speak to my own experience here, but that experience includes seeing this drama play out over and over and over (including with scythe, wingspan and probably viticulture and euphoria as well) :)
@@rahdo fair call! Just my observation from reviews on UA-cam, still keen to try it myself
I too have my own Jen and we are care-bears, maybe a little more than you two :) Any game that is taking or in rare cases blocking isnt something we enjoy. Everything about this game is great but still so skeptical about conquering someones tile. It just seems like a big finger to your opponent. Is this a game you can ignore conquering completely and still enjoy its full worth? Or will you find yourself later at end of game behind and feeling like you need to break your treaty to catch up?
So, I am assuming it, because we know you, but it plays quite well at the 2p count then? That is always a concern with civilization games.
yes, i've only played it solo and 2p, and the 2p 'shadow kingdom' does a great job of replicating the pressure you'd see from a third player following their own agenda, without being burdensome during play :)
Rahdo, with the way you talk about warfare here you really should play Scythe, just once. Trust Jamey! Especially with the Rise of Fenris expansion, with its excellent campaign, perfectly fine co-op mode, and completely customizable objectives area that can totally deprioritize combat if you need to.
i do trust jamey, who recommended that scythe probably wouldn't be for us :)
Terraforming Mars is over the top escalation. I don't think there is an engine building game that has a better progression system than that. Doubt this game will top that.
I have this waiting for me for Christmas. I'm wondering where this game stands for you now, a year after your praises for it?
here's me talking about it again a few months ago: ua-cam.com/video/6JrxBTck3JY/v-deo.html :)
Why is this game not rated high on the BBG? Another game on my list
How long does it go for?
2p is probably just under 90 minutes once you know it. 60 minutes if you're fast players :)
Cheers 🍻
As i watch this, I wonder if you might actually enjoy Scythe. The game lends itself quite well to that euro kind of gameplay in a way that you might enjoy. Even if it was just more for in a similar manner in which you reviewed Root, which I assume was more for you to take a look at something from the hotness then it being something you thought you'd keep in your collection.
This game looks pretty great though! I only wonder about how that little capital building mini-game will hold up over multiple plays. I've read that it doesn't really integrate that well strategically (at least in combination with the other mechanisms of the game that you'll generally want to be doing)
i'd disagree with that. getting extra resources is the most important thing you can do in the game because it means extra turns, and it lets you choose what resources you get, unlike most other income forms. and i've had games where i've scores over a 1/3rd of my total points in the end, due to completed rows and columns.
@@rahdo aha! I'm wondering if I might've just had a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game works.
Maybe it was just the significance of the rows/columns filling mechanic that was in question?
Great videos though! I'm liking all the spiffy little effects that you're employing (the card close ups are nice!)
@@anjovimusic yeah, it's definiltey something that players can underestimate (how powerful getting extra resources is, and how many points can be scored with the right combination of techs/tapestries and the capital). this is definitely a game that rewards more and more plays :)
The sped up version of this review did not in any way convey what your final thoughts were. Well done! And you had me at "Hey Everbody"
How is this game with 5 players?
i can't say... only played it solo and with 2
Do you think that with the actions on the 4 different tracks being on a pre-established order breaks replayability or conditions your strategy in a negative way?
nope. one of the greatest strengths of the game is the fact that you almost always end up pivoting from your original plans because of the new tapestry cards that become available over the course of the game, and that's one of the things we love most about the game.
*watches first 3 minutes* Ok I'm sold! *adds on Essen list* *will be first stand to go to*
Listening to him it sounds like this is the holy grail of boardgames Oo
Impressive!
very nice!
Excellent review Rahdo. Jamey Stegmaier is clearly one of the greatest boardgame designers of our time. Tapestry looks great but I am currently turned off big games with big price tags and long play times. Im drawn more to small box card games that last about 20- 60 minutes and cost no more than $25.
While the price is steep . If I recall man vs Meeple said in their review this game plays in 60 min
You know what? I like and agree on the point about contextualizing the technologies one develops to the age they are in, but, at the same time, I think that the art on the cards works against that concept.
I get the example about the glasses meaning "vision enhancement" in a wider sense, but the card's art still only shows an old, boring pair of glasses; I mean: for me, they could've gone with more ambitious illustrations where, keeping the same example, spectacles are shown on a side/corner and, say, an AR visor is shown on the other, with a dinamic background hinting the correlation/derivation/evolution of one from the other.
that would have been a good way to head off this complaint, to be sure :)
Jeez Rahdo, get a room!
14:09
Rolling for victory points though?
Suspicious.
is this true?
nope, you roll two dice. one provides variable vp, the other provides different resources. pick one die.
It’s a real well design game but I don’t feel “the journey” at all unfortunately. The theme did not come out for us but the game is fun.
LoL. Rahdo is selling me an opinion he loves... that must be a first.
Seriously, I liked Viticulture solo, although it was way too easy to beat and it will all depend on the solo mechanics...
Still in top 10?
you can find my top 10 for every year going back over a decade at top.rahdo.com (and yes, it's #3 for 2019) :)
I'm probably getting the game anyway, and good for you that you love it, but I'm still not sold on that technology thing, and the "you can imagine" thing is ... well, weak as hell. I can imagine a lot of things - my imagination is not part of the game design. And as it is, it is jarring to be "discovering oil" in ancient times or eyeglasses in the future. I know that it fits what they are going for - as usual, their games are kinda exploring a design space that is half abstract euro half more "simulation" stuff, and I really cant fault them for that, is their trademark at this point and an interesting choice... but still here it rubs me the wrong way, because it ends making things too abstract (you researched something, get the benefit).
Anyway, still looks very interesting. Which means I probably should start saving money :P
Jamey Stegmaier is a genius.
told you I could lip read ;)
Somebody get Rahdo a towel....
Soooooo? Did you like it? (Lol).. jk.. I'm glad you liked it! I cant wait to get my copy to try it out!
So tell us how you really feel.
well, having played it a bit more over the weeks since i filmed this, i ultimately ended up putting it at #14 on my overall ranked list, so in the end, it didn't *quite* make top10 of all time, but top14 is still pretty good :)
@@rahdo what it your current top 10?
@@FernandoCanoG ranked.rahdo.com
@@rahdo it has dropped significantly on your list. What is it you ultimately didn't like as much as you thought at time of filming?
Great to know that you enjoyed this game! Maybe it will inspire you to give another of Jamey’s games, Scythe, another try :-) Originally, because of the miniatures, I had thought that was a wargame, but it is actually a resource generation game - and although it has fights, imo, the game kind of discourages too much aggressive fighting because both players could end up losing their resources. Have you tried it?
I would love to hear how you feel about the game today?
still love it. played with the expansion a few months ago and continued to love it :)
Awesome! Whatre your thoughts on the civilization changes? Do you use them? Or play as you originally did? I’ve heard some say they are unnecessary.
@@greglott4977 i talked about the expansion a bit in this video: ua-cam.com/video/6JrxBTck3JY/v-deo.html :)
Cool, thanks. I somehow missed that video. I didn’t see you mention if you actually use the adjustments or not though. You just say they are there and you appreciated them including them.
@@greglott4977 ah, i havne't retroactively tried the adjustments, because when we got the expansion we used those civs. but if i had more of a chance to play the game, i would certainly use the updated tweaks :)
I couldn't tell, did Rahdo like this game?
"Mikey Likes It" … surprise, surprise (-:
Now look what you did! Bought 🙄
Yes, but did Rahdo like it? 😉
Just moving on 4 different tracks doesent seem all that intresting.
Wow
“20,000 years ago”, phrases you will not hear in the dice tower review...
toddhunter123 .... ‘Cause they’re all creationists?
There are evangelical Christians who believe in creation & and an OLD earth so 20,000 years ago is nothing. How do you know Tom V. Isn’t an old earth creationist? 😀
@@quibily Are they actually?
wow
It has a 6.3 rating on BGG as of now hmmmm...
The ratings are weighted towards a mediocre value - effectively every game has a few thousand votes at around 5.0 (They haven't openly stated the exact rules). There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly so that games with one rating at 10 aren't ranked as the best game ever. And secondly, to mitigate some users trying to game rankings, which used to happen far more - and far more effectively - than it does now.
isaac beat me to the punch. i would just add that you'll need to wait a year or so for the game to normalize after hundreds or thousands of users have rated it, to offset the thousands of "invisible" votes it already has.
People are spamming 1's bcz drama
I played this game, I highly disagree that this is civilization or 4x game. This is abstract game, almost nothing makes any thematic sense there!
nope, go or qwirkle are abstract games :)
Rahdo Civilization game where radio technology appears in Age 1 from 5 while fire can be discovered in Age 5, where territory explorations and fights are static puzzles and make no thematic sense - they are not natural, also science is just dice rolling where move on tracks - theme!? Not to mention those houses have zero theme integrated and minigame with capital city is just score engine puzzle... I do not see much theme in this game...
re: radios in ancient egypt: see 8:54 in this very video
explore, find resources. fight, claim territory. just because the game doesn't go into hyper detail (because that detail is lost against the tapestry of human history) doesn't mean the basics aren't there.
the pursuit of science leading to unexpected discoveries = the story of scientific breakthroughs throughout human history. very thematic, not sure how you can say otherwise.
the capital is an abstraction of the development of an entire civilization, not a representation of one specific city. the individual buildings represent progression in the status and prosperity of the society.
also, 'i do not see much theme' ≠ and abstract game. if you see some theme, which you do by your own words, then it's not an abstract (/end pedantic mode) :)
@@rahdo I say Tapestry is strategy euro-style game with pasted on civilization theme and in no way it is civilization game, I hate that misleading title. I told my arguments, there are no way radio is invented before civilization learned how to ignite fire (!?) or collect some random Tapestry cards, which I still hardly see any theme at all... Yes, it is euro game, yes, it has pasted on theme, but I just find subtitle "Civilization game" kinda misleading... It is a good game still!
@@JesusIsTruthAndWayAndLife indeed, radios were not invented in the era of antiquities, as i explained in the video itself :) the game doesn't claim this. glad you like it though. to me, it's 100% a civilization game because it's a gamewhere i build and direct the advancement of a civilization over multiple eras, exploring expanding exploiting and even exterminating occasionally. ymmv, hopefully the runthrough makes clear exactly what the game feels like to play :)
Gart 😂
I can't remember the last time I've played a game so unbalanced. Look, it's fun to play, but balance in this game is over the roof. Futurist for example is so broken Civ, ability to jump to level 4 is beyond powerful. I just can't believe that he likes Tapestry and Black Angel. I think he got money from developers to say that :D
i did not
@@rahdo Im joking of course ;) Keep up with good work dude
@@swvi9459 cool, thanks. i get accused of this SOOOO much, i've got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about it :)
@@rahdo Dont worry, you just play and like what you want. I learned so much about board games from you and learned to play games because of you without reading rulebooks. So....yeah. Not all heroes wears capes ;)
Wasn’t expecting this from a game that looks like a prototype with zero table appeal.
we find it to be very attractive IRL
You need new glasses.
What else did you want? A 3D boardquarium with real water for the ocean?
@@budsticky Yes, that's exactly what i want. Good job
"This is potential top ten of all time..." -- file under 'words that will haunt you'? Rahdo, wouldn't it feel so much better to just be 100% honest all the time? Free yourself!
that statement is 100% true. i chose my words very carefully
tbh I don't find it interesting or whatsoever
this game is mediocre at best, brings nothing new
Who should I listen to? Rahdo, game reviewer extraordinaire? Or random guy on UA-cam?
The pain. It is real.
different strokes. if folks are really on the fence, i'd suggest they listen to neither of us and wait a few months until the ratings stabilize on bgg :)
that said, flynryan is cray cray! :)
rahdo I totally agree. I can see why this game is not for everyone, but to me, it is so fulfilling and rich.
I think the rating on BGG will eventually reflect what a great game this is. It’s really polarizing right now, mostly because people want to show they aren’t “falling into the hype” (even if they haven’t even played it). But I’m a believer :P
@@DoctorGarro I have played it, it's rather swingy and unbalanced
@@DoctorGarro 7.4 is about right. Not terrible, but also not the best.
how much did he payed you to praise the game?
stonemaier does not pay for review content, and i don't accept payment for anything other than kickstarter previews, so the answer to your question is zero.
rahdo glad you said that! I rely on your independence and frankness. Your enthusiasm is welcome.
Did you have to buy the game or was it sent or you to keep so you could review it? I don’t care either way, I trust your playthroughs and genuine reactions, my favorite reviewer by far, I’m just curious.
@@gambit82283 do you believe it would matter at all if he kept the game "free" or not? Any idea how long it takes to make a game review like this? The most unethical person in the world wouldn't take you up on that horrible value proposition.
No, it’s doesn’t matter for the review, as I stated, I trust Rahdo’s reviews wholeheartedly and always have, I was simply curious, and made no proposition of any kind. I think you decided to read into my comment something that was literally not even close to what I had posted.
This is probably the most disappointed review from Rahdo to me... this is not a Civ game... It's a very average engine building game...