Thanks for the great review Dan. You do such a great job of presenting and explaining the games. Onitama has been on my wish list for a while now. I know you mentioned abstract strategy games aren't really your thing, but have you ever given Hive a try? It's one of my favorites.
Several cards of the Japanese original have been changed for this edition; generally for the worse, in my opinion. What I find most disappointing is that they got rid of the three "split function" cards, where you had different move options for pawns and master. There was even one that let you advance the opponent's master (!) one space, often to hilarious effect. Was it really necessary to dumb down the game in this fashion? For me, this edition is an automatic non-starter.
Is this necessarily a dumb-down? It may just be that those cards were somewhat unbalanced, and removing them makes the game deeper and more challenging. (I don't actually know, I've never tried them, it just seems to me that removing types of moves don't necessarily make a game dumber.
@@TheDGomezzi Maybe I was a bit harsh; without these split-function cards Onitama is still a great game, and more so with all the expansion and promo cards that came out later. The main reason why this edition is still a huge pass for me is something else: I find those plastic figures butt-ugly! That's why I fabricated my own Star Wars-themed version, which has ALL the cards that have ever been published.
I definitely want to try this one. I've begun enjoying abstracts more and more.
I have it! It's simple and elegant, fast and a lot of fun. Once you get into it, you can play 5 or 6 games in an hour.
Thanks for the great review Dan. You do such a great job of presenting and explaining the games. Onitama has been on my wish list for a while now.
I know you mentioned abstract strategy games aren't really your thing, but have you ever given Hive a try? It's one of my favorites.
Thanks! I haven't tried Hive yet but I've heard good things.
i've waiting ten months for this game.
Several cards of the Japanese original have been changed for this edition; generally for the worse, in my opinion. What I find most disappointing is that they got rid of the three "split function" cards, where you had different move options for pawns and master. There was even one that let you advance the opponent's master (!) one space, often to hilarious effect. Was it really necessary to dumb down the game in this fashion? For me, this edition is an automatic non-starter.
Is this necessarily a dumb-down? It may just be that those cards were somewhat unbalanced, and removing them makes the game deeper and more challenging. (I don't actually know, I've never tried them, it just seems to me that removing types of moves don't necessarily make a game dumber.
@@TheDGomezzi Maybe I was a bit harsh; without these split-function cards Onitama is still a great game, and more so with all the expansion and promo cards that came out later. The main reason why this edition is still a huge pass for me is something else: I find those plastic figures butt-ugly!
That's why I fabricated my own Star Wars-themed version, which has ALL the cards that have ever been published.
boring game