Funny enough, all laid out in their little space pots, are not so scary as I thought they’d be.
I was way more scared when I had to lay out pieces for a simpler game like Battle for Rokugan, where you have to flip them all at once for set up, plus cards, plus separators, plus each faction rules… and it is a much lighter game. Then again, it was a year or so earlier in the hobby for me.
I have never played Le Havre, for example, but seen it played in a neighbour table at a Game’s Night, and that look fiddly as hell too.
I prefer the tightness of Terra’s map (although not modular ) and they made Gaia more “modern Euro”, which I didn’t like. I still think Gaia is fantastic though.
Big yikes when people say that - almost elitist. I only played it a few times with Benkyo on the app and I was sold on what it does
This came to me as I considered what of my favorites hasn’t been covered by SUSD. I completely disagree with Paul’s final assessment of Spirit Island. The summary to his review is that it just “doesn’t feel exciting” and starts very difficult and then just gets handled about midway through, and there’s also the statement that the more invaders he tried, the more familiar it felt.
In all of my plays the game has started manageable, built to a frenzied struggle to maintain some control, and then ended with massively satisfying plays where the cooperative aspect paid incredible dividends while having to take large risks and trusting your teammates. I’ve found the scenarios to create new constrictions that keep it fresh. I think my big gripe is that it’s sort of categorized as predictable, but while I can see that being true for how the invaders may act, in all my plays (with players not being explicit about each move they are making) we have had very surprising turns resulting from someone being “about to do something awesome” that throws a wrench in the works and may create a big issue with the next turn of a card.
As I love Spirit Island I can only agree with @Snobbydolphin above me
I think we have previously analysed that Paul captured the arc of the game not incorrectly but his conclusions were “in error”. Effectively when the arc happens that way, you’ve been playing on too easy a difficulty.
As I tried to remember which games I bought because of a SUSD recommendation I came to a count of something between 20 to 30. Of those some have been hits but several have been rather “meh”. None are horrible. But the “meh” ones are bad enough: Bärenpark and Mandala failed to convince us in reality.
And Cosmic Encounter… I don’t think I had the right group for that. I watched that playthrough video they had of Cosmic and what happened around my table… not even close. This makes me sad because I love the idea of all those different aliens and every single one of them with a game breaking ability. I love it and I’ll keep the game but I don’t expect it to ever bring me the same amount of joy all those reviewers seem to get from it.
A huge number of my buys have yet to see “real” play because covid.
People who stick with Terra tend to cite theme, 5 players, or the tightness of the map. In my experience, when someone plops a mine onto that last gaia project near me, Gaia’s map feels plenty tight I personally haven’t felt Terra’s map being any more exclusive, but I may not have enough plays to get to that level of meta.
100% agree. The game is really difficult at first but the mastery jumps up quickly and you need to scale the difficulty quickly too. That being said Branch and Claw does add variety that also throws enough spanners in the works to the usual way of things mainly via events.
I just traded for TM but I did put GP on my list too. I would have been happy with either. GP game play improvements ala second edition. TM bright colours and big fun wooden shapes. So maybe not quite theme but presentation style.
An observation here - Spirit Island, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Terraforming Mars all fit into the same category for me. I call them momentum games. You start out on the back foot, few resources, unable to do much. As you go forward, you get more and more…momentum? While initially the game is holding you down, you start pushing back and pushing back, and then you start making progress. Assuming you win, at the end you’re wielding a huge metaphorical hammer and slamming those last nails into place with satisfying thwomps.
SU&SD was down on all three, and maybe others in the genre. A lot of people obviously are not.
I, for my part, find them satisfying but uninteresting. I like to play from time to time. I like the feeling that comes as I accumulate my strength and then lift a heavy task that at first feels unliftable. I like the feeling that comes from the slow turn of the tide and the satisfaction that comes from victory.
That said, in my favorite games I prefer, instead, the sparring that comes from interactive tactics. I like it when a game (or opponent) puts me on the back foot repeatedly but gives me the tools to creatively respond. Innovation, Tigris, El Grande, Cyclades.
And this is not at all a value judgment - it is an attempt to articulate that element of taste where our two parties seem to diverge.
) and they made Gaia more “modern Euro”, which I didn’t like. I still think Gaia is fantastic though.
I personally haven’t felt Terra’s map being any more exclusive, but I may not have enough plays to get to that level of meta.