6 Games I Played So You Don’t Have To - with Tom Vasel

[@tyrantula222]

Forges of Ravenshire is one I really liked. There's multiple paths you can take for points and they can all be pretty viable. Do you go high reputation/high star contracts? Tons of one star contracts? Do you focus on one of the two finishes or split it between them? Along with that is that sorta "puzzle" of how to get the resources you need to achieve that. However that part can definitely slow things down as Tom says, especially at 4 players and in particular in the last 1 or 2 rounds. While the dice on the board can change, you can still be looking ahead to your next turn though as you know what you need to get, so you just have to come up with ways to get there. Maybe that's by a specific die number to use in production or just the right spot in gathering. At any rate, I can see where it might come off a little heavier than it seems like it should and I think it depends on what you're in the mood for when you play it.

[@AhJong0]

Really enjoy this format - glad it's kept going 😊

[@JonathonV]

I really enjoyed Forges of Ravenshire. I thought it was a clever riff on the Raiders Of The North Sea pick-a-worker take-a-worker style of worker placement, but with dice! The neat thing about the dice is that people wouldn’t play dice in bad spots or they’d get a bad effect, so after the initial first dice are there, you start getting really good dice on the board. The tiles you could collect to augment the bonus effects you get from picking up certain colours of dice … I thought those were genius. Admittedly, the game did have a few markers of an amateur designer, so it’s possible that after a few plays we’d discover its weaknesses and dislike the game. But I thought it was quite interesting!

[@achang101]

My gaming group really liked Fall of Lumen. We all liked it so much that we all purchased our own copy.

[@thedicetower]

That's cool, glad you enjoyed it!

[@barbaramazzocca4605]

I ordered Intarsia when I immediately heard about it, because we love all the Azul games. I think it could be ok and interesting, BUT I get migraines from light and patterns and I always think about this when ordering a game. I only saw the player board before ordering. This game is a vestibular nightmare. All of the Azul games have a break in the patterns with solid colors, and I have no problem playing them. In Intarsia, the actual player board that you build on, is not a huge problem, but having the cards with pattern, the scoreboard which is so congested visually, it is impossible for me to look at, and the tiles of patterns are all scrunched together on that board, they all swirl together when I look at it. I had a severe headache, dizzy, and nauseous during play and for the next two days. That was a huge waste of $50. I am thinking of making my own scoreboard, laying out the tiles with a lot of space in-between them (I'm going to need a huge table!) sleeving the cards and placing in a piece of construction paper of solid color on top of the pattern inside the sleeve, but that sounds like a heck of a lot of work and don't know if it is worth it. It also came short 1 of the cardboard pattern tiles. Not sure how that could have happened, so selling it won't be easy. So, if you are thinking about getting this game for someone who gets migraines (with patterns) don't get this one. Every Azul game, however, is fine.

[@sedraniM]

Galactic Renaissance is the same great weirdness as Inis. We love it! There is so much deep strategy hidden in this game and every game we play we have at least one Wow effect, where a new strategy is shown which other didn't know was possible. It is so great and keeps surprising as from game to game.

[@gergenheimer]

Gotta agree on Intarsia - I played the demo at GenCon and it was just OK. Obviously, it's beautiful-looking, but the scoring and gameplay feels very cobbled together.

[@MakeYourHeartBeat]

Galactic Renaissance: When the scoring card comes up, when you don't want it, it's entirely your fault! You placed it there and didn't plan ahead. You get way better at it, when playing it more. Also there are many mechanics to cycle your deck very quickly, like discarding specialists gives you another turn.

[@ronthal]

I really like Galactic Renaissance, it's not that table hoggy even with 3-4 players given that you can put the new planets wherever you like, it's not like Voidfall or Pampero... The deckbuilding aspect of it is really neat and contributes to the replayability because you do not add dozens of additional cards, it's all opportunistic, but those can be very powerful and turn the tides... They can also help going through your deck and get your scoring card faster. I liked the 10-point rule since it allowed me to come back from a fairly slow start and limits the advantage and snowball effect of an early lead. It was interesting to see that we would all finish pretty much during the same turn despite very different strategies and decks.

[@ChrycinthianCrafter]

I find the review of Forges of Ravenshire to be interesting, and one that I have trouble agreeing with. First, I’ll say Forges was one of my favorite games released throughout this past year, and I love when it hits the table. While I do agree Tom makes some good points about calculating and the rulebook, I think there are other points that make no sense. For example, high rolls are, on average, the exact same in terms of usefulness as low rolls. It’s entirely dependent on what direction you choose to take your build and how you manage your resources. Moreover, completing contracts early on isn’t as hard as it would seem. In the first round you can complete two if you focus on those contracts, so the idea of not being able to complete one early indicates a level of not fully understanding the complexities of the production/gathering phase inter system connections. Overall, I think DT needs to do another playthrough because the information presented seems like they only scratched the surface on understanding the gameplay.

[@darinherrick9224]

This is the problem with hot takes. You CAN extrapolate based on one play of a game but not everyone is good at it. You need a good grasp of possibilities as well as a first grasp of rules. Often first play they get rules wrong and think every play will be like the first one. I’m a board game reviewer and my strength is imagining the possibilities based off only one play and sometimes only one round.

[@88callisto22]

Ravenshire is one of my favorite games of the year. I have played it with my three game groups and everyone has really liked it.😊

[@MichaliSarris]

Some valid points about Fall of Lumen, but I still really enjoy it a lot. You can do some pretty cool chaining of actions. But there's a lot going on for sure, it's kind of restrictive and AP prone.

[@macmckinlay]

I think Defenders moves smoothly. The bad rule is that a randomly drawn creature gets eliminated. It should be the ACTIVE creature. That would make winning more calculated than random. But with that, the game is simple and the representation of the conflict through pieces is great. Just get the directional stuff straight at the beginning.

[@Wylie288]

yeah. A few house rules fixes the game just fine. Those advanced machine cards offer plenty I think a lot of the "muh immersion" rules can be axed without making it too easy.

[@MichaelM-ev9ek]

Happy Saint Patrick's!

[@Drew_D]

Tom’s outfit be like: 🩲🧩🍀🥒♻️ Also, I’m glad he played these games so that I don’t have to.

[@rollingwiththebeard]

I legit thought this was an old St.Patrick's day video lol

[@AdamWhitehead111]

Maybe Tom had a leprechaun themed party to go to after making this video.

[@rollingwiththebeard]

@@AdamWhitehead111 Tallest leprechaun EVER!

[@jakeblack4]

I really liked Galactic Renaissance. I don't disagree with some of Tom's criticisms though. Very table hoggy! The theme sells itself as a peaceful transition of power for the galaxy but the in game play is very take that, even if you're not thematically fighting. While I don't have an issue with that, I could see someone being misled into thinking it's more a peaceful euro game. The 10 VP in one turn (after you've hit a threshold of 20) doesn't make much sense in a thematic sort of way but I like it more than just hitting a static point value to win. In games like Twilight Imperium just hitting X points to win always feels a little anticlimatic so having to win on a big point turn feels a bit more like winning with a flourish.

[@darinherrick9224]

Well in politics winning with huge points simply means having a majority. And so thematically that makes sense just like in Inis wiping out armies making you lose makes sense. In Inis it’s a POPULARITY contest, and people try to win by being a bully lose every time. To me that’s what makes a game fresh. Think of American Independence. It had to be a unanimous vote. It wasn’t enough to have a slight majority. The difficulty of the task is thematically waiting to make your power move and that’s always awesome. I was playing Spectre Ops and people said the game is too long we have to declare a winner. I told them “on my turn I’m going to win instantly”. They were hesitant because it didn’t look like I was was even close to winning. Then I accomplished three goals for victory points in seconds and said “I win”. It was awesome because there was no way to see it coming but I had been planning it for hours. I just got GR and I’m hoping its another classic, but it’s kinda sad that after YEARS of waiting people are immediately putting it down. The Kickstarter hype for $120 games following by people kicking those expensive games people have even had a chance to play their investment always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I think reviewers should get games when they hit retail and not before, and game preview should be abolished.

[@ramonosuke]

How you described Fall of Lumen, is exactly how I felt with Argent: The Consortium. Absolutely fantastic production, but snail's pace and multiple steps to ultimately do ONE thing. Also can we please kill off the anthropomorphic and nature themes in every board game already? I get it Everdell and Root were super popular...6 years ago!

[@davidhughes595]

Agree with you 100% on the anthropomorphic comment. Not sure why so many go that route... but I've wondered if it's the easiest path to make something inoffensive? Idk

[@SenseiJae]

Some of us like cute animals. Spirit animals are a thing.

[@lohengrindrd]

I don't mind nature themes if they are appropriate, but we really need to see the end of anthropomorphic ideas because they are overdone and really just nonsense.

[@davidhughes595]

I love several games I own with anthropomorphic creatures or nature themes. It's nice to have variety though

[@samirjafri191]

​@davidhughes595 I believe you hit it on the head - inoffensive. When you use humaniods, you often imply or people infer a race, nationality, culture, religion, etc. Then you end up with people not wanting to be the...Nazis/antisuffragists/imperialists/etc. Look at movies and TV shows, the bad guys are now technology or the government because you can't use a race, nationality, religion, etc. and offend someone (global release an all that so $$$ on the line).

[@shawnwalker4830]

Gotta love me some City Slickers intro music. 😁

[@seahawksfan9168]

i just got intarsia im very excited to get it to the table

[@RobertHovakimyan55]

Galactic Renaissance is one of the best new games I've played in a while! At least a 9/10 for me and those I played it with. The scoring system is so fresh and keeps players on their toes. The cards do hilariously crazy things. It always feels like everyone else was just one turn away from winning when someone wins. The conflicts feel different than any other area control game because the combat system is more political than combative. Definitely not a game for everyone, but if you enjoy interactive and chaotic games, this one's for you!

[@F4R207]

Where's that gelatinous cube on the shelf behind Tom from?

[@heavymetalboardgamer1225]

I've purchased many games based on the positive reviews from Dice Tower, but I've also bought a few games that received negative reviews from Dice Tower. But it used to feel like you showed how to play the games enough that I could decide if the game was something I would like or not, for example "too long" usually isn't a deal breaker for me, I don't mind long games. However in this video, at least in my opinion, I didn't get a feel for how any of these games play. Seeing pictures and hearing you talk about it feels like looking at the back of the box and reading the descriptions, all I'm saying I guess is I miss seeing at least a little of how the game plays.

[@klabjcobevj72nso0fj4]

This wasn't a video to tell you how to play them. It's six quick reviews.

[@samirjafri191]

While you do use a little bit of b-roll I think it would be great if you use more b-roll in these videos. For most these games you commented on how beautiful they were but we didn't really get to see that.

[@darinherrick9224]

This take on Galactic Renaissance will likely age like milk. A big like giving Inis a 6/10 after one play.

[@thedicetower]

So you are saying my rating will go down over time? Look, I'm GLAD you love the games. But not every game is for everyone. :)

[@thetable7660]

4:08 OBJECTION! Your honour, it's clear that no one is fulfilling 'objections' in this boardgame but rather 'objectives'. Given Mr Tom Vassal's long history in the industry of boardgame review I motion that his reviews be treated as null and void.

[@jeffhiatt1682]

Came to mention that same stumble. Made me laugh.

[@Sensei1986]

I watch these kind of videos, to know other people's vision or take on the game, just out of curiosity if they have the same positive points or negative points as I do, in the end it's up to everyone themselves to decide if they want the game or not. Some games might be more fun or better for some people and not for other. I respect the opinion Tom's having, although I don't agree with all of them. Some of the games I did not buy, because of exactly the negative points which Tom gave and now that I hear that... I'm glad I did not back all of these ;-), proves my thought was right 😀

[@KristoVaher]

Tom, you don't need so many microphones :D

[@db8094]

Galactic Renaissance is fantastic. Opinions are fun aren't they? 😅

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

Yes, the scoring threshold is no more strange than Inis' "I will win next turn unless you gang up on me and stop me/tie me" mechanism. Eventually you will get the cards you need to get the necessary points before the end of your turn.

[@judgemario]

@@TorIverWilhelmsenYeah. It feels similar to Inis’s endgame triggers and how you can have met them but then you have to play another round anyway.

[@db8094]

Matagot endgames are pretty brutal. At least Inis' endgame had an alternative put out eventually.

[@judgemario]

@@db8094 I agree. Those revised endgame rules are great.

[@grantfraser5430]

Inis is one of my favorite games so Galactic Renaissance is a no brainer for me. I wish I could absolutely say that Tom is wrong but I have not played it yet. Which leads me to the usual question .... Where are people getting these copies from? How many advance copies are out there? Also, in light of that, Tom if you really don't like Galactic Renaissance I'd be happy to buy your copy. Haven't seen a playthrough yet or what precisely the cards let you do but I still think it's that good. After Inis, I trust Christian Martinez. Matagot, I have a problem with but that's another story.

[@thecroseknows]

I loved Inis, so of course I backed Galactic Renaissance. I would like to say that I liked it, but I haven’t been clamoring to play it again. Yes, the 10 point rule was weird.

[@darinherrick9224]

Unique.

[@VoidVerification]

Unpopular opinion: I'd play Instarsia over Azul any day. Azul is much more samey from game to game than Intarsia, and I don't miss the meanness of Azul. Solid 8/10 for me.

[@carlosespada6350]

Shame... I just backed Polaris. 😅

[@Jueglar]

OK i was with u all the way up to forges of ravenshire how the HECK do you not like that game?????????!!!!!???

[@Jueglar]

sir noway your thinking out your builds, and charcoal is a EXTREME necessity for the game you should always have at least one at all times i can manage to construct up to 3 weapons/armors in one turn you just haft to learn the game this is a great game that should be on any ones buy list its just a more towards teh heavy side and requires you to enjoy board games to enjoy it.

[@thedicetower]

So you are saying it's impossible to NOT like it?

[@EpicDiscardPile]

Fall Of Lumen is a 4/10? Tom, what? It´s an absolute awesome deckbuilder RPG adventure for experts. Our personal candidate for Game of the Year 2024.

[@thedicetower]

Well that's cool! I'm glad you enjoy it!

[@shmizzleshmazzle9830]

shrekracaun

[@maciejwawrzyn4674]

Wait so the guy who rates inis 4 points too low also doesnt like Galactic Renessaince. Okaaaay thanks go back to plaaying ready set bet

[@thedicetower]

OK! I'm glad we all enjoy different games!

[@raginggerman5377]

First. Always wanted to know, how that feels like.

[@sithtv1298]

Wow man, what an achievement! #impressed

[@CamObscura88]

I’ve never understood this. What’s the point?

[@valzalel5203]

How does it feel?

[@raginggerman5377]

​​@@valzalel5203It actually really was fun. The surprise to find a Dice Tower video with no comments yet, kind of a blank canvas.

[@raginggerman5377]

​@@CamObscura88I didn't get it either, so I had to try.

[@therealBocaStudios]

I’ve found that Tom’s almost never wrong…any game that gets a seal of approval/ excellence part of the essentials line or has won a DT Award is a must own/play..

[@jaterr]

I can’t tell… Is this sarcastic?

[@joeferreti9442]

No, nothing is absolut. Dice Tower reviews are not perfect.

[@therealBocaStudios]

@@jaterr my sincere point of view… find me one game review Tom’s ever gotten wrong…the old school team when it was Sam, Tom, Zee and Jason and Ryan and the GBG were fantastic at what they did…idk now…

[@prufrock1977]

@@therealBocaStudiosKingdom Builder. Tom famously disliked it. It is one of my all time favorites. He did eventually make a video saying it wasn’t that bad. People will always have different opinions, especially in the 5-8 range. A 4 or lower is almost universally bad and a 9-10 is almost always universally appreciated. It’s that grey area in between.

[@lohengrindrd]

It's not about 'right or wrong' it's simply an opinion - Tom's opinions are always useful because they are informed and well-articulated. There are games he doesn't like that others do and vice versa.

[@dillonbrecht3240]

draw one *fewer card (not less)

[@samirjafri191]

@dillonbrecht3240 I used to be super pedantic about this especially when I was working as an editor. I even got a local grocery store to change its Express Lane signage from '10 items or less' to '10 items or fewer.' I have softened on this as I've gotten older or maybe language has just evolved. While fewer (number) and less (quantity) is an actual distinction and maybe there are edge cases where it can make a difference, on the greater than side there is just one word - more - and it seems to work just fine without significant confusion. Edit: fixed typos

[@KidJV]

Intarsia > Azul