A sneak peak at Castles of Burgundy Special Edition!!! 👀

We've had a chance to play with a hand-made prototype of the CoB Special Edition! Here we provide some thoughts about our favourite components, our least favourite, and whether or not it's worth the upgrade. Did you back this one? What do you think so far? Thanks for watching! A&M
All of the review and preview content on our channel is unpaid and our channel is supported by our wonderful KZbin members, the "joeyfam." Thank you for being part of our journey.
Timestamps:
00:00 Background (our thoughts on the game)
01:32 A really, really basic description of the gameplay
02:12 What we really liked
09:12 The vineyard expansion
14:27 What we didn't like as much
17:26 Worth the upgrade?
For more information: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3...
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#board games #tabletop games #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️‍🌈🇦🇺

[@marknadeski7485]

Love seeing all the new components! Absolutely agree with you on the dice and bonus tiles! Really hope those dice aren’t final. I’ll have to use dice from Rajas of the Ganges!

[@jurgenkoller439]

So happy to hear that the vineyard expansion is great. I totally agree with the dice. Far too busy and hard to quickly determine what other players have from a distance. Great video as always. Thank you both.

[@iheartmuseums]

Whoa that acrylic overlay 😍

[@lightsaberduel]

This is what I was looking for on this edition! Thank you so much for this video!

[@CB-yh3db]

Awesome preview. Excited for this to arrive at the house. Quad-layered boards……(mouth watering).

[@beakerkell]

I play this so much on BGA that I think it's time I get my own copy! Thanks for the preview, it looks great!

[@KMReviews]

I think those stacking castles should be the score tracker. And have ships for turn order. Luckily they are changing the Dice. I agree it’s hard to read those ones.

[@angeltorres5256]

I don't want to seem like i don't believe you but where did you find out they are changing the dice? I just want to read on it and see if there's some other stuff I haven't heard about yet

[@KMReviews]

@@angeltorres5256 they posted about it on the crowdfunding page

[@angeltorres5256]

@@KMReviews Ah I'll need to take a look again then. Thanks!

[@ShmavinShmenhouse]

Amazing! I agree 100% with your comments about the dice, too!

[@KMReviews]

I just think it sucks that their acrylic upgrade option won’t have the text on the back and most people don’t realize that :(

[@ChadHuck1]

I'm not sure if I knew that or not. Might have to find a way to print some stickers for the bottoms...

[@kevinmontoya43]

Didn't even think of that

[@RebelDashOne]

This is so neat! Have been holding off from picking up my own copy of the game so am anticipating this.

[@FinallyAnAnswer]

Thanks for the balanced feedback, very appreciative of the honest approach.

[@hechuan5075]

thanks for the preview, and I very much agree with the dice, like wth is the number! However, as most people/youtuber dont point out is the price differential, and thats really really really important. Yes, visual upgrade, nicer components, double sided layers but again thats a 80 USD price difference!!! I got the latest anniversary edition anew for just $20, the basic version of this plus shipping is $108. thats actually close to $90 difference, im pretty sure you can get a lot of the same upgrade from etsy for a lot cheaper, and etsy is not cheap. As much as I want this edition and the money to spare, I cant justify purchasing it for just the sake of having it look more beautiful

[@DonGilstrap]

So exciting! Can't wait for this to arrive.

[@joellen5984]

Super helpful. I'm going to be so happy to get this one. I think one of my first crowdfunding backing. Also enjoyed the comments here as well!

[@TheLobbyOfHobbies]

I might finally add this to my collection now. Thanks for the sneak peak ladies.

[@Mysticalodyssey007]

I have never played this game and really want to try it. This video was super helpful :). Your thoughts are always good to hear

[@akingme]

Can’t wait for ours to arrive!

[@RuelGaviola]

Great video, as always! I've been so excited about this version, especially for players like me who have vision deficiencies (in my case, red/green colorblindness). The larger tiles and the descriptions on the back of them were such brilliant choices, but those dice. Yikes. I hope those can be changed before the final production is started because they're the first things I'm replacing. And I'm concerned about the completion bonus tiles' colors. With all of the money being poured into this production, I would've loved to have seen someone consulted about vision accessibility. These seem to be poor choices and hopefully it's not too late.

[@gurnblanston2848]

I think I'm going to late pledge this. I've thought about buying it a few times, but held off, knowing this version was on the way. Looks really beautiful.

[@ibarzabal]

The game is looking really nice. Thanks for the video and your input on the game!

[@gee3161]

Great vid! I couldn't justify going for this after already going for La Granja and Age of Steam as well as already having the original CoB, but it does look so good.

[@jasonc2784]

Oh the tile descriptions on the back are awesome. Definitely looks like a modern board game. What was so great was that the current version is such great value. Cheap price for one of the best games. I hope that they continue to produce the previous version as well.

[@gleeknomatterwhat8958]

Ty for the tile explanati

[@matthewfishgold4541]

Thanks for the video ☺️

[@mbillard]

Thanks for the sneak peak, looking forward to getting mine and hopefully they fix the dice in the final version!

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

I believe they have confirmed the dice will be modified.

[@mbillard]

@@itsGabrielaCristina that's good to hear

[@juleswatson7646]

Yet to play it! I've just never had the chance to.

[@Goldfinch241]

Looks great. I really like the descriptions on the backs of the tiles - huge improvement! (Please could you let Maggie do more of the talking - I appreciate her views and her enthusiasm but often I feel she can’t get a word in).

[@ricardp60]

Thanks for the sneak peak on this wonderful game upgrade. totally agree with you about those awfull dice and about the completion bonus tiles. Can you in any way communicate that to Awaken Realms by any chance to let them know that everybody hates those? I back this KS and also got the 3D terrain tiles. They should look fantastic on the board. Can't wait. Thanks again for the review. Love your videos.

[@VampguyN85]

I would like to get a feel for how big and clunky the shields will be to rest on top of the 3d castle modules. And confirmation on what the regular castles will look like compared to sundrop even though it's still a prototype. I am glad to hear they didn't impact your view of the board that much.

[@whataboutki]

Castles is one of my favourite games. I've got the original printing and as much as I'd love to get this I just cant justify the price for a game I've already got. Hopefully in a couple of years I'll be able to pick up a second hand copy for a decent price as I'd love to try the expansion.

[@peacemennonite]

Thanks for the sneak peek! It looks like your prototype has carboard tiles? Any thoughts about the cardboard vs. acrylic tiles?

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

I late pledged this today (no minis). I have never owned a physical copy, but this is my favorite game on BGA. I had to have this !

[@lorelielomaloma6569]

Really helpful review! It sounds like the Vineyard expansion will be fun. But those plastic mini figures look off-putting! I’d prefer the stacking towers for both turn order and VP markers! Or even wooden discs! lol Thank you for the video.

[@CG_Hali]

My biggest gripe with the Anniversary Edition is the portrayal of the Dukes and Duchesses: 21 dudes for 3 ladies! Appalling in this day and age for a game published in 2019! Love the art style of the 2019 edition but I can't play as a lady if I want except on 2 boards (since I don't play coop) and forget it if you play solo. I know it's only art and not functional but we can do better! I am happy to see the workers being double-sided with both male and female. Yay! But sad to see 3 dudes and only 1 lady standee (unless there are more choices that come with the full version. And I agree they don't look enticing much). Just freaking add more standees if you need but give me a choice of ladies, gosh darn it! :P Also one of the biggest improvements is certainly having a description under the yellow buildings! Man those numbers are small in the other versions and the icons are not very intuitive. Not worth upgrading for me, not in my super top games but it was fun to see.

[@DottRossi]

thanks for the presentation, are these the cardboard tiles or the acrylic ones? thanks

[@rgitzelify]

Oh wow, yeah, those are unfortunate dice. I'm so conflicted about this, now that I've a second chance with the late pledge. We still love CoB, probably because it was one of the first games we played so many years back (with the original and less horrible artwork), and it's held up. We played it a lot during quarantine. But if we played for the first time now, who knows? This edition does _look_ really good. The vineyard expansion is intriguing. And the acrylic tokens would be soooooo satisfying. But.... how many $$$ more enjoyment would we get out of this, versus the original? Arg.

[@rgitzelify]

Oh never mind. I showed this video to my girlfriend, and she very calmly stated, "oh, we're getting this." 🥳

[@uplift-yourdailypickup6424]

This was a really good video. So I guess the castles minis are actually good and not over- the-top bloat like most Kickstarter stuff these days? Looks good overall, I just wish games came in smaller boxes these days. Hard to do with so much content though.

[@JonoNZBoardGamer]

I'll wait for retail to see if they resolve those issues and how the general opinion is of the upgraded version

[@shaunpentecost]

I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure it's Gamefound exclusive, so don't think it's intended to go to retail (unless a retailer backs it)

[@JohnClem56]

Thanks for the peek. I think you were really nice regarding the dice. Those are the central mechanism of the game and the readability of them is awful. That definitely needs to be addressed between now and production. I'll be disappointed if I get my copy and those are the dice. A few other smaller complaints as well but I could live with those as the overall production is much nicer than those currently available.

[@eimwolliballa]

I thought about getting this but I am not into big boxes these days 🙃

[@dcrbdh]

Thoughts about taking a cardboard tile out of the acrylic holders. Wear and tear on the cardboard tiles?

[@nimblegoat]

Next 2 pledges up have acrylic tiles - plus can add acrylic tokens - or go crazy and get expensive 3D terrain

[@Sebastian-rt9qf]

Nice peak... agree on the dice. Doesn't seem functional and can't understand that Ravensburger agreed with that. Apart from that, this new upcoming versions seems so much more appealing and competeing with nowadays production. I backed it, and so far am still excited.

[@happiness7474]

I think they fixed the dice art already after looking at the latest gamefound page

[@uxjared]

If the dice stay the same I plan on filling the non-pip part of the design with some type of metallic paint

[@anmolgrewal7754]

any idea when is it coming out?

[@TimChuon]

ahhhh this was so exciting!! I think I regret not backing this but it looks really fun~ the acrylic overlay is such a smart addition. thanks so much for another fun preview friends!

[@beakerkell]

Late pledge just opened in Gamefound. ;)

[@TimChuon]

@@beakerkell MY WALLET EVAN 🥲 hahahah thanks for the tip! Literally looking now 👀

[@beakerkell]

@@TimChuon Sorry... Kind of! Haha

[@daem0nfaust]

Oh my goodnesssssss! Finally, the only problem I have with this game has been solved. I enjoy this game a lot, but it's always been a struggle to conveniently know the tiles by image. I'm easily confused by the visuals. I really prefer if they just put a name in front of each tile.

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

Yes! It has also made me hesitant to teach it to others. This will definitely help!

[@daem0nfaust]

@@itsGabrielaCristina absolutely true!

[@monicamurphy6552]

another one I'm going to have to pick up.

[@raymyers700]

While I agree it isn't the worst thing EVAR...*I hate those dice*!! This game blings everything else so nicely, the dice are a distraction! For those completion bonuses...why not have them in the basic shape and color of the thing you completed? I really appreciate you doing this video. I backed, unbacked, backed and finally unbacked this. I just couldn't justify it and there have been so many games that I bought everything for: then I never wanted to take it with me because it was so big and bulky (Scythe big box, Battlecon everything, Millennium Blades everything)

[@fsecco]

Do you find the main board too big? Is seems from watching that is a lot of empty space for nothing (I've never played the game to know it it's used)

[@unclesamb]

You qualified your complaint about the dice by saying "but if that's our only complaint, then I think we're doing well because it's such a little thing." I disagree, the dice are literally the central component of the game, so if you would literally replace them as soon as you got the game, that's a massive miss. I hope AR listens to your feedback and updates the dice, because otherwise this looks fantastic.

[@emguibani]

looking to late pledge this one buy still torn if i should go all in, or juat classic pledge no miniatures..

[@Flip5ide]

I agree the dice need to change and it seems AR have confirmed they will be redesigned. Am I the only one bothered that the red player is orange as well as the player turn castle, its way to close to the yellow colour and nothing like the red of the player board.

[@robertaustin6302]

I sure hope they fix those dice and make them easier to read. As it stands now, I think they’re horrific.

[@KalJoao]

I think it looks great. I never bought or tried the original because it was so blah. Now where to buy this one...

[@PMMagro]

Parts look great but I am shprt of space, might hav eto skip this one...

[@zipo13]

Dice, Dice, Dice… Replace, Replace, Replace …

[@raodvanlaontotaoke4993]

It is weird indeed these statues. Especially if it is a sultan in medieval France.

[@gaillardlionel]

Let's start a petition to change those horrible dices!

[@jacobjslee]

i late pledged this. I've been waiting for this game for years because I kept hearing about the next edition that would come out that would be better than all previous ones. Mainly, I wanted larger tiles. Anything else is a bonus. When I saw the 30% bigger tiles line in their ad I knew not to be tempted by the much cheaper copies out there and go big with this edition. Most I've ever paid for a board game!