Red Rising Board Game - Teach & Playthrough

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Let us know if you have any questions or thoughts you'd like us to cover in our review video!

[@steven9766]

From just watching the playthrough, it kinda seems like because there's sooo many different color cards and sooo many different synergies available, that it actually causes an opposite effect and makes it difficult to actually be strategic with your plays. Almost like you're forced to just play whatever will give you the best reward on that turn, and not really plan out a few moves. Did you find that to be the case while playing, or am I off with that assessment?

[@dranawor]

@@steven9766 I wonder if thats how initial playthroughs start, a sort of roll with the punches approach where you are just trying to maximize turn by turn, but as you play the game more and more, you learn what pairs well with what, what cards to look out for, what combos well with your hand or whats on the board/banished and what possibilities there are of cards coming out based on ones you have already seen.

[@NoOrdinaryMeeple]

Is there anyway of extending the gameplay in the rules or is ‘7’ set in stone?

[@OlivierBL]

Do you get to talk funny if you swallow the helium tokens?

[@onofreshoots]

I keep seeing comparisons to the game Jamey himself said was the major influencer of this game, Fantasy Realms. That, and Arboretum even gets thrown around as a comparison. I guess I'm just wondering, and what I'd "like you to cover", would be why I would pick this up over Fantasy Realms if they're so similar. Thanks for your videos-I'm really picking up on a lot by watching them!

[@MarkWardReacts]

Honestly, between you both, you are by far the best people on KZbin at explaining game rules. Just watched the rule explanation and feel I could play right now!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Mark, so glad to hear that. Thank you for the kind words!

[@aliciashearill5442]

I love the way you explain this game. You tell what to do and you tell why that step matters, so I know what information is helpful in making decisions.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Alicia, we love you guys!!

[@Wugayani]

Wow, everytime I say but didn't they just say or but why did they do this.. you guys explain it right away! Great video and playthrough. Looks like an amazing game!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for watching!

[@Warriorking.1963]

Not bad, which coming from someone from Northern Ireland, is just about the highest amount of praise you can ever hope to achieve! Thoroughly enjoyed this playthrough. I have this game but because of Covid, it remains in the box. I know it can be played solo, but I'd like to rip the plastic wraps of the cards etc. when there are other's around to admire the contents. Hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

[@Texiteer]

Saw the initial announcement of this game and was then curious about the source material. 2 weeks and 3 books later, I'm excited for this game even more so. Game of thrones meets Hunger Games, throw in some Lord of the Flies and add a touch of Ender's Game and you get Red Rising. So good!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

WOW you are a speed demon! I (Naveen) will likely listen to the audiobooks for my commutes. The story arc is right up my alley.

[@devonnorris6755]

@@BeforeYouPlay It's so good, Naveen! Enjoy. And Tom, that's impressive. You should check out the second trilogy :) It expands the world a lot more and really digs into the conflict.

[@Mrhofer]

I've been looking for someone actually playing this! Excited to see a new Stonemaier game!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Nice, glad you caught the video! What's your favorite Stonemaier title?

[@Mrhofer]

@@BeforeYouPlay Scythe by a wide margin. I still have yet to play Wingspan though!

[@Cornchps827]

@@Mrhofer if you like engine building card games you will be in for a treat with wingspan

[@lgmhorus]

Thank you guys for another great gameplay. You're turning into one of my favorite gameplay / review channels, keep up the good content!

[@lordcocoon]

the art on the cards is fantastic!

[@writeheroics7490]

My copy showed up two days ago and your video (teach & playthrough) has been key to me getting this up and running. Thanks for the clear explanations, as I couldn't figure what the overall strategy should be; as I was holding onto 'high value' cards but not considering the synergy as much.

[@aonline_abridged]

You had me at 'Fantasy Realms"

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol

[@darenwhitlock6964]

M: Is that a threat? N: Just telling you things.

[@geekinmeout]

😄

[@ngajoe]

That was a lot of fun to watch! Thanks for the playthrough!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for checking it out! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@KatiaRobert]

I finally got the game and watching your playthrough has helped a lot! Thank you!! I have been a fan of Red Rising since the 1st book came out :)

[@stevenstewart2906]

I really love this review duo. Excellent job once again.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks!!

[@bigaleka92]

Thank you very much for this video. They must take you sooo much time. You can’t tell us what you think, so I was trying to pay close attention to your comments. You seemed to be quite positive! Also comment of the video “Wow Naveen, you are combo-ing hard!!” 😂😂 Love the play through. Keep up the good work.

[@maximilianberbechelov]

Gosh, you guys are so awesome. I playtested this game so many times and your playthrough was still super awesome. Even for the bad games, your plays are awesome to watch! :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

LOL thank you so much!! You are very very kind ;-)

[@dansioui9819]

Outstanding play through! Just watched this in it’s entirety for the second time. Can’t wait for this game to be released!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

So glad you checked out the video Dan!

[@drawdeepwater]

You two are so great! This was SO fun to watch! Can’t wait to see your review too!

[@Inncomendatus]

You guys are awesome! This is my first time watching one of your videos but your walkthrough play through is amazing, well articulated, well edited, the sound & your voices are so clear. I subscribed and look forward to watching all of your past/future content!

[@markellis1777]

Thank you for a wonderful video! You taught me, you made me laugh, you made me smile. :) Your chemistry really adds to the enjoyment. I just subscribed to your channel and look forward to more reviews!

[@beorik]

The Klingon subtitles are a brilliant idea, spectacular! Play mistakes will happen inevitably, but it really takes the sting out of it to see them acknowledged in real time like that. Keep up the great work!

[@J-Wheeler-G]

I know you can't talk about just yet but it looks like it plays really good at 2 (big pluss for me).

[@AeronwyD]

I just bought this on Amazon's Black Friday sale (the basic version). Looking forward to leaning it and playing it!

[@filipapt1674]

Another awesome playthrough, thank you!

[@rickert566]

I am receiving the first book today. I am ordering the game on the first day it is available and that decision was cemented by this video. Great job. I might be surprised at your review of it, but it seemed obvious that you enjoyed the experience. Thank you for this.

[@shllybkwrm]

I totally missed that there was a game based on this series! Very cool, thanks for featuring it

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah! It's a fantastic IP, glad you liked the video. :-)

[@thisissrsbzns]

Great playthrough! I can't wait for your review.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Coming soon! :-)

[@Shot007]

Great to see you guys covering this one. Excited to check this one out! Love your video.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@sympatheia]

Great teach and playthrough! Can't wait to pre-order this one. Looks like a ton of fun!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@npckse8508]

Excellent video and I will be curious to see your final thoughts. Definitely saw enough to feel comfortable picking this one up.

[@MordenGaming]

Awesome playthrough guys. Good job Naveen! Can't wait to get your full review on this one. :D

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks a ton!

[@NemoMangelk]

I hope SM games are paying you for this. You donalot with your channel to promote games. You both are the best at going through quick rules, and explaining what happens bring the playthrough. This channel has been very guilty in encouraging me to buy more games. That Pfister series made a serious dint in my bank account. Also, GWT trilogy - how exciting

[@thomasromanelli2561]

Thanks for sharing this play-through. Excited for this release. Looking forward to your review when the embargo is over! 🖖

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for watching! We are formulating our thoughts over the next few days. We'll likely get another play or 2 in before as well.

[@jurds216]

2021 is the year of Naveen!!!! His camera side eyes are the best too. This game seemed too simple at first glance but I like to combo scoring mechanisms. Thanks for this! Looking forward to the review.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

The side eyes are mostly because Monique doesn't know how to keep her cards hidden! LOL jk jk jk!! The channel was non competitive last year with Monique's slaughter, this year we flip the table! ;-)

[@geekinmeout]

@@BeforeYouPlay 😄😄😄

[@matissmatiss3126]

Great playtrough! Nice one guys

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you! 👍

[@OrigamiGoblin]

Great video as always! Much excite!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks a ton!

[@whatboardgame]

Great video both. Can’t wait to get my hands on this. Scoring looks so fun!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you! Hope you get to try it out soon!

[@beornthebear9023]

Really love your play throughs you guys a quickly becoming my new go to play through channel. Just love you discussion and your video quality is top tier quality. Debating if this does enough different for me to pick up or not but I love how clean it plays and the component quality is excellent as all games from SM are.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hopefully the video will help you make your decision. Thank you for your kind words. :-)

[@kbell2660]

This was terrific. This game looks really fun!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for checking out out video!

[@Boardgametherapist]

Naveen on a streak! You guys are fun to watch. Thanks

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Appreciate it!!

[@stephenwerness]

Nice watching a play through with a fan of the series

[@BeforeYouPlay]

YEAH!! Monique was very excited when she heard SM Games was doing this one.

[@pipos193]

You guys are awesome, you fully deserve to be one of the frontrunners of the youtube board gaming community. I hope you make enough $$ for these.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Aww that's really nice of you to say. The 2 of us are having a lot of fun and are glad we found a hobby within a hobby! :-)

[@BoardGameGran]

As a big big Stonemaier fan, this is definitely on my wants list! Thanks so much for such an informative video yet again guys. Looking forward to the review!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Our pleasure! We had a blast making the video! :-)

[@MohamadSobh]

This was awesome, thanks guys!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Our pleasure!

[@freakyfelon82]

Really looking forward to this one, I'm a bit of a Stonemaier fan, and I have also just finished the first book of this series which I really enjoyed. Glad to see amother great playthrough by you guys. This looks pretty close to what I expected from reading about the game and I think it looks pretty good, reasonably light, so not to hard to get to the table, but with some interesting stratagy going on . 👍👍

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah, I think he did a good job of revealing the game to the fans.

[@Projected1]

I can’t wait for the review on Monday. When are you guys selling the “Year on Naveen” shirt? ;)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha, no plans yet. I'm likely Jinxing myself with all this talk!

[@ShawnH78]

Was really glad to see Naveen pull out a win on this one! I was nervous when I saw Monique score some of those big point cards. I think the last few videos I happened to watch were ones where Naveen lost so let’s keep “The Year of Naveen” dream alive!! 😄

[@OzarkSavage]

I love Fantasy Realms, so the similarities excite me and your playthrough makes me want to play even more. Thank you!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad you enjoyed it! :-)

[@kovray]

So cool! Can't wait, thanks for showcasing it.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you guys get to try it! :-)

[@JGUNNZZ]

Awesome play-through I really enjoyed it! Definitely see the parallels to Fantasy Realms but this seems to put a little more meat on the bone will definitely be ordering this one!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching our vid!

[@beccagreen1392]

Oh man I had no idea they made a game based on these books! A glass of revolution all around, friends!

[@brentvolper2104]

Very nice! Looks great!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@agametoremember8870]

Of all the fantasy series I have read, Red Rising didn't get too much love from me. .. but, Stonemaier gets lots of LOVE! So it's a must try, at least : ) Thanks for showcasing it for us!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Fair enough! Glad you have an open mind!

[@Cornchps827]

I was semi interested in this game because it’s a 2 player card game. But after seeing this play through I think I have to get this game!! It’s almost everything I like in games

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Beau, that's great. So glad we were able to convey the feel of the game!

[@stephenhanbury]

I’m pretty excited for this game. Quick, clean, love the artwork! Does seem like a bit of a departure though for Stonemaier. Compared to a lot of their games, at least for two players, this seems like a fairly quick, fairly straightforward card game. Not a negative comment at all, just an observation!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah this one can wrap up relatively quickly.

[@kringfish4078]

Comment for Monday: How do you feel about the end game scoring?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We'll definitely cover that topic Monday! :-)

[@jeffcarrier9808]

You know... I was about to Nope out of the video after the first card was played... but I kept watching and actually found this looked quite fun. (At least you guys made it LOOK fun.)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha!! Glad you stayed Jeff!

[@PianoN1co]

Thank You for the video! You are awesome! 😊

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for watching!

[@BoardGamesBooksAndWhat]

Great video. Your content is always tremendous. Would you all be against considering a play through of Carson City?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you so much! Possibly, we don't own it and have a pretty packed schedule the next 2 months.

[@jasonbrown1169]

Thank you for the play through. I got rid of Fantasy Realms because AP created horrible times between turns as players had to consider every single card's effect on every other card. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this game handles it as 123 individual cards in 14 suits is daunting...

[@milest4214]

Fantastic game, already decided to buy this but you cemented my decision!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@AdrianPaneto]

Way to get the win Naveen. You definitely were using your house power to it's full potential in increasing your fleet track every time you got the sovereign token. I'm excited for this game as it seems like a quick, combo type game that one could play multiple times in a row.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yes, you are right! I knew I had to keep pushing up the track and I found cards that also encouraged me to advance on the track. Game plays nice a snappy.

[@Vonkater]

Great job ! 👍

[@BillyIndiana]

Great playthrough! This game looks right up my alley in so many ways ❤ Very excited for the preorder of Red Rising. I ordered the books too after learning more about them. Great video🔥

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Have you started reading them yet? Monique is re-reading them now.

[@BillyIndiana]

@@BeforeYouPlay No, we had a family emergency in Indiana we had to work through the last two weeks and just got back to CA late last night. The books have been here waiting on me. I am hoping to start reading next weekend after I take this week to get caught back up on other things. I am excited for the books and the game!

[@Mrhofer]

Watching this and seeing the characters definitely made me more interested in the books!

[@danielkeim8558]

Man I'm such a sucker for clever-playing card games, I may have to get this one...also trying to get the books from the LA library! Great playthrough as always you two!

[@jessescholer]

Thanks again for a great playthrough! Excited to see what you think. Still on the fence myself but then again I don't have any attachment to the books. Definitely keeping an eye out for this one though.

[@TimChuon]

HAHA! “How dare you banish Eo?” “Eh...it’s just in the course of play”- I’m gonna use Naveen’s line the next time I make a make a winning play 😂😂 beautiful and easy to follow presentation of the game as always friends! Loved it 🥳

[@SClarkPharmD]

That exchange was highlight of the video for me!

[@ThinkerThemer]

The Year of Naveen ❤ 😂 This was so much fun to watch and such a super clear playthrough. Thanks for creating this wonderful resource. P.S. love the shirt Monique! 💕

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It's my year, I'm claiming it! Monique says "Thank you so much" 😁

[@paulallison6418]

This looks a very interesting game - great review guys!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@PauloRenato23]

The game looks pretty cool... like you said it reminds me a lot of Fantasy Realm that I really like!

[@EgeTunca]

looks awesome. I love fantasy realms :) Can't wait to try this.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@andreyvelkov3224]

For Naveen's sake, I hope you have a good couch:P Thank you for the great video:)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Couch crisis averted!! ;-)

[@JuliusCorvinus]

13:21 and 20:44 banish the bottom card of this location (if it's not this card) was that right? because Ragnar banished the top card and both times you banished the card that was closest to the House name.

[@TwoSheepOneWheat]

This looks like a fun game!

[@Calistake047]

17:38 Is it just me or Naveen should have banished Codebreaker? The card says "banish UNLESS (not "if") it's deployed on top of Gold or Silver", which it wasn't, so...

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Totally!! We've made corrections in the description and Klingon now. I completely inverted the rule on that card. :-(

[@Calistake047]

@@BeforeYouPlay Thank you, great playthrough :D

[@jakesanders9834]

This game looks fantastic

[@thesolitairegambit2556]

You guys have one of the best playthrough videos on the gaming community! ♥️ I noticed how you guys mentioned the solo variant from time to time about games, are the solo playthrough coming up? 😂😍

[@dmanr111]

Thanks for the play through! That really clicks and I'm very intrigued now. Have you played it with higher player counts? I'm wondering if it would be difficult for everyone to read the text at the bottom of the cards with higher player counts?

[@flagg5806]

Great playtrough as always :) i love J. Stegmeier games, do was quote excited about this one, however it seems like randomness in this one is a bit to high to my likening. Naveen scored like extra 50-60 points just cause he got Darrow in his starting hand.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

The thing about starting cards is that you still have to manage the criteria on the card as well as make sure other cards do not interact negatively with it. Technically the starting card was in hand but to make it work for Darrow required about 60% of the game played before it would actually score. Hope this helps! :-)

[@matissmatiss3126]

It was such a short game, perhaps another playtrough? ;D

[@orbesteanu4tsa]

Naveen crushing it! WOOP WOOPP! on fire, baby :-)))

[@BeforeYouPlay]

#TeamNaveen2021!! lol

[@FloMoTionDJ]

Question for Monday: What's your take on the level of Player interaction? Did the other players action influence your playstyle by a lot or just a little bit? Thanks for doing this great review.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We'll certainly try to address this in our review/wrap up!

[@Marek_Kosciak]

You are the best!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you!!

[@Marek_Kosciak]

@@BeforeYouPlay You have such a great chemistry ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍

[@blottieb]

Have played this one once multiplayer and many times solo. Hoping to dig in more to it to give it the room it needs to breathe.

[@jamesmorgan1967]

When Jamey announced this game on FB Live, I asked him if you guys would be doing a review and he confirmed it. I didn't want to say anything in the comment sections of your videos until you had announced it. Looking forward to the play through! (Edit: Have now watched it....that pivotal moment at 30:00...!)

[@machineFa8]

Fantastic game..

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you 👍

[@alexandretavares3081]

Already waiting for the review. I really like Fantasy Realms and I don't see this replacing it but I can see them living on the same shelf. Really liked the rewardingness of the game with that put-activate/take-activate (that reminds me of Raiders of the North Sea). The rewards chain is something Stonemaier does pretty well and I like it. I don't know if this will be a must buy for me, I'll probably wait to see if some publisher publishes it in portuguese (since I can see it played with almost everyone if I remove language barrier), but I'm convinced I'll enjoy it. My main concern is also the deck exploration on 2P game - since every card in unique, and the game is about combos, going through 25% of the deck could cause frustration and the game can become too luck dependent. Will be listening to your opinions on monday.

[@achang101]

Fantasy Realms is an excellent game. This definitely has a similar feel. I'll be interested in the price point of Red Rising given Fantasy Realms can be purchased for $25AUD (or $20USD).

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Andrew, we aren't in the loop on price yet. Hopefully Stonemaier will update everyone soon!

[@SariasLullaby]

I literally just bought it for 11.99 on amazon

[@adavies425]

What is the significance of the number seven in Red Rising? It comes up a lot.

[@keirion]

Nothing specific in the world. It's the hand size in Fantasy Realms, which this game was inspired by. Initially we started with a hand size of 7, but ended up decreasing that for information overload reasons, but the end game triggers ended up working very well at that number.

[@kaesar98]

When Naveen played the Diplomat to Luna (15:35) he should have taken the sovereign token, which would of course have blown up Monique's subsequent play of the priestess... Still, really great to see this game in action. It seems difficult to set a successful strategy for the game without knowing all of the cards and their unique mechanics. Do you think it will play fairly between players of different experience with it? Thanks for your insightful and entertaining play through!

[@theSolemnBard]

You get a location bonus based on where you take a card from, not where you deploy a card. On that turn he took from the deck, so he got a bonus (fleet) from the die. No goof there

[@kaesar98]

@@theSolemnBard Good catch! I stand corrected!

[@nigelgraves174]

I see both Monique and Rodney Smith have gone with the check (plaid) shirt option for the Red Rising videos: is this an homage to the cover design? Was this a pact among YT channels?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Now that the comparison has been drawn... YES! hahaha (It was a coincidence, didn't know Rodney was commissioned to do the official video.) Monique wearing red was no accident though.

[@olivierjodoin2283]

@@BeforeYouPlay it was in preparation for the collaboration on WatchItPlayed! It all makes sense now! 🧐

[@robertrichardson3888]

I was worried about bringing this game home to non-red-rising fans, even with Jamey saying it was okay. Most of the cards you used (except for end game scoring) were generic roles and it still seemed like a blast. I really liked this. Plays fast for how thinky it is.

[@northlakeghost]

The Year of Naveeeeeeeeen!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

2021 is lookin good so far (gaming... for gaming)

[@JoeyJocco]

Thanks for the playthrough, guys! It was nice to see how quickly/smoothly the game plays. Two things I’d like to hear your opinion on for your upcoming review: 1) the game seems very chaotic and swingy because you’re dealing with such potentially high point values and specific combos. Does it feel that way when playing? and do you enjoy that aspect of it? 2) scoring at the end looks a little obnoxious because you’re tallying up such big numbers from many different sources. How does that impact your enjoyment of the game?

[@rickert566]

Obnoxious?

[@JoeyJocco]

@@rickert566 By obnoxious I mean they spent about 20 minutes playing and then nearly 10 minutes adding up score (WITH a calculator). If I’m going to spend that much effort scoring, it should be for a heavier game.

[@gerbie42]

@@JoeyJocco I think this is mainly because they explained why cards score x amount of points. Like "This card is normally 15 points, but since I also have this other card, it is now 25 points", while if you'd score by yourself you'd just count the card as 25, which greatly speeds up scoring.

[@rickert566]

@@JoeyJocco But the 20 minutes is a trick of editing not the actual game time.

[@JoeyJocco]

@@gerbie42 I guess it depends on who’s playing and their familiarity with the game. I can imagine some of that score explaining happening for a real game to show other players what you scored, especially for the first few plays.

[@wsiegel9539]

This looks like a fun game, however it appears to be very swingie with a few right cards. Luck of the draw can be super important.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah, it's light enough though and wraps up relatively quickly. (We'll comment more in our review video though).

[@kingabarrafrem4929]

Thank you for the playthrough! The game looks like an interesting combolicious puzzle. It would be great if you can discuss the balance between different house powers. It looks like the bonus from Jupiter house gives more points on average (if you are at least at spot 3 on the fleet track you get 4 and more points for each progress while helium always gives only 3 points). Have you noticed any imbalances or it more depends on a specific game and cards in play that combo with the house powers?

[@successfulgeek]

PAX AU TELEMANUS!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It sounds so glorious in the audio book too!

[@successfulgeek]

@@BeforeYouPlay yeah I'm listening to it again.

[@onofreshoots]

I really enjoyed the play through, as this is a game I'm very much on the fence about purchasing (I guess this means I will tune in on Monday to see your review! 😉 ), but I'm *STUCK* on how Naveen was able to initiate end game: how was he able to place the seventh influence when he deployed a card on Mars, which gets you helium? Did I miss something? Anyway, I will be watching your follow up in a few days!

[@rickert566]

You get a reward for where you take a card and not from where you deploy.

[@onofreshoots]

@@rickert566 Thank you! I had it all mixed up, so I appreciate the reply!

[@bryanbrammer4353]

Thanks for this playthrough! Any clue on when this releases or is that part of the embargo?

[@rickert566]

The morning of March 3 is the first day for preorders and the first copies to go out early April or maybe slightly sooner