Board Game Reviews Ep

[@iamevn]

the way I've always thought about the board sizes was that 3x3 is too small, 4x4 is for learning, and 5x5/6x6 are where the actual game is

[@iamevn]

(anything bigger is simply Too Big and the game would take too long)

[@SimmonTak]

Most of the online tournament games are played on a 6x6 board. We do have one tournament each year played on 7x7, but it's the outlier. And the game does last a *long* time on the 7x7 or 8x8 size. But yeah, I typically have people learn the game on a 5x5 size board and then they move up to 6x6 once they get the hang of the rules. 3x3 is solved as a win for first player, but it and 4x4 are good for young kids to pick up - like around age 4-6.

[@NoNameAtAll2]

@@SimmonTak are there any recordings?

[@sawderf741]

​@@SimmonTakYou know a board gamer by them saying "solved game" and "orthogonal"

[@AFallingToaster]

@@NoNameAtAll2 Many on his channel

[@Evbot2]

the 5x5 also works as a 6 x 6 board if you play using the blue diamonds as spaces!

[@Agroveb]

Came here to say this

[@NStripleseven]

That’s true.

[@Kniightisa]

Big fan of the Kingkiller Chronicles! Can't believe they made the game real, super cool.

[@TomVCunningham]

It's a really good game, I heartily recommend it.

[@SimmonTak]

They totally did! And it's really fantastic. You can even try it out online to see if it's your kind of game before buying it. You can find the site and other Tak resources in my channel links.

[@Takun18]

It's so worth it!

[@t.estable3856]

Why? This game looks cool, but the series is bland as heck. The past and future storylines seem entirely disconnected, and while future Kvoth is an interesting character, past Kvoth is pretty clearly a (badly written) wish fulfillment character. "Oh yeah, the fairy queen let me go because I se*ed her sooooo good. And I'm a super genius, but I just can't seem to grasp why the super deadly sword monks might have an oath of non-violence. It's not like they have a built in respect for life in their ideology, and view actively using their combat skills as a grim necessity rather than something to be lauded or anything."

[@Adderkleet]

This game isn't the one described in the books. The one described in the books is (or is almost identical to) Go/Baduk. This version of Tal really isn't about controlling territory like the game in the books.

[@SimmonTak]

Heck yeah! Gotta love Tak! There are tons of tournaments and there's great competition there. There's even a beginner tournament (specifically for beginners) starting in a few weeks, so registration will be opening in the next couple days and there's prizes and the whole shebang. All the Tak resources are located on my channel, including the Discord server, how to play online, etc. One point to make: The scoring is actually just "if you win, you win." The scoring system you described is a variant rule and... isn't really used in any of the tournaments.

[@nizzbizz3087]

It's really nice that prozd doesn't care about the algorithm, he just makes videos he likes. I think, that is.

[@jmcalcy69]

Fun fact: the 5x5 board shown off early in this video can also be used as a 6x6 board; if you use the dots at the corners as the spaces, as opposed to the squares.

[@brickbot2.038]

I was just talking to my brother about this game the other day (He's the one who shared this video with me). A couple years ago we both played this game at a game convention. I completely forgot about it since then, until a few weeks ago when I got the second book in the series (In which they initially play Tak). I had to tell him that I owned the book in which the obscure game we played years ago was from. Needless to say it took him a minute to figure our what I talking about. I absolutely love the Kingkiller Chronicles, it's definitely my favorite series ever.

[@ustak]

You probably played with us! Glad you came back around to it; we're quite the fans, obviously 😁

[@ThisLateHistoricalHour]

I was gifted a charity copy of this game because my sibling knew I was a fan of the books. I enjoy it but the hardest part is finding people to play who wouldn’t prefer something similar. I do, however, believe there are online versions with decently active communities

[@SimmonTak]

The online community is super active! We have tournaments running basically all the time. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources!

[@abodi1]

this is easily my favourite abstract game, and while i haven't played in a while, i did manage over 1000 face to face plays of it and would very gladly play more if i have an opponent.

[@tsawy6]

I really loved Tak! I used to play it with a friend, and the strategies we built up got very interesting! Like, obviously two people sitting together aren't going to delve the theory deeply enough to compare a game to something like Chess. But. It did still start to feel a little similar. The moves that you have generate a radical, chaotic number of possibilities, just like chess, and that it's generated from 3 pieces and two types of move is really sick to me. Our favourites were the 4x4 and the 5x5. Anything bigger than the 5x5 starts to place a really huge cognitive load keeping track of everything. We never bought the second set you need for the 8x8 on a chessboard! The 4x4 has a charming minimalism to it, which works pretty well. The capstone not being there makes a ton of sense to me, it's way too centralising in a smaller board, and walls (which have a great deal of subtlety and generate a lot of strategy themselves. They don't advance your position, but help you control your other pieces, especially cuz they go on top of other stacks) would become pretty useless. It's actually the only non-standard boardgame I've ever played in any serious capacity, diving into the strategy. Perhaps obviously, we chose this one because we were fans of the books.

[@ObsessiveReaderLuv]

This is just Advanced Tic-Tac-Toe and I kinda love it

[@TomVCunningham]

I've had a copy of Tak since the Kickstarter. It's great and if you play it in public people get confused and it's amazing.

[@SimmonTak]

Absolutely! I love bringing it out to play in public. People often approach and ask what the game is. Covid put a damper on that, though, and most of my play has been online in the past couple years.

[@EverythingIsAJunkDrawer]

Not even a minute into this video and this man of so many talents and interests quietly exposes literal hand model tier hands. Is there nothing you cannot do fren?

[@SabertoothTigress]

My husband and I are playing Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes right now and finally made the connection last night you voice Holst! Haha now we just think of you and your skits every time he speaks 😂

[@naturesfinest2408]

I play this game quite a bit. I love it. Im happy to see you reviewing it! Spread awareness to a great game.

[@bobbycorwen]

I love this game so much. What a gem it turned out to be! Some friends and I even bring our own special unique totems to represent our capstones. Makes it cool 😎

[@shanedeiley6671]

For real, 2 of the best books ever written. But with the series unfinished, it's hard to recommend to others knowing the pain of the unfinished story.

[@Adderkleet]

Honestly, the second book was enough for me to not recommend the series. I like the world, I like the characters (mostly), but there's too many threads and too much "suddenly, I became poor - again". Book 1 should have ended with him leaving college (just remove a couple of "so then I got in a fight with Ambrose/Joffrey/Malfoy" chapters), and book 2 could skip the lower-city part (or at least trim it down, please, Jesus...). Maybe remove ONE of the love-interest "so then I had sex" arcs. So we might be able to get to one of the actual points established (like encountering Bast, or getting the lockless box to someone that knows Rill, or getting expelled, or finding SOMETHING about the mystery of the Amyr).

[@olanmills64]

I love this game among abstracts. I like it so much that I have a portable version in small pouch and a super nice wooden version

[@estelle7021]

The thumbnail drew me in here. This game looks so odd. I love it.

[@ScorchyScorch]

From the thumbnail I thought this was some sort of cheese and crackers board game

[@mmarchani]

One of my absolute favorite games! I Kickstarted it and still love getting it out to play.

[@SimmonTak]

I hope you play online, also! We've got tournaments going all the time!

[@evertime123]

@@SimmonTak is there a site or do people use tabletop sim?

[@nqeron]

@@evertime123 we mainly use playtak.com, but communicate in the Tak Talk discord.

[@iinderiia]

I was watching one of Patrick Rothfuss' streams in twitch when the notification for this video popped up. Very appropriate.

[@in-craig-ible6160]

I never understood how the game actually played until seeing you demonstrate it. Thanks!

[@smallsTheSaxJammer]

Oh, lord, I love this game SO MUCH. I actually made a Tak board for my best friend as an engagement present out of walnut and alder

[@Soccer333bc]

You can also play on the center diamonds to increase the play size of the board.

[@matthewb9955]

No that won’t work the Diamond are not big enough and the sides are cut in half.

[@Gammanoize]

Crapette or Russian Bank, is same cardgame, sometimes called Spitefull bank. Is one of the best games I know. Learned it from my grandmother. It is actually not about who wins but who makes the most mistakes

[@Laylia_]

I really enjoyed playing tak when I got it, might bring it out again for tabletop game night

[@SimmonTak]

You absolutely should! And play with some folks online! There's a great casual community and competitive community with loads of tournaments.

[@SpydrXIII]

love it, it's as simple and deep as chess but not at all chess. i like that.

[@SimmonTak]

It's simpler to learn than chess, even. But significantly deeper at the same time! Which is awesome. The online community is also really solid. Tons of tournaments for varying skill levels. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources!

[@SpydrXIII]

@@SimmonTak man, all this from a fucking novel! this is pretty cool. so many avenues for things to spawn from.

[@RottenBen]

Note: You can use that 5x5 board as a 6x6. You can just place on the intersections/corners of the lines instead of the squares in between.

[@yt_ijma]

I love this game so much. I play it at least once a week with one of my friends.

[@MoonlightCrow]

Love this game! My father in law and I play every time we see each other!

[@veritasmod7013]

This is a really interesting game. I'd love to try this out with me mates if I can buy one for myself here.

[@SimmonTak]

You can try it out online! The online community is super active! We have tournaments running basically all the time. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources!

[@beautiful_upgrades]

Nice to see this beautiful game getting some publicity!

[@justininexile3445]

"Well, two can play at that game!" - ProZD

[@BIayne]

I'm not done watching yet but this seems very intuitive and seems like fun.

[@SimmonTak]

It is an absolute blast to play. But not only that, the online community is super active! We have tournaments running basically all the time. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources!

[@KevinJennissen]

I always wondered how this game worked. Nice!

[@jmcalcy69]

The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss are my favorite fantasy books, they're so good

[@GarrettMcDonald]

If you haven't read The Way of Kings... you should

[@Monk1400]

I just finished the kingkiller chronicles and they're some of the best books I've ever read. Highly recommend to any fans of more realistic fantasy and dnd nerds(main character is a bard)

[@justaperson8381]

I'd love to see you review wingspan one day! It's a very fun game which my family and I enjoy a lot

[@rolanddeschain6265]

Yo sungwon, do you get your nails manicured or do you/your wife do it yourself? No toxicity intended they're unbelievably healthy and clean looking haha

[@doogong]

Interesting! It's like trying to play Go but all the pieces are beetles from Hive

[@blblblblblbl7505]

Clearly an abstract game connoisseur haha The tower unstacking also kinda comes from mancala

[@sanjithechef]

Omg they made a game based on the Kingkiller Chronicles? That’s pretty cool

[@Pxtl]

Rothfuss and Ernest had actually already been working together - he made a set of Kingkiller themed cards for "Pears" which was meant to be an alternative to the standard 52 card deck but with asymmetric card counts for games where having 1 of 1 card and 10 of another card makes sense. Rothfuss, on Tak: “Tak is supposed to be my world’s version of Chess or Go or Mancala,” I said. “I can’t ask you to make a game like that. It’s like saying, ‘you know those games that have stood the test of time for hundreds or thousands of years? The best games ever? Do that, but in my world.’ So first off, it’s unreasonable for me to ask. Secondly, you can’t do it. No one can. And thirdly, if you did somehow manage to pull if off, nobody would give a shit. We’re living in the golden age of board games right now. Nobody cares about strategy games like chess anymore.” (If you haven’t already noticed, I can be a curmudgeonly fucker at times.) “Just let me try,” James said. “Let me take a run at it. If you hate what I come up with, we’ll never speak of it again.”

[@SimmonTak]

It came out in 2016! It's a phenomenal game. You should check out the online community and play some! (links on my channel)

[@Random-qt9rn]

Can't help but be jealous whenever I see the real thing. I play Tak using checkers stones (with a different back side for walls). It's probably still available for purchase for Americans, in my country I'm out of luck.

[@CamKoudo]

For a second I thought this was gonna be a review of the board game TAC, but that's a completely different game than TAK xD Why do games have such similar names??

[@jmeslau]

I thought it was chocolate truffles from the thumbnail lol

[@munchcat]

My favorite version is Street Tak, where you play hard and fast and don't call Tak when you're one move away. No idea if it's still included in the rules, but it really changes up the game.

[@shadow_wolf6663]

bro put some of the brown tak pieces on a bench and i swear a kid will eat it thinking its choclate

[@Epinardscaramel]

Eh Patrick Rufus! I heard about this game from the P4A 2022 stream 🥰

[@Gammanoize]

This game is cool too by the way. Thanks for sharing

[@omenking123]

I have a really hard time taking the board game's name seriously, since ''Tak'' means ''Thanks'' or ''Thank you'' in Danish.

[@dupolup]

It means "Yes" in Polish.

[@SimmonTak]

The online community has folks from all over the world who also have "tak" as a regular word in their language. They seem to like it just fine :)

[@omenking123]

@@SimmonTak I'll be damned.....

[@SimmonTak]

@@omenking123 I mean, you don't have to be. I think a good step in the right direction is to play some Tak with the online community ;)

[@mrianburke]

Do you have similar issues with "Go"?

[@kevinvu5432]

I recommend Scythe. Super fun game. Not for reviewing. Just for playing

[@strawberry_sarahh]

You have pretty hands and nails 💅

[@rabidmonk5]

What that hand do

[@greenapple9477]

I was hoping someone would notice his nails. 🤣

[@UberTastical22]

GOAT abstract imo

[@stv312]

Playing with chocolate seems delicious

[@Lykrast]

Oh that sounds fun!

[@SimmonTak]

Not only is it super fun, the online community is super active! We have tournaments running basically all the time. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources!

[@Lykrast]

@@SimmonTak Oh yeah just saw all that, whole US association of players, a elo (?) leaderboard, a cool looking online client to play the game. Makes me want to purchase a board but damn those ones from the publisher look expensive (60$ and from US, so probably extra on shipping) and I don't have any 3d printing at hand. Also makes me curious about the books now.

[@SimmonTak]

@@Lykrast For sure. The US Tak Association isn't just for US, either. Like a quarter of the members are from Europe and more from elsewhere. You can make your own boards, too. The Discord server has loads of examples on how to make your own set in a affordable way.

[@juandyu9476]

My father designed one for me, then sent it to a carpenter to cut the pieces and used the box as the board. Y have the pieces in my bag to be ready to play all the time

[@BeatlesRoxx13579]

Put the books on as an audio book. They are super good.

[@milinko4468]

Wiooooo this is I've been waiting for babiiiiii

[@SimmonTak]

Isn't it the best? So good. And the online community is great, too ;)

[@gamefan1019]

Fun fact: tak means yes in polish

[@i-cdoor42]

It does in a lot of Germanic languages.

[@austinbaker8042]

Is this the same Kingkiller novel series that's featured in the Call to Adventure expansion?! What is this board game expanded universe?!

[@OmoNok]

Fun fact Tak in Polish means Yes

[@satwiksahu486]

Is this what Rothfuss is doing instead of releasing the final book? *Coughs up blood and dies*

[@SonOfAntalis]

I love Tak! Though I can't really get any of my friends to play the game :(

[@tiktokdisliker2332]

SungWon-y once told me the world is gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

[@EmpressAndrina]

Watch all board game reviews to confuse his former youtube manager

[@MrJoBilly]

What the actuak HECK?! I literally JUST finished AWMF and you drop this? COINCIDENCE!? Probably. A cool one though.

[@SethWistful]

Oooh I might pick this up

[@cloudsRniceC0M3]

Simply beautiful

[@revimfadli4666]

Let's hope more authors put vague boardgame descriptions in their books, so we can get more of these lol

[@BizVlogs]

Which book is it from?

[@revimfadli4666]

@@BizVlogs The Wise Man's Fear?

[@rsv8506]

I'm distracted by how beautiful your nails are.

[@nurgreen3369]

This guy must have a big board game closet

[@JimPAX70]

Tak is excellent, and can be played online for free!

[@cameronhardy825]

It's not about winning. It's about playing a beautiful game.

[@thisguy4614]

Did they ever make the game Pai Sho from Avatar last air bender into a game? Apologies if I misspelled it.

[@ButOneThingIsNeedful]

You're such a good reviewer of abstract games. Do you have a video ranking them? I'll go look. Your opinion would be valuable to me. I'm attracted to Yinsh, but would like to know how you feel it stacks up with the best. Thx!

[@railenmiles]

interesting concept what's the name of the bgm?

[@WildfireMagni]

Seems pretty neat.

[@daltontinoco7084]

Interesting game, I like this o:

[@SimmonTak]

It's a blast to play. And the online community has tournaments for folks of all skill levels. Check out the links in my channel for online play and the online community (can't link here or the comment gets deleted)

[@lexioutt]

Tak seems instresting.

[@SimmonTak]

It's a great game. The online community has tons of tournaments, too. Lots of activity on the Discord and lots of casual online play. Check my channel for links

[@TomVCunningham]

7x7 games are never played because of The Chandrian...

[@capness1228]

SHHHHH

[@TomVCunningham]

@@capness1228 👀

[@SimmonTak]

We have an online 7x7 tournament once a year called the Chandrian Invitational where there are 7 top players playing on 7x7. All the rest of the competitive tournament games are played 6x6, of course, but that one is extra fun. The second capstone makes it nuts.

[@reginag4053]

When you're moving the stack by dropping pieces along the way, do you have to move in a straight line or can you change directions part way through the stack?

[@Kulpo]

I believe it has to be a straight line

[@TimeLair]

Jibolba's favorite game to play with his older brother, Jibolba's Brother

[@chrisc7265]

Jibolba's younger brother will remember that

[@matthewb9955]

Looks like a cool game I might give it a go. Kind of annoying though that the pieces are called stones but they are made of wood.

[@zionfreeman303]

The pieces look tasty 😋

[@JMB92998]

LOVE the book series. Game seems kinda fun, but I would never find anyone to play it with 😭

[@SimmonTak]

The online community is super active! We have tournaments running basically all the time. We even have a tournament specifically for beginners starting in a couple weeks. Registration will open in a couple days. Check the links on my channel for all the resources! You should check it out. It's a blast.

[@Sheriff_K]

The books are great.

[@jacobrutzke691]

You really should read the books they good

[@ThefamousMrcroissant]

This game seems flawed by being fully deterministic. I will never forget Fischer's comment on Chess: it *needs* randomness that it does not have. This game's state space also seems much less vast than Chess, potentially implying that you run into the same strategies being re-applied every game once the competence of players reaches a certain level.

[@SneakyTogedemaru]

So a very fancy tic-TAK-toe, hmm... Lovely

[@Fircasice]

Could you please rank the tokens from least to most fuckable

[@vustvaleo8068]

TAK!!

[@alexameth4408]

5:24 it was a win already is it not?

[@SimmonTak]

It is not, no. The road can't be connected diagonally. It's very close, though! If you're ever confused about whether a move is valid or if it's a win, you can ask the online community in the Discord or just try it out on the online platform. It won't let you make an illegal move and it lets you know when the game is won.

[@imnugget8085]

Trying make a simple board/card game without card and it Gnome theme mix with card game but they act like chess game / connect 4

[@dangerousbeans2907]

Read the books. Audible baby!

[@jonathanschaefer9848]

Best game

[@SimmonTak]

It really is. I hope you're in the online community! ;)

[@marianavega9551]

WHY DID I THOUGH IT WAS CHOCOLATE??

[@tattoodrdoke]

Is it me or did the thumbnail look like a box of fancy chocolates

[@lawlalotti978]

The pieces look like chocolate-

[@crowonthepowerlines]

If only the author still wrote, would love to see how the series ends.

[@andrewlanke7563]

What is the point of having a score?

[@Mikescool444]

I love foball