Cooper Island - Gaming Rules! Review

[@hachenpact]

Main reason we left the Solomode out, was: It was not ready when the game went to print. As printing a card pack only can be done in a fraction of time, it gave us another 6 weeks to develop on it, and make it as good as we wanted it to be. Given the feedback from the Solo community it looks that this was worth it.

[@Selecta84]

Yeah, the Solo Mode is pretty great. Fast setup, low administration and still quite a nice challenge.

[@jeremybodager2258]

Any word on a pnp version to be made available for those who have the game, but don't want to spend the extra $10 to get a copy (or for when it is unavailable for purchase, because it is out of stock)?

[@powerfade11]

I love your reviews - this is one of the main reasons I support you on Patreon!

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Not only my favourite game of 2019, but quite possible in the running for one of my favourite games of all time! Thanks for this Paul!

[@bung1975]

Excellent video! I just picked this up in a trade yesterday, and will be slowly learning over the next week or so. I can't wait to give it a try! And I love that La Granja (my #2 game) is hanging on the wall!

[@BeeCeeJay]

I'll be playing this for the first time tomorrow, I can't wait! Nice vid. :)

[@charliecharles3042]

I have been looking forward to watching this

[@Metroidam11]

Absolutely love the review format. I get a feel for it without being bogged down by rules explanation that only confuses me. I think I would love this game but my friends don't like as heavy games as me. The struggle of a euro gamer...

[@atomiracing]

I preordered and picked this up at Essen and received the solo cards at the same time. So glad I did as it is one of my favorite games to solo at the moment. The only downsides to the game I have found are A) the player boards are very busy and confusing to new players and B) some people in my group don't like playing it because you score very few points during the course of the game (idc about it not being a point salad game) and thus I don't get it to the table as much as I would like. Of course, that has to do with those people and not the game and its just me complaining on how I want to play it more than I get to :)

[@PhilHenDrums]

We only tried this game a month ago, and it has quickly become one of our favorites. I'm not too surprised, because we also like La Granja by the same designer. both games offer flexibility in the ways to address the challenges put before you. It takes creative thinking, and when things work out you feel pretty clever. It's a very fun brainy game, and it doesn't drag on and on.

[@Selecta84]

Yay, my second favorite Euro from Essen 2019 right behind Crystal Palace.

[@RaduStanculescu]

It's my second favorite game from 2019 as well, after Barrage.

[@Selecta84]

@@RaduStanculescu Had no chance to play that one yet but a German Version comes out this year so hopefully I can get around to try it then

[@matts3155]

I like City of Big Shoulders a little more than Crystal, but that's a really good game :)

[@andreasodendahl]

Thanks for the video, Paul! Awesome job and I am happy you like the game! About the helmpoint under the big building: That is there for a really long time and it is part of the statue strategy combined with buildings... I agree with ou that there might be some things that could have been kicked - but I won't tell what those are for me! ;-) But I will tell that it's not the helmpoint under the building! Try it! Erect the building in first round and start removing ruins right away! Well, you could hope for thot one small building card with 1 helmpoint and 1 gold instead... But you need a bit of luck for that draw... ;-)

[@benanderson46]

Great video! It'd be great if you had links to your other Cooper Island videos in the description so I can watch more

[@GamingRulesVideos]

Thanks. I had meant to do that. I will do it now.

[@redmojogames]

great review, love the game!

[@andygrant5894]

Hi Paul, just revisited this video this evening. I’ll be adding this to my shelf of shame on Monday as have it ordered with Gameslore. Also the second edition comes with the solo deck ( yay! ) I say shelf of shame -although I actually mean pile of potential. I’ve a few stacking up, feudum, cerebria, trickerion, Iwari to name a few. Once work calms down I hope to start getting more to the table.

[@n20games52]

Looks like a really engaging design. I have to admit, all the icons do scare me! With everything going on in the game, it appears to have a lot of legs and replay value.

[@Jellocheck]

I absolutely agree with that Test. At the first Time i habe played these Game, i hated it! Now, 4 Plays later i love it so much :-D It is extremely komplex, but i feel so good after ending a Session. There is so much i can do, i never will be tired to find another Way!

[@raymonddavies2934]

Really like your reviews. Does this mean you are now ready to do a top 5 or 10 of 2018?

[@GamingRulesVideos]

Yes. I should have done it in December, but plans went awry. I am planning to do it next week.

[@benanderson46]

11+6=2019!

[@zorbageekman2761]

Hi Paul, you mentioned the solo deck and that you played Solo, what are your thoughts on how the solo game plays

[@GamingRulesVideos]

I've only played it once. I did a video on it somewhere on my channel. I found it a bit tricky at first, but it's a good way to become more familiar with the game.

[@apertotes]

Oh, I meant to ask you something but I forgot earlier. Many of us can't afford to own as many games as we would like to. If you had to choose one or two heavy euros like Terra Mystica, Kanban, Arkwright, Lisboa, Cooper Island, Lignum, Brass, Through the Ages, etc, what would you pick?

[@GamingRulesVideos]

That's probably a better question for my next live Q&A. Which is next Wednesday. I post a thread on my BGG guild for any questions in advance. (Guild 2258)

[@apertotes]

What you say at the end about variability and replayability. You played 5 times. Without much in the way of player interaction and the very limited initial variability, you don't really think that the game will suffer in the long run? I've played more than 200 games of Race for the Galaxy and I am still enamored with it. I can say the same about Agricola. Every game is a new challenging puzzle. But I do not think that a game like Cooper Island could be interesting after 10-15 games and after having explored the different avenues that the game offers. I think that we have so many games nowadays that we are decreasing our standard of longevity for them.

[@GamingRulesVideos]

Possibly yes. I don't know to be honest. I can certainly see me enjoying this game at least another 5-10 times. Maybe even more after that. Great that you can play RftG 200 times and still enjoy it :)

[@tomwakefield1726]

Re: your comments on solo components not being included. I can see it from both points of view. For those that aren't bothered about solo, it's something which needlessly increases the cost. And from an environmental point of view, which is worse - printing loads of unneeded sets, or printing only those required, but shipping them.

[@benanderson46]

Yeah I'm a little frustrated they neglected to add 24 cards to a $70 game and then ask another $10 for them.

[@greenwolf2299]

i like crunchy games, but god what does the game look ugly :(

[@apertotes]

The rulebook is not gender neutral. What's your solution to this? Use the hideous "they/their" everywhere?

[@GamingRulesVideos]

It's a shame you feel that way.

[@apertotes]

@@GamingRulesVideos You didn't really answer my question. What is the solution?

[@GamingRulesVideos]

@@apertotes I don't really want this to turn into a debate, but I am also a professional rulebook writer and editor. Using "they" is not hideous. It is grammatically correct and inclusive. If you don't agree, that's not something I really want to discuss here.

[@apertotes]

@@GamingRulesVideos Well, unless you want to moderate my comments, you can't really chose what I will discuss or not. You opened this door yourself in the video. I am a professional translator and I reiterate, they/their is hideous and worse, it is ambiguous, which is something to avoid at all costs, specially on rules. It baffles me that a professional rulebook writer and editor would defend such a burden for ruleswritting.

[@GamingRulesVideos]

@@apertotes It's not ambiguous when you do it correctly. If you want to continue to be non-inclusive, that is your choice. Many people and publishers are moving away from gender-specific rulebooks in the past few years. Every other professional rulebook writer I know uses "they" now in rulebooks. It's not hard.