Last Light Review: A Cannaday Keeps The Downtime Away

[@BoardGameCo]

I'm also friends with Roy. But my game group doesn't know him from Jack, and every one of them wanted to play this game right away after playing it and one decided on the spot to buy it at Gencon and made that his main Gencon mission.

[@ianw0ng]

hey...i think i know this guy.

[@KabukiKid]

Alex knows what's good. ;-)

[@EpicGamingNight]

You’re using the term “friends” pretty loosely here alex! 😜🤣

[@KabukiKid]

@@EpicGamingNight LMAO, Roy!!!

[@ralelunar]

Is it really 4X if it doesn't take 4 hours? 😛 Congrats, Roy, so proud of you for debuting your game!

[@EpicGamingNight]

Luckily, despite popular opinion, one of the Xs isn’t “extremely long” 😝

[@pajander]

I thought it meant "4x longer than anything else you've played".

[@cardboard_cave]

I feel like this is one of the most balanced and honest critical reviews of this game, and Roy is a coworker of these folks. That’s why I keep coming back to the dice tower over most other game “critics”.

[@budsticky]

But is it a blast to play?

[@kafka0622]

I do not like 4X games. They do not typically interest me at all. But a 4X game that plays in an hour was intriguing so I sat in when Roy was teaching it at DTW. It was superb. Really tight and crazy fun. I absolutly loved it and cannot recommend it enough. I immediately wnet and late pledged for it at a pretty high levela nd can't wait to get the game. Well done Roy!

[@peacefuldragon742]

I disagree that the black and white board is too stark. It doesn't take long for the board to be covered with ships in 4 bold colors. The black board makes the colors of ships and the planets pop. Cheers, ☕️

[@johnkobs6086]

The Dice Tower's new tagline should be, Understands ethical disclosure better than the US Supreme Court. Thanks for being so candid! (almost killed me not making a great pun there)

[@dadtier564]

We played it with 8 players and it just blew us away!!! Got our copy at gencon and Roy signed it, for anyone interested it is exactly what we want and plays QUICK. Would love a watch it played or a streamlined tutorial as well which could also onboard people people play fast! Also also, appreciate you Dice Tower team for just reviewing it and doing what you do best, play games and talk about them!

[@jeremiahhammer2282]

Kicking myself for being on a KS hiatus when this was on offer. Will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for a copy. Congratulations, Roy! 🤘🏻

[@Majdi.J]

First and foremost congratulations to Roy! He worked his butt off and been promoting the heck out of this game. Glad to see his hard work pay of. Second, The Dice Tower has built its name on integrity. I have no doubt that these thoughts are genuine from everyone regarldess of their relationship with Roy.

[@geoffreys78]

Does anyone know how one would go about getting the deluxe version and the upgrades?

[@jacobjslee]

Why wasn't Roy in this review? I'd love to hear his thoughts.

[@bibleboardgames]

I like the fact that 'Last Light' can be played in an evening so it could get played more than a 5-8 hour 4Xer. I like the rotating planets... thematically feels like real planets going around a solar system/galaxy and as a game mechanic adds to replayability.

[@trevorg208]

Kinda surprised you guys would review this. I totally trust you guys but on principal I figured you wouldn't. But, as you said, you probably wouldn't win either way.

[@ajguez]

Biases aside, this game seems just like the game the Dice Tower team has been looking for! Other channels and reviewers have been even more bullish on the game! I can’t wait to get my copy and play with my family!

[@sandyosborne3344]

Totally excited for this game. I watch you guys all the time, and backed on crowd funding because of Roy’s name, I knew it would be good. Everything I hear backs that up - can’t wait for it to arrive. Congratulations Roy. Dice Tower (especially Tom) is the closest match for my own board game preferences compared to many other big names out there. Excellent review under unusual circumstances, well done guys.

[@th3cha1rmak3r]

There is a true 4x game that takes an hour to play, but I do understand why people often neglect its existence. It's Impulse by Carl Chudyk. It's also not grandiose but it is a true 4x game although it mostly feels like a racing game. It's brilliant and it's quirky.

[@MichaelPalvado]

Not gonna lie, I 100% backed this game because Roy's name was on it. He and I love a lot of the same games, so I just had a feeling his inspiration would create an amazing game. I had the biggest smile on my face watching the first playthrough video of this because it was indeed incredible. I cannot wait for my copy to deliver!

[@tyleryoung3158]

LOL how long have they been sitting on this video title?

[@notsaved]

I'm sure that this is a great game and not because Roy is part of the Dice Tower - reviewers seem to agree on this. But it does look ugly, and this is something Roy might not have had much say upon - the graphic design is bad, old, the artwork is minimal, and the cool components seem wasted on that black starkly outlined board. It almost looks like an abstract and leaves you with a prototype feel. I understand the need for geometrical symmetry of board spaces, but there are ways to break it up visually without it looking like a Tron game from the 80s. Needs more color, more art, more ways to anchor theme visually. Really looking forward a second edition with revamped artwork & graphic design up to standards with major publishers because this could be an evergreen.

[@chuckm1961]

To each their own. I think it looks elegant.

[@JonReid01]

I'm not sure what the base game looks like, but for the version here, I wish the planet colors had a bit more of a defined color palate. They feel too random. Also the greens and blues get lost in the black board. Why not use neon greens and electric greens that really pop off the board? Also, the detailing on the board of the reflective/glossy black on black lines and shapes looks really cool and I don't think that came across well in the lighting for this review.

[@DTChrisYi]

I like the glyph details on the board which I think look better in person. The planets shown here are the Kickstarter resin planets as that is what was sent to us. You can find pictures online of the basic planets that will come in retail, and the colors are more clear as you were describing.

[@ianw0ng]

agree yes. the planets and components are great, but the board itself look amateurish.. like you said, looks like an unfinished prototype. wish it looks more appealing.

[@JonReid01]

@@DTChrisYi thanks Chris! I went and looked at some more pics on bgg and WOW would this game look amazing under a blacklight/UV light! The variety of the planet colors makes more sense now that I see more pictures. And with better room lighting and with a side view vs top down angle like Tom's overview, there's much better contrast between the components and the board. Might be something to consider for future DT reviews: some b roll of different angles (like Mark Streed does in his Kickstarter previews). But I also appreciate how straightforward and concise DT reviews are, so I get it either way. 😁Appreciate you, sir! Very nice work as always.

[@ianlewis8726]

This looks good. Followed the Gamefound campaign. Thanks for the even handed treatment.

[@pokefrosch617]

To be honest, Ive seen prototypes with nicer production. And this is supposed to be ks deluxe? Love Roy, hope this gets a nicer reprint.

[@KabukiKid]

Congrats to Roy on an apparent gem of a design! :-D Can't wait to get my Deluxe version! ^_^

[@EpicGamingNight]

I cant wait for you to play it!!! 🙌🙌🙌

[@frederickhayesiii4196]

How does it work at 2 players?

[@danvenables4935]

I feel like working with Roy the gang must have had a lot of input into the games ideas and helped streamlined it etc no? So imagine they'd have to love it! Can't imagine Roy could suddenly go solo on his first release but if they really gave little input then even more props to him. Either way looks a great game and that's what matters by the end.

[@ryusuikarate]

Interestingly the planets are the thing I dislike most. I would much rather have cardboard tiles in the standard version since I find the planet stands unnecessarily fiddly and for me they obscure the board. It's like those giant god miniatures in Ankh. They look cool but they detract from gameplay for me. And since I sold Ankh just because of that I'll have to pass on owning Last Light even though I like the gameplay.

[@darkmaster022003]

Bringing up that it's a deluxe version made me wonder, is this the best way to review games? You're basically reviewing what a majority of people that might buy it will never see instead of what most of the people who buy something will get.

[@darkmaster022003]

My thought is basically you should review the base games with original components, THEN upgrade the game with kickstarter and deluxe components before adding it to the library so everyone can see what exactly they'll be paying for if they thought they wanted the game.

[@thedicetower]

Thanks for the comment. A big part of this is we review what gets sent to us. We haven't had a non-deluxe copy come through the office. A review that goes up tomorrow will show the significant component differences between deluxe and retail editions, but that's because both were sent to us. -Chris

[@darkmaster022003]

@@thedicetower Would it be possible to at least have pics or something of the components or try to have the retail versions sent to since it feels hard to judge if something would be worth the money not seeing what would be in the box you'd be buying considering most would be just picking up a retail copy and not a deluxe one. Edit and clarification: The reason I'm bringing it up is the base game on Amazon, not sure if it's just people posting bad reviews or if they're genuine, but most mention component and production issues which I wanted to see your review to check out but it being a deluxe version didn't help that at all.

[@darkmaster022003]

@@thedicetower Also having to review what comes through the office really feels like it doesn't fit in this case since getting a base game feels like it should be easy considering the person that created it works with you.

[@AleksandarDaGr8]

How is it at 2?

[@Urutsini]

With the Refresh issue. How about an add-on/3d printed device where you put the Refresh card in a slot/tray that triggers a flag raise?

[@TheFamilyCrocker]

Can I advocate for, or can I be directed to, a video of Roy explaining or talking about his game? I can't ask for a review, that's an impossibility, he made it. Closest I have come to discovering this is Roy's episode of "At the Table" recorded unfortunately without Tom due to lost voice issues. Late pledged, it's on the way, but have never played.

[@EpicGamingNight]

Thats kinda what this video is but i made it 3 years ago 😅 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jabdfqqqnN2Dhbcfeature=shared

[@Salixalba1000]

I am waiting patiently for my copy. Very happy for Roy and his team, creating something so very new and different that works as intended seems very difficult (to a muggle like me), Hats off to you sir!!

[@superhans7624]

Warpgate is the only one that gives you a kind of similar feel…I think.

[@DuGStp]

Kemet is quick? Am I playing it wrong? 5 players I can’t usually get it done in under 3 hours. Always seems to devolve into team up to pull down the leader so the game doesn’t end.

[@DTChrisYi]

Less that Kemet is short, more that each turn is pretty quick and the combats are exciting.

[@juvigoat2168]

Congratulations Roy!

[@chuckm1961]

Interesting comments by Chris. Not surprising that Roy would design a game that has to be "balanced" by the players. Which means, I would predict, an upcoming backlash later this fall, as some people dismiss the "hype" by claiming the game is not balanced. Stop the person who has built an engine to get light quickly and efficiently! Really looking forward to playing this.

[@EpicGamingNight]

Games with player interaction and balance have way more staying power than games without a game where you play the players as much as the game has infinite replay ability because they’re infinite number of people to play with! Well until heat death i guess 😜

[@chrisgarding7279]

​@EpicGamingNight I've read this 3 times and I have no idea what you're trying to say here.

[@clanechelon]

@@chrisgarding7279 some game can be solved when you are just ''beating the game''. Meanwhile, beating the players means a lot more replayability as the game will adapt to whoever you are playing with.

[@rockthemic12]

How does it compare to other simultaneous selection games like Race for the Galaxy and Ares Expedition?

[@jetsfly228]

Having played all 3, it is very different since the actions take place on a much broader scope than just your personal board. It kind of feels closer to playing a turn-based war game like Kemet or Root but all at the same time, and if players were to interact the game pauses for a few seconds to resolve a conflict.

[@azizmandar]

Those are card based engine builders. This is more of a traditional area control war game. The simultaneous play and small action set make this quick while a large deck of tech cards and a small set of units to build give a more 4x feel. It's amazing how well it works for the time given. But the main thing is the games speed. If you want a massive civilization building you will play a different and longer game. If you want more of the combat and race for resources from 4x and in less than 2 hrs this is a great choice.

[@bgoryan]

I can’t wait to receive my copy. Currently my most anticipated game.

[@vonwoolf9963]

Chris Yi, right on point as usual 👍👍

[@stuartshannon8561]

can't wait to get it to the table when it arrives.

[@fubarbox]

I doubt you will see this, but THANK YOU Roy for a great evening with my 9 Year old Daughter and my wife. Your game is fantastic. It has a simple and easy to understand ruleset, meaningful decisions, and a fast playtime too! It may not have the depth of a TI3, but I will likely never be able to play that, let alone with my wife and daughter. This is the perfect depth and complexity for our family. The only issues we had were with some componants and understanding the movement rule when it comes to the diagnoal line, but other than that it was smooth sailing. Thanks again!

[@jamesknowles9236]

I haven't played the game but am really excited to try it out...but by God it's so damn ugly. Except for the super cool looking planets, the game board is just fields of black and white blandness. Even the dice are bland and ugly. That's probably why Zee and Mike didn't do this review, they're a lot less forgiving of ugly graphic design. Having said all of that 'tho, the gameplay itself (which is the most important part) does look really cool and I do look forward to eventually getting a copy to try out. Congrats to Roy, best ugly game of the year.

[@CANAS1AN]

Kemet is my #1 game. After Chris' comparison, I am eager to try this out now

[@ianw0ng]

feel the love, roy. congrats!

[@thediceodyssey4690]

So excited to get ahold of this one, this genre is one of my favorites.

[@belg4mit]

I'm rather surprised that the only comparisons made by name were for heavy titles like Twilight Imperium, and there as no mention of Quantum.

[@TylerAndToast]

Losing ships to a dice roll sounds brutal! And that board is lackluster. Easy to criticize, everything else looks solid.

[@ziomalZparafii]

I probably won't have a chance to play this ever and I haven't payed too much attention to the mechanics but I really like the theme and the whole idea behind the game. That's straight +1 from me on start.

[@g8kpr3000]

My group tried it once on TTS and we all thought it was fine. I enjoyed it, but I didn't find myself blown away or enamored with it. I would like to give it another go at some point, try it again.

[@marccote8544]

Really hype for this game

[@ryankong1597]

hey guys, what did leto say?

[@jameskim8599]

Yea Roy!!

[@azizmandar]

This game has the speed I wish X-wing had, but at a scale half way between X-wing and TI4. The speed is something space combat games have never had and there is definitely room for this in the hobby. If you like TI4 and/or Eclipse you may find this a nice game to play while the bigger game is being setup. And different enough to enjoy both.

[@jahniedez6834]

Joey's "Awww..." lol

[@henrikwakman7776]

This game seems much better than I felt it would be due to the somewhat unattractive board. Seems like fun actually.

[@joncasso]

The review we’ve all been waiting for

[@wally3533]

Will we be able to buy this in Europe? plz say yes :)

[@jonathannevers]

Title of this is so good lol. Chris Yi all day long haha

[@DTChrisYi]

This is another brilliant one by Mike DiLisio! Another one that makes me wish I had come up with it.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

The theme is too depressing for me, but I like how the board looks very simple at first, but there are fine details within the dark, black universe and that the color comes from the components.

[@IavorDiatchki]

Sounds interesting. I'd be curious how it compares against "Warpgate", which is my current goto for a quick 4x experience.

[@jacobleonhardt4421]

Congrats Roy!! Good job on see the project through and getting it out there.

[@dddmmm21]

I wanted to like this game but fundamentally I realize I dont like simultaneous action game, only if it is supposed to be just fun/chaotic by design, no this one. The game becomes mostly a multiplayer solitaire game (ironical for a 4X game). In the game session I played, multiple times we caught people making "mistakes" in their turns (most honest mistakes, others, who knows). And given the solitaire nature of 90% of the actions (except Command), it was difficult to get everyone in sync, so 90% of the conversation around the table was about the game management and not about the game playing. I would certainly try again, 3 or 4p, but with players playing their turn (activating their cards) one at a time. I find the narrative "you can play a 27p game in just 90min" to be counterproductive at some point. In any case, it is quite a accomplishment for Roy and I seem to be in the minority here.

[@lastburning]

I love simultaneous action selection as a mechanic. It's always a selling point for me if a game has it. It makes the game more about playing the players instead of just playing the game, if you know what I mean. You have to care what your opponents are planning to do. What they are thinking. You can even start noticing player tendencies which you can take into account when choosing your actions.

[@dddmmm21]

@@lastburning Re-reading perhaps now I get your point, you like the action "selection" - I dont mind picking and revealing actions at same time, in fact I do like that part very much - What I dont like is simultaneous "action", not action selection, meaning I hate when people take their turns at the same time and nothing is being audited. Hence I said I would like to play again, where after the actions are selected (simultaneously), then each play would act their action in turn order.

[@stevemeekins1543]

Anyone know how this compares to the Silver River?

[@JasperHayward]

Would be interesting to see a Roy reaction video to this

[@bruceulrich1231]

Good job walking the tight rope between honest review and conflict of interest. One comment that concerned me was about the table needs to be aware if a player is pulling away... Does the interaction in this game lend itself to kingmaking or dogpiling? Games where players can influence who else wins, if they themselves cannot, i just won't play anymore.

[@ejim941099]

A 9? That's walking the tight rope?

[@bruceulrich1231]

@@ejim941099 I think they spent a fair amount of time pointing out the negatives they found. Knowing what we do about their relationship to the game I certainly look elsewhere for more opinions. But it didn't look like an infomercial

[@elqord.1118]

Seems to me like those secret tokens will get scuffed super easy and become identifiable!? That is a huge issue with games that go for black components like this

[@JonReid01]

I wonder if roy has proprietary hex shaped coin capsules in the works lol

[@adriang6259]

okay. Looks good, guys

[@Puddleford]

Congrats Roy🍻

[@alfredo101109]

Fair review

[@mikaeki5245]

Very fair review 👏

[@alb3318]

Tom "Bodett" Vasel ,,, lol

[@JonSolo85]

I can't wait to try this one.

[@JarradShaw]

❤

[@shanedbunting]

👍

[@theshelflifeboardgamelonge2873]

Looks really well done :)

[@mrbastos]

I missed the campaign somehow, I think I would have backed it too but alas I will have to find a normie copy because it sounds great.

[@Urutsini]

Haven't played it yet but looking forward to it. Like Chris said, players are invested and taking actions for pretty much the whole hour. So in a way, this game takes "one hour per player". When games such as TI take one hour per player, it seems this game is on par as far with epicness. So not sure where they were coming from with those comments. Maybe they were trying to come up with negative seeming comments to appear impartial.

[@PacifierMusic]

It’s a no for me. Components are not attractive. Kind of reminds me of a game I play in the 70’s. It’s an odd one. Board is just black as black can be. Can’t do it. Good on you for reviewing your friends game.

[@Obvious_Llama]

Can wait for mine to arrive!

[@joeferreti9442]

too expensive, not accessible

[@EpicGamingNight]

The retail is 56$ on game nerdz 🤔

[@vast3394]

priced about average for new games

[@rpgamerpro9972]

No bias? Hmm. Anyway, no disrespect intended, but that is one ugly game board. The card art is the only thing visually appealing about this game.

[@blakekaveny]

Art is subjective you don’t have to like it.

[@jordanellis7128]

I understand that you disclosed at the beginning of the video that Roy works for you but the fact that this video exists is very unethical. You’re building hype that will directly benefit one of your coworkers.

[@cay6857]

I disagree. If there had been no disclosure at the beginning of this video, then I would have questioned the ethics of this review. Also, the game is rating an average of 7.6 with 156 ratings on BGG. If the three ratings on this video are averaged, it’s 8.8, a bit higher than a point above the BGG average. If the BGG rating was 5, I could see how there could be questions of hyping up the game, but there was excitement and positive feedback about this game long before this review, and the game did great at GenCon, which was also long before this review.

[@jordanellis7128]

@@cay6857 8.8 is massively higher than 7.6 if we’re going by BGG rankings. All of that is besides the point though. The Dice Tower carries a huge weight across the community when it comes to their reviews. Just take a look at this comment section

[@rpgamerpro9972]

To put it in perspective, based on their BGG ratings, both Tom and Chris gave this a higher rating than Twilight Imperium. lol.

[@jordanellis7128]

Yeah they rated higher than all games in the top 500 except for Frosthaven and Oathsworn with that logic lol ratings don't really have anything to do with the fact that this is unethical@@rpgamerpro9972

[@Hemux0]

One could imagine conflict of interests, but that is because you look at it the wrong way: Roy as a board game designer is not Roy employee of DT. Him getting to sell lots of copies of Last Light means nothing to Dice Tower as a company. Actually, it might even be worse: for all we know, the game could sell thousands of copies, Roy gets on his high horse of Fame, Celebrity and Success in the world of game design and decides to leave the Dice Tower to pursue his new dream!... Now THAT would be a waste for the DT! Now, joke aside, whether it is a game made by an employee of DT should NOT prevent them from reviewing it. Truthfully, I think the humane limit we could imagine from them is this: if the game had been bad, I don't think they would have reviewed it... just because they would feel terrible. So the fact they reviewed it probably means it is between decent and great. Finally, the last possibility you could imagine also does not work: what if the game is bad, and they still try to promote it? They become fools, hurt the image for Dice Tower, only bad feedback all in all. Once again, I trust Tom's judgment on this, as well as his remarkable team - and I am no fanboy and I don't even contribute financially to the DT with kickstarter (I am not rich sorry guys). So, calling them unethical here is a mistake in my opinion. It is a sensitive position and a hard one to manage, but let's start believing in people again!

[@JamesD2957]

the outer board turns 45 degrees.

[@EpicGamingNight]

I knew this comment was coming 😝

[@JamesD2957]

@@EpicGamingNight it's nitpicky, but Tom was a math teacher, right? lol

[@blakekaveny]

@@JamesD2957Yes Tom was. But Tom doesn’t care because most of the time it doesn’t matter.