Meeples & Monsters Review - with Tom Vasel

[@azizmandar]

I played the TTS version and had the same issues but still backed it hoping they would clean it up before release. I was really disappointed to see the game didn't change almost at all

[@TheAmazingYeti]

Glad you mentioned the rulebook. I absolutely hated going through it when my KS showed up. The game was very anticlimactic for me as well. I wanted to love it for all the same reasons you did. Ended up thinking it was just OK.

[@RadikalKit]

I'm of mixed feelings regarding the limited building spaces. But I've kind of just gone with he idea that one you are done building up the town then the focus should be on fighting monsters and leveling up. So the first few rounds are all about picking the buildings that will help guide your strategy going into phase 2 of the game

[@donaldhouf8377]

I’m curious how this plays solo. It looks enjoyable, but I don’t know what it’s longevity would be.

[@mabos555]

It does not have an official silk mode unfortunately

[@gcn9]

Seems like a game that didn't need a main board. Why not just cards as buildings that you place on the table so you don't have an 8 building limit? It does feel like it needed more development.

[@Norm-R]

I played a game of this and managed to get most of the peasants out of my bag. Which just meant that I drew like 2 corruption meeples every turn which felt way worse because there is no way to get corruption meeples out of your bag. Overall, agree with the review. I like the concept of it, but the game itself was just okay.

[@insanegammer109]

Seems like there should be some mechanic to destroy/rebuild/upgrade buildings for some benefit as something else to do.

[@stevebagnall332]

Fair comments, but I’ve really enjoyed my games of it so far. Played at 3 and 4 player and goes fine. Not a long game at all. It’s all about playing your game around the quest cards. Plus the towers add new locations to go to. Love the bag building. This one is a keeper for me and looking forward to several more plays. Hopefully an expansion will be coming soon.

[@w0lfang]

Wait.... You place all you mepples from the tavern to the lodging after your turn???... Where in rules book is that cuz i missed it?... I kept all corruption on tavern all game cuz missed that rules i guess.... I did feel like the tower expansion is a must when playing

[@RadikalKit]

Page 9. final part of the Clean-up Step which is kind of buried in the Resolution Step of the Main Phase. "Finally, move all meeples remaining in your Tavern to Logdings (including corruption).: no units can be held back until the next turn (unless specified otherwise)." It would definitely be more clear to have a Clean-up phase as part of the Turn sequence.

[@w0lfang]

@@RadikalKit WOW... totally missed that. thank you. even with that mistake and holding back single units for next round. game felt a bit too long. i think it took us like 2.5 hours

[@garcipat]

Reminds me on thunderstone quest

[@fredericbarbe]

Match my own impressions exactly!

[@Ehurst01]

This is 100 percent how I feel about this game. AEG has been doing good stuff lately, Champions of Midgard is great, I wanted to like it.... But... It's just kinda meh and left me wanting more. I'd play it but it won't be at the top of my list to pull out.

[@Mcbarkles]

So I wasn't the only confused by the rule book...

[@Dragonrstorm]

Damn, I love the art. Shame it's a bit rough around the edges.

[@charlord25]

what kind of lords of watterdeep is this...?

[@Darwingreen5]

Sounds like a lesser Lords if Waterdeep.

[@AndrewJohnEgan]

The rule book was not well developed. It took a few read throughs and posts to BGG to really bed down a few aspects. I think the expansion is required for a full experience of the game, just adds that little bit extra so it doesn’t feel like it’s on rails, if that makes sense. I’ll keep it in my collection for a while, it’s an OK game.

[@pluvia33]

I passed on this KS based almost entirely on the theme integration since it bugged me about as much as it did Tom. Glad to see that I'm not missing much, especially since I didn't particularly love my plays of Champions of Midgard.

[@silverfang6668]

Gnomeopolis scratches this itch for me.

[@chiehlilee9224]

I agree with everything Tom said. I watched it being played on JonGetsGames. At first I was intrigued by the Lords of the Waterdeep vibe, but then I thought the buildable lots are quite limited. 15 minutes into the play, I was completely bored by it. It’s a pass for me.

[@UnimatrixOne]

Nice ideas, but looks more like _work_ then _play_ !

[@mabos555]

I like the bag building but I think nothing can tops Watps edge for solo and Orleans for multiple people 🤷 OH well a pass then

[@danielwoltanski1413]

We love this game at 2 players! Everything feels tied together well and very streamlined: the meeples help you fight monster and fulfill Quests, the quests help give you direction of which meeples to get and which monsters to fight. It feels straightforward and easy to understand. Sure it may be a tad simple, but for us, it is just uncomplicated fun!

[@garcipat]

Maybe thats the key, with two Buildings are not built that fast. Or does the game go longer with two?

[@pierrewhite2062]

My only complaint with this game is the lenght

[@flawed1]

“It looks like there’s not very many places to put your workers. I wonder how there’s going to be much choice in the game I guess Tom will clear that up in his final thoughts” Ooooh......dang 🤣

[@thejfreak93]

Tom stated my feelings perfectly. It’s a game I really, really wanted to like but wound up just getting frustrated and zoning out half the time because you really don’t feel like you can make a choice. It was a very dull experience and then I won. One of the weirdest feelings I’ve had for a win in my life.

[@realjon4220]

Really love the idea, shame the negatives you mentioned are quite the turn off

[@notmyeyeballgames7798]

I agree with you that the name and the puns are so cringe but the game itself is solid.

[@PetrVojtech]

It should be called "Meeples & Cards"

[@beornthebear9023]

Me and the wife actually enjoyed this one quite a bit though is a bit rough around the edges. I think it would really benefit from an expansion or two to add some mechanics

[@Alluvian567]

Not a fan of screen printed meeples when they are the generic meeple. They just look badly drawn all the time because of the forced silhouette. Then don't really like the art depicting the people moving like in the lego movie. Game looks okay, art really turns me off.

[@daanrousseau7845]

Never Have I ever been more in the same page with Tom as in this review. I'm a boardgame designer and this game feels rushed, underdevelopped and clunky. I looked in the rulebook so many times to see if there were more ways to place buildings or to speed up the game. Tom is also correct on the positives

[@MathieuVIII]

In the recent years, I've played several games that felt incomplete. not done yet, still in development. Is is just me or is this feeling shared by you, Tom, or other people in the comments?

[@Tenebyss]

I think there’s more games being made now than ever, which means more rushed/incomplete games as well as excellent ones

[@MisterAbysmul]

It’s fun enough but the rule book sucks and the game runs long if people delay fighting monsters. There needs to be another end game timer other than working through all the monsters.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

I feel like the tag on those flowers was left there to specifically trigger my OCD. I'm sorry to everyone at the Dice Tower I may have annoyed in the past!

[@nelsondasilva7240]

I think Tom needs to play this game more. I disagreed with a lot of his comments. He is reviewing a game for what he wants it to be, not for what it is. When I have played there was enough spaces to go to. The game isn't about variety of locations. It's about the strategy of the use of locations in play. The one thing I will agree on is the rulebook is not clear on things. It's almost like it was lost in translation. Especially the solo game is very unclear. Nothing wrong with the name. That's just nitpicking. The game was never meant to be serious. It's just a cutesy play on fantasy tropes. Just look at the monsters you fight. Termites? Lol People who don't fight right away will learn that that's not a very solid strategy to use in the game. The rewards of fighting monsters are too good to pass up and let your opponent get. After some playthroughs, the people I've played with and myself realized this. Now our games never run too long.

[@BobLee-df4zh]

This game looks horrible. Like the definition of kickstarter trash.

[@wolflarson71]

Stupid name. Never go full Meeple.

[@TheErnieforss]

Rahdo hype me up on this game, and i finally got it and i have most of your complaints. I want to like it. But its like a worse verison of thunderstone quest. That rule book. AEG needs a new writer. The game is just fine, but i rather play quacks or another bag pulling game.

[@neosmagus]

reminds me too much of Lords of Waterdeep, which I didn't like...