Miami Dice: Ex Libris

[@chuckm1961]

For starting the overview with a clear explanation of game goals and end-game scoring ... thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!! I get exhausted trying to follow game teaches that go over minute mechanics without putting them first into a context of ""why the heck do I care about anything you are telling me?"

[@alxgonzalez4038]

This game seems right up my alley. Thanks for the review guys. On a side note, the designer did add a section at the end of the rule book on how to have a game with less conflict if that bothers you.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Looooooooove this game! My #2 game of the year!!

[@edwardbrost331]

Wow, I just played this and it's a hot mess.

[@jonathandodd7682]

Their reaction was lukewarm but I'm still really stoked for the game - I love the theme, gameplay looks good, and printing out a reference sheet should take care of the text issue for the most part.

[@garesonc9672]

My guess is they would have shipped new worker placement boards out to people but they're already losing too much cash on their last debacle...the disintegrating Clank! Sunken Treasure! boards. Clearly someone at Renegade is asleep at the wheel when it comes to quality control.

[@StefanS-ig2rm]

Looks very thematic. Makes you actually feel like you're catagorizing books in a dusty library. Can't wait to play it.

[@AxelQC]

Sounds like my day job.

[@Hardyhara]

Sounds like I need to wait for a 2nd Edition of the game.

[@HeadCannonPrime]

Finally got to play this game a few times. I agree with your assessment. It is a very lukewarm fantasy worker placement game. Light on strategy, with maybe one unique hook or gimmick. Very much in the same vein as dice forge. Unfortunately this seems to be a recurring trend with a lot of worker placement titles in 2017.

[@Dienes]

I liked that in the Rising 5 video Zee commented on the solo variant. But he did not do that here. Does anyone know how well it plays solo?

[@jimtompkins9946]

The designer has posted a location reference sheet on BGG. boardgamegeek.com/filepage/151329/official-printable-location-reference-sheet

[@Rb-hm5ml]

Jim Tompkins and maybe draft the player powers... :)

[@EyalItsik]

So you can get the chance to drop 60$ MSRP on a game AND fix it yourself? Delightful :D

[@garesonc9672]

This. I'd prefer that game companies pay attention to things like this before production.

[@Draffut2003]

Etal, exactly becuase no other great or popular games have supplemental materials on BGG what-so-ever.

[@garesonc9672]

@Draffut2003 I understand what you mean, but part of me is a little skeptical when something is a "GenCon release". I wonder...do corners get cut to make it available in time? Did someone at Renegade see a production copy, know that the text was a stinker, and say "Well, too bad, GenCon is right around the corner, it is what it is"?

[@peterterry7918]

I will wait for second edition

[@johna6108]

Great review guys.

[@crushgoil]

There was one rule that they described differently from Game Boy Geek's review... Now I'm going to have to find the rules to see who got it right!

[@bigpapa_duds9742]

Bring back Miami Dice!

[@trevorh4521]

Did Zee used to be a dealer at a casino?

[@loicovis426]

I love your videos! Thank you so much !

[@gabriebvsousa]

Anyone knows another game that use a deck of worker placement tiles? I really liked that mechanic!

[@rainerahlfors]

Simurgh does, published by NSKN Games.

[@MrHypnofan]

Also from NSKN Games, Praetor uses tiles that you have to build and then can use as a worker placement. 2F Spiele's Fabled Fruit has a rotating deck of cards that is kind of WP, except everyone only has one worker.

[@Varrik159]

Lords of Waterdeep does a bit - you start with placements printed on the board, but one of these lets you build buildings that then give more choices (and if you own the building you get a bonus whenever someone uses it!).

[@GhostKingGeorge]

Argent the consortium!!! Istanbul... you use all the tiles, but placement can be random each game. It's not worker placement but five tribes uses tiles for random setup. Great Western trial also has tiles you place out during play that are selected

[@XvpandaX]

Would have been cooler if instead of books, it would be board games, I understand though it would be tricky to get the rights, but still, you couldn't make knockoff games?

[@garesonc9672]

I'd read about the text issue in written reviews and now you guys have confirmed that it really is an issue. Game still looks like fun but what if, a year later, Renegade releases a second edition where this gets fixed(yes there are printable references but... yuck)? Will I feel like a schmo because I bought an unreadable version? Shouldn't the production copy be polished and not have a glaring error? Between this, the disintegrating Clank! Sunken Treasures! gameboards and some of the questionable graphic design choices I see in Clank! In Space!....Renegade's star is waning with me. They need to get someone on quality control QUICKLY.

[@ScorchedRusalka]

I like the game a lot. Played once, but I also think that the powers are unbalanced, I never used the power of the mummy un my game.

[@Vitao950]

My copy came with a reference sheet. Maybe I got a more recent edition?

[@thayssabianchini4670]

Yes

[@thayssabianchini4670]

Eles resolverem esse problema das letras pequenas, adicionaram uma folha com as informações de todas as cartas, assim não precisa ficar pegando a carta na mão para ler. Cada jogador tem uma folha dessas

[@abastecki]

Text on the locations might be tough to make bigger due to how much text some of them take. Pictorial representations might be difficult to convey the ability as well. Personally I haven't found this to be an issue, though I could see someone not liking it. The only aesthetic thing that bugs me is with all of the custom meeples, the first player marker is a plain, white stone. Otherwise, i have greatly enjoyed this game since a friend got at GenCon.

[@Bodyknock]

I think the complaint was more about the choice of font color and background. The game might have been better served, for instance, if each worker placement tile has a section that looked like an opened book page and the rules for the tile appeared in black font on the page. That way the text would always consistently contrast and be more legible.

[@Alluvian567]

Yes, but if you have important text you do not put it over art. You put it over a more or less static and contrasting background. Think of how hard magic the gathering would be to read if the art was full card. There should be a text section on the cards with a much more text friendly background. Not doing this was putting appearances over gameplay, and gameplay is king. All that said, I will print out some reference cards because I will probably end up getting this one at some point. It looks fun to me.

[@tobynmanthorpe]

Ex Libris is a Balderdash style game with sentences from novels instead of definitions. Not sure why Renegade get to take the name.

[@ArturoDrake]

Tobyn Manthorpe Because ex libris the Latin term for a plackard inside a book cover that denotes ownership, so it's a term that isn't under copywrite.

[@Alluvian567]

I think it is actually a pretty bad name for the game. It makes the game sound much more stuffy and restrained than it is. Tonal mismatch in my opinion. The box art makes the game style pretty clear though. Just the name by itself without box art makes me think of a very different game.

[@bloberglawp9981]

Had they made this game about shelving mass amounts of board games....

[@TheRetroMachineTV]

Funny, based on the lukewarm review, I'm surprised it got the "Dice Tower Seal of Approval". They just stamping that on everything now? : )

[@HisOmniscience]

The Seal of Approval is if anyone in the Dice Tower (and I'm not sure who all is included in that) rates a game a 6 or higher, and the Seal of Excellence is if anyone rates it an 8 or higher. So, given Zee's 1.5 thumbs review, he probably rated it around a 7, and that fits the Approval criteria.

[@garesonc9672]

@HisOmniscience You are correct but I think its a nonsensical system for multi-person(Miami Dice) reviews...2/3 Dice Tower reviewers weren't particularly impressed but Seal of Approval? Nah. I hope Tom considers changing this.

[@TheRetroMachineTV]

William Smith yeah, I mean that review was pretty lukewarm to me. They were basically like "it's fine, but...NEXT". I just don't want to see the DT Seal of Approval become like the Nintendo Seal of Approval back in the NES days when they just handed that out to everything.

[@killyourtvnotme]

Their thumbs rating is ridiculous, but "approved" generally is a pass for me

[@BlimpMcGee]

Yeah same, and not because it's bad but because there's so many excellent games out there and a limited amount of money

[@joshjenson8111]

The game was good but it needed too many house rules, and i didn't like the special character abilities at all Imo its a game you don't need to play more then a few times

[@edwardbrost331]

Unbalanced player powers with mean interaction and luck of the draw. Puzzle is ok but I did not feel in control of what I was trying to do.

[@PwndNewbie]

I think these guys failed to see the strategy in this game. You only have room for so many books in each row, so it is not just managing your bookshelves, but more so it is managing the cards you acquire. You don't need to leave room for books in every letter, instead you can draw and cycle cards to get the books you need. Example: If you have 3 As, 2Bs, and 3 Gs, you can afford to skip letters C-F and place those in your top shelf as long as they aren't overloaded with banned books. Then in the future if you draw those lettered cards you can ignore them and use them as discard fodder for the various placement spots on the board.

[@thedicetower]

Sure. What did we say that made you think we didn't realize this?