My Favourite Game: Ra

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[@paulbennett9680]

9:30 - note that auctions after a Ra tile comes out and everyone passes do not clear the auction track. The auction track only gets cleared if everyone passes after a player invokes Ra while the auction track is full.

[@NoPunIncluded]

I did explain that wrong, but in my defence, the text at the end of the video does say I am a dufus.

[@morganwiklund]

WHAT!?!?! I played Ra like 50 times and I totallt missed this. I've allways played it the way Efka described it. But your rule seems much more fun!

[@jeremykaemmer6610]

​@@NoPunIncluded The rule where Ra tile (boat) auctions don't reset leads to my favorite part of the game though: Playing Ra Roulette. Last person with a sun disc gets to push their luck to see how many tiles they can get without busting (triggering the end of the epoch). Everybody just wishing they bust, groaning after every tile flip. It really injects some lightness and fun. It punctuates the round end riotously and re-engages people to think about other players.

[@kolomahler]

I like how all the favourite games so far have ONE BIG WOODEN PIECE that didn't really need to exist

[@RynoKenny]

Forgot to mention the table chanting "Ra, Ra, Ra!" as the final player in a round is pushing their luck to not draw a red tile!

[@pignouftetra]

Lover of the Egyptian Queen ? Egypte greatest Bid Machine ? It was a shame how he carried on

[@pignouftetra]

Lover of the Egyptian Queen ? Egypt greatest Bid Machine ? It was a shame how he carried on

[@catherinetaylor556]

The Bargain Hunt episode with Richard E Grant and Bruce Willis is my favourite Bargain Hunt episode

[@shocknawe]

5:07 - "It's actually 'Sphinx me baby one more time.'"

[@Tolinar]

Bastet was the Egyptian Goddess of pleasure, protection, and other forms of healthy, kinky fun. You, have missed the joke.

[@styfen]

I am enraptured by the dancing Ra box at 6:05 and onwards. Groove little god box, groove.

[@JohnClem56]

Ra is such a great game for all the reasons you so eloquently elucidated. The "... a little bit country, a little bit roll and write..." line was really clever. The deluxe Pharaoh Edition is an incredible production that adds great visual and tactile elements to an already excellent game experience.

[@25thCenturyGames]

Great enthusiastic and thorough explanation on what makes RA amazing. Keep up the terrific work. Love the channel. - chad

[@WSBGofficial]

Yeah, the tension of when to call Ra vs when to draw an additional tile is super exciting and makes this such a special game. I like watching it almost as much as I enjoy playing it! - Chris

[@pokefrosch617]

Ra, Modern Art and For Sale. Maybe Power Grid if you want to go fully Euro. Auction heaven.

[@pfefferle74]

Don't forget Knizia's other great auction games Amun-Re and Taj Mahal.

[@RynoKenny]

All winners. I’d throw QE in there as well!

[@meewarwoowoo]

@@pfefferle74 Hollywood Golden Age FTW.

[@WatchersPod]

The estates. Best bidding game.

[@Ninzumecha]

You have made me really understand this game for the first time, seems really interesting! Thanks 😊👍

[@NoPunIncluded]

Amazing! Glad I helped.

[@auraLAZAH]

You really captured why I love Ra! The Sun Disk system is so good.

[@haroldgarrett2932]

getting back the sun disk of the last won auction, and putting your own sun disk up for grabs is such a clever mechanic

[@SanderPastoor]

I love hearing you go into fantastic detail of these kinds of (modern) classics! Would love to see more of these!

[@paulnorthey6712]

Great review concept, nice length, fully happy....thanks

[@joelhaslam1120]

Great review. No mention of what is probably obvious to most people; that it is not great as a 2 player game which is why I ended up not keeping it : (

[@videk_online]

The headband suits you, looking sharp! Great content as ever! ☀️🐦

[@kevin_parkerson]

Modern Art and Ra share the #1 spot for my favorite auction game. They're both so good and yet have enough differences to make them distinct, I'll gladly play either of them and have a great time!

[@kevintreski]

You had me at the Hudson Hawk clip.

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

It is definitely one of my favourite movies. It bombed mostly because it arrived after Die Hard and people had forgotten that Bruce Willis is/was a comedy actor first, action second and wanted more action. "Do you want to play Nintendo with me?"

[@NestorMandela]

My favorite deckbuilding is Quest for El Dorado (another Knizia gem).

[@TheDarkAmoeba]

Yep, that'd get my vote as well

[@meeloshke]

Love the video. Perfect ratio of game info and humor.

[@VorpalSlade]

0:24 I think Anubis is chilling in the bottom right

[@afrank525]

Love the subtle doggo ear!

[@capnbob0618]

I finally understand how this game works even though I have listened to multiple others explain it - thank you! Sounds like it could be amazing.

[@AhJong0]

Ra is truly a gorgeous production that a classic deserves. The fixed numbers for bidding is so key to making this an open and accessible game.

[@BeeCeeJay]

RA is a fantastic game, and I love my UberPlay copy, although I did have to print and laminate custom player mats to help players remember scoring. I might ignore your well-intentioned advice and splurge for the deluxe version myself as it's one of my all-time favorites as well. Excellent video as always.

[@schickd12]

My friend bought Ra and playing it is such a joy every time. It's one of those games that is so fun to play with someone who hasn't played it before as you watch them discover just how truly good and fun it's knotty complications are

[@jedfromyourlocallibrary]

All these favourite games! What a great series 😊

[@franssnel9069]

25th Century Games just texted me: "the regular reprint should be on store shelves in a couple of months. Deluxe reprint is going back on KS next month."

[@cooperbuss1297]

Loved the intro

[@nashwinston1395]

Look I'm just saying that deluxe edition feels fantastic with those wooden tiles.

[@boycebulldog]

It’s been a revelation to discover this classic via this new version. Ian O’Toole’s graphic design is so intuitive, that when we were teaching a new player the other week, that new player caught that we were scoring the Monuments wrong simply by the graphics displayed on the player boards. (We had been scoring monuments each round and not the final round only.)

[@chriswatson1020]

This is a great series. I'm always excited to get away from all the new releases and hear about the amazing games that already exist.

[@daniellebackus819]

Played this game for the first time when I got my deluxe Kickstarter copy last year. Did not disappoint! It’s one of the lighter games I own, so I can actually play it with my parents. I had a hard time translating how the auctions actually worked from the rulebook, but once we figured it out, it was a very straightforward game, and lots of fun.

[@randothomas3733]

Wonderfully layered 2 times. I just missed the lettuce layer bagel. :)

[@DenisRyan]

I feel like the opening clip better describes the hilarious bidding auction game QI, from Allplay. It perfectly describes looking at the (hidden) bids and seeing 15.5k, 20k, 102k and 1.5 million and just erupting with laughter! Ra is an absolutely wonderful and funny time with friends. Does the standard edition include that huge bag too? Seeing it crumple after just tried to stand it up was very good.

[@NoPunIncluded]

bah, sorry, that's another thing that's different. the bag is (slightly) smaller and not free-standing

[@svachalek]

Don’t you mean QE? That’s a great game. It’s a different feel from Ra but both are very easy games to teach. I have a hard time picking which I like better.

[@mattiamodena5791]

That intro goes hard

[@IainMabbott]

"I love Bargain Hunt" 🤣 I love you guys ❤

[@bigsarge2085]

Seems like a great game! And "Hudson Hawk" is the greatest movie of all time (or at least 1991).

[@paulsalomon27]

You gotta check out Priests of Ra. Great reimplementation of the game.

[@DanielSolis]

I love the sun discs in Ra especially. I wish those got explored in other games as a core economy that doesn't rely on literal money.

[@TheAtticus19]

Ra is also one of my favorite auction games; it’s probably between that and Nidavellir.

[@bicyclops420]

I also love Ra, like you! Its my favorite game 🌞

[@que-tangclan5856]

I really, really, really want the Pharoahe Edition, mainly because my fear of hands in bags breaking down the tiles (like Quacks of Quedlinburg). I was gifted an old version of Ra and enjoyed the game but I found the player board on this edition is a massive improvement. I hope there is going to be another reprint of the Pharoahe Edition on kickstarter sometime in summer.

[@afrank525]

For Sale is my favorite auction game, but Ra is also excellent.

[@knytestorme]

I didn't expect this to be my kind of boardgame but video got an instant like for Hudson Hawk, then I was pleasantly surprised that I also was sold on the game

[@RaK0]

I knew it. In a collection of best games ever, this gem must be included.

[@goblinking2012]

I love the sun discs. There's never a stage where one person runs away with it because they've managed to get all the money or anything. And as all the info is open there's not a moment here you don't bid for something because you don't realise it was actually super useful for someone else. An absolute, stone-cold classic of a game.

[@BasketOfPuppies642]

I knew Ra was an auction game, but that “pulling from the bag” mechanic is exactly the Knizia wrinkle that makes me want to buy it

[@theSolemnBard]

I'm very happy with my Uberplay copy, but I do want to put together a compatible version of those clever player boards

[@protoman504]

I want Ra and I've never played it but I really want that deluxe version 😅. I'm going to wait for a reprint.

[@AnimeLoftus]

Ra is fantastic. Love it.

[@KannibalBeats]

I find it really interseting when ppl just don't notice (or prefer) their TVs have Motion Smoothing turned on

[@chrishillery]

Uugghh, yes. I was surprised how obvious that was even when watching a video *of* the TV with motion smoothing on. On my phone, no less! Makes my skin crawl.

[@twagoner21]

so, so, SO good. For a quicker/lighter experience with similar feels, see High Society (Also from the good Dr)

[@GeoffMcDonald07]

The sun discs make this auction game approachable for newer players too. Instead of having a continuous amount of money you can bid, you have a few discrete options to select. I find this mitigates the analysis paralysis that other auction games can have.

[@Odonianos]

Great Quinns impression at 08:14.

[@NoPunIncluded]

thanks, i wasn't doing one

[@georginatoland]

I’m not into auction games, so I passed on Ra. But I absolutely love the OTHER Ra: The dice game.

[@jaffa4242]

this vid was *really* well paced - is this also a metaphor for Ra?

[@chefnimmo8192]

Great review, I totally want to grab a copy now but I can’t get over one thing in your review. It looked like you had motion smoothing enabled on your tv, yuck. Lolz, seriously love your reviews, I have just started Oathsworn with a group after watching your vid on it.

[@spoffette2623]

‘Its a little dry’ 😂

[@amnesiai]

Sphinx me bastard one more time 🤣 This game is much different than I had imagined. Seems pretty fun!

[@HoboMeow]

Yay! I bid on more Puns!

[@bg-vu7nn]

We played this game so much the numbers wore off my bid chips (Uberplay version) and we sharpie'd them back on... twice. This version looks real nice, but I don't know, my old grubby copy has a lot of history.

[@Erekai]

Favorite deck builder? It's gotta be Dominion, right? It's gotta be. I've played dozens upon dozens of "deck builders" and I still go back to Dominion time and time and time again. I'd be interested to know what deck builder game could be better than Dominion :D (with a few expansions thrown in, of course. The base game of Dominion by itself kinda stinks)

[@chrishillery]

IMHO, literally any deckbuilder would be better than Dominion. I thought I hated deckbuilders foe a really long time. Turns out I just hate Dominion. Now a number of my top games are deckbuilders.

[@henryrodriguez6260]

Agreed, this is the best pure auction game ever. I actually hated the first two times I played it. But it all clicked on the third game! This is why I give most all games at least 3 tries before throwing out.

[@snackplaylove]

How do you rate it with just 2 players? I’ve had it for ages (Pharoh edition too) but yet to make it to the table. I don’t know yr favourite deck builder, but it should be Challengers! but might be Ascension?

[@NoPunIncluded]

do not play Ra at two, it's abysmal

[@snackplaylove]

@@NoPunIncluded This was my thought, I think I need to ‘learn’ it then take it to our group nights. Thanks!

[@tiberiusdw]

I still believe Neue Heimat/The Estates is equally as good (I wouldn't want to have to choose between them)--especially in the shifting alliances and hence consequences of your bidding...ymmv...but as usual you do an excellent job explaining *why* Ra's design is so good.

[@NestorMandela]

02:39 - important rule mistake here. Players bid (or pass) just once, starting with the player to the left of the one that triggered the auction and finishing in the latter.

[@NoPunIncluded]

I think that was implied by what I said. "Players keep bidding or permanently passing." This was not a literal reading of the rules, just an overview of what happens in the game, although I appreciate that maybe that's not what everyone expects from a board game video, so confusion is understandable.

[@dold_]

I have a few different groups I play games with, and I got all of them addicted to Ra last year. We played it enough that I earned a reputation for being a horrible person to sit on your right because I invoke Ra so aggressively you'd think I'm a kid in a toy store who just wants to buy everything. Unrelated, I was thinking about buying some more shelves for my board games.

[@MomentumCycling-om8fp]

I am a big fan of Power Grid and rank it ahead of RA as a more comprehensive gaming experience. However, if you want a tense, fun and competitive auction game than RA is the best.

[@topschelph585]

Ra…one of the finest games around! What ever happened to Elaine? She seems to have faded away in these videos. Would like to see collaboration and humorous interplay.

[@aniketvp]

Fav deck builder I'd say Dune Imperium, but can we even call it (just) a deck builder?

[@duranbarnett8587]

Please switch motion blur/smoothing/dynamic motion off on your tv. I find it triggering. 🤣

[@tiford184]

I'm gonna guess the next one is Gee-Dubya-Tee (even though, imo, it's not *really* a deck-builder, more of a deck management on a big old rondel)

[@tinstargames]

Huh I never felt tht's what auction games were about. They should be those kinda auctions then!

[@Jamestone1616]

Undaunted Stalingrad? As your favorite deckbuilder

[@rain1224]

It's one of the best auction systems, if it had more tiles to pick from it would be unstoppable

[@Paul-ro6py]

We love Ra and splurged!

[@RobertHovakimyan55]

Ra is so dang good! Medici just barely inches it out (sorry, centimeters it out) for me, but they are both the best in their class.

[@liamstewart3465]

Reprint deluxe! Reprint deluxe! Reprint deluxe! Ra! Ra! Ra!

[@lucduchien]

The tension of the clock running down and the end of the era is coming close. People start bidding on nonsense just so they don't go the whole round and get nothing. And then, other rounds when there is plenty of time on the clock and there is only one person left, who can let the track fill up as much as they want. And don't forget the push your luck, when you are the last player, but the next RA tile ends the round immediately...do you push for one more free tile, risking losing it all?

[@whoisbatman]

Efka's favorite deck builder has to be (but won't be) original Clank! It won't be that because for some reason people don't super love that game? At least, I have never heard a reviewer say they like it. (Anyway, it's Dune: Imperium - Uprising, right?)

[@FishJ]

Ra! My favourite game of all time.

[@dago6410]

This is a stellar series... But I dont get why Ra over Modern Art

[@wilsonw13]

I whole hearted agree that 'Ra' is the best Auction game. The only other one I feel has come close is 'For Sale'. Everything else just gets lost in trying to not be Ra, and just doesn't scratch the itch.

[@mozblue3927]

It won't be but I hope your favourite deck builder is Heart of Crown

[@turtlevader]

Ra is absolutely a top 10 game in my eyes.

[@franssnel9069]

Impossible to get in The Netherlands right now 😢. Does anyone know if it's gonna be reprinted?

[@NoPunIncluded]

it will be reprinted

[@jkeithhowe]

The Deluxe version is a bit $, which is the "correct" newest non deluxe version of the game? Priests 2009?

[@bassguitar2709]

excellent game, the upgraded wooden pieces will make this one last far into the future!

[@tompuce84]

[@Messengus]

Love me a good clam

[@Karlhuna]

Chekhov’s bagel

[@malkmusfan]

Rahck and Roll baby

[@user-li9cc9ls4x]

I knew it's gonna be RA

[@inwyrdn3691]

3 things: 1. I bought the fancy version and if you play with kids it's practically a necessity - it makes it so much easier for little hands and just gives a wonderful clicky-clacky tactile feel that my 7 and 10 year old love, and which I do as well. 2. The giant wooden Ra is absolutely necessary and the game is unplayable without it. If you aren't grabbing it with a flourish while declaring "I invoke Ra!" you are objectively playing wrong. 3. Watching your face as you bit that "sandwich" (I get the analogy but...a dry bagel and a slice of dead animal does not a sandwich make) makes me want to make a better sandwich and mail it to you.

[@yoiang]

I love the channel

[@NoPunIncluded]

honestly referal links is perhaps the thing we want to do least

[@yoiang]

@@NoPunIncluded id love to understand how come just as much for my own situations! Mixing honest opinions with monitory rewards?

[@NoPunIncluded]

@@yoiang we just want to review and/or talk about games, we don't want to move product. We don't care about that.

[@NoPunIncluded]

@@yoiang ask yourself what's important to you, I guess, and then do that. no simpler thing.

[@yoiang]

@@NoPunIncluded 100%. I'm glad y'all are able to hold onto your values so strongly, it's something I still feel is a battle after many years, me suggesting this to y'all as a sign of where my brain is at the moment.

[@viking114LPZD]

What if one player get both 16 and 15? Isnt there an infinite loop of winning bids?

[@NoPunIncluded]

well, that can't happen because when you win the auction you can only use the disk you won with in the next epoch, not the next auction

[@miistercrayon]

Ra also wins at being an auction game that works for two because it simulates a third mad lad playing the game and you get a character to blame.

[@colsanders101]

please turn of motion smoothing on your TV...

[@pant0sand0hat]

Dominion?