Hoplomachus: Victorum Made Me Very Tired | Review

[@CascadaaXx]

Biggest flaw of this game for me was the grind, which as you mention is about 30 or so mini skirmishes. They can sometimes feel redundant, but the maps and scenarios do a good job making them feel fresh. With that said the production is 10/10, setup and teardown are lightning fast, and I strongly disagree about the dice and found it fun to upgrade them throughout the campaign. This game isn't for everybody, but for solo gamers who love skirmish puzzles and dice chucking I highly recommend it! It's definitely TMB adjacent and my shelves have space for both.

[@RvLeshrac]

Even when I like a game you mostly savage, I still appreciate the negative reviews, and hopefully designers actually pay attention and learn from some of them. I agree that the Tribune mechanic is garbage, due to the way the game systems work.

[@ralphpug08]

The tribune is actually required; otherwise you can just ignore sporting rules and kill the rival units without risking a permanent loss as in a bloodshed.

[@RvLeshrac]

@@ralphpug08 There are better ways to handle that than "You're randomly penalized when the AI you have literally zero control over screws up" mechanic.

[@thegodoftoast8067]

I’m curious to see how the new Pandora’s box expansions shape things. I feel like CTG has heard reviews like this and addressed basically everything possible.

[@MichaliSarris]

Cool review, but I disagree with a lot of points. I didn't play any Hoplo before this, and I'm really enjoying it quite a lot. It doesn't feel too difficult for me at all, the tactical puzzle is very satisfying and yeah, you gotta keep the dice odds in mind all the time and just accept it's going to fall bad a bunch times in the campaign. I owned quite a lot of Too Many Bones but that one I ended up selling for being too convoluted. This game is a breeze to get into compared to TMB, and after a few peeks in the abilities you've got it down mostly. I do agree about the pacing and structure of the game, could have been a bit more exciting. With the sports events, yes the tribune can be a pain, but adds an interesting tactical element to consider. You've essentially got to lure it away in a way, not to mess up your main goal of the event. Remastered also can be played solo btw, but it's not exclusively solo. I have that one too and I think I like it slightly more than Victorum, because I'm usually more of a one shot guy instead of campaign.

[@RvLeshrac]

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Hoping Efka might appreciate Remastered more than Victorum for precisely those reasons.

[@petergross7235]

The video did make a great point though. Why have a dice roll in combat when everything else is so dependant on your dedication to learning the rules and tactics. Even when you put in all the effort to learn the moves and tactics the dice can screw you. All your hard work is wasted. Why not pay off the dedication to learn the complexity of the game by rewarding you with success for good planning and tactics? Instead of rolling a die that you cannot mitigate in any way. Doesn't seem fun at all to do that to a player.

[@patgarret771]

Nah it’s not a great point at all. Games with this kind of luck dependancy are everywhere. Combat commander or ASL are both highly praised tactical masterpiece but they both have this mechanism. You mitigate the luck by studying a tactic that gives you a lot more dice than your opponent, and by using the tactics at their best. Also complex? Really? It’s a solo game in which the beauty of it is learning and mastering, and for this depth the game was punished in the review. Not really fair.

[@MichaliSarris]

​@@petergross7235 I thought so too about this at first, but as I played on I found that the battle is rarely decided on a single bad roll. If you plan well and take into account the odds and a bad roll here and there then overall you'll succeed. Sometimes it doesn't go your way of course, you have to accept that to enjoy the game, but the luck goes both ways.

[@styfen]

I really, really came to despise those dice; no "critical hit"; no "this side deals +2 damage instead of +1", no "You get a bonus movement side". Nothing at all except whiff, whiff, hit. And I could NOT find out the point to the red dice at all as it seems to have 6 sides all with hits. So why does it exist?

[@NoPunIncluded]

I think they put it in there because they could. Funny gag, etc.

[@3ldfilms]

I think there are some baddies that can cancel a hit, so maybe you roll it so you don't forget its part of the final dice pool? But yeah, you don't need to roll it. It is odd.

[@michaeldunkerton3805]

Every time I think we've reached the pinnacle of component opulence, they go one step further. Now we're casting entire real dice to add to the plastic glut because it's a funny way to remember "+1". Bonkers.

[@RvLeshrac]

@@3ldfilms Yes, that's it, having dice means the dice can be the target of things.

[@RvLeshrac]

@@michaeldunkerton3805 I've got pretty severe ADHD, and if you don't have that in front of me, I'm going to end up forgetting it.

[@Dratio]

I'm feeling serious fatigue for campaign games and I think Victorum especially suffers from this format. Can't help but compare to a game like Final Girl where the dice can be crueller yet I don't mind nearly as much cause the game is a one-shot that takes less than 30 minutes (sometimes closer to 20) and has fast set-up. Dice games are good in short bursts because you can have the exitement of dicey risk without the pain of of a several hour campaign getting sunk by poor luck.

[@picardiasNbj]

WOW, I’ve never disagreed more with a review, have we actually played the same game? It’s like complaining that’s there are too many battles in a Final Fantasy game or dying in a rogue-like video game, that’s the point! And I love to be involved in the tactical aspect of the game, not just “observing”. Thousands of combinations of habilities! There is literally just two pages, most of them as simple as “receive one damage if you attack this unit” and the game makes sure to introduce them very slowly so you can learn them fast, and most fights are agains 3 rivals so how could you find it complicated? Any Lacerda game is way more complicated that learning 3 keywords in a combat… Dice are stupid? Well I guess all the dice games are stupid then, they are color coded so you can know the odds and they’re good for variability. Most of skirmish games use the same system: Batman GCC, Conan, Massive Darkness, Descent and no one complains about that… I mean my take is that this is not your type of game and it’s fine, everyone likes different things, but all the points you are criticizing are precisely what people like about this type of games.

[@RvLeshrac]

For anyone who happens to watch the review and read the comments and is still somehow on the fence, "Hoplomachus Origins" is still available and is a SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper way to try out this system with a vastly smaller set of keywords, while containing all of the core gameplay. It is meant for very competitive PvP, but also has a competent scenario-based progressive solo mode.

[@quesoblanco444]

Hoplomachus is back! In pog form!

[@sirtrevis]

You described a situation - the "retaliation" skill in a sport event scenario - in which you laid out the chain of elements and decisions YOU made to get yourself to a frustrating loss, perfectly. Interestingly, you are blaming the game, instead of yourself, for the frustration. ... There is a similar phenomena with the dice rolls. Dependence upon chance, no matter the high probability, instead of absolutes, is not the surest way to experience the satisfaction of victory. If your victory is dependent upon consistently rolling probable dice rolls, instead of tactical decisions that depend upon absolutes - board positioning, skills, tribune choice, etc., then you will not win consistently unless you roll consistently. .. Satisfaction with Victorum might be based upon whether a person's sense of control is internal or external. I lost because it was MY fault - internal vs. I lost because it was THE GAME'S fault - external.

[@Rorschach71lm]

I'm loving this game (and so's my wife....and we're not called Brian). Maybe it's just for me, but it just works so well and love that each battle is a new puzzle to solve. There isn't really much of a story but I have pumped my fists into the air when I rolled a great hit, and groaned in frustration when rolling 2 black dice and a green and scoring no hits. By now, having reviewed Cloudspire, you know CTG has lots of lookup abilities but here, they not that hard to recall after a few battles. Appreciate this is your review and your opinion, but this time I happily disagree with your overall feeling of the game. However, I do agree with some of the annoying nuances like the Tribune you mentioned (I like to think of it thematically as the crowd turning on your hero if you defeat the tribune either by pelting them with, I dunno...pottery or beating them up afterwards. Also it's a pain to go down to 1 health if your hero is close to max, but not so bad if not). Love you guys!

[@duckduckgamed2565]

Highly recommend Hoplomachus: Remastered - great head-to-head fights, easy to get into, and a fun, easy to play solo mode, for one-off sessions.

[@wishmeheaven]

Great review, but... I couldn't find the Talk Cardboard episode in which you talked about Hoplomachus: Remastered. Would you mind sharing this information that you've ended up this video with, please..?

[@wishmeheaven]

...? 👀

[@moo2k4]

I love how honest you are with your reviews, and I greatly appreciate how critical you are in comparison to a lot of other sites. I do question though if Chip Theory Games just... aren't for you? I feel like you've disliked all of them to at least some degree. Which is totally fine! I want to hear what someone might view as negatives to a game when compared to what a lot of people might view as positives.

[@RvLeshrac]

As someone who owns... well, now, literally everything CTG has released... and enjoys everything... I can say that they're all very different games, and they all individually have a LOT of junk to complain about. Even where I disagree with NPI on some things (TMB, the CTG production values), I think that all the points are pretty objectively valid. You can subjectively like something and objectively recognize all the miserable parts.

[@moo2k4]

@@RvLeshrac I’m not saying his critiques aren’t valid - they definitely seem to be. I’m just openly questioning if Chip Theory Games are for him since all the reviews that I’ve watched - Cloudspire, this, and Bones - all err more on the negative side than anything else. Again, not saying the criticism isn’t valid, but I also just don’t know if the games they make are for him.

[@brianblessednn]

@@moo2k4 I don't understand why people keep saying this. What is the reviewer meant to do with the realisation that a publisher "isn't for" them? Stop reviewing their games? Each is different. And reviews of games someone doesn't like are valuable. Pre-judging a game based on publisher or designer would be a rather dishonest approach to criticism.

[@jonlocke7112]

I 100% think these games aren’t for them.

[@tannerknox9088]

Do you have an opinion on Final Girl by Van Ryder Games? I'm just curious since it's another big production value dice-driven solo game.

[@RvLeshrac]

I don't want to speak to their opinion on the series, but Final Girl is very much *NOT* high on production-value unless you go all-in on miniatures and whatnot. Every component in the core and film boxes is designed to be functional.

[@tannerknox9088]

@@RvLeshrac Totally fair point. I just know a lot of people went full in on the extras (me included lol). Base game’s production is a lot more like Paperback Adventures.

[@NoPunIncluded]

Yet to play Final Girl, and my experience with Hostage Negotiator doesn't put the swing in my step to rush out and get it.

[@RvLeshrac]

@@NoPunIncluded Final Girl is a LOT better. But I would absolutely not dream of recommending it to anyone who didn't like HN unless they're just the biggest fan of horror films on the planet.

[@patgarret771]

I am loving this game, and I am a tactical solo player. The sheer amount of variability is the main reason, followed closely by the super fun, short and full-of-interesting choices combat. Some of the remarks from EFKA are not really fair, IMHO. A few examples: the king of the hill situation involving the tribune…yes, your hero can sit there and be bashed, but you can use other units to sit there and sponge the damage OR, you can use units that are supposed to do that in their role…defenders, who have a lot of health exactly for that (and also sport the “Taunt” ability exactly to take the beating instead of other units). Interesting decisions aplenty! The whole tribune thing is a golden rule that is there to just throw a wrench in your most violent plans. Also choosing the tribune is another super interesting decision that always interact with your units, the arena, the type of fight you are in and all the prowess cards and special abilities in play. Who is the tribuine, when does he enter the arena and how will you interact with him to ensure he doesn’t damage you too much. The “mediocre” fights…what can I say…every move is excruciatingly interesting as, if you fail to anticipate what’s going to happen, you will pay dearly…and that causes the extreme satisfaction you get when you do crack the puzzle and win. The magic of Victorum is in the fact that you keep playing through the 4 acts exactly because every single fight is super interesting, quick and frankly amazing component-wise. The dice…dice are there to put spice besides the fact that you have to master the system. And when you will master the system you will in the position of finding a way to roll way more dice than the opponent insuring, with some degree of certainty, the win. And if that doesn’t happens, well, bad luck, and you can always come back from the bad outcome and enjoy the story that developed. Luck mitigation is there in the best form: ability of the player. I have called this game a “tactical masterpiece” on my review on BGG, and I go much more in depth there.

[@deemich1815]

I agree with this.

[@travishunter7718]

I wanted this game badly. I had all of the original Hoplomachus games (I’ve since removed them away to charity). The game speaks to me in a way that’s fun- I love grind, I love complexity and random dice rolls. I passed on it though. I keep my board game collection to one wall of Kallax shelves. Too many bones fills up an entire cube (the wooden box is just awesome). I am content with TMB. Only one life to live and only so many times can I cycle through my games and enjoy them before I die a wonderful death. Currently- it’s been KDM since Jan 1st

[@experimentsininsanity4478]

"Hades, the Hellenic god of Rogue-like videogames." XD

[@TheFancyFilmmaker]

I absolutely love this channel! Even though I have a lot of different opinions than you do, like how I adore games like Etherfields and Tainted grail. I still enjoy listening to you dissect and critique all of the mechanics in the board games you talk about.

[@jonridley]

I actually found it quite straightforward to play and rules easy to learn, it’s good fun but I agree about the grind can get a bit much. Still fun though, best played in multiple sessions , I.e. 1 act per session

[@AlperAslan1980]

Man, I almost fully disagree, but it is always so much fun to listen to and watch your videos. I’m a CTG fanboy for sure, and always said that games based on pure dice rolling are not for me, until I felt pure joy in a PVP game of Hoplomachus (original). The game has very interesting catch up mechanics that compensate for bad dice rolls but you feel pure joy when you roll lucky. I agree that this is not particularly interesting in solo games though and I fully agree that the campaign in Victorum feels grindy and repetitive at times. Still, the tactical puzzle of each battle is awesome per se. Furthermore, the enemy bag builds up slowly and you learn each skill and unit and interaction one by one - really liked that… I really love the game - but am not playing it enough at the moment due to the grind-factor, which is a bummer for that price. Still… awesome game and can easily be fixed by future content or rules updates…

[@dayoltay]

Another CTG fan boy here with all content. I agree with you on the most part. I know there is the grind but I find it very acceptable. I have more issues with Remastered. The Ascension mode seems too easy and the game needs a solo skirmish ASAP.

[@nutherefurlong]

I was playing Into the Breach while listening to this review. I enjoyed the coincidence.

[@middaymeds]

Cloudspire is my favorite solo game so I'm excited to watch this one. Completely a pain to set up and tear down like with most other chip theory games though so I just leave it up during a campaign.

[@mrsuitcase9799]

Ha - rules retcon goes away once you play it more than a few times. As to dice - well, as the new kids say - "Git Gud". About the only thing I agree with in this review is that the thematic underpinnings of the tribune are questionable, but it often provides another puzzle element to solve for (though yes - frustrating when there's no perfect solution). Oh, and Hoplo Remastered actually has 2 different solo modes (1 good, 1... well...). Anyways, I'll go back to reading one of my 37 chess books now.

[@isaacthimbleby8926]

I mean that is explicitly not what git gud means. Git gud means you can actually get good. Rolling dice is not a thing you can git gud at, or not without cheating at least.

[@mrsuitcase9799]

@@isaacthimbleby8926 Well, I didn't mean it to be literally getting good at dice rolling (maybe possible if you can use "The Force"?). Instead, I meant is as a "be aware that dice rolls can go awry and modify your strategy accordingly to mitigate impacts". I've played several campaigns now (successfully) - and there are ways you can tactically "prepare" for bad dice rolls. And there may be a battle or two (out of the 30-40 you play) where the rolls are bad enough that there isn't anything you can do. But when that happens - there are strategic "outs" -> e.g. the blessings to restore health. You can concede before you die, etc. I'm just curious that if Efka played 30-40 battles, the battles should "bell curve" the luck to some extent, but no mention is made on that front!

[@aitmusic49]

Thanks for the video! I always value a lot your opinion when I'm looking at a game. Speaking of which, any plans on reviewing Artisans of Splendent Vale?

[@NoPunIncluded]

We covered it on our podcast Talk Cardboard

[@aitmusic49]

@@NoPunIncluded Fantastic, let me check right now!!

[@apokai]

It hurts.... but you are right. Thanks for the review! You reviews are amazing!

[@BeatRag28]

I disagree with the grind aspect. I feel like the game was made to play in 1 act sessions, each taking about an hour. At MAX you have 12 turns in an act, ~1/3 of those are non combat. So you're already down to only 8 combats per act. Then you usually have to rest 1-3 times depending on the damage your hero takes. So now you are down to about 5-7 fights. Now unless the moves end up being perfect(which is rare) you usually cant end your final turn on the arena, you usually have to get there a few turns early or you wont make it due to the paths. So now shave off another 1-2 counts (though ive had to get there as early as 4 before the end) and you are in the range of 3-6 fights. Now you're usually traveling to the next boss fight so you will travel through at least 2 different locations. So half of your ~5 ish fights will be in 1 arena, and the rest in the other. This feels totally fine to me for a single 1-1.5 hour gaming session. 5-6 arena fights, 3 different types of encounters in 2 different arenas, in 3 separate 1.5 hour gaming sessions, or 1 long 4.5 hour one. 🤷 this whole 'gotta play 30 fights' stuff is just nonsense. i feel like anyone saying that hasn't actually played the game. I'm pretty sure they played 1 fight, looked at the act tracking sheet and said "i gotta do this 12 more times? pass."

[@renzchua6331]

I saw a post of yours a while back receiving aeons trespass odyssey, any plans on doing a review for that?

[@NoPunIncluded]

yes....

[@sauronguitar]

I like solo games. After trying so many of them i am happy to say that Mage Knight and Dungeon Alliance are my favorites. Hoplomachus catch my attention, but the dice resolution for battles is something I am running away from, I look for something more deterministic like the two first games I mentioned. Thanks for the honest review

[@randothomas3733]

Some loose comments. Learning the keywords is easy, as you will only met a some in each region and as you stay there you get used to them quickly. Fights are quick (setup too) after some. So quick that i wish the arena would be bigger to have more options. You dont have to take every fight and rest insteat (+refill your tactics). The tribune example your can experience in a lot of games called mistake as part of your learning experience of complex games. I like the small riddles every given fight. Yes the pacing if not the best and 3 insteat of 4 acts would have been enough.

[@petergross7235]

I feel like all of chip theory games are like this. You have to adopt it as your lifestyle game and get it to the table frequently or it just won't pay off. Complex rule sets, questionable play testing, and you always ask yourself (was it all worth it?). For me it's been a no since too many bones arrived. This game doesn't look to be the exception either.

[@candle8389]

I agree with all your points. Even though I don't table TMB or Holpo too much, learning one has helped with the other. You get a feel for the keywords they use. Kinda like hopping between fighting video games.

[@3ldfilms]

I haven't played Victorum but I do like Remastered a lot. And I highly disagree about the dice criticism. While there isn't dice mitigation after you roll them, the different coloured dice all have different odds of success--with red dice being auto-hits, while yellow dice have like a 2/6 chance. So knowing the the odds of what your unit rolls informs your strategy. If your hero has retaliate and that's a problem for the scenario, don't park them in that spot. Or use a tactic chip that limits the opponents ability to move. Efka clearly didn't like the game, but the there's a LOT more strategy/options than I think he gives it credit for. Maybe he's right though that Victorum is for her existing fans, whereas Remastered offers much shorter games and it probably a far better point of entry for the series. I haven't played my copy of Victorum yet precisely because I haven't had time to jump into a 12 hour campaign.

[@NoPunIncluded]

Hey, I know that it can smart when someone pans a game you like, but please, I think we can all agree that I probably understand how basic dice probability works and I've spent half the video presenting the various tactical vagaries the game can create. To quote myself, depth was never in question.

[@3ldfilms]

@@NoPunIncluded But I don't think you mention that the different dice have different odds. It sounded like you just a roll a regular D6 and you succeed or fail, so wanted to share that there is more to the roll-to-resolve mechanism than Candy Land ;)

[@maxmustermann9036]

The argument never was that you cannot control what dice to roll - I think the review is very clear on how this game is a tactical one - the argument was that after you made your decisions you roll dice and hope to win the lottery. Regarding the sheer amount of decision making up to that point this feels bad to Efka. You can totally like the dice mechanism and have a different opinion on how good it is, but it reads like you imply he was wrong about it by making a counter argument. It reads like the old "you are not a good player so you are not allowed to criticise this game I like!" Especially the part where you advice him not to use a hero with retaliate. Ye. Like he literally said that himself in the review and that he learnt the lesson. Was the lesson fun to learn? It was not to him. THAT was his criticism.

[@3ldfilms]

@@maxmustermann9036 My comment was never aimed at him, but at others so they know there are different dice. Regardless, it wasn't meant to be a personal refute of anyone. I think he's right that it doesn't feel fun to learn a lesson mid-game of a 12 hour game! It's one thing if you play a 20 minute game, lose, and then try again. But I can see how the volume of variations may just create too many feel bad moments strung together. Which is why I enjoy Remastered. It's a short, tactical puzzle.

[@RvLeshrac]

@@3ldfilms I think that's at the core of what turns people off to a lot of these. Too much investment up-front, while the payoff is long-term, and there's almost no good way to try them out (TTS is barely acceptable for ANY game, let alone one where you're moving SO MANY THINGS around)

[@jonathanoh4100]

I love TMB and almost got in on the crowdfunding for Victorum. I have wanted to add another CTG for a while now but Burncycle and Clouspire just did not speak to me. I have not pulled the trigger on this one yet and this review helps me as I debate the decision. 100% of the other reviews I have read/watched/listened to are positive though not glowing. I am also debating maybe just waiting to see what CTG has in store for their Elder Scrolls game.

[@kmontzka]

Thanks you another entertaining and thoughtful review. I greatly appreciate how honest you are about the games you review, and clearly explain what you like or do not like about a game. It really helps me ponder what types of games I like instead of what is the latest release.

[@Maftiosi]

Actually you don't print onto neoprene, you print on cloth whith is pasted onto neoprene :)

[@vinylrabbit7295]

Great review, but as does a lot of people who have commented below there are a bunch of ways to mitigate the problems you have come up with the game play. The Dice rolling, there are ways to increase and change the dice that you use, and you forgot to mention that the dice have different numbers of faces, yelllow only having one hit and red having 6 hits, which is something you need to take into account when planning which gladiators you choose to use in an event, its just another layer of planning the player has to take into consideration when choosing which pieces to play and the chances of success you will have with them. I get it the game is just way to complicated for you. I am sure you would have similar issues with games like chess or Go but that is ok, we are all entitled to our opinions. I agree with one part of your review, the Tribute, thematically the Tribute rules should have been for the blood events, since obviously you are killing the favorite gladiator of the arena, where sporting events no one really dies so why would knocking out the Tribune be an issue in a sporting event ?

[@HerrFinsternis]

"Historically that's not always been great" 😂😂😂

[@baktubak]

Hoplomachus Arbitrarium had me rolling on the floor!

[@alexstrang9823]

loved the Harlan Ellison reference

[@broganirwin864]

I love Cloudspire and enjoy CTGs overproduction, but I do think they need to find a way to get more of the rules onto the chips and to feel more natural. Maybe with a few more attributes and icons, and fewer unique abilities. When you really dig into Cloudspire, you come to understand the enormous difference between 2 and 3 health, or 1 and 2 move, small adjustments to base stats. If they could find a way to express a few more mechanics that way, put everything on the chips and skip the reference sheets... that would be amazing.

[@NoPunIncluded]

It's almost like, conceptually, this whole idea, in the end, doesn't work.

[@RafaAkd]

@@NoPunIncluded For some it doesn't, I think they're doing pretty good overall. It does work for me

[@broganirwin864]

@@NoPunIncluded I wouldn't go that far but to each their own! I don't think I'll pick up Victorum because I still have plenty of Cloudspire solo content to enjoy. I think there's lots of room for improvement in CTGs style but I do think there's merit in the style overall.

[@NoPunIncluded]

I was absolutely saying this in jest. Shooting from the hip. Pew pew.

[@utahman06]

Getting even MORE detail on those chips is not the direction I’d go.

[@joostborst]

That was a hilarious review. New it wasn't for me within 2 minutes but watched rest off the 20 minutes for entertainment alone!

[@lundbergchristoffer]

Thanks for an honest review. This game felt very grindy from just looking at the offered components. Glad that my initial thoughts were not unjustified. It will remain a no-buy for me :D

[@ublej]

Kudos for the HE reference.

[@davidt4233]

I was going to buy this before watching your review because I own and like TMB Undertow. I think I’ll just stick it to the greatest solo game ever, Mage Knight. Thanks

[@Spoofsc]

Yay! Another NPI video! Today is a good day 😊

[@zacharymoore9028]

Best line out of the entire video…”I choo choo chose” NICE Ralph would be proud!

[@bandersen]

Hooray for SVWAG! Hi Mark! Also, thanks for saving my wallet. I have a soft spot for CTG but this is an easy pass for me.

[@Jeepllama]

If you want to play the same game but better: Too Many Bones. If you want the same game with migraine included: burncycle.

[@NoPunIncluded]

I really really really wanted to like burncycle. I've had games of it that felt like what was described on the box. I've had some other games of it too. But in the end, it was the out of place outdated meme references that killed it for me.

[@RafaAkd]

I really don't understand why they keep trying CTG if they clearly don't like them, nor appreciate the company's vision. It's baffling. Negative reviews do increase engagement though, I'm here after all lol

[@NoPunIncluded]

I think to go into a game with absolute certainty that we won't like it would introduce a level of cynisism that would genuinely be damaging to our ability to review a game.

[@Jeepllama]

@@RafaAkd if they said “we will never like a game with poker chips and neoprene,” then sure, stop reviewing games with poker chip and neoprene. But they haven’t said that, and I can appreciate their willingness to give CTG’s games a fair chance at winning them over (also they had praise for Too Many Bones and Cloudspire, even if they didn’t unilaterally recommend them)

[@brianblessednn]

​@@RafaAkd The games are different, and clearly they enjoy some but not others. Also, the company's vision? What is it? Use as much plastic as possible to make a game that forces your decisions to boil down to random chance?

[@Table.Fables]

Yep the dice mechanic kills any desire for me to pick this up. I enjoy Too Many Bones but don’t enjoy some of the gearlocs who have weak backup plans (I’m looking at you, Duster) because if the dice roll badly the bones don’t do much for you… so I know for sure I’m not gonna enjoy Hoplo!

[@Zilong09]

That Poker chip joke at the start 😂 Great review as always

[@jakecrowe3797]

Man, love your reviews. Seems like Chip Theory Games my not be my company, even though they seem SOOO interesting!

[@boardgamemusic]

Man, I love your introductions! 😀

[@jaredk6428]

I hope the algorithm appreciates the thumbs up more than quitting early. Love the blunt review

[@CarriedbyGg]

Maybe you want to take a Look at Banish the Snakes from GMT, a coop game that manages to make a simple d6 roll interesting and tense every time.

[@mercuryphil361]

It seems like there was a failure to understand current fans of the game, here-which means a failure to understand potential fans.

[@jonlocke7112]

I’m gonna be honest, this review screams “I don’t have the time to learn optimization and thus it is bad”.

[@inwyrdn3691]

This literally sounds like the old video game Gladius put into a board game and made very, impressively not fun. Gladius literally had the same types of fights - Sport (story battles where your characters can't die), Bloodshed (I believe called Wildland fights, which took place in the wilderness between towns where death is permanent), and King of the Hill was a type of fight. The similarities are so stark, I can't help but think this is exactly how this game was designed. Has anyone else played Gladius? If you have, what do you think, because it smells super fishy to me (there are WAY more similarities).

[@stevenarvola5647]

Gladius was my favorite GameCube growing up! I love the Gladiator theme so much, I've always wanted to try a Hoplomachus game but just haven't ever been able to tell myself to pull the trigger

[@ToddGretencord]

love your work. Definitely not a game for me. But I do appreciate your take. I would be interested in your thoughts on Weather Machine, that is if you are even willing to look at another Lacerda game after the On Mars/Kanban EV double whammy.

[@ben59320]

Sold my copy because takes AGES to reach final act, if ever reaching it actually. Many many rules, exceptions, combats and decisions to make in each session. The format is really not for me, but the game is still nice and components amazing. Too bad the box doesn't fit in kallax

[@sillypookmonster]

7 seconds in: Poker chips and neoprene. Is this a Chip Theory game? Yep Based on your conclusion I'll stick with my copies of Cloudspire and TMB. Thanks for a great review =)

[@Keldroc]

I don't know why but the delivery of "real gold metal token very classy" sent me into fits of laughter. Had to pause the video.

[@Carighan]

I might be mistaken, but it almost feels to me as if Efka is *not* impressed by the production quality! 😂 Love the review, even though the chances of me ever investing into a Chip Theory game are less than nil.

[@FelipeRodrigues-vj1zb]

This looks like it should've been a video-game.

[@JerreMuesli]

I'm kind of sad you didn't try to play it in your bath. Perhaps that made the game somewhat better

[@pacoalvarezlojo855]

at the end of the video Efka looks like really actually upset

[@NoPunIncluded]

I really really was not upset

[@0zeronumber]

Talk Cardboard!

[@chiproush7480]

+1 for the Harlan Ellison reference. Every time I think I love NPI as much as I can, y'all find a way to make me appreciate you even more

[@strengthhkhkhk]

I agree it takes too long until you can face the final boss so I just play 1-2 act than than I jump to the final boss😂

[@scottbuck1572]

Its sounds like trying to be a dungeon master and the only player character in party. Which sounds awful: its truly is you versus the dice

[@mzy115]

Europe Universalis plz

[@juliesquirrel5269]

Harlan Ellison reference, nice.

[@BingoBango-fh2ep]

this game is amazing if your able to just have it set up somewhere for two weeks and just play 3-4 encounters a day when you need some time away for 20 minutes. really alleviates the feeling of grinding. from my perspective hoplo is like a very very rich cake. if you ate the whole thing at once your gonna get sick, but every now and then and it's just a delicious treat, that said if you don't have the space to just leave this up for 2-3 weeks then you kind of have to gorge. it would have been nice if taking the game in chunks could have been baked into the design somehow.

[@jaapvanderhulst714]

I see this game as a fast paced tactical skirmish game. Not the epic thinky game it tries (i think) to be. Because of the dice the brainy tactical decisions are less important and so the investment is less. The length of the campaign isnt working for it in this matter i guess. It is a fun game, but unfortunately not as epic as it could be.

[@mavweirdo]

So you tell us the story sounds like balls, "But we can't talk about that now because it will break the flow of the video", And I thought that meant we would come back to reviewing the story, theme, and any possible problematic elements later in the video. Talking about when games have problematic stories and themes being something NPI is known for. Instead story/theme never really came up again. Like a game that claims an epic theme at the start, but by the end is just mechanisms an probabilities.

[@NoPunIncluded]

As far as my knowledge goes, there's nothing problematic about this story. It's just nonsensical in how it relates to the mechanisms, something I discuss in the "tribune" part.

[@beaglegod1]

Saved me 150 clams! 😁

[@witchedwiz]

I like the game, i really do, but i do share some of your concern while not being that critical. I think the game is good, but out of the CTG It's the weakest for me.. i largely prefer both cloudspire and TMB . They being said, to each their own clearly, there are way worse games than this one even with all my gripes, but if my concerns (that mostly overlaps Sasha's) are moor to you as a gamer, then you're in for a treat ;)

[@dayoltay]

I disagree 95% of the review. We almost always have different tastes with you guys and get shocked with some of the games you like anyway, but its still fun to watch.

[@bigsarge2085]

Interesting!

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Really enjoy your witty and sarcastic style. Don’t think I have watched a video of yours that I didn’t enjoy and laugh out loud at least once. I TOTALLY disagree with your conclusions on this game, but enjoy the video. Just to add to the conversation, going to your chess analogy, it is a good one. Chess is a good analogy because most CTG games are very tactical ignoring the dice. The fun and strategy involves multi turn well planned out strategies with several moving parts… the dice are there to make us avoid taking for-granted the fact that our best laid plans have a chance to fail… and alternatively our Hail Mary has a chance to succeed. It leads to interesting resource management, where one may over commit units to ensure that they kill a crucial piece, or gamble and under commit to secure a later advantage. Just to offer a counter narrative. Great video though.

[@PaulDean]

WHO KNEW? (Efka did.)

[@PaulDean]

BLOODSHED.

[@thegamesninja3119]

Nor a game, but actually a collection of cult rituals?

[@SanderPastoor]

This has to be one of your best videos. Besides the fact that all critiques are very compelling, the jokes in this are *chef's kiss*. I laughed out loud more than once. What a banger!

[@brettchristensen6734]

I think this is the best pan review (any review?) I have watched. Details, support, examples. Cheers.

[@The_Real_Danger_Mouse]

Fantastic opening! 🙂😂🤣

[@drew8235]

Only took the first 10 seconds to know I never want to play this game lol.

[@0zeronumber]

Efka on his game! Katamari Damarcy reference! Mark Bigney cookie shout out! Hoplamachus Arbitraium! Neoprene noise! Hey I tried Hoplamachus Origin solo of 2015 and well let's say I got the memo Efka sends us today. Nice chips but much too much muchness that puzzles and puzzles. Cheers if you like it but me, I am with Efka ...Yay my Champion!

[@theodorosromanos4836]

Wow. I have never disagreed more with your review. And that would be fine untill you practically called me someone "who likes to observe"😂. As one who loves the game, i am telling you that MAYBE we are the people who like to get involved in deep tactical puzzles and don't get butthurt by the fact that some poor dice rolls can screw one or two of them up. I understand you got hurt by the mechanisms of victorum one too many times, be it the tribune that got out of hand or the poor dice roll, but that never hurt me in my games. It was part of a game i didn't expect to master early. Perhaps you expected something easier? The mitigation is there and it's your hero, and unit abilities. By my third campaign i didn't base the success of the battle on the dice rolls alone (or at all sometimes). And yes, sometimes one really poor roll after the other did hurt me, but that's what blessings are for. I find it weird that you got "tired" by victorum, yet you love gloomhaven which me and about 6 people i have played it with consider work rather than fun. It's faster, and has a fail-forward mechanism which gloomhaven lacks. I really was not interested in playing the same battle a second time knowing that i would have to repeat it if the attack deck screw me again. So you love a game that is actually a more luck based repetitive tactical battle (because in victorum you have all the info instead of hidden enemies, and abilities are more impactful), but you got tired by victorum because "the dice are stupid". This review really would make any sense (that you just don't like skirmishes) only if i didn't know you opinion on other tactical games...

[@mahna_mahna]

You were so worn down by the end when you complimented it on its usability being great. You either wearily forgot that about the hard-to-read lines, or you just decided why kick it when you'd already shot it in the face.

[@travishunter7718]

Board reviewers who are brutally honest with a game that was given to them by a publisher is rare thing these days. So much that I mostly just watch NPI and King of Average.

[@weathertopz4368]

why do you say the name wrong? Is it on purpose?

[@thebeardedmother1535]

Always nice to see a new NPI drop :) Sadly Hippopotamus is not my cup of tea. Too much neoprene and plastic pokers chips - not my jam aesthetically at all. You did such an admirable job on revealing its flaws that even sitting through this video felt cruel! Still love you though :) All the best.

[@mahna_mahna]

Thought you actually intentionally introduced the interview calling it "Hublumukus". Realized it was an accent/hearing thing, but feel like the misheard silly name should be canon.

[@markizle]

I always choo choo choose this channel when I want a good opinion.

[@AhJong0]

I’ve yet to play a chip theory game, the combination of cost, complexity and excess just not appealing. I was getting some serious Mage Knight vibes from this, but when you mentioned the capriciousness of the dice - the spell was broken 😅

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

Dice Mechanics... the bane of any tactics game

[@Rabid_Wombat]

Get good 😂

[@Tolinar]

Sorry for your loss Of time

[@venisontron]

So did you like it?

[@michaelrichard1320]

The juice was not worth the squeeze. I Kickstarted it and quickly sold it

[@XShrike0]

I wonder if the Kingdom Death: Monster crowd would like this game.