Oathsworn Review: Massive Miniatures in a Grimdark World

Tom, Chris, & Camilla take a look at Oathsworn!
Playthrough: • Live Play-through of O...
Intro 0:00
Overview 0:59
Final Thoughts 10:45
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BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...

[@staceysaich4553]

Hi guys, Stacey Saich from the Shadowborne Games team here, BIG fan of the show (we all are)! Just wanted to let you know Foreteller wasn't involved in the creation of the apps or narration, although we do appreciate the comparison. James Cosmo did the voice over, and myself and my brother Kevin did the apps... our new app company is called Saichii, and this was our flagship project. Thank you for the incredible review, it absolutely melted my heart to hear your praise of the work we all put so much effort into. You guys are the best!

[@toddswallen1944]

I agree it was well made. I love the broodmother.

[@NeonXHalcyon]

Great work Stacey! :D

[@DTChrisYi]

Sorry it hasn't been said yet, but we're really glad you corrected this. Your team did a fantastic job with the app, and we pinned your comment to the top so it would be quickly visible for everyone.

[@Roberto-ku6ou]

Awesome app.... played our first game the other day and we were completely immersed in the story. Well done.

[@staceysaich4553]

@@Roberto-ku6ou Thank you! I hope you continue having a great time with it. It's great to hear you're enjoying it!

[@ericmatteau9954]

Just wanted to say that the App narrative wasn't provided by Foreteller. It's their own app. By the way, the narrator is James Cosmo, Lord Mormont in Game of Thrones. Thank you for the review! :)

[@ironwolf56]

Well then I hope there's a sword named Longclaw in this game.

[@tainteddragon9357]

@@ironwolf56 While that would cast Summon Lawyers, there may just be a few inside Easter eggs scattered about...

[@hucz]

ok

[@DTChrisYi]

@@tainteddragon9357 in definitely going to copy the "cast Summon Lawyers" joke, that's great. Thanks for the info!

[@tainteddragon9357]

Thanks from the Writer's Room for the kind words about the story, Tom! - Paul D / Geosphere

[@Tharukan]

Slight corrections/missing relevant information: You are able to put together the trees seamlessly and Dice Tower has thrown out a complete insert that keeps the terrain box organized. The minis torsos can be glued and after that, the Armory parts hold in tight and can be swapped easily (ends up being mentioned later in the video). Yes, that's a hobby aspect not everybody likes, but it's not really a big hurdle I think. The App is not foreteller but their own app. Soundscape and music are still to be implemented soon. The voice actor is James Cosmo, known as an actor from Game of Thrones. The app also includes links to a full series of short and well done How To Play videos by the Dev Shadowborne, if you don't wanna read the (well written) rulebook. Setup, while still daunting, is cut-down A TON compared to something like Gloomhaven by well thought out storage, inserts, trays and organizers. It's not an avalanche of baggies. Still, good and fair review! Thanks for the video! :)

[@michaelkussy9153]

The companions are fantastic as well especially if playing younger kids. It streamlines their decisions without diminishing their effectiveness. My boys and I both love it. It stays setup on the game table and they are always ready to sit down and get at it. Also I love the choose your own adventure audiobook aka app. Cuts down on how much I have to read out loud.

[@Gutock]

Extremely underrated feature. I've tried with my oldest (8) with multiple games and styles, this is the perfect amount of variability and depth while also allowing you to play at your level. The Companion cards can be really simple, but they offer good choices and introduce some good co-op. Love it, thank you for bringing this up!

[@RuneGamborg]

I think it is important to mention that the setup time is NOT comparable to Gloomhaven. Not by a long shot

[@tomasxfranco]

Is this faster?

[@razuhl9269]

I would say yes, I did a whole chapter in around 3 hours with setup, but u have two setups, story part than encounter part

[@DigitalMagicianYT]

I am at chapter 8 and for now this is my favourite story/campaign game

[@vannguard1224]

I can confirm that gluing the core of the miniatures (just NOT the arms) will solve any frustrations that you have with the loose components. The armory system they designed is a thing of beauty once that is done.

[@yrusomad6]

Except for the couple of figures where their arm and weapon stick far out, so they still fall out easily.

[@scottmills4164]

I'll take that terrain. Looks dope. a little green stuff, good to go

[@samt9387]

Can't wait to explore my copy! Great vid 👍

[@Ghostgamer84]

Just got it. Can’t wait to dive in!

[@GamingTremor]

My copy arrived today, can't wait to play!

[@odditie]

I really like that there’s going to be more people participating in reviews. I do wish there was a way to know who was reviewing the games though from the thumbnail and title since each reviewer has different tastes seeing someone specifically reviewing a game is informative on the style of game that it might be if I’m not familiar with the game and make me more interested in checking it out.

[@soogymoogi]

Agreed! Stick their dice people in the image maybe?

[@niczaiser2341]

Were you expecting Zee to be involved in this review? lol

[@odditie]

@@niczaiser2341 😂 Not even Post-Merv Zee could handle this behemoth.

[@Bleuchz]

I actually suspect this is intentional and from their perspective makes total sense.

[@chadvader974]

wave 2 they are going to glue the minis together so easier to attach the new weapons and have it not fall apart

[@Gutock]

Oh man. I played through the adventure/story part by myself because my group absolutely hates it and I'm so grateful they allow a shorter option. The gameplay is so good and it sucks to have it gated behind story... even a great story... if it's something that prevents my group from playing it. Here, they offered both options, so glad they did!

[@Bleuchz]

I'm really curious about the usability of the standee version; keeping my eye out for a review of that version prior to the next kickstarter (though, I guess there's no guarantee they will do the standee version again). Great review, as always.

[@Mr23BK]

I have the standee version and it's absolutely fine. Are big miniatures cooler? Obviously! But the standees don't have to be painted and they even have a front and back side, which is nice. The only downside is the big standees can look odd when they are standing at a certain angle. And I truly wished Shadowborne Games would have accommodated the box for the standees. As it is you have a significant box lift. Personally I just left the envelopes out of the box. Otherwise while playing the game, I'm so into the actual gameplay mechanics I rarely think about the actual miniatures. But to each their own I guess🙂 Hope this helps...

[@kasperprindal-nielsen4983]

A little trick from the mini hobby world for people with nimble fingers: Magnets might be the solution for the switching of arms. Small drill, small magnets in both arm and body an you should be good to go 🙂

[@007Kiristo]

Excited for my copy to come in. Looked great before the KS, final product looks great as well.

[@dylangajewski]

With the miniature upgrade options: 1. Is this also represented by cards? (I.e. are the push for upgrades purely aesthetic) 2. Could they be magnetised, or is it too small?

[@Slyfox1775]

I glued my mini except the arms .it works 100x better for me .

[@Anduril1974]

All you need to do is glue the main bodies of the heroes together, TIGHTLY, leaving the armoury pieces to one side. Then you can slot them in and they're much firmer in place. There is one character that you need to trim a little off the head peg before you glue it as it fights for space with the arm peg but otherwise they'll all be fine!

[@NeilY1000]

There is a gluing guide out on KZbin. There are a couple of considerations for a couple of characters. All pretty straightforward and worth doing especially if your a painter

[@vanderveckensmith]

which character?

[@NeilY1000]

@@vanderveckensmith the huntress has a swappable quiver section which is easy to miss and I glued in the section. I’ve since cut it out and magnetised it but only because I made a mistake. Actually I think that’s the only one so reduce couple to 1

[@tjm046]

Was really hoping Tom would do the classic slow-mo component dump sequence for this one, but I suppose that would've added an hour or so to the video 😂

[@misomiso8228]

11:09 Aaron Dembski Bowden was the writer. He's awesome.

[@LegoAssassin098]

I'm hoping to get in on the next kickstarter

[@lucky6666]

Good point about not having to read out loud vs listen and be part of the story. Solo, reading might be ideal for some people. The app also helps prevent accidentally reading the wrong thing. And I don't consider a story branching app and narrator to be a app board game. App board games have you spend a significant amount of time doing things in the app IMO. These apps distract *less* then using the book.

[@kyssy7744]

I thought the public comparison was more Kingdom Death Monster than Gloomhaven.

[@pks-bisqp2677]

What the he'll happened at 2:15!?! I know it's impossible but it literally looked like the box changed its shape and dimension. Lol 😂 🤪😳

[@ManuelPombeiro]

Just use patafix on the miniatures. that way they dont fall apart and you still can swap the weapons around.

[@lystic9392]

So you enjoyed Destinies a lot more than Oathsworn? :P I am kinda looking at both because of the recent kickstarter/gamefound projects for both. It's so tough to know whether I'd like these. Tricky!

[@NeilY1000]

Have the game and it’s easily my best campaign game by a long way. The minis are great to paint as they are a larger scale. You don’t need any of the bling but if you have it it looks fantastic. The terrain is good as well especially if you paint it. Rare I give a 10/10 for a game but this is one for me. I’d play this over KDM any time and i have both That being said the standee version would be a great buy …. If you can find it. New kickstarter hits later this year so another chance if you missed out

[@rawkyle9385]

glad to hear a new kickstarter is coming oit

[@michalnoga8460]

Can You compare Oathsworn to KDM?

[@NeilY1000]

@@michalnoga8460 I have both oathsworn and KDM. If I had no choice but to choose one over the other I’d choose oathsworn

[@haxan6663]

I think it is a great game, both the story and the battle. I didn't get the armoury as I couldn't see myself keep changing the weapons and I haven't had any trouble wth them falling apart. I usually avoid apps but this one is really good and well worth using.

[@MerrillWhiteKalEl]

I absolutely love this game. This has been some of my all time favorite game experiences.

[@Boardgametherapist]

Extremely obnoxious sized boxes. But like Chris said, the gameplay is amazing. Also, you can mix card and dice, even in the same combat. For example using 2 dice and 2 cards to resolve a single attack

[@dalejohnson1581]

It sounds like a great game, but I'm interested in your opinion as to whether it is actually worth the money. It looks like it costs $300, for the miniature version which is a heck of a price tag. You can get Gloomhaven for just north of $100.

[@kennethpaschall4801]

This game is fantastic. My son and I are through 8 chapters so far. I will have to disagree on the terrain though as we love the terrain. The app and the encounters are amazing. Great review.

[@zero-il9on]

I thought the minis were damaged when I got them, then I realized you need to know how to put all the pieces together and tight them very firmly, then easy peasy.

[@Gutock]

Honestly my only dig at the game. I understand they wanted to do swappable parts and for minis people it's a huge win, but I almost wish they had done CMON style stuff where I can just plop and go without having to worry about parts falling off. A little puddy later, no probs, but considering everything else is so newbie friendly it felt a little off. My 2 cents on it.

[@BuckFu]

I don’t own any big box games but I do play Dnd and it sounds like the same depth as building a world for Dnd games but does it need it?

[@VortexMotiveVision]

Well, if you guys loved this game, then I'm going to go for it! Great review!

[@Anasthy]

yea I glued it too lol

[@boriszutic]

now on wish list :)

[@Pezzapoo]

I love the miniatures, terrain, swappable weapons and the gameplay, its purely the best game I've played. )

[@CosmicTavern]

Is there not a locking mechanism for the figure limbs to keep them in place? That seems odd.

[@RulebooksForYou]

You're right about the bear 😂😂

[@dmcallahan32]

Was the battle map made too small for the scale of terrain and figures? Sorta like Cthulhu: Death May Die, where the tiles can be overwhelmed by the size and number of the miniatures? Tom just spent a fair amount of time loving a game store's terrain section, so to push that box to the side was a little sad to watch. Still totally excited to be getting this game soon! :)

[@Maspital]

With it being a campaign game, are there any parts of the game you permanently modify during gameplay? Meaning, can I give it away to someone else after playing through? :p

[@michaelrogerson6939]

I'd recommend magnetizing the weapons if you want to be able to switch them around without them falling out too easily.

[@slysof6436]

The game looks very interesting. Will it go to retail? I’m tired of waiting several « YEARS » for KS games to be delivered. Also shipping fees are so high.

[@Tharukan]

Unfortunally, that's unlikely. It's just kind of a too big box/experience with a production quality that is too high to be viable to buy in for retailers. Also, profit margin seems to be too low to cut a lot into when selling to retailers.

[@zenster1097]

No. But the good news is that reprints usually are much faster since there's less development time (usually just updated errata, etc).

[@tiredguy2753]

I’d say that unless this game hits gloomhaven levels of success I don’t think it wil ever hit retail. There should be a 2nd printing this fall.

[@Skarpo89]

You can late-pledge for the second Kickstarter right now, the pledge manager is open until the end of this month, and it's supposed to deliver in October

[@Christian-cy2pn]

If this game has comparable card mechanism as gloomhaven,i won't get it. Tried gloomhaven on pc to see if i liked it before i bought the big box,but i failed the first encounter 4 times on the easiest setting,so went for Roll player adventures instead and having a good time.

[@Skarpo89]

Original Gloomhaven is brutal in its first scenario for new players, that's why now everyone recommends Jaws of the Lion which has 5 tutorial scenarios at the beginning. If you ever wanna give it a second shot I highly recommend it, and if you already have the digital game I believe it's a DLC

[@zenster1097]

I'm surprised the seal of excellence is given to scores that low. Is it usually given to 8.5 and below? I would figure it would be given if the game was a 9 or 10?

[@brianblessednn]

It's for 8.5 and above.

[@AlwayzFresh]

I saw the pics of the terrain in the kickstarter and at first I thought it was some kind of joke that would reference other campaigns making useless stuff that gets in the way. It was not.

[@Infyra]

Which boss battler is Tom revering to where the monsters are just flailing at walls? Is townsfolk tussle like that? I dont think KDM plays like that.

[@thedicetower]

We haven't reviewed it yet. Coming in a few weeks.

[@Infyra]

@@thedicetower Thanks! But which game was it? :D

[@TK421trooper]

Glue the bodies together and leave the arms not glued. Solves the problem and works like a charm.

[@jerrydelguercio5462]

just use a little bit of sticky tac to hold the joints. temporary still and problem solved.

[@tonybowers9490]

It’s a 9.5 for me.

[@JasonSmithPsychedelicTherapist]

This should have been a four square review.

[@zachtucker4382]

Is the kickstarter/buying opportunity of this game ready done?

[@NeilY1000]

Reprint campaign coming later in 2022

[@Manny-M]

It's basically a given these days that any big box like this hits KS again for a reprint or an updated version. I've learnt to hold on FOMO and go in with the 2nd campaign if it reviews well and it's up your alley.

[@zachtucker4382]

Awsoms thank you for your comments. I thought it was weird they were doing a review on a game that was effectively out of print. I will wait for campaign 2 love these type of games looks fun and exciting!

[@Skarpo89]

You can late-pledge for the second Kickstarter right now, the pledge manager is open until the end of this month, and it's supposed to deliver in October

[@konstantinaviutskii]

I wonder, is Zee going to give his opinion of the game? If I got it right, he wasn't as fond of the battle part as of the narrative one, it's interesting to know why.

[@thedicetower]

It's not that interesting. Zee doesn't really like tactical miniature games. Like, any of them.

[@konstantinaviutskii]

@@thedicetower oh, I get it, thanks!

[@jonl4883]

@@thedicetower It may not be in his wheelhouse, but you did say he played the game. Why didn't he at least be given the chance to give his opinions. This seems to go against your plan of having more voices in every review. You want differing opinions, and that would have been one.

[@konstantinaviutskii]

@@jonl4883 , if he doesn't like the genre, it's most likely that he played no more than one introductory session if any at all, which is not enough to justify a thorough review, don't you think so?

[@jonl4883]

@@konstantinaviutskii as Tom always says, 'they play a game enough to review it'. Sometimes, that is only one play of the game.

[@geoffcost7330]

Easily my game of the year

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

One other comparison to gloomhaven , you know what the enemy is going to do in advance.

[@kumanight]

This game is just too big. Like most people, I can't just dedicate an entire table for a month for this game. It's complex enough that I could only table it maybe once a month on the regular. It's also way too big and fiddly for me to solo it. I definitely want to play the game, but it's just too big 😵.

[@kumanight]

Also the generic dark fantasy art does nothing for me. But I still want to kill people as a badass war bear!

[@NeilY1000]

Have to say it’s pretty good for solo as the companion rules are very streamlined. One main character and 3 companions is not hard to play but retains the core experience. Space wise I’m playing 4 players on a normal dining room table at the moment. Tight but doable

[@ilqrd.6608]

Chris stingy as hell with them ratings

[@joseg.6187]

How family friendly is the game?

[@tainteddragon9357]

As far as EASE, it's leaps more difficult than something like Wingspan or anything at a big box store. As far as story, there is specifically no cursing, but there are (as hinted in the review) very morally dubious choices that have to be made. This is grim and this is dark. The story does not shy away from that.

[@NeilY1000]

I’m playing with my wife, 17 year old and 13 year old kids. It’s grim dark but not nasty. Kids could play as a companion character rather than full version which plays really well and has more depth itself than many other dungeon crawlers. Overall the theme is the question…. Complexity can be overcome with use of companion versions

[@preacherbeeman3437]

@@tainteddragon9357 I am very glad that there is no cursing in the game. I want to feel comfortable bringing my games to play with lots of different folks and ages. A game with skimpily dressed women in the artwork and foul language in the text is a no-go for me. So looking forward to reading/hearing the story you folks put together.

[@tainteddragon9357]

@@preacherbeeman3437 Technically, the ADendri is naked... but she's a tree...

[@preacherbeeman3437]

@@tainteddragon9357 Yeah, the ADendri are a little racy, but I can deal with that. The wood doesn't seem to reveal too much.

[@HeadCannonPrime]

put the miniatures together with MAGNETS!

[@tainteddragon9357]

Yes, but not an easy task for players new to minis.

[@aidenfisher5679]

Getting ridiculous. Way too expensive for d avg gamer. How many of these did they think they were going to sell???

[@kylemoore7746]

Nearly $2 mil worth during 1st KS campaign (before PM) and right now over $2 mil worth during 2nd KS campaign with 20 days to go.

[@GeeEmm81]

Getting real tired of these big overproduced games. Glad people enjoy them but they exhausting to me.

[@neojaw2192]

Boardgames are slowly turning in Disney Infinity... just make them into video games and let real boardgames be

[@saiksaikatai594]

thank you

[@brianblessednn]

"If you draw two of these your attack misses completely"... And I'm out! This is the unfun mechanism that made me sell Gloomhaven after a week!

[@W0lfman250]

There are TONS of ways to mitigate bad rolls 1) you don't need to roll more than one dice 2) there is a "Determination Rule" which powers you up if you miss and you get reroll tokens back. 3) There are reroll tokens and other mechanics to prevent this

[@SteveLEKORodrigue]

It happens so rarely. If you sold a game for this sole reason, I doubt it.

[@thedicetower]

You can easily avoid it by just drawing a few cards. You have re-roll tokens and more. It's not nearly as bad as you think.

[@tainteddragon9357]

OK, so 2 misses miss and you NEED to hit 7 times. You've got a reroll token, How many dice are you rolling? THAT'S the heart of the game.

[@brianblessednn]

@@W0lfman250 That sounds good. The times I have a real issue are when it happens two, three times in a row when you can't really afford any. That doesn't sound really possible here.

[@lordoftheflings]

this game looks ridiculous. no thanks

[@jasonsmith1133]

We can’t do a review because of spoilers but we can link to a gameplay (with spoilers). I am so over the reviews of games that can’t be talked about because of spoilers.

[@Takusman]

Score base on what? There is not a single frame in this video where the game play is shown, all I know is I watched more than 5 min video of somebody just talking. I cannot tell if the game is fun or not, first and last time I check this channel