The Red Cathedral - Why Own It? Mechanics & Theme Board Game Review

[@jannagregory7928]

“By the luck of my pants” is my new favorite phrase! Thanks for the review-I don’t think I need this one, but I so appreciate the fact that the box is appropriately sized for the game. Living in a small space with limited room for games causes me to get annoyed when boxes are unnecessarily large (lookin’ at you, Santa Monica...).

[@karenlambert5742]

I am cracking up. I love it!

[@jannagregory7928]

@Aaron A420 You can just designate your lucky pants to be the ones you’re wearing the next time you win a game. And refuse to play at all if they’re in the wash... 😃

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hahahahahha all of these comments made us laugh so much. Poor Maggie, idioms definitely get lost in translation... ! By the luck of my pants!

[@jannagregory7928]

@Aaron A420 That is a much more gamer-y plan!

[@jannagregory7928]

@@ThinkerThemer Maggie’s English is superb. No telling what I would say if I were trying to translate anything into Spanish! 😂😂

[@darlene7165]

This was the first review I have seen of this game. Love that you acknowledge the good and the limitations. Looks very interesting and of course the Rondell! The new name for the competitve player "tough organic intelligence, the OI" I love it!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hahahaha that's all I am to Maggie, the OI causing her strife 😎 thank you for watching Darlene and for your support of the channel 😊💕

[@GamerPhysics]

I think the idiom is 'By the skin of my teeth.' But we picked up what you were putting down. Great video as always!

[@ThinkerThemer]

HAHA yes that is the right saying that I think fits the meaning Maggie was going for. Nothing to do with having lucky pants. Thanks for watching Aaron and for your support of the channel 😊💕

[@BillyIndiana]

Great review! I've been wondering about this game. You also made me curious about Nusfjord. I'll check that one out too.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thanks Bill! We have done a review of Nusfjord too because it is one of our favourite 2 player euros! Thanks for watching 😊

[@AaronAndSusie]

The board art is one of my favorites. I really have been wanting to play the advanced mode but the standard is already just about the max complexity my family can handle. So every game I think we are going to use the variable cards and advanced mode my mom has a game where her AP kicks in majorly and we decide to stick with the standard. Agreed that the solo mode is too easy. Thanks again for a great review and covering it. I think it flew a bit under the radar and was hurt by an odd staggered release. Some of us that pre-ordered got in back in November and some people still don't have it.

[@ThinkerThemer]

The AP can get pretty bad. My sister would take soooooo long counting and re-counting lol

[@AaronAndSusie]

This was my mom's #1 favorite release of 2020!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Impressive! I would try to teach my mum this one but she's still stuck on Calico, her fav of 2020! Nice that you can play boardgames with your mum AND daughter... multiple generations of gamers. Thanks for supporting the channel Aaron 😊

[@BillyIndiana]

@@ThinkerThemer I will check that out!

[@stacie_everdell]

"By the skin of my teeth" 😊 ...'Contractors' is coming. I wonder if there will be improvements on the solo mode.

[@ErikIversen]

I look forward to reviews of games with a rondel, so we can once again hear how much Amy loves them! :-)

[@xandermichael78]

The rondel in this game reminds me of Finca, but in Finca there is a bit more control because there aren't any dice. Of course the mechanics in Finca are far simpler, collect resources and fulfil orders, but the rondel is what makes that game sing. Certainly love the packaging for Red Cathedral. So rare to find games in small boxes with a lot of game in there.

[@pascalpeters9868]

I was almost to anxious to watch this review, due to the fact I just ordered this game in an impulse yesterday, and afraid for the “but” after you’ve said “It’s a good game, ...”. If a game is in the end just a puzzle to maximize your score/options with a lot of calculations, then the theme has to be very strong to keep me interested, but I think this will fit nicely into the collection. Especially for the two of us. And then the price; €28,00, around 43,00 Australian Dollar over here. This promises to be a BIG game in a little box, for a fair price. Lovely review (and you made me laugh again), thank you Amy and Maggie! 🇳🇱 Pascal

[@ThinkerThemer]

I think the game is really fair value as well Pascal and I think you will enjoy exploring the game and its interesting combination of mechanics. The theme is fairly light... Maggie can sometimes overcome that if she loves the puzzle. Here... I think she would play if I wanted to but would herself look for something more immersive. Very keen to hear what you think about it once it arrives!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Oops hit send too quickly! Thank you for watching as always and for your support of the channel 😊

[@steveorourke8959]

(Insert redundant but correct opening statement that "Thinker Themer is great and this is another wonderful video" here.) I was interested in The Red Cathedral because it looked like it could be a genuinely thematic Euro. Like Amy, I love games that are rondelicious. Other reviews suggested that there wasn't much theme coming through. The beginning of your video started to make it look like there was an immersive theme with the cards flipping over and showing the cathedral emerging, but you also conclude that the game is only vaguely themish and that is disappointing. The mechanics look really cool, but all mechanics and no feeling of doing something themey might make it a pass for me. (With that said, The Castles of Burgundy is precisely the same way and utterly fantastic.) Love your work and watch immediately when each one drops!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you Steve!! Yes I was quite surprised Maggie kept playing with me given how light the theme was 😅 it is a clever little puzzle though and despite the AP is quite a nice calm game that's easy to teach and get to the table. Hope you are well with the fun college decision making! Thanks for watching as always 😊

[@steveorourke8959]

@@ThinkerThemer Thanks for the good wishes, Amy. Our Simon has done wonderful work and the schools he applied to have recognized that. Now, he gets to pick from a list of great choices! So proud!

[@kovray]

I hope I'm a good organic intelligence to play with as well. Always a blast watching you folks, not fully sold on this game but maybe will get to try it one day.

[@ThinkerThemer]

I'm sure you're a great OI!!! Thanks for watching even if the game is not drawing you in! Lucky there are many many many many others (oh my goodness how are there sooo many). Hope you're both having a great weekend 💕🌈

[@canderson5469]

Rondel? Dice? OI? (oy oy oy) Fun review! This one has been sitting on my wishlist, but I haven’t decided for sure yet. Interesting that you like an experience like Nusfjord better than this. Feels like I don’t really need to own this one, but perhaps we can try it on retirement island 🏝 Although, sounds like by then both of you would totally crush me in the score.

[@stevenamamoto1358]

Agree that the solo is a bit lackluster. Looking forward to playing it with people with 3 players looking like it might be the sweet spot.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Definitely I think 3 is great but wouldn't want to do 4... too much AP and too many changes to the game state. Thanks for watching Steven and taking the time to comment 😊

[@raymondrogers3929]

Steam Achievement: Amy rocks the orange quite well. Maggie- That shirt is now designated as worker placement apparel. More squares than a shelf full of economic board games. The game- first thing came to mind was replayability. Seems like a nice game, but for me it need something a little more.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Real talk, the orange jumper is Maggie's! Hahaha that's about all the colour you'll see from me and my- very Melbourne - wardrobe of black and grey. Thank you though! 💕 Maggie was hugely satisfied by your comment about her shirt. She said it was the most architectural option she had. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment on game and attire matters 😄🥰

[@raymondrogers3929]

@@ThinkerThemer As I was jumping off your page I saw a thumbnail of Maggie in orange 😂. Glad to see the both of you doing well with your channel. Well wishes for the both of you in your lives as well and dont forget to take vacations and reserve that quality time away from all forms of work.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you so much Raymond that's really lovely of you to say. We do try to balance the channel with still playing games for fun and some days getting away from our phones / laptops / the camera! Thank you and I hope you've had a lovely weekend ☺

[@Sebastian-rt9qf]

Thanks ThinkerThemer. Looked into this game a little while ago. Your review didn't pull me in either though. Apart from the box, the art is not up my alley. And the theme isn't there for me. But that's good. We can't have all games. Cheers.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thanks for watching Sebastian!! Glad that the review could at least cement that the game is NOT for you... that makes us equally happy as someone finding something to like. Plenty of games! Thank you watching and for supporting the channel 😊

[@dahakhamoontouched4133]

I can't remember whether I've heard of this before, or whether it is just that it is similar to Architects of the West Kingdom (cathedral building) and I confused them. Either way, it's an interesting concept, and although I like the rondel design and the potential for combos, it feels like it could get frustrating to have to continually change your strategy depending on the roll of the dice.

[@DonGilstrap]

I played this game online and am dying to buy it. The reprint seems to be stuck in distribution purgatory, but hopefully it'll be out there soon!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Yes we ordered it such a long time ago Don! It is worth the wait though and it's great that you've been able to try it online first. A worthy and space efficient add to the collection 💕

[@DonGilstrap]

@@ThinkerThemer Speaking of space efficient, we just played the first few cases of Micro Macro Crime City and it's delightful.

[@monicamurphy6552]

Resources *goodies. I'm calling them that from now on!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hahahaha plenty of goodies in Stardew Valley Monica!! Have the best weekend away and thank you so much for supporting the channel 😊

[@monicamurphy6552]

@@ThinkerThemer Thank you. Looking forward to it. Starts in 25mins!

[@mikemuhovich9320]

Great reviews and videos always, what is the other game you keep comparing to??? Thank You

[@wx6283]

The small footprint of a small box game does make it easier to keep in the collection! How many games on average do you have in your collection?

[@ThinkerThemer]

We try to keep it to 200 but honestly we have not counted the stacks all over the floor recently !!! Definitely need to get organised. In general though we try to move games along quite quickly if we anticipate not getting them off the shelf over other games. Thank you for watching! 😊

[@MaVarcon]

It certainly looks very pretty! But there are no variable player powers I could see? Shame they didn't at least give different starting positions or resources. The small box is great though!

[@melvinyong3148]

Will keep an eye out on Amazon for it and if the price is right, maybe. :) Got to play couple new games this week, Dale of Merchants and Import & Export. Dale is a simple fun deck building game, our definitely needs to play with the meaner take-that cards in it. Import Export is Glory to Rome, Puerto Rico (choose a role, everyone follows) with a modern shipping twist, a lot more think-y economic game. Good brain burner but components look awful. Oh yah, just read that Pax Aus is coming to your neck of the woods in Oct! Opps, replied to the wrong video earlier.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Ohhhhhh... this 😅❤

[@melvinyong3148]

@@ThinkerThemer Yah, I read bout the travel bubble. But I think that's still a long way. I also read an article bout how different local govts in Australia have different ways of handling COVID cases so some states might be ok with visitors while others not? Anyway if I do go, I'll go with my regular gaming buddy, he has family in Aus and we were there together for Gen Con Oz.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Yes Victoria is one of the more conservative states... perhaps second to Western Australia. So they will certainly be the toughest on the bubble front... I think all of Australia will go to Singapore immediately if it happens! Us included!

[@nathanrossi6126]

So I was telling my boyfriend about you (he likes games, but, y’know, doesn’t LOVE them), and I’m like, “...yea and they’re Australian and have the catchiest theme song!” And he says “does it sound like Hi-5?” Me: YESSS!!! 🎵1-2-3-4, Hi-👋🏼!🎵 I need help y’all..

[@treborsaintcheese7707]

Unrelated to the video above, it may have been asked before but who is the designer of your channel's logo?, I like it.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Oh thank you! We just commissioned the illustration based on the concept that we came up with! It is a kangaroo but often gets mistaken for a rabbit 😅

[@barbaramazzocca4605]

What is the name of the game you are comparing to this one? You mentioned the name a few times, but I can't quite hear it.

[@enricozanin7067]

I think it's Nusfjord by Uwe Rosenberg

[@michaelrichard1320]

Just bought a copy last night! Can't wait to try it against my "organic intelligence" wife

[@ThinkerThemer]

Lol!!! Sounds like OI is much harder than AI for this one! Would love to hear what you think after playing Michael 😄

[@jessyjkn]

Can I saw that you both are so cute together??? You both are #couplegoals.