Life of the Amazonia Review: Life Finds A Way

[@Tabletop_AshleyRose]

This game is really excellent, honestly a great improvement from their last game, Wild: Serengeti. It's accurate that this is a step up from Cascadia, but still gives you fun, puzzle-y feels. The meeples and wooden upgrades are excellent, while the cardboard is terribly thin. You should definitely get the upgraded bits for this one. I also would never choose to play this with more than 3 people, since the game would run far too long. Worth a pick up if you like these sort of games!

[@JeFreeze]

I looked into getting a copy of this after seeing their live play but it was so expensive atm to get the game with the upgraded bits. It annoys me because functionally the game would work as a deck builder, but instead of making them cards they chose physical components notorious for quite bad wear and tear unless being upgraded.

[@Animal_board_gamer]

While I enjoyed wild Serengeti for it’s puzzle mechanism of moving animals around. I do agree that this game is a huge step up from wild Serengeti. I haven’t played many bag building games before, so for me this was like a new experience for gaming. Not only did I love the bag building, but I absolutely loved the discard pile boats. Of course building my jungle is what I loved the most. Sure it was a little long, there were times when we just didn’t have enough time to finish, but at the same time It wasn’t horrible to end early. I still felt satisfied having to end early. And I don’t mind it being a little long. This was a magnificent game, best game of the year for me, I just don’t see anything else coming this year beating it. There’s only 3 games I like more than this game! I could see myself putting this even higher on my list!

[@Animal_board_gamer]

I absolutely loved life of the Amazonia! I gave it a 10. It’s my fourth favorite game of all time.

[@Greatscott1223]

Tom stole Zee’s hat!

[@olivigarden]

And Camilla's wearing Chris' shirt! What's happening? 😅

[@peterkarlsson1825]

Bizzaro World@@olivigarden

[@johnrochester1419]

I Zee what you did there.

[@Kindlesmith70]

From the components reminds me of Ecos: First Continent. Anyone recommend games that have you building a world with fauna/flora on some planet? My player count tends to be low, though (2-3players). I've got Bios:Megafauna, Ecos as mentioned already, Evolution (with Flight, and Climate), and March Of The Ants. I love the shift of continental plates of Bios, along with evolutionary factors, but the simpler Ecos is also great just to build and change a wolrd and populate it with critters.

[@johnrochester1419]

Looks awesome! I love Cascadia, so I just ordered it.

[@TylerAndToast]

Maybe i missed something, but are you creating your own land with the hexagons or is it a shared board?

[@thewynnersgameroom]

You’re creating your own land

[@TylerAndToast]

@@thewynnersgameroom thanks

[@thewynnersgameroom]

@@TylerAndToast no problem! Ive really been enjoying the game!

[@TylerAndToast]

@@thewynnersgameroom it looks great, I just wish it didn't look so multiplayer solitaire.

[@thewynnersgameroom]

@@TylerAndToast it does have a bit of that with the only real interaction being taking the last of an animal before someone else could or nabbing or discarding that scoring card another player was pushing for.

[@cindykee3719]

If I already own Cascadia and the Landmarks expansion, do I need this in my small collection, too?

[@Greggiexplore]

Yes, if you can get the copy.

[@s.d.d.6063]

When I pledged it last year I had no idea how good this game actually is. It’s definitely heavier (and better) than Cascadia, much more a gamers’ game especially if you play advanced sets of animals. Your unique animal abilities sets a path for you since you want to maximize its effect so any game is very different from another. One of the best games of 2023 for me.

[@louisburton5830]

This sounds like an engine building game with more complexity than Wingspan as well as not "sharing" the asset availability (dice) and using a solo bag instead? Have not played, but going by the comments. Interested in feedback from people who have played both.

[@pawnstorminreno]

Great review! I was on the playtesting for this and I still enjoy it.

[@janadam5254]

Yep, me too :) Warms my heart to hear such positive reviews :)

[@brianvienneau3713]

The section titles in video don’t seem correct

[@dddmmm21]

Managed to play this twice at the DT Retreat and loved it... bought it instantly. My only quibble is that game can become quite solitaire quickly as you focus on your conversions and ignore for most part what other players are doing (unless you are really disputing a last animal)... Therefore I see this mostly as a 2p game. With 3 and 4, it just gets longer without any extra juice.

[@npckse8508]

Yeah played this at the Retreat as well at 4. I found myself at an end of the table where I could mainly see the bottom 4 animals, so I focused on them. Definitely a lot going on, but I think I will grab this one as well

[@eduardocarvajal2313]

I was waiting for this review 😍 completely agree with it ! Amazing game , as a house rule I tried drafting 3 initial animals and it works mes great ! Give it a try

[@JoeyJocco]

Agreed! Great game. It was the best thing I demoed at GenCon this year, and afterwards I immediately pre-ordered it with the upgraded components. Can’t wait to play agin!

[@JonTripp115]

Cascadia + bag building = "Quacks-cadia"

[@cromatoast]

Is Camilla wearing Chris' shirt?

[@DTChrisYi]

No, we have a mutual friend who helps run Third Eye Comics, so we have a lot of shirts from that store.

[@pabloolvera9013]

And I just bought cascadia

[@1235q]

Cascadia is a lighter, family-weight game, this one is a step or two more complex. The two can coexist with each other.

[@sarumon17]

This hobby is hard because I love knowing about the new games coming out, but got avoid new games souring current experience.

[@Mark-jagger]

Cascades is a very good lightweight family game. This game is much heavier than it but looks fantastic too. Both will be in my collection.

[@mikaeki5245]

Tom you need to lift your leg as well.

[@arnold2011]

No. The other three should put down their legs.

[@pawjack]

Been loving this game every time I’ve played it. It scratches so many itches.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

I like this plan of filming a lot of reviews when Mike is in town, then posting them over a long period. My only complaint is I am DONE with that outfit! Tom needs to spring for a checked bag so Mike can do some costume changes!!

[@oslohund]

My second favorite game this year! I wasn't expecting to love it that much. Great mechanics, very beautiful and a lot of fun and variety!

[@ilqrd.6608]

whats your no 1?

[@oslohund]

@@ilqrd.6608 Hegemony.

[@El-gu2hi]

I like this game but the TERRIBLE quality of the cardboard bits and components is so bad that it makes me not want to play the game. I probably won’t buy another game from this publisher because of it.

[@Jau111]

Looks like I'll be adding another game to the wishlist. I think this has killed any interest I had in the Cascadia expansion.

[@simonwadd4038]

They've blatantly rearranged deck building from draw pile into bag building from bag!

[@Majdi.J]

Ever since Tom announced that there will be fewer videos and a focus on group review, almost all the group reviews (3+ ppl) have lead to a seal of approval or excellence. Is this by design to highlight good games or is it a function of having multiple people and the chances of one liking it is higher? I hope my comment isn't taken as a criticism. It's more of something I've noticed with group reviews lately.

[@sarumon17]

Yeah if you want to math out seals then more people is gonna mean more seals. I think the group reviews give a lot more room for tastes in game to be apparent. Then again there are plenty of great games that all get 8-8.5+ scores from everyone. I think if someone really wanted the “average” score, they can watch the review and see it.

[@thedicetower]

I guess we could math it out at the end of the year, but I'm still clobbering games left and right, they just usually don't make the big reviews.

[@uplift-yourdailypickup6424]

I have noticed there have been an extraordinary amount of games getting 8.5 or higher. Maybe games are just getting better? 🤷‍♂️

[@Majdi.J]

@@thedicetower Appreciate the reply, Tom. Keep up the good work and all the best as we head into Essen.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Maybe we need a rotten tomato-esque critic score with an average of dice tower scores in addition to the seals.

[@shinyhappymeeple]

Really love this game. It’s a solid 9/10 from me

[@dddmmm21]

This games it is own "Prelude" expansion so game could be quicker without cutting down the possibilities...

[@astod7792]

Should be top 100