Taverns of Tiefenthal Open Doors Review - with Chris and Wendy Yi

[@jangohemmes352]

Okay, fanboy here: To me, this expansion solved some lesser aspects of the base game. - Early nobles are now viable. The base game made you wait on stacking nobles until much later. Now a sneaky early noble nets you the sleeping room bonuses, much more fun. - Quacks buff early beer income. Having to buy 3-beer guys to get rid of your beers in the early rounds always sucked. Now 2 beer for a quack is awesome, getting a coin straight back the next turn. - Play is more varied. The meta in the base game is pretty uniform (tables are just too damn good). This expansion feels much more varied from game to game, and I find myself going more for alternative playstyles. - Sommeliers are a great 3-coin alternative to dishwashers, who often don't get much love from players. Their value is random, agreed, but placing wine yourself would be very OP in my opinion. - All the rest is just nice fluff, I don't mind playing with it to keep it fresh, but games are perfectly fine without them too

[@MrKeller13]

Said it way better than I did! I think that, like Chris said in the video, they as a group weren’t that high on the game before so the expansion modules didn’t do much to help them like it anymore. But as a huge fan myself the modules definitely solved the little things as well and honestly it did make just getting a bunch of tables and culling strategy less powerful and made for variable strategies being able to win

[@jangohemmes352]

@@MrKeller13 It's my favorite game even, so guess I had to write an essay to offset this review

[@BoardGameDave]

And I, in turn, agree with everything you said! I didn't realize The Taverns of Tiefenthal is your favorite game! It hasn't climbed quite that far up my list but I'm enjoying it more and more with each play! Proost! 🍻

[@DStroke666]

Jep I agree 100%, it is so elegant and makes an awesome game (that was released quite some time ago) even better

[@BoardGameDave]

I also uploaded a review of this expansion this weekend from the perspective of someone who really enjoys playing the base game (especially at two-player). I wish I would have seen that this video was uploaded first, however, because that comment about the noble space in the guest rooms NOT using up one of your dice makes that module MUCH more interesting and rewarding! Now I'm really excited to give the game another try with that rule clarification in mind. I also found the tasks/rewards and variable player power modules really fun like Wendy, but I also thought the sommeliers were a great addition, too! With the sommeliers only costing three thalers, I think that being able to pick which guest you serve with the wine cube would be way too powerful. And now that I'm reading the rules regarding the guest rooms differently, I think that'll be a really fun module to explore as well! Thanks for the review, you two! 🍻

[@jangohemmes352]

Agree with everything you said!

[@BoardGameDave]

@@jangohemmes352 Thank you, Jango! ☺

[@MrKeller13]

So I gotta disagree with your thoughts on this. The Inn module - other than you misreading the rules, which was already mentioned, I love this module because it forces you to buy a noble early when you normally wouldn’t want to have them clog your deck early and it allows you to get 1 or possibly 2 early nobles out of your deck essentially and give you another ability. Yes it is “random” but it still gets rid of a noble of you only have a couple early game. The wine cellar - I think the reason why you can’t choose is because it makes it so you aren’t activating your new shiny amazing card every round for nothing. Keeping in mind that the bought cards go on top of the deck. It’s not the best module but it’s not bad. X Player powers - this one is just fun, like you said variable powers are great and they aren’t all super game changing. The only me that allows you to use cards to upgrade for discounts and keep them seems to me to be one of the more powerful bit they all have their goods and bads. The objectives - I have not played this module but will be playing it next time I get the game to the table. And makes me more excited to hear that this was your favorite of them. This game is one of my favorite games right now and I like the expansion because it wasn’t game changing and just added a little flare with each module. So in that case I would say that this expansion isn’t needed but is a great addition for someone who already loves the base game.

[@DTChrisYi]

Disagreement is totally fine. It really is too bad the rules for the Inn are written the way they are. From what I've seen, there's plenty who have misunderstood the wording.

[@grog3514]

Why don't you want early nobles? Don't they just cycle each other so you draw further into your deck? Seems like you get to add another customer (although with a number that might be in higher demand) and upgrade your board?

[@MrKeller13]

@@grog3514 without having the game in front of me and being a bit since I’ve gotten it to the table now, I think nobles are a 2 which are numbers you are trying to get out of your early deck because they don’t give you as much of a benefit as others unless you have extra tables. I guess they aren’t as bad for you, but if you are getting a noble early than it’s gonna add an extra customer that’s going to cause your draw phase to end earlier and unless it’s from an upgrade than it’s a waste of early resources. But this module gives you a way to do an upgrade early AND not have the noble clog your deck.

[@jannagregory7928]

I’m a fan of the base game and got to play the expansion back in November. I agree that the putting nobles to bed module was a bit lacking. I tried to use it because it was there, but never found it very satisfying. I really did enjoy the variable player powers and the objectives, though, and thought the sommelier was also fine. I liked Open Doors enough to add it to my wishlist-I appreciate the variability it adds-but I agree that if you’re not crazy about the base game, it wouldn’t change it enough to make you love it. Thanks for the review!

[@RuneGamborg]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rn_YXq1np795nMU You are NOT giving up a dice. The rulebook explains it horribly, but you definitely get the dice back and can use it for another action as well.

[@DTChrisYi]

Oof, that is a major flaw in the rulebook then. That would improve my estimation of that module a little bit, but it still leaves the factor of timing. Thanks for the heads up, though!

[@RuneGamborg]

@@DTChrisYi Indeed. The timing is funky all over this game. Which is why I guess I love/hate it.

[@BoardGameDave]

Wait, really? That totally changes the way I would play this game. My rulebook says "During Phase C or Phase D, the first time you place a die under your Tavern that shows the number of a chamber occupied by a Noble, immediately take the bonus action indicated there. In return, the die you placed under your Tavern is not used." That last sentence is extremely unclear in light of what you said. So the die is "unused", meaning you can play it later on in the round? Wow... that's really worded poorly. But it makes sense now why there's a 5 space to go up the Monastery track. That spot made no sense to me based on how I was reading the rules.

[@jangohemmes352]

@@BoardGameDave WOW, I read the rules in my language, and it was Dutch, so I didn't get how they were confused about it. But now reading how it is written in English: that is horrendous!

[@theRabbitFly]

I haven't played it yet. My biggest hope is that it can open up more strategies. I really love taverns, but the winning strategy can be a bit formulaic.

[@JonoNZBoardGamer]

You both have a great dynamic together and it feels like you are discussing a lot of your final thoughts for the first time while filming. It got me wondering if you do refrain from discussing the games you just played more often now that you know you will be discussing them on camera? For me that would feel odd to not discuss stuff straight away. Or do you discuss a little and then somewhat repeat the discussion for camera? Love what you guys bring to the DT

[@DTChrisYi]

We definitely have some discussions while we're playing and after, but we also don't overly discuss so we can have some organic conversation in the videos. Glad you appreciate it!

[@1Dreamking]

The problem I have with my original ToT is that "puzzle pieces" is slightly off centered. It all fits perfectly when they all have their "starting sides" up but as soon as I flip them over they do not fit. It's like the center of the pieces is like 1/10:th of a millimeter off to one side. I would need to use force to fit them together and that would most likely ruin a few of the pieces. I've got the Schmidt english edition, how is that issue for you guys in the base game and in expansion? Is it only me that is unlucky with my copy? I am going to have to use sand paper to work on the pieces or something I guess so my friends not by misstake actually try and fit the pieces and then ruin them.

[@partypao]

Easy Fix: House Rule, then play test if it works. If it does, then use that every time. That's one thing you can do in Board games you can't do with video games.

[@helwrj28]

Thanks for the great video! I know you mentioned quacks, how would you rate the two expansions for that game?

[@dandurkin9735]

Thank you for your review! Any observations about the card quality (especially compared to base game) and the puzzle pieces fitting together well (there was apparently a problem that warranted the publisher replacing boards). Thank you

[@DTChrisYi]

No issues with card quality. Now that you me tion it though, I'm disappointed the bartenders (player powers) didn't puzzle piece in that well with the inn. But that's minor.

[@dandurkin9735]

@@DTChrisYi Thank you!

[@nicolasguay7570]

Good review !

[@alcovitch]

Can't even buy the base game anywhere for ages.

[@pumpkinhead76]

This would’ve been instabuy based on how well the first quacks expansion did, but I’m glad I watched this review first as I now know better than to buy this. Thanks for doing the good work!

[@pierrewhite2062]

This whole game is good in theory but bad in practice.

[@azzy2001]

Play the better rules variant off BGG... Makes the game a thousand times better. I printed these rules off and put them in the box. I also have the 3D printed card and token holders from thingiverse, this makes the game ready to go (out of the box) every time you play, so much easier. These two things make the game equal to Quacks and Jamaica for me as my favourite three games of all time. I really can't choose between these three. I actually upgraded Quacks too with transparent coin holders around the chits and tubs for all the different ingredients, these two games work so much better when they are upgraded, especially Taverns. Jamaica is equally amazing straight out of the box. If I ever had to recommend three games then these would be those three games. Jamaica also plays amazing with two players if you use my "Battleship" variant that I added to BGG 👍